The Heroine Mountain! The Beautiful Man of Lanling!

Could it be "take the Dragon Slaying Sword", "don't marry Zhou Zhiruo", "draw her eyebrows for the rest of her life"?

"I haven't thought about it yet. I'll tell you when I do." Zhao Min saw that his expression was not right and thought that he was unwilling to agree, so she pouted in dissatisfaction.

"Okay, but I also have three prerequisites! First, you are not allowed to let me do anything that goes against my conscience. Second, you are not allowed to destroy my relationship with other girls. Third, you are not allowed to force me to make difficult choices." Gao Su thought for a moment and said quickly.

Fortunately, Zhao Min chose to make the request when their relationship was not close, otherwise I would not have made the premise so deliberate.

Otherwise, with her evil temper, wouldn't I be caught and killed if I wasn't careful?

"Hey~ Why are you talking as if I would harm you? And who wants to destroy your relationship with other girls? What do they have to do with me? Do you have any shame?" Zhao Min's pretty face turned red and she scolded.

"So...I have wronged the princess?" Gao Su saw her blushing and immediately understood, so he smiled mischievously.

"Yeah! Take back those bullshit premises!" Zhao Min glared at Gao Su and said coquettishly.

"Oh, I won't accept it." Gao Su smiled leisurely and said indifferently.

Seeing his behavior, Zhao Min couldn't help but feel a little angry and gritted her teeth while thinking for a moment.

He hadn't even gotten to know me that well, so why was he making such pointed demands? Did he know me well?

No, he must be hiding something from me.

But seeing that he is not very cunning, let's leave this matter to be explored slowly in the future and not waste the conditions for now.

"Okay then. In that case, I won't be polite! First of all, I want you to put my body together as quickly as possible!" Zhao Min floated in front of Gao Su in a bad mood and complained.

[Ding! Congratulations, my lord, for triggering the "Zhao Min's Wish" quest!]

[Quest Requirements: The Lord needs to accumulate 4000 reputation within three days (Hint: Improving your intimacy with Zhao Ling can effectively earn reputation~)]

[Quest Reward: Zhao Min Fragment x 1, "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" card pool opens]

When Gao Su heard Zhao Min's request and was worrying about how to fight, he suddenly heard the system prompt sound and saw the task information on his retina. He was immediately overjoyed.

"Okay, it's a deal!" Gao Su nodded and said readily.

Although he hated Zhao Ling, and even hated everyone in the Zhao family, after Gao Yue's persuasion, he felt that it was no big deal to contact Zhao Ling.

Seeing him fret for a moment, then agree so readily, Zhao Min thought collecting the fragments would be easy, so she happily asked, "How long will it take to complete my body? Is it within a month? Or even faster, a week?"

She is so uncomfortable now. Although her body can move, she seems to be floating in the water or in the air, and only her head appears... It's so weird!

"This is difficult to determine, because apart from the system sending me tasks and fragments, it basically depends on luck in the lottery, and it may take a long time to get a promise. I can only give a conservative time, within a year..." Gao Su frowned and said solemnly.

"So long? Then what is the task she gave you?" Zhao Min widened her beautiful eyes and asked anxiously.

"I need to accumulate a lot of reputation to complete the task, and then I am prompted to curry favor with Zhao Ling, who is the current empress of Zhao Song." Gao Su repeated with a bitter face.

"Why...why does this have to do with Zhao Ling?" Zhao Min complained, but then she thought of something else. "Could it be that Heaven wants you to curry favor with the Red Lord, just using my name?"

Hearing this, Gao Su's eyes widened and he came to his senses.

Yeah...why didn't I think of that? She was so disgusted with me during the lottery draw, wasn't it just to wait until now? But why did she want me to curry favor with Zhao Ling...

Hiss~ Wait!

Could it be because of Hong Luohe's [Daohuang Tianshi] skill? Did Hong Jun want Zhao Ling to become the "Empress of Demonic Dao"?

But this "Empress of Demonic Dao" sounds strange! And Zhao Ling is a strange person to begin with!

Hiss~ Could it be that something is wrong with Hongjun too?

Gao Su made a bold guess. After all, the Hong Jun he had met before was clearly a dignified and calm queen, but now she was doing both the "Red Moon, Silver Candle, Cold Painted Spear" and the "Divine Pillar Lollipop"...

Danger!Danger!Danger!

At this moment, Gao Su felt a chill down his spine, because he had a bolder guess, that is, whether Hong Jun had been contaminated by the "extraterritorial demon"!

"What are you doing? Why do you look so bad? Since your system is controlled by the Heavenly Dao, why don't you go and beg the Heavenly Dao to give you the fragments quickly?" Zhao Min was very anxious and didn't know how disgusting Gao Su was just now, so she urged him without thinking too much.

"You are right, but there is something fishy about this matter... I can't say more! This is all I can say!" Gao Su frowned and looked alert.

"Hmm?" Seeing that he looked so nervous, Zhao Min quickly thought about what she had just said... and immediately understood why Gao Su looked nervous!

But she reacted quickly and quickly changed her tone, saying, "It's okay if you don't ask her for help... I can just wait a little longer... But... you have to go visit her... and ask how she's doing... After all, she's been so good to you... isn't she?"

After hearing this, Gao Su thought about it and understood what Zhao Min meant.

What she meant was that regardless of whether Hongjun had a problem or not, she needed to go and see it with her own eyes, because her matter was of great importance and the sky could not fall.

And since she is "so nice to me", it means that even if she has problems, she has no intention of turning against me. If I don't find out before she turns against me, when she does... there will be no chance!

Chapter 56: The Couchside Strategy - Zhao Min's 7 Conditions

Realizing that the topic was becoming increasingly depressing and dangerous, Gao Su and Zhao Min both wanted to change the subject.

then...

"By the way? What are your plans now?" Zhao Min blinked her beautiful eyes and asked again tentatively.

"By the way? Do you need to eat now?" Gao Su observed Zhao Min and asked considerately.

The two spoke at the same time and were stunned at the same time.

Gao Su was the first to react and replied, "I'm trying to win over the Beggars' Sect and the White Lotus Sect, and get them to help me escape from Bianliang. The Beggars' Sect is influential throughout the country, and even has a branch in Bianliang. The White Lotus Sect's followers are brave and their doctrine is to resist the Zhao Song Dynasty. They are organized, disciplined, and have faith, making them an elite force."

"I'm about to marry the Beggars' Sect leader's most direct and last disciple. The Beggars' Sect leader is a man of great generosity and loyalty, so I'm confident I can win them over. I'm just not so sure about the White Lotus Sect..."

Gao Su then relayed Ye Ruorou's concerns this morning to Zhao Min. Zhao Min's auspicious eyes flickered slightly when she heard this, and then she made up her mind and said nonchalantly:

"Your godmother's worries are unnecessary. Not to mention that the White Lotus Cult's godmother is serving as a branch manager under you, which means that even if she has ambitions, she can only be used by you temporarily. Furthermore, even the Zhao royal family doesn't dare to use you, so how can a mere cult leader like her not worry about backlash?"

"But that's not what I want to talk about. I remember you said before that there are 100,000 soldiers guarding the capital. Are you counting on the few thousand people of the White Lotus Sect to stop them?"

"I'm not looking down on your military abilities, but this is too arrogant. First, the White Lotus may not fight for you. Second, they lack the ability. Third, you can't truly command them. So... relying solely on the Beggars' Sect and the White Lotus isn't enough! They're just underworld forces, and they can't control a country!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Gao Su suddenly came to his senses.

He had previously boasted of his outstanding command ability, having defeated 100,000 "demonic men" with only 500 female soldiers, so he felt that the elite troops of the White Lotus Sect would be enough.

But the situation is different now. The reason why the "Battle of Mangshan" five hundred years ago was able to defeat one hundred thousand with only five million troops was because of internal and external cooperation, and all the people in the city were their own people.

But now, Gao Su is the one who lives in the city, and he cannot personally command the White Lotus Sect members outside the city. Even if he personally commands them, they may not listen to him.

Although the 100,000 troops were under Gao Yue's command, and Gao Yue had promised to help him escape, even if she promised to help, could she rebel with 100,000 troops? No, so the 100,000 troops were still a big problem.

After thinking through the details, Gao Su suddenly felt a heavy heart. He casually raised his starry eyes to glance at Zhao Min, only to find her gazing at him leisurely, seemingly waiting for his reaction...

Gao Su felt something, so he immediately straightened his clothes and put on his hat. With a serious expression, he bowed deeply to Zhao Min, who was floating in the air, and said:

"Today, the demons are about to invade, and the world is in danger. However, the Zhao Song Dynasty came to power illegitimately, relying on the powerful and wealthy. Internally, they are not able to maintain peace and order, and externally, they do not promote martial virtues. The people and the people are content with peace, and the military preparations are abandoned and not repaired. There are no wise ministers in the court, no brave generals on the border, the generals are foolish and do not know how to fight, and the soldiers are arrogant and do not know how to fight. Formation..."

"I am Lanling Prince of Northern Qi, Emperor Chengzu of Great Qi, and the God of Childbirth. I have been on earth for eighteen years now. I originally wanted to restore order, save the world and bring peace to the people, cultivate civil and military virtues! But everywhere I look, I see cages, and every step I take is in shackles! How tragic!"

"The world is in ruins! Traitors are stealing my life! I didn't measure my virtue and ability, and wanted to take on the responsibility of saving the world with my humble body. However, my wisdom and tactics were shallow, so I acted recklessly until today. However, my ambition is not yet fulfilled. I have the good fortune to meet the princess. Just like Duke Xiao of Zhou worshipped Wei Yang and Emperor Zhaolie worshipped Wu Hou, it is truly the greatest blessing of my life!"

"I want to follow the example of my predecessors and become your military advisor, and have a close relationship with you..."

Gao Su was making a long speech about wanting Zhao Min to be his military advisor, but as soon as he mentioned the phrase "sexual intimacy", Zhao Min's pretty face suddenly flushed and she said in a sweet voice, "Pfft! Who wants to have sexual intimacy with you? Why don't you even let go of my head!"

"Ah? No! The friendship between fish and water is an allusion. It tells the story of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, a pair of king and minister who respect each other and know each other, eat at the same table and sleep in the same bed..." Gao Su frowned, not knowing what was going on.

But then he remembered that in Zhao Min's timeline, the history was only two hundred years ago, so she didn't know anything about the history before Zhao Song!

"Tsk! Who wants to sleep in the same bed with you? Do you have any sense of shame?" Zhao Min's charming face was already flushed.

Although she didn't know the specific process of sex, she knew that sex was a private and shameful thing between men and women. Moreover, the reserved nature of women made her feel uneasy, and she felt that sleeping in the same bed with Gao Su would lead to something bad happening.

"This...Princess, you misunderstood me. I was just telling an anecdote! Let me think about the wording again and try again!" Gao Su had no way to defend himself and could only think of making amends.

But Zhao Min blushed and glared at Gao Su, saying coquettishly, "I'd rather not listen to your flowery, empty words. Maybe you're going to try to trick me into having sex again! Stop the chanting! Tell me about the internal and external situation of the Zhao Song Dynasty!"

Gao Su was overjoyed when he heard this, because although Zhao Min did not agree to be a military advisor, this meant that she was willing to offer advice, so he immediately began to talk in detail about the situation.

For example, the Zhao Song Dynasty had many problems, such as "redundant officials", "redundant soldiers", "redundant politics", "defending the interior and weakening the exterior", "emphasizing culture and suppressing military", "suspicion of factional struggles", "separation of soldiers and generals", "scarcity of horses", "literati in charge of the military", "poor north and rich south", "no distinction between officials and businessmen", "failure to suppress mergers and acquisitions", "soldiers coming from bandits", "difficult logistics", and so on.

Many people think that the Zhao Song Dynasty had a prosperous economy and culture, and the people lived very well.

But Gao Su, who was truly familiar with history, did not think so, because he knew that throughout the Zhao Song Dynasty, the officials were rich and the people were poor, and wealth was always concentrated in the hands of the powerful class, who had always exploited the people to the bone.

0.1%的人富有，能代表剩下99.9%的人不穷么？0.1%的人幸福，能代表剩下99.9%的人不苦么？0.1%的人活得像人，能代表剩下99.9%的人活得不像畜生么？

For example, the two Song dynasties ruled for a total of only 320 years, but there were 433 peasant uprisings!

On average, there were 1.4 peasant uprisings per year! This was the dynasty with the most uprisings in the feudal period of China!

As for why? Because the Zhao Song Dynasty “did not kill the scholar-officials”—they valued the aristocratic families! Because the Zhao Song Dynasty “did not suppress land annexation”—they valued the big landlords! Because the Zhao Song Dynasty “did not separate officials from businessmen”—they colluded with each other for personal gain!

Furthermore, the Zhao Song dynasty was "defensible at home and weak abroad," preventing it from plundering resources and land through foreign wars. "Overuse of officials" meant a large number of officials with nothing to do were only interested in making money. Suspicion and factional strife prevented the success of reforms, whether through the "Qingli New Deal" or the "Xining Reforms." Their flawed policies remained consistent, refusing to lose sight of their original purpose.

This directly led to the fact that the powerful class and landlords of the Zhao Song Dynasty could be said to be the richest and most comfortable group in the history of China!

But society only has so many resources. If the upper class becomes complacent, the lower class will suffer! That's why there are endless uprisings, endless banditry, and why the people and city officials surrender at the sight of foreign invasions!

So how did the Zhao Song Dynasty's "redundant troops" problem arise? In fact, "redundant troops" weren't a problem. Who would complain about having too many soldiers? Wouldn't it be more useful to use them for fighting wars and expanding territory?

But for the Zhao Song Dynasty, this is an unprecedented and unprecedented problem!

Because most of the soldiers of Zhao Song were recruited through "recruiting rebels", that is, the rebels and bandits who were appeased in the "443rd" uprising!

As long as the Zhao Song dared to cut down the army, the rebels would have nothing to do and no money to live, and they would dare to continue to revolt one after another.

Moreover, the Zhao Song Dynasty had "separation of soldiers and generals", "civilians in charge of the army", "defending the interior and weakening the exterior", "emphasizing culture over military", "scarce horses", and "the source of soldiers was bandits". Its fighting capacity was so weak that it collapsed at the first blow, and it was unable to transfer the soldiers "recruited and surrendered" into manpower, let alone plunder and expand externally.

Thus began a vicious cycle.

"Redundant soldiers" led to heavy military expenditures and a shortage of national finances, so efforts were intensified to get the upper classes to pay taxes.

The upper classes were overjoyed and intensified their efforts to exploit the people, making them suffer terribly.

The people were "forced to take rebellion" and were then "recruited and accepted as rebels" by the court, further exacerbating the problem of "redundant soldiers".

This cycle repeats itself over and over again. The Zhao and Song dynasties became a community of interests for the upper class, a parasite and a vampire clinging to the heads of the Chinese people.

Rather than a national community that allows people to hold their heads up high and be human beings, a Chinese country that allows people to pat their chests and proudly say "I am Chinese"!

And this is the reason why Gao Su's determination to "rebel against the Song Dynasty" remained consistent.

After hearing Gao Su's words, Zhao Min was silent for a moment, suppressing her contemptuous look, curled her red lips and asked about the situation of the enemy countries around Zhao Song.

Then Gao Su started talking about the Liao Dynasty, Western Xia, Tubo, Dali, and the Southern Yi.

Among them, the Nanyi were a weak barbarian country, the Dali Kingdom was a small and peaceful Buddhist country, and although Tubo had a vast territory, its tribes were scattered and not unified, so Gao Su did not say much.

It only focuses on Western Xia and the Liao Dynasty. Both Western Xia and the Liao Dynasty were powerful countries that occupied areas rich in good horses and brave soldiers.

Western Xia was smaller and suffered from constant internal turmoil, but its military strength was undeniable. Although its population was less than 5% of the Zhao Song's and its standing army totaled only 10, far less than the Zhao Song's 120 million, Western Xia's unique system of "everyone serving as a soldier" allowed it to mobilize up to 50 troops during wartime.

Moreover, although there were only 3000 elite heavy cavalry "Iron Harriers" among them, they could at least fight ten to one against the weak soldiers of Zhao Song, if not one against a hundred.

The Iron Harriers were not only elite, but their heavy armor could only be pierced by the divine arm bows of the Zhao Song imperial guards. During battle, their horses were chained together, and even the soldiers were tied to their mounts, preventing them from dismounting. Therefore, even the death of a soldier in battle would not affect the charge.

The most important thing for cavalry is that the momentum of the charge cannot be dispersed or weakened. Once the formation is broken up by the cavalry, the morale of the army will collapse with enemies on all sides.

In addition to the special camel-riding army called the Poxi Army, the Xixia people even took advantage of the camel's load-bearing characteristics and installed "small catapults" on the camel's back to serve as mobile artillery.

The Liao Dynasty was more deeply influenced by Chinese culture, and because of the Treaty of Chanyuan, the relationship between Liao and Song has always been good.

Although the Liao Kingdom is now facing political chaos and the reign of a foolish ruler, its military strength should not be underestimated, at least it is not something that the Zhao Song Dynasty can match.

Because the Liao Kingdom not only occupied Youzhou and Yanyun, which were rich in good horses, but also the Mongolian grasslands, which produced even better horses. It had 90 war horses in reserve, more than 30 regular cavalry, and more than 60 in wartime, including more than 5 elite Khitan cavalry.

There were only about 100,000 to 200,000 war horses in total, and most of them were "Guangma" produced in Yunnan and Guizhou. They were not only short but also could not run fast or for long.

If Zhao Ling continued to struggle for a few more years, the number of war horses would drop sharply to the 1800 recorded in history! Among them, Kaifeng Prefecture, Jingxi South Road, Jingdong East Road and other places had no horses at all. The entire country was in a dangerous situation with no horses available for the army!

By the time Gao Su finished his introduction, Zhao Min couldn't help but feel a bit confused. She asked bluntly, "How did this Zhao Song survive? Why does he sound even weaker than my Great Song 'Demon Man'?"

Gao Su shrugged and said, "Because China has a long and profound history, there has never been a shortage of heroes with patriotic ties who have emerged, saving the Zhao and Song dynasties time and time again. However... they rarely have a good ending."

"Tsk~ You don't have to care about this country! If I were you, I would have gone into the palace and twisted Zhao Ling's head off long ago!" Zhao Min rolled her eyes coquettishly and said with disgust.

After she finished speaking, she cleared her throat again, her expression clearing up again. She said in a gentle voice, "Your strategic goal is correct. We should escape from Bianliang. However, the tactics and subsequent strategies still need to be discussed. Let me have my say."

"First, I believe you must find a powerful external force besides the Beggars' Sect and the White Lotus! This force must come from Western Xia and the Liao Dynasty, because most of the 100,000 imperial guards must be transferred away before we can successfully break through."

"Because if it's just the Beggars' Sect and the White Lotus, then the people of Zhao Song will think you're causing trouble. Given their nature of prioritizing civil affairs over military affairs and defending the interior with a weak exterior, they will only intensify their campaign against you. And if it's an external enemy invading, they will definitely become weak and fear that something serious might happen to you."

"Secondly, simply seeking external help isn't enough. The Beggars' Sect isn't the one that can truly form a coordinated internal and external force. It's your ability to paralyze Zhao Ling and allow her to further reduce her guard against you!"

"I hope you can go to great lengths to please Zhao Ling and the clique of corrupt officials around her. I don't expect the civil and military officials of the Zhao Song Dynasty to put aside their prejudice against you as a 'regicide,' but you must make Zhao Ling feel good about you."

"Because she's surrounded by powerful and treacherous people, if they sense Zhao Ling has feelings for you, and you've served them well, they'll mobilize their influence within the court to protect you. Just think about it, protecting you would both align with the emperor's wishes and benefit themselves, so why not?"

"Third, I imagine your first act after escaping Bianliang was to recruit soldiers and strive for supremacy, right? But I urge you to proceed with caution. Don't force Zhao Ling to kill you by sending hundreds of thousands of troops to encircle and suppress us when we're still weak."