Chapter 97 Huang Yueying comes out, Zhen Mi gives birth
In Guanzhong, Ma Teng and Han Sui were defeated by Cao Cao, who took control of Guanzhong. Even Xiliang was taken over by Cao’s army. Guanzhong became peaceful for a while.

In Guandong, as the Sun family was divided into two, Liu Wu’s troops occupied Jizhou, Qingzhou and Youzhou, and Guandong became peaceful for a while.

Sun Quan was accused of framing his sister-in-law, which caused an uproar in Jiangdong. Although Sun Shao’s subordinates were angry, they were helpless.

It was impossible for Xuzhou to fight with Sun Quan immediately. After all, on the one hand, the army would not allow it, and on the other hand, there was really no evidence that it was Sun Quan who ordered it.

Sun Quan also understood that he had ended up losing more than he gained this time, and had completely offended Sun Shao.

In order to avoid being beaten by Sun Quan, Sun Quan also took the time to train his troops and began to recover his lost power. He finally understood that he not only had to guard against Liu Wu, but also Sun Shao.

All parties were recuperating, so Liu Wu was naturally happy to develop his business with peace of mind.

Today, his sphere of influence covers six states, namely Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Yanzhou, Jizhou, Qingzhou and Youzhou. It can even be said that his influence has occupied half of the Han Dynasty. If he develops his power with peace of mind, his power will definitely grow to the point where he will surpass others.

There is also Sun Shao who occupies Xuzhou and can provide assistance.

Therefore, Liu Wu was also happy to develop with peace of mind for a while.

Just one month after Sun Shao left, to Liu Wu’s embarrassment, Da Qiao turned out to be pregnant.

But the joy did not last long, as bad news came from Hanzhong, making Yang Biao and the Yang family furious. The noble families and powerful people in Xiangyang City were also in an uproar.

The commander of the imperial guards, Yang Ran, went to Hanzhong to get Xuan paper, but after a long time there was no news, he finally got the answer.

All the imperial guards led by Yang Ran were killed along the way.

Is the murderer a bandit from Hanzhong?
Even Zhang Lu did not receive the imperial edict?

This news shocked everyone in Xiangyang. Emperor Liu Xie was furious and immediately summoned Liu Wu to discuss the matter.

In the court, Liu Wu made his attitude clear, he would find out the truth and would never let any thief go.

After returning to his mansion, Liu Wu summoned all the civil and military officials.

The meeting hall in the residence of the General of Cavalry.

Liu Wu sat in the main seat.

Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Cai Mao, Huang Zu, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Mi Zhu, Jian Yong, Sun Qian, Liu Ba, Jiang Wan, Ma Liang, Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang and other twenty or thirty people gathered together.

“According to our spies in Hanzhong, Yang Ran and his men were not killed by bandits, but by Zhang Lu’s brother Zhang Wei. Zhang Lu had actually received the imperial edict, but he had also been placed under house arrest by his brother Zhang Wei. Zhang Wei had close contact with Cao Cao’s men, and had even reached an alliance with him.”

“Because we don’t have enough spies in Hanzhong, so there is no more detail.”

Pang Tong told Liu Wu and everyone else about the situation.

Listening to Pang Tong’s words, everyone in the hall frowned, obviously feeling the difficulty of the matter.

Sitting in the main seat, Liu Wu’s expression was gloomy.

He had previously thought that if he conferred the title of marquis on Zhang Lu and then appointed him General Zhennan, treating him like Cao Cao had treated him in history, Zhang Lu would be very likely to surrender.

That’s right, Zhang Lu chose to surrender.

But the overall situation was ruined by his less famous brother.

“Tell me, how should we deal with this matter?”

Liu Wu asked everyone directly.

Hearing Liu Wu’s question, Huang Zu, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei in the hall immediately slammed the table and stood up.

“Hmph, that Zhang Wei is nothing but a clown. If we kill him, the situation in Hanzhong will be settled. General, I, Guan, am willing to lead an army to attack Hanzhong.” Guan Yu snorted coldly.

“I, Zhang Fei, also want to fight!”

Huang Zu, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and other generals all volunteered to fight.

In the eyes of their military generals, since peace talks failed, they would resort to war.

However, Liu Wu paid no attention to the requests for war from these reckless men. If only fighting was useful, what would be the use of having counselors?
Liu Wu looked at Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, and it was they who reassured him.

Last time, oh, Li Yan, came up with a bad idea and almost ruined his plans.

If Zhuge Liang had not taken timely measures to remedy the situation, the losses would have been disastrous.

Zhuge Liang frowned and shook his head:

“No.”

Everyone looked at Zhuge Liang sideways, even Huang Zu, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei who requested to fight were all stunned.

“Why is this?” Guan Yu asked Zhuge Liang in confusion.

Guan Yu had already recognized the talents of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, but he did not dare to underestimate them.

Zhuge Liang took a deep breath and said:

“This is Cao Cao’s plan to tire us out. When Cao Cao left Guandong, he looted a large amount of food and property, and he also had a large number of soldiers under his command. It can be said that Cao Cao now has no shortage of food and supplies.”

“On the contrary, although we now have six states, we have no time to rest and recuperate. We only have the assets of Jingzhou to support us, and we can’t afford to fight on a large scale.”

“So, Cao Cao probably hopes that we will fight with Hanzhong. Guanzhong, which Cao Cao has occupied, has been devastated by war for many years and has a small population. What he hopes more is to provide money and food to Zhang Wei, and then use the population of Hanzhong to consume us. We cannot recuperate and continue to weaken, while Cao Cao is recuperating in Guanzhong.”

Zhuge Liang spoke slowly and described a possible conspiracy that Cao Cao might implement.

Everyone listened to Zhuge Liang’s words and looked at the map.

I suddenly felt that Zhuge Liang was right.

After the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, and the ravages of Guanzhong by princes such as Li Que, Guo Si, Ma Teng, and Han Sui, the population of Guanzhong had actually dropped significantly.

The current situation under Cao Cao’s command is that he has plundered a lot of money and grain from Guandong, but has a small population.

Under this circumstance, it seems feasible for Cao Cao to provide money and food to Zhang Wei in Hanzhong to consume their Xiangyang. After all, they have not yet recovered.

“What a cunning Cao Cao is!” Cai Mao was shocked and exclaimed.

Liu Wu was also sweating. In fact, Cao Cao’s strategy reminded Liu Wu of the game between great powers in later generations before he traveled through time.

Western countries gathered their strength to support the Free Wings Country, allowing the Free Wings Country to fight against the Big Goose.

The Free Wings Nation suffered heavy casualties.

The consumption of geese is also quite large.

This conspiracy seems to be very similar to the later generations. “How to solve it?”

Liu Wu frowned and asked Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang smiled and said:

“You can station 100,000 troops outside Hanzhong, and at the same time issue an imperial edict to Yizhou Governor Liu Zhang, ordering him to attack Hanzhong and suppress the rebellion. Hanzhong was originally part of Yizhou, and Liu Zhang failed in his duty, so he should be dealt with. Our army stationed on the east side of Hanzhong is enough to give Liu Zhang courage. In this way, it will become a fight between Liu Zhang and Zhang Wei. Let’s see what Cao Cao chooses!”

Zhuge Liang’s words made everyone’s eyes in the hall light up.

“Okay, that’s it. Yunchang will lead an army of 100,000 to station in the east of Hanzhong and practice martial arts every day, but he must not fight with Zhang Wei easily!” Liu Wu’s eyes lit up and he quickly made the decision.

Now, the six states under his command should focus on recuperation. Only in this way can he unleash a stronger war potential and have the momentum to sweep across the world.

Letting Liu Zhang and Zhang Wei fight each other and disrupt Cao Cao’s arrangements was a very clever strategy.

Everyone in the hall nodded and looked at Zhuge Liang with admiration in their eyes.

After discussing the matter for a while, they stood up and prepared to leave.

“Wait a minute, father-in-law. Wu intends to expand the navy and warships, and he still needs your guidance.”

Liu Wu grabbed Huang Zu who was about to leave.

“Huh? General, are you interested in expanding the navy’s warships?” Huang Zu’s eyes lit up when he heard Liu Wu’s words.

Now under Liu Wu’s command, the navy and warships are under his control. However, seeing that other land forces have things to do but he has nothing, he has always been anxious. Now Liu Wu wants to expand the navy and warships, which makes Huang Zu look forward to it.

“That’s right, but they are not naval warships, but navy warships! The vast ocean is boundless. On the sea, there are still several or even dozens of continental territories that are no smaller than the size of our Han Dynasty. These are places where the navy can be used!” Liu Wu’s words stunned Huang Zu.

When Huang Zu learned that Liu Wu intended to expand his navy and warships, he immediately agreed and introduced the largest shipyard in Jingzhou to Liu Wu.

Liu Wu personally took his guards to Jiangling, where there was the largest shipyard in Jingzhou and a large number of craftsmen skilled in shipbuilding.

He is now signing in the soldiers of the Ming Navy. Each of them is an elite sailor. However, Liu Wu does not plan to equip them with the tower ships of the Han Dynasty. This thing is okay to use in the near sea, but it is not suitable for sailing in the open sea, in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Liu Wu didn’t know much about the ships of the Ming Dynasty, but he still knew some of the simplest basics.

For example, there is a clear difference in the power of the Han Dynasty’s tower ships and the Ming Dynasty’s ships.

The power system of the Han Dynasty tower ship mainly relied on rowing. The rowing soldiers worked in the bottom cabin and drove the ship forward by manpower. The main means of naval warfare were still ramming, bow and crossbow shooting, and boarding. The power was relatively primitive and dependent on manpower.

The power of Ming Dynasty ships, especially the treasure ships used by Zheng He in his voyages to the West, was more advanced and diversified. The power of Zheng He’s treasure ships was a hard sail + rotating oar. The movement of wooden sailing ships at sea mainly relied on the wind power of the sails and the sailors’ paddling. In these two important links of the power propulsion system, Zheng He’s treasure ships adopted unique designs, allowing the ships to make full use of natural wind power and manpower to improve navigation efficiency and stability.

Therefore, from the perspective of a simple power system, Ming Dynasty ships had significant improvements and progress compared to Han Dynasty ships.

Liu Wu still knew these simple truths.

As long as this thing can be developed, it will be a revolutionary advancement in ships.

In order to improve the capabilities of the warships as much as possible, Liu Wu spent two or three months experiencing and participating in the construction of ships of this era.

After personally participating in it, Liu Wu really felt the huge difference.

With what he had seen and heard in later life, Liu Wu could feel that although the Han Dynasty’s tower ships were tall and majestic, with multi-story buildings on their decks, and extremely intimidating, their overall scale was still small compared to the top warships of ancient times.

Louchuan was a famous ship type in the Han Dynasty. The hull was divided into three to five floors. A building built on the ship was called a Louchuan. It was usually more than ten zhang (one zhang equals 10 feet, and one meter equals 3 feet, so one zhang equals 10/3 meters) high, that is, thirty or forty meters high, more than twenty meters long, and several meters wide.

Ming Dynasty ships, especially the treasure ships used by Zheng He in his voyages to the West, were large in scale. For example, Zheng He’s treasure ship was about 138 meters long and 56 meters wide, which was the largest wooden sailing ship in the ancient world.

Liu Wu gathered nearly a hundred elite shipbuilders of the era and asked them how to build such a huge ship.

The answer I got was no way!

Such a huge ship would be directly broken up by the waves even at sea.

Being too big and bloated, in the minds of these elite shipbuilders, it is just a pile of loose sand.

Obviously, the Han Dynasty tower ships represented the advanced shipbuilding level of the time, but the Ming Dynasty ships had more sophisticated shipbuilding technology. The Ming Dynasty ships may have used more advanced nailing technology and watertight compartment structures, making the ships more sturdy and durable.

Liu Wu knew the final result, that a ship as giant as Zheng He’s treasure ship would exist, so he worked tirelessly with people of that time to study how to obtain more advanced nailing technology and watertight bulkhead structures to make ships more sturdy and durable.

Liu Wu even borrowed Huang Yueying from Zhuge Liang.

Finally, after three months of research by a group of people, a set of nailing technology and watertight bulkhead structure technology that was more advanced than that of the Han Dynasty was developed under the conception of Huang Yueying.

With Liu Wu’s full participation, advanced power, hard sail + rotary oar, as well as more advanced nailing technology and watertight bulkhead structure technology came into being.

Liu Wu still exploited Huang Yueying’s time with Zhuge Liang and made Huang Yueying the director of the “First Shipyard of the Han Dynasty”, responsible for building large sea vessels.

It was Liu Wu who had to return to Xiangyang. The truth was that during the months he had been absent from work, although Zhuge Liang had handled things in an orderly manner, the situation in Hanzhong had changed.

In response to the imperial edict, Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou, took into account that Guan Yu had already mobilized an army of 100,000 to station troops in the eastern part of Hanzhong, so he appointed Zhang Ren as the general and mobilized an army of 50,000 to attack Zhang Lu in Hanzhong.

The situation in Hanzhong has changed.

On the other hand, the goddess of Luo River, Zhen Mi, was about to give birth, so Liu Wu had to hand over matters to Huang Yueying and rush back to Xiangyang City.

Xiangyang, the General of Cavalry’s residence, backyard.

Liu Wu, the pregnant Da Qiao, and other waitresses including Madam Mi, Madam Gan, Cai Xun, Huang Li, and Ma Xue were waiting outside the delivery room.

In the delivery room, the sound of Zhen Mi’s screams was heard.

This was the first child Zhen Mi gave birth to for Liu Wu, and Liu Wu attached great importance to him.

In fact, since this is his sixth child, as long as he is born and can bump into a historical celebrity, then he can gain the ability again.

Last time he chose Li Cunxiao’s force, which was quite powerful.

This time, Liu Wu is also looking forward to it.

Moreover, you have to know that his previous son had an affair with Emperor Liu Che. I don’t know whether the child Zhen Mi gave birth to this time is a boy or a girl, and who he can be involved in the affair with?

“Wow wow wow~”

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of a baby crying in the delivery room reached the ears of Liu Wu, Madam Mi, Madam Gan, Da Qiao and others, and everyone in the courtyard was shocked.

gave birth!

Mrs. Mi smiled and congratulated Liu Wu:
“My dear, Sister Zhen Mi has given birth.”

Liu Wu also smiled and said expectantly, “That’s great, but I wonder if the child is a boy or a girl?”

(End of this chapter)