The most ideal situation should be that a woman has a son, and other women give birth to daughters or children die, so as to reduce the number of men as much as possible, so that after the eldest son of King Wei takes over, the rights will be collected in the hands of one of them.

But the reality is much more complicated, King Wei actually gave birth to five sons, who were born to women from four big families, and most of the military power and financial power were in the hands of King Wei and the four families, which laid a hidden danger for Zhong Dong's succession.

Zhong Sheng is a hardliner figure, and Zhong Dong has his father's ferocity and ambition, but he does not have his father's toughness and skill, so he simply forced his father-in-law, that is, Zhong Sheng's reign during the great Sima Chu Cheng to be able to make good decisions, Chu Cheng gave birth to multiple sons, and stabilized the situation after Zhong Sheng's death.

At the same time that Chu Cheng, the old minister of Tuogu, was planning to recover military power, the Black Turban Rebellion broke out in the Central Plains, which once affected the country, and the warlords represented by Zhong Ting, Zhong Mi, and Zhong Huai sent troops to the east under the pretext of defending the enemy outside the country, forming a de facto division of local feudal towns.

This provided an excellent opportunity for the future to go east out of the Central Plains, expel the powerful forces from the homeland of the country, compress the occupied areas, and then move the nobles eastward, consume the strength of the nobles, and finally realize the situation of unifying the royal power.

If the Xian army had not sent troops, and in another ten or twenty years, the next generation of Wei Wang would succeed to the throne, and the magnates of these uncles would inevitably have been dragged down by the economic construction and public security costs in the occupied areas, and the finances would collapse, and the army would naturally not be able to maintain.

However, Wei Guo emasculated the basis of the iterative evolution of civilization development during the heyday of Wei Wang Zhong, resulting in the abnormal development of Wei Guo, and mistakenly thought that the strength of Wei Guo was the result of a more advanced civilization, so the failure of Wei Guo was doomed, but he was unlucky and directly collided with the "ultimate evolution" civilization form of Xian State.

However, it is undeniable that barbaric warfare is the iron law of the development of civilization, and only when barbarism defeats the plain text can barbarism absorb the essence of civilization and then iterate the essence. If we allow the development of defending the country and use the folk customs of defending the country, we may eventually be able to unify the Central Plains and form a unified dynasty, but the national policy of defending the country will inevitably turn back the clock on history, go back, engage in slavery, and then divide the feuds.

From the Lingchang camp to the Xue Sheng camp on the border of Rui County, the whole journey is about 700 miles, and it does not take a day for Jianbao to rush with all its might, but it actually walks for a day and a half, and it is not until the evening of the 29th that it arrives at the Xue Sheng camp.

On the one hand, the horse can't stand it, even if the theoretical limit of a day can run 1,500 miles, even if it only runs a thousand miles of horses, it is tired enough, and it is always a long-distance run, the horse has to run waste, occasionally run to the limit, and feed the concentrate for half a month to grow the fat back.

Second, after Wei Guo occupied the old land of Sun Guo, he did not build roads, the roads were narrow and dilapidated, and he did not have the conditions for a rapid attack by the brigade.

Different from Qin's unification of the six countries, the car is not the same as the track book is different, the current Central Plains has been unified four times, and the dynasties have their own standards after realizing the unification, so the width of the carriage is basically unified, and the text is only three shapes but also roughly similar, and the weight and length dimensions adopt the Liang national standard and local standards.

At the same time, due to the strong economic strength of the Zhongliang State, the standardized market established by most of the princes is not large, and the market still follows the standards of the Liang State, so the road width of each country follows the regulations of the Liang State.

The fundamental reason why Qin unified China and the different tracks of the cars was that the princes deliberately did it in order to restrict the movement of chariots in other countries. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the cavalry system and tactics were just emerging, but the rapid reaction army was still the world of chariots, so the gauge between the two wheels of the chariot should be determined according to the road conditions of the country.

However, the non-combat mobility of the vehicle requires the road, and abandoning the road and maneuvering in the field will aggravate the life loss of the vehicle, so the width of the road restricts the mobility of the vehicle.

At present, due to the abundance of horses, the chariot was basically withdrawn from the army as early as before the Liang Dynasty, and it almost disappeared in the middle period, and the invention and popularization of stirrups and horse bridges made the cavalry more flexible than the chariot.

Cavalry can walk on the road, can also run wild on the plains, and can also maneuver between the hills and mountains, while the chariot can not be separated from the road unless it is on the battlefield, and it cannot be driven away from the road in the wilderness, let alone in the mountains and jungles.

Uncertainty on the ground will cause the vehicle to be damaged or even overturned, so that the mobility of the vehicle will be obsolete by the horses in the later stages. At the same time, the life, cost, maintenance and purchase of the chariot are too expensive, and the car building is a technical work, which requires a large number of craftsmen, and the craftsman is a large piece of expenditure, after the formation of a population of horses, the advantage of the chariot is gradually lost, and the chariot gradually loses its advantage in the war.

After more than ten years of construction and widening, the road of Xianguo has formed today's two-way four-lane, the width is more than twice the standard of Liangguo, and the four-wheeled baggage carriage of Xianguo in parallel is more than enough, which greatly facilitates the movement of horses, so the marching speed of horses is much faster than the old road.

It was already dusk when he arrived at Xue Sheng's camp, and Xue Sheng didn't know that Bailiyan was coming, so he was a little abrupt.

"Vice Marshal, why are you here in person?"

"No, I can't do it." Bai Liyan took off her leather gloves, handed Fei Yu to Wei Qi and said as she walked, "Where is Zhong Ting's secret envoy now?" ”

"Then the Chinese army will be resettled, wait for the news of the deputy marshal and then deal with it, I don't want the deputy marshal to come in person."

"At this point, there is no need to continue to expand the war, the eastern front of the garrison has surrendered, the western front has been frustrated, and they will not dare to attack in a big way, since they have come to talk secretly, it is better to give them a step down, and see what they want to say first. Let's go, take me to meet the visitor. ”

"No!"

The secret envoy sent by Zhong Ting is surnamed Zhou Mingwei, according to the information previously obtained by the royal guest, this person is very young, only twenty-six this year, he was a scholar before, and his family background is only a small nobleman who can be touched, and he is not a cronie around Zhong Ting, just an ordinary staff.

From this point of view, it cannot be ruled out that there are three possibilities, one of which is Zhong Ting's plan to delay the army. Second, the army also tested the bottom line of the Xian State, and secretly continued to negotiate with the Liang State, seeking self-reliance recognized by both sides. Third, the current popular self-recommendation does not rule out that Zhong Ting has the idea of self-reliance, but he does not have the courage to stand on his own, and this Zhou Wei is a scholar who wants to get ahead, so he gave such attention.

Zhong Ting thought that he might as well use this to throw stones and ask for directions, so the logic returned to the first and second possibilities.

With Xue Sheng to the Zhongjun tent, Zhou Wei was temporarily placed in the right guard camp, and the food and living were taken care of by the Xianjun people.

"Mr. Zhou, the Xianjun sent someone to say that Bai Liyan, the deputy commander of the Xianjun Army, wants to see Mr. in person." The guard said quickly, but Zhou Wei was not in a hurry to be happy, he asked:

"Is Bailiyan here in person, or is it going to Bailiyan's army."

"I don't know, but it seems that Bai Liyan came to the army in person. However, in terms of time, it will inevitably come too quickly, to say that there are still three or four days left. ”

"No, the Xianjun is now delivering the news of the military order in a thousand miles at a very fast speed. Baili Yan is accompanied by a Qianli Yue mount, and he is not tired of traveling thousands of miles every day. Previously, the Eastern Front collapsed, and the news only came in January, if there is a thousand miles of leap, it will not take ten days to know the future, why be passive today. I think it must be Bailiyan who went to the army in person, let's go, go and see Bailiyan. ”

After speaking, Zhou Wei straightened his clothes, met the military attache of the Xian Army, and followed him to the Chinese military tent.

"Deputy Marshal Qiyu, Mr. Zhou has arrived."

Wei Qiyu reported, Bai Liyan put away the map on the table, looked up and said:

"Please Mr. Zhou come in and speak."

"No."

After Wei Qi turned to leave, Bai Liyan and Xue Sheng said:

"I'll tell you in detail later, and now it's all gone."

"No!"

When the crowd dispersed, Wei Qi led Zhou Wei into the account. I saw that he was a young man with a medium figure, a broad nose, round horizontal eyebrows, sharp eyes, thick lips and a thick beard, and his appearance was quite talented, but his face was yellow and thin, his cheekbones were high and convex, and his plain cloth clothes were covered with a sheepskin windbreaker, giving people a feeling of long-term malnutrition.

Zhou Wei also glanced at Bai Liyan carefully at this time, and after calming down a little, he stepped forward and saluted:

"Next week, Wei will see the deputy marshal of the Xianjun army."

"Well, Mr. Zhou is exempt, please take a seat."

motioned for Zhou Wei to sit down, but he was not polite, put away the salute and went straight to the first horse in the row on the right to sit down.

Bai Liyan said again at this time:

"Mr. Zhou is so young, dare to ask where he studied and who he studied from."

"The contemptible man is a guest of Shuo Lanjun, who skimmed a few fragments since he was a child, and dared to come to your military camp to make peace."

"Oh......" Bai Liyan sighed lightly, and did not respond positively.

In Zhou Wei's mouth, Shuolanjun is Zhong Ting, and his fief is in Shuolan City, but the current base camp has been moved to Mingtian County, and the significance of the title is no longer significant.

During the conversation, it is not difficult to see that this Zhou Wei is still somewhat self-aware, not like a person who seems to be talking nonsense.

At this time, Zhou Wei said:

"My lord's wife and the two young masters are now being held hostage by your country, my lord misses it very much, I don't know if Yongxing Hou can be accommodating and let the young lord and his wife reunite."

"Hehe, that's easy to say." Smiling, Bai Liyan took out the handwritten letters of Zhong Ting's wife and concubine and two young sons from the wooden box in his hand and handed it to Zhou Wei, and then said: "Everywhere our army goes, we treat the people and families of your country with benevolence and leniency. However, Ben Hou has a handwritten letter from Mrs. Shuo Lanjun and the young son, and asked Mr. Zhou to transfer it to Shuo Lanjun, and the details of the lady and the young master are all in it, and you can know it at a glance. ”

Zhou Wei stepped forward to take the letter from Bai Liyan, confirming that it was Mrs. Zhong Tingzheng, and his doubts were dispelled, and he hurriedly thanked him. At this time, Bai Liyan re-examined Zhou Wei, and then continued:

"Ben Hou's sincerity has been given, and since Mr. Zhou is making peace, he won't just bring a mouth."

"Yongxing Hou, please rest assured, but I don't know if I can allow my lord to send someone to greet his wife and young master, and I have reassured my lord's heart."

"Yes, Ben Hou can arrange it at any time."

Seeing Bai Liyan personally promised, Zhou Wei breathed a sigh of relief, and at this time he said:

"I will make peace with your country on the orders of my lord, but whether it succeeds or not depends on whether King Xian is sincere."

"Hehe......" Bai Liyan smiled coldly and began to be careful, Zhou Wei's wording was mediocre, but it was extremely powerful, and logically if he was not careful, he would fall into his trap. Mr. Zhou, it is your army that is defeated now, and it is also your army that wants to make peace, and now Mr. wants our army to give sincerity, don't you think it's ridiculous. ”

"Yongxing Hou said this is wrong, although our army was defeated, but your army did not achieve victory, now although the power of Xianguo is large, but more than two million people and horses can not hold for a long time. Last year's summer planting and autumn harvest were exempted from one season's taxes, and this spring's harvest is bound to drop sharply. At present, this year's spring ploughing may not be possible, and there will be no summer harvest without spring ploughing, so the harvest in the fields of Xianguo in the first half of this year is pitiful. From this point of view, although the Xian army is powerful, it lacks the strength to follow, so there is no need to worry.

If we want to reverse this situation, the Xian army can only make peace with our army as soon as possible, and the horses will be released from Nanshan to dismantle their armor and return to the fields, otherwise the Xian country will be defeated for a long time. ”

As soon as Zhou Wei's words came out, he suppressed Bailiyan somehow, and if it was someone else, most of them wanted to condemn the perfidy of the Xianguo first, and count the atrocities of the Xianjun army, etc., and this Mr. Zhou came up to the point, which couldn't help but be a little surprising.