Pingcheng.
Yao Xiong walked on the road struttingly, looking at the scenery on both sides of the official road, with a proud smile on his lips.
On the official road, people come and go.
The closer you get to Pingcheng, the more you can feel the trance-like scene.
This is not prosperity, and the people along the road are still thin and small.
The children were wearing tattered and patched clothes. The clothes were not clothes at all. They were just some rags sewn together, making them colorful and ill-fitting.
The vendors basically don't have horses or carts, so they can only rely on their own shoulders to drag heavy goods while hawking along the way.
The ground is still a dirt road, the houses in the distance are also made of loess, and the fences are short and small. Everything seems to have an earthy filter, poor, broken, and small.
However, everything has a human aspect.
After all, a few years ago, the filter here was still gloomy. It was not only poor, broken, and small, but also weird and scary.
There was no one to be found on the roads at that time, and everyone lived in fear, trying their best to avoid dawn, plowing the fields before dawn, lying down in the ground and hiding when they encountered people, and returning after dark.
But now, this still poor place has become like the human world.
Demons no longer run rampant and evil spirits no longer appear.
Yao Xiong led his soldiers and escorted the prisoners and supplies all the way forward. The people he met along the way finally no longer ran away, although they were still afraid and would hide away, at least they would not run away again.
Some people curiously looked at this army coming from afar.
Those who were brave enough even dared to come over and ask the sergeants if they wanted to buy some home-produced fruits.
When they came to the gate of Pingcheng, these people did not dare to approach. Soldiers were under martial law here, and many officials accompanied Liu Taozi to welcome Yao Xiong's triumphant return.
Yao Xiong saw his brother from a long distance away.
He jumped off his horse in excitement and rushed forward quickly.
"His Majesty!!"
Yao Xiong bowed his head.
Liu Taozi helped him up, "Why is the beard still like this? Are you so lazy to take care of it?"
Yao Xiong touched his beard and said with a smile: "I'll fix it when it gets warmer."
The relationship between the two did not require too much greeting. Yao Xiong proudly took his brother's hand and showed him his achievements.
"I captured more than 700 horses this time!"
"We also arrested a governor, two county magistrates, four generals and others, totaling 1,300."
"good."
The officials were also very supportive and praised Yao Xiong's bravery.
Yao Xiong was even more excited.
When everyone returned to the palace together, and after reading out the awards to Yao Xiong and everyone under his command, Liu Taozi held a celebration banquet, but unfortunately, there was still no wine.
The officials celebrated one after another, and Yao Xiong responded one by one.
After a long time, the banquet finally ended and the officials left one by one, but Yao Xiong still stayed here, along with Cui Gang, Lu Qubing, Chu Jiande and a few others.
After watching everyone leave, Yao Xiong came to Liu Taozi with a smile.
Yao Xiong knew that Liu Taozi disliked banquets the most, but he was able to sit here all the time today and did not leave midway. This was of course for his own sake. Yao Xiong knew everything in his heart.
"Brother, my idea is feasible."
"After this year's autumn harvest, we can find a way to continue to besiege Wei Xiaokuan, make him exhausted, and then tear through his defense line and aim the arrow directly at Chang'an. The Zhou people will definitely be frightened and may have to move their capital!"
Yao Xiong's eyes were full of light, "Once Wei Xiaokuan is defeated and the Zhou people move the capital, then we can capture Guanzhong all the way. When the two sides attack, Heluo and other places will not be able to support it."
"Then you underestimate Wei Xiaokuan."
Liu Taozi looked indifferent, "If Wei Xiaokuan could be defeated so easily, then King Gao and others would not have paid such a heavy price."
"He will definitely find his own shortcomings and then make adjustments."
Yao Xiong was stunned, "I acted too hastily?"
"No problem, these are not important. The final outcome of the war still depends on the national strength of both sides. Whoever can manage domestic affairs well will have an advantage."
"This time you have proven that the multi-line offensive strategy is effective for Wei Xiaokuan."
Looking at Yao Xiong's proud face, Chu Jiande narrowed his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, please don't praise me any more. If you continue to praise him, this person will not be able to fall to the ground!"
Cui Gang and Lu Qubing chuckled.
Yao Xiong glanced at Old Chu, "You are already a long time old, but you are still so rude and have not made any progress."
"Confucius said: When you are seventy, you should follow your heart's desires. At my age, naturally I can say whatever I want. But you, after being a general for so long, are still so impatient and have not made any progress."
Yao Xiong was not angry, and laughed with him, as if he was back to the original Cheng An.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to gather everyone together now.
After the officials left, these few people held a small banquet and sat together chatting for a long time. It was not until the sky started to get dark that they said goodbye one by one and left.
Yao Xiong and Chu Jiande were walking on the road. Old Chu was really old and his legs and feet were not very convenient. After walking a few steps, he started to pant.
Yao Xiong supported him and walked out together.
"Sometimes, I still miss the Cheng An of the past."
Yao Xiong whispered.
Chu Jiande looked at him in disbelief, "Miss you? Miss that time when things were precarious and demons were rampant? Were you beaten stupid by Wei Xiaokuan?"
“It’s not that I miss that environment, I just”
Yao Xiong hesitated for a moment and continued: "I miss the time when everyone was together."
Chu Jiande stroked his long beard and said, "We can't always get together to behead people. We all have our moments of separation."
"It took my lord many years to get everything back to normal. Don't miss me anymore, just cherish the present moment."
“It looks like I don’t have a few years left to live.”
Chu Jiande smiled and said: "But I have nothing to miss. I just want to do more things while I am alive."
Yao Xiong subconsciously retorted: "What can you do with Xu Zhicai now?"
Old Chu glared at him, "What a bastard!"
"Xu Zhicai's medical skills are indeed superb, but don't I still have to handle the affairs of the hospital and the hospital?"
"The Qi State has been dreaming about something for decades, and many famous ministers have failed to do it, but I have completed it!"
"Look at the local area, medical clinics and hospitals are basically popular. Isn't this all due to me? I have found so many colleagues."
Yao Xiong retorted again, "It's not that I can't do it, it's that I didn't even think about doing it, otherwise it wouldn't be your turn, old man."
"Hey, I at least know some medical skills. What about you, if you hadn't been the first to follow the lord, would you still be able to take charge? That's the end of you being the owner of the building!"
The two bickered all the way until Yao Xiong sent Old Chu into his own carriage.
Chu Jiande has been in charge of medical matters over the years. In the past, Qi State had a standard official medical system, with medical clinics for the upper class and miserable hospitals for the bottom class. Of course, this was the same as other policies of Qi State.
It is just an empty shell with no real content.
Through hard work, Chu Jiande gradually made this empty shell become real. He found many colleagues and used everything to vouch for Liu Taozi.
Guarantee that the new government will not kill doctors because they cannot cure the disease, they will not kill doctors because they are in a bad mood, and they will not kill doctors because they cannot stand it.
Thanks to Chu Jiande's efforts, more and more doctors came to Hebei.
With the development of the times, the situation of "discrimination between doctors and witches" in the Qin and Han Dynasties has gradually been improved, and the background of doctors has gradually improved. Children of wealthy families have begun to take over. Many famous doctors are from wealthy families. Even if they are not from wealthy families, they cannot work in this industry.
It specializes in serving the nobles, and the disciples it attracts are basically people with certain family backgrounds and status. However, the treatment depends on the ruler.
Doctors like Puppet Qi, especially those who served the emperor and nobles, lived in the most dangerous environment.
Not everyone can treat a madman like Xu Zhicai. Even if he can cure a madman, the madman himself may not appreciate it.
After Qi State implemented relevant policies, due to the endless problems of harming doctors, there was no one in charge of the medical clinics at all, and in the end they could only become empty yamen that defrauded the temples of their salaries.
Chu Jiande also had no political talent. The only thing he did was to find people to guarantee.
He only enriched these empty yamen, and nothing else was changed. Everything was still in accordance with the previous policies of Qi State.
But after this empty shelf is enriched and safety is provided, the effects can be seen.
Emperor Wenxiang of Qi State, Gao Cheng, was an extremely powerful person. Many of the policies he and his ministers formulated transcended the limitations of the times and were used by subsequent empires. If he had lived longer, he would have
When those fairly normal heirs come to inherit his legacy, maybe everything will be different.
But now, those policies have become Chu Jiande's capital to brag about his achievements.
Before Chu Jiande left, he suddenly remembered something, "By the way, I heard that General Bao is seriously ill and is recuperating in the mansion. You can go and see him earlier."
Tyrant government.
The house was quiet, and there were not many guards or servants.
Inside the house, Baoxian was sitting on the bed. The walls were covered with various maps, with many smears on them.
He has a pen in his hand, the paper is aside, and he is writing something.
While he was busy, he heard noise coming from the courtyard, and he could vaguely hear someone shouting angrily.
Bao Xian smiled, put away his pen, raised his head, and shouted loudly at the door: "Where is Yao Xiong?! Why don't you come in to see me!!"
It suddenly became quiet outside.
After a while, the door was pushed open, and Yao Xiong walked in with a look of astonishment on his face.
Bao Xian was stunned for a moment when he saw the big beard on his face, his face full of disgust, "Others say you are a Qihu, do you really think you are a Qihu?"
Yao Xiong quickly lowered his head and said, "I heard that the old general is seriously ill, so I came here specifically to see him."
"The people at the door said you were sick and didn't see visitors, so they wanted to kick me out."
"How did the general know I was out there?"
Baoxian said quietly: "The only person who dares to be arrogant in my house is Zu Jue. If Zu Jue is not in the city, then of course it is you."
Yao Xiong giggled, and he hurriedly came forward, "They said that the old general was not in good health and was seriously ill, but I heard your loud voice and there was no trace of serious illness at all."
"Xu Zhicai checked it with me and prescribed some medicine. The effect is not bad."
Yao Xiong just sat directly next to him, looking around unscrupulously.
When he saw those maps, his eyes paused for a moment.
"What was the result of the battle?"
"Big victory!"
"I crossed the river from Danliu's front camp, destroyed his camp, and then headed north."
Yao Xiong talked about his achievements this time in detail, and his words were full of pride.
"Rough."
"Too rough."
"That is to say, Wei Xiaokuan's thoughts are not on you. Otherwise, you will be left on the other side by him and annihilated."
Baoxian still has a very low opinion of Yao Xiong.
Yao Xiong is also used to it. Old Man Bao has always been like this. If it were in the past, he would definitely make a fuss. But as he grows older, Yao Xiong gradually understands many things. The tactics of war that Old Man Bao gave him in the past are not what anyone wants.
I can give them all, they are family heirlooms and they are very precious things.
He said with a smile: "If Wei Xiaokuan dares to attack me with a large army, he will probably suffer disaster in the rear."
"He didn't dare to use those young generals to do things. He had too many worries."
Bao Xian shook his head, "Not entirely, the main reason is that there are no talents under his command. If he loses this time, he will definitely realize his shortcomings and be prepared. Next time, you will not only face Wei Xiaokuan."
Baoxian cleared his throat, "Help me up!"
Yao Xiong hurriedly stepped forward and helped the old man up. Showing his intention, Yao Xiong helped him to the wall.
Bao Xian just looked at the maps in front of him.
Yao Xiong had just noticed that these were maps of Yan, Xia, Sui, Yin, Dan and other prefectures and the surrounding areas.
These maps are quite rough. After all, they are the enemy's sphere of influence and only contain terrain and cities.
But Baoxian added a lot of annotations to these, making these original simple maps instantly become complicated.
"Yao Xiong, how do you feel when you come back this time?"
"I found that most of Wei Xiaokuan's soldiers are not afraid of death."
"I'm not asking you about what happened on the battlefield, I'm asking about what you saw in Pingcheng, Shuozhou, and Hengzhou after you came back."
Yao Xiong hesitated for a long time and said slowly: "It feels like there are more people."
He looked extremely thin, but his eyes were shining with light, and his whole person was extremely excited.
"Population, food and grass, iron ore, war horses"
"This year's cold winter, there will definitely be a fierce battle between Han and Zhou!!"
Yao Xiong was even more confused.
"How can I see it?"
"The domestic development is so rapid that after this year's autumn harvest, the number of troops that can be mobilized in the country will reach at least 50,000 to 60,000."
"This is enough to launch an attack on the Zhou people."
"Although I am in the house, I often ask people about the situation of Puppet Zhou."
"I heard that the emperor of the Puppet Zhou Dynasty implemented many policies and made drastic reforms. We only have half of the country of Qi. In terms of overall national strength, I am afraid that it is not as good as the Puppet Zhou Dynasty. If the emperor is allowed to complete what he wants to do, what will happen?
Don’t you want to face the enemy on multiple fronts?”
"Therefore, I predict that after this autumn, His Majesty will personally send troops to attack the puppet Zhou Dynasty with a large army, defeat Wei Xiaokuan, and may try to attack Chang'an."
"ah?"
"Destroy the country?"
Yao Xiong was shocked.
"But I heard from my brother that the domestic soldiers have not finished training, and they will not easily start a war for at least three years."
With a look of confidence on his face, he said, "You will know when the time comes."
"If Your Majesty doesn't say so, how could Puppet Zhou believe it?"
"Your Majesty always uses military force quickly and unexpectedly."
Yao Xiong nodded slowly, "It seems so."
Baoxian was suddenly a little frustrated, "I'm afraid I won't be able to fight in this year's war."
"But you can go."
"Look here, Wei Xiaokuan's current defense line is basically along the outermost perimeter. After your attack this time, he will strengthen the defense forces on the shore."
Baoxian pointed at the two marks he had drawn.
"If the lord sends out troops to attack, he should adopt a multi-line attack method and launch attacks simultaneously from multiple checkpoints on these two lines of defense."
"But in my opinion, the key to victory is not how to destroy Wei Xiaokuan. Wei Xiaokuan completely wrapped himself up and wanted to turn into a large Jade City. However, it is different in areas that are not within his sphere of influence. For example,
here."
Baoxian knocked on a place, "Dragon Gate."
"If we have a strong army, we can cross the river from Heluo to take Longmen, fight from Longmen to Yizhou, and then go south to attack Chang'an."
Bao Xian led Yao Xiong to the wall on the other side. The map here was filled with attack routes. The final destination of all attack routes was Chang'an.
Bao Xian smiled and said: "The key to victory is not Wei Xiaokuan, but Chang'an."
"In the past, because of the existence of Yubi City, the location of Longmen was not important. But now, Wei Xiaokuan is gone in Yubi City, and there are no strong troops around Longmen."
Yao Xiong slowly looked at the maps in front of him and the densely packed routes. Baoxian asked her to open several wooden boxes around them. There were many documents inside, which recorded Baoxian's strategic ideas.
Bao Xian firmly held Yao Xiong's hand, "Xiong, I have never made great achievements in my life. I have won many times, but nothing can be passed down to future generations. Now that the world is about to face the final decisive battle, I
But he is already too old to mount a horse and fight.
, this is the last thing I want to accomplish. When I first met you, I remembered myself. I joined King Gao’s army later. I was not from Liuzhen or Xianbei, so I got along with them.
It’s not very harmonious.”
"Except for King Gao, everyone else looked down upon me and felt that I, a foreign Han, could not become a general commanding an army."
"I know that many generals also look down upon you. They feel that you, a Qihu from a commoner background, cannot become a general commanding an army."
"The more others despise you, the stronger you must be and prove them wrong through achievements and deeds!"
"Xiong, I hope you can take all these maps and books back, study them carefully, train your army well, and prepare for war."
"I don't ask you to follow my strategy exactly, but if everything develops as I said, you can use it as a reference to achieve great things."
"Don't forget to tell your left and right. This hussar general is showing off his plan!!"
Chapter completed!