Sun Wu and the soldiers sat opposite each other, with a long case in the middle, and a wooden flute on each of the four sides of the case (to prevent things from slipping off the case). A copper kettle with a handle is placed on the case. Two wines, each with a black lacquer cup and a pair of bamboo chopsticks.

Prepare a little dish, and Sun Wu ordered the servants to drink wine on the side. Then the two raised their glasses with both hands to celebrate the reunion.

Sun Wu said with emotion: "The younger brother has traveled around the world for several years, visiting famous teachers and worshipping the Magi. Although he has learned a little, but now the heroes are rising together, and the conquest is endless, and there is only one word 'martial' that can quell the war and terminate the conquest. ”

"Warrior, stop fighting! Therefore, when he was on a study tour, his younger brother wrote thirteen articles on the strategy of the soldiers, and if the elder brother did not disdain it in the future, he could see it at a glance. Sun Wudao.

The soldier thanked Sun Wu for his kindness, held the glass and said with a smile: "Today, you and I can talk about the world by cooking wine." The virtuous brother traveled around, looking at the national conditions, landforms, customs and customs of the princes, and he must be confident about the situation in the world. The foolish brother is the frog at the bottom of the well, please ask the virtuous brother to make some comments and analysis on the general trend of the world, and also let the foolish brother open his eyes. ”

Sun Wudao: "Discuss the wine in the world, and scholars will point out the country; You and I are bosom friends, why can't Shu Zhuangshi's feelings? ”

Wu Yuan said: "Now Wu State lives in the southeast coast, the territory is small, there is no deep national resources as a foundation, if we continue to use troops, the army is reckless, Wu State will have the problem of not being able to take over and resources exhausted." Therefore, although the king has the heart of hegemony, he has been waiting and seeing, and has not been able to find a satisfactory response, and he doesn't know how to start. ”

Sun Wu took a sip of wine and said with a smile: "Brother has always had the ambition to fight Chu, who in the world doesn't know?" Now the main thing is that Wu Guo wants to work out a long-term and short-term strategy. ”

"If a country does not have a long-term strategic goal, it can only be a short-sighted one, and if the national policy does not continue to be surnamed, the country's development will be very arbitrary."

"A king with great ambition will surely set a long-term national goal for himself; Of course, the short-term national strategy is to deal with the current situation among the princes, which can be adjusted at any time according to the specific situation. ”

Wu Yuan asked him in detail: "From the perspective of the virtuous brother, what kind of strategy should Wu Guo have?" ”

"Now the Zhou royal family is in decline, and there is no country in vain. In the near future, the Zhou royal family will be destroyed by the princes. It is impossible for a regime that relies only on etiquette to restrain the princes without a strong base for long. The era of respect for the strong has long begun, so the one who can replace the Zhou Dynasty to dominate the world must be the strongest, the most adept at seizing opportunities, and the most ambitious among the vassal states. Of course, the country's national strength, political system, and military capabilities will form a powerful and invisible liliang, and will form a complete war machine. ”

"It is possible for Wu to be a country, but Wu's shortcomings are also very obvious."

Wu Yuan asked: "Brother Xian means that the territory of Wu is too small, and the country's strategic reserve is insufficient, right?" ”

Sun Wu nodded: "But there are two opportunities that can be changed in front of the people of Wu Guoren." The first is to destroy Vietnam at the right time, expand the territory, increase the population, and expand the army. In this way, you can gradually grow stronger; The second is to suppress the Yue country, so that it does not dare to move, and then free up his hands and concentrate on destroying Chu. This strategy is much more difficult to implement, but it also yields a lot of results. After destroying the Chu State, not only did the vast territory merge into it, not to mention the people, a small country like the Yue State did not need to use troops at all, and it could be directly subjugated under its feet. This is a more aggressive strategy. ”

The soldier took over the conversation and said: "The king has the heart to dominate, and according to the national policy that I and the king formulated before, we are going to adopt the second strategy. The king wanted to rise in the south after breaking Chu, and then try to dominate the Central Plains. ”

"Hegemony cannot solve the country's development problems, where is the country of the former hegemon today? Isn't it all mediocrity? If you sing and I appear, the country cannot lose the opportunity to strengthen itself for the sake of a few years of hegemony. "Sun Wu is against the state to try for hegemony, it consumes national strength, and he has taken on too many obligations to maintain a harmonious environment between the vassal states, and it is extremely uneconomical to assume the obligations of the entire Zhou Dynasty with the national strength of one prince.

"Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Wen of Jin, Duke Mu of Qin, and King Zhuang of Chu have all been hegemonic and won the alliance. Now the princes are tired and have no time to take care of themselves. If Wu Guo does not want to be hegemonic, what is the meaning of the virtuous brother? The soldier asked.

Sun Wudao: "Among the princes now, only the Jin State, the Qin State, the Qi State, and the Chu State are considered to be the first-class vassal states with relatively strong national strength. But in these decades, none of the vassal states has been able to achieve the prestige of the previous overlords and maintain the balance between the princes. Now the vassal states are in a period of strategic exhaustion and adjustment. Therefore, the difference in strength between the princes and the powerful countries is very small. A promising monarch can stand out if he can grasp the opportunity, and if he fails to seize this opportunity for development, he will decline, from a first-class country to a second-rate or even third-rate. It may be annexed by other princes. So where is Wu Guo going, I don't know if my brother has a long-term strategy? ”

After hearing this, the soldiers couldn't help but get up from the table, bowed down and thanked: "The words of the virtuous brother are really enlightening, and listening to the words of the virtuous brother today is really like a delicious wine and food, and the aftertaste is endless!" ”

Sun Wu returned the salute and continued: "Now around the State of Wu, there are two countries that can threaten the development and survival of the State of Wu, one is of course the State of Chu, and the other is the State of Qi. However, the current national strength of Qi is not enough to pose a threat to Wu. Therefore, the state of Chu is the enemy country that we must face. However, the land and human resources of Chu are far beyond us. So what strategy to adopt is very important. ”

The soldiers asked the right Chu strategy, and Sun Wu said: "Since the Chu State is stronger than us in terms of strength and resources, then first use the technique of exhausting the enemy to drag the Chu State into the swamp of exhaustion and fighting, first drag down its morale and drag it out, and then work together to succeed in one blow." ”

"How?"

"For example, in the story of Jin Mourning Gong, divide the troops into three armies, and I send one army to attack and harass, then the Chu State will inevitably deal with the whole army. He sent troops to deal with it, and I withdrew my troops and came back. As soon as he withdrew his troops and went back, I sent another army to attack and harass, and he had to go back to the division to deal with it. ”

Wu Yuan sighed: "The virtuous brother has the opportunity of ghosts and gods, the magic of heaven and earth, and the great talents of the world!" ”

Wu Yuan described his national policy of suppressing Yue, cutting Chu, and unifying the south to Sun Wu: "Brother Yu has always adhered to a strategy for governing the country, and he has also discussed it with King Wu many times, which is the long-term strategic goal or the policy of founding the country that Brother Xian said. I, Wu Guodong, face the sea, and go south is Yueguo. This Yue country and we are separated immediately, oscillating between the state of Chu and the state of Wu. We did not completely surrender to Wu, so the Yue State was actually a great threat to us in the rear, so it was the basis of all our actions to forcefully suppress the Yue State and maintain stability in our rear. In this way, he could free up his hands and concentrate on Liliang to deal with the Chu State. To the north of us is the country of Qi, and other small countries are not considered for the time being, and the country of Qi is now only trying to protect itself, the king has no ambitions, and the ministers have no ambitions, but only want to be at peace, so the north can also not make plans for the time being. ”

"Of course, the invasion of Chu is the foundation of the rejuvenation of the country, find an appropriate time, complete its work in one battle, and take advantage of the time when the king of Chu is young and mediocre, and send troops to attack Chu. It's going to be a war to the death. If we can destroy the state of Chu and dominate southern Xinjiang, then what other country can be the enemy of our country? ”

Sun Wu knew that Wu Yuan was the minister of King Wu and had a great influence on Wu's national policy and military affairs, so he raised a very realistic question: "What is the king's plan at the moment, if it is to attack Chu, who is he going to order?" ”

Wu Yuan said: "Since the killing of the royal bureaucrats, the king has been focusing on strengthening the country every day, and now he has been working hard for several years. The king Taoguang is obscure and wants to create a new army with strong combat power. According to my guess, the king's biggest concern is that there is no one to do it. ”

Sun Wu was surprised and asked: "My brother is an important minister of the country, and he has great talents to set the country, why is no one to be a general?" ”

The soldier shook his head and sighed: "Cutting Chu and governing the country are two different things. The king is very suspicious, I govern the country and strengthen the army, ask about government and state affairs, and the king is naturally willing to reuse. But the war against Chu is different, the military power of the whole country is in hand, and the king must be worried that I am a person from the Chu country. Although I have a common enmity with the king of Chu, now that the enemy (King Ping) is dead, the king is afraid that I will not be able to do my best. The king is suspicious of me, so naturally he will not let me lead the army as a general. ”

Sun Wudao: "This is also understandable. As the king of a country, there is Zhang Youchi. He Lu is a generation of male lords, and he is naturally proficient in the art of controlling ministers. King Wu led his army many times and fought against Chu many times, and he was a very insightful person, not comparable to Yongjun. Because of this, the elder brother was able to show his talents in the country of Wu. ”

The wine has been patrolled several times, from noon to the west of the day. The two talked about the wine all over the world, and in the eyes of the soldiers, this was all ready. King Wu was worried that there was no one to lead the army, and this person was now in front of him, and the only thing he had to wait for was the opportunity.