The bell of 198 passed with the sound of firecrackers. That's right, Tao Ying invented firecrackers again. After this day, it was 199, and in a blink of an eye, this was the fifth year that Tao Ying had come to this world. Tao Ying gradually got used to the life in front of him, accompanied by a white jade beauty like Miss Gan, and accompanied by a wise and resourceful literati and a martial arts general, it was really comfortable.

The bell rang in 199 and it was an eventful year. Throughout today's Han Dynasty, although Xuzhou is a state, it is nothing compared to the territory of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. Just when Tao Ying used all the money he earned to build Daxuzhou, at this time, the war situation in the south came, and Yuan Shu finally brought his politics to an end because of extravagance.

Ji Ling withdrew from Danyang, and Sun Ce crossed the river to attack Yuan Shu. Because of the great drought and military rebellion in Huainan, the people of Huainan have taken refuge in Jingzhou and Xuzhou in the past two years, and the population of Jianghuai has decreased sharply. The population plummeted, taxes decreased, and Yuan Shu raised so many large armies that soon there would be no food. Sun Ce has been a good soldier for the past two years, and he has constantly imported weapons from Xuzhou, and then equipped them into his own troops.

So now Sun Ce's strength is second only to Xuzhou, and even Cao Cao in the north can't compare. Cao Cao is customizing Xuzhou's cannons every year, and they are all first-generation cannons, which are not powerful, but more of a deterrent. Moreover, Cao Cao's customized cannons were mostly used to defend the city, and were not equipped for attack.

But Sun Ce was different, Sun Ce mounted the Taoling cannon on the warship, and mounted the catapult on the warship. During the siege of the city, Sun Ce also brought the Taoling cannon, and after Sun Ce's improvement, the Taoling cannon now has the effect of bombing the city gate. Moreover, Sun Ce was happy to fire cannons every time he attacked the city, so as soon as the cannons were fired, the huge noise frightened the soldiers who had never seen it in the city lying on the ground and did not dare to move. So Sun Ce took advantage of the situation to attack the city, and soon he was able to climb the city wall.

Therefore, in February 199, Sun Ce crossed the river to attack Yuan Shu, and after two months of fighting, Sun Ce occupied Lujiang County, which was subordinate to Yuan Shu. After capturing Lujiang, Sun Ce began to attack Jiujiang County again. Jiujiang County is where Yuan Shu's lair is located, if Jiujiang County is breached, Yuan Shu's imperial capital will be gone!

So Yuan Shu hurriedly asked Tao Ying for help, and at this moment, Jia Xu persuaded and suggested that while Sun Ce was going north, it was better to quickly wave his troops south to Huiji County.

Because Yuan Shu couldn't save him, first, he was anti-imperial court, and second, the land of Jianghuai was already so poor that he couldn't do business with himself at all. When he was weak, he should be attacked, but Yuan Shu finally took the lead in buying his own things when he was the poorest, so he was unjust.

So Tao Ying followed Jia Xu's advice and temporarily did not send troops to help Yuan Shu, but supported him in terms of grain and grass. Here, Sun Ce crossed the river to attack Yuan Shu, and over there Tao Ying asked Kong Rong to send out the envoy and persuade Wang Lang to come to Xuzhou. Wang Lang was originally a subordinate general of Tao Ying's father Tao Qian, and he was good friends with Kong Rong. If today's situation is confusing, Sun Ce is in Danyang, with the courage of Cheng Pu and Huang Gai, and the strategy of Zhou Yu, if the meeting does not fall, Sun Ce will capture the land of Huiji sooner or later.

What's more, now Huiji is a land passage connecting Yuzhang. Therefore, the place of Huiji is particularly important to Yuzhang, so Tao Yingcai sent Kong Rong to show affection to Wang Langxiao and move him with reason. In order to express his sincerity, Tao Ying invited Wang Lang to come to Pengcheng as an official.

Kong Rong sent an envoy to Huiji, went in January, and rushed to Huiji along the waterway. Wang Lang was inevitably a little excited when he saw Kong Ronglai talking about it, and the reunion of old friends. Now Kong Rong is the minister of the Ministry of Education, and his articles have long been well-known at home and abroad. But Wang Lang is still guarding the meeting, and if it wasn't for Tao Yingxiang's rescue last time, he would have been swallowed by Sun Ce.

Under the persuasion of Kong Rong, Wang Lang was Tao Qian's subordinate after all, so he saw that Tao Ying unified Xuzhou and wanted to reproduce the glory of Tao Qian when he was alive, so he gathered people to Beitou Tao Ying. Before leaving, Wang Lang recommended a general of Huiji, surnamed Dong, who was eight times tall and infinitely powerful. Kong Rong first recommended him as the commander of the Huiji County Army, and then returned to Pengcheng for other purposes.

So Wang Lang came to Pengcheng with Kong Rong to be an official and enjoyed the charm of the prosperous capital of the Han Dynasty. Moreover, the medical conditions here are good, the education is developed, and it is really an ideal paradise for the elderly.

After Wang Lang surrendered, in order to be able to keep Huiji County and open up the land passage between Huiji and Yuzhang, Tao Ying appointed Chen Gong as the Taishou of Huiji. In order to defend Huiji, Tao Ying activated Dong Xi, and then ordered Lu Bu's general Cao Xing to be stationed in Huiji with Chen Gong. In order to defend Yuan Tan in Qingzhou in the north, Tao Ying adopted Liu Ye's strategy to scatter Lu Bu's subordinates and make it impossible for them to contact. So he sent Gao Shun as the military and political governor of Langya County, and ordered Zhang Liao to lead the troops to Yuzhang County to serve as the military and political chief.

Xu Sheng served as the county commander of Jiujiangcheng and the governor of Pengze Lake, and Jiujiangcheng was carved out of Yuzhang and directly managed by Xuzhou. Since then, Jiujiang has become a military city, inhabited by the families of the navy and the soldiers of the navy.

After scattering Lu Bu's troops in various places, Tao Ying accelerated the construction of Xuzhou's urbanization. Today, the Xuzhou waterway has been opened, and the only drawback is the slow speed of the warship. This is true of both warships and merchant ships. So Tao Ying personally devoted himself to the continued research and development of the steam engine. With the improvement of steel technology, the steam engine has begun to take shape under the construction of the team led by Tao Ying himself.

In the past six months, Tao Ying installed a steam engine on a ship for the first time for experiments. In order to be able to put the steam engine on the ship without burning the ship, Tao Ying worked with the teachers of the Ironclad Academy to develop a combined ship. Nowadays, shipbuilding technology is not developed enough, and it is unrealistic to say that it is not realistic to build a pure ironclad ship, so Tao Ying is ready to build a warship that is half wood and half iron.

The craftsmen of the shipyard worked day and night, and the steelworks were also part of the ironship that worked day and night. Finally, in May, the first half-iron, half-wood warship was built. The front and rear of this type of warship are mostly made of iron, and the parts on both sides of the ship that are easy to attack are also inlaid with iron. And the first semi-iron ship was armed with eight improved battleship guns. This cannon is lighter, and it is longer and has a longer range.

After more than two years of research and development, coupled with the guidance of Tao Ying, a master of military engineering, the slightly more powerful gray explosive was born. Tao used it to make a third-generation bomb, which was then the first to be equipped on battleships.

The ship's steam engine warehouse was set up in the center of the ship, and there was a place to load coal in the ship's hold, and when everything was ready, it was already May.

(Thank you for your support, some comrades said today that they want to watch two more, and after September 1st, I will prepare some time to meet this requirement.) At the same time, I hope you can go to the Baidu Tieba in Xuzhou, the hegemony of the Three Kingdoms, to chat, and you can also add QQ groups, group numbers: 44, 69, 98, 843. Thank you for your support, and thank you for rewarding this book! ）

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