"It inspires the soldiers' energy and blood, connects the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, echoes it, and unites their beliefs... It turns out that this is the battle formation, and it is indeed exquisite."
Rays of golden fluorescence bloomed from Zhao Kuo's palm, slowly condensing into a crescent moon in mid-air, lasting only a few breaths, and then disintegrating like fireworks.
His predecessor had learned battle formations, and there were more than one. Although Zhao Kuo had not yet fully grasped the knowledge learned by his predecessor, he understood everything he needed to know. After only reading it once, he mastered the core of the Yanyue Formation.
However, mastering the core and learning the entire battle formation are completely different things. Zhao Kuo felt that even if he was extremely talented, he would not be able to learn it within ten days and a half.
"Master, you are looking for me." Butler Zhao Bo came in.
Uncle Zhao is an old man from Mafu Jun's Mansion. He has followed Zhao She for decades, from Zhao State to Yan State, and from Yan State to Zhao State, never leaving.
The three brothers and sisters Zhao Kuo were raised by Uncle Zhao, and Uncle Zhao's two sons also worked in the mansion.
He won the trust of Zhao Kuo.
"Uncle Zhao, how much food and grass do we still have in our house?" Zhao Kuo asked.
Uncle Zhao thought for a moment and said: "Excluding daily consumption, we can produce about 37,000 dan of food and grass."
"It's far from enough." Zhao Kuo sighed.
More than 30,000 dan is already a lot for the Ma Fujun Mansion, but it is just a drop in the bucket for the 400,000 soldiers in Changping.
The Qin State held the two major granaries of Guanzhong and Bashu.
Historically, after the Battle of Changping and the Battle of Handan for three years, the army never ran out of food and grass.
On the other hand, Zhao State did not even have the food and grass to support the Changping War...
"Collect 40,000 stones of food and grass and send them to Changping." Zhao Kuo said.
"Master, if this happens we..." Uncle Zhao said hurriedly.
"At that time, I will take away most of the private soldiers and retainers in the mansion." Zhao Kuo waved his hand.
There are only four people in the Zhao family, and there are no more than twenty people including servants. The largest number of people are private soldiers and retainers, hundreds of people, and they will continue to increase during this period.
As long as he takes away most of his private soldiers and retainers when he goes on an expedition, he will have enough food left to last until the autumn harvest.
"No." Uncle Zhao reluctantly agreed.
Other generals take the rewards and spoils of war home when they fight, but the Lord is so lucky that he empties his home even before he goes to war.
Not long after Uncle Zhao left, he came in again and reported: "Master, Liu Ping and Ben are back."
"Please come in quickly," Zhao Kuo said.
After a while, two diners came in.
The keeper who is over two meters tall and has muscles as big as a hill is called Ben.
He was originally a wandering child in the Yan State. When Zhao She was an official in the Yan State, he saw how pitiful he was and adopted him.
This name was given to him by Zhao Kuo's father.
Ben was born with supernatural powers. Among Zhao Kuo's many disciples, he was the most skilled in martial arts. He was in charge of the private soldiers of the emperor's palace and protected the safety of the palace.
Another retainer is Liu Ping, a down-and-out nobleman.
My ancestor was once wealthy, but this did not affect his later poverty, and he could only make a living by becoming a client.
Bi and Liu Ping were the two highest-ranking disciples, one civilized and one military, assisting Zhao Kuo on the left.
"My lord, I rushed to Changping overnight. General Lian Po did not hide my identity after he learned about it. He told me that there was only less than a month's supply of food and grass left in the army. He sent people many times to request the imperial court to support the supply of food and grass. Your Majesty is in the capital.
No response was given."
Ben said hummingly, his voice sounding like thunder.
"My lord, I visited several large towns around Handan. The people were so hungry that they could only chew tree bark and eat grass roots. And because all the men were fighting on the front line, only women, children and the elderly were left at home. The farmland was uncultivated, and most of the fields were uncultivated.
They are all idle. In other words, even if our Zhao country wins this war, the country will not be able to feed so many people."
Liu Ping said gloomily.
The time when the Qin army attacked Changping was chosen very well, in April.
And May is the time for Zhao to plant millet.
Qin's attack just caused Zhao to miss one season of farming.
If farming is missed, the whole country will have no food to eat for a whole year. Even if Zhao wins the war in the end, countless people in the country will starve to death, and the national power will be greatly weakened, and it will no longer pose a threat to Qin.
——This is Qin’s conspiracy.
No solution!
Zhao Kuo rubbed his head, his face full of sorrow.
"Is there anything you can do?"
"My lord, although the people of Zhao State have no food, the nobles have food. This is a war between the two countries. There is no reason for the people to starve to death, but the nobles are singing and dancing in the palace. There is no reason for us to go into battle to kill the enemy, and those people are enjoying themselves in the rear.
"
Liu Ping gritted his teeth and said.
He knew that once Zhao Kuo forced the nobles to donate food, he would definitely offend all the nobles of Zhao State.
Even he will be hated, and may even be killed by the nobles sending death soldiers.
But he also knew that if there was no food, Zhao would be defeated.
As the coach, the best outcome for Zhao Kuo is to endure the abuse of millions of people in Zhao State until his death.
It will even be recorded in history books and will be infamy for thousands of years.
The master humiliated his minister and died, Liu Ping would rather be killed than let Zhao Kuo bear the eternal infamy.
"I'll think about it again." Zhao Kuo was a little irritated.
Le Yi and Liu Ping both advised him to take action against the nobles. He also knew that the nobles had food, but the question was why should the other party give away the food they had worked so hard to save?
To be fair, if Zhao Kuo himself was not the coach, and if it was not to save himself, he would not have spent all his money to support the front line.
Human nature is inherently selfish.
"I am willing to donate food and grass to save myself, and I want others to be willing to do the same...I understand!"
…
The next day, Lin Mansion.
"I wonder what Ma Fuzi wants from me?"
Lin Xiangru's voice was hoarse, his complexion was sallow, and his skin was sagging. As he leaned forward, the crown of hair on his head swayed from side to side. The sparse and gray hair seemed to have difficulty restraining the heavy crown.
Only those eyes were still bright, as if they could see through Zhao Kuo at a glance.
"Kuo knows that Mr. Kuo does not want me to replace him as the head coach of Zhao Jun, but it is difficult to disobey the king's order, so Kuo has to obey. I hope that Mr. Kuo can forgive me."
Zhao Kuo first bowed and said sincerely.
"It's not your fault." Lin Xiangru shook his head.
He was indeed dissatisfied with Zhao Kuo before, but now he sympathized with him: Zhao Kuo might take the blame.
The cause of the Changping War was the dispute between Shangdang.
Zhao State took over Shangdang, which Qin State had planned for many years.
Did King Zhao do this right?
right.
Shangdang is actually divided into two parts, one part is in the hands of South Korea, and the other part is in the hands of Zhao State.
However, the part of Zhao State was undefendable.
As long as South Korea's Shangdang is occupied by Qin, Zhao's Shangdang will also be gone.
Moreover, Shangdang’s position is extremely special.
Behind Shangdang is Handan of Zhao State. After Qin State captures Shangdang, it can threaten Handan, the capital of Zhao State, from top to bottom.
Moreover, Shangdang is the channel connecting Taiyuan and Handan.
Once Shangdang is breached, the connection between Taiyuan and Handan will be severed.
Therefore, Zhao Guo must keep Shangdang no matter what.
But the mistake is: Zhao Guo has never fought!
Now not only has Shangdang been lost, Zhao State will also be defeated by Qin State.
The people in Zhao State were in dire straits, and the people could not even eat.
The whole country hated this war very much, thinking that it was because of South Korea's land that it led to the war with Qin, and the gains outweighed the losses.
The people were full of complaints.
So who will they blame?
Who accepted the party?
There were two people, one was King Zhao and the other was Lord Pingyuan Zhao Sheng.
But will King Zhao let himself take the blame? Obviously impossible.
Pingyuan Lord Zhao Sheng is even more impossible. He is very famous in Zhao State. Not only the nobles and scholars love him, but also ordinary people respect him very much. How can he take the blame?
Therefore, Lian Po, who suffered repeated defeats in battles, lost troops, and lost land, could only take the blame.
But Lian Po is the backbone of Zhao State, and the King of Zhao is a wise king. He understands that no one in Zhao State can lose Lian Po.
So, who will bear the blame?
Just when King Zhao was hesitating, the State of Qin sent spies to the State of Zhao and began to spread rumors: Lian Po was so incompetent that he did not dare to come out. The Qin army was only afraid of Zhao Kuo, the son of Lord Ma Fu.
When King Zhao heard this, someone gave him a pillow when he was dozing off! So he took advantage of the situation and replaced Lian Po with Zhao Kuo.
If he wins, Zhao Guo will have one more general, and he will have no worries for the next thirty years.
If we lose, we only need to convict Zhao Kuo to quell the people's anger.