Chapter 135: A good warrior has no great achievements, the difficulty of the navy Liu Bei naturally didn't know that such a thing had happened after Liu Ye went south. Hearing Lu Su's personal account at this time, he was moved and shook Lu Su's hand and said: "If the military advisor hadn't asked me, I wouldn't have known there was such a story." "Zi Jing and Zhou Gongjin are good friends. If he surrenders to me now, he will become my enemy in the future. Isn't this embarrassing for Zi Jing?" As a big succubus, Lao Liu exudes his charm all the time. Even though Lu Su was almost certain to win, he still took this into consideration. When Lu Su heard this, he felt that Liu Bei was indeed kind and benevolent, and he immediately expressed his loyalty to Liu Bei: "Su and Gongjin are good friends, but their ambitions are different. He and Sun Ce have been friends since childhood, and he cannot leave them, so he has to go down the wrong path." "Although I am a descendant of merchants, I have also received the grace of the country for generations." "Now that the country is in great trouble, many heroes have risen up. Seeing the lord's determination to help, we should follow him. How can we sacrifice the public interest for personal gain?" "Don't worry, my lord. Not to mention being an enemy of Gongjin, even if Gongjin is in front of me, I will not change my mind!"

"I only wish to serve my country with my life, and never betray my morality!" Qin Zhen saw this from the side and said with a smile: "Zi Jing is a gentleman, and Zhou Gongjin is not an ordinary person either. After all, they each serve their own masters, so why should we make things difficult for each other?" While saying this, he secretly laughed at Lu Su and thought he was not an honest man. He clearly remembered that Lu Su had told Sun Quan that the Han court could no longer be restored, and that they should take advantage of the current situation to eliminate Huang Zu, attack Liu Biao, take over all of Jiangnan, proclaim themselves emperor and seize the world. On the contrary, Sun Quan said, "Brother, you are really brave to say it, but I dare not do it. I am in Jiangdong just to restore the Han Dynasty." This was of course due to Sun Quan's political conspiracy, but Lu Su could not be considered a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. As a result, now that he is under Liu Bei's command, he keeps claiming to support the Han Dynasty. It can be seen that Lu Su was also a shrewd and smooth person, rather than an honest and loyal person. But thinking this in his heart, he also understood Lu Su's mentality. Just like Mi Zhu, Lu Su was also an opportunist because of their family background. Without speculation, there would be no chance of entering the circle of scholars. The so-called charity is nothing more than using money to exchange for fame! It’s just that Lu Su is not as brave as Mi Zhu. Mi Zhu is the kind of person who will make a big bet when he sees an opportunity and will sacrifice his life if he fails. Lu Su, however, was the type of person who did not seek to achieve anything meritorious, but only to avoid making mistakes. And it is this kind of character that makes a true general! To be a general, it is not about how strategic or brave you have to be, but about being steady enough. The fewer mistakes you make, the greater your chances of victory! It is true that those who are good at fighting do not have great achievements! Lu Su is exactly the naval commander they need now. After thinking about this, he smiled at Liu Bei and said: "I wonder if the lord has informed Zijing that our army intends to build a navy?" When Liu Bei heard this, he immediately reacted, shook his head and smiled: "Not yet informed!"

He was so focused on interviewing talents that he had no chance to ask Lu Su about his ambitions. When Lu Su heard this, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes. He knew that Liu Bei summoned him this time because Liu Ye must have recommended him. But Liu Ye had just joined Liu Bei's army, so he naturally would not recommend him for no reason. Therefore, he knew that Liu Bei asked him to come here this time probably to entrust him with an important task. Therefore, when I met Liu Bei yesterday, I planned a strategy for him to let Liu Bei know my abilities. However, it is still unknown what position Liu Bei wants to assign him. Now, after hearing what Qin Zhen meant, it seems that he intends to let him lead the navy? This is a real and important task! While thinking, he simply asked Liu Bei: "According to the military advisor, does the lord intend to train a navy to attack Jiangdong?" When Liu Bei saw him asking questions, he did not hide his feelings and said bluntly: "I will not hide it from you, Zijing. The reason I summoned you here is because our army previously accepted Zheng Bao's troops, and the military advisor advised them to build a navy!" "But I don't have a general who is good at naval warfare, so I asked Zi Yang." He then explained the reason for summoning Lu Su. When Lu Su heard this, he was startled and could not help but look at Qin Zhen secretly, thinking that this military advisor was indeed far-sighted. Now that Liu Bei had just taken Huainan, he was already preparing to train his navy. This showed that before he offered his advice, Qin Zhen had already decided on a plan to take Jiangdong! If we think about Liu Bei's series of battles, we can know that when he was far away in Pei County, Qin Zhen had already planned a huge strategy for Liu Bei. The current situation is just moving forward step by step in accordance with Qin Zhen's strategy. He is able to plan strategies and lead Liu Bei step by step to where he is today. No wonder Liu Bei trusts such a genius so much! Amidst his surprise, he also felt relieved. Because he could clearly feel that Liu Bei had already passed the most difficult stage strategically, and would probably enter a period of expansion next. Jiangdong under Sun Ce's command is obviously the next strategic target. If there had been no Liu Bei, there would have been no problem for Sun Ce to establish his capital in Jiangdong. But now with the addition of Liu Bei, variables arise. It was obvious that Liu Bei's army was prospering, while Sun Ce's was going downhill. Under such circumstances, it would be a dead end for him to go to Jiangdong, and following Liu Bei was the right choice. But thinking of this, he began to think about establishing a navy. After thinking for a while, he sighed: "If we say that the military advisor's idea of ​​establishing a navy is indeed a far-sighted one!" "If the lord wants me to train the navy, that's fine!" "But my lord, you must know that naval warfare is different from land warfare. When two armies fight, it is not the number of soldiers and horses that matters, but the warships." "Right now, Sun Ce has already occupied Jiangdong and has thousands of naval forces at his disposal. All the naval forces east of Lujiang are controlled by Sun Ce!"

"And the shipbuilding houses in Yangzhou are located in Danyang, Wujun and other places." "Our army is training in Chaohu Lake, so Sun Ce will not be able to hide it. He does not need to attack us. He only needs to seize the warships and our army will be in trouble!" To be honest, he really wanted to train a navy for Liu Bei. After all, once he succeeds, he will be able to rise to the top overnight and become an important official under Liu Bei. But a good cook cannot cook without rice. He wanted to train soldiers, but without warships, what was the use of training sailors? Listening to Lu Su's words, Liu Bei frowned. He thought that with Lu Su, the navy would be easy to capture, but he didn't expect that having a general was not enough, and warships were also needed! While thinking, he couldn't help but said in a deep voice; "Since we can't buy them, how about our army recruit shipbuilders to build warships ourselves?" He thought that Sun Ce could control the source of ships, so couldn't I build them myself? But when Lu Su heard this, he shook his head and said: "My lord, you may not know that warships cannot be built just by saying so. If it is a small boat, there is no need for a boatman. I can lead people to build it." "The key to naval warfare lies in large ships, especially tower ships and fighting ships, which can carry hundreds of people." "A ship as big as this will take three to five years to build!" "If we don't buy existing ships from shipbuilders and rebuild them, it will probably take several years for our navy to be established!" He lived in Huainan for many years and also studied naval warfare. In his opinion, there are only two ways of attack in naval battles: one is shooting at each other, and the other is colliding with each other. Although the ways of employing troops vary, this is the only means of attack. The key to fighting this kind of battle does not lie in how brave the soldiers are, but in how many battleships there are. The more battleships you have, the stronger your combat power will naturally be. And here lies the problem. Liu Bei's conquest of Jiangdong is not a long-term strategy. At the latest, Liu Bei may mobilize his troops next year. After waiting for three to five years, the day lily will be cold! Liu Bei frowned when he heard this. While thinking, he looked at Qin Zhen and said: "If we follow Zijing's advice, it will be difficult for our army to build a navy!" Seeing Old Liu like this, Qin Zhen asked Lu Su curiously: "The Chu River stretches across the south of the Yangtze River, stretching for thousands of miles. It's not like only Jiangdong is the only place that builds ships!" "Is there no boat to buy in Guangling and Jingzhou?" When Lu Su heard this, he immediately replied: "Reporting to the military advisor, Guangling and Jingzhou have their own ships!" "But to get here from Guangling, we have to pass through the north bank of Wujun. Sun Ce has many water forts. If we buy ships, we may be robbed." "It's the same in Jingzhou. To get here from Jingzhou, you have to pass through Danyang County, along the water for hundreds of miles, and there are also Sun Ce scouts!" "It is impossible to transport the boats from these two places to Chaohu Lake!" Qin Zhen listened and couldn't help but stand up and pondered:

"If we follow what Zi Jing said, the key is not that there are no ships available, but that Sun Ce has already taken control of the Yangtze River. Even if our army buys warships, we cannot transport them to Chaohu Lake!" He had never thought about this question before. Because he had no knowledge of naval warfare and did not know the details of Sun Ce's naval situation. But he remembered that in the original process, Sun Ce had fought with the navy of Jingzhou once when he was trying to capture Lujiang. According to the memorial "Punishing Huang Zu" submitted by Sun Ce to the court, he defeated Huang Zu on December 11, the fourth year of Jian'an, and captured seven of Huang Zu's wives, sons and daughters, beheaded more than 20,000 soldiers of Liu Hu and Han Xi, and left more than 10,000 of them drowned. He also captured more than 6,000 ships and mountains of wealth. Of course, this was a report submitted by Sun Ce to the imperial court, which contained some exaggerations. Another version is that Sun Ce obtained more than a thousand naval ships from Liu Xun and Jingzhou and defeated Huang Zu's 5,000 naval and land troops. Obviously, the latter statement is more reliable! The current time point is the end of the second year of Jian'an, which is only more than a year away from the fourth year of Jian'an. According to the speed described by Lu Su, it can be seen that the navy under Sun Ce has indeed reached a certain scale. If we intend to intercept their warships, we can naturally ensure that they cannot build up their navy! Thinking about this, he couldn't help but ask Lu Su again: "Zi Jing, do you know how many ships and naval forces Liu Xun has?" Seeing Qin Zhen asking about this, Lu Su smiled and said: "The military advisor asked about Liu Xun. Could it be that he was planning to start with Liu Xun?" "Use the ships in his hands to build our navy?" Seeing this, Liu Bei was a little surprised and said: "Military Advisor, our army is exhausted and the drought is so severe. How can we attack Liu Xun?" He knew that Qin Zhen had always been resolute and swift in his actions, and judging from his behavior, he might really want to annex Liu Xun. If it were before, he would have asked for advice, but now is really not the time to fight. With such a lavish military effort, even if they could capture Lujiang, they would probably suffer heavy losses. Seeing Liu Bei like this, Qin Zhen shook his head and smiled: "No, I don't intend to mobilize troops against Liu Xun, but I am thinking that it is difficult to build a navy for our army, so we need to borrow external forces." "What Zi Jing is worried about now is that our army is training in Chaohu Lake, and both the east and the west are trapped by Sun Ce." "So if our army wants to build this navy, we must start from Lujiang. If Liu Xun's navy is strong enough to gain a foothold, then our army's next strategy will be to consider making Liu Xun's navy the primary target!" "Plan to annex this navy and move the training ground from Chaohu Lake to Pengze Lake!" "Even if we don't do anything about this now, we should plan for it as soon as possible!" Pengze Lake is located in Lujiang, with Xunyang to the north and Chaisang to the south. It is the gateway to Jiangdong. According to Qin Zhen's idea, since it is impossible to train troops in Chaohu Lake, then move to Pengze Lake! In this way, they could directly purchase warships in Jingzhou, transport them to Pengze Lake and build a water fort to guard against Sun Ce's sneak attack. At the same time, it can also connect to Yuzhang County and go south to establish a base for capturing Jiangdong, greatly reducing the negative impact brought by the Jiangdong navy! For things like this, the sooner you plan, the better! When Liu Bei heard this, he was relieved. After thinking about the specifics, he felt that it made sense. He immediately looked at Lu Su and said: "I wonder what Zi Jing thinks of this matter?" As soon as he asked the question, he saw Lu Su bowed and said: "My lord, Liu Xun does have a lot of warships under his command, hundreds of large and small ships, and no less than 4,000 naval forces. If we can seize them according to the military advisor's intention, our navy will naturally succeed!"

"But I wonder how our army should plan this navy?" Upon hearing this, Liu Bei naturally turned his gaze to Qin Zhen again. His eyes were naturally very straightforward. What could the military advisor do? Then Qin Zhen smiled and said: "To do this, we need an insider!" "I wonder if my lord still remembers the people we captured in Xiang County?" Liu Bei listened and was stunned for a moment. Prisoners from Xiang County? This has been a long time. But after thinking for a while, he remembered a figure that he hated, and couldn't help but frowned: "The internal support that the military advisor mentioned, could it be that Mei Cheng?" "It's this person!" Qin Zhen nodded. When he first saw Mei Cheng, he felt that this kind of person would be useful sooner or later, so he advised Liu Bei to keep some of him. Now it seems to be the perfect bait for fishing! (End of this chapter)