After being exiled, I led my whole family to rebel.

Chapter 328: Division Strategy
"Of course I surrender."

"Except surrendering."

Xu Zhenying laughed, "General Zhao, is it inappropriate to let your enemy give you advice on how to get out of trouble?"

Zhao Yi was speechless. After meeting Xu Zhenying, any hope he had in his heart was completely gone.

In front of such a pair of sharp eyes, it seems that no thoughts can escape detection!

Xu Zhenying is truly a genius!

This made him have to admit defeat.

"If you take over the North, where will the 200,000 troops go?"

"I am very pleased that General Zhao cares more about the future of his brothers than himself. This proves that I was right about him."

Xu Zhenying smiled. A damp breeze blew in the air. The leaves on both sides seemed to sense the coming storm and fell to one side. "I can promise you that I will properly place these soldiers."

Zhao Yi was obviously trying to get to the bottom of the matter. "Your Highness Prince Zhao, properly resettle? I'd like to hear how you would properly resettle them."

"Okay." Seeing that Zhao Yi was determined not to let go until he got the specific details, he had no choice but to admit defeat. "I think you should have vaguely guessed before you came here that disarmament is an inevitable path."

As expected, “disarmament” was mentioned again.

This made General Gu and General Bai behind Zhao Yi look stern, and they thought that what was supposed to come had finally come.

"So how much do you plan to cut?"

At this point in the conversation, Xu Zhenying was almost certain that Zhao Yi was ready to surrender.

Thinking of this, Xu Zhenying was relieved. "We can first find out how many of these 200,000 soldiers want to stay. If they are dismissed, each of them will receive a one-time compensation of 20 taels of silver. If they were disabled in the previous battle, they will have lifelong medical insurance and medical treatment is free. For the soldiers on the payroll, because of the special geographical location of the North, the soldiers will receive the same treatment as Jinzhou Prefecture, with an increase of 20%."

Zhao Yi didn't understand these terms, so he subconsciously looked at Bai Ci'en. Bai Ci'en was very familiar with the mathematics of Jinzhou Prefecture, so he almost immediately said, "One tael and two coins."

This number has far exceeded the three people's expectations.

After all, they have not surrendered yet. Even if they did, these soldiers are still people of the Great Zhou Dynasty and have fought for the Great Zhou Dynasty before. They originally wanted to get five taels of severance pay at most, but Xu Zhenying asked for twenty taels.

The three people stood there in shock, speechless for a long time.

Zhao Yi felt mixed emotions.

Should we say that Xu Zhenying is stupid or naive, or is Jinzhou Prefecture really that wealthy?
Seeing Zhao Yi remained silent, Xu Zhenying curled his lips slightly and said, "General Zhao, my price should be much higher than you expected. I did not bargain for the severance pay of the soldiers, nor did I bargain with you for several rounds to lower the price. It's not that I, Xu Zhenying, am a sucker, nor that Jinzhou has too much money to spend. It's that I sincerely welcome you and treat you as my own people. I sympathize with the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the northern border, so I don't want to play tricks on you. As long as you surrender to me, then my principle is never to treat my own people badly. General Zhao Yi, do you see my sincerity in the negotiation?"

Zhao Yi's face turned slightly red, with a hint of shame in his eyes.

He finally understood why everyone around Xu Zhenying was so devoted to her.

In fact, this person's broad mind and generosity make it difficult to refuse.

Bai Ci'en, who had originally decided not to get involved in their discussion, could not help but ask the most crucial question, "In that case, how much do you plan to reduce the army? Will you reduce the army according to the soldiers' willingness to stay or leave, or according to the number of soldiers you envision?"

"The survey is just a reference. The final number of layoffs will still depend on many factors. But I can tell you the truth, and you can be mentally prepared. I expect to leave only 50,000 elite soldiers."

"Fifty thousand?" The three of them looked pale. Before Zhao Yi could speak, General Gu was the first to jump in anger. "You want to cut 150,000? Do you know how to fight a war? Leaving 50,000 troops to guard the northern border, isn't this just opening the door for the Tartars to march in?!"

At the same time, Zhang Wanjun drew her sword swiftly, and the sword flower was like a dragon, with extraordinary momentum, like a barrier erected in front of Xu Zhenying.

Zhang Wanjun's voice was cold as she shouted, "Back off!"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense!

Xu Zhenying smiled and reached out to stop Zhang Wanjun. "If you have any questions, you can talk. This is why we need to talk together today."

Bai Ci'en took a step back and bowed to Zhang Wanjun: "General Zhang, our old general Gu is old and impatient. He did not mean to offend your master. Please put away your sword."

Zhang Wanjun just looked at Xu Zhenying, waiting for Xu Zhenying's instructions.

Xu Zhenying nodded.

General Gu, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about this incident at all. He even looked at Zhang Wanjun, his junior, with a smile, "Girl, you are good at using the sword. Let's spar with each other tomorrow?"

Seeing that General Gu's expression was not provocative and he seemed to sincerely want to learn from him, Zhang Wanjun also calmed down a little and said with a cupped hand, "It would be disrespectful to refuse."

After this episode, everyone felt a lot more relieved.

One wants to surrender, the other accepts surrender. As Xu Zhenying said, this is the meaning of negotiation.

Zhao Yi said, "You want to reduce the army by 150,000. Have you ever considered how to resist the Tartars in the north? These Tartars are extremely fierce and cruel, like uncivilized beasts. Even 50,000 elite soldiers cannot resist them."

"So weapons are used. Firearms are necessary."

When it came to firearms, it was clear that all three of them were a little excited.

That's a firearm.

The legendary alien creature that was invincible on the eastern battlefield!

Even Zhou Heng died from firearms!
"Firearms coupled with automatic crossbows can at least resist an army of 100,000. Of course, we will continue to invent more powerful weapons. However, if we want to truly destroy the Tartars, it will take a long time."

"Speaking of which, I would like to hear your advice on how to deal with the Tartars."

"That's a long story." Xu Zhenying smiled and walked slowly on the bluestone road beside the lake. "General Zhao, do you know how to completely destroy the enemy?"

Zhao Yi pondered for a moment, "It means turning him into your friend."

Xu Zhenying raised his eyebrows slightly.

Perhaps it was the twenty taels of severance pay that Xu Zhenying mentioned that made Zhao Yi truly feel Xu Zhenying's sincerity, so his whole heart opened up. "To be honest, except for the fact that your Jinzhou Prefecture's tutorials are really difficult for me to understand, I know every battle and troop management you have fought. As the saying goes, knowing yourself and the enemy ensures victory in every battle. You once said that there are only two ways to destroy the enemy, either kill him or bring him under control."

"Yes."

But Zhao Yi disagreed, his brows knitted tightly, "Don't tell me that your way to deal with the Tartars is to turn them into friends. There is a deep blood feud between the Han people and the Tartars. They have killed so many of our people and robbed so many of our cities over the past few hundred years. Between us and them, there will only be a bloody battle to the end, and there will never be a day of peace."

"I guessed that you would object. But I still want to try to convince you."

Zhao Yi pursed his lips, looking unhappy, "You say."

"First of all, you have been fighting the Tartars for as many years as the Great Zhou Dynasty was founded. But up to now, both sides are still evenly matched. They have not rushed into the Central Plains, and you have not completely wiped them out. So these hundreds of years have only wasted manpower, material resources, and financial resources."

Bai Ci'en immediately retorted: "This is all necessary for war. If we hadn't invested these human, material and financial resources, the Tartars would have marched straight into the Central Plains and occupied it, and we Han people would have become their slaves."

"Okay, I agree with this point of view. Let me ask you another question. Why do you think the Tartars insist on entering the pass?"

"They have evil ambitions and want to usurp the throne." "That's just the appearance, not the root cause." Xu Zhenying raised her hand. The woman had completely taken the initiative in the conversation and controlled the entire conversation process. "The root cause is that the climate outside the Great Wall is bad and the land is barren, so they can't survive. I don't know how many of you have actually been outside the Great Wall to understand the lives of the enemies. You know that they are closer to the north, which means that the winter outside the Great Wall is colder, and there are even only two seasons in a year, spring and winter. Crops cannot grow and ordinary people cannot survive. If they want to survive and want to live, they can only break through the Great Wall, plunder, and fight. This is also why you think the Tartars are fierce and bloody, because if they retreat, they will die. If this problem is not solved from the root, the Tartars will never stop fighting."

"Besides, you want to completely wipe out the Tartars? Well, let's follow your thinking. How do you wipe them out? They have a lot of people, and they are all hiding in the north. If you want to kill them all, you can only go out of the border. But once you go out of the border, you will face the situation of unfamiliar roads, no logistics, and freezing weather. You can't go to their hometown to kill them, so you can't kill them all. They will be like weeds. The spring breeze can't blow them away. They will rush through the border again the next year, and the cycle will repeat. So I say objectively and resignedly that it is impossible to completely wipe them out. Then there is only the second way to go - peacefully gather them."

General Gu's eyes were red, and he gritted his teeth: "It's easy for you to say that, but can we just let go of the hatred between us?"

"What else? Let's fight for a few hundred more years, let more people die, and invest more material and financial resources? As long as the living environment of the Tartars remains so harsh, they will never stop invading the Central Plains. Who doesn't want a home that can shelter from the wind and rain and has fertile land? This is called a crime of possessing a treasure. The fertile soil of the Central Plains is not only wanted by us, but also by the Tartars."

"I know it's hard for you to accept. After all, the Tartars killed so many people in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and it's possible that your family members were among them. But politics is not about personal love, but about the overall situation of the family and the country. If you want to completely deal with the Tartars, you have to subdue them, gather them, divide them, and then suppress them."

"General Zhao Yi, since you know about some of the affairs of Jinzhou Prefecture, have you ever heard about the merger of the natives and the Han in Qianzhou?"

When talking about Qianzhou, Bai Ci'en's expression changed slightly, and he showed a little shame.

Zhao Yi glanced at him, then said, "I heard about it from General Bai."

Xu Zhenying seemed to realize belatedly that Bai Ci'en was also here. Thinking of the 200,000 taels, she smiled awkwardly, but immediately changed the subject, "General Zhao, do you know what happened to the natives in Qianzhou later?"

Zhao Yi seemed to be listening attentively.

"A few years ago, there was a serious outbreak of smallpox in the west. Nine out of ten houses were empty and the population dropped sharply. In order to balance the population and have a better home, the natives took the initiative to cooperate with our plan to relocate the natives. Now the natives have been completely dispersed and divided into different villages and towns. Their thoughts, culture, and living habits have also been assimilated by us. Even when Jinzhou Prefecture was in trouble, their villages sent out 20,000 brothers to fight against foreign invasions with us. General Zhao, have you ever thought that I am integrating the natives and the Han people just to set an example for the Tartars. Maybe one day the Tartars can become the second natives. I will not only let them integrate deeply into us, but also assimilate them, let them regard the Central Plains as their home country, and use their lives to defend this land together?"

The look of shock on Zhao Yi's face remained for a long time.

The relocation of the natives to the west caused a lot of controversy at the time. Even Zhao Yi, who was far away in the north, had heard about it to some extent.

At that time, the only thing he was thinking about was what method Xu Zhenying used to make the natives so obedient.

At first it sounded like just a westward migration, but after the conversation just now, Zhao Yi thought more about it.

This westward migration involved many factors, such as how to persuade the natives to migrate westward one by one, how to resettle them across a thousand miles, and how to distribute land and houses when they arrived at the local area. This tested not only Xu Zhenying personally, but more importantly, the management level and financial strength of Xu Zhenying's government officials.

At this point, thinking back to the natives' westward migration, the views of the people present on the Tartars seemed to have changed slightly.

There's no harm in at least giving it a listen first.

Zhao Yi said, "Okay, let's take a step back. We agree to use the steps you mentioned, namely, winning over, appeasing, dividing, and suppressing, to eliminate the Tartars. However, the Tartars are different from the natives after all. First, the hatred between us is deeper. Second, the Tartars are naturally wild and difficult to tame. Our appeasement will only be seen as a sign of weakness."

"So we have to use both kindness and force. The Tartars are also human beings, and as long as they are human beings, they can't avoid the psychological admiration of the strong. We must first use artillery fire to subdue them, soften them, and make them afraid of us, so that they can obey. Only when they obey, can we give them sweet dates. At the same time, we must also deal with the Tartars in two steps. One is to deal with their management, and the other is to deal with their grassroots people."

Zhao Yi raised his eyebrows slightly, seeming to be very confused.

Bai Ci'en looked thoughtful, but his expression was sincere and humble. "Why do we have to do it in two steps?"

"Because the two classes have different needs and interests. The management wants power, and the people at the bottom want to survive. If we want to peacefully evolve outside the Great Wall, we must prescribe the right medicine. My eldest brother Xu Huiming should have sent someone to contact you before, asking you to open the wool market outside the Great Wall and request to transport wool from your northern border to Jinzhou Prefecture, right? But you rejected it."

Zhao Yi frowned, "Your Highness, the price of wool purchased from outside the Great Wall is so high, and some even promised to exchange it with the salt and iron they urgently need. This is equivalent to taking care of their business, giving them gold and silver, and funding their development and growth. What if they turn against us in the future?"

At this moment, Zhao Yi had completely surrendered, and even unconsciously called Xu Zhenying "Your Highness".

Xu Zhenying held his forehead with his hand, looking quite sad, which puzzled Zhao Yi and Bai Ci'en, so they became more humble and asked, "What's wrong with this?"

"General Zhao, we should not only look at the surface when doing things. We buy their wool at a high price. First, it can stimulate our domestic demand and revitalize our own economy. This wool is a helper for the small peasant economy. Every household can spin wool and earn some money to make a living, which will increase the income of the people. Second, it is to let the people outside the pass see that wool is profitable, so they will give up raising war horses and start raising sheep instead, which is a disguised way to weaken their combat power."

Zhao Yi frowned, "But even so, we can't exchange them for salt and iron. Salt and iron are their lifeblood, and we must firmly grasp them."

"You can hold them tightly, but their demands will not decrease, so they will find other ways to meet their needs, such as breaking into the pass and robbing our people."

Zhao Yi's face turned slightly pale.

"Appropriate circulation is not a problem. On the contrary, we can smuggle our own goods and spread our ideas and culture. We can even make them economically dependent on us. We need to subtly make them understand that if they want to live a good life, they have to get close to us and become one of us."

Bai Ci'en immediately said, "But what if they see that the Central Plains is fertile and covetous and want to occupy the magpie's nest?"

"So the iron must be strong before it can be forged. All policies must be backed by strong military means. I said at the beginning that we must use firearms to subdue and scare them. Only when they are frightened will they obey and think that what we say makes sense. After all, people with big fists always speak more reasonably, and the truth is also within the scope of fists, don't you think?"

All three were silent.

Only General Gu looked thoughtful, as if he was in a trance.

But now he finally understood that apart from the doggy-paddling handwriting of Xu Zhenying, there was no other similarity between them.

Look at this person's brain, it works so fast.

Although Old Gu only understood a few bits and pieces of what was said, this girl must be quite capable as she could make General Zhao and General Bai silent.

However, the saying "the truth is within the range of the fist" really pleased him.

Really? Why say so much? Just do it!
Bai Ci'en wanted to know more, "It's not enough to just let them raise sheep while we collect wool. I understand what your Highness means. In order to prevent the poor from robbing our house, we have to make them rich, otherwise they will always covet us. But people are greedy, it's easier to invite a god than to send him away. The Tartars are here, but it's not so easy to get rid of them."

"Yes. But we can refer to the strategy of dividing the natives before. Then we can defeat them one by one."

"But the Tartars are ambitious and ruthless. We may be able to scare them off for a while, but their desire to take over the Central Plains will never die."

"Subjugating them is only the first step. In the second step, we can select some obedient ones who are easy to control and willing to be close to us. We can give them a small county town and let them gradually adapt to life in the Central Plains."

General Gu became excited when he heard this. "How can that be? We have defeated them, and we have to give them land? Is this a win or a loss? Why should we let the Tartars live in our land?"

Xu Zhenying explained: "General Gu, please don't be anxious. Just listen to me."

Xu Zhenying broke off a branch, then squatted down and began to draw on the ground: "This small county town called Shatu in the north is quite good. This place is close to the outside of the Great Wall and has very little water. We can use water as a resource to control them. Let them live here to let them know that only those who are obedient can eat fruits. People have group effects, and the Tartars are no exception. Imagine that if your neighbor next door is obedient, he will have a house to live in and water to drink. If it were you, would you be willing to be obedient? In addition, we can draw a pie in the sky. First, select a group of obedient people to enter the city, and say that those who perform well can be allocated houses and obtain permanent minority status in the Central Plains. We can even implement a work point system, where everyone is assigned points according to their performance, and those with high scores can even become the managers of this city. In addition, we can advocate some brainwashing. Slogans, make up some history books out of thin air, saying that the Han people and the Tartars were one family many years ago and should not have fought against each other. We cannot fool the Tartar high-ranking officials, but we can fool the middle and lower class people. Changing their minds and letting them take the initiative to approach us is the only way to soften them. When the time comes, they will have houses to live in, schools to go to, the dignity they want, and even channels for upward mobility. We will praise them first and then kill them! Which fool will still listen to their Khan and insist on using his flesh and blood to block the holes in our firearms? When the time comes, we will carry out some kind of migration to the south to disperse the Tartars. It is said that a single tree cannot make a forest. The Tartars are distributed all over the country, and they will not be able to stir up any waves at that time. Follow my ideas, and you will see results within five years. "

Zhao Yi and Bai Ci'en no longer looked as resolute as before, but General Gu sat down beside them angrily and retorted: "This is too troublesome. Why don't we push the firearms all the way north and attack whoever we see? If we are worried about the problem of logistics, then we can have fewer people. I still don't believe that we can't destroy these Tartars with firearms in hand!"

Xu Zhenying shook his head. "We can use firearms, but we cannot rely entirely on them. Firearms are extremely powerful, but they also have flaws. They are only suitable for large-scale combat."

General Gu blew his beard and glared, "Why?!"

"Because gunpowder for firearms is very expensive. Every shot must be worth a shot. If you push it outside the Great Wall, you will be like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth, and it will inevitably attract the Tartars to rob you frantically. When this only powerful weapon falls into the hands of the Tartars, we will be in a very passive position."

Zhao Yi and Bai Ci'en were obviously silent. They stared at the pictures drawn by Xu Zhenying without moving. Zhao Yi even squatted down and stretched out his hand to gently brush the sand drawings on the ground.

The cities, mountains, rivers and terrain are all drawn very clearly, from which two points can be seen.

One thing is that the map of the northern border has long been thoroughly understood by the people of Jinzhou Prefecture.

Secondly, the conciliatory policies that Xu Zhenying mentioned did not appear out of thin air, but were the result of her thinking for countless days and nights.

Xu Zhenying said: "I know that ethnic hatred is difficult to resolve for the time being, but the way to resolve hatred does not necessarily rely on the use of force to eliminate the other side. General Zhao, follow my ideas, and within fifty years, our northern border will no longer have to worry about the Tartars!"

Bai Ci'en said blankly, "That's right. After a few decades, the Tartars have already become one with the Central Plains. They even intermarry with the Central Plains people. Generation after generation, they have also become Central Plains people."

Zhao Yi frowned tightly and looked a little absent-minded, not knowing what he was thinking about.