General Qin

In the thirty-fourth year of Qin Shi Huang's reign, the rain in Nanyue was much heavier than in previous years, sweeping almost half of the Lingnan region.

When the heavy rain stopped and the floods receded, the low-lying areas of South Vietnam were in a mess.

This is a bad thing for the Qin army.

This means that a large number of roads they have built before are no longer usable and need to be reopened, which will consume a certain amount of manpower and material resources.

But in a sense, this is a good thing, and it is also a good thing that is conducive to Qin's rule.

"The General is really a master of manipulating people's hearts. He took advantage of the floods in the country and used food to win over people's hearts. I heard that the South Vietnamese people lamented the General's kindness after receiving the relief food."

Li Shiqi walked into the tent and saw Zhao Tuo reading the military report from the west, and flattered him.

Zhao Tuo raised his head and said: "There is a saying in "Laozi" where misfortune lies, blessings depend on it; blessings lie on misfortune. This heavy rain and flood is a disaster, but if handled properly, it can turn disaster into blessing. Although our army suffered a lot of losses in the flood, it also helped me win over people's hearts. When winter comes and we launch a large-scale attack on Xiou, the place will be much more stable and there will be fewer hidden dangers."

Speaking of this matter, Zhao Tuo smiled.

Previously, most of the food of the South Vietnamese tribes was stored in the warehouses of Panyu City. Later, the Qin army came across the sea to seize this place and took control of the South Vietnamese people's granaries.

When Yin Tong led thousands of people to defend the city here, he ate and drank heavily every day, which consumed a lot of stored food.

Later, when the South Vietnamese tribes surrendered, Zhao Tuo distributed most of the food in the city to show his generosity.

The amount of food distributed was limited, and the war delayed the South Vietnamese from farming and hunting in the first half of the year. As a result, they were always short of food and could only eat fruits and vegetables to satisfy their hunger. And this summer's heavy rains have had a further impact on them.

Food reserves were insufficient, crops in the fields were flooded, mountains, forests and lakes were hit by floods, making it difficult to hunt and fish. Many tribes fell into a state of famine directly after the disaster.

Some tribes really couldn't hold on anymore and boldly came to rescue the Qin army.

At this time, some generals in the Qin army suggested leaving these South Vietnamese alone and waiting until they were almost starved to death before rescuing them. This would eliminate a large number of Yue forces, which would be beneficial to Qin's subsequent rule.

Zhao Tuo refused.

The current situation is that the Yue people have no food but the Qin army has food. Especially after the Qin army has occupied Panyu City near the sea, food and equipment can be transported from Jiangdong through the boat division. Traveling by water is not only much faster than crossing mountains and ridges, but also requires less manpower and less losses along the way. Zhao Tuo now has no shortage of food at all.

He summoned South Vietnamese leaders such as Adu from the Buffalo Tribe and Sha En from the Fish Tribe. He said with a righteous face: "Under the sky, there is nothing but the king's land; on the shore of the land, there is nothing but the king's ministers. Now that you are waiting Those who surrender to our Qin state will become the Qin people under the emperor's rule, and will no longer be the barbaric South Vietnamese people of the past. If the Qin people are short of food, I, the great general of Qin, will help them!"

A'du, Sha En and other leaders were shocked by Zhao Tuo's words.

If they had encountered this kind of food shortage and famine in the past, King Agus of South Vietnam would not only not give them food to survive the disaster, but might even snatch the remaining food from their tribe to survive. How could they be like the Qin army? Give them food to tide them over.

"We are from Qin."

For the first time, they experienced the benefits of being Qin people.

After experiencing the brutal force and punishment of the Qin army, the South Vietnamese felt the kindness from the general despite fear.

After Zhao Tuo crippled and frightened them, he gave them a little sweetness.

Use both kindness and power, punishment and virtue.

The leaders of these South Vietnamese tribes immediately knelt on the ground and imitated the etiquette of the Qin people and bowed their heads to express their gratitude.

They now really fear and respect this Qin general.

Zhao Tuo took the opportunity to open a warehouse to store grain, and vigorously promoted the concept that everyone was a Qin person, and asked every Yue person who came to receive food to call themselves a Qin person.

This approach is precisely to subtly influence the ideas of these South Vietnamese.

Let them gradually abandon their old identity as Yue people and accept their existence as Qin people. This will be very beneficial for the Central Plains regime to assimilate the southern wilderness.

At the same time, in order to form a sharp contrast, Zhao Tuo also hinted that the South Vietnamese leaders should promote the tyranny of Argus while promoting the kindness of the Qin army.

He wanted to tell all the South Vietnamese that the Qin Army came here not to invade them, but to rescue these poor South Vietnamese from the brutal Argus. The Qin Army wanted to bring them a new future.

Argus eats people, but the Qin army does not.

Argus grabbed the grain, and the Qin army released it.

Various measures have indeed greatly changed the attitude of the South Vietnamese towards the Qin army.

In particular, some South Vietnamese who had enmity with the Jiao and Hu tribes were really deeply influenced by the Qin army's propaganda and believed that it was indeed a great favor for Zhao Tuo to lead the army to rescue them from the tyranny of Argus.

They did not understand the concept of "emperor" in the Qin population. In their thinking, they believed that "king" was the most noble title.

Therefore, some South Vietnamese people secretly called the Qin general "king".

Zhao Tuo, King of South Vietnam!

Zhao Tuo was not sure what he called the Nanyue people in private. He just felt that the most intuitive benefit of doing so was that it could win over the hearts of the Yue people and allow him to attack Xiou with peace of mind during the dry season.

At this moment, the heavy rain and floods had receded, and the land of South Vietnam had stabilized, so he put all his energy into how to deal with Xiou.

The military intelligence report sent back by Cao Shen from Xiou is crucial.

"Southern Barbarian War Elephants. Haha, as expected, the Luo Yue people came to join the war."

Zhao Tuo handed the military report to Li Shiqi and shook his head.

Xiou was probably near Guilin, Guangxi in later generations.

The scope of Luo Yue was from Nanning, Guangxi to the Red River area of ​​Vietnam in later generations.

The battle behind this is really going to go abroad.

General Li Shiqi read the military report twice and congratulated Zhao Tuo: "Congratulations, General. Marquis Cao defeated the Vietnamese coalition forces. This not only dampened the morale of the Vietnamese people, but also uncovered enemy intelligence for our army. When the army conquers in the future, it will be able to destroy Xiou and Luoyue like a ragtag force!"

As he said that, Li Shiqi laughed again: "I thought that a huge beast like an elephant would be so powerful and ferocious that it would be difficult for hundreds of people to defeat it, but I didn't know that it was actually restrained by the cloud-piercing arrow made by the general. It's really unexpected. Ah. In this way, Luo Yue's strongest army is restrained by our side, and this battle will be worry-free."

"One thing overcomes another. As long as there is a weakness, there is no real strength or weakness."

Zhao Tuo said lightly, lowered his head to look at the map in front of the case, and raised his hand to where Xiou was.

"Send an envoy to deliver a letter to Changsha County to inform General Ren Xiao that this expedition to Ou will begin in October!"

"Our army advances from two directions and destroys Xiou in one fell swoop!"