Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 787 Why fear the long road

The army moved continuously, like moving mountains, with great momentum. The blades and tips of the spears flashed coldly in the sun, and the armor plates also sparkled.

The 80,000-strong army was divided into four groups: the front left army, the front right army, the center army, the rear army, and an additional baggage army consisting of 5,000 people.

There were tens of thousands of non-military personnel who were coachmen, corvée laborers, and coolies who supported the driving of carts and carried food and fodder, but they were not included in the regular army. Their task was to transport food and fodder back and forth, while the baggage troop was responsible for protection and escort.

Each army has cavalry, infantry, shield formations, sword formations, spear formations, etc. Due to the shortage of war horses, the Wu army does not have many cavalry, but more infantry. The most powerful infantry is the sword army, which has only a thousand people in each army. They hold a long-handled sword that weighs more than 30 kilograms. Generally, only tall and strong men can use it, and they also need some basic martial arts skills to exert their power. There are very few swordsmen in the army, and they are all used to fight in the vanguard formation.

After ten days of marching, they went all the way south and arrived at the border of Wu State. Going further south, they would face the city of Southern Han.

That night, after setting up camp and convening a meeting with all the generals, Su Chen began to patrol the camp with the generals.

Because Su Chen was already very familiar with leading troops to fight, he had led troops to fight against the Song Dynasty and Qian Yue in the past two years, and had accumulated a lot of experience in marching, forming battle array, and setting up camps.

This time, with the famous general Pan Mei by his side, Su Chen had a lot of exchanges and consultations with Pan Mei, and gained a lot of detailed experience, which he added to his own military thinking, which was of great help to him.

After inspecting the camp as usual, Su Chen came to Pan Mei's right army camp. He saw that the layout of the camp was in line with the design of Jiugong Qimen, which showed that Pan Mei paid great attention to the details of arranging troops.

With the commander-in-chief's order, Su Chen entered the tent of the commander-in-chief of the front right army without any hindrance. At this time, Pan Mei was reading alone by lamplight, concentrating on reading a book.

"Commander Su is here!" The guard outside the tent shouted loudly, and Su Chen entered the tent with several trusted officers.

When Pan Mei heard the greeting, he immediately put down his book and stood up to greet him.

"Meet Master Su!"

Pan Mei bowed respectfully, showing respect for Su Chen.

Su Chen was gentle and smiled slightly: "How is General Pan's military affairs going?"

Pan Mei replied, "Today's military affairs have been arranged. Before going to bed, read some books!"

Su Chen looked at the book on the simple desk. He thought it would be a book on military strategy, such as Taigong's Art of War, Sun Tzu's Art of War, etc., but it turned out to be the "Tao Te Ching".

"Oh, General Pan is reading the Tao Te Ching?" Su Chen looked at him with interest.

Pan Mei nodded and replied, "The Tao Te Ching is the study of sages, comparable to the Analects and the six sets of the Altar Sutra, and even better. We people in the Central Plains have gradually accepted the thoughts of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. It is a kind of philosophical speculation, which can provide guidance even when leading troops to fight."

"Oh, I'd like to hear more about it!" Su Chen was very interested and wanted to hear his opinion.

Pan Mei explained: "Warfare is a treacherous art that emphasizes changeability. The Tao Te Ching advocates that the highest good is like water, which benefits all things without contention, and no one in the world can contend with it. There is also a sentence: Nothing in the world is softer than water, but nothing can defeat it when attacking the strong. It can be seen that Laozi Li Dan has a special respect for water." "And in the Sun Tzu's Art of War, it is mentioned that water has no constant shape and soldiers have no constant situation, which means that water has no fixed shape and soldiers have no fixed tactics. This sentence emphasizes that the use of troops in combat should adopt flexible and maneuverable strategies and tactics according to changes in the enemy's situation, and cannot stick to a certain fixed combat method. In short, this sentence expresses the flexible use of strategies and tactics in war by comparing the variability of water and soldiers. Water flows according to the terrain, and soldiers win according to the enemy, emphasizing the importance of adjusting strategies according to changes in the environment. Therefore, those who can change according to the changes of the enemy and win the war are called gods, that is, those who truly understand the art of war, who can adapt to the terrain and change according to the enemy like water, so as to achieve the goal of victory."

Su Chen nodded and said, "That makes sense! Besides this, if you have any other opinions, I would like to listen to them."

Seeing that Su Chen was interested and asked sincerely, Pan Mei was happy and continued, "For example, there is a sentence in the Tao Te Ching: The Way of Heaven is to reduce the surplus and make up for the deficiency, but the Way of Man is not like that. It reduces the deficiency and serves the surplus. This sentence reveals the fundamental difference between the laws of Heaven and the behavior in the secular world. The "Way of Heaven" refers to the laws of Heaven, which will reduce the excess to make up for the deficiency in order to achieve balance and harmony. But the "Way of Man" refers to the secular world, which squeezes the insufficient part to serve those who are already rich. The rich are feasting and drinking, while the streets are freezing to death. The lower-class people are the most innocent, but they serve the powerful and the strong. This is not the Way of Heaven, and it goes against the principles of Heaven."

Su Chen had heard similar explanations before and understood this truth. However, Pan Mei, an ancient general, was able to gain these insights from reading the Tao Te Ching. It can be said that his outlook on life and values ​​were quite high. It was already rare and precious that he could truly comprehend many issues of the way of nature and the way of the world.

"It is true. In nature, powerful wild beasts are often rare and have difficulty reproducing. The weaker birds and beasts tend to give birth to multiple babies, have strong reproductive and survival abilities, and can exist on a large scale. This is a kind of balance of the way of heaven. On the contrary, secular life is all about the powerful exploiting the lower class and plundering the people's wealth. People rely on power, force, financial resources, etc. to achieve a transcendent status." Su Chen also sighed.

After listening to this, Pan Mei nodded repeatedly, expressing her approval of Su Chen's understanding.

"I just saw a sentence that had a great impact on me!"

"Oh, which one?"

"The opposite is the power of Tao, the weak is the use of Tao!" Pan Mei said seriously.

"Why?" Su Chen asked.

Pan Mei said patiently: "What this sentence means is that no matter what a person does, there will almost always be an opposing force to fight against you. So the more you want to gain, the more you must learn to give up! The more you want to achieve great things, the more you must focus on small things! The more you want to achieve success quickly, the more you must slow down. Weakness is the norm of "Tao". You must put yourself in a position that looks weak. Don't be arrogant or conceited. Always keep a low profile and be humble. Follow the rules and go with the flow. Only then can you continue to achieve success!"

Su Chen suddenly realized something and said casually, "If Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty could understand this principle, the Sui Dynasty, which was so huge, would not have collapsed so quickly and destroyed itself. He was just too anxious to accomplish great things and wanted everything to be accomplished quickly. He was also too arrogant and would not listen to advice!"

Pan Mei sighed: "That's right!"

Su Chen suddenly said, "I have also heard an ancient saying that is suitable for us to follow and learn from."

This time it was Pan Mei's turn to become interested and asked, "Which sentence is it?"

Su Chen said: "Knowing that there is nothing you can do about it, and accepting it as fate, is the highest virtue! Realizing that you can go anywhere, and acting without fear, is the ultimate Tao. If you have a goal in mind, why fear the long obstacles on the road!"

This sentence comes from Zhuangzi. The general meaning is that if you find that things cannot be changed, just accept them with a normal mind. If you find that things can be fought for, just try to get them. Don't worry too much and waste opportunities. If you have dreams and aspirations in your heart, don't be afraid of obstacles and the length of the road.

This is also Su Chen's state of mind at the moment. Accept what cannot be changed, strive for what can be obtained when there is a chance, and then move forward towards his goal firmly and fearlessly.

After hearing this, Pan Mei was silent for a moment, then bowed and admired Su Chen's state of mind even more.