The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 100: The difference between Li Yi's talent and that of Han Canal (Please subscribe!)

Sun Ce reorganized his troops in Qu'a, preparing to march into Wujun the following year.

Before that, the first thing that needed to be solved was the food and fodder problem.

Cheng Pu suggested:
"I heard that Xuzhou had a good harvest last year, and if you go north from Qu'a Crossing the River, you will reach Guangling."

"I heard that Guangling Governor Chen Deng is a man of great courage. Why don't you send someone to borrow some food from him?"

Although Sun Ce did not have high hopes for borrowing grain, at this critical moment.

People should be sent wherever there is an opportunity to raise food.

Don't miss any opportunity.

"Good, I will send someone to Guangling to meet Chen Deng."

"Let's talk about borrowing grain."

"Hey! No way."

The person who spoke was Huang Gai.

"I've heard people say that Chen Yuanlong is a man of great character, with a heroic spirit, and he is quite famous in Guangling."

"Some people said that when he passed through Guangling during the chaos, he met Chen Yuanlong."

"Who would have thought that Chen Deng had no intention of being the host or the guest? He did not speak to the other for a long time. He went to sleep on the big bed and asked the guest to sit or lie down on the bed."

"He is so rude and lazy."

"I thought I would send an envoy to ask for food, but they would not agree."

After hearing Chen Deng's interesting story, Sun Ce became interested.

"Good! He is a generous and free-spirited person."

"In that case, I will take a boat to Guangling and ask Chen Yuanlong for food."

This!
When they heard that Sun Ce was going to Guangling in person, all the generals tried to dissuade him:
"Why bother the young master to go in person to borrow grain?"

"Just send an envoy yourself."

Sun Ce smiled and said:

"Didn't you hear what Gong Fu said just now? This Chen Yuanlong has a temper, and it's not something that ordinary envoys can see."

"I will go there myself. If I can borrow some grain, then I will lend it. If I can't, then forget it."

Anyway, Sun Ce was free, so he was reorganizing his troops in Qu'a and would not be able to march into Wujun until next year.

"Young Master, your injuries..."

Cheng Pu looked at Sun Ce's left leg worriedly.

Sun Ce's leg injury was caused by a stray arrow when he was attacking Niuzhu.

He was seriously injured at the time and could not ride a horse, so his subordinates had to carry him back to the camp to heal his wounds.

So Sun Ce asked people to spread rumors that he had been shot to death.

Upon hearing the news, Zuo Rong was overjoyed and immediately led his troops to attack Sun Ce's camp.

Sun Ce first sent a small force of several hundred people to challenge and lure the enemy, while he himself ambushed behind.

When Zuo Rong was surrounded, Sun Ce suddenly rushed out and his leg injury miraculously healed.

In one battle, he killed more than a thousand of Zuo Rong's followers, and then turned from defense to offense and attacked Zuo Rong's camp.

He ordered his soldiers to shout loudly:
"How is Sun Lang?"

The sound shook the enemy camp and the earth trembled.

Many enemy soldiers were frightened and fled overnight.

After this battle, the name of the Little Overlord gradually spread.

Now that the war was over, Sun Ce successfully captured Dantu and Qu'a counties from Liu Yao.

He is now recuperating in Qu'a.

Generals such as Cheng Pu understood that Sun Ce's previous leg injury had not healed, and it was he who boosted morale and endured the pain to fight the enemy.

Now that his injury has worsened, everyone hopes that Sun Ce can stay in Qu'a to recuperate.

However, Sun Ce was a stubborn person and insisted on going to Guangling to meet Chen Deng.

Cheng Pu and others asked:

"If the young master leaves, who will take care of the affairs of Qu'a?"

Sun Ce answered without hesitation:
"When I'm not around, Gongjin will decide all matters, big or small."

Not only did Sun Ce and Zhou Yu have a deep relationship, but Sun Ce also had great trust in Zhou Yu's abilities.

When Zhou Yu came to him, Sun Ce said to him, "I have you, it is a blessing."

With you, everything can be successful.

Xu Baoheng once wrote a poem "Ugly Slave" to praise their friendship.

——"After three years of separation, every time I see Sun Lang, I talk about Zhou Lang, saying that I miss him so much."

So when Sun Ce was leaving now, he did not hand over power to Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and other veteran generals from Sun Jian's time.

Instead, he gave it to Zhou Yu, who was of the same age as him.

"Brother, don't worry. Yu will take care of everything in Qu'a."

Zhou Yu patted Sun Ce's chest and assured him, and Sun Ce left with peace of mind.

He led eight hundred strong soldiers, crossed the river by boat, and headed towards Guangling.

……

In Xuzhou, Liu Bei's army was finally able to set out again after several days of rest.

Because Yuan Shu is far from being comparable to Yuan Tan.

Yuan Tan sent troops privately without his father's permission.

The person Liu Bei was going to challenge this time was Yuan Gonglu, a man from Huainan who was truly a third-generation official.

In this regard, Liu Bei did not dare to underestimate the enemy.

Go south to Guangling to welcome Yuan Shu's army.

Liu Bei personally led the army into battle, with Li Yi as his chief strategist and Liu Ye as his assistant military officer.

Guan Yu led his troops and also marched south from Guangling, but he took the western route and stationed in Zhongli.

Zhongli is the gateway to Jiujiang County. Once Zhongli is lost, the army can march straight in and threaten Yuan Shu's old nest Shouchun.

So Liu Bei's intention was very clear. He sent Guan Yu and his troops to Zhongli in order to tie down part of Yuan Shu's troops.

If Yuan Shu didn't want to be driven back to his hometown, he had to send troops to reinforce Zhongli.

In this way, the pressure on Liu Bei's troops can be shared.

This time,

Liu Bei not only transferred Zang Ba's Taishan soldiers, but also asked Mi Zhu to provide 5,000 Donghai County soldiers.

As for Liu Bei's own troops, Cao Bao's Danyang troops, and the new soldiers trained by Qian Zhao, they all participated in the battle.

A total of 30,000 troops were mobilized in this mobilization.

This does not include the troops in Guangling. After the army joins Chen Deng in Guangling, the number will increase significantly.

I guess Yuan Shu never dreamed that Liu Bei would only be in Xuzhou for one year.

They were able to gather 30,000 infantry and cavalry from the devastated Xuzhou.

The Xuzhou strategy has been fully launched.

Guan Yu's troops were more like a sharp blade, piercing directly into Yuan Shu's waist.

The urgent military information from the front line was quickly transmitted back to Shouchun.

"What!?"

"Liu Bei is coming at me!"

Yuan Shu's eyes widened in shock.

I thought to myself that this script was wrong. Shouldn't Liu Bei be busy dealing with Guo Gong and Yuan Tan's troops now?
How could he possibly free up his hands to deal with me?
After a while, another scout came back.

It turned out that he was a spy sent by Yuan Shu to investigate the troops of Guo Gong and Yuan Tan.

"How about it?"

Without waiting for the spy to salute, Yuan Shu asked impatiently.

"General, Yuan Tan has withdrawn his troops back to Qingzhou."

"Guo Gong's troops retreated back to Liang State without engaging Liu Bei."

When Yuan Shu heard this, he was struck by lightning!
"No, it's impossible."

"Absolutely impossible!"

"How could Liu Bei command his troops so quickly?"

"You managed to pacify the other two armies before I knew the military situation on the front line!"

Yuan Shu became angrier and angrier as he spoke, almost cursing out loud.

"The vertical part is not enough for planning!"

Yuan Shu cursed Guo Gong and Yuan Tan for being incompetent and unable to contain Liu Bei's troops.

He originally wanted to wait until Liu Bei's troops were tied down by Guo Gong and Yuan Tan before letting Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui on the front line advance.

As a result, now all the troops along the way have been defeated, and the troops along the way simply retreated without fighting.

And his Yuan Shu's army wasted a lot of money and food on the front line!

This is really unreasonable.

"Since these two armies are unreliable, Yuan will personally come and compete with this big-eared thief!"

……

Guangling.

Liu Bei continued to advance at a rapid pace, and the army soon arrived at Guangling, thanks mainly to his military orders, which he ordered his soldiers to travel day and night.

As soon as the soldiers arrive at Guangling City, they will be rewarded with wine and meat and a grand banquet will be held for the three armies!

In this era, it is very difficult to eat meat.

So when they heard the military order, every soldier relied on this idea and rushed on their way.

In the end, Liu Bei arrived in Guangling County earlier than Yuan Shu and Sun Ce.

Liu Bei also distributed wine and meat to the soldiers of the three armies as promised.

This is why war costs money.

Soldiers need rewards from time to time.

Rewards are given for winning a battle, rewards are given before going out to war, rewards are given when marching, and rewards are given before fighting the enemy.

There's no way around it, war is a matter of life and death.

From the moment a soldier steps onto the battlefield, he has already entrusted his life to his lord.

If you don't treat them well with good food and wine, how can the soldiers be willing to fight for you?

Liu Bei arrived in Guangling early and was prepared to defend against the enemy.

In the past few days, everyone has been on high alert, waiting for the arrival of Yuan Shu's army.

Li Yi was happy to be free. He stood on the city wall of Guangling and looked at the Han Canal.

Chen Deng was standing next to him.

Chen Deng has a free and easy-going and generous personality. He usually makes friends with people he likes.

However, Chen Deng only liked two people in his life, Liu Bei and Li Yi.

As the governor of Xuzhou, Liu Bei was busy with affairs and had no time to accompany Chen Deng on the tour.

Chen Deng took the initiative to go up to the city wall to find Li Yi.

"It has only been a few months, and Yuanlong has been able to build the Hangou River to this point."

“It’s really amazing.”

Li Yi was amazed that in addition to military affairs, diplomacy and domestic affairs, Chen Deng was also an expert in construction and agriculture.

He is truly a hexagonal warrior.

"No, no, my talent is far inferior to Ziyu's."

Chen Deng joked with a smile.

"Besides, river construction is a waste of money and manpower."

"The people of Guangling suffered from the hardship of climbing, and this was the fault of climbing."

"otherwise!"

Li Yi rejected Chen Deng's statement.

"Guangling had previously been looted by Zuo Rong, leaving a large number of people displaced and homeless."

"But when I came to Guangling, the number of refugees I saw along the way was even less than that in Xiapi."

"The reason is that Yuanlong gathered these refugees and asked them to build the river."

"This is a move that benefits the country and the people, how can it cost the people money and time?"

"The people of Guangling are too late to thank you, Yuanlong."

Bringing together the refugees from Guangling can not only reduce social unrest.

It can also provide jobs for these homeless people.

Although the salary is not high, at least the meals are provided.

In this world, being able to eat and not starve to death is a blessing from heaven.

So as Li Yi said, Chen Deng organized the construction of the Hang Canal.

Not only did it not cause resentment from the people, but it instead attracted praise from many people, who all praised the prefect's virtue.

Of course, another reason is that the geographical location of the Hangou River is relatively good.

There was almost no occupation of civilians' houses along the way.

Otherwise, the public outrage that would arise would be a headache for even Chen Deng.

Li Yi continued speaking.

"Ten thousand steps back."

"Even the construction of the Hangou Canal is a waste of money and labor."

"That was a sin at the time, but the merit will last forever."

"Once this river is successfully constructed, it will surely benefit all people!"

Li Yi was telling the truth.

The Hangou Canal is actually the predecessor of the Sui Grand Canal.

It's just like the Great Wall of Qin.

Everyone only remembers that the Qin Dynasty built the Great Wall and the Sui Dynasty dug the canal.

However, he ignored the construction of the Great Wall by Yan, Zhao and other countries.

It also ignores the construction of the Han Canal by King Fuchai of Wu and Chen Deng of the Three Kingdoms.

These people have made indelible contributions to the Great Wall and the Han Canal.

"By the way, how is Yuanlong's naval training in Guangling going?" Li Yi asked.

He kept Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin with Chen Deng so that Chen Deng could help train the navy.

So that we can go south in the future.

"It's going well so far, but..."

Chen Deng changed the subject and said helplessly:
"Although I have built the Han Canal in Guangling, the water is shallow and silted up, so large ships cannot pass through."

"Training a small-scale navy will be enough to deal with it."

"But if we want to train the navy on a large scale, it will be stretched to its limits."

"If we want to form a complete navy with only the current efficiency."

"At least three years, at most... Oh, I'm afraid it will take up to five years."

Having said this, Chen Deng secretly glanced at Li Yi's face and saw that there was no change in his expression.

I secretly admired his determination, and then continued:
"But I don't think Envoy Liu will wait three years."

"Not bad!"

Li Yi blurted out, "The strategy that my lord and I have agreed on is to go south first and then north."

"The south has many lakes, seas and rivers. Without a complete navy, how can we establish a strong presence here?"

"Time is of the essence. We must not set a three-year deadline."

Chen Deng thought to himself, three years is just my conservative estimate.

Judging from the current efficiency of training the navy, it is likely to take five years.

Li Yi suddenly said:
"Guangling also has many lakes, seas and rivers. Is there no other place to train the navy?"

"……Um."

Chen Deng pondered for a while, then waved his hand and pointed to the south.

"South of Guangling, there is a county called Jiangdu. The terrain there is flat and it is adjacent to the Yangtze River. It is a place of God-given good harbor."

"only……"

Li Yi took the initiative to answer:
"It's just that this place has always been invaded by Niuzhu in the south and Dantu in the east, so it's not convenient to build a port."

Chen Deng nodded and added:

"Not only that, there are many pirates in the country. After I took office in Guangling, I have cleared out all the pirates in the country. They are rarely seen in the country now."

"But people on the river are free to come and go, but I can't control the pirates here."

Chen Deng expressed his helplessness.

Jiangdu is a good place, but it is too dangerous to be on the Yangtze River.

Not to mention the threats from Niuzhu and Dantu in the south, the pirates alone are enough to give people a headache.

What’s more, just after training during the day, pirates come to rob at night.

How can we train troops like this?
Li Yi suddenly had an idea:
"If I can recruit these pirates, I can use them for my own benefit."

"Wouldn't it be possible to maintain peace on the river and allow my athletes to learn to swim in Jiangdu?"

Chen Deng shook his head and sighed:

"How can it be that easy?"

"The pirates on this river are used to being rampant. Let alone surrendering, it's hard to say whether we can even see them again."

"How do you know if you don't try?"

Li Yi seemed very confident about this.

"The world is bustling for profit, and the world is bustling for profit."

"I believe that no one is born to be a thief. As long as you give them enough benefits, even the hardest-hearted pirates will be tempted."

After that, he asked Chen Deng again.

"Among the bandits on the river, who is the most powerful?"

Chen Deng thought for a while and said slowly:

"There is a pirate named Xuezhou who roams the rivers and seas, and his followers are said to number more than 10,000."

"This man should be the hero on the river."

……

(End of this chapter)