Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1279: Chapter 1333: Everyone’s Preparations

After Qu Qi set off, Liu Bei issued a formal announcement in a very solemn tone to Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, Sun Ce, and others, demanding that the three guarantee Qu Qi’s personal safety under their administrations.

Yuan Shu went without saying; although he came from an aristocratic family, he could understand the concept of producing five shi per mu and had no intention of causing trouble, so he agreed to Liu Bei’s request.

As for Sun Ce and Cao Cao, given the current situation, they naturally agreed as well. Liu Zhang had no problem with it either. Besides, the Qu Family had been settled in Yizhou for four hundred years, so Liu Zhang’s foundation might not be as deep as the Qu Family’s. Going to Yizhou for Qu Qi was like returning home.

However, there was some discord in this as Sun Ce demanded that Liu Bei ensure Zhou Tai’s personal safety and requested Liu Bei send Zhang Zhongjing back to Yangzhou.

Liu Bei naturally refused rudely, assuring that Zhou Tai’s safety would be guaranteed and that he would send him back once healed. As for Zhang Zhongjing, he was not detained; Liu Bei said Sun Ce could ask Zhang Zhongjing, who simply did not want to return.

At that time, Sun Ce was furious and threatened that if anything happened to Zhou Tai, he would bring troops over to have a proper discussion with Liu Xuande. Before Liu Bei could respond, Chen Deng of Xuzhou retorted, ”If you have the guts, cross the river and fight me!”

Afterwards, both sides began exchanging verbal attacks across the Yangtze River. Fortunately, things remained generally peaceful, as Zhou Yu was no fool; now was the time to work hard on development to prepare for addressing Liu Xuande later.

Although Pang Tong and Zhou Yu’s joint deduction concluded that the combined chance of Sun Ce and Cao Cao defeating Liu Bei was less than twenty percent, any chance was worth fighting for!

Thus, Zhou Yu had been diligently developing sea ships recently, suspecting that Gan Ning’s frequent provocations from the sea had some conspiracy behind them.

However, in this era, only two families had relatively complete sea ship technology. The Gongsun Family had fallen, the Tian Family inherited part of it, and the Lul Family, after some practice, now possessed this technology as well. The problem was that none of the Eastern Wu Aristocratic Families under Zhou Yu knew how to build sea ships.

Shipbuilding technology itself required accumulation, and the same applied to sea ships. With the Lul Family gone, there was a technological gap. Although some places in Yangzhou were close to Yiizhou, you couldn’t get there without sea ships.

Speaking of which, recently, Guann Hai had been diligently smelting large amounts of copper blocks stored in Yiizhou, waiting for Gan Ning to transport them. It helped that many mines on Luzon Island were open-air, making extraction very simple and quick.

But Guann Hai didn’t know he would soon be leaving this isolated place to set out for another location to achieve success. Although Chen Xi strategically disregarded Parthia, he was cautious in practical operations.

The intelligence on Great Qin, analyzed by Li Youu, Jia Xu, and others, resulted in a very detailed outcome. Though there were certainly errors and omissions, a general understanding was gained: Great Qin’s military momentum was truly strong.

This strength didn’t come from the morale-boosting effect led by valiant generals but from the piecing together of many fragmented points.

Great Qin’s army didn’t exhibit the morale boost from generals, but their soldiers appeared noticeably more elite than those on this side, at least. Ten waves of short bow archers during battle were definitely not something ordinary elite troops could contend with.

Chen Xi knew some of this was due to them being located in Border Commanderies, and like in the Han Dynasty, soldiers there were relatively better fighters. But one could not deny that even among the same Border Commanderies, Great Qin’s soldiers demonstrated better quality than those of the Han Dynasty.

However, this was not a significantly pressing issue. Chen Xi could perceive the differences in the command systems of the two armies, not to mention that capable soldiers didn’t necessarily mean capable armies, though Great Qin’s army was indeed formidable enough.

Based on this, Chen Xi had already prepared to open a second frontline. Anyway, his goal in the Central Plains was to force Cao and Sunx to the negotiating table through a battle, but the strength he had accumulated was not yet enough to push them both to negotiate in one go.

Only when the disparity was significant would Cao Cao understand the differences between Liu Bei and himself. Otherwise, if Cao Cao always thought Liu Bei was just like him, he would never bow to Liu Bei. If even Cao Cao was lost, the Han’s vital energy preservation plan would lose a tenth!

Apart from Cao Cao’s paranoia and massacres, Chen Xi greatly admired him. Cao Cao represented about one-tenth of the Great Han Dynasty’s vital energy; this was not an exaggeration. Losing someone like him in a civil war would be a huge loss for the entire Huaxia.

Preserving Cao Cao and Sun Ce was the most crucial part of Chen Xi’s plan. If the Hundred Schools of Thought’s nation-building plan was to expand the Han Civilization circle for reforms in centuries to come, then preserving Cao and Sunx was to pave the way to millennia of prosperity.

Yet, Chen Xi couldn’t guarantee that centuries later Cao and Sunx would reach that point. He could only plan ahead; if it succeeded, it would be a blessing, if not, it was simply fate.

Of course, in the foreseeable future, Chen Xi was confident in forcing Cao Cao and Sun Ce to the negotiating table. In fact, Chen Xi had already almost selected the battlefield.

The chess pieces Chen Xi arranged predetermined that Cao Cao and Sun Ce could choose only one battlefield. However, it was not the time to activate those pieces yet; rather, they needed to offer sufficient benefits to make the world’s situation ambiguous.

Only by defeating them at their most inflated moment could they truly understand the disparity between them and only then could they sit down for a serious discussion.

Now Qu Qi emerged as the greatest bait, the largest healing pack, producing five shi per mu, enough to solve all of Cao Cao and Sun Ce’s problems.

Therefore, after Liu Bei officially sent this news to Cao Cao and Sun Ce, both guaranteed they would not harm Qu Qi, and at the same time, began searching for truly skilled farmers among the people. They needed this technology but couldn’t be tricked.

For Cao Cao, it wasn’t too troublesome since Zao Zhi, who was proficient in agriculture, had suffered immensely under Cao Cao for years and further delved into farming research. So when asked how to discern if Qu Qi was deceiving them, Zao Zhi calmly stated that once he saw the method, he would know.

Sun Ce’s side faced many hurdles; they hadn’t researched how to farm. Though farming was important, Yuzhou and Yangzhou never lacked grain, so they hadn’t seriously studied it, which was awkward. However, Zhou Yu, being a reasonable person, understood what producing five shi per mu meant.

Thus, he also gathered a large group of farming experts ready to prevent Liu Bei from deceiving them.

As for the current world of scholars, it had exploded completely. How did Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing appear on the Civil Official List? Qu Qi, Zheng Hun, all were on the final list. What is Xuu Zijiang trying to do?

Of course, there were few who slandered Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing. These two indeed saved countless lives and had nothing bad to say. They were figures in temples. Even if they were on the list by mistake, nothing could be said. But Qu Qi, who is this guy!