My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 168 The Emperor wants to give us a good name for free, so we can’t refuse
"Promote the Left General Liu Bei to General of Chariots and Cavalry, concurrently command the Chief of the Imperial Clan, transfer him to Marquis of Wuchang, and change the name of Xiakou County to Wuchang, with a fief of 5,000 households."

"General Zhuge Jin was granted the title of Marquis of Zhu (the county lord of each county), with a fief of 3,000 households."

"Lieutenant General Guan Yu, who made great contributions in conquering Hefei and Shouchun, was promoted to General of Annan, Governor of Jiujiang, and granted the title of Marquis of Han Shouting, with a fief of 500 households."

"Zhang Fei, the commander of the army, expanded the territory to Liyang, beheaded Liu Xun, was promoted to deputy general, and was granted the title of Marquis of Duting."

"Zhao Yun, the commander of Guangling, defeated Huailing, subdued Yicheng, killed Ji Ling, was promoted to General of the Guards, and was granted the title of Marquis of Duting."

"Taishi Ci, the commander of the Zan Army, conquered Shucheng and Lu'an, and was promoted to Lieutenant General of the Zan Army and granted the title of Marquis of Guannei."

"Gan Ning, the commander of Yuzhang, conquered Wankou and Wancheng, beheaded Chen Lan, was promoted to General of the Fu Army, and was granted the title of Marquis of Guannei."

After Liu Bei welcomed Pei Mao, the Minister of Imperial Sacrifice, he entered Wuhu City after a series of formalities and set up an incense table in the Left General's Mansion.
When everything was ready, Pei Mao finally took out the imperial edict that rewarded the generals and read it out in public, speaking with ups and downs, pausing after each word, very solemnly.

Liu Bei and the others were respectful throughout the whole process, without making a sound. After Pei Mao finished reading, Liu Bei lowered his head and took small steps forward, raised his hand above his head, took the imperial edict, and said, "I obey your orders."

The generals who were mentioned were naturally a little excited. Especially Guan Yu, who was promoted to General of Annan, which made his beard tremble. After all, this was an official position given by the Han Emperor, and it was very valuable. Even if Guan Yu didn't care much about benefits, he cared a lot about reputation.

This is an affirmation of one's own reputation!

In the general environment of the third year of Jian'an, although the official positions had been devalued wave after wave, even a general of Sipingsi'an level would only be granted to a small prince or an important military general directly under the court of Xudu.

It was unprecedented that the generals under the command of the local princes of the outer town were added to the Si'an by the court. Although Si'an was already the lowest level among the "Four Expeditions, Four Towns, Four Peaces, and Four Ans", this was also a qualitative breakthrough.

Guan Yu could not help but feel a little emotional: Cao Sikong seemed to value him particularly, and promoted him repeatedly out of turn. His attitude towards him was also different from that towards other generals around his elder brother... Unfortunately, Cao Sikong's recent signs of deceiving the emperor have become more and more obvious. A while ago, he just killed Zhao Yilang, who suggested that the emperor should rule the country himself. I'm afraid they will have different ideas and cannot work together in the future.

As for the other generals, Zhang Fei was relieved. He had a strong sense of crisis in the past two years. Although he had previously looked for opportunities to ask Mr. Ziyu to give him a chance to make meritorious deeds and conquered Chu County and other places, it was ultimately not enough to wash away the shame of losing his eldest brother's Xuzhou two and a half years ago.

Killing Yuan's general Liu Xun this time was a great achievement, comparable to Zilong's capture of Yicheng and killing Ji Ling. After all, Zhang Fei's initial official position was higher than Zhao Yun's. Zhao Yun also left the team and stayed at home for two or three years, so he started a little behind. In the end, Zhang Fei's official position was temporarily one level higher than Zhao Yun.

From then on, Zhang Fei could finally call "Big Brother" with confidence in front of others. Before, when he was most aggrieved, Zhang Fei only dared to call him Big Brother in private occasions when only Liu, Guan, Zhang, Zhao and Zhuge were present. Once he was in occasions with many outsiders, he had to hold it back, and occasionally he even changed his words and called him Lord against his will because he felt too embarrassed to face people.

I was afraid that others would say behind my back, "You are the one who lost Xuzhou and caused the lord to waste two years. How dare you call the lord big brother?"

Although in fact no one had ever gossiped about him, Zhang Fei just felt ashamed and guilty about it, but today he finally got rid of this worry.

Big Brother's power now exceeds that of when he first controlled Xuzhou! Although he claimed to control Xuzhou, he actually controlled only three counties, namely Pengcheng, Xiapi and Donghai. Now he controls five counties, and his population, land and troops have all exceeded his peak period.

Among the remaining three generals who were awarded titles, the most proud one was naturally Gan Ning. In order to keep it secret last year, he openly gave the credit for the Chungu naval battle to Guan Yu, allowing him to stay in the "Captain of the Great Perfection" realm for one more year. Now he has finally skipped the rank of Colonel and directly become General of the Central Army.

As for Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci, they were relatively calm. Taishi Ci's promotion was the lowest, but his contributions were not that great. After returning from Liu Yao, he would definitely need some adjustment. Zhao Yun's basic official position was too low, and he was already very satisfied with the result.

Other civil servants under Liu Bei were also promoted and given titles, but only high-ranking civil servants at the level of a prefecture governor were mentioned in the imperial edict. Other officials below the level of prefect governor, who were previously recruited by Liu Bei's Zuo Jiangjun Mansion or Yangzhou Mu Mansion, were not worthy of being mentioned in the imperial edict.

Liu Bei now has two prefects under his command who have been appointed by the imperial court, namely, Danyang Prefect Zhuge Jin, Donghai Prefect Mi Zhu, and Yuzhang Prefect Zhuge Xuan.

Another nominal Guangling prefect, Chen Deng, is still undercover in Lu Bu's camp. He is almost the second-in-command of the camp, so naturally he is not among the people to be rewarded.

Zhuge Jin was the only one among the three prefects who was promoted to a county marquis. The others had no merits and could only receive a small honor.

Now Liu Bei had conquered two more counties. Guan Yu was appointed as the prefect of Jiujiang County, and other military generals were not qualified to be prefects, so he had to choose from civil officials, and finally Chen Qun was appointed as the prefect of Lujiang County.

Lu Su had too little experience, and Sun Qian and Jian Yong were not capable of local governance, so Liu Bei had to keep them in the shogunate to do other things.

Only Chen Qun had served as the Inspector General of Yuzhou before Liu Bei lost Xuzhou, and he had a good family background, so the court would easily accept him as the prefect.

The rest of the people, such as Zhuge Liang and Lu Su, could not be mentioned in the imperial edict. Fortunately, Liu Bei was promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry, so he could appoint himself to positions such as Chief Clerk, Military Assistant, Chief Clerk, and Governor.

Zhuge Liang's "Chief Secretary of the Left General" became "Chief Secretary of the General of Chariots and Cavalry", which was also a significant promotion. Similarly, Lu Su also became "Eastern Cao Yuan of the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion".

……

The matter of conferring official titles and receiving rewards came to an end here, and Liu Bei would of course hold a banquet to entertain Pei Mao.

Wuhu is located on the banks of the Yangtze River and backed by the Huangshan mountainous area in southern Anhui. In years of famine, fine meat was rare, so fresh river game was used as a substitute.

Wuhu is hundreds of miles farther from the sea than Guangling. No saltwater fish can be caught in the Yangtze River here, so you won't see sea bass or Songjiang bass at the banquet.

Instead, there are only Yangtze River knifefish, several-foot-long sturgeons, as well as mandarin fish and snakehead fish.

As for wild game, deer, roe deer and muntjac are mostly used as entertainment.

Even though Pei Mao had been treated with courtesy by Zhuge Liang in Hefei, he was still amazed when he saw the grand banquet held by Liu Bei. He was from the north and had been an official in Hedong and Chang'an. To him, Xudu was already considered the south. This was his first time to the south of the Yangtze River, and there were many things Pei Mao had never seen before.

Many northerners of this era never saw sturgeons or porpoises, which were several feet long or even nearly ten feet long, in their entire lives. In Pei Mao's impression, two-foot-long Yellow River carp and large catfish were already the growth limit of fish.

And at today's banquet, this kind of big fish seemed to be on every table and every plate, and it was not a rare thing.

Before Pei Mao picked up his chopsticks, he could not help but sigh: "Although the land of Jiangbei is vast and sparsely populated, it is rich in resources. No wonder the people can still survive on fruits, nuts, clams and mussels despite the tyrant Yuan's heavy taxes. Now that the evil traitors have been eliminated and there are generals of chariots and cavalry guarding Huaiyang, I believe that within a few years, the people will be well-off."

Liu Bei: "Mr. Pei, you are too kind. It is just that farming is difficult and people's livelihood is in decline. Fishing and woodcutting can make up for the loss. It is enough for me to avoid starving to death in the wild. How dare I ask for more!"

Pei Mao listened to Liu Bei's humble words, and suddenly remembered something, and took the initiative to ask: "General Chariot and Cavalry is too modest. I have been on a tour of the emperor's reign and have traveled to many places. Except for General Yuan in Jizhou, I have never seen people as prosperous as those in Danyang.

The day before yesterday, I passed through Hefei. In the fields, there were still newly planted wheat seedlings in the cold winter, and they were neatly arranged. Yuan Ni Fang was forced to leave only two months ago, but he was able to intensify the promotion of agriculture to such an extent. Even the capable officials in ancient times could not do this. I heard that this was all the good governance of Zhuge Changshi. Is this true? "

Liu Bei nodded and said: "The affairs of Lujiang and Jiujiang were indeed all taken care of by Kong Ming. Pei Gong praised you too much."

Pei Mao then asked, "But as far as I know, the north grows wheat and the south grows rice. Huainan has been growing rice for many years. Why are they now growing wheat?"

Liu Bei was slightly speechless for a moment, not knowing how far to talk about and to what extent to reveal the secrets of rice-wheat rotation and rice transplanting, and he subconsciously touched his beard.

Fortunately, Zhuge Jin, who was standing next to him, reacted quickly and took over the conversation with a smile, and reported to Pei Mao: "Pei Gong, please forgive me for making a fool of myself. There are also many northern civil and military officials under the command of the General of Chariots and Cavalry. I have long known that winter wheat in the north can be planted in September and October, and can be harvested in early May of the following year. If we plant spring rice, we need to plant it in February of the following year and harvest it at the end of August.

Lujiang and Jiujiang are devastated, and the people's surplus grain is about to run out. The general is afraid that the local people will not survive the lean season from May to August next year, so he would rather reduce production so that the people can have a harvest as soon as possible. "

At that time, people already knew that the yield per mu of wheat was definitely lower than that of rice, about 20% lower. In the south, where rice could be grown, the land was wasted on wheat, and anyone with a discerning eye could definitely see that it was unreasonable.

This time, the imperial envoys were entering the country, so it was not easy to prevent them from inspecting. And this year, the winter wheat promotion area was very large, almost covering one or two counties, which was at least ten times larger than the scale of one or two counties last year.

It was impossible to hide such a large promotion area from the imperial envoys. No matter which route Pei Mao took to cross the border, he would see a vast field of wheat seedlings. So this loophole really needed to be plugged.

After hearing this, Pei Mao felt that it made sense, but he also felt a little regretful: "Then from May to September next year, after the wheat harvest in midsummer, the fields will be barren? Isn't that a pity?"

Zhuge Jin explained in detail: "We have also thought that maybe after the wheat is harvested in May next year, we can plant a season of beans. Although the yield is not high, it can fertilize the fields and increase the yield of winter wheat. In addition, we also have the idea of rotating rice and wheat and having two crops a year, but we haven't tried it yet. We are afraid that the growth period will not be enough. We can only try it slowly and dare not rush."

Zhuge Jin openly talked about the concept of rice-wheat rotation but did not reveal any technical details. The most critical one was "Before pulling up the seedlings and transplanting them, you must store water to soak the soil to ensure that the mud is soft enough so that the roots of the rice seedlings will not be damaged by transplanting." If this point is not known, no matter how many times you pull up the seedlings, the roots will be cut off, and you will become a negative example of the idiom "pulling up the seedlings to help them grow."

Given Cao Cao's cautious attitude, if he had not done sufficient experiments to ensure the survival rate, he would definitely not have promoted it rashly on a large scale, nor would he have harmed the people. Moreover, Cao Cao could not use this technology for the time being, because Cao Cao's territory had become "vast and sparsely populated", and the population had dropped significantly due to years of war.

Cao Cao never gave the people a rest and forced war to support the war. Even if he gave each citizen two plots of land, one for growing wheat in winter and summer and one for growing rice in spring and autumn, there were still enough barren land for him to cause trouble.

After listening to Zhuge Jin's expression, Liu Bei's expression was somewhat relieved, but also a little uneasy. He felt that it was more appropriate to say it this way. If he were allowed to speak himself, he basically had no better choice. He could not completely ignore the questions of the court angel.

Moreover, Liu Bei also knew that this technology could not be learned in the north. Even if the north had the rice transplanting technology, the growing period of crops would not be enough for the two seasons to rotate.

But if the people along the Huaibei River can really learn it, the land of the Han River will definitely be able to support a lot more people in the future. If the Han River Basin can also learn it, it will be better for the country in the long run.

Pei Mao seemed to understand what he heard, but just this idea shocked him: "Is there a wonderful way to rotate rice and wheat twice a year? Wouldn't that feed many more people?

If this had been done earlier, how could the world not have suffered from hunger and the Yellow Turban Rebellion? If this method is really implemented in the future, with your majesty's saintly virtue, wouldn't you summon Zhuge Changshi to the capital to serve as the Minister of Agriculture? By then, the General of Chariots and Cavalry will have to give up his love."

The last half of the sentence was said to Zhuge Liang, who immediately stood up and said modestly: "It's just a bit of nonsense, I haven't tried out any clues yet, how dare I accept such false praise."

Pei Mao didn't care about Zhuge Liang's modesty. He decided to report to the emperor all the latest developments in Lujiang, Jiujiang and Guangling after he returned.

When Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang saw Pei Mao's expression, they were both a little nervous, afraid that they would make things worse. In the end, Zhuge Jin, who was foresighted, signaled to Liu Bei and his second brother with his eyes not to worry.

Only Zhuge Jin in the room knew very well: if Pei Mao wanted to help his second brother become famous, then let him do so. Anyway, the result was not out yet, and it was impossible for him to brag about Zhuge Liang in the Xudu court right away. He had to observe.

The results of this observation will not be apparent until at least September next year, after the autumn rice harvest, which will be delayed for another year.

By then, if history could follow its original inertia, the Xutian hunting in the autumn of the fourth year of Jian'an would have ended. Liu Xie was deceived by Cao Cao during the hunting in Xutian, and he should have issued a secret decree to Dong Cheng shortly after returning.

(Note: In history, Dong Cheng's Yidaizhao incident broke out in the early summer of the fifth year of Jian'an. But if the edict was really given to him by Liu Xie, it might have been given in the winter of the fourth year of Jian'an, because Liu Xie was insulted by Cao Cao again in the autumn of that year, and he should have exploded at that time. It was just that Dong Cheng was not discovered until he had been hiding it in his hand for half a year.)
Calculating the time, if Zhuge Jin delays a little longer, even if Liu Xie issues an edict to him and recruits Zhuge Liang to report on his work in Beijing, this "Shennong's contribution" can be said to be an order from Cao Cao, and he will not have to obey the edict and go to Beijing.

This is a reputation you picked up for free. The emperor issued an edict to appoint you to a high position, but you refused to go because the emperor was held hostage by a traitor. This is a good thing that will make you famous in the world in advance.

Although Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang on the side didn't know why Zhuge Jin was so confident, they still believed him unconditionally because of Zhuge Jin's historical credibility. Then they followed Pei Mao's words and said that it was a grand banquet and both the host and the guests enjoyed themselves. Everyone under Liu Bei behaved very loyally and Pei Mao only needed to report the truth when he returned to Xu Du.

(End of this chapter)