Yuzhou, Xinzheng City.
In the palace of Zheng State, Emperor Zheng Zheng Lian received the news that the Chu, Liang, and Liang States were confronting each other in Yangxia County and Jiaodong County, and a fight would take place at any time, so he immediately summoned the ministers.
"Okay, okay!"
In the study, Zheng Lian looked excited and paced back and forth: "The Chu State and the Liang State are fighting, and the border between Henan and Qing Dynasty is in flames of war. As long as the Chu State's millions of troops are not destroyed, the Liang State will never think of invading our Zheng State again in the future. "
"I would like to congratulate Your Majesty! With the Chu State as our barrier, our territory in the west of Zhengzhou will now have no worries."
"The fact that Chu State was able to enter the urn was all due to His Majesty's plan. I was still puzzled by this before, but now I feel really ashamed."
"Of course. Your Majesty is the emperor, and his wisdom and scheming are extraordinary. How can he be compared to us mortals?"
In the room, a group of Zheng Lian's close ministers began to sing his praises with a wink.
Zheng Lian couldn't help but feel a little carried away after hearing this.
However, at this moment, Zheng Chan, the emperor's uncle and the ruler, frowned and said: "Your Majesty, the war between Chu and Liang has diverted disaster to the east, which is certainly gratifying to me, the great Zheng. But Huang Xuan, the general manager of Chu Yang's summer camp, has been Send people to Xinzheng to demand 10 million stones of grain and grass. The Chu army is greedy and difficult to deal with."
Someone next to him asked: "Didn't I give them half a year's food and supplies for a million-strong army? Why did the Chu army come to ask for food?"
Last time Zheng envoy Li Hu, in order to persuade Chu to accept Zheng's conditions, agreed to Lu Yuan's proposal that Zheng would provide advance grain and grass supplies after the Chu army entered Yangxia County.
That is, it takes half a year for a million troops.
This supply roughly includes 5 million stones, grain and grass, 10 million arrows, 100,000 bow strings, 10,000 armors and collars, 200,000 swords, guns, swords and halberds each, and a reward of 10 million taels of silver.
To be honest, this expenditure was already huge, almost one-third of the Zheng State's treasury at that time.
Not everyone belongs to the Chu State. After thirty years of rest and recuperation, the treasury is full and the money and food are too much to spend.
Zheng State, like other countries in Kyushu, had fought wars for more than ten or decades, and the remaining families were very poor and not wealthy.
Taking out these supplies at once is already considered as cutting off the flesh.
However, facing the strong pressure from the Liang State, the rulers and ministers of the Zheng State gritted their teeth and shouldered the expenditure for the sake of the safety of the Western Region.
But now it seems that less than a month has passed, and the Chu and Liang countries are still facing each other. Before the war started, the Chu army came to complain and plunder them?
Zheng Chan said: "Your Majesty, the Chu army conscripted 500,000 civilians in Yangxia County under the pretext. In order to ensure the food consumption of these civilians and their families, we need another 10 million shi of food from our country.
Huang Xuan also said that these common people and the people of Yangxia County were also from Zheng. As the leader of the Zheng people, Your Majesty should not care about the life and death of his people, right? "
Zheng Lian's face looked a little ugly: "Zheng wanted to move these people away, but the Chu State didn't want to. Now he uses these excuses and people to threaten me. It's really hateful!"
At the beginning of the Zheng Kingdom, it was said that Yangxia County was ceded, but what was ceded was only the land of Yangxia County, not the people above it.
After all, the situation in Zheng State today is really not good. There are only seven counties left in the country and the population is only about 20 million.
Now that another county has to be cut off, the territory will shrink even more.
Although Yangxia County is located on the border, it has a population of 22.3 million people, which is equivalent to one-ninth of the total population.
Of course Zheng Guo was reluctant to give away so many people from Chu State at once.
But Chu State also said it very simply, not only land, but also people.
Otherwise, when millions of Chu troops came to Yangxia County, they would see desolation and no human habitation for thousands of miles.
In a place like this, what does he eat, drink, and use?
Therefore, the people in this county must not be moved away. They must stay and provide services to the millions of Chu troops.
To be honest, this actually makes sense, and is also necessary to supply the consumption of millions of Chu troops.
Therefore, after discussion, the monarchs and ministers of Zheng Guo finally had no choice but to grit their teeth and agree to this decision.
But who would have thought that their temporary concession would actually become an excuse for the Chu army to come back to demand payment.
"The people of Chu are really shameless. This autumn, Yangxia County has a good harvest. Even if they rely on this county to collect taxes, they can collect four million stones of grain. Including what we gave them, even if it costs more than half a million to recruit civilians, , enough to last for a year.”
Zheng Guoda's agricultural officer, who was in charge of finance, said angrily: "Now I'm asking for food again. I don't have enough myself, so how can I give him more?"
Zheng Chan sighed and said: "But those Chu people threatened that if they didn't provide food and grass, they would retreat and let the Liang people come over. This time we attracted the Chu State, but we severely offended the Liang State. If the Liang State really came, , then I, Dazheng, will be in danger of national subjugation."
Da Sinong snorted coldly: "Yangxia County is such a good territory. If the Chu people were really willing to give it up, they would not come here in the first place."
Zheng Chan shook his head: "That being said, we still have to rely on the Chu State, and we can't offend them too much now."
"okay."
Zheng Lian interrupted the two quarrels, and then asked: "In power, I remember that the state of Chu was rich and ranked first in the world. It had been peaceful for thirty years, and its warehouses were full of money and food. There should be no shortage of money and food. Why should it be done now? Are you using this method to ask for food from my country, Zheng?"
Zheng Chan smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, although Chu State is rich, I heard that underground fire has emerged in the south of Yangzhou, and a large number of barbarians forced by the underground fire began to move northward crazily.
Therefore, since the beginning of this year, he has begun a large-scale migration of people from the southwest and Lingnan, moving them north.
This migration is expected to number no less than 10 million people.
At the same time, the Chu State in Hanzhong in the northwest heard that it was also preparing to send more than a million troops to join forces with the Wei State to attack the Yongxi barbarians.
In order to ensure the supply of this million-strong army, at least one million civilians must be used, which is another consumption of millions of people.
With these two items alone, the Chu State would need to provide food and money for more than 10 million or even 20 million people.
Now we have to ensure the consumption of Yangxia County's army. Considering the wealth of Chu State, it may not be able to support it.
Perhaps it was because of this that the Chu army tried every means to ask for food from our country. "
Zheng Chan expressed his speculation.
"The consumption of 20 million people?"
Zheng Lian whispered this number, which was larger than the population of his country. While feeling envious of the power of Chu State, he also understood the difficulties faced by Chu State.
I'm afraid even the Chu State wouldn't be able to support the expenses of so many people at once.
He thought like this, then looked at Zheng Chan and said: "I, the State of Zheng, can agree to the request of the Chu army to govern. However, ten million stones of grain is still too much. I myself have to support the army and the people, so I don't have that much grain." give them.
I will give the Chu State three million more grains at most, and this will be the last time.
You can tell Huang Xuan what I mean. If he is still not satisfied, then withdraw with the Chu army.
Although the Liang people are terrifying, they are not as good as a greedy glutton.
I, Zheng Guo, would rather face the Liang people than the latter. "
Zheng Lian's tone was firm, and it seemed that he didn't want to be taken advantage of all the time. Now he was willing to give these things to his limit.
People also have tempers.
"yes."
After listening to the emperor's instructions, Zheng Chan saluted and replied: "I will definitely tell the Chu army and try my best to persuade them."
Zheng Lian nodded: "Then please take charge."
…
At the turn of Henan and Qing Dynasty, the front line of Yangxia and Jiaodong.
In the early morning, the fog was thick, and more than a dozen Liang Jun wearing green armor rode their horses up a hill.
"Is that the Chu army camp?"
Yan Yunqing stood on his horse and looked into the distance. A few miles away, on the vast plain, there was an endless stretch of camps. Viewed from a distance, it looked like a giant beast, which made people fearful. He couldn't help but sigh: "The regulations are strict and the inspections are thorough, so that no one can find any flaws.
Huang Xuan deserves to be a famous general in the world. If he manages the army like this, it will be difficult to defeat him.
Chu Jun is my strong enemy in Daliang! "
Someone nearby heard this and said unconvinced: "Why does the general praise the Chu people so much? Five years ago, the general led a million-strong army and led us to defeat the millions-strong army of Wei, Zhao and Xu. In the battle of Changyuan, the order The Three Kingdoms were frightened.
In the end, if the Chu thieves hadn't betrayed their faith and cut off our food and grass, the general would have led his army to destroy the three kingdoms.
In the past, Huang Xuan only bullied the rats from the south of the Yangtze River, and his results were mediocre. How could he compare to the heroes of the Nine Provinces defeated by the general?
But even such a person can be praised as a famous general.
That's it for Jiangnan's famous generals. "
Five years ago, more than two million troops from Wei, Zhao and Xu invaded. Liang was exhausted from long battles and had too many places to defend, so its troops were greatly reduced.
In the end, after piecing everything together, we could only muster an army of millions to deal with it.
At that time, the situation was extremely critical, and the country's subjugation was only a matter of seconds.
It was at this time that Yan Yunqing stepped forward, accepted the important mission, took over the responsibility of commanding troops to defend against the enemy, and led a million-strong army to resist the two million-strong army of Wei, Zhao and Xu.
After careful study, Yan Yunqing believed that the three countries had different internal interests, each had their own agendas, and there must be flaws in their cooperation, so he boldly adopted the strategy of luring the enemy deep and defeating them one by one.
Taking advantage of the Wei Emperor's eagerness to achieve military success, he induced the Wei army to break away from the coalition brigade. The lone army went deep into Changyuan County of Xingyang County in Liang State, and then led the army to a decisive battle with Wei State in the Changyuan wilderness.
The Wei army advanced rapidly with light troops and the soldiers were exhausted. Facing the Liang army that was recharging its strength, it was no match at all.
In the end, it was defeated in a battle. Hundreds of thousands of Wei troops died in Changyuan, and Liang Jun won a complete victory.
After that, the Liang army took advantage of the victory and pursued the retreating Wei army, and headed towards the area where the Zhao and Xu armies were stationed. The armies of the two countries were first frightened by the news of the defeat of the Wei army, and then were coerced by the defeat of the Wei army. Their morale was greatly reduced, and they completely lost their determination to fight to the death.
Under a fierce attack by Liang Jun, he also lost his camp and fled with the Wei army.
In this way, the more than two million troops of Wei, Zhao and Xu were defeated by the army of one million led by Yan Yunqing, and more than one million people died.
The Three Kingdoms' vitality was severely damaged, and they were no longer able to compete with Liang Guo.
Yan Yunqing also used this battle to establish his reputation as a famous general in the world, and became a popular general in the Liang Kingdom and even the entire Kyushu.
To be honest, compared with this new star general, Huang Xuan is far inferior in terms of record and reputation.
No wonder, after hearing Yan Yunqing praise Huang Xuan, some of his subordinates became unconvinced.
"Well, although I have gained your majesty's trust and the help of my colleagues, I luckily gained some fame and was called a famous general.
But I know my own abilities very well, so I don’t dare to become complacent and look down on people in the world. "
After hearing what his subordinates said, Yan Yunqing shook his head: "The Kingdom of Chu rose from the wilderness. During this period, it defeated the heroes of Yangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River. It annihilated more than ten countries, big and small, defeated the overlord Zhou Ning, and subdued tens of millions of soldiers. To have the foundation we have now.
For a Warring States period that was established through fighting, how could its founding generals be any worse?
It should be noted that the Emperor of Chu in Jiangnan was also a famous general. He became famous much earlier than me, and was highly praised by people all over the world forty years ago.
When it comes to knowing soldiers, there is no one better than him in the world.
To be able to serve as a general under such a person must be someone with real abilities.
Emperor Chu sent Huang Xuan to Yangxia. Doesn't that show how powerful the Chu generals on the opposite side were? "
Yan Yunqing looked at his subordinates and said meaningfully.
After hearing his words, everyone looked stern and solemn.
Even the person who spoke just now stopped talking.
It's not because Yan Yunqing is so eloquent that he can unify the minds of so many people at once. But the person he used as an example was too heavyweight.
If Huang Xuan or many generals of the Chu State were named famous generals, a lot of people would come out to question them because of their performance.
So in the Chu Kingdom, there is one person who has the qualifications of a famous general that absolutely no one dares to comment on, and that is Chu Emperor Lu Yuan.
As Yan Yunqing said, Lu Yuan became famous more than forty years ago. When he first debuted, he participated in a highly valuable battle such as the Northern Expedition of the Yue Kingdom.
And in this battle, he showed great brilliance. In the battle formation, he even killed the two Xiantian Zhu Kingdoms of Zhou Kingdom and achieved the first success of the Northern Expedition.
After that, they rushed for thousands of miles, detoured back and forth in the enemy's three counties, and killed them forcefully, reversing the decline of the Yue Kingdom on the Jiangbei battlefield in one fell swoop.
It can be said that most of the achievements of Yue's Northern Expedition to Zhou were achieved by Lu Yuan.
The importance of this battle to the Yue Kingdom was no less than that of the Changyuan Battle commanded by Yan Yunqing five years ago. It not only killed the Zhou people, but also lost their troops and generals, and greatly weakened their vitality. It also changed the strategic offense and defense between Zhou and Yue, making it No longer able to go south.
He also went a step further and regained the lost land in Xichuan, and then captured the land of two counties in Zhou Dynasty.
Is this record not valuable enough?
As for the subsequent war of conquering the barbarians by Emperor Chu Lu Yuan, he destroyed a large country in the southwest, defeated a large country, expanded a county, and conquered three vassal states. Later, he surrendered to the Xichuan Kingdom and gained another county.
After the first battle, he defeated millions of enemies, killed two Xiantian people, and won two counties and three kingdoms. The gold content was also not bad.
The final battle to destroy Ning was also to destroy the hegemonic country first, the powerful country three, and the small country second, defeating millions of enemies, killing the three Xiantian people, taking over all the land in the south of the Yangtze River, and unifying Yangzhou.
This gold content is extremely high.
More importantly, this was a war that took place thirty or forty years ago.
At that time, the intensity and scale of the war were far less than they are now. The people and generals at that time had not yet adapted to a war of this scale and intensity, nor did they have the experience to command such a war.
And Emperor Chu not only commanded, but also won the battle. He was simply the first of his era and pointed the way for those who came after him.
Tell them how to fight the battle.
Yan Yunqing, as well as the Liang generals in front of them, have never read the analysis of every battle that Emperor Chu has commanded since his debut, and studied the subtleties.
After the final analysis and study, everyone will come to a conclusion.
Emperor Chu is a true soldier.
Well, when Lu Yuan fights, he always relies on himself and Taoism. From this aspect, he is indeed a soldier.
His fighting methods cannot be learned by others.
Such a character who came out of a textbook, and the general he appointed, naturally cannot be any worse.
No one dared to question it.
Otherwise, others will ask like Yan Yunqing now, do you know more about soldiers and generals than Emperor Chu?
The topic was blocked instantly.
Unless you think you are more powerful than Emperor Chu who cheated, no one dares to underestimate Huang Xuan sent by him.
This is also the reason why Liang Guo immediately sent general Yan Yunqing to deal with it as soon as he heard Huang Xuan's name.
Because if you think about it from the side, being able to get a famous general title from under the aura of Emperor Chu's military immortal, doesn't that show how powerful Huang Xuan is?
"In short, judging from the camp in front of me, I can't see any flaws. Even if I were put in Huang Xuan's position, I can only manage the army."
Yan Yunqing concluded, thought for a while, and added: "Maybe not even as good as him."
After all, it is an army of millions of people, and there is not a single flaw in the defense arrangement. It is terrifying to think about such an ability to dispatch and manage the army.
At least, it is difficult for Yan Yunqing to guarantee this.
This is not because of his lack of ability.
But as a commander-in-chief, no matter how powerful Yan Yunqing is, he can guarantee to manage at most 100,000 people, and he can cover everything without leaving any flaws.
No matter how much you do, it means you don’t have enough energy to do it, and you have to delegate it to others.
But if it were someone else, it would be difficult to guarantee that the other party would have the ability to run the army perfectly without leaving any omissions.
Sure enough, when I think about it, Huang Xuan is terrible, no, the Chu army is terrible, it is so terrifying that people know it.
Yan Yunqing, who is good at looking at problems from the details, could see the horror of the Chu army through the layout of the Chu army camp.
This is not as scary as Huang Xuan.
Because no matter how powerful the opponent is, he is only one person, which is insignificant compared to an army of millions.
What was terrifying about the Chu army was that he was able to manage an army of millions as if it were managed by Huang Xuan himself.
This means that even if the quality of the middle and high-level generals within the Chu army is not as good as that of Huang Xuan, it is not far behind.
This is not a famous general, but a group of famous generals.
When he thought that he was against such an opponent, the pressure in Yan Yunqing's heart increased sharply in an instant, and he no longer had the slightest idea of relaxation.
"Let's go to other Chu army camps to see if they are the same as here."
With great shock, Yan Yunqing and his generals eagerly went to other Chu army camps to seek confirmation.
If all the Chu armies were like this, then this battle would be just like what I said, and it would be difficult to lose.
No, you shouldn't think about winning, because the Chu army like that is simply invincible.
What you should be thinking about is how to prevent yourself from losing or losing less ugly.
While the horse was galloping, Yan Yunqing was worried about something on the road.
Well, Lu Yuan's Xian family's art of war was used again, and he scared another person, and he was a famous general in the world.
Before the Chu-Liang War officially started, the enemy's morale had already dropped.
