A Clever Plan to Overcome the Perils of the Shu Roads

Zhuge Liang gave a wry smile. "Making a Wooden Ox, an entirely unknown contraption, is far more complicated than growing crops. I'd first have to work out a preliminary design, then draw up blueprints for the craftsmen to refine. Once it was built, we'd still have to keep adjusting and improving it. How could it be done in a few months?"

"How long would it take?" Zhang Fei pressed.

"Perhaps one or two years at the shortest; three to five years, or even ten, at the longest." He gently waved his feather fan.

"Ten years? By the time you've built that contraption, the lads in Wudu will have starved to death. In the Longzhong Plan, the strategist told Big Brother to march out through the Qin River Valley and attack the Yong-Liang Region, and Second Brother to march out from Jing Province and seize the Wan-Luo Region. Who can wait that long?" Seeing that Zhuge Liang had no definite answer, Zhang Fei immediately grew displeased.

Zhuge Liang sighed. "Alas, my knowledge is limited. I can only do my best."

"Ziyu, you're brilliant, too. Help the strategist think of something. Let's solve the problem of transporting grain. Otherwise, even if Shu can produce a million shi of grain, it's useless if we can't get it out." Zhang Fei pinned his hopes on Lan Tian again.

Zhuge Liang said thoughtfully, "The Shu roads are indeed treacherous. Unless a deity descends from heaven and moves the towering mountains to the north, our only options are grain-transporting tools like the Wooden Ox and Wooden Horse, or reducing the losses along the way."

"This really is a dilemma. If we use fewer laborers, we can't transport much grain. After two thousand li of mountain roads, would ten shi of grain even leave us with two?