Chapter 632

Chapter 632

“We have so much?” Liu Mang was dumbstruck by the large amount of provisions. They had missed the opportune time for harvest and had only just plowed the fields. On top of that, the amount of provisions

“Milord. The third batch of provisions was not delivered after you disappeared from Jingzhou. The first two batches were already sent to Lujiang!” The two hundred thousand provisions from Lujiang was from Jingzhou.

“Then what about the five hundred thousand provisions at Shouchun?” Liu Mang asked.

“This five hundred thousand provisions are also from Jingzhou.” Xu Shu said.

“Hm? Liu Biao was so kindhearted?”

“No, we took it ourselves. Jingzhou’s Southern area have already been captured by us.” Xu Shu replied.

“We captured Jiangling?” Liu Mang quickly turned to look at the map on the table. “Did you all use the waterway?” Liu Mang thought that there were no more enemies on the Yangtze River so they were able to advance unhindered. Jingzhou would be really stupid to not lockdown the river when they no longer have a navy.

“No, Milord. Jingzhou have already blocked up the river.” The shipwreck they used to block the river could not be cleared so easily. Because of this, Yangzhou was still clearing up the shipwreck.

“Then the Huarong Road?” Liu Mang had never been through the Huarong Road but he had heard of its dangers. It was a swamp that eats up its victims.

“Does Milord know of Jiangling’s Wu Family?” Xu Shu asked.

“The King of Ships?” He may not know who the patriarch of the Wu Family is but the family’s reputation was something everyone knew. Half of Jingzhou’s merchant ships were made by this Wu Family. They were also one of the origins of Jingzhou’s warships.

“Yes, that Wu Family. They were wiped out.”

“Wiped out?” The Wu Family was very influential. Though they were not as influential as the Huang Family, Cai Family and Kuai Family, they were still prosperous. He even remembered Kuai Yue telling him that the Huang Family was supporting the Wu Family.

“Did our army wipe them out?” Liu Mang asked as it was unlikely that someone from Jingzhou made a move on them.

“No. They were wiped out by Liu Pan.”

“Liu Pan?”

“Liu Pan and Huang She are both striving for power. The Wu Family was a sacrificial victim.” These words made Liu Mang understand.

“The entire Wu Family was wiped out by Liu Pan in a single moment. The sole survivor, the eldest daughter of the Wu Family, unexpectedly stumbled into our camp at Shiyang and found Lu Xun. She gave Lu Xun a map through the Huarong Road. They then attacked Jiangling and forced them to surrender.” Xu Shu have not said everything. After capturing Jiangling, the deluded ex-governor Dong Zhi tried to take back Jiangling. As Lu Xun was still young, he had placed too much trust in Dong Zhi. Dong Zhi simply needed to open the gates for the Jingzhou Army. Lu Xun who only had about a thousand men would not be able to defend Jiangling.

However, the army outside was Huang Zu’s men. Miss Wu had sent a letter to Huang Zu warning him that Dong Zhi was Liu Pan’s subordinate. Capturing Jiangling would become Liu Pan’s merits. Originally, the Huang Family was losing to Liu Pan in the fight for authority. If Liu Pan obtains Jiangling, Huang She would no longer be able to compete.

On top of that, the Huang Family was guilty towards the Wu Family since they could not do anything while the Wu Family was wiped out. Even if they act now, it would already be too late.

Because of this, Huang Zu quickly set off. When Dong Zhi opened the gates, he was struck dumb as it was someone else outside. In the end, Dong Zhi could only get arrested and executed by Lu Xun.

Miss Wu finally got some vengeance.

As for the Huarong Road, there was not much of a mystery to it after getting there once. They had already placed bedding there to make a road, allowing them to transport troops and provisions.

This was why Yangzhou was not lacking provisions.

“Milord. That Jiangling had eight hundred thousand provisions and over a hundred thousand sets of weapons and armor!” Lu Xun left a hundred thousand provisions for himself and melted down all the weapons and armor. At that point in time, Jingzhou’s equipment were already worthless to Yangzhou since Yangzhou made their own weapons and armor.

“What about the sweet potato we planted?” Liu Mang suddenly thought of it and asked. Sweet potatoes took three months to ripen. It was already about time too.

“Milord. That sweet potato...” Xu Shu frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Liu Mang became anxious. That sweet potato was meant to ensure the people could eat. He placed a lot of hope in it.

“The sweet potato is not tasty!” Xu Shu complained.

“Haha!” Liu Mang laughed. For a moment he thought that the sweet potatoes would not grow.

“It is not meant for you all to eat!” These ancient people have not eaten sweet potatoes before. Naturally, it did not suit their palate. They would slowly adapt to it. “Take out all of the sweet potatoes. Cut out a small piece about this big and bury it under the ground.” Liu Mang said to the others.

“Milord. Shouldn’t we just bury the whole thing? Would it work if we cut it off?” Xu Shu did not know anything about sweet potatoes besides the fact that you plant it in spring.

“Don’t worry, just follow my instructions. Forget it! I will supervise things myself.” Liu Mang could not feel relief and added. Sweet potatoes was a plant with strong roots. As long as they do not cut off too much of it, they could bury it back into the ground and it would grow into a new plant.

“Ah! Is there really such a thing?” Xu Shu was surprised.

“Of course! I am sure you have already seen its high yield!”

“Yes.” Xu Shu nodded seriously. The amount of sweet potatoes grown was about two thousand catties. This frighteningly huge amount caused him to immediately dispatch soldiers to keep this information a secret.

What is more surprising to Xu Shu is that Liu Mang did not seem satisfied. “Only two thousand catties?”

The reason for this is because the sweet potatoes he brought back should have yielded over five thousand catties. However, he soon felt relieved it could do this well considering that there were no special fertilizers to stimulate the sweet potato’s growth. Having less yield was understandable.

“Let’s have our military plant this first. Yuanzhi. Remember to keep this a secret and only give it to the common people next year.” Liu Mang ordered. Xu Shu nodded back. He already understood how important this is even if he had no instructions.

“You all have worked hard these days.” Liu Mang said as he patted Xu Shu’s shoulders.

“Milord. There is one more thing!” Xu Shu cupped his fists.

“Hm?”

“Milord, we have established contact with Gongsun Du.” Xu Shu said.

“We have already found the ocean route?” Liu Mang asked as his eyes grew wide.

“Yes, Milord!” Xu Shu nodded.

“What did Gongsun Du say?” Liu Mang asked. He wanted to contact Gongsun Du to buy horses. Before this, they had no opportunity but with the ocean route, they would not let this slip.

“They want fifty gold per horse!”

“Fifty gold per horse? Haha, why don’t he just go and rob people!” Liu Mang became angry due to Gongsun Du. While fifty gold was actually cheap to them, one must remember that Gongsun Du was at Liaodong. He would be unable to transport the horses over. In other words, the cost and risk of transport were Liu Mang’s alone. How could he be happy with such a deal then?

“Gongsun Du’s envoy came together with Gan Ning. Since we could not discuss with you, we acted according to our own initiative. In the end, a horse is sold for ten gold.” Xu Shu had worked hard in beating down the price. While horses may not even be worth this much in the North, it was the seller who actually set the price. After all, they could simply choose not to sell it.

“Alright. Give it to him!” Liu Mang’s expression was not good. But it was a good thing to be able to solve problems with money.

“I accept this order!” Zhuge Liang was increasingly curious about Liu Mang. Zhuge Liang had never told anyone that he was a Legalist. He also never held any position. How did the King of Shu know that Zhuge Liang was good at law? Could he really be such a good judge of talent? Zhuge Liang was already surprised that Liu Mang knew about Li Yan. Now he was even more surprised.

Liu Mang naturally knew about Zhuge Liang. The two greatest practitioners of the Legalist school in the Three Kingdoms era was Zhuge Liang and Cao Cao. Cao Cao being a Legalist can be seen from his use of multicolored stakes. Those who violate the law were punished regardless of their status.

Liu Mang would have chosen Kuai Liang if he was at Yangzhou. But for now, Zhuge Liang would be taking this position.

Li Yan’s police will be working alongside the Ministry of Justice. One would be arresting people while the other would be interrogating them.

“The Ministry of Rites would be in charge of ceremonial affairs, education and examinations. There would be four divisions here...” One was for academic affairs. The rest were separated based on the type of rituals or ceremonies they were in charge of. For example, one was for auspicious events, and another was for entertaining guests. This way, Liu Mang had merged embassies and educational institutes together as well.

“The one in charge here will be Brother Shanmin!” Liu Mang said to the others.

“Brother Shanmin?” Yangzhou’s officials did not know who that is until someone from the back stepped forward. “Pang Shanmin pays respects to the Lord. Thank you for the Lord’s generosity!”

Pang Shanmin was one of the reasons Liu Mang and the others could leave Wuxi and return to Yangzhou. The Pang Family had spent a lot of effort in making this happen.

The Ministry of Rites was in charge of education and was also an embassy. The one in charge should be a great scholar. That is the only way it could gain this identity. Besides obtaining Pang Degong’s favor, Pang Shanmin was also a very knowledgeable scholar. Though he was not as good as his father, he was also of noble character. More importantly, Pang Shanmin being here would attract many from the Lumen Academy to come.

“Last but not least is the Ministry of War that is in charge of the soldiers. One division will be in charge of assessing the troops and promoting them. One division will be handling horse permits and checkpoints. One division will be handling rewarding the soldiers and compensating the families of dead soldiers. They will also be in charge of going to different places for spot checks and be involved with restrictions on entering the sea. A division that is in charge of handling the soldier’s information and entry exams. Last but not least is the division in charge of delivering messages.

“The one in charge of the Ministry of War will be Wenhe!” Liu Mang thought of Jia Xu who was still at Wuxi.

“Above these six ministries will be a cabinet filled with eleven people. The six high officials from the ministries will be in it. The remaining five will be me and others who are at least a marshal or a learned scholar. That is where we will have discussions.” Liu Mang added. As the ruler of Yangzhou, he must definitely be in it.

“Xu Shu. You are to handle the cabinet affairs especially if I am not around!” Liu Mang said. This meant that Xu Shu was the boss of the six ministers. If there is a proposal and many agreed to it, they would adopt it. However, if not many agree to it then there would be a discussion and they may abandon the proposal. If an equal amount of people agree and disagree, then the last person, Liu Mang would have the final say. Of course, Liu Mang also had the right to overrule any decision.

Some of the remaining members of the cabinet would be Xu Shu, Chen Gong and Lu Bu.

Liu Mang’s orders were sent to the entire Yangzhou and the officials all began to move and decide which department they belonged to, whether they were to retire and other things. Liu Mang did not need to worry about any of this. This is what Xu Shu is for.

The reason Liu Mang did not call the cabinet as Prime Minister is because he was just a prince. He did not have such qualifications as he was not an Emperor.

After the changes were complete, everyone would be able to perform their own duties. They would no longer be able to shirk their responsibilities by saying other people could do it.

“Milord. These six ministries will change things in Yangzhou!” Xu Shu said admiringly.

Liu Mang could only laugh in reply as he did not come up with this personally. The actual talented people came up with this. Also the six ministries simply divided the work.

Liu Mang also did not bother giving an explanation as he was too tired. He had spent yet another night fighting off four top class generals. He barely had time to properly sleep. Then after fighting off these four generals, another rarity by the name of Lady Zou kept looking for him. Liu Mang could barely endure this trial.

“Has Gongsun Du send his horses over?” Gongsun Du’s envoy had picked out a hundred horses from the Wolf Cavalry to take home. He could not take any more as one of those horses were fifty of his own.

“Yes. He has given us the five thousand horses as payment. Besides that, we also bought another five thousand horses. This total up to ten thousand horses. About three hundred horses died along the way here so we have nine thousand seven hundred horses!” Xu Shu replied.

“Good. Distribute those horses to the army. Let the Wolf Cavalry and the Xiliang Cavalry have the first pick and have them quickly implement two horses per person!” Liu Mang said to Xu Shu.

“Milord. Are we not expanding our army with these horses?” Xu Shu asked with doubt. The Xiliang Cavalry and the Wolf Cavalry already had horses. Why would Liu Mang not expand the army with the horses?

“Expand the army? Easier said than done.” Liu Mang shook his head. Unlike infantries, cavalry troops also needed to learn how to ride a horse.

“Don’t we have saddles and stirrups?” It was easier to train troops now with those two things.

“Enough. These horses are not the Arabian horses I brought. Their endurance and speed aren’t as good.” Liu Mang said. If he wanted to expand the army, he could form another heavy cavalry. However, Liu Mang did not want to be so militaristic since it costs a lot of money. Besides that, elites were more important. He could increase the strength of the Wolf Cavalry and the Xiliang Cavalry by giving them more horses. That way, the soldiers will get to change horses and save their horse’s strength during battles.

“Oh right. Make sure to give one thousand horses to Pang Shanmin.” Liu Mang added.

“Give High Official Pang?”

“Yes.”

“Can he even use this many horses? If it is just to transport things, pack horses would be sufficient.”

“No. These horses are to be sent to the academy. Yuanzhi, how much do you know about the Confucian Six Arts?”

“Rites, music, shooting, literacy, governing, and arithmetic. Milord. Are you testing me?”

“The academy can teach things from books but they cannot teach shooting.”

“Milord. What do you mean?”

“What use are scholars who only know academics? I want them to learn how to shoot.” Liu Mang said. “When Yangzhou’s schools is established, I want all of them to learn how to ride and shoot. Unless they are disabled, if they cannot do so, they don’t need to graduate.” Liu Mang wanted the scholars to be healthy. He did not want weakling scholars who can only use their mouths and fall sick easily.

Riding and shooting would allow the scholars to strengthen their bodies.

Suddenly there was a loud explosion that came from outside Shouchun. It was so loud that people several kilometers away could hear it.

“What happened? Is there a thunder?” Xu Shu asked skeptically as he looked at the sky. But there were no clouds.

“It is not thunder.” Liu Mang shook his head as he looked at the direction of the sound. It was at the South. Wasn’t that the industrial zone?

“Quick! Send someone to the industrial zone and see what happen!” Liu Mang ordered.

“Understood!” A few bodyguards begun to move.

“Nevermind!” Liu Mang suddenly stopped them. “Bring me my horse. I will go to the Ministry of Works myself.” The industrial zone had been renamed as the Ministry of Works.

Two horses were quickly prepared. Liu Mang choses horses over a carriage because he did not want delays. There were two horses because Xu Shu was coming along.

The two of them rushed to the industrial zone while being followed by the guards.

“What happened here?” Liu Mang arrived to see the industrial zone in ruins. There were fire everywhere. There were even corpses.

“Did a lightning strike during the day?” Xu Shu’s eyes grew wide. He could not imagine that anything could cause this except divine intervention.

“It is not lightning.” Liu Mang sniffed. “This smell is... gunpowder?”

“Gunpowder?” Xu Shu did not know what gunpowder is.

“Where is Ziyang?” Liu Mang shouted. This was the Ministry of Works. Liu Ye should be here to greet him. Liu Mang panicked thinking that Liu Ye might have died from the explosion.

“Milord! Milord!” A blackish person suddenly ran towards Liu Mang.