Datang: Ten Years of Proton, Leading an Army of Millions to Return

"Since the competition has already begun, there is no need to talk about giving it a try. It's like an arrow on a string that has to be shot." Li Kuan said slowly.

"If you want to answer, you must think it through in advance. There is no chance to regret it. Let me ask you, are you ready?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, but before you answer, I have a question." Xi Junmai said.

"Are the remaining 3,000 troops of mine the elite troops of Da Yan? Are the 100,000 enemy troops that came to besiege the city the 100,000 enemy troops of the barbarians from all directions?"

"That's true." Li Kuan said, "Then how do you plan to meet the enemy?"

"First of all, I think we don't need to panic too much when facing this situation," Xi Junmai analyzed.

"First of all, as far as I know, the range of most of the crossbows of our Great Yan is higher than that of the barbarian countries in the four directions. Moreover, if it is an elite force, it should be equipped with the Zhuge Crossbow and Eight Ox Crossbow made by you, General."

"With crossbows in hand and our superior position, if the enemy army wants to attack, we can suppress them with bows and arrows, which will surely cause heavy casualties to the enemy.

"Even if there are a few remaining enemies who can run to the city wall, we can use the wood and rolling stones to defend the city. In a short period of time, the enemy will not be able to do anything to us.

"Well, not bad," Li Kuan heard a relatively satisfactory answer.

"War is a matter of knowing both ourselves and the enemy. It is commendable that our army's advantages can be analyzed from weapons and equipment."

"But the enemy, since a strong attack doesn't work, if they change their strategy and first surround you with a large army and then slowly consume you, what are you going to do now?"

"First, I will check the food and grass in the city. There is a saying in the military manual that food and grass must be sent before troops move. As long as there is enough food and grass in the city, I will be more confident that I can stabilize the morale of the army and fight the enemy for a while."

"But if there is not enough food in the city, I will roughly calculate how many days the food can last, and then formulate a corresponding strategy based on the amount of food."

"This city is not particularly strong, so after each battle, I will summon soldiers and civilians to reinforce the city to better resist the enemy."

"The strategy is sound," Li Kuan nodded. "Then in your opinion, can you rely on your three thousand elite soldiers to defeat the 100,000 troops outside?"

"This," Xi Junmai hesitated for a while, "Your Majesty, would you like me to tell you the truth?"

"We should tell the truth." Li Kuan affirmed.

"Three thousand versus one hundred thousand, the gap between the two sides is too small. Although there are many cases of defeating the enemy with fewer troops in military books, they all took advantage of the favorable conditions of time, place, and people."

"I can't make the most accurate judgment without actually being in that environment, so I can't jump to conclusions."

Xi Junmai analyzed.

"As a general rule, the enemy has an army of 100,000, which means they must have consumed a lot of food and grass. If the city cannot be captured for a long time and the food and grass are insufficient, the morale of the army will definitely change, and the food and grass will definitely change."

"Also, even if I haven't received a response to my request for help, I will definitely wait for help. As soon as the reinforcements arrive, we can work together from inside and outside."

"Then let me ask you, if reinforcements don't arrive and food and grass are insufficient, the city is in danger of being lost, what will you do?" Li Kuan continued to ask questions.

"Then I will find a way to evacuate the people in the city," Xi Junmai said firmly, "Since they are the people of Great Yan, then as a soldier of the Tang Dynasty, I naturally have the obligation to protect them."

"If the most critical moment really comes, will you fight the enemy to the death?"

"I think this depends on the situation," Xi Junmai said boldly. "If the court has issued an order requiring us to defend the city, or if this move can severely damage the enemy, then I think a meaningful sacrifice is acceptable, but if it is an unintentional sacrifice, I will not do it."

After Xi Junmai finished speaking, time seemed to pause for a moment.

Nodded:

“Okay, passed!”

The first question was finally solved, and everyone couldn't help but sigh. They didn't expect that this guy was not only good at martial arts, but also had such profound insights in military affairs.

And he was so bold when answering the last question.

Cheng Yaojin also laughed and said, "In addition to Xue Rengui, I am also a little interested in Xi Junmai. I dare to conclude that this kid must have read a lot of books."

Li Kuan also affirmed: "General Cheng is right. I held this competition precisely to recruit such talents for Dayan."

The policy discussion continued. Although not everyone could think as meticulously as Xi Junmai, in order to ensure the success of the final competition, Li Qiu did not set the standard particularly high.

As long as one can put forward some correct insights, one can generally enter the final round. Soon, Li Kuan asked Xue Rengui.

"Let me ask you," Li Kuan said seriously.

"If you were transferred to a place to be a general, but the soldiers there were all veterans who had fought many battles, and you were young and inexperienced, so the soldiers were not convinced and not only disrupted military discipline, but also interfered with you behind your back, what would you do?"

"It is the duty of soldiers to obey orders. If there are many conflicts between the generals and the soldiers, then the army will definitely be a team without combat effectiveness. If they really go to the battlefield, they can only die."

Xue Rengui said,
"The first thing I told them was to follow the military rules and discipline that the generals should abide by. My prestige is not high, so they can temporarily disobey me."

"But if it interferes with my normal training, I will have to strictly follow military rules and discipline to deal with it one by one. At least I will never make a mess."

Li Kuan continued to ask: "So you think that as long as the military regulations are implemented properly, the soldiers will be invincible on the battlefield, right?"

"Of course not. Clear rewards and punishments are the basic conditions for managing the army. However, fighting is a matter of life and death after all. If we cannot truly form a force, we will probably be held back before the battle even begins."

Xue Rengui continued,
"Your Majesty, you just said that because I lead a group of veterans, since they have been on the battlefield for a long time, they will have the most basic judgment on whether the generals can lead the troops, whether the training methods are good, and whether the decisions they make are correct."

"Rengui has read military books since he was young, and has his own opinions on military training and governance."

"As long as the order is given, they will not disrupt the execution of the mission, and they have always been watching my daily actions."

"As long as I train the soldiers well and make them more capable, then the veterans will naturally know whether I am worthy of their service, and the army's combat effectiveness will naturally improve gradually."
"What you said does make sense, but training soldiers is a long process. If you want to see results, it will hone the officers' character and their ability to get along with the soldiers," Li Kuan asked, "Are you good at this?" "I always like to speak with my own strength," Xue Rengui said affirmatively.

"I believe that as long as I lead them to victory once, it will be enough for others to be completely convinced of me."

"Victory, what kind of victory do you want to win?" Li Kuan asked curiously, "You must know that not everyone can be a general. It is impossible for you to have many people under your command in your first battle."

"If that day really comes, I will select 200 elite soldiers," Xue Rengui said forcefully.
"Just give me two hundred elite soldiers and I can cut off the enemy general's head in the middle of the night."

Not everyone has such courage.

Cheng Yaojin quietly said to you:
"Boy, this Xue Rengui has strategy and courage. Don't let such a talent go."

"General Cheng, don't worry," Li Kuan smiled, "Xue Rengui, passed!"

Celun proceeded in a tense and orderly manner, although many people were eliminated.

But in the end there will still be some people who will stay.

When the policy essay test was nearing the end, Li Kuan finally saw Liu Rengui. There was not much expression on his face, and overall he gave people a feeling of tenacity.

The first impression Liu Rengui left on Li Kuan was silence, but Li Kuan discovered something different behind him through this silence.

His previous performances were not particularly eye-catching. Li Kuan thought that he was hiding his edge and waiting for the last opportunity to explode. So Li Kuan spread his hands and asked a more difficult question.
"Now, Great Yan has won consecutive battles against foreign enemies. Small countries in all directions are even more afraid of the strength of Great Yan and have come to Yanyun City to pay tribute."

"So a minister suggested that we could reduce the scale of border defense and use the money saved to improve the lives of the people of Da Yan. What do you think about this?"

Seeing Liu Rengui's embarrassment and Cheng Yaojin scratching his head, Li Kuan added, "Of course, this is just a policy paper. It won't involve too many questions. You can answer it with confidence."

"Your Majesty, I think," Liu Rengui thought for a moment, "this is not feasible!"

"Why?" Li Kuan asked.

"I am a military man, I didn't read much since I was young, but I agree with a famous saying of Mencius, that is, we are born in sorrow and die in comfort."

"Although the small countries in the four directions know to submit to us now because of our great strength, if our great Yan weakens, it is inevitable that they will become disloyal again."

Liu Rengui continued, "This is just like the Eastern Han Dynasty, when the northern barbarians suffered from wars and natural disasters. When they had nowhere else to turn, they turned to the Central Plains for help."

"The Han monarch was kindhearted and took them in after careful consideration. When the Han dynasty was strong, the barbarians were able to abide by the rules and obey the arrangements."

"But when our Central Plains fell into decline, especially after the 'Eight Kings Rebellion', they found opportunities and created chaos and tragedies time and time again."

"I think it's ok to live in peace with them, but we must be on guard against them and we must not lose our sense of worry. No matter what, we should keep them out of the Great Yan and never let them mess up our Great Yan country."

"As for the idea of ​​reducing the scale of border defense to improve the livelihood of the people in the Tang Dynasty, I think it is really nonsense."

"War is a major issue for a country. It is a matter of life and death. Its importance cannot be ignored at any time. If one day, foreign races break through the border and invade our Great Yan territory, then what will the people of Great Yan have to live?"

"If the enemy is far away, we can still ignore it. But if it is a strong enemy, we must be on guard at all times. If there is a chance, Liu also hopes to advise the court to strengthen the Great Wall and consolidate the northern defense."

This time, Cheng Yaojin had no chance to get a word in, and Li Kuan was also certain that Liu Rengui did have potential.

So he nodded: "Liu Rengui, passed!"

After the discussion, the sun was already approaching the horizon. Seeing the remaining contestants leaving happily, Li Kuan also felt a sense of pride:
The last and most important competition is finally coming to an end.

On the third day after the official start of the written entrance examination, the area around the arena was packed with people. Some even placed bets with silver coins, hoping to guess who would shine based on previous performance.

Cheng Yaojin was also extremely happy today. He was not a very contented person. The reason why he had been following the rules during the enrollment competition in the past few days was that he wanted to discover some talents and see if this academy could recruit the future generals of the Tang Dynasty.

So when Cheng Yaojin saw Li Kuan today, he said that he thought those people who were both civil and military had a good chance of winning in the end, and he also said that after the final result came out, Li Kuan must bring the winner to introduce him.

Li Kuan also hopes that some unexpected surprises can happen on this stage. Now there are a total of thirty-six contestants left.

According to the rules, everyone draws lots first. After the drawing, they duel in pairs, such as one against thirty-six or two against thirty-five, and then decide whether to stay or leave based on the result.

I have to say that this time it relied on both strength and luck.

Li Kuan also attached great importance to this round of confrontation, although the contestants had already had a head-on confrontation in the weighted wrestling in the previous drawing.

However, what matters on the battlefield is killing the enemy and winning. Fighting with fists and feet is not practical. The most important thing is to show your skill in weapons.

As a result, Li Kuan's attention was deeply captured as soon as the first round of competition began.

It turned out to be Liu Rengui versus Zhou Pu.

Liu Rengui has great abilities but likes to hide himself, while Zhou Pu and Li Qiu seem to have a certain fate.

They had met once before at the Yanyun City Night Market. They had never expected that he could overcome all the obstacles along the way and make it to the ring. It could be said that these two could be considered heroes.

Liu Rengui's weapon is a long sword. From a distance, he looks like a Confucian general.

Zhou Pu held copper hammers as big as his head in his hands, and looked extremely brave.

After meeting, the two bowed to each other.

According to the rules, the ring is for admissions competitions, not private fights among the people. To win, you only need to knock your opponent off the ring, and you cannot cause the opponent's death or serious injury.

(End of this chapter)