He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Having resolved the issue of the northern defense line, Liu Bei's army was once again at peace. However, their current strength was still insufficient. If Zang Ba hadn't completely abandoned any intention of fighting, these 5,000 men would definitely not have been enough for them.

What we should do now is continue farming and build up strength for the implementation of future strategies.

As the year drew to a close, Guan Yu and Chen Deng withdrew from the front lines.

After catching up with his brothers, Guan Yu prepared to return to his work: "Brother, when do you think I should go back to Huaiyin?"

Liu Bei and Lu Wan exchanged a glance, then smiled at Guan Yu and said, "No rush, no rush. There's no war in Xuzhou right now, so we don't need to waste so much energy on Huaiyin. Second brother, you've been in Huaiyin for so long, you probably haven't seen those workshops yet, right? Let's go take a look together sometime."

Guan Yu immediately became anxious: "Brother, what are you saying! The world is in chaos, how can we warriors enjoy ourselves? Besides, the defense of Guangling is our army's southern shield, and I dare not abandon my post."

Lu Wan hurriedly explained from the side, "General Guan, you may not know this, but our army has already formulated a new strategy. Currently, none of the forces in Huainan have the conditions to attack our army. Therefore, my lord and I discussed it and decided to have you stay in Xiapi to be in charge of reorganizing Zang Ba's Taishan Army."

Guan Yu was momentarily confused: "Then why can't we reorganize them in Huaiyin? If we want to recapture Guangling in the future, shouldn't we train the army in a place closer to the front lines?"

"In the past, there wouldn't have been any problem. However, there are a large number of refugees near Huaiyin now. If we deploy too many troops there, I'm afraid there won't be enough food for the local population. I plan to store the remaining grain in Huaiyin for use as military rations when the war starts. Moreover, stockpiling a large number of troops in Huaiyin could easily provoke Liu Xun and Sun Ce, making them more prepared for our army."

Guan Yu nodded in agreement, then followed up on the question, asking, "In that case, how many soldiers do you want me to train, brother?"

Liu Bei thought for a moment and said, "I plan to hand over all 10,000-plus men of the Taishan Army to you, and give them three months to integrate them into the Xuzhou Army. That way, by the time spring planting is finished, Xuzhou will have an army of 50,000 men."

It wasn't that Liu Bei didn't want Zhang Fei to do this, but that the guy had too volatile a temper. Some soldiers would only make minor mistakes, and Zhang Fei would either scold them or whip them. If this continued, even if they fought for ten thousand years, they would never truly integrate into the Xuzhou army. Incidentally, Liu Bei's idea of ​​making Zhang Fei the Chancellor of Langya was also abandoned.

Liu Bei can still cause trouble if he keeps an eye on him every day; if he's let go, things will get out of control and the world will turn upside down.

"In addition, I recently discovered that Chen Dao is also very skilled in training troops. He will be your deputy and accompany you in training."

Chen Deng, standing nearby, added, "There's also a rule about where to set up training camps. They can't be too close to Xiapi. Xiapi is too prosperous now, and it's easy for the soldiers to become distracted. I know a good place, Liangcheng County in the north."

"This location offers convenient transportation, situated at the junction of the Xiangshui and Yishui rivers. Furthermore, it's centrally located in Xuzhou, allowing for rapid deployment and swift action should an attack attempt occur."

Guan Yu thought about it for a moment and realized that this had indeed taken all aspects into consideration, so he accepted the order and began preparations.

Early the next morning, Liu Bei dragged his second and third brothers to the industrial park, saying he wanted to give them a presentation so they wouldn't be confused. However, Lu Wan knew that Liu Bei couldn't sit still in his office for more than a few days and wanted to go out and have fun.

After leaving Xiapi, I rode my horse along the Sishui River for twenty or thirty li and arrived at Xuzhou Industrial Park.

Lu Wan had come with the others, but he did have business to attend to.

Long before Liu Bei launched his campaign, Lu Wan and his men had begun construction of an ironworks. Now, several months later, the ironworks was almost finished and ready for production.

The ironworks designed by Lu Wan did not only smelt iron, but also had a blacksmith shop. However, the blacksmith shop only took large orders, unlike other blacksmith shops that came to customers to make custom orders.

Inside the factory, you could see the blast furnace that had been erected, which was about ten feet tall. Although this kind of rudimentary blast furnace could not compare with the ones of later generations in terms of efficiency, it was still quite capable by today's standards.

The blast furnace adopts an elliptical structure design, which improves smelting efficiency by increasing the hearth area and shortening the distance between the tuyeres and the furnace center. Protective working sheds are also built on both sides of the furnace front to prevent molten iron from cooling or exploding and splashing when it comes into contact with water.

Such a blast furnace requires about thirty people to operate. Some are responsible for screening iron ore, some for crushing ore, and some for shoveling materials into the furnace.

In terms of output, if all conditions are met, the workforce is skilled and sufficient, and the raw materials are of qualified quality, then this blast furnace can produce one ton of pig iron per day.

It's easy to build these blast furnaces, but the real problem is finding a market that can sustain them. If they can't create a positive economic cycle and rely entirely on government subsidies to survive, then the ironworks might as well be dismantled.

However, Xuzhou is the least concerned about this matter at present. Even if ten people share one hoe, the ironworks will still need to make 40,000 hoes from the 400,000 refugees in the south.

Lu Wan already had an idea in mind about who would be in charge of the steel plant.

We still need to investigate Pu Yuan, who won the previous election. We should be cautious about appointing such a technical person as a leader.

In terms of supporting facilities, Lu Wan also built many large waterwheels.

In terms of manpower, Lu Wan always paid people to do the work. Xiapi now had some of the civic culture that would only be found in southern cities in later generations. That is, no matter what you do, you have to pay. I don't care about friendship. You pay me and I do the work. Both parties sign a contract so that there will be evidence in case of disputes in the future.

The timber was also easy to source. The trees were cut down upstream and thrown into the water, and the timber was transported downstream. Since the transport team had a light workload, they only needed to ensure that the timber did not run aground, so a small boat was sufficient.

As the group approached the waterwheel, they saw more than twenty wooden spokes radiating outwards. Each spoke had a scraper at its tip. The scraper scraped water and, with the force of the water flow, slowly lifted the large hammer at the other end, then suddenly dropped it.

"Wen Yuan, what is this again?" Liu Bei became much more lively in front of his two brothers and asked.

"This is the water-powered forging hammer I designed, my lord. You see, the hammer is lifted up by the water flow and then quickly dropped. This makes crushing ore much more efficient than having several people hammering away for ages." Lu Wan would never tell Liu Bei that she originally intended to use this as a stamping machine. Wouldn't it be convenient to use it to stamp out armor plates?

It was the carpenter who quickly stopped him. These armor plates, worn on the body, are mostly curved to conform to the wearer's body; stamped plates like these are just small iron plates. Moreover, this kind of thing clearly indicates mass production. However, the demand for armor drops drastically after a war, so designing a special production line for such a product is obviously inappropriate.

Lu Wan had no choice but to settle for second best, using the material to crush ores, forge weapon blanks, and process agricultural tools.

Liu Bei nodded with a smile: "Good, this is good. Now everyone in Xuzhou can use iron farm tools."

--------

Just as Liu Bei was working hard to improve production, a piece of news arrived that shocked everyone.

Cao Cao attacked Nanyang, but Zhang Xiu, who had surrendered, rebelled again and inflicted a major defeat on Cao Cao.

This made the people of Xuzhou extremely happy, and every household came out to celebrate Cao Cao's great defeat.

If things had ended there, it would have been nothing more than good news. But what happened next was a bit illogical.

Upon learning this news, Lü Bu surprisingly launched an attack on Shanyang Commandery. This is understandable, given that Liu Bei's merchants, when ruthless and greedy, don't care who you are; even the emperor of Xuchang would be ripped off and charged exorbitant prices.

The wealth they had previously seized from the counties under Yuan Shu's control was quickly spent. With so many people needing to live, they had no choice but to resort to robbery.

This is troublesome.

Cao Cao was heartbroken after losing his son, and Lü Bu's actions really angered him. Not to mention, during the attack, Lü Bu even shot out one of Xiahou Dun's eyes.

In order to rush to the battlefield as soon as possible, Xiahou Dun rode through the night to Shanyang County to try to stop Lü Bu, but he fell into Chen Gong's trap and was shot in one eye by the ambushing troops.

At this point, Cao Cao no longer cared about grieving for his son and directly ordered 20,000 men to fight Lü Bu to the death.

When Liu Bei saw this news, he was both shocked and furious. It wasn't that he was worried about Lü Bu, but rather that he knew the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold" (meaning that if one's lips are gone, the other will be cold).

If Cao Cao were to truly defeat Lü Bu, the battle lines would be pushed back to the border regions of Xu Province. Xu Province, having just begun to recover, is simply too vulnerable to such a major upheaval. Most importantly, Lü Bu is clearly in the wrong in this matter; everyone understands the principle of siding with the reasonable, not one's own.

Helpless, Liu Bei could only watch as Lü Bu was brutally beaten, unable to do anything about it.

Lü Bu's army was quickly scattered, and Lü Bu fled to Runan with a portion of his soldiers. Only Chen Gong and Gao Shun followed him. Zhang Liao, Song Xian, and Wei Xu were cut off from Lü Bu. Song Xian and the other two were a little luckier and managed to escape to Pengcheng for protection. Zhao Yun took them in because of their past alliance.

Zhao Yun dared not act on his own and immediately wrote to Liu Bei for instructions. Liu Bei, without a second thought, accepted these men. If you wouldn't even take in these people who had become homeless and destitute, who would dare to come and serve you in the future?

Zhang Liao's situation is a bit more complicated. He was the one who shot Xiahou Dun with that arrow, so Cao Cao's army specifically named him and wanted him dead.

Upon hearing this news, Guan Yu became anxious and hurriedly went to his elder brother to discuss how to save Zhang Liao.

Liu Bei and Lü Bu once enjoyed a honeymoon period, during which their civil and military officials interacted frequently. It was during this time that Zhang Liao and Guan Yu forged a deep friendship.

Liu Bei could naturally see the abilities of Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, who were under Lü Bu's command, but since they already had a leader, he felt embarrassed to try and poach them at this time.

Things are different now. Lu Bu has disappeared somewhere, and I figured nobody wanted Zhang Liao, so I'll take him.

Liu Bei hurriedly dispatched Sun Qian to Cao Cao's camp, hoping that Cao Cao would show mercy and spare Zhang Liao.

--------

Cao Cao's camp near Hulu County

Cao Cao's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He was now only regretting why he hadn't wiped out Lü Bu. Now this bastard was taking advantage of his weakness to launch a sneak attack. He was truly a scoundrel!

And that bastard Zhang Liao! He actually ambushed and shot Yuan Rang, causing Yuan Rang to lose an eye. He deserves to die even more.

For the past few days, Cao Cao had been trying to storm the hilltop, but the Bingzhou soldiers on the other side were incredibly skilled archers; arrows rained down as soon as they peeked out. The soldiers, still reeling from their previous defeat, were demoralized and unable to mount another attack.

Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, and the others sat quietly inside the tent, awaiting Cao Cao's final order for the all-out attack.

"Report! Minister of Works! General Liu Bei, the General Who Guards the East, has sent an envoy to request an audience!" The messenger's voice broke the deathly silence in the tent.

"I won't see him! I haven't even investigated his crime of harboring Lü Bu, and he still has the nerve to come before me? Beat that man out with clubs!"

The messenger suddenly added, "Liu Bei's sworn brother, General Guan Yu, has also arrived."

Guo Jia quickly advised, "My lord, please calm down. Why not meet him and see why he has come before making any plans?"

Cao Cao took a few deep breaths and said without even raising his eyelids, "Let them in."

Sun Qian and Guan Yu entered to pay their respects, while all of Cao Cao's generals looked at them coldly.

Cao Cao stared at him, saying each word carefully, "If you are pleading for Zhang Liao, then there is no need to speak. The revenge for Yuan Rang cannot be avenged without the bloodshed of the Bingzhou army."

Sun Qian was not deterred by his words. He stepped forward and said, "General Xiahou is a pillar of the state. He has suffered such a heavy blow, and my lord wept bitterly upon hearing of it. This grudge must indeed be avenged."

These words surprised everyone in the tent except Guo Jia, who hadn't expected Liu Bei to send an envoy to support them.

But Sun Qian immediately changed the subject: "Lord Cao, if I may be so bold as to ask, did you lead your army here merely to kill a general who was caught in the crossfire? Or was it to pacify the world and bring peace to the land?"

Cao Cao's eyes narrowed to slits: "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Lord Cao, you are wise. Zhang Liao's bravery is unparalleled in the world. Today, in the desperate battle at Tushan, he refused to bend or break. His loyalty and courage have been witnessed by you and all the generals. If such a valiant general were to die under a hail of arrows because he served different masters, wouldn't that be like casting pearls before swine, leaving all the heroes of the world to sigh in regret?"

Xiahou Yuan jumped to his feet, furious, and said, "Damn it! So you don't care that it wasn't your brother who got shot out in one eye? You'll forgive me when I shoot out one of Zhang Fei's eyes!"

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu's eyes widened, and a powerful killing intent erupted from his body, causing everyone in the room to change their expressions.

Even though Cao Cao was in a terrible mood, he still had to comfort Guan Yu: "Yun Chang, Miao Cai only spoke without thinking because of our deep brotherly affection. I hope you won't take it to heart."