In the evening, one could see the sunset shining on the hills of Victorious Empyrean Palace.
Large carts filled with wheat were entering from the road outside the city. The road had been rebuilt after the war, and although it had not been built for long, it looked more spacious than before the war.
"These are the last 30 carts of wheat. They will enter the warehouse in two hours, and the winter wheat can be considered harvested. If it weren't for the trouble caused by the grassland Tartars, April could have been a good time. "
This was the lookout at the side of Empyrean Palace. Lou Shuwan put down the monocular in her hand, and the evening wind was blowing warmly. Standing next to Lou Shuwan were Yu Yulin and Wang Juyun, two high-ranking military officials. Since two years ago, Tiger King's forces and Wang Juyun's refugee forces had fought against the Jin soldiers from the south and Liao Yiren from the north. Now they had completely merged into one.
Wang Yin, who went by the name of Wang Juyun, was originally a minister of the Yongle Dynasty. He was proficient in detailed management, religious methods, and military strategy. After the fall of the Yongle Dynasty, he secretly saved some of the generals under Fang La's command. He went to the refugees at the border and began to preach the White Lotus and Maitreya teachings of "equality of law". He united a large number of refugees and called for mutual help. Against the backdrop of the Jurchen invasions to the south four times, he unhesitatingly led the people he gathered to the front line of the resistance against the Jin Dynasty. Over the past two years, although he was very strict with his subordinates, his selfless attitude had won the respect of the people around him.
After understanding his idealistic side, the Jindi side cautiously merged with him. In fact, Lou Shuwan's determination in the resistance against the Jin, her dedication to the Jindi, and her childless and unselfish attitude had greatly promoted the merger.
Since the humiliation of Jingping, the Central Plains was in chaos. Wang Yin traveled the north, and perhaps he couldn't bear to see the people suffer, so he preached and saved people here. But in reality, he chose to develop in the refugee area south of Yanmen Pass. The place was not ideal. He could not build a base and could not gather too many supplies. Now that he had merged with Jindi, the refugees under his command finally had a place to live temporarily.
On the other hand, Lou Shuwan's dealings with Lin Zongwu in the past earned her the title of the Descending Mystic Fairy in the Maitreya Sect. Later on, she kicked Lin Zongwu away and obtained a religious framework that served as a glue to stabilize the hearts of the people in the land of Jin. However, in reality, Lou Shuwan had crushed Lin Zongwu in terms of political operations and scheming. She was still not very familiar with the intrinsic rules of religious operations. After Wang Yin joined, not only did he help the Land of Jin in terms of politics and military affairs, but he also gave Lou Shuwan great inspiration and assistance in the operation of the Great Radiant Sect in the Land of Jin. The two sides cooperated and took each other's needs. At this moment, the effect of one plus one was greater than two.
In March, a group of grassland mercenaries wreaked havoc in the Land of Jin and burned down the wheat fields. This caused a certain amount of trouble for Lou Shuwan and the others. Fortunately, at the beginning of April, this group of suicidal lunatics entered the north of Yanmen Pass and went straight to Yunzhong. Before they left, they also helped Lou Shuwan solve Liao Yiren's problem. Therefore, from the middle of April, as the wheat was harvested, Tiger King's forces continued to recover the lost land and reorganize the surrendered troops. It could be said to be a happy occasion. At the end of April, the subversive news of the end of the decisive battle in Hanzhong came. Everyone's emotions were complicated and even a little lost. In this way, the Land of Jin could not be considered a great victory.
The relatively smooth situation and the good news that came one after another made people happy, but it could not hide the rationality of Lou Shuwan, Yu Yulin, Wang Yin, and the others. Although Zonghan Xiyin was defeated by Huaxia, it was inevitable that there would be another conflict with the Land of Jin on the way back to the north. This conflict would determine the future of the Land of Jin.
In theory, the current Land of Jin had made a huge leap in strength compared to two years ago when Tian Shi was still in power. On the surface, the loss of a large amount of resources and the loss of soldiers seemed to have caused the entire faction to be riddled with holes. However, in reality, the two-faced Infidels had already been completely wiped out. After two years of killing and training, those who remained were all elites who could fight. Lou Shuwan and the others had accumulated a great reputation through the decisions they had made over the past two years. In fact, if the Mongolians hadn't intervened in March and April, Lou, Yu, Wang, and the others had originally planned to launch a large-scale attack at the end of March and the beginning of April to flatten Liao Yiren.
Now, the strength they had accumulated could be used to fight the Jurchen Western Army, but they still weren't very confident in their chances of victory. On this day, Yu, Wang, and the others had basically finished training the troops outside. Only then did they find time to return to Wei Sheng to discuss with Lou Shuwan the next important matter.
"Ever since the New Year, I've been running around outside. Generals, you've worked hard. This batch of wheat has entered the warehouse, and the winter wheat harvested in various places is more or less the same. Although the grassland people ruined some of it, in the entire Central Plains, we're the only ones that are slightly stronger. We have some confidence in doing anything. "
Looking at the road between the foothills in the west, Lou Shuwan had a smile on her face. The sunset cast a golden color here, and she then stopped smiling.
"The only thing that we have to worry about is that I've asked everyone in the army, and I've also privately written to the two generals to ask them. No one is confident that we can win against the defeated Jurchen army … The news of the decisive battle in Hanzhong has already spread all over the world, but we can't even deal with the defeated Hua Xia army. How can we explain this to the people?"
As she said this, her gaze became serious. All these years in Jindi, Lou Shuwan had mostly been in charge of government affairs and logistics. However, she had been with the army during the two years of war, so she wasn't completely clueless about the army. Her seriousness at this moment couldn't be considered reprimand, but more of a private sense of urgency.
Wang Juyun frowned and became even more serious. Yu Yulin didn't hide it and sighed. "All these years, it's obvious that Mister Ning has made many innovations in the army. The Wu dynasty valued civil affairs and belittled military power. They were afraid that the army would rely on military power to gain self-respect, so the control of the army was complicated. As a result, the generals had no power, and the army was weak and difficult to recover from. All these years, all the strategies to strengthen the army were first to delegate power to the generals. For example, the Beiwei Army in the south, which can fight well, was cut off by the Crown Prince's power from all external checks and balances. That was why they were able to train under Yue Pengju's iron-blooded management of the army. This is one of the reasons why the Hua Xia army is naturally the same. "
"This condition isn't difficult to achieve. Our army has been developing like this in recent years, especially in the last two years. We've gotten rid of many shortcomings in the war. Originally, the small families in Jindi couldn't avoid meddling with the army, planning for themselves. In essence, it was to prevent the army from fighting. We've pretty much cleaned up these two years. But this condition is only the first threshold … "
Yu Yulin paused. "After passing this first threshold, the army will certainly look like an army. But the real strength of the Hua Xia army is the intensity of training and the strict military discipline. In the past, all the soldiers in the Hua Xia army were the standard of private soldiers and personal guards. They were released from work, trained every day for the purpose of fighting, and followed the rules of the art of war. Everyone wanted such soldiers, but they couldn't afford to raise them. They couldn't grow. The Hua Xia army's method was to support the army with all its strength. With Mister Ning's business methods, he sold military equipment, bought food, and used all sorts of methods. In the middle, he actually had to starve. If it was ten years ago, I would think … he couldn't grow. "
"If the army starved, their morale would drop. They would disobey orders and violate military law. But what's really amazing about Mister Ning is that he can let the army starve while still maintaining the strict military law. Of course, there's the reason for this' Hua Xia 'name, but here, it can't be maintained. If you want military law, you have to have provisions and pay. Without provisions and pay, there's no military law. There's also the reason for the middle and lower level generals … "
"In this way, the Hua Xia army isn't different from us in any aspect. In fact, there are differences in all aspects. Of course, in the past, we didn't think that there was such a big difference, until the battle of Yanqiao and the battle of Hanzhong came. The 20,000 soldiers of the Hua Xia Seventh Army defeated Zong Han's 100,000 soldiers, but to say that we could defeat Zong Han and Xiyin's remnants, there's really … no evidence. "
After saying this, Yu Yulin was silent for a moment. "This is the difference between me and the Hua Xia army today."
Since the encounter between Lu Liangshan and Ning Yi more than ten years ago, Yu Yulin's attitude had always been cautious in front of the name of the Hua Xia army. At this moment, it was only a few people in private, and his words were also quite frank. Wang Juyun nodded and waited until Lou Shuwan's gaze swept over him before he spoke.
"We can fight one battle or several battles. Although we might not win, we won't necessarily lose either."
Lou Shuwan nodded. "… At least we can fight a few battles. That's a good thing."
In regards to the war that might happen next, the various aspects had been summed up. Basically, the more than two years of resistance had increased the combat power of the Jin army. With the gradual unification of ideas, there was even more of an increase in toughness. Even if they couldn't say that they could definitely defeat Zong Han and Xiyin, but even if they couldn't win the first battle, they could calmly and continuously launch follow-up battles. Relying on the terrain of Jin, it wouldn't be too big of a problem to drag Zong Han and Xiyin back.
Such a situation didn't make people cry, but they also couldn't laugh. After Lou Shuwan finished, there was some silence between the three of them. But then, it was the woman who smiled. "If that's the case, it's no wonder that those people in the southwest are so arrogant."
Yu Yulin thought for a moment and smiled. "How's Fifth Master Zhan recently?"
"After the decisive battle of Hanzhong, he came over a few times. One of the times, he brought a letter from Ning Yi." Lou Shuwan said lightly, "In the letter, Ning Yi talked to me about the future situation. He talked about the issue of Zong Han and Xiyin returning to the north. He said, 'In the fourth southern invasion of Jurchen, the eastern army won a great victory and the western army suffered a crushing defeat. After returning to the Jin Kingdom, the battle between the eastern and western prefectures will probably be decided. We'll sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. As for the troops of Zong Han and Xiyin who are already at a disadvantage, we might as well adopt an attitude of not fighting if we can, and try not to fight if we can …"
"Heh, he's quite considerate …" She smiled faintly, with a lazy sarcasm. "I think he's afraid that we can't win, so he gave us a way out."
"…"
"…"
Yu Yulin and Wang Juyun looked at each other.
Wang Juyun said, "Did he say anything else in the letter?"
Lou Shuwan took out the letter from her sleeve and handed it over, "Yes, he has his own little plan. He hopes that we can lend a batch of grain to those people in Liangshan in the east … Shandong is starving for thousands of miles. Last year, almost all the grass roots and tree barks were eaten up. There isn't enough winter wheat and seeds. Therefore, although it's time for harvest, I'm afraid that we won't be able to harvest much grain. It won't be long before we run out of grain again."
The letter written by Ning Yi was very long. Even though she held it in her hand, she couldn't read much of it in a short time. After Lou Shuwan finished, Yu Yulin said, "The Golden Dog Eastern Army is close to the Yellow River on their way back. Once they pass Shandong, I'm afraid that they won't be able to let Zhu Biao, Wang Shanyue, Liu Chengzong and the others go. The wheat has only been harvested recently. If they can hold out until now, it shouldn't be a problem for them to hold out for a while longer. Does Ning Yi have the confidence to let them hold out against the Jurchen Eastern Army? What he wants to borrow is the grain for the future, right? "
Lou Shuwan nodded, "He didn't say much in the letter about how Liangshan can hold out against the Jurchen Eastern Army. I asked Zhan Wu, there are probably a few ways. Either they give up on Liangshan and hide with us first, or they think that Wu Qimai is dying and hold out on the mountain, or they ask Zong Fu and Zong Bi to let them go? I'm too lazy to guess … "
Speaking up to this point, she paused and then continued lazily, "In the letter, he invited us to go south. He's very proud after defeating a Jurchen. In June, he will hold a Heroes' Assembly in Chengdu to elect a leader of the Lulin Alliance. He said that he wants to discuss with the people of the world the idea of the Huaxia Army. As for the matter of selling grain, we can also discuss it at that time. It seems that he isn't afraid of us asking for a sky-high price …"
Hearing her say this, Wang Juyun, who was reading the letter, was slightly moved. He flipped two pages to the back. Yu Yulin also glanced over. He naturally knew that if there was such an invitation in the letter, the rest of the information would probably become minor details. Lou Shuwan turned around and approached the parapet wall at the edge, looking at the scenery in the distance.
The three of them were silent for a while. Yu Yulin looked at Lou Shuwan and said, "Are you going?"
The evening wind blew her skirt. Lou Shuwan's back was facing him as she looked into the distance.
"… Although I'm not satisfied, there are some things that we are indeed lacking compared to the southwest. Just like what Brother Yu said just now, if we are lacking, we have to change. But how to change, we have to be cautious. It's a good thing to go to the southwest to take a look. Moreover, this time, Ning Yi has a favor to ask of me. If I can go to the southwest, I can obtain many benefits … "
"… But Zong Han and Xiyin have returned north, and war is imminent …"
Lou Shuwan pressed her hands against the parapet wall and looked into the distance with a cold gaze.
She said, "How can I go?"
She calmly and coldly stated the facts. She snorted.
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