Fang Yun stood on the city wall, looking at the open grassland outside, occasionally seeing hares jumping and gray wolves hunting.
"Since there is no time limit, it means that this place should be safe. But what if the old man is not here? Is there a great scholar guarding it? But I didn't feel it when I mobilized the official seal of the King of Transport just now."
Fang Yun once again held the official seal of King Yun. Everything in the entire mountain village was within his perception. He knew how many soldiers were training hard, how many were coping, how many were sick, how many children were weak, how talented the people in the courtyard were, and so on.
"This kind of power is obviously good, but why do I feel more pressure?"
One is a mountain stronghold of a thousand people, the other is a barbarian tribe of tens of thousands. The more you understand them, the stronger the sense of powerlessness becomes.
"well… "
Fang Yun sighed, then took a deep breath and cheered himself up. His experience in Huanmeng Pavilion made him understand many things. A person can be depressed, angry, pessimistic, escape, or even despair, but as long as he survives, there will be a turning point! He may win!
Fang Yun thought to himself, holding the official seal, and issued orders to all the people who had passed the imperial examination and above, asking them to go to the military academy.
Fang Yun went down the city wall and came to the main hall of the Military Academy. There was a large table in the middle of the hall. Eight people were sitting on both sides. Judging from their clothes, they were a Hanlin, two Jinshi and five Juren.
"Greetings, King Yun!" The eight people stood up and greeted him in unison.
The monarch is like a great Confucian scholar, and the status of a king is equivalent to that of a university scholar.
Fang Yun looked at these men carefully. They all had higher literary status than himself, but they did not show any arrogance. They were solemn and respectful, and observed strict military discipline.
"Please take a seat, everyone." Fang Yun was not polite and walked to the main seat.
Fang Yun sat down, and the other eight people sat down one after another.
There was a very rough map on the table. Fang Yun took a look and saw that the Wolf Barbarian Tribe was right in the middle, with no small tribes or demon gathering places around it.
This mountain stronghold is located in the south of the Wolf Barbarian Tribe. It is neither a strategic point nor a dangerous place. There is only a section of wall blocking the entrance to the valley. If it were not for the suppression of the great Confucian Zhenwen, it would not have been able to stand firm.
"Tell me about the situation here." Fang Yun said.
Then the generals gave a general account of the situation here one after another.
After listening to it, Fang Yun realized that the barbarians would occasionally come to harass this camp, but most of the time they pretended not to exist. As for what was happening outside the grassland, the people in this mountain village didn't know either. They only knew that the Ten Nations and the Holy Academy would come to deliver food and supplies.
Although there was something strange about it, Fang Yun was not prepared to delve into it. It should be like what the old man said, he could not get anything out of them. So he stopped distracting himself and just thought about how to destroy the barbarian tribe.
Fang Yun stared at the map for a long time but could not see anything. With the strength of this mountain village, it was impossible to capture the wolf tribe of tens of thousands of people.
"Mencius said that favorable weather is not as important as favorable geographical conditions, and favorable geographical conditions are not as important as harmonious people. The people in this village work together. But their strength is too weak, and they can never compare to the ten thousand wolf tribes."
"As for the geographical advantage, although the Wolf Barbarians forced the human race out of the grassland, thousands of years have passed. They were born and raised on the grassland and make a living by grazing. This is their homeland, and we don't have any geographical advantage at all."
"The weather. Needless to say, one must be a great scholar to partially influence the weather. The barbarian king of the other side is only at the level of a great scholar. Neither side can influence it. But they often live on the grassland and know much more about the weather than we do."
"The timing, location and people are all suppressed. How can we fight this war? How can we destroy this barbarian tribe?"
Fang Yun thought about it and still didn't know how to win, so he asked: "It's impossible for us to destroy that barbarian tribe. You all know it very well. What do you think?"
"If we lure them to attack the stronghold, you can kill them all, but you said you won't do that. So, we have no choice."
Fang Yun said: "Even if the old man is not here, I think this mountain stronghold is easy to defend but difficult to attack. With the strength of a thousand people and a page of great Confucian text, it can be defended. After all, the Barbarian King is only equivalent to a university scholar. With the great Confucian text here, he would be courting death if he rushed in."
"It's easy to get the true texts of the great scholars, but those barbarians are not fools and will not attack the city desperately. Their purpose is very clear, to trap us to death in the mountain stronghold. However, with the adults here, we have the food and grass of the Holy Academy. We will not starve to death, but we will not be able to grow stronger."
Fang Yun nodded. He also knew the barbarians' method of attacking the city. They would first destroy the power of the holy temple in the city, and then start to attack the city. However, everything was based on the barbarians having an absolute advantage. If the barbarians did not have a big advantage, they would surround three sides and leave one side, cut off water and food, and wait for the soldiers and civilians in the city to escape before they could capture the next city.
Even if there is no old man guarding this camp, as long as there is a page of great Confucian text to suppress it, the ten thousand barbarians will have to lose at least five or six thousand before they can be taken down. After all, the power of the great Confucian text is too strong.
"No matter what, as long as we lure them to attack, that's the only way to defeat them, right?" Fang Yun said.
"That's true, but unless the Wolf Barbarian Tribe feels they can't survive, they will not attack us. Otherwise, they won't start a full-scale war. The Wolf Barbarian Tribe is just like us. They have been guarding here for generations. They are guarding the ancestral temple."
"All of you and the barbarians can't leave?"
"Yeah, and never left either."
Fang Yun continued to discuss with everyone and clarified a few points.
Taking the initiative to fight would mean certain death. Any so-called military strategy would not be effective because the barbarian tribes had an overwhelming advantage.
If you want to win, you must force the barbarians to attack the city, but also weaken them.
At the end of the discussion, Fang Yun asked helplessly: "Our only solution is to force the barbarians into a dead end and let them attack the city?"
"There is absolutely no other possibility, unless you suddenly have the ability of a Grand Secretary and lead us to attack."
Fang Yun said: "I heard the sound of reading in the academy. In a few years, those students will become successful, right?"
A general said with a bitter face: "The people in the village cannot leave, nor can they take the imperial examination. In the future, they can only be students before the emperor, and it is impossible for them to go one step further. So you said don't count on them."
Fang Yun felt even more heavy-hearted, as this meant that even the most upright path of cultivating talents was blocked.
"I understand. You guys can go away now."
After everyone left, Fang Yun sat alone in the main hall of the military academy, staring at the map, thinking constantly, and gradually understood a lot.
"If it is to test my ability to lead an army in battle, there is no need to make the gap between the two sides so big. No matter how powerful a general is in history, he would not use war to massacre tens of thousands of barbarians. Therefore, to pass this test, war is definitely not the main means."
"Since we can't win by cultivating talents, then simply leading the human race to develop won't work either. In other words, the Holy Academy has countless ways to cultivate talents, and I'm not the only one needed."
"In this case, there is only one way. That is to weaken the barbarians. Let's start from this aspect."
Fang Yun entered the academy and searched for all the information about the barbarians in the library. He spent a whole day reading it. Then he gathered the oldest people in the village together and listened to them talk about everything about this grassland.
These old men were very smart. They could tell at a glance that Fang Yun wanted to destroy the barbarians, and then they offered advice.
The old people talked about everything at once and often quarreled with each other over conflicting points.
However, these old men all agreed on one thing: they knew that the Wolf Lake and the grass on the grassland were the foundation of the barbarians. If the Wolf Lake and the grass were destroyed, the Wolf Barbarians would lose their support.
The elders suggested many solutions to the problems of Wolf Lake and the grassland, but none of them were very reliable.
After chatting with the old people, Fang Yun walked up to the city wall. Holding the official seal, he activated the power of the official seal and flew high into the sky, where he could "see" the extremely distant places on the grassland.
In the center of the grassland, there is a big lake, and beside the lake there is a wolf tribe.
The wolf barbarians thrive in the tribe, and there are herds of cattle and sheep outside the tribe. A few wolf barbarians are grazing, which is the biggest difference between wolf barbarians and wolf demons.
Humans can use their talents to accomplish all sorts of incredible things, but barbarian monsters are different. Most of them have powerful bodies and blood strength. A demon saint or barbarian saint can flatten a mountain with one punch, but they can't even make it rain, whereas even a scholar in the human race has the opportunity to write a poem to pray for rain.
In addition to being physically strong, the monsters also have some innate magic skills, but those skills have many limitations and are far from being as varied as those of humans.
However, the monsters have always suppressed the human race with their strong bodies and talents.
Fang Yun looked at the world, his mind full of thoughts. At this moment, the world was extremely harmonious, as if everything could survive on this grassland.
A rabbit was eating grass quickly with its three-petaled mouth moving. A fox was lurking in the dark and suddenly jumped out, scaring the rabbit into running away. Finally, the rabbit escaped the fox's pursuit and just crouched down to rest when a hawk swooped down and grabbed the rabbit with its powerful claws.
The praying mantis nearby was so scared that it flew away in a hurry, and the dragonfly not far away was startled so much that it fled with the insect in its mouth.
Fang Yun's eyes lit up.
"Food chain! Ecological balance! As long as we disrupt the ecological balance here and make the barbarians lose their place of survival, even if we don't move a single soldier, we can reduce their strength to the minimum!"
"The basis of the grassland food chain is this grass. No matter whether it is poisoned or burned, it is impossible to achieve real results. However, the ecological imbalance can be gradually changed like boiling a frog in warm water. By the time the barbarians realize it, it will be too late to save the situation. We humans can either take action when they are at their weakest, or we can sit back and wait for them to fight to the death!"
"Then let's take it one step at a time!"
Fang Yun thought to himself and immediately summoned all the military officers with official titles to the main hall of the Military Academy.
Soon, Fang Yun sat at the main seat, the officers sat below, and the others stood on both sides. The main hall was filled with a solemn atmosphere.
"I have a plan to weaken the barbarians, but the process is complicated and may take several years to complete. I hope you will cooperate."
"yes."
"I heard that the human race and the barbarian race have been secretly trading with each other, and it is basically controlled by the aristocratic families. Is this true?"
"Yes. But those who do this are usually from the side branches of the big families, or those who cannot advance further in terms of literary status. As long as they don't go too far, the higher-ups will turn a blind eye."
"Okay. You report to the Holy Court and have those merchants spread the word that starting this year, they will no longer buy sheep from the barbarians, but only goats, and the price of goats is twice that of sheep, so as to induce the barbarians to increase their efforts in raising goats." (To be continued...)