The most arrogant in history

Chapter 182: Random Matchmaking.

So Ye Kun immediately returned to the County Magistrate's Office and asked his personal soldiers:

"What does this Mr. Zhuge Feng look like?"

"Mr. Zhuge is eight feet tall, with an extraordinary appearance, a pine-like figure, a Taoist hat and robe, and a feather fan in his hand..."

"Really? He sounds like an expert."

Ye Kun quickened his pace and trotted to the door.

There was a man in front of the door, about fifty years old, tall and thin, holding a goose feather fan, waiting.

When Ye Kun saw it, his heart sank.

A man of this age is definitely not Wolong.

Even if it's Wolong, he won't live for many years!

The personal soldier introduced: "Master Ye, this is Mr. Zhuge Feng."

Ye Kun clasped his fists and bowed: "I am a humble man from Pingye. I have heard of your great name for a long time. Today I am honored to see you in person."

Zhuge Feng also looked at Ye Kun and clasped his fists in return:

"I am Zhuge Feng, a lowly scholar in Badong. I have come to see Lord Ye. I heard that Lord Ye is recruiting talented people. Although I am uneducated, I have taken the liberty to come here. I hope to be able to serve Lord Ye."

"You are too modest, old sir. Please come to the back hall and have some tea."

Ye Kun raised his hand to invite him.

Since occupying Badong, Ye Kun has been recruiting talents, no matter they are skilled craftsmen, learned scholars, or local celebrities, as long as they have a skill, he will take them in or make friends with them.

Even some swindlers were recruited by Ye Kun and treated with delicious food and drinks.

Just think of it as moving wood for a city gate or buying horse bones for thousands of gold, just put up an advertisement.

Zhuge Feng followed Ye Kun into the back hall.

The servant brought tea.

After taking a sip of tea, Ye Kun smiled and said:

"Mr. Zhuge is a wise man, and his reputation is well-known. Today, I am honored to be here. Ye Kun respectfully listens to his teachings."

"Since Lord Ye occupied Dongba County, he has been implementing benevolent policies and saving the people from disaster. Children and old men in Badong all praise him." Zhuge Feng put down his teacup and said thoughtfully:

"However, Badong is a small place with poor mountains and bad waters, where heroes cannot show their talents. May I ask Lord Ye if he has the ambition to make progress?"

Ye Kun was delighted when he heard this and asked:

"I am trapped in Badong and am worried. I would like to ask Mr. Zhuge, how can I make progress?"

Zhuge Feng said slowly:

"The ancients said that where goods are plentiful, the people prosper; where homes are near markets, the family becomes wealthy. Wealth comes from numerology, not from toil. Profit comes from position, not from hard work. Have you heard of this, Lord Ye?"

Ye Kun nodded: "This is a famous quote from the Salt and Iron Theory. I have also read it."

What Zhuge Feng just said was from the Salt and Iron Discussions, which can be regarded as a guide to getting rich in life, and it hits the nail on the head.

It was valuable not only in ancient times, but also now.

Translated, it means that where there are abundant products, people will be rich. People who live close to the market will have rich families. Getting rich depends on planning and methods, not hard work; having enough food and clothing depends on a good location, not hard work.

There is also a proverb in ancient Rome: if you are born in a city with a river running through it, your destiny is better than that of most people.

Therefore, the poor people in Rome sighed that some were born in Rome, while others would never be able to reach Rome in their lifetime.

Ye Kun was an engineer in his previous life. He worked hard in a first-tier city and had a good salary, but he could not afford to buy a house in a first-tier city. He often laughed at himself, saying that some people were born in Rome, and some people were mules and horses all their lives!

Zhuge Feng's eyes lit up and he pointed to the west:

"Yizhou is in the west, a land of abundance, producing salt, iron, gold, silver, silk and grain. It is a place of abundant resources. Whoever gets Yizhou can become the richest among the princes. Gongsun Zhang of Yizhou is a dog who guards the house. He does not think about making progress. He is weak and incompetent. With only one state, he is controlled by Hanzhong County. If Lord Ye raises an army, seizes Yizhou, stabilizes the people's hearts, and accumulates food and grass, then he can plan for the whole world!"

Damn, they even set their eyes on Yizhou.

Ye Kun's strategic intention was exposed, and he didn't know Zhuge Feng's background, so he pondered:

"Mr. Zhuge, that's a good idea, but Yizhou is full of great men and heroes, and there are natural barriers everywhere. How can I fight through with my limited number of troops?"

Zhuge Feng smiled and said:

"Everything depends on human effort. The nobles of Yizhou are suspicious of each other, and the governor Gongsun Zhang is on the left and right. Lord Ye can secretly make friends with the nobles of Yizhou, and when the time is right, they can join forces inside and outside to capture Yizhou in one fell swoop."

Ye Kun stood up and saluted: "Mr. Zhuge's theory is indeed profound. If you don't mind, Ye Kun is willing to serve as your military advisor and help me plan for the future. Ye Kun is dull, so I will listen to your teachings morning and night."

Ye Kun had thought about Zhuge Feng's remarks a long time ago, and he had already been making friends with merchants from Yizhou. Through these merchants, he gradually came into contact with several wealthy people in Yizhou through correspondence.

Therefore, Zhuge Feng’s brilliant ideas were of no use to Ye Kun.

But Ye Kun currently lacks people with good eloquence.

Now that Zhuge Feng is here, he can be Ye Kun's envoy and travel around the world.

This old guy is quite good at talking.

Zhuge Feng also stood up and returned the greeting: "I have come here to seek refuge with Lord Ye. From now on, I will obey your orders and serve you like a dog and a horse!"

Ye Kun held Zhuge Feng's hand and laughed.

Zhuge Feng's family of more than a dozen people were later moved to Dongba City by Ye Kun, and a large house was arranged for them to live in.

In private, Ye Kun asked Guan Yafu about Zhuge Feng's character.

Guan Yafu frowned and said, "This man is quite famous, but in my opinion, he is just a talker who talks big and may not be of great use."

Ye Kun nodded: "I don't know the details of this person, so I gave him a nominal title of military advisor. Keep it for now and see later."

Over at Jigongling, Xue Ju bought a large number of young slaves from other separatist forces in Jiaozhou. He sent over more than 4,000 people in three batches.

Among them, there are nearly 3,000 women.

Ye Kun set up a temporary camp to take in all the people. He first announced that the slavery status of all the people bought would be cancelled. From then on, they would be free, be given land, and enjoy all the rights of the residents of Dongba County!

This move was so cruel that the more than 4,000 people who were bought were all so excited that they shed tears.

Because most of the separatist forces in Jiaozhou were in a slave society, the slaves had no dignity, no protection for their lives, and not a penny of private property.

Then, Ye Kun gave these new recruits three days of intensive training, with fifty people in each class, and taught them to speak Mandarin.

Among these servants, half can speak Chinese.

Those who could speak clearly and had a basic understanding of writing were appointed as translators and teachers to teach others the basics of spoken language.

In fact, humans only need some simple words for initial communication.

It seems that people in later generations who learn English can travel freely in English-speaking countries if they can remember 200 words.

When you see a foreign friend and you want to take a photo with him, just say, "Hi, take a photo, thank you."

Foreigners will understand it as soon as they hear it.

If you stutter a long string of words:

"Hello, dear foreign friend. Excuse me for disturbing you. I see that you are extremely talented and I want to take a photo with you as a souvenir. If it is inconvenient for you, it's okay. Just consider it as an interruption..."

Instead you will be laughed at.

So Ye Kun trained these new recruits intensively, teaching them only some simple daily words, such as eating, drinking, walking, carrying pole, hoe, chopsticks, man, woman, sleeping...

After three days, most newcomers can achieve simple communication.

Ye Kun selected a thousand strong men from them, formed the Flying Tiger Battalion, and continued training.

Those young women organized blind dates and betrothed them to retired veterans who were farming or widows.

The family is the most basic unit of society. Only when the family is stable can the society be stable.

The foundation of family stability is a stable marriage relationship.

Although the blind date organized by Ye Kun was a bit random, it did solve practical problems after all.

In the entire Dongba County, there are no resentful women inside and no lonely men outside, it can be said that the county has a new look!

The remaining newcomers were sent to artisan workshops and kiln factories to do some unskilled manual labor.

It is midsummer in June and the sun is scorching.

Ye Kun continued to use his troops, ordering Xue Ju and Wu Xuan to send troops in two directions, advance southwest, and destroy Shiquanzhai.

The poor little warlord of Shiquanzhai, coveting Ye Kun's porcelain, gold and silver, sold many slaves, resulting in insufficient fighting power. He was conquered in one fell swoop by the elite troops of Xue Ju and Wu Xuan, and surrendered in three days!

Wu Xuan and Xue Ju successfully captured the entire Shiquanzhai without bloodshed and controlled the main transportation routes in the southeast of Yizhou.

Ye Kun did not go to the front line this time, but stayed in Dongba City, and together with Lao He, he led the craftsmen to continue technological reform and innovation.

In terms of bows and crossbows, Ye Kun designed and produced a pulley crossbow, which further increased the range.

Due to material limitations, the pulley crossbow produced by Ye Kun was much smaller and larger than those of later generations, but it could be operated by a single soldier.

Traditional bows and arrows are afraid of rainy or humid weather. The bowstring and bow arm will become weak and unusable in such weather.

Ye Kun thickened the bow arm and designed a three-section bowstring.

The bowstrings at the beginning and end are made of cowhide leather and hemp rope, and are as thick as the little finger. The small section in the middle is made of traditional bowstrings and is used to hold the arrow.

In this way, even if there is heavy rain, the effect on the range of the bow and crossbow will be minimal.

The pulleys of the new crossbows are all cast in bronze, and the range of upward shooting can reach over 600 meters. If shooting straight ahead, the effective range is over 300 meters.

Within two hundred meters, if the shooting angle is right, it can effectively penetrate armor.

The disadvantage is that it is bulky, inconvenient to carry, and requires a larger space for individual operation.

And the accuracy is poor.

But compared with previous bows and crossbows, overall, there are still many improvements.

In addition to bows and crossbows, Ye Kun also made improvements in spears, armor, and catapults.

A lot of raw materials for black powder have been prepared now, and Ye Kun began to study wooden-handled grenades and bronze cannons.

It is too difficult to make a musket, but it is no problem to make a bronze cannon.

Bronze is a precious treasure bestowed by God on mankind. It is easy to process and until the Napoleonic era, bronze cannons were still playing a powerful role on the battlefield.

Eight hundred years ago, during the Spring and Autumn Period, the technology for casting bronze tripods and chime bells was already very mature.

Casting bronze gun barrels is almost not difficult.

With a little effort, you can even make the inner rifling. Compared with the exquisite patterns on bells and tripods, the inner rifling is relatively simple.

When Ye Kun was busy with production, his personal soldiers came to report that Qin Caiwei from Jingzhou was coming to visit.

Qin Caiwei is naturally Wei Caiqin.

However, when going out, Wei Caiqin still wears men's clothes and uses the alias Qin Caiwei.

Ye Kun was overjoyed when he heard this and went out to greet the Third Miss.

Wei Caiqin was full of energy and heroic spirit. She clasped her fists and smiled:

"It's been 20 days since we last met. Sir Ye, how are you?"

"It's more than twenty days. As the ancients said, a day apart is like three years apart. We haven't seen each other for sixty years." Ye Kun held Wei Caiqin's hand and whispered:

"I'm fine, I just miss you."

Wei Caiqin shook off Ye Kun's hand and said angrily, "You big liar, if you miss me, why don't you come to Jingzhou to see me?"