I will be the master of Xuande

Chapter 697 Cao Liu fights for the second time

Zhuge Liang, courtesy name Kongming, was born in Yangdu, Langya.

In the second year of Jian'an, he passed the provincial examination, county examination, and state examination consecutively, ranking first in all of them, becoming the first person to win three consecutive exams in the history of the imperial examination system established in the Han Dynasty.

It is precisely because of this that Zhuge Liang's name suddenly became popular in Xuzhou.

Among the scholars in Xuzhou, everyone knew Kong Ming.

When Liu Jian left Xuzhou, although he did not entrust Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei, he secretly told Liu Bei to pay close attention to Zhuge Liang's dynamics and growth.

Of course, as long as Zhuge Liang is safe, Liu Bei does not need to intervene.

Liu Bei is still very obedient.

Especially to Liu Jian's words, he really listened.

Since Liu Jian asked Liu Bei to pay more attention to Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei would naturally pay attention to him with great vigor.

Fortunately, Zhuge Liang has not had any special circumstances during this period.

He just studied hard at home and registered for the imperial examination according to the time. His behavior was very standardized and he worked hard to make progress.

In addition to studying, Zhuge Liang also communicated a lot with local craftsmen and farmers on weekdays.

Zhuge Liang paid more attention to using practice to improve his abilities than what he read in books.

Zhuge Liang was especially interested in the inventions and creations of local craftsmen in Xuzhou.

Hebei's keel waterwheels have been widely popularized in Xuzhou, and Zhuge Liang was very fascinated by the structure of this waterwheel.

He often stood by the tributaries of Surabaya, watching the keel waterwheel irrigate the water from the river to the fields. Every time at this time, Zhuge Liang's face would show a look of thinking and yearning.

Later, he will also ask famous and experienced local farmers for advice on farming methods.

At the same time, Zhuge Liang would often ask those who went fishing at Xuzhou Port all year round for advice on how to observe the climate and how to observe the sky and wind direction.

Zhuge Liang also carefully studied the topography of the various states in the Han Dynasty.

He wants to know astronomy from above and geography from below.

In terms of practical operation, students in the entire Han Dynasty can say that no one did it better than Zhuge Liang.

With these accumulations, coupled with the fact that the columns of the imperial examination are now mainly practical.

The volume of the scriptures only accounts for a small part, and most of them are examination questions on current affairs, political figures, farming techniques and people's livelihood, so Zhuge Liang, who has accumulated a lot of knowledge, eventually became a famous person who won three yuan in a row in Xuzhou.

This is not all due to genius, but more to his hard work and correct methods.

Zhuge Liang hit three points in a row, and now Liu Bei couldn't help but notice him.

So, he hurriedly wrote a letter to Liu Jian in Chang'an and told him the good news.

For Liu Jian, Zhuge Liang's achievement was not beyond his expectation.

Prime Minister Zhuge, who was praised by later generations, won several first places in Xuzhou. Isn't this a matter of course?

Logically speaking, Zhuge Liang can come to Beijing to take part in the palace examination next, but the time for the palace examination should be early next year, and the imperial court is now organizing various states to arrange a battle with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Yuan Yi, Sun Ce and others in the south. It is estimated that this year The imperial examination may have to be postponed.

However, since Zhuge Liang has won three yuan in a row, with his achievements, there is no problem if he wants to hold a local office.

Before the palace examination, there is nothing wrong with letting him serve as an official in Xuzhou to give full play to his talents and intelligence, and at the same time increase Zhuge Liang's own governing experience. On the contrary, it is very beneficial to him.

No matter what kind of genius you are, you need experience at the grassroots level.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang came to Pengcheng State with the position of Tan County Prime Minister and began to participate in local governance.

After all, Zhuge Liang was a person that Liu Jian valued very much. Since he was in power in the places where Xuzhou participated, even though he was only serving as the county magistrate in Tancheng, Liu Bei also valued him very much.

Liu Bei specially found the Tancheng Order and told him to reuse Zhuge Liang and to allow Zhuge Liang to give full play to his talents.

In fact, there is no need for Liu Bei to give orders for this matter, and the Tancheng County Magistrate will definitely use Zhuge Liang.

After all, he is a famous person in this state who has won three yuan in a row.

You don't encounter people like this every day.

As a result, Zhuge Liang took power in Tancheng and assisted the Tancheng order to organize farmland, water conservancy, agricultural restructuring, trade and industrial development, etc. around Tancheng.

As soon as Zhuge Liang took office, he demonstrated his superb talents in internal affairs and governing the people.

Zhuge Liang personally participated in the farming of Tancheng, including the water conservancy reform.

He visited the fields to make plans, dug a ditch leading to Surabaya for the people of Tancheng, and built a keel waterwheel on it that he had modified in the past.

This kind of waterwheel was named Zhuge Waterwheel.

Compared with the keel waterwheel used in Hebei, the Zhuge waterwheel has been transformed to be more convenient, labor-saving and more efficient.

This was researched by Zhuge Liang when he visited the people during his academic studies.

Zhuge Liang is really talented in making this!

It's no wonder that Zhuge Liang in history was not only a great politician, but also a great inventor.

In addition, Zhuge Liang was very particular about the details of field measurement and reclamation. He formulated a set of detailed plans, including the layout of the fields and the arrangement of ridges and furrows, and arranged them according to the weather and soil characteristics of each farming site. In this way, This will enable private irrigation to achieve maximum efficiency.

In addition, Zhuge Liang also made detailed adjustments to local areas, road construction, including local governance and law enforcement methods, and the assessment of officials, and reported them to the Tancheng Order.

It can be said that Zhuge Liang's talent surprised Tancheng.

It didn't take long for the entire folk customs and officialdom of Tancheng to undergo earth-shaking changes.

This is all thanks to Zhuge Liang!

What Zhuge Liang did in Tancheng soon reached Liu Bei's ears.

Liu Bei was very surprised by this young man's ability.

However, this also proves that Liu Jian is indeed a person who is good at understanding people.

It was at this time that Cao Cao's troops began to march toward Xuzhou in full force.

He received Yuan Shao's invitation and headed to Xiapi from Jiangdong, where he sent troops, preparing to invade Xuzhou again.

After Liu Bei learned about Cao Cao's use of troops, he had no extra time to worry about Zhuge Liang's affairs.

He immediately called for Han Dang, Cheng Pu, Tai Shi Ci and others, and asked them to lead their troops to the next batch, and sit in the dangerous place of Xia Pi State, preparing to resist Cao Cao's attack.

The Xuzhou Army has developed rapidly in recent years, mainly relying on the construction of the port, easy access to commerce and sufficient funds.

Hebei's support is also very strong. Because Xuzhou is guided by Hebei's previous policies, Xuzhou's reforms are very smooth and its economy develops very fast.

The previous losses caused by the war have been made up for by the effective political system.

In terms of military affairs, Xuzhou has a great advantage, that is, the iron weapons and armor of their army, including war horses, are all supported by Hebei. The equipment used by Xuzhou's army is the best in the Han Dynasty. With the support of abundant financial and material resources, Xuzhou's army was definitely a strong force of the Han Dynasty in terms of overall grade.

Although Cao Cao followed Liu Jian's governance model in recent years and vigorously developed Jiangdong, which increased Jiangdong's population, food, and technology, there was still a limp.

In terms of military equipment, Cao Cao had no way to compete with Hebei.

Not to mention weapons and armor, Cao Cao's Jiangdong Army was several levels behind Xuzhou in terms of war horses.

Jiangnan also produces southern horses, but how can the quality of Jiangnan's war horses compare with those of the north?

Liu Bei's cavalry here rides high-quality Youzhou war horses imported from Hebei at low prices.

Cao Cao did not have such channels. Although he could also find ways to secretly purchase some horses from Youzhou through private channels, most of the war horse channels in Youzhou were still in the hands of the officials led by Liu Jian.

The number and quality of the northern war horses that Cao Cao purchased could not equip a powerful cavalry.

It can only be used reluctantly.

The key to Jiangdong's army going north this time is to fight the Xuzhou army on the plains.

When fighting on the plains, the key point is the cavalry's tactics.

Although Cao Cao had Xia Houyuan, Cao Hong, Cao Ren, and other great talents in commanding and training troops, he really did not have enough horses to support his cavalry.

Therefore, he could only vigorously develop the navy, crossbow army and infantry.

The strong crossbow army and naval force can help Cao Cao effectively consolidate the Yangtze River coast and prevent the northern army from launching a fierce attack on his Jiangdong. It is more than enough for defense, but now that he is allowed to attack Xuzhou, he is a little overwhelmed. .

But Cao Cao had nothing to do about this. After all, Yuan Shao had already asked him to send troops, and Cao Cao also let go of Yuan Shao's dove last time, which led to a period between the two people that was really not in harmony with each other.

This time he couldn't miss the date again.

And the current situation is that he, Yuan Shao and others are in a desperate situation.

Liu Jian's strength is already too strong. If he and Yuan Shao don't join forces, it will be a matter of time before Liu Jian defeats each other one by one.

Cao Cao actually regrets it now. He feels that he should not have developed in Jiangdong. Although this place can be divided into one side, there is still a bottleneck in the upper limit of overall development.

But thinking about it carefully, Cao Cao felt that if he didn't come to the south, where could he go? Stay in the north and compete with Liu Jian in Hebei?

Can he really win against Liu Jian? Cao Cao expressed doubts about this.

But now the fact is that regardless of whether he regrets taking the medicine or not, he must have a decisive battle with Liu Bei of Xuzhou.

Fortunately, his opponent was not Liu Jian, but Liu Bei, Liu Jian's spokesperson in the southeast.

So Cao Cao led 30,000 elite troops northward and entered the territory of Xiapi Kingdom. He prepared to occupy county towns one by one, hoping to gain a foothold in Xiapi Kingdom first, and then compete with Liu Bei for a duel.

But Liu Bei is also a veteran on the battlefield. How could he give Cao Cao a chance to fully establish a foothold in Xiapi Kingdom?

Cao Cao's troops had just crossed the Yangtze River by boat. The moment they entered the plain, Liu Bei sent his men Han Dang and Cheng Pu to lead his most elite cavalry battalion in Xuzhou to harass Cao Cao's army.

Liu Bei's cavalry team cannot overthrow the opponent's entire camp, but it can constantly harass the opponent's infantry. Once the opponent's infantry comes out of the camp, his cavalry team can split the opponent's infantry formation, causing the opponent's infantry formation to break up. There was a commotion in the battle formation, which destroyed the opponent's morale and prevented the opponent from continuing to attack northward.

Liu Bei's purpose was to wear down Cao Cao's resilience so that his troops would not be able to stay in Xiapi for a long time.

As long as Cao Jun's resilience is worn away, Liu Bei feels that he will win this war.

Cao Cao has done a lot of work in Jiangdong in recent years. He not only vigorously developed Jiangdong's farming and economy, but also tried every means to pacify and regain Shanyue.

He followed Liu Jian's method of regaining Wuhuan and Xianbei in Hebei to deal with Shanyue, and the effect was relatively significant. After all, Shanyue did not belong to a foreign race, and most of them were Han Dynasty people. Communication and assimilation were relatively easy.

When these elite Shanyue troops came into Cao Cao's hands, they became his ace army.

These mountain soldiers are not afraid of death when fighting, and they can cross mountains and rivers. Their combat effectiveness is extremely strong. They can be said to be the strongest soldiers among the strongest soldiers in mountain warfare and field battles.

With these Shanyue soldiers as helpers, Cao Cao had a huge advantage in the mountain battle. Even the well-equipped Xuzhou Army could hardly resist Cao Cao's Shanyue troops.

So, an interesting situation occurred.

Liu Bei's soldiers and horses kept thinking of ways to pull the troops onto the plain.

Cao Cao's soldiers and horses kept thinking of ways to move the battlefield to mountains and dense forests.

The situation of the troops on both sides was that once they reached the plains, Liu Bei's army's horses were like tanks, smashing Cao's army into pieces and fleeing in disarray.

Once they reached the mountains and woods, those soldiers who crossed the mountains and waded as if they were walking on flat ground had the advantage, causing Liu Bei to suffer a lot.

The two sides were going back and forth, and the fight was a joyous one, with both sides winning and losing.

It can also be said that Cao Cao and Liu Bei met their opponents and met their talents.

In particular, the strategists under both of them are not mortals.

On Cao Cao's side is Zhou Yu, who is good at making schemes and is proficient in warfare.

On Liu Bei's side is Lu Su, who is mature and prudent and works calmly.

Zhou Yu always wanted to lure Liu Bei to the dense forest, let him set up camp near mountains and rivers, and then find ways to deal with him.

But how could Liu Bei not have a long memory?

Zhou Yu was famous for his fire attacks, and Liu Bei had already memorized his methods.

Especially now that Lu Su reminds Liu Bei that Liu Bei cannot make mistakes easily.

Therefore, the two sides kept going back and forth, testing each other.

However, compared to Cao Cao, Liu Bei has a trump card in his hand, and this trump card is specifically aimed at Cao Cao.

That was Cao Chun who was captured alive.

This Cao Chun is Liu Bei's brother-in-law.

After being captured alive, Liu Jian did not abuse Cao Chun and did not restrict his freedom.

He handed Cao Chun over to Liu Bei.

And Cao Chun's sister is now Liu Bei's wife.

For the sake of his sister, the relationship between Cao Chun and Liu Bei is just fine.

It's just that Cao Chun is in the hands of Liu Bei, and Liu Bei sends people to Cao Cao's camp from time to time to talk about things in Cao Chun's name, which gives Cao Cao a headache.

He understood that Liu Bei was using Cao Chun to blackmail him again and wanted to negotiate terms with him.

(End of this chapter)