My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 311 Netherworld
It was dusk on the 20th day of the eighth month in autumn.

The news of the Mayi Battle finally reached the wise man of the Northern Front Army: Yuhou Luan Bu before sunset.

Upon receiving the news, Luan Bu immediately summoned Han Tuidang, Marquis of Gonggao, Li Cang, General of Suiying, and Liu Fei, King of Jiangdu, and other generals under his command.

Upon learning that the Battle of Mayi had already begun five days ago, everyone was heartbroken and sighed.

"What a pity~"

"pity!"

"If we had known that the battle in Mayi had already begun, why would we have waited until now?"

"——At present, the battle of Mayi has been going on for five days;"

"No matter what happens in Henan, if the main force of the Chanyu Court attacks Mayi for another ten days, there is a high possibility that they will stop attacking Mayi."

"Oh~~~"

"such a pity……"

Luan Bu's long sighs won the approval of everyone present.

But no matter how much they sighed, everyone still had to cheer up and accept this fact.

——There’s nothing we can do about it.

The news from Mayi was delivered to the north over a distance of more than 2,000 miles by express riders over a distance of 800 miles. Five days was already the maximum possible.

Before the war, in order to avoid the situation where "the fighting in Mayi started but Beidi could not receive the news in time", the Han Dynasty government made a plan based on calculations that the fighting in Mayi would start on August 20th, so Beidi would also take action on the evening of August 20th.

The Han family has done everything that can be done;
As for the fact that the Huns started fighting a few days earlier, we can only regard it as the Huns were lucky and the Han were unlucky...

"In fact, you don't need to feel sorry about this."

"——After all, the most important factor affecting whether the main force of the Chanyu Court will return to Henan to provide assistance is whether Henan is safe and whether it is still under the control of the Xiongnu;"

"Rather than the custom of 'coming out when the moon is full and going out when the moon is waning', it depends on whether the day has come."

"If Henan is safe and sound, it is not impossible for Junchen to fight to the death in Mayi for three or two months."

"If we live up to your majesty's plan this time and really intend to seize Henan, then even if the war has only started for one day, I will immediately stop attacking Mayi and try to return to support as soon as possible."

···
"To put it bluntly, as long as we succeed tonight, Junchen will receive the news in five days and will immediately start to send reinforcements."

"When I learned that Henan had been lost, I would not care whether my army had attacked Mayi for more than 15 days."

"So, whether the battle of Mayi has already started for five days or will still start for another five days, the time left for me to wait is always only five or six days."

"Or rather, we only have about five or six days' journey on horseback after we successfully cross the river and the news reaches the Chanyu Court where Junchen is."

"As for how long it will take for Junchen to bring the main force of the Chanyu Court back to Hetao from Mayi after he gets the news..."

"It all depends on whether Cheng Buzhi was really 'made a marquis for his merits' or whether His Majesty was conferring a title on his former confidant..."

Kurikara's words were recognized by most of the people present.

——In fact, the high-ranking military officials of the Han Dynasty generally had strange emotions about Cheng Bushi's title of nobility.

It’s not that Liu Rong’s “New Rules” was not clear enough, or that he was overly partial to Cheng Buzhi;
Rather, it is the institutional inertia of the past hundred years that has caused the military's criteria for judging victory and defeat to remain based on very rigid indicators.

Such as floating cut;
Such as the gains and losses of territories and cities;
For example, the merits of being the first to break into the enemy line, beheading the generals and seizing the flags, as well as the mistakes of losing troops, humiliating the country, and losing cities and territories, which are well known to later generations.

According to the judgment standards that have been prevalent in China over the past hundred years, Cheng Buzhi's performance in the battle in the north at the beginning of this year was at best a failure, and his merits and demerits can only be considered to have offset each other.

The achievement was that Chao Na did not lose, and successfully prevented the Xiongnu from advancing further and setting foot on the Han territory;

The fault was the loss of many soldiers and generals. Fu Zhan was too disgraceful and he could not explain it to the court or even the people of the world.

When the two forces joined forces, the result was undoubtedly that they barely accomplished their defensive mission with heavy losses.

Similar opinions like "If someone has done something as bad as taking lives, I can do it too" have never ceased to be popular among the people.

Even if we take a step back on this basis: Today, Tian Zirong wants to reform the military merit review system and no longer use floating beheading as the only criterion for judging the military merit of generals, there should be limits.

——According to the old rules, Cheng Bushi's merits and demerits are equal, but according to the new rules, Cheng Bushi's merits are at most "slightly greater than his demerits";
Rewarding with gold, stone, pearls, jade, cloth, swords and the like, or more directly with verbal praise, would be enough.

The result was quite good - Cheng Buzhi, who originally had only some merits and demerits, was honored by the emperor with a book called "New Rules" and was directly promoted to the level of a marquis!
Although the fief is not much, it is still a marquis!
Since Emperor Taizu Gao founded the Han Dynasty, it has been more than fifty years now. Counting the 146 families of founding heroes and meritorious service who were conferred titles by Emperor Taizu, the Han Dynasty has so far conferred the title of no more than 200 families.

On average, no more than four per year!
If we exclude the 146 founding fathers who were conferred titles all at once by Emperor Taizu, on average, there is less than one person conferred title per year!
Emperor Xiaojing was on the throne for seven years, and even after he put down the Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu, he only conferred titles of nobility on more than ten families.

Among them, half were meritorious officials who quelled the Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu, and the other half were Emperor Xiaojing's confidants and maternal relatives, such as Zhou Ren and Dou Ying.

——A rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu eventually gave rise to five or six meritorious dukes!

Moreover, any one of them you pick at random is a veteran who has long been qualified to be conferred a title of nobility and who only lacks an opportunity.

Dou Ying, Marquis of Weiqi—he should have been granted the title of Marquis by the imperial relative long ago!
Marquis of Yu, Luan Bu - As early as when Emperor Taizu Gao executed King of Liang Peng Yue, Luan Bu was already famous for his "righteous crying for Peng Yue" and received special attention from the core decision-makers of the Han Dynasty.

With more than fifty years of experience, he had fought in dozens of battles, big and small. Even if he could not be granted a title of nobility while alive, he would at least be posthumously granted a title of marquis with a fief of 1,800 households.

Saihou Zhibuyi - Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, the team left by the previous Emperor Xiaojing, should have been made a marquis long ago, just missing an opportunity;
Gongsun Kunxie, Marquis of Pingqu, was a prince of Yiqiu. He surrendered during the reign of Emperor Taizong. Just based on his record of "leading his troops to surrender", he should have been given a title such as Marquis of Guiyi or Marquis of Zhongyi for political reasons.

It was not until the time of Emperor Xianjing that he was even awarded the military honor of "conquering Wu and Chu". Gongsun Kunxie, the Marquis of Pingqu, had basically nothing to do with the identity of Prince Yiqiu and the political event of Yiqiu's return to Yiqiu.

Another one is Zhou Yafu, Marquis of Jiang, who was given the title of Marquis of Tiao for his merits.

Take a look!

It was only after Emperor Xiaojing put down the rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu that the Communist Party of China enfeoffed these five families!
It is because it has to be blocked and problems will arise if it is not blocked, so it is blocked as a last resort!

But when it came to you, Tian Zirong, you made a move and gave a title to a young man named Cheng Bushi - a green hand with no qualifications, no merits, and no special political background or special political considerations - and you made him a marquis directly?
If this is really done, then the title of Marquis Che will soon become commonplace, right?
Furthermore, there is no first in literature and no second in martial arts.

As military men, the generals of the Han Dynasty military are actually ranked and ranked by a widely recognized ranking. For example, Li Ji, the Marquis of Quzhou, is the only founding father of the Han Dynasty and is undoubtedly the top military figure of the Han Dynasty.

As for Zhou Yafu, considering the political influence, he had to be excluded from the list.

There is no doubt that Li Ji came first, but the second place was a little more complicated.

Some people think that Yuhou Luanbu, who was also a veteran general who was famous during the reign of Emperor Taizu and the founding years of the country, should be ranked second;

Some people also say that although Han Tuidang, Marquis of Gonggao, has no experience in commanding large troops or large groups - and most likely does not have this ability, but as the only cavalry combat expert in the Han Dynasty, at a time when the strategic confrontation between Han and the Xiongnu is becoming more and more intense and cavalry unit construction and cavalry combat are becoming more and more important, he can be the second person after Li Ji.

The husband says he is right, while the wife says she is right, but they won't argue over the matter to the point of getting red in the face - most people would be happy to accept that they both have their own strengths, so they tied for second place.

Going down to the third echelon, we have Cheng Buzhi and Li Guang, two representative figures of the new generation of young generals.

The military even had higher expectations of Li Guang than of Li Guang.

As for the reason, it is actually very easy to understand.

It’s just like football matches in later generations. No matter how good a goalkeeper is, it’s difficult for him to attract the attention of fans.

In a game, a goalkeeper needs to block most of the opponent's attacks to be considered to have played a good game;
A "good goalkeeper" is one who can block most of the opponent's shots in many consecutive games or even for many years.

On the other hand, a striker only needs to score one goal in a 90-minute game to have a high chance of competing for the best player of the game.

As for multiple games, even for many consecutive years, if you can maintain the efficiency of each game - or even just score one goal every two or three games on average, you will directly become a strong contender for the World Footballer of the Year and the best active player!
The Han army had roughly the same feeling towards Cheng Buzhi and Li Guang.

Cheng Buzhi is a very good goalkeeper who always performs his defensive tasks well.

But he is a 'goalkeeper', a general known for his defense and steadiness;
Completing defensive tasks is not so much his highlight or his specialty as it is his duty.

On the other hand, Li Guang is like a forward in a football game.

Don't tell me the game was 90 minutes long, he strolled for 89 minutes;
Don't tell me that his way of playing football is unscientific and that he doesn't get along well with his teammates.

They can score a goal!

In a 90-minute game, even if he was sleepwalking for the entire 90 minutes, he could still score a goal in the few minutes of injury time and help the team win the game!

In a 90-minute match, Li Guang's goal would cause the entire audience to celebrate with thunderous applause;
Don’t you know the way?

In the final analysis, the famous saying "A good warrior does not have to have great achievements" can only be understood and accepted by people with a certain level of thinking.

Most people still judge generals based on whether they have made outstanding contributions.

Or it should be said: Compared with those unknown and victorious generals, ordinary people always admire those glorious and lost generals more.

Ordinary people are like this, and high-ranking military officers are no exception.

——Li Guang returned to the pit, the casualties in the battle were indeed heavy, and he was always a god or a ghost;
But we have to admit: the scene of Li Guang fighting was really beautiful and exciting.

It’s just like in the online games of later generations, even if the super SVP loses the game, people still respect him.

As for Cheng Buzhi?
Cheng Buzhi's victory is like defeating the opponent by pushing towers with a 0-20-0 record in later online games.

Not to mention your opponents being dissatisfied - even your teammates might feel that winning this game is more annoying than a hearty defeat...

Considering all these factors, it is not difficult to understand why the senior generals of the Han Dynasty's military were dissatisfied with Cheng Buzhi, who was granted the title of Marquis for military merit just because he fought a battle and defended a fortress.

Of course, Cheng Buzhi’s potential, especially his strength in defensive battles, is highly recognized by the top military officials.

He just wanted the military and the Han warriors to be convinced of Cheng Bushi's title of Marquis, and he needed Cheng Bushi to further prove himself.

At the very least, we must fight a battle worthy of being awarded a title of nobility.

"In Mayi, Cheng Bushi didn't lose the city."

"But after we take action, how can Cheng Buzhi keep the main force of the Chanyu Court in Mayi..."

"Ah~"

"It's not that I underestimate Cheng Buzhi - if we really want to rely on Mayi to keep the main force of Shanyu Ting for enough time, instead of relying on Cheng Buzhi, we might as well see if Goshawk Zhidu can come up with a brilliant move."

"After all, the main force of the Shanyu Court, the number of troops that can be deployed in combat alone, is hundreds of thousands!"

"If we use an ordinary strategy, I'm afraid we won't be able to keep the main force of the Chanyu Court who is determined to leave and is eager to return to Henan to provide assistance..."

Speaking of the Mayi battlefield, everyone present felt sad and no one was sure what would happen.

But no matter how uncertain they are, everyone can only grit their teeth and do their own job well.

——First, successfully conquer Henan, that is, Hetao!
As for Mayi, can we keep Shan Yuting and give everyone time to digest Hetao...

"We can only leave it to fate and adapt to the situation..."

After Han Tuidang said this, everyone finally nodded solemnly.

Then, there was the last deployment meeting held before the war in the North.

"In compliance with your majesty's order, my troops will leave the north and attack Henan. We will start the battle on the evening of August 20th in the first year of the Xinyuan era - that is, tonight."

"This is the imperial edict issued by His Majesty himself, as well as the tiger talisman for mobilizing troops."

Han Tuidang took out the military token and imperial edict and solemnly displayed them to all the generals present for inspection.

Then, figures, carrying detailed orders, scattered in the jungle.

——In the first year of Emperor Rong Xinyuan’s reign, on the night of August 20th in autumn, the Hetao Campaign officially began!

In compliance with the Emperor's Royal Order, this military operation is codenamed: Netherworld...

(End of this chapter)