Zhu Xiang did not plant many acres of regenerated rice in Shu County, but he standardized the rice planting process, built many irrigation waterways, and solved several problems of diseases and insect pests. In addition, rice is more productive than millet, and Shu County did not encounter floods this year, so this time Shu County obtained three times the grain harvest of previous years.
Everyone in Shu County thought it was a miracle, but after hearing the news, Zhu Xiang just held his forehead and smiled bitterly.
Ying Xiaozheng leaned on his uncle's arm, who was smiling bitterly, and patted him in an air of superiority, silently comforting him.
Ying Xiaozheng has discovered that his uncle has inexplicably high demands on some things.
The land tax in Shu County alone increased threefold, and grain production at least tripled. Everyone thought this was a miracle, but my uncle was obviously not only dissatisfied, but also felt a little sad.
It seems that my uncle has seen better times and thinks he should have done more, so he is very dissatisfied with the current situation.
My uncle often has this helpless expression on his face.
My uncle has obviously caused many miracles, but he still thinks he has done nothing.
Ying Xiaozheng once wanted to comfort his uncle, but he found that his uncle would adjust himself, become optimistic again, then clench his fists and say with a smile "I have tried my best" and "It's good to see progress."
So my uncle knew that he had tried his best and had made achievements. He had no cognitive errors and did not need anyone to comfort him.
At this time, all I have to do is stay with my uncle quietly and wait for him to adjust himself.
Just as Ying Xiaozheng knew, Zhu Xiang indeed fell into a brief state of powerlessness.
He has tried very hard.
As a professor of agronomy, he is considered to be one of the more capable ones among the many time travelers.
He had a system and could produce good seeds; he had a nephew, Qin Shi Huangzi, and a close friend, Zichu. He was valued and trusted by the King of Qin and could do a lot; Li Bing, the governor of Shu County, was also his good friend and even gave him full authority over all farming matters, so his measures could be implemented smoothly in Shu County.
The farmers are very hardworking and this year the weather is good and the harvest is good.
Whether it was himself or the external environment, he had already done his best. But with the knowledge from two thousand years later and the superior conditions that even ordinary time travelers could not replicate, he could only increase the yield of the land three times that of two thousand years ago.
that's it.
This three times is a miracle for people today, but it probably won’t have much impact on the “long river of history”. This is his current limit.
Just as Ying Xiaozheng had expected, Zhu Xiang quickly adjusted himself and regained his optimistic attitude.
Although tripling the current food supply is a trivial matter when stretched over the entire course of history, it may mean that people today can avoid a famine.
Although he was a time traveler with a golden finger and felt powerless and frustrated that he could only achieve so little despite his best efforts, he did help many people.
It was enough that many people were saved from hunger before his eyes.
Zhu Xiang reminded himself not to put himself in the position of a time traveler or savior with a golden finger. He just needed to position himself as an ordinary person of this era, and what he was doing now would be enough to make him proud.
When the good seeds he brought can be used to produce more seeds, and then combined with the current seeds to produce seeds that are suitable for the current situation and will not deteriorate too much, grain production will increase.
Four times? Five times? If we can raise the level to the time before chemical fertilizers and pesticides, such as the Ming and Qing dynasties, people’s lives would be much better today.
After that, we can only count on future generations.
Although it may take another two thousand years for the next increase in grain production, if we freeze these two thousand years at the highest level possible in the feudal era, many people will surely benefit.
Zhu Xiang took a deep breath, smiled and rubbed Ying Xiaozheng's head: "It's a good harvest, that's great. When your uncle Li Bing's water diversion dam is repaired, there will be an even greater harvest in the Chengdu Plain."
Ying Xiaozheng nodded and said, "I won't eat noodles today. I'll eat rice."
Zhu Xiang rolled up his sleeves and said, "Okay, uncle will make you a rice feast."
Ying Xiaozheng jumped down from the chair: "I want something sweet!"
Zhu Xiang said, "Eat less sweets. Your teeth will soon change. Why haven't you changed your teeth yet?"
Ying Xiaozheng immediately pursed his lips and glared at his uncle unhappily.
I don't want to change my teeth!
Zhu Xiang burst into laughter at Ying Xiaozheng's resentful expression, and was kicked on the calf by his fat nephew who had finally gained some weight.
Ying Xiaozheng's expression and movements were very vicious, worthy of his title as a future tyrant. However, the force of his kicks was always very light, and the older he got, the more he held back.
When he was a child, he would really charge at Zhu Xiang like a bull and hurt his kidneys. But after he grew up, he never hurt Zhu Xiang again.
Although Li Bing did not come, he brought a lot of new millet to satisfy Zhu Xiang and Ying Xiaozheng, most of which was millet harvested from the rice that Zhu Xiang brought.
Obviously, the new rice planted by Zhu Xiang not only has a better yield, but also tastes better.
To promote rice, improving hulling tools is crucial.
Rice needs to be pounded into rice, and now people use stone pestles to pound rice. Pounding rice is an extremely tiring and painful job. If you pound rice all day long, your arms will soon become useless. If you don't get timely treatment, the rice-pounding women may even die. Therefore, during the Qin and Han dynasties, one of the heaviest labors for women was to pound rice.
However, later generations soon improved the rice pounding tools, for example, using the lever principle to drive the lever to pound rice.
Just like the stone mill to wheat, rice later became the staple food in the south with the simpler and more labor-saving tool for pounding rice.
Although machines have been used in later generations, these ancient tools were still used before some mountain villages were electrified to alleviate poverty. Zhu Xiang had seen many of them, and although he could not make them himself, he could draw the general shape and let the craftsmen study them.
These tools are very simple, but people nowadays have not thought much about them. When Zhu Xiang drew the blueprint and explained the principle, the craftsmen quickly made the new rice pounding tools.
In order to eat new rice today, Ying Xiaozheng personally served as the boy pounding rice.
He sat on a chair of appropriate height, put his feet on one end of the lever, and stepped on it for a dozen times with great panting. Then he collapsed due to exhaustion, and Zhu Xiang lifted him up, shouting "Zheng'er is awesome."
Zhang Ruo, who ran from Yunmengze to Eyi for a free meal, couldn't help but twitching the corners of his mouth.
Meng Wu took off his shirt and tied it around his waist: "Zheng'er has set a good example, it's up to Uncle Meng to do it next!"
Ying Xiaozheng stretched his sore legs and encouraged Meng Wu: "Uncle Meng, work hard!"
Li Mu blew on the tea leaves floating in the teacup, took a sip of tea, and sighed deeply.
Why must the rice be pounded fresh? When can he eat this meal
However, Zhu Xiang was just playing around. After Meng Wu made some new rice, Zhu Xiang took the new rice and the rice that had been pounded earlier to cook.
Ying Xiaozheng was transferred by Zhu Xiang to Li Mu's arms because Meng Wu was covered in sweat.
Zhang Ruo looked at Gongzi Zheng, who was holding Li Mu's arms very naturally and sitting in his elder's arms as if it were a chair, and was hesitant to speak.
Ying Xiaozheng said with a straight face, "What do you want to tell me, Mr. Zhang?"
Although it was not the first time that Zhang Ruo saw Ying Xiaozheng's unique face-changing skills after Zhu Xiang left, he was still not used to it.
Shouldn't he have been dragged by Meng Wu to come and have a free meal
"Nothing, nothing." Zhang Ruo didn't dare to say anything. He felt that Young Master Zheng was being spoiled a little too much.
However, the people who taught Gongzi Zheng thought there was no problem, so he couldn't say anything.
Ying Xiaozheng nodded slightly: "Nothing is wrong."
Li Mu put down his teacup and laughed: "Zheng'er, don't scare Mr. Zhang."
Ying Xiaozheng immediately denied it: "I didn't, the teacher is talking nonsense."
Li Mu said: "You have."
Ying Xiaozheng frowned: "I didn't, I wasn't threatening, I was joking."
Zhang Ruo: “?”
Meng Wu gulped down his tea, wiped his mouth and said, "Zheng'er, have you noticed that no one can detect your so-called jokes?"
Ying Xiaozheng thought about it and shook his head: "No, my uncle will find out every time."
Zhang Ruo: “???”
Meng Wu said: "Well, no one except your uncle will notice that you are joking."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "That's because you are stupid."
Meng Wu asked, "Zheng'er, are you kidding me now?"
Ying Xiaozheng shook his head: "No, I'm telling the truth."
Zhang Ruo was completely confused and had no idea what this conversation meant.
What are you kidding? When has Gongzi Zheng ever joked with him
Li Mu explained to Zhang Ruo: "Zheng'er deliberately answered Mr. Zhang with a stern face and called him Mr. Zhang, Mr. Zhang. He was joking with you."
Zhang Ruo: “…” Who can tell that
Ying Xiaozheng smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, I'm sorry!"
Zhang Ruo: “…No, no.”
Li Mu gently pinched the chubby face of the disciple in his arms.
It was unknown when Ying Xiaozheng developed an interest in "joking". But except for Zhu Xiang, no one could tell whether Ying Xiaozheng's suddenly dignified and unfamiliar face was joking with others.
Li Mu sometimes suspected that Ying Xiaozheng was not joking, but was simply practicing the unpredictable and unfathomable nature of a monarch so as not to let others peek into his heart.
But no matter what the truth is, Ying Xiaozheng will sit on the throne of King of Qin in the future, so this "joke" will not harm him.
Ying Xiaozheng teased Zhang Ruo who had been secretly observing him, and then pestered Li Mu to teach him the art of war.
Meng Wu also joined in with the chess pieces and acted as Li Mu's opponent.
Zhang Ruo couldn't hold back and joined in, joining forces with Meng Wu to fight against Li Mu.
Ying Xiaozheng twisted and turned in Li Mu's arms, giving random orders.
Li Mu actually listened to Ying Xiaozheng's random orders, which ultimately led to a disastrous defeat, and made Ying Xiaozheng so angry that he cried out.
Zhu Xiang brought out a plate of rice cakes to fill their stomachs, and kept making fun of Ying Xiaozheng when he saw this.
"Zheng'er, when you become the king in the future, don't travel thousands of miles from Xianyang to give advice to the generals on the front line. Hahahaha, you are such a bad chess player that you will be infamous for eternity."
"Shut up, uncle!"
"Hahaha, Zheng'er is angry out of shame!"
"Shut up, shut up!"
Zhu Xiang happily drifted back to the kitchen, leaving Ying Xiaozheng glumly eating rice cakes.
Then Ying Xiaozheng felt something was wrong. He looked down and saw that the rice cake was covered in blood.
Li Mu was horrified: "Zheng'er? What happened? Zhu Xiang, Zhu Xiang! Zheng'er vomited blood!"
Meng Wu was so scared that he quickly stood up and ran over. He actually fell down after such a short distance: "Zheng'er? Did someone poison you?"
Zhang Ruo knocked over the teacup in panic: "Assassin? Where is the assassin?"
Ying Xiaozheng covered his mouth and looked down at his hands covered in blood, unable to believe it: "My... My..."
Li Mu: "Zhu Xiang!!"
Meng Wu: "Zheng'er!!"
Zhang Ruo: "Assassin!!"
The guards and servants were in chaos. Zhu Xiang heard the shouting and ran out in a hurry.
Ying Xiaozheng: "My... My..."
Ying Xiaozheng: "My teeth! Woohoo!!!"
The crowd was in a mess, as if the pause button had been pressed, and all movements and sounds stopped abruptly.
Li Mu, who was so frightened that his whole body was stiff, then noticed that there was a small tooth stuck on the bloody rice cake that Ying Xiaozheng was holding in his other hand.
Meng Wu: "What?"
Zhang Ruo: "Assassin... Assassin?"
"Open your mouth and let me see." Zhu Xiang, who cared about Ying Xiaozheng the most, was surprisingly the calmest at this moment.
He squatted on the ground, looked up at his little nephew who covered his mouth with one hand and had tears in his eyes: "Be good, open your mouth."
Ying Xiaozheng covered his mouth and shook his head vigorously.
Zhu Xiang picked up the half sticky rice cake in Ying Xiaozheng's hand and took out the little milk tooth: "I haven't seen you cry so hard in a long time. I must write a letter to the king..."
Ying Xiaozheng: "No! Uwaaa! My teeth!"
Ying Xiaozheng couldn't help but open his mouth and cry loudly, revealing his gapped front teeth.
Even for the Qin Shi Huang's baby, the order in which his teeth fell out was similar to that of ordinary children, with the most conspicuous front teeth falling out first.
Looking at the huge gash in Ying Xiaozheng's mouth and listening to his leaky cries, Meng Wu sat down on the ground with his hands in his hair: "I was scared to death."
Zhang Ruo also slumped in his chair: "He's not an assassin."
Li Mu was speechless for a long time, not knowing what expression to make.
Ying Xiaozheng lost his first tooth, which scared people to death.
"Okay, go rinse your mouth and change clothes first. You have a mouth full of blood, it's really scary." Zhu Xiang collected Ying Xiaozheng's teeth, "Where should I throw my upper teeth so that they can grow well? Forget it, send it to Xianyang and let Xia Tong think about it."
Ying Xiaozheng's eyes were filled with tears: "Why, why did you send it to my father?"
Zhu Xiang said: "Let your father witness your growth."
Ying Xiaozheng pouted: "No."
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Zheng'er's teeth changing means he has started to grow up. He has grown from a child to a handsome young man, and he will be even more powerful in the future. How can I not share such a big happy event with your father and your aunt?"
Ying Xiaozheng's mouth pursed even more: "Well, then, give it to my aunt, not to my father."
Zhu Xiang took out a handkerchief and helped Ying Xiaozheng wipe the blood off his lips: "Okay." But if you send it back to Xianyang, your father will definitely see it.
After Zhu Xiang took Ying Xiaozheng away, Li Mu finally let out the breath he had been holding in due to fear.
"Zheng'er has changed his teeth. He has finally grown up." Meng Wu stood up from the ground and patted the dust off his buttocks. "Why didn't my son..."
He paused, and said with a strange expression: "When my son was changing his teeth, he seemed to be even more noisy. He cried and ran around saying that he was going to die. The servants couldn't catch up with him. His mother was frightened to death and even asked the king for an imperial physician."
Li Mu was stunned, then he held his forehead and laughed: "Really? It seems that I have to teach my child well before he changes his teeth."
Zhang Ruo thought about the situation of his younger generation changing their teeth, but found that he couldn't think of anything.
He went to war outside at an early age, and was mostly not with his children when they were born and grew up.
He didn't feel anything about it before, but now when he thinks about it, he feels a little regretful.
Should he write a letter to the King of Qin requesting retirement and go home to spend more time with his family
However, thinking about what Li Mu and Zhu Xiang were doing now, Zhang Ruo suppressed the idea of retiring.
He could see that Zhu Xiang and Li Mu would definitely achieve something that ordinary people could not even dream of. He really wanted to do the same thing with them.
Life in Qianzhong County is good now, maybe he can bring his family to live with him
Zhu Xiang took Ying Xiaozheng by the hand to rinse his mouth and change his clothes. He then took out the herbal medicine for reducing swelling and itching that he had prepared long ago, put it into cotton yarn scalded with boiling water, and made a medicine bag for Ying Xiaozheng to grind his teeth.
Ying Xiaozheng nodded dejectedly.
He looked at his toothless self in the bronze mirror and silently closed his mouth.
He didn't want to talk until his teeth were replaced.
Looking at Ying Xiaozheng's appearance, Zhu Xiang wanted to laugh again.
My nephew has always been very concerned about his reputation since he was young. His missing tooth must be a huge blow to him. I can't always make fun of him.
"Zheng'er, your uncle told you that changing teeth means you've grown up, just like a beast changing its milk teeth that can't bite bones and replacing them with beautiful and powerful fangs." Zhu Xiang rubbed Ying Xiaozheng's head, "This is a great joyous event, there's no need to hide or be shy. If someone laughs at you, you can ask him in surprise, didn't he change his teeth, and still have a mouthful of baby teeth?"
Zhu Xiang made an exaggerated surprised expression: "Oh, you still have baby teeth, haven't you even changed your teeth yet?"
Ying Xiaozheng burst out laughing.
He covered his mouth and nodded vigorously: "Remember."
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Your voice will change in the future, as your throat develops. Your voice will change from a child's to one as majestic as your uncle's..."
Ying Xiaozheng interrupted Zhu Xiang and said, "Uncle, your voice is not majestic at all."
Zhu Xiang lowered his voice and asked, "Is that so?"
Ying Xiaozheng covered his mouth again and nodded with a smile: "Majesty."
Zhu Xiang chuckled, "Right? When you are about ten years old, your voice will change. Your voice will become hoarse and your throat will become more prone to pain. It will be just like when you change your teeth now, and you will encounter a short period of awkwardness."
Zhu Xiang compared his hands to two wings, flapping them: "Just like a caterpillar must first become an ugly cocoon before it can become a butterfly. If someone laughs at you now, you laugh at them in return. Haven't you grown at all? Hasn't your voice changed at all?"
Ying Xiaozheng nodded again.
Zhu Xiang stretched out his hand: "Let's go back."
Ying Xiaozheng held Zhu Xiang's hand and no longer covered his mouth with his other hand.
Li Mu and others had already cleaned up the scene. When they saw Ying Xiaozheng coming back, they did not mention the matter of Ying Xiaozheng's tooth replacement, nor did they laugh at Ying Xiaozheng's gapping front teeth.
Ying Xiaozheng sat back in Li Mu's arms, hesitated for a moment, and said without covering his mouth: "Uncle, I'm hungry."
Zhu Xiang said: "Okay, I'll go cook now."
After Zhu Xiang left, Ying Xiaozheng looked at the unfinished rice cake on the table, hesitated for a while, and finally picked up the rice cake.
Li Mu couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you worried about losing another tooth?"
Ying Xiaozheng said: "You can only grow up after your teeth are replaced. The sooner they fall out, the sooner they will grow out."
Li Mu laughed: "Don't be too hasty, take your time. But Zhu Xiang didn't say we can't eat, so we can continue to eat?"
"Let me try one too. Li Mu, do you think my teeth can grow again if they are stuck off?" Meng Wu asked.
Li Mu said: "I guess not."
Meng Wu was depressed: "Will I be missing a tooth forever?"
Zhang Ruo stroked his beard and said, "Although they can't grow any longer, we can make dentures out of shells, gold, and copper."
Meng Wu was surprised: "Mr. Zhang seems to be very experienced."
Zhang Ruo smiled and said, "After all, I am an old man."
When Ying Xiaozheng saw the adults talking about the issue of losing teeth very naturally, he held the rice cake in both hands and nibbled on it with small bites. The corners of his mouth curved slightly, revealing shallow dimples on his chubby cheeks.
How could he not see, as smart as he is, that the elders present had just seen him crying out of embarrassment over his tooth replacement, and now he was deliberately creating a relaxed atmosphere to make himself happy.
He always felt the love and care from the people around him, and this love did not come from his identity as a prince of the State of Qin.
A small incident of tooth-changing did not stop Zhu Xiang from preparing a table of rice feast.
Zhu Xiang made fried rice, rice porridge, rice noodles, rice cakes, and also baked the round rice crusts and made rice crust meat slices.
Heat the rice crust in the iron pot, put it on a plate, and pour the sweet and sour meat slices with starch on it. The rice crust will immediately make a crackling sound, and the hot steam will rise, and the delicious taste will hit you.
Zhu Xiang took a spoon and crushed the rice crust, letting the gravy soak into the rice crust.
At this time, put the rice crust into your mouth. The surface of the rice crust is soft and has absorbed enough gravy, but the inside is very crispy and full of burnt aroma.
Ying Xiaozheng forgot the embarrassment of losing his teeth and crunched off several pieces of rice crust before eating the meat.
"Is this... noodles?" Meng Wu picked up the rice noodles. "Or is it rice?"
Zhu Xiang said: "It is rice vermicelli, also called rice noodles. The method of making it is a little different from noodles. I will write down the specific method for you. The way to eat it is similar to noodles."
Meng Wu took a mouthful of rice noodles: "It's lighter and chewier than noodles, and tastes good."
Zhang Ruo looked at the table full of rice delicacies and exclaimed, "I didn't expect there are so many ways to eat rice."
Zhu Xiang said: "Rice, like noodles, can absorb the flavors of other ingredients, so naturally you can make a lot of different flavors of food, and you can add anything to it. The growth cycle of rice is most suitable for the monsoon weather in the south, and the yield is also good. Grains with shells are easier to store, so sooner or later it will replace millet as the main food in the south."
Zhang Ruo said: "Since Zhu Xiang said so, it seems that Qianzhong County should pay more attention to switching to rice cultivation."
Zhu Xiang said: "Rice farming requires high irrigation and tools, so don't promote it blindly. I have cultivated new seeds in Shu County, and we will replace them step by step. At the same time, wheat, millet, beans, etc. can also be intercropped. Farmers can plant whatever they want, and it is more appropriate to encourage them to optimize their crops."
Zhang Ruo smiled and said, "I know. Zhu Xiang meant not to harm the people. I will pay attention."
Meng Wu said: "Qin officials prefer to give orders directly, which is more effective. But when it comes to food, we really can't be impatient. If we are impatient and cause famine, it will not be good. But what is a monsoon?"
Zhu Xiang said: "It rains a lot in the summer and is dry in the winter. Simply put, the sea level is rich in water vapor in the summer..."
Meng Wu immediately stopped him: "Stop, stop, stop, stop talking, I have a headache. If you want to give a lecture, go to the Xianyang Academy!"
Zhu Xiang shut his mouth in frustration. Meng Wu, you are a poor student! Learn from your learned sons!
Li Mu said: "The newly reclaimed land can be mainly used for growing rice. When the rains decrease in October, we will go to the lower reaches of the river and make the south bank of the river belong to Qin. There should be a lot of land suitable for growing rice there."
Meng Wu said: "Do you really want to divide the river with Chu?"
Li Mu smiled: "Why not?"
Zhang Ruo smiled and sighed, "If you really divide the river with Chu, you will swallow up about 20% of Chu's land. The Chu people will not let it go."
Li Mu said: "I will wait until they give up. It's all a military achievement."
Zhu Xiang said: "This is not just a matter of 20% of the land."
Zhu Xiang pushed away the empty plate and placed a chopstick on the table. "Li Mu has now formed the largest navy in the world... the fleet. The fleet's ships only need to be slightly modified, with a huge tree added to resist the wind and waves at sea, and they can transport troops and fight anywhere along the coastline."
Zhu Xiang pointed to the mouth of the Yangtze River and said, "When Qin attacks the Central Plains again, it will not send troops from Hangu Pass and pass through the Shangdang Plateau and Taihang Mountains to block the way, but..."
He drew a circle with his finger: "The seashore is all plains."
Li Mu tapped the end of his chopsticks and said, "Yes, I want to occupy the land south of the river, and that's my intention. From now on, the land south of the river will be the land of Qin, and food and soldiers can be shipped from the river estuary. They can be transported by the fleet and go directly north."
Li Mu pointed at the place where Zhu Xiang had drawn: "When attacking from the sea, the food supply route is unobstructed; after the soldiers land, there are no high mountains blocking them, so the attack is also unobstructed."
Meng Wu's eyes lit up: "After this, if Qin wants to attack the six countries, can it attack from both sides?"
Li Mu nodded: "We don't even need to attack from both sides. We only need to send troops from the east. They have nowhere to defend."
Zhu Xiang said: "We should attack from both sides. If we only rely on one end, the pressure on the Qin army line will be too great if they work together."
Zhang Ruo finally caught up with their wild and imaginative rhythm: "I thought General Li just wanted to attack Chu from both sides, but relying on the powerful navy, he did attack the other countries in the Central Plains from both sides as well. Wonderful, really wonderful!"
"The only question is whether the Chu people will sit back and watch us take over the south bank of the river." Zhu Xiang said, "I think the Chu people don't want to be attacked by Qin."
Li Mu said calmly: "What does this have to do with whether they want to fight or not? In a war, we cannot attack only after the other party declares a fight."
Everyone laughed.
Ying Xiaozheng's gums were a little itchy, so he put the medicine bag in his mouth and chewed it, carefully recalling the map of Central Plains in his mind.
The teacher is even better than I thought. If the teacher is really so successful and my father's health has improved, can I still become Qin Shi Huang
Ying Xiaozheng suddenly felt that the biggest crisis in his life was coming.
What's more terrifying is that no matter how smart he is, he won't be able to deal with this crisis.
Moreover, he didn't want his biological father, who had become familiar to him, to die young.
Ying Xiaozheng had a rare insomnia night.
Zhu Xiang asked worriedly, "Zheng'er, does your tooth hurt or itch?" Ying Xiaozheng shook his head. He couldn't tell his uncle that your Zheng'er didn't want to be the second emperor of Qin, right
He decided that he must not tell his father the title "Qin Shi Huang", and certainly not let his father come up with the titles "Second Emperor" or "Third Emperor".
He was quite good when he was the First Emperor of Qin, but the Second and Third Emperors of Qin... He only realized now that they were really not good.
If I cannot become Qin Shi Huang, I will let my father give me a posthumous title like other Qin kings, and change it after I ascend the throne.
Zhu Xiang rubbed Ying Xiaozheng's cheek and said, "Really not itchy? Then why are you frowning?"
Ying Xiaozheng pressed his brows flat: "I'm not frowning."
Zhu Xiang laughed: "Okay, no wrinkles. Go to sleep if you don't feel itchy anymore."
Ying Xiaozheng buried his face in the pillow: "Hmm..."
He wanted his father to live longer, but he didn't want to be the second emperor of Qin. It was so annoying.
After October, Li Mu began to deploy troops and drove a more powerful navy eastward along the Yangtze River.
During the rest time given to him by the State of Chu, he built more large ships and weapons, and trained more soldiers who could fight on large ships.
Now Zhang Ruo came to Eyi to garrison, Li Mu was the main general, Meng Wu was the deputy general, and the mighty Qin navy set off again.
The State of Chu was in great panic.
The King of Chu immediately assembled his troops south of the capital to prevent Li Mu from attacking the capital directly after landing.
Li Mu completely ignored the heavy troops gathered north of the Yangtze River. Under the panicked gaze of the Chu soldiers north of the Yangtze River, Li Mu quickly captured several ferry cities south of the Yangtze River.
The people of Chu were not mediocre, and they immediately realized Li Mu's intention - Li Mu was so arrogant that he wanted to rely on Qin's navy to control the Yangtze River and cut off Chu's territory from the Yangtze River!
They immediately sent ships to the south of the Yangtze River for support. Li Mu had already made preparations and built several docks and watchtowers along the Yangtze River to monitor the State of Chu day and night and to send out a fleet at any time.
Li Mu did not have many garrisoned ships, but because the ships were equipped with a large number of long-range weapons and had a defensive advantage, it was difficult for the Chu navy to cross the south.
Moreover, the fleet of Chu was not much larger than that of Qin. They only had a few small boats that could reach the shore, but they were of no use at all, and could only harass the Qin garrison.
The Qin troops stationed in the city will not be able to break through the city by this small group of Chu soldiers.
The strategy that Li Mu is currently implementing is actually similar to that of Bai Qi back then, both of which are "blitzkrieg and surprise attack". However, Bai Qi relied on a hasty march, while Li Mu relied on the rushing water of the Yangtze River and the sails that had not yet appeared.
Even if they are going against the current, with the sails, as long as they find the right time for each day's travel, Li Mu's navy support can still be very fast.
In this way, Li Mu's navy destroyed one ferry and city after another on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and quickly arrived at the next one before the support from the State of Chu arrived.
It was already difficult for the Chu State to cross the river to the south, and Li Mu's navy had the advantage of speed. They were stretched thin in the face of Li Mu's offensive and could only watch helplessly as the cities on the south bank of the Yangtze River were overrun by Qin flags one by one.
What made the King of Chu even more powerless was that because the Chu State moved its capital to Chen (Huaiyang, Henan), the lands of the Chu State's nobles were basically located in the area north of the Yangtze River and south of the Huai River.
The south bank of the Yangtze River was originally the land of Wu and Yue. Although it had been developed by the State of Chu for many years, there were still a large number of Wu and Yue descendants, so it was the fiefdom of a rising small noble family.
These small nobles did not have sufficient military strength and needed support from the State of Chu.
But after seeing the powerful navy of Qin, the great nobles of Chu were not very willing to send troops to tackle Li Mu.
This is easy to understand. If they did not send troops, their fiefs would not suffer any loss; if they sent troops, even if they were given the land south of the Yangtze River, they would find it difficult to manage it and would not be able to quickly improve their strength. They would even have to divide their troops to garrison, reducing the strength of their original fiefs.
Their sending troops would benefit the State of Chu, but would not benefit them in any way and might even threaten their own safety. Seeing this, how could the nobles of the State of Chu be willing to send troops? Unless the King of Chu could give up enough benefits.
However, the King of Chu already had a rift with the great nobles of Chu because of the issue of succession. He was very wary of the great nobles in the country and would not give them too much benefit.
If the King of Chu sent out his own troops, he would face the same difficulties.
If his direct army was defeated by Li Mu, even if he managed to hold on to the land in the south, his own strength would have declined, and he might not be able to hold on to Chendu.
His son wasn't grown up yet, he couldn't take the risk.
Now the land south of the Yangtze River is like chicken ribs to the King of Chu. It is tasteless to eat and a pity to throw away.
So although Chu continued to send troops, the number and strength of the troops were not very good. The soldiers and generals seemed to realize this and just slacked off during the battle. After all, they were fighting on the Yangtze River, so what was wrong with slacking off
As a result, Li Mu faced almost no pressure and easily drove the boat to the mouth of the Yangtze River.
He looked at the boundless sea and smiled happily.
He has achieved such great achievements in a short period of time. I think in the future, the title of Wu'an Jun of Qin will not fall on anyone else except him.
When Zhu Xiang recommended him to the King of Qin, he predicted that if he stayed in Zhao, he would be the Wu'an Jun of Zhao, and if he went to Qin, he would inherit Bai Qi and become the Wu'an Jun of Qin.
He will make it happen.
In the Xianyang Palace, the old King of Qin and the old crown prince sat opposite each other, with their hands resting on their chins, and their expressions were exactly the same. No matter who saw them, they would sigh that they were indeed father and son.
King Qin: "Dazhu."
Prince Zhu: "My father..."
King Qin: "How did the Chu State become so weak?"
Prince Zhu: "Maybe it's not that Chu is too weak, but that Li Mu is too strong?"
King Qin: "No matter how strong Li Mu is, Chu is too weak."
Prince Zhu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
When Xianyang received Li Mu's request to send troops, the King of Qin immediately ordered him to inventory the granary and prepare for support.
When he was ready and preparing to send people to deliver support, he received a battle report from Li Mu saying that the battle was almost over.
It has only been a month since the last battle report.
Just one month!
How did Li Mu fight the war? This month also includes the journey! Even if you take a boat down the river, you still need time to travel.
The King of Qin and Crown Prince Zhu racked their brains to understand why Li Mu could be so quick.
The two thought about it over and over again, but really couldn't understand, so they couldn't wait to summon Bai Qi to the palace the next day, and took a carriage to Zhu Xiang's villa to ask Bai Qi for advice while he was recuperating from a slight cold.
When Bai Qi learned about this, he was stunned.
He spread out the map and calculated the speed of the navy based on the navy data and the river flow rate provided by Li Mu, and guessed the general reason in his mind.
"The fleet is extremely fast. When the last city is captured, the next city may not have received the news yet. This is one reason."
Li Mu took the water route. If he wanted to deliver a message to the city he was attacking, he would have to ride on land. However, there were many hills and lakes on the south bank of the river, so riding on horseback would not only take a long detour, but Li Mu would also intercept the messenger.
Therefore, after Li Mu captured a city, it would be difficult for the next city to get news before Li Mu arrived.
(End of this chapter)