Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 602 Liaodong Strategy
Liaodong is remote, and when Yuan Tan learned about the steam bicycle, Liu Bei learned about it through a letter from Jian Yong.

Since the beginning of spring, no fierce war has broken out in Liaodong.

Whether it was Liu Bei's immigrants or the Dongyi countries, they all lived in peace.

The summer in Liaodong is short, and people are busy resuming production and stockpiling supplies.

At the same time, Liaodong has a vast geography and a sparse population, which further reduces conflicts and frictions.

It seems that war is a luxury and waste for Liaodong.

In response to the changes in Guanzhong, Liu Bei also gathered generals stationed in various places.

It was different from the initial entry into Jingzhou. At that time there were three types of troops: one was the three-man army, one was the followers from Youzhou, Yuzhou, and Xuzhou, and the third was the reinforcements that Yuan Shao transferred twice.

At that time, during the key internal meetings, Zhao Yun was barely qualified to stand and listen.

Now Liu Bei is sitting at the top, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Wei Yan are sitting on the right, and on the left are Xu Shu, Mi Zhu, Sun Qian and Liu Yan; among the clerks standing on the periphery are Liu Fang and others.

There were three kinds of drawings that Jian Yong sent over. One was a Kongming lantern, one was a steam chariot with seven sections in total, with two front and rear locomotives, used by the Black Bear when he was on his tour outside the Great Wall, and the third was a steam bicycle.

The drawings of the Kongming lanterns are very detailed, while the steam chariots are more realistic, and the bicycles are all based on guesswork; there are no internal structure drawings for the steam-related ones at all.

Unlike the Kongming lantern, Jian Yong had seen the real thing and was able to draw its internal structure.

The blueprints were circulated back and forth. Seeing that people came to see him one after another, Liu Bei said, "According to the rumors in Guanzhong, the Grand Marshal's chariot has been rebuilt. The front and rear of the chariot are each a steam chariot, which can pull fifty strong horses."

He was not very interested, and did not have the slightest excitement about the emergence of new technology. He added: "Xianhe has also seen the scene of chariots being driven. It is said that the steam gushed out for dozens of feet, and in a moment the hair of cattle and sheep fell off, and their skin and flesh became cooked and rotten."

As he said this, he turned his head to look at the clay pot on the copper stove, hot steam gushing out of the spout.

Many people followed suit and shifted their gazes. Even Zhang Fei did not want to be hit by the steam that was dozens of feet high.

Guan Yu said, "Now most of what Xianhe saw is unknown to us. We should send an envoy to Guanzhong to offer local products and wait for an opportunity to inquire clearly."

Zhang Fei also said: "The Grand Marshal is always generous and not a stickler for details. If you ask the Grand Marshal questions candidly, you will definitely gain something."

As he spoke, Zhang Fei tilted his head to look at Zhao Yun and Wei Yan. The two of them kept their eyes down and remained silent, nor did they observe anyone else.

Zhang Fei went to look at Xu Shu and Mi Zhu who were sitting in the front row opposite him. Mi Zhu also lowered his head and did not want to express his opinion or take on any mission.

Seeing Liu Bei also looking at him, Xu Shu bowed and said, "My Lord, from what I know about the Grand Marshal, he is definitely not someone who is attacking without a purpose. Perhaps the steam engine has already been invented, and it was only after the great victory in the battle of You and Ji that it was unveiled. Otherwise, how could two chariots be easily built within a year?"

After a short pause, he looked at the others and said, "When other places imitate it, the Grand Marshal will have a more advanced steam engine. Researching this thing is very time-consuming and resource-intensive, not to mention the flying machine. In my opinion, we can just send an envoy to inquire, and reserve manpower and material resources to resist the invasion of the barbarians."

The special geography and humanities of Liaodong determined that wars rarely broke out among the barbarians in summer, and all kinds of fights broke out after winter.

The various battles were mainly small-scale conflicts, ranging from seizing hunting grounds, physical objects, women and children to various artifacts.

Few battles were caused by personal grudges among tribal leaders; most were caused by the survival of the tribe.

When winter comes this year, the various barbarian tribes living in the outer areas will definitely plunder their own settlements, which is not something the barbarian kings can stop.

Control the scale of the war by simply counterattacking and retaliating, and even the surrounding barbarian tribes will not take the initiative to intervene.

Living in the vast land of Liaodong, the most important thing for all tribes is survival, not the glory of the tribe or kingdom, or the personal interests of the foreign king.

Unless the war further threatens the survival of the vast majority of the Yi tribes, it will be difficult to provoke a full-scale confrontation.

This is also the reason why Gongsun Gong was able to quickly conquer the Liaodong barbarians. In fact, he just defeated a few of the people who took the lead in the resistance. The other barbarian tribes continued to live the same way as before.

Gongsun Gong and his sons had no way of governing the various Yi tribes, and they all lived in limited areas.

This is how their ancestors lived from generation to generation, and the position of Shogun established by the Grand Sima was obviously intended to change this inherent pattern and tradition.

Therefore, the intensity of future wars in Liaodong will continue to rise, and we must fight well from the beginning, otherwise we will become increasingly passive.

If they cannot gain an advantage, it is possible that the Dongyi countries will merge into one in the future.

Seeing that Xu Shu's opinions were conservative, he didn't want to invest resources in this area.

Liu Bei also thought it made sense. Regardless of whether there was a steam engine or not, with their current superior organizational strength, weapons and tactics, they could easily restore the situation during the Gongsun Gong period. Then they could win over the mature barbarians, lead the Xianbei and Wuhuan people to gradually nibble away at the Dongyi countries, and there would be no technical obstacles to swallowing up the Dongyi countries.

If we don't research the steam engine, it is impossible for the Dongyi countries to suddenly build a steam engine.

Seeing the slight change in Liu Bei's expression, Zhang Fei spoke up: "My lord, I am willing to go as an envoy to Guanzhong."

Guan Yu also spoke up: "It is difficult to accumulate resources in Liaodong. We don't do research and manufacture, but we must understand this thing in case of emergency."

"Yun Chang's concerns are reasonable."

Liu Bei nodded and looked at Zhang Fei: "The Grand Marshal is on a tour of the counties outside the Great Wall. Yide will bring the Korean ginseng and the mink fur coat to meet him. You must make our intentions clear and do not force it."

"Here."

Zhang Fei stood up and bowed solemnly. He also knew that it would be easier for him to accomplish his mission than people like Sun Qian, Mi Zhu and Liu Yan.

Because of Mi Fang's matter, Mi Zhu was unwilling to go to Guanzhong.

Liu Yan's case is even simpler. The great Confucian scholar Liu Ba disappeared inexplicably. Liu Yan's identity is similar to Liu Ba's, and he also has opinions about Guanzhong.

The Grand Marshal has always had some grudges against Confucian scholars and celebrities.

The fact that steam engines are developing so rapidly now shows that they were being developed and improved before, but the technology was kept secret. Not only was it kept secret from outsiders, but many officials and scholars inside the company were also unaware of it. This shows how strongly the Grand Marshal was wary of Confucian scholars.

After Zhang Fei sat down again, Liu Bei said, "Cao Cao was conferred the title of King of Qi, and the pseudo-kingdom in the southeast also sent envoys to Liaodong to lobby for the throne of King of Yan and to trade with me to purchase war horses. Although I don't like it, I want to take this opportunity to build a navy. What do you think?"

Xu Shu and other close ministers had already known about it, and the generals who returned from the outer garrisons were apparently hearing about it for the first time.

Zhang Fei curled his lips and said nothing. Zhao Yun stood up and saluted, his bright eyes piercing and his attitude clear: "Cao Cao's murder of the former emperor is indeed the most evil in the world. The fake court has kept him and used him, which is worthy of its fake status. In my opinion, you can ask the Grand Marshal to coordinate with Cheng Wuhou of Jingzhou to recruit hundreds of shipbuilders. With the forests in Liaodong, we can build a navy in a few years."

The navy is very important. If you want to expand trade, you must control the navy.

Previously, when Gongsun Kang and his brothers moved away, they burned all the ships of the Liaodong navy in a fire to show their sincerity and please the black bear.

Boatmen, naval talents and the like also followed the migration to Dai.

There is also the war with the Dongyi countries. As the war escalates, a powerful navy can ensure that troops can be deployed along the coast.

The most important thing is that with a navy, we can collect commercial taxes from maritime trade and resist interference from Yuan Shang and Cao Cao.

The biggest blow that the Battle of You and Ji dealt to Yuan Shang was the depletion of his war horse resources. Relying only on the horses he had currently accumulated, he could barely contain Cao's army in field battles, preventing Cao Cao from boldly dividing his troops and limiting the tactical range of Cao's army.

But if Cao Cao made up for his shortcomings in cavalry, then the two sides would be in a life-and-death situation.

In a field battle, the defeat of the main force can determine life or death.

Also because of the fear of Guanzhong and Cao's army, since the beginning of spring this year, the powerful families in Hebei have sent their sons and servants to Liaodong to buy property and leave it as a retreat.

Even Yuan Shang began to train his navy in Bohai, so that they could advance to fight against Cao's army or retreat to Liaodong.

It’s just that Cao Cao’s navy developed early, and he also annexed more than 10,000 of the largest pirates in the East China Sea, so he currently has an absolute advantage.

In a few years, Cao's naval advantage will decline.

After Zhao Yun expressed his position, no one spoke up to refute him. Opposing Cao Cao was the biggest correct move within the group.

The Southeastern Court recruited Cao Cao, so the Southeastern Court was destined to be negative.

Especially now that the southeastern court violated the White Horse Oath and successively conferred titles of king on Cao Cao, Yuan Shang and Huang Zu, it caused an uproar in public opinion.

Accepting the title of King of Yan from the Southeastern Court at this time is like jumping into a toilet.

So Liu Bei said: "Zilong's words make sense. It would be better if Yide went first and Zilong followed. In this way, even if the Grand Marshal was unwilling to teach the steam engine, he would also coordinate the shipbuilding work."

Zhao Yun cupped his hands and said, "I obey your command."

(End of this chapter)