Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 611: Harvest in the East
Before Zhang Fei left, Zhao Yun arrived.

On the way to the Southern Tour to the Weaving House, seven steam carriages started slowly.

Zhao Yun only rested for one night before changing into the silver-scale armor that was lent to him and getting on the carriage with Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei was wearing the black lacquered scale armor that was lent to him. The two men stood on the roof of the car in silence.

The heavily armored warriors in Guanzhong are already good at attacking strongholds. With such a powerful steam engine, the giant siege equipment can be directly connected to the city walls.

The later fortified cities and city walls were just decorations for Guanzhong.

As for Guanzhong's field combat capability, to be honest, it is strong but too crude, and it all depends on the officers and soldiers' fierceness, bravery and fearlessness of death.

There was also Taishi Wengong and the Iron Cavalry. In Zhang Fei's eyes, although they were strong on the battlefield, they were always mediocre and could not achieve spectacular results.

In Zhang Fei's eyes, the best way is to defeat the enemy with a small force and win against the odds, using sophisticated tactics.

The cavalry in Guanzhong used tactics that normal people could understand and execute, and they were not sophisticated.

Zhao Yun had fought with Lu Bu before and had long felt that this was not a living person.

Having seen the Iron Cavalry's rigid and inflexible tactical responses on the battlefield, Zhao Yun had a stronger premonition in this regard.

Training the army to the point where they can be rigid and mechanically execute military orders is the form of a famous general and a strong army today.

But this kind of rigidity is limited, and there is also a bottom line of being able to respond flexibly in times of battle.

As for the Iron Cavalry, they were completely unable to seize the fleeting opportunity and could only kill.

Although this is already terrifying, it is obvious that a slight change in formation, displacement, infiltration, and assault can defeat the opponent's command core; but they just turn a blind eye to it, which can no longer be explained by stupidity.

No matter what, Zhao Yun can still tolerate the other party's existence and continue to protect the secret.

At least the Iron Cavalry will not kill good people, and they are the pillar of the Grand Marshal's ability to defeat the enemy with a small force and enforce strict battlefield discipline.

What he saw and heard along the way to Guanzhong also made him clearly realize the significance of the Iron Cavalry.

Such a powerful and extremely order-abiding elite force is the magic weapon for suppressing the internal civil and military order in Guanzhong.

Only when civil and military officials maintain order can the lower-class military and civilians everywhere live a peaceful life.

We stayed in the western suburbs of Chang'an that night, and the steam engine was still burning.

In the light of a nearby campfire, a group of soldiers pushed a cart of hunted wild boars.

Then a large amount of high-pressure and high-temperature steam gushed out, and several personal soldiers who were good at shedding hair came forward to get busy.

Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei saw this from afar and felt suddenly dejected.

No matter how elite and brave the soldiers were, they could not withstand the impact of such strong steam.

There's no need to even burn your hands, feet, or torso, or burn you to death, just spray it in the face.

Not only will they lose their combat effectiveness on the spot, but they will also interfere with and frighten friendly forces.

Zhao Yun liked to think defensively and counterattack. The first thing he thought of was to install steam engines on city walls and enemy towers. He could even open the city gates to allow the enemy to enter and exit when fighting.

Whoever dares to come and release the steam, the city gate corridor will be a shortcut to the underworld.

Such a magical weapon was definitely not developed recently.

Based on Zhao Yun's understanding of black bears, he must have started to manufacture it after entering Guanzhong. This kind of artifact is not easy to make.

It is very likely that the steam engine, which was secretly developed, had already become practical when the huge chariots pulled by animals were first built.

So it was not a steam engine developed last winter at all. Before that, Guanzhong had already mastered a practical steam engine.

Unlike Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei observed from a distance for a moment and smiled: "This is not the way to shave pig hair. The water temperature should not be too low or too hot."

Zhao Yun didn't understand this, so he said, "Third brother, I'm afraid this steam engine won't be obtained easily."

"Even without the steam engine, we will still conquer the Dongyi."

Zhang Fei folded his arms and turned his head to look further away, where a wooden platform was being built in preparation for the hot air balloon launch tomorrow.

He has witnessed hot air balloon flight and the process of hot air balloon repair on Ganquan Mountain. Now he has a deep understanding of and mastered the structure and flight principles of hot air balloons.

So now I feel anxious and don’t feel lost.

When he goes back and makes a similar flying Kongming lantern... then the most difficult reconnaissance task for the Dongyi nations will be easily solved.

There are not many Dongyi tribes in the Liaodong plain and swamp area.

After generations of competition, the Dongyi people have moved into the mountains, river valleys and mountain valleys.

The Dongyi ancestors who were able to stay in the plains had already become Han people in border counties; the Han people in Liaodong could not survive and took refuge in the mountains and forests, and over time they became Dongyi. In short, the clear distinction between living areas led to the Dongyi being good at fishing, hunting and gathering, and also good at running in the mountains and hiding in the mountains and forests.

The sustainable war plan is to advance along several major rivers in Liaodong and seize the cultivated land in the river valleys.

The trouble is to detect the whereabouts of Dongyi and to be vigilant against their attacks.

When there is a giant Kongming lantern that can carry people into the sky, the advantages of the Dongyi will disappear, and our side will have the tactical initiative brought by the observation field of view.

At the wooden platform, after the structure was stable, the royal soldiers and the shogunate's retainers worked together to assemble the hot air balloon.

When they started to pump hot air into the air bags placed on the wooden platform, most of the people left.

In the nearby barracks, Black Bear put down his pen, picked up a fresh Hedong date on the table, put it in his mouth, spit out the date pit, and turned his head to look at Lu Bu who was sitting under the lamp and reading Wang Can's version of "Draft of the Later Han Dynasty".

I just controlled him to flip through the books like this to kill time and enrich his spiritual world, so as not to surprise others.

Then Black Bear went to observe Dian Wei who was taking a nap with his eyes closed near the door, and could clearly feel the difference between the two Taoist soldiers.

When Lu Bu opened the book, he was more in harmony with the surrounding environment and did not seem out of place.

There seemed to be an air film between Dian Wei and the surrounding environment. Dian Wei inside the air film was one kind of light and shadow, while the surrounding scenery outside the air film was another kind of halo.

The black bear grabbed a handful of black mana with his right hand and threw it towards Lu Bu. Most of the black mana poured in, but it was soon full. The subsequent black mana was bounced away, and then the black mana that poured in at the beginning was repelled and flew back to hover near the black bear.

He grabbed the same amount of black magic power, which was enough to advance to level eight, and threw it to Dian Wei, but less than one-fifth of it flowed in.

Ignoring the black magic that was returning one after another, Black Bear turned his head to look at Zhuge Jin on duty: "Mr. Ziyu?"

"Your Majesty?"

Zhuge Jin woke up with a start, rubbed his eyes, and sat up straight: "What's the matter, Your Majesty?"

"After arranging the transcription, you can go to bed early."

Black Bear pushed a stack of documents in front of him to Zhuge Jin. Zhuge Jin reached out to take it and instinctively began to flip through it. These were a series of military orders for transferring grain.

Originally, food control was strict, and production units in various places basically collected grain and stored it in warehouses, and then redistributed it according to food consumption.

This year, grain control was relaxed. Although private grain trading and transportation were prohibited, military grain reserves were no longer regulated. Only grain varieties and rations were retained, and excess grain had to be sold to government warehouses.

The movement of grain within these government warehouses was strictly controlled.

So far, there has been no warehouse burning incidents, but there have been severe punishments, and if caught, the entire group will be implicated. Hancheng Mine needs such talents.

Dogs that can catch mice, as well as civet cats and the like, are also given priority in distribution to various granaries.

Every time there was a shortage of granaries, except for the cats, dogs, and rats who still had their iron rice bowls in the granary, all other officials and guards who could move, along with their families, were sent to Hancheng.

As for greed for other things, there is still room for lenient treatment.

There was no room for maneuver with regard to grain, and because of the combination of grain control, liquor monopoly, and prohibition on transporting grain without orders, problems with granaries were always controllable.

But no matter how controllable it is, problems will occasionally arise.

This large-scale transfer of grain from various places in Guanzhong to Chencang will inevitably lead to inspection of the stored grain. If it is not properly preserved, or if the loss of grain exceeds the normal loss, then a lot of people will inevitably be in trouble.

Zhuge Jin did not dare to delay and was about to get up to arrange the transcription. He also had to check the transcribed files and could not rest assured until they were filed.

Seeing that he was about to leave, Black Bear stood up and stuffed a few sweet dates into Zhuge Jin's hands, saying, "Mr. Ziyu's marriage can't be delayed any longer. Do you have a suitable candidate?"

"When I was in Jiangdong, I also had admirers, but I am a wanderer and it is difficult for me to settle down."

Zhuge Jin thought for a moment and answered truthfully: "After entering Guanzhong, I lost contact with Jiangdong. Later, when my friend came to Guanzhong, I learned that the woman had been selected into the pseudo-imperial court."

Black Bear was surprised when he heard this and asked casually, "How old is the girl?"

"When I first met you..."

Zhuge Jin was in an even more embarrassing situation, and Hei Xiong also understood the inconveniences of marriage for scholars, especially for down-and-out middle-level scholars.

There is still room for selection for high-level scholars, and low-level scholars can also be accommodated, but it is really difficult for middle-level scholars who have lost their families and become exiled.

Most likely, he has taken a fancy to a young girl from some family and wants to marry her after he has established himself in the officialdom.

She was only recently selected to join Liu Fu's court, and if you think about three or four years ago, it's not difficult to guess the girl's age.

Patting Zhuge Jin on the shoulder, Black Bear said, "Many people have entrusted Dongxiang with this matter. If you don't have a sweetheart, I will leave the marriage to Mrs. Dongxiang."

"Yes, I will follow your Majesty's orders."

(End of this chapter)