In the scorching summer, Xiao Ye spent half a month and spent most of his energy reading this "Theory of War", and even asked Zuo Shi to do the inspection of the sergeant's fire/gun drill.

Although the content of the book is difficult to understand, Xiao Ye relied on the stubborn energy of gnawing word by word, and read the book roughly twice, although he saw some fur in a hurry, he had already benefited a lot.

Xiao Ye, whose personality is not yet mature, did not continue to enter a private school due to family changes, and did not accept Yang Tianshou's systematic Confucianism, but he got "On War" by mistake.

Half a month later, on a hot and dry night, Huang Hanxiang and Wan Ziliang, who were in the dust, returned to Shiguantun with their sergeants, and the pack horses on the mountain were half less than when they set off.

Along the way, the little six sons and a team of personal guards who were responsible for protecting Wan Ziliang turned out to be injured by everyone.

After receiving the letter from the canyon at the bottom of the mountain, the Baihu Institute sent Wang Hu's team to quickly go down the mountain to block the road leading to the back mountain, and then sent people to watch the periphery of the Tian family's shop, and Qin Shi led the team to lead Huang Hanxiang and his party to the stone mountain.

Although they were very envious of Huang Hanxiang who went to the grassland, Qin Shishi still frowned when he looked at the bloodstained bandages and tattered battle jackets on the sergeants.

On the way to Haixi Village, although Huang Hanxiang walked into the vast Gobi shortcut according to Xiao Ye's suggestion, and finally completed the transaction with the village chief of Ola along the way; But on the way back, I was targeted by the Tartars.

With the sophisticated firearms in their hands, they blocked the pursuit of the Tartars all the way, and if it weren't for Xiao Ye's shimmering glasses, they would have almost been surrounded by the cavalry of the Tartar brigade several times.

Not surprisingly, monoculars also appeared in the Tartar cavalry, but fortunately, the telescopes were expensive, and only the Tartar officers above the commander of a thousand commanders occasionally held them, otherwise Huang Hanxiang and they wanted to return to Shiguantun, I am afraid it would be even more difficult.

Of the 227 sergeants, there were 203 people who returned to Shiguantun, and nearly half of them were injured, so that Huang Hanxiang's plan to return to Bailong Lake had to be delayed.

In the Stone Fort A and the Quarry Stone Fort B, the military quarters for these sergeants were crowded and barely enough, but Li Muchen and his five medical soldiers were too busy to touch the ground; That's right, Xiao Ye's recent title of pharmacist is a medical soldier.

Huang Hanxiang handed over the gold and silver traded back with the Haixi people, and he and Wan Ziliang went to the Baihu Office to report the trip to the Baihu; The tablets of the twenty-four soldiers who died in the war and the pensions of their families were arranged by Mei'er, and Xiao Ye saved a lot of trouble.

In the small courtyard, Huang Hanxiang, who was wrapped in a medicine belt on his head, gave a detailed explanation to Baihu about several encounters with the Tartars, especially when it came to the equipment of the Tartar cavalry, which made him angry.

"Baihu, it's not that we can't beat those Tartars, those merchants in the side wall are too bold and reckless, the revolver fire/gun and binoculars, and the three-eyed fire system, they all have it, even our fire/gun subordinate has also encountered it, fortunately, there are few of them," Sitting on the stone bench, Huang Hanxiang said angrily.

"It's just that the range of their fire/guns can't compare to ours, the damaged sergeants are all hit by the three-eyed fire system and the horned bow, and the two hundred fire/gunners in my hand are fierce," Speaking of this, Huang Hanxiang looked at the dull Wan Ziliang next to him, "Brother Liu Ren is not bad, he came up with the idea to pull the earth-shaking thunder out of the fire rope to make a tripping thunder, but it made the Tartars suffer a big loss,"

Wan Ziliang, who was obviously stimulated by the bloody scene, forcibly endured the idea of going to wash up, and the corners of his mouth twitched in response to Huang Hanxiang's praise, "Baihu, depending on the situation, the Tartars will not let go of Shiguantun this autumn, as soon as we got out of the canyon, we met the Tartars' rangers, if it weren't for the scout's shotgun, it would be difficult to rush into the Gobi,"

"We could have returned a few days earlier, but when we were in Haixi Village, it was raining heavily, and the fire/gun projectiles could not be used in the rain," Speaking of the shortcomings of the fire/gun, even Xiao Ye was helpless.

"Tartar may know the shortcomings of fire/guns, once they attack Shiguantun on a rainy day, it will be difficult to say," Wan Ziliang's seemingly self-muttering words made Huang Hanxiang's face solemn.

"Hmph," Xiao Ye put the teacup on the stone table, twisted his brows and snorted coldly, "Then try it, the crossbows and fire/guns in our hands are not vegetarians, and we must not give up in Bailong Lake, and the fortress stone fort outside the exit of the canyon must be built before the spring of next year,"

Since it is against the Tartars, it is best to stay away from Shiguantun on the battlefield, and it is the best place to drag the Tartars at the edge of the grassland at the exit of the canyon, and it is not convenient for the support of the hundred households.

"Fortress Stone Fort?" was stunned by the four words that suddenly popped out of Baihu's mouth, and the two Xiao Ye's henchmen unconsciously looked at Xiao Ye's eyes, only to find that Baihu's eyes were much brighter than before.

I haven't seen it for half a month, and it seems that the hundred households have matured a lot, but I can think of building the stone castle on the edge of the grassland, which coincides with Huang Hanxiang's idea; Only Wang Ziliang, the corners of his eyes twitched slightly, and he didn't say anything more.

"Well, this official got a book not long ago, but it is a good book on par with Sun Tzu's Art of War, and it has not yet comprehended the essence of the period, but it has been an eye-opener, you two can also take a look," As he spoke, Xiao Ye took out the book from his arms and solemnly handed it to Wan Ziliang, "This is a unique book, you can copy it, you must not damage it, return it as soon as possible,"

"Xie Baihu," Wan Ziliang silently took the book with both hands, this book bound with white flute paper, he was not much surprised, but he was very surprised in his heart, by now, he had walked into the circle around Baihu.

"Whether it is Shiguantun or Bailonghu, in the near future, we must reserve military crossbows, earth-shaking thunder, and jumping thunder, and it is okay to use them in rainy days, and the fire/gun must find a way to prevent rain," In the gradually cool courtyard, Xiao Ye chatted with the two subordinates for a long time, and did not rest separately until he drank two pots of tea.

Holding the letter written by the village chief of Aura to Lina, standing at the gate of the small courtyard, and sending the two henchmen away, Xiao Ye suddenly found that Han Juan was outside, pulling the tired little six sons, and the two muttered in a low voice, probably discussing the matter of buying flowers.

Han Juan is eleven years old this year, and she is too young compared to the nineteen-year-old little six sons, Xiao Ye didn't take it to heart, turned around and went back to sleep; Anyway, Han Juan has been staying overnight at her father-in-law, and the little sixth son will send it over when the time comes.

The next day, Bades sent a team of red-haired sergeants to take away the pack horses from Shiguantun, and the goods brought by the pack horses were enough for him to deal with the appetite of the three merchants for a while.

Accompanying the caravan to the compound of the Baodes shop were several Haixi men and women brought back by Huang Hanxiang from Haixi Village, all of whom were relatives of Baodes, and no one could understand the Latin they spoke.

And Xiao Ye's injured guards also began to receive treatment in Li Muchen's clinic, and by the way, they leaked in front of Tian Guy's eyes; Of course, the twenty-four tablets sent to the Land Temple must be solemn and lively.

For Xiao Ye to send a sergeant to escort the caravan in exchange for more or less money, the Wang, Huang, and Tian families didn't care, after all, the grassland trade route was quite risky, and Xiao Ye also fed a large group of military households, and it was still a little worse to live with those two B-shaped stone mills.

The stone mill in the quarry is not the same as the stone mill in the workshop behind the mountain, people are working in shifts day and night, but the sun rises and stops work at sunset on the mountain, and people who are interested in calculating it will know the output of Shiguantun plaster.

In this way, the filling field under Wang Dali's care was still unhurriedly filling stone slabs, and the rectangular stone slabs mixed with branches in them had already piled up two hills next to the stone fort.

The sense of secrecy in the Ming Dynasty was quite poor, and Wang Dali learned through chatting with the Huang guy that in the Huang family's workshop, a large number of iron bars began to be mixed into the yellow plaster, and the regular stones were extremely hard, and for a while there was only envy.

Early the next morning, Xiao Ye was practicing knife skills in the courtyard, and Wan Ziliang, who had a pair of black eyelids, hurriedly ran in, "Lord Baihu, do you have something important to ask at your job?" Seeing that he was in a hurry, he was even negligent in normal etiquette, but fortunately, Xiao Ye didn't pay attention to these.

Stopping the long knife in his hand, Xiao Ye turned his face to look at Wan Ziliang, and waved his hand funny, "What's the matter, I didn't sleep last night?" This trip to the grassland, but the bones of the body are a lot stronger,"

"Oh, Lord Baihu," Wan Ziliang came over in a few steps, ignoring Xiao Ye's concession, "Dare to ask Baihu, is this war theory written by that hero?" ”

"What, you have questions?" Xiao Ye put the knife into the sheath and threw it to the guard next to him, took a towel to wipe the sweat on his face, and the shocked expression Wan Ziliang showed at the moment, he was even more unbearable before.

"No, it's not, I just want to ask for advice in person," Wan Ziliang hurriedly shook his head, and he still refused to agree with some of the points in the book.

At the same time, the political purpose of war cannot arbitrarily determine everything, but must adapt to the nature of the means, which leads to the goal to be achieved by war itself. For this, Wan Ziliang was simply enlightened, and his eyes were greatly opened.

However, the purpose of the war to defeat the enemy includes three elements: first, to destroy the enemy's army; the second is to occupy the enemy's territory; The third is the will to conquer the enemy. Because the enemy's resistance is made up of army, territory, and will, it is impossible to defeat the enemy without destroying these three elements. Of the three elements, the first should be to destroy the enemy's army, then to occupy the enemy's territory, and finally to force the enemy to make peace. But this order is not absolute, as these three elements tend to influence each other. Wan Ziliang has a different view on this argument.

The literati of the Ming Dynasty, the heritage inherited from ancient times, were immersed in the mood of the vast land not for decades or hundreds, but for thousands of years, occupying the enemy's land, as for it. Huairou educates and convinces people with virtue, but the essence left by the ancestors, there is no shadow in this book.

"Then you don't have a chance, the official still wants to talk to the author himself, it's a lone book, the source is unknown, you copy it and return it as soon as possible," Xiao Ye chuckled and sat on the stone bench, "It's just right, Mei'er boiled gruel, you also drink a bowl before leaving,"

"Oh, no, let's go to the room to eat something," Wan Ziliang, who was very disappointed, bowed down and was about to retreat, when he suddenly remembered something, "Baihu, I contacted the shops in the back mountains last night, and Baodes got news from Huang Deshan that the Wang family in Gansu Town has a happy event this issue,"

"Well, there is no need to tell this official, his royal family is very happy, we don't know any letters, obviously people don't look down on us, why bother to have fun on the pole," Xiao Ye picked up the teacup disapprenorovingly, took a sip of hot tea, got up and walked to the hall.

"Yes," Wan Ziliang nodded, and turned around and went out in agreement. The message from the whistle is simple, and it would be nice to get the news.

However, in the afternoon, when several Huang family's carriages from the Houshan workshop were loading plaster in the quarry mill, the big-mouthed Huang Jiawei made the news clear.

Tian Xiuxiu, the young lady of the Tian family, will marry into the Wang family as a young grandmother on the first auspicious day of the first month of next month, and she is still the flat wife of the second room. Hearing this, Wang Dali, who was still laughing with Huang Jiawei, suddenly turned white.

Wang Dali, who has a good relationship with the hundreds of households on weekdays, but I remember clearly that Miss Tian's relationship with the hundred households in private is not an ordinary friendship, but the hundred households are obviously still in the dark now.

"Oh no, it's bad," Wang Dali, who kept muttering in his mouth, walked straight to the hundred households with his footsteps.

"Smack," in the hall of the hundred households, Xiao Ye sat at the desk, the teacup in his hand was smashed to the ground by him, and the tea splashed; With a pale face, he gasped, and the young Baihu slowly put down the books in his hands.

"It's too much deception," Xiao Ye didn't go to visit his uncle's embarrassed look, and looked up and pondered for a while, "Uncle Wang, you arrange for a clever sergeant to go to the Houshan Workshop, and let Baodes quickly inquire about this matter, don't know all day long to drink and have fun, this official doesn't need waste,"

"Yes, Xia Guan knows," Wang Dali glanced at Xiao Ye's angular face, this little descendant who came out of the gravel castle now has a very different momentum from last year; Giving a salute, the priest withdrew.

At this time, Xiao Ye's mood, Wang Dali understood very well, in front of the sergeants, especially in front of the guards, Xiao Ye did not hide the relationship with Tian Xiuxiu at all, obviously regarded her as his own family, although it was the kind of concubine.

The white corrugated paper is sold exclusively to the Tian family, or is it sold at the price of cabbage, doesn't the Tian family understand the meaning? The resentment that Xiao Ye had suppressed for a long time in his heart began to burst out.

The news I got today was clearly slapping Xiao Ye in the face, so that he, a hundred households who had always been quite confident in front of the military households, was inexplicably dug into the corner, and there was still the kind of suffering that was said. He didn't come to the door to marry Xiao Ye, and he didn't even think about inviting the matchmaker, no wonder someone else would take the lead.

Xiao Ye, who felt quite good about himself, was beaten in the face in front of the military household, if he didn't move, his reputation in the hearts of the big guys would be ruined.

If this matter is not handled well, Xiao Ye spends a lot of money and sprinkles a lot of grain, and the image that is easy to erect in the hearts of the military households will fall below the ground overnight; You must know that the hatred of taking a wife, even if it is a concubine, is also a major matter related to reputation.

What made him most depressed was that he couldn't discuss this matter with Yang Tianshou, and his father-in-law, who loved his daughter, had long been cold to him about the unclear relationship with Tian Xiuxiu.

Now that Mei'er and Lena have gone to school at their father-in-law's private school, Xiao Ye does not have the hypocrisy of hiding Jiaojiao in the house, but allows him to calmly think about the matter at hand.

Let Zuo Shi find Wan Ziliang, Xiao Ye paced back and forth in the small courtyard, and told the part-time staff member the news he had gotten, "You say, how should this official deal with it?" ”

"Hehe, Lord Baihu is in a hurry, isn't there still more than ten days to go?" Sitting on the stone bench, Wan Ziliang shook the paper fan in his hand, picked up the iron chopsticks slowly, and fiddled with the red charcoal in the clay stove.

Filled the delicate small copper kettle with clean water and put it on the clay stove, Wan Ziliang twitched the corner of his mouth, "The soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, since it is their own woman, what does it matter if they snatch it back, just arrange the secret point,"

"The current situation, the Wada family's tearing face is just in response to the calculation of the Gravel Castle, and Lord Qianhu is waiting for you to make trouble, so you can't do it openly,"

"Shiguan guards the Persians' purchase routes, even if there are Tartars peeping outside, the gravel fort or even the guards, it is more than enough to pick out a hundred households who dare to fight and can defend, and it is really not possible for other guards to call it,"

"As long as there is oil and water here, there are eyes to watch, it is not a problem to kill and injure some military households, the problem is that the oil and water passing by is not his share of Wang Chongli and Tian Guanglin, that is a big problem," The oil and water that fell in Xiao Ye's hand, plus two stone mills, obviously can raise hundreds of people from a hundred households, and if it falls into the hands of a few officers, it will add up to a lot of money.

Wan Ziliang's rough analysis directly pointed out the root cause of this matter, which is nothing more than touching people's hearts; What's more, the marriage of the two families of Wang Tian is also a beautiful thing, and the closer the staggered relationship between the officials and businessmen of Gansu Town, the better.

The sad thing is that in this, Xiao Ye is ignored by the family, and the relationship between him and Tian Xiuxiu is shady, and it is a disaster to say it.

"Okay, okay," Xiao Ye stood in the small courtyard, sneering again and again, although his face was without the anger just now, but the evil in the corners of his eyes made Wan Ziliang feel a lot happier; Since his hope of revenge is all pinned on the hundred households, he can't let the officials and merchants in the side wall get too close to the hundred households, and the more resentment in the process, the better.

Who said that it is useless to be a scholar, a poisonous tongue is better than a thousand troops, Wan Ziliang is confident that he can quietly turn the low-level officer in front of him into a vicious wolf who will be revenged; At that time, it will be a trivial matter to bring your own family feud by the way.

Of course, his self-confidence came from the goods and firearms that kept appearing in Xiao Ye's hands, otherwise he would not have put forward any ideas beyond the bounds. As for the source of the goods, he didn't want to know and didn't want to know.

"However, this matter is very important, and it is better not to make a noise in Tunli," Wan Ziliang's final warning, Xiao Ye naturally would not object, and it was too late for him to suppress the ugly things in his own house.

So, in the afternoon of the same day, Xiao Ye returned to his normal activities in the Baihu Office, went to the training ground to supervise the sergeant's fire/gun drills, went to the clinic to visit the injured sergeant, and even stayed in the stone fort B in the quarry for a while.

The calm and orderly Shiguantun, the military households who go to work, the sergeants who train on the sentry, the old soldiers who guard the cattle and sheep in the fence, and the private school with the crisp sound of reading, form a picture of orderliness.

Only Qin Shi's Orion Squad, that is, the Fourth Little Banner, received an order to go out to the grassland to supervise the Tartars the next day, and a group of ten sergeants, under the watchful eye of the Tian guys, swaggered into the canyon.

After all, I just fought with the Tartars, and I have been targeted by others on the road of the canyon, so it's strange not to pay attention to it.