In the night, four large warships silently glided across the water and entered an uninhabited island. Then, a fast boat rowed out from the island and sailed towards the Yangtze River under the moonlight.
Aside from the twenty sailors rowing the boat, there were only three people on board. They were Lu Bu, Dian Wei, and Gan Ning.
Apart from spreading the edict and sowing discord, Lu Bu's most important task was to find talents. Jing and Yang, which were less chaotic, were naturally his first choice.
There were many talents in the Jing State, but now it seemed that most of them were still young kids. For example, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Ma Liang, etc., their teacher Sima Hui was only 20 years old. Even Xu Shu was a few years younger than Sima Hui. Huang Chengyan was very suitable now. However, he was a noble family. He might not be able to seek refuge with him. However, he still had to give it a try. No matter what, he could not return empty-handed. If it really did not work, he would abduct a group of children and bring them back. When they grew up, he would put them in an important position.
Abandoning the boat and disembarking, Lu Bu and the other two easily passed through layers of checks and entered Xiangyang City. After all, Gan Ning was still a lieutenant in the Jiangxia Army.
Gan Ning's betrayal and burning of the water stronghold would take at least a month to reach Xiangyang, so they weren't worried about being caught.
After walking around for an entire day, Lu Bu didn't meet any strange people. He decided to go to the university and bring the two of them to the Yangtze River. They found a wine shop and went in. While drinking, they enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the river.
He looked at the faintly discernible sailboat on the river surface in the snow. Lu Bu suddenly remembered that if he wanted to build a navy, it would not be possible without shipbuilders.
"Xing Ba, do you know where the shipyards of Jingzhou are?" he asked Gan Ning.”
"There are two places, Jingzhou and Jiangxia. However, the shipbuilders all agreed to live there. In other places, he could only find craftsmen who made small fishing boats.”Gan Ning put down his chopsticks.
"Where do the craftsmen of Jing State live?”Lu Bu asked. At this stage, only the Jing state navy still had some scale, so naturally, they had to bring a group of craftsmen to Qing state.
"It's by the Yangtze River. It's a village with about a thousand people. There are one or two hundred soldiers guarding it." Gan Ning asked. If they were short of boats, they could just grab a few from the Yangtze River. If they found craftsmen to build them, it would take two or three months.
However, what he didn't know was that Lu Bu wanted a navy that could fight in the sea. Naturally, he couldn't use the flat-bottomed boats now. He had to use point-bottom boats. Otherwise, after the storm, there would only be one outcome-capsizing.
"Alright, when we leave, we'll bring them to Qingzhou as well. If he wanted to build a navy, he had to have shipbuilders.”When Lu Bu heard that there were only 100 to 200 people guarding the place, he knew that these craftsmen would not be able to escape.
Gan Ning didn't understand why he was taking the craftsmen away."My lord, why did you take these craftsmen away? If they lacked ships, they could just snatch a few.”
Lu Bu chuckled." It's best to sail on the sea with a point-bottomed boat. These flat-bottomed boats are easily overturned by the big waves. The navy I want is not for fighting in the river, but for sailing in the sea.”
Gan Ning's heart was filled with excitement. He had heard of the vastness of the ocean, but he had never seen it before. If he could lead a fleet to roam the four seas, how awe-inspiring would that be? "General, let's just kidnap the shipbuilders of Jiangxia." He said excitedly.”
"Why do you need so many? With these, it would be enough. When the time came, they would just find 500 soldiers to learn from them. As for the sailors, you have to train them well. If they become weaklings on the ship, I won't forgive you.”Lu Bu was amused. There were many people in Qingzhou, and Chen Gong's letter also said that they had already occupied four counties and had more than 50,000 soldiers. Now, the only thing he did not lack was soldiers. Qingzhou was close to the sea, so it was perfect for training a navy.
"Don't worry, my lord. I will definitely train an invincible navy.”Gan Ning said as he got down on one knee.
Lu Bu pulled him up and said,"In the future, don't call the navy. You should call it the navy."”
"Navy?" Gan Ning's eyes lit up."As expected."
"Alright, let's go. It seemed that it would be difficult to find any celebrities in the Jing state. Let's go to Xiangyang." Lu Bu finished his wine and stood up.
Gan Ning threw down a handful of coins and dragged Dian Wei, who still wanted to eat and drink, along with him.
There were still many famous people in Xiangyang. Besides Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, there was also Zhuge Jin. More importantly, their teacher, Sima Hui, was also in Xiangyang. When the time came, he would bring them to Chang 'an, and they would not have to worry about not having a counselor in the future.
However, none of them had horses, which was a big problem. Now that Liu Biao was at war with Yuan Shu, military supplies like horses were not for sale. Left with no other choice, Lu Bu bought a donkey and mounted it on the carriage, which then wobbled all the way to Xiangyang.
Although Lu Bu wasn't too disappointed in this trip, he didn't get the Zhuge Liang that he wanted the most.
When they finally arrived at Xiangyang City, the three of them first found an inn to stay in before asking about Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong. However, he was disappointed that no one had heard of it. Only Sima Hui was known to be a teacher in a village outside the city.
Since he had obtained a clue, he could only go and take a look first. His disciples were all so famous, so his teacher should not be too bad.
As he wished, he found Sima Hui, who was teaching in the private school, and sent Dian Wei and Gan Ning away. He gently strolled into the private school and sat down at the back to listen to Sima Hui's lecture.
Sima Hui ignored the stranger who suddenly barged in and leisurely recited his ancient language. Lu Bu listened carefully for a long time before he realized that it was Mencius. However, he was not sure what the content was. This was not something he was good at.
The seven or eight children sitting below were all in a mess, quietly sizing up this middle-aged man.
Lu Bu was already forty years old. Fortunately, he exercised all day and ate and drank well. He looked to be only around 30 years old. Compared to Sima Hui, who still had to work in the fields, he did not look much older.
The young man sitting at the back was about 14 or 15 years old. Seeing that Lu Bu was listening attentively, he winked at him and asked,""Uncle, are you still studying at your age?”
Lu Bu found his words interesting and replied,""Yeah, haven't you heard that you live and learn?”
"But don't you have to work?" The young man asked.
"Yes, my subordinates helped me do it.”Lu Bu said.
"That's true. I can tell from your clothes that you're rich.”The young man looked at Lu Bu and said.
"Hehe, you have good taste. What's your name?" Lu Bu saw that he was smart, so he asked. Perhaps he was some famous person.
"My name is Xu Shu. What about you? Uncle." The young man replied and turned to look at Sima Hui, who was still reading.
"Xu Shu?" Lu Bu was shocked. He didn't expect him to be this big. His voice could not help but become louder.
Sima Hui was immediately shocked. He looked up at Lu Bu, then at Xu Shu, and said,""Stand out."
Hearing this, Xu Shu obediently stood up and walked out of the straw hut. Before leaving, he looked at Lu Bu with a grumbling expression. From the looks of it, he was often punished to stand still.
The remaining children all laughed, and one of them even knocked over the bamboo slips on his table.
"Zhuge Liang! What do you look like? Stand with Xu Shu." Sima Hui returned to his table and knocked on the bamboo piece in his hand as he spoke sternly.
Zhuge Liang? Looking at the little boy who was only eight or nine years old, Lu Bu could not associate him with the Shu Han Prime Minister who had calculated everything.
"Teacher, I didn't say anything. Why should I go out?”Zhuge Liang stood up and retorted.
"Xu Shu and you are classmates. He is being punished, but you don't feel sad for him and instead laugh at him.”Sima Hui walked up to him and said,""Give me your hand."
Sima Hui hit him more than ten times before saying,""Stand out."
Zhuge Liang's eyes turned red as he walked out crying.
Lu Bu was completely dumbfounded. Heavens, this can't be real, right?
The rest of the children knew that their teacher was angry. They sat down and stared at the teacher.
Outside the window, Xu Shu looked happily at the crying Zhuge Liang and whispered to him.
Zhuge Liang also told him about it, his expression was already a little angry.
Lu Bu had been watching them the entire time, and he knew that they were definitely scolding each other. He did not expect them to have such a funny side.
Because of Lu Bu's disturbance, the banquet ended very quickly. After the children walked out. Sima Hui came up to Lu Bu.”
Lu Bu smiled and said,"I'm sorry for disturbing you." I've heard that Mr. Ting is a great recluse. I've come to ask you to come out and help me.”
"May I ask your name, General?" Sima Hui smiled and asked.
"Lu Bu." Although his reputation wasn't good and he was even rumored to be a murderous demon king, he still had to tell others.
"General, why are you here in Xiangyang instead of Chang 'an?”Sima Hui was not surprised and asked again.
"I took the position of governor of Bing Province, but my talent is limited. I know that I can't do it. I heard that you are talented, so I came to invite you to take on the position of governor and take charge of the affairs of the province.”Lu Bu explained the reason.
"Hehe, Hui is just a village bumpkin. How can he be the other driver? General, you should find someone else.”Sima Hui knew of Lu Bu's reputation and was unwilling to help him. After saying that, he turned around and was about to leave.
Seeing that he was about to leave, Lu Bu didn't get angry and said slowly,""Now that we are in a chaotic world, you have the talent to govern the world, but you don't want to benefit the people. You live here and show off your knowledge. How can you be called a celebrity? I think you are just a person who wants to gain fame.”
(Friends who like this book, please add it to your collection and recommend it. Thank you ~!)）
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]