The carriage slowly drove out of the city gate, the sky had just dawned, and a large number of people who were ready to enter the city had gathered outside the city gate, Fan Sui gently opened the curtain and looked at the group of people gathered at the city gate.

The clothes are ragged, the expression is numb, almost become the collective portrayal of these people, in their bodies, Fan Sui can not see the joys, sorrows and sorrows that a living person should have, they silently gathered at the gate of the city, some carrying a backpack, some pushing a small cart, some carrying a blue child, they are ordinary people outside Xianyang City, entering the city early in the morning, thinking about selling the fruits of yesterday's hard work, in exchange for a day's living expenses.

There was a large chest at the gate of the city, and everyone who entered the city had to throw into it two pennies of copper, which was the fee for entering the city. An official sat by the box, his eyes staring at everyone who was about to enter the city.

Fan Sui sighed and lowered the curtains, this is Xianyang, the capital of Daqin. Once upon a time, this was the most prosperous city in Daqin, and the people here stood tall and proud that they were a Daqin people, how many years have passed, how did it become like this?

From their bodies, Fan Sui can't see the slightest expectation for the future, and their current state seems to be living for the sake of living.

This is true in the capital, and you can imagine other places. Fan Sui closed his eyes and rubbed his temples gently, around the capital, the officials were still under the direct supervision of the imperial court, relatively speaking, they had to be more regular, even so, the people were overwhelmed, and the people in those remote places had to bear the taxes of the imperial court, and they had to suffer from the exploitation of those corrupt officials, but they were afraid that they had reached the verge of collapse.

The peasant rebellion in Shu County has intensified, and in the few days since he returned to the dynasty, there have been several riots reported to Xianyang, although they were all suppressed in a very short time, but Fan Sui passed through the bloody numbers in the report. It seems to catch a glimpse of a bigger storm brewing. The local army of Shu County has been clumsy on the left and right, pressing the gourd and raising the scoop, the county guard of Shu County has repeatedly asked the imperial court to send troops into Shu to assist in quelling the rebellion, and the imperial court has indeed begun to discuss this matter, and the latest proposal is to let Zhou Yu lead an army into Shu County. Now there is an alliance between Qin and Chu, and there is still an elite army stationed on the border of Qin and Chu, which is no longer necessary in the eyes of many people.

Although the wind and waves are calm in the DPRK and China, there are still turbulent waves under the dark, and Cui Yuan has been called ill by several important ministers, which makes it difficult to deal with the government. More middle- and lower-level officials were still hesitating, which made Fan Sui, although he had the strong support of the King of Qin, was still struggling, and every step was difficult.

Fan Sui disagreed with Yingying's desire for a clean clean-up operation, because in this way, he was afraid that there would be no one to use in the court, and most of the officials would be imprisoned, and there was no shortage of officials among these people. More importantly, the Great Purge of the DPRK and China will extend to the localities and eventually spread to the whole country. If one is not good, it will lead to a big incident.

Now that the people are not making a living, if the officials are not living again, it will not be far from the chaos in the world.

So Fan Sui had to go to Hangu Pass. On top of this network that makes it difficult for him, there is a node, as long as this node is solved. Then everything will be solved, this node is Lu Chao.

"Mingtai, what kind of person do you think the general is?" Fan Sui raised his head and looked at Mingtai, the new commander of the Black Ice Platform sitting opposite.

Mingtai was specially sent by Yingying to protect Fan Sui to go to Lu Chao's army, this kind of escort work, originally did not need the dignified Black Ice Platform commander to go in person, the last time he returned from Yingchuan, there were many crises, and it was only the general of the Black Ice Terrace, Zhuo Buqun, who was in charge.

Yingying sent Mingtai, the main purpose is to send a signal to Lu Chao, an unwavering attitude.

"What kind of person is the Great General?" Ming Tai paused for a moment, but immediately reacted to what Fan Sui meant. "The general is not only a tough man, but also a smart man."

"Yes, he is an extremely intelligent man, and because of this, there is a basis for mutual compromise between us!" Fan Sui said: "I haven't taken it seriously yet, but General Lu has to take it seriously!" ”

"Lord Shoufu doesn't have to worry too much, after all, this time, General Lu did not return to Xianyang, which has already shown that he and Cui Yuan and the others are not of the same mind, so I still believe that General Lu will definitely make a decision that is in line with the interests of Great Qin." Mingtai is definitely authentic.

"Is it that simple?" Fan Sui smiled. "If only it were that simple, General Lu is Li Ru's closed disciple, and he is also a disciple that Li Ru attaches the most importance to, over the years, Li Ru has spared no effort to help him rise, of course, I admit that Lu Chao is indeed talented, otherwise it would not have been possible to come to this point, with a literati, it is not something that ordinary people can do."

"What does Shousuke mean?" Mingtai looked at Fan Sui in confusion.

Fan Sui was silent for a moment, and then asked, "Do you think this war is necessary?" ”

Mingtai was a little unable to adapt to Fan Sui's leaping thinking, as a member of the darkness, he had rarely dealt with other people like Fan Sui before, and after thinking for a moment, he replied cautiously: "The Xizhao Mutiny is not an isolated incident, this is a military coup d'état carefully planned by the Han State against our Great Qin, and its purpose is naturally clear at a glance, if we don't make a decisive counterattack, the Han army is only afraid that it will directly point to Hangu Pass, and at that time, we are only afraid that we will go back to decades ago, In those most difficult years, his subordinates thought that General Lu's reaction was very normal and he had to fight back. ”

"Do you think we have any hope of winning this battle?" Fan Sui asked rhetorically.

Mingtai once again made a comparison of the strength of the enemy and us in his heart, and then replied: "Our opponent is not the Han army, but the Zhao army, so the possibility of winning this battle, I think there are six or seven percent, and a war has a chance of winning six or seven percent, and it can already be done." ”

"But I don't think I'll have any." Fan Sui let out a long breath and replied in shock.

"Not at all?" Mingtai was taken aback, "Shousuke, this is too alarmist, isn't it?" Why are you so pessimistic? ”

"I've been in Yingchuan for more than half a year, and I have the most intuitive understanding of the Han army, and General Tan Feng has also done a lot of work, in fact, there are some things, your Black Ice Platform should also have a lot of intelligence, or you just didn't notice. Mingtai, if you are really as optimistic as you estimated, then why do you think Gao Yuan came to Jinyang City in person? ”

"Our opinion is that first, Gao Yuan swallowed Xizhao, but Xizhao still has as many as 100,000 troops, Gao Yuan's plan should be to borrow a knife to kill people, and use our knife to help him digest the strength of the Zhao army, so that he can swallow the territory of Xizhao smoothly. Second, I'm afraid I'm also worried that Xizhao will repeat, and he didn't come just to cheer him up. ”

"Cheering up is the right intention, but I think Gao Yuan's more important intention is to stab Jinyang top of our Daqin's already bleeding body."

Mingtai was taken aback, "Shousuke, do you think we will lose this battle?" ”

"Not necessarily, if the battle is really defeated, it is not necessarily a bad thing, what I am most worried about is that this battle will last for a long time." Fan Sui sighed. "What is the current situation of our Great Qin, you should know very well, if this war does not end soon, but lasts for several years, what do you think it will be like?"

Mingtai shuddered.

"Our Great Qin will continue to recruit soldiers, in order to fight, we have to raise taxes again, a large amount of materials are poured here, and then consumed here in vain, to fight a war that I don't know when it will end, the Han State doesn't care, their resources, national strength are enough to support them to fight a protracted war, but we, can we hold on? At that time, the people will not be able to make a living, and the domestic contradictions will be more prominent than now, and Daqin will really be crumbling. Fan Sui half-closed his eyes and said softly.

Mingtai was really frightened, and said after a while: "Shoufu, this situation, didn't the general of the difficult road take it into account?" He is on the front line, and he is the most aware of the balance of forces between the enemy and us. ”

"What do you say?" Fan Sui asked rhetorically. "If it's a martial artist, that's fine, but a person like General Lu, who is both civil and military, wouldn't he think about these things?"

"Are you saying that General Lu simply understands that this is a fruitless war, but why does the general still insist on fighting?"

"That's politics." Fan Sui said with some sadness: "General Lu thought very clearly, Li Ru's death, the attitude of the king, has already represented that the Li school will lose power in the Qin State, even if he returns to Xianyang, it will not change anything, but will tear off the last friendship between him and the king, it really comes to this point, the Li school will suffer a catastrophe, so not going back is the best choice." But if he doesn't go back, he needs a reason to explain to the people of the Li School, he is the designated successor of Li Ru, if he abandons it at this time, the people of the Li School will definitely abandon him, he will become a lonely minister, then his weight will be greatly reduced, and besides, such a person who is valued by Li Ru, will he really give up the Li School? Therefore, he needs a war, first, to explain to the people of the Li School, it is not that I will not go back, but that I am responsible for Daqin, and secondly, this is also the best way to ensure his power. ”

"What do you say?"

Fan Sui smiled and said: "Cui Yuan is down, but why are so many officials in the DPRK and the central government, the localities, still hesitating?" ”

"Because of General Lu."

"Yes, as long as General Lu still has heavy troops, these people will not abandon the Li family's academics, so General Lu needs a war, otherwise in peacetime, it is not a difficult thing for the king to take back the general's military power, but now, this matter cannot be done."

"General Lu needs a war, as for whether he can win it, it is not within his consideration, the longer he fights, the better it will be for him." Fan Sui said slowly. "This is Lu Chao's truest intention." (To be continued......)