Great Han Arrow God

Chapter 576 Teachers and Friends
At the beginning of October in the fifth year of Yuanguang, Sima Tan, the magistrate of Taishi, finally wrote down the movement formula of the sun, moon and five stars after more than two years of painstaking research and day and night observation.Although there are still many stars whose movement pattern has not been determined, the reason is already very clear.

The so-called way of heaven is these fixed formulas, which have nothing to do with people.It is exactly what Xunzi said: the way of heaven is permanent, it does not exist for Yao, and does not perish for Jie.

So far, the theory of interaction between heaven and man has collapsed.

Although the news has not been announced yet, Dong Zhongshu is in Shiqu Pavilion, only a few dozen steps away from Tianlu Pavilion, and his disciples are also involved in the calculation, so how could he not know the news.With his wisdom, he can naturally guess the next development.The moment he heard the news, he sat alone in the pavilion for half the night, feeling lost.

After a slight loss, Dong Zhongshu picked up the book again and began to revise the manuscripts about the economic gains and losses of the Qin Dynasty.He spent the middle of the night copying the article, and finally added a title: "New Book", echoing Lu Jia's "Xin Yu".

"New Book" and Sima Tan's set formula were sent to Ganquan Palace on a fast horse.

Although Sima Tan has repeatedly stated that the emperor has an edict, before the court announces the result, it must not be publicized.But everyone is a scholar, and they all know the meaning of this formula, so how can they hold back.Unknowingly, this news spread in a small area, gradually forming an unstoppable undercurrent.

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The emperor has been very busy recently. Not only is the plan imminent, but the battle in Hexi has also entered the most intense stage.

Cao Shi and Wei Qing led [-] cavalry to advance into Longyou, step by step, cross the big river, and head west along the Huangshui River.As an envoy, Meigao contacted various tribes with a brilliant tongue, and persuaded many Qiang tribes to surrender or stand still, while those tribes who wanted to cooperate with the Huns were mercilessly attacked by the Han army.

The Qiang tribes ranged from tens of thousands of people to thousands of people. In front of the Han army armed to the teeth, they had no power to fight back and were beaten to pieces.Cao Shi fought several annihilation battles and captured some cattle and sheep. Although the number was not large, it was far from achieving the goal of raising wars by war, but Cao Shi understood the emperor's intentions and carried out the emperor's strategic intentions to the letter. But the emperor was greatly relieved.

After all, it was Cao Shi's first time commanding an army alone, and he commanded [-] of the [-] cavalry, while the famous general Li Guang only had [-].Those who know the inside story will not have any thoughts, and those who don't know the inside will inevitably think that the emperor is partial to his brother-in-law and suppressing Li Guang-although the emperor has no such intention at all.People's hearts are separated from each other, and sometimes this kind of criticism is unavoidable.

Therefore, although the results of Cao Shi's current battle are small, they have boosted morale and reassured the emperor a little.He focused on Li Guang and Wang Hui all the way.

But the situation along the way was somewhat unclear.After Li Guang and Wang Hui led [-] elite riders out of Wuwei, there was no further news.

The emperor was very worried about this, and couldn't sleep or eat.

The emperor is uneasy, and the courtiers are even less likely to be. Even if it is pretending, they have to pretend to be in the same heart as the emperor.So not only Han Anguo, Yan An and others stayed around the emperor almost day and night, but even the prime minister Tian Fu, who was resting in bed, forced himself up, showing his face in front of the emperor from time to time, and comforting the emperor.

Liang Xiao was no exception.Although so far, the emperor has not granted him an official position, but only let him follow and advise like a guest, his role far exceeds that of Xu Le, Zhu Fuyan and others, and he is on par with Han Anguo, the official censor.However, he seldom expresses opinions on specific matters, and only resolves them in a timely manner when the emperor is impatient.

When he was free, he practiced archery with Huo Qubing in the palace.

When he left Chang'an, in order to avoid implicating Huo Qubing, he had already expelled Huo Qubing from the school on behalf of Huanyuan, but Huo Qubing was still the elder brother and the younger brother, even in front of the emperor.Whenever he was free, he would either ask Liang Xiao about archery, or compete with officials, or ask Liang Xiao about the purpose of the current war.

He was always present when the emperor discussed the situation of the war, even in the middle of the night, he would get up, sit quietly and listen to the discussion between the emperor and his ministers, but he never expressed his opinion.If he had any questions, he would ask Liang Xiao for advice in private, or directly ask the emperor when he was free.

"Brother, why do you want to reduce General Li's troop strength? 2 people are already very few, why do you need to reduce it by [-]?" Huo Qubing tilted his head, staring at Liang Xiao without blinking.It can be seen that he has been thinking about this matter for a long time.

Liang Xiao remained unmoved, let go of the string in his hand, and hit the arrow who was a hundred paces away with an arrow. Then he said unhurriedly, "Tell me about your analysis."

"Okay." Huo Qubing cleared his throat. "I heard that the Huns have one man with two horses or three horses, just to maintain their horsepower, so that they can go into battle anytime and anywhere. The brother lost General Li's ten thousand people, and it should be to ensure the configuration of one man with three horses. Only in this way, our army The speed and physical strength of the Huns will be comparable to the Huns, and even maintain a little advantage."

Liang Xiao nodded. "anything else?"

"One person and one horse can only carry half a month's worth of food at most. If you bring a month's worth of food, the horse's load will be too heavy, and it will be difficult to maintain speed and not go far. One person and two horses can go a little farther, but at most It’s only about a thousand li. If there is one man and three horses, the combat range can be expanded to more than [-] li. If necessary, you can drive straight to two thousand li to kill the enemy.”

Liang Xiao was very surprised. "You figured this out yourself?"

Huo Qubing smiled embarrassedly. "Most of them are based on what I heard, and I calculated it myself. I think they think too conservatively, and they always rely on their own food. In fact, if you are more courageous, seize the opportunity to fight, and use the war to support the war, you can be big. Increase the combat range by a large margin, and even cross the entire grassland."

"Why do you say that? All living by taking supplies from the enemy?"

"There must be casualties in the battle, and the most elite fighters must be left behind. Since they are the most elite fighters, it doesn't matter if they starve for two days. They can run three to five hundred miles in two days. It is impossible not to miss a chance. Yes. As long as you seize the opportunity to seize the enemy's luggage, even if you eat their horses, you can persist..."

Liang Xiao looked at the eloquent Huo Qubing, and felt awe-inspiring.It seems that Huo Qubing is really a natural fighter, and he is extremely paranoid.His tactics don't care about the casualties of soldiers at all, and only have one purpose, to kill and injure the enemy as much as possible.It has to be said that this tactic is very consistent with his later combat practice.

Behind Huo Qubing's dazzling record are huge casualties, even a casualty rate as high as [-]% to [-]%.This is still under the condition that the emperor transferred all the elites to his command.Others, including Wei Qing, didn't have the foundation to copy his tactics even if they wanted to.Of course, they couldn't do such an extreme, especially Li Guang, a general who loves soldiers like his son.

However, if moral factors are removed, Huo Qubing's success is not accidental, he is more in line with the original intention of war.Many famous generals have said similar words, it is not a skill to be able to kill the enemy, but it is a skill to be able to kill oneself.What is a famous general?He can make soldiers disregard life and death, even if there are heavy casualties, their morale will not collapse, and they can still go forward bravely. This is a famous general.

Huo Qubing obviously fits such characteristics, because no matter how heavy the casualties are, he can lead his subordinates from one victory to another.On the contrary, Li Guang, who loves soldiers like a son, went from one failure to another.

"Senior Brother?" Seeing that Liang Xiao was silent and looking at him with weird eyes, Huo Qubing closed his mouth embarrassingly.

"Oh, it's nothing, your analysis is very good, I just have one thing to add." Liang Xiao smiled covertly: "March and fight, not only must consider the soldiers on both sides, but also consider the mentality of the general. The courage of the army, every gain or loss of the general may determine the life and death of the army."

Huo Qubing nodded thoughtfully.

"General Li is a famous general, but he is eager to fight. When the strength of the two sides is almost the same, he will take the initiative to challenge." The voice of the emperor came from behind, a little hoarse, revealing indescribable fatigue. "However, if you only give him 1 people, he will be more cautious. In fact, although the number of our army has been reduced by half, the combat power has been maintained. In this way, when facing the same force, the winning rate of our army will be lower. higher."

Liang Xiao and Huo Qubing quickly stood up and bowed in salute. "His Majesty."

The Son of Heaven walked up to Liang Xiao, and reached out to take the black bow in Liang Xiao's hand. "Am I wrong?"

"What your majesty said is right at the point." Liang Xiao bowed his body and said, "If you talk about generals, if your majesty takes the second place, who would dare to take the number one?"

The emperor raised his eyebrows slightly: "What about generals?"

Liang Xiao smiled slightly. "I think that if you talk about generals and soldiers, among the three people here, I and Your Majesty are tied for second place."

The emperor's eyes flickered slightly, and he couldn't help laughing. "I mean, Xiao Qubing not only surpassed me, but also surpassed you?"

"In terms of talent, we are not equal. However, his luck is better than mine. When I was young, I lived in the village and learned the art of war at the age of 15. But he was by His Majesty's side when he was a child, and he has been influenced by his eyes and ears. How can such a chance happen?" It’s something I dare to hope for. Let alone a minister, I’m afraid I won’t be able to find another one in the world.”

Liang Xiao's words were true, and his flattery was not visible. The emperor laughed heartily when he heard this. "Xiao Qubing, you can work hard, and you must not disappoint your senior brother's high hopes in the future."

Huo Qubing was very excited. "I must work hard to live up to Your Majesty and Senior Brother."

"Then... what about shooting?" The emperor shook the bow in his hand, hooked the string, and pulled it hard twice, but he didn't pull it away, his face flushed a little.

Liang Xiao did his part. "I dare not deceive the emperor, as far as I know, I should be the leader."

"Don't forget, Xiao Qubing is also earlier than you in archery."

"He is a Bichen, but he is not as attentive as a minister." Liang Xiao smiled confidently. "Since I have been practicing art, I have practiced archery for one hour each at Zishi and Chenshi every day, without interruption. Who can have such perseverance?"

The emperor was stunned for a moment, then let out a sigh of relief. "It's no wonder that your archery skills are so superb. It turns out that's how you practiced it. Southerners have a saying that people are not permanent, so you can't be a witch doctor. Believe me, believe me."

Huo Qubing was also stunned, scratching his head.

"An inch is good, but a ruler is short. I think that no one can know everything. There will always be strengths and weaknesses. Why should His Majesty blame himself?"

The Son of Heaven laughed, and stuffed the bow into Liang Xiao's hand. "Well, if that's the case, I won't talk to you about archery in the future. In the future, when the princes grow up, I will ask you to teach me art. You can't refuse, just like teaching Xiao Qubing. Just do it."

Liang Xiao's heart skipped a beat.The emperor's words seem to be casual, but he knows who the emperor is.This kind of friend-like conversation is actually the worst thing to do. You can neither be too serious, nor can you completely treat the emperor as a friend.

"Your Majesty hopes that your ministers will teach you everything, but I don't know what kind of status your majesty Xu Chen will face the prince? Teacher, friend, minister?"

The emperor smiled silently. "Since it is a teaching, of course it must be a teacher's etiquette."

"I obey." Liang Xiao bowed and saluted.

The monarch and his ministers smiled knowingly.

These few words may seem random, but in fact they have a lot of meaning.As the saying goes, teachers and ministers are kings, friends are kings, and Liang Xiaowen's gift to the prince seems to be the emperor's expectation for the prince, but in fact it is to confirm the identities of both parties at the moment.If you face the prince as a friend, you can only be a minister to the emperor.If you face the prince as a teacher, you will be a friend to the emperor, at least not a simple relationship between monarch and minister.When the Son of Heaven said that he should treat the prince with respect as a master, he was actually acknowledging some kind of equal relationship between him and Liang Xiao, which also explained Liang Xiao's current embarrassing status.

What Liang Xiao accepted was not the status of the future prince's master, but the status of the friend of the emperor.

"I want to ask you something." The emperor thought for a while. "When you were in Yuzhang, you once said that the Marquis of Pingyang might become an official. Where did you get your confidence?"

Liang Xiao laughed.When he said this, he knew that sooner or later, the emperor would ask him about it.

"Your Majesty, I didn't say that the Marquis of Pingyang might become an official. I just said that if the officials want to fight for wealth and wealth, they should follow the Marquis of Pingyang. As the saying goes, if you can't become a fairy or ride a dragon, follow someone who might become a fairy , Grab the dragon's beard and dragon's tail, even chickens and dogs have a chance to ascend to heaven."

The emperor laughed.After laughing for a while, he teased again: "If you talk about becoming an immortal, King Huainan is the most likely person to become an immortal. Why don't you go to Huainan?"

Liang Xiao shrugged. "The king of Huainan is just a scholar. A man like Ye Gong, who can ride a real dragon, will be scared to death. He, it's better to be a scholar."

The emperor crooked his mouth. "Like now?"

"Just like now." Liang Xiao nodded and smiled slightly. "Your Majesty, the King of Huainan now has glass, brocade, new paper, and new methods of printing books. He no longer cares about those lands. If all the princes and kings in the world are like this, and the order of grace cannot be carried out, Your Majesty can rest easy."

The emperor nodded slightly, understanding. "That's right, King Huainan is worthy of being a virtuous king, and can be an example for all kings."
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(End of this chapter)