Water Margin people

Chapter 1482 Liu Qi and Wu Jie

In the military camp, a group of generals who had no training tasks were learning to read books. In the past, military books were contraband and not everyone could read them, but now the military books of Qi State are public and everyone in the army can read them.

"Brother Wu, take a look at this part, it's really a classic!"

Liu Qi pointed to a description in a military book and said that he was reading "Mirror of Six Armies" written by Li Jing, a famous general in the Tang Dynasty.

This book has always been a secret collection of the royal family and was not easily shown to others, but now it can be circulated freely in the army. This makes Liu Qi very excited. Although he also comes from a military family, the military books he has read are very superficial.

Wu Jie was about to speak when Zhu Wu walked in.

"Liu Qi, come with me to the palace. His Majesty wants to see you!"

Zhu Wu spoke immediately when he saw Liu Qi.

"Your Majesty wishes to see me?"

Liu Qi was stunned for a moment, but immediately became excited. Although he had met the emperor many times, those were all when the emperor inspected military affairs. This time it was the emperor summoning him, which was completely different.

"Zhu Zhiyuan, why did His Majesty summon me all of a sudden?"

Liu Qi looked at Zhu Wu and asked.

"Didn't you write a memorial? His Majesty will ask you a question after reading it! That's a good thing!"

Zhu Wu said with a smile.

"Memorial?"

Liu Qi then realized that a few days ago he had submitted a memorial with everyone else about the Western Expedition, in which he expressed some of his own views.

"Zhu Zhiyuan, that memorial was not my idea alone. Wu Jie also had the same idea, and my memorial was also inspired by him."

Liu Qi quickly pointed at Wu Jie and said to Zhu Wu that the credit should not be taken alone, and without Wu Jie's inspiration he would not have been able to write that memorial.

"Wu Jie? Well, let's go together!"

Zhu Wu said as he looked at Wu Jie who was sitting not far away reading a book.

"I...I don't need to go. His Majesty is summoning Liu Qi, it's not appropriate for me to go!"

Wu Jie said quickly.

"Let's go together, so I don't have to make another trip!"

Zhu Wu said without a doubt that Wu Jie was obviously not as open-minded as Liu Qi, and this was also related to their personal ideas.

Although Liu Qi came from a military family, he was not satisfied with the relationship between the cowardly Zhao and Song. Having seen the shortage of soldiers and food on the front line, he had no psychological burden to surrender to Qi.

But Wu Jie was different. He was born into an ordinary family, had a calm and resolute character, advocated integrity, and understood righteousness. After joining the army, he led his troops in battle diligently. The sudden demise of Zhao Song and the sudden emergence of Qi made him feel a little at a loss.

Zhu Wu's unquestionable words forced Wu Jie to stand up and follow. He was only a deputy general now and had no right to disobey the order of the Deputy Privy Envoy.

Zhu Wu quickly brought the two of them to the imperial study.

"Your Majesty, Liu Qi and Wu Jie are here! The memorial was written by Liu Qi inspired by Wu Jie."

Zhu Wu reported to Sun Lei.

"Wu Jie?"

Sun Lei pulled out a letter from the memorials, it was from Wu Jie. He had read it before, it was a very ordinary memorial.

"Did you write this?"

Sun Lei waved the memorial and looked at Wu Jie and asked.

"It was written by me!"

When Wu Jie saw the familiar memorial, he saluted Sun Lei.

"It's just average writing. Is that all you can do?"

Sun Lei looked at Wu Jie and asked, if Wu Jie could see the problem with the Hexi Corridor, he would not have been able to only write such an ordinary memorial.

"This general... This general can only think of these!" Wu Jie hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"No, Your Majesty, Wu Jie is very capable. When he discussed with me privately, I admired his opinions very much!"

Liu Qi hurriedly helped Wu Jie explain.

Wu Jie looked at Liu Qi with gratitude. He knew that Liu Qi wanted to help him, but Liu Qi didn't expect that helping him at this time would harm him. He couldn't bear the crime of deceiving the emperor.

"Forget it. If you don't want to talk, can I still pry your mouth open?"

Sun Lei shook his head and said that he had no intention of holding Wu Jie accountable, nor did he mean to force him. It was a personal freedom to do anything or say anything. If Wu Jie didn't want to say anything, he wouldn't force him.

"Liu Qi, your memorial is very good. The issue of the Hexi Corridor is very important."

Sun Lei spoke while holding Liu Qi's memorial.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Liu Qi saluted to Sun Lei.

"Now that you've discovered the problem, have you thought of a solution?"

Sun Lei looked at Liu Qi and asked.

"I discussed this issue with General Wu when I was escorting him. We both agreed that we should strengthen the defenses of the cities along the Hexi Corridor and build sentry towers, using beacons and smoke signals."

Liu Qi bowed and spoke.

"Is this what you think?"

Sun Lei looked at Liu Qi, then at Wu Jie who was keeping his head down and saying nothing.

Liu Qi and Wu Jie both nodded. This was the solution they came up with.

"So how many cities do you plan to build? How many soldiers will you keep?"

Sun Lei looked at Liu Qi and Wu Jie and asked.

Liu Qi didn't know how to answer for a moment and could only look at Wu Jie.

"The Hexi Corridor is about 2,000 miles long, with the widest part being 600 miles and the narrowest part being only a few miles. It is narrow in the east and wide in the west. There are large city gates such as Lanzhou, Zhangye, Wuwei, Jiuquan, Guazhou, Dunhuang, and Yumen Pass, and dozens of small cities in between. It would take about 100,000 people to defend it."

Wu Jie looked at Sun Lei and said, he is from the northwest and knows the area very well.

"One hundred thousand? There are only one hundred thousand troops on the front line! Do you know how much it would cost to deploy one hundred thousand troops in the Hexi Corridor? How much of a burden would this be to the country?"

Sun Lei looked at Wu Jie and asked.

"An army of 100,000 people consumes 200,000 kilograms of food a day, plus military pay and other expenses..."

Wu Jie spoke.

"Don't count these consumptions. Food is nothing. It's nothing. The most difficult thing is to transport the food to the front line. How much food is consumed on the road?"

"Also, even if they can supply all the consumption, can a hundred thousand troops deployed on a road of more than two thousand miles really guarantee the safety of the logistics supply route?"

Sun Lei looked at Wu Jie and asked, a hundred thousand troops may seem like a lot, but a road of more than two thousand miles is not short, and even if more than a hundred thousand people were deployed there, it would still be very sparse.

Wu Jie was speechless. He knew that an army of 100,000 was a drop in the bucket for a 2,000-mile defense line. Even if there were 10,000 troops in a city, the range they could really cover was only a hundred miles. There were still large gaps in the defense line, and these would definitely be seized by the enemy.

"If safety cannot be guaranteed, and such a large investment is required, why do such a loss-making business?"

Sun Lei looked at Wu Jie and asked.

"Your Majesty, if we don't take the Hexi Corridor, we can only take the northern Gobi Desert, where the roads are even more difficult to travel, and the climate changes greatly!"

Liu Qi said that the Hexi Corridor was the key to connecting the Western Regions. If one did not take the Hexi Corridor, one would have to take the grasslands and Gobi Desert, but there were no ways for carriages and horses to pass there, let alone transport heavy food and fodder.

"Who said we have to go through the grasslands and the Gobi Desert? There are both Gobi Desert and mountains over there. Cavalry can only walk in front, but how can we transport the baggage?"

Sun Lei said that if the north could be passed, the Hexi Corridor would not have become a must-pass place on the Silk Road.