Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

Seeing the generals' furrowed brows, she subconsciously let go of their hands and said, "My lord, I am tired. Perhaps I should rest. I will not attend the banquet."

"This is not possible..."

Bai Su gave her no chance to refuse, grabbing her delicate hand and saying, "Once you've joined my Liangshan, you're mine. There's no reason to leave the banquet. Come, come, have a few drinks with me."

With that, he walked into the hall.

Han Xin was not a particularly eloquent person, and faced with Bai Su's almost shameless behavior, he had no idea how to refuse and could only be half-heartedly pulled inside.

Seeing this, Bai Su smiled with satisfaction. As expected, a girl with no personality, no material possessions, and no emotional attachments is the best. Putting her in Xiang Yu's hands would be a waste of talent.

He specially had Han Xin sit next to him and had someone specially serve Han Xin the fresh venison that he had cooked for him.

Looking at Bai Su, who was warmly welcoming him, Han Xin felt a mix of emotions.

She thought that after arriving at Xia Jun's camp, Bai Su wouldn't pay much attention to her since she had lost her usefulness, but she never expected to receive such courtesy, and was immediately flattered.

She said, "My lord, I am a commoner, of humble origin, and now a general without soldiers. Your treatment of me makes me feel truly apprehensive."

Bai Su smiled and said, "In our Great Xia, we never look at people's backgrounds when it comes to employing people. We only appoint people based on their talents. Back then, Lord Wu'an, Bai Qi, did not rise from a commoner to become a great general. Zhang Yi rose from a mere persuader who couldn't afford to drink to become the prime minister. And your talents as generals are in no way inferior to those two."

"As for not having soldiers, that's simple. I'll give you an army of 100,000 right now..."

As he spoke, he waved to Chen Ping.

Chen Ping walked over carrying a copper tray, lifted the red cloth to look inside, and saw that it was the tiger tally for mobilizing troops of the Great Xia Dynasty.

Han Xin parted his lips slightly, an incredulous look on his face: "My lord, are you really willing to hand over the military tally to me?"

Bai Su smiled and said, "That's right. I have long admired your talent, General. If you would be willing to lend me a hand, it would be like adding wings to a tiger, allowing it to soar to the sky. I wonder if you would be willing?"

"This……"

Han Xin was speechless for a moment. Judging from the frowns of Fan Kuai, Xiahou Ying and others, the tiger tally was obviously genuine.

With just a wave of her hand, she could easily gain command of an army of 100,000 and become a regional commander.

It should be noted that when she was in the State of Chu, she had been following Xiang Yu for a year, yet she never had the actual authority to mobilize tens of thousands of troops.

But Bai Su, who was standing in front of her, was willing to entrust 100,000 people to her simply because he had met her a few times and admired her talent. What a magnanimous heart she had!

It is said that the Duke of Zhou spat out his food to welcome guests, and the people's hearts turned to him.

The Grand Master of Ceremonies before me is in no way inferior to the Duke of Zhou.

Despite her excitement, she hesitated for a long time before refusing: "No matter what, Xiang Yu has been kind to me. If I were to join forces with you, sir, I would surely be at odds with Xiang Yu. Please allow me to refuse."

Fan Kuai, Xiahou Ying, and the others were already extremely dissatisfied with Han Xin. Upon hearing her words, they immediately frowned and wished they could stand up and teach her a lesson.

Bai Su stopped him with a gesture, then smiled and said, "There's no rush. With so much happening today, General must be quite tired. Why don't you go and rest for a while and think it over?"

Han Xin did not refuse. After respectfully bowing to Bai Su, he slowly withdrew with the maid.

After she left, Fan Kuai couldn't help but curse, "That woman is so ungrateful! My lord, what's the point of keeping someone like her around?"

Chen Ping said thoughtfully, "I've always observed that you never do things without certainty, so there must be some other deeper meaning behind it."

Chapter 351 The War of Public Opinion: A Small Sheet of Paper Is Worth an Army of 100,000

Bai Su smiled slightly: "Don't underestimate Han Xin just because she's young. She has the sharpest spirit in the world. Keeping her here will be of great use in pacifying the Wei-Han coalition."

“Here, the nobles of Chu have considerable influence. Han Xin has lived in Chu for many years, and we are currently short of manpower. If there is someone as capable as him, then naturally we will have one more.”

"Even if she really doesn't want to serve me, just losing Xiang Yu's arm is already a sure win for us."

Chen Ping nodded slightly: "I see."

Although Fan Kuai was still somewhat dissatisfied with Han Xin, since Bai Su had spoken, she couldn't say anything more.

She looked at Bai Su and couldn't help but ask, "Since you've already thought of dealing with the remnants of Chu's power over the years, does that mean you plan to take action against Xiang Yu soon and seize the entire Chu kingdom?"

Her words stunned all the civil and military officials present.

After all, although Xiang Yu has suffered a setback and temporarily halted his offensive, his morale remains high.

Especially under Xiang Yu's personal leadership, it was as unstoppable as a long spear.

Despite Fan Kuai's arrogant words and lack of fear of the Chu army, she felt a chill run down her spine when it came to actually facing Xiang Yu head-on in a real battle.

Facing such a brave and skilled army, it would probably take at least a year or two to determine a victor.

Bai Su took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "No, it is precisely because Xiang Yu was too strong on the battlefield that the Chu army suffered its biggest defeat."

Chen Ping and Fan Kuai exchanged glances, a hint of doubt on their faces.

When did strong individual ability become a weakness?

Isn't that an advantage?

Bai Su put down his teacup and drew a circle on the table with the tea: "If we say that our Xia army is like an egg, hard on the outside and soft on the inside, then Xiang Yu is like a sharp arrow, with an unstoppable arrowhead, but no killing power at all around."

"If any trouble arises, she will need to personally lead the troops to quell the rebellion, using victory after victory to stabilize the alliance of the six states and boost the morale of the Chu army. So here's the question..."

"No matter how sharp Xiang Yu's arrow is, she can't be in two places at once and can only choose one direction to attack each time. That's when our opportunity comes."

“We may not be her match on one front, and it won’t be long before she takes down the cities we’ve defended. But we can also take the initiative.”

"If we can't win with this one arrow, we'll just shoot a few more."

"We will divide our troops into several units and take turns harassing the Chu army camp day and night. During the day, we will conduct military exercises in front of them, and at night we will beat drums and gongs, pretending to launch a night attack to harass them."

"If the Chu army attacks in anger, we will turn around and run back into the city. If the Chu army ignores us, we will launch a surprise attack."

“If they are on high alert, that’s fine. We can take turns. I’ll go on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and you can go on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.”

"They just bully them because they have more people."

"If Xiang Yu gets angry and leads the entire army of the country to fight me to the death, that would be even better. The troops from other places should quickly head south to launch a surprise attack on Shouchun and Jiangdong, and carry out a 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' strategy, making it difficult for Xiang Yu to attend to both ends."

"We possess several major granaries, including the Western Regions, the grasslands, Liaodong, Guanzhong, and Sichuan. Even if we fall along the way, we can continue to fight by relying on the supply of grain from other directions. It can be said that our strategic depth is far greater than theirs."

"But Xiang Yu could only rely on the Chu capital of Shouchun and the Jiangdong region. If she lost these places, her logistics would be completely cut off, and the morale of the Chu army would be completely shattered."

"In these ten wars, we can lose nine times, but if Xiang Yu loses just one, she's finished."

"Therefore, under this premise, what we need to do is very simple: keep besieging the State of Chu from all sides. We don't seek a great victory, we only seek to avoid defeat. As soon as Xiang Yu returns to reinforce us, we will retreat quickly and keep harassing them. We will never give them a chance to win in one battle."

"Once Xiang Yu withdraws from the front lines, troops on other routes can quickly advance and gradually erode the Chu army's living space."

"Our goal from beginning to end has been the same: to keep Xiang Yu constantly on the run. Although she wins battles and we suffer defeats, our territory expands and our strength grows, while the Chu army grows weaker and weaker."

"When Xiang Yu is completely exhausted, that will be the time for our final battle."

Upon hearing Bai Su's words, everyone's eyes lit up.

This tactic is very simple; anyone can see it. But when it comes to countering it, it's truly unsolvable.

The reason is simple: this is a standard strategy of using the advantages of a large country to bully smaller countries.

I will never gamble the entire nation's military strength in one fell swoop, lest we capsize and the whole army be wiped out. Instead, I will divide the nation's military into smaller units and take turns harassing the enemy.

Xiang Yu could only achieve victory in one direction at most, while the Xia army could achieve victory in several directions, and the overall situation would continue to tilt in the Xia army's favor.

Ultimately, Xiang Yu may have faced a situation where he was constantly winning and had not suffered a single defeat, but in the end, he inexplicably lost.

While Chen Ping was overjoyed, he seemed to have thought of something and frowned slightly, saying, "But sir, all of this is based on the premise that Xiang Yu is fighting alone. What if the Wei-Han allied forces cooperate with Xiang Yu and block our southward advance?"

Fan Kuai and the others also realized what was happening.

Yes, although the combined forces of Wei and Han are no match for the Chu army, they can still delay the Xia army for a while.

Bai Su smiled and said, "Don't worry, Wei Bao and the others definitely don't have the energy to help Xiang Yu."

Chen Ping was taken aback: "What do you mean by that, sir?"

Bai Su picked up a piece of Xuan paper from the table and asked, "Do you know what this is?"

"This is Xuan paper, which was invented by the adults and used for printing books. There are still many bookstores in the private sector that publish many novels and other things."

Chen Ping glanced at Bai Su with some doubt, unsure of what Bai Su was up to.

Bai Su said with a smile, "That's right. Xuan paper is used to record information and facilitate its dissemination. After many years of development, merchants in the private sector built a large number of bookstores and printed various books."

"And the source of this paper is all in the hands of the imperial court. Controlling the paper mill is equivalent to controlling the lifeline of all the bookstores in the world. Do you know what this means?"

Chen Ping felt as if he had touched something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

She couldn't help but cup her hands and say, "I hope you can enlighten me, sir."

Bai Su said, "Simply put, it's an information and public opinion war. Merchants all over the world are at my beck and call. I can get them to help me spread the information I want, and... in addition to the various schools of thought that have come to join me recently."

"They all have considerable influence among the common people. When the imperial court, the talented people, and the merchants unite, they will create a force no less powerful than a million-strong army."

"For example, I can spread the news that Wei Bao and Han Wangxin colluded with Xianyang, let people see some things sent from Xianyang as evidence, and at the same time get the various schools of thought and merchants to cooperate in expanding public opinion and confirming the facts."

"At that time, the Wei-Han allied forces will be too busy to even explain themselves, and the three armies will be thrown into chaos. How could Xiang Yu easily entrust his back to them?"

"In this way, the seemingly powerful alliance of the six states will also collapse, and the day Xiang Yu is defeated will be the day the nine provinces are unified."

After saying that, he gently placed the teacup on the table, a confident smile spreading across his face.

The hall was now deathly silent.

Chen Ping, in particular, felt as if a bolt from the blue had struck her after Bai Su explained the purpose of this propaganda war, leaving her feeling completely numb.

She never imagined that this small piece of paper would have such power.

A tiny, inconspicuous piece of paper is more powerful than a million-strong army.

Bai Su smiled as she looked at the admiring expressions on everyone's faces. It was actually quite an unexpected surprise.

It was precisely because he had built private schools and promoted bookstores in the Central Plains in the previous years, and popularized Xuan paper throughout the country, that he had the foundation to wage a war of public opinion.

If it were a few years earlier, when the literacy rate among the general public was extremely low, public opinion wouldn't have been able to escalate into a conflict even if it were wanted to.

If it had been a few years later, some intelligent people would have gradually realized the harm of spreading rumors through books and tabloids.

At present, paper has not been widely used in the Central Plains for long, and people are relatively simple and honest. No one has spread rumors or committed fraud in the Central Plains yet, and people are not very wary. This gave him the opportunity to use his scheme.

Chapter 352 Hidden Under the Table

As the banquet came to an end, everyone left.

In an instant, only Bai Su remained, sitting alone in the quiet hall. She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and gazed at the full moon outside the window, lost in thought for a long time.