The three big shots of North Jieyu quickly left with their own thoughts. Chancellor Wang, who was on duty in the ceremonial room, walked into the study with two pots of Green Ant Wine. He saw that the young king had not yet sat down. He was standing behind the desk, looking down at the two big seals on the table. One was naturally the world-famous Liang Wang Seal, which was regarded as the most important small object in the world during Liyang Yonghui's reign. In the past twenty years, as long as it involved more than five thousand people in the northwest border, this seal had to be stamped. The shape of this seal was exactly the same as the current Zhao imperial court, imitating the style of Da Chu of the Central Plains during the Spring and Autumn Period. It was a jade seal seal, and the strokes of the seal were even, without any sharp edges. It had always been regarded as authentic calligraphy. But next to this Liang Wang Seal, there was another seal that had long been withdrawn from Beiliang's officialdom. After the Xu family's armored cavalry followed Beiliang's butcher Xu Xiao into Beiliang, this ancient bronze seal was habitually called the Great General's Seal. Occasionally, it would be seen in some important military inscriptions outside the Pass. After Heir Hsu Fengnian officially became the King of Beiliang, it completely disappeared from the border army's field of vision. The Great General's Seal was written in willow leaf script. The bronze seal was three cun three fen, nine fen thick, and shaped like a crouching tiger and coiling dragon. Now, the Liyang Army's permanent general with real power, Wu Zheng Zhen Ping, had long switched to using the silver seal of the Chi Ding script, abandoning the knife-like willow leaf script. In fact, Mount Qingliang also had a big seal, mainly used for the promotion and dispatch of Beiliang's officials. Hsu Fengnian made an exception and left it to Deputy Administrator Song Dongming, allowing him to stamp the seal himself after the official document was approved, to show his superior position of "sole power".
After Chancellor Wang sat down, he opened two pots of wine and leaned forward to hand one to the young king. It was better to enjoy together than to enjoy alone.
The old Confucian raised his head and drank a mouthful of strong wine, exclaiming in joy. Then he looked at Hsu Fengnian and said, "I have heard about the Left Cavalry. Some words have accumulated in my stomach for almost twenty years and I have to spit them out. You don't have to say anything, just drink and listen to me. "
Hsu Fengnian sat back in his chair and nodded.
This renowned scholar of the literary world, the leader of the scholarly circles, slowly said, "I have always had seven orifices and six orifices on the battlefield, but I know nothing about it. As a result, apart from bringing a few scholars to Beiliang, which can be considered a small contribution, I don't have any other achievements to show for it. I can only peacefully stay in the remote academies and study. In all these years, I've secretly traveled to Beiliang many times and met Xu Xiao a few times. I've also met Li Yishan from Tide-listening Pavilion a few times. Xu Xiao is known for being a terrible chess player. His chess skills are among the worst in the world, but his ability to reverse his moves is top-notch. That's why I don't like to interact with him … "
Noticing the strange look on the young lord's face, the Old Master continued to say shamelessly, "Li Yishan is a rare and extraordinary person. Of course, he would be arrogant and treat me as his confidant."
Hsu Fengnian finally couldn't help but say, "That's enough."
This Old Man choked on his wine and coughed a few times. The wine from the pot of Green Ant spilled all over his clothes. The old man casually patted his robe and said, "Li Yishan, who is in seclusion on the top floor of Tide-listening Pavilion, stands too high and sees too far. That's why he inevitably feels lonely. Sages have been like this since ancient times, so it's impossible to escape. Every time I go there to visit, even though Li Yishan doesn't give me a good face, I know that this guy must be happy. There were a few times when he was drunk, and Li Yishan would say some heartfelt words to me. He never talked about the Liyang imperial court, but talked less about the strategist Xu Xiao and more about the northwest … "
At this point, This Old Man, who seemed to be taking advantage of his seniority, paused and drank a large mouthful of Green Ant wine. He first stuffed it in his mouth, and then suddenly raised his neck and poured it into his stomach. His old body couldn't help but tremble. His weathered cheeks turned red. He continued, "As for the strategizing of the literati and the military strategy of the scholars, I don't accept Benxi of Liyang, nor Nalan Youci of Nanjiang, or even Huang Longshi. As for Zhao Changling, who suppressed Li Yishan even after death, ha, don't even mention him. As to why Zhao Changling was more famous than Li Yishan both in life and in death, Li Yishan himself, and Xu Xiao who knew better, both had their own difficulties. Li Yishan was born a poor scholar. Zhao Changling, the grandson of the Da Chu aristocracy, was more or less the 'Song Family Jade Tree' of the present Song Maolin in West Chu. When Zhao Changling chose to assist the fallen Xu Xiao, what was it? Eight hundred servants in a grandiose manner. Can you imagine that? In any case, this old man is not willing to think about it. The more I think, the more envious I am. Xu Xiao wants to win over the landowning households in the north and south of the river. Zhao Changling is an eye-catching flag. Otherwise, would Xu Xiao say something like 'the entire army can die in battle, but Mister Zhao must live'? "
The old man smiled. "Of course, Zhao Changling is also very capable. Zhao Changling contributed greatly to Xu Xiao's destruction of the six countries in the later stages of the Spring and Autumn War. His reputation was so good that even the old emperor of Li Yang, Zhao Li, wanted to invite him into the court to be made a marquis. And Li Yishan? The old emperor Zhao Li never mentioned him. In reality, every time Xu Xiao reported his military achievements, he praised Zhao Changling greatly. His memorials were full of flowers, but as long as it was related to Li Yishan's schemes, he did not mention anything. Wangye, do you know why? "
Hsu Fengnian said calmly, "I only know that those beautifully worded articles were incited by Xu Xiao, and then written by my master himself."
The old man nodded. "So, the old emperor and Xu Xiao are of one mind. Mister Zhao, the Liyang imperial court can use a hoe to poach people away. That Xu Xiao admits defeat. But don't think about the unknown Li Yishan in court. Otherwise, you will be crossing the line. Xu Xiao may really start a rebellion."
Hsu Fengnian smiled and said, "Starting a rebellion is an exaggeration. My master was the first to oppose it."
The old man snorted and glared. "Give an example, do you not understand?"
Hsu Fengnian finally picked up the fragrant Green Ant Wine and took a sip. "Old Mister, please continue to give pointers."
The old man suddenly asked, "What did I want to say at the beginning?"
Hsu Fengnian put down the wine jug. "You two often talk about the northwest."
The old man suddenly understood. "Yes, yes, yes. Li Yishan once told me a secret after he was drunk. He said that if Beiliang wanted to defeat Beimang in the worst-case scenario, they had to create a situation first!"
The old man stopped halfway through his deliberately mystifying speech. He narrowed his eyes and smiled. Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at the many objects on the desk. When the old man's gaze stopped on the seal of Prince Fangliang, Hsu Fengnian smiled and asked, "Even if I was willing to give it to you, would you dare to accept it?"
The old man's gaze shifted slightly to the bronze seal of the general, which now only had symbolic meaning. Hsu Fengnian glared at him angrily and said rudely, "Don't even think about it!"
The old man who originally wanted to take advantage of the situation was reluctant to part with it. He muttered regretfully, "That kind of Willow Leaf Script that contains the style of the frontier fortress of Dafeng is not commonly seen."
Then the old man raised his chin and saw the white jade seed material beside the young king's jug of Green Ant Wine. His eyes lit up. This poor new Prince Fangliang actually left behind something that was worth a little bit of silver?
Hsu Fengnian put away the seed material and sneered, "If Mister Wang has the ability to snatch it away, then don't dream about it."
The old man curled his lips. With Chancellor Wang's martial arts aptitude, even if he gave the old man a thousand years of martial arts cultivation, it would still be useless to snatch something from a martial arts grandmaster. No young man would bully an old man like him.
Hsu Fengnian gently held the white jade seed material and said straightforwardly, "Actually, I can guess what master said. The only chance for us Beiliang cavalry to win against Beimang is to first exhaust Beimang's top-class border army and grassland elite private army. Then even if Beimang exhausted its national strength, it would still be able to support the third Great Battle of Liang Mang. However, at that time, Beimang's hundreds of thousands of cavalry, compared to Liu Jinu who was guarding Hutou Town, and compared to me who is guarding Jubei Town, the Beimang cavalry that we are facing is actually just an embroidered pillow that looks good but is useless. From Dong Zhuo's private cavalry in the first Great Battle of Liang Mang, to Yang Yuanzan's direct cavalry in the mouth of the calabash, to Liu Gui's trusted cavalry, to the Qiang cavalry in the second Great Battle, to the Rouran cavalry of Hong Jingyan and Murong Baoding's Winter Thunder elite cavalry, to the twenty thousand cavalry of the Huangsong Puzhong Army in Liuzhou, the cavalry of the Wanyan family in Longguan, and so on. They are all on this list! "
Hsu Fengnian said calmly, "For example, as long as we take down the battle of Old Woman Mountain in Liuzhou, not only will we lose all of Gusai Prefecture's border army elites, we will also lose half of the Southern Dynasty. This is the potential advantage that the first Great Battle of Liang Mang brought to Beiliang."
The old man asked doubtfully, "You mean to say that Beimang's Peace Order plan has a fatal flaw?"
Hsu Fengnian shook his head and said, "You are only half right."
The old man was confused and almost wanted to scratch his ears and cheeks.
Hsu Fengnian thought for a moment, then picked up the wine pot and tilted it slowly, as if he wanted to place it horizontally in front of his eyes. "Up until now, Beimang still has a greater chance of victory, but Beiliang has sacrificed so many people just to tilt this wine pot. When the time comes, the more powerful Beimang is, the more intense the collapse will be. "
The wine pot tilted more and more, and just as the wine was about to spill out of the pot, Hsu Fengnian gently put it back on the table.
Xu Fengnian suddenly said without reason, "Now I'm afraid that the Old Madam and the Magistrate of Taiping are willing to throw away the broken jar. Not only the West Capital, but also half of the Southern Dynasty. They are determined to break into North Resisting City."
The old man's face was pale. He asked tentatively, "Beimang won't be so crazy and decisive, right?"
Hsu Fengnian looked at the night sky outside the window and said, "God knows."
The old man only thought that the young king said it casually, but he didn't know that the words "God knows" were exactly the literal meaning.
Tuoba inexplicably obtained the body of a Celestial Being, and his martial arts cultivation was close to Wang Xianzhi's peak. At the critical moment, he even surpassed him.
Since even Tuoba was so lucky, then wouldn't the Old Woman of Beimang, who occupied half of the world's fate, be even more blessed?
Thunder and rain were all the grace of the monarch.
It was also the will of God!
— —
Chancellor Wang took the empty wine pot and left.
The young king stared at the map of the situation outside Liangzhou Pass that was spread on the table.
At the same time, in a heavily guarded tent in Beimang, the candlelight that was as thick as a baby's arm swayed gently. The Peace Order stood in front of the table and looked down at a map of the situation of the four provinces of Beiliang. He chuckled and said, "The chess players of the Central Plains all say that the golden horn, the silver border, and the grass belly, is it true?"
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