When Li Longji's team was about to return to the capital, it was getting closer and closer to the new year.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, who wanted to rest in the capital, had to separate from the team in advance and head to Jili Province at the fastest speed.
Li Shaogu, the person with the highest status in Khitan, also went with them.
Li Shaogu didn't go with Zhang Xiaobao willingly. He counted the days and found that even if he went back, he couldn't make it in time for the new year. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan could go back to Jili Province on the 28th or 29th of December. If he wanted to go by land, he would have to go on the road.
But he couldn't refuse Zhang Xiaobao's invitation. Zhang Xiaobao said, "The people of Jili Province invite you to spend the new year together and improve communication between the two places." Wang Juan said, "You shouldn't hurt the good wishes of the people." Li Shaogu had to go.
He was afraid of giving Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan an excuse to send troops. He had seen the power of pistols before. Once the Song Mo Commander-In-Chief's Office fought with Jili Province, unless they didn't fight at close quarters, his people would fall like wheat being cut down.
Not fighting at close quarters was in line with Wang Juan's fighting style. Light cavalry came and went like the wind.
Even though Tuyu had repeatedly said that Wang Juan's method of battle was wrong, that she was always relying on luck to win by surprise, that this method of using troops would not last long, who would dare to use this kind of reason to prove that they could force Wang Juan to clash head-on with you?
Li Shaogu also wanted to see the development of Jili Province. Everyone said that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were amazing and built the place very well. Seeing was believing.
The fleet moved quickly with the sails. Xiaobei and the others' days were as fulfilling as usual. They played games, studied, listened to stories, slept, and ate.
Xiao Bei, who had been promoted to a fifth rank official, had to walk around every day. She wanted people to see her beautiful clothes to prove that she was a genuine fifth rank official. She had a goldfish pouch on one side of her waist and a silverfish pouch on the other side. The goldfish pouch was allowed by Li Longji, so she could wear it even if her rank wasn't high enough.
When it was time for them to reach the sea, Zhang Gang, who rarely came to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, came over. He was Qiang Hu's son.
Zhang Fang followed behind him. Zhang Fang looked very shy and a little scared.
"You two didn't sleep?" Wang Juan, who was discussing with Zhang Xiaobao how to organize activities in Jili Province during the Spring Festival, stood them up and went to make arrangements first. When she saw the two kids, she pulled them into her arms and asked.
Zhang Fang didn't say anything. She buried her head in Wang Juan's arms. Zhang Gang mustered up his courage and said, "Sister Cuckoo, I want to ask, is it true that powerful weapons make people powerful?"
Hearing Zhang Gang's question, Wang Juan was stunned. She turned to look at Zhang Xiaobao.
Zhang Xiaobao came over, touched the little girl's head, and said, "It depends on the weapon. As long as it can't exterminate a whole family in one go, it may not be powerful. Even if it can break through a thousand-man pistol team, your sister Wang Juan can still beat him without a pistol.
Weapons are dead, people are alive. Don't always think about fighting. Those who are good at fighting have no outstanding achievements. The best generals are those who can subdue others without fighting. "
"Is it like sister Cuckoo now? Even if you don't beat people, people are still afraid. Is brother powerful or sister Cuckoo powerful?" Zhang Gang was much more sensible now. He began to think about what he would do when he took over as the patriarch in the future. This was the result that Xiao Bei always instilled in him.
Zhang Xiaobao didn't say anything this time. He didn't want the little girl to be exposed to the darkness of human nature too early.
Wang Juan said, "There is no one who is the most powerful. It only depends on who is more suitable. Now your brother Xiao Bao is the most suitable. Can you recite the Tao Te Ching? Your brother Xiao Bao can fight now. He is very good at fighting. War doesn't have to use force. Force is only a guarantee and a deterrent. "
Now the little girl couldn't understand. Wasn't war about killing people? How did it become about fighting without fighting?
In order to make her understand as much as possible, Zhang Xiaobao asked, "Who is the most powerful when you are together?"
"Xiao Bei," the two little guys replied at the same time.
"Why?" Zhang Xiaobao asked again.
"She can make others stand with her. If anyone provokes her, she will not let others play with him." Xiao Gang had a deep understanding.
"Did she beat you?"
"No."
"This is what the Art of War says. Attack one region together and get one person. Go back and think about how to deal with this situation."
"Okay, brother Xiao Bao, don't tell Xiao Bei. Otherwise, she will know in advance. She is very powerful."
"Yes, pinky promise."
"Promise ~ me ~ for ~ a ~ hundred years ~ and you won't change ~ …"
Seeing the two little guys leave one after the other, Wang Juan shook her head helplessly. "Xiao Bao, do you think we taught them too much? I don't know if it is good or bad. "
"Who said that childhood can only be about not knowing anything? It's fine as long as they're happy. Protecting the peace of kind people requires someone to choose to scheme. There has to be someone who is evil. How they choose depends on their own development. En, we can use the method of subduing the enemy without fighting this new year. "
Zhang Xiaobao looked in the direction of Li Shaogu's cabin as he spoke.
Li Shaogu had no idea that someone was thinking about him, and in truth, he didn't need to know. He was currently very restless. As he traveled with the ship, he wanted to understand as much as possible about Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan.
In the end, he realized that the more he knew, the more he would not be able to understand. He had seen Little Hai teach arithmetic to his younger siblings. Even he found it difficult to understand what he was talking about, but Little Hai seemed very relaxed when he was talking about it. When he asked Little Hai if he knew a lot, Little Hai's answer shocked him.
At the time, Xiao Hai had told him, 'The more you know, the more you discover your ignorance. When you can calculate the ends of the sea, there is still the starry sky.'
Li Shaogu was frightened by these thoughts, and also by their age. If they knew so much at such a young age, wouldn't there be many more Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan when they got older? Was it not enough for the Great Tang to have a pair? The Khitans could not find such children.
"Come in." When Li Shaogu was taking a nap, he was frightened by his dream and broke out in a cold sweat. He didn't have time to wipe it and shouted to the outside of the cabin.
The person in charge of protecting him opened the door and came in, saying respectfully, "Master, I'm here."
"Have you contacted the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion?" Li Shaogu dreamed that one day, countless troops of the Great Tang slaughtered the Khitans one by one with cannons like the Jili State's gunboats and pistols he saw on the road. After waking up from the shock, he remembered the situation in the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion.
"Yes, I'm about to tell you that they are doing well. Jili State has sent a lot of things, including oil, salt, silk, and even taught the local people how to build kang beds. All of these are free of charge. There is also a large amount of food, which is sold to the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion at a very low price."
The guard told Li Shaogu what he had just learned.
Li Shaogu picked up a cup of water and gulped it down. Only then did he feel that his throat was not so dry. He wiped his sweat and asked, "Did Jili State make any request?"
"No."
"Well, you can leave now." Li Shaogu rubbed his head and watched the door close. He said to himself, "What do Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan want to do? Are they really kind and want to help the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion? Be careful, you must be careful. Ke Tuyu, Ke Tuyu, you are too strong. The Emperor of the Great Tang can't stand it anymore. Now he sent Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan here. I hope you can still deal with them. "
*****
In the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion of Song Mo, Ke Tuyu was also puzzled. Jili State had sent a lot of things recently. Except for the food that was sold at a very low price, the other things were free of charge. There were medicines for curing diseases, dry goods from the sea, and silk for making clothes. Although the silk looked a little worse and was damaged, it could be used to make things and could be used as money.
Could it be that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were afraid of him? It seemed impossible. There were 130,000 people and 10,000 soldiers in Jili State. It was better to expect the sun to rise from the west than to say that they were afraid of him.
The price of food was too cheap. It was so cheap that a good fur could be exchanged for half a month's worth of food. It was so cheap that the labor required to grow the food here was not as good as hunting.
He had to be careful not to let them drag the people in the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion to Jili State.
Thinking of this, Ke Tuyu suddenly shouted to the outside, "Someone, tell the people who know that all the things were sent here from Jili State not to spread it out."
After the people outside answered, he looked at the bow hanging on the wall and shouted again, "Tell the people in charge that they don't have to rush to farm after the New Year. Let them practice martial arts diligently. Let them go hunting and exchange more things with their prey."
After the people outside answered again, Ke Tuyu suddenly opened his mouth and murmured, "Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, no matter what you two plan to do, and no matter how powerful others say you are, you will not get any benefits from me when you meet me. Humph!"
*****
When Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's fleet arrived at the port of Jili State on the night of the 27th of December, the news of the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion of Song Mo had spread to the capital. At the same time, the letters written by Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan had also arrived.
When Li Longji saw that the people in the palace were handling the New Year's affairs, he first learned about the situation of the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion of Song Mo and called Gao Lishi to his side.
"Lishi, do you know what Xiao Bao and Cuckoo plan to do?"
Gao Lishi had just received the letter sent by the pigeon and had just read it. He quickly replied to Li Longji, "Your Majesty, the letters from Xiao Bao and Cuckoo have arrived. They talked about this matter."
"Tell me." Li Longji really couldn't understand how providing so many things to the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion of Song Mo would benefit Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. Wasn't this using his own money to raise thieves?
"Your Majesty, Xiao Bao mentioned in the letter that after the New Year's Mansion of Song Mo will be renting a large amount of land to be used to grow Whitecaps. When the time comes, the local people will be in charge. After the harvest, one jin of Whitecaps can be exchanged for ten jin of rice or wheat flour in Jili State. As long as the people who grow Whitecaps hunt, they can also exchange for a lot of vegetable oil and salt."
Gao Lishi replied. Without waiting for Li Longji to ask, he continued to speak.
"Your Majesty, before the New Year, sending good things to the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion of Song Mo is the third ring in the chain plan. This is to let the people of the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion get used to using good things and getting used to living on warm kang beds. They will know that the things in Jili State are better than those in their own Commander-In-Chief's Mansion.
After the New Year is the fourth ring. When the rice is cheap, no one will plant it. When the oil is cheap, no one will plant beans. When the Whitecaps are planted, they can be used for farming. Every month, they will be given food and leather to train the people, making them wild. When the Whitecaps are harvested in the winter and are not exchanged, the people will be angry and warlike. They will be forced to fight.
If they fight, Jili State's army will be formed. They will use Khitan to train the soldiers as an excuse to attack. If they don't fight, they will lose the people's hearts. The people will be unstable and there will be no food. They will exhaust their bodies and weaken their will. Then, we will start the fifth ring and recruit the people into Jili State. "
Li Longji listened quietly. Although he had good willpower, he was still frightened by Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's plan. Cold sweat seeped out of his forehead.
When Gao Lishi finished, he said, "So, Xiao Bao and Cuckoo want to use their own food to dispel the people of the Commander-In-Chief's Mansion of Song Mo's Mansion from farming. They want to waste their land and make them fight more with the wild beasts to make the people brave. When the Whitecaps come out, they will cut off the food and force them to fight?
Jili State has ten thousand soldiers and good weapons. However, if they want to fight, they can't take them down. If they don't want to fight, they can't stabilize their position unless they use the army to suppress them. This plan must be from Xiao Bao. I can see that Xiao Bao is more ruthless than Cuckoo. Cuckoo is a general and a commander-in-chief. She only knows how to use troops. Xiao Bao is a master who kills without spilling blood.
Sigh! Fortunately, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Family are people of Great Tang. If they were in another country, how could Great Tang have peace? This matter must not be spread. I will wait for Xiao Bao and Cuckoo to help me sort out the northern part of Hebei Province. When the time comes, I will reward them handsomely. "
"Your subject understands, Your Majesty. Just now, your subject heard that someone impeached Xiao Bao and Cuckoo, saying that the two of them produced salt but did not use it for civil purposes. They used it to build a lake. I will wait for a memorial from the Censorate after the New Year."
Gao Lishi nodded and then said something else.
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