Chapter 133 Great River Scenery
It is already the season of lush grass and flying birds at the edge of Chaohu Lake. The large fields surrounding Chaohu Lake are full of people busy with spring ploughing.

At the command, the soldiers who were originally holding swords and guns had to go to farm.

Because not enough refugees were recruited, the soldiers from Huainan and Lujiang counties, including all the newly recruited soldiers and the Xuzhou soldiers transferred from Guangling, had to go to the fields.

After all, it is already March and spring ploughing cannot wait.

The only exception is the cavalry, who are responsible for patrolling and guarding missions.

After all, in this era, cavalry is very valuable, and heavy cavalry is even more valuable. It is not like infantry can just pick up a spear and train for a few days and then go into battle.

Old Zhu took the lead, with Tang Yun, Wu Jin and others pulling the plow in front, and a man named Geng from the village holding the plow behind them.

"My goodness! I thought that after joining the army, I wouldn't have to farm anymore, but who knew that I still couldn't get away from the yellow mud." When he arrived at the end of the field, Tang Yun sat there speechlessly, gasping for breath.

Hua Ping said, "Come on, what are you not satisfied with? What's wrong with farming? When you farm at home, can you eat white flour buns without bran every day? Here you have food and drink, so what you do is not a big deal? You have sold your life, and you are still complaining."

"That's right. When I think about it, we soldiers can eat food every day and meat once every ten days. Isn't it the same for Mr. Liu's family?"

"Mr. Liu, I don't think the general necessarily eats meat every meal."

Upon hearing this, Old Zhu laughed and scolded, "Look at all of you, you have long hair but little knowledge. Not to mention the general, even our General Li, what he eats, drinks and uses are things you have never heard of." As he said this, he pointed at the brothers Zhang Jian and Zhang Zhen'e who were standing at the other side.

"Have you seen the two Sima Zhangs? The Zhang family in Jiangdu has a garden as big as our Guzhuang Village. There are hundreds of servants in the house, and more than a dozen cooks. General Li and I lived in the Zhang family's yard in Jiangdu. The food we ate was so delicious. The wine had been stored in the cellar for decades, and you could see your reflection in it. There was also a singing and dancing troupe at home."

The brothers listened to what Lao Zhu said, and they pricked up their ears for fear of missing something.

"The dancers wore tulle when they danced, and they were all very slim."

All the rough men blushed when they heard this. This was really interesting. They were listening with great interest when a messenger came over to deliver the message.

"Sima Zhu, the general is here."

When Lao Zhu heard that the general was coming, he stood up and said to the brothers who were gathered around him, "I have just been talking nonsense with you. Let's get back to work."

After saying this, he brushed the dirt off his body and walked barefoot towards Li Yuanhui.

Surrounded by his staff and guards, Li Yuanhui stood at the edge of a field and looked into the distance. On the endless plains, except for the cavalry patrolling on the road, the fields were filled with soldiers working on the land.

"Farming is hard work, and the soldiers must not be deducted from their food. If anyone dares to take advantage of the rations, I will chop off his hand."

"Yes, General, please rest assured, nothing will go wrong."

"Ah."

Soon, Zhu Xingzong, Zhang Jian and Zhang Zhen'e, three Simas of the other tribes, came over, crossed their arms and saluted, saying, "Greetings, General."

"No need to be so polite. I have nothing better to do, so I'd like to see how your spring ploughing is going."

Old Zhu said, "Don't worry, General. We are farmers who make a living from the soil. We won't delay farming."

Zhang Jian and Zhang Zhen'e also nodded. They had been living a life of luxury since childhood, so naturally they would not go to the fields to plow like Lao Zhu. But when it came to management, they had more experience than Lao Zhu. After all, their fields were in the tens of thousands of acres.

Any manager can arrange the spring ploughing work clearly. "Okay, then you guys get busy first, and come to the Chaohu Navy ship at noon and have a drink together."

Li Yuanhui left after leaving his words. In addition to coming to see the progress of spring plowing, he came to Chaohu Lake mainly to see the navy.

The Chaohu navy was not large, with only about 3,000 people, but it had five large warships that could accommodate 800 people, and more than a hundred other ships of various sizes.

Although there are many ships, there are not many people. If these ships are fully manned, the Chaohu navy will have more than 10,000 people.

When Li Yuanhui arrived at the lake, General Lu Qin came to greet him with several captains under his command.

After the greetings, Li Yuanhui followed everyone up to the deck of the Wuya ship and looked at the vast and beautiful lake scenery.

"General Lu, how many soldiers are there in the Chaohu navy now, and how many ships can be used?"

"General, the Chaohu navy now has 32,480 people, and can mobilize two five-tooth large ships, ten yellow dragon ships, and dozens of flat-boats and boats."

Lu Qin, who was in his forties, stood behind Li Yunhui and answered like he knew everything.

Among the fleets of Dayan, the Wuya warship was the largest main battleship. It had five floors and was over a hundred feet high. Six battering poles were set up on the left, right, front and back, each fifty feet high. A huge stone was tied to the top of each wooden mast, and a windlass was set up below. During battles and when enemy ships were approaching, the windlass could be used to quickly lower the huge stone and smash the enemy ship. If the first strike missed, it could be quickly put away and lowered again. If the enemy ships surrounded it from all sides, it could also "attack with six prongs at the same time", which showed its strong combat effectiveness.

When conquering Southern Wei, Yang Su, the former Duke of Chu, led a naval fleet consisting of thousands of ships, went straight down the river and defeated the Southern Wei navy in one fell swoop.

Among them, the leading ones were the four-headed and five-toothed large warships, which used paddling poles to sink more than ten enemy ships and captured more than 2,000 enemies, making the Wei army terrified.

The Huanglong ship is a second-rate large ship that can accommodate a hundred people. As for the Pingcheng and the Fanmen, they are small boats. Their advantage is their flexibility and they can serve as surprise troops in naval battles.

"General Lu, if there are enough people, can the rest of the navy's ships go out to fight?"

Lu Qin said: "That's natural. The navy ships are maintained by craftsmen and they take turns to go out to sea. However, there are not many pirates on Chaohu Lake, so the number of Chaohu navy has been decreasing."

Li Yuanhui smiled and said, "That's good. The Chaohu Navy is not only capable of suppressing bandits, but also has many other things to do. What do you think, General Lu?"

Lu Qin's eyes lit up. "What do you mean, General?"

"I hope that one day, I can go with you, General Lu, on the Wuya warship and see the scenery of the Yangtze River."

Li Yuanhui had a smile on his handsome face. His voice was not loud, but it was as if he was throwing a huge rock onto the calm Chaohu Lake in front of him, causing gusts of wind and waves.

The scenery of the Yangtze River? These four words reminded Lü Qin of the time more than 20 years ago when he followed the late Duke of Chu, Yang Su, from Yong'an and marched forward like a bamboo shoot.

At that time, he was already a captain. During the naval battle on the Yangtze River, he commanded a large five-tooth warship and successively sank seven Qinglong ships, the main force of the Southern Wei navy.

After the war, he was named Zhechoulangjiang. He was only in his early twenties at that time and was full of vigor and vitality.

More than 20 years have passed, and we have experienced ups and downs.

He was still a general. In the past, the Chaohu navy had more than 10,000 soldiers, but now there are less than 3,000 left.

But he never forgot the beautiful scenery of the river.

(End of this chapter)