The people Lu Dai recommended to the pottery merchants were He Qi, Quan Rou, and Kan Ze.
Naturally, the pottery merchant knew all three of these people.
Now that Lu Dai had recommended him, the pottery merchant was naturally more willing to hire him.
Kan Ze was a young man whose family was poor and had been farming for generations. He borrowed books and excerpts from others all year round and was very knowledgeable.
He Qi was from Shanyin and was currently the county magistrate of Shan County. He was directly under Wang Lang. After taking over Kuaiji County from Wang Lang, the pottery merchant planned to promote him.
After all, in the history of Soochow, He Qi had experienced hundreds of battles and made numerous meritorious deeds, whether against Wei or Shanyue, and was a rare important minister and good general in Wu.
Quanrou was Xiaolian during the reign of Emperor Xiaoling. He was currently serving as the eastern captaincy of Kuaiji in Yangzhou and was also a subordinate of Wang Lang. Another thing that concerned the pottery merchant was that he also had a son named Quan Cong.
Tao Shang appointed Lu Dai as the captain of Dingnan and followed him southward to conquer the counties in Yangzhou.
But before heading south, there were two people the potter needed to meet.
Those are his two apprentices, Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang.
I haven’t seen each other for a long time, and I don’t know how the two children are doing with their studies.
Although the potter is their nominal master, he is limited in what he can teach them and the time he can teach them.
But the pottery merchant did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to hire famous teachers of the Six Arts from all over the south of the Yangtze River to educate the two children.
Of course, as a time traveler, the pottery merchant did not attach great importance to the ancient art industry. He preferred to let his two children exert their own subjective initiative.
Time flies, and Zhuge Liang is already fourteen years old, while Sima Yi is fifteen years old.
I think back then, the two jumping little boys were now half-grown teenagers.
When I met the two children, they had already advanced to a very high level in their studies.
As expected, they are all born to be top academics.
But the only thing that made the pottery feel imperfect was that when he saw the two children, they did not have fans in their hands.
This made the pottery merchant very unhappy, and he first criticized Zhuge Liang.
"Why don't you bring a fan?"
Zhuge Liang's face turned red all of a sudden. He lowered his head, moved his feet shyly, and said, "Teacher, it's winter. It's not too hot, so the students have forgotten about it."
"That won't work, go home and get it! Come and talk to me after you get the fan... If you don't take a good thing with you, remember, someone will recognize that thing two thousand years later."
Zhuge Liang had no choice but to turn around and go back to get the fan, leaving Sima Yi alone and laughing.
The potter looked sideways at Sima Yi.
"What are you enjoying? Do you think it's none of your business? You go home and get your fan."
Sima Yi's face turned green instantly.
"Teacher, my fan is too ugly. It's the same one used to light the fire. Can I not use it?"
"No! How can we not use good things! It's a waste of resources. Your fan is more valuable than Zhuge Liang's gold. Only a living Buddha can be used to fan in a thousand years!"
Sima Yi had no choice but to go back.
When they were young, the two of them faced the autumn wind, waving their fans, and appeared in front of the pottery merchant like two happy little boys.
The potter was then satisfied.
Zhuge Liang not only brought a fan, but also a model object for the potter to observe.
"Teacher, look, this is the repeating crossbow that the students just designed recently. Please take a look at it, teacher."
The pottery merchant was shocked when he heard this and hurriedly picked up the model sent by Zhuge Liang and looked at it carefully.
Zhuge Liang stood aside and explained to the pottery merchant: "The previous generations of our dynasty already had repeating crossbows, but they did not fire many arrows. The students can fire ten arrows in a row based on the previous generations' repeating crossbows.
An eight-inch-long iron crossbow arrow is divided into six parts, namely the outer shell, the hanging knife, the ox, the pivot, the mountain, and the teeth. The crossbow can be made large or small according to needs. The larger one can be used as a crossbow.
Machines are set up at the top of the city. The small ones can be used as crossbowmen. They can form a company of crossbowmen and conduct land and water battles."
The potter fiddled with the model repeating crossbow back and forth and asked, "How well thought out is your repeating crossbow? How many can it fire in succession?"
Zhuge Liang explained to the potter: "Students think they have perfected their thinking. This crossbow has two advantages. One is that it is powerful and can shoot ten arrows in a row. The other is that the hit is relatively high. The operator can wait and aim again.
It is better than a long bow for shooting. However, it has some shortcomings."
The pottery merchant turned to look at him and said, "What's the shortcoming?"
"The production is complicated, and the iron arrows used also need to be specially made..."
The potter smiled softly and said: "For others, this may be a difficult matter, but we have no shortage of iron ore in Jinling. Even though we cannot mass-produce it widely, we can support a 5,000 to 6,000-strong crossbow battalion.
It should still be manageable."
Speaking of this, the pottery merchant put the crossbow model on the table and said: "I will order Han Hao to start building it in the city tomorrow, and ask Jiang Qin to select generals from the navy to form a crossbow battalion...
Liangliang, do you have the drawings in your hand?"
Zhuge Liang nodded vigorously and said: "The students are almost ready and are waiting for the teacher to make a decision... However, if the teacher did not insist on the students' insistence, the students may not have thought of this level."
The potter nodded with satisfaction, he could see Zhuge Liang's efforts.
He suddenly turned to look at Sima Yi and said with a straight face: "Liangliang still has time to make such tools without delaying his studies. Xiaoyi, as a senior brother, you still need to know things, and you must work hard to be like him."
That’s it.”
Sima Yi's face suddenly turned red.
He gently wiped his nose and whispered: "Teacher, although the student is not as talented as his junior brother, he has never failed to do his homework... and I have also researched a lot of good things."
The potter raised his eyebrows, the light in his eyes was very sharp.
"You still dare to quibble? Show your research to your teacher."
Sima Yi glanced at Zhuge Liang cautiously, and then he escaped from his sleeve and handed a volume made of cloth carefully to the potter's hands.
The potter opened it casually and his eyes immediately widened.
"This is spring..."
"Shh!" Sima Yi gestured to his lips with his fingers: "Teacher, please don't speak loudly!"
Tao Shang glanced at the confused Zhuge Liang with his side light, then stretched out his hand to summon Sima Yi to him and whispered:
"The copying is careful, the voice is eloquent, the content is informative, and it is of great research and reference value... But I don't understand, how can you, an inexperienced teenager, come up with this?"
Sima Yi said respectfully: "Although students have never been to the battle in person, they have often observed it secretly..."
"Snapped!"
The potter slapped Sima Yi hard on the head with the roll of leather pictures, and said angrily: "If you don't learn well at a young age, you actually do the peeping thing like the crowing of chickens and the robbers of dogs. You should be beaten... If you are like this, what will you do in the future?
Gentleman? Go home and look at the wall for a while, your things will be confiscated!"
Sima Yi was criticized and stood aside with a frown on his face.
Zhuge Liang suddenly bowed deeply to the pottery merchant and said, "The student has one more thing to ask for, and I would like to ask the teacher to agree to it."
Zhuge Liang's move was already within the pottery's expectation.
"The army is about to send troops to pacify the south. Are you planning to go to Yuzhang County with me? That's right. After all, your uncle, elder brother, and younger brother are all in Nanchang... You are also fourteen years old, so you can come with me. Let’s go out and practice together... Anyway, I will take you with me to pacify Yangzhou this time and fulfill your dream of brotherly reunion."
Zhuge Liang was overjoyed and showed a sincere smile.
"Thank you teacher."
Sima Yi was a little panicked when he heard this.
"I, I want to go too!"
The pottery merchant turned to look at him: "Liangliang went to Nanchang to meet his uncle and brother. Your brother is in Jinling City. What are you going to do?"
Sima Yi's face turned a little red and he whispered: "I, I can't bear to be bright."
Zhuge Liang suddenly felt a chill all over his body, and his stomach regurgitated acid water.
He turned to look at Sima Yi and sighed: "Brother, if you want to go, just tell the teacher. Why use me as an excuse? Did you know that I almost vomited just now?"
Sima Yi rolled his eyes at him: "I just can't bear to leave you, why?"
"Okay, okay! Xiaoyi is old now, so it would be good to go and practice with him. There are no decent opponents left or right, so nothing big can happen if you think about it."
Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi bowed and thanked each other together.
Zhuge Liang straightened up, sighed with emotion, and said: "Teacher, to be honest, although the student is young, he is not afraid of swords and guns. The teacher said that there is no opponent to pacify Jiangnan this time, which really makes the student feel regretful. The student is under the teacher's control." I have been studying under the table for several years, but I also hope that my skills will be put to use."
Sima Yi also laughed and said: "That's not true! The student still hopes to meet someone more powerful, so that Liangliang and I can take care of him."
…
Jiujiang County, Shouchun City.
"Ah sneeze~!"
Zhou Yu sneezed hard, then gently rubbed his nose, and said doubtfully: "It's strange, it's not cold in this room. Why am I sneezing... or is anyone thinking about me?"
Yuan Shu sat on the main seat, glanced sideways at Zhou Yu who was sneezing, and ignored him. He continued with the topic and said to everyone: "The spies have come to report that Jinling City is preparing troops and horses and dispatching food and fodder. I think the pottery merchant Xiaoer is going to There's a big move... Could it be that he wants to attack me, Shouchun?"
Yan Xiang came out and said: "Ming Gong, don't doubt it. Although Tao Shang has a strong army now, there is Cao Cao in the west of Xuzhou and Yuan Shao in the north. If he drives his troops to Jiujiang, he will not be able to leave for a while, and there will be chaos in Xuzhou. According to the In my opinion, Tao Shang's intention to mobilize his troops this time is to conquer the counties in Yangzhou, so there is no need for Ming Gong to worry."
After hearing this, Yuan Shu's spirit suddenly lifted.
"So, maybe Yuan can take the opportunity to attack Jinling City this time?"
Zhou Yu stood up and said to Yuan Shu: "Although the pottery merchants want to go south, there are many elite soldiers in Jinling City, and the pottery merchants are wary of Ming Gong. They may not be unprepared. Yu can save him. This time they take Jinling, and the pottery merchants are targeting Ming Gong." My Lord, I will definitely have a plan to take Jinling directly. It is really not advisable... I would like to ask Lord Ming to mobilize elite soldiers from all walks of life to go to the Lujiang River to conquer Yuzhang first and fight with the Tao thieves in the south of the Yangtze River. This is the best policy."