"Could it be because the Qin army is too powerful? Or is it because the people of Qin are fierce and valiant?"
Zhang Liang was speechless for a moment, and after evading the question for a long time, he offered this opinion.
At this time, he had not yet investigated why the Qin Dynasty had destroyed the six states; he simply believed that it was because the Qin state was powerful.
"No, no, no, these are just external factors. External factors are never the main reason. Look at the State of Zhao, wasn't it powerful? On the eve of the Battle of Changping, wasn't the State of Zhao the most powerful state in the Central Plains?"
"Yes, at that time, the State of Wei had already declined, the State of Qi's army was corrupt, the State of Yan was in too much chaos, the State of Han was weak, and the State of Chu had just been tricked by the Qin people into giving away a large amount of land, which had greatly damaged its vitality."
Zhang Liang nodded and echoed his opinion.
"That's right, but why didn't the Zhao state win the Battle of Changping? You have to understand that the Zhao state's transportation and logistical support were much more convenient than the Qin army's, which came from afar. Why did the Zhao state lose and the Qin state win? At that time, the Zhao state was the only state in the Central Plains that could rival the Qin state. Logically speaking, the probability of losing a defensive counterattack war on one's own territory is very low. So why did the Zhao state lose?"
"This...it's probably because the Qin state used a counter-espionage scheme, having Guo Kai and others persuade the King of Zhao to replace Lian Po with Zhao Kuo..."
"That's right, that's one reason. But on the other hand, Zhao's logistics also suffered from a lot of shortages. King Zhao replaced Lian Po with Zhao Kuo. One reason was that the counter-espionage plan was successful, but on the other hand, the pressure of reality forced him to replace him with someone who would take the initiative."
"Could it be that the Zhao state's food supply is insufficient, forcing the Zhao army to choose to counterattack?"
"Yes, that's the root cause. King Zhao isn't a fool. Although he may be incompetent and foolish, he's definitely not the fool we all talk about. Do you really think Guo Kai alone could disrupt the highest decision-making processes in Zhao?"
"I see. Your words, Prime Minister, have been very enlightening for Zifang, giving him a completely new perspective on the Battle of Changping."
"Haha, as we just said, when fighting on Zhao's own soil, Zhao's food and supply chain is actually inferior to that of the Qin army that came from afar. What does that mean?"
Zhang Liang shook his head.
He has now been successfully led astray by Li Lin. He never used to examine problems from a God's-eye view.
He clearly immersed himself in the story that had been passed down by word of mouth.
It is believed that Zhao Kuo's theoretical knowledge of warfare was the root cause of the complete defeat at the Battle of Changping.
In fact, Zhao Kuo was the direct cause, not the root cause; the root cause was the most fatal.
"This shows that Qin's productivity was higher than Zhao's, and Zhao's productivity was far inferior to Qin's. In short, since ancient times, advanced productivity has replaced old productivity. Whoever has advanced productivity can use it to launch asymmetric wars."
"productive forces?"
Zhang Liang and Han Xin exchanged glances, both bewildered, neither understanding the meaning of the term.
"Productivity is the wealth a country can produce; in other words, it includes food, horses, weapons, armor, and so on. Do you understand?"
"I understand. Qin's productivity is high, so it has more grain and a series of war tools than the other six states. The other six states cannot match Qin in these things, which leads to their inferior fighting strength!"
Zhang Liang nodded, immediately grasping the point. "So the key to determining the outcome of the Battle of Changping lies not in the monarch's attitude towards the war, but in the ability to replenish logistics, right?"
"That's right, that's the principle. War is always about logistics, in other words, it's about money. Whoever has more money can produce more weapons to use in the war. The reason why the Qin Dynasty was able to unify the six states was because it followed this model. The focus of Shang Yang's reforms was to reward agriculture and warfare. Now you understand why he emphasized agriculture so much, right?"
"Prime Minister, I admire your insight; it is truly unprecedented. Such a summary and generalization of war, the nation, and even the fundamental laws, and then explained to us in such simple and easy-to-understand language, is truly awe-inspiring! If you don't mind, Prime Minister, I would like to follow in the footsteps of Brother Han and become your disciple. Please do not find me unworthy!"
As Zhang Liang spoke, he became increasingly agitated. He even forced himself to sit up and climbed off the bed, almost kneeling on the ground.
How could Li Lin dare to make the sickly Zhang Liang kneel down?
He hurriedly helped you up, saying, "Zifang, it's not that I'm unwilling to take you as my disciple, but the knowledge I possess is merely superficial, and I only have a rudimentary understanding of profound knowledge. I'm afraid I don't have much to impart to a genius like you!"
“Prime Minister, you are joking. Judging from your views today, your vision is far ahead of ours. Not to mention that you are only proficient in a few superficial things. If these are all superficial things, then Zhang Liang is probably still an infant in swaddling clothes right now!”
Seeing Zhang Liang's sincere expression, Li Lin really wanted to agree.
But he didn't have much left in his mind, and today he wanted to trick Zhang Liang and Han Xin into joining the Qin camp, but they didn't seem interested in why Qin was able to unify the world.
Instead, I've caught a cold from him.
If Zhang Liang were a stunningly beautiful woman surrounded by beautiful women, he might have gladly accepted her.
“Master, since Mr. Zifang is so sincere in wanting to become your disciple, please accept him. In that case, I, Han, will have a junior brother!”
Han Xin spoke up for Zhang Liang from the side.
This annoyed Li Lin a lot.
This damned historical inertia, why couldn't Han Xin and Zhang Liang have joined the Qin Dynasty? Now look what's happened, they can only join Li Lin's ranks.
"Alright, since you say so too, Han Xin, then I'll reluctantly accept you as my disciple. To be honest, I really don't have anything to teach you. This is my understanding of military strategy when I was young, called 'The Thirty-Six Stratagems.' Take a look at the more important parts first!"
Li Lin hurriedly took out his "work" from his pocket and tossed a copy to Zhang Liang.
Zhang Liang was overjoyed to have found such a treasure, holding the Thirty-Six Stratagems in his hands with immense gratitude.
And what about Han Xin?
It seems that this is nothing new, after all, his good master Li Lin would give him a copy of "The Thirty-Six Stratagems" when he took on a disciple.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
