Chapter 14 Making a Plan
The three transport ships traveled day and night and docked at the pier north of Xia Pi City the next morning.

Xuan Liang took a few people and drove a small boat to recruit sailors. After the message was passed on, the families who applied to be sailors would row their boats here.

When the time comes, the resettlement expenses will be given to the families in person, and the sailors who stay behind will feel at ease.

Once the transport ship goes far away, it will be difficult to get off the pirate ship.

Black Bear felt bored so he took the geese off the boat for a walk. The four geese were playing in the water while he used a wooden stick to draw a rough map on the riverbank.

We must go to Xudu. As long as the fleet moves slowly towards Xudu, the three transport ships will be legal and the officials along the way will not dare to make things difficult for them.

If you want to keep this legal skin, you cannot fight against violence and protect the good on the way to Xudu.

If Xuan Liang followed his original plan to go to Chenliu via the Wei River and then enter Xu Du, there would be a hidden danger, which is the location of Cao Hong.

Given this dishonest man's status, it is very likely that he is already in Cao Cao's camp; by that time he will either give the money and silk to Cao Hong as planned, or turn against him immediately.

Cao Cao's army was at their side, with no shortage of cavalry, so it was difficult for these three ships to break through.

This original plan had to be cancelled, so there was another way left, which was to go north along the Huai River, first to Xu Du, and then to Chenliu via the Langdang Canal.

The White Goose Bandits are causing chaos and blocking the waterway for the canal transport. General Cao Zilian should be able to understand and be patient and wait for a while.

First go to Xudu, dig out the unique card material of Lü Wenhou, and then go north to deliver the express to General Cao Zilian in Chenliu Camp in person.

Sail into the Yellow River at night, and the sky will be high and free for birds to fly.

This road is not easy to walk and will take a long time. I have just enough time to grow and accumulate more mana. It would be best if I could strengthen Marquis Lü Wen to the extreme in one fell swoop and give Cao Gong a little shock.

This summer and autumn, I traveled around the Yellow River Basin, collecting materials and outstanding craftsmen.

Return to the Jianghuai area to avoid the cold before the weather gets cold and spend a warm winter.

If we could replace the flat-bottomed transport boats with pointed-bottomed, deep-draft sea-going vessels, then it would be nice to go to Guangzhou or Jiaozhou to eat lychees.

It seems that my card is very suitable for ocean-going supplies?

Until now, I am still somewhat curious about Madam Zhen in Yecheng. The stronger my ability is, the stronger my urge to go to Yecheng is.

After figuring out the general itinerary for this year, Black Bear drew numbers on the ground, from the first year of Jian'an to the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an.

This year is the seventh year of Jian'an, and we will reconnect the famous events in our memory with a timeline.

There are causal relationships between the events. For example, the Yidaizhao incident had ended, and those who were exposed inside had been killed by Cao Cao. Therefore, in the first month of this year, a large army was assembled in Chenliu to demonstrate, challenge and provoke Yuan Shao in Hebei.

There was also chaos in Hebei last year, which was pacified by Yuan Shao.

After the defeat at Guandu, Yuan Shao made a comeback and was defeated again at Cangting. In the two battles, hundreds of thousands of well-trained and experienced veterans were killed. Therefore, Yuan Shao would definitely not be able to gather a large army to attack Cao Cao this year.

Yuan Shao is Cao Cao's big brother, and a big brother has to act like a big brother.

Now Cao Cao has stationed his troops in Chenliu and is making a provocative gesture to advance into Hebei. If the big brother could raise his sword, he would definitely come from afar to fight.

For Big Brother, lengthening the logistics lines and sending exhausted soldiers on expeditions are not very important. The most important thing is that Big Brother cannot lose his prestige.

The loss of this prestige and face is often similar to the nature of defeat, which will cause internal turmoil and subordinate vacillation.

I guess Yuan Shao would be very angry now, but he couldn't do anything about Cao Cao no matter how angry he was. The more helpless he was, the angrier he would be, and the more he would regret not killing Cao Cao back then.

The wind helps the fire, and the fire helps the wind. This fierce force is enough to make Yuan Shao furious.

As long as Yuan Shao was still alive, the size of the four states of You, Bing, Ji and Qing would make it difficult for Cao Cao to take them down.

If Yuan Shao could live for another year, the situation in the world would certainly be different; just within the Xu Du court, Cao Cao's authority would continue to decline and he would make more compromises.

Otherwise, one military victory after another, both internally and externally, would have continuously swept away opposition voices and allowed Cao Cao's authority to rise rapidly.

If the war machine stopped for a moment, Cao Cao would choke and swallow blood.

What can we do now to make Mr. Yuan from Hebei happy?

When Boss Yuan is in a good mood, his happiness will be transferred to Boss Cao, who will then become gloomy.

The black bear raised his leg and used his foot to wipe out the scrawled words on the ground. He tilted his head and looked at the Sun and Xu flags on the transport ship, and couldn't help but squint slightly.

Seeing four geese floating quietly on the water after playing in the water, the black bear waved, and the mature gander led and drove the other three geese ashore like a sheepdog, and then boarded the boat along the wooden board.

The sailors and guards took turns washing and bathing, and were helping each other tie their hair on the deck.

Black Bear didn't like their dirty and unkempt appearance, so he distributed silk cloth to let them sew new clothes for themselves.

Seeing him board the ship, Chen Yang and Zhang Ding, the captains of the neighboring ship, came up one after another. Both of them had changed into new clothes and looked respectable.

The pot hanging on the deck boils water, and Black Bear cooks tea leaves. Nothing else is added, just a pot of the most authentic boiling hot strong tea soup, not milk tea or pearl milk tea with a mess of auxiliary ingredients.

After Chen Yang and Zhang Ding sat down, Black Bear put a piece of brown sugar in each of their bowls, then scooped strong tea into the bowl to disperse the brown sugar.

Picking up the wooden bowl, Black Bear said, "This brown sugar tea is nourishing and nourishing, and it is also a rare tonic in the world today."

There were three ships, two of which were loaded with supplies, and one was loaded with cloth, coins, local specialties from Jiangdong, and several boxes of sugarcane and brown sugar.

Chen Yang and Zhang Ding are both huge beneficiaries at present, and there is no need to be suspicious in the short term.

The situation was so chaotic, how far could they incite the sailors to flee by manning the transport ship? And what good would happen to them? The world was so bad that no one had any better choice.

After expressing their thanks, the two men picked up the wooden bowls and blew into them, always paying attention to the changes in the black bear's expression.

The black bear didn't drink it either. He just blew on it repeatedly, then took a small sip to taste it. He felt so comfortable that he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

What is in the wooden bowl is not just brown sugar and strong tea, it is a civilized life, a civilized and comfortable life embellishment with the breath of the past life.

He took another sip and savored it carefully before saying, "I intend to go to Xudu via the Huai River. What do you two think?"

"I will follow the commander."

"Don't be so nervous, I mean the route is not easy to change. After all, it's a taboo for the court to move around randomly."

Chen Yang held the wooden bowl in both hands: "General Qu means to do something between Pengcheng and Xiapi to block the canal transportation?"

"Yes, Xuan Liang is from Xia Pi. In theory, our fleet suffered casualties from pirates. It is normal for leader Xuan Liang to return to his hometown to recruit additional sailors. The court officials cannot stop him. Any other abnormal behavior will cause trouble."

Feeling that the strong tea had cooled down a bit, Black Bear motioned for the two men to sip the tea and said slowly, "Good things take time. We have to go north to Pengcheng via Sishui and then turn back under the pretext of encountering pirates. Then Pengcheng will inform Xudu and we can take the Huaishui instead."

This fleet is registered by Xudu and cannot move around.

Chen Yang sipped his tea, feeling that the general in front of him was going to Xudu to do something big, Cao Cao's army was in Chenliu, and Xudu was empty.

Zhang Dingze said, "If we pass through Pengcheng repeatedly, it will arouse suspicion. It is better to drive the boat upstream, hide during the day and go out at night, and burn and loot the grass stored in Pengcheng. This will shake the lands of Xuhuai and Liangpei, and it will be reasonable to drive the boat along the Huai River directly to Xudu."

Chen Yang was born into a wandering commoner family. His experience as a slave and soldier made him more ferocious, but did not increase his experience.

Zhang Ding is different. When he was young, he followed Sun Jian in Nanyang to raise an army to fight against Dong Zhuo. So many people died, but Zhang Ding was still alive with all his hands and feet intact. This is not an ordinary ability.

Seeing the general's eyes on him, Zhang Ding took a sip of brown sugar tea before smiling and looking at Chen Yang: "Brother Chen doesn't know the inside story. We are on a mission to the north to explore the way and visit the customs along the way. As far as I know, Sun Quan is serving the king externally and seeking hegemony internally. He has made friends with Cao Zilian to stabilize the north and intends to use troops in Jiangxia when the opportunity arises."

Sun Quan's attack on Huang Zu of Jiangxia was just and legitimate.

Zhang Ding looked at Black Bear and admitted, "The forage field in the southern suburbs of Pengcheng has a huge reserve, and the guards are not careful, so it is not difficult to get it."

This grass is not for keeping warm in winter, but forage stored for the army's horses, that is, fodder.

Fodder was another major tax besides land tax and corvée poll tax, which was the payment of bundles of grass that could be used to feed cattle and horses.

The best fodder is green hay that has been exposed to the sun in midsummer, followed by other grasses that cattle and horses like to eat.

Chen Yang asked in confusion, "If General Qu leaves and there is no more movement between Xu and Huai, won't the court be suspicious? If they go to Xudu and are blocked from front and back, what should we do?"

Chen Yang looked up at the black bear with some fear. Zhang Ding saw him like this and gave him an elbow, which hit Chen Yang's side and almost knocked him over.

Zhang Ding had been through a lot, and he looked down on Chen Yang, who had suddenly turned the tables by sheer luck. He said, "How can a young boy like you know his tactics?"

Chen Yang didn't dare to get angry and lowered his head.

Black Bear scooped half a spoonful of strong tea into his own bowl, mixed it and gently shook the wooden bowl. He lowered his eyebrows and looked at the swirling cola-like tea soup, and couldn't help but smile: "I have my own intentions in going to Xudu, and I am also at ease. I won't take unnecessary risks."

At worst, Xuan Liang could come forward, give Cao Hong some property, and negotiate the matter of entrusting Cao Hong to buy the horse.

This way, when you leave Xu Du, you will have a legal identity.

Zhang Ding drank the tea in the bowl, held the bowl with both hands and handed it to Black Bear to ask for more tea, saying, "General Qu, don't worry about this kid. When doing big things, there are always risks."

"Master Qu is like my second parent, how could I question him?"

Chen Yang moved away from Zhang Ding and moved his stool a little bit, then said, "I'm not afraid of death, I'm just worried about the safety of the commander."

"Another one showing off his ability to talk!"

Zhang Ding glanced at him sideways. If he didn't feel sorry for the precious tea in the bowl, he would have probably poured it on Chen Yang's face.

Black Bear knocked on the table, and Zhang Ding sat up straight. He then suggested, "Captain Qu, we will set sail after replenishing the sailors and arrive at Lu County before dark."

As he said this, he looked up at the weather vane on the top of the mast: "Against the current and with the wind, we can set out before noon and travel more than a hundred miles."

The rivers in the Central Plains are not very wide, but the advantage is that the flow is slow and there are no hard rocks or reefs, so as long as the ship is not too large, the risk of night sailing is smaller than in the south.

Black Bear felt that Zhang Ding was quite thoughtful and knew that he was worried about Xuan Liang.

How could we allow the transport ship to be too far away when we were going to burn the Pengcheng hay field?
The ship went north to Lu County, and then sailed to Pengcheng at night. This waterway was much easier to travel.

Xuanliang would agree anyway. It would be enough for him to return home in glory and visit his fellow villagers. Should he ignore his mission and hold a grand banquet for three days and three nights?
After making up their minds, they soon saw Xuan Liang leading a dozen small boats and the water system of Xia Pi moat gradually approaching.

Zhang Ding was arranged to convey the plan, and Hei Xiong stayed on the ship to watch Xuan Liang select sailors and distribute resettlement fees.

The Wuzhu coins in Xuzhou were still in circulation, and the main means of payment for settling down were Wuzhu coins and coarse silk.

Most of the cloth on the ship are high-quality goods, and giving them directly to the sailors as resettlement fees will only harm their families.

You have to wear fabrics that match your status. If you dress too well, you deserve to be beaten to death.

With the current business in Xia Pi, it is difficult to exchange high-quality silk for coarse silk or fine cloth.

(End of this chapter)