Chapter 381: Tripartite Cooperation: As soon as the Right Prime Minister steps down, Guo Minglei hesitates...
As soon as the Right Prime Minister stepped down, Guo Minglei waited for the assassin to return and regain his sight, while the Dongjin Kingdom was already prepared, and only the final decision of the Great Shang Emperor was missing.
The people of Da Qi left, and the spies planted by the Emperor of Da Shang in Da Qi received a letter saying that this time, Da Qi chose to stand idly by. In other words, they could fight as they pleased, and Da Qi would not send troops to support Da Shang or Dayan.
All the ministers of the Shang Dynasty felt that there was something fishy going on.
What does Da Qi mean by this?
He doesn't help either of the two countries. Is he too ambitious? Is he trying to swallow them up once both countries are defeated?
This appetite is a bit too big.
It is said that the bold will die of overeating and the timid will die of starvation. Dayan's current development can be said to be as rapid as the tide. If they wait any longer, until Dayan becomes stronger, they will change from the active position to the passive position.
I heard that Dayan can now make a lot of money by exporting salt, and they have also opened iron mills and paper mills. It can be said that the candle business between Dashang and Dayan has almost been cut off. If they conquer Dayan, all the wealth of Dayan will be in their pockets.
As long as they can capture skilled people, whether through coercion or bribery, it will eventually bring wealth to Dashang.
When the Great Shang Emperor thought of this, he became jealous and made a decision immediately.
Xiao Qin's home.
Qin Run has been very busy recently. There was a fight on the eastern border, and Qin Qian has taken Qin Feiyu to the border. Qin Run not only has to be busy with business matters, but also has to keep an eye on news about Qin Feiyu.
The soldiers of Dongjin Kingdom were used to fighting on horseback, but the soldiers of Dayan were not good at it. After the battle, Qin Feiyu found something wrong.
This group of people seemed to be luring the enemy deeper into their territory, and the enemy was pretending to be defeated. If it were in the past, they would probably have pursued them with all their might.
But Qin Feiyu raised his hand to signal the soldiers to stop and give up chasing the enemy.
"General, why don't you chase us anymore?" Deputy General Qin pulled the reins, confused.
Qin Feiyu frowned, "This is so strange. Didn't you notice that we won this battle too easily? The strength of the Dongjin soldiers shouldn't be so weak. It's obvious that the other side wants us to catch up."
The place where the two armies fought was not a flat land. Twenty miles past the border of Dongjin State was a bare cliff.
Qin Feiyu had read the military book given by Xu Yunfan when she was in confinement. If the Dongjin Kingdom had been prepared in advance and lured them over, they could have caught them in the trap.
After fighting for half a month, Qin Qian and other generals also discovered something was wrong.
…
"Yunfan!"
As soon as Xu Yunfan came out of the Imperial College, Qin Run rushed up and hugged Xu Yunfan tightly, as if hugging this person could dispel the uneasiness in his heart.
Qin Run knew that Xu Yunfan was his whole world. With Xu Yunfan around, he didn't need to be afraid. Xu Yunfan would solve all his problems for him.
Therefore, after learning from Lord Qin and the other man that Qin Qian was injured, Qin Run panicked and ran to the gate of the Imperial College impatiently to wait, just to see Xu Yunfan as soon as possible.
He was no longer afraid as long as he saw Xu Yunfan.
"What's wrong?" Xu Yunfan put his arm around Qin Run's waist, and his gentle brows frowned.
Everyone who is familiar with Xu Yunfan knows that Xu Yunfan is unhappy, and if he is unhappy, then the people who make him unhappy will be miserable.
Qin Run hugged Xu Yunfan and breathed in the faint fragrance of Xu Yunfan. "Grandpa is in trouble."
"What's going on?" Xu Yunfan asked calmly. It's not that he is ruthless and cold-blooded. Qin Qian was in trouble, but this man was not in a hurry at all.
But he knew that he had to remain calm when encountering problems so that he could come up with the most perfect solution in the most rational and sober state of mind.
Qin Run held Xu Yunfan's hand tightly, "They have cattle in Dongjin Country."
"Cows?" Xu Yunfan was stunned for a moment. "Dongjin, like Dongwu, is suitable for animal husbandry. Having cows is normal."
Qin Run shook his head. "That's not just any cow. The cows in Dongjin Country are huge and tall. It takes several men to kill them. Daddy's letter said some of those cows are taller than soldiers and wear armor. They charge forward recklessly, and a single horn can pierce a person's stomach and impale them directly on the horns."
Xu Yunfan: "Do those cows have very long hair?"
"Yes, Daddy said he had never seen cows like that before. It was horrible. Grandpa was injured by those cows."
"That's not an ordinary domesticated trained cattle, that's a yak." Xu Yunfan didn't know how the Dongjin Kingdom got the yaks to the eastern border. According to his understanding, these yaks all live in high-altitude areas above two thousand meters. But it doesn't mean that the yaks will die when they reach the plains, but they will definitely be affected to some extent. But judging from the current situation, even if there is an impact, the destructive power and even combat power of this group of yaks are still very strong.
The geographical environment of Dongjin Kingdom is indeed very suitable for grazing sheep and livestock. It is estimated that these people have raised a lot of yaks over the years. Since they raise cows, is it possible that these people also raise other things?
You know, people don’t feel scared about things they have seen too many times. For soldiers, the swords in the hands of the enemy are sometimes not scary. What is scary is the beasts that they believe in their hearts to be invincible, such as wolves.
Xu Yunfan patted Qin Run's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'll write to Dad and tell him how to fight the enemy."
"Do you have a solution?" Qin Run was no longer panicked. He knew that Xu Yunfan knew everything, and similarly, this man was omnipotent. Xu Yunfan was the most powerful.
And such a powerful person is his.
Xu Yunfan placed a soothing kiss on Qin Run's forehead. "Yes, it seems these yaks are probably Dongjin Country's biggest trump card."
"By the way, Daddy also said that Dongjin Kingdom secretly bought a batch of armor from Dashang. Ordinary swords can't pierce it, which is very troublesome." Qin Run talked a lot, and Xu Yunfan listened quietly. Sure enough, Dongjin came prepared this time.
Xu Yunfan hummed from time to time, indicating that he was listening carefully. When Qin Run finished speaking, he said, "It's okay, Run'er, you have to trust Daddy. He has experience. When I get back, I will write him a letter with instructions on how to deal with those things. You don't have to worry. By the way, how is Grandpa's injury?"
"The doctor said that two ribs were broken and I need to stay in bed for a while." Qin Run said this with a mist in his eyes. Qin Qian had always been very good to him. Qin Run was the eldest grandson of the Qin family, and for the elders, the meaning was different. Later, Qin Run suffered for another ten years, and Qin Qian loved Qin Run even more.
Since Qin Run returned to Beijing, Qin Qian has always put Qin Run first in everything, fearing that he would suffer any injustice. Whether materially or spiritually, he has never let Qin Run feel neglected.
Now that his grandfather was injured, Qin Run, as a boy, was naturally very worried.
Xu Yunfan: "Don't worry. When you get back, find some nourishing food and send it to Grandpa. When I was pretending to be injured in bed, didn't Lao Qi send me some ginseng? You can send it to Grandpa."
Xu Yunfan was still very confident in Qin Feiyu's ability, but now Dayan was under attack, and the Xiao family army was guarding the northern border. Because the military strength of Dashang was far greater than that of Dongjin, Dongjin had to allocate part of its troops to defend against the possibility of Dongwu Kingdom taking advantage of the situation. Therefore, Qin Qian, as the general, even transferred part of the troops to the Xiao family army.
In ancient times, deploying troops was not only physically demanding, but also extremely time-consuming.
Xu Yunfan felt something was wrong. After returning home, he read Qin Feiyu's letter again. The next day, he went to the court to inquire about the battle situation in the northern border. He learned that Da Shang had sent an additional 60,000 troops, which far exceeded the number of troops stationed in the northern border by the Xiao family army. Qin Qian and Fu Qingyu had to dispatch troops to the northern border.
Upon hearing about Da Shang's actions, Xu Yunfan briefly seemed to be in a trance. Fu Qingxu saw this and asked, "Yunfan, what are you thinking about? The court has already been dismissed, why don't you go back?"
This shouldn't be the case. In the past, Xu Yunfan was the most proactive in leaving the court. As soon as Eunuch Fu called for the end of the court, he disappeared. Unlike today, he was almost at the door of the hall, but this person was still standing there. As a result, he and Xiao Hengzhi had to look at each other and then turn back.
Xiao Hengzhi: "What are you thinking about?"
"Father-in-law, this is not right." Xu Yunfan frowned. "Father-in-law, Uncle Xu, do you have a map of Dongjin? Do you have the latest information on the small countries in Dongjin?"
"Yes." Xu Yunfan was rarely so serious. Xiao Hengzhi did not dare to delay and quickly asked someone to bring out the map of Dongjin Kingdom.
Xu Yunfan took a look and pointed his index finger at the country of Dongyi, east of Dongjin Country. "Father-in-law, have you paid attention to these two countries recently?"
"Dongyi and Dongdan Kingdom? This..." Xiao Hengzhi thought carefully, "It's indeed been a long time since I received any news from these two countries. They are both small countries. Before, Dongyi had an earthquake, and our dynasty's business with Dongyi was cut off."
This time, Dong Yi will need at least a few years to recover.
Xu Yunfan remembered that when he was in Dali Village before, Xu Zhifeng did tell him that something happened in the neighboring small country and many villagers couldn't sell their soybeans and peanuts, which allowed him to get a bargain.
He didn't ask much at that time, but now he saw that Dongyi was so close to Dongjin, and then looked at Dongdan Kingdom, wow, it was even closer. As a big country, it was not easy for Dayan to grasp the latest developments of several small countries around it in real time.
"Father-in-law, I remember that the military strength of these two countries is not bad, but to be honest, they are still far behind Dongjin." Xu Yunfan held his forehead. He still remembered the introduction about the people of Dongdan in the book.
It is said that Dongdan Kingdom is a patriarchal country, and the patriarchy here does not include boys.
In Dongdan, the status of boys and girls is extremely low. To put it bluntly, their existence is just a tool for reproduction.
Once a man is diagnosed as infertile by a doctor, there is only one fate for him, which is to become a slave in the family. If he can't even do a job, he will inevitably be killed.
As for women, their situation is not much better. Basically, there is one man born at the beginning of the year and one at the end of the year. From the time they are fourteen years old and can get married, their status is just a more advanced reproductive tool than boys.
Although the status of female boys was low in Dongdan Kingdom, the Dongdan law clearly stated that drowning a baby was a serious crime punishable by death. Moreover, the court would provide subsidies to boys and girls under the age of fourteen.
It is precisely because of the constraints of the law and the temptation of the policy that Dongdan Kingdom does not have the phenomenon of bachelors being unable to find wives due to the preference for boys over girls.
But also because of their unrestrained and aggressive growth, Dongdan Kingdom has gone from being a vast and sparsely populated country to being overpopulated today in just over a decade. This shows that Dongdan Kingdom is probably not short of people.
However, the Emperor of Dongdan only thought about increasing the population and expanding the military force, but forgot about economic development, which resulted in Dongdan still being a small country.
Dongdan State is behind Dongyi, but close to Dongjin. If the envoys of Dayan want to go there, they must either pass through Dongyi or Dongjin.
Dongdan was a small and very xenophobic country. Dayan sent a caravan of envoys to it, but unfortunately, the trade never took off.
Business could not be done, and the road to Dongdan State was difficult to travel. Over time, the latest news from Dongdan State lagged behind.
Xu Yunfan pointed at Dongdan State and said, "Father-in-law, Uncle Xu, have you ever thought about what would happen if Dongdan State was conquered by Dongjin, or if the two countries cooperated?"
Don't think this is impossible. In ancient times, the transmission of information was always delayed. Not to mention, Dongdan Kingdom was "blocked" by Dongjin and Dongyi. Even if Dayan sent people to "guard" the nearby small countries, what would happen?
Fu Qingxu laughed and said, "That's impossible. If they started fighting, our people would definitely not know about it."
"Since we can't fight, what about cooperation? What if they secretly cooperated with us? Uncle Xu, don't think this is impossible. Dongjin is separated from us by Dayan. Even big businessmen can bypass Dayan and openly recruit helpers. Why can't Dongjin cooperate with Dongdan in private?"
Knowing that Dashang was cooperating with Dongjin, why didn't Dayan fight back immediately?
Counterattack? How will Dayan fight back?
Dayan ranks last among the four major countries. Fu Qingyu has too many things to consider. For some things, he dare not act rashly until the last moment.
So, is it true that Dongyi State is like Dayan, knowing that Dongdan and Dongjin State are cooperating, but unable to fight back for various reasons, and can only "go along with the crowd" in the end?
Xiao Hengzhi said in a deep voice, "So, you think that Dongjin agreed to cooperate with Dashang because the three countries have already joined forces? Is this possible? We haven't received any news."
"What's impossible?" Xu Yunfan sighed. "Don't you think Dongjin is playing too big this time? Facing the Qin army of Dayan and Dongwu, he dared to cooperate with Dashang. He is really brave. Isn't he afraid that distant water cannot quench immediate thirst? If Dayan is not defeated, Dashang will not be able to come over. So why is Dongjin willing to take such a risk? Apart from the three countries joining forces, I really can't think of any other reason."
Xiao Hengzhi and Fu Qingxu looked at each other. They also felt that something was wrong with Dongjin sending troops. Now that Xu Yunfan said this, although they felt it was unlikely, they really couldn't think of any other possibility except this one.
Fu Qingxu asked Xiao Hengzhi, "How many people are there in Dongdan?"
"You ask me, who should I ask?" Xiao Hengzhi rolled his eyes. If the Dongdan Kingdom was falsifying the data, could they, Dayan, really go over and help count the population?
Xu Yunfan: "More than a decade has passed. According to records, Dongdan used to have over 20 million people. Now..."
This is a fictional world. As far as Xu Yunfan knows, in the history of China, a country has only a few million people, and the largest population is only about 300 to 400 million. But here, a small country has tens of millions of people, and the Dayan Dynasty has a population of hundreds of millions.
Regardless of all this, since it’s a fictitious dynasty, how can everything be the same?
Fu Qingxu shuddered. "More than a decade has passed. I'm afraid the Dongdan Kingdom's military strength must have increased by tens of thousands."
This is still a small number. If a war really breaks out, Dongdan will definitely recruit a large number of soldiers from all over the country. At that time, if a family of more than ten men has five or six men, then this will be more than tens of thousands of soldiers.
Xu Yunfan: "If Dayan's eastern defense line is breached, and the Xiao family army wants to come to their aid, how long do you think it will take to cover this distance?"
"After the soldiers' long journey consumed most of their physical strength, how much of their combat effectiveness do you think is left? Da Shang is constantly increasing its forces, which gave us the illusion that we needed to deploy troops to the northern front. Our army only has so many. And then Yidao Dongjin suddenly released all his hidden troops, catching us off guard..."
Before Xu Yunfan finished speaking, Fu Qingxu and Xiao Hengzhi understood.
Fu Qingxu hurried to find Fu Qingyu.
Xu Yunfan's concerns were not unreasonable. When he saw what was written in Demonno's letter, wondering where Dongjin would get the troops to fight against the Dongwu Kingdom, Fu Qingyu became completely anxious.
"My dear Lord Xu, how do you think this matter should be resolved?" Fu Qingyu thought about withdrawing some of the troops transferred to the northern border, but this was not a wise move.
Xu Yunfan: "So, Your Majesty, isn't it time to raise an army for a thousand days and deploy it for a moment?"
"you mean?"
"The conscripts from the two prefectures near the eastern border can be urgently called back. If the conscripts from these two prefectures are still insufficient, the other prefectures can continue to fill the gap."
"But... if this happens, the people will panic. When we conscripted soldiers before, everyone signed up enthusiastically. Now that they're being conscripted, I'm afraid..."
Xu Yunfan sighed, "Your Majesty, war is inherently terrifying. In the past, one person serving in the army brought honor to the whole family, and everyone signed up enthusiastically. But today, you should find a way to let them know that a family is a small country, and a country is made up of millions of families. Today, we Dayan need them. These are the people of Dayan, and this is the country of the people of Dayan. The country is in trouble, the country is in need. As your people, they should overcome the difficulties with you. If the country is destroyed, the family will perish. If the sea is calm, the river will be clear. Prosper together, and suffer together. You must make them deeply understand this truth."
"Anyone who offends our Great Yan will be punished, no matter how far away they are. Every man is responsible for the fate of the empire... Your Majesty, do you still need me to teach you these things?"
Fu Qingyu: "...who told you to have the most ideas?"
Xu Yunfan curled his lips: "I have other important things to do."
Although he really didn't want to do it, he had to harden his heart and make a choice when necessary.
The lives of the people of Dayan are lives, and the lives of the people of Dongdan are also lives. Xu Yunfan does not want to choose to use those things on the battlefield, but sometimes, many things are beyond our control.
The longer the war lasts, the more difficult it will be for the people. In six years, Da Qi will not send troops to intervene, so he must find a way to win the war as soon as possible.
The best way is to use deterrence to scare the three countries in Dongjin and prevent them from fighting again.
Fu Qingyu also knew that Xu Yunfan had a lot of things to do and had been very busy recently.
Less than half a month later, Lu Fan came again.
Before, Demonno wanted to bring Lu Fan and Zhali back to Dongwu Kingdom, but after the father and son left Dongwu, they were like a runaway horse and no longer obeyed.
"Uncle Lu Fan, did the Second Princess write to you again?" Xu Yunfan was not surprised that Lu Fan came to his house. During this period, Lu Fan came to Xiao Qin's house more often, so he got used to it.
Lu Fan: "Well, Sister Nuo said that something is not right in Dongjin Kingdom. According to the news sent back by Dongwu spies, their military strength is more than what is seen on the surface. There are tens of thousands of troops on the border with Dongdan."
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