Back Off, Let Me Come

After all the hard work to trick Cui Xiao away, Shen Tang felt as if his butt was on fire. He jumped up on the spot, found a blank scroll, dipped his pen in ink, and wrote a lot. She was still mumbling while holding the slip to warm the fire.

"There are too few words that can be written in one letter. It is more convenient to send letters with the blue bird..." With the blue bird, one can write two to three thousand words. You don't have to worry about running out of space to write. The letter is heavy. It's not easy to use, and it's also very inconvenient to transmit. Unfortunately, the transmission distance of the Bluebird is limited. The more content, the more text it consumes per kilometer, so she can't afford it.

Her papermaking workshop is now ready for use.

The craftsmen experimented countless times in the past two years, and explored various material ratios, and finally came up with high-quality paper. However, the output was limited and the quality control was not very stable. Part of the current output of the papermaking workshop is given priority to local government libraries, and a large number of people are arranged to re-copy local chronicles, archives and book collections, and the tablets that are not easy to preserve are gradually replaced with paper carriers that are easier to preserve and easier to carry. The other part is Give it to Xu Jie to sell in exchange for more research and development funds...

Shen Tanggui, as the county governor, is not willing to work solely on paper.

In most cases, bamboo slips are still used.

She carefully checked the letter she wrote to Qi Shan and made sure that there were no typos that would make Qi Shan picky. Then she closed it and rolled it into a ball, tied it with a specific tying method, and wrapped it in a special layer of clay. After the clay is dry, the monogram is printed.

If the clay print is damaged, the content of the letter may be leaked. However, if the letter is leaked, it will be leaked. As long as the original document is not seen by Cui Shanxiao, everything will be fine. Except for a few key points, the content inside is all her passionate greetings.

"Someone is coming——"

She called out.

Yang Ying, the personal guard on duty today, jumped from the beam.

Shen Tang gave her the slip: "Find someone to send this letter back to Sibao County and hand it into the hands of Chief Registrar Qi Yuanliang. Go quickly."

Yang Ying took it with both hands, and Shen Tang remembered something again.

"Maybe Shengmei hasn't contacted Gongcheng for a long time, right?"

Yang Gongcheng is Yang Gong.

Yang Ying's father is an old left-behind father.

Yang Ying's eyebrows were soft: "I sent a letter home three months ago."

Shen Tang pinched her fingers and pushed back the time. At that time, the battle to cross the river had not yet started. She said: "Contacting once every three months is too long. It doesn't matter if I write this letter to Yuan Liang. You can also write to your father." Take one letter and send it back with you."

Yang Ying said: "Thank you, Lord."

"Who will be the replacement next time?"

Yang Ying said: "Return to my lord, this is the sect."

"Oh, got it."

Shen Tang's bodyguards were not large in size. They were in groups of one person or two in non-wartime, and in groups of four or eight in wartime. One group was on duty for twelve hours at a time, and they were on time at noon every day. Handover. On the surface, they said they were protecting Shen Tang's safety, but in fact, they were actually assassinated. It was hard to say who would protect whom. For them, being on top is more like taking a break.

These people are actually the cronies Shen Tang plans to cultivate. When the situation stabilizes in the future, the garrison and command troops will be decentralized to various places. When following Shen Tang, the most important task is to observe and learn.

Of course, where you go in the end depends on your abilities.

Shen Tang went to the Government Affairs Office for a morning meeting with the map that Qin Li had prepared overnight. When she arrived, the small hall was already full of people. She exchanged greetings with everyone, and then took her seat: "I got a treasure last night, please tell me about it."

She asked Lu Ji and others to completely open the map.

Except for a few insiders, no one else knew what was on the cloth. When the cloth was fully unfolded, his eyes were instantly caught by the content on it. Shen Tang said: "As you can see, here are the details of Huang Xiguang's troops and horses. This area belongs to Zhang Yongqing. From the map, the actual number of troops of the two families has increased to 300,000. This is in line with our previous estimate. It’s about the same, it’s estimated that 60% of them were temporarily recruited in the past few months... The pressure is much less than expected..."

The data on this map is very detailed.

The artist seems to be afraid that the viewer will not be able to understand it. All kinds of data are comprehensive and easy for a layman to read in a long paragraph. But precisely because of this, a few uninformed people began to doubt the source and authenticity of the map.

There are many generals among them who have fought in battles for their whole lives, and they have never seen such a map rushing to feed them.

"Lord, this map... I have never seen anything like this in my life. You have been deceived, right?" Wei Shou almost put his eyes on the map, and the more he looked at it, the more frightened he became. It even draws the offensive route, marks the enemy's defensive weak points, and briefly provides several feasible strategic plans. My lord actually calls this a map? Don't lie to him about the lack of fighting.

Shen Tang smiled and said: "The map was provided by a righteous man who was 'in Cao's camp and his heart is in Han'. This person is trustworthy!"

Wei Shou couldn't keep his eyes off the map: "A righteous man?"

"For the sake of his safety, we cannot reveal his identity for the time being to prevent him from getting hurt. When this battle is over, I will formally introduce him to you all." She unilaterally announced that Qin Li was hers, Wu Xian Already a thing of the past.

Below, Gu Chi and Cui Xiao looked strange.

The more Wei Shou listened, the brighter his eyes became, and he rubbed his hands with excitement - if the Lord had not encountered the Immortal Jump and this righteous man really existed, he would have made a lot of money! He further asked: "Lord, are the painter and the righteous man the same person?"

Huang Xiguang actually has such a capable person under his command?

Not only Wei Shou, but others also mistakenly believed that the "righteous men who were in Cao's camp and in Han's heart" mentioned by Shen Tang were from the enemy's side, either Huang Xiguang's people or Zhang Yongqing's people. Only in this way can the deployment of the two armies be so clearly understood.

It's also logically smooth. After all, who would have thought that a righteous man would not be an enemy but an ally?

Shen Tang nodded: "Yes."

Wei Shou said: "This man is a great talent."

Shen Tang smiled and said: "This is indeed a great talent."

Wei Shou chuckled, and Chu Yao, who was not far away, knew what his intentions were as soon as he heard his laughter, and a sneer appeared on his lips. As expected, Wei Shou wanted such a partner. Regardless of the lord, Gong Xiqiu who refused to unite the army, and Chu Jie who was stationed at Yonggu Pass, only Wei Shou was the oldest and most powerful person left in Shen Tang's tent. He would be considered first when leading troops in battles in the future.

In other words——

That righteous man can serve as a strategist and counselor! With the ability to draw such a detailed map, what battle can't be fought? What battle cannot be won? Wei Shou could almost see the military merits flying into his pocket one after another. With more military achievements, the military budget for each quarter will also be larger. The soldiers under the account can eat more, train for longer, and there will still be surplus food to recruit troops and expand the scale!

This is a positive cycle!

Although he has not yet seen the righteous man himself, but just looking at this hand, he unilaterally decided that this person must be better than Chu Liangliang! He and Chu Liangliang had a hard time getting the [Five Virtues of a General]. He didn't even consider that this righteous man might already have a bound general.

Wei Shou's wishful thinking made Gu Chi's ears hurt.

Of course, some people don't understand.

It's not that I don't understand why this righteous man "abandoned the darkness and turned to the light" and turned against his lord, but I don't understand why the lord suddenly changed his mind? If our army occupies the geographical advantage of Chaoliguan, it can retreat or defend, and it can also drag Huang Lie's soldiers and horses to death because they are short of food.

Drag it for a while to weaken their combat power.

The enemy's status declines, which in turn increases one's own status.

This is also the countermeasure they had discussed before.

Shen Tang was reminded of bad memories, pursed his lips and said: "I received information from the righteous man before and sent troops to raid a camp. Huang Xiguang was short of food and tricked the refugees into using it as military rations. But they have three things: One hundred thousand soldiers and horses..."

The implication——

How much can you eat with three hundred thousand soldiers and horses?

How long can the two states of Yan and Qian, which have already suffered disasters, survive?

It won't last long before it will be devoured into a no-man's land, and Shen Tang works so hard to cultivate jade and wheat, reclaim wasteland, and build river embankments... all in order to create a stable environment to resettle refugees. Without refugees, what’s the use of open space?

At this time, someone spoke in a calm and cold-blooded tone: "Mr. Shen, as long as Huang Xiguang's power is destroyed, even if the two states of Yan and Qian are devastated, as long as there is peace here, there will still be a steady stream of refugees moving in from elsewhere. .”

As long as there are enough fields for cultivation and enough food to satisfy our hunger, the lost population will be restored. On the contrary, if we send troops now, our side plus our ally Wu Xian will only have 100,000 troops. Three hundred thousand versus one hundred thousand, even if 60% of the three hundred thousand were captured soldiers and temporarily recruited refugees, it would still cause heavy losses to one's own side. One more of our own elites can survive, right?

After they eat up all the refugees, they will eat themselves later, or they will mobilize all their troops to fight their own side. As long as the most stressful wave is sustained at the lowest cost, Huang Xiguang and others will self-destruct sooner or later.

Maybe two months, maybe half a year...

After the man finished speaking, the whole hall was silent.

Everyone's eyes, including Shen Tang's, fell on him.

This is a new face, an old minister of the Xin Kingdom who was rescued before. The joys and sorrows of people are not connected with each other, and it is difficult for people in high positions to empathize with ants. Shen Tang marked this person with a cross in her heart. She had an impression of this person and remembered that his work ability was quite good, but she did not expect that his outlook on life was so inconsistent with her own. To be on the safe side, it's better not to let him come into contact with power. He's too cold.

Shen Tang asked him: "From a certain point of view, your words are reasonable and very sensible, but do you know how long it takes to conceive a person? A woman is pregnant for ten months, and half of her foot has passed through the gate of hell once she gives birth. Even after giving birth, , the probability of raising children is also very small. A couple can give birth to eight or nine children in their lifetime, some even more, and only three or four of them may actually grow up. Although they are one of the many living beings, they are no more than ants in the world, but He has indeed lived for dozens of years."

From baby to teenager, it takes more than ten years.

From infancy to youth, it takes about twenty years.

From infancy to old age, it takes longer.

This time is enough for the current country to go from establishment to destruction. It is too normal to change one or two nationalities in a lifetime. These hours are the weight of their lives! These are all living people, not just a speck of dust.

Shen Tang: "I cannot agree with what you said."

Yes, the most indispensable thing in the world is refugees.

But the refugees coming in the future will not be the same as the current batch!

Realizing that Shen Tang was displeased, the man's face changed slightly and he found a way to avoid talking about the topic. Chu Yao used his peripheral vision to write down this person's face, and then brought the topic to the deployment of troops with a smile. Many people in the hall also behaved similarly.

Gu Chi listened to his heart and sneered in his heart.

Didn't this idiot pay attention to the origins of everyone here before speaking? According to his words, more than half of the people present can be sacrificed and become military rations with cold eyes. He can offend more than half of his colleagues with a few words, and he is also a talented person.

He shouldn't be here, he should be under Huang Lie's tent.

I guess Huang Lie would like his cold determination.

My lord will not eat this one.

An hour later, the formation for this battle was basically finalized, with Wei Shou as the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army. It's not that I have too much trust in him, but that a few people with the strength and qualifications don't want to be a leader. Especially Gong Xiqiu, how can it be fun to fight against generals when the Chinese army is holding the battle line?

He was thrown into the vanguard by Shen Tang.

Although Shen Tang is the lord, he also loves the pioneers.

After that, it is necessary to arrange the left and right armies, finalize the military formations of the three armies and the formation spirit that needs to be used, and step up training of soldiers according to the spirit to ensure that the battle on the front line will not be missed. Although with Wei Shou and others joining, the pressure on high-level combat power has been reduced sharply, but the scale of Shen Tang's army has also expanded. What is most lacking now are middle-level military officers. Arrangements come and go, but we are still stretched thin.

Shen Tang: "..."

There is no need to worry when it is Literary Scholar's turn.

Not to mention that it was easily full, but there were still overflowing hands.

Finally, she waved her hand and arranged for more assistants.

Friendly reminder - if you can build a good relationship with them, maybe you can get one or two more [Five Virtues of Generals].

Quantity is limited, first come first served!

By the time the long and boring meeting was over, the setting sun on the horizon had turned the sunset into magnificent colors. Shen Tang did not forget to remind the logistics to provide extra meals for the soldiers. All the food was provided and meat was also added. After eating and drinking for the past two days, let’s fight the enemy!

As wartime orders were issued, the parts of this war machine were running again. Except for the temporary recruits and captured coolies, all other elites were transferred back from wasteland, river embankments and other places. The common people under the rule smelled some kind of message.

"The war is about to begin again—"

"Oh, how long did it take to calm down..."

The lives of the common people in Chaoliguan were relatively stable. Shen Tang also redistributed their fields to them and rented and sold their grain seeds called Yumai at low prices. It is said that it will be mature before the autumn harvest, and the yield will be high and delicious, so you won’t have to worry about food this winter.

Since there is no other choice, ordinary people can only give it a try.

Watching the carefully tended crops sprouting and growing day by day, they were numb and began to have hope for life... Maybe, life will really get better and better? It’s just that this joy lasted too short, and the subsided war started again!

"Will people from outside customs come in?"

"It's hard to say..."

"What should I do with these twenty acres of jade and wheat? This is the lifeline of my family for several months. Oh, what a miserable life."

"Why are you howling? Which of us is not like this?"

As soon as they heard that a war was about to begin, the villages closest to Chaoliguan were moved by the news, and every household packed up their belongings and waited.

If something goes wrong, run away!

|ω`)