Chapter 42 The war begins, the king says she is safe...

When the news of the conflict between An State and Bian State spread throughout the nine provinces, Hu Youan knew that her chance had come.

Calculating the time, it has been just over a month since Gui Yang discussed the attack with her. Gui Yang is really gifted when it comes to doing this kind of provocative things.

Hu Youan was a little wary of Gui Yang. Wen Tao had always thought that Gui Yang was a villain and should not be closely associated with. Hu Youan agreed with her on the surface, but he disagreed in his heart. He believed that as long as she was wholeheartedly working for the king, she didn't have to consider anything else. But now it seems that he still has to consider it a little.

The more extreme Gui Yang's methods of dealing with his enemies today, the more extreme his methods will be when dealing with others in the future.

Hu Youan always had a premonition that sooner or later, she and Gui Yang would stand on opposite sides.

Although she is a military general and Gui Yang is a civil official, their position in the king's heart is limited. If they don't fight for it, the king may forget about her.

Far away in Jingchang, Shen Zhiwei, who was trying out new dishes, suddenly felt an itchy nose. Fortunately, she didn't sneeze in the end. She endured it for a while and found that it was okay, so she continued to eat.

Shen Zhiwei announced that food tasting was her favorite activity since coming to this world! She hoped to do this kind of activity every now and then.

Shen Zhiwei wrote down the numbers of the dishes he liked and stopped eating when he was half full.

I have been eating and drinking without restraint these days. I don’t know if I have gained weight, but the number of times I have been unable to sleep at night due to feeling too full has increased.

In order to get a good night's sleep, Shen Zhiwei had to reluctantly start a life of only eating until she was 70% full.

How could a person's stomach be so fragile? It threw a tantrum just because she ate a little more. She really wanted her stomach to know who was the master of this body!

Shen Zhiwei was furious and incompetent, and then he took a walk after dinner while eating hawthorn to aid digestion.

There was no way out. The stomach was the master of this body. She could only cry silently in her heart, submit to the power of the stomach, and take good care of her stomach.

After dinner, Shen Zhiwei took a nap in the afternoon and got up to attend class.

Wen Shao would take time out every day to give Shen Zhiwei a lecture. Initially, it was to help Shen Zhiwei fill the gap of not studying well when she was a princess. Later, when he saw that Shen Zhiwei had learned almost everything, he began to tell her some small stories.

Most of them are small stories about how monarchs of various countries governed their countries. Shen Zhiwei slowly figured out the concept of governing a country from those small stories.

Shen Zhiwei was not averse to listening to stories, but she didn't know what was the point of her learning a lot of ideas about governing a country. In the future, she would be the ruler of a fallen country. Which ruler of a fallen country could be so powerful and even more awesome than a wise ruler?

Today, after Wen Shao sat down, he did not tell stories as usual, but talked about recent news.

"Have you heard, Your Majesty, that after the new King of Anguo ascended the throne, he issued several orders to cut off all ties with the Kingdom of Bian?"

Of course Shen Zhiwei heard about this. In her opinion, this kind of thing would happen sooner or later.

She nodded slightly. Wen Shao couldn't tell her mood at the moment from her face, so he nodded secretly in his heart. The Taoist King became more and more calm.

"What consequences does your Majesty think this action will have?"

Here it comes, it’s time for me to test you.

Shen Zhiwei straightened her back silently, as if she was back in her school days, when the political teacher called her name and asked her to answer the questions.

Shen Zhiwei subconsciously wanted to summarize the outline, but when the words came to his lips, he realized that something was wrong.

It seems like she shouldn't be taking the exam at this time?

Whatever the consequences are, it doesn't matter to her. She is just watching the show from the side. If Anguo and Bianguo fight and decide the winner, she will probably be killed by the winner.

"It doesn't matter what the consequences are; what matters is who wins in the end."

Shen Zhiwei spoke her mind honestly. She only cared about who was the final winner, as this was related to when her main mission would be completely completed.

Wen Shao originally wanted to hear the king's analysis of the world situation, but he didn't expect to get such an answer.

He subconsciously repeated: "Who will win in the end?"

Shen Zhiwei thought Wen Shao was asking her. After thinking about it carefully, she felt that An Guo had a greater chance of winning. It seemed that An Guo would be the one to complete the main task for her.

She said truthfully, "An State is powerful, and with a new ruler on the throne, there might be some chaos within the country. However, Lord An has been ill for nearly a year, and Crown Prince Zhuo has already established himself. The chaos won't last long. Furthermore, Crown Prince Zhuo is renowned for his talent, and if nothing unexpected happens, An State will become even more powerful. Conversely, look at Bian State. The monarch is neglecting government affairs and is vying for power internally. Lord Wencheng and Lord Shengjiang are at odds, and the Crown Prince of Bian State is not well known to the world. I heard that he is mediocre in both talent, appearance, and character. Bian State has no chance of winning."

A few decades ago, the Bian Kingdom was at its peak and was so powerful that it could almost defeat other countries. Who would have thought that just a few decades later, the Bian Kingdom would fall.

The wheel of fortune turns, and now it's An Guo's turn.

Wen Shao looked at the king in shock. He had thought that the king was only concerned with eating, drinking and having fun every day. He might have some insights into farming, but other than that, he was not outstanding in other aspects.

When his daughter Wen Tao said that the king had the talent to govern the country, he thought that his daughter was too young and was devoted to being loyal to the monarch, so she made a wrong judgment.

But after hearing what the king said, Wen Shao discovered that the king was indeed extraordinary.

A princess who had lived in the deep palace for many years, had read few books and could not even recognize all the words, was able to grow to this point a year after becoming the king. Her talent and character were not as good as those of the famous kings in history.

Wen Shao suddenly realized that he should listen to his daughter and get to know the king again.

"Grandmaster?"

Seeing that Wen Shao didn't speak for a long time, Shen Zhiwei looked at him in confusion, and happened to meet Wen Shao's eyes that were burning like blazing fire.

Shen Zhiwei was not unfamiliar with this kind of look. She had seen it in Hu Youan, Wen Tao, and Gui Yang's eyes before.

Shen Zhiwei was silent inside.

It's okay for young people to get fired up easily, but isn't it a bit bad for you to be so immature and hot-blooded at your age? And what did I say? Why are you so excited?

Shen Zhiwei thought about what she had just said and was confused. Didn't she just speculate the outcome between Anguo and Bianguo reasonably and legally? What was so exciting about this?

What Shen Zhiwei didn't know was that due to the limitations of his own vision and knowledge, people without a sense of the overall situation would find it difficult to make reasonable speculations about the future direction of things.

This is the overall view cultivated by modern education, and it is also the multi-faceted perspective that can only be cultivated by modern information explosion. In this era, it takes a lot of talent to cultivate such a vision.

Shen Zhiwei herself is quite talented, but she mainly benefits from modern education and a modern growth environment.

Because these characteristics are common in modern times, Shen Zhiwei couldn't figure out why her performance was so exciting to the ancient people.

Before Shen Zhiwei could be seen, Wen Shao retracted his overly enthusiastic gaze and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, just wait a few days and you will know whether the conflict between Anguo and Bianguo will end as Your Majesty predicts, with Anguo winning."

It was rare for Shen Zhiwei to be aroused at all. It was like watching a game. Simply watching the game felt completely different from supporting one of the teams.

"Master, would you like to make a bet with me?"

When Wen Shao heard the word "gamble", he frowned.

"A little gambling is good for your mood. Just gamble casually. You don't have to bet too much. How about this: if Anguo wins, the Grand Tutor will accompany me to the newly opened restaurant in the city for a few days. If Bianguo wins, the Grand Tutor can ask me for a small wish."

Wen Shao originally didn't intend to gamble, no matter if it was a big bet or a small bet, he didn't want to gamble, but when he heard the last sentence, his heart moved.

It is so rare for a king to make a promise to his subjects, and this promise is extremely valuable.

Even if it's just a promise that can't be too excessive, it's still a promise, and it might be of great use in the future.

Wen Shao finally nodded. After all, he was just an ordinary man and could not escape from the mundane world.

The people of An and Bian countries were completely unaware that the King of Jingchang was already making fun of them.

Anyway, the war never stops, and Shen Zhiwei can't affect the situation no matter what she does. She can only sit and watch the show.

Shen Zhiwei thought that this matter had nothing to do with her, but she didn't know that her loyal guard, Doctor Hu, was already sitting in the residence of An Qu, the Prime Minister of Anguo.

If he wanted to join forces with Anguo to swallow up Bianguo, he naturally had to talk to the person in charge of Anguo. Hu Youan was just a doctor and didn't even have the title of general. He couldn't meet the new king of Anguo directly, so he could only settle for the second best and meet Anguo's prime minister An Qu.

As soon as An Qu heard that someone from Jingchang came, he subconsciously felt a headache.

He had a very good relationship with the previous An Gongshou, and it was no exaggeration to say that they were friends for life and death. The reason why An Gongshou was bedridden and died young was because of Jingchang!

The death of Hui'an Jun, the accusations from the king, and the endless rumors forced this great hero to not even dare to leave the house.

Rumors are far more piercing than swords and knives. Even those who are fearless in the battlefield cannot completely get rid of the influence of rumors.

An Qu hated Hui'an Jun and the Zhou royal family, but he was largely responsible for An Gong's death. He could not bear those unpleasant words and had wild thoughts all day long, which led to his final death.

Before entering, An Qu took a deep breath to suppress the sadness in his heart, then stepped inside and greeted Hu Youan.

Hu Youan's rank is not as high as An Qu's, but An Qu is the prime minister of the princes, while Hu Youan is the king's personal guard. An Qu must treat Hu Youan with respect to avoid being accused of disrespecting the king.

Hu Youan came here to discuss something today, so her reaction was gentle and polite. She did not look down on An Qu just because she was from Jingchang.

It is common for the king's attendants to look down on the subjects of the princes. No matter how weak the royal family is, the princes still have to be loyal to the king and obey the king's orders on the surface. The king's guards who have no confidence can only uphold the royal majesty, appear to be strong but weak inside, and treat the princes' subjects with arrogance.

However, they don’t know that when they don’t have the strength, an arrogant attitude is like a clown, which will only make people laugh instead of awe.

Hu Youan knew clearly how the outside world viewed Jingchang, so when facing An Qu, she tried to be calm, neither arrogant nor flattering, maintaining the dignity of the royal family while not offending the prime minister of a country.

Seeing Hu Youan's good attitude, An Qu became confused. He originally thought that it was the king's order, but now it seems that it is not the case.

Then he heard Hu Youan talk about the plan to divide the Bian Kingdom.

Of course, Hu Youan would not say it so bluntly; she would express it more tactfully, but that is indeed what she meant.

An Qu was shocked, so shocked that he was speechless.

He would not be shocked if someone from the north came to discuss with him the division of Bian State, but the person who came was a doctor from Jingchang!

Does this mean that the king is about to end his reign? What does the king mean? Is he planning to bring the world under Jingchang?

An Qu had to be vigilant about this situation because he was afraid that the king would plan to attack other places after attacking Bian State. He hesitated for a long time and did not give a definite answer, only saying that he needed to discuss it.

"Please ask Prime Minister An to respond as soon as possible. You'an still needs to go to the Northern Kingdom to discuss this matter with the Duke." Hu You'an hadn't planned to do this right away. She said meaningfully, "Last year, the Northern Kingdom sent Prime Minister Su Wang to Jingchang to persuade the king to join forces against the enemy, but it was almost winter and a truce was about to be declared, so the king put the matter on hold."

The Northern Kingdom wanted to pull Jingchang to attack the Yun and Ning countries. Hu Youan did not mention the Yun and Ning countries. It sounded like the Northern Kingdom had long intended to attack the Bian Kingdom. At that time, the Northern Kingdom did not even consider An Kingdom joining.

An Qu really didn't know much about this matter. Most of the spies that Anguo had stationed in the Northern Kingdom had been lost because of the previous rescue of Prince Rong, resulting in Anguo knowing almost nothing about the internal situation of the Northern Kingdom during this period.

If the Northern Kingdom also joins, then Anguo will have to join in this matter.

Hu Youan was very satisfied with An Qu's thoughtful expression. She stayed in Jiuqu, the capital of Anguo, for seven days. After settling the matter, she turned to the North Country. When passing by a small country, she would also mention the matter of joining forces to attack Bianguo.

She had no intention of hiding her purpose along the way. Because she started from Anguo, many people misunderstood that it was Anguo who took the initiative to find Jingchang and asked for a joint attack on Bianguo.

Jingchang felt that he did not have that much strength, so he invited a few more small countries to join.

When Hu Youan arrived in the North Country, Su Wang came to find her right after she entered the city.

This is the benefit of keeping a high profile all the way. Many people are keeping an eye on Hu Youan, and Hu Youan no longer has to take the initiative to knock on the doors of other countries' prime ministers' houses.

With so many vassal states already joining, the Northern Kingdom certainly had to join and share a piece of the pie. Both sides had a strong desire to cooperate, and the alliance was quickly finalized.

By May, the Yunnan and Ningxia countries had suffered repeated defeats and had to submit their letters of surrender.

An Guo accepted the surrender letter and believed that both countries had lost the war. He began to negotiate with both countries, demanding land, money and food to make up for his own losses in the war.

When it comes to the negotiation stage, more time is consumed. The battlefield shifts from the soldiers to the officials. The major powers are finally free to start another war.

Their eyes all fell on Bian State.

Bad news came from the State of Bian. The king of Bian died in his sleep at the age of only thirty-six.

Only two years older than the King of An, the Crown Prince of Bian succeeded to the throne. Princess Sheng Jiang was dissatisfied and led her troops to attack the residence of King Wencheng, intending to kill him. However, she was defeated and committed suicide.

Wen Chengjun was seriously injured and was also in critical condition.

In other words, in the vast Bian Kingdom, only the new monarch can preside over the overall situation.

This made the enemies of Bian State ecstatic, and they thought it was a godsend opportunity. If they didn't attack Bian State now, when would they attack?

So they lined up their troops outside the city, waiting for someone to take the lead, and then the allied forces would attack the cities of Bian State everywhere and bury Bian State completely in the dust!

An Guo took the lead and started to attack the city. Under the leadership of General Qiming of An Guo, they captured three cities in the blink of an eye, forcing the Bian State army to be defeated and flee, without any ability to fight back.

This move boosted the morale of the allied forces, and they began to attack the city. For a time, Bian State was surrounded by enemies on all sides, even the places near the water were enemies.

The land near the water was captured by Hu Youan, who set out from Taisheng by boat. Before that, Hu Youan and Wen Tao looked at the map of Bian State and discussed for a long time. Finally, they decided on a strategy of expanding in all directions with the river near Taisheng as the starting point.

Going downstream from Taisheng is extremely fast, and one can reach a small town near the capital of Bian State in one day. After capturing it, large ships can be used to transport supplies and more soldiers, which is much faster than traveling by land.

Without a map, it would be very difficult to reach Yongming City as quickly as possible. This shows that maps play a very important role when leading troops to war.

As the cartographer, Bian Xiao received a favorable response from her junior sister Wen Tao for the first time in her life. Even when she teased Wen Tao, Wen Tao would still smile at her. This made Bian Xiao very confused, and she finally chose to take shelter and not play around with her junior sister who seemed to be madly angry.

Wen Tao was even more surprised to see that her senior sister would behave herself after just a few acts of mischief. It turned out that as long as she smiled at her senior sister, she would behave herself?

What about her being so angry that she couldn't sleep all night? Did she think she could stay up all night?

A beautiful misunderstanding arose. Neither of the two sisters realized the problem, and soon they had no time to think about it.

Because Wen Tao soon became busy, the logistical arrangements after the army set out were very trivial. It was impossible to coordinate them with the deputy generals under Hu Youan alone. Wen Tao had to bite the bullet and take on the task. Since he could not handle it alone, he grabbed Bian Xiao to work with him.

Every day when they open their eyes, they have to take care of the people's livelihood in Taisheng and the war on the front line. They are so busy that they have no time to rest and their voices are hoarse from talking.

Finally, they couldn't stand it anymore and both of them started calling for help.

Changzi has many students. Wen Tao and Bian Xiao both have acquaintances. However, the people they are acquainted with are not from the same group, because their personalities are so different, and people with similar interests are naturally not from the same group.

Not many people received the letters from the two and expressed their willingness to go and help, but the core few came.

Changzi once only accepted disciples in Bian State. Bian State was a place with a strong literary atmosphere, and was full of powerful people and their beloved disciples. The king of Bian State had very high standards for him, so many capable people were rejected without even seeing the king's face.

In recent years, the king of Bian State has been even more absurd. He is unwilling to recruit anyone into the court unless they are geniuses. Only Wencheng Jun caught the king's eye because he was of close blood with the king of Bian State.

There are so few true geniuses, and geniuses all have temperaments that are different from ordinary people. The king of Bian State is so arrogant that he cannot accept the tempers of those geniuses. In the end, there is naturally a serious outflow of talent.

When the monarchs of other countries saw this scene, some were happy and some were unhappy.

They were happy that they could come into contact with talented people, but they were unhappy because they felt that these students who left Bian State were people who had been rejected by the king of Bian State. People who were not wanted by the king of Bian State came to them and were treated as treasures by them, making them seem inferior to the king of Bian State.

Because of this mentality, many capable people have been idle at home over the years, spending their days secluded in reading and doing nothing else.

Now, a small part of this group of people was influenced by the letters between Wen Tao and Bian Xiao.

It is hard to imagine that classmates who used to quarrel with each other after just a few words would one day live under the same roof and do the same thing.

Tai Sheng is working in full swing, while Jing Chang is enjoying a peaceful and calm life.

Shen Zhiwei ate and slept every day, feeling that her life was very comfortable. This was the life she should live. She wanted to be the king of a fallen country for the rest of her life!

No, when she returns to the modern era, she will be a rich woman. What a king who lost his country! That's the life of a rich person!

Shen Zhiwei was happy just thinking about it. If Anguo defeated Bianguo, her mission would be completed quickly.

An Guo must fight for his dignity, just for her!

Shen Zhiwei thought that the peaceful days would last for a long time, but unexpectedly, something happened in the second half of May.

At this time, fifteen days had passed since the first day of the siege of Bian State. Fifteen days were too short to end the battle, but fifteen days were also too long, enough for some people with ulterior motives to collude with each other.

Gui Yang entered the palace in the afternoon and waited for Shen Zhiwei to finish lunch. He was now accustomed to Shen Zhiwei's three meals a day.

After entering the palace, Gui Yang greeted Shen Zhiwei and explained his purpose directly. He came to tell Shen Zhiwei that there was a spy among her officials who colluded with the Bian State and intended to steal the iron forging method and give it to the Bian State.

When Shen Zhiwei heard about this, she showed her emotions in front of Gui Yang for the first time.

She did not hide her anger at all. Whoever helped Bian State at this time would be against her!

"Yanxia, ​​go to the Hundred Workers' Workshop and call An Jin over."

The core technology of iron forging is all in the hands of An Jin. If anyone wants to steal the method of forging weapons, they must contact An Jin.

When An Jin arrived, she knew nothing. She had just supervised her apprentices in forging a batch of armor and weapons, and she was still full of anger.

As soon as she entered the room, it seemed to become three degrees warmer.

Shen Zhiwei asked An Jin to sit down, and then ordered someone to serve her a cold drink. He boiled water and made fruit tea, which was then placed in the well to cool down. It was cool and refreshing, and An Jin felt much better after taking a sip.

Shen Zhiwei glanced at Gui Yang, and Gui Yang told An Jin what he had found out.

An Jin thought about it, her face suddenly darkening. She said, "No wonder that man has been away from the palace so often these past few days. He said his parents were ill, and I never noticed anything was wrong!"

"A family member is seriously ill, and he doesn't ask a doctor to come. What's the point of going back himself? He's not a doctor. Master Craftsman An is devoted to weapon forging, but he can't ignore these small matters. If the Bian Kingdom really gets the iron forging technique, who knows how many soldiers will die."

The reason why Hu Youan was able to repeatedly defeat the larger force with a smaller one was largely due to his advanced weapons. If both sides had the same weapons but one side had more people, the smaller side would have to expend more effort to win.

Hu Youan is young after all, and has not yet become a famous general on the battlefield. She may not be able to defeat the generals of Bian State relying solely on tactics.

An Jin felt extremely ashamed when he heard this.

After hearing this, Shen Zhiwei thought of something else.

The advantage of weapons cannot last long.

Never underestimate people’s talent for imitation!