Xu Yan agreed.
Liu Che couldn't help but smile as he instructed Su Heng,""Tell the alchemists in the Hall of Sages to prepare. Tell them that I will invite the Empress, Empress Dowager, Grand Empress Dowager, and the officials in the court to watch the Immortal Technique at noon today. Tell them to prepare well and not make any mistakes.”
"In addition, inform the Empress, Empress Dowager, Grand Empress Dowager, and the others of this matter. Tell them to go to the Weiyang Palace's main hall to watch.”
Although Emperor Liu Che was a very courageous and capable emperor, after hearing Xu Yan's suggestion, he immediately arranged for someone to perform the immortal technique in the palace.
For this, he even invited the Empress Dowager, Grand Empress Dowager, the three dukes and nine ministers, and other important officials of the court to watch.
Of course, if he wanted to hold a grand performance of the Immortal Technique, he definitely had to prepare in advance.
Inviting people to watch the performance of the immortal technique also required a process.
Therefore, Liu Che decided to put the performance of the Immortal Technique on this afternoon, at noon.
Midday, which was from one to three in the afternoon.
One afternoon was enough for the alchemists in the palace to perform their immortal techniques to their heart's content.
"This servant obeys!"
When Su Heng heard Liu Che's orders, he quickly went to convey the emperor's edict.
After Su Heng left.
Only Liu Che and Xu Yan were left in the hall.
Liu Che also asked Xu Yan a question that he had been struggling with for a long time," Teacher Xu once said that the Son of Heaven should have a strong army and a strong horse. Those who have an army are the Son of Heaven, and those who don't are only the Son of Heaven's puppets. I wonder how Teacher Xu thinks I can become the true Son of Heaven?”
Liu Che's question was almost clear that he wanted to take power.
However, Xu Yan shook his head and said,""In fact, I never thought that there was a conflict of interest between His Majesty and the Empress Dowager. Even before the late Emperor passed away, there was a deep meaning in handing the Tiger Tally over to the Empress Dowager.”
"What do you mean?"
Liu Che frowned, not understanding why Xu Yan would say that.
Xu Yan did not answer Liu Che's question directly, but asked another question.
"If His Majesty really holds power, what will he do? Will he dismiss all the old officials who advocate the teachings of Huang Lao and replace them with Confucian scholars? Or would he directly prepare his troops to fight the Xiongnu?”
There was almost no doubt that with the young Martial Emperor's personality, these two things were definitely unavoidable.
However, the young Emperor Wu had never truly considered whether the Confucian scholars could really govern the country, nor did he consider whether the current Great Han Imperial Court really had the strength to contend with the Xiongnu.
In other words, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was still too young and not a mature emperor.
His so-called idea was just a young man's impulsive idea. He had not seriously considered the feasibility of the matter.
"I admit that there are some problems with using Confucian scholars, but what's wrong with fighting the Xiongnu?”
Liu Che said unwillingly.
He admitted that it was problematic for him to wantonly promote Confucian scholars and use them to replace the officials in the court.
However, he did not think that there was a problem with the matter of counterattacking the Xiongnu.
Xu Yan shook his head and said," Your Majesty, you've misunderstood. I didn't say that there was a problem with your actions. I just feel that your way of thinking about the problem is not comprehensive enough."”
"What does Master Xu mean?" Liu Che frowned.”
Xu Yan looked at the young Martial Emperor and said leisurely,""Take the matter of Your Majesty wanting to conquer the Xiongnu as an example. I only have one question for Your Majesty. Why did Your Majesty want to conquer the Xiongnu?”
"Why did you conquer the Xiongnu?"
When Liu Che heard this question, he answered without thinking,""Naturally, it's for the sake of our Great Han people no longer being bullied by the Xiongnu.”
Xu Yan wasn't surprised to hear Liu Che's reason. He smiled and asked,""Then does Your Majesty think that you can use this reason to persuade the Empress Dowager and the civil and military officials in the court?”
Indeed, in order to prevent the Han people from being bullied by the Xiongnu, they sent troops to fight the Xiongnu.
This reason was very hot-blooded and could resonate with the people of the Great Han Dynasty.
However, could such a reason convince the civil and military officials in the court to send troops to the Xiongnu?
The answer was yes.
No!
Liu Che also knew that this reason could not make the civil and military officials of the court, Empress Dowager Dou and the others agree to go to war with the Xiongnu.
Therefore, after a moment of silence, he asked Xu Yan,""Then according to Master Xu's meaning, what kind of reason should we use to persuade the Empress Dowager and the people in the court to send troops to the Xiongnu?”
When Xu Yan heard this question, he became serious.
He said to Liu Che seriously,""Your Majesty, please remember one sentence. This sentence is also the core of my study of things, the Military Chapter. All wars were merely a continuation of politics.
"This is just like how Your Majesty wants to send troops to the Xiongnu. Before sending troops, Your Majesty must understand one thing, and that is why you want to send troops.”
"Or rather, what is your goal in sending troops to the Xiongnu?”
"Is it to stop the Xiongnu from harassing our Great Han, to seize a strategic fortress, or to plunder the wealth and land of the Xiongnu?”
" If a war does not bring certain benefits and strategic advantages to the country, even if you win on the battlefield, the war will still be a failure on the political and strategic level.”
"Political level, strategic level, tactical level!”
"These three are the three levels of war that my theory of investigation of things has divided.”
After Xu Yan finished speaking, he returned to the previous topic and asked,"So, I will ask Your Majesty again. Why did Your Majesty want to conquer the Xiongnu?”
"I…"
Liu Che was speechless and didn't know how to answer.
Although he didn't understand Xu Yan's theory of war, he was still greatly shocked.
Seeing this, Xu Yan did not urge him.
As if he was answering his own question, he continued,"If I were to persuade the Empress Dowager and the people in the court to send troops to the Xiongnu, I would first persuade them from a political level.”
"Ever since our Great Han was founded, we have been constantly harassed by the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu see us as weak sheep, and even some small Xiongnu tribes don't have any respect for us.”
"If the Great Han continues to not resist and treats the Xiongnu in a conciliatory and friendly manner, the Xiongnu and other tribes will definitely think that the Great Han is even weaker and can be bullied. They will invade our territory, slaughter our people, and plunder our wealth.”
"Thus, our Great Han must counterattack the Xiongnu's invasion. No matter what happens, as long as we can cause a certain number of casualties to the Xiongnu, we can stop the Xiongnu from oppressing our Great Han and let them know that our Great Han is not a fish that can be slaughtered at will.”
" Secondly, I'll analyze it from the strategic level. Through the comparison of national strength, population, number of troops, equipment, weapons, and so on, I'll use real and effective data to analyze the probability of winning this war.”
" Then, I'll tell everyone what kind of benefits we can gain from this war, whether these benefits can offset the losses of the war, whether they can bring benefits to the Great Han Imperial Court and the people, and so on. I'll use this to persuade everyone to agree to send troops.”
"Finally, there is the analysis of tactics. This level of analysis is what we usually call the art of war and tactics. The choice of who to lead the army, how many troops to mobilize, whether to use a frontal assault or a surprise attack, etc., can all be decided by the commander and general.”
"What does Your Majesty think of such a three-level war analysis?”
Liu Che was greatly shocked when he heard this and could not come back to his senses for a long time.
Until today.
Only then did he know that there were so many things behind this war.
After a long time.
Liu Che came back to his senses and said with some disappointment,""This one thought too simply!"
I hope everyone will support my new book and give the author some motivation to write!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。