Of course, Chen Qun couldn't know all of Zhuge Jin's inner plans, but he had to admit:
As long as you tell Liu Bei, "This plan was approved by Mr. Ziyu," then Liu Bei will immediately invest resources to implement it.
Even if Zhuge Jin told him clearly, "I haven't thought of a solution yet, but I believe I will devise a solution in a few months," Liu Bei would firmly believe that he would come up with a solution by then.
This is the power of credit accumulated by "historical records".
Who has made everyone’s debut so far?
At that moment, Chen Qun stopped talking nonsense and decided to carry out the instructions given by his husband.
Immediately, the families of soldiers and soldiers who were working for relief were organized to carry out dredging and polding along the southern section of Sheyangze and the canal to lay the foundation for the future canal gate project and clean up the planned "future reservoir area".
After sending Chen Qun away, Zhuge Jin was not idle either.
On the one hand, he also had to use his own brain to plan some preliminary details and help with some guidance.
On the other hand, in the next few days, Zhuge Jin will also be busy writing scrolls to his brother Zhuge Liang before the last wave of family letters before their reunion - compared to the wave of scrolls he sent before going to Xuchang, his plan this time is more targeted. .
Because this time after he came back from Xudu, he received a reply from Zhuge Liang.
Among them, there is a clear report on how far Zhuge Liang's knowledge has improved in the two and a half years since he left Xuzhou and fled, what new things he has mastered, and what connections and mentors he has made in Jingzhou.
If Zhuge Jin gives his younger brother guidance this time, he will be able to strengthen his weaknesses in a targeted manner, and he will be more practical.
While Zhuge Jin was giving instructions to Chen Qun and preparing a letter home, Liu Bei also came to see him once later.
The reason was that on the day the Song family established their own business, Liu Bei talked with Mi Zhu and Tian Yu about "taking back Tian Yu and others' family members in their hometown in Youzhou".
Liu Bei explained that the heart-to-heart talk between him and Tian Yu went very smoothly that day, and Tian Yu temporarily put aside the idea of returning to his hometown to support his elders.
But Tian Yu expressed some concerns about bringing his family members over:
If we take the land route, it will be too tiring and tiring, and the elders in the family may not be able to withstand the hardship.
Although traveling by boat is easier than traveling by car or horse, the inland rivers are impassable and the sea route is too bumpy, even if you take an offshore route close to the coastline.
After listening to Liu Bei's report, Zhuge Jin felt that although this problem was a bit troublesome, it was not completely impossible to improve and optimize.
So he suggested to Liu Bei by the way: why not make a bet with Tian Yu and Yuan Congpaoze, whose family members are still in their hometown in Youzhou?
If Liu Bei could show sincerity and improve the anti-turbulence ability of Mi Zhu's ships.
Even if it cannot be completely improved, as long as there is progress, then Tian Yu and others will no longer talk about returning to their hometown to raise their elders, and will try to bring their families over.
Liu Bei felt that this agreement had a good chance of winning, so he went to tell Tian Yu and others.
Tian Yu and others were really embarrassed when they heard this, but then they thought, "My lord, as a general who conquered the south and the governor of a state, can still make efforts and make improvements for such a small matter as taking over the family of a subordinate of the Yuan Dynasty. How can we not appreciate it?" ?”
In the end, they had no choice but to hint at their promise: as long as Liu Bei worked hard, even if he only achieved a little improvement, they would be willing to obey and never mention the family burden.
In this kind of thing, everyone should show their sincerity and then take a step back.
If Liu Bei shows off enough, others will appreciate it.
When Liu Bei took this agreement and told Zhuge Jin back, Zhuge Jin's reply was still asking him to be patient and wait for at least two or three months——
Anyway, it is November in the dead of winter, and the north wind blows all the time, so it is impossible to sail north from Xuzhou to Youjizhou.
In those later dynasties that "transformed water transportation into sea transportation", generally the sea-route grain ships transporting northward had to wait until the middle of the second lunar month when the monsoon winds were favorable to set sail, and they did not arrive in Beijing until March.
The navigation technology and wind utilization of the Han Dynasty would only be much worse than that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so it would be impossible to sail northward before March next year.
Therefore, Zhuge Jin can also delay and start the project first and dig holes to be filled.
Liu Bei's new needs eventually prompted Zhuge Jin to add two more volumes of targeted knowledge to his second brother's new family letter.
Strengthen the second brother's basic knowledge about buoyancy, fluid resistance and power, which may be useful in the future.
…
A few days after the incident of the Song family establishing their own business, Zhuge Jin, who had been immersed in seclusion, finally prepared a new wave of family letters and secret scrolls for his second brother, and then still asked Tang Guang to send them to Xiangyang for communication.
Zhuge Jin himself was also planning to spend the last few days inspecting Chen Qun's dredging and polder-building project in Sheyangze to see how the work-for-relief project was being implemented.
If there is no big problem, he can lead his troops to Yuzhang with peace of mind.
Zhuge Jin sent this family letter to his second brother in November and a half, and it will basically be delivered in early December.
The second brother will spend a few more days preparing and escaping, and he should be leaving in mid-December to meet his family in Yuzhang.
It takes about two thousand miles to go upstream from Guangling to Xiangyang, more than nine hundred miles to Yuzhang, and one thousand two hundred miles from Xiangyang to Yuzhang.
The boat is very fast going down the river. If you sail day and night, you can get from Xiangyang to Yuzhang in seven or eight days.
Therefore, I, my uncle, my brothers and my sisters would definitely be reunited in Yuzhang County in time to celebrate the New Year.
With his own army, he should arrive a few days earlier than A Liang. And there is no need to immediately go to Xi'an County where my uncle is -
When Guan Yu sent the first wave of reinforcements, he was worried that Xi'an County would be lost. If Zuo Rongnao suddenly launched a strong attack, his uncle would not be able to defend the city, so he must ensure safety first.
With Guan Yu, Zhuge Jin was sure that Xi'an County's defense was more than enough.
He will bring another two thousand Danyang soldiers this time. How to deploy them, the first priority to consider is "where to station them, which will be most conducive to the subsequent counterattack against Zuo Rong."
That's right, it's a counterattack.
Zuo Rong claimed to have "a crowd of tens of thousands", while Zhuge Jin only had 4,000 people, plus the imperial title granted by the imperial court, but he still dared to consider counterattack.
Although the most important Chaisang at Poyang Hukou must be heavily defended, it is impossible to steal it directly. But Pengze County on the other side of the lake mouth, or some other destination, is entirely possible.
When Zhuge Jin went there this time, he planned to steal a small county to station himself near Chaisang, and then join his second brother. At that time, he would be able to form a rivalry with his uncle and Guan Yu to support each other.
…
After Zhuge Jin planned and planned all the matters for sending troops, he went to Chen Qun as scheduled to see the progress of the water conservancy project.
Chen Qun did a pretty good job. He led a large group of civilians and carried out dredging for more than ten days around Sheyangze, which was used as the future canal storage reservoir. They excavated the silt in the lower areas and piled it up higher.
Chen Qun himself occasionally lives on the construction site, keeping abreast of the situation and managing it nearby.
Although he doesn't like engineering, he likes to experience fresh management experience. He feels that this is a kind of wealth in life and an eye-opener.
The distribution of workload and the distribution of food relief as wages were carried out in an orderly manner. It seems that there is absolutely no problem in management.
If there is a problem, it can only be a technical problem.
Zhuge Jin was very satisfied with Chen Qun's management ability and casually asked if he had encountered any other difficulties.
Chen Qun also answered directly: "The food and management are going smoothly, and the people can bear the hard work. Now this work is much easier than serious lake dredging, because the water level is very low, and there is no need to dig out the mud under the water. The biggest complaint of the people is that they have never seen such a method of doing things, and they are confused and easily slack off."
According to Chen Qun's explanation, Zhuge Jin also noticed that the intensity of dredging work was indeed not high.
The largest labor cost of normal dredging projects comes from digging up silt from the bottom of the water and then piling it to the shore. The resistance to underwater operations is very high.
But now before the canal gates are built, the water level is very low, which means it is easy to semi-empty the lake and dig out the exposed river bottom mud in advance.
If compared with earth excavation projects in plain areas, the labor required to dig one square meter of dry soil can be converted into at least five or six square meters of soft river mud.
If the silt is particularly thin and soft, it may even take more than ten cubic meters to cover the workload of one cubic meter of dry soil.
But everyone needs a sense of accomplishment, even migrant workers. Giving food can certainly make people work harder, but if they can be given a sense of accomplishment, their work efficiency will be even higher.
Elton Mayo discovered this truth as early as 1950 through experiments with Westinghouse Electric motor coil winding workers, refuting the previous mechanical and rigid Taylor management method.
Of course Zhuge Jin also knows this truth.
So he asked calmly: "Zhang Wen never thought of using other words to make the people believe that what they do will eventually be successful and will be recorded in history? These people have never read a book. You are talking about technology to them." They don’t understand either.”
Chen Qun: "The people really couldn't understand the details, so I thought of other words to encourage everyone's confidence. I said: Don't worry, everyone, this method was ordered by Mr. Zhuge.
Then let the clerks take advantage of the breaks between work and meals to tell the people stories about their husband's past fortune-tellings, and the people will be willing to work hard.
But I'm worried that although the people will be inspired by this kind of rhetoric, if something goes wrong in the future, your reputation will be damaged - you won't blame me, right? "
Zhuge Jin laughed: "That's enough! It's enough for the people to be able to 'implement it even if they don't understand'. You don't have to worry about the future - even if you can't lie to others, the lake will not spontaneously change from a low position." Flow to higher places.”
When Zhuge Jin and Chen Qun were chatting, their calm performance was also seen from a distance by the surrounding petty officials and construction workers.
Naturally, everyone's confidence increased and they worked more energetically, but many people also became curious about "Does Mr. Zhuge never make mistakes in calculations?" and were just waiting to see his jokes.
The sense of anticipation and attention for the project was instantly heightened.
…
After Zhuge Jin gave Chen Qun reassurance and boosted his morale, his mission in Guangling was completely completed.
Although Liu Bei would come to chat with him every few days, and Mi Zhu would occasionally come to ask for advice on some minor issues, it was nothing troublesome and easy to deal with.
Mi Zhu did hint whether Zhuge Jin was considering starting a family.
But Zhuge Jin frowned again. He felt that it was unlucky for Flagg to "come back and get married after this battle." He refused to discuss it before the battle and didn't want to hear it.
Getting married in the Han Dynasty was still too troublesome. After all, six rites were required. If you counted from the time you received the lottery, wouldn't it take half a year to get it done?
If you allow a "flash marriage" like that of later generations, and complete the process in a few days, then Zhuge Jin might still consider it.
After Mi Zhu retreated, it was already the end of November in the blink of an eye.
Zhuge Jin rarely had any leisure time, enjoying the last moment of relaxation before the war and adjusting his condition.
Finally, two days before leaving, three more uninvited guests came to his house.
Zhuge Jin didn't have any airs and went out to welcome him in person, only to find that several scholar friends whom he had a vague impression of in his memory but had never seen since time travel were visiting.
"Brother Ziyu, I haven't seen you for a year, and you have reached such a high level. I am very happy to congratulate you. Congratulations to me, little brother, are belated."
Zhuge Jin quickly sorted out his memory before tentatively responding: "Brother Zishan? Are you from..."
The other party immediately admitted: "Yes, I just came back from Wu County in the middle of the month and just arrived yesterday."
Fortunately, I didn't admit my mistake. The person who spoke was Bu Zhi Bu Zi Shan, who was growing winter melons in Wu County a few months ago, and my nominal old classmate.
The two people next to them were Yan Zhen and Wei Jing.
I didn't expect that on the eve of my departure to Yuzhang, I would catch up with these people to say goodbye.
——
PS: Although there are still two updates today, it is still 8,000 words long.
We are making progress. Tomorrow A Liang will set off to meet his eldest brother, and then the whole family will go to Yuzhang to open a new copy and put it on the shelves.
