warring states careerist

Chapter 906 Infighting Before Escape
Only an hour later, the battle to encircle and annihilate Duke Shen ended.

The Chu army killed more than [-] people, and most of the rest were captured.Xie Xuan's army was wounded forty and six were killed.

Shen Gong was hit by more than forty bullets and died long ago.

He wore iron armor, and the two infantry divisions that followed Six Fingers used flint guns.

In order to facilitate the use of daggers as short spears, it is very light, and the bullets are enough to kill people, but compared to those widely distributed heavy arquebus guns or slightly larger flint guns that require full-time spearmen to cover, their power is still slightly inferior. .

It’s just that iron armor was not popular at this time, and most of the soldiers wore leather armor. Due to technology, the caliber was slightly smaller and the power was weaker, but it was not a big problem. The more backward surrounding areas suffice.

From the very beginning, Sishang's guns have been on the road of being light and capable of holding daggers as spears, and even the first batch of flint guns sacrificed a certain amount of power.

The main reason is that the armor rate at this time is too low, and you are not facing a large number of enemies wearing heavy armor. There is no need to go in the direction of heavy and large when the technology is insufficient to ensure the dual effects of lightness and power.

Of course, if the enemies on the opposite side are all wearing heavy armor, the power of these flint guns is not enough, but with the national strength of each vassal state, a legion wearing heavy armor will not be discussed technically. That is, the economy is about to bring down these vassal states.

After the battle, a large number of captured Chu soldiers were very happy. One thing is known to the world that Mohism does not kill prisoners; People who wear witches often tell them; three people from the Xuanyi Department of Mohism immediately told them in Shen local dialect: every household will have a piece of land enough for a family to live on, and if five households connect, they can rent cattle and horses, abolish and proclaim the king The Mohists do not inherit all the debts, and abolish all labor obligations for the self-interest of the emperor. The Mohists will also distribute ironware that can be repaid in five years. The Mohism will control the price of salt to clean up those profiteers in the fief because it is not in line with the development of Sishang’s industry and commerce. The "freedom of trade" under this foundation.

What's more, people with Shen Gong's level cannot have enough officials to carry out salt and iron monopoly and can only pay taxes to profiteers. Mohist's huge bureaucratic system that has begun to expand itself over the years will eat profiteers who try to control this invisible tax. There are no bones left.

The people in Sishang are most concerned about the Mohist war against Chu, those workshop owners and handicraft owners in Sishang, because they need a bigger market to sell their rapidly expanded production capacity due to the Mohist military expansion and preparations for war in recent years. The best market for various handicraft products is to sell them on the ground of various princely states, because most of the surrounding areas outside the coast are still in the era of slash-and-burn farming. It is too difficult to expect those people to be able to buy enough goods in the short term. It is far worse to launch a war against those princes whose productivity level is similar to that of Sishang 30 years ago.

After the Mohists attacked Chu, the first thing to do must be land reform. Land reform means that farmers will gradually have surplus grain in their hands, and then they will be able to buy those goods.Many workshop owners have calculated that if the farmers in the entire Zhuxia and vassal states have the purchasing power of Sishang farmers, they will make a lot of money every day, and the reason why farmers in the vassal states have such a large purchasing power is not because the land is too large. So few that the per capita is too poor, but because the aristocratic system of the princes restrained the peasants.

On the contrary, for many self-cultivating farmers in Sishang, in terms of short-term interests alone, the elimination of Chu is not of great benefit to them.That is to say, the long-standing policies and regulations and some propaganda that benefit the world have enabled the armament system to operate normally.

Of course, as long as the economy is strong, the system is in place, and the training is in place, even a group of scum and people trafficked by human traffickers can be trained into a strong army with sufficient discipline.And after all, this is an army with the belief of benefiting the world.

In the past few years, it has become clear whose interests the Mohism represents. It is said that it benefits the world, but in fact the Mohism still represents the interests of the city handicraftsmen and their higher forms, and the self-cultivating farmers are just their soldiers. .

This is the frightening aspect of the rational way of explaining knowledge. It is cold and ruthless. It is precisely the exact implementation of the theory of heaven and earth, which treats all things as dogs. It is impossible to achieve the benevolence and righteousness of the whole people.

However, for the peasants who are still under the oppression and shackles of the aristocratic system, even if the Mohism is not a peasant family and depicts an impossible farm fantasy, it can still bring them hope and a better life.

It's not that the Mohist school is doing too well or that it is a theory of farmers' interests, it's just that the aristocrats are doing too badly, pushing common farmers, businessmen, and businessmen to the opposite of the aristocrats.

There are only two ways for the owner-peasants to go, either the military merit system becomes the landlord who owns the serfs, or the policy of emphasizing industry and commerce becomes the workshop employee or the agricultural employee.As for the third way of being both a shareholder and an employee, it is too difficult to walk, and the Mohists have basically given up promoting it outside of Sishang.

Since the Mohists have cut off the first and third roads, the fate of these people is doomed in the future decades or even centuries.

But at this time, these captured farmers in Chu State who had more or less heard the Mohist propaganda were still full of hope and joy for the future.

These captives of Shendi accepted the propaganda of the Mohist Propaganda Department obediently. They built camps with simple tools, captured nobles, and elected prestigious people to let them organize themselves. They stayed where they were, and some Mohist wounded and a few doctors also stayed behind.

Six Fingers selected several nobles and asked them to return to the camp where the King of Chu was located to tell the King of Chu about the matter, and handed in a letter urging the King of Chu to surrender.

…………

In the camp where the main force of the Chu State was located, the news that the six-fingered army had crossed Bashui to encircle Duke Shen once again threw Chu's monarchs and ministers into chaos.

At this time, the news of Shen Gong's death had not yet come out, several ministers accused Zuo Sima who said that he had crossed the half way yesterday and said: "You have a clever plan, but it is a pity that the Mo family did not go to the south of the Yangtze River."

Zuo Sima didn't say a word, he cursed secretly in his heart, that day when he asked you what to do, he didn't say anything, but today he still laughed.

The king of Chu said: "Now that Mo Kou has crossed the Ba River, the city of Zhu is in danger. What can I do?"

The elite squad sent by the Mohist wedged between the camp of the Chu army and the city of Zhu, attacking and killing the food transporters, they attacked when there were few people, and ran away when there were too many, and often when they approached, someone shouted that the food was The king's life is his own, and they scattered in a hurry.

There were not many people, but it made the kings and ministers of Chu state frightened.

Zhucheng is where their logistics supplies are located, and it is also the only way for them to retreat. Once the Mo family's idea is to capture Zhucheng and cut off their way back, the situation will be over.

Lord Xucheng said: "The elite of Mo Kou are in the north, so there must not be many people staying on the sandbar. Why don't you take this opportunity to capture the sandbar so that the boatmen can retreat."

The Lord of Yangcheng said: "Duke Shen is besieged, so he should rescue each other. If rescued, how can we divide the troops again? You are not ignorant of the power of the Mohist field battle. Divide the troops to rescue the siege, and you will be defeated."

"If there is a big defeat, what's the point of gaining the sandbar and connecting it to the south of the Yangtze River? If the main force loses, then the city of Zhu will be lost. If the city of Zhu is lost, we will lose all our escape routes. Aren't we going to starve to death here?"

Lord Xia Pu said: "Exactly. The victory or defeat of this battle lies in the land battle, in the city of Zhu, not in the boat division. If the boat division collapses and the land battle wins, the Mohists will retreat."

After all, Zuo Sima suppressed the anger of everyone mocking him before, and replied: "Now that Duke Shen is under siege, the Mo family must also divide their forces. You can raise your army to break the siege and fight against them."

"The left army can be strengthened. After meeting the enemy, we can break into the Bashui coast and cut off the connection between the Mohist army and the rear. There may be a possibility of victory."

In fact, the king of Chu didn't want to fight anymore. He felt that the battle was lost, and now he should run to a safe place instead of continuing to confront the Mo family here.

Once the Mohists captured Zhucheng, the situation would be dangerous.

Now whether the Fengjun County soldiers in Huaibei, Nanyang, can force the Mohists to return to aid is a question, and what is the ability of the Mohists to fight for aid? Not to mention, once the food road is cut off, if they can't get out of the siege within a month, they will starve to death here. up.

You Sima was killed when he attacked the sandbar. The river was turbulent on the sandbar, and there were dozens of bronze and iron cannons, so it was difficult to attack.The Mohists are good at defending the city, even if there are 5000 people there, and the Yangtze River is dangerous, how can they capture it?How long will it take to attack?

But if he retreats... It's not that the king of Chu has never thought about the reason why the ministers suggested him not to retreat.Once it retreats to Nanyang and gives the Mo family two years, the Jianghan area will no longer belong to the Chu State, so why should it be taken back?

Although he launched a coup and killed his elder brother, it doesn't mean that he doesn't understand the importance of centralization, and it doesn't mean that he doesn't understand that the nobles who support him will become enemies the moment he sits on the throne.

Going to Nanyang by myself, a group of princes, far away from Jianghan, how to control those princes?

For various reasons, he accepted the suggestion to fight in Zhucheng, but the situation is getting worse day by day.

There are rumors that the Mo family has sent people to capture Linwu Jiuyi and head straight for the Xiangjiang River. It is hard to know whether this is true or not, but the King of Chu is sure that the Mo family can pull out a large army in the South China Sea.

There are also rumors that the soldiers of the Mohists in Nanzheng want to go down the Han River.

Coupled with the Chu army's several defeats here, he needs to rebalance.

If you go to Nanyang, you may completely lose the opportunity to centralize power, and you will lose Jianghan if you acquire it, but at least you can save it.But if he is annihilated here, then all his previous worries will be meaningless. If he dies and the family is wiped out, is there any need to worry about the future distribution of power?

King Chu looked at the courtiers who were arguing, and glanced at Jun E who actually had no right to speak because the fiefdom was seized, thinking that if I lost Jianghan to the Tian family, it might happen to me body?
The war is imminent, but the ministers of Chu are still arguing endlessly.

Want to fight?Want to escape?It's not clear yet.

Not to mention gathering all their strength to attack the sandbar first and find a way out for the boat master before escaping?Or take advantage of the fact that Shen Gong is besieged and the Mo family is unable to go south and flee directly?
At this moment, a servant went straight into the camp in panic, and said in shock: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! What a disaster! Shen Gong's army was surrounded by the Mohist army, and it was completely wiped out in an hour. Shoot and die!"

"what?"

The king and ministers of the state of Chu were shocked, and the news was like a bolt from the blue.

Shen Gong was besieged, and the monarchs and ministers of Chu State had already given up the idea of ​​Shen Gong slipping away, and they were sure that Shen Gong's siege would end in all likelihood.

But who would have thought that in less than an hour of fierce fighting, Shen Gong's nearly [-] troops would be gone?

The shocked expression has not receded, and they heard even more terrible news.

"Only six people were killed in the entire Mohist army, and dozens were injured..."

The news from those who had been selected from the captured nobles and who had personally experienced the battle was so accurate that the king and ministers of Chu could not sit still any longer.

(End of this chapter)