(There's one more chapter in the morning, not included in tomorrow's update. Two more chapters for tomorrow.)
In the winter, the water outside the Great Wall dried up and the grass turned yellow. To be able to come across a little bit of tenacious greenery was exceptionally pleasing. The three of them stopped their horses by the bank of a water source. If they rode straight north for three days, they would be able to see the tiled city. Hsu Fengnian squatted down, scooped up a handful of water and splashed it on his face. He exhaled deeply.
Sui Xie Gu, who was not familiar with military affairs, asked casually, "Are these northern barbarians out of their minds? Why don't they station their troops at the border in early autumn? Didn't these nomadic barbarians, who lived on horseback, invade the Central Plains in autumn to plunder the harvest? What's the point of plundering in winter? "
Hsu Fengnian could not help but laugh. Tantai Ping explained calmly, "What you're saying is the general situation. In the past, the nomadic tribes brought great damage to the Central Plains. Most of them came south in winter, taking advantage of the frozen river to allow the cavalry to pass unimpeded. At the end of the Dafeng Dynasty, the northern barbarians used this opportunity to invade the Central Plains."
Hsu Fengnian continued, "The relationship between the grassland nomads and the Central Plains farming dynasties is like that of a wolf and a tiger. The latter always has the initiative. Whenever the latter is in a state of exhaustion due to the alternation between prosperity and decline, they are like a young tiger, a sick tiger, or a tiger that is about to die of old age. That's when the northern barbarians are at their strongest. Therefore, every time there is a civil war in the Central Plains, the northern barbarians will invade the border and take advantage of the situation. But in the end, from the Great Qin to Liyang, it was the Central Plains dynasties that suppressed the northern barbarians. You have to know that the official history of the Great Qin recorded that 'five barbarians were equal to one Qin soldier'. The official history of the Dafeng Dynasty also said that 'the barbarians were skilled in Qin, but three of them were equal to one Dafeng soldier'. That is to say, even if the northern nomads had obtained many forging techniques from the Great Qin Dynasty, three of them were only equal to one Dafeng soldier. But today, Beimang relies on the southern dynasty that has absorbed countless people from the Spring and Autumn Period. In the Central Plains, only the elite troops of Zhao Yi, the Prince of Guangling, and Zhao Bing, the Prince of Yanchi, dare to claim to be equal to the Beimang. "
Sui Xie Gu could not help but ask: "Is the Liyang Dynasty not strong enough to unify the central plains? Didn't they say that Li Yang was as powerful as the Great Qin? "
Hsu Fengnian laughed and said, "If the current Emperor had not been in a hurry to show the world his great talent and strategy when he first ascended to the throne, and had not fought those wars with Beimang, and had instead calmly digested the strength of the Eight Kingdoms of Spring and Autumn, then it would not have mattered at all whether our Beimang had 300,000 soldiers or not. At most, it would have been the icing on the cake."
Sui Xie Gu glared and said: "Is that Emperor Zhao's brain flooded with water? At that time, there were no strategists to dissuade him? "
Hsu Fengnian said helplessly, "At that time, the odds between Li Yang and Beimang were 50-50. Who would dare to carelessly persuade them? What's more, the Zhao Family's Son of Heaven wanted to rely on his military exploits to suppress a large number of famous generals, led by my father and Gu Jiantang. In this world, how can there be such a clear distinction between right and wrong between people and matters? Take me for example, I am Xu Xiao's son. In my eyes, Xu Xiao is naturally a King of a different surname who did not commit any major crimes but had countless great achievements. In the eyes of Crown Prince Zhao Zhuan and the other princes, the current Emperor must be the most diligent and caring Emperor in the history of Li Yang. Back then, when Zhao Kai wanted to kill me at the Marsh of Reeds, I also wanted to go to Iron Gate Pass to kill him. Between the two of us, neither of us is a person who has committed the most heinous crimes. It's just that there's no other way. At that time, we were both chess pieces, pawns that were pushed across the river.
Sui Xie Gu mocked: "Oh, from your tone, it seems like you've turned into a chess player today?"
Hsu Fengnian smiled and did not reply to Old Ancestor Chi Jian's sarcasm. He stood up and looked towards the north. On the line there, there was the military town of Wa Zhujun, Xijing, Golden Toad State, and further north was the Beimang Royal Court.
Tantai Pingjing, who was dressed in the white robes of a Qi Refinement Warrior, suddenly said, "To the nomadic tribes, isn't a strong and stable Central Plains dynasty also a disaster? Once the ruler of this dynasty admires Bian Gong, he will be surrounded by a group of talented generals who hope to spread their whips across the desert. The reverse is also true. Even if the Li Yang Dynasty is destroyed and the monarch with the surname changes one after another, the battle between the nomadic tribes and the farming dynasty will not change … "
Hsu Fengnian shook his head and said, "Yes!"
Tantai Pingjing was in disbelief, "Yes?"
Hsu Fengnian stretched out a finger and pointed to the north, "As long as we can conquer this land, we can then build several Great Qin Roads that run through Beimang!"
Tantai Pingjing's face was full of disbelief, "Are you crazy?"
Hsu Fengnian narrowed his eyes and said softly, "I am not crazy. If one were to talk about crazy, then that would be the young Grand Secretary who was in charge of the country at that time. Back then, Xu Xiao and Gu Jiantang argued endlessly about who to choose to guard the northwest gate. On the surface, both Grand Secretaries resolutely opposed my father being the ruler of a different surname. However, I only learned of an inside story much later. Among the opposition, someone convinced the old Grand Secretary who had retired from his official position and returned to his hometown but still retained his authority. This person was Zhang Julu. Because this civil official who had never joined the army had an ambition that all military generals could not imagine. The young Grand Secretary wanted to use Beiliang as the outpost to attack Beimang, and use the Beiliang cavalry as the main force to attack Beimang. This would reduce the loss of military strength and supply pressure of Li Yang as much as possible. Under this premise, Grand Secretary Zhang would have the imperial court acquiesce to the Xu family's limited infiltration of Xishu and Nanzhao. "
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