If the army is forced to remain in a state of concentration for a long time, it will put great pressure on logistics and transportation, which is common knowledge among experienced generals. For every war, the marching division will do everything in its power to maximize the results, while the baggage division lists various reasons for delaying in order to reduce the logistical supply burden. The emperor himself is also the nominal general, and he will not easily express his opinions, and the attitude of the Prime Minister's Mansion is important at this time.

"The order in the country is in order, and the prosperity of the people and the peace and contentment of the people are not without a price." Liu Yi's light moved out of the window, and a line of geese glided lightly across the blue sky, flying south without hesitation.

For a country with an extremely vast territory like the Xia Kingdom, when the scale of the war reaches a certain level, logistics becomes the key factor in determining the outcome of the war. Liu Yi had no doubt that the sergeants would be able to starve for ten days and half a month of fighting, or even three months of fighting, but if it took several years, there would probably be exhaustion and complaints. For a long time, the Xia State had scattered the garrisons of the legions to minimize the military supplies that had to be transported, and each military division was only equipped with five legions and 25,000 sergeants. And it was rare to arrange for two legions to be stationed too close together. In peacetime, each legion would spread nearly half of its strength among the counties.

Only in this way will the supply of military supplies not put too much pressure on the border states and counties. When encountering a surprise attack by an advantageous enemy army, the Xia army usually took a defensive position with a small number of sergeants stationed in the local area with regimental training. After the military government has gathered a large army, it will launch a short but fierce counterattack, and then pursue into the enemy's territory to retaliate. The other option is to preemptively strike, and every time before the busy agricultural season, the military government will concentrate its forces into the barbarian territory to prevent the removal of threats.

"It's a pity that the sergeants are not like birds, they can cross thousands of miles at every turn." Liu Yi stood up, picked up a pencil casually, and compared it on the map of the territory of the Xia Kingdom behind him. Frowning, it is roughly estimated that the distance from the storage in the river to the east bank of the Black Sea, and then to Lumei City, maintaining continuous supply over such a long distance will be an extremely severe test for the Prime Minister's Mansion Road Cao and the General's Mansion Baggage Division, "Whether it is the Rus or the Great Cannibals, they are all burning and looting everywhere, and after occupying Lumei City, in order to win the hearts of the people, they also have to deliver the food needed to help the local residents." ”

"The timing of sending troops to Lumei is very important, it is too early to start, the people of Lumei have not yet reached the time of critical survival, they will not accept the occupation of our country, they are late, they are preempted by the big food army, and they will pay a heavier price if they want to take Lumei." Liu Yi groaned, took out a copy from the file piled up on the table, and opened the file, which was a secret letter that had been sealed with beeswax. The Emperor of Lumei, Aliksai, wrote a letter to Emperor Chen Xuan a year ago, again asking Xia to provide Lumei with a mercenary army of between 800 and 2,500, promising to pay generous remuneration, giving Xia merchants many privileges in trade with the West, and promising Xia merchants lower taxes in Lumei.

Lumei is the hub and center of trade between the East and the West, but due to the corruption of the military region system, it has fallen into a vicious circle of using mercenaries to defend the country, and in order to raise high military spending, it has to increase the pressure on the people, which further leads to the depletion of the country's homesteaders. "A lesson from the past." Liu Yi's fingers tapped on the secret letter, maintaining the stability of the sergeant system and the cornerstone of the long-term stability of the Xia Kingdom.

He pondered for a moment, then stood up, took the file containing the secret letter, and put on his coat and went out. Wang Zhaoqian, the captain of the Tiger Wing Army's guard, bowed and saluted, and asked, "Where will the prime minister go?" ”

"Go to Linquan Palace and meet Your Majesty."

Liu Yi said as he strode towards the door, the carriage of the Prime Minister's Mansion was parked outside at any time, he got into the carriage and closed the door casually. The groom snapped his whip, and the carriage galloped towards Linquan Palace, and behind the carriage, Wang Zhaoqian and other ten Tiger Wing Army cavalry guards lined up in two teams and followed the carriage.

Liu Yi was one of the few important ministers of the imperial court who could directly enter the palace gate without going through Tongbing, and Emperor Chen Xuan only learned from the microphone of the access control that he was coming to see him, so he tidied up his appearance a little. In addition to reviewing the important documents sent by the five governments every day, he also has to read the list on the Nine Dragons Pillar, although the ministers have tried their best to check out the unimportant, but there are still as many as 100,000 words, Chen Xuan has to check out the list of those that have been checked out, and he also has to personally write the imperial approval of some official documents and list documents. Back then, Qin Shi Huang had to read hundreds of catties of bamboo slips every day, Chen Xuan felt that he was more than enough, fortunately he had a strong physique that he exercised in the army when he was young, otherwise he really couldn't bear such fatigue. Rao is like this, and sometimes he feels dizzy.

"Linquan Palace, Linquan Palace, the founding ancestors of the original country took this as the name of the palace, which was intended to remind future generations not to interfere too much in the governance of the five governments. But with the wisdom of the ancestors, they did not expect that the officials of the five prefectures would frequently ask for the emperor's opinion even when it was extremely unnecessary, and ordinary people often hoped that the emperor would stand up and uphold justice. ”

Chen Xuan rubbed his temples and sighed secretly, "No wonder the emperors of the past dynasties, not too old to look at things, will also arrange for the crown prince to succeed to the throne, and are willing to abdicate and live in Changle Palace to enjoy Qingfu." In the past ten years, the emperor has been doing it, although he has kept in mind the legacy of his ancestors, he has not interfered much in specific affairs, and he is really more tired than when he was in the army in northern Xinjiang. I really don't know that the emperor of the Song Kingdom has to control everything, how can he still have the leisure to renovate the palace? If it were me, I would rather have more than less. The scenery of this Linquan Palace is already good. ”

Chen Xuan stood up, looked out of the window, and relaxed his somewhat sour eyes. Outside the Linquan Palace, there is Shou Changze. At this time, there are hundreds of red-crowned cranes, mandarin ducks, white swans, herons and other rare birds wandering. Over the years, more and more migratory birds have also stayed in the Hexi Corridor for wintering. The grass and trees on the side of Shouchang Ze are luxuriant, you can not only look at the palace pavilion from afar, but also have rare birds flying and chirping, it is the place where the officials and their families in Dunhuang City love to play and watch the scenery.

On the opposite bank of Shouchangze, a team of more than 80 horsemen and more than a dozen carriages was stopping. The lieutenants and sergeants dismounted and saluted in front of the palace. Zhao Xingde looked at the small and elegant palace on the other side, and said unconsciously in surprise: "The king of a country, is the palace so small?" ”

At the beginning, he heard Yang Lu and others say that there were only more than 100 people in the Dunhuang royal family and ministers, and he didn't feel the difference. Not far from the palace is obviously the military camp of the Dragon Tooth Army and the Tiger Wing Army outside Dunhuang City. Chen An, the second emperor of the Xia Kingdom, did not want to interfere too much with the lives of the people in Dunhuang City, so he moved Linquan Palace to the bank of Shouchangze outside the city. There is no palace wall built on the side facing Shou Changze, and the soldiers and people can clearly see the whole picture of the palace through Shou Changze, and if they are lucky, they can even see the emperor and empress walking in the imperial garden from a distance. The original Linquan Palace was changed to Huaiyuan Station, which was dedicated to receiving envoys from various countries and merchants from all over the world. Under the upward and downward effects, if it were not proposed by the Military Intelligence Department at an extraordinary moment, the high-ranking officials of the five prefectures of the Xia State would not travel clearly, did not play honor guards, and only followed a few Tiger Wing Army guards.

Li Ruoxue looked at the white cranes dancing in the swampy pool, and laughed softly: "The emperor of this Xia Kingdom is really going to enjoy Qingfu and chose such a quiet and elegant residence. Much more clever than a lonely man surrounded by high walls and guarding himself like a prisoner. ”

"This place doesn't look like a palace, but like an annex in the bamboo forest, no wonder it's called Linquan Palace." Zhao Xingde sighed, he looked at the sergeants of the Anton Military Division who were looking towards Linquan Palace, and everyone's eyes showed an eager light, hoping to have good luck and just meet the emperor out. "No matter how deep the city is, no matter how many guards there are, it can't compare to the loyalty that these soldiers unconsciously revealed."

Zhao Xingde turned around and said to Zhang Liangheng, who was also stopping to look at the emperor's palace: "Brother Zhang, I now understand the reason why Dunhuang is as stable as Mount Tai with only a few thousand guards. ”