cite Han

Chapter 189 Bad news

Jian'an three years, July.

Chengshui comes from Chaoyang County, Lingling County, also known as Huoshui, passes through Chong'an County, Lingling County, enters Ling County, Changsha County, and finally flows into Xiangshui.

Although Chengshui is not as good as Xiangshui, Leishui, and even Zhongshui, its total length is more than [-] li. I don't know how many people in Lingxian, Chong'an, and Zuoyang counties depend on it for their livelihood.However, recently, Duan Chengshui of Ling County has repeatedly blocked the river channel, causing great inconvenience to the people of Ling County.Even on both sides of the coast, there are soldiers patrolling, and anyone who approaches will be expelled.

In the entire Ling County, Liu Jing was the only person qualified to issue this order.

At this moment, he is above Chengshui, in the poop of his own ship, surrounded by Wang Qiang, Yu Zheng and others.

Their eyes, without exception, all fell on the bow of the ship.

This thing is two huge wooden poles, shaped like a ship's mast, both are fifty or sixty feet high, one of the big poles has a huge stone on the top, and a wheel is attached to the bottom.

Following Wang Qiang's order, one of the big poles slammed down with a huge boulder, and hit a six-to-seven-foot-long boat on the opposite side with force. With just one blow, the deck of the boat was smashed through, and the boat immediately started. Leaning forward at a speed visible to the naked eye, it is only a matter of time before it sinks.

"Okay!" Everyone in the last building couldn't help cheering loudly.

With a burst of yelling, the pulley rolled, and the big pole and the boulder above it were pulled back to the big ship and re-fixed.

Soon, the boulder fell again with a sharp whistling sound, completely sending the heavily tilted and dying boat into the bottom of the Chengshui River.

Seeing this, Liu Jing couldn't hide the relief on his face.

This object is the famous water warfare weapon in Chinese history-the paddle pole.

The large-scale water warfare equipment such as the clapper pole is very powerful. It appeared in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Before artillery weapons were used in water warfare, they always had a position that cannot be ignored.

Liu Jing knew that patting poles originated from oranges.The orange is a tool invented by the Chinese people to use the principle of leverage to draw water. It was mentioned as early as in "Mozi·Beichengmen".

The basic structure of Juchao is to install a horizontal pole on the vertical pole, the front end is connected to the bucket, and the tail end is tied to the falling stone. When using it, the bucket rope is pulled into the well to draw water, and then let go. Lift up to lift the bucket out of the well.

At the beginning, Liu Jingchu thought that with a prototype like Ju Mo, coupled with his understanding of the principle of leverage, it should not be a problem to invent the pole.

But the reality is far from as simple as he thought. He started researching it last year and spent more than a year. Not only did he refer to the catapult, but he also referred to the principle of the trebuchet, but the power could not meet the ideal requirements.

Until recently, he had to make a compromise, recruited some carpenters, worked together, and finally created a powerful paddle pole.Facts have proved that working behind closed doors is a bad idea.

So far, in his fleet, there is not even a single building ship or boat, and there are only eight fighting ships, and there are no more than thirty large boats ranging from six to nine feet.

Compared with Liu Biao and Zhang Xian, who have hundreds of boats, warships, and battleships at every turn, this meager strength is simply a world of difference.

Even if he now has a water warfare weapon such as a pole, it is still difficult to make up for the huge gap in strength between the two sides.However, he finally has the ability to hurt Liu Biao's navy.

Liu Jing said to Wang Qiang beside him: "Very good, this thing is so powerful that it can easily sink all ships including buildings."

Wang Qiang nodded in agreement and said: "What Liu Jun said is true. Even a tall and sturdy building boat can't handle the power of a few hits. With a orange, it is enough to run across the river without any worries."

Liu Jing shook his head and said, "Although it took me a lot of effort to create this thing, it is very easy to imitate, and it can only be used as a surprise weapon."

Wang Qiang thinks about it too, this object is not out of the category of oranges, and oranges are common things in the world, in the eyes of those who are interested, they can be made in a short time.

Liu Jing said again: "This thing can't be called a orange, so as not to be seen through at a glance, it should be called a clap pole."

"Shooting a pole?" Wang Qiang said: "Shooting it with a pole, the name Liu Jun is good."

Liu Jing shook his head with a smile, Wang Qiang's flattering skills are far worse than Guo Shang's.

Wang Qiang said again: "Liu Jun, I don't know how to deal with those craftsmen?"

They may not reveal the secret of shooting poles, but after all, this is a secret weapon that only their own side possesses, and it will definitely play a great role in the future, not afraid of ten thousand, just in case.

According to his idea, it is natural to kill them all to avoid hidden dangers.But based on what he knew about Liu Jing, the latter would definitely not do this.

Just as Wang Qiang guessed in his mind, Liu Jing had no intention of killing innocent people, and said in a deep voice, "Ling County is located in an important road, and there are many people with mixed eyes. If they stay here, they may be in danger of leaking secrets. Send them to Zhongshui Township temporarily. Bar……"

"Promise." Wang Qiang clasped his fists in response.

As soon as the matter was resolved, Liu Jing immediately returned to Ling County and immediately ordered the lifting of the ban on carrying water.Now that the shot pole has been tested successfully, it will naturally not block the Chengshui River in the future.

In Lingxian County in July, the sun was scorching hot, and it was extremely hot. Liu Jing returned to the county temple, eating lotus seeds to relieve the heat, while flipping through the copybooks.

Strange to say, Ling County has always been rainy and often suffers from waterlogging.However, he has been in office for two years. Last year, the rainfall was significantly less than in previous years. As a result, the whole county ushered in a bumper harvest. This year was even more exaggerated, and there was actually a drought.

Fortunately, Ling County is rich in water resources, which can greatly alleviate the drought, but it will not cause large-scale harvest failure.

Liu Jingzheng was watching intently, when suddenly there was a light knock on the door, and then Yu Zheng walked in with a letter, handed it to Liu Jing, and said, "It's a letter sent by Liu Wenxiu."

"Oh, it's Wenxiu." Liu Jing couldn't help but take the letter immediately.

He knew that the war between the North and the South in Jingzhou broke out in the third year of Jian'an (AD 198), that is, this year, but it was unclear which month it was, and there was no clear record in the history books.For this reason, at the beginning of this year, he asked Liu Zhu to go north to Xiangyang to collect information.

"Could it be that Liu Biao is about to go south?" Liu Jing speculated while opening the letter.However, when he scanned the contents of the letter, he couldn't help jumping up, his face full of shock.

The father-in-law, Deng You, 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, he hesitated to speak several times.

Liu Jing inadvertently paid attention to Yu Zheng on the side, holding the letter paper, he couldn't help pacing back and forth, feeling very sad in his heart.

Deng You treated him well if he didn't leave early, good horses, armor, weapons, supplies... whatever he asked for, he would never refuse.

Liu Jing consciously received his favor, and was still thinking that if he rises up in the future, he should repay him twice.

However, who would have thought that he would be so unlucky, contracted the plague, and died suddenly in middle age.

What Liu Jing is more worried about now is his wife Deng Yuan. She loves her family very much, especially Deng You.

He couldn't imagine how sad his wife Deng Yuan would be if he heard the sad news that his father, stepmother, and eldest brother had all died.Even Liu Jing was worried that she might not be able to withstand this blow.

Liu Jing collected himself and continued to look down. Deng Yuan's second brother, Deng Lang, was ordered by Deng You to go south with his whole family to join him.

Liu Zhu, who was in Xiangyang, happened to meet them. He saw that Deng Lang was carrying a lot of boats and goods, and fearing that they would encounter danger going south, he personally led the fleet and escorted them to Changsha.

Liu Jing secretly heaved a sigh of relief. His second brother Deng Lang and his eldest brother Deng Chong's heirs are still alive, so they should be able to comfort his wife Deng Yuan's heart a little bit, right?

When Liu Zhu wrote this letter, the group had already arrived at the boundary of Changsha, which proved that there would be basically no danger in the future. If there were no accidents, they should reach Ling County in a few days.

The first half of the letter is about Deng, and the second half is about the situation in the north.According to the information Liu Zhu found in Xiangyang, Liu Biao and Cao Cao may have negotiated a peace in private.

"Negotiate peace?" Liu Jing was startled slightly, the two of them had been killed in Nanyang for more than a year, and each paid a very painful price, especially Cao Cao, the eldest son Cao Ang, nephew Cao Anmin, and general Dian Wei all died in Nanyang. It can be said that the majesty has been swept away if it is not conquered after several levies.

Peace?is it possible?

Liu Jing thought about it seriously, and it was really possible.Because Liu Biao will go south to attack Zhang Xian this year.And Zhang Xian occupies the three counties of Changsha, Lingling, and Guiyang in Jingnan, and Liu Biao must go all out to succeed.If he hadn't negotiated peace with Cao Cao, how dare he go south in a big way?

And this year, Cao Cao will temporarily withdraw his gaze from Nanyang, turn his troops to the east, and punish Lu Bu who is entrenched in Xuzhou.Who would believe that the two did not have a tacit understanding?

However, whether Liu Biao and Cao Cao negotiated a peace or not is actually irrelevant. The important thing is that the Jingzhou North-South War is coming...

Liu Jing personally guessed that the day when Liu Biao sent troops would not exceed August, because August is the time of autumn harvest in Jingnan, and Liu Biao would definitely not let Zhang Xian have a stable autumn harvest.

There is no reason for Zhang Xian not to know the news that Liu Zhu can find out, but the news is true or false, he is in the middle of the situation, and he has no prophetic ability, so he may not be able to see the current situation clearly.

Liu Jing didn't notice Yu Zheng's worried eyes until he read the letter and thought for a long time, and explained: "It's not a foreign matter, but an internal matter. Something happened to my in-law's Deng family."

Yu Zheng has a stable personality and is definitely not a talkative person. Since Liu Jing didn't intend to talk too much with him, he nodded and backed away.

Liu Jing also had no intention of staying here, and hurried back to the county house with the letter.

Although the current county house is newly built, it is not inferior to the old government residence in the past. In addition, Deng Yuan likes exotic flowers and plants, and he often transplants them. The whole county house is like being in a beautiful garden.

Now that the Salesian House is on the right track, Deng Yuan doesn't need to go there every day, today, she didn't go out in the county house, but threw pots with the maidservants in the hall for fun.

Deng Yuan combed a high bun, decorated with gold and jade, wore a gauze robe that was as thin as a cicada's wings, and green silk square shoes on his feet, with a graceful figure and picturesque eyebrows, just like a little fairy.

She held an arrow in her right hand and held it in front of her face. Her crystal clear eyes narrowed slightly, and the servants around her deliberately made noises, trying 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 throwing arc , accurately fall into the narrow spout.

"Haha, I won..." Deng Yuan saw that he had hit him, and couldn't help showing a smug smile to the maidservants around him.

Standing outside the door, Liu Jing looked at Deng Yuan's happy expression, and couldn't help but secretly sighed.

"Ah, Liu Lang, why are you back?..." Deng Yuan caught a glimpse of Liu Jing by accident, and immediately screamed out, his cheeks were flushed, and he didn't know if it was caused by the weather, sports, embarrassment, or both. Have.

"Young Master..." Liu Jing looked puzzled, not knowing how to tell her the cruel truth.

Seeing that Liu Jing was unhappy, Deng Yuan said cautiously: "Liu Lang, are you blaming me for being rude?"

"No." Liu Jing stepped into the room, walked up to Deng Yuan, gently stroked his wife's shoulder and sighed: "Young Master, I don't know how to tell you, something happened to you, your family..."

Deng Yuan didn't realize the seriousness of the matter, and asked blankly, "What happened to my family?"

"This..." Liu Jing couldn't say anything, so he handed the letter directly to her.

Deng Yuan had a suspicious expression on his face. After reading the contents of the letter, his face turned pale at first, and then he felt a surge of energy and blood crazily rushing to his head, and soon he felt that the world was spinning.

"Young Master, Young Master..." Liu Jing knew that his wife might not be able to bear this blow, so he kept staring at her closely, and when he saw that she was about to faint, he immediately hugged her tightly in his arms.

"Girl, girl..." All the maidservants turned pale with shock and froze in place for a while, and the younger Axi and Ale cried out in fright, and then it was like an infection. All the maids wept.

Liu Jing picked up his unconscious wife by the waist, and sent her to the bed in the dormitory, and asked the maidservants to soak the handkerchiefs and wipe them for Deng Yuan to cool off the heat.

Liu Jing sat on the bed under the bed, holding his wife's hand tightly.

Deng Yuan has lived a carefree life since he was a child, with few worries, so he developed a very cheerful personality.

After the two got married, Liu Jing liked her cheerful personality very much, because in this chaotic world of cannibalism, there were too many sufferings, and people's hearts gradually became distorted.Liu Jing firmly believes that with Deng Yuan by his side, his heart will never sink.

It was the first time for him to see 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 matter from her, and she would know about it sooner or later.

After Ah Shu and the other maidservants prepared the wet wipes, Liu Jing came over to ask for them, 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 bench with a worried expression on his face. Tears flowed down the corners of his eyes like a river bursting an embankment, and immediately wet the wooden pillow.

Deng Yuan's voice was choked with sobs: "Liu Lang, are I, my father, mother, and brother really, really dead?"

Liu Jing couldn't speak, so he could only silently wipe away tears for his wife.

(End of this chapter)