During the period of agricultural civilization, technological progress was relatively slow, population was the main source of growth of national strength, and youth and strength represented whether there was abundant food, production capacity, and military resources.

Since ancient times, there have been two kinds of massacres, one is indiscriminate slaughter, in which all men, women, and children are slaughtered in order to completely eliminate the enemy's vital forces and economic potential, and the other is to slaughter only the old and the young, and take young and strong men and women as slaves, so as to continue to serve their own war and economy.

Su Fangyi looked at the current situation, thinking that it could never be the second type, that there was only one way to slaughter it, but it obviously did not meet the guidelines that Yuke had adhered to for hundreds of years. Baili Yan created the third type, slaughtering all the young men and destroying the living force of the Jin Xuedi people.

Let women become widows, young girls keep chastity, the old cannot have children, the young are young, and their population shrinks naturally and rapidly with the decrease of male prime, the national strength and economy are not supported by the population, the productive forces shrink rapidly, and the relations of production are completely broken because of the regression of the productive forces, and with the shrinking of the population, it plummets like a cliff, until a certain equilibrium is reached and growth resumes again.

When Bailiyan left and Gongliang and the three returned to the camp, Gongliangsong, the son of Gongliangwen, had an ugly face and said:

"Father, do you really want to kill?"

Gongliangwen taught:

"Short-sighted! My Central Plains people are six or seven times as many as the Jin Xuedi people, and the city is very close to the southern border of our Zhiguo, once the Qianyue Mountain collapses, the barbarian army enters the hinterland of the Central Plains, how can we not slaughter the people of our land! ”

"Shhh...... Could it be that my father should have been like this a long time ago! ”

"Even if Baili Yan didn't say it, his father decided to turn the land of the barbarians into scorched earth and white land, so that he would be trapped and starved to death. I don't want Bai Liyan to be so ruthless at such a young age, and he must not be easily offended in the future. ”

"Then why not ......"

Gongliang was halfway through his words, he knew that he was speechless, and he swallowed it back into his stomach, and his cousin Gongliang Xiu said at this time:

"Gongzi Yan advocates reconciliation with my Zhiguo, and is the enemy of the Jin State and the Changsun Kingdom, which is extremely beneficial to my Zhiguo and the family. And Guangxin Gong has a secret agreement with my king, and he is the father-in-law of Gongzi Yan, and we will harm him, whether it is within ten years or forty years, there is no benefit, on the contrary, the disadvantages are great, and the gains outweigh the losses.

It can be seen that in the next 30 years, the three kingdoms of Jin, Wei and Zhi will become the Central Plains, and the Xian country has Baili Yan, the Zhao family and even the Yuke and Ligong faction to help, and its power cannot be underestimated, so within 30 years, the Xian country will benefit from the country of my Zhi without any harm.

If in addition to Bailiyan, it is self-inflicted, Zhiguo will soon face the joint attack of the Jin State and the Changsun State, and even the Wei Kingdom will take precautions and secretly make a secret agreement with the Jin State to attack me. Take a step back, Bailiyan is resourceful, how can he do what his relatives and enemies are happy about. ”

The words of Gongliangxiu's analysis are closely related to the core of reason, and have been affirmed and appreciated by Gongliangwen:

"It's still my nephew's analysis...... Gongzi Yan is indeed a genius of the world, and it is not harmful to my Zhiguo in a short time, and he can live for another thirty years, at most he will make Xianguo return Jiangdong and conquer several counties and counties of Sun Guo of Jin, if he is an enemy of my Zhiguo, he will be surrounded on all sides, and Bailiyan will definitely not be like this. ”

"But the gunpowder thing still needs to be handled carefully!" Gongliang Xiu reminded, and continued: "This thing is very powerful, although it can only be thrown by manpower at the moment, but if it is thrown with a bed crossbow or stone machine in the future, its power is amazing. If the tunnels were dug and hoarded under the city walls, the fortified city could be overturned in an instant, and my uncle should have planned it early. ”

"Alas......" Gongliangwen sighed, and then said: "Bailiyan is very strict in precautions, and does not disclose half a word, and the gunpowder is secretly made by one person, so we have no way of knowing, and it is very difficult." ”

Gongliangwen's several attempts were unsuccessful, but now he is more worried about whether he will return alive.

After the meeting was adjourned, Bai Liyan convened the ministry to deploy troops, Su Hong and Jiao Muhua were still guarding the cofferdam and Xishan, and only Bai He, Lu Gao, Jiang Jie, and Sikong Nan attended the meeting.

"You have been summoned today to go out into the mountains in search of food. Bai He, how are the new vassals of the Central Plains practiced? ”

"General Hui, it is still much inferior to the coalition army, and it is even inferior to the new battalion."

"Of course, the new soldier battalion is no longer the original common people after fighting, the vast majority of these new vassals have not seen blood, and the fierceness is naturally not as good as the soldiers and the new soldier camp.

Lu Gao and Bai He robbed more than 50,000 people from the Central Plains last year, and then were driven into the mountains by various mountains in the Central Plains.

After several months of reorganization, the new vassals gradually improved, but they had no weapons, so they had to wait until they captured the camp of the Jinxuedi army and captured it before making equipment.

In addition, based on the veterans of the Xian Army, the number of personnel of the reorganized mixed coalition army was 10,000, and Lu Gao and Jiao Muhua were the commanders. The new battalion was supplemented with military attaches and soldiers of the coalition army, and the number was 10,000, Fang Liang and Sikong Nan were the commanders, Tian Peng and the miners' battalion were transferred to the new attached people's army, and Bai He was appointed as the commander, with 20,000 posts.

According to seniority, Bai He is not enough to receive 20,000 posts alone, and Lu Gao is the most suitable to appoint. However, the combat effectiveness of the new vassals is weak, and the military attaches are supplemented by the military attachés of the coalition forces and the veterans of the coalition forces, and the situation is complicated, and Lu Gao is too orthodox, Su Hong can't get out, and the new battalion needs Sikong Nan's moderation, let alone Jiang Jie.

And Bai He has a banditry spirit, with Tian Peng Town and the miners' battalion in town, and the military attaché and veteran of the coalition army are hijacked, and Bai He is undoubtedly more suitable to serve as the commander of the new attached people's army.

The above troops totaled 40,000 people, and Su Hong alone placed an army of 2,000 people to assist Yuke in garrisoning the cofferdam and the west bank of the outer lake.

"This time out of the mountain to fight, except for Su Hong, the rest of our army was dispatched. Lu Gao, immediately after the meeting ended, informed Jiao Muhua and handed over the Xishan defense to Yuke as soon as possible. ”

"The last general obeys!"

At this time, Sikong Nan said:

"General, there are still 150,000 barbarian troops outside the West Mountain, and the last general is worried that our army has not much food and grass, and most of the Jin Xuedi people have already guessed it, I am afraid that there is another ambush outside the West Mountain."

"I and Mr. Su have expected this matter, and I will arrange the deployment of our army afterwards, and now I have a more urgent matter to order you."

Bailiyan spread out the map of the eastern administrative region of Posong Province and pointed to Kaleze:

"Calezer, the target of our army's attack this time."

"Is this going too far? If there is no hurry to retreat, the barbarian army of Waihu on the northeast side may reach outside the West Mountain and cut off our army's way back from crossing the river. "Sikong South Road.

"It's because it's far away that we have to attack Calezer. After the capture of Calezer, the armies immediately slaughtered the city! ”

When everyone heard the news of the slaughter of the city, they were all surprised, Lu Gao and Jiang Jie looked at each other with slanted eyes, Bai He did not express his position, most of them agreed, at this time Sikong Nan hurriedly asked:

"Whose attention is this?"

"Ben's!"

Everyone's faces suddenly became complicated, but they didn't speak, and Bai Liyan continued:

"At present, the situation in Qianyue Mountain is dangerous, if the Jin Xuedi people attack the hinterland of the Central Plains, the population of the Central Plains is several times that of them, and the threat is huge, and they will definitely slaughter the city. Therefore, our army must first slaughter the city in its rear, so as to force its national strength and people to be exhausted. Therefore, from this day on, whoever conquers a city will slaughter it immediately.

But there is one thing you must remember that only men and women are killed, only the young and the strong are killed, not the old and weak, and all those who resist, whether men, women, old or young, will be killed.

In addition, after you return to the camp, you strictly order all departments not to rape **, and those who violate the order will be engaged in military law! You can hear you all. ”

"Yes!" Everyone spoke in unison, and they were a little relieved in their hearts, but at this time, Bai He interjected: "What about robbing money? ”

When everyone heard the news, they looked at each other coldly, and Bai Liyan said:

"It's okay to rob money, but no matter how much gold, silver and jewelry, there is no place for you to spend now, and at the same time, it may cause infighting due to uneven distribution of wealth, so all the gold, silver and jewelry obtained are collected in our army's baggage for temporary safekeeping, no matter who obtains, as long as those who serve in our army, those who return to the Central Plains alive in the future can get rich wealth, and those who have made meritorious contributions in war will be doubled.

However, all the people of the Central Plains are registered with their names, places of origin and relatives, and if they can survive, they will be given financial rewards and meritorious deeds, and if they die in battle, those who have wives, small brothers, parents, and sisters will be served to their homes by Xianguo. However, all the new vassals of the Central Plains and those who have families settle in the Xianguo country will enjoy this example. If it is a separate portal, then it will be confiscated. ”

Bai He's proposal is extremely realistic, Bai Liyan now has no other means to boost morale, located in the hinterland of the enemy, facing a heavy siege, may run out of ammunition and food at any time, at this time too serious to restrain the army, not only can not boost morale, but also may destroy the will to fight because of the ordeal in adversity.

Looting is undoubtedly an important means to boost morale and boost the morale of the army, for the illiterate and unsocially unqualified ordinary soldiers, all they want is to live and live, go home and hug their wives, what national righteousness, the survival of the country, for the vast majority of ordinary people at present, it is just an empty and abstract slogan, what drives them to sell their lives is a mouthful of food, a way to live tomorrow.

If tomorrow is possible, if they are better alive, as long as they are encouraged, they will definitely fight for it.

Plunder is undoubtedly the only means for them to obtain additional legitimate wealth at the moment, whether this wealth can eventually be brought back to the north, at least it gives them hope and motivation to live, and there is no need to worry that some people will slip away after getting rich, because no one can live alone, and they must work together to return home alive.

People can't help but eat the fireworks of the world, some things are controlled, and some can't be controlled too dead, when there is a degree of relaxation, can control the army.

There are two other considerations for Bailiyan's connivance with the army to plunder, one is that the Gongliang Army obviously will not miss this opportunity, and it is undoubtedly a foolish act to let go of the great wealth without dividing it. Plunder is both a means of strengthening one's own capital in the future and a means of weakening the enemy.

Second, the new vassals of the Central Plains are very servile, and killing the master and doing evil can obviously give them courage, and at the same time, it also cuts off their back road, forcing them to go to the black with a hard head, which is not only to win them over, but also to strengthen their position.

Especially the Central Plains thieves in the team, break their unrealistic illusions, and finally give them a way, Bai Liyan doesn't believe that these people are born and die, there will always be people who will loosen their positions, especially after the great change in the situation, if you don't want to be liquidated, there is only one way to go with frank leniency.

(End of chapter)