The remnant sun was like blood, and the fiery red clouds burned the sky red.

The low sound of the horn echoed in the barracks, wisps of cooking smoke rose up, and on the temporary school field outside the barracks, a group of soldiers in bright armor were putting away their banners and lining up in a neat queue to return to the barracks in an orderly manner.

Except for the time of rapid marching, even in bad weather when it is windy and rainy, the drill cannot be delayed, and sometimes, when encountering such a situation, the amount and time of the drill will be increased.

Uninterrupted and meticulous training is the fundamental reason why Qingzhou has trained elite.

Of course, the cost of daily practice is also very high.

It's not that the timing is wrong, just like an athlete has to warm up before an official competition, even before a fight, proper practice can help to stay in shape. What's more, the time of the official decisive battle is not yet predictable, and whether the routine drill can be saved by canceling it so early is still two words, but it will definitely increase the psychological burden of the soldiers and intensify the tension, and the gains outweigh the losses.

The main factor restricting frequent drills is the consumption of various strategic materials.

First of all, food, the increase in activity, the increase in the consumption of the human body. Generally speaking, out of the camp for drills, it is equivalent to giving soldiers at least double rations in wartime. If the soldiers are not fed, the officers will still shout slogans and train them fiercely, just wait for the cold arrow in the back.

If you want to keep your morale high all the time, it is best to give rewards for your drills, not only to the soldiers, but also to the officers at all levels. If you are not rewarded for your excellent performance, the number of accidents in the next exercise will increase significantly, and even the performance should generally be given appropriately, otherwise the accidents will still increase.

If the army's sense of honor is high enough to a certain extent, the reward may be reduced, but food must be guaranteed no matter what. Whole grains alone are still insufficient, and there must be meat from time to time. The consumption of this alone was enough to make the princes daunted.

Finally, the drill will inevitably lead to the consumption of war preparation materials, not to mention the bows and crossbows and arrows, and will definitely report the damage to armor and weapons, which need to be repaired with funds, even if it is a target scarecrow, it also needs to consume money or labor. It is impossible to conjure up any materials out of thin air, and it always costs a certain price.

So. Whether an army is elite or not, from the frequency of its drills, can be concluded; The frequency of the drill depends on the availability of logistical supplies.

Otherwise, how can you say that fighting a war is fighting for the economy?

If you want to train a crack army, it is not enough to boost morale. It is okay for mental power to play a winning role once in a while, but it can't become the norm. If the material conditions can't keep up, the kind of thing that trains an elite soldier basically only exists in legends or novels.

If you want to train an elite army, the most important thing is economic strength.

The martial arts of the Han Dynasty reached their peak in the Han Wu era. The root of this lies in the accumulation of the rule of Wenjing. With such accumulation, Liu Che has the capital to accumulate and develop steadily. trained an invincible elite soldier in the world, and then chased the north and swept across the desert, laying down the great martial arts of the Han Dynasty. None of these. What did he take to train in Shanglin Yuan? What about the future?

It was precisely because of the high cost of training elite soldiers that Wang Yu had to reduce the size of Qingzhou's army. As a matter of fact. If it weren't for the fact that he had looted all kinds of princes in Luoyang before, he would not have been able to maintain the existing 20,000 soldiers with the savings of the Taishan royal family and his relatives, as well as the output of Qingzhou. Otherwise, Wang Kuang would not have smashed the pot and sold iron at the beginning, but he only recruited 500 strong crossbows.

Raising and training troops was originally meant to be smashed with gold and silver.

The civil officials in Qingzhou complained bitterly about this, and in private they had to rejoice that the lord finally maintained his sanity and did not use military force. It wasn't until the autumn harvest that I was relieved, but it was also temporary, because the war was still going on, and I had to hold on to my teeth.

Of course, the tips to be done, still have to be done.

“…… This year's autumn grain storage has been basically completed, and the people who are presiding over this matter are Guo Zini and Wang Shuzhi, and excluding the consumption and seizures since the beginning of the war, there are more than 1,420,000 grains stored in the warehouse......

Wang Yu touched his chin, looked at his head of internal affairs with satisfaction, and replied ambiguously: "It's still ...... Not bad? ”

After deducting the part kept by the people, more than one million grains can be collected, which is of course incomparable with large states and counties such as Jizhou and Yanzhou, but it should be quite ideal for Qingzhou, which has been repeatedly warred and ruined.

However, Tian Feng's expression was very serious, which made Wang Yu unhappy.

"So far, it's not bad." Tian Feng was not treated by Yuan Shao because his style of speaking was too straightforward, and he rarely took into account the mood of the Lord and took care of the Lord's face. When he arrived in Qingzhou, with Wang Yu's connivance or appreciation, his characteristic had a tendency to carry forward.

"If the battle ends here, the situation is really good. As long as there are no major natural disasters in the coming year, the grain stored in the warehouse will be enough for the military and civilians of Qingzhou for the whole year. Even if there are some twists and turns, some deficiencies, the gradually improving salt administration and all kinds of commerce and trade are enough to make up for it. It is inevitable to enter the virtuous circle you are talking about, but ......"

Hearing Tian Feng's words, Wang Yu also patted his forehead, and he knew that Tian Feng was not here to sing praises.

"Is it possible that if the war continues, it may be impossible to make ends meet?"

"The lord is wise." Tian Feng's praise is not flawed at all in terms of etiquette, but if there is any respect in it, it is impossible to talk about it.

"If Feng's calculation is correct, the autumn grain, plus the capture of several major battles, especially the capture in the Battle of Chiping, the total income of our army should exceed two million and four million! In other words, in the past few months, the consumption of our army in grain and grass alone has been close to one million! Tian Feng's expression became more and more serious.

"The cost of armor is okay, except for paper armor, the capture and consumption are basically the same. However, the preparation of tens of thousands of paper nails and sea trade has wiped out many of the benefits generated by the salt administration and paper trade carried out by the Mi family. Now Youzhou is too busy to take care of itself, if the sea trade with Liaodong cannot be carried out in time, I am afraid that the use of the coming year will be very tight. ”

Tian Feng directly listed a large number of figures, which vividly illustrated the severity of the current situation.

"That's right......" Wang Yu began to have a headache.

He is a special soldier, not an accountant, and he has no sensitivity to numbers, and he has no experience in the details of internal affairs. Of course. Although Tian Feng's speech is not very good, but on the contrary, his words are also very reliable, and there will definitely be no alarmism or bullying and other things, he said that the logistics pressure is high, that is, it is really big.

Fighting a war is really a loss-making deal! Wang Yu sighed in his heart, this is still a victory, if it is a defeat or two. The pension plus the cost of regrouping, Qingzhou's foundation is not all folded in at once?

Wang Yu was very puzzled and asked, "It's strange, how can the cost be so big?" ”

"The art of war is cloudy: those who make good use of soldiers will no longer be registered, and food will not be for three years. Take the country. Because the food is in the enemy, the army can have enough food. Tian Feng quoted scriptures and replied like a stream: "The lord implements benevolent government, except for the seizures on the battlefield, the people have not touched a husband and a wife, and the grain and grass turnover are all transported from Qingzhou." With tens of thousands of troops outside, how much can it cost? ”

He spread his hands and said: "Before the two armies of Shooting and Yulin came out, the Hebei army Gu Shang was 27,363 per month. Salt, livestock, and cocoons are all high. At present, the soldiers of Qingzhou in Hebei have to supply 20,000 people from Youzhou, as well as more than 20,000 Yanzhou soldiers captured in the Battle of Chiping. Naturally, the cost is huge. ”

"I would have been able to convince people with virtue, is it still wrong?" Wang Yu was depressed.

Gongsun Chan was very poor. is also a master who pays attention to food for the enemy, if he does not supply grain and grass, Tian Kai can only prepare by himself. The method of preparation is nothing more than looting among the people, which is the default practice of the princes, which has continued from the Spring and Autumn Period to the present, and it is no wonder that Tian Kai is brutal.

Wang Yu is a particular person, of course he can't do anything to his own people, although Qinghe and other counties were Yuan Shao's territory not long ago, which is considered an enemy territory, but after all, they are also the people of Huaxia, and they really can't do the same thing because of food. Not only can't he do it himself, but he can't watch his allies mess around, so he can only give Tian Kai an extra amount of money and food.

In this way, his compassionate execution has been fulfilled, but the loss is great, and in a sense, it can be regarded as losing his heart for the sake of face.

Of course, he will not regret this, like Dong Zhuo in history forcibly moved the capital, Cao Cao slaughtered the city, and the pit descended soldiers, he said that he couldn't do anything.

Of course, they all have their own difficulties, Dong Zhuo plundered Luoyang for money and food, and moved to the capital out of strategic considerations to avoid the enemy's edge. And Cao Cao slaughtered the city in Xuzhou because of the wealth of Xuzhou, and he wanted to plunder money and grain to develop his own territory; After the Battle of Guandu, he was afraid that Hebei, which was several times more numerous than his own army, would descend and change, so he slaughtered them.

During the Later Han Dynasty, the population of the Central Plains plummeted, which was caused by the brutality of heroes such as Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao.

Wang Yu could not unify the world without a fight, and this magnificent civil war must be carried out to the end after all. But the difference is that he has a bottom line and will not extend the butcher's knife to his own people.

Now that Tian Feng said this, he naturally didn't feel much in his heart.

"What is good at the top, but what is good at the bottom will be great! The lord is benevolent and holds a sword, which is the best person to end the troubled times, how dare Feng slander him? Tian Feng bowed down and apologized, explaining: "Feng is just talking about things and reporting according to the truth, but ......" said, with a look on his face that wanted to say something.

Wang Yu asked curiously: "Why should Yuan Hao speak up if he has something to say?" ”

"If it's possible, the lord had better plan early." The topic that can make Tian Feng want to talk and stop is naturally not too easy, so he only heard him say in a deep voice: "Now that Jizhou's strength has been greatly weakened, in two or three years, it should not be able to pose too much threat to Qingzhou. ”

"Peace? Right now? Wang Yu was immediately stunned, only to feel that this proposal was unbelievable and unbelievable, "The plan last time, Yuan Hao, you also know, if it goes well, it should have been settled now, do you think Yuan Shao will talk about the strike and collect the team, when nothing has happened?" ”

Taking advantage of Liu Bei's uncooperative mentality and Yuan Shao's desire to use superior forces in Qingyuan to fight a decisive battle, Wang Yu dispatched two generals, Tai Shici and Huang Zhong, and carefully formulated an ambush plan. It was Jia Xu and Tian Feng who discussed with him and completed the plan, and now both of them are present.

If the plan succeeds, Yuan Shao's vanguard, that is, Yan Liang and his three thousand iron horsemen, who had arrived in Ping'en five or six days earlier but had never been seen, would probably be finished.

Having suffered such a big loss, how could Yuan Shao give up? Even if he doesn't think about face, starting from the actual situation, he has to take advantage of the strong period of troops. Achieve certain results and recover the declining momentum.

The current Jizhou army is composed of many parties, and if it is dispersed, Yuan Shao's remaining troops will be at most similar to the Qing and Youyou coalition forces. Counting Gongsun Zan again, the strength of the coalition army has exceeded that of the entire army in Jizhou.

Coming from Bingzhou, you have to pass through the Taihang Mountains, and Hanoi is also a place where enemies are attacked on all sides. That is, the personal relationship between Lu Bu and Zhang Yang is very good, and the Hanoi army can leave the country for a long time. But now in the Central Plains War, Dong Zhuo has no scruples and is going all out to use troops to the east, no one can be sure. Next, how will the situation evolve in Sili Prefecture?

Therefore, for Yuan Shao, the greater the loss, the more he has to fight to the end, and the truce of the army is for him. It's chronic suicide.

Tian Feng replied calmly: "Of course Yuan Shao will not give in easily, but even if he fights in the north, he must not be completely sure." Shaowai is wide and elegant. Joy and sorrow are invisible, and sex is self-exalted, shorter than good, and what you see may not be long-term. If the lord is willing to make some concessions, this proposal may not be impossible. ”

"......," Wang Yu pondered for a moment. Unable to make a decision for a while, he turned to Jia Xu and asked, "Wenhe, what do you think?" ”

"Yuan Hao's words are not unreasonable."

Jia Xu has always pursued the principle of not crossing the line and not abusing power. He has no reservations in terms of military strategy and intelligence, but when it comes to internal affairs and foreign affairs, which have nothing to do with his own duties, he has never been concerned with his own affairs. Therefore, when Wang Yu and Tian Feng were discussing internal affairs, he kept watching the muffled voice of his nose and nose until Wang Yu asked, and then he answered vaguely.

This is certainly not enough.

Before the words fell, Jia Xu found that Wang Yu's eyes were staring straight at him, obviously refusing to give up, and he had to let him tell the reason.

Helpless, Jia Xu could only beat his spirit and analyzed: "Yan Liang's defeat is a shame for Yuan Shao, and it is also a major blow. He was born in a high-ranking family and rarely suffered setbacks, presumably at this moment, he was also quite jealous of the combat power of our army. However, this time, he has withstood the repeated attacks of our army, Youzhou, and Montenegro, and he must have palpitations......"

Wang Yu has a big head, Jia Xu's words are good, but what goes around and around is that it does not involve substantive issues, he waved his hand impatiently, and asked: "Wenhe, don't go around in circles, you just say, do you think Yuan Shaoken is unwilling to negotiate peace." ”

"Ken, how could you not?" Jia Xu replied in the affirmative.

Seeing Wang Yu's surprised expression, he changed his words and said: "Invite the Huns to enter, the loss of Jizhou is also very large, every day the Huns stay, the loss of Jizhou is one point greater, the war drags on, and the damage to Qingzhou and Jizhou is equally unbearable, so Yuan Shaocai is in a hurry to fight a decisive battle in Qingyuan." ”

"Peace is beneficial to both sides, and if you continue to fight, you will lose both?" Wang Yu understood.

In history, the war between Gongsun Chan and Yuan Shao seems to have reached this stage, and as a result, Dong Fatzi was given a chance to get ahead. Dong Zhuo saw that the two sides were exhausted, so he simply came to Hebei to mediate under the pretense of the will of the Son of Heaven, and successfully established his prestige through this matter. However, in that Hebei war, Yuan Shao should have had a slight upper hand, and it was Gongsun Chan who could not continue.

Now, Dong Fatzi has a deep hatred with himself, and he wishes that he and Yuan Shao would die together, and he will definitely not come forward to mediate. And the Central Plains heroes have either participated in this big war, or they have already stood in line and have no position to mediate.

If there is no mediation, whoever comes forward first to sue for peace will definitely be passive.

Thinking of this, Wang Yu's heart suddenly moved.

Jia Xu observed the words and knew that Wang Yu had figured it out, so he said: "It's nothing more than the price." Qinghe is too close to Wei County, and the impact of the military disaster is also small, if the lord cedes Qinghe, the battle line returns to the situation before the war, and then sends an envoy to say two good words, even if Yuan Shao is unwilling, but in the end, he can only push the boat down the river. ”

"Hmm." Wang Yu nodded noncommittally and let out a low 'um'.

In the original strategic concept, he didn't even want the plains, the Qinghe River was farther than the plains, and taking it would only lengthen the front and increase the attrition needlessly. Bing, not the more the better, the territory, the same is not the bigger the better, giving up Qinghe is not an unacceptable choice.

Besides, the mass base of this place has been laid. After Yuan Shao takes over, he will definitely implement the original policy, and when the time comes, there will be many people who think of themselves well, and it will not be difficult to make a comeback after a period of recuperation.

The enemy's forces are far superior to their own, and it is not advisable to fight quickly and decisively. The most important thing is that even if you win this battle, you won't have any troops to take Jizhou, and if you have to fight to the end, won't it become a battle of will?

In fact, the situation of this battle is somewhat similar to the battle of Guandu in history, and the comparison of strength is very similar to the strategic situation.

The current Yuan Shao, of course, is not as strong as Yuan Shaoqiang, who sits in the land of Sizhou and has 100,000 strong soldiers under his command, but Wang Yu's strength is also not as good as Cao Cao before the Battle of Guandu. In the battle of Guandu, behind Cao Cao's flank, there was Runan Liu Bei threatening; Now in Qingzhou, there are also Zang Ba who are ready to move.

On the one hand, this battle is not easy to fight, and more importantly, Cao Cao in history did not immediately enter Hebei after winning the battle of Guandu. Because his troops and food and grass were lacking, he couldn't fight, so he simply waited for Yuan Shao's sons to fight among themselves.

But now? Yuan Tan is an adult, and Yuan Xi has also reached the age of a weak crown, but Yuan Shao's favorite concubine Liu is from the Liu family, a famous family in Guangping County, the sister of Liu Shao, a famous man, and the door that Yuan Shao stepped on after entering Jizhou. In other words, Yuan Shang, who is competing with Yuan Tan, is still in infancy!

If Yuan Shao is defeated, there will be no scene of the two sons fighting, but it is possible that they will be picked up by others, such as: Cao Cao who is close to the water.

"If the lord is determined to fight, he must fight quickly, and he is afraid of change." Tian Feng reminded with a solemn face: "Yuan Zhi is resourceful, but Zang Ba is also a general, and there are many thieves and horses in Mount Tai, and he is familiar with the topography of Qingzhou and Mount Tai, so he should be a strong enemy!" ”

When he sees it, he will accept it, and Tian Feng still has a conservative opinion.

Wang Yu looked at Jia Xu, and saw that the old fox was also slightly bowed, and he agreed, so he made up his mind: "Then find someone to go to Yuan Ying." However, you have to be prepared for Yuan Shao to be embarrassed, the two said, isn't it? ”

Hearing that Wang Yu had something to say, Jia Xu and Tian Feng were stunned.

Jia Xu reacted faster, and immediately showed a thoughtful expression, and then there was a hint of playfulness in his eyes. Tian Feng felt that there seemed to be something wrong, but there was nothing to say, and he was not afraid of things, but from the current situation in Qingzhou, ending the war as soon as possible was the best strategy.