Heifu talked eloquently: "After the last battle against Chu, the commander-in-chief must also understand that Chu is not Wei, but Yan is comparable. Chu is five thousand miles away, has hundreds of thousands of halberds, and is four generations older than Qin.
Qiu. Now that the country is facing the danger of subjugation, the nobles raise orphans and young children to benefit the people, the people work hard to cultivate crops to increase their reserves, the soldiers repair and manage their armor to make them sharper, and the craftsmen increase the city and dredge the ponds to make them stronger. The king of Chu carries the cud.
The ministers below Zhejie, and the general Xiang Yan saluted the dead soldiers below. It can be said that the monarch and his ministers are of one mind and work together, just like when Gou Jian was trapped in Kuaiji..."
"So I guess that the king intends to attack Chu with old general Wang Jian as the commander. If he doesn't send troops, he will do it. If he sends troops, the Qin soldiers will have to go all out. Otherwise, they will not be able to easily defeat the Chu soldiers!"
Li You was still puzzled: "That being said, how could you know that the number of troops that General Wang proposed to the king was 600,000?"
Even in the Xianyang court, there are probably no more than twenty people who know this specific number.
In addition to the King of Qin, Wang Jian, Li Xin, Wei Liao, Xia Wuqie and other people present, only Li Si, Feng Wuze and other important ministers who wanted to participate in the plan to destroy Chu knew about it.
As the only bright spot in the first expedition to Chuli, Li You was valued by the King of Qin and decided to let him participate in the military discussion, so he knew about it. Although Feng Jing was Feng Wuze's son, he did not reach a high level, so he
Not aware either.
So when the two of them first heard that Heifu reported the figure of 600,000, they were both surprised.
Hei Fu lowered his head and said, "It was inferred by the subordinates."
"infer?"
Feng Jing was a little unconvinced: "Zuo Bing Cao Shi is in Nanjun, far away from the temple, how can he infer so accurately out of thin air?"
Hei Fu nodded and said with a smile: "Yes."
The sky was gradually getting dark, and the anointing lamp in the hall of the county captain's mansion was lit. All the servants were kicked out. In front of Li You and Feng Jing, Heifu started his "
deduction".
"The Art of War says that if you raise an army of 100,000, and march for thousands of miles, at the expense of the people, at the expense of the public, at a daily cost of thousands of gold, there will be turmoil inside and outside, if you are lazy on the road, and you will not be able to do anything, there will be 700,000 families..."
"At the time of Sun Tzu Wu, eight families were neighbors. If one person from each family was to serve in the army, seven families would be required to serve him. Therefore, it is said that if a hundred thousand soldiers were recruited, those who did not work in farming would have seven hundred thousand families."
In the Spring and Autumn Period, productivity was low, but the daily grain consumption of people eating horse chews would not decrease, so the recruitment rate was also very low. If a family has 5 to 8 people, eight families would have 40 to 64 people.
Wait, Wu’s conscription rate is only 1.5.
"Today, the Qin State uses the method of the Shang Dynasty to encourage farming. The yield per acre is much more than in ancient times. Therefore, about five families can send a soldier to a thousand miles away. I heard the county captain lament a few months ago
It is said that there are three million households in Qin... Therefore, a rough calculation shows that the number of soldiers in the Qin Kingdom is only 600,000!"
The Qin State has occupied more than half of the world, with more than three million households, each with five to eight members, and a population of between 15 million and 20 million. If there are 600,000 people, the recruitment rate will be 3.
Too little? But the fact is that within two thousand years, the conscription ratio in all dynasties will not be much higher than this number. Heifu read an article in his previous life, saying that the conscription rate was between 11.5 and 11.5 when Germany had the strongest military strength in World War II.
, the total population of Germany at that time was about 80 million, and including the slave army, it was only a little over 10 million. With the level of modern science and technology with fertilizers and factories, the army that a society could support was no more than that, let alone
The Qin Dynasty.
600,000, this is the limit of the Qin State's conscription. Any more will greatly affect the production in the rear, the people's lives will not be able to survive, and the soldiers on the front line will have no choice. When Zhao Guo was in the Battle of Changping
, the conscription rate once reached the 10% standard, but the result was that the Zhao State's economy collapsed. Even the entire country could not feed the frontline soldiers, and it was impossible to borrow food from neighboring countries, so it could only fight quickly. This was a bloody lesson.
"Therefore, the Chu State cannot be conquered without 600,000 people!"
After the deduction, a burst of applause rang out in the room. It was Li Youzai who praised: "What a black man, your calculation is almost the same as General Wang's original intention!"
Feng Jing also changed his disapproval just now. He was in awe of Heifu's deduction ability. He no longer dared to underestimate this ordinary-looking black-faced soldier. He avoided the table and bowed:
"I have been studying the art of war, and I have never been very clear about the 'temple calculations' and 'knowing one's enemy and one's own self' mentioned above. Today, after listening to Zuo Bing Cao Shi's deduction, I know what 'temple calculations' and 'knowing one's self' are!
It seems that there is a difference between those who have experienced actual combat and those who have not. There is still a lot for me to learn!"
Heifu quickly returned the courtesy and was humble, but secretly muttered in his heart: "Now that we know the result, we can work backwards. It all depends on how I blow with my mouth. Of course there will be no mistakes..."
Now that Heifu had revealed it, Li You no longer had to hide it, so he told Heifu and Feng Jing the whole story of what happened in Xianyang last month.
"The second son doesn't know. As early as last year, the king asked General Wang Jian and General Li Xin about the timing. General Wang Jian insisted that 600,000 people were needed to attack Chu, while General Li Xin said that 200,000 people would be enough. So General Li Xin
He was appointed commander and sent 200,000 men to attack Chu, while General Wang Jian sued Pinyang."
"As a result, two months ago, generals Li Xin and Meng Tian were defeated by Xiang Yan. The Chu army entered the two walls and killed my seventh captain. Our army was defeated and retreated to Shangcai and Yangcheng. Because the first snow fell, the two countries
The troops stopped, but there was no peace. There are still 100,000 troops on the front line, and the Chu people are ready to move. They may continue to march westward at any time. The war between Qin and Chu is not over yet!"
Li You still had lingering fears after talking about this. If Heifu hadn't been reliable, he might have been the eighth captain to die in battle.
"As expected, General Li Xin lost his army and humiliated the country. After the king heard about the battle, he was furious and demoted Generals Li and Meng. He also went to Pinyang in person to see General Wang Xie and asked General Wang to be his commander..."
Even Li You didn't know the detailed conversation and how the King of Qin invited Wang Jian. He only knew that in the end Wang Jian finally agreed to command the army, but the request remained the same: "It must be 600,000 people!"
When Heifu heard this, he secretly sighed. It was impossible for Wang Jian not to leave the mountain, because he would not forget what happened to Wu'an Jun Bai Qi more than thirty years ago...
Although the upper echelons of the Qin State have completed the "initial planning" steps of the war, 600,000 people cannot be gathered at once, and the food to feed these people must be slowly stored in the granaries. So the upper echelons of the Qin State decided,
This time we should not rush to send troops. Instead, we should wait until the autumn harvest is full before attacking Chu. We should first send Li You and others to various counties. After the busy season of spring plowing is over, we should immediately start this year's recruitment work and train for five or six months before returning.
Head to the front line!
After listening to Li You's description of Qin's strategy, Heifu felt a big stone in his heart. He was worthy of being Wang Jian. He had always been "stable" since before the war started.
Indeed, the Qin State now has an absolute advantage in terms of national strength, population, soldiers, and systems. Being impatient will only give others the opportunity to fight back on the high ground. Be steady, don't waste time, and slowly advance to pull out the tower. Even if the Chu general Xiang Yan
No matter how talented you are, you can't reverse the situation.
So Li You rushed to Nanjun just after his injury was healed, just to make early preparations and start the recruitment work. After the last war, he was full of confidence in Nanjun soldiers.
"As Mr. Hei calculated just now, if five households can raise one soldier, there will be hundreds of fifty thousand households in Nanjun. During the slack season, at least 30,000 soldiers can be recruited to rush to the front line!"
Calculating this, each of the eighteen counties in Nanjun will have to send at least one thousand troops, and Jiangling, Yan and other large-population counties will have to send three to five thousand troops. It is really a collective mobilization. It is not easy just to gather people, let alone
Talking about training and other matters, it is really not an easy task.
Li You said with a smile: "We won't recruit troops until after the spring plowing. When my second son arrives, I'd better go and rest in the house arranged for you."
Heifu and Feng Jing stood up to accept the promise, but Li You stopped Heifu again and said that he had one more thing to ask him.
So Feng Jing bowed to Li Youzuo and said goodbye, nodded to Hei Fu, and came down from the hall.
When he walked to the door, looking at his pair of silk shoes inlaid with pearls and jade, and Hei Fu's pair of gray cloth shoes, Feng Jing couldn't help but sigh: "Previously, I thought it was impossible for Li You to personally recommend a humble soldier.
It's necessary. I just found out today that this person is indeed an extraordinary person! No wonder Li You has so much faith in him!"
"My father and uncle were right. When you get to the counties, you should not underestimate the people of the Wuzhou tribe!"
…
In the hall, Heifu asked with concern: "I didn't have time to ask just now. Is the captain's injury okay?"
"On the way to Nanjun, the wound still hurt occasionally, but it's no longer serious." Li You said with a smile: "The king ordered the imperial physician to order Duke Xia to treat my injury. Duke Xia's medical skills are superb, and the medicine cured the disease."
Upon hearing the name Xia Wuqi, Heifu roughly guessed what Li You was going to say to him.
Sure enough, Li You lit Hei Fu with his hand and laughed and scolded him: "You Hei Fu, when you were bandaging my wounds in Chudi, you only said that you were friends with the doctor Chen Wujiu, and you asked him to order Xia Gong, the imperial physician.
I posted a piece of advice! I didn’t take it seriously at the time, but did you know that on the day I went to the palace to see the king for the first time after recovering from my injury, I mentioned your contribution in helping me break out of the siege?
He immediately fell to the ground, confessed his guilt, and then presented a silk letter to the king in person!"
Heifu secretly cursed: "It's been almost a year since this happened, and there's no news at all. I thought the matter was gone! It turns out that Old Man Xia has been waiting for the best opportunity! What a genius!"
Li Youyi said: "Yes, that silk book is exactly your suggestion on setting up medical and emergency personnel so that the soldiers can fight with peace of mind. After listening to it, I was so shocked that even the king praised me! Do you know that the king is
How would you rate yourself?”
"What did your Majesty say?" Hei Fu couldn't help but sit up. He was a little expecting in his heart. This was the comment from Zu Long.
Li You cupped his hands toward the north with a face full of reverence and said, "Your Majesty said, are there also catalpa trees among the thorn oaks?"