My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 421 Response to Jingzhou
The Manila-class galleons can be considered masterpieces that bridged the gap between earlier and later designs. However, their construction was far simpler than that of the later wind-valve battleships. Especially considering that Liu Feng's current team is developing what are essentially miniature Manila-class battleships.

This was a last resort, considering that even the largest warships today only weigh around two to three thousand shi (a unit of dry measure), which translates to a displacement of only about 180 tons.

The smallest of the Manila-class sailing battleships was 1,800 tons, most of them were over 2,000 tons, and when fully loaded they were close to 2,200 tons.

Therefore, the sailboat that Liu Feng successfully developed at this time had a displacement of only tens of tons, but it was very suitable for navigation in coastal waters and the Yangtze River. Moreover, when necessary, it could also enter secondary rivers such as the Huai River, the Yellow River, and the Jingjiang River.

The two newly produced ships were ordered by Liu Feng to be assigned to the fleets of Xue Zhou and Zheng Bao, and after successful sea trials, they were to sail south to join the Fujian battlefield. The next six ships were all prepared to participate in the Jingzhou Campaign.

Production equipment will be developed as needed.

Next, Liu Feng took a boat to Yuzhou Island.

Today, only saltworkers remain here; the local fishermen and indigenous people have been relocated to the mainland.

This was a necessary covert measure, because the entire Yuzhoushan Island had now become Liu Feng's largest snow salt production area.

Liu Feng used the salt field method to open up a large number of salt fields on Yuzhou Island, and then supplemented them with various brine filter ponds, and finally used the firing method.

Today, the salt fields on Yuzhoushan Island produce more than 100 shi (a unit of dry measure) per mu (a unit of land area) per year. With just the hundreds of mu of salt fields that have been developed, the annual output of snow salt is tens of thousands of shi, which is even far greater than the output of crude salt in the past.

Moreover, this salt field drying method is far less expensive than the cooking method because the significant reduction in fuel required leads to a significant reduction in manpower, thereby greatly increasing profits.

The only thing to be careful about was the secrecy system. Fortunately, Liu Feng broke down the entire salt field sun-drying method into individual steps and adopted an assembly line operation, strictly prohibiting inquiries between each other.

At the same time, a large number of people were deployed on Yuzhou Island and at sea, specifically for counter-espionage and counter-spy operations, which can be described as being extremely strict in guarding against spies.

After Liu Feng finished his inspection and returned to Qu County, Quan Cong delivered a secret report from Jingzhou.

Quan Cong joined Liu Feng's service when Liu Feng was still in Wanling. Fan Chun, who joined Liu Feng's service at the same time, donated a large amount of land and household registration to the two of them, which earned them Liu Feng's appreciation and favor.

Subsequently, Liu Feng took Quan Cong and Fan Chun under his wing and recommended Quan Cong's father, Quan Rou, as the Eastern Commandant of Kuaiji, and Fan Chun's father, Fan Fu, as the Assistant Commandant of the Eastern Commandant of Kuaiji.

This outcome can be described as a win-win situation for everyone.

Liu Feng's actions in Kuaiji deeply shocked many powerful clans and gentry in Jiangdong. In particular, farsighted and ambitious individuals like Quan Cong saw that Liu Feng had extremely low tolerance for the hoarding of land by powerful clans and gentry, and even discriminated against such scholars in his personnel appointments.

Taking the four major surnames in Jiangdong as an example, the donation and sale of land by their families is a clear watershed.

Before this, they were suppressed and monitored by Liu Feng; after this, the four major families almost simultaneously embarked on a fast track to promotion.

Quan Cong was burning with desire, which is why he was willing to break ties with his own father to lead the family to transform and seek a future through the land. Otherwise, the final result would likely be the loss of both people and land.

"My lord, a secret report from Jingzhou."

Quan Cong was tall and strong. He walked up to Liu Feng, glanced at Mi Zhu and Mi Fang, and carefully handed the two silk scrolls to Liu Feng.

Liu Feng took the silk scroll, opened it, and began to read it. Mi Zhu quietly took two steps back and pulled Mi Fang, who was craning her neck to watch, down with her.

********
Rewinding to half a month earlier, Liu Biao was shocked to learn that Liu Feng was expanding his army extensively in Jiangdong, and he urgently summoned his trusted ministers to discuss the matter.

Once everyone was present, Liu Biao passed the intelligence down, starting with Kuai Yue, followed by Cai Mao, Kuai Liang, Liu Pan, and others who took turns reviewing it.

"Otherworld, what's your opinion on this?"

The first person Liu Biao inquired about was Kuai Yue, who was exceptionally capable, resourceful, and insightful. He was the person Liu Biao trusted most and even feared.

It can be said that in the entire Jingzhou, only Kuai Yidu's abilities were beyond Liu Biao's own.

Kuai Yue straightened up from his seat, bowed respectfully to Liu Biao, and replied, "In my opinion, he is not worth worrying about."

"Oh?"

Hearing Kuai Yue's answer, Liu Biao felt relieved and continued to ask, "How does Yidu come to have this insight?"

Kuai Yue laughed and said, "Before Liu Bei fought the great battle with Yuan Shu last year, he had only 80,000 to 90,000 soldiers. This time, he marched south and within a year he pacified Yuan Shu, pacified Liu Yao, and captured Sun Ce. His casualties should be as high as 40,000 to 50,000."

As everyone in the hall listened to Kuai Yue's words, they slowly nodded in agreement, clearly indicating that most of them agreed with Kuai Yue's view.

Kuai Yue continued, “Yuan Shu’s former troops numbered 100,000, Liu Yao had 50,000 to 60,000 (including Ze Rong and Xue Li, who were Liu Yao’s subordinates at the time), Sun Ce expanded his army in Wu Commandery to 50,000 to 60,000, and with the addition of 10,000 to 20,000 surrendered soldiers from Kuaiji, even without counting the troops from Danyang, there were at least 250,000 men. With the war progressing so quickly, the casualties should not be many. Of these 250,000 surrendered soldiers, there should be 150,000 who are still usable.”

At this point, Kuai Yue cupped his hands towards Liu Biao and said, "My lord, Liu Xuande's army numbers only eighty or ninety thousand, but the number of surrendered soldiers is almost double that. If we do not assimilate them as soon as possible, we may be in danger of being overthrown."

"I see."

Liu appeared to understand, but deep down he was not completely relieved by Kuai Yue's words.

Liu Biao turned to Cai Mao and gave him a look.

Cai Mao then asked Kuai Yue, "Yidu, Liu Bei's expansion of his army is indeed for a reason. However, after the expansion, his army numbers as many as 200,000, which may pose a threat to Jingzhou. Therefore, we must be on guard."

"De Gui is overthinking it."

Kuai Yue sneered, “De Gui, look at their troop distribution. Their main force may have already turned north and is deployed along the line of Runan and Pei in Yuzhou, or they may have spread out and deployed along the line of Kuaiji and Yuzhang. It can be seen that they have no plans for our province for the time being.”

After explaining to Cai Mao, Kuai Yue then turned to Liu Biao and said, "In my opinion, Liu Bei has just acquired a new province within six months to a year, and Runan has only been his for two years. He is also expanding his army so extensively. The most urgent task now is to pacify the local area and suppress the Yue tribes in the mountains. This will undoubtedly require a large number of troops."

"Moreover, there are two great heroes in the north, Yuan and Cao, who have many soldiers and generals, elite troops, and each has their own advantages. If Liu Bei does not deploy 100,000 troops, I'm afraid he won't be able to sleep peacefully."

Liu Biao slowly nodded, his tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxing.

In the original timeline, although the Sun family had 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers, one-third or even half of their forces were always out in the rear suppressing the Yue tribes.

Each time they went out to fight, the Shanyue would launch counterattacks, damaging Eastern Wu's infrastructure and even besieging towns. If the situation escalated, they would force Eastern Wu to return to quell the rebellion.

Liu Biao and Kuai Yue were also aware of these circumstances. Since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there had been countless rebellions by the Yue people. Although most of them were not large in scale, the number of rebellions was outrageous, sometimes reaching hundreds a year.

After Kuai Yue's analysis, Liu Biao immediately relaxed.

However, Kuai Yue then suggested, "My lord, a few days ago Prefect Huang sent an official document requesting the expansion of the navy. I think we should follow his suggestion."

"Why is that?" Liu Biao asked in confusion. "Huang Zu now has 20,000 naval troops. Isn't that enough?"

Kuai Yue replied solemnly, “My lord, the intelligence report just now also indicated that Liu Bei’s son, Liu Feng, is currently stationed in Wanling, Danyang, and is expanding his navy and dispatching sea ships to launch an expedition to Huinan. But where are his remaining ships? As we all know, the number of river ships far exceeds that of sea ships. I’m afraid his navy has 20,000 to 30,000 men. We must not underestimate him.”

Kuai Yue's words reminded Liu Biao that Jiangxia, where Huang Zu was located, was indeed the key to controlling the westward flow of Yangzhou. However, it was also an important town in Jingxiang. If something happened to Jiangxia, the entire Jingxiang region would be shaken.

This also shows that what Kuai Yue said was based on facts and was very well thought out.

After listening to Kuai Yue's words, Liu Biao fell into deep thought.

Cai Mao then interjected, "My lord, I have something to say, but I don't know if I should."

Liu Biao's train of thought was interrupted by Cai Mao, but he did not show any displeasure. Instead, he replied seriously, "I wonder what brilliant ideas De Gui has? Please speak your mind."

Cai Mao cupped his hands and said, "Jiangxia now has 20,000 naval troops, which is equal to the number of naval troops in Xiangyang."

At this time, the Jingzhou navy had a total of 50,000 men, of which 20,000 were the Jiangxia navy, another 20,000 were the Xiangyang navy, and the last 10,000 were deployed in key river locations such as Jiangling, Yiling, and Yidao in Nanjun.

The commander of the Jiangxia navy was naturally Huang Zu, the governor of Jiangxia, while the Xiangyang navy was commanded by Cai Mao.

The Jiangxia navy is now on par with the Xiangyang navy. If they continue to expand, wouldn't they be even stronger and more powerful than the Xiangyang navy?
As the leader of the Xiangyang navy, how could Cai Mao possibly accept this?

Moreover, it is extremely convenient to travel from Xiangyang to Jiangxia. It only takes ten days to reach the destination by going down the Han River. If there is any disturbance, it is timely to mobilize the Xiangyang navy to provide reinforcements. So why should resources and troops be given to Huang Zu?

Cai Mao uttered this seemingly random sentence, but Liu Biao completely understood what Cai Mao wanted to express, and Liu Biao also agreed with it.

Because the Huang family's power was so great that it had even surpassed that of the Cai and Kuai families.

Liu Biao is now nominally the ruler of Jingzhou, but in reality, he is the leader of the alliance elected by the gentry of Jingxiang. Moreover, the four southern commanderies of Jingzhou have never been truly convinced of his authority, and only nominally submit to Liu Biao's official title of Governor of Jingzhou.

Of the four commanderies in Jingbei, Jiangxia had become Huang Zu's private domain, a true state within a state. Huang Zu made all the decisions regarding the officials in Jiangxia, only needing to report to Liu Biao for approval afterward.

Even more outrageous, in the middle of last year, Huang Zu's son, Huang She, was appointed as the Prefect of Zhangling.

The so-called Zhangling Commandery was a new commandery separated from Nanyang Commandery, and it consisted of about seven or eight counties.

Its location is also quite delicate, as it is connected to the northern part of Jiangxia County and serves as a barrier to the east of Xiangyang, demonstrating Liu Biao's extraordinary favor towards the Huang family.

Even with trust and favor, there must be limits.

The bottom line is the military power in Xiangyang.

If Jiangxia's forces were to surpass those of Xiangyang, there would truly be a risk of the Tai'a (a powerful military force) being overturned.

"Ming Gong."

At this moment, Prefect Han Song also stood up and cupped his hands, saying, "Prefect Huang also sent a letter requesting that Your Excellency place Xunyang under the jurisdiction of Jiangxia, and at the same time order the Long Spear Army to postpone its return and remain in Jiangxia under its control."

Liu Biao frowned slightly. He trusted Huang Zu implicitly, even deliberately indulging him in order to suppress the scholars of Jingzhou.

The other party was aware of this, so whenever they had the chance, they would try to sow discord between Huang Zu and Liu Biao.

After pondering for a moment, Liu Biao made a decision: "The Long Spear Army was dispatched to guard against Liu Xuande. Since Liu Xuande and our province are at peace, there is naturally no need for them to stay in Jiangxia for long. Xunyang belongs to Yangzhou, and it would be very inappropriate to change its location rashly."

Liu Biao sent reinforcements because he was worried that Liu Bei would completely break off relations with him and turn to arms.

Now that Liu Bei had actually held back, and Liu Biao did not want to start a war with Liu Bei, he was naturally not foolish enough to change the name of Xunyang County to provoke Liu Bei, so he immediately rejected Huang Zu's request.

"Your Excellency is wise and insightful."

Prefect Huang Song immediately kowtowed and accepted the order.

However, Liu Biao had not finished explaining his decision. He continued, "Huang Gongyuan wishes to add ships and increase troops. Approval may be granted to add twenty warships, one hundred small boats, and five thousand naval troops."

At this time, the navy was almost entirely amphibious, not just for naval warfare. This was largely due to the fact that naval operations at that time relied on boarding.

Upon hearing that Liu Biao had actually agreed to Huang Zu's request to send reinforcements, Cai Mao immediately wanted to object.

"De Gui, do not be hasty."

However, Liu Biao raised his hand to stop Cai Mao from speaking and continued, "Since the situation is tense, the armies in Xiangyang also need to be expanded. I authorize you to expand the navy by 10,000 men, and add 40 warships and 60 red horses."

Then, he turned to Liu Pan and said, "After Liu Hu returns, the spear army will be expanded to three battalions with six thousand men. This matter will be entrusted to you and Ah Hu."

Liu Pan was overjoyed and quickly got up to obey.

Cai Mao also reaped the benefits; of the 21,000 troops expanded this time, he accounted for almost half, so he was naturally quite satisfied and no longer objected.

At this moment, Kuai Yue spoke up to remind him, "My lord, this would require expanding the army by 20,000 men, which would put the government's finances in a very difficult position and I'm afraid we won't be able to support it."

"Don't worry about it, Yidu."

Liu Biao waved his hand and then instructed Kuai Liang, the elder brother of Kuai Yue, "Zirou, the expenses for this expansion of the army, including the spearmen and Huang Gongyuan's troops, will be provided by my private treasury. However, I will have to trouble you to take care of De Gui's troops."

In this timeline, Liu Biao is much wealthier than in the original timeline.

Trade with Liu Feng brought him a lot of money, which not only added a lot of weapons and armor to his trusted troops, but also made his life much more extravagant than before.

Even so, Liu Biao still had a considerable amount of wealth that he could use to subsidize military expenses.

Kuai Liang hesitated for a moment, then looked at Kuai Yue and Cai Mao.

At this moment, Kuai Yue sat back down, looking down at his nose and remaining silent. Cai Mao, on the other hand, gave Kuai Liang a barely perceptible nod of agreement.

Therefore, Kuai Liang bowed down to Liu Biao and replied, "I will obey your command, Your Excellency."

(End of this chapter)