"It inspires the soldiers' energy and blood, connects the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, echoes it, and unites their beliefs... It turns out that this is the battle formation, and it is indeed exquisite."
Rays of golden fluorescence bloomed from Zhao Kuo's palm, slowly condensing into a crescent moon in mid-air, lasting for only a few breaths, before disintegrating like fireworks.
His predecessor had learned battle formations, and there were more than one. Although Zhao Kuo had not fully grasped the knowledge learned by his predecessor, he understood everything he needed to know. He only read it once and mastered the core of the Yanyue Formation.
But mastering the core is completely different from learning the entire battle formation. Zhao Kuo felt that even if he was extremely talented, he would not be able to learn it in ten days and a half.
"Master, you are looking for me." Butler Zhao Bo came in.
Uncle Zhao is an old man from Mafu Jun's Mansion. He has followed Zhao She for decades, from Zhao State to Yan State, and from Yan State to Zhao State, never leaving.
The three brothers and sisters Zhao Kuo were raised by Uncle Zhao, and Uncle Zhao's two sons also worked in the mansion.
He won the trust of Zhao Kuo.
"Uncle Zhao, how much food and grass do we still have in our house?" Zhao Kuo asked.
Uncle Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Excluding daily consumption, we can produce about 37,000 dan of food and grass."
"It's far from enough." Zhao Kuo sighed.
More than 30,000 stones is a lot for the Mafu Junfu, but it is just a drop in the bucket for the 400,000 soldiers in Changping.
The Qin State held the two major granaries of Guanzhong and Bashu.
Historically, after the Battle of Changping and the Battle of Handan for three years, the army never ran out of food and grass.
On the other hand, Zhao State did not even have the food and grass to support the Changping War...
"Collect 40,000 stones of food and grass and send them to Changping." Zhao Kuo said.
"Master, in this case we..." Uncle Zhao said hurriedly.
"At that time, I will take away most of the private soldiers and retainers in the mansion." Zhao Kuo waved his hand.
There are only four people in the Zhao family, and there are no more than twenty people including servants. The largest number of people are private soldiers and retainers, hundreds of people, and they will continue to increase during this period.
As long as he takes away most of the private soldiers and retainers at home when he goes on an expedition, there will be enough food left to last until the autumn harvest.
"No." Uncle Zhao reluctantly agreed.
Other generals take rewards and trophies home when they go to war, but the Lord is so lucky that he empties his home even before he goes to war.
Not long after Uncle Zhao left, he came in again and reported: "Master, Liu Ping and Ben are back."
"Please come in quickly." Zhao Kuo said.
After a while, two diners came in.
The doorman who is over two meters tall and has muscles as big as a mountain is called Ben.
He was originally a wandering child in Yan State. When Zhao She was an official in Yan State, he saw his pity and adopted him.
This name was given to him by Zhao Kuo's father.
Ben was born with supernatural powers, and among Zhao Kuo's many disciples, he was the most skilled in martial arts. He was in charge of the private soldiers of Mafujun's palace to protect the safety of the palace.
Another retainer is Liu Ping, a down-and-out nobleman.
His ancestors were once rich, but this did not affect his later poverty, and he could only make a living by becoming a client.
Bi and Liu Ping were the two highest-ranking disciples. They were both civil and military, assisting Zhao Kuo.
"My lord, I rushed to Changping overnight. General Lian Po did not hide my identity when he learned about it. He told me that there was only less than a month's supply of food and grass left in the army. He sent people many times to request the imperial court to support the supply of food and grass. The king's capital No response was given.”
Ben said hummingly, his voice sounding like thunder.
"Your Majesty, I visited several large towns around Handan. The people were so hungry that they could only chew tree bark and eat grass roots. And because all the men were fighting on the front line, only women, children and the elderly were left at home. The farmland was uncultivated, and most of the fields were uncultivated. They are all deserted. In other words, even if our Zhao country wins this war, the country will not be able to feed so many people."
Liu Ping said gloomily.
The time when the Qin army attacked Changping was chosen very well, in April.
May is the time for Zhao to plant millet.
Qin's attack just caused Zhao to miss a season of farming.
If farming is missed, the whole country will have no food to eat for a year. Even if Zhao wins the war in the end, countless people in the country will starve to death, and the national power will be greatly weakened, and it will no longer pose a threat to Qin.
——This is Qin’s conspiracy.
No solution!
Zhao Kuo rubbed his head, his face full of sorrow.
"Is there anything you can do?"
"My lord, although the people of Zhao State have no food, the nobles have food. This is a war between the two countries. There is no reason for the people to starve to death, but the nobles are singing and dancing in the palace. There is no reason for us to go into battle to kill the enemy, and those people are enjoying themselves in the rear. "
Liu Ping gritted his teeth and said.
He knew that once Zhao Kuo forced the nobles to donate food, all the nobles in Zhao would be offended.
Even he will be hated, and may even be killed by the nobles sending death soldiers.
But he also knew that if there was no food, Zhao would be defeated.
As the coach, the best outcome for Zhao Kuo is to endure the abuse of millions of people in Zhao State until his death.
It will even be recorded in history books and will be infamy for thousands of years.
The master humiliated his minister and died. Liu Ping would rather be killed than let Zhao Kuo bear the eternal infamy.
"I'll think about it again." Zhao Kuo was a little irritated.
Le Yi and Liu Ping both advised him to take action against the nobles. He also knew that the nobles had food, but the question was why should the other party give away the food they had worked so hard to save?
To be fair, if Zhao Kuo himself was not the coach, and if it was not to save himself, he would not have spent all his money to support the front line.
Human nature is inherently selfish.
"I am willing to donate food and grass to save myself, and I want others to be willing to do the same...I understand!"
…
The next day, Lin Mansion.
"I wonder what Ma Fuzi wants from me?"
Lin Xiangru's voice was hoarse, his complexion was sallow, and his skin was sagging. As he leaned forward, the crown of hair on his head swayed from side to side. The sparse and gray hair seemed to have difficulty restraining the heavy crown.
Only those eyes were still bright, as if they could see through Zhao Kuo at a glance.
"Kuo knows that Mr. Kuo does not want me to replace him as the head coach of Zhao Jun, but it is difficult to disobey the king's order and Kuo has no choice but to obey. Please forgive me, Mr. Kuo."
Zhao Kuo first bowed and said sincerely.
"It's not your fault." Lin Xiangru shook his head.
He was indeed dissatisfied with Zhao Kuo before, but now he has sympathy: Zhao Kuo may take the blame.
The cause of the Changping War was the dispute between Shangdang.
Zhao State took over Shangdang, which Qin State had planned for many years.
Did King Zhao do this right?
right.
Shangdang is actually divided into two parts, one part is in the hands of South Korea, and the other part is in the hands of Zhao State.
However, the part of Zhao State was undefendable.
As long as South Korea's Shangdang is occupied by Qin, Zhao's Shangdang will also be gone.
Moreover, Shangdang’s position is extremely special.
Behind Shangdang is Handan of Zhao State. After Qin State captures Shangdang, it can threaten Handan, the capital of Zhao State, from top to bottom.
Moreover, Shangdang is the link between Taiyuan and Handan.
Once Shangdang is breached, the connection between Taiyuan and Handan will be severed.
Therefore, Zhao Guo must keep Shangdang no matter what.
But the mistake is: Zhao Guo has never fought!
Now not only was Shangdang lost, but Zhao State was also attacked by Qin State.
The people in Zhao State were in dire straits, and they couldn’t even eat.
The whole country hated this war very much, thinking that it was because of South Korea's land that it led to the war with Qin, and the gains outweighed the losses.
The people were full of complaints.
So who will they blame?
Who accepted the party?
There are two people, one is King Zhao and the other is Pingyuan Lord Zhao Sheng.
But will King Zhao let himself take the blame? Obviously impossible.
Pingyuan Lord Zhao Sheng is even more impossible. He is very famous in Zhao State. Not only the nobles and scholars love him, but also ordinary people respect him very much. How can he take the blame?
Therefore, Lian Po, who had suffered repeated defeats, lost troops, and lost land, could only take the blame.
But Lian Po is the backbone of the Zhao State, and the King of Zhao is a wise king. He understands that no one in Zhao State can lose Lian Po.
So, who will bear the blame?
Just when King Zhao was hesitating, the State of Qin sent spies to the State of Zhao and began to spread rumors: Lian Po was too incompetent and did not dare to come out. The Qin army was only afraid of Zhao Kuo, the son of Ma Fujun.
When King Zhao heard this, he was dozed off and someone gave him a pillow! So he took advantage of his strategy and replaced Lian Po with Zhao Kuo.
If he wins, Zhao Guo will become a general, and he will have no worries for the next thirty years.
If he loses, he only needs to convict Zhao Kuo to quell the public's anger.
