Chapter 56: Dispute

Zhuge Liang looked at Pang Tong with some surprise. Speaking of which, Zhuge Liang and A Dou were far less time together than Pang Tong, so Zhuge Liang's understanding of A Dou was far less than that of Pang Tong.

Pang Tong smiled slightly: "Kong Ming, the prince intends to fight the Central Plains in the north!"

"Shi Yuan, tell me honestly that the prince has learned a lot of things with you over the years. Is it the prince you instigated?" Zhuge Liang said seriously.

"I instigate the prince? You are too arrogant to look at me! I must have this ability!" When he said this, Pang Tong smiled helplessly: "The prince is old and has already had his own plans in his heart."

Adou followed Liu Bei into the back hall. Seeing Adou come, Liu Bei asked, "Public sect, all the ministers and workers have left. Is there anything you can do if you stay here?"

"Father, I think it's not the time to attack Wu." A Dou said.

"Well. You are a disciple of Shiyuan, and what you think should be similar to Shiyuan. You want to attack Yongzhou in the north!" Liu Bei asked.

"Yes, Guanzhong has a fertile field of thousands of miles, and there are also four Qin guards. You can attack and retreat or defend!" A Dou said.

In the A Dou era, the grain output in Guanzhong was far inferior to that in Jiangnan. However, in the Three Kingdoms era, the productivity was relatively low and Jiangnan had not been developed. In addition to climate and ecology, Guanzhong was a heavy grain production area.

"Gongsi, war is a major event for the country, and it is related to the survival of a country. Be careful." Liu Bei said, took a map and placed it on the table, waved to A Dou: "Gongsi, sure enough, let me tell you slowly."

When A Dou saw this attitude, Liu Bei wanted to follow this opportunity to teach his son. So A Dou walked up and found that the table was a map of the man. Although it was just a sketch and many places were not very accurate in markings, some important prefectures and counties were almost in line with each other.

"Gongsi, it's not that I don't want to fight the Northern Expedition, but that the Northern Expedition is too difficult, and it may be difficult to succeed!" Liu Bei pointed a line between Hanzhong and Yongzhou, and then continued: "The road to Shu is difficult. You see, the road to Shu is very difficult, whether it is food or marching. Moreover, if you attack Yongzhou, you must capture Chang'an in one fell swoop before you can stop the army. On the other hand, Jingzhou will be flat after passing Xiangjiang, and there will be no danger to defend. On that day, your second uncle captured Xiangyang with 30,000 to 50,000 troops, so if you advance from Jingzhou to the north, it will not be too difficult to attack the city of Xudu."

Seeing Liu Bei's eyes with confidence, Adou felt helpless. Liu Bei was thinking well and said very well. From Jingzhou to the north, it was indeed a flat horse and no danger to defend. As long as the army could cross the Xiangjiang River, it would be very easy whether it was attacking Wancheng, Runan or Xudu. Moreover, the Central Plains Hell was vast and mostly based on plains, which was convenient for attack. When it comes to attacking, Liu Bei's five tiger generals are now among the top, especially Guan Yu and Ma Chao. If they reach the plains, no one can take the lead.

However, in Liu Bei's plan, one of the most important factors was ignored, that is, Sun Quan from Jiangdong!

In fact, from the beginning to the end, Liu Bei did not think that Sun Quan could defend Jingzhou. The navy in Jiangdong was very powerful, but the infantry in Jiangdong was far inferior to the navy. Except for the thousands of Danyang soldiers, the combat effectiveness of the other Jiangdong infantry was not strong. Moreover, the proportion of the Jiangdong infantry and the navy was different from that of Bashu. Take Jingzhou today for example. Lu Xun had a total of more than 50,000 men, including 15,000 naval troops and more than 1,000 warships of all sizes. In Bashu, there were only 7,000 naval troops.

The main force of siege in the city and land was naturally the infantry. The Jiangdong infantry was weak and the number of people was not advantageous. In Liu Bei's view, if he had all his strength to attack Jingzhou, he would definitely be able to capture it. Therefore, at this time, Liu Bei had not sent troops and had already begun to consider the matters after recapturing Jingzhou.

A Dou also saw that Liu Bei looked down on Sun Quan. When he was about to fight, the most taboo thing was to underestimate the enemy. So A Dou said, "Father, don't underestimate Sun Quan. Now the one who commands the army in Jiangdong is Lu Xun. When he was in Jingzhou, his son-in-law fought with Lu Xun, so this person is definitely not an easy person to deal with."

"Lu Xun?" Liu Bei frowned, and then said, "Isn't Lu Xun just a scholar? He has never been to the battlefield and has no achievements. What's the point of worrying about it!"

After hearing Liu Bei's words, Adou thought slightly in his heart that Liu Bei and Guan Yu are really brothers, and they both said exactly the same.

At this time, Liu Bei continued: "I have been in Jingzhou for many years. The people of Jingzhou are the people who are willing to me. Moreover, I am preparing to fight quickly in this battle and take down Jiangling before Sun Quan could react. Then, with Jiangling as the center, Xutu Jingnan."

What Liu Bei said was the strategy he designated in history. That was to fight quickly, but he did not expect to meet Lu Xun who defended Yiling and refused to go out to fight.

Seeing that Liu Bei disagreed with Lu Xun, Adou turned his eyes and thoughts. He saw Adou smiled slightly and said, "Father, since that's the case, do you dare to have a bet with me on this map?"

"Gambling? How to gambling?"

"Father, just think I am Lu Xun. You come to attack Jingzhou and I come to defend. Let's try it first?" A Dou said with a smile.

At this time, Liu Bei also became interested and said, "This is new! It's good that this is the case. Today I will talk to you on paper."

"Okay, then I'll be Lu Xun. I don't know how many people my father can bring to attack Jingzhou."

"Fifteen thousand!" Liu Bei replied.

"Then I will defend Jingzhou with 40,000 infantry and 10,000 navy." A Dou said.

Liu Bei nodded: "This is appropriate. I guess Lu Xun only has 40,000 to 50,000 troops."

"Why would you like to ask when your father will send troops?"

"Since it's a quick battle and a quick decision, it's important to be a soldier. This year, eight soldiers will be sent to Jingzhou!"

Adou nodded, and then said to the eunuch next to him: "Go and get the map of Jingzhou. Then find dozens of small stones."

The eunuch immediately found the Jingzhou map and small stones and placed them on the table. A Dou took the small stones and said, "Father, this small stone represents five thousand soldiers and horses." After A Dou said that, he took ten small stones from the table. Liu Bei took thirty.

Liu Bei grabbed the small stones in his hand and placed them all in Yong'an, then spoke, "I send troops in August and go down the river to reach Yong'an in one month."

Adou grabbed two small stones and put them in the Yangtze River, then said, "Then I will send 10,000 naval troops into the Yangtze River and block the Yangtze River waterway. From the Jingzhou area down from Yong'an, no ship will be accessible. Our naval troops in Sichuan are probably not the opponent of the Jiangdong naval army!"

Liu Bei smiled slightly, as if he had expected Adou to do so. Liu Bei slowly pushed the pebbles forward and then said, "I had expected that you would send a navy army to block my water transportation. But this time I only brought 150,000 troops, even if it was land transportation. But if my army pushed forward, how should you stop me?"

Adou rolled his little stones back and said, "Since that's the case, I will give you the Yidao to the west of the Qingting Pavilion."

Liu Bei followed the situation and pushed the army to the place of the Qiting Pavilion, but Adou immediately shook his hand and said, "Father is a bad one! The Wushan Mountain is hundreds of miles east of the Qiting Mountain, and the troops are difficult to expand. If all of my father's army goes to the Qiting Pavilion, I just need to send the Jiangdong naval army to cruise on the Yangtze River and wait for an opportunity to go down the shore to borrow food. My father's army will collapse without fighting!"

Liu Bei looked at Adou with relief and nodded, "Yes, you're right. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have thought of this. In this way, my 150,000 troops would be impossible to bring them all to the chanting. Otherwise, they would be intercepted and would be dangerous."

Liu Bei frowned and thought for a long time, but he saw Liu Bei take out a few stones and put them on the road from Wushan to the Qingting. Then he said, "I only need to arrange a joint camp for hundreds of miles on this line to protect the smooth flow of the food channels. In this way, our army can still reach the Qingting in February next year."

Adou was slightly stunned. Liu Bei established a 700-mile joint camp. In addition to making it difficult for the army to spread due to the terrain, it also means protecting the grain road.

Then A Dou put a stone in the Yidao City and said, "I will send Sun Heng to lead 5,000 troops to guard Yidao." Then, A Dou placed the remaining small stones on the east side of the pavilion, and then said, "The rest of the army has established camps on the east side of the pavilion."

Liu Bei took out two stones casually and pushed them to Yidao's position: "Then I will order Wu Ban and Chen Shi to lead 10,000 troops to attack Yidao."

"Father, the Yidao city wall is strong and there is enough food and supplies. Sun Heng has always gained the morale of the army at this time. It is probably difficult for Wu Ban and Chen Shi to conquer Yidao!"

"I naturally know this. The 杨杨 and the Yidao are located on both sides of the Yangtze River, and are in a junction with each other. I sent Wu Ban and Chen Shi over just to restrain your Yidao and Jingnan reinforcements." Liu Bei said, pushing the stone to A Dou's side and said, "I will go out to the 杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨杨�

"Then I can't hold on! What can the Father do to me?"

"Uh..." Liu Bei was slightly stunned. If it were indeed as A Dou said, the Jiangdong Army would strictly guard the position and not fight with Liu Bei, which would also undermine Liu Bei's plan to quickly fight. Moreover, Liu Bei's joint camp also dispersed Liu Bei's troops. If he attacked the Dongwu camp, it would seem that the troops were insufficient and it would not be worth the loss.

Then Adou said again: "If I were Lu Xun, I just had to stick to it until June and July. The weather was hot and the heat was so hot that my children from Sichuan came from afar, and it would be very painful!"

Liu Bei thought for a while and said, "Gongsi, what you said is that if it really delays until the heat, the hot weather will indeed damage morale. But it doesn't matter. At that time, you just need to set up the military camp in deep mountains and dense forests, beside the streams, and rest to avoid the heat. Wait until autumn before launching an attack."

"Haha, Father, if this happens, our army will be wiped out!"

"How do you say this?" Liu Bei asked.

"Father, this joint camp of hundreds of miles has its pros and cons. Look at this area, explaining the rugged mountain path, with lush grass and trees. But Father, you put the military camp in the deep mountains and dense forests. At that time, Lu Xun only needs a fire, and the joint camp of hundreds of miles will inevitably turn into ashes!" Adou said, pushing the stone forward, and then said: "When the time comes, Lu Xun leads troops along the river and pursues the victory. It is a blessing that more than 100,000 people in our army can return to Sichuan safely!"

Liu Bei took a breath of air conditioning, and cold sweat oozed out of his forehead. After a long time, Liu Bei murmured: "Lu Xun probably wouldn't have thought of this!"

"Father, war is a major event for the country. How can we judge by the word "should"? Since all my ministers can think of it, there are countless talented people in Jiangdong, how can we not think of this place!"

"This..." Liu Bei hesitated. At this time, Liu Bei's originally burst of confidence was severely damaged. Unexpectedly, the strategic policy he had been thinking about for a long time a few days ago was actually broken by such a few simple words as Adou, and it ended up being wiped out by annihilated.

At this time, A Dou next to him also noticed Liu Bei's strangeness. Unexpectedly, the Battle of Yiling, which he said in the innermost part, could strike Liu Bei against the city. Seeing that Liu Bei was hit hard, A Dou felt a little unbearable. So A Dou hurriedly comforted him: "In fact, the father can attack Guanzhong. This fertile field in Guanzhong is a thousand miles away. The former Emperor Gaozu also relied on this Guanzhong land and Xiang Yu's Central Plains to finally conquer the world."

"Guanzhong? Alas... it's difficult to get Guanzhong!" Liu Bei sighed.

"What's the difficulty?" A Dou asked.

"Gongsi, if we attack Jingzhou, we can transport grain from the Yangtze River to Yong'an, but if we attack Yongzhou, we will have to transport grain through land. Shu Road is difficult, and if we want to transport grain from Chengdu to Yongzhou, we will have to thank God for the remaining 50% of the 100%! Even if I send 200,000 troops to attack Wei, at least 100,000 civilians will need to transport grain!" Liu Bei said.

"Father, hasn't Hanzhong accumulated a lot of food over the years?"

"Yes, the food in Hanzhong is enough to support the use of 300,000 troops in one year. However, this Yongzhou is vast. If we attack Yongzhou, Cao Pi will definitely send a large army to aid. This battle may last for three to five years. The food in Hanzhong is only enough to support it for a year. After a year, my front-line soldiers will have no food available!" Liu Bei said.

Liu Bei said very reasonably. At this time, Adou also remembered that Zhuge Liang had six out of Qishan, but in fact, there were not many people who would take him every time. And every time Zhuge Liang planned to fight quickly. Once the war was unfavorable or in a stalemate, he would immediately withdraw his troops. Only when Zhuge Liang made his last Northern Expedition would he plan to have a protracted battle and farm on the south bank of the Wei River, but the world did not meet his wish. That time Zhuge Liang died of illness in Wuzhangyuan.

Liu Bang once built a plank road and secretly crossed Chen Cang, and seized Yongzhou. Thinking about it, Liu Bang didn't seem to worry about food at that time. However, that was mainly because Liu Bang made a surprise attack and Zhang Han, who was guarding Guanzhong, was incompetent and defeated too quickly. Moreover, it was enough to use the plank road and secretly crossed Chen Cang once, but it would not work the second time. Cao Pi would definitely be wary of Liu Bei's use of this move.

In this situation, no matter Sima Yi or Cao Zhen, or even Yongzhou Governor Guo Huai, none of them are fuel-efficient, especially Sima Yi, which is so difficult to deal with. It can be foreseeable that attacking Yongzhou will be a protracted battle. If you want to fight a short-term battle, the only way is to send a group of strange troops out of Ziwu Valley and conquer Chang'an with lightning speed. If Chang'an is lost, Cao's army can only retreat to Guandong. However, this is too dangerous!

Adou took a breath slightly and said, "Father, if the food could be fully supplied to my army, it would be much easier to attack Wei. Regarding the issue of this food, my child has already decided on it."

"Let me tell me." Liu Bei's eyes lit up.

"Based on the notes of the craftsman Lu Ban, the child created something, one for wooden ox and the other for flowing horses, which can solve the problem of inconvenience in transporting food."

"Really? There is such a strange thing. Where is this thing?" Liu Bei asked curiously.

"Just at the house of Erchen, and Erchen immediately ordered someone to send it."

"No need, I'll go and have a look with you." Liu Bei said impatiently.

To put it bluntly, the wooden ox and flowing horse are vehicles that transport things. However, compared with ordinary transport vehicles, the manufacturing process of wooden ox and flowing horse is more complicated.

The wooden ox flowing horse fully utilizes the power mechanism, and there are wheel axles and other things inside. When people push it, the gears and wheel axles inside rotate, and the lever principle is used to save power. When the design is added, the center of gravity and bearing of the wooden ox flowing horse is changed, so that the inertia of the wooden ox flowing horse forward will be greatly enhanced, thereby achieving the goal of saving effort when moving forward.

In fact, this wooden ox and horse still use wheels. If you want to walk on four hooves like a real ox and horse, you need hydraulic devices, which was simply impossible in the Three Kingdoms era.

Liu Bei was also a farmer and was very capable of pushing a cart, so Liu Bei personally tried the wooden ox and flowing horse, which was indeed very labor-saving.

"Okay! This is such a good thing! With the help of this magical object, the transportation of food on the Shu Road can save at least half of the time!" Liu Bei sighed softly, a hint of joy appeared on his face, and then the joy on Liu Bei's face turned into sorrow.

"Father, is there anything wrong with this wooden ox and horse?" A Dou asked carefully.

"There is nothing wrong with this wooden ox and horse, but I remembered another thing."

"What did the father remember?"

"Gongsi, if we really occupy Yongzhou, how should we deal with this Liangzhou land?"

"This is not simple. Cao Cao would not have arranged too many troops in Liangzhou. We only need more than 10,000 people, and we should be able to wipe out Liangzhou." A Dou replied.

"How should the Qiang people deal with it?" Liu Bei asked.

"General Ma Chao has a lot of prestige among the Qiang people. With General Ma here, are you afraid that the Qiang people will not succeed?" said Adou.

"So what about the Western Regions?"

"My Han Dynasty always had the Western Regions Protectorate to manage the Western Regions. At that time, we occupied Liangzhou, and the Western Regions Protectorate will naturally be under our jurisdiction. My father only needs to send one person to serve as the chief of the Western Regions!"

"Gongsi, what you think is too simple. Liangzhou people are brave and fierce, and the Qiang people are even more unwilling to accept our official position in the Han Dynasty. They have been rebelling for many years. If we fought with Cao Pi, the Qiang people in Liangzhou attacked us from behind? So this army in Yongzhou is full of obstacles!" Liu Bei sighed softly.

At this time, A Dou really admired Liu Bei. It was no coincidence that Liu Bei was able to become a prince. In A Dou's impression, Liu Bei did not have much talent, but now looking at it, Liu Bei was thinking about everything, at least he did not think about the problem of Liangzhou so thoroughly.

Liangzhou and the Western Regions in the Three Kingdoms era were not as desolate as they are now. In the Three Kingdoms era, the Western Regions, that is, Xinjiang, now is covered with green trees and trees everywhere, which is very suitable for people's lives. Compared with now, the northwest cannot be regarded as a bitter and cold place.

However, the Liangzhou people were wild-hearted and did not like to obey discipline. This was especially true for some mixed-race children of Han and Qiang. During the Western Han Dynasty, the capital was Chang'an, and the control of Liangzhou was quite good. However, by the Eastern Han Dynasty, the capital was set up in Luoyang, which made the central government's control over Liangzhou and the Western Regions increasingly weak, and therefore, Liangzhou rebelled continuously.

For Liangzhou and the Western Regions, the Eastern Han Dynasty court had to send troops to suppress it, which also led to a group of heroes, such as the class of Dingyuan, Ma Yuan and Ma Fubo, who all made a name for themselves in the northwest.

By the end of the Han Dynasty, rebellions in Liangzhou were more frequent. For example, Han Sui had participated in the rebellion of the Qiang people in Liangzhou, and Dong Zhuo also made his fortune by suppressing the rebellion. Even though Cao Cao later occupied Liangzhou, the rebellion continued. Almost every year, people judged that the most recent one was the joint rebellion of Yan Jun, Zhangye Heluan, Jiuquan Huang Hua, and Xiping Tuo Yan in the 24th year of Jian'an, which forced Yang Fu to retreat to Chang'an, thus giving up the Liangzhou area west of Jincheng.

What Liu Bei was worried about was Liangzhou, especially the Qiang people.

You should know that there are many Qiang people nowadays, and according to Liu Bei's understanding, Qiang King Cheriji had already accepted the title of the Cao Wei court. If Liu Bei attacked Yongzhou, these Qiang people would give Liu Bei a knife behind the scenes at a critical moment. At the same time, Liangzhou is not easy to manage. If Liangzhou is occupied, the suppression of rebellions will restrain Liu Bei's army for many years. And if Liangzhou is ignored and let it go, it will not work. After all, Liangzhou is the back garden of Yongzhou, and there is no need to lose.

For the Qiang people in Liangzhou, A Dou did not have any good methods for the time being. In his previous life, the northwest was also a heart-wrenching problem for the Qing Dynasty. Since the Qing army entered the pass, the northwest has not been peaceful. For example, the Wu Sangui rebellion during the Kangxi period, and the northwest participated in the northwest; the Junggar rebellion also participated in the northwest; the northwest rebellion during the Yongzheng period, the emperor of Yongzhou was wearing a belt and squeezed money from his teeth to help Nian Gengyao quell the rebellion. During the Qianlong period, the big and small Hezhuo made Qianlong frustrated; and for more than a hundred years, the Hui people in the northwest rebelled every year.

China's first great ethnic integration occurred during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, so before the Southern and Northern Dynasties, emperors generally had two main means to govern ethnic minorities, one was suppression, and the other was harmony. The so-called suppression was naturally war; while harmony was mainly to marry, or to tempt them with profit. However, these two means were to treat the symptoms but not the root cause.

There were many talents in the Three Kingdoms era, but the people in the Three Kingdoms era still had their limitations. Therefore, when facing the issue of ethnic minorities, whether it was Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Sima Yi and others, they still could not escape the limitations of the Three Kingdoms era.

However, A Dou is different. A Dou came from the Qing Dynasty in later generations. The Qing Dynasty was able to rule China with an ethnic minority for more than 200 years. His ethnic policy was relatively successful in ancient China. So when A Dou calmed down and thought about it slowly, A Dou really thought about something.
Chapter completed!