When Xin Bi went south from Qingzhou, the time before and after the rush added up to about 20 days, not counting the delay in his stay in Danyang and Wu County.

The return journey was much slower, because he was no longer traveling alone on a fast horse, and he had to march all the way with Tai Shici's military aid convoy, and he had to sail for more than half a month just to sail the northward along the coast after leaving the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Xin Bi resigned to Liu Bei in late August, and it is estimated that he will not be able to return to Qingzhou until at least the end of September or even early October. At that time, Yuan Tan's resistance in Bohai County was estimated to have been fought hard.

Cao's army would maintain an offensive in Hebei throughout August and September, which would not only allow Cao Cao to get more land in Jizhou, but also push Yuan Tan closer and closer to Liu Bei, so Liu Bei did not need to hurry.

……

The words are divided into two ends, in the more than one month that Xin Bi has been in a hurry, Zhuge Jin, who finally came to Jiangxia, is not in a hurry to return to Danyang immediately.

He and his second brother Ah Liang are now in charge of a state, and it is rare to have the opportunity to meet, and they rarely return to the center to report on their work.

When I came back this time, of course, I had to seize the opportunity to manage Liu Bei upward, and by the way, I would go through the difficult and miscellaneous diseases in local government affairs with my second brother. By the way, I also took a vacation in this name.

Two days before sending Xin Bi away, when Zhuge Liang was listening to Xiang Lang's report, Xiang Lang mentioned that the black powder test of the Exian Arsenal was not going well, and at present, it could only make gunpowder that could burn in an airless environment, but could not explode/deflagrate.

Since Zhuge Jin is here, he will also take a hand in this matter and see if he can speed up the progress a little.

The first problem that came to his mind was that the ratio of nitrate and sulfur charcoal was wrong, for example, adding too much charcoal would lead to slow combustion, so he encouraged the testers under Zhuge Liang to experiment with more proportions.

In addition, as a modern person, Zhuge Jin also knows a little common sense, such as knowing that the gunpowder of later generations should have a good deflagration and explosion effect, and the key is gunpowder granulation.

But Zhuge Jin was engaged in education after all in his previous life, and he could only talk on paper. How to granulate, what kind of adhesive is used to glue the three materials in a precise proportion? He didn't understand these practical things.

This can be regarded as the sorrow of the pedagogue, only the pure theory of air-to-air.

As for the benefits of granulation, he can understand the principle - nothing more than hoping that the ratio of nitrate and sulfur charcoal is just right in every local range.

Otherwise, only the overall proportion is perfect, but the mixing is not sufficient and uniform, for example, in a ball of gunpowder, the left side of the nitrate is a little higher, and the right side of the charcoal is a little higher, and the intensity and speed of the reaction will still be reduced.

So what he can do is to discuss these principles with the second brother, inspire the second brother's thinking, deepen the second brother's understanding, and then let the second brother find a way to implement it himself.

Zhuge Liang spent a few days, and after learning the theoretical conjecture of his eldest brother, he couldn't come up with any clues about the experiment for the time being.

He only made a brief assessment and realized that this matter would definitely not be able to be done this year, and it might not be possible next year.

This is also destined to be the work of Lai Gong and Wu Ju, so I have to move forward according to the alternative plan that Zhuge Liang said that day.

After thinking about this, one day in early September, Zhuge Liang found an opportunity to talk to Liu Bei about it.

Zhuge Liang's rhetoric was well-reasoned and thoughtful: "Lord, the 'gunpowder' that I reported to you in the first half of the year has not made progress for a long time. But now that the weather has cooled down and the autumn harvest is about to be completed, it is a good opportunity for the counties of Jingnan, especially Lingling and Guiyang in the southernmost part to take advantage of the winter agricultural slack to levy conscription, so they can't wait.

I suggest that he immediately send a letter to Lingling Taishou Lai Gong, stating the benefits and disadvantages, and asking him to levy conscription this winter to repair the sluice gates of the Ling Canal left over from the pre-Qin period, and then take advantage of the low water level in winter to dredge key sections of the river. In order to improve the southern border defense, beware of Shixie. It can also improve the water transportation in Lingling, so that when he pays tribute to Liu Biao in the future, the transshipment loss will be reduced.

If Lai Gong feels that he has been in Lingling for less than a year and still needs to recuperate, we can also provide him with a sum of money and ask him to buy surplus grain from the local wealthy families in Lingling to provide rations for the conscripted people. In this way, even if one or two more months of conscription are carried out this winter, the local people will be willing to contribute. ”

After Liu Bei heard about it, he felt a little surprised - mainly in his impression, Zhuge Liang wanted to make something, and it seemed that he had never been able to make it for more than a year and a half. It seems that this "gunpowder" is really a big problem, so let's put it first.

Then Liu Bei also realized that what Zhuge Liang gave was already the optimal solution, since this is the case, then it should be executed according to the plan.

In the Han Dynasty system, the conscription generally did not exceed two months per year. If it is in the north, a single-season crop planting area, if only spring and autumn are busy with farming every year, then the winter and summer levy conscription, if the weather is too cold, then the summer levy time is longer, and the winter is shorter.

However, Jingnan, especially Lingling and other places, has a special climate, the summer is too hot, and the hills and woodlands are dense, and Lingling is concentrated in winter every year.

Otherwise, when the weather is hot, there are many people working in a concentrated manner, and it is easy for the plague to spread. If you miss winter, you'll have to wait for the next year.

"In this case, this matter will be presided over by Mr., and the persuasion letter to Lai Gong should be written, and after Mr. has it written, he will directly use the car to ride the big seal of the General's Mansion, and he will send someone who can defend him with reliable tongue."

……

After Liu Bei agreed, this matter was carried out in an orderly manner.

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Ten days later, the letter reached the hands of Li Yan, the deputy sent by Liu Bei to Lai Gong and the Cheng of Lingling County.

For most of the past six months, Li Yan has been helping Lai Gong deal with many specific internal affairs in Lingling County.

He and Dong He, the Cheng of Wuling County, were both Lai Gong and Wu Ju sent by Liu Bei to override Liu Biao's airborne landing.

However, Liu Bei's tricks to win people's hearts are also extraordinary, and after observing the performance of Lai Gong and Wu Ju, he also gradually hinted that Li Yan and Dong He gradually delegated power, so that the Taishou were more involved in specific affairs.

And the reason is also very justifiable: "Taishou was not familiar with the local situation when he first came, of course, he had to let the county who has been working in the local area for many years help more, so as not to do the wrong thing." When Taishou is familiar with the work, of course, the power that should be returned will still be returned."

The specific rhythm and the scale of decentralization and power collection, of course Liu Bei himself will grasp it.

With Liu Bei's reputation, prestige, and emotional intelligence, he is the most professional in controlling the hearts of his subordinates, and he doesn't have to worry about Zhuge Liang.

Therefore, for most of the past six months, Lai Gong and Wu Ju are no longer in the state of "Liu Biao's confidants and diehards" when they first took office, and they also subtly felt Liu Bei's kindness and reuse, and gradually began to soften and gradually moved closer to Liu Bei.

This is also the main reason why Liu Bei's camp can't use troops in a hurry this year, and must first digest the territory - don't look at the end of the battle of Cangting in the north, the war in the south also ended together, but Liu Bei's foundation is far inferior to Cao Cao and Yuan Shaoshen.

Time only regressed to two years ago, when Liu Bei really controlled less than a complete state. Now with the size of two states, it can be seen that Liu Bei's territory has more than doubled in the past two years.

In addition to Changsha, the other three counties in Jingnan are nominally peaceful, and it will take a long time to digest and envelope, not that Zhang Xian's death is over.

Otherwise, the steps will be bigger, the inside will be full of loopholes, and I will have indigestion as soon as I exercise.

In fact, Liu Biao is the most typical example of this issue - Liu Biao did not naturally own Jingzhou when he sat in the position of Jingzhou Mu/Thorn History, he only owned it in name.

In order to change from nominal ownership to substantive ownership, Liu Biao spent ten years in history. It is not comparable to Yuan Shao's big man who controls the situation immediately after entering the state alone.

Now Liu Bei only plans to spend two years to make up for the internal indigestion, which is already several times faster than Liu Biao.

At this moment, after Lai Gong received Liu Bei's letter from Li Yan, he discussed it a little and felt that Liu Bei's suggestion was very good.

Lai Gong took the initiative to analyze with Li Yan: "Lingling has a vast land, although there are hundreds of thousands of people registered, but more people are scattered in the four fields, and it is difficult to collect taxes. The traditional method of conscription and forced labor often does not recruit many people, but also leads to further flight and evasion of the registered people.

It is better to follow the general of the chariot cavalry and engage in a few years of labor paid by the government for money and grain, and no longer engage in unpaid labor, maybe we can attract more short-sighted poor people to work in the mountains, and then we will slowly clarify the household registration and eliminate the hidden problems of the powerful and powerful. ”

Li Yan originally prepared a large number of persuasions, seeing that Lai Gong was so good, he had been almost influenced by the lord.

After all, Lai Gong is also one of the eleven signatories on Liu Bei's "Hanzhong Wang Persuasion Form" in history, so it may be that he is naturally more compatible with Liu Bei.

(Note: Li Yan is also on the list of joint signatures of the "Hanzhong King Persuasion Table" in history, the first is those from Yizhou and Xiliang, the middle is Zhuge Liang and Guan Zhanghuang, and Huang Zhong is followed by Lai Gong, Fa Zheng, and Li Yan)

Since Lai Gong cooperated, Li Yan also saved his tongue, directly skipped the first stage of persuasion, and discussed the specific details of the use of winter conscription with Lai Gong:

"Since the prince has agreed, I will count the scale of conscription that needs to be levied in the past few days, and then contact the local heroes and ask them to buy food to supply the rations of the serving people.

However, I think that once the news of this large-scale grain purchase is released, there may be local tycoons hoarding and raising food prices by taking advantage of the sharp increase in demand for purchases. Therefore, I also asked the government to give me authorization to strictly investigate the gangsters who raise the price of grain.

In addition, we will have to carry out a large-scale conscription this year, and our grain consumption will increase sharply, and the grain delivery task requested by Liu Jingzhou will definitely not be completed. He also asked the government to write to Liu Jingzhou, stating the interests and disadvantages, and requesting that it be exempted, or moved to the following year, or allowed to replace grain with gold, silver or copper coins. ”

Lai Gong gritted his teeth, he knew that this was also one of Liu Bei's ways to gradually tie him to the chariot. If he delegated his power to Li Yan to picket the strong man who was reluctant to sell the grain, there would definitely be a part of the hatred on himself or Liu Biao.

Of course, Li Yan and Liu Bei also have them, but at least they will share some of them.

And if he doesn't know the authorization, and just lets Li Yan do it himself, then the hatred is all on Li Yan and Liu Bei.

But Lai Gong had no choice, and he finally decided to participate in sharing the hatred together. In this way, those powerful people in Jingnan have nowhere to hide - the survival rule of these powerful people is mainly "once there are several local real power factions competing with each other, then they have to compete to curry favor with Haoqiang, in exchange for Haoqiang to support him more".

For example, if Liu Bei and Liu Biao want to compete for the "hearts of the people", they will have to offer the powerful people, and the one with the highest price will get the one who wins the highest, and they will support whom.

But if Liu Bei and Liu Biao's agents exert pressure together, there will be no third-party forces in the local area to win over, and there will be no way for the rulers to get involved, so it will be relatively stopped.

Lai Gong figured out these truths, but he still decided to cooperate. So he signed the documents that Li Yan needed him to sign, and also sent a letter to Liu Biao, asking Liu Biao to reduce and delay the blood transfusion from Lingling County to Nanjun.

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