Archimedes was finally moved by Wang Yangming's words, and said in a low voice: "So you want me to continue to stay in the Northwest Army and serve you?"

"It's not just about working for us, it's about getting a chance to live first. Wang Yangming said very ****, and the meaning is also very clear. The reason why Boyan didn't kill Archimedes was because he wanted to use his arithmetic knowledge to help the Northwest Army fight, which was the only reason for Archimedes to survive.

"If there is no life, nothing can be done. Therefore, please bear with me and wait for the day when what you have learned will benefit the whole society. ”

He didn't wait for Archimedes to respond, and after saying this, he turned around and walked out. Archimedes sat thoughtfully at the table, not saying a word.

Boyan ordered the Northwest Army and the high-ranking generals of the border guards who came to help from Daxia to come to his camp for a meeting, and he had important things to inform.

Everyone sat down together and sat down in Boyan's tent. Boyan was happy to see that the army under his command was full of talents, but he was a little sad when he thought of the news from the scout in front of him.

When he saw that everyone was quiet, he cleared his throat and said, "According to the news of the front-line scouts, the Khorezmian people stopped continuing their attack after capturing Shule, Gumo, Wensu, and Loulan. Don't know what they're up to. ”

When everyone heard this, they frowned. According to the original speculation, the Khorezm people were strong and should be able to capture at least six countries in one go before they stopped rectifying, and the development of the situation was indeed as everyone guessed, the Khorezmian people took a month to successfully capture Shikoku, and they should have continued to attack, but suddenly stopped the attack.

Qin Chonghai was straightforward, and was the first to speak: "Presumably, their battle line is stretched, there is not enough food and grass, and the army also needs to be rectified, so they stopped the attack and rested for a while." ”

Boyan nodded, but did not agree with Qin Chonghai's statement. Zhang Qian sat in the first seat below Boyan and said: "Before I chiseled the Western Regions to reach Khorezm, I saw that although it is the first Xiong State in the Western Regions, the area and population of the country are indeed far inferior to my Great Xia, although they conquered the Four Kingdoms smoothly, but the loss must not be small, and now it is not too strange to stop the rectification." ”

Zhang Qian was the person who knew the most about Khorezm among the people, and when Boyan saw him say this, the worry in his heart was slightly alleviated, and he said: "Lord Zhang is reasonable. My fear is that the Khorezmians have repented of their covenant with us, so they have decided to accept it. But if they really decide to stop there, the pressure on our side to attack westward will inevitably increase. With the strength of our Northwest Army, it is difficult to accomplish the set strategic goals. ”

If the fifteen countries of the Western Regions cannot be wiped out, when the situation stabilizes, it is unpredictable what kind of means these countries will take to restrain Great Xia. Boyan didn't say these words, but everyone present could guess them. You must know that the fifteen kingdoms of the Western Regions have a deep historical origin, but Daxia is an outsider, if these countries that have not been conquered engage in some rebellion and make a color revolution in the territory captured by Daxia, Daxia is exhausted, it is indeed difficult to deal with, and even the gains outweigh the losses.

Wang Yangming knew that Hideyoshi had always been a think tank in the army, so he motioned to Hideyoshi with his eyes and asked him to express his opinion. Hideyoshi understood, so he spoke: "Please forgive the last general for taking the liberty, I also have a few words to say." ”

Boyan knew that Hideyoshi could only do so, nodded and asked him to speak, and listened to him: "Now that I have conquered the four kingdoms in Great Xia, the momentum is flourishing, and it is the best time to take advantage of the victory to pursue, and I must not give up the attack because of the changes of the Khorezm people." But we should also be cautious and take precautions, I think we might as well change our strategy, minimize hard-fought battles, and instead seek the initiative of the enemy country to join us. In this way, although the foundation is not very solid, it can reach the meeting place agreed with the Khorezm people as soon as possible. When the time comes, we will meet with them in person, exchange the situation, and see what their attitude is, and then we will make a decision. If things go wrong, we will quickly evacuate and keep the four countries we are occupying at the moment, which will be a great achievement. As for the rest of the countries, it is not too late to sit down and decide when we have established ourselves. ”

Seeing that there was no other good plan at the moment, Hideyoshi's idea, although a bit risky, was also the most feasible way. So he ordered everyone to prepare for an attack to the west in the near future. Everyone dispersed one after another, but Boyan left Wang Yangming behind and said to him: "Last time, with the help of the Vulcan cannon, our Northwest Army won a big victory. ”

Wang Yangming thought to himself that science and technology are the primary productive forces, but this is nonsense. But I don't know what Boyan wants to explain.

"I want you and Archimedes to devote themselves to research and make more artillery. ”

It turned out that Boyan tasted the sweetness of the Vulcan Cannon, and his mind was alive. He saw that although this Vulcan cannon was amazingly powerful, it was inconvenient to carry, and it had to be towed by a carriage to move slowly, and it was easily damaged by the surprise attack of the enemy's cavalry. He wanted Wang Yangming to make a cannon that was smaller and easier to move and used in the battle array. It is also necessary to create more powerful artillery that can be used to improve the efficiency of siege warfare.

Wang Yangming was embarrassed in his heart, last night it was easy to persuade Archimedes to endure the humiliation and not to leave, today Boyan gave him such a task, Archimedes must be very reluctant in his heart, but Boyan's words could not be disobeyed, so he had to find a way to persuade the old gentleman again.

Boyan finished his explanation, and Wang Yangming left immediately. He rushed to Archimedes' tent and conveyed Boyan's words to Archimedes as tactfully as possible, and unexpectedly, Archimedes agreed very smoothly. Listen to him say: "The performance of the Vulcan cannon is already very good, but it is not difficult to transform it. Just if you want to be easy to carry, the power of artillery fire is bound to be reduced. If you want it to be more attack-powered, the cannon body must be larger. You can't have both of these features. ”

Wang Yangming was already overjoyed when he agreed to help, where would he ask for more, and hurriedly said: "In this way, let's subdivide the types of Vulcan cannons, one small cannon is used to fight cavalry battles, and one kind of cannon is used to fight siege warfare." Depending on the function, the flexible choice is enough. ”

Archimedes responded, and went to make the drawings himself, Wang Yangming thought that with this everyone, he didn't have to worry about the update of this weapon. He had more important things to do.

This more important thing is, of course, the army to pull out.

Boyan was determined to continue the attack to the west, and now Jingjue, Guqiang, Jimo, and Khotan have been attached to Great Xia, although Chechi was not defeated by Great Xia, he was willing to be a vassal state under the mediation of Zhang Qian. All four of these countries allowed the soldiers of Great Xia to travel by the way, which greatly increased the strategic hinterland and depth of Boyan. Bactria was naturally the next target in Khotan, west of Khotan.

The strength of the Shache country was weak, and the number of soldiers was less than 20,000, and when he heard that the Great Xia soldiers were approaching the city, the king took the lead in asking for surrender. Boyan reformed Shache according to the previous way of recruiting and surrendering, and after three days of rectification, he ordered the army to continue to march, and the next target was Yu Li.

Speaking of which, when Wang Yangming and others dug out the Western Regions, the biggest danger they encountered was in the Yuli Kingdom. The fake king took the opportunity of the banquet to imprison Zhang Qian and Wang Zhen, forcing Wang Yangming and others to break into the palace single-handedly to save people.

Later, the prime minister was elected as the new king by the hundred officials, this detachment is a very upright person, and he is also quite discerning, Daxia is now in full swing, according to Zhang Qian and Wang Yangming's speculation, even if he can't take the initiative to surrender, he should lower his posture and never dare to confront Daxia head-on.

I didn't want the situation to be the opposite of Zhang Qian's speculation, and when I learned that the Great Xia army had reached the border of Yuli, Tokhtar actually led 30,000 soldiers from all over the country to march in person, set up a position on the border, and threatened to live and die with the country.

Boyan sent an envoy to visit the Tokh camp, but Tokhtar cut off both ears and beat the camp with a stick, asking him to bring a message to Boyan, don't be fearless to persuade him to surrender, and take advantage of the early position to show the position and fight with Yu Li.

Boyan was furious when he heard this, but he felt that things were abnormal, and he didn't dare to fight Yu Li immediately. After Zhang Qian learned what happened, he found Boyan and sighed: "Blame me for thinking too simple before." It is precisely because Tokhtar is a talented man that he must not surrender easily. ”

Boyan frowned and said, "How do you say this?"

Zhang Qian explained in detail, and Boyan understood the truth. It turned out that Tokhtar was the new king elected by the hundred officials, and the people wanted him, and the whole country was waiting for him to make some achievements. Soon after he ascended the throne, he has not yet made any achievements, the Great Xia army pressed the border, and asked him to surrender, if he really surrendered, he could protect Weili from the war, which was indeed for the benefit of the people, but he was bound to bear the charge of the king of the country, and the people of Yuli must be broken into thousands of pieces before he could be willing. Due to this festival, Tokhtar knows that he is invincible, but he also has to put on a jade posture to win the support of the domestic people.