Pei should stay in Xuzhou's staff, such as Wei Xun, Zhou Zhu, Fu Sheng, Lu De, etc., many of them are psychologically unbalanced. Because the generals who followed Pei Gai's Northern Expedition that day have been promoted to the rank of knight since they entered Chang'an, the low ones also have six grades, and the high ones such as Zhen Sui and Liu Yetang are already four-rank generals; And these people stayed in Xuzhou, but their taste was difficult to improve - should they be a staff member or a staff member, but the lord changed from Pei to Bian Yan.

Some people even can't help but think, I was originally a direct minister of Duke Pei, but now I have to listen to it under Bian Yuanjun, isn't that a courtier? This is simply not going up but falling!

As soon as Bian Yan noticed similar signs, he wrote to Pei Gai to remind him of the incident. So Pei should write letters to the old officials one by one, reassure them, and assign tasks to everyone, promising that as long as the task is successfully completed, they can be promoted to the rank of knight.

For example, for Wei Xun, Pei should have high hopes for "maritime business" and "navy". To tell the truth, whether it is the improvement of Huaishui and its tributaries, or the management of salt workers and fishermen, it is not a problem, and it can be done by another person; Only the construction of "maritime business" and "navy", Pei Gai had many sincere talks with Wei Xun when he was in Xuzhou, and instilled many ideas in later generations to him.

Therefore, Pei should promise that as long as you manage the maritime merchants well for me and build up the navy, "I will be given the title of General Fubo!" ”

With this carrot hanging in front of me, I'm not afraid that Wei Yinzhi will not be able to do things honestly.

Wei Xun has worked hard for several years, and the management of maritime merchants has been quite effective. China's maritime trade, originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, took shape in the Qin to Han and Wei dynasties, and began to flourish in the Tang and Song dynasties. In those years, the maritime trade was not prosperous, mainly due to navigation and shipbuilding technology, and when it came to shipbuilding, Pei Gai knew almost nothing and could not help at all; But for navigation, he can at least improve and promote the compass.

In the troubled times, there is not much demand for ocean trade, but for domestic shipping, it is a big opportunity. Because the land route is not only high and long, but also the bandits are vertical and horizontal, and there are many checkpoints, it is better to go to the sea, there is no inventory within thousands of miles, and there are very few pirates, as long as the coast is sailing, the possibility of encountering wind and waves to cause the ship to capsize is not high, and the safety factor and cost can be guaranteed to a certain extent.

Therefore, with Wei Xun's efforts, he encouraged many Jiangnan natives to operate maritime trade—because he was originally a Huiji person—mainly between Wu, Huiji, and the East China Sea. Among them, there are occasionally some bold ship owners, who actually go straight to Liaodong and go to have a relationship with Cui Yu. The income of sea trade directly caused two consequences: first, Xu Fang was rich; Second, the indigenous people of Jiangdong were also wealthy, which exerted strong pressure on the Jiankang regime......

It can be said that Wei Xun has been able to hand over a relatively satisfactory answer to the two major missions delivered by Pei in terms of maritime affairs, but he still has no clue about the construction of the "navy", so today Su Jun suddenly asked: "Can this ship carry troops?" Wei Xun couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then smiled bitterly: "It seems to be ......."

Why not give an accurate answer, but be vague? Because he had made relevant efforts, he realized that this matter was not as simple as he originally thought.

If you want to build a navy, you must first have warships, but merchant ships are easy to say, and it is not difficult to lobby each family to invest in the construction and spread the cost; And the ownership of the warship belongs to the official family, so it must be built with money from the treasury, how can Bian Yan come up with so many materials and let Wei Xun go to the water? If there is no police at sea, what is the use of building ships?

Even if Pei Gai ordered Bian Wangzhi to live within his means, it was impossible to give Wei Xun too much funding. Besides, if you want to become an army, one or two warships are definitely not enough, if ten, twenty, or even more, I am afraid that Xuzhou has the financial resources to build it, but it does not have the financial resources to raise it.

Wei Xun had considered that if Pei Gong needed it, he would temporarily recruit the ships of the maritime merchants—even if it cost a little money or reduce taxes—so that the cost of maintaining them would be waived. But the problem is that after you have a ship, you have to have people, and you can't always drive merchant sailors to go ashore and fight people, right? You have to raise a force that can be transported by sea, where will the money come from? Who gave it to you?

Therefore, he replied: "It seems that it can also be ......" and then explained: "The sea is full of wind and waves, and the ships are bumpy and shaky, and if they are not trained, the soldiers will be sick on the boat, and they will not be able to fight......

Su Jun said with a smile: "This is an easy matter, fishermen by the sea are all accustomed to taking boats, how can there be a small boat that can sit, but a big boat can't sit?" ”

He said that I plan to use your ship to transport hundreds of elite soldiers, sail north to Jizhou, and attack Shile from the side, so that it can be regarded as the most powerful support for Shao Xu - "Wei Zhi will follow me to Jiji City, rest for a few days, and wait for me to transfer troops from Gumu." ”

Su Jun also made a temporary decision, because looking at the huge number of merchant ships on the sea, he was greatly unexpected, and felt that if it was used to transport troops, it should be able to receive outstanding and unexpected miraculous effects. Chengyang is off the coast, Donglai is even more prosperous fishery, many of his generals must be fishermen, can swim, can take a boat, so try to fight Shile, see how capable the army is, for their future deployment is very beneficial.

The main reason is that Su Jun is bent on exterminating Cao Wei and pacifying Quanqing, but he also understands that with the risk of Guanggu, it is not possible to make contributions in one or two days. Then before that, it is necessary to keep Shao Xu, who is tired of times, in order to block Shile's soldiers and horses; If Shao Xu is gone, Shi Le may reinforce Cao Wei at any time, and even if he can win, he will inevitably have to spend a lot of effort......

So without waiting for Wei Yinzhi to agree or refuse, as soon as Su Jun took his hand, he directly took him to Jiji City. A few days later, 400 elite soldiers who had been selected and screened were transferred from Gumu, and Su Jun led the team directly onto the sea ship and set sail.

Sure enough, most of those soldiers were fishermen, and they were not afraid of the wind and waves at sea, and walked on the boat as if they were walking on the ground. But the problem is that not long after going to sea, General Su himself vomited first......

People who haven't been on a boat much will always despise the bumps of the ship - Su Jun originally thought that I was strong and stable, what kind of wind and waves were I afraid of? No matter how bumpy the horse's back is, I will not easily fall off, and what is there to fear on this boat board to sit on and lie on? Who would have thought that the rocking of a ship and the jolting of a horse are completely different things, and there is no analogy at all......

The fleet rounded the Shandong Peninsula and then docked in Penglai County, Donglai County. Su Jun was no one at this time, he was supported by the soldiers, and he got off the boat tremblingly, and when he stepped on the flat ground, he finally lifted his spirits. He discussed with Wei Xun and said that the rescue of Shao Xu is not in a hurry for a day or two, can you allow me to rest with the land for a few days first?

After going ashore to rest, Su Jun immediately checked the map and studied the landing site. He originally planned to go ashore near the Duma River, but if the Karma army was tired of besieging him, his back would be exposed to him, but Wei Xun categorically rejected it. Wei Yinzhi said: "There are many sediments and reefs there, and it is not easy for ships to travel, and it is even more difficult to close the shore ......."

From Bohai County in Jizhou to Beihai County in Qingzhou, the coastline of these years has shrunk a lot compared to the era before Pei Gai crossed, and the farthest point is more than 200 miles. The reason is that the land in later generations was carried down by the Yellow River and accumulated year by year, and it is still basically sinking below sea level.

However, although the Yellow River is not as turbid as later generations, and the amount of sediment brought into the sea every year is not large, it has already had a certain impact on the vicinity of the estuary, the seabed is relatively high, and the reef is dense.

Wei Xun pressed the map and began to popularize navigation knowledge to Su Jun, he said that the sea ships generally set sail from Yongxing and Qiantang in Huiji, or Haiyan and Lou County in Wu County, and went north to Ganyu in the East China Sea, two thousand miles away, and the same reef was dense, and it was not easy to close the shore—the coastline of this section of the later generations would also be pushed flat to the east—and then from Ganyu to the vicinity of Jiji City, and then bypass the peninsula, and stop at Penglai, or through the countryside; After passing through the countryside, you have to put it for thousands of miles until you reach Youzhou......

Don't think that the coast is over there and won't move, so boats can dock anywhere. Wei Xun said: "If there is no shore to shelter from the wind and waves, the sea ship can only stop at the surface of the ocean, and then put down the boat to the shore. That is, these assets on my ship are transported in small boats, and I don't know how many days it will take, let alone send troops? If there is an enemy on the shore, and the bow and arrow are fired in unison, the big ship will not be saved, and there will be no luck; If you take a boat from the shore, it will also take time, and if the enemy pursues you, I am afraid that it will be difficult to retreat......"

To put it bluntly, if there is no port and wharf to support, it is very difficult to get on and off the ship, and it is really not easy to advance and retreat.

This is Wei Xun's biggest headache, he still can't understand why Pei Gong wants to build a navy, instead of an ordinary inland river "boat division"? Because there is no enemy at sea, sea ships can only be used to transport troops, but without the support of ports, it is easy to transport troops and difficult to send troops, and it is inevitable that they will not be able to expedition to other countries' territories.

"And the wind and waves at sea are unpredictable, if the boat comes to the shore and goes down, waiting for the news of the army, anchoring for a long time, the wind and waves rise sharply, and it is inevitable that it will capsize."

Su Jun couldn't help but ask: "Then why did the boat come to shore the day before yesterday, and Wei Zhi was willing to follow me to Jiji City and stay for a few days?" "Aren't you afraid that a sudden storm will stir up and sink your fleet?

Wei Xunxin said that you didn't force me away...... He explained: "There is a bay (that is, Jiaozhou Bay later), and the wind and waves are rare, so I dare to stay for a long time." ”

Su Jun searched for a long time on the map, and there was no bay to be found along the coast of Jizhou—even if there was, with the level of mapping at that time, it would definitely not be drawn—and he couldn't help frowning. But then he remembered something, and said, "We can go up the river to help us." ”

Wei Xun shook his head and said: "In order to be able to sail far, the sea ship is lower than the river ship and the bottom sinks, and it is not feasible to go above the river. "In fact, it may not be impossible to drive into the Yellow River, the problem has not been seen before, lack of necessary surveys, how dare you take risks? Once it runs aground, it will be very difficult for such a large ship to be towed back to sea.

In the end, Su Jun had to sigh and dispel the idea of going to the land to find trouble with Shile. A few days after the convoy set sail from Penglai, it carefully sailed to the north of the Yellow River, surveyed the hydrology, and then sent small boats to the shore to inform Shao Xu, and then, under the cover of the soldiers and horses, it took two full days to transport all the supplies to the shore.

Shao Xu sent his nephew Shao Zhu to respond, Su Jun and Wei Xun landed and met with them, but Su Jun never mentioned the matter of helping the soldiers - anyway, my supplies have arrived, and I have done my best, I hope your Shao family can stay for a few more days.

The arrival of materials in Xuzhou gave Shao Xu a shot in the arm, and he asked Shao Zhu to express his attitude to the envoy: "We will not make the country's land fall into thieves an inch!" ”

It's just that the promise is the promise, the battle situation is the war situation, and after all, the soldiers are few and the generals are outnumbered, and Shi Le easily broke through the twelve camps in the north and went straight to the city. Immediately Duan Wenyang led his troops to arrive, Shi Le did not flee this time, divided the troops and battled, Duan Wenyang held up the six-long lance, took the lead in breaking through the formation, and even beheaded the three generals of the army, broke the fourth base, and stained the robe with blood, and finally rushed into the city smoothly, and had to join Shao Xu.

Shi Le couldn't help but admire: "Why is this son named Wenyang? Sure enough, it was because of admiration for the famous generals that he took this name? In my opinion, his courage is not under Wen Ciqian! ”

So he regrouped his troops and horses, and then surrounded and tired of it. Shao continued to rely on the materials sent by Xuzhou, struggling to support, and after more than a month, Shi Le finally had no choice but to retreat. However, this battle was fought around the autumn harvest, and the Qian army took the opportunity to snatch up the crops around the Yanci, which dealt a heavy blow to Shao Xu. Shao Sizu had no choice but to be cheeky and ask Xuzhou for help.

——————————

Almost at the same time as he was tired of rejecting the enemy, thousands of miles away in Guanzhong, Pei Gai began the first "imperial examination".

Of course, there was no name for the "imperial examination" in those days, and Pei Gai did not plan to "invent" it - if it was named, it would be true, as if announcing to the people of the world that this would be a formal system in the future, not a temporary measure, and it would inevitably encounter strong resistance. He only vaguely said that in order to screen and recommend people and make the best use of their talents, the taxis sent by the bus to Chang'an must first "try".

Examinations, including interviews and written examinations, this is not a new thing, when the two Han Dynasty recommended the system, the state and county people also had to pass the examination, but there was no system, there were no rules, and the chief official or the emperor could take the test as he wanted.

Pei should use the routine of the imperial examination system in later generations, stipulating that the questions should be classified and written by subject, and those who are outstanding will be interviewed by Da Sima in person. There are three groups of topics, one is the scripture, the second is the system, and the third is the policy.

The "scripture test" is the examination of the scriptures. In these years, there were no "four books", but there were already "five classics" (originally the "six classics", but the "Book of Music" has been lost), and ordinary scholars had to know at least one of the classics before they had the qualifications to be a scholar - this was the case in the old system. So he ordered Pei Wei and others to review the scriptures and draw up five questions, basically fill in the blanks first, and then explain, to test whether you can memorize the scriptures and whether you really understand.

"Test-making" is the writing of official documents. Officials have to deal with all kinds of official documents every day, if you don't even understand the most basic format, and the writing is not fluent, then you should continue to go home and read the dead book, whether it is my role in the background or the court function, you will definitely not be able to shoulder it.

The "strategy test" is naturally to write a paper, depending on whether you have a unique view of government affairs, whether you can only follow it, or whether you can create a unique situation......