The Chengshui River originates from Haoyang County, Lingling County, also known as Haoshui River, passes through Chong'an County, Lingling County, enters Lingxian County, Changsha County, and finally flows into the Xiangshui River.
Although Chengshui is not as long as Xiangshui, Leishui, and even Zhongshui, its total length is more than 500 miles. I don’t know how many people in Lingxian, Chong’an, and Haoyang counties depend on it for their livelihood. However, in recent times, Duan Chengshui in Lingxian County has The repeated blockade of the river has caused great inconvenience to the people of Lingxian County. There are even soldiers patrolling both sides of the coast, and anyone who approaches will be driven away.
In the entire Ling County, Liu Jing was the only person qualified to issue this order.
At this moment, he was on Chengshui, in the poop of his ship, surrounded by Liu Liang, Wang Qiang, Yu Zheng, Chu Fang and others.
Their eyes, without exception, all fell on something at the bow of the ship.
These objects are two huge wooden poles, shaped like ship masts, both fifty or sixty feet high. One of the large poles has a huge stone on the top and a wheel attached to the bottom.
Following Wang Qiang's order, one of the big poles dropped with a huge boulder, and hit a six or seven-foot-long barge on the opposite side with great force. With just one blow, the deck of the barge was smashed through, and the barge immediately began to move with great force. It is tilting forward at a speed visible to the naked eye, and sinking is only a matter of time.
"Okay!" Everyone in the poop couldn't help but cheer loudly.
Amid bursts of shouting, the pulley rolled, and the big pole and the boulder above were pulled back to the ship and re-fixed in position.
Soon, the boulders fell again with a sharp whistling sound, completely sending the severely tilted and dying barge to the bottom of the Chengshui River.
When Liu Jing saw this, he couldn't hide the joy on his face.
This object is the pole, a famous water warfare weapon in Chinese history.
The large-scale water warfare equipment such as the clap pole is very powerful. It appeared around the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Before artillery weapons were used in water warfare, it always had a status that cannot be ignored.
Liu Jing knew that the pole-shooting originated from the tangerine. The tangerine was a tool invented by the Chinese people to use the lever principle to draw water. It was mentioned as early as Mozi Beichengmen.
The basic structure of the juge is to install a horizontal pole on a vertical pole. The front end is connected to a bucket, and the tail end is tied to a falling stone. The bucket rope is pulled into the well to draw water, and then let go. The tail of the pole falls by the gravity of the falling stone, and the head of the pole falls Lift up and lift the bucket out of the well.
Liu Jingchu initially thought that with a prototype like Jumei and his understanding of the lever principle, it would not be a problem to invent the pole.
But the reality is far from being as simple as he thought. He started researching last year and spent more than a year, not only referring to the trebuchet, but also the principle of the trebuchet, but the power could not meet the ideal requirements.
Until recently, he had to make a compromise, recruit some carpenters, work together, and finally build a powerful shooting pole. Facts have proved that building things behind closed doors is useless.
So far, his fleet does not even have a single building or stern, only eight battleships, and only more than thirty large barges ranging from six feet to nine feet.
Compared with Liu Biao and Zhang Xian, who were constantly fighting against each other with hundreds of ships and ships, this meager strength was a world of difference.
Even if he now has a powerful water warfare weapon like a pole, it is still difficult to make up for the huge strength gap between the two sides. However, he finally has the ability to hurt Liu Biao's water army.
Liu Jing said to Wang Qiang beside him: "Very good, this thing is so powerful that it can easily sink all ships including building ships."
Wang Qiang nodded in agreement and said, "What Liu Jun said is true. Even a tall and sturdy ship cannot withstand the power of a few blows from the Jue Kai. With the Jue Kai, it is enough to travel freely on the river without worries."
Liu Jing shook his head and said: "It took me a lot of effort to create this thing, but it is very easy to imitate. It can only be used as a surprise weapon."
Wang Qiang thought about it, this object actually did not break away from the category of tangerine, and tangerine is an ordinary thing in the world. If it falls in the eyes of a caring person, it will not take long to create it.
Liu Jing said again: "This thing can't be called a tangerine, otherwise it will be seen as false and true at a glance, so let's call it a patting pole."
"Shoot it with a pole?" Wang Qiang said: "Shoot it with a pole, and the name Liu Jun will be good."
Liu Jing smiled and shook his head. Wang Qiang's flattery skills were far worse than Guo Shang's.
Wang Qiang said again: "Mr. Liu, I wonder what to do with those craftsmen?"
They may not reveal the secret of the pole shooting, but after all, this is a secret weapon that only they have control over. It will definitely play a great role in the future. Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the unexpected.
According to his idea, he would naturally kill them all to eliminate any hidden dangers. However, based on his understanding of Liu Jing, the latter would definitely not do this.
Just as Wang Qiang guessed, Liu Jing had no intention of killing innocent people, and said in a deep voice: "Lingxian County is located on an important road, and there are many people with mixed eyes. If they stay here, they may be in danger of leaking the secret. Send them to Zhongshui Township temporarily. …”
"No." Wang Qiang answered the order with his fists clasped.
As soon as the incident was over, Liu Jing immediately visited Lingxian County and immediately ordered the lifting of the ban on carrying water. Since the experiment of shooting poles has been successful, naturally the water channel will not be blocked again in the future.
In Lingxian County in July, the sun was blazing and the heat was extremely sultry. Liu Jing returned to the county temple, eating lotus seeds to relieve the heat and reading the filing documents.
It is strange to say that Lingxian County has always been rainy and often flooded. However, two years after he took office, the rain last year was obviously less than in previous years, so the county ushered in a bumper harvest. This year, it was even more exaggerated, and there was a drought.
Fortunately, Ling County is rich in water resources, which can greatly alleviate the drought without causing large-scale harvest failures.
Liu Jing was watching intently, when suddenly there was a gentle knock on the door. Then Yu Zheng walked in with a letter, handed it to Liu Jing, and said: "This is a letter sent by Liu Wenxiu."
"Oh, it's Wenxiu." Liu Jing couldn't help but take the letter immediately.
He knew that the Jingzhou Civil War broke out in the third year of Jian'an (AD 198), which was this year, but the specific month was not clear, and there was no clear record in the history books. For this reason, he asked Liu Zhu to go north early this year Xiangyang, check the news.
"Could it be that Liu Biao is about to go south?" Liu Jing speculated as he opened the letter. However, when he scanned the contents of the letter, he couldn't help but get excited, with a look of shock on his face.
Father-in-law Deng You unexpectedly died of the epidemic, and his wife and eldest son Deng Chong also died.
Yu Zheng rarely saw Liu Jing lose his composure like this, and he stopped talking several times.
Liu Jing inadvertently paid attention to Yu Zheng standing aside, holding a letter in his hand and couldn't help but pace back and forth, feeling very sad in his heart.
Without leaving in advance, Deng You treated him well, with good horses, armor, weapons, supplies... Whatever he asked for, Deng You granted him everything.
Liu Jing felt that he had been favored by him, but he still thought that if he rose up in the future, he would repay him twice as much.
However, who could have imagined that he would be so unfortunate that he contracted the plague and died suddenly in middle age. Their separation the year before last ended forever.
Liu Jing is now more worried about his wife Deng Yuan. She cherishes her family very much, especially Deng You. She has regarded her as the apple of his eye since she was a child. He loves her even more than his second son. The relationship between father and daughter is extraordinary.
He couldn't imagine how sad his wife Deng Yuan would be if she learned the bad news that her father, mother, and eldest brother were all dead. Liu Jing was even worried about whether she could bear the bad news.
Liu Jing calmed down and continued to look down. Deng Yuan's second brother, Deng Lang, was ordered by Deng You to move south with his family to join him.
Liu Zhu, who was in Xiangyang, happened to meet them. Seeing that Deng Lang was carrying a large number of ships and supplies, he was afraid that they would encounter danger as they went south, so he personally led the fleet and escorted them to Changsha.
Liu Jing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. His second brother Deng Lang and the heirs of his eldest brother Deng Chong were still alive. This should be able to comfort his wife Deng Yuan's heart a little, right?
When Liu Zhu wrote this letter, the group had already reached the border of Changsha, which proved that there would be basically no danger later. If nothing unexpected happened, they should arrive in Lingxian County in a few days.
The first half of the letter contains details about the Deng family, while the second half deals with the situation in the north. According to the information Liu Zhu found in Xiangyang, Liu Biao and Cao Cao may have negotiated peace privately.
"Negotiating peace?" Liu Jing was slightly startled. The two of them fought and died in Nanyang for more than a year. Each of them paid an extremely heavy price, especially Cao Cao, his eldest son Cao Ang, his nephew Cao Anmin, and general Dian Wei all died in Nanyang.
After several conquests but unable to conquer, it can be said that the majesty has been wiped out.
Negotiate peace? Is it possible?
Liu Jing thought about it seriously and realized that it was really possible. Because Liu Biao would go south to attack Zhang Xian this year. And Zhang Xian controlled the three counties of Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang in southern Jingnan. Liu Biao had to go all out to succeed. He
If he hadn't negotiated peace with Cao Cao, how could he dare to go south in a big way?
And this year, Cao Cao will temporarily withdraw his gaze from Nanyang, turn his troops eastward, and kill Lu Bu who is entrenched in Xuzhou. Who would believe that there is no tacit understanding between the two?
However, it doesn't really matter whether Liu Biao and Cao Cao have negotiated peace. What's important is that the North-South War in Jingzhou is coming...
Liu Jing personally guessed that the date when Liu Biao would send troops would not exceed August, because August is the harvest time in Jingnan, and Liu Biao would definitely not let Zhang Xian have a safe harvest.
There is no reason for Zhang Xian not to know the information that Liu Zhu can find out. However, if the information is true or false, he is in the middle of the situation and has no prophetic ability, so he may not be able to see the current situation clearly.
It wasn't until Liu Jing read the letter and pondered for a long time that he noticed Yu Zheng's worried eyes and explained: "It's not a foreign matter, but an internal matter. Something happened to my in-laws, the Deng family."
Yu Zheng had a steady personality and was by no means a talkative person. Since Liu Jing had no intention of talking to him, he nodded and left.
Liu Jing had no intention of staying here anymore and hurried back to the county house with the letter.
Although the current county building is newly built, it is not inferior to the old residence. In addition, Deng Yuan likes exotic flowers and plants and transplants many of them. The entire county building is like being in an exquisite garden.
Now that the Salesian Residence is on the right track, Deng Yuan does not need to go there every day. Today, she did not go out in the county residence. Instead, she and her maidservants threw pots in the hall for fun.
Deng Yuan wears a high bun, decorated with gold and jade, wears a gauze robe as thin as cicada wings, and green silk square-toed shoes on her feet. She has a handsome figure and picturesque eyebrows, just like a little fairy.
She held an arrow in her right hand and held it in front of her. Her crystal clear eyes narrowed slightly. The maids around her made deliberate noises in an attempt to disturb her state of mind, but she remained as calm as water. With a flick of her right hand, the arrow drew a wonderful arc.
, accurately falling into the narrow mouth of the pot.
"Haha, I won..." Deng Yuan saw that he had hit the target, and couldn't help but smile proudly at the maids surrounding him.
Liu Jing stood outside the door, looking at Deng Yuan's very happy look, and couldn't help but sigh secretly.
"Ah, Liu Lang, why are you back?..." Deng Yuan accidentally caught a glimpse of Liu Jing and screamed. His cheeks were red. He didn't know whether it was caused by the weather, exercise, embarrassment, or both.
have.
"Young Master..." Liu Jing looked confused, not knowing how to tell her the cruel truth.
Deng Yuan thought Liu Jinghe was angry with her, so she cautiously said: "Liu Lang, are you blaming me for being discourteous?"
"No," Liu Jing stepped into the room, walked up to Deng Yuan, gently stroked his wife's shoulders and sighed: "Young Master, I don't know how to tell you, something happened to your family..."
Deng Yuan did not realize the seriousness of the matter and asked with a confused look: "What happened to my family?"
"This..." Liu Jing found it difficult to say, so he had to hand the letter directly to her.
Deng Yuan had a suspicious look on his face. When he read the contents of the letter, his face turned pale at first, and then he felt a rush of energy and blood crazily rushing to his head, and soon he felt that the world was spinning.
"Shaojun, Shaojun..." Liu Jingzao knew that his wife might not be able to withstand this blow, so he kept staring at her closely. When he saw that she was about to faint, he immediately held her tightly in his arms.
"Girl, girl..." All the maids were frightened and froze for a moment. The slightly younger Ah Xi and Ah Le started to cry, and then it was like a contagion, and all the maids burst into tears.
Liu Jing picked up his unconscious wife, carried her to the bed in the dormitory, and asked the maids to soak their handkerchiefs and wipe them with Deng Yuan to relieve the heat.
Liu Jingze sat on the couch under the bed and held his wife's hand tightly.
Deng Yuan has lived a carefree life since he was a child, with few troubles, so he has developed a very cheerful character.
After the two got married, Liu Jing liked her cheerful personality very much, because in this chaotic world where people cannibalize people, there are too many sufferings, and people's hearts gradually become distorted. Liu Jing firmly believes that with Deng Yuan
By staying by his side, his heart will never sink.
This was the first time that he saw Deng Yuan in such a weak and painful state. While he blamed himself, he also felt helpless. There was no way he could hide this from her. She would know sooner or later.
Ah Shu waited for the maid to return with a soaked handkerchief. Liu Jing asked for it and personally wiped Deng Yuan's forehead, cheeks, and neck...
An hour later, Deng Yuan woke up and looked sideways at Liu Jing, who was sitting on the couch. Tears flowed down the corners of his eyes like a bursting river, instantly soaking the wooden pillows.
Deng Yuan's voice was choked with sobs as he said: "Liu Lang, I, my father, mother, brother, are all really, really dead?"
Liu Jing found it difficult to speak and could only wipe his wife's tears silently.