Time is cool in a blink of an eye, and on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Da Qiao gave birth to a chubby son for Liu He.

As early as half a year ago, after Liu Yu, the Taifu who was far away in the capital, heard the news that his daughter-in-law was pregnant, he chose a good name for the child that Da Qiao was pregnant. If it is a boy, it is called Liu Zhi; If it's a girl, it's called Liu Yi. Now that Xiao Liu Anran was born, the Liu family has added a new ding, and the Taifu Mansion and Gongzi's Mansion in Jicheng are festive.

The good news doesn't stop there. After a blizzard at the beginning of the year, the north finally ushered in a rare year of wind and rain, God seems to feel that the people of the four northern states have been tossed too much in the past two years, so it is rare to turn a blind eye, and there is no more moth.

In this era of relying on the sky for food, a good year with good weather means a bumper harvest of grain.

Judging from the figures reported by the counties, Youzhou's grain output this year has been the same as before the disaster, while Jizhou and Liaozhou have exceeded the output of previous bumper years, with a large increase. Youzhou's population and grain production are nearly saturated, Jizhou was just under Liu He's control before the disaster, and Liaozhou has a large influx of immigrants, so there has been a blowout of grain production after the disaster year, and this situation should continue for several years.

The situation in Ningzhou is a bit unsatisfactory, after all, it is a new state that has just been established, coupled with a small population and a poor production base, so Liu He will not blame Du Ji for not doing things well, on the contrary, he will specially allocate a batch of money and grain to Ningzhou to give Du Ji more powerful support and help.

Except for the two counties of Yanmen and Dingxiang in the north, the situation has improved slightly, and the rest of the counties under the control of Yuan Tan's forces are still in dire straits, and the people are struggling to make a living.

Because of the bumper harvest of grain in the land of Sanzhou, Liu He hurriedly ordered the Ministries to seize the time to print a batch of grain stamps, so as to continue to expand the scope and influence of the coupons.

On this day, Liu He came to the water's edge to watch the paddle steamer made by several assistant teachers of the Academy of Equipment, and saw two huge wheels placed on both sides of a wooden boat about five zhang long, and the shafts of the wheels were embedded in the hull. Ignoring the coolness of late autumn, a few young and strong young men were stepping on the wheels under their feet shirtless, driving the paddle steamer against the current.

Liu He was born as a liberal arts student in his previous life, and his understanding of physics and mechanics was very limited, so he could not give much advice and guidance to these energetic teaching assistants of the Academy of Equipment, but the idea of the paddle steamer came from him.

In the era of relying on wind and currents to sail, the emergence of paddle steamers was of great significance. Although it was not possible to drive the paddle steamer forward by a steam engine, it was driven by human and animal power, in the absence of wind and current, or even against the wind or current. It is also able to make the boat move forward slowly.

If the paddle drive is developed, with the help of rows of long wood pulp on both sides of the ship, Liu He's ships will be able to sail farther away from monsoons and currents less dependent on monsoons and currents.

Of course, in the era when there was no steam power, the most labor-saving way to sail at sea was to rely on wind power. However, if a sailboat can be equipped with its own ability, it will be faster to enter and exit waterways and ports, and it will be much more likely to avoid survival in case of danger.

The paddle steamer developed by the Academy of Instruments already has a prototype, as long as it is improved. Within two years, Liu He would see a paddle steamer of about 20 zhang appear on the Bohai Sea.

Liu He, who was observing with a clairvoyant mirror in his hand, suddenly heard Chen Yi whispering in his ear: "Shiren, I just received the news that the people from there on Sanhan Island have arrived at the post house. ”

Chen Yi is the matchmaker between Liu He and Cai Yan. He was also Yoo He's "foreign minister", a native from the Samhan Peninsula, who was in charge of receiving him.

Liu He put down the clairvoyant mirror and waved goodbye to several teaching assistants not far away. Then he turned around and got into a specially made carriage.

"The natives of Sanhan on the peninsula on the other side of the Bohai Sea are probably scared of being killed by Gongsun Du's father and son, and they came to me to seek refuge, right?" In the carriage, Liu He asked Chen Yi with a relaxed face.

Chen Yi nodded. said: "When Liaodong was pacified, Shiren secretly instructed General Minghui and General Gongming to open the road to the east, so that Gongsun Du and his son could escape to Lelang County safely, which now seems to be a really good move. Gongsun Du's father and son also fought for their strength, and after going to Lelang, they worked hard, and after stabilizing their position, they began to launch an offensive against the tasty tapirs in the east and the Sanhan tribes in the south. Because General Minghui contained the Goguryeo people in the northeast in Liaodong, Gongsun Du did not have to worry about the Goguryeo people crossing the Ma Zishui to sneak attack his lair, and in recent years, Lelang's territory was about to be restored to the former Han Dynasty, and the Sanhan tribes could not resist it, so they remembered to complain to Gongsun Du's boss, so they sent someone to risk their lives to cross the Bohai Sea in a small boat, and came to Jicheng to ask for Gongzi and let you make the decision for them. ”

"Hmph, it's beautiful to think about one by one. and if it is not among my people, their hearts will be different. If Gongsun Du can solve them all, it will save me more trouble in the future. These three Koreans are the most unkind thing! Liu He didn't know what he thought, and he was angry when he spoke.

"Seren, in my opinion, you should meet these Samhan people. Although it may not necessarily give them any promises, it can also encourage and boost their confidence in the struggle. If you sit back and watch Gongsun Du's father and son flatten the Samhan Peninsula, it is inevitable that the tail will not fall. If Gongsun Du's father and son secretly colluded with the Goguryeo people by then, Liaodong's shape would be reversed, and the painstaking management of Zhaozhou Mu and General Minghui would be in vain. Chen Yi persuaded Liu He, and said a few words to the point.

"Well, then I'll take the time to meet them. But it's not today, you first lead these thieves around Jicheng, and then take them to the barracks to watch a few drills, so that they don't know the height of the sky, and when the time comes, they don't have to think about me. ”

Not long after Liu He returned to Jicheng, a man who had disappeared in Liaodong for several years appeared in his study. This person is Xing Hao, who secretly assisted Xu Huang in his sneak attack on Xiangping, Tian Chou's old friend, and a senior intelligence officer under the Military Intelligence Department.

After the end of the Liaodong War, Liu He feared that Xing Hao's stay there would be retaliated against by the remnants of Gongsun Du's remaining forces, so he secretly transferred him back to Jizhou. Xing Hao's hometown is in Hejian County, Jizhou, after he returned to his hometown, he first rested for a while, and then secretly arranged to enter the Taihang Mountain, after the assistance of the Military Intelligence Department, two years ago finally entered the Montenegrin army, and now has become a confidant of a cottage leader.

Xing Hao quietly came to Jicheng this time to report to Liu He the first-hand information he had learned about the Montenegrin Army in the past two years.

"It's been hard work in the past two years!"

"It is a great honor for my subordinates to be able to serve the general, and I don't feel hard."

"What is the current shape of Taihang Mountain?" After a brief greeting of two sentences, Liu He went straight to the point.

"According to a certain observation, at present, the undercurrent in the mountains is surging, and the ideas of the cottages everywhere cannot be unified, if they cannot be appeased and suppressed in time, I am afraid that Jizhou and Bingzhou will suffer another round of looting."

"This group of thieves who don't change their nature, they really don't want me to worry." Liu He snorted coldly, "What is Zhang Yan's current status and situation?" ”

"Zhang Yan is both powerful in the mountains, and his ability to control is quite outstanding, he relied on the assistance of Sun Qing, Wang Dang and Du Yuan, and integrated several cottages close to him, and his current strength in the mountains has increased."

"In your opinion, are the Montenegrin ministries willing to go out of the mountains to accept the adaptation?"

"The villages in the mountains are now divided into three factions, the first is resolutely opposed to going out of the mountains, these people are accustomed to living without the government's control, from the looting to eat the sweet, unwilling to let go; The attitude of the second faction is more **, they do not support going out of the mountains immediately, but they also do not approve of going out of the mountains to plunder nearby states and counties at will, and want to maintain a relationship with the government; The third faction is in favor of settling down in Zhao County and Dingxiang after leaving the mountain, this faction is mainly some cottages close to Zhang Yan, they were all farmers in Jizhou and Bingzhou, homesick, willing to abandon the armor and return to the field, and live with peace of mind. ”

"What does Zhang Yan himself mean?"

From the words of several handsome people when they usually come to the cottage as guests, it can be heard that Zhang Yan supports going out of the mountain and returning to Shun, receiving the government's resettlement and adaptation, but he also has concerns. At that time, the Montenegrin army was bewitched by Yuan Shao to attack Changshan State, and the rebels also killed Sun Jin, the minister of Changshan, Zhang Yan was worried that the general would put this account on his head, so he couldn't make up his mind to lead his subordinates out of the mountain. ”

"Zhang Yan has never met me, but he thinks me very deeply!" Liu He sighed with emotion, "Sun Jin can't just die in vain, sooner or later I have to give an explanation to the Sun family about this matter." You don't have to return to Montenegro this time, I asked Tai Shici to send someone to contact Zhang Yan and tell Zhang Yan that as long as Zhang Yan can send me the heads of those cottage leaders who still want to stay in the mountains and become kings to Changshan County, I will forgive him for the crime of conniving at the plundering of his subordinates in the first place, and at the same time entrust him with a heavy responsibility. ”

"The general doesn't have to worry about the safety of his subordinates, I am sure that I will not be detected and return to the cottage safely."

"I'm reluctant to let you go deep into the tiger's den again, what you should do has been done, and you will stay in the Military Intelligence Department to assist Zitai in the future, your main responsibility is to train more alert and capable agents like you for the Military Intelligence Department."

"General, there's one more thing I need to let you know. Although the three handsome under Zhang Yan are outstanding, they also have a secret competition with each other, if you want to override Zhang Yan, you can start from these three people. ”

"Well, I've got this in my hands, don't mention it to others." Liu He said noncommittally. (To be continued......)