Ever since the beginning of the year when Qi State and the barbarians had a battle in which the barbarians suffered heavy casualties, they have begun to recuperate and have not set any intention of attacking the people of Qi State.
However, their situation did not improve. They had suffered too much loss in that battle, and now, Qi State was eyeing them covetously. As long as they made any move, Qi State would beat the drums of war, making them panic.
More importantly, their food situation this year is also very bad. If it continues like this, they will only have two choices, one is to surrender, the other is to migrate.
As a result, problems began to arise within the Barbarians.
Originally, the barbarians were made up of multiple tribes, and within the tribe, they first considered their own tribe. So now, it was normal for internal problems to arise. Some were in favor of surrender, some were in favor of persistence, and some were in favor of migration. With different opinions, they persisted for another half a year.
In the past six months, some tribes have secretly contacted Yonghe Hou, wanting to know what arrangements will be made if they surrender.
Yonghe Hou had not been to the military camp for long. He was already in a semi-retired state, and the military camp was basically managed by Yonghe Hou's son. This time, Yonghe Hou's son called all the generals and captains to start the battle, and the main general's tent was filled with dozens of people.
The eldest son of Yonghe Marquis said, "I received a letter from the barbarians today. Now the tribes among the barbarians are disagreeing, and some tribes that want to surrender have taken the lead. The letter says that if they surrender, how will Qiguo arrange them? What do you think?" While asking, he passed the letter down for everyone to see.
So everyone started discussing the letter while reading it.
"We are afraid that their surrender is fake. If it is fake, then we will lure them in and start a war. The consequences will be disastrous." said a guerrilla general. The 50,000 Yonghe troops were divided into five teams.
"That makes sense." The guerrilla general of the second team echoed.
General Ao was the guerrilla general of the fourth team. He said, "But if their surrender is genuine, it won't work if we refuse."
The Prince of Yonghe said, "That's why I asked you to come up with a solution. I will submit your solution to the emperor. If their surrender is genuine, then there is a genuine solution. If their surrender is fake, then there is a fake solution. Please think about it."
Not only were the guerrilla generals whispering to each other, but even the centurions sitting on the ground behind the guerrilla generals were whispering to each other.
Seeing that they were all discussing and had no intention of expressing their opinions, Yonghe Hou's son said, "You can speak one by one. Start with team one."
A guerrilla general said, "I think we should monitor them for a while to see if their surrender is genuine or not before making plans."
The Yonghe Marquis nodded without commenting: "What about the captains of the first team? Do you have any ideas to add?"
The centurions had nothing to add. The guerrilla general in their team was not easy to get along with. He had a somewhat gloomy personality and was somewhat suppressive of his own troops. He liked to compete for credit, so they did not dare to oppose his opinion.
The opinions of the guerrilla generals were also quite pertinent. In fact, they did not put forward any effective opinions, but they did not remain silent either. So, his opinions were neither correct nor helpful. He liked to be steady. He seemed to have a bad temper, but he actually had a plan in mind.
A team of centurions: "We have no objection." Many people are satisfied with this life without any merit or merit. Moreover, the centurions receive a monthly salary of eight taels of silver. Even if they go to the battlefield, as long as they do not make mistakes and are careful to save their lives, then this "job" can be used as a "retirement". After decades, it will be no problem to save a sum of money. In fact, many centurions hold this mentality.
The son of Yonghe Marquis asked the guerrilla general of the second team: "Old Chen, what do you think? Speak out so that everyone can hear it."
The second guerrilla general said, "I agree with the previous one. Surveillance is the best. However, since they are willing to surrender, we can give them a chance to express their sincerity."
The Prince of Yonghe nodded and said, "This is something we can consider. Cheng Qian, write it down." Cheng Qian was the Prince of Yonghe's confidant, the Captain of the Imperial Guards, Cheng.
Cheng Qian: “Yes.”
The Prince of Yonghe looked at the three teams of guerrilla generals.
The guerrilla general of the third team said: "My opinion is the same as the two above. As for the others, I haven't thought of them yet." He was a rough man who only knew how to fight and follow orders from his superiors. He really couldn't think of these complicated ideas.
The Prince of Yonghe said, "That means I have no opinion. The same opinion as before is not your own. If you don't provide other opinions, then I have no opinion."
The guerrilla general of the third team was embarrassed: "Well, I really don't have any opinion. I'm just stupid."
The captains behind him started to grumble. If maintaining the same opinion as the previous ones did not count as their own, then wouldn't the previous ones who raised opinions have the upper hand? However, the captains only grumbled a few words in private, and they didn't dare to ask the prince openly. They didn't have the courage to do so.
The next question was asked to General Ao. General Ao was also a rough man, and he knew his own abilities very well, so he said: "I don't have any ideas, the captain behind me can tell me if he has any ideas."
Qin Fang had read military books for a year and did have an idea. He saw the prince looking at him, hesitated for a moment, and stood up: "My prince, I have an idea."
The prince of Yonghe nodded. In fact, he thought highly of Qin Fang. Moreover, the prince's wife often mentioned Qin Fang's family to him this year. For example, starting from July and August, the broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, watermelons, etc. that their family ate were all from Qin Fang's manor. Of course, as princes, they naturally did not eat for free. They paid according to the market price. The Yonghe Marquis's mansion was very careful in dealing with people and never took advantage of others. Otherwise, wouldn't it be putting their necks on the knife of the emperor? You know, the emperor might be waiting to find out the braids of their mansion.
Qin Fang had thought about this when the Yonghe Marquis's son brought it up. He said slowly, "There are only two possibilities. One is that the Barbarian Tribe's surrender is real, and the other is that the Barbarian Tribe's surrender is fake. If it's real, there's a real solution, and if it's fake, there's a fake solution. We just need to figure out solutions one by one."
A guerrilla general said, "It's easy to say, but what about the specific method?" He didn't like Qin Fang because Qin Fang had been in the limelight for the past year. First, the bride suspected suicide on the wedding day, then the Laba porridge, and then the new vegetables, etc. Even his family bought new vegetables that Qin Fang's family didn't buy, especially the big fruit called watermelon, which tasted very good. However, he felt that Qin Fang was very stingy. These things were all paid for. He didn't expect him to give them away for free, but the other party had to show off, right? And also because he had a thousand-man leader reaction in his team, and the soldiers below envied Qin Fang's area.
In his opinion, such a person who loves to show off should not be suitable for the military camp. But Qin Fang has made contributions, especially last year when he captured the barbarians to save the young master, and then attacked the barbarians again at the beginning of the year. His contribution is indeed not small.
Qin Fang could naturally hear the other party's dissatisfaction. He was not a young man who had just arrived at the military camp and did not care about it. He knew that he only needed to satisfy the prince and General Ao. So facing the words of a team of guerrilla generals, Qin Fang did not pay attention. He continued: "Whether facing those who surrendered sincerely or those who surrendered in disguise, we only have one solution, that is, surveillance."
The second team's guerrilla general said, "Yes, that's the reason." That's why he mentioned surveillance just now. No, the surveillance he mentioned was just a simple suggestion, but it was not as detailed as Qin Fang said, and he didn't have a specific plan. But it didn't matter, it didn't hurt his appearance.
The Prince of Yonghe was very satisfied: "So, you have a concrete idea. Even if it's surveillance, it's not just talk. Do you have a specific surveillance plan?"
Qin Fang said: "Yes, we are mainly targeting those who pretend to surrender. The barbarians' military strength is comparable to ours, but no matter how strong the military strength is, it mainly depends on the group. If the group is divided, using their 5,000 or 10,000 troops to fight against our 50,000 troops is undoubtedly like an egg hitting a rock."
Yonghe Hou Shizi said: "Yes, what is your specific plan?"
Qin Fang: "Break the whole into pieces."
Phew… A group of guerrilla generals laughed out loud: "You think this is a war? Break it down into small pieces."
General Ao was dissatisfied: "If you don't understand, don't interrupt. Aren't you disturbing Qin Fang by asking this? Do you think he is a reckless man like you? Since he mentioned it, he naturally has his own opinion." General Ao and a group of guerrilla generals have the same rank. Qin Fang is his man, so he naturally doesn't want him to look down on him like this. He didn't say anything before because the last one or two sentences were not appropriate. Now General Ao has seized the opportunity.
When a group of guerrilla generals heard what General Ao said, they stood up immediately. He hated being called a reckless man. Or rather, many generals did not like being called a reckless man, because it would make them look rude. To them, reckless man was a derogatory term. A group of guerrilla generals looked at General Ao with a sullen face: "What? Are you a scholar? Bah, if you are a scholar, what are you doing here?"
General Ao said: "I didn't say I was a scholar. I am also a reckless man. It is because I am a reckless man and I know my own limitations that I didn't interrupt. I am not like some people who have no self-awareness at all."
A group of guerrilla generals drew their swords and said, "Ao, if you have the guts, let's go outside and see who has no self-awareness."