Xuan Chengzi knew that this was the result and was not surprised.
But Wang Yuan was shocked deep down in his heart. Since ancient times, the truly outstanding scholars have never been those who devoted themselves to reading.
On the contrary, the most talented scholars among scholars are those who make wonderful use of books and knowledge.
These people have flexible minds and never follow steps. The knowledge in the book becomes a part of them, and they can learn and apply it at their fingertips.
Such a person is a true scholar, not comparable to those pedantic old Confucians, and he, Ye An, is such a person!
Ye An didn't know that he had been "labeled" by Wang Yuan, and looked at the shocked expressions of the two old men and sneered.
"Don't you two gentlemen feel that the city of Tokyo relies too much on water transportation?
Among the four water transport canals, the Bianhe River is the largest. Emperor Taizong often said: Give me water in this canal! This canal can be called the lifeblood of the country! Once there is a police force in the Bianhe River, the consequences will be disastrous. If the Liao people invade south, they will drive straight in and don't think of other places.
If we attack and destroy the water transportation along the Bianhe River alone, and gather a large number of troops in Bianliang, how many days can we hold on?"
Ye An's question stunned Xuan Chengzi, and also shocked Wang Yuan, who had originally planned to take the exam at Ye An's school.
But then Wang Yuanchengzhu said in his chest: "The Liao people can't reach the Bianhe River! They can't approach Bianliang in Tokyo either!"
A disdainful smile appeared on Ye An's face, which surprised Wang Yuan slightly. It was just as he had guessed. Ye An said with a smile: "How many miles is it from Chanzhou? How far is it from Tokyo to Chanzhou?!"
"In the Battle of Chanyuan, the Liao people went all the way south. After passing Zhending Mansion, it was like entering an uninhabited country, and then they went all the way south to the important place of the capital! If Xiao Taolin hadn't been unlucky enough to be shot to death by the Eight Bull Crossbow, the Liao army's momentum would have been greatly reduced. It would have been a disaster.
If the state is not protected, Tokyo is just around the corner! The Liao army besieged the city and cut off the four canals of water transportation...Tokyo is trapped!"
There was silence on the deck, Wang Yuan and Xuan Chengzi were sweating profusely in horror.
Wang Yuan subconsciously said: "What's the solution to this situation?"
Ye An looked at him strangely and said, "Why do you ask me, sir?"
Wang Yuan suddenly understood and smiled bitterly: "There is no barrier in the north... I missed Yan Yun..."
"Of course!"
"Hands!"
Seeing the ruler that was more than a foot long, Ye An panicked and said, "Hey?! Sir... don't want it anymore?"
Wang Yuan looked at Ye An coldly, slapping his palms again and again: "Everyone in the country knows about this, and you are trying to be smart! One mistake! Bringing evil into righteousness, and leading a teacher into the trap! Two mistakes! You are fooling yourself!
Discussing state affairs without coming up with good policies is not a son of man or a minister of man! Three wrong things!"
Every time Wang Yuan hit him, Xuanchengzi next to him would say: "It's time to hit him!"
In the end, Ye An's hand turned into a pig's trotter again at a speed visible to the naked eye...
What he said was true, and it was true, but it was nutritious.
Setting the capital in Bianliang, Tokyo, was the result of the old Zhao family weighing the pros and cons. Moving the capital was not out of the question, but it involved too many interests, and the pros outweighed the cons? Did a founding king like Zhao Kuangyin not know the dangers of Tokyo?
Of course he knew! But he never moved the capital until his death...
Is there no danger to defend Bianliang City? This is also true, so why did they hoard a large number of troops? And build embankments in the north? They used the fertile fields as waterlogging to prevent the Liao people from going south.
Ye An mentioned a problem that everyone knows about, but there is no solution. This is what makes Wang Yuan most uncomfortable? It is also the reason why his teeth are itchy.
In the end, Wang Yuan ended with a sentence: "An empire depends on virtue but not on danger? To strengthen a country, do not rely on the danger of mountains and rivers, and to dominate the world, do not rely on the advantage of war!", but Ye An disagreed.
This sentence sounds reasonable and echoes the spirit of Confucianism? But when the real powerful enemy comes? Who will reason with you?
Convincing people with virtue? That is based on your strong military force. The rules of this world have not changed for hundreds of millions of years, even thousands of years later. The weak eat the strong, and the fittest survive!
Ye An didn't want to use the word "naive" to describe them? "Stupid" is the true meaning, of course after looking at his own pig's trotters? Ye An decisively gave up the plan of "complaining".
"Sir, why did you hit Xiaolangjun again?!"
Zhan'er felt distressed and put a cold water towel on Ye An's hand. Ye An smiled helplessly: "Because he is sick!"
Tie Er immediately came over: "Mr. Wang is sick?! What kind of disease?"
"Delusion of grandeur syndrome!"
Hearing what Ye An said? Tie Er and Wang Bang left. They knew that whenever Xiao Langjun said something they couldn't understand, he was suffering from hysteria...
Ye An decided not to discuss non-academic issues with Wang Yuan until his hand was completely healed, especially military and political matters.
He found that the literati of this era were very open-minded in their thinking. They were the "incarnation of wisdom" in the classics and history, which was far from the image of ancient literati in his impression.
The speed of the official boat going down the river is not slow. Of course, the most important thing is that it is much more comfortable than the ox-cart. As long as you don't get seasick, it is relatively stable.
Fortunately, among everyone, only Tie Er was slightly seasick, but it was not serious.
No one expected that the tall and thick man would vomit in the boat. He usually ate like a big animal, but he lost his appetite when he saw the food.
The official ship headed east along the Jinshui River and arrived in Tokyo in just half a day. Standing on the bow of the ship, Ye An saw the spectacular Xishui Gate from a distance.
This is a large-scale city wall building, which spans the water gate like a huge gantry crane. From above, you can vaguely see the imperial guards patrolling the city.
The water gate is not small in order to allow large and small ships to pass through, but before entering the gate, the mast must be lowered without exception.
This made Ye An a little confused. In the famous painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival, the ships in front of Hongqiao had just begun to lower their masts.
This question was ignored by Wang Yuan and Xuan Chengzi with great disdain.
The Wang Gang said cautiously from the side: "Xiao Langjun, the mast can be raised again after the ship has passed the Banzhi survey of Xishui Gate. Otherwise, how can the dozens of miles of waterways in the city be managed by manpower alone?!"
Ye An also felt that his question was a bit stupid. He rubbed his nose in embarrassment and stopped talking. In his opinion, the scale of Tokyo City was not big, but after passing through Xishui Gate, he was shocked to find that the scale of Tokyo City was huge.
Far beyond his imagination.
The outer city wall he saw alone was more than ten meters high, as high as a five-story building in later generations.
Seeing Ye An's curiosity about the city of Tokyo, Xuan Chengzi knew that he had never been to Tokyo, but had only heard it described by the elder named Meng Yuanlao.
Wang Yuan smiled slightly at the side: "Tokyo, Bianliang, was Bianzhou in the Tang Dynasty, Dongdu in the Later Liang Dynasty, Tokyo in the Later Jin Dynasty, the Later Han Dynasty, and the Later Zhou Dynasty also used it as the capital. It was immediately used as the capital in the early dynasty.
On top of the old city, after several reconstructions and reconstructions, its scale far exceeds that of previous generations.
Tokyo has an outer city, an inner city, and an imperial city, divided by three city walls. The outer city wall is more than fifty miles long and has twelve city gates.
There are three gates in the south, two gates in the east and west, and four gates in the north. Because the four canals are connected, there are nine water gates. Outside the city is the Hulong River, which is more than ten feet wide. Willows are planted along the river.
The inner city is located in Tokyo, slightly northwest. The city wall is more than 20 miles in circumference and has ten gates.
The imperial city has a wall of five miles in circumference and six gates. The entire Tokyo has three city walls, four canals, thirty-three bridges, four royal roads, and more than forty palaces. It is high to the sky, strong and majestic!"
Ye An nodded slightly. This was almost the same as what he had seen in the information before. Although this large-scale ancient building was shocking, it was...
It really couldn't move Ye An that much.
There was no way, he had seen too many more majestic buildings in later generations, and his shock came from the Tokyo city built by the ancients under backward technical conditions, not from the city of Tokyo itself.