It was getting late, and under the meaningful gaze of the officials of the Privy Council, Cao Xianzhi, the commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition and the tiger-headed military aircraft, walked out of the main entrance of the Privy Council calmly, and only a young man in a crimson official robe followed closely by his side.

According to the official position of the Great Zhou Dynasty, officials above the third rank can wear crimson official robes. This young man has obviously reached such a high position before he has yet arrived, let alone serving in the Privy Council, and the weight is self-evident. The number of courts and local states and counties is rare, and it can be called an outlier.

In the Privy Council, if everyone had a tacit understanding, they deliberately left a moment late, so as not to disturb the old man's conversation.

As for the new envoy in charge of the Pingrong Division who was blue-eyed by Cao Gong and named him to take him back to Cao Mansion in Bailu Lane for dinner together, everyone gave each other a look, and they all tacitly agreed.

"Donghuang, yesterday you used your martial arts to make those fighting men in the Northern Army camp who only recognized their fists have to be convinced, and today you issued such a macro discussion in the Pingrong Division, which really suppressed these monkey cubs who think highly of themselves but only know how to talk on paper. With a family like you, there is hope that the lintel of the Geshu clan will be re-glorious. ”

Ge Shu Donghuang still had a sick look on his face, obviously in order to block the heavenly man, he was injured a lot. Despite this, he did not delay for a day, and took office early in the morning with an injury to the Privy Council, and his enthusiasm for fame and fortune can be seen, which really made many colleagues slandered.

After listening to Cao Hutou's praise, he wanted to salute to express his gratitude and humility, but Cao Xianzhi reached out and pressed his arm, so he had to give up.

Donghuang had been deeply involved in the Rong region for several years, and after hearing and seeing, he knew a little bit about the customs and geography of Bairong and the military and politics at home and abroad, so he had a little more novel and superficial views than his colleagues. Cao Gong is the master of the art of war in the world, and his humble views are just words on paper in your eyes, and they cannot be called grand arguments in any case. ”

Cao Xianzhi laughed: "When you are the art of war, you are willing to pat yourself with your conscience, and the old man will show his old face and listen seriously." There's just one thing, you're still so young, don't follow their example of hiding things and being with the light. At this time when the Son of Heaven is rejuvenating and heroes are using force, it is not a bad thing to show some edge. Speaking of which, leading soldiers to fight is similar to martial arts practice, and it is difficult to escape the words "fist is afraid of being young and strong", although a veteran like me has experienced a lot of wind and frost, but it is inevitable to add a twilight of conformism and refusal to take risks, and it may not be stronger than a newcomer on the battlefield. ”

Cao Xianzhi, who has always been a majestic military aircraft in front of people, is actually a rare and pleasant face, and said with a little emotion as he walked: "If there were not many wars in the peaceful years, the military men would rank their seniority, and they would have always been more strict than the civilian officials. But once a war starts, especially a big war and a bitter battle like the Western Expedition, which is bound to last for a long time, it is a matter of fame and fame that can only be taken immediately. Whoever cuts off more heads and grabs a lot of territory can yell at the wine bags and rice bags pressed on the top of their heads with a loud voice, and the grandchildren stand farther away, don't get in the way of grandpa's eyes!"

Geshu Donghuang was stunned at first when he heard this, and then said with a smile: "Cao Gong don't want to deceive me, military law is ruthless, even if Donghuang is lucky enough to go to the battlefield and make meritorious contributions, he will never dare to despise Shangguan and roar at the handsome account, and use this good head to verify whether the military judge's knife is sharp." ”

Cao Xianzhi rolled his eyes and said: "What did the old man do to you? That's what the group of people brought out by Qi Ding did it back then. Don't look at Yu Da, the old Huaidehou, who is now accustomed to protecting himself, and is very kind and kind, he was the hardest-hearted, the most ruthless soldier, and the one who killed the most people under his command, not to mention greedy for ink and war exploits, and deducting silver, but whenever there is the slightest injustice in Shangguan's affairs, Yu Da dares to point at Shangguan's nose and scold, and keeps saying that he wants to seek justice for the Great Zhou Yingling who died in battle. Even so, isn't he still on the rise, all the way to the deputy commander of the Western Expedition Xuanwei King The person who rolls in the sea of blood in the corpse mountain, you put your qualifications and talk about dignity and humility with him, he only treats you as a fart!"

"Although the old man is young and has a low official position, he also learns the same, he dares to fight bravely on the battlefield, and when he comes back from meritorious service, he rushes at the Shangguan who blindly becomes a serious official, and finally even Qi Ding heard about the bandit name 'Cao Hutou', and casually praised two sentences, which caused the old man to waste half his life. ”

When Cao Hutou said this, he couldn't help but shake his head and sighed: "Today's young people, they have read too many books, and they have heard too much about the mistakes of their predecessors, but they are too cautious and sophisticated. Don't you hear that there is a turbulence in the Iron Horse Jinge, when the murderous spirit is soaring to the sky and the spirit is at its peak, the martial marquis's fame and supernatural power realm are all out of it. ”

Geshu Donghuang was fascinated when he heard this, and couldn't help but say: "The heroic and heroic spirit of the predecessors really makes me feel embarrassed and embarrassed in the next generation." ”

He groaned slightly, and finally couldn't help but ask: "Duke Cao, can't the imperial court really send tens of thousands of elites into the Rong land to attack and plunder first, so as to exhaust the Rong people?"

Cao Xianzhi shook his head very dryly and said: "Since you have been in the tribe of the Rong people for several years, you should naturally know that the autumn and winter season is the time when the beasts on the grassland are fat and thick, and the Rong people concentrate their livestock in the wintering ground and wait for them to breed and give birth, so that the young warriors who have free their hands can gather under the lord's command, ride the war horses when they are fat and healthy, or hunt wild beasts on a large scale, or invade the south to plunder the goods. ”

"For example, if you exchange the princess of the West Horde for a thousand gold bills, you will hunt in Konoha Mountain at this time of year, often concentrating tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of knights, surrounding millions of prey, almost no different from fighting. Alone in the winter hunting, its intention is to demonstrate to the ministries, but also to train troops, sometimes the excitement, simply do not hunt, directly go south 800 miles to plunder Liangzhou. ”

"Hey, if there is really a regent in the tent of the King of Jinting, then hundreds of thousands of Rong riders will go down to Liangzhou. That kind of big scene, not to mention that the little characters in the forbidden army have never seen it, it is the Condor Li clan who has been fighting against the Golden Horde for many years, how many people can imagine it?"

Because of this, if the imperial court sent troops deep into the hinterland of the Rong people at this time to find the wintering grounds of the Rong people's livestock, although it may have gained a lot, but it is more likely that it was torn to pieces by the swarming Rong cavalry, and the lives of the sons and daughters were killed in vain. Rather than this, it is better to let the military towns such as the Luoxia Gongxi clan and the Beihai Li clan rely on the Jiancheng Dazhai to consume the strength of the Rong people little by little. ”

Geshu Donghuang was silent, even if he had just touched the center of the Great Zhou Temple, he could still really feel that in the eyes of the Son of Heaven and the princes of the Privy Council, the Gongxi clan, the Li clan and other military towns that listened to the tune and did not listen to the propaganda were never considered to be the strength of the Great Zhou, and they wished that they and the Rong people would kill you to the death and bleed like a river.

Cao Xianzhi glanced at the unwilling look on Geshu Donghuang's face, and said with a smile: "You only need to be clear in your heart, that is, even if you are familiar with the reality of the Rong people, and have the ability to drive the Rong people's cattle and sheep back to our Great Zhou with the army unscathed, Your Majesty does not agree to take such a risk." ”

He paused slightly, and added: "Even if Your Majesty is willing to take risks, he will never hand over the military power to you." Donghuang, be patient and sit on the cold bench in the Privy Council for a few years. ”

Ge Shu Donghuang's body shook: "What does Cao Gong mean?"

Cao Xianzhi stopped, turned his head to look at the junior in front of him who was somewhat similar to his situation back then, and knew that if the western expedition did not go well, this ambitious and talented young man who had failed to gain His Majesty's true trust still had hope to make contributions, otherwise, he would have to endure for many years like him, and then the new monarch would recognize the talent with his eyes after smoothing out the edges and corners.

Heaven and earth luck, only fond of the Ji room, no matter your head and corners, but also bow down to the minister. The Gongxi clan and the Li clan, which arose in the last western expedition, could not escape the fate of being crushed into powder by the second western expedition, not to mention the long-lost Geshu clan.

Cao Xianzhi sighed secretly, raised his feet and continued to walk outside the palace, and said with a smile as he walked: "Don't understand? If you don't understand, you will slowly understand, anyway, your days are still long." ”

Geshu Donghuang hurriedly followed, and said with a wry smile: "Whether Donghuang can make contributions on the battlefield and find a feudal marquis is only related to the rise and fall of the Geshu clan, but according to your meaning, is it possible that after the beginning of spring, when the livestock on the grassland give birth, the imperial court will not send troops to attack and disturb it? At that time, the herdsmen were busy lambing the mother animals, and even if they were alone, they could not gather enough cavalry to fight for him. ”

In fact, Geshu Donghuang has already made these words clear in public at the Pingrong Division today, but the strange thing is that none of the Privy Council Princes and Pingrong Division's colleagues, who are familiar with military affairs, agreed.

Although there are many wine bags and rice bags in the Privy Council, as long as you remember to rummage through the old files of the Western Expedition, you can know that in the 20-year war, every spring when the grassland female animals are in labor, the imperial court iron cavalry will go deep into the grassland, forcing the Rong people in charge of grazing to take refuge and flee, and a large number of female animals will be aborted on the way~ Fetus, which is miserable, which is tantamount to the failure of the crops of the Great Zhou Dynasty. There is no stupid person in the Privy Council, so you can expect to be the only one you want to know?"

Cao Hutou seemed to have made up his mind to cultivate Geshu Donghuang, a descendant, and said eloquently at the moment: "But you only have one, but you don't know the other." The so-called thin and long hair of horses means that after surviving the harsh winter, the horses will inevitably be much thinner and weaker, and they will not be able to run long distances to fight. In this regard, the imperial court would take out the stored grain before the expedition, and feed the war horses locally at the expense of blood, so that the war horses could recover their strength, which was the policy of 'Su Ma'. If you want to do this, the most important thing is the word money and food, if you don't have money and food, you have to be poor and short-sighted. ”

"The war has been going on for many years, and the money and food have been spent, where can the imperial court afford it? In the spring and summer of that year, it invaded the land and harassed, in fact, it mainly relied on the cavalry of the Di people, but this matter is not very glorious, and most of the history books of the Great Zhou Dynasty have not mentioned it. But now, Heidi and Da Zhou have become enemies......"

"Tell me, once this strategy of attacking and harassing corn horses is carried out, and hundreds of thousands of war horses in the Great Zhou Dynasty are allowed to snatch food from the mouths of the common people, if there is a disaster year in the future, because the treasury and granary are empty, what big baskets have been stabbed, and they are included in a book by the Imperial Historical Observatory for the crime of calamifying the country and ruining the people, who can bear it? You mentioned this stubble in the Privy Council today, I don't know how many people laughed secretly in their hearts, and they want to wait to see your head fall to the ground in the future!"

Without waiting for Cao Xianzhi to finish speaking, Geshu Donghuang was already sweating on his forehead, and his arrogant heart and complacent attitude disappeared in an instant.

"It's not easy to practice in the public gate!"

Listening to Cao Xian's words, he said earnestly: "Brother Shu Donghuang, it is rare to have such a manufacturable material as you in the Privy Council, don't let the Son of Heaven and the old man down! I tell you so many heartfelt words today, not to ask you to be submissive and have no opinions in order to protect yourself, but to hide the wind and thunder in your chest, be patient and wait for the opportunity, don't wait until the time of use of force is already empty, and it takes half a day to hold back a fart!"

Hearing this, Ge Shu Donghuang stopped abruptly and solemnly shook it to the end, his tone was extremely respectful.

"Brother Shu Donghuang, thank you for Cao Gong's teachings!"