The news spread fast. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info Zhao Yun went down to Yanmen in a battle, and the matter of merging the state in half a month was spread all over the world with the rout and retreat of the Wei army. The speed of rumors here is faster than Tanma's urgent report, when Hao Zhao's situation in Yanmen and the strategy he was thinking about reached Luoyang, Luoyang City was already full of all kinds of legends about Zhao Yun.

Is this legend true or false? But no one knows. But no matter what, the fact that there was a major event in the north, and that such a major event was not on their side, had long been known to everyone in the palace. As emperors and officials, of course, they don't dare to listen to the wind and rain, and they think that it is true after listening to rumors, but they cannot completely ignore the influence of rumors. So, when they heard it, they didn't dare to believe it all, and when the rumors were disturbing outside, they couldn't wait for the arrival of the real battle report in their hearts. They hoped to see the real war report immediately, but they were also worried that what was said in the war report was much more dangerous than the rumors. That is unacceptable, because the current war is already a war of annihilation of the country.

Under such circumstances, the battle report that was finally sent to Emperor Cao Rui of Wei was very important, even though it was written by a general of a defeated army. The battle report was only passed to Cao Rui, and Cao Rui didn't have time to read it carefully, so he ordered the inner servants of Shengbian to gather several of his important ministers: the general Cao Zhen, the general military division Du Xi, the great Sima Cao Ren, and the guard captain Xin Bi were all listed. When Cao Rui and the others arrived, they asked the side hall to be blocked, and then read out Hao Zhao's battle report.

Cao Rui hadn't read the battle report beforehand, so naturally he didn't know that what this battle report said was similar to the rumors. When he read out this battle report in ignorance, it was not him, and everyone in the entire side hall was extremely shocked by this. They have always believed that their Great Wei is the strongest in the whole world, even if it can't compare to Li Sheng's fleet at sea, but they should not have any opponents on land. How could it be......

Hao Zhao's battle report was like a thunderclap that broke through the air, and all those who still dreamed that Lao Tzu was the number one in the world were all heartfelt. They looked at the cat with a little panic and confusion, and there was still a little doubt in their hearts, was what was said above true?

They suspected that the things with black characters on a white background were stamped with the big seal of the history of the state assassination, but it was impossible to fake it.

"Looks like it's true!" Although they were very reluctant to believe that this was true, they had to give in to the facts in front of everyone.

"Is Li Shengjun really that strong?" After succumbing, they began to study this issue carefully, but they invariably argued: it is said that Hao Zhao is not worthy of his name, but in fact he is just a fool; And it is said that he has long been bought by the Tang Army and is a traitor. In short, everyone in Wei didn't seem to believe that Li Shengjun used his own strength to fight Hao Zhao in a dignified siege war, so that Hao Zhao had to abandon the city and leave. They all thought that they lost this battle, not because of their own strength, but because of other reasons, and the root cause of this reason was concentrated on Hao Zhao.

"Is this true?" The young emperor Cao Rui listened to the noisy noise of the people below, and looked at the red faces of each other, and his heart became suspicious. Hao Zhaoqi, Cao Rui has also seen it, he knows that he is a loyal and brave thing, his body is strong, his appearance is upright, but he doesn't look like a treacherous person. Although there is a so-called saying that knowing people and knowing faces but not knowing their hearts, words are the most difficult to understand, but Cao Rui still believes in his eyes and believes that he will not be wrong about Hao Zhao. "It seems that this problem is not with Hao Zhao. Since it wasn't Hao Zhao's body, what was going on? After Cao Rui understood this, he also began to think about another question: "Could it be that Li Tang's strength has really grown to that point?" He thought that he seemed to have grasped something, and immediately picked up the battle report in his hand and looked at it, and after reading a few lines, his eyes were firmly locked on those two words: "Artillery!" ”

"No wonder...... Hao Zhao can't hold Yanmen! Cao Rui suddenly let out such a sigh. Although he had already figured out the reason why Hao Zhao was like this, he did not become relaxed because of this clarity, and he was still frowning at the moment.

"What? Did Your Majesty perceive something? Hearing the sigh of the emperor's boss, the quarrel of the people below suddenly stopped, and most of them looked at Cao Rui with their eyes open, but they didn't understand what the emperor had discovered. It's no wonder that they only listened to the battle report read by the emperor just now, and most of their thoughts were focused on how to find Hao Zhao's own mistakes, and where could they read the battle report several times like the emperor and savor the situation carefully.

"What do you think is the power of the artillery?" Cao Rui didn't answer the questions of his courtiers, but asked a question that they might have all heard of.

"Artillery? As the first weapon of water warfare, it is naturally impossible for our manpower to resist. Under a shot, its sound is like thunder, its momentum is like a landslide, it is really strong and ruthless. Xiahou said. Artillery, these ministers they sat in have all seen it. Although it took only a few years for Wei to develop artillery, as a rare novelty, its power and momentum were already well known to these masters.

"If someone uses artillery for land warfare, so what?" Cao Rui asked again.

"As a result of the land war? How is this possible? The artillery is very heavy. When everyone heard His Majesty mention this, they were immediately surprised: those cannons were all four or five thousand pounds of iron guys, how could they be used in land battles. If nothing else, the weight of the cannon alone is enough to make people lose the mind of using the cannon for land warfare. With dozens of four or five thousand pounds of guys to fight, how long will it take to help with this transportation?

"Is that really the case?" When the audience talked about such a thing, Cao Rui shook his head gently: "What we can't do, it doesn't necessarily mean that Li Sheng's side can't do it." They have much better artillery casting skills than ours. The power that our four or five thousand pound cannons can emit can be achieved with only about two thousand pounds of copper cannons on their side. And with a two-thousand-pound cannon and an artillery cart, the power of this artillery should be able to be brought into play.

"If that's the case, it's still a possibility." Everyone thought about it and returned to the Tao in unison.

"It's not a certain possibility, but it's exactly like this - Li Sheng has already used artillery in land warfare. He assigned an artillery unit to Zhao Yun's army, so Hao Zhao couldn't hold the city. Cao Rui only really revealed the mystery at this moment: "According to Hao Zhao's battle report, when Zhao Yunjun attacked Yanmen, he used twenty-five two-thousand-pound artillery pieces and three miles away to bombard the city. Hao Zhao had the intention of sneaking up on Zhao Yun's artillery, but was intercepted back by Zhao Yun's cavalry. Li Sheng seems to have modified the equipment of the cavalry to a certain extent, and Hao Zhao's cavalry was not their opponent at all, so the sneak attack on the artillery failed. Because one had the enemy's artillery that was incapable of the enemy, and the other was the cavalry that prevented him from attacking, Hao Zhao had no choice but to withdraw from Yanmen and let the city go. ”

"Oh...... Is that so? Could it be Hao Zhao's defense of himself after his defeat? Hearing Cao Rui say this, everyone in the side hall didn't dare to believe it, and still had doubts about Hao Zhao.

"Whether it's justification or not, we don't know now, and it won't be paid off in a few days. If it's fake, we just need to hold Hao Zhao accountable, there's nothing to be afraid of. But the most feared thing is what Hao Zhao mentioned, these are true...... If this happens, I'm afraid that our entire strategy will have to change. Cao Rui said leisurely. He was not afraid that Hao Zhao would deceive himself, but he was afraid that Hao Zhao would tell the truth. Because he knew that if everything Hao Zhao said was true, then the enemy he was facing would have a terrifying strength.

"Your Majesty, the 'Imperial Dragon' is responsible for the true and false matters. But even if the question of how to deal with the enemy in front of us may be illusory, we must start thinking about the strategy of the battle now. Although Hao Zhao's battle report only mentioned the fall of Yanmen, judging from the time when the battle report was delivered and Zhao Yun really possibly carried artillery, Bingzhou may have really lost half of it as rumored. Da Sima Cao Ren shook his towering body, held his beard and said.

"Oh my God...... What is this? Our 800-mile expedited express has not spread as fast as the rumors in the market. When Xiahou heard this, he immediately shouted dissatisfiedly. He is really a person who has no ability, but there is a good old man above, and he is good at flattering Cao Rui, so he has become Cao Rui's favorite minister.

"It's also normal sometimes." Others may also look at Xiahou Yuan's father Xiahou Yuan's face and give Xiahou Yuan some good looks to look at, but Cao Ren, who is the same generation as Xiahou Yuan, will not be like this, he saw that Xiahou Yuan was quite arrogant and arrogant, and he was quite dissatisfied in his heart, but he also lowered his face at the moment and said lightly.

"What's the explanation?" Xiahou didn't seem to hear Cao Ren's dissatisfaction with him, but he asked again and again.

"I have fought with Li Shengjun's people, and I know that there is such a trick in their tactics, which is called: 'Yu Bing Sealing the Road'! However, in wartime, he brought enough superior troops, and used these extra soldiers to rob and kill the opponent's scouts, spies, and heralds, so as to block the information known to the other side. There are no less than hundreds of generals under Li Sheng's command who can fight habitually, and Zhao Yun is the one who can do this best. Cao Ren could ignore the suspicion on Xiahou Xun's face, but he couldn't turn a blind eye to the confusion of most people in the side hall and Cao Rui's own confusion, and after he saw that his Emperor Majesty and his colleagues were all unclear because of Xiahou Xun's madman's words, he opened his mouth and told them what he knew with a smile.

That is to say, in the case that the entire state has become Li Shengzhi's target. Zhao Yun sent a large number of scouts to rob and kill our spies to delay the delivery of our battle report as much as possible...... Really? Cao Rui's eyes widened when he heard this, "This is indeed a ruthless move, but is there any benefit to this move?" If they were really armed with artillery, whether we knew it or not, it would be useless. Could it be ...... Is Hao Zhao really colluding with them? Suddenly such a strange thing appeared, and he was planted by the words of his own courtiers, no matter how much he believed Hao Zhao, Cao Rui couldn't help but start to be suspicious. After all, he is still Cao Cao's grandson, and what flows in his body is still that suspicious blood.

"No ......!" The great general military advisor Du Xi stood up at this moment and shook his head gently: "I think it is precisely because the other party is doing this that it is even more impossible for Hao Zhao to really make peace with the other party." Why? Guy because this matter is too easy to be detected. As for why the other party did this, it is also easy to understand. Your Majesty must know that there is a preconceived notion in this world. If the spy report is sent to His Majesty before the rumors, I am afraid that His Majesty will believe Hao Zhaodudu's words first. But if the spy news arrived after the rumors, as it is now, I can say that His Majesty's reaction at this moment can be regarded as light. Generally speaking, His Majesty should have quickly ordered Hao Zhao to be taken out of prison. Who made him the first man here to lose his troops and land? ”

"That's right. However, I always thought that it was useless to be in chaos at the moment, and instead of pursuing the mistakes that should not be counted on him at the time of crisis, it was better to study the way to deal with Zhao Yun now. Zhao Yun has now won half of the state, and his troops do not have any sluggishness, God knows when this Zhao Yun will still fight. Cao Rui frowned and waved his hand. It's not that he doesn't want to deal with the defeated Hao Zhao, but he understands that there are more important things to do than dealing with Hao Zhao at the moment - if what Hao Zhao said is true, if Li Shengjun is really equipped with artillery artillery, then it is much better to let the good people who already have experience in fighting with artillery stay on the front line, and use his experience to guide those who have no experience in this area than to deal with him. "Failure must be tolerated and faced, and only then can you rise to it. There is no one in the world who is successful all the time! Somehow, Cao Rui's ears rang with the words that his grandfather Cao Cao had taught him.

"Your Majesty is wise!" For this young son of heaven who has only been on the throne for a few years but has already shown a bit of a gentleman's temperament, everyone has a desire to look up in their hearts, and they complimented Cao Rui in unison.

"Alright, let's stop talking about these nonsense. Uncle Zixiaohuang, you told me about the current situation. Such a compliment, even if he has only been the emperor for four years, Cao Rui has already heard a lot, he is a little tired, and waved his hand lightly at the moment, but it is for them to say something real. For this reason, he directly named the name of the great Sima Cao Ren. Cao Ren is the brother of Cao Rui's grandfather Cao Cao in terms of seniority, so Cao Rui has real respect for Cao Ren and calls him by the name of the emperor's uncle, which is also the only person with a high rank left in the Great Wei Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, I don't think I need to pay too much attention to the situation in Hebei. Although Zhao Yun was invincible in Hebei and seemed to be invincible, we had Xu Huang and Zhang Jaw on our side, and Hao Zhao, who was familiar with Li Sheng's army, and with the strength of Hebei's 200,000 army, there should be no problem in dealing with Li Sheng's 100,000 army. As for the so-called use of artillery in land warfare, even if that is not necessarily true, we need to prepare accordingly. My suggestion was to let the artillery factory in Qingzhou deliver a batch of artillery from the inventory to the Hebei side, and directly replace it with the Hebei army, so as to suppress Li Shengjun's artillery by artillery against artillery. Cao Ren thought for a while and made a suggestion to Cao Rui.

"To concoct a cannon! That's a good idea. With the words of the emperor's uncle, I have no worries about Hebei in Dawei! Cao Rui listened to Cao Ren's suggestion, and immediately stroked his palms and laughed.

Cao Rui couldn't be happy, and everyone under him was also overjoyed, but as the one who advised all this, Cao Ren still had a calm and bitter face. He waited there quietly and waited for Cao Rui to laugh for a while, and then he opened his mouth to tell Cao Rui his inner worries: "Your Majesty, Hebei is worry-free, but Guanzhong is worried. Since it is possible for Li Shengjun to equip artillery into Zhao Yun's expeditionary force, it is more likely to equip artillery into the troops in Liangzhou. Although we have set up more than dozens of large and small dock forts in Guanzhong, it is possible to use these dock forts to delay Li Shengjun's attack, but in the end, what we can do is only delay, not further blocking. If we don't find a way to equip the dock fort in Guanzhong with artillery, we are afraid that in the face of Li Shengjun, who is equipped with artillery, Guanzhong will eventually cease to be owned by our country. This is a danger to us. Li Sheng now has Bashu Liangzhou, if he gets Guanzhong again, I am afraid that it will be as prosperous as it was in the past, and then what will we do to compete with others? ”

"Hey...... That's right! Although my Great Wei has never relied on Guanzhong to get things done, it is much better to have Guanzhong in his own hands than in the hands of others. What Uncle Huang said is to the point, and we should indeed prepare for this in advance. Cao Rui pondered about the matter in front of him: "I remember that the affairs of Xijing are in charge of the Yongzhou Thorn Shi Zhong Xuan?" ”

"Exactly, Zhong Yongzhou has been guarding Xijing for decades. The reason why the western frontier of my Great Wei can be stable is inseparable from the support of Zhong Yongzhou. Cao Ren sighed and said, "However, Zhong Yongzhou is not a military general after all, and he may be able to do a good job of letting him reorganize his troops in the rear, but it will be a little difficult for him to face off against Li Shengjun's generals in the front." So I suggested that the general Cao Zhen should lead the Yongliang soldiers and horses to Xijing to reject the pseudo-Tang. ”

"Good! Just click here. Uncle Zidan, I will leave this matter to you. Emperor Cao Rui of Wei politely said to the general Cao Zhen, and he directly gave Cao Zhen full power: "The land of Guanzhong is independent, and the land of Guandong is made by me." It's all for Dawei! ”

"It's all for the sake of Da Wei." Cao Zhen was moved to prostrate on the ground and thanked him loudly. He was not originally from the Cao family, but because his father and uncle had a deep relationship with the Cao family, and he was adopted by Cao Cao as an adopted son, he was completely accepted by the Cao clan, and was treated like Cao Ren and others, and the trust was the same.

Cao Zhen thanked these people in the hall who were in danger. They are all loyal ministers of Cao Wei, and they have both losses and glory with Cao Wei. Under the infection of Cao Zhen's thanks, for a while, the atmosphere in the hall became warm. An inexplicable tragic feeling filled the hearts of everyone. Everyone understands that the foundation laid by Cao Cao and the empire established by Cao Pi are at a critical juncture. If this juncture can be crossed, then the world will really belong to the Cao family, if this juncture can not be crossed, then the Cao family's country will turn into ashes, and everyone present will become the king of the dead country and the ministers of the dead country.

"That's a very important thing." Everyone understood this, and as Cao Zhen thanked him, the talks in the side hall were naturally continued. After talking about the war between Hebei and Guanzhong, Chen Qun of the Central Protector Army came out and said: "Your Majesty, now that Hebei and Guanzhong have become battlefields, they are no longer able to provide money and food for the livelihood of our people. Worried about the livelihood of the country, the minister suggested that His Majesty should take the hinterland of Huainan, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jizhou as the place to settle the fields, and order the people to devote themselves to the fields, and use the farming tactics of the Great Qin in the past to gather grain and make money for our Great Wei. ”

"Is it a forcible Tuntian policy? Isn't Wen Gan afraid that the people will rebel because of this? Seeing that Chen Qun actually came up with such a solution, Xin Bi on the side had to admit that it was indeed good for the current Great Wei, but he still heard the trouble from it: "After several years of war, the people have been fighting hard for a long time. What they yearn for is a stable and peaceful life, if I use this forcible technique, I will go against the will of the people, but I am afraid that the people's will will be lost, and Li Sheng will be cheapened in vain. ”

"War is a comparison of the strength of the army, a comparison of the country's economy, and a comparison of the people's will." Although no one has specially sorted out such a statement and become a classic aphorism, some simple things have long been known to everyone as a truth. "Strength and weakness are only meaningful in comparison. In normal circumstances, if there is no comparison, no matter how much you squeeze your own people, there is no problem in giving them something to eat. Because as long as they can live, they can endure. But if you have another reference around you that you can compare. Then your oppression is likely to become the excuse for the other party to attack you. And after such a mouth really doesn't know how many spies are hidden in one's territory, it is very likely that it will become a kind of public opinion that is unfavorable to oneself, which is something that needs to be worth thinking. Moreover, the land of Huainan, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jizhou has been the territory of the Great Wei Dynasty for decades, and the structure and distribution of their land have become very stable, but there is not much land that can be distributed to the people for cultivation. If the strategy of farming and warfare is forcibly implemented, I am afraid that this stability must be broken first. However, such a break is even more detrimental to the stability of the country. If it is said that the unfavorable public opinion formed by the oppression of the people does not have a great impact on oneself and can be tolerated, then the resentment caused by the oppression of the scholars is enough to subvert the entire Great Wei State. The public opinion of these landowners is the real public opinion of the entire Great Wei State, and they are the real 'people's heart'. And whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world. I can't just push these people to Li Sheng's side. Simbi's words were short, but the meaning he conveyed was profound. There are many things that do not need to be explained, but need to be savored by yourself. When everyone really understood this problem, everyone's faces changed invariably. Their faces turned blue with a brush, and they all looked at Chen Qun with a strange gaze.

"Wen Gan, do you have any other considerations about this matter? If you don't have too many words, I'm afraid I won't be able to do what you suggest. Cao Rui looked at Chen Qun calmly and asked. He asked Chen Qun to explain the matter.

"The reason why Your Majesty is scruple about this matter is that it is because Cao Gong implemented the policy of attacking big households that day, but he encountered the worries caused by the Yanzhou rebellion. In fact, the situation today is completely different from the situation at the beginning. At the beginning, the Han family was still alive, and if the territory was to be safe, it was necessary to focus on harmony. And if it is three points today, His Majesty also has the name of orthodoxy, and in this case, even ordinary clans will not dare to rebel in the slightest. We all know what kind of policy Li Sheng's side uses against the big clan, so we don't need to be too strong in squeezing the big clan, just a little better than Li Sheng is enough for them to recognize it. Although there is no essential difference between the so-called fifty steps and one hundred steps, as long as there is a difference, everyone will still abandon one hundred from fifty. It's a matter of human nature, but it doesn't need to be said much. Chen Qun said with a smile: "This is a matter of degree, and it is the key to whether they can accept it." As for whether they can restrain their rebellion, it depends on whether His Majesty can resolutely use the army. I suggest that the Tuntian army go directly to the countryside as Li Sheng did, so as to deter the ghosts. At the same time, all counties and villages were ordered to set up an interconnection system for protecting armor. Let them keep an eye on each other, and if there is any instability, they will be punished by severe law. I don't believe that in such a situation where there is a big sword on one side and fruit on the other, they will still use the big sword and not eat the fruit. ”

"This ...... This doesn't seem to fit the teachings of the saints. Such a harsh punishment is only afraid that it is almost the same as the tyrannical Qin of the past. Sinbi still insisted on his opinion.

"It's about the same as Tyrannical Qin? What do you think of Qin Zhi? Chen Qun looked at Xin Bi with a little mockery.

"Qin is the country of tigers and wolves, and the second death is the fault of the law. This is a final conclusion, why should you ask again? Xin Bi glared back at Chen Qun unceremoniously.

"Is there a country of tigers and wolves that has been established for 600 years? You only see the fault of Qin's death because of the law II, but you forget the fact that at the beginning of Qin's establishment, because of the Shang Ying's change of law, and the prosperity of the matter. It must be remembered that Qin is also strong because of the law. In troubled times, you still need to use heavy codes. Chen Qun said with a sigh. Most of what he said came from Yizhou's opinions, but he himself did not feel anything embarrassed about it. In his opinion, the stones of other mountains can attack jade, as long as this method is good for the country, there seems to be nothing that cannot be done.

"Troubled times with heavy codes? I think that Han Gaozu still used the three chapters of the law to calm the world. Simbi shook his head unconvinced.

"At that time, the world didn't like the law at that time, so the three chapters of Gaozu's covenant law reflected its own effect. But now it is different from the beginning, although the war is still in turmoil, but the general trend of the world is divided into several large countries, and the war between each other is not fought, but the fight is earth-shattering. In such a situation, we should do everything we can to win the battle. I know that such an approach will make the landlords unlucky, but compared with the final victory of our own family, such a loss is fully bearable. We really shouldn't let this little thing cost us the end of the victory. Chen Qun believes that things are prioritized, and the current matter is the most important: "We can implement a plan first, and then find a way to compensate those people after we have finally won the victory." ”

"You ......" how can there be such a good thing to say, if this is really confirmed, it is like a beast that has been completely released from the reins. I can put it down, but it's hard to take it back, and Simbi stood up and wanted to refute it again. saw Cao Rui above stand up and waved his hand, so that they didn't have to quarrel anymore.

"What Wen Gan said is very good for our country. So I decided...... Everything was done according to what Wen Gan said. All the forces have been mobilized for me, and I do not want to be defeated in this war that concerns our entire country. It's a battle to the death. Cao Rui shouted. As a young monarch, his ideas were more radical, and he was even more incomprehensible to the idea that Sinpi Nafan had concerns. In his opinion, at such a time, all the people in the country should mobilize for themselves and contribute to their victory in the battle. He simply can't tolerate others thinking the same way.

"No!" Seeing that his lord gave the order so strongly, although he was still a little reluctant to do so, Xin Bi still shouted "No" helplessly and agreed. His promise naturally led to the rest of the hall. Thus, the matter of mobilizing the forces of the whole people to wage war was decided here, and it was soon issued as a decree to all localities.