I run a training class in Shu Han

Chapter 55 The Food Problem

The following afternoon, Zhao Tong arrived at the palace somewhat listlessly.

"Your Majesty, this is my humble writings."

Liu Shan tilted his head and noticed that Zhao Tong's eyes were a little puffy, so he knew that Zhao Tong must have stayed up all night to finish his homework.

Wang Gui presented the bamboo slips, and Liu Shan opened them while saying, "Zhao Tong, you must understand that if you do something perfunctory and fail to grasp the key points, I will keep my word."

Zhao Tong no longer had the energy to argue for himself. At this moment, he suddenly felt that going to the stables to get away from the high-pressure study environment might not be a bad idea.

"Hmm, a siege strategy of attacking reinforcements while besieging the city..."

Liu Shan glanced at them briefly, but was immediately drawn to those four words.

"Good lad, I think you don't need to clean the stables anymore."

Zhao Tong was skeptical, after all, Liu Shan had not examined the matter closely.

The Battle of Ye was a crucial battle in Cao Cao's conquest of Hebei.

The tactic of besieging the city and attacking reinforcements was precisely what Cao Cao used at the time.

Although "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" is very similar to it, both of them use the tactic of "besieging" to mobilize the opponent's army.

But the core is different.

The former is about saving lives, the latter is about providing aid.

If Pang Juan had harbored rebellious intentions at the time, or had insisted on his own way, believing that the Wei capital of Daliang could withstand the Qi army's attack, and had instead focused all his efforts on capturing Handan.

Even if Sun Bin had captured Daliang, his strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" would have failed.

But attacking reinforcements is different. It uses the encirclement as bait, surrounding the enemy without attacking, ensuring that reinforcements can be continuously attracted, with the ultimate goal of annihilating the enemy reinforcements.

From a tactical perspective, the strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" is a tactic of luring the enemy away from their stronghold, creating a new crisis to draw them out and find opportunities in mobile warfare.

Sun Bin simply took the opportunity to give the enemy a good beating while rescuing people, which was a high-level maneuver.

The strategy of besieging a city to lure out reinforcements is to wait in ambush and strike the enemy's reinforcements.

Zhao Tong wrote in great detail about the differences between the two tactics, and used the Battle of Jianye as an example for analysis, making it a very valuable article.

Compared to the other articles submitted, whose authors were stuck in their original tactics and lacked flexibility, this article has broken free from the constraints of the topic itself and is quite innovative.

"Well written, you don't need to go grind in the stables anymore."

Faced with Liu Shan's praise, Zhao Tong chuckled.

"In my opinion, they can be sent to regular classes so that they can also observe and learn."

Upon hearing that his article would be made public, Zhao Tong did not feel smug; instead, a strange expression appeared on his face.

"Your Majesty, actually..."

Zhao Tong took a deep breath, as if he had made a decision in his heart, and said frankly, "Actually, this article was not written by me alone. It was Zhuge Qiao who gave me the idea."

Zhuge Qiao?

Liu Shan thought for a moment and said, "The Prime Minister's adopted son?"

"I consulted Zhuge Qiao, and this article was written after he gave me his guidance," Zhao Tong said, bowing deeply. "I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

Liu Shan was somewhat surprised by this, but he did not immediately reprimand Zhao Tong.

"Zhao Tong, I ask you, how much of your article is attributable to Zhuge Qiao?"

Zhao Tong thought for a moment and said, "Zhuge Qiao only suggested that I study how Cao Cao attacked Jianye back then, and said that it was similar to Sun Bin's 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao', but the essence was different, and I need to understand it myself."

"That's all?" Liu Shan asked. "Didn't they say anything else?"

"That's all," Zhao Tong replied curtly.

hiss~

This Zhuge Qiao is something else. No wonder he's from the Zhuge family; his intelligence must be hereditary.

"If it's just a few words of advice, that's fine, since everything above is your own thought and writing, without any other person's involvement."

"Absolutely not," Zhao Tong said seriously.

"Military strategy requires flexible application, not rote memorization. With guidance, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort. Your comprehension is also quite good; you were able to grasp the essence of military strategy from the Battle of Ye City. You are a promising talent."

Zhao Tong was overjoyed upon hearing this and said, "Your Majesty, do you truly believe that I possess the talent to command troops?"

You should ask yourself that question.

Liu Shan didn't want to say any more, after all, leading troops into battle requires not only hard work, but also talent.

"I'm tired and need to take a short rest. I'll keep a good watch on things."

"Yes, sir!"

After several months, the Prime Minister's Office and the Secretariat were operating normally, and Liu Shan's workload was reduced, allowing him to squeeze out some time for a midday rest.

When Liu Shan arrived at the inner palace, Lady Zhang was already waiting outside the palace gate.

"The Empress has lost a lot of weight recently."

Although Liu Shan was usually busy handling state affairs until late at night, he had to rest in his study.

However, whenever he had free time, he would go to the inner palace to meet with Lady Zhang, and their relationship gradually warmed up.

"She's probably just been working too hard lately; she'll be fine after a few days of rest," Zhang said casually.

Liu Shan knew that Yizhou was facing tremendous changes and money was needed everywhere, so the palace's expenses were being cut again and again.

The palace maids and eunuchs, in particular, had their daily needs reduced to a minimum, and most of the time they could not even get enough to eat.

As the head of the harem, Lady Zhang was naturally no exception.

For someone who had grown up in luxury, her body became visibly thin.

Liu Shan couldn't say anything directly, so he ordered someone to bring the items over.

"This morning I went hunting in the woods and caught two wild rabbits. It was a very good haul. Your Majesty, take them to nourish your body."

Seeing the plump rabbit, Lady Zhang smiled and said, "Your Majesty, thank you in advance. May I ask if Your Majesty could stay for a meal and try my cooking?"

"That's excellent."

"Someone, prepare tea for His Majesty."

During the Han Dynasty, there was no concept of steeping tea; tea was mostly boiled.

First, lightly roast a small amount of tea cake, grind it into powder, place it in a bowl, add boiling water to brew, and then add a few slices of ginger, scallions, or orange peel to drink together.

This strong-flavored tea was criticized by Lu Yu, the "Sage of Tea" in the Tang Dynasty, as being like water from a sewer.

Liu Shan also disliked the taste, so he instructed the palace maids to boil water and brew the tea directly.

Soon, the aroma of tea filled the air.

Liu Shan read a book and drank tea, enjoying a rare moment of tranquility.

However, this relaxed atmosphere did not last long. Just as Zhang brought the cooked dishes to Liu Shan, Wang Gui came to report.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zhuge has entered the palace to request an audience."

A fleeting look of dejection crossed Zhang's eyes, but she quickly forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty, affairs of state are of utmost importance. I will have this meat sent over so that Your Majesty can enjoy it after you have dealt with state affairs."

Seeing her intelligence and wisdom, Liu Shan felt somewhat guilty.

"Your Majesty, keep it for yourself. I hunted it especially for you."

Having said that, he immediately got up and went to the study to meet Zhuge Liang.

"Your Majesty, the autumn harvest will be in a little over a month, and I have come to report this."

After saying this, Zhuge Liang presented a memorial concerning agricultural matters.

"So little?"

Liu Shan was somewhat surprised.

According to Zhuge Liang's report, the yield per mu in the Chengdu Plain this year is only about 20 hu (equivalent to more than 300 jin today), which is lower than the expected yield.

"Your Majesty, during this year's spring planting season, the court was at war with Eastern Wu, and there was a shortage of farming tools and manpower, so the yield per mu was only twenty-five or twenty-six hu. I summoned the officials of the Prime Minister's Office overnight to discuss and formulate next year's spring planting plan, which is expected to yield more than thirty hu per mu. Please review it, Your Majesty."

A yield of over thirty bushels per mu was considered high in ancient times, but for Liu Shan, it was far from enough.

Liu Shan carefully examined the memorial. The Prime Minister's plan consisted of measures such as maintaining water conservancy, promoting iron plows, and improving curved plows to increase agricultural efficiency.

However, these measures alone are far from sufficient to increase grain production.

The imperial court must produce more grain to ensure a continuous supply of provisions for future campaigns against Cao Wei and Eastern Wu.

An army marches on its stomach!