Chapter 314: Troops dispatched to Yizhou, letter from Jiangdong Out of Kong Ming's curiosity, Qin Zhen took him to a garment workshop. Liu Beijun’s garment workshop has a history of more than two years. Ever since Qin Zhen started building a workshop in Huainan, basically every time a workshop was built in another place, garment workshops would be built first. What Qin Zhen brought Zhuge Liang to see was the new type of armor. After all, the goal was to innovate military equipment, so he naturally also made new armor based on his research on new horizontal swords. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, armor was mainly made of lattice armor and was divided into wooden armor and iron armor. This type of armor is made of armor plates strung together with ropes and leather strips, and has strong defensive capabilities. But this kind of armor is extremely heavy. A set of iron leaf armor weighs 22 jin, about 44 Han jin. So Qin Zhen designed fish scale armor based on this and according to later patterns.

Compared with the armor that was popular during the Three Kingdoms period, which only cared about the upper body but not the lower body, leg skirts were added. Don’t underestimate this leg skirt. You must know that on the battlefield, the tighter the protection, the less injuries you will suffer! In addition, there is Ming Guang armor worn specifically by generals. Because in this era, most generals wore two-piece armor, which protected the front and back as well as the chest and back. However, this type of armor does not have special chest protection and is easily injured by hidden arrows. The Ming Guang Armor is different. It is equipped with a heart guard, to put it bluntly, it is a piece of steel plate! The weight has increased, but the safety has also been greatly improved. These two types of armor cover all the equipment needed by an elite army. But Zhuge Liang's eyes keenly noticed a new set of armor. "May I ask, sir, which army made this house?" I saw that this armor was made of iron rings all over, and each ring was interlocked with other four rings, shaped like a net lock. In addition, this armor is extremely long, covering almost the entire body, leaving only the face exposed. Just by looking at its appearance, you can see its extremely strong defensive power! Qin Zhen smiled slightly when he saw this, and walked forward, picked up a set of armor and said: "This armor is specially made for our navy. It's called chain mail!" The navy is naturally one of the military branches that Qin Zhen needs to vigorously develop. Because naval warfare was still in its infancy during this era, ships were used for commercial purposes and rarely went into battle. But if we want to expand outward, we have to develop the navy. In addition to warships, naval armor also needs innovation. In response to their navy's need to capture the surrounding barbarians, Qin Zhen thought of the Western chain mail.

In fact, the defensive power of this kind of armor is not as good as heavy armor such as fish scale armor. But it is lighter than ordinary armor, and the whole armor weighs only thirteen pounds at most. But it can protect the weak parts of the body better than fish scale armor. However, the low production technology of the surrounding alien races poses no threat to this kind of armor at all. So he designated chain mail as the exclusive uniform for the navy. After Zhuge Liang looked around, he couldn't help but think that if this continued, Jiangdong would probably become their most solid logistics base! From food to arms manufacturing, it will gradually become an industry! Even after the world is unified, these industries will continue to grow and develop. Until Jiangdong becomes a new battleground! But after looking around, he also realized a problem: "I have observed that the processes in the workshops here are quite complicated and require a large number of manpower." "If things continue like this, how will Jiangdong's productivity support them?" Simply put, he noticed that all of Qin Zhen's developments required a large amount of labor. Moreover, this labor force does not directly generate economic benefits and surplus value. According to Qin Zhen's theory of productivity and labor relations, these things are considered negative assets. If you don’t want the workshops in Huainan to develop, the larger the scale of these things, the more resources will be consumed! Their military might become stronger, but it will have a huge impact on economic development. How could Jiangdong support something that other major states had difficulty supplying in the past? It should be noted that Jiangdong’s productivity is low and cannot support such a huge military industrial system. Even if it could be sustained, the annual grain consumption would make it difficult for Jiangdong to wage foreign wars. This was obviously contrary to Qin Zhen's idea of ​​expansion and continued conquest. Therefore, he was very confused about how Qin Zhen would maintain these workshops. Qin Zhen was naturally relieved when faced with the questions raised by Zhuge Liang. The fact that Zhuge Liang paid attention to these things shows that he had studied later economic theories seriously. Seeing that he did not understand this, he took Zhuge Liang to the outside of the town and pointed at the barbarians working in the distance and said: "That's why our army has to constantly fight in all directions and capture a large number of barbarian slaves." Here, Qin Zhen introduced a new concept to Zhuge Liang, surplus value! Admittedly, Jiangdong's productivity is low and it is difficult to maintain a large production system. But this is difficult to maintain, meaning that the surplus value provided by Jiangdong's current population is insufficient. As long as they have enough free labor, they can solve this problem. You must know that they levied a tithe on Han people, but they levied a full tax on slaves! Only a small amount of food is needed to feed the slaves to ensure production. As they produced large quantities of military goods, they were able to acquire large numbers of slaves.

This will form a positive cycle and continuously improve Jiangdong's production capacity. When Zhuge Liang heard this, he frowned and said reluctantly: "That being said, sir, this strategy is a bit too harsh." "When there are still few slaves, the status quo can naturally be maintained." "But if there are too many slaves, they will easily gather together and rebel!" Compared with Qin Zhen, he is a more merciful person and just feels that this policy is a bit inhumane. But as soon as he said this, Qin Zhen stood with his hands behind his back, smiled slightly and said: "I am very pleased that Kong Ming has such intention, but this is not what I am worried about." "It is up to you to find a proper solution for this." "It is said that it is better to open than to block, and those who have no race will always be aliens." "Although they are barbarians, they can pass on from generation to generation and eventually become Han people." "Therefore, we need to establish a corresponding system so that the slaves can also have a path to upward mobility!" "In this way, generation after generation, our Han people will become more and more numerous, and the Yi people will become fewer and fewer." "After the nationalities are integrated, future generations will naturally be able to solve this problem!" What he is doing now is what some public intellectuals in later generations call national integration. However, compared to the Five Barbarians who were forced to assimilate, he chose to actively assimilate! But his personal energy was limited, and he could only establish a preliminary system. As for how to improve it later, that is a question for the successor. Zhuge Liang was obviously an expert in this field, and this was the task he was going to assign to Zhuge Liang. As quickly as possible, they came up with a slave management system to accommodate the barbarians they captured from all over the place. Listening to Qin Zhen's words, Zhuge Liang seemed to be thinking about something and nodded slowly. In the next few days, Qin Zhen took Zhuge Liang to visit workshops in various places. These included a cement workshop in Danyang, a steel workshop in Shicheng, and an open-pit coal mine and shipyard in southern Wujun. Zhuge Liang accepted these new things at almost the fastest speed. After careful consideration, Zhuge Liang took over Qin Zhen's overall coordination work. With Zhuge Liang's help, Qin Zhen's pressure was immediately reduced by half. So in November of the fourth year of Jian'an, Qin Zhen sent Gan Ning, then commander-in-chief of the navy, to the south to search for the trace of Yizhou. The name of Yizhou actually originated in the Three Kingdoms period. The story originally originated from "Records of the Qin Emperor", which mentioned that Qin Shihuang sent Xu Fu to the sea to seek immortality, but Xu Fu stopped at Danzhou and never returned. Perhaps because he was eager to strengthen the country's strength, Sun Quan ordered Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi to lead 10,000 soldiers to sail to find Danzhou.

As a result, they did not find Danzhou, but did find Yizhou, and captured several thousand Yi people and brought them back. This is the first time in history that the specific situation of Yizhou was recorded. Qin Zhen ordered Gan Ning to move south, which was thirty years earlier than in history. This was made possible by the use of the new compass and the coastal map drawn by Qin Zhen. Just one month after moving south, Gan Ning found the specific location of Yizhou. As soon as he arrived at the location, Gan Ning personally led 3,000 soldiers ashore and captured more than 7,000 barbarians from the island and returned them. In the first month of the fifth year of Jian'an, Gan Ning led his army to the sea market of Wujun seaport. On the 17th day of the first lunar month, the barbarians were escorted to the city of Wu County. At that time, the people in the city stopped to watch and continued to drive them away. When the nobles of Wu County saw this, they all came to the county governor's mansion to buy it. Qin Zhen waved his hand and separated more than 3,000 strong and capable barbarians for sale. At one time, the proceeds exceeded 30 million coins, which greatly subsidized the Jiangdong finances. As for the remaining barbarians, Qin Zhen arranged for them to do physical work such as mining and digging canals. Seeing the initial benefits, Qin Zhen slightly rewarded the troops and sent Gan Ning south to Yizhou to plunder again. This time, almost all the navy was dispatched, and Qin Zhen also rented a large number of commercial ships at a 20% discount. The journey lasted for a month and a half, and when Gan Ning returned, there were a full 20,000 more barbarians on board. Such a large number of slaves immediately made the Jiangdong gentry ecstatic. The Wujun nobles alone invested more than 70 million and purchased tens of thousands of people. As for the remaining Yi people, they were divided by Qin Zhen between Danyang and Kuaiji counties. The two consecutive military movements naturally alarmed Liu Bei, who was far away in Huainan. That person personally sent a letter to Qin Zhen, asking where Yizhou was. Qin Zhen quoted a passage from the Linhai Water and Soil Records: "Yizhou is located in the southeast of Linhai, 2,000 miles away from the county. The land is free of snow and frost, and the grass and trees do not die." "There are mountains on all sides, and the mountain tribes live there. The land is fertile, and it produces both grains and fish and meat." "The barbarians are able to make fine cloth, and also make Banwen cloth, with carvings on the inside." When Liu Bei heard that there was such a rich land overseas, he was very happy and felt fascinated. He wrote back to Qin Zhen, saying that if the war in Hebei had not been urgent, he would have gone out to sea to try it out. He then reminded that since they had discovered such an important place, they might be able to develop it well and make it their grain production area. When Qin Zhen saw the letter, he simply dispatched more than a thousand barbarian captives to the north. While Qin Zhen was developing Yizhou in the south, the Battle of Guandu also reached a white-hot stage.

In the original course of events, in the early stages of the war between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, it was Cao Cao who took the initiative to attack. It was not until Yuan Shao's main force moved south that they hit a wall and began to retreat. In this timeline, Cao Cao's strategy was far more radical than the Battle of Guandu in history. With the support of the three major grain-producing areas of Luoyang, Hongnong and Hedong, Cao Cao adopted the strategy of fighting on two fronts. He took the offensive towards Hedong all the way, and had his generals Xiahou Yuan and Yu Jin constantly harass Yuan Shao's flanks. Along the way, they followed the Guandu Defense Line to stop Yuan Shao's troops from moving south and delay time as much as possible. In response, Yuan Shao appointed Shen Pei, Yuan Shang and others to guard Wei County. His main force continued to advance on Cao Cao's front line, and the two families confronted each other for more than three months. In January of the fifth year of Jian'an, Yuan Shao sent Guo Tu, Yan Liang and Chunyu Qiong to besiege Bai Ma. He himself led the main force of the army to Liyang, Jizhou, and was about to cross the river. Faced with such a situation, Cao Cao followed Xun You's strategy and made a feint to the east and attack in the west. First, he pretended to resist Yuan Shao's troops crossing the river in Liyang, and then the main force rushed to support Bai Ma. In this battle, Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang was killed by Cao Cao's general Ma Chao. Upon hearing this, Cao Cao was overjoyed and recommended Ma Chao as Marquis of Duting and promoted him to the rank of Lieutenant General. Yuan Shao was furious at the death of his beloved general, and wanted to force his way across the river to pursue the enemy. However, his advisers Ju Su and Tian Feng urged Yuan Shao to stop the war and not cross the river for the time being. Yuan Shao refused to agree, so Tian Feng forcefully advised against it and was imprisoned by Yuan Shao. Seeing this, Ju Su took the opportunity to pretend to be sick and resign, but was deprived of his military power by Yuan Shao. After Yuan Shao forced his way across the river, he was ambushed by Cao Cao. His general Wen Chou was killed in the battle, and the morale of Yuan Shao's army plummeted. At this point, Cao Cao calmly retreated his troops to Guandu for defense. Yuan Shao marched into Yangwu, and under extremely unfavorable conditions, he once again formed a stalemate with Cao Cao! But at this moment, a letter from Jiangdong was sent to Yuan Shao's army. (End of this chapter)