Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 531
When the news of Tiger Leaping Canyon's defeat spread to Handan, King Zhao and Zhang Ao were in a state of chaos. He was originally an uninitiated monarch, so he had to urgently call General Bai Xuan and Minister Zhang Jing into the palace overnight to discuss countermeasures.

After entering the palace to meet the driver, Bai Xuan and Zhang Jing's faces were also not very good-looking, Zhao Guo suffered a lot.

This time the coalition attacked Qi, the combined vertical and horizontal alliances dispatched a total of 15 troops, Zhao Guo’s family dispatched [-] troops, and even the food and grass for the [-] troops of the Horizontal Alliance were provided by Zhao Guo, but it was agreed in advance In terms of benefit distribution, Zhao Guo was assigned to Jiaodong County, which is the most barren in Qi, and Zhao Guojun and his ministers also tolerated it from the overall situation.

But now, due to Zhou Yafu's underestimation of the enemy, Zhao State has lost a full [-] strong men, and Jiaodong County has also been lost. The most frustrating thing is that Zhou Yafu has also fallen ill. Zhan Xin, let alone counterattack Jiaodong, even defending Linzi County is very reluctant.

In other words, Zhao Guo has suffered such a big loss, but it is very likely that he will get nothing!
Rao Bai Xuan had a great mind, so he couldn't help being filled with anger at this moment. If Bai Mo didn't say anything about it, then he didn't take Zhao Guo's interests too seriously.

Zhang Aozhao had no idea, looked around Bai Xuan and Zhang Jing and said, "General, Prime Minister, what should we do?"

Ever since Zhao Wu was killed, Zhang Jing has always followed Bai Xuan's lead. This guy is a smart man, he knows that King Zhao is cowardly, and Bai Xuan holds the military power. Anyone who dares to contradict Bai Xuan at this time, wouldn't he be bored? ?Immediately, he looked at Bai Xuan with his eyes, and it was almost written on his face that the general's opinion is the minister's opinion.

Bai Xuan didn't expect that the battle against Qi would end like this, and Bai Mo appointed Zhou Yafu as the main general, so that today's loss made Bai Xuan feel resentful, and said immediately: "This matter, Prime Minister Bai has to give Zhao Guo a explain."

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After coming out of Weiyang Palace, Bai Mo, Chen Ping and Zhou Guanfu all looked a little dignified.

The news of Zhou Yafu's ambush in the Tiger Leaping Canyon has been sent back to Xianyang. After Liu Heng heard the news, he quickly called the three of them into the palace to discuss countermeasures. The teacher misunderstood the country, so that Bai Mo and Zhou Guanfu's faces were burning with pain, and Chen Ping's face was also dull.

As Zhou Guanfu was walking, he turned his head and said to Kuanmo Mo, "Prime Minister, I have already said that Yafu is young and inexperienced, and he is really not good enough to take on such a big responsibility. Look, isn't it causing trouble now?"

Bai Mo sighed, and said, "Win it, Yafu is not to blame for the loss of the tiger's leap, but Xiangzheng is too difficult to deal with."

Chen Ping nodded in agreement, and said: "Yes, the use of troops in this project is really like a father's."

Bai Mo looked up at the dark sky above his head, and said worriedly: "The country of Chu is really full of stars and talents, and the older generation Xiang Zhuang, Bi Shu, Gao Chu, Pang Yu and others are still working as masters." Xiang Zheng, Pang Zheng, Gao Lang, etc. of this younger generation have already grown up in the year of [-], but in contrast to our Great Han Kingdom..."

Bai Mo didn't say the second half of the sentence, but Chen Ping and Zhou Guanfu could hear it. What he meant was that the talents of the state of Chu are among the top, but the talents of the Han state are withering. Prince Chu lost completely in the contest of Xiangzheng, and this is likely to be the epitome of the Chu and Han countries for decades to come.

Bai Mo pondered for a moment, and then said: "Shengzhi, Grand Master, have you ever thought about why this is so? Why is there a prosperous scene of talented people in the Chu Kingdom, but the talent is withered in the Great Han Kingdom?"

Zhou Guanfu was silent when he heard the words, his brain was basically full of muscles, so it was impossible to figure out the reason, but Chen Ping was thoughtful, and said: "The old man is also confused about this, Chu Guoyouxun Qi’s children, but we also have honored Qi’s children in the Han Kingdom, so why can the Chu’s be able to become talents, but the Han’s can’t?”

"Because of the national examination!" Bai Mochang sighed, "I thought that the national examination system implemented by the Chu State was a violation of the ancient ritual system, and it was an unpopular and perverse practice, but now it seems that we were wrong. After the national examination, the children of the common people who were born in poverty have the same promotion path as the children of the nobles, so the enthusiasm of the children of the common people to study has been greatly improved. The direct result is that the number of scholars in Chu has far exceeded that of other countries. Sum!"

After a pause, Bai Mo said again: "Xiang Zheng, Pang Zheng, Gao Lang and other children from Chu Kingdom stood out in the competition with hundreds of thousands of peers, but what about Yafu? He basically grew up I haven’t met any worthy competitors, and adding up all the literate young people in Guanzhong, I’m afraid it’s less than ten thousand?”

It is precisely because Zhou Yafu has not experienced cruel competition that he has developed arrogance and arrogance. However, the young children of Chu State are not. At least in Taixue, their status is equal to that of the common people. Insufficient ability, even the children of the top nobles, are also in danger of being eliminated by the children of the common people.

After comparing the two, it is understandable that the children of Chu State are better than those of Han State.

"Hundreds of thousands of literate young people?" Zhou Guanfu opened his eyes wide and gasped, "There are so many people in Chu?"

"I'm afraid, it probably does." Chen Ping nodded thoughtfully, and said, "Although the Black Ice Terrace has not specifically collected information on this aspect, there are nearly [-] students in one county school in Wu County alone. fact."

The county school is the lower-level institution of the Taixue of the Chu State. Generally, there are schools in every county, and the number of students varies. Of course, the county school is a relatively loose learning institution. There is no strict examination required to enter the county school. A certain foundation is enough. The purpose of running the county school is to enable students to better prepare for the national exam.

Of course, the students trained by the Chu State School and the Tai School are by no means masters who only know the poor classics, but generalists who have developed the six arts in an all-round way. , and Confucian classics such as "Shangshu" and "The Analects of Confucius" only account for a small part of the content of the liberal arts.

Therefore, the students who graduated from Chu State Taixue not only have rich knowledge, solid practical foundation, and strong physique, but even many students are all-rounders who are good at riding and shooting, and are skilled in bow and horse. With the passage of time, the quality of Chu Guotai's students is improving year by year, and Xiang Zheng, Gao Lang, Pang Zheng and others are among the best.

Bai Mo nodded lightly, and said again: "With a large number of outstanding talents graduating from the Imperial College of Chu State, and then entering local counties or counties or serving in the army, it not only brought about the improvement of the combat effectiveness of the Chu Army, but also brought another challenge to Lian Heng. For all countries, it is nothing less than a serious consequence of a disaster, that is, the overall improvement of the quality of local officials in Chu State."

Having said this, Bai Mo said to Chen Ping again: "Didn't the Black Ice Terrace say that Jiangdong, Jingxiang, Bashu and even Wei under the rule of Chu State will usher in an unprecedented bumper harvest this year? In fact, think about it carefully, This is by no means accidental, there has not been a large-scale locust plague, flood or drought in Chu for many years."

Chen Ping was clear about it, and his expression changed slightly: "The prime minister said that after the students who graduated from Taixue were transferred to local officials, they greatly improved the irrigation and water conservancy systems in various parts of Chu State, so that the disaster resistance under Chu State The ability has been greatly improved, which is why there have been continuous bumper harvests in Chu State in recent years?"

"Does the grand master have any other explanations?" Bai Mo said, "Nowadays, the state of Chu can guarantee a harvest even in times of disaster. Once the year is good, it will be a bumper harvest. I am afraid that King Xiangzhuang of Chu will use his troops on a large scale again, and the time is likely to be after the autumn harvest, or even after the summer harvest."

"After Chu's summer harvest, it will use a large number of foreign troops?" Zhou Guanfu said in surprise, "It won't be so soon?"

According to the predictions of the monarchs and ministers of the Han Dynasty, after the two vicious battles of Surabaya and Mianshui in a row, and the relocation of the capital, Chu would need at least three to five years of rest before it could re-raise its troops on a large scale.

Bai Mo said: "Preparation is the only way to avoid danger. We must prepare for the worst. To win, you must intensify the training of the pawns in Guanzhong. The old and weak under the age of 16 and over 60 also need to be called together for training. Grand Master, the preparation of food, grass and armaments can only be hard on you, and the truth has to go to Anyi to put out the fire."

Chen Ping silently nodded, and sighed again. With Zhou Yafu's defeat in Wutiao Gorge, the Lianheng Alliance is now in an unbalanced situation. Zhao Guo suffered the most in Tiger Leaping Gorge. Let the Chu and Yan coalition forces occupy it, Zhao Guozhen can be said to have lost land and lost troops, so he will definitely ask Han and South Korea for compensation.

Xiang Zheng, Crown Prince of Chu, really gave Bai Mo a huge problem.

In South Korea, Han Wang Han Xin is a greedy master. He may not be willing to spit out the fat in his mouth. It may not be so easy to cede six counties from Jibei County in South Korea. Even if Bai Mo goes Anyi may not be able to convince him, and on the Han side, Lu Tai has already gone to Linzi with his family, so he probably won't be willing to give up half of Linzi County, right?

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"It's unreasonable, it's unreasonable!" Han Wang Hanxin swept all the pens, ink and papers on the table to the ground, Lei Ting said angrily, "What kind of bastard did Zhang Ao say, his general has no ability to guard Jiaodong County , Do you still have to rely on the widow? Let the widow give up six counties from Jibei County to him? There is no door!"

The general Xie Fu fanned the flames beside him and said: "King Zhao is really shameless, but I heard that the prime minister has crossed the river from Puban and is about to arrive in Anyi, so the prime minister may be speaking for the state of Zhao. Here you come, Your Majesty, you must withstand the prime minister's pressure, and you must not make too many concessions to Zhao Guo."

"What did you say? What big concession?" Han Xin said unhappily, "I won't give up even an inch of land! Let alone Bai Mo, even if old Liu Bang climbed out of the grave again, I still say the same thing, Hmph!" These words were harsh, but if Liu Bang really came back from the grave, King Han Han Xin would have to fuck off again.

(End of this chapter)