The injured Spiridates walked away in embarrassment, and the Macedonian warriors saw off the governor with earth-shattering cheers.
At the same time, the infantrymen who were crossing the river had also seen the king's heroic performance. They were all greatly encouraged. After landing, they began to look for Persians and beat them wildly.
When the Persian reinforcements reacted and gradually came down from the higher ground, the Macedonian infantry re-formed into a wedge-shaped square formation and slowly approached the enemy.
Pang Ji saw this weird formation in the distance. He didn't understand geometry and didn't realize its power at the first time.
Seeing his confused expression, Li Ning smiled and asked, "Master Cao Si, do you feel the suppressed murderous aura."
"Indeed." Listening to the low roars from time to time, and then looking at the uniform steps, Pang Ji could already feel the strong murderous intent, but he was still a little surprised, "This formation is not as square as mine, but it lurks murderous intent. , I wonder where the essence is?”
Li Ning laughed, it turned out that Huang Song was not only a good-for-nothing scholar, but also such a pragmatic person.
"The secret of this formation is actually not clear to me. Of course, it's not easy to mislead adults by just hearing about it."
"Then you know what to say."
"Oh, okay. This formation was created by the old king of Thebes, Epaminondas. Thebes was originally a third-rate city-state, but it became a first-rate power with this formation. As powerful as Sparta, even with three hundred warriors Hold back hundreds of thousands of Persian troops, but only admit that Thebes is free.”
"So powerful? Where is this Thebes? It won't threaten our Emperor Song, right?"
Li Ning smiled when he heard this. Pang Ji was frightened by the danger in the light screen. However, he did not understand something, so he had to explain it to him.
"Caosi, this formation is actually more powerful. Philip II, the father of King Alexander, was a Macedonian who studied in Thebes. I don't know whether he learned the secret of the wedge-shaped square formation, but he discovered this method. They used an improved version of the wedge-shaped phalanx, the one we saw, to successfully defeat Thebes."
"That's it! This is the disciple of the church, the master who starved to death."
Li Ning heard this and said anxiously, "This is inappropriate, Mr. Caosi."
"Why?"
"There are two reasons why the apprentice can defeat the master. The first is to invent improvements. If it is the master who makes the improvements, then the land will die. This is the key to technology. The second is unjust. The Macedonians are better than the Spartans. He must also be barbaric and pay attention to freedom and democracy, which have fueled the ambitions of the main generals. If Alexander dies, his achievements will be divided among the important ministers. "
"That's it. But the benefits of the equipment are not promoted by my Confucianism. Rather, it is the benevolence, justice, etiquette and wisdom..."
"Your Majesty, what you said is wrong. Whether the weapon is useful or not depends on the virtue of the king and his ministers, but whether it is available or not depends on the hands of the craftsmen. Having it but not using it is self-denial and returning to etiquette. Using it but not using it is called external strength but internal ability."
"Hahaha!" Pang Ji suddenly laughed loudly, "That's what the young gentleman said. But this Macedonian is too cruel."
"If you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't catch the tiger's cubs. We, the Song Dynasty, are poor and weak. How can we deal with such a fierce opponent? The previous bluff can only buy some time. If we want to be invincible, we must give full play to ourselves. strengths.”
"That's what it means to maximize strengths and avoid weaknesses."
"No, shortcomings cannot be avoided. Unless it is an encounter, you must make up for your shortcomings. If necessary, you must learn from other people's strengths."
"That's it. This is a way to build on one's strengths and take the stones from other mountains."
"Your Excellency is wise!"
"That's why you came here."
"Sir, you are really wise! But coming down here actually has another meaning."
"What is it?"
"Alexander always wanted to introduce Greek culture, language, and even clothing habits to the areas he occupied."
"This is the promotion of enlightenment and a grand plan for hegemony."
"Yes. But is the Greek stuff better than our Chinese stuff?"
Pang Ji was startled for a moment, and then he hesitated and said: "You...you have such ambitions."
"Only in this way will our Emperor Song be safe for thousands of years."
There was a bang.
Some parts fell out of Pang Ji's mind, and he fell heavily into the abyss of thinking.
"What kind of truth is this?" he muttered.
"During the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were still Rong and Di in the Central Plains, but what happened later? Some were wiped out, some became princes like the Zhongshan Kingdom, and some quietly sneaked into Xia Zi's country and became Zhao people, The people of Qin and the people of Wei. This is the source of China's prosperity. Unfortunately, a certain pavilion chief was too short-sighted and did not entrust the feudal lords to the frontiers. As a result, there was chaos among the seven kings and eight kings. He completely lost the motivation to actively educate the barbarians."
"Shut up. Enfeoffment is a big deal, so you must not talk nonsense."
"Yes, sir."
"But it is a good thing that you are here to spread enlightenment. I plan to report to the court after I return and fully support your plan."
"Thank you, sir!"
Li Ning bowed his hand. Pang Ji did not completely deny it, which was a very good result for him.
However, since the Shangshu court has been mentioned, it might as well be more detailed about the plan.
"By the way, Mr. Caosi, when you go to the hospital, can you help me order people and things?"
"Yes." Pang Ji agreed readily, but his turn came quickly, "But now that your official position is low, don't think about any rare treasures or border official. Those who use my name are not easy to use. .”
"Don't worry, sir. They are just a few unsuccessful scholars and a few children with potential."
"Tell me."
"Long Changqi, Li Gou, Sang Yi, Zhang Fangzhi, Bi Sheng, Jia Xian, Song Minqiu, Xue Xiang, Guo Xi, Zhou Dunyi, Zhang Zai, Sun Fu..."
"Yinni Alia!"
A uniform shout interrupted Li Ning's words.
Pang Ji, Li Ning and others immediately followed the sound and saw in the distance that the Macedonian phalanx had penetrated the enemy's array like a wedge.
The Persian array made the already chaotic situation. The gradually rising high ground next to the river bank would not allow them to form a strict formation.
And the process of their rushing down made the formation even more chaotic.
The long Salisha spear pierced their chests before they even engaged the enemy. This plunged them into greater chaos as they cried and howled.
In addition, the retreating cavalry of our own side - the main culprit that prevented them from reorganizing their formation - caused a huge impact on them when they fled.
As for their backbone, the Greek mercenary phalanx had been deployed to deal with the sudden appearance of enemies. Who knows what the two governors were thinking. There were only a thousand enemy troops, so why bother? Are all the 20,000 mercenaries scattered?
Putting them at the very back of the military formation was already a huge mistake.
And now, there is another mistake on top of the mistakes.
The consequences of this mistake are extremely serious.
The strict wedge-shaped square formation was like a sharp bayonet, cutting through the chaotic Persian army formation.
The screams came one after another, and gradually became an endless stream, and then merged into a large piece of sad music that echoed in the sky.
This movement is actually also the hymn of the winner, and the winner, at this time, could no longer care about the fighting behind him, and came to Li Ning under the protection of his wounded brother.
"Ptolemy's injury looks serious. You shouldn't ask Socrates Squadron to protect you at this time."
Li Ning stepped forward to greet Alexander, but the miserable sight of the soldiers behind him was a bit unbearable to watch.
But Alexander didn't care.
"Ptolemy can go back to Macedonia to recuperate, and so can the other warriors. But some people are clamoring to fight me to the end of the world. Now I want to ask some people, will you change your mind?"
"Do you want me to change?"
Li Ning looked into Alexander's eyes.
"No." Alexander said, "Today, I saw your strength and the strength of the Kingdom of Heaven. Since you are willing to be my chief logistics officer, then I agree to you. For the sake of your loyalty and consideration for me .”
Alexander glanced at Pang Ji behind him, but found that Pu Yane had appeared behind him at some point, so he turned around and said, "Your Majesty, I think about you, not only because of my respect for you, but also because my country needs more Many business partners. The reason why the Kingdom of Heaven is rich is precisely because it does business with everyone. The reason why capital looks dirty is because they choose to make peace with everyone.”
"What are you telling the truth about?" Amyntas came over at some point. He was also injured, but he seemed to be in good spirits. "Money is a good thing, it's golden and shining, don't you Like it?"
Li Ning looked at Pang Ji again, then turned around and answered: "I just want to see the prosperity of the whole world, and money can help me go far. If it can't, then I want him to be very useful. If he can, then that is That’s all it means to me.”
These words were full of Greek humility, deceit and philosophy, so Amyntas, a rough man, fell into deep thought.
On the contrary, Alexander patted Li Ning on the shoulder and said, "It seems that your ambition has not changed. This is easy to handle. Tell me, what are you doing with these troops?"
Li Ning walked up to Pang Ji, took the note from his hand, handed it to Pu Yane, and said, "Translate for him!"
Puyan did as he was told, and Alexander quickly understood what he meant.
"It turns out they accepted this group of mercenaries."
"Yes. I didn't bring the crossbow to the battlefield and won the bet. So, the 20,000 people belong to me. You won't stop me."
Alexander pondered for a moment: "Actually, I want to kill them all. These people work for the enemies of Greece, and as a Greek, I have the right to do so."
"Now, they are working for their friends in Greece. In the future, they may make new contributions to the distant journey."
"You always have such a long-term perspective, be careful not to drown in the puddles right in front of you."
"Then let's be short-sighted." Li Ning pointed to the light curtain not far away and said, "I am going to build a city there, a city for business. Its commerce will be extremely prosperous. The taxes will be the military expenses for your expedition."
"I can tax countless city-states."
"That's different. If the wealth of heaven flows here, other city-states will not be able to compare with this city."
"Okay! I promise you! My general logistics officer!"
Li Ning nodded very happily, but the conversation was not over yet: "There is one more thing."
"you say."
"We have to conduct language and basic ability assessments for businessmen. Only those who can pass will be qualified to enter the other side of the light curtain. This kind of examination is two-way, and our people in the Song Dynasty will do the same."
Alexander didn't see the need. Anyway, that business empire in Athens didn’t do that. But that's not important. That's not what he likes about Li Ning.
So he said, "Okay!"
"Great! Then starting today, I, Li Ning, will run this city as the general logistics officer of the Kingdom of Macedonia. How about we name it Granikas City now?"
"It's up to you!" Alexander had no patience anymore.
But Li Ning wanted to carefully negotiate every clause, because Alexander might not be so easy to deceive in the future.
So he added: "Then let's engrave all the terms into inscriptions and record them. I swear, even the terms you haven't seen, they are beneficial to both of us."
"Okay. Asians often write down things on clay tablets." Alexander said.
"Okay. Just like the Tang-Bo alliance." Pang Ji said the same after listening to Pu Yane's translation.
