My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 535 Marquis of Changping
Liu Rong did not have any strong dissatisfaction with Empress Dowager Dou sending her own nephews—especially her two most outstanding contemporary nephews—uninvited to participate in this important national strategic discussion meeting.

In Liu Rong's view, the concept of maternal relatives was no different from that of feudal lords of different surnames, feudal lords of the imperial clan, or even the eunuch faction in later generations.

These are all groups that inevitably emerged during special historical periods or under special historical backgrounds, and who must shoulder historical missions.

Admittedly, the calamities caused by maternal relatives, the problems of regional separatism, and the dangers of eunuch factions disrupting the government all demonstrate the negative impact these groups had on feudal dynasties.

However, from a materialist perspective, everything has two sides.

For later dynasties, those regimes at the height of their feudal dynasties, the feudal lords and regional military governors were certainly a source of trouble.

However, for the Han dynasty, especially in the early Han dynasty and even earlier in the Zhou dynasty, the feudal system with vassal kings as its carriers was the most advanced and ingenious conception of Chinese culture at that time.

If you told the Ming emperors that the fragmentation of the country by warlords would bring disaster to the world, most Ming emperors would have agreed with this statement, except for Zhu Chongba, who was sentimental and unwilling to listen to such words that were detrimental to his descendants.

But what if you were to tell Emperor Gaozu of Han, Emperor Wen of Han, or even the Zhou emperor that the enfeoffment system was not feasible?
Then you're probably just like an old man who hanged himself—you're tired of living.

The same applies to maternal relatives.

For later dynasties, the concept of maternal relatives was utterly useless; it was impossible to see any good in it.

However, for the Han dynasty, which was still in the early stages of feudal civilization and feudal society in China—at least in the first half of the Western Han dynasty—the natural bloodline advantage of maternal relatives was an important factor that the Han emperor could not ignore.

In Liu Rong's view, whether they were feudal lords, imperial relatives, or eunuchs, they were all like students of "Chinese civilization," going through an indispensable process from kindergarten to primary school, middle school, and finally university and graduate school.

—Even when he was still in kindergarten, the Zhou emperor thought that the feudal system was the best in the world!
However, by the time of the Qin and Han dynasties, when the Chinese civilization reached the primary school level, it realized that the enfeoffment system was not all good, and that its drawbacks became increasingly apparent over time.
At the same time, as Chinese culture completed its educational progression from kindergarten to primary school, the positive effects of the feudal system itself became less important.

It's like addition and subtraction; kindergarten children need to count on their fingers to do it, and it's really useful.

But by elementary school, simple addition and subtraction can be done mentally, so using your fingers to calculate is a waste of time.

At present, the Han dynasty has not yet reached the point where it "views the maternal relatives as a raging flood, suffers greatly from their harms, but has no need to use their benefits at all."

Even today, the Han dynasty can still receive many positive feedbacks from the positive aspects of the maternal relatives' group.

Even with the example of Empress Lü and her powerful maternal relatives, the Han dynasty did not resort to violence against them, but rather used them cautiously.

The reason is simple: the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

Furthermore, although Empress Dowager Dou's move was somewhat abrupt, considering the positions and status of the two people who came, it was not so unacceptable.

Dou Ying goes without saying.

As early as the later years of Emperor Taizong and the early years of the late emperor, he was already a renowned Confucian scholar. Even disregarding his status as a relative of the empress, he was still capable of holding a nominal position of two thousand shi (a unit of grain) such as a scholar-official.

Later, as a general, Dou Ying quelled the Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu, thus gaining military merit.

With his literary and military achievements, plus his status as a relative of the empress, if the Han dynasty had not been quite wary of the sons of empresses since Empress Lü, and if the failure of Marquis Zhangwu Dou Guangguo to become prime minister during the reign of Emperor Taizong had not served as a cautionary tale, Dou Ying would have already been qualified to be the deputy prime minister and imperial censor, and would have been preparing to become prime minister.

Now, Dou Ying, who has become the Chancellor of Han, has enough official position, military achievements, and military knowledge to qualify him to appear at this national strategic conference concerning the future of the Han Dynasty.

To be honest, given Dou Ying's status and position, it was Liu Rong who didn't actively invite Dou Ying to this meeting. Instead, it was Empress Dowager Dou who wanted to give Liu Rong a good tug on the ear.

As for the other one, Dou Pengzu, the Marquis of Nanpi and Grand Master of the Palace, his situation was not much different.

While the status of one of the Nine Ministers of the Court is not such that attending this meeting is absolutely mandatory, no one would find it strange that one could attend the meeting simply because of this status.

Dou Pengzu, in particular, was the Grand Master of the Palace, one of the Nine Ministers, who was relatively more closely associated with military affairs.

Although not as closely related to the national military as the Commandant of the Guards or the Palace Attendant, they still had a significant connection with military affairs because they were in charge of the nation's horse administration and indirectly influenced the development of the Han cavalry.

In addition, Liu Rong does not rule out the involvement of maternal relatives in national affairs—especially at this stage, he does not think that the maternal relatives group 'must be dealt with'.
Liu Rong didn't find anything wrong with the appearance of Dou Ying and Dou Pengzu.

Without batting an eye, Liu Rong greeted his two uncles and gave a perfunctory explanation as to why he hadn't summoned them. He also accepted their uninvited arrival and quickly brought up the main topic.

—The old man Junchen is both marrying off his daughter to a foreign ruler and making the Right Wise King Yizhixie concurrently the King of Rizhu;

Concurrently in charge of—or even with key control over—matters in the Western Regions!

Clearly, this is a strategy to use the Western Regions as a blood bank, a source of healing, to wage a protracted war with the Han Dynasty that could last for decades.

What's even more obvious is that Liu Rong doesn't want a protracted war.

Every minister, official, and general of the Han dynasty, as well as every person of insight, was unwilling to engage in such a protracted and mutually destructive war with the Xiongnu.

In fact, in any two sovereign states, the side that holds a strategic advantage, and whose strategic advantage will inevitably grow and which will eventually achieve a complete victory, usually does not want the battle lines to be extended and ultimately evolve into an endless tug-of-war.

—Only when the forces are evenly matched should one consider how to win.

Having an advantage, and with the passage of time, the odds of winning will inevitably increase until one day you can almost reach the point of 'certain victory'. At that point, the question is no longer how to win, but how to win as quickly as possible with the least cost.

Liu Rong was politically astute, but militarily, he was not comparable to the generals and commanders in the palace at that moment, except for Dou Pengzu.

Not to mention veteran generals like Luan Bu and Li Ji, or cavalry commanders like Han Tuidang—even Dou Ying, a former imperial relative general who had "gilded" his reputation in the army, was not someone Liu Rong could easily rival in terms of military prowess.

After all, Dou Ying had indeed led troops before, and had managed his 200,000-strong army in a well-organized manner without any major chaos.

Although Dou Ying's troops did not achieve even the smallest victory during the entire Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu, nor did they participate in even the smallest scout encounter.

However, the military wealth that a war brought to Dou Ying was far greater than what Liu Rong could gain by staying in the Weiyang Palace in Chang'an, conducting a few sand table exercises, and reading through the military books of the ancients and reports from the front lines.

Liu Rong has always been very critical of such matters.

An emperor can be a great general, but he doesn't necessarily have to have the talent to be a great general.

Being able to understand military and war logic, and having a basic, introductory understanding of military strategy, is enough to ensure you won't be misled by generals. This applies not only to the military, but to all other areas—whether it's civil administration or the economy—there are always professionals who specialize in these areas and can do a better job than feudal emperors.

What emperors need to learn most and should do best is to employ these professionals.

Therefore, after raising the question, Liu Rong did not try to seize the right to speak, but instead left the stage to several military generals.

As Liu Rong had predicted, almost immediately after he finished speaking, everyone in the hall, including Dou Pengzu, the Marquis of Nanpi, whose military skills were the most ordinary, frowned with serious expressions.

The first to speak was none other than Li Ji, the Marquis of Quzhou, who was now undoubtedly the number one military figure in the Han Dynasty.

"Does Your Majesty know why the strategy of 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' is a seemingly ineffective tactic even for military strategists?"

A soft question elicited a "please" gesture from Liu Rong, after which Li Ji lowered her eyes and sighed, "Because of time."

"The reason why the strategy of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao is unsolvable is because of time."

"Those who fall into the trap have no time to conquer the 'Zhao' in front of them, let alone take a step-by-step approach to ensure they are not ambushed and return to the 'Wei' that they must save as soon as possible."

"Time is running out, so the generals and commanders are in a hurry."

"When you get anxious, you lose your composure."

···
"The art of war says: 'To relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao' means to attack the enemy's inevitable defense, thus relieving the enemy general's attack on the same spot."

"But in the view of us veteran generals, the strategy of 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' is not only about 'attacking what the enemy must defend,' but also about attacking what the enemy must urgently rescue!"

"The plan will only succeed if we make the enemy so anxious that they will disregard everything else—even the safety of their march—and rush back without regard for anything else."

"And after realizing this, most veterans will come to another conclusion."

"In matters of military strategy and warfare, there are times when opportunities are fleeting, and there is also the principle that haste makes waste."

"Opportunities for combat are fleeting, and that is certainly true."

"But before the fighter jets appear, the first thing the general must do is patiently wait for them to appear."

“We can take some measures – we can use external forces to seek the emergence of fighter jets as soon as possible, or even to seek the emergence of better fighter jets.”

"But the ultimate goal remains to seize the opportunity and strike when the momentum is there, rather than disregarding the opportunity and hastily rushing for quick success..."

After Li Ji spoke, everyone in the hall nodded in agreement.

Even Liu Rong agreed with the military philosophy implied in Li Ji's words.

Although the Han Dynasty has seen significant development and openness in its culture since Emperor Hui abolished the "Law on Possessing Books" and allowed ordinary people to privately possess books, most important classics remain closely guarded secrets of noble families.

Among them, military classics, namely the popular "Art of War" and various military theories, were particularly problematic because high-ranking officers kept them secret within their families, passing them down only to sons and not to outsiders.

Liu Rong had no doubt that if Li Ji's words were recorded in a book and sold on the market, it would definitely make those middle-ranking military officers who aspired to become "family generals" fight tooth and nail, and pass it down from generation to generation as a family heirloom, serving as the foundation for their family's prosperity.

But soon, Liu Rong realized the suspicious points.

"I understand what Marquis Qu Zhou means."

"I also agree with Your Excellency's insightful opinion on the strategy of 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao'."

"But what does that have to do with the current situation, with today's topic?"

As he spoke, Liu Rong did not forget to probe, "Does Marquis Quzhou mean that in the face of the Xiongnu's intention to 'seek a protracted war,' our Han family should not be hasty, for haste makes waste, and there is no good solution for the time being?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ji shook his head with a helpless smile.

Then he sighed and said, "Your Majesty, you have misunderstood this old minister."

"What I mean is: in military formations, unless the strength and weakness are obvious, if one side wants to defend to the death and fight to the death, then the other side will most likely find it difficult to achieve a quick victory."

"Especially when the weaker or disadvantaged side no longer aims to win the war, but instead aims to delay and entangle the enemy, the stronger side will find it even more difficult to achieve a quick victory from an enemy who is not seeking victory but only to delay defeat."

"After all, winning is difficult, but remaining undefeated is much simpler."

"If, on the basis of 'invincibility,' one were to take a step back and only seek 'avoiding a swift defeat,' then that would be even more... "

In the end, Li Ji shook his head and sighed helplessly, the meaning of his words quite clear.

—If the Xiongnu wanted to win, it would be easy; they only needed to fight one battle.

If the Xiongnu only wanted to avoid defeat, then it would be a little more difficult for the Han to achieve a complete victory.

Now, the Xiongnu are adopting a protracted war posture, clearly disregarding victory or defeat. They have no intention of defeating the Han, but only want to wear down the Han, hoping for mutual destruction and to take someone down with them before they die—or even to severely damage the Han before they die!

This major setback was not achieved through military clashes on the main battlefield, but rather through a depletion of national strength at the national level!
It's like a beggar who doesn't ask to beat you up or even punch you, but just waves a filthy mop in your way, determined to give you a good whack no matter what.

Q: How can I get past the street corner where the beggar is "guarding" without getting feces on myself?

Having understood Li Ji's true intention, Liu Rong fell silent.

The stratagem of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" is so insidious because it leaves no time for the enemy; they must immediately drop everything and rush back to their aid!
Conversely, if the enemy is given ample time or strategic space, and is determined to wear you down...

"The Xiongnu are determined to wear us down; Your Majesty should try to subdue them with force!"

In the silence, a childish and immature voice rang out, drawing the attention of everyone in the hall.

Upon seeing who had spoken, and noticing the person looking at him with some unease, Liu Rong's previously worried face brightened with a strange sense of anticipation...
(End of this chapter)