knife

Chapter 55 Let's see who has the better methods

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Seeing Li Dachui dismount, Mao Daxian stuffed his handkerchief into his sleeve, strode forward, raised his hands to his eyebrows, and bowed deeply. Behind him, the civil officials followed Mao Daxian's example, while the military men, led by Xia Zhi, bowed with their right hands on their chests.

These etiquette rules were established by Mao Daxian after he went to Helan Plain.

Outsiders all thought Li Dachui and his gang were just a bunch of bandits, but Mao Daxian didn't think so. In his eyes, Helan was a place where one could achieve great things, and his gang were all ambitious people with a heart for the world.

To achieve great things, one must set goals early on. To achieve these goals, one must have specific action plans. To implement these action plans, one must have a well-organized structure. And a well-organized structure, of course, must have rules.

Etiquette is the most important and comes first among rules.

The hierarchy of superiors and inferiors, and the proper etiquette and order, must never be disrupted.

These are precisely the things that Li Dachui had previously overlooked. Even Zhou Zhi, the city lord of Tai'an, had never given this issue much thought.

It's not that they didn't want to, but rather that Li Dachui simply didn't have that in mind.

As for Zhou Zhi, wherever he went, he was always the object of respect.

But Mao Daxian was different; he was someone who read books and came to understand their principles and make a name for himself.

He deeply understands the importance of rules and order.

Force may bring temporary dominance, but to truly achieve resilience and long-term stability, rules and order must come first, and no amount of emphasis on them is excessive.

Just like the Qin Empire is now in turmoil, with domestic rebellions surging, Linghu Ye, who has 100,000 strong troops outside the pass, is still shy and unwilling to openly lead his troops into the pass. The reason for this is simply the word "etiquette".

Linghu Ye did not want to bear the reputation of being an insubordinate and a rebel.

He preferred to wait until the world was in complete chaos, then lead his army into the pass, restore order, and on that basis, naturally replace the Li family's Qin dynasty.

Back then, the Li family's Qin dynasty replaced the Yong dynasty in the same way.

"Oh dear, Master Mao, it's freezing cold. You're not exactly healthy, so why did you come out like this? If something happens to you from the cold, the Helan Plain will be in chaos!" Li Dachui stepped forward, helped Mao Daxian up with both hands, and comforted him gently.

"My lord has been away for several months. Now that he has returned, it is only right that I, your humble servant, come to greet him!" Mao Daxian stroked his beard and smiled. He certainly enjoyed this feeling of being valued and treated differently.

"Master Mao is blaming me for being greedy for the outside world's pleasures!" Li Dachui laughed heartily. "You've misunderstood me. This trip has been very fruitful. I'll have a good chat with Master Mao later!"

After saying this, Li Dachui looked at the group of scholars and warriors behind Mao Daxian and asked loudly, "How is everyone?"

"Yes, thank you for your concern, Lord!" the group responded in unison.

Li Dachui's gaze fell on Xia Zhi, who was tall and slender, but she pouted and looked unhappy. Apart from bowing to Li Dachui at the beginning, she kept her mouth shut and didn't look at him at all, looking very angry.

Li Dachui chuckled to himself.

The summer solstice is naturally different.

Mao Daxian was invited by Li Dachui after three visits to his thatched cottage. He can be considered a partner, a like-minded ally, and also has a clear superior-subordinate relationship as well as a master-employer relationship.

Xia Zhi, on the other hand, had been with Li Dachui since childhood; they were family, relatives, and bound by blood.

The carriage, pulled by four fine horses, slowly moved along the tracks they had come from. They had only just set foot on the Helan Plain; it would take them the better part of a day to reach their final destination.

“Zhang Ruo has arrived in Yuan’an, and Xiao Changche should have accepted him!” Li Dachui explained the current situation down the mountain to Mao Daxian: “Now it seems that Xiao Changche never intended to kill Zhang Ruo from the beginning. He put on that show probably to get his hands on this person.”

"Xiao Changche's mastery of military strategy is unparalleled. He is a born general, and military strategy is about deception. He must also be a master at manipulating people's hearts. His trick of feigning indifference to lure us in has indeed fooled us all." Mao Daxian stroked his three long strands of hair. "However, from another perspective, this is also a good thing. It proves that Xiao Changche and Linghu Ye are not of one mind and can be divided. This makes our earlier plan to take Baoping City and build a stable triangular region even more secure."

"He agreed to it!" Li Dachui laughed. "Once this joint operation succeeds, we'll have a solid cooperative relationship with him, and things will be much easier from here on out."

“He might even want to compete with you for control of this area!” Mao Daxian said with a smile.

“It’s good to let him have some illusions, as this will be more conducive to cooperation. If we let him know from the beginning that he can’t compete with us, then I’m afraid he will not be willing to cooperate with us!” Li Dachui laughed. “On the surface, he is in a more advantageous position than us. As a dignified third-rank chariot and cavalry general of the Great Qin, he has much more appeal than us bandits.”

Mao Daxian laughed loudly and drew a circle in the air, saying, "Once this triangular area is formed, Linghu Ye will be nothing to fear."

“He could also launch an attack on us while we are still establishing ourselves,” Li Dachui said. “That possibility is not out of the question. Linghu Ye considers the area outside the Great Wall his own domain and will not allow any force of similar strength to exist. Once this triangular region is formed, he will surely see its power!”

"That's why we must kill Tiele." Mao Daxian sneered. "Tiele holds an important position in the Northern Yuan. If he dies here, the Northern Yuan will certainly not let it go. As the commander outside the pass, Linghu Ye will naturally be the first to face the immense pressure from the Northern Yuan. At that time, he probably won't bother to annihilate us, but will instead try to appease and win us over to resist the Northern Yuan together. After all, if the Northern Yuan attacks, he will have nothing left."

"That guy from the Northern Yuan who gave us the information is planning to do just that!" Li Dachui said. "Once the Tiele are dead, he can take advantage of the situation to rise to power, and then launch a war under the banner of avenging the Tiele. As long as he wins the war against the troops stationed outside the pass, he can consolidate his position. In fact, even if he doesn't win, as long as he provokes a war between the two sides, the Northern Yuan will have to send more troops to the border. And this process of sending more troops is also the process of that guy's strength steadily increasing."

Mao Daxian clapped his hands and laughed: "Very good. Everyone has their own plans in mind. Let's see how it ends. We are currently in a weak position, but as long as chaos breaks out on the border, Linghu Ye will have neither the energy nor the strength to deal with us. In two or three years, we will have truly grown up."

“The best part is that once the border war starts, Xiao Changche will definitely be sent to the front lines by Linghu Ye. And this man has a blood feud with the Northern Yuan. Once he goes there, all the power in this triangular region will basically fall into our hands. When Xiao Changche returns in a year or two, he will find that although he is still the nominal master, the control is in our hands. At that time, he will have no choice but to bow down to us.” Li Dachui laughed like a treacherous minister on a stage.

Mao Dasheng's face flushed slightly, clearly indicating his excitement, but he was ultimately quite shrewd and quickly regained his composure: "My lord, this is a matter for the next few years. Right now, there are still some pressing matters that need to be resolved."

"Oh, what's the matter?"

"The grain supply on the Helan Plain is tight this year. If we can barely get through this winter, there will be problems in the spring. We will have to bring in grain from other places."

"Even the Helan Plain is experiencing food shortages?" Li Dachui asked in surprise. "How could this be?"

"Wild Wolf has brought far too many people to the Plains this year!" Mao Daxian said helplessly. "Didn't the Lord have always instructed Wild Wolf to bring as many able-bodied men, women, and children as possible to the Plains to populate the population of Helan Plains? He faithfully carried out your orders. Especially after winter, the population of the Plains has increased dramatically. In the last month alone, Wild Wolf has sent nearly three thousand people. This year, the Helan Plains have seen an increase of nearly ten thousand people. These people have nothing after arriving on the Plains. Providing them with houses, livestock, farm tools, and clothing will be extremely costly. In addition, with ten thousand mouths to feed, the food supply is already critically low. And now we're going to mobilize the army again. This time, it's not just the three battalions of Heaven, Earth, and Man that will be mobilized. The reserve army on the Plains will also be mobilized, right?"

Li Dachui nodded: "In addition to the three battalions of Heaven, Earth, and Man, I plan to transfer three thousand men from the reserve army on the plain."

"When an army moves, supplies must be prepared first," Mao Daxian said.

"I will inform Tai'an City to prepare food supplies for next year's spring famine!" Li Dachui said, "More than ten thousand people have come all at once. Is this year's year really that bad?"

“How much better can it be?” Mao Daxian sneered. “Linghu Ye hoarded grain at all costs, driving up grain prices outside the pass. In order to limit the strength outside the pass, the interior began to impose embargoes and restrictions on various strategic materials. Taxes and corvée labor for the people increased again and again, and more and more families were broken up and wiped out. Many people even abandoned their land to become refugees or joined bandit groups. All of this was just to survive.”

"Helan Yuan did give them a way out, but Wild Wolf is still as soft-hearted as ever. I bet what he sent up wasn't just young men, women, and children!"

Mao Daxian nodded: "There are still quite a few old people, all from one family. And, my lord, among these people, there are actually some spies from the Iron Curtain and the Black Ice Guard."

"Just keep an eye on these people. There's no need to worry about them too much. Just like Tai'an City is full of spies from various factions, so what? Sometimes they can be put to great use!"

(End of this chapter)