In the gray sky, it rained continuously. The rainwater gathered into water columns on the tiles, then washed down and hit the stone-paved streets, making a splashing sound.
In the main hall of Qianyuan Palace, Wang Xu was discussing military and state affairs with Le Yi.
"Your Majesty, Bai Qi is young and powerful, and his ministers are already old. They will definitely not be his match in more than ten years. If we want to deal with Bai Qi, we can only form a stronghold, fight stupidly, and fight against Qin bit by bit."
"The Huai State covers an area of 3,000 miles and 12 million miles. It cannot be defeated by any other country but the Qin State. However, I am worried that the Qin State will convene the other five countries to discuss attacking Huai State together and carve up the Huai State."
Wang Xu nodded: "It is indeed possible for the Six Nations to attack Huaihe River. We have to guard against it. There are many scholars from the Zongheng School in the country. Select a few people as backup. In addition, you can also send them to various countries to provoke dissension between them. relation."
"As for fighting with Qin more than ten years later, I think it is better to fight now." Wang Xu said calmly.
"Your Majesty, please?" Le Yi was slightly startled.
Wang Xu put down the bamboo slips in his hands, stood up and said, "We can't push the matter to the future. It will only make it more difficult to solve the matter."
"We expect our sons to be better than their fathers, but most of the time, sons are not as good as their fathers. Now that we have the advantage, we will try our best to solve the problems we can. If we really can't solve them, let future generations solve them."
"Your Majesty, Shengming!" Le Yi said respectfully.
"The imperial edict suspends the construction of Chidao, and orders Wei Ming to postpone the southern expedition to Baiyue. Collect grain and grass and transport them to Jiangzhou, Hanzhong, and Nanyang."
"Recruit another 600,000 troops to go to Jiangzhou, Hanzhong, and Nanyang!"
"Your Majesty, it will probably take at least two years to mobilize the army's food and fodder on such a large scale." Le Yi thought about it and said.
Although plank roads have been built and roads widened in Jiangzhou and Hanzhong, traffic is still difficult. It takes a lot of time to recruit grain, grass and troops on a large scale, and this can easily be noticed by Qin.
"If the Qin State notices it, just notice it. The road to Hanzhong is difficult, and it is also difficult for the Qin State to attack. Just waste food and grass together. If the Qin State cannot consume more, then the army will attack Miancheng and Lueyang, cutting off the connection between Qin Guanzhong and Bashu." "
"The Jiangzhou army marched westward and captured the land of Bashu. The land of Nanyang attacked Wuguan."
"March in three directions and attack Qin!"
Wang Xu made a decision quickly.
"Your Majesty, think twice. There are three armies attacking Qin, but all three are difficult to fight. I'm afraid there will be heavy casualties."
"The roads in Hanzhong, Jiangdu and Wuguan are all difficult, making it difficult for the army to march." After hearing Wang Xu's decision to mobilize grain and army to attack Qin, the ministers in the hall tried to dissuade him. Even members of the royal family have different opinions.
Huai State now has 700,000 standing troops, including 100,000 in the south, 100,000 in Jiangzhou and Hanzhong, 100,000 in Hangu Pass and Nanyang, 100,000 around Shangqiu, 100,000 around Xiapi, and 100,000 garrisoned in Jinling. Although the Huai State is three thousand miles away and is the largest among all other countries, it still has many places that need to be defended.
If another 600,000 troops were recruited, it would basically be a nationwide campaign. Once defeated, the consequences are unimaginable.
"Your Majesty, why not recruit an army of 200,000 and cooperate with Hanzhong and Jiangzhou to attack the Bashu land? As long as the Bashu land is captured, the Qin State will only have the Guanzhong land left. How can it compete with the Huai State?"
Under the persuasion of many ministers, Wang Xu finally decided to recruit 200,000 troops to attack Bashu from Hanzhong and Jiangzhou. The mountains in these two places are steep and the roads are difficult to navigate. An army of 200,000 is already the limit, and no amount of logistics and transportation will be able to keep up.
After discussing the plan to attack Qin, officials from all over Huai State immediately began to implement it.
The Huai Kingdom has a strong martial arts culture. In addition to the influence of the times, it is also the result of the deliberate promotion of the Huai monarchs in the past dynasties. In the Huai Kingdom every year during the off-farm period, various villages and towns hold some jiaoduan, archery, and military formation competitions. The winners can receive rewards. If they can perform well in the county, they will be recommended to Jinling.
As long as you are selected, you will basically reach the sky in one step. This is also another upward path for the people of Huai State. These selected warriors will be arranged into elite armies such as the Tengjia Army or join the Habayashi Guards.
In Ying County, Central Plains, hundreds of men were fighting in the fields with wooden sticks. These people were not fighting randomly, but fighting in organized formations.
The sturdy men in the front row were lined up in neat rows with long wooden sticks, beating each other, while the slightly shorter ones were holding bamboo bows and constantly throwing bamboo arrows at each other. The man in the front row even had a simple bamboo armor on his body.
Huai State banned armor, but bamboo armor was not included in this list, but it still needed to be reported.
Both sides of the battle were coordinated with the sound of drums, and even military flags were used to pass orders, and everyone shouted slogans to advance and retreat together. If this were replaced by armored weapons, it would be completely like an army battle.
Soon the battle became extremely fierce, and people were constantly beaten to death, but even so, these people did not flinch. If anyone shrinks from such a battle, the family will be squeezed out and will have no status in the clan.
You must know that these people basically rely on clan unity to survive in this era of frequent wars. Although the Huai Kingdom has implemented the rule of law for hundreds of years, it still cannot fully control the grassroots. So Huaiguo changed his approach.
These clans are competing for water sources or other things. It is also in this kind of struggle that starts from childhood that excellent soldiers are tempered.
Most of the Huai Kingdom's rule over the grassroots came from the grassroots soldiers of the Huai Army. A man in the countryside who is proficient in bow and horse, has strong martial arts skills, and can wear heavy armor and fight in battle will have a very high status in the nearby villages.
The Huai State gave preferential treatment to soldiers. According to different ranks and titles, they were given rewards such as land, tax exemptions, corvee, cloth, salt and even bacon. It is also because of the existence of this system that the Huai State is full of martial virtue. Of course, this is also a double-edged sword, which can easily breed the birth of powerful people, and at the same time, it can be difficult to put down local rebellions when they arise.
However, in the eyes of King Huai, these are still acceptable.
The fighting continues near the fields, again over water. Farmland cultivation time is limited and must be completed within this specified time. Otherwise, food production will be reduced after this season. This is related to the belly of the people, so all parties will not give in and have to fight every year.
At this time, a gong sound suddenly came from the river bend in the distance, and then a large banner of Yingxian inspection and a group of soldiers appeared and rushed towards the two sides fighting.
After the two sides fighting in the melee saw the flag, they stopped fighting and quickly dispersed and ran away. According to Huai law, gathering a crowd to fight with weapons requires performing labor service.
"Inspection, the people here are strong and strong, and they are the best soldiers. The inspection is just the right time to recruit soldiers again!" the official next to him said with a smile.
(End of chapter)
