My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 75: Wu Qi, Li Guang, and Huo Qubing's methods each have their own uses

Guan Yu's ability to command troops today cannot be compared with that of twenty years later.

It’s not that Guan Yu’s basic skills were not solid, but that he did not have the qualifications to command tens of thousands of people in battle - Liu Bei had a weak family background and started late. In the original history, Guan Yu only had such an opportunity after the Battle of Chibi.

Now, the opportunity given by Zhuge Jin should be regarded as creating a new record for the scale of troops led by Guan Yu.

The specific number is: 12,000 people.

Although the total force in the previous Battle of Huaiyin was slightly more than this, it was commanded by Liu Bei and Guan Yu together, and Guan Yu was not the commander-in-chief of the entire army.

After the welcoming banquet that night, Guan Yu returned to his lodgings. Although he was drunk, he quickly figured this out in the dead of night:
Tzuyu certainly needs him to train his troops, but doesn't he also need such an opportunity to improve and challenge himself?
This is a mutually beneficial thing, so we must cherish the opportunity and do it well!

……

Even Guan Yu thought of this, and with Zhuge Liang's intelligence, he must have thought of it long ago.

At the same time, inside the Chaisang government office, the Zhuge brothers were also having a long conversation.

Before his brother officially began to "apprentice and train" with Guan Yu, Zhuge Jin felt that he had to say a few words:
"Ah Liang, just before the welcoming banquet, I said that General Guan was a rare and famous general in the world, and asked you to be more modest in your words during the banquet. You seemed a little unconvinced?"

Zhuge Liang knew that his performance could not be hidden from his elder brother, so he admitted it sincerely:

"Indeed, but seeing is believing. How can I not be convinced by a person who has real talent and hard work? I just think that my brother's description of him as 'rare in the world' is a little exaggerated.

As far as the present is concerned, I think Cao Cao's leadership is far superior to his. As for future potential, Sun Ce is only a young man, but he has such a great strategy, which is also limitless. After all, General Guan lacks the qualifications to command a large army.

Moreover, the three heroes who defeated the Yellow Turbans all died not long ago. If it weren’t for the civil war between Zhong Kui and Si, which led to the death of many important officials in Chang’an, the world’s most talented generals might not have been in the hands of the gentlemen of Guandong.”

Zhuge Jin listened quietly without interrupting his brother.

He knew that what Zhuge Liang said was very consistent with the current reality and that he could not force the other party to predict the future.

But Zhuge Jin had expected that his brother would have such doubts, so he wanted to emphasize it:
"Aliang, there are some truths that you don't understand because you are still young. You are too smart to think that others are also 'more experienced and shrewd as they get older'.

But in fact, the world doesn’t work that way. Many people who are born with natural talent, after choosing their goals in their youth, have reached the peak of their skills after ten or twenty years of hard work, and then they may go downhill.

I mean not only martial arts, but also wisdom. When people get old, only experience continues to grow, while reactions and ingenuity become dull.

Some older people seem to be more and more successful, but in fact they rely on coordinating subordinates, discerning people, being a gentleman and not a tool, and the growth of status and prestige, just like Emperor Gaozu was not good at commanding soldiers, but was good at commanding generals.

The prestige, connections, and mediation skills of older people are precisely what we young people cannot learn. So when we learn something, we cannot blindly look for the most successful elders in this field to learn from, but rather learn from those who are in their thirties or forties but have unique expertise.

General Guan is such a genius. He has not enough experience in large-scale military operations. But his basic training skills are absolutely top-notch in the world. "

These words really made Zhuge Liang fall into deep thought. He was only seventeen years old and had never thought about this question at all.

Zhuge Liang chewed it over again and again, and suddenly it became clear:
"What Big Brother said... is indeed eye-opening. I used to be arrogant and thought that no matter what I learned, it would be best to find the strongest person in the world.

I didn't expect there was such a truth in it. Brother, how did you guess that I would not accept it? You are not much older than me. "

Zhuge Jin smiled. Of course he could guess it.

He has more than ten years of experience as a gold medal lecturer, so how could he not understand the pride of his students.

Moreover, Zhuge Jin was very clear-headed. He knew that his vision on this issue was unmatched by any ancient person.

This is not a problem of a particular ancient person, but rather that the ancients’ pace was too slow and their technology and skills were updated and iterated too slowly.

In the world before the Industrial Revolution, there was no such term as "midlife crisis".

People in the Han Dynasty have always believed that all intellectual work becomes more popular as you get older.

Because experience will not be invalidated, skills will not be eliminated, and what you learn can be used for a lifetime. This has been the case since ancient times.

But modern people are experiencing the cruel social progress and transformation. Even doctors and lawyers dare not say that they are more popular as they get older, and programmers are even more bloodbathed and optimized at the age of 35.

Therefore, Zhuge Jin's understanding of "which abilities of intellectual workers can increase with age, and which abilities cannot increase with age" is obviously better than that of all earthlings before the Industrial Revolution.

Han Xin did not have as thorough an understanding of this issue as he did, so he could only give a special solution, "Old people are not good at commanding soldiers, but good at commanding generals," and could not give a general solution.

Now, seeing his second brother's disbelief and suspicion, of course he had to give him a wake-up call.

This is also Zhuge Jin’s first purpose of teaching and educating people: before learning knowledge and skills, one must first correct his attitude and understand why to learn and why not to learn.

However, he couldn't tell his second brother about his inner thoughts, so he had to find another excuse.

Zhuge Jin racked his brains to recall and found that a passage he had memorized when he was in school was very suitable for Zhuge Liang's current mood, so he changed the subject:
"A sage has no permanent teacher. Confucius' teachers were Tan Zi, Shi Xiang, and Lao Dan. Tan Zi was not as virtuous as Confucius, but Confucius said: When three people walk together, there must be one who is my teacher. Therefore, a disciple does not have to be inferior to his teacher, and a teacher does not have to be virtuous than his disciple. There are differences in the order of learning the truth, and in the specialization of skills. That's all.

General Guan doesn't know how to fight large-scale battles, so you can learn other things from him. As long as he is the best in one aspect, he is worth learning from."

"I will follow your teachings, brother!" Zhuge Liang promised sincerely from the bottom of his heart, and decided to write these words at the end of his last letter to encourage scholars after returning.

……

In the next two days, because of the New Year, everything was safe and sound in Chaisang City, and nothing major happened.

No matter how eager Guan Yu was to train his troops, he would not do so on a day like this.

However, even if he did not train the troops, his journey to broaden Zhuge Liang's horizons had already begun.

He took Zhuge Liang on visits everywhere and got acquainted with the soldiers in each camp.

Zhuge Liang was a little confused at first, and thought that Guan Yu was trying to show favor and reward the soldiers in order to boost morale as quickly as possible.

But Guan Yu did not take any measures to win over the soldiers. At most, he just picked some soldiers to talk to.

He did not even show up in person, but asked his trusted lieutenants to secretly inquire about the concerns and needs of the soldiers in each battalion.

If Zhuge Liang had been like this, he would have probably been anxious to ask for further advice if there was no effect after two days - the higher the IQ of a person, the less likely they are to delay gratification. They are always used to seeing the effects and feedback immediately after doing a little bit of work.

Fortunately, Zhuge Liang had just been taken care of by his elder brother this time. He repeatedly reminded himself that "there is a sequence in learning, and each profession has its own specialization, so read carefully and don't be impatient", so he managed to survive.

After a few more days, finally on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Guan Yu began to resume a certain intensity of training, starting with military discipline and formations, supplemented by certain rewards and punishments.

Zhuge Liang humbly wrote down all of Guan Yu's actions, and then went back to slowly ponder them, regardless of whether he understood them or not. If he didn't understand, he would compare them with the military strategies he had read, and try to confirm his understanding.

After three to five days of formal training, Zhuge Liang finally felt that he seemed to have figured out some tricks.

He took advantage of the free time after a military discipline training to ask Guan Yu a few questions:
"General Guan, I see that you have rectified military discipline and boosted morale. Sometimes you share the hardships with the soldiers, sympathize with their poor diet, improve their meals, and eat with ordinary junior officers. But sometimes you are unwilling to show favors at will, but just blindly train them strictly, set extremely high standards, and few people can meet them, and at the same time give generous rewards to those who meet them.

I guess you have learned from Li Guang's "sharing the hardships with the soldiers" and Huo Qubing's "just seek to distinguish rewards and punishments, and those who have made contributions will have a chance to come to the fore", but you seem to apply both of them casually, and there is no law to see when to use which method. Which one do you believe in?"

Zhuge Liang's words also brought up a public issue in the Han Dynasty about how to unite soldiers.

As early as the time of Emperor Wu of Han, Li Guang felt that sharing the joys and sorrows with the soldiers was the most effective way.
However, Huo Qubing thought that as long as he could lead his army to victory and clearly distinguish rewards and punishments, it was better for the generals to live a luxurious life. This way, the subordinates would have the motivation to strive for success, knowing that "if I make great contributions, I can enjoy the same life as General Huo."

For the next three hundred years, the military commanders of the Han Dynasty used these two methods to boost morale, with only slight differences in details:

Of course, if you can learn any of these two ideas to a certain extent, you can barely be considered a famous general.

For example, Duan Xing, who made great contributions in fighting the Qiang people during the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling, was a typical example of Huo Qubing, and was able to stimulate the greed of his soldiers.

However, most ordinary generals cannot do even any of these.

Don't laugh. For example, Zhang Fei, who "respects gentlemen but does not care about villains", is a typical example of not doing even one of them.

Of course, Zhang Fei can lead troops and force them to fight for him, but this is mainly done through high pressure. Whether he can change for the better in the future depends on whether he respects his brother Zhuge and whether he humbly changes.

Zhuge Liang had been learning from Guan Yu for these days, and he felt that he had already seen how to operate various styles, but he just didn't understand the basis for Guan Yu's choice.

However, Guan Yu still admired the fact that he asked this question.

"Oh? You have already figured out that I am trying to learn from others and combine the methods of Huo Qubing and Li Guang? You are indeed a learned man. You figured it out so quickly. My elder brother and Yide have been fighting with me for thirteen years, and they have never asked me this question."

Guan Yu sighed, and at the same time felt a little proud, and showed off his secret experience:
"In fact, this principle is hard to explain. The key to its application lies in one's heart. But generally speaking, there are a few vague principles.

Based on my thirteen years of experience in fighting, Li Guang's approach of sharing weal and woe with his soldiers would be more useful when you lead an army and want to protect the peace of your hometown and repel invading bandits.

Because only when the generals share the hardships with the soldiers can it be easy to inspire the soldiers to feel that "this is something we all have to protect. Even the general is suffering with us, so why should we care about gains and losses?" and inspire a sense of solidarity against the enemy.

However, if you are leading an army on an expedition to fight against foreign tribes, or if you are just trying to annex other vassal states, then sharing the same hardships is useless. Those who are willing to go on an expedition with you all want to make achievements, and the greed of these soldiers is much stronger than that of the soldiers who defend their homes and land.

At times like this, you can learn from Huo Qubing's extravagance and enforce strict rewards and punishments, so that they know the glory of success and how much they can gain by fighting hard.

The same principle has also been fulfilled in Xiang Yu and Emperor Gaozu. Sima Qian's comment that Xiang Yu was "feminine and unrewarding" actually had a lot to do with Xiang Yu's rise to power.

Emperor Gaozu started his army to protect himself at first, and later to conquer the world and gain wealth. Of course, he had to reward those who fought side by side. Otherwise, why would those villagers risk their lives and travel thousands of miles to Xianyang?

Xiang Yu was different. He started his army out of hatred and did not even think about conquering the world. He just wanted to destroy Qin. In a war to protect his home and take revenge, he did not care about gains and losses. Even if Xiang Yu did not pay the army, the Chu soldiers would spontaneously kill Qin. A woman's kindness and sympathy for the soldiers were enough.

After the fall of Qin, the battle shifted from revenge to fighting for the world, but Xiang Yu did not change his mind and gradually became deserted by his friends and relatives. The troops who hated Qin did not hate Han. Peng Yue and Ying Bu could kill Qin without reward, but they would not kill Han without reward.

Guan Yu's words were not logically rigorous. They were simply the summary of the personal experiences and insights of a famous general who had led troops for more than ten years.

Liu Bei and his troops also went through several stages. When they started the campaign against the Yellow Turbans in Zhuo County, the treatment was very poor, but the comrades never complained because they were defending their hometown.

Later, Liu Bei and Guan Yu led the local militia to fight in other places, but they were soon defeated repeatedly because of the lack of rewards and prospects. It was at that time that Guan Yu began to slowly ponder this issue.

He loved reading "The Spring and Autumn Annals", but that didn't mean he didn't read "Records of the Grand Historian". Guan Yu was a person who loved to summarize military experience from history books, combine it with his own practice, and repeatedly compare and verify it.

Zhuge Liang realized it again and again, and couldn't help but applaud: "Does it mean that if we fight to defend our country and for revenge, we should share the joys and sorrows?

As long as we invade other countries or princes, even if other countries take the initiative, as long as we attack on other countries' territory, we should mobilize the soldiers' desire for profit?

No wonder when Emperor Huan defeated the Qiang, Duan Xing stopped advancing because of continuous fighting, too many military merits, and the surplus wealth of the soldiers. Duan Xing then designed a disguise to burn the camp and destroy the property of the Qiang, to encourage the soldiers to hate the Qiang, and once again fought hard and finally won a great victory!

The story mentioned by Zhuge Liang was no longer a secret during the Jian'an period.

That was more than 30 years ago. Duan Xing, who was known as one of the three famous generals of Liangzhou, once complained that "the soldiers were afraid that they would not have the life to spend the bonuses they received after winning battles. They were also afraid that they would not be able to send the bonuses back to their families immediately because they were fighting outside the Great Wall. If they died, all the bonuses would be in vain."

Then Duan Xing realized a truth: only money can make soldiers fight, but too much money will not be conducive to fighting. Therefore, it is best to fake an enemy attack, burn the money earned by the soldiers, and turn them into poverty again.

Zhuge Liang integrated what Guan Yu said, as well as the stories about Xiang Yu, Liu Bang, Li Guang, Huo Qubing and Duan Jiong, and finally felt that he had grasped the essence.

But Guan Yu advised him not to jump to conclusions: "What you said makes sense, but it is not detailed enough to generalize.

Let's talk about the current battle. If we want to drive our soldiers to attack Zuo Rong at all costs, how can we boost morale and enforce military discipline?
As for the Danyang soldiers in the army and Xingba's Jinfan soldiers, they only wanted wealth and power.

As for the local county soldiers in Yuzhang, they may have resented Zuo Rong for bringing disaster to their hometown.

As for the soldiers from Guangling and Danyang counties, they might have some hatred for the harm done to their hometowns, but they were fighting in a foreign land after all, and their mentality was subtly different.

As for those monks who discovered that they had been deceived and repented and surrendered, that was a completely different situation.

I want to integrate these four types of soldiers with different combat purposes, but I can't obviously use four sets of rewards and punishments to treat them differently. This requires the skill of application, keeping the same mind, using the same method in different ways, so that people can't tell the clues - in short, I'm not bragging, you still have a lot to learn about how to control the hearts of the soldiers. "

Zhuge Liang was completely convinced and sighed, "I was too impatient and always wanted to summarize the rules. Some things really need to be discussed on a case-by-case basis. We can't stick to the old ways. Otherwise, we will become like Zhao Kuo."

……

After adjusting his mindset, Zhuge Liang's motivation to study became stronger and his learning attitude became more positive.

Whenever he saw Guan Yu doing something difficult to summarize during training his troops, he would no longer rush to ask questions, but would instead think more about it and ponder it more.

After all, Zhuge Liang's intelligence was the best in the world. With his elder brother's admonition on learning attitude and Guan Yu's reminder on learning methods, he naturally achieved twice the result with half the effort and made rapid progress.

After the Lantern Festival, he vaguely felt that he had mastered the application of Guan Yu's entire set of morale-boosting methods.

After he put forward his idea to Guan Yu, Guan Yu was magnanimous and gave him a chance to put it into practice.

Zhuge Liang directly deployed the training rewards and punishments for the next ten days, as well as the optimization of the soldiers' diet and living conditions.

Zhuge Liang copied Guan Yu's actions based on what he had observed, but Guan Yu immediately pointed out any minor shortcomings and asked him to fine-tune his deployment.

After another seven or eight days, there were fewer and fewer things that needed Guan Yu's guidance.

Seeing the speed of his progress, Guan Yu could not help but admire him: "You are truly a genius. It took me at least eight years, from the time my elder brother left Pingyuan to Xuzhou, to reach the level of control over the military spirit that you have today.

But don’t be too proud. The further you go, the harder it will be to improve. You have completed the first eight years of my life in just one month. For the next four years, I think you will need at least one more year to learn.

Zhuge Liang was not proud either: "Now I can reach the level of General Guan four years ago, I am already very satisfied."

　PS: It's a few minutes late, but there's a reason. This chapter has 5,000 words, and I added 2,000 more.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)