There were two letters sent by the old subordinates. Heifu opened Li Xian's letter first. In addition to congratulating Heifu on his birthday, it also contained an explanation of the recent situation in the south.
Li Xian elaborated on Qin Shihuang's inspection in Yuzhang, the words he left behind, the "Southern Expedition to Baiyue" proposed by Yuzhang's defenders, and the attitude of Heifu's old army towards this matter...
"I hope that I can become the chief general of the Southern Expedition, return to Yuzhang, lead them across thousands of miles, and lead them to achieve more meritorious deeds?"
After reading the letter, Heifu shook his head helplessly. He had heard about this matter from other channels, and Heifu could also understand the thoughts of his old subordinates.
However, although Li Xian has a little wisdom, after all, it is just a strategic idea at the county level. He has never been in the court, so he sees things too simply.
Objectively speaking, Li Xian's analysis in the letter was actually correct. Heifu was the most suitable coach for the "Southern Expedition to Baiyue".
First of all, Heifu's title is very high. In the Qin Dynasty, title was also an important consideration when appointing a general. Although in the early years, there were examples of Bai Qi and Wang Lu commanding the army as Zuo Shu Commander, but the rising tide lifts all boats.
The higher the title, the more easily the three armies will be convinced.
Secondly, Heifu has a solid resume in the army. He has worked his way up from the rank of commander, served as a commander of other departments, as a county lieutenant, and as a deputy general. He worked with Li Xin to attack the Huns, the Battle of Huamachi, and the Battle of Henan.
The strategy is quite Wang Jian-like.
Not long ago, there was a rebellion in Qi. Heifu was named General Pi, and he was actually the main general. Although he did not command many troops, he completed the task quickly and well. He put an end to the rebellion in Linzi and defeated the thieves in Gaotang. He was clean and tidy.
Of course, there are many people in the imperial court who have higher titles and resumes than Heifu. Not to mention the great god Wang Ben, Meng Tian and Li Xin are already the Marquis of Guannei, and Feng Wuze, who guards Yandi, is also a Su.
Will.
But there is another thing that no one can compare with Heifu, and that is his familiarity with the South!
All the generals of the Qin Dynasty were from the north, but Heifu was from Nanjun and was familiar with the climate and rivers of the south. He also led his troops to seize Yuzhang and stayed in the south of the Yangtze River for a whole year. He climbed to Limen fortress and looked at the Five Ridges.
In order to understand the situation in southern Xinjiang, the emperor could not find any other documents in the library of Yushifu. Only Heifu's "Southern Expedition" could be read.
Wang Ben has the highest prestige, Feng Wuze is the oldest, Li Xin is good at riding, and Meng Tian is better at garrisoning, but it is still too difficult for them to come to fight in the old forests of the south.
As for Tu Sui, Ren Xiao and others, although they were all former generals of Lou Chuan and had spent time in the south, in terms of qualifications and titles, they were not as good as Heifu.
Taking the three points into consideration, the most suitable candidate for the commander-in-chief of the Southern Expedition seems to be Heifu...
but……
"Lixian failed to consider one point, the most important point."
Heifu put down the letter and sighed.
"politics!"
Politics is a very subtle thing. Because of its existence, choosing a general should not only consider "wisdom, benevolence, faith, courage, and strictness" as Sun Tzu said. Many times, the general is not the best candidate, such as the first time.
In the attack on Chu, it was clear that Wang Jian was the most suitable general, but Qin Shihuang stubbornly chose Li Xin.
It's not that the emperor didn't know that Li Xin was inferior to Wang Jian, but because of political considerations, Wang needed to suppress him, and Li Xin needed to be raised to fight against Wang.
Although today's Hei Fu is far less prestige in the army than Wang Jian, nor does he have the reputation of father and son destroying the five kingdoms. But he has suffered the disadvantage of being young. He is a thirty-year-old frontier official and a concubine, which is unprecedented. Hei Fu
My husband has been moving so fast in the past few years, and he has participated in important campaigns in the empire, such as Saibei, Jiaodong, and now Baiyue.
"The emperor needs to check and balance his ministers. How can I take advantage of all the good things by myself..."
For Qin Shihuang, war was often a continuation of politics. As a politician, he would not use war to destroy the political balance. In the emperor's opinion, this was the last thing he wanted to do.
Therefore, the most suitable person is the least likely to become the commander-in-chief.
Probably in Qin Shihuang's view, letting Heifu take charge of an army of hundreds of thousands and hundreds of thousands at this time is not trusting him, but harming him...
Heifu also understood very well. After the rebellion was put down, he immediately returned the tiger talisman. After returning to Jiaodong, he devoted himself to managing the civil finance and striving to implement Jiaodong's new policy. All the soldiers in the county were under Ren Xiao's control, and he no longer interfered at all.
In short, unlike Li Xian's optimism, Heifu felt that if the emperor decided to march south, he would not be able to get the position of general.
Moreover, although many years have passed, Heifu's attitude towards the Southern Expedition has not changed!
After reading Li Xian's letter, he shook his head with some disappointment and said: "Not to mention the governors of Changsha, Yuzhang, and Kuaiji, after all, they are high officials, and they are eager to conquer Li Xin's Hexi and Bashu to open up the southwestern Yi.
, and also longed to plunder the Yue people for the benefit of his subordinates, so he was obsessed with utilitarianism and pursued war blindly."
Of course it is not possible to stay closed-door, but under the stimulation of military merit, border counties and counties are eager to provoke border conflicts. This is also a big problem for the Qin Dynasty at the moment. Who let Li Xin and Heifu make a bad start in the north of the Great Wall...
"But whether Li Xian or Dongmen Leopard, they all followed me on the southern expedition and went to Limensai, but they only thought about whether to fight or not. They didn't even say a word about conquering that land and conquering Baiyue.
, what a price to pay! If you underestimate the enemy before the war begins, everyone thinks that Baiyue is just a chicken and a dog, and can be easily destroyed, but in fact, is it really that easy to fight? "
With this in mind, Heifu also opened the second letter. This letter was written by Xiao Tao alone.
Xiao Tao's handwriting had only been learned in the past few years. It was crooked, short of letters, and the words were very simple. There were even a lot of typos, but Hei Fu only took a few glances and applauded her.
"Finally there is someone who understands!"
In simple words, Xiao Tao recounted his experiences in the years of guarding Shanggan County and dealings with South Vietnam. Many merchants from Yuzhang went to South Vietnam to buy rhinoceros horns, elephant tusks, and pearls. They all entered and exited through the Li Gate, so Xiao Tao was the most familiar with it.
Southern situation people.
The Baiyue Land is thousands of miles wide and is not the no-man's land that people imagine. The Yue people have taken root there for hundreds of thousands of years. Rice is harvested twice a year and there are many wild animals and fruits. Slash-and-burn farming plus hunting and gathering can also
Feeding a lot of people. So Dong Ou, Min Yue, Nan Yue, Xi Ou, Luo Yue, there are more than a million people in total. All the people of these tribes are soldiers, and they are not afraid of death. They are like Amazon warriors, playing guerrillas in the jungle. If
There are few soldiers, so it is really difficult to fight.
But if we want to launch a large army, we have to face two serious problems. One is transportation.
Xiao Tao said that the junction of Baiyue and the Central Plains is restricted by high mountains, inaccessible and has no roads, which is a natural barrier. Sometimes, the straight line distance on the map is only more than ten miles, but in fact, you have to travel through mountains and rivers, and the distance is extended to hundreds of miles.
Only the locals are familiar with those dangerous jungles, and the maps drawn by Qin merchants cannot record them in detail. Going south from Yuzhang requires climbing over mountains and ridges, walking hundreds of thousands of miles, and walking through deep forests and bamboo clumps. The loss is too great.
In addition to transportation, there are also climate problems. At this time, Guangdong and Guangxi were still a tropical rain forest. There were many vipers and beasts in the jungle. There were no four seasons, only rain and drought. The rainy season was hot and long, let alone northerners, even those in the Jianghuai area
It is difficult for people to adapt and they often fall ill. Diseases such as vomiting, diarrhea, cholera and other diseases are constantly prevalent. If the army goes south and travels thousands of miles, the infection will be even worse. Before there is a war, twenty or three out of ten will die...
These problems were all encountered when Heifu led his troops to attack Yuzhang, but in Baiyue and Guangxi, the above problems will be even more prominent several times!
Therefore, Xiao Tao, as the defender of southern Xinjiang, believed that the war against Baiyue would be easy but difficult. If he went to attack, he would only gain more than he lost.
In the midst of optimism, it was rare to find someone who could analyze the pros and cons. Heifu couldn't help but sigh: "Only Xiaotao's words are what I like!"
He also felt that instead of benefiting Yuzhang and other places, this battle would abruptly interrupt the good development situation in the south over the past few years!
At this point, Heifu's attitude towards this war has become very clear.
But a wry smile immediately appeared on his lips.
"But does my attitude, whether I support or oppose it, really matter to the emperor?"
…
While Heifu was exchanging letters with his old subordinates, Qin Shihuang's long inspection tour was coming to an end...
After leaving Yuzhang, Qin Shihuang traveled westward via Hengshan and Fujiang to Changsha County, where he met Tu Sui, the governor of Changsha. Like the governor of Yuzhang, Tu Sui also asked the emperor to fight, saying, "Xiou invades every year and harasses Cangwu."
", whose leader still harbors the old Chu nobles, Da Qin must punish him.
Qin Shihuang refused to comment and said that he would ask his ministers to discuss it after returning to Xianyang.
After leaving Changsha, the emperor passed by the Xiangshan Temple. This time, the sky was clear over the Xiangjiang River, and Qin Shihuang did not encounter strong winds. So Xiangshan was lucky not to anger Qin Shihuang, and avoided being cut down by three thousand criminals.
That scene with clothes...
In the first month of the first month (October), Qin Shihuang arrived in Jiangling, Nanjun, inspected the Dajiang Marine Corps, and finally returned to Guanzhong from Wuguan.
In the thirty-third year of Qin Shi Huang's reign, in the midwinter month (November), when the first frost and snow fell, Qin Shi Huang finally arrived at Baqiao and returned to the capital...
All the princes, ministers and officials came here to greet them. The emperor's inspection lasted for more than a year. During this period, he promulgated many laws such as the "Order to Hold the Book" and "Order to Trap the Warlocks", and decided to promote the Jiaodong model to the world and standardize it.
He managed hundreds of private schools, focused on promoting agriculture and engineering, and tightened policies on local leaders, which led to the assassination of Langya County and the rebellion in Qi.
Although the assassination was a false alarm and the rebellion was quickly put down, the officials who stayed in Xianyang were worried about the emperor and the empire.
Fortunately, when all these things happened, Guanzhong, the core area of the Qin Dynasty, was still as safe as a rock. Even if the world was in chaos, Guanzhong would not be in chaos.
Now that the emperor has returned, the ministers can't help but heave a sigh of relief. When they greet him at Baqiao, they are overjoyed. Finally, they no longer have to worry.
Only the eldest son Fusu, who was standing at the front, was worried. In his eyes, during the year of his father's inspection, the empire's governance began to get further and further away from his ideal "kingly way" and began to return to the past.
The "dominance" and "military way" have improved.
Regarding the ban on poetry and writing, the restraint of hundreds of families, the harsh policy towards the homeland of the Six Kingdoms, the harsh methods of suppressing rebellion, and the recent rumors that the emperor wanted to send troops to Baiyue, Fusu had a lot of advice to say!
The ministers and officials also learned through various channels that the emperor planned to send troops to Baiyue recently. According to His Majesty's habit, even if he has made up his mind on a matter, he will still make the officials discuss it and rebel against public opinion.
But no one knew that the war that Qin Shi Huang was planning in his heart, as he sat on the dragon chariot with his eyes closed, was not a...