Strictly speaking, the Kingdom of Wu formed an alliance not with the Kingdom of Shu, but with the Kingdom of Shu controlled by Zhuge Liang. When Zhuge Liang lost his absolute control over Chengdu, the Kingdom of Wu could only find a sense of ally from Zhuge Liang.
Wei Ba and Li Yan were ambitious and could not become allies. They were always thinking about how to devour the Kingdom of Wu and turn the Kingdom of Wu into a highlight in their military exploits. How could they have the heart to help Sun Quan.
The only one Sun Quan could count on was Zhuge Liang.
Correspondingly, the only one Zhuge Liang could count on was Sun Quan.
However, allies are not biological fathers, and there cannot be unconditional help. The purpose of an alliance is to help each other. Under the surface of mutual help, in order to maintain the alliance, both parties must have conditions that make the other party fearful or tempted to maintain deterrence and balance.
.
Zhuge Liang's advantage is technology, and he has some restraint on Wei Ba and Li Yan. Sun Quan's advantage is that without him, Zhuge Liang will have difficulty in counterattacking on the battlefield and in the court.
Sun Quan asked Zhuge Liang to provide warship technology, but it was not a request, but an exchange. If Zhuge Liang did not provide this technology, then Sun Quan would let Lu Xun rest and recuperate, giving Wei the opportunity to transfer the main force to Bingzhou to defeat Jiang Wei's offensive.
This is an exchange, or a blackmail, but it is definitely not a request.
This is the true nature of allies.
"I do have the technology to transform warships, but I don't have the technology to withstand new waves." Zhuge Liang said calmly, not angry because Sun Quan threatened him, nor because Zhuge Ke looked confident in front of him.
And sullenly. He just stated a fact calmly. He paused. There was a trace of regret and anxiety in his eyebrows. "You should know that now Wei Ba only has the General's Palace in his eyes, not the Prime Minister's Palace. It is impossible for him to have such technology.
Let me know."
Zhuge Ke frowned slightly: "Is there any way for uncle to get this technology?"
Zhuge Liang shook his head: "After some cleaning of the officials around Li Yan, probably only Li Yan and his son knew such important information. As for Wei Ba, Hepu Shipyard's confidentiality work is very good, and the production workshops of key components cannot be penetrated at all.
Go in. Although Chen Zhi’s quality is questionable, his ability is really not bad.”
Zhuge Ke's heart moved, and his eyes suddenly brightened. After a while, he relaxed again: "Then how can we make the warship move fast? I have this technology, right?"
Zhuge Liang laughed silently and nodded: "I don't know if this technology is the one he is using now, but it can definitely be faster than ordinary warships."
Zhuge Ke leaned back and said with a slight smile: "Then what does uncle want me to report to the King of Wu when I go back?"
"Don't you know?" Zhuge Liang asked back: "Yuanxun, why wait for the price? We both know that we will both benefit from cooperation and hurt both from division. Testing each other will only delay the opportunity to fight."
Zhuge Ke touched his nose awkwardly. In front of Zhuge Liang, he was like a bowl of water, unable to hide any thoughts or use any means.
…
Fei Yi asked Zhuge Ke to take him to the post house to rest. The smile on Zhuge Liang's face suddenly disappeared without a trace. He asked Yang Wei to bring the drawings and spread them on the table. He considered them carefully for a long time until Fei Yi left the post house.
return.
As soon as he saw the drawings on the case, Fei Yi guessed something. He sighed helplessly: "Prime Minister, the sharp weapon of the country cannot be shared with others. Furthermore, although the technology of warships is also available in Xiangyang, it is in the hands of Feng Jin and others.
In their hands, it is impossible for them to leak it to the Wu people. Once traced, Wei Ba will not give up."
"I know." Zhuge Liang held an oil lamp in one hand and pressed the drawing with the other: "However, if Lu Xun continues to stand still and more of the main force of the Wei army enters Shangdang, Bo Yue will not be able to support it. Furthermore, our food and grass are limited and we cannot
It will be very detrimental to us to besiege Huguan for a long time and delay it any longer."
"But……"
"I'll change these dimensions." Zhuge Liang's fingers stopped on the drawing, "I think I can prevent them from getting the full technology."
"Can't Wu people see it?"
"Maybe in the future, but in the short term, they don't have such talents." Zhuge Liang smiled confidently. "I believe that even Feng Jin and the others can't see it. The only ones who can really understand the beauty of it are me and
Wei Ba." He raised his head and met Fei Yi's gaze: "Wen Wei, you get along with Wei Ba more often. Have you ever heard of where his knowledge of magic and mathematics came from? This is not a matter of reading a few articles.
You can understand it with words.”
Fei Yi shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Wei Ba's knowledge seems to be innate, and it is not acquired through reading at all. If we talk about reading, probably only "Yan Zi Chun Qiu" has been studied hard. I have read a lot myself, but he asked
I have never heard of those problems."
Fei Yi suddenly remembered something and quickly moved closer to Zhuge Liang. "Prime Minister, do you know the theory that the earth is like an egg?"
Zhuge Liang was stunned, thought for a moment, and shook his head.
Fei Yi told something he heard. When Deng Yang, a famous scholar from Wei State, came to Jiaozhou and met Wei Ba for the first time, the two made a bet and had a debate similar to that common among celebrities. The result was that
Deng Yang passed the test of Wei Ba and became the governor of Wuling. The core of this debate was the question of whether the earth is flat or round.
"So, the sky is not round, but the earth is round?" Zhuge Liang sat up straight in shock.
"It is said to be true." Fei Yi smiled bitterly and said, "It is unimaginable, but it is irrefutable. Maybe one day when the Prime Minister has time to go to Jiaozhou and see it with his own eyes, we can confirm whether it is true or false."
"No need to read." Zhuge Liang waved his hand gently: "Although I don't know Deng Yang, I believe in Wei Ba. Do you still remember the question he asked Xia Houxuan? In fact, I have always had such doubts, but
I have never found the answer. I believe that Wei Ba is the only one who knows the answer."
"Alas -" Fei Yi sighed secretly, feeling extremely sorry. Zhuge Liang is probably the only one who can understand Wei Ba. Wei Ba is definitely one of the rare people who can understand Zhuge Liang. Unfortunately, they just
became an enemy.
This is probably life.
…
At night, Zhuge Liang was busy under the oil lamp. He wanted to modify the dimensions on the drawings and redraw them. These drawings were all drawn by Wei Ba himself, using some strange drawing methods, which were very different from ordinary schematic drawings.
Big difference. When Zhuge Liang first came into contact with these pictures, he spent a lot of thought and time to truly understand the meaning of these numbers and lines. It was precisely after understanding these meanings that he
Understand the subtleties of these technologies and understand the true intention of Wei Ba's design.
Only then could he have such confidence that no one in Wu State would be able to discover the tricks he did.
Of course, such a thing cannot be left to others, it can only be done by oneself. And the price of doing it by oneself is another whole night of sleepless nights. When the morning light came in through the crack in the door and shone on the drawings, Zhuge Liang covered the drawings and clenched his fists lightly.
, knocked on his sore back, squinted his sore eyes, looked at the dust flying in the light, and sighed inexplicably.
"Wei Ba, I hope you don't blame me."
…
Zhu Ya.
A three-story building boat rides the wind and waves, and several two-story building boats are guarding it all around, like stars over the moon.
Li Feng and Wei Ba stood side by side on the top floor of the flying house, stroking the railings and looking at the island getting closer and closer, feeling as if they were in heaven.
After the initial nervousness, he was now blowing the sea breeze, bathing in the warm sunshine of Jiaozhou, and enjoying the human scenery of Jiaozhou. Two maids who were petite, beautiful in appearance, but completely different from the Central Plains people stood behind him.
The one with a skin as dark as ink held a bronze spitting tiger in his hand, and the one with a face as white as jade held a tray. On the tray was a pot of wine, a wine glass, and several dried fruits. Although she was wearing a long gauze skirt, her feet were
On top was a pair of silk shoes with brown silk soles, revealing her small toes and slender calves.
This is the maid given to Li Feng by Wei Ba. It is said that she comes from distant Tianzhu. The fact that there are two beauties with such different skin colors in the same place gives Li Feng both novelty and a sense of accomplishment.
"Young General, this is Zhuya County when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened the border. It was later abandoned and became an ownerless land." Wei Ba said with a smile: "I just sent tens of thousands of people to the island to reclaim wasteland.
This land was re-incorporated into the territory of the Han Dynasty."
"General Zhennan opened up the country and made outstanding achievements. When I return, I must make it clear to the general."
"Hahaha..." Wei Ba laughed: "The expansion of territory is nothing more than recovering lost territory. And there are only some barbarians here, and there are no enemies. If you want to take it back, you can take it back at any time. How can you compete with the big army?"
The great deeds of the general in recovering the Central Plains are comparable."
"That's true. Sun Quan and Cao Rui are not weak enemies. General Zhennan, if the general wants to achieve this great cause, he cannot do without your help."
"As long as the general gives the order, I will naturally take the lead and fight to the death." Wei Ba pointed to the island in front of him: "Follow the general and make such great achievements, pacify the Central Plains, revive the Han Dynasty, and when the world is at peace, I can disarm and return to the land.
, to live on this island for the rest of his life. Young General, look, my wish... is not high, right?"
Li Feng smiled understandingly: "General Zhennan, if it is true as you say, we can pacify the Central Plains and revive the Han Dynasty. How can this desert island be enough to reward the general for his great achievements? Don't worry, the general will never let the meritorious service be paid.
A soldier's heart is cold. The glory and wealth should be shared with the general."
Wei Ba clapped his hands and laughed.
After a while, Wei Ba put away his smile and coughed: "Young General, actually, not only can I help the general, but there is also someone who can help the general a lot."
"Ma Su?" Li Feng said with a smile: "He will sit in Chengdu and have enough troops and food. Of course he is indispensable."
"No." Wei Ba shook his head: "I'm talking about the Prime Minister."
"Prime Minister?" Li Feng was stunned, but also stopped smiling: "He...will help the general to perform meritorious service?"
"I hope so." Wei Ba smiled faintly and reminded: "Young General, if you want to destroy Soochow, it is best to let the prime minister also join the expedition. If he restrains the Wei army, not only will Sun Quan be unable to join forces with Cao Rui, but also Sun Quan will be unable to join forces with Cao Rui.
It can also avoid the general's accusation of destroying the alliance. Major General, do you think this is true?"