"Sun Tzu said: 'Soldiers are important matters of the country, the place of life and death, and the way of survival and destruction. We must observe them. Therefore, the classics are based on five things, and they are calibrated based on calculations and their emotions.' I don't know which five things they are? I am old. I can’t remember clearly, so I dare to ask the king for advice.”
Since Li Xian said so, Li Ji didn't hesitate and just opened his mouth to ask.
Li Xian smiled slightly when he heard this, because Li Ji's first question was very simple. It was a passage at the beginning of "Sun Tzu's Beginning of Plans". This "Beginning of Plans" was the first chapter at the beginning, and it mainly introduced the war. Preparation is very important. Li Xian knew the importance of this article in his previous life. In the past half year, he has memorized the entire art of war by heart. How could he not be able to answer it?
Therefore, without any hesitation, he opened his mouth and said: "Therefore, the scriptures are based on five things, and they are compiled based on calculations and emotions: the first is Tao, the second is Heaven, the third is Earth, the fourth is General, and the fifth is Dharma. Tao refers to people (originally called "people", but changed to "people" to avoid Taizong's taboo) who agree with their superiors, so they can die with them and live with them without fear of danger. Heaven, yin and yang, cold and heat , the system of time. The place refers to distance, danger, width, life and death. The general refers to wisdom, faith, benevolence, courage, and strictness. The law refers to the rules and regulations, the official way, and the main function. All these five , All generals will hear it, and those who know it will win, but those who don’t know will not win. Therefore, they use calculations to find out their feelings, saying: Who is the master? Who is the general? Who is capable? Who can get the heaven and earth? Who can carry out the laws? Who is the stronger among the soldiers? Who is the soldier? Practice? Who knows the rewards and punishments? This is how I know the outcome."
"What's the art of using troops?" Li Ji naturally knew that this part must be difficult to show, so his expression did not change at all and he continued to ask.
Li Xian was also unambiguous, and said straight away: "In terms of military use, the whole country is the best, and the breaking of the country is second; the whole army is the best, and the breaking of the army is second; the whole brigade is the best, and the breaking of the brigade is second; the whole army is the best, and the breaking of the brigade is second. , breaking the soldiers is second; the whole army is the first, breaking the army is second. Therefore, a hundred battles are victorious, which is not a good thing; subduing the enemy's soldiers without fighting... Therefore, the method of using troops is to encircle the enemy in ten, and to attack in five. If it is doubled, it can be divided. If the enemy is small, it can be fought. If it is small, it can be escaped. If it is not small, it can be avoided. Therefore, the small enemy is strong and the big enemy can be captured."
Li Ji then asked some questions about some passages in Sun Tzu's Art of War. Seeing that Li Xian opened his mouth and answered fluently, he couldn't help but nodded with satisfaction.
"Haha, although the king is young, he actually knows the military books by heart. He is really smart. A rough man like this old man may never be able to memorize the books so well in his life. I really admire him." Cheng Yaojin on the side saw Li Xian talking to him. The art of war was so familiar that I immediately felt envious and praised him endlessly.
Li Ji on the side said calmly: "What's the use of just memorizing it without understanding its meaning? I believe that the king must have a deep understanding of its meaning after studying for half a year. I don't know much about some of the words. I understand, and I would like to ask your Majesty to clarify my doubts. "The shape of a soldier is like water. The shape of water avoids heights and goes downwards. The shape of soldiers avoids reality and strikes at the weak. Water controls the flow according to the ground, and soldiers win according to the enemy." Therefore, soldiers have no constant momentum, and water has no constant shape. Those who can win due to the changes of the enemy are called gods.'"
At first, Li Xian just thought that Li Ji was making things difficult for him, but later he gradually figured out the meaning, because what Li Ji asked were all the key points that a general should master. Now he sees Li Ji asked this again, and naturally he understood the other party's intentions. But the more he did it, the more he didn't understand in his heart. The old fox didn't know what his purpose was, but he obviously wanted to cultivate himself into a general.
However, doubts remained doubts. Li Xian didn't want to lose the opportunity to obtain "The Art of War", so he translated this passage without any further thought.
Afterwards, Li Ji indeed chose a few words on the art of using troops to test. Li Xian, with the thought of using soldiers to block them and water to cover them up, translated those words in his own words without hesitation.
After such exchanges, Lao Cheng was full of admiration and put a lot of high hats on Li Xian. However, Lao Cheng was not good at flattery. What he said was nothing more than "The king is smart, but I am not as good as me."
Repeated words such as "I am ashamed of myself" and "Blessed is the Holy One".
But Li Ji was obviously not satisfied, and said calmly: "If you understand the meaning, you may not be a good general. It's not like Brother Cheng doesn't know. There are many people who talk about war on paper in history, such as Zhao Kuo and Ma Di. So if you want to
To be a good general, you need to be able to adapt to changes, have the wisdom to predict the enemy's opportunities, and the virtue of being supported by soldiers. If you have Brother Cheng's courage and disregard for his own life, he will be a good general through the ages, which is rare to find."
Although Li Ji said this to Cheng Yaojin, he actually said it to Li Xian. As Li Xianzhi was shrewd, he naturally understood it as soon as he heard it. However, this made his doubts deepen. Why?
This old fox is so partial to him? Is there a conspiracy, or does he want to benefit himself, and then take the opportunity to cut off contact with himself, making himself embarrassed to go to him again in the future?
But Li Ji obviously didn't want to give him an answer. Before Li Xian could think about it deeply, he said to Li Xian again: "The king also heard clearly just now. Therefore, I think that the king can only understand the art of war, but he can't use it."
There is a big difference. For example, I, Brother Cheng, have read very few military books and Taoist strategies, but when leading troops to fight, there are few opponents. This is nothing but the accumulation of many years of battlefield experience. Therefore, I have one last question for my subordinates.
If your Majesty approves, then I will accept this military document from you, otherwise, I will swear to death that I will not obey your order."
"The last question is about using troops to fight? But after all, Xiao Wang is young. Even if he has the intention, how can the Holy Spirit agree? What's more, the world is peaceful. Even if Xiao Wang wants to use troops, how can he use it?" Li Xian has never fought before.
Fighting, he also knew that fighting could not be practiced overnight. If he failed in the battle, wouldn't he be caught by this old fox? So he refused without hesitation.
But he heard Li Ji laugh and say: "Your Majesty has misunderstood. Don't say that there is no war to fight at the moment. Even if there is a war, although the lower official lives in Sikong and is of the same rank as the East and West Taiwan, he has no right to decide to send troops to fight."
What's more, fighting is not accomplished overnight, and victory in a decisive battle cannot be determined by unilateral factors. In addition, the king is a prince and is young. If he is not protected by powerful and stable ministers, how can the emperor be willing to let go? Therefore, the topic this time is
The lower official sent out nothing more than an imitation. The lower official asked Brother Cheng to lead 5,000 soldiers to defend a city. However, the king surrounded the city with 50,000 soldiers and limited the king to capture the city within five days. If he won, the lower official
Even if your Majesty approves it, I will present the "Art of War for the Duke of Wei" immediately. I wonder what your Majesty's intention is?"
"Hmph, what? What else can you do? You old fox has clearly dug a hole for me to jump. If I don't jump, how can I give up in vain?" Li Xian looked at Li Ji's smiling face and had the urge to step forward and beat him wildly.
Suddenly, I had an impulse, but since I had to respect the seniors and the most important thing was that I couldn't be my opponent at all, I had no choice but to suppress the anger in my heart and reluctantly agreed.
But Li Xian knew that the opponent in front of him was not easy to deal with. Although the force in his hands was ten times that of the opponent, and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers was set to be the same between the two sides, the opponent was a soldier with decades of fighting experience.
It is extremely difficult for an experienced historical general to capture a city occupied by such generals within five days, and it is impossible to do it without some clever strategies.
But Li Xian still wanted to try to see if he could forcibly capture a city in a short time with ten times the force.
So after Li Xian gave the order, his troops began to forcibly attack the city according to his intention, so they used a bunch of ladders, heavy and heavy siege hammers, powerful catapults, and tall
All the wells and siege equipment were used. When Li Ji announced the end of the day, Li Xian had not achieved any results except for the loss of more than 3,000 men.
Li Xian was dissatisfied and decided to make a sneak attack at night. As a result, the army was discovered by the night watchmen of Lao Cheng's army before they could get close to the city wall. Because Li Xian's army retreated in panic, Lao Cheng led his troops to kill them. The army lost more than 2,000 people, which greatly affected its morale.
I suddenly felt quite depressed.
The next day, Li Xian ordered his soldiers to fight again. As a result, the soldiers were exhausted because of the heavy physical exertion last night, and they all objected. Li Xian had no choice but to order a day's rest.
As a result, two days have passed, and Li Xian has not achieved any results. He has also lost more than 5,000 soldiers under his command. The morale of the entire army is low, which makes him sit there and worry.
In desperation, Li Xian had no choice but to order rewards to the three armies to boost morale. At the same time, the army continued to fight on the third day. This time he adopted many so-called "wonderful strategies" to attack the city, but they were all cleverly cracked by Lao Cheng.
He originally ordered the city tower to be set on fire, but the well-prepared Lao Cheng led the city defense army to use sharp hook knives to remove the lit pine branches, hemp poles and other objects. Afterwards, Li Xian ordered the digging of tunnels, but was overheard by the other party digging the tunnels himself.
He made a sound and dug a long trench in advance. When Li Xian's army dug to the trench, the soldiers were exposed and were dragged away and killed one by one.
Li Xianben said that he had every means to prevent the other party from hearing the sound of digging tunnels, and he could judge whether someone was digging a trench in advance, but he thought that this was his biggest secret and could not be exposed, so he had to give up bitterly.
On the fourth day, Li Xian ordered the army to attack fiercely for another day, but still found nothing. When Li Ji announced the end of the fourth day, he said helplessly: "No more fighting, Xiao Wang admits defeat. Humph, General Cheng has fought all his life."
Over the years, I have fought countless great battles. How can I win a great victory with my little ability? This is obviously unfair. If I were to defend and General Cheng attacked, I believe I can hold it for five days."
Before Li Ji could say anything, Cheng Yaojin smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you are looking down on me too much. Since your Majesty is so confident, I will swap with you. If someone is on the offensive side, Your Majesty will come."
Defensively, I guarantee that it will take less than five days, but only three days to capture the city under your feet."
After saying that, Cheng Yaojin wanted to take Li Xian's military talisman, but he heard Li Xian say: "Wait a minute, the general will move the Gongzhi city defense troops to a distant place first. Xiao Wang doesn't want to be said to be occupying."
