In the hinterland of Guanzhong, huge wooden water wheels are everywhere on the banks of the canal. The river water slowly flows. The stone mill grinds the wheat into flour. The rotating bin pulls the water from the lower part to the platform. The water is blown and smels, and the hydraulic spinning wheel spins. When passing a village, Zhao Xingde saw someone trying to make a strange hydraulic wheel shovel, using hydraulic power to dig the silt at the bottom of the river.

After leaving Xiaoguan, there is the Hexi Corridor, the Qilian Mountains, the Aljin Mountains in the south, the Mazong Mountains in the south, the Heli Mountains and the Longshou Mountains in the south, which straddles two thousand miles east-west, making the Hexi Corridor a natural wind farm. The people of Xia made full use of the wind, a wealth given by God. The Qilian Mountains melted snow water to irrigate the fields, and the windmills everywhere gradually replaced the water wheels. The wind power promoted the overturning truck to draw water and irrigate, the wind blowing iron, the wind mill grinding surface, and almost all water conservancy machinery was replaced by wind here.

From the peaks on both sides of the north and south, the snow reflected the golden sunshine. Birds and beasts appeared in the lush woods. Rivers meandered from the mountains, cattle and sheep were everywhere in the lush grasslands, hundreds of strong horses occasionally ran out of the gentle valleys, and windmills were rotating gracefully on the fertile fields, weaving together into a colorful picture.

This beautiful scenery was as dazzling as a paradise, but Zhao Xingde always felt something was wrong. After surpassing a team of merchants' carriages, he finally understood that if it were Song State, a large number of government ships were loaded with charcoal, grain, silk and other materials to Bianliang. On the road leading to Chang'an to Dunhuang, except for the caravans, there would be no official convoy that transported materials to the capital on a large scale.

Can the production of the narrow plains in the vicinity support the capital of Xia Kingdom? When Zhao Xingde spoke out this question, he actually got a positive answer.

"That's true." Zhang Liangheng said, "There are only more than a hundred royal family and internal officials, and the five central officials are only more than two thousand officials. Only thousands of soldiers from the two armies of Longya and Tiger Wings are stationed in Xidu, so there is no need to transfer food from other places for long distances. Most of the other required materials are bought at market prices and transported like passing caravans, which saves expenses." The central government of Xia's politics, the garrison force in Dunhuang, Xidu, was only thousands of soldiers.

Zhao Xingde took a breath and asked in a low voice: "Isn't the court afraid of foreign enemies' sneak attacks?" He hesitated for a moment, "Is the general outside the capital unable to quell the rebellion?"

Zhang Liangheng had known that he had this question before, and smiled slightly and said, "Although there are only thousands of soldiers in the Xidu guards, the states outside the Xidu have stationed 30,000 to 40,000 elite soldiers. Tubo to the south has become the territory of our Daxia. From here to the north, until the Beihai, they have surrendered to the Anbei Army. Foreign enemies will never be able to attack Xidu."

He looked at the dozens of cavalry of the Andong Army Division in front and said in a deep voice: "It is even more impossible to lead the general to rebel. The soldiers of our Xia Kingdom are only loyal to the five palaces and the emperor. The general is just giving orders. If there is really a great traitor and evil, he defrauds the military power and attacks Dunhuang." He said in a contemptuous tone, "The 100,000 army will definitely turn against you, and the remaining half of the people are also planning to take the head of the rebel general and lose their merits."

Seeing that Zhao Xingde was still disbelief, Zhang Liangheng said: "During the Western Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing and Wei Qing and other generals attacked the Xiongnu in the north and controlled hundreds of thousands of troops. The number of troops in Chang'an was only tens of thousands of troops, especially as stable as Mount Tai, and they were not afraid of the rebellion of the border troops. There was nothing else, the hearts of the people were in the Han Dynasty and the morale of the army were only in the Han Dynasty. Even if the general commanded hundreds of thousands of troops, the emperor would surrender with an edict. Even if Li Guangli heard his family was imprisoned and executed in Chang'an on the front line, he would only be willing to make a desperate bet and kill the Xiongnu for his military merits. He would never dare to join forces to rebel. Now that our country's Majesty and the Five Prefectures have carried out benevolent policies, and their kindness has accumulated over a hundred years. The position in the hearts of the army and the people is farther away from the Han Dynasty. How could he follow the rebellious generals to rebel? He was loyal to the country, and the soldiers recognized him as a general. If he rebelled, he would be ruined and everyone would want to kill him quickly."

Zhang Liangheng's tone, expression, and extremely confident. He was concerned about the face of the people of Guandong. What he had not said was that the civil servants of the Xia court had always thought that the Zhao family in Bianliang could not win the hearts of the righteous, so they had to concentrate their heavy troops in Bianliang and guard against the generals who left the town like robbers. In fact, he himself was also a thief who threatened the weak by relying on his strength?

The human heart is very subtle. The people who advocate cannot take it out and say it is true, and the people who oppose it cannot tell it out and say it is false. Zhang Liangheng said this, and Zhao Xingde was speechless, only looking at the picturesque paradise on both sides of the road, and he was a little surprised.

At this time, in the main hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion in Dunhuang City, Prime Minister Liu Yi was sitting in front of the case, examining in detail the three plans to send Lu Mei to the General's Mansion Marching Department.

The worst strategy is to send an army of about 20,000 people to help Lumei Kingdom defend the city without thinking. This strategy is the most conservative and safest.

Zhongce was the General's Mansion to transfer another 20,000 soldiers from the four armies to enrich the west. When Lumei Kingdom and Dashi were both exhausted, the Luos people suffered losses. When they were about to fall, they suddenly emerged and captured Lumei City in one fell swoop. The advantage was that not only the great generals moved westward, but also obtained a good port for sea that had been long-awaited. The disadvantage was that from then on, Xia Kingdom would face direct conflicts with Luosi Kingdom and Dashi Kingdom. The army might be attacked by both sides of Luosi and Dashi, and they were trapped in Lumei for a long time.

The best strategy is to cross the river and attack Ross before capturing Lu Mei, attracting Ross' army and attention to the east, and strive to defeat Ross, forcing Ross to completely withdraw from the battle for Lu Mei, and then wait for the opportunity of Lu Mei City to take over Lu Mei in one fell swoop. Then you can still be sure of dealing with Dashi alone. The problem with the plan is that after defeating Ross, the pressure on Lu Mei City has decreased, and it is not so dependent on its ally Xia State, and it will not be willing to be ruled by the Xia people. The key is still the time.

Now Xia Kingdom still maintains good trade relations with Lu Mei, and the ports and castles built by Xia Kingdom on the east coast of the Black Sea can serve as camps for reinforcements.

Liu Yi weighed the pros and cons for a long time, but finally picked up the brush and drew a circle next to the best strategy. The Ross people always wanted to develop eastward. The horse thieves from Ross have always harassed the Xia Kingdom's settlement on both sides of the stone mountain. The looting and burning and killing were even more vicious than the barbarians in the northern desert. The Ross King Musti was also very cunning and shameless. Every time the Xia Kingdom sent an envoy to question him, he would rude that the horse thieves were actually escaped rebel nobles, and the Xia Kingdom's army helped to wipe out it.

Now the opportunity to fight has come. Let the Anbei Army Office prepare for attacking Ross first. What is the excuse to chase and suppress the horse thieves, that is, the "rebellion nobles" mentioned by King Ross. Liu Yi smiled slightly and returned the top secret file to Sima Shi'anjie, a marching general who was waiting here.

The General's Office usually communicates privately with the Prime Minister's Office in such military and national affairs. Liu Yi is a general who becomes a prime minister, and the generals of each military department have to give him some face.

Shi Anjie took the file, looked around, and glanced at the circle, showing joy, but called out the former title in the military palace and said, "General," he realized that he had made a mistake, and changed his words, "Prime Minister, do you also advocate the best strategy?"

Liu Yi smiled and nodded, saying, "Did you do the best deduction?" The marching Sima of the General's Mansion are all elites in the Xia army, and the generals' right-hand men have greatly made up for the shortcomings of the nomination of the lieutenants.

"It's the last general." Shi Anjie suppressed the excitement in his heart and straightened his back.

"It's very detailed and bold." Liu Yi smiled.

"The last general Xie Prime Minister praised him." Shi Anjie saluted again and turned around and withdrew neatly.

Compared with the clerks of the Prime Minister's Office, this young man seemed more motivated. Liu Yi looked at the closed door and curled his smile. The reason why he took the best strategy was that he was unwilling to put the country's army in the deadlock in Lumei City for a long time. The soldiers were pillars of the Xia society, and long-term expeditions outside may lead to unpredictable chaos in the country. This situation was exactly what the Xia military system wanted to avoid. The balance between the Liao and Song countries in the east was becoming increasingly fragile, and the Xia army was likely to be forced to go out of Hangu Pass east.
Chapter completed!