Gou writes entries in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 113 Preparing for the Eastern Expedition
"Assemblage: Maritime Maps of Asia"

[The combination is successful and you get the sea map of Asia (blue)]

[Sea map of Asia: Detailed records of route details, supply docks, reef locations, ocean current conditions, storm-prone areas and other information in various Asian seas. 】

Sure enough, the Asian sea map was obtained. A simple sheepskin map lay in a hidden corner. At the same time, Liu Xuan's mind had also received all the information about the sea map.

This map is extremely detailed. All existing coastal supply points are marked. Most importantly, the location of reefs and storm zones are also marked.

This is a great tool for first-time sailing adventurers.

Next, all he had to do was let the shipyard in Guangling build ships suitable for going to sea, so that Gan Ning could flex his muscles.

Liu Xuan silently looked toward the northeast. He knew that there was a place there that was tailor-made for a person like Gan Ning who was born as a Jiang bandit.

With a thought, the map appeared in my hand.
"Xingba, this is for you."

Gan Ning took the map and opened it. He was immediately attracted by the map.

Gan Ning has been traveling across the river for many years and has a good understanding of the water area map. Gan Ning can understand what is shown on this sheepskin map at a glance.

But he never expected that a map could be so detailed, with reefs, ocean currents and other things all marked out. After being shocked, Gan Ning suddenly became restless in exploring the sea.

Liu Xuan pointed to the northeast direction on the map,
"This place is called the Japanese Kingdom, which is not far from the Han Dynasty. However, the people on the island are disobedient and always want to harm the Han Dynasty. I want to form an Eastern Expedition Fleet, commanded by you, to conquer the Japanese Kingdom and open up territory for the Han Dynasty. Achieve unparalleled achievements."

Open up new territories and achieve unparalleled achievements!

These words can be said to go straight to Gan Ning's heart.

I can continue to travel across the world, have an official status, and honor my ancestors. Where can I find such a good job?

Gan Ning did not hesitate anymore and bowed solemnly to Liu Xuan,

"Thanks to my lord's respect, I would rather lead all my brothers to serve my lord, expand the territory, and conquer the Japanese country in the east."

"Okay, with Xingba's help, from now on, no matter the rivers or lakes, I will have nothing to worry about,"

Liu Xuan helped Gan Ning up and said with a smile,

"You recruit soldiers and continue to train the navy. When our shipyard completes the construction of sea-going ships, we will order you to lead the expedition eastward."

After settling Gan Ning's affairs, Liu Xuan came to Guangling's workshop again.

Due to the battle with Jiangdong, Liu Xuan has not paid attention to the progress of the workshop for a long time.

Under the control of Jia Xu and Zhao Liniang, the scale of the Guangling workshop was expanded again. High walls were built around it, and different areas were divided inside according to the types of work.

The southernmost area is directly connected to the shipyard, where various ship-related research is conducted.

To the east is the blacksmith workshop headed by Zhang Dachui, with more than a thousand blacksmiths registered in the workshop.

The weapons workshop in Guangling was also merged into the blacksmith workshop.

When Liu Xuan came to the blacksmith workshop, he saw thousands of people in the blacksmith workshop busy and busy.

In the center of the workshop, a large stove was built.

Next to the stove is a larger machine, which is connected to an equally huge steam engine behind it.

Ma Jun and Zhang Dachui both gathered around the machine. After carefully inspecting all the parts of the machine, their eyes lit up.

"start up!"

Ma Jun personally pressed the handle of the large steam engine.
As the steam engine whistle blew, various gears outside began to rotate,
The power of the gears was transmitted to the huge machine in front, and a thick iron lump was slowly pulled up.
Below the iron bump, a silver iron plate is fixed on the mold.
The iron lump was pulled to the top, and then something seemed to push hard on it. The iron lump hit the silver iron plate below with huge and incomparable force.

"Bang~" a dull sound sounded, and the iron lump again slowly rose as the gears of the steam engine rotated.

Zhang Dachui quickly took out the silver iron plate with iron pliers and replaced it with another iron plate.

The silver iron plate on the iron clamp has completely changed its appearance at this time. It is the front half of a breastplate, with uniform texture and perfect shape.

This is a punch!
Liu Xuan was overjoyed and gave Ma Jun and the others the manufacturing process drawings of the punch press. It turned out to be correct.
To create the things on these drawings in such a short time, and to add the method of connecting the steam engine, Ma Jun, a great inventor who can leave his name for future generations, really has a lot of skills.

The sound of the punch press and steam engine was loud. Ma Jun and Zhang Dachui did not notice Liu Xuan coming over.

The two picked up the front half of the cooled breastplate, and at the same time took out several other parts with the same stamped shape and began to assemble them.

Soon, an armor to protect the whole body was assembled.

Helmet, breastplate, vambrace, leggings.

The breastplate is a combination of two plates at the front and back, connected by a clever lock in the middle. The joints leave enough space for the arms and waist, and as long as the body shape is not much different, the lock can be adjusted to suit the size.

The same goes for other arm armor and leg armor.

And judging from the way the two men were carrying this set of armor, it was not difficult, and it was obviously not very heavy.

"Hahahaha, if Gao Shun saw this thing, he would probably try his best to snatch it away."

Liu Xuan walked over with a smile.

Ma Jun and Zhang Dachui quickly greeted Liu Xuan with festive faces,

"Governor Liu, fortunately, our blacksmith workshop has fulfilled its mission and finally completed the task of master's work and built a punch press."

Zhang Dachui seemed particularly excited.
"Haha, Governor Liu, I, Zhang Dachui, have been forging and blacksmithing for 30 years. I didn't expect that I would be nothing compared to this big guy."

Zhang Dachui held a full set of armor and said to Liu Xuande,

"Governor Liu, please touch it. This armor is made of alloy steel and is stamped into shape with a punch. Not to mention its texture and hardness, when General Gao Shun came to see it yesterday, he was so happy that he cried."

"Master Zhang, don't be so exaggerated. The design of this armor was originally designed by General Gao. We are just responsible for making it."

Liu Xuan nodded and said: "No wonder I feel that many aspects of the design of this alloy steel armor are quite exquisite. With Gao Shun here to provide experience, and you two working together to make it, it won't be perfect."

"If this kind of alloy steel armor is made with a punch machine, how long will it take to make a set?"

Liu Dachui replied: "Reporting to Governor Liu, it takes about an hour to make a set of steel armor with a punch. But that's the time for one set. It requires constant replacement of molds and plates. If it is manufactured in batches, it will take two months for a thousand sets. If you don’t have enough, you can make them all.”

Making a thousand sets of full-body armor in two months is an amazing efficiency.

You must know that if it is all hand-forged by a blacksmith, a set of full-body armor will take several days to make.

And with the hardness of alloy steel, it is estimated that manual forging will be more difficult and require more time.

Nowadays, it is stamped with a punch, forming it in one go, and the texture is even.

"Okay, build a thousand sets of alloy steel armor immediately"

Liu Xuan came out of the blacksmith workshop, his consciousness suddenly moved, and he once again focused on the Tiangong Kaiwu with the wheel.

The roulette wheel has regained its luster and can research the next technology.
[The roulette is on. Do you want to spin the roulette? 】

"Activate!" The runes flashed and the roulette wheel was turned on, losing its luster again.

[Obtain: Bilge keel installation technology]

[Bilge keels: Additional keels installed on both sides of the ship can increase the ship's wave and wind resistance. 】

Liu Xuan raised his lips, this thing is a black technology that is urgently needed at the moment.

Moreover, the items that the wheel spins out this time are no longer manufacturing processes, but installation processes, which is obviously much simpler than developing inventions.

Liu Xuan came to the shipyard and called Chen Zhou, the person in charge of the shipyard.

Chen Zhounai is a master craftsman registered with the official family of Guangling Port, and he is from a serious shipbuilding major.

In the battle against Jiangdong Navy, Chen Zhou also played an important role. With his many years of contacts, he recruited thousands of experienced shipwrights to Guangling Shipyard in a short period of time.

Only in this way can hundreds of fighting ships be built for Guangling in such a short period of time.

"Chen Zhou has met Governor Liu. I wonder what new things the Governor has this time to open my eyes."

The old masters in the workshops and shipyards were also very familiar with Liu Xuan and knew Liu Xuan's temperament, so they were not too cautious in front of Liu Xuan.

Liu Xuan laughed and said: "Why, I can't come and see your shipbuilding without new gadgets."

"That's not true. The governor misunderstood," Chen Zhou said with a smile.
"It's just that I've seen the new technology brought by the county guard, and I'm no longer interested in messing with the old stuff."

"Haha, you got it right this time," Liu Xuan was not angry, and took out the bilge keel installation process in his hand and handed it to Chen Zhou.

"I need your shipyard to build a new ocean-going ship this time. Put this thing on it. I also want to ask Master Chen for your opinion."

Chen Zhou took the drawing and observed it carefully, nodded repeatedly and said,
"It turns out that there is such an exquisite and simple method. I never thought of it for so many years. With this bilge keel, ships can sail on the sea without fear of wind and waves, unless there are huge waves."

When it came to shipbuilding, Chen Zhou immediately started talking non-stop.
"Governor Liu, I still have some experience in building sea-going ships. Sea-going ships are different from river ships. Sea-going ships mainly require long range and resistance to wind and waves. I plan to build a new sea-going ship this time, combining a steam engine with a sail, and setting the bottom of the cabin to be a steam engine. fuel tank, so that the center of gravity of the ship can be concentrated at the bottom, making it less likely to capsize.”

Liu Xuan nodded in agreement: "It makes sense. Sea voyages take a long time. If you can add sails, you can save a lot of coal and allow the ship to travel further."

Thinking of this, Liu Xuan immediately decided,

"Just follow your design. In addition, these ships also need to have combat effectiveness. I will let Gan Ning discuss with you how to set up crossbows and other devices."

"Within three months, I want to see the first batch of sea ships launched."

Chen Zhou patted his chest and promised, "I will definitely live up to my mission."

Time flies, and two months passed in the blink of an eye.

One thousand sets of alloy steel armor from the blacksmith workshop were delivered as scheduled.

On the day he got the armor, Gao Shun's usually dull face was full of excitement.

In the past year, Gao Shun followed Liu Xuan's orders to reorganize the trap camp.

All soldiers were carefully selected from 2000 soldiers, and only [-] were selected in the end.
After a brutal competition among the 2000 people, the top [-] were finally selected.

Because soldiers are so precious, Gao Shun has been looking forward to having suitable protective gear.

Otherwise, every soldier lost on the battlefield is a huge price.

These one thousand sets of alloy steel fakes were originally full-body plate armor designed by Gao Shun, which almost armed the soldiers trapped in the camp to the teeth.

Thousands of soldiers from the trapped camp, with alloy steel armor on board, stood in formation at the martial arts arena waiting for Liu Xuan's review.

Silver armor, silver helmet, silver face shield, halberd in hand, full of murderous intent.

Such a heavy infantry, whose whole body is hidden in steel armor, can completely ignore the attacks of bows and arrows.

As for the ordinary cavalry, they would not be able to exert their advantage under the halberds trapped in the camp.

Perhaps only the fully armored cavalry could fight head-on.

When it comes to running an army, Liu Xuan always believes that having more soldiers is more important than having more soldiers.

The Three Thousand Tigers Battalion is the best example. Three thousand elites can easily resist [-] ordinary soldiers.

It's just that as Liu Xuan's territory continues to expand, Tiger Camp cannot be broken into several camps for use.

With the trapped camp in hand, Liu Xuan has one more trump card.

"My lord, it's time for the trapped camp to go out and have some experience. Now there is an opportunity, why not let Gao Shun lead the trapped camp."

Jia Xu stood aside and handed a memorial to Liu Xuan.

Liu Xuan took the report and glanced at it. It turned out that since the Battle of Jiangshui, Liu Xuan had controlled the river and resumed trade with Jiangdong.

Because the products in Jiangbei are so rich, the grain, silk and other commodities are of high quality and low in price. Once they arrived in the counties of Jiangdong, they once again swept the Jiangdong market.

The market that the Jiangdong family had just seized was lost in an instant.

Previously, the solution was solved by persuading Sun Ce to block the river. This time, he could not block the river and could only do it on land.

Qu'a became the best target.

Most of the goods in the north of the Yangtze River were transported to Qu'a Landing, and then transferred to carriages to be transported to various places in the south of the Yangtze River.

The Zhang family is the largest family in Qu'a, and Qu'a's guard general Zhang Quan is Zhang Zhao's nephew.

Zhang Quan directly sent troops to confiscate all goods from the north of the Yangtze River at Qu'a Wharf, and also killed a group of traders who tried to protest.

The merchants in Jiangbei had no choice but to report the matter to Liu Xuan again.

Liu Xuan knew the whole story and immediately sneered,

"Haha, Qu'a, that's the territory of the Zhang family. Zhang Zhao serves under Sun Ce. I'm not surprised that they would take action in Qu'a."

Jia Xu said: "Although my lord defeated the Jiangdong Navy, Sun Ce's land forces are still there. All the goods we transported to Qu'a were blocked a few days ago. The merchants died or fled, and the losses were considerable. Already It is confirmed that Zhang Zhao instigated Zhang Quan to do this."

Liu Xuan showed murderous intent, "Then what are you waiting for? Our army is attacking Yangzhou and we need a stronghold on the south bank of the river. I think Qu'a is good, and it's also close to Guangling."

"Gao Shun listened to the order."

"The end is here."

"I order you to be the vanguard commander, lead a thousand troops into the camp, and attack Qu'a at the same time. Within three days, we will capture the city of Qu'a."

Gao Shun promised boldly, "If we can't capture Qu'acheng within one day, please take my head."

"Okay, the first battle in the trapped camp. Don't miss such a wonderful battle. Lu Bu and I will lead an army of three thousand to guard the formation for you."

(End of this chapter)