Liu Bei was really worried about Wei Yan, and he talked earnestly and taught Wei Yan earnestly. But the problem was that Wei Yan was no longer a child.
After a person has lived for more than forty years, his temperament and character have been completely determined, and it is impossible to change it no matter how much you persuade him.
When Wei Yan met Liu Bei, he could still maintain respect and respect, but when he left the gate of Liu Bei's mansion, he was still the same as he should be.
Regardless of Wei Yan's temper, Wei Yan's ability to lead troops in combat is unquestionable. After receiving the military order, he immediately took over the training of his troops and began to prepare for a raid on Chencang Road.
Zhang Xi and others also began to prepare to march to Baoxie Road, and sent an urgent messenger to notify Zhao Yun, allowing Zhao Yun to choose an opportunity to send troops to Sanguan within ten months.
The first step of the entire strategy is to attract as much as possible the main force of Cao's army in Chang'an to deploy defenses along the Wei River. Therefore, the two groups of soldiers and horses on Longshan Road and Baoxie Road must set off in advance to act as a deterrent.
However, Wei Yan's troops and horses were limited by the narrowness of Chencang Road and the requirement for a rapid advance. The number of troops could not be too large and they could support about 20,000 people, so they had to wait until Cao Jun was unable to support them. Launch an assault.
Therefore, Wei Yan still had to temporarily stay in Hanzhong to supervise the training of the soldiers, while Zhang Xi and others had to accompany Liu Bei and go out to Baoxie Road first.
This time we sent troops to praise Xiandao, it was different from last time.
The last time troops were sent to Bao Xiedao during the Northern Expedition, the army went first, followed by food and fodder.
Because the Baoxie Road must be opened first. If the food and grass are in the front and the army is behind, it is purely to deliver food and grass supplies to people.
But this time, there was Chen Dao's 12,000-strong garrison at Baoxie Pass. They could collect and store grain first, and then Liu Bei's army set off again.
Zhuge Liang and Zhang Xi were busy with the transportation of grain and grass some time ago.
The current living conditions of the Han Dynasty are much better than those in history, especially after conquering Yongliang and taking control of Baoxie Pass.
Although it is still difficult to transport grain, whether it is Yongliang or Yizhou, most of them are based on mountain roads, making it very inconvenient to transport grain and grass.
But today's big men don't have the same sense of urgency as in history. Although the speed and efficiency of food and grass hoarding are not high, they can always be prepared as long as they have time.
In addition, the use of cement in Yuexun County is slowly being discovered and used. If it were not for the Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang would really like to calm down and build the mountain roads in Yizhou first.
Unfortunately, the most important thing for today's Han Dynasty is still to recover the old mountains and rivers. As for developing infrastructure and restoring people's livelihood, they can only put it aside for the time being.
Therefore, due to such a difficult mountain road transportation, Zhang Xi finally asked Zhuge Liang about the problem of wooden cows and stray horses.
Out of curiosity, I just want to see what Zhuge Liang’s wooden cow and flowing horse are.
As for Zhuge Liang, he has actually been thinking about this issue.
The road cannot be repaired for the time being, so increasing transport capacity seems to be the only way to do it now.
Transport capacity is directly linked to livestock. Yongliang has not yet been completely pacified, so it cannot be counted on for the time being, and Yizhou is not a horse-producing land. Zhuge Liang went to great lengths to transfer a group of Yunnan horses from Nanzhong to reluctantly It made up for the lack of food and grass transportation capacity of the Northern Expeditionary Army.
But after all, Nanzhong is too far away from Hanzhong, and the transportation efficiency these days is low. A lot of Yunnan horses from Nanzhong will die on the way to Hanzhong, and a lot will die when they arrive in Hanzhong because they cannot adapt to the Hanzhong climate. Zhuge Liang also feels distressed , after being transferred once, I never dared to be transferred a second time.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang is actually also thinking about whether there are other ways to improve transportation capacity.
Regarding the concept of wooden cows and flowing horses, Zhuge Liang has actually thought about it, but this thing is still a pure concept in Zhuge Liang's mind. It doesn't even have a name. When Zhang Xi mentioned this, the concept suddenly had a name.
But just having a name is not enough. Zhuge Liang still has no idea what to do.
After all, we are still ten years away from the birth of the wooden cow and the flowing horse in history. And if the folk legend is true, then the wooden cow and the flowing horse were not invented by Zhuge Liang, but by his daughter-in-law Huang Yueying.
When Zhuge Liang took Zhang Xi to discuss how to increase transportation capacity, Zhang Xi knew that he probably wouldn't be able to see the so-called wooden cow and flowing horse.
The current situation is that the second Northern Expedition is about to begin. Zhang Xi can afford to wait for Zhuge Liang to study wood cows and flow horses, but Liu Bei cannot afford to wait.
Therefore, Zhang Xi had to get the two-wheeled cart and the wheelbarrow.
But there is still a large part of Zhuge Liang's credit.
Zhang Xi was not from the north in his previous life, so he only knew about these common means of transportation in the north, but was not familiar with them.
The two-wheeled cart is a little better. With the large trucks and boxcars of this era as a reference, Zhang Xi did not have any difficulty in making it. He just tried to reduce the weight of the vehicle and increase the load capacity, so that the two-wheeled cart can be used by humans and animals. .
But the unicycle is somewhat technical.
How to ensure the balance of the vehicle while increasing the load capacity as much as possible, and where to arrange the axis wheel to reduce the user's burden to the greatest extent.
After all, a wheelbarrow is a means of transport for one person, and human strength cannot be compared with that of livestock. Finding the right torque would be a matter of getting twice the result with half the effort.
Zhang Xi may not understand these things very well, but it doesn't matter, Zhuge Liang understands, and he really understands.
Zhuge Liang, really, people often only remember his political and military talents. They have even been debating for thousands of years whether Zhuge Liang's military ability is strong or not, but few people can evaluate him comprehensively.
Zhuge Liang was not only excellent in governance and military, he was also an all-rounder.
Politics, economy, culture, music, science and technology, military... there is nothing Zhuge Liang can't do.
In China's more than three thousand years of recorded history, there is no other person with this kind of all-round talent, and I don't know where Zhuge Liang's confidence came from.
Anyway, Zhang Xi was very impressed.
He put forward a rough idea and drew a sketch. Zhuge Liang went over it with bright eyes, and then kept revising it, and a unicycle was born.
What's even more clever is that Zhuge Liang also placed a small mechanism on the axle of the unicycle. As long as this mechanism is twisted, a "lock" can be placed on the unicycle, making it impossible for the unicycle to move forward at all. This thing should be what is described in the description of Wooden Ox and Flooding Horse. Is it "tongue"? !
This small mechanism is actually just a small mortise and tenon structure, but it is very hidden. If Zhuge Liang hadn't told Zhang Xi where it was, even Zhang Xi wouldn't have been able to find it.
And this wheelbarrow also made Zhuge Liang very satisfied.
Although a two-wheeled cart can be pushed by a single person, it is still more suitable for flat roads. Once it encounters mountain roads or muddy roads, the two-wheeled cart must be transported by animal power.
Although it is much better than the current van, it is not very suitable for the current combat environment after all.
But the wheelbarrow is not only suitable for walking on mountain roads, but if used by one person, it can transport more food while saving animal power.
What's more, the load-bearing capacity of a unicycle is not low, and it is not that difficult to operate as long as you master the balance.
These two things can instantly increase the grain transportation efficiency of the Northern Expedition army by 50%. If necessary, mobilize all the people to transport grain, then at least the Han army will no longer be restricted by grain supplies.
Zhuge Liang felt reassured and built two thousand two-wheeled carts and three thousand one-wheeled carts to transport grain to Baoxie Pass.
First, let’s try the actual effect. Second, Zhang Xi took this thing out in a hurry and didn’t have enough time to build it in large quantities. With the efficiency of the current military craftsmen, he can build 5,000. Vehicles are already quite difficult.
However, Zhuge Liang was very satisfied with the actual use effect of the unicycle and the two-wheeled cart, especially the unicycle.
Once a two-wheeled cart is damaged, it will be troublesome to repair. It is also large and takes up a lot of space. If it breaks down on the plank road, it will affect the subsequent transportation of grain and grass.
But a wheelbarrow can be repaired by anyone who knows a little bit about carpentry, and it doesn't take up space. It can be moved to the side to make way for other wheelbarrows to pass by.
In less than ten days, Zhuge Liang had already transported nearly 20,000 people's supplies of food and grass for a month's campaign to Baoxie Pass.
It is enough to have these grain reserves in advance. After the army arrives at Baoxie Pass, with the current grain transportation efficiency, it will be too late to continue to transport grain later.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang wrote to Liu Bei to inform him of the logistics preparations. Once Liu Bei saw that everything was ready, he should not waste time.
We have been staying in Hanzhong for a month. If we don't set off, God knows whether Soochow will continue its offensive in the Central Plains. If we miss this opportunity, we will waste a good opportunity.
On October 11th, the second year of Zhangwu, Liu Bei offered sacrifices to heaven and earth in Hanzhong and officially set off for the Northern Expedition. His troops arrived at Baoxie Road!
(End of chapter)
