In the second year of Taiwu, August 13th, morning, drizzle.

A cavalry army of several thousand men slowly advanced along the mountain road from the White Sandalwood Valley to Hiraoka.

On this inaccessible mountain road, where birds and beasts are extinct, 4,000 cavalry soldiers wore robes, the horses behind them were tied with armor, the flags were rolled up, and there were no umbrellas and ceremonial guards, so they marched quietly for several miles.

At this time, after shaking off the rain on the hat, Fu Zhi couldn't help but look at the red leaves on the slopes on both sides, and couldn't help but say:

"I thought it was bitter cold outside, but I didn't expect there to be such a beautiful scene. Wouldn't it be beautiful if the world calmed down in the future, and built a separate courtyard here to escape the summer! ”

Hearing this statement, Tian Chou, who was a new staff member next to him, couldn't help but say:

"Under the door, there is a hot river near here, even in winter, it is as warm as spring, so this is not only a place to escape the summer, but also a first-class place to spend the winter in the area of Yanshan."

Frustrated, and then meaningfully said:

"Yes, the original area here was also established in the pre-Han Dynasty, and the surrounding area was included in the king, but in this dynasty, it is no longer out of the plug, it's a pity."

Zhang Chong had been listening, and when he saw that he had something to say, he accosted:

"Do you have any opinions?"

He bowed his head in respect, then shook his head:

"Your Majesty can't talk about the word opinion, but I have seen a lot and have some understanding. His subordinates are from Hebei, although they are located in the inner county, and they are not like the border counties that often suffer from Beirong, but the children of their hometown often go north to prepare for the border. So I also have a little to say about the gains and losses of this Baitan County. ”

Zhang Chong rode on the horse, drizzling, the autumn leaves were dyed, listening to the frustrated narration, his heart was relaxed.

I only listened to the frustration and said that I had relatives:

"Although this dynasty and the former Han dynasty are the same surname, in my opinion, they are two dynasties, like yin and yang. The former Han Dynasty was still strong, and the current dynasty was still female. This is evident in this incident in the north. ”

Fu Zhu looked at Tian Chou and asked:

"Zitai, you are a native of Youbeiping, and you are an authentic disciple of the borderlands, as far as you are concerned, how do you evaluate the preparation of the Han Dynasty in this dynasty?"

Tian Chou is a newcomer, and now he is with Zhang Chong, so every expression is regarded as a test of ability, so after thinking about it for a while, he said seriously:

"This dynasty prepares for the border, defends heavily and does not attack again, and seeks to survive the country without disturbing the four provinces."

Frustrated, he clapped his hands and agreed:

"Yes, Zitai is really a rare scholar in the border area, and he has some opinions on these, and this sentence is clarifying the foreign policy of the Han family."

Tian Chou didn't care about the contempt for the border people in his frustrated words, but was more humble in asking for advice.

Because people are telling the truth, that is, the atmosphere everywhere is like this, and they would rather be a samurai than take a book to read. People like Tian Chou who read have become an outlier.

Frustrated, he turned to Zhang Chong and said:

"Your Majesty, let's not talk about this white sandalwood, such as this kind of abandoned Liucheng and other places. I traveled to Hebei in the past, and I have done a lot of work on the changes in the governance of northern Xinjiang counties. In the border counties of Shanggu, Yuyang, Youbeiping, Liaoxi, Liaodong, Xuansu, and Lelang in Youzhou, it can be said that the entire defensive line is shrinking into the fortress. ”

Then he gave the two of them a finger and a finger to calculate:

Among them, Shanggu County abolished the six counties of Quanshang, Yiyu, Jiju, Ru, Nuqi, and Pan. Yuyang abolished the three counties of Yaoyang, Baitan and Huayan. Right Beiping, there were sixteen counties in the former Han Dynasty, and now twelve counties are abolished. Liaoxi also has four fewer counties than before. It can be said that compared with the northern defense of the former Han Dynasty, the current dynasty abandoned twenty-five counties to the south, how much land is this? ”

Zhang Chong is neither from this dynasty nor from Hebei, he has an understanding of the general trend, but he really doesn't know the stories of Hebei.

As soon as he heard this, he realized that this dynasty had abandoned so much county land outside the Saiwai.

Then, he continued:

"These county lands are actually the same thing, and more importantly, when the former Han was operating outside the Saiwai, the location of the city chosen was not chosen randomly, but it was the place of beauty outside the Saiwai. Just like the white sandalwood we passed yesterday, it can be said that it is a battleground for soldiers, and it is the fortress of the Yanshan group. Originally, the former Han Dynasty had these strongholds outside the Saiwai, and with the situation of mountains and rivers, it was enough to form a deterrent to the Siyi, but after these places were abandoned, the defense of the entire northern frontier could only rely on these side walls. But it was too easy to break through the side wall, so since this dynasty, the north has been plagued endlessly, which has made the people of Hebei suffer deeply. ”

Zhang Chong probably understood the meaning of frustration.

That is to say, what the former Han advocated in northern Xinjiang was to actively prepare for the border, choose dangerous places outside the fortress to set up counties and counties, and send troops to fight for them if there were rebellions.

The advantage of this active defense is obvious, that is, it can stabilize the nomads with a very small number of elite troops outside the fortress.

After arriving in this dynasty, it seems that the survival retreats to the outside of the fortress, but it takes more manpower to guard the long side wall, but the final effect is not good. This is passive defense, and there are loopholes everywhere.

As a first-class wise man in the Northland, his opinions naturally did not stop at this level, and he said something next, so that Tian Chou on the side understood why people could be his disciples.

Listen only to the teachings of frustration:

"To be honest, the distinction between this dynasty and the previous dynasty is often thought to be the difference in national strength, but in essence, it is how the Yanyan princes in the court see the border counties and the belly."

After that, Fu Zhu elaborated on the connotation of this sentence.

Originally, in the former Han Dynasty, the entire frontier strategy can also be divided into Kaitu Liejun in the period of Emperor Wu, as well as the Anbian Fuyuan in the Zhao, Xuan, and Yuan dynasties.

Emperor Wu was arguably the most unusual emperor of the dynasty, and during his fifty years of reign, the entire frontier policy began to undergo major changes. From the time of the Han Dynasty, Gaozu embarrassed the siege of Pingcheng, and Taizong was ashamed to worship. After arriving at Emperor Wu, he changed his attitude of forbearance and retreat, and began to focus on the frontier.

In the past, the Han emperors of the Central Plains generally focused their governance on the hinterland of the empire, and as long as the internal stability was stable, even one or two external disturbances would not hurt.

However, a Wu Emperor insisted on opening the border, and began to focus the entire empire on the border areas that had never been valued in the past, and officially established the border areas that were originally regarded as useless as important external border defense values.

Subsequently, the accumulation of millet lost the border, the immigrating to the real border, and the rearmament. That period was also the period of great expansion of the Han family outside the Saiwai, and most of the counties outside the Saiwai were established at that time.

But after Emperor Wu, and especially after Emperor Cheng, the entire frontier policy changed dramatically. In the past, the proactive policy of taking the initiative in the past was criticized as opening up the border gaps and undermining the unity of all ethnic groups in the border areas. Then in this dynasty, there was even a large-scale abandonment of Liangzhou's policy to maintain peace.

This policy of survival has been carried out until now, causing the people in the cool and secluded land to suffer deeply, and increasingly accumulating hatred for the Han court.

Because although this dynasty said that this is to protect the territory and the people, it is important to defend and not to attack. But in fact, this greatly encouraged the raids of the Xiongnu, Wuhuan, Xianbei, and Nanban.

After Liu Hong took the throne, the three states of You, Merge, and Liang can be said to be copied by Kou for no year.

And these side scenes went to the court in Kyoto, and the ministers and ministers who preached the scriptures were either close to each other or passed through the market, in short, they were the ones who were restrained and appeased.

It can be said that it greatly chilled the hearts of Hebei scholars like Frustration. Because the Han family at this time was no longer able to protect the interests of the Hebei people.

What also worries them is that the current dynasty frequently uses the policy of razing to control razing in border affairs. Although this reduced the cost of the court, it allowed Siyi to grow.

This is the case in point from the fact that the Wuhuan people, who had only a tribal situation, have grown into a well-developed military organization.

They thought very well, and felt that they would attack each other and kill tens of thousands, and that the Chinese Han soldiers could enjoy great achievements without harm, and the people did not know their labors.

Is there anything more cost-effective than this?

didn't know that fate had already secretly marked everything with weight.

Without Zhang Chong's intervention, all this would have erupted.

Zhang Chong, who had long been aware of history, sighed from the bottom of his heart after listening to his words:

"If we seek peace through struggle, we will live in peace, and if we seek peace through compromise, we will die in peace." Don't lie to me! ”

Just as Fu Zhu and Tian Chou were chewing on this passage, they heard Zhang Chong seriously ask for advice from Fu Zhu:

"If you look at it, how should this northern Xinjiang be governed?"

Now he became even more excited, he said so much, on the one hand, he once again affirmed his support for the king's policy of conquering Liao, and wanted the king to take the initiative to defend, and on the other hand, wasn't it just for this sentence?

So, Fu Zhu talked in detail about the border defense strategies that he and Tian Feng thought of several subordinates of the Hebei faction and the officials of the six departments.

In Fu Zhu's view, there were problems with the opening of Emperor Wu of the former Han Dynasty and the appeasement in the back.

The consumption of national strength on such a large-scale opening of the border as Emperor Wu is too huge, that is, it can be done in the prime of time, and it cannot become the norm. And the appeasement of the Han family in this dynasty is even more unavoidable, it can be said that as the king just said, it is impossible to survive.

So what?

Subsequently, he presented Zhang Chong with the results of their Hebei faction's preparation.

It can be summed up in one sentence, that is, the four words "guarding in Siyi".

In his own words:

"The ancients, the Son of Heaven is guarding the four yi."

And Zhang Chong's understanding in his own words is that it is necessary to make Siyi a feudal screen, forming a situation in which the Son of Heaven is in the center, and Zhuxia and Siyi together form a harmonious and unified world order.

Among them, northern Xinjiang, as the focus of guarding against the Xianbei people, is an important area for the implementation of this policy.

Of course, this judgment is not only related to the fact that they are from Hebei, but also from the view of history.

In their opinion, the nomads from the northern steppes who can threaten the Central Plains Dynasty in the future must be the nomads from the northern steppe, although they do not know how vast this steppe is, connecting Europe and Asia, but only by virtue of historical experience, they know that the northern nomads will not be wiped out.

In the past, there were Xiongnu here, and after the Xiongnu, there were Xianbei people, and after Xianbei people, there will inevitably be other ethnic groups. These grasslands are like bottomless pits, and no matter how the Central Plains Dynasty responds, new enemies will appear.

Therefore, in the sense of frustration, that is, to take a regular time to go deep into the grassland and implement the policy of reducing the number of soldiers.

The Taishan army did not take the huge battle of Emperor Wu sending hundreds of thousands of troops, nor did it use the appeasement of this dynasty, but took the middle way. As long as the towns in the border areas are allowed to go deep into the grasslands every year, the policy of reducing the number of soldiers will be implemented.

By actively participating in the affairs of the tribes of the northern steppes, they formed control and suppression over these tribes.

Moreover, in the view of frustration, it is possible to obtain a large number of people and livestock by going deep into the outside of Cyprus.

Among them, the population can be used for domestic construction, and livestock can be used for farming.

In short, east to Hanhai, west to Zhangye Shui, north to Yanran Mountain, more than 5,000 miles from east to west, 3,000 miles from north to south, all can be searched for by the Taishan army.

In addition to this tactic of actively penetrating into the steppe and plundering regularly, Fu Zhu also suggested setting up a stronghold outside the fortress, rather than passively using the border wall as a defense.

Moreover, in order to combine with the previous policy of reducing and plundering, these strongholds were to be established as military towns.

In Zhang Chong's plan, six or seven such military towns could be set up in the long border from Shanggu to Youbeiping to ensure the security of northern Xinjiang.

Later, when the Taishan army takes and merges the state further west, it can also establish a military town outside the Saiwai according to this method. In the calculation of frustration, it is necessary to set a total of twenty.

These military towns and streets are arranged in the plains or hills north of Yinshan Mountain, and control the traffic arteries from Mobei to the south, and it can be said that once this policy is implemented, Hebei will no longer hear the voice of the border police.

Zhang Chong has been listening to this process, and when he heard this, he was stunned for a moment:

"Set up a military town north of Yinshan? And what about the south of Yin Mountain? ”

Then he explained.

In his plan, the grassland south of Yinshan Mountain will be seized by the Taishan army to take the initiative to attack, and then garrison here to defend against the autumn soldiers, such as the Youji army can be stationed in Monan every autumn and winter, and then return to the Senei in the spring of the following year.

This is the proactive defense of frustration.

The whole is composed of the military town system north of Yinshan, the anti-autumn army south of Yinshan, and the last side wall, forming a triple military defense.

But hearing this, Zhang Chong shook his head:

"Fu Gong, your plan sounds okay, but it's really hard to implement. Not to mention whether the Youji army can stay in the cold grassland in autumn and winter, as far as you say, the strategy of reducing the number of people is endless. ”

Just kidding, Zhang Chongfu didn't react when he heard this strategy of reducing Ding, but the more he listened, the more familiar he became, isn't this what the Jin people did to the Mongols later? Isn't it possible to force people out of the sky in the future?

Zhang Chong, who came from later generations, understood that when you can't destroy people, frequent wars will only make the hatred between the two sides deeper and deeper.

Countless real cases in history and reality have told him that the transformation of strength and weakness is only temporary, and although strong external military pressure may win a temporary victory, it will eventually temper and temper those who are still alive.

At that time, the former conquerors will face a more hateful and organized rebellion.

Therefore, Zhang Chong does not quite agree with Fu Zhi's view.

Just as Frustration was about to explain further, the flying rider in front was passing along Luffy:

"The valley has been crossed in front, and it is still forty miles from Hiraoka."

After hearing this, Zhang Chong decisively ordered:

"Order the front to march ten miles in armor, and the rear to march ten miles in armor, and each department to alternate."

Zhang Chong's flying rider next to him was ordered: "Oh! ”

It's getting closer and closer to Hiraoka.

What do you have to do?