Qin Official

Hei Fu talked eloquently: "After the last battle against Chu, the commanders must also understand that Chu is not comparable to Wei or Yan. It is five thousand miles away, has hundreds of thousands of halberds, and is four generations older than Qin." Qiu. Now that the country is facing the danger of subjugation, the nobles raise the orphans and young to benefit the people, the people work hard to cultivate crops to benefit the accumulation, the soldiers repair and manage the armor to make it sharper, and the craftsmen increase the city and dredge the pond to make it stronger. The king of Chu is responsible for the cud. The ministers below Zhejie, and the general Xiang Yan saluted the dead soldiers below. It can be said that the monarch and his ministers are of one mind and work together, just like when Gou Jian was trapped in Kuaiji..."

"So I guess that the king intends to attack Chu with old general Wang Jian as the commander. If he doesn't send troops, he will do it. If he sends troops, the Qin soldiers will have to go all out. Otherwise, they will not be able to easily defeat the Chu soldiers!"

Li You was still puzzled: "That being said, how could you know that the number of troops that General Wang proposed to the king was 600,000?"

Even in the Xianyang court, there were probably no more than twenty people who knew this specific number.

In addition to the King of Qin, Wang Jian, Li Xin, Wei Liao, Xia Wuqie and other people present, only Li Si, Feng Wuze and other important ministers who wanted to participate in the plan to destroy Chu knew.

As the only highlight of the first expedition to Chuli, Li You was valued by the King of Qin and decided to let him participate in the military discussion, so he knew about this. Although Feng Jing was the son of Feng Wuze, he did not know about it because he had not reached a high level.

So when the two of them heard that Heifu reported the figure of 600,000, they were both surprised.

Hei Fu lowered his head and said, "It was inferred by the subordinates."

"infer?"

Feng Jing was a little unconvinced: "Zuo Bing Cao Shi is in Nanjun, far away from the temple, how can he infer so accurately out of thin air?"

Hei Fu nodded and said with a smile: "Yes."

The sky was gradually getting dark, the anointing lamp in the hall of the county captain's mansion had been lit, and all the servants were driven out. In front of Li You and Feng Jing, Heifu started his " deduction".

"The Art of War says that if you raise an army of one hundred thousand, and march for thousands of miles, at the expense of the people, at the expense of the public, and at the cost of thousands of gold per day, there will be commotion both inside and outside, if you are lazy on the road, and you will not be able to do anything, then you will have seven hundred thousand families..."

"At the time of Sun Tzu Wu, eight families were neighbors. If one person from each family joined the army, seven families were required to serve him. Therefore, it is said that if a hundred thousand soldiers are recruited, those who do not work in farming will have seven hundred thousand families."

In the Spring and Autumn Period, productivity was low, but the daily grain consumption of people eating horse chews would not decrease, so the recruitment rate was also very low. According to a family with 5 to 8 people, eight families range from 40 to 64 people. Wu’s conscription rate is only 1.5.

"Today, the Qin State uses the method of the Shang Dynasty to encourage farming. The yield per acre is much more than in ancient times. Therefore, about five families can send a soldier to a thousand miles away. I heard the county captain sigh a few months ago It is said that there are three million households in Qin... So a rough calculation shows that the number of Qin's soldiers is only 600,000!"

The Qin State has occupied more than half of the world, with more than three million households, each with five to eight members, and a population of between 15 million and 20 million. If there are 600,000 people, the conscription rate will be 3.

Too little? But the fact is that within two thousand years, the proportion of conscription in all dynasties will not be much higher than this number. Heifu read an article in his previous life, saying that during World War II, when Germany's military strength was at its strongest, the recruitment rate was between 11.5 and 11.5. Germany's total population at that time was about 80 million, and including the servants of the national army, it was only over 10 million. In modern times, With the technological level of fertilizers and factories, the army that a society could support was no more than this, let alone the Qin Dynasty.

600,000, this is the limit of the Qin State's conscription. Any more will greatly affect the production in the rear, the people's lives will not be able to survive, and the soldiers on the front will have no choice. During the Battle of Changping, the Zhao State's conscription reached the 10% standard. The result was that the Zhao State's economy collapsed. The entire country could not feed the frontline soldiers, and it could not borrow food from neighboring countries, so it could only fight quickly. , this is a bloody lesson.

"Therefore, the Chu State cannot be conquered without 600,000 people!"

After the deduction, a round of applause rang out in the room, and it was Li Youzai who praised: "What a black man, your calculation is almost the same as General Wang's original intention!"

Feng Jing also changed from his disapproval just now and sighed at Heifu's deduction ability. He no longer dared to underestimate this ordinary-looking black-faced soldier. He avoided the table and bowed:

"I have been studying the art of war, and I have never been very clear about the 'temple calculation' and 'knowing one's enemy and one's own self' mentioned above. Today, after listening to Zuo Bing Cao Shi's deduction, I know what 'temple calculation' and 'knowing one's self' are! It seems that there is a difference between those who have experienced actual combat and those who have not. There is still a lot for me to learn!"

Heifu quickly returned the courtesy and humbly, but muttered secretly in his heart: "Now that I know the result, I will work backwards. It all depends on how I blow with my mouth. Of course, there will be no mistakes..."

Now that Hei Fu had revealed it, Li You no longer had to hide it, so he told Hei Fu and Feng Jing the whole story of what happened in Xianyang last month.

"The second son doesn't know. As early as last year, the king asked General Wang Jian and General Li Xin about the timing. General Wang Jian insisted that 600,000 people were needed to attack Chu, while General Li Xin said that 200,000 people would be enough. So General Li Xin He was appointed commander and attacked Chu with 200,000 men, while General Wang Jian sued Pinyang."

"As a result, two months ago, generals Li Xin and Meng Tian were defeated by Xiang Yan. The Chu army entered the two walls and killed my seventh captain. Our army was defeated and retreated to Shangcai and Yangcheng. Because the first snow fell, the two countries The troops stopped, but there was no peace. There are still 100,000 troops on the front line, and the Chu people are ready to move. They may continue to march westward at any time. The war between Qin and Chu is not over yet!"

Li You was still frightened after talking about this matter. If Heifu hadn't been reliable, he might have been the eighth captain to die in battle.

"As expected, General Li Xin lost his army and humiliated the country. After the king heard about the battle, he was furious and demoted Generals Li and Meng. He also went to Pinyang in person to see General Wang Xie and asked General Wang to be his commander..."

Even Li You didn't know the detailed conversation and how the King of Qin invited Wang Jian. He only knew that in the end Wang Jian finally agreed to command the army for the commander, but the request remained the same: "It must be 600,000 people!"

Hei Fu sighed secretly when he heard this. It was impossible for Wang Jian not to leave the mountain, because he would not forget what happened to Wu Anjun Bai Qi more than thirty years ago...

Although the upper echelons of the Qin State have completed the "initial planning" steps of the war, 600,000 people cannot be gathered at once, and the food to feed these people must be slowly stored in the granary. Therefore, the senior officials of the Qin State decided not to rush to send troops this time, but to wait until the autumn harvest was full before attacking Chu. They first sent Li You and others to various counties, and immediately started this year's recruitment work after the spring plowing and farming was over. , train for five or six months before going to the front line!

After listening to Li You's description of Qin's strategy, Heifu felt a big stone in his heart. He was worthy of being Wang Jian. He had always been "stable" since before the war started.

Indeed, the Qin State now has an absolute advantage in terms of national strength, population, soldiers, and systems. Being impatient will only give others the opportunity to counterattack on the high ground. Be steady, don’t waste time, and slowly advance to pull out the tower. Even if the Chu general Xiang Yan No matter how talented he is, he can't reverse the situation.

Therefore, Li You rushed to Nanjun just after his injury was healed, just to make early preparations and start the recruitment work. After the last war, he was full of confidence in Nanjun soldiers.

"As Mr. Hei calculated just now, if five households can raise one soldier, there are hundreds of fifty thousand households in Nanjun. During the slack season, at least 30,000 soldiers can be recruited to rush to the front line!"

Calculating this, each of the eighteen counties in Nanjun will have to send at least one thousand troops, and Jiangling, Yan and other large-population counties will have to send three to five thousand troops. It is really a collective mobilization. It is not easy just to gather people, let alone Speaking of training and other matters, it is really not an easy task.

Li You said with a smile: "We won't recruit troops until after the spring plowing. When my second son arrives, I'd better go and rest in the house arranged for you."

Heifu and Feng Jing stood up and agreed, but Li You stopped Heifu again and said he had one more thing to ask him.

So Feng Jing said goodbye to Li Youzuo, nodded to Hei Fu, and came down from the hall.

When he walked to the door, looking at his pair of silk shoes inlaid with pearls and jade, and Hei Fu's pair of gray cloth shoes, Feng Jing couldn't help but sigh: "Previously, I thought it was impossible for Li You to personally recommend a humble soldier. It's necessary. I just found out today that this person is indeed an extraordinary person! No wonder Li You has so much faith in him!"

"My father and uncle were right. When you get to the counties, you should not underestimate the people of the Wuzhou tribe!"

…

In the hall, Heifu asked with concern: "I didn't have time to ask just now. Is the captain's injury okay?"

"On the way to Nanjun, the wound still hurt occasionally, but it is no longer serious." Li You said with a smile: "The king ordered the imperial physician to order Duke Xia to treat my injury. Duke Xia's medical skills are superb, and the medicine cured the disease."

Upon hearing the name Xia Wuqi, Heifu roughly guessed what Li You was going to say to him.

Sure enough, Li You pointed at Hei Fu with his hand and scolded him with a smile: "You Hei Fu, when you were bandaging my wounds in Chudi, you only said that you were friends with the doctor Chen Wujiu, and asked him to inform the imperial physician, Duke Xia. You posted a suggestion! I didn’t take it seriously at the time, but did you know that on the day I went to the palace to see the king for the first time after recovering from my injury, I mentioned your contribution in helping me break out of the encirclement? He immediately fell to the ground, confessed his guilt, and then presented a silk letter to the king in person!"

Hei Fu secretly cursed: "It's been almost a year since this happened, and there's no news at all. I thought it was all gone wrong! It turns out that Old Man Xia has been waiting for the best time! What a genius!"

Li Youyi said: "Yes, that silk book is exactly your suggestion on setting up medical and emergency rescue personnel so that the soldiers can fight with peace of mind. After listening to it, I was so shocked that even the king praised me! Do you know that the king is How would you rate yourself?”

"What did the king say?" Hei Fu couldn't help but sit up. He was a little expecting in his heart. This was the comment from Zu Long.

Li You cupped his hands toward the north with a face full of reverence and said, "Your Majesty said, are there also catalpa trees among the thorn oaks?"