Chapter 531

“Milord. You must not drink anymore.” Jian Yong pleaded to Liu Bei. Ever since returning to Runan, Liu Bei had been drowning himself in wine. Many bottles of wine piled up beside him.

Drinking would not solve his problem but what else could Liu Bei do? He had experienced a crushing defeat. Not only did he fail to obtain provisions, he also lost countless troops, the Nanyang region and offended Liu Biao.

Nothing can be done without provisions and Liu Bei was also running out of troops. He only had two options. The first was to throw everything at Yangzhou in a desperate final struggle. However, Liu Bei knew that it would end in failure. The second was to withdraw while discarding unnecessary troops. Unfortunately, it was no longer a viable option. He only had twenty thousand elites left. If he were to discard them, he would put himself in a situation where surrender was a better option.

More importantly, Liu Bei’s own reputation was in tatters. Every time he was defeated, he could get back up because of his good reputation. But now, news of his hypocrisy was spread everywhere by Liu Mang. Guan Yu’s actions of borrowing provisions also ended up becoming a bad thing since Liu Bei now had no provisions to return to the populace.

This disastrous defeat had caused Liu Bei to lose his motivation in struggling for power.

“Brother. You must not drink anymore!” Guan Yu forcefully took away the bottle of wine when Jian Yong’s persuasion failed. His heart ached when he saw his brother act this way. Guan Yu had always followed his brother because his brother had the lofty ideals of restoring the Han but now his brother seemed to be without vigor.

“Give it back to me! Yunchang!” Liu Bei tried to take back his wine but how could he be a match for Guan Yu while drunk?

“Yunchang! Are you not going to listen to your elder brother anymore?” Liu Bei glared.

“I…” Guan Yu was put in a difficult position. He had to listen to his brother but at the same time, Liu Bei could not drink anymore for his own good.

“Give it to me!”

“Fine! If you want to drink, I will accompany you!” Guan Yu returned the bottle back to Liu Bei and took another bottle. “Good wine!”

“Then drink! Today, we are not returning home without getting drunk!”

Jian Yong laughed bitterly. He brought Guan Yu here to help stop Liu Bei from drinking but now the two of them were drinking together.

***

Meanwhile, Xu Shu was handling the matters at Shouchun.

“Military Advisor! Eight more merchant families from Jingzhou are registering themselves at Yangzhou. Please look over these names.” One scholar reported as he handed over a list of names along with where they moved from.

“Alright.” Xu Shu nodded and looked at the names. The Wang Family traded cloth while the Xu Family traded medicine. Now, the people in Yangzhou could buy and sell cloth. They would also be able to buy medicine which was even more important in ancient times as illnesses could easily cause death. While Xu Shu had dispatched a military doctor for the people, doctors still required medicine to treat patients. A merchant that sold medicine would be a necessity.

“The Chen Family from Jiangdong?” Xu Shu asked when he saw a name.

“Oh. Military Advisor. That man is just runs a small business at Xindu.” The scholar said with little interest. A small businessman like this only had a few hundred gold worth of property. Even him choosing to come to Yangzhou was because there was already too much competition in Jiangdong. In Yangzhou, he would be able to start on the same playing field as the big merchants from Jingzhou.

“A small merchant.” Xu Shu muttered to himself and then suddenly said, “Invite this merchant to a feast at my place tonight.”

“Hm? This small merchant?” The scholar could not understand why Xu Shu wanted to invite this small merchant instead of the big names from Jingzhou.

“This small merchant may play a huge role.” Xu Shu replied. This is because of where the merchant is from. Most of the merchants in Yangzhou came from Jingzhou due to the alliance but this man came from Jiangdong, which makes him a representative for the market in Jiangdong. Yangzhou’s policies were good for merchants. Mi Zhu was an example of a merchant who can obtain an official position. With conditions like these, Xu Shu could attract the Chen Family merchant to permanent set up shop in Yangzhou. This would also potentially attract more merchants from Jiangdong.

Xu Shu did not care whether Sun Ce would try and stop these merchants from moving. He believed that with enough profits, the merchants would recklessly try their luck anyway.

After continuing with his task for a while, Xu Shu asked about Liu Ye’s location. Both he and Liu Ye were in charge in dealing with Jingzhou.

“Liu Ye has gone to the river to look at the dam.” One person replied.

Shouchun was the main city in Yangzhou. With tall walls, it was easy to defend and hard to attack. However, it had fallen before. One of those methods used involved attacking from the river. There were several dams around Shouchun’s vicinity. While they were good for irrigation during times of peace, they were weak points exploitable by the enemy.

Yangzhou would not give up the dam as it provided for several thousand acres worth of fertile land. That was why they decided to rebuilt the dam with cement. Liu Ye once again reconstructed the dam as their newly improved cement could be used near rivers.

“This Liu Ye Liu Ziyang!” Xu Shu said helplessly. Liu Ye was supposed to be on leave but the man himself could not stay idle.

“How are things at the industrial zone?” Xu Shu inquired. According to the documents, Liu Ye had invented a small blast furnace. With many small blast furnaces in the industrial zone, black fumes could be seen all day.

“Military Advisor. Five thousand sets of armor and ten thousand weapons have already been delivered to General Huang.” These were all equipment with the help of the blast furnace.

“How is the quality of the weapons?” Xu Shu asked in doubt. The weapons were being made too quickly. Normally, several thousand smiths could forge this amount of weapons and armor in half a year. Now, it only took half a month.

“Military Advisor. This is one of the sample armor and weapon they sent over. Take a look!” One person replied and delivered the equipment.

The armor did not look any different from normal armor seemed as though it was slightly better than normal armor.

“Has the armor been tested?”

“Military Advisor. This heavy armor can completely withstand arrows from a hundred paces away and get scratched at fifty paces away but will be pierced at thirty paces away.

“Good!” Xu Shu praised as he nodded. This was definitely comparable to other heavy armors. Even the Xiliang Cavalry’s heavy armor could be pierced at fifty paces especially by heavy arrowheads made specifically to pierce armor.

“Military Advisor. We also tested its strength with the ballista.”

At this point in time, the ballista was already known to everyone. However, only three people had ballista. Liu Mang, Sun Ce, and Liu Biao. Cao Cao also has a ballista but it was just Liu Ye’s simplified version. The ballista was made to pierce through heavy armors and ships. Now it was being used to test the strength of the armor.

“What is the result?” Xu Shu asked with interest.

“It pierces the first armor…” Xu Shu nodded at this. If the ballista could not pierce armor, it was useless.

“…but it was completely stopped by the fourth armor.”

“What?” Xu Shu was shocked. He picked up the armor and found that it weighed several dozen catties. Xu Shu was still able to lift it with one hand.

“Don’t lie!” If this was the case, the ballista can only kill three people per shot.

“This subordinate does not dare! You can go and test it out if you don’t believe me!” The official knelt down. Xu Shu also knew they would not lie as their superior was Liu Ye, who was earnest to a fault.

Piercing through four armors was actually still possible because of inertia but at the very least, the new armor was still much better than the old ones. When the Xiliang Cavalry attacked Shouchun, the ballista was able to kill seven people per shot. This showed the differences in the armor’s strength.

“What about the sword?” Xu Shu turned towards the weapon. If the armor was good, the weapon should be as well.

“It can even cut through heavy armor!” The official from the industrial zone bragged.

“Oh! You have confidence!” Xu Shu then ordered a soldier to take off his leather armor and have the soldier cut it using the sword.

The armor was cut into two and the stand was cut. One half of the armor fell to the ground while the other remained hung on the stand.

Xu Shu was extremely shocked at the results. If this weapon were to be used on enemies, the result would easily be an overwhelming victory. This is especially true since most people only wore leather armor as metal was expensive.

“How does it fare against heavy armor?” Xu Shu asked. The only ones that could cut through heavy armors so far were those generals with good martial skill. What if every soldier could cut through armor?

The official shook his head.

“Of course. I was just too greedy. Being able to cut through leather armor is already very good!” Xu Shu laughed.

“Military Advisor. This weapon cannot cut through our own armor but it can cut through other people’s heavy armor.” The official replied.

“What!”

“That being said, we can only cut through three armor. After that, the weapon will become completely useless!” The official said with pity.

“What more do you want!” Xu Shu retorted. It was already a miraculous wonder for it to be able to cut through heavy armor. When heavily armored troops fought, they are only killed by getting attacked through weak spots not covered in armor or killed after they get exhausted.

However, with this sword, the Yangzhou Army would have a clear advantage.

“Has the equipment been delivered to General Huang?”

“Not yet.” Huang Zhong has three hundred thousand troops that were not yet prepared which was why he was extremely busy.

“Leave the equipment here. Put priority in supplying the Xiliang Cavalry and the Black Flag Army with these equipment. Xu Shu thought about supplying the Urban Army as well but changed his mind when he remembered that the Urban Army’s armors were stronger than this.

“Military Advisor! We have already promised General Huang.” The official was placed in an awkward position. Huang Zhong already had so many people he needed to supply equipment with that the current amount was not enough.

“Don’t worry. I will talk to him myself.” Xu Shu replied. As Huang Zhong’s troops were all auxiliary soldiers, they would not be sent to war first even if they were supplied with equipment. Of course, the troops also can’t train without any weapons and armor. That was why Xu Shu intended to trade equipment with the Black Flag Army and the Xiliang Cavalry.

“Yes, Military Advisor.”

“Have the smiths double their efforts!” Xu Shu said to the official.

“Military Advisor, they are already giving their all.”

“Then put in one hundred and twenty percent effort! The Lord is at Jingzhou. The longer we remain weak, the longer the Lord’s life is in someone else’s hands. We must put in more effort to accomplish the Lord’s goal!” Xu Shu knew the smiths were already doing their best but there would be bigger rewards when a task is important. Xu Shu had already increased the rewards given to the smith. A complete set of armor and weapon will bring the smith one hundred and fifty coins. Of course, the names of the smith must be engraved on the equipment so that those trying to make frauds for easy money can be tracked down.

Xu Shu felt anxious. He knew Liu Mang made himself Jingzhou hostage just for provisions for Yangzhou. If Yangzhou was powerful, Liu Mang would not need to do this.

Xu Shu was unable to solve the problem with provisions but he wants to quickly make Yangzhou powerful. With enough strength, they could force Jingzhou to return Liu Mang.

***

“Xiliang Cavalry! Gather!” The order was given and the Xiliang Cavalry murmured. After finishing their battle at Linhuai, they rested and reorganized. They no longer gathered together other than for training. But on that day, their entire army gathered.

“What’s going on today? Are we going to get paid in provisions?” One veteran asked.

“You must be dreaming! They only just paid us in silver a few days ago!” Another sneered.

“Haha! This person wasted all his money already! He would lose his backside soon!” Another laughed.

“You are the one who will lose your backside! Get lost!” The first person shouted unhappily. No one knew his real name but they called his Spendthrift Qi, for constantly losing his money from gambling. All the soldiers do gamble. However, Spendthrift Qi was the only person who never won once.

Spendthrift Qi asked this question because he already used up his pay. He then only thought of provisions.

“That is actually possible. Before I arrived here, I saw several carriages carrying boxes entering our camp. As the ground seems to sink in, it seems that the carriages were quite heavy.”

“Really?”

“Of course!”

“Haha! It is good to get paid!” The soldiers all became happy.

“The Yangzhou Army is great!” One person commented, feeling deeply moved. Under Zhang Xiu, they weren’t paid. If they wanted money, they had to plunder. However, thanks to Hu Che Er, the Qiang ethnic got a bigger cut. This garnered resentment in the Han. Under Liu Mang, the soldiers were paid in both food and silver so the soldiers were pleased.

The soldiers then started to gossip with each other as they waited.

“Xiao Liu! I heard you are getting close with a girl! Once you have a wedding, you must invite us!”

“Nothing has been decided yet!” Xiao Liu replied with a smile. Working for Yangzhou is much better than working at other places. Elsewhere, only the higher ranking officers could earn enough to be an eligible bachelor. In Yangzhou’s army, the pay was better so even common soldiers could now take a wife. They even had compensation pay for those killed in battle.

That is why in Yangzhou, even soldiers were considered good marriage candidates to the common people. The women also have good opinion of the soldiers especially after listening to Liu Mang’s propaganda saying that soldiers were heroes.

Xiao Liu was one of those soldiers. He and a smith’s daughter were getting together. However, the father had higher demands. As smithing was now a popular job, the father wanted Xiao Liu to be able to fork out at least a thousand coins as dowry for face.

Xiao Liu had almost saved up enough and was also almost able to get promoted based on his performance in battle. That was why he was very interested in the pay.

“His here! The General is here!” One person shouted and the soldiers all immediately stood properly and kept quiet.

“Not bad.” Zhang Liao said when he looked at the disciplined soldiers.

“That is because the General is good at giving directions!” Ge Jun flattered. There used to be tension between Zhang Liao and the Xiliang Cavalry due to the death of Zhang Liao’s brother. However, this tension slowly disappeared as these Xiliang Cavalry soldiers weren’t the ones responsible. On top of that, they worked well during the battle at Linhuai so they now had a relationship of mutual understanding.

“It is a pity they are all a bunch of girls!” Zhang Liao said with disdain.

“Haha.” Zhang Hu laughed. Before this, he would have gotten angry and revolted but now he knew that Zhang Liao merely has a sharp mouth.

Zhang Liao was strict. He wanted the Xiliang Cavalry to be like the Wolf Cavalry. That was why Zhang Liao rebuked them in everything. He took the Wolf Cavalry as the standard. While the Xiliang Cavalry were elites, they were obviously not as good as the Wolf Cavalry so this was unavoidable. The Xiliang Cavalry also got used to this treatment.

“Girls! Take off your armor!” Zhang Liao ordered. He looked at the soldiers with admiration but did not show it in his expression.

“Huh?” The soldiers were now confused. Why did Zhang Liao want them to take off their armor? Are they really unqualified to be soldiers?

“General!” These Xiliang Cavalry were of Han ethnic. They could be indifferent but they still had a sense of shame. If they took off their armor, they would be in their underwear. The soldiers looked at Zhang Hu and Ge Jun for help.

Instead of persuading Zhang Liao, Zhang Hu and Ge Jun told the soldiers to take off their armor as well.

With all three generals saying the same thing, the soldiers had no choice but to do as ordered.

“The squad leader is in charge of collecting the armor and giving it to your immediate superior!” Zhang Liao continued to give orders.

“Gathering the armor?”

“General! You want to dismiss us? Do you still not trust us?” The soldiers asked thinking that Zhang Liao was going to abandon them. At this moment, a few unfamiliar faces wearing armor entered the camp. This made the soldiers even more panicked. They no longer dared to take off their armor.

“What? Is nobody going to listen to my orders anymore?” Zhang Liao asked coldly.

“No General. You must tell us why! Are you going to abandon us after all we have done?” One person asked.

Instead of providing and explanation, Zhang Liao replied. “So what if that is the case? Right now, my order is for everyone to take off their armor or be executed! Are you going to listen to orders?”

“I…”

“General. We might as well explain things to them.” Ge Jun advised. It was initially not an issue but Zhang Liao was going to make the soldiers start a mutiny.

“Ge Jun! Zhang Hu! If you say anymore nonsense, I will have you killed on the spot!” Zhang Liao scolded. He then turned back and asked the soldier again. “Right now, my orders are for you all to take off your armors and hand over your weapons! Are you going to obey?”

The soldiers hesitated. If they were to do that, they would no longer have the ability to rebel.

“General! I will do it!” Spendthrift Qi shouted. To him, being dismissed from the army was not so bad. There were carriages appearing at camp so if they were to be dismissed, they would definitely be paid.

“General! I will take off my armor as well!” Xiao Liu nodded as well. With money, he can now propose.

“Spendthrift Qi! Yan Xiao Liu! Have you two gone mad?”

“I am not mad! If the General wanted you dead, you would have been dead long ago! He would not need to wait until now! Also take a look at General Ge Jun and General Zhang Hu! Do you not trust them?”

Hearing this, most of the soldiers no longer hesitated and took off their armor.

“Good! All soldiers, prepare to change your equipment!” Zhang Liao said with satisfaction.

Carriages carrying wooden chests were pushed out of the camp. Inside those chests were heavy armors and swords. There were also a lot of oil that would be used to prevent rusting.