As winter approaches again, new changes have taken place in the war far away in the Wei Kingdom.

Originally, the Jin army under the command of Zhao Yang had been fighting with the enemy around "Puyang". Later, the Jin army may have been exhausted or lacked strength and retreated to the territory of Cao State.

This "Puyang" has another name called "Diqiu", which is the capital of Weiguo.

Cao Guo was originally one of the most loyal younger brothers of the Jin State. Unfortunately, the Jin State indulged in internal fighting and did not take into account its allies. This led to the death of another loyal ally of the Jin State, Xiao Zhu. After breaking Cao Guo's heart, Cao Guo was no longer loyal.

To fulfill the obligations of allies.

This time the army retreated to the territory of Cao State, and Cao State's monarchs and ministers pretended to be deaf and dumb. They were even warned by Qi State, Zheng State and Song State that they were not allowed to sell grain and grass to the Jin army.

In view of the Jin State's keenness in internal fighting, and the fact that Zhao Yang was at a disadvantage, Cao's monarchs and ministers did not want to cause trouble and obeyed the joint restrictions of Qi, Zheng and Song.

It was clear that the Song State was at war with the Wei State before, but not long after, the Song State once again sided with the anti-Jin alliance. The intuitive impression given to the world was that the Jin State was really in trouble.

"Zhongjun Zuo Fei withdrew his troops and returned home. He only stayed in Cao State for the winter and will besiege 'Diqiu' again next year." Zhizong had mixed feelings about the failure of the invasion of Wei State.

In the Jin State, Yuan Rong is now in charge of the interior, and the Central Army is in charge of the exterior.

Once Zhao Yang wins every external battle, his prestige will definitely rise steadily. As the prestige of Zhongjunzuo increases, Yuanrong's prestige will definitely decrease, and the authority of Zhizhuo as Yuanrong will definitely be weakened.

Zhiyao said: "Zhongjun Zuo must be asking for more troops?"

That's a certain thing.

Zhao Yang did not even allow soldiers who had paid their tax quota to return to the country. At the same time, he asked the nobles to mobilize troops from their own fiefdoms, and hinted that they did not care about the quality of the soldiers, and even slaves could be used as part of the tax quota for "Xian" who was not well-trained.

List.

What does it mean?

The Jin State had very strict requirements for nobles to lead troops and receive gifts. It clearly pointed out how many "scholars" and "disciples" must be brought with what kind of title, and how many "enviaries" who were both soldiers and farmers could not exceed the number, and even more

Each family's troops are required to wear armor. It is precisely because of this strict requirement that the combat effectiveness of the Jin army is guaranteed.

The fact is that the same thing is true. An army is composed entirely of professional soldiers, and its combat effectiveness is definitely higher than that of a ragtag army.

This time Zhao Yang relaxed the quality of the troops that each family can receive as a gift. It is foreseeable that the combat effectiveness of the Jin army will definitely decline, which means that other methods must be found to stimulate the combat enthusiasm of the combatants.

Zhishuo said: "Zhongjun Zuo wants to do something extraordinary."

You want to break the rules, right? Zhao Yang knows very well that the quality of the soldiers will drop drastically, so he must find a way.

Zhiyao knew what Zhao Yang wanted to do.

The last time Zhiyao led his troops into battle, he wanted to do what Zhao Yang would do, but unfortunately he didn't find the opportunity.

"The Zhao family is different from other families. It is a common practice for the Zhao family to do extraordinary things." Zhiyao said.

Jin's new round of troop deployment has begun.

Before the spring season of the new year arrives, each family that has received the order needs to compile a list of troops. Many families feel panicked about the uncertain future. They are not willing to use their own "scholars" and "disciples" to fill holes.

With Zhao Yang's permission, he can take more "Xian" or subjects and slaves to serve in an open and honest manner.

"My family will also need more troops next year. How do you think Yao will arrange the sources of troops?" Zhisong asked.

Originally, Zhishen went out with three "divisions", and they obeyed Zhao Yang's command.

The Jin army besieged "Puyang" for half a year. During this period, they also fought with various princes in other directions, and the battles with the remnants of the Fan and Zhongxing clans continued.

After the three "divisions" of the Zhi family fought repeatedly, only two "divisions" remained.

The other families were even worse. The Zhao family lost two more "divisions", the Wei family lost three "brigades", and the Han family lost one "division". The losses of the other families were also quite heavy.

They lost about 40,000 combat troops, and the result was the elimination of about 70,000 enemy troops.

Note that losses and destruction in war are not necessarily for the purpose of killing, but also for the purpose of capturing and maiming.

Therefore, in the war that took place in "Puyang", both sides lost a total combat power of about 110,000, but the number of people killed in the battle was about 20,000. A large part of them became prisoners, and the other part became wounded or injured.

disabled.

"My family can probably send out two more 'army' soldiers if we grit our teeth now; the Zhao family should have about one more 'army' soldiers; the Wei family should definitely have more than one 'army' and two 'divisions'; the Han family should have more than one 'army' and two 'divisions';

Weak, at most we can draw out two more 'divisions' of troops." What Zhiyao was thinking about was a trained source of troops, not the kind that would be recruited without instruction.

If they are dragged into the battlefield without training, and even slaves are included, it is difficult to calculate how many people each high-ranking family can recruit.

Zhiyao thought about it and said to Zhisong: "Lord, next year you can go on an expedition."

A little surprised, Zhisong waited patiently for Zhiyao's explanation.

"Although the enemy is victorious, it is already at the end of its war effort. Our family can send out an 'army' to go south and defeat them all in one battle!" Zhiyao said.

Zhizong subconsciously touched the location of his lungs and understood that Zhiyao's suggestion was to pull out trained soldiers. He hesitated for a moment.

"My family has not had a war for many years, and everyone is slacking off. This is a disaster." Zhiyao truly felt that the private army of the old Zhi family could not continue to be comfortable. It was very risky to go out to fight in too difficult times, and it was obvious that they would win.

It must be taken to see the blood.

Is it just that? Everyone was just trying to make up the numbers, but Lao Zhijia pulled out an army of professional soldiers, which made Zhizong feel a little bit at a disadvantage.

Zhiyao spoke slowly: "The success of defeating Puyang cannot be obtained by the help of the central army. If the Lord does not have a strong army to accompany him on the expedition, he will be taking credit. Going with a strong army will save the crisis, and it can also make our family better."

A scholar nourishes his blood and awakens his will to fight."

Once a mentality of seeking comfort is developed, the family will fail sooner or later. This is the same at the national level.

When Zhi Yao saw Zhi Shuang still hesitating, he said in a serious tone: "If you forget to fight, you will be in danger!"

Zhizhuang's body trembled, and the repeater seemed to be playing, and said: "If you forget to fight, you will be in danger? This is actually a small statement!"

Hey!

Didn't the idiom "meaning something small" only appear in the Western Han Dynasty?

Zhiyao's saying "If you forget to fight, you will be in danger" comes from "Sima Fa".

There is controversy about the author of "Sima Fa". One theory is that it was written by Jiang Taigong (Jiang Ziya), while another theory is that it was not written by Sima Ranju until the Warring States Period.

The reality is that the situation is like this. The Lao Zhi family should keep a low profile, but being too low-key is not good. Zhizhuo, who is in poor health, needs to work hard and lead the family's strong army to complete the massacre of Weiguo, lest Zhao Yang

After the victory, the momentum became even greater.

Zhisong understood Zhiyao's meaning and said with a smile: "In this way, I will repay my ancestors to you, and next year Yao will also go out with me on the expedition."

ah?

That is, all three generations of the Lao Zhi family went to war, which meant that the heads of the other Qing families also needed to leave the Jin Kingdom, lest they take the opportunity to cause trouble.

If this is done, Jin will make great moves next year!

After accepting Zhiyao's proposal, Zhisong began to make various preparations, including sending recruitment orders to various fiefdoms, and also needed to arrange defense deployments in several places for next year.

Because of the Zheng State's invasion of the Jin State, every family in the Jin State that borders the Zheng State needs to deploy troops to resist the possible invasion of the Zheng Army.

Currently, it is not the Zhi family that has the most borders with the Zheng State. The reason is that the fiefdoms in the south that originally belonged to the Fan family were under the armed control of various families. Among them, the Wei family controlled the largest number of cities.

In line with the relationship that whoever controls which area has the responsibility to defend the territory, the Wei family needs to arrange garrison troops on the long border with Zheng State, and the Wei family's troops that can be singled out to participate in the invasion of Wei State appear to be fewer.

Fortunately, the area bordering Zhishi and Zheng Guo is mostly mountainous. Several arteries are blocked, and some mobile combat troops are arranged to use the terrain to effectively resist the invasion. If it were a plain terrain, Zhishi and Zheng Guo would have been torn back and forth.

I don't know how many troops will be invested.

Last year Zhiyao led his army to invade the State of Zheng and clean up the northwest area of ​​the State of Zheng. After doing so, what Zheng State needed in that direction was to restore people's livelihood, so the Zhi family's troops went to raid from time to time; currently, the Zhi family

The frequent battles with Zheng Jun were near "Sliding ②". The two sides repeatedly staged a back-and-forth chasing game. The intensity of the war could only be described as average.

So, the Zheng State is currently the Wei family's trouble. Perhaps this is why the Wei family chose to move closer to the Zhi family, which has the most strength, and no longer continue to ride on the Zhao family's warship, which has some holes and leaks?

"I will also go on an expedition next year. Then I can appreciate Yao's majestic strategy!" Wei Jugang learned from his elders that he was qualified to go on an expedition. He first sent someone to inform Zhiyao and then came to visit him the next day.

This time, the Lao Zhi family will send out a legion to invade the Wei Kingdom. The head of the family, Zhishuo, and the eldest son, Zhishen, will both go on an expedition, and the third generation, Zhi Yao, will also go.

In order to prevent other families from having an opportunity to engage in mischief, Zhizong proposed to the monarch that the younger generations of other families should also see the world, and the monarch strongly agreed.

By the way, how many years ago did the older and younger generations of the Qing family go to war? It’s hard to say the exact time, but it was quite a long time ago anyway.

"This time all the younger generations are coming out. We should not be looked down upon by our parents. We should strive to be the first." Zhiyao encouraged.

Whether it’s a mule or a horse, it needs to be taken out for a walk, right?

It is estimated that many parents are tired of a bunch of children messing around in "Xintian" every day. When they hear that the Zhi family will send an "army" to the south, they feel that this wave must be stable, and they are very willing to let their juniors go.

Go to the battlefield and see the world.

"Yao has already gone on a campaign, and none of us have anything, so we will have nothing more than this time." Zhao Bolu came to Lao Zhi's house later.

I don’t know whether it was by coincidence or what, but several second-generation people sent people to visit one after another and agreed on a time to meet, which happened to be on the same day.

As the host, Zhiyao must inform visitors, for example, who will be there that day. If anyone does not want to meet so-and-so, they can make an appointment with Zhiyao in advance.

Therefore, Wei Ju arrived first, then Zhao Bolu came, and then Han Geng, Qi Wu, and other second generations who were qualified to follow the army south came.

Originally Han Geng was arranged to go to the west. When he learned that Zhiyao, Zhao Bolu and Wei Ju would go to the southeast, he strongly requested to go to the southeast as well.

The Han family probably didn't want Han Geng to be absent from the gathering of the second generation of the Zhi family, Zhao family, and Wei family. Some unknown operations enabled Han Geng to go to the southeast together.

Zhizong was on guard against the other families with high positions, but felt that there was no strong threat to the public family, so the monarch expressed his intention to personally conquer the family and dissuaded him.

The king's personal conquest? This has not happened in Jin for a long time. Zhisong would have been scolded by the nobles for agreeing to the king's personal conquest.

Why were they scolded? It wasn't that the nobles were worried about the monarch's safety, it was simply that they couldn't let the monarch get involved in the power of distributing the spoils of war.
To be continued...