Chapter 402 Seeking Help
August, the thirty-sixth year of the Great Xia Zhisheng era.
The State of Wei raided Daxia. At the same time, the State of Qi deployed troops on the border of the State of Zhao, and the State of Chu threatened the border of Daxia. Although both countries held back their troops for the time being, the cloud of war had already shrouded the entire continent.
After three hundred years of peace, the continent is once again in turmoil.
Or in other words, there has never been true peace on the mainland.
Today's chaos is nothing but a continuation of the Warring States Period. For hundreds of years, the most powerful countries on this continent have never given up their goal of unifying the world.
However, strangely, after Wei State conquered Liangzhou of Daxia with lightning speed, it did not take any further action.
The armies of the two countries were ten miles apart and facing each other from a distance.
Wei did not launch further attacks, and Daxia had no intention of taking back Liang Province.
Outside Liangzhou City.
Wei army camp, inside the main tent.
As the commander-in-chief of this eastern expedition, Zheng Wu was surrounded by his generals.
"Marshal, when are we going to attack?"
"The soldiers can't wait any longer!"
"As long as you give the order, we can easily conquer the small Xia Kingdom."
"It's not a good idea to just wait like this. Everyone is holding back their anger..."
…
Looking at the impatient crowd, Zheng Wu could understand their feelings.
During the Warring States Period, various countries fought wars one after another and military strategists flourished. During the same period, several saints emerged, making them the undisputed leaders among the Hundred Schools of Thought.
But with the end of the Warring States Period, the continent enjoyed peace for three hundred years, and the military strategist had declined to the point where no one mentioned him anymore.
Now that war has broken out again, it is also an opportunity for military strategists to rise again.
It is normal that soldiers are eager to achieve great things.
However, the imperial court intended to keep the troops in place.
He stretched out his hand, pressed down, and said in a deep voice: "I understand your feelings. Xia will fight sooner or later, but we cannot let Chu sit back and reap the benefits. As the Art of War says, act when it is advantageous and stop when it is not. This is the decision of the court after weighing the pros and cons. No matter what, we cannot let Chu sit back and watch..."
Soon, everyone walked out of the general's tent one after another.
Of course, they understood what the marshal said.
But when the army was dispatched and captured a state with thunderous force, they should have taken advantage of the situation to attack and expand the victory, but they could only wait in place. It was difficult for them to relieve the frustration in their hearts...
"No, I have to go to the city tonight to find a woman to relieve my sexual desire. Who's going?"
"Let's go together. There's no war to fight anyway, so let's take this opportunity to have some fun..."
"Count me in!"
"Remember to bring enough silver!"
…
At the gate of the camp, several soldiers guarding the camp heard the words of the generals and watched them leave with envious expressions on their faces.
After winning the battle, others can go out and have fun, but they have to stand guard here.
One of the guards remembered something and asked the person opposite him, "By the way, you had a headache a few days ago, how are you now?"
The man nodded and said, "The pain was unbearable that day, so I found a clinic in Liangzhou City, and the doctor gave me a few injections and I was fine."
The guard asked, "Hiss, it must have cost a lot of money, right?"
Although the army captured Liangzhou, the army stipulated that they were not allowed to disrupt the lives of local people after entering the city. In the words of the general, the conquered land was the land of Wei, and the people on this land were also the people of Wei.
They had to pay for what they bought, and they could not visit brothels for free. If anyone robbed the people's property or bullied the people, they would be dealt with according to military law.
In the State of Wei, medical treatment was extremely expensive, so he asked this question.
Unexpectedly, the soldier on the other side shook his head and said, "The consultation cost ten cents, and the acupuncture cost ten cents, so the total cost was twenty cents."
The guard was stunned for a moment, in complete disbelief: "How is it possible? Did you threaten the doctor? You better be careful. If you are reported, you will be in big trouble..."
The soldier on the other side immediately explained: "What I said is true. I also asked the doctor from Xia Country, and he said that this is the price for seeing a doctor in Xia Country. The Xia Country court has regulations that do not allow them to charge too much for medical expenses. They say that the court wants ordinary people in Xia Country to be able to afford medical treatment and medicine..."
After hearing this, the guard stood there in a daze for a while.
The last time he took his mother to see a doctor in Wei State, the doctor only asked about his mother's condition and didn't even prescribe any medicine, but asked him for five taels of silver!
Five taels of silver!
It’s his five months’ salary!
Later, including the cost of medicine, each visit to the doctor cost him twenty taels of silver.
Those black-hearted clinics were all run by aristocratic families. The medical expenses were so high that ordinary people would have to spend all their money to see a doctor. If he hadn't used up all his savings on his mother's medical treatment, he wouldn't have joined the army...
One was twenty taels and the other was twenty wen, which made it difficult for him to accept for a while.
Moreover, he soon realized that medical treatment in Xia State was so cheap. If Wei State conquered Xia State, the land of Xia State would be divided up by those aristocratic families. Wouldn't medical treatment in Xia State be as expensive as in Wei State in the future?
At this time, the person on the other side continued, "I also heard from the doctor that if the people of Xia Kingdom have an annual income of less than 20 taels, they do not have to pay taxes to the court. Working in Chang'an, the minimum monthly wage is 2 taels of silver, work five days and rest two days. This is the court's regulations. If any store does not comply, it will be severely punished..."
The guard stood there with a spear in his hand, unable to recover for a long time.
If he could earn two taels of silver a month, work five days and rest two days, and not have to pay taxes to the court, what's the point of being a shitty soldier!
As a soldier of Wei, he should have been proud of Wei's annexation of Daxia.
But at this moment, all he felt was envy for the people of Daxia...
Damn it, why wasn’t he born in Daxia?
…
Chang'an.
Liangzhou is thousands of miles away, and the war will not reach Chang'an in a short period of time. The people here still live the same life as before.
But ever since the imperial court declared war on the State of Wei, everyone's heart has been shrouded in a gloom.
After a lifetime of suffering, they finally had a good life where their children could go to school, they could eat and dress warmly, they could afford medical treatment, and they no longer had to suffer bullying. Their ancestors had never had such a life.
If Daxia is defeated, everything they have now will be lost.
Precisely because people know that today’s situation was hard-earned, they are even more reluctant to lose it.
At several city gates of Chang'an, there were conscription teams that stretched as far as the eye could see.
At the east gate, a conscription officer waved his hand at a man and said, "You have no skills at all. You will die on the battlefield. Go back..."
The man was not convinced and said, "What's wrong with not having any skills? I have plenty of strength. You won't need me on the battlefield, but I will be needed to repair the city walls and transport food and grass. Sir, just recruit me..."
In another line nearby, another conscription officer looked at an old woman and said helplessly, "Auntie, you are old, why are you here to join in the fun?"
The old woman said with full energy: "I can't fight, but I can still cook and sew. Let me do my part for Daxia..."
There were many people in the crowd who held the same idea.
If it were the case before, when Wei attacked Daxia, they might not have joined the army.
After the various changes in the past two years, they have developed a deep sense of belonging to Daxia.
They have worked hard to have all this, and they will not allow anyone to take away this hard-earned life.
This is for themselves and for their descendants.
Everyone wants to do their part for a country like Da Xia. What if all that’s missing from this war is their contribution?
Within the Secretariat.
Li Nuo flipped through the memorials on the table one by one.
Facing threats on two fronts at the same time, the imperial court carried out an unprecedented conscription and expansion of the army. The people were very enthusiastic about signing up to join the army, but the acceptance rate of the Ministry of War was extremely low.
Ordinary people are useless on the battlefield.
The minimum standard for conscription is to be a warrior who has entered the country.
Among ordinary people, such people are probably one in a hundred.
In an army, the fourth realm is the backbone. These people are either from aristocratic families or must be from wealthy and poor families. Even if they are very talented, they do not have the resources to cultivate strong people of the fourth realm.
When the country was in danger, these big families did not shirk their responsibilities. More than a year ago, when the right prime minister was massively expanding the army, they sent their family members into the army.
Today, they have become the main force in the southwest to resist the Wei army.
These wealthy families sent their family members to join the army, not necessarily out of righteousness.
Compared with the imperial examination, military merit is the easiest way to achieve family advancement and class leap.
However, this is also human nature. Not everyone is like Confucianism, who can sacrifice his life without hesitation for others to live a good life.
Although the army has been expanded several times, Daxia still faces a serious shortage of manpower.
After all, what Da Xia has to face today are two of the five dynasties, and the two most powerful ones at that.
The State of Chu wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger, thus reaping the benefits. The State of Wei was not stupid either. After seeing that the State of Chu was not moving, it also stopped the attack and rested on the spot.
After some time, the State of Chu finally took action.
The three small countries bordering Daxia and Chu, Liang, Jin and Zhou, announced their incorporation into Chu and became Liangzhou Road, Jinzhou Road and Zhouzhou Road of Chu. In this way, Daxia and Chu lost their buffer and bordered each other directly.
In just a few days, the State of Chu captured three states on the southeastern border of Daxia.
It was said to be a capture, but in fact it was a flat push.
Almost all of Daxia's military forces were deployed in the southwest to defend against the State of Wei, leaving the southeastern border empty with only a few standing troops. Facing the large army of Chu, they were unable to even put up a resistance.
This move by Chu was obviously intended to show its attitude to Wei.
Sure enough, after the State of Chu began to take action, the State of Wei also stopped resting and the war broke out again in the southwest.
Being firmly pinned down by Qi, Zhao was unable to take care of itself and was unable to provide any assistance.
In the southwest, they could barely resist the State of Wei, but in the southeast, facing the State of Chu, they were really losing ground.
Judging from the current situation, it is impossible to withdraw troops from the southwest. If we ignore the State of Chu, they can push all the way to Chang'an.
Looking at the huge map hanging on the wall, Li Nuo's gaze finally stopped on the location of Yue State.
The State of Yue was located between the States of Wei, Xia and Chu. If pressure could be exerted on the States of Wei and Chu from the State of Yue, they would inevitably have to withdraw troops to defend themselves. In this way, the pressure on the two fronts would be reduced.
The problem was that Yue had only 100,000 weak soldiers, and if Wei and Chu could just return to defend, they would be able to destroy Yue.
Unless Yue State can have several people in the sixth realm in charge, plus Li Nuo himself, even if the emperors of Wei and Chu come, they can be kept there.
We also need to urge Li Yun.
He couldn't think about how to transform that woman every day. Besides carrying people, airplanes could also carry other things...
The most urgent task at the moment is to find a few semi-saints to rule the Kingdom of Yue.
The half-saints of the six major families still seem to have difficulty dealing with the State of Wei. Daxia has four known half-saints, three of whom are from the Three Pure Ones Sect and one from Shushan. However, the martial arts world has never cared about worldly affairs, so Li Nuo may not be able to persuade them...
But he had to try it anyway.
…
Shushan.
Inside a hall on the main peak, the head of Shushan clasped his fists to Li Nuo and said, "Master Li has come to visit our sect. I am sorry for not coming in person to welcome you..."
Li Nuo returned the greeting with a fist and said politely, "I came here uninvited, I hope Master can forgive me."
After a polite greeting, Li Nuo explained his purpose. The Shushan headmaster stroked his long beard and said after a moment: "Although we are devoted to swordsmanship and do not care about worldly affairs, the world is in chaos today, and the Shushan disciples are willing to do their part to help the people of Daxia..."
He paused, and continued, "It's just that the old master has recently realized that his time is up and is in seclusion, seeking a breakthrough in his cultivation and lifespan. I'm afraid..."
Li Nuo raised his eyebrows: "The end is coming?"
(End of this chapter)
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