Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 154
After listening to Cao Xian's words, Yuan Xi's heart was indeed like this. If it wasn't for the catchy and simple words, it would be difficult for this kind of folk song to be spread among the people by word of mouth.

Cao Xian said again: "Young master has been away to farm for a month, and several craftsmen have come here one after another with drawings of improved plows."

"Sister Wu Zhao and several officials looked at it, and thought that two of them were the most likely, so the craftsmen were sent back to make real objects, and they were all rewarded."

"However, during the production process, the craftsmen found that there were still many problems, so they revised the drawings several times back and forth, and have not yet made the real thing."

"But counting the time, it's almost time."

Yuan Xixin said that technical improvement is not that simple. He just put forward an idea, but if he wants to make it into a real thing, there are many twists and turns in the process.

His idea is very simple, how to improve Zhiyuanli into Quyuanli.

In his previous life, he had never plowed the land, so he didn't know much about the principle of Quyuanli.

I only know that the plowshare can turn, it can turn left and right, and the angle can be adjusted up and down, so that it can not only save power during cultivation, but also help deep plowing.

But when it comes to actual production, the craftsmen will spend a lot of time.

The straight shaft plow only needs some wooden strips to be nailed together, and a layer of iron sheet is wrapped on the plow share. A carpenter can almost complete it by himself.

But the Quyuanli is different. Not only is it difficult to handle the Quyuan, but several connections need to be connected by iron parts.

Because the moving parts also wear out faster, higher demands are placed on the material.

Moreover, Yuan Xi only remembered that Quyuanli had a dozen parts, but he didn't know the function of each part at all.
It seems simple, but it needs the cooperation of carpenters and blacksmiths to make the finished product as expected.

It took several hundred years for Quyuanli to be developed slowly from its prototype to its realization. Of course, it will not be so smooth to start from scratch.

Although Yuan Xi had long been mentally prepared, he felt a little frustrated.

too slow!
It would be fine in normal times, but these few years are the time for him to race against time. If the spring plowing is useless this time, he can only wait for the autumn planting. Fortunately, there are good fields and fertile soil everywhere now, so the impact is not big.

However, Cao Xian then said that another idea had already begun to take shape.

bobbin car.

Yuan Xi was very happy when he heard this. Although this cart is quite expensive in materials, it has a simple principle and does not require manpower, which is quite suitable for areas where labor is in short supply.

The so-called drum cart is a kind of irrigation equipment, which is shaped like a wheel, and a bamboo tube is hung on each spoke, which can lift the water to a high place.

Put it next to the turbulent river, turn the wooden wheel with the power of the water, and dump the bamboo tube at the highest point into the water tank next to it, and then flow into the farmland.

At first glance, the barrel car looks a little flashy, but it actually plays a very important role.

One is that it can be automatically irrigated without the need for manpower to carry water.

The second is more critical, and there is no need to change the terrain on a large scale.

If you want to get water from the river, if you don't need to pick it up manually, you have to dig ditches to draw water from the river.

If this is done, it will easily affect the downstream waterway, and when the flooded river overflows, it will easily flood the farmland.

With the bobbin car to fetch water, the number and width of ditches can be greatly reduced, saving a lot of manpower and material resources, making the river bank more firm, preventing the river from flooding, and ensuring a stable harvest of grain.

Now Yuan Xi only needs to dig ditches every few miles to irrigate the farmland farthest from the river, and he can make full use of the tens of miles of land on both sides of the river bank.

Cao Xian twisted his body and said, "A few days ago, because of the digging of the ditches, both General Qu and General Taishi sent people to deliver letters."

"Speaking of digging like this, the large fields around the three cities will be filled with vertical and horizontal ditches every ten miles or even several miles. The cavalry can't charge at all. I ask you how to deal with it."

Yuan Xi heard this, and smiled triumphantly: "Sure enough, they also noticed it, yes, I did it on purpose."

After Cao Xian heard this, he didn't understand for a while. What does this mean?
Can't get along with yourself?

Wu Zhao's voice sounded, "So that's how it is. I vaguely figured it out, but the young master played a big game of chess."

Yuan Xi quickly withdrew his hands from the sackcloth around Cao Xian's waist, Cao Xian didn't expect Wu Zhao to come so soon, and his face turned red.

Wu Zhao said narrowly, "I'm sorry to bother you, but General Zhao Yun was waiting outside. I was afraid of delaying things, so I hurried over to tell you."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xi quickly jumped out of the barrel, took the sackcloth from Cao Xian, and wiped his body clean.

When the two women saw each other, their faces became even redder.

After Yuan Xi got dressed and went out, he saw Zhao Yun waiting outside, and he said the same thing.

When several cavalrymen were training, the horses had just run for more than a mile, and they almost fell into the ditch that had not been dug. When they came back, they complained to Zhao Yun, saying that the horses would be easily injured if they went on like this.

And in this way of fighting, the cavalry is useless at all. Is it true that they will not be needed in the future?

Seeing that besides himself and Zhao Yun, only Wu Zhao and Cao Xian were present, Yuan Xi said, "That's true, this is my original intention."

Zhao Yun was taken aback for a moment, but the two women had heard it before, so it was not that surprising.

However, Cao Xian has not figured out why so far, and his big eyes flashed suddenly, with a curious expression on his face.

Yuan Xi said to Zhao Yun: "Brother Zilong, when we made a bet to intercept and kill the Huns, was it worthwhile for the cavalry to charge into battle?"

Zhao Yun hesitated, "Young master also saw it that day, and the cavalry rushed to the battle that day, it was a helpless move."

"Young master's cavalry is well equipped with full armor, but my side is all light armored leather clothing, mainly for long-range flanking, and fighting the enemy head-on, it is actually a loss."

"Back then, the Huns didn't have enough armor. Otherwise, light armor would definitely be at a disadvantage against heavy armor."

Yuan Xi nodded. The biggest advantage of the cavalry is not charging, but mobility.

Create opportunities for the main infantry by harassing the enemy's rear flanks to demoralize them.

Let the cavalry charge, if the opponent is well defended, it is almost tantamount to death, just like Bai Ma Yicong met Qu Yi's first dead soldier.

Cavalry is not invincible.

A rather unbelievable fact is that even if stirrups appear in later generations, the armor is also complete, and cavalry does not have an advantage over infantry.

All generals who are proficient in the art of war know that heavy cavalry cannot beat heavy infantry!
The most typical example is Cao Cao's tiger and leopard cavalry.

Contrary to what most people imagine, the horses that tigers and leopards ride are mostly used for traveling, and when they actually fight the enemy, they often dismount to fight.

The tiger and leopard cavalry are known for their quick actions. Under the leadership of Cao Chun, Zeng traveled three hundred miles a day to the battlefield. The most typical one was chasing Liu Bei in the Battle of Changban.

This kind of march extremely overdraws the physical strength of the horses. Even if the three horses rotate, it is unlikely that they will have enough energy to charge in the end.

So at this time, the horses used fast maneuvers to chase the enemy, and when they really fought, the tiger and leopard riders often dismounted to form an formation, or directly rushed to the formation, and then dismounted to meet the enemy.

Yuan Xi said to Zhao Yun: "Just looking at the number of horses and cavalry, we have occupied the entire territory of Youzhou, how many cavalry can we afford, and how much food and grass will we spend?"

"Even so, in terms of the number of people alone, can it compare to the Southern Huns who claim to control hundreds of thousands of strings?"

"Not to mention Wuhuan Xianbei, which has a larger number of people. We have to raise equal cavalry to fight against it. The entire Han Dynasty is okay. How can it be done with Youzhou alone?"

"Let's not talk about the future, just talk about Gongsun Zan's thousands of white horse righteous followers. It will be very difficult for us to deal with right now?"

After hearing this, Zhao Yun felt the same way.

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "So I was also worried a few days ago, if I really want to occupy Youzhou, facing Wuhuan Xianbei outside the pass, and the Gongsundu family in Liaodong, will I have to raise a large number of horses in case I don't know When will the enemy appear."

"Since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, how to prevent foreigners from harassing the mainland has always been a difficult problem."

"Then one day, I suddenly figured it out."

"We can't afford horses, but we can dig rivers and ditches."

"If I do the opposite, and dig ditches while occupying the city, as long as Youzhou is dug into a fertile field full of rivers and canals, supplemented by a strong city and a strong fortress to block the main road, no matter how many cavalry come from the opposite side, don't you just have to obediently dismount? Combat?"

"By then, will they be comparable to our well-trained heavy infantry?"

"In this way, their cavalry can't fight back, but our cavalry can break into their hinterland at any time, and fight back!"

After hearing this, Zhao Yun suddenly realized, "So that's how it is!"

Only then did Cao Xian understand. She secretly glanced at Wu Zhao, and the other party understood the young master's thoughts so quickly!
Yuan Xi smiled triumphantly, the nomads harassed a lot, right? They brought the other party down to the same level as himself!

Yuan Xi was inspired by it because he discovered some interesting facts when he was reading history.

When the later generations of Jurchen rose in Liaodong, they issued an order strictly prohibiting the cultivation of rice.

Yuan Xi didn't understand at that time, what does it matter, don't the Jurchen don't like to eat rice?
It was only later that he figured out that growing rice required digging river ditches, and the rice fields were full of water, which made the cavalry unable to function!

This is a fatal blow to the nomads who mainly ride and shoot.

In this way, as long as you build a strong city in Youzhou, build a stronghold on the ground, divide the middle rivers and canals, and use less food and grass costs to raise infantry for defense!

The saved horse cavalry can be used to fight for the Central Plains!
Yuan Xi finally smiled and said: "Everyone thinks Youzhou is a bad place, because although it has a lot of resources, it is difficult to defend against nomads."

"Only in my eyes, Youzhou is a treasure land."

"As long as we keep digging and fighting, and gradually eat away at it, sooner or later, Youzhou will be built into the strongest line of defense in the Northland.

"Combined with the Great Wall, foreigners can no longer easily attack the Central Plains!"

Dig Youzhou into a big fortress, people outside can't get in, but people inside can go out at any time.

Although it may take several years or decades to complete, once it is successful, its significance will be extremely important for the protection of foreign races. This is the romance of civil engineering.

Zhao Yun nodded: "But digging the ditches requires a lot of manpower and material resources."

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "So I want to mobilize everyone. This is not something that people are willing to do just by giving them money and food. I also need to give them a huge motivation."

"That's why I started in the Tri-Cities, spreading nursery rhymes about me."

Only then did the three of them understand, no wonder Yuan Xi asked Wu Zhao to write another nursery rhyme.

"Thousands of rivers are open, Youzhou is stable, ten thousand canals are born, and the world is peaceful!"

What Yuan Xi did was not aimless, it was all linked together!
(End of this chapter)