Big Ear Thief Selling Straw Sandals

Chapter 293 Two Joes compete for favor, Kong Ming takes advantage of the east wind

On the carriage ride back, Xiaoqiao was very unconvinced.

"Sister, can you stop staring at the bow and giggling? If you like it, I can give you ten or eight blows on your left hand?"

Daqiao winked and said, "That's different!"

"Why is it different? I tied it with a floral handkerchief. I guarantee it will look better than this!"

Da Qiao laughed out loud and said: "Well, you are still young and don't understand!"

She is an adult, and her sensitivity or experience with contact with the opposite sex is completely different from that of her younger sister.

However, the two sisters are two years apart, and they have been close to each other since childhood.

Therefore, in Xiaoqiao's view, her sister has "changed her heart".

"Don't blame me for not reminding you. Ladies and gentlemen, they say that many men are unsympathetic and unfaithful, preferring the new and hating the old. Don't let the Prime Minister deceive you!"

Daqiao nodded and said: "They are right, but the Prime Minister is not that kind of person. I can feel that he likes me..."

"That's because you are young and good-looking. According to the words of the maids: I am just greedy for your body!"

Daqiao lowered his head, looked at his body, and said with a smile: "When you are with the person you like, there must be something that makes him like it. It's pitiful for someone like me to be liked by no one!"

Xiaoqiao sighed, it's over, my sister has been poisoned!
However, she was very curious as to why her sister, who had always been wise and steady, seemed to be a different person in just a short moment.

"Did he do that to you..."

My sister's voice was so low that Daqiao couldn't hear her clearly: "What?"

Xiaoqiao leaned into her sister's ear and asked, "Did the Prime Minister touch you? Take advantage of you?"

Daqiao was very angry and yelled: "What nonsense are you talking about?"

She would not allow her sister to tarnish her beautiful love, nor would she tolerate others slandering the glorious and great Prime Minister in her heart.

"I'm warning you, don't think that you can talk nonsense because you are young. If you talk nonsense again, I will ask my mother to teach you a lesson!"

"Tch!" Xiaoqiao curled his lips and muttered: "Aren't I afraid that you will suffer a loss? Besides, no one else will know."

"That's not okay! He is the prime minister of a country and cannot be stigmatized at all!"

Xiaoqiao was stunned. She had never seen such a decisive side in her sister, but her intuition was that there must be something fishy between the two.

"By the way, is your hand seriously injured?"

"It was fine originally. The Prime Minister was worried about me, so he helped me apply medicine and bandage..."

As he spoke, Daqiao moved his wrist flexibly to show that he was not telling lies.

Xiaoqiao was like a kitten, so he came up and smelled it.

There is no pungent smell of dog skin plaster, only the faint fragrance of chrysanthemum and honeysuckle.

"It's scented? What kind of medicine was given to you?"

Taking out the tube of gel from his arms, Daqiao said: "Here, this is it. It can reduce swelling and remove blood stasis. Apply it on your hands. It will be cool and comfortable!"

Xiaoqiao was about to hold it for inspection, but his sister took it back and put it back in her arms.

Ah, where is the deep sisterly love that lasts for more than ten years?

Xiaoqiao was furious and turned on the poisonous tongue mode.

"Tch, look at your treasure, the Prime Minister might not even have a crush on you!"

Daqiao chuckled, holding the bow against his heart, recalling the tingling sensation of being in contact with Liu Bei's skin.

Xiaoqiao couldn't bear it even more, and said sourly: "Next time I will ask the Prime Minister to bandage me, and I will bandage two bigger ones, and I won't show them to you!"

Ohashi suddenly glanced at his sister and pursed his lips.

Anyone who is not blind can see that the younger sister is better developed than the elder sister. Although she is young, her figure is bulging forward and backward, and her skin is fairer.

Once it grows, it will definitely look better than her sister.

If his sister really wanted to fight with him, Daqiao felt a little uneasy.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally reluctantly took out the gel tube, coaxed her sister and said: "Ah, are you really angry? You were just playing around, let me take a look at it, this is a gift from the Prime Minister. , don’t break it!”

Xiaoqiao is also a ghost. He took the medicine tube and looked at it. He thought there was nothing strange about it, so he said: "Hey, it's not made of gold. I think you're so nervous. You're really stingy!"

"If you don't care, please return it to me. Anyway, I just like it."

Xiaoqiao came closer to her sister and asked, "Have I heard that Diao Chan is unparalleled in beauty and is known as the number one national beauty of the Han Dynasty? I don't know if it's true or not?"

Daqiao seemed to be a little shy about Diao Chan, and said without revealing any trace: "No matter how delicious the food is, you will get tired of it after ten years of eating it. I heard that she gave birth to a child... Anyway, I just want to be myself."

Xiaoqiao suddenly lowered his voice and asked: "Sister, I heard that the bridal chamber will be very painful. Aren't you afraid?"

"Don't be afraid! Women have to go through menstruation once, and there's no one who can't bear it. Don't listen to me scare people all day long."

"Hehe, I also said it's bitter first and then sweet, but I don't know what it tastes like?"

"Well, no matter what it feels like, you won't want to mess around with the Prime Minister again in the future!"

"Don't be shy. You're not married yet, so your elbows are turned outward?"

"If you want to take care of it, just tell me whether you agree or not, right?"

"Hey, I have to think about it. It's been a long time since I had Mrs. Chen's preserved fruit, and Xianglin grilled shrimp..."

"Ah, you damn girl, you've actually ripped it off on your sister's head. Look, I won't take care of you!"

"Hehe, I just want to eat..."

Qiao Rui returned home with her two daughters, only to see a large number of carriages and horses crowded at the front door, so she quickly called for the housekeeper.

"Congratulations to the master of the family for his promotion! All the people who came here are subordinates of the Royal Navy, as well as the governors and magistrates who came here in admiration, and they all prepared heavy gifts. Since you are not here, we can't refuse, so we can only let them wait in the side courtyard. "

Damn it, this news spread quickly!
Qiao Rui felt that he had to lower his profile. He was about to be promoted and could not make arrogant gossip.

So he received them together, with a calm expression and as low a posture as possible.

The guests and hosts enjoyed themselves, and the butler of the Qiao Mansion was merciless in accepting the gifts.

The head of the house is so worth paying homage to him this year!

The two sisters finally earned the head of the family a high-ranking position, generous salary, and long-lasting blessings.

From now on, your life will be happy!

On the first day of the new year, the Prime Minister publicly promoted Qiao Rui, the chief of the Royal Navy, to the Navy Headquarters of the Military Department. He was obedient to take charge of the Han Navy.

This clearly shows that he is the leader of the powerful Han army!
As soon as the news came out, all parties came to congratulate him!

When one person gains the Dao, the chicken and the dog ascend to heaven!

The navy base camp is obviously newly established. As long as he can fall into the favor of General Qiao and become an official and a semi-lord, he will be proud of his ancestors!

Moreover, her two most beautiful daughters are likely to enter the Prime Minister's Office soon. At this time, anyone who doesn't want to fawn over will be confused!

Therefore, all the interested people who could not reach the Prime Minister ran to Qiao Rui's home.

It's human nature to support someone who is high and ignore someone who is low. Qiao Rui's face glowed brightly at the dinner party.

While he was deliberately vague, he also spoke conclusively about the naval base and praised the Prime Minister.

"The Prime Minister has a far-sighted vision and is truly the No. 1 man! With a base camp, naval officers have a home. Regardless of being thousands of miles overseas, those of us who make a living on the water have roots from now on!"

"That's right! The Prime Minister has a unique vision. Otherwise, how could he be the Prime Minister!"

"Oh, Mr. Qiao will definitely play the leading role in this base camp. When the time comes, he will be promoted to a higher position, but don't forget us old subordinates!"

"Hey, stop it! Brother Paoze, Qiao will never forget it, but the Prime Minister only asked Qiao to help, but he didn't say to take the lead! There are many talented people in the Han Dynasty, and there are many more talented and qualified than me. I don't dare to Extravagant hope..." "Mr. Qiao, that's not what you said. In terms of seniority in the Han Navy, who can compare with the Royal Navy Chief Admiral? Even the commanders of the major fleets, according to the court rules, are all your subordinates. This big beam, It really has to be you!"

"Don't dare, don't dare. Thanks to the blessing of the royal family, Qiao will only take care of the navy. The rest will depend on the prime minister's needs and the court's arrangements!"

"Ah haha, Mr. Qiao is too modest..."

In the backyard of the bridge house, the female relatives were all beaming with joy, asking questions around the bridge.

At this moment, Daqiao's face was red with embarrassment and he hesitated.

However, Xiaoqiao showed off the bow on her sister's wrist and the medicine tube in her arms as if she were offering a treasure.

The female members of the Qiao family never expected that their family would have the opportunity to marry into the Prime Minister's Office, and they all made suggestions.

One said that he wanted to make expensive clothes, and the other said that he wanted to invite a maid from the palace to teach the sisters etiquette. The female family members of the Prime Minister's back house should not be looked down upon.

In short, Liu Bei's words affected the Qiaorui family, as well as the political forces in Yangzhou Jiangbei.

Compared with the joy and bustle in the north of the Yangtze River, the naval camp of the South Chibi Navy across the river was unusually quiet.

Zhuge Liang lay on the public case, reading astronomy, geography, flood season and other information day and night.

How can we defeat Jiangbei Camp?

When the book is used up, I hate it less!
After Sun Jian learned about it, he nodded and said to Sun Ce and Zhou Yu: "A man as knowledgeable and talented as Kong Ming is still working day and night. You must not slack off!"

Thanks to the Han Dynasty's weather records in various prefectures and counties over the past ten years, Zhuge Liang basically mastered the weather changes in the Red Cliff area after half a month, and also had a thorough understanding of the water conditions of the Yangtze River.

After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Zhuge Liang began to visit fishermen, riverside people, naval officers and soldiers, etc., and gradually he had a complete concept of the customs and customs here.

At the end of January, Zhuge Liang proposed to Sun Jian to convene a meeting of senior generals to pool their efforts.

Sun Jian naturally cooperated fully and beat drums to gather generals.

At the meeting, Zhuge Liang raised a key question: "In a water battle to defeat the enemy, what should be the most important thing and what is the advantage?"

Huang Zu and Cai Mao were both shipping experts, and they were definitely experts in water warfare.

Huang Zu said: "Water warfare should focus on arrows and guns. With the support of the Royal Navy, it will not be easy to break through the Northern Army's water stronghold. I'm afraid it will require a two-pronged attack on land and water."

Cai Hao said: "The guns, artillery and arrows are probably much stronger than those of the Northern Army... If we fight hard, we will not take advantage. If we want to defeat the optimal solution of the Northern Army, I am afraid there is only one way..."

"Wait!" Zhou Yu said with a smile: "Everyone here might as well play a little game, write the answers on the palms of your hands, and verify each other. Kong Ming, what do you think?"

Since Shengyu and He Shengliang?

They are all extremely smart people, and Zhou Yu's little thoughts are clear to Zhuge Liang.

"Liang, guests do as they please."

So, they found pens and ink, and everyone wrote the answers on their palms. When Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang finally finished writing, they all opened their palms.

Cai Mao wrote: "Fire attack."

Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang only wrote one word: "fire."

The hero sees the same.

Sun Jian also knew that the navy barracks, including the ships, docks, springboards and trestles, were all made of wood. Once a fire was ignited, it would spread quickly.

When the fire breaks out, no one can save it.

Now that the means of attack have been determined, we must try to improve the attack plan.

First of all, the top priority for fire attacks is wind direction.

There are more than 10,000 people in the North Army Marine and Land Camp [-]. The camp is very large. The north wind is blowing now. It stands to reason that setting fire from the north end of the land camp will have the best effect.

However, there are no coalition strongholds on land, and it is difficult to send troops across the river when the river is blocked. Not to mention that the other party strictly follows the land camping procedures and is almost invulnerable.

If the attack is launched from the wide river, it will be easier for the coalition forces. However, if they attack from south to north, the wind direction is wrong and they will be easily burned.

It is difficult for the left and the right, and all the generals are at a loss.

At this moment, the alarm sounded loudly in the water village, a sergeant came to report, and the Northern Army warships dispatched in large numbers.

Sun Jian immediately led his generals to the front line. At the same time, he sent warships out of the camp and placed the land forts on first-level alert.

Since reaching a tacit understanding with Liu Bei on the first day of the new year, Qiao Rui decided to support the Prime Minister and carry out an operation of "knocking on the mountain to shock the tiger".

After nearly a month of organized training, the Royal Navy conducted its first full-scale training exercise, targeting the dividing line between the center of the Yangtze River and seeing how the Wu-Shu coalition responded. It would be nice to take advantage if there was an opportunity.

More than a hundred large and small warships arrived at the center of the river in a diamond-shaped array, and the Wu-Shu Allied Forces were not to be outdone and sent Huang Zu's army to meet the enemy.

Huang Zu led more than a dozen fast-sailing warships and 34 stern warships, and slowly approached in a cone-shaped array. The two sides were 150 steps apart and entered a stalemate.

Qiao Rui narrowed his eyes and suddenly ordered: "The front army advances thirty steps, and the artillery on both wings is on standby!"

Six warships of the Royal Navy of the Northern Army openly crossed the central line of the river. They advanced no more than [-] steps and then stopped. The meaning of provocation and provocation was very obvious.

Of course, Huang Zu could not fight back, because the wind direction was unfavorable at this time, and the coalition forces who forced a battle would inevitably suffer heavy losses.

But he had a hot temper and couldn't bear it.

"Blow the horn to warn! Use flags to warn the other party that they have crossed the line. If they do not go back, the other party will bear the consequences!"

"Woooooo!"

"Shhhhh!"

There is no need for flag soldiers at all. Qiao Rui has automatically translated the opponent's warning through the telescope.

"Don't move! Don't fire the first shot! Hold on for two quarters of an hour!"

Therefore, the warnings of the coalition forces were ignored.

Huang Zu was so angry that he clenched his fists and was struggling. The sound of drums came from the stronghold, and more than a hundred ships, large and small, filed out, dividing his troops into two groups and pressing toward the north from the left and right.

In order to relieve Huang Zu's pressure, Sun Nuoguo immediately ordered the second-line troops to go into battle, using their numerical superiority to hold back the Royal Navy.

Seeing that the coalition forces were outflanking, Qiao Rui announced that he would withdraw his troops and return to camp after two quarters of an hour.

Seeing the tall warships turning around in an orderly manner, Huang Zu felt a little more at ease.

In this way, the Royal Navy would hold drills every other day, as many as five or six times. The coalition forces were disturbed and rumors spread.

Everyone can see that the Northern Army frequently crosses the line with its tall warships, constantly testing the coalition's bottom line, and may one day go off.

After more than half a month of investigation by scout agents, the coalition forces also figured out the size and layout of the North Army camp. As expected, they were tightly guarded. Even if they sent troops across the river, it would be difficult to attack the camp.

Zhuge Liang made the decision to delay the attack until March or April. When the south wind blew up, he could launch a blitzkrieg against the Northern Army.

As a result, the coalition forces began preparations, conducting multiple waves of cross-line patrols at night in late February to stimulate the Northern Army to warn and respond.

Whenever the coalition warship patrol boats approached the camp, the coalition ships immediately retracted as soon as the Northern Army warships left the water village.

In this way, time and time again, the Northern Army's water stronghold has become weak. Sometimes only two or three small boats are sent, and the coalition forces are scared to death.

In this way, the game of cat and mouse gradually paralyzed the Northern Army.

Entering March, the ice melts and the snow melts, spring returns to the earth, the grass grows and the orioles fly, and the wind direction changes.

On March 24, the long-planned plan of the coalition forces to "take chestnuts from the fire" quietly kicked off on a starless and moonless night.

Zhuge Liang was wearing a crown of heaven, a seven-star Taoist robe, holding a Yin-Yang feather fan, and stood firmly on the five-tooth ship.

"The east wind blows twice in the world, and the east wind blows in the red cliff alone! Go to battle!"

Nearly two hundred fast-sailing boats covered with black cloth flooded across the center of the river, like arrows flying off the string in the suddenly stronger southeast wind.

(End of this chapter)