I am not a seventh-generation descendant of Lord Wu'an from the Qin Dynasty.

"General, ten men and a hundred generals, all assembled!"

Li Tian nodded slightly, and his personal guards stood on either side with swords in hand, looking quite imposing.

If you don't look, you'll see him frowning.

"Brothers, there is a matter of life and death that I, Li, must speak out about."

Inside the main tent were the hundred-man generals that Li Tian had just promoted, and everyone was in high spirits.

Upon hearing this, Li Kui was the first to jump out and shout, "General, please speak freely. Isn't it just about wiping out the scattered bandits in the Taihang Mountains?"

"At the commander's command, we will charge into battle."

Sun Cheng was a step too late, and hurriedly said, "Through water and fire, I would gladly die for my lord's command!"

Bai Qi was looking down at the bonus the treasured bow gave him for archery when he heard the voice and agreed.

"Me too!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized something was wrong.

Turning his head, he saw that the seven centurions promoted by the new recruit instructors were all looking at the three of them with disdain.

"Is there a problem?"

Li Tian let out a sigh of feigned relief.

"If it were that simple, then it would be easy to handle."

"The year before last, Qin and Wei fought each other, and last year Qin and Han clashed. Many soldiers and civilians on the border of the three countries were scattered and fled to the Taihang Mountains to become bandits."

"At the very least, the population is no less than 30,000 to 50,000, and those who possess weapons are probably around 15,000."

Sun Cheng's face turned pale, and he decisively sat down.

Li Kui's face darkened, but fortunately it was hard to see clearly.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were turning to him, Bai Qi thought for a moment and asked.

"How many troops do we have?"

Li Tian's expression softened, and he said hopefully, "Let's launch a joint operation from the three counties, each gathering a thousand men!"

Three thousand newly recruited Qin soldiers faced off against fifteen thousand armed and routed soldiers from the former Three Kingdoms.

This doesn't even take into account the extreme exploitation of those 30,000 to 50,000 people; what if a Wagangzhai suddenly appears...?

Bai Qi looked troubled.

Inside the large tent, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Li Tian opened his mouth, but still asked, "Gentlemen, does anyone have a plan to defeat the enemy?"

Ten men and a hundred generals all bowed their heads.

Li Tian gave a wry smile and waved his hand, saying, "Fine! Let's stick to what we agreed before: three months of training in the recruit camp, followed by a lottery to select the best soldiers to go into the mountains to suppress bandits!"

"A lottery? That won't do! I've never won a single lottery ticket!"

Bai Qi immediately raised his hand and shouted, "General, Bai Qi has a plan!"

"Uh, you have a plan... wait, you said you have a plan?"

Li You's expression was strange, with a resentful look in his eyes that seemed to say, "Why didn't you say so sooner if you had a plan?"

"Yes! I have a plan!"

Bai Qi gave a forced smile, touched his nose with his index finger, and said in deep thought.

"General, is it possible to coordinate operations across three counties and command them simultaneously?"

Li You subconsciously shook his head, then quickly nodded, pointing at him and saying.

"You tell me your plan first."

"If they seek refuge in the mountains, then there will surely be a shortage of food in the mountains."

Bai Qi's eyes lit up: "We can organize three merchant caravans, displaying grain and cloth, and enter from other counties to lure bandits down the mountain to plunder."

"Secretly, the caravan had copper and iron weapons embedded inside, and crossbowmen were planted everywhere, waiting for the bandits to fall into the trap."

"Gather chariots into formation, stockpile grain into mounds, defend with utmost vigilance, use smoke signals as a warning, and then unleash a full-scale siege."

"To defeat the few with the many, to attack the unprepared with the prepared, to attack the unarmored with the armored—this is the way to achieve a swift victory!"

Li Tian frowned slightly and asked, "What if the bandits don't come out, or only partially or completely?"

The Taihang Mountains are so vast that even if their three-county caravan traveled from one end to the other, they could still lure several bandit strongholds down the mountain, making them impossible to eradicate completely.

"Don't worry, General, Bai Qi has another plan."

"besides?"

"Once we achieve a great victory, we can spread the news of this battle far and wide, and then secretly send elite troops disguised as bandits into the mountains to spread the word: 'The Qin army is a tiger and wolf army, and cannot be defeated!'"

Bai Qi pondered for a moment and said, "Outside, we should spread military flags widely and recruit the strongest and most capable soldiers from the rebel army."

"During the day, they set off cooking fires and galloped along the mountainside, conducting extensive drills of tactics to storm the mountain strongholds."

"At night, elite troops are secretly dispatched from the camp, returning the next morning to create the appearance of a continuous stream of reinforcements to suppress the bandits, thus projecting military might and intimidating the enemy!"

Li Tian asked, puzzled, "Intimidation? The bandits are afraid that Qin Fa will hide deep in the mountains and they won't be scared out."

Bai Qi shook his head: "Qin has newly annexed the three counties of Han. The land is vast and sparsely populated, and the situation of suppressing bandits is urgent. We can report to the prefecture and apply for a reduction or exemption of land taxes for the three counties."

"Then, by offering a reduction or exemption of land taxes for one to three years, we will lure those good thieves who are afraid of the Qin army attacking the mountains and are worried that everything will be destroyed, to come down from the mountains and become new Qin citizens."

Li Tian's eyebrows twitched twice. He looked Bai Qi over carefully and asked, "..."

"What if there are still stubborn rebels who refuse to surrender?"

Bai Qi sighed, "We can take this opportunity to secretly find hunters in the mountains to act as guides, and then use the elite troops hidden in the mountains as our assistants."

"Select the strongest and most capable bandits to lead the wolf army, followed by Qin's elite troops armed with bows and crossbows. With the Anjia wolf army attacking the stubborn rebel stronghold, a complete victory can be achieved!"

Li Tian smiled and said, "Tian, ​​no further objections. What about the rest of you?"

"Great! We have no objections!"

"Very well, from this day forward, all generals shall train the troops diligently, and Tian shall go and contact the commanders of the three counties."

Li Tian said excitedly, "If we win this battle according to our strategy, I will strongly recommend Bai Qizi for the greatest credit in suppressing the bandits!"

"Yes, sir!"

……

"Someone come here!"

"My lord!"

"A urgent message, delivered to Xianyang at breakneck speed!"

The left-handed retainer hesitated and said, "My lord, wasn't one of those urgent messages just delivered?"

Li Tian was as excited as if he had been hit on the head with a gold mine, pacing back and forth.

"You don't understand, this time is different!"

"Return to Xianyang immediately, run as fast as you can. If you can intercept the urgent message within 600 li ahead, do so. If you can't, deliver it to your elder brother personally."

"The opportunity for the Li family to rise again in the Qin state lies today! Right here!"

"Yes, sir!" The left-hand retainer bowed on one knee in farewell, saying, "As long as we live, our faith will endure; our mission will be accomplished!"

……

On Xianyang Avenue.

A lone rider galloped a thousand miles to arrive.

"Urgent message! Make way! Make way now!"

The magistrate of Xianyang squinted at the red flag of the urgent dispatch from 600 li behind the rider and immediately waved his hand.

"Quickly, evacuate the road leading directly to Prime Minister Lü's residence!"

He immediately clasped his hands in a fist salute to the left and right.

"Here you go!"

Just as the 600-li urgent messenger passed by, another rapid hoofbeat came from afar.

"Urgent message! Make way! Make way now!"

The magistrate of Xianyang urgently ordered, "Quickly, disperse the filth again!"

Only after the knight rode through did the magistrate of Xianyang wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

"That's strange, has something serious happened at the border?"

The two knights, almost one in front of the other, were helped into the Prime Minister's residence by the guards of the Prime Minister's residence.

However, just as the rider in front was about to shout to report to Prime Minister Lü, he was interrupted by the rider behind.

"Report to Li Si, a court official, that a letter has arrived from his homeland on the frontier!"

The guards of Prime Minister Lü's residence were taken aback, but immediately complied and led the two men to Li Si.

Li Si opened the two completely different scrolls of letters, his eyes flashing rapidly, a sharp glint in them, and he said urgently, "Prepare the horses!"

He strode out the door, stepped out of Prime Minister Lü's residence, leaped onto the warhorse that his attendant had just brought, and galloped away with a whip.

"Giddy up!"

……

Xianyang Palace.

Li Si lay prostrate on the ground.

At the head of the table, a handsome young man with his hair tied up was carefully reading the two bamboo scrolls.

"Snapped!"

The letter fell onto the table, and the boy with his hair tied up got up and walked into the inner room.

This place is extremely simple, with empty spaces on all four sides and a table in the center, on which three bronze longswords are enshrined.

The boy with his hair tied up looked down, past the sword of King Mu of Qin, which symbolized the hegemony of the Qin state.

The sword, symbolizing the Qin dynasty's founding cauldron, swept past Qin Shangjun's sword, and finally, with slender fingertips, slowly drew out the blood-red longsword that the old Qin people kept secret.

Qin Wu'an Jun's Sword!

"Where is Lord Wu'an?"

The boy with his hair tied up spoke with a powerful, resonant voice, like metal striking stone.

"Li Si, do you intend to use the name of the grandson of Lord Wu'an to help me ascend to the throne and assume personal rule?"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Si bowed deeply and said in a drawn-out tone, "My king will marry this autumn, taking a woman from Chu as his queen. With the resources in his hands, if he can win the hearts of the army, the Qin state can be at peace!"

"And what about Chancellor Lü?"

"Your Majesty's Qin Dynasty has no need to worry about a mere foreign minister!"

"presumptuous!"

Li Si immediately prostrated himself on his hands.

"Summon: Establish a Shanglin Garden near Xianyang Palace, and inform the garrison to select brave and strong young men from the Qin army to practice martial arts there, according to their age..."

The boy with his hair tied up suddenly had a sudden thought and asked, "Oh right, how old is he?"

Li Si said with certainty, "Bai Qizi has come of age and is now married. His wife is pregnant."

"Then the age limit is twenty-two or under! Select elite soldiers to protect the Imperial Guard..."