During the Qingming Festival, it rained a lot. After Qingming, Jiangdong will warm up, the rain is more and more, it will rain every three forks and fives, although it is not big, but some of the spring cold, the ground is slippery and muddy after the rain, it is not good to walk, not only the silk shoes can not be worn, the straw shoes are also inconvenient. The urbane scholars wore clogs, and the poor simply went barefoot.

The water surface of Taihu Lake is getting bigger and bigger day by day, as Gan Ning estimated, many low-lying areas are now swamps, and the water is not too deep, but it is not good to walk, not to boat, and to wade through the water, no one knows if there will be pitfalls.

You can't train on rainy days, the weather is not warm, you can easily get sick when your military uniform is wet, you can easily catch a cold if you don't wear a military uniform, and your armor is easy to rust if it gets wet. Sun Ce could only arrange for them to study culture, and asked Lu Kang to arrange some scholars to teach in the barracks. Bu Qi and Wei Jing are also among them. After the lecture, the two went to Sun Ce's camp to report on the compilation of the history of water warfare, Sun Ce called Gan Ning and other generals together, and each made suggestions on the issues they were interested in.

However, after all, Wu County is not a place of cultural prosperity, and there are not many books, so Bu Qi asked Sun Ce to allocate some money, and he wanted to go to Qingzhou and Xuzhou to see. Qilu is the birthplace of Confucianism, there are many great Confucians, and there are many books, and some classics may be found.

Sun Ce agreed, and let Bu Qi go to Feng Wan. This project is a subsidiary project of Huang Yueying's shipbuilding, and the cost is paid from Huang Yueying, and Feng Wan cooperates in the management. After Bu Qi left, Gan Ning got up and went out, he had recently recruited more than a thousand people from Wu County, and he needed to train with the old department, so he didn't have time to delay.

Gan Ning was together, and Ma Chao also quietly got up, but was stopped by Sun Ce. "How is the article on cavalry prepared?"

Ma Chao was most afraid that Sun Ce would ask about this, so he wanted to slip away, but he didn't expect to be caught by Sun Ce, so he had to smile bitterly and arch his hand. "General, I was about to talk about this, can you call two scholars to help me check and write articles, I really don't have time."

Sun Ce scoffed. "And what have you been up to lately?"

"I ......" Ma Chao rolled his eyes and smiled awkwardly. It has been raining for the past two days, and the cavalry training is relatively small, so he actually has nothing to do, but let him go to the county school to turn the book, he really doesn't have that patience, he can't read a few words and his head is dizzy, and every word is like a mace piercing his eyes.

Guo Jia walked in and saw that Ma Chao was embarrassed, so he made a look. "Meng Qi avoids it, I have something to say to the general."

"Good, good." Ma Chao agreed repeatedly, arched his hand at Sun Ce, and ran out without waiting for Sun Ce to agree, faster than a rabbit.

Sun Ce sighed. This guy was born to be a fighting general, he relied on talent to eat, and the acquired cultivation did not work for him, far less than Yan Xing's hard work. Guo Jia walked up to Sun Ce, took out a copper pipe from his sleeve, and handed it to Sun Ce. Lu Yi obediently brought a warm hand stove, Guo Jia held it in his arms, grinned with satisfaction, and asked about Lu Yi and Sun Quan's recent studies.

But Sun Ce couldn't laugh. Tian Feng and Fu Zhu suggested that Yuan Shao march south, first take Qingxu, and then take Yuzhou. Although Guo Tu tried his best to oppose it, the general trend is the same, and it is estimated that it will not be delayed for long.

This is not right, Yuan Shao hasn't dealt with Gongsun Chan yet, how can he go south, can he be sensible? You just can't see the poor getting rich, do you? I'm not ready here, the dignified Huiji is too guarded, and I haven't set foot on the land of Huiji yet, so it's not kind for you to do this.

Seeing Sun Ce's depressed face, Guo Jia smiled. "The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it. The general has recently won successes in a row, and Yuan Shao panicked. ”

"What countermeasures does Bonghyo have?"

"Static braking, defending instead of attacking." Guo Jia is unhurried. "Yuzhou is originally a buffer zone, and if you can keep it, you can keep it, and if you can't keep it, you will abandon it. With Yuan Shao's current strength, it is not easy for him to break into Yuzhou quickly. Gongsun Chan was behind, and he didn't dare to go all out. We just happened to practice in battle, so that the armies could familiarize themselves with the tactics of defending the city. ”

He paused, and then said, "It's better to fight now than later." When he occupies Youzhou and has a large number of cavalry, it will be even more disadvantageous to us. ”

Sun Ce understood this truth. Yuan Shao had not yet completely defeated Gongsun Zhan, and his cavalry was limited. In history, the reason why he dragged on to the south for four years in Jian'an was precisely because Gongsun Chan held him back, and he did not fall until the spring of the fourth year of Jian'an. The reason why Cao Cao only went south in the thirteenth year of Jian'an was because of his great victory in the White Wolf Mountain in the twelfth year of Jian'an, and he really pacified the north and had the world-famous Youzhou Raid.

In any case, cavalry is still an important branch of the army in this era, and mobility and impact power cannot be ignored. The reason why he asked Ma Chao and Yan Xing to study cavalry warfare was also to prepare for this. Jiangdong lacked horses, no matter how hard he tried, he could not compete with Yuan Shao in the number of cavalry, and the purpose of studying cavalry warfare was more to deal with cavalry. If you must fight, the sooner the better.

"Hurry up and go to Huiji, stabilize Jiangnan, and then you can deal with Yuan Shao with peace of mind."

Sun Ce smiled helplessly. He heard Guo Jia's worries. Don't look at Guo Jia's words very easily, in fact, he doesn't want to fight Yuan Shao now. Yuzhang has not yet arrived, Tai Shici is still entangled with Zu Lang, although Wu Jun has succeeded, but the battle with the family has just begun, and the winner has not yet been decided, and the help that Jiangnan can provide him is very limited. At this time, fighting against Yuan Shao, Jiangnan is likely to have a repetition.

But Yuan Shao is coming, and Guo Jia can't stop him, so he can only fight, prepare as much as possible, and minimize the danger.

The reason why Tian Feng and Fu Zhi suggested that Yuan Shao send troops to attack should also be out of this consideration, not allowing him to develop calmly. Everyone is not ready, but no one wants to give the other party a chance, especially when he develops too fast and has the momentum of catching up, taking advantage of his unconsolidated foundation to send troops to interfere and disrupt his rhythm, although it is not beneficial for Yuan Shao, it is also one of the feasible solutions to choose the lesser of two evils.

Sun Ce is very helpless, this is the trouble that the new forces must face, they always have to face the suppression and obstruction of the existing forces, and finally have to decide the victory or defeat by war, this is the famous saying of the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, which is the famous Thucydides trap.

"It's just that in this way, Wu County's affairs will be put on hold, and the backlash will be too strong."

Guo Jia waved his hand, disapproving. "Wu County is not Runan, Nanyang, the family here, Haoqiang is not so strong, the main reason why there are many displaced people in Wu County is not land annexation, but the population growth is too fast, and the speed of reclamation cannot keep up. Otherwise, Shen Zizheng could be so calm? ”

"Who's talking about people behind their backs?" Shen You pushed the account in, pointed at Guo Jia, and scolded with a smile: "Although what you said is the truth, this kind of practice is unacceptable, and it is ungentlemanly." ”

Guo Jia smiled. "I've never considered myself a gentleman. Shen Zizheng, you have to change the problem of leaving half a sentence in your speech. If you have anything to say, just say it directly, and guess and guess won't it delay time? ”

Shen You couldn't help laughing. "Sure enough, it was a thief who took a bite and went into the bone for three points. When did I leave half a sentence to speak? Only by finding out Wu Jun's family background and knowing it in his heart can he make a realistic development plan, and it is not a matter of a few acres of land. ”