Mythic version of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 6710 Reward
Chen Xi had no way to deal with the Kushan style of play. After all, many technical barriers could be overcome by brute force if the foundation was strong enough. The most that would be the loss would be greater. However, if some things did not care about the loss, then there was nothing to say.

"Rome didn't figure out coking." Fa Zheng suddenly said.

"Rome's situation is normal, not Kushan's." Chen Xi said unhappily, "Normally, even if you want to make coke, you don't do it this way. Primary coal and steel should be built up bit by bit, not in one go. But to be honest, even if we are paving the way ahead, it's amazing that they can accomplish it in one go."

There is one thing Chen Xi didn't say, that is, among the three existing empires, Rome's social division of labor and basic technology classification and combination are the worst. The simplest point is that many technologies of the Roman Empire did not have continuity, while the Han Dynasty and the Southern Nobles gradually accumulated and built up technology from the bottom up.

Even though there are certain differences in the systems and logic used by the two, overall, both sides are slowly accumulating and developing at the technical level.

Of course, the Roman Empire had a Claudius core that could concentrate its efforts on major tasks and integrate the country's strength to unleash amazing power. When necessary, it could achieve a leap forward in development. But when it comes to the basic social division of labor and the accumulation of underlying technology, the gap between Rome and the Han Dynasty and the Brahmins is huge.

Generally speaking, because the Han family had continued for thousands of years, even if they did not figure out the use of the technology they had, they continued to move forward with the old things of their ancestors. Just like the Wang family of Kuaiji did not understand the use of their own electromagnetism for more than a hundred years, but it did not prevent them from continuing their research along the path of their ancestors.

The Brahmins, on the other hand, started the social division of labor from the very beginning. In essence, after the Brahmin system was stripped of its religious factors, it became a detailed grid-based social division of labor.

Even though this kind of social division of labor determined a person's life, it was still quite advanced in the third century. At least it had a certain effect in the accumulation of basic technology.

Let alone the seven thousand blacksmiths, even if the Claudius family wanted to gather them in a short time, no, just finding a list would take a lot of time, and the Brahmins could really gather all these people with just one order.

After all, caste, place of residence, and location have all been determined from the beginning, so if you really want to find it, it’s just a matter of giving an order.

“However, it is indeed beyond imagination that the Brahmins can organize tens of thousands of blacksmiths. If we take into account the cooperating personnel, the real mobilization ability of the Brahmins is actually quite strong.” Fa Zheng said with a bit of fear. He really thought that the Brahmins were trash before, but when this group of trash got angry, Fa Zheng was really afraid.

“A thing that can be considered a political entity has survived from more than a thousand years ago to the present day. Even after experiencing multiple invasions, it still survived and maintained its superiority. No matter how useless it is, we cannot look at it with pure contempt.” Jia Xu said calmly, but these words did not seem to be spoken to Fa Zheng, but rather to Chen Xi.

Because the war between the Han Dynasty and the Kushans has been going on until now, the Han Dynasty is actually somewhat tired. The attitude shown by those generals and officers in the Ganges River is not just their own. In fact, the only one in the government who truly looks down on the Kushans is Chen Xi. As long as the war with the Kushans continues, it is impossible for others to look at the Kushans like Chen Xi.

Brahmins have many problems, but Brahmins have existed for thousands of years!

"I'm not despising him." Chen Xi naturally retorted after hearing Jia Xu's words, but he stopped after he opened his mouth and began to think carefully about Jia Xu's words.

"If we go to war next, we'd better be careful." Jia Xu didn't mean to be a riddler. "At this point, let alone the Kushans, even if it's me, it's the best time to stop the war. After the great victory in the south of the desert, the threat of the Xiongnu to the Han regime has been eliminated. The benefits that can be brought by subsequent victories are actually not that great. From a rational point of view, the decisive battle in the north of the desert is actually not very meaningful. Winning does solve the problem, but what if we lose?"

The judgment of Zhu Helai and others is actually very correct. From a historical perspective, the next war between the Ganges Legion and the Kushans should be the last battle. There should not be the plan by Liu Bei and Chen Xi to destroy the Kushans and divide them on the spot. This is already a fantasy line.

Theoretically, winning or losing the next battle will not affect the overall situation. It is time for the Han Dynasty and Kushan to sit down and talk. There is no point in continuing to entangle.

In addition, in the next war between Ganges and Kushan, Jia Xu saw almost no possibility of winning. Even though Chen Xi and Li You took so many remedial measures, for Jia Xu who retreated from Ganges, those measures could not change the overall situation.

The problem is that after losing, how much risk will there be in continuing the war, and how great the responsibility for starting a war is. To put it bluntly, only Liu Bei and Chen Xi can bear it.

But even if he took this risk, Jia Xu had to worry about one possibility, that is, the Kushans would hold on. The three million well-prepared troops were indeed very shocking. Jia Xu also believed that Chen Xi would definitely be prepared with food and logistics by then, but what if he failed!
When the army exceeds one million, the dispatch and coordination required are no joke. Jia Xu has never seen an army of one million in size, but he has seen an army of 500,000 coordinated, and the operation difficulty is already extremely high. If the Kushans choose to abandon the capital, do not engage in a decisive battle with their main forces, and rely on their territory to fight a security war with the Han Dynasty, how long can the Han Dynasty last?
Although three million troops are a large number, even if the Guishans are in trouble now, they still have three million square kilometers of territory. Even if such a large army can occupy all the important cities, the Brahmins' thousand-year foundation combined with the Northern Gui can support them for a year. If they fight hard on the territory, will Chen Xi win?
Chen Xi might have to retreat, and the completely chaotic situation would also become a bleeding point.

If this happens, even if the Han Dynasty wins, it can only be said that it has won face, and it will be difficult to conquer Kushan in the future.

More importantly, if they fail to win this battle, I'm afraid no one will be willing to risk their political life to do it again.

"You don't think highly of my final plan of using 3 million troops to destroy the Kushan Empire?" Chen Xi looked at Jia Xu thoughtfully and asked, but he had no intention of shutting him up. Jia Xu was always reliable, and Chen Xi also wanted to hear where the problem lay.

"It's impossible to control them, and coordination is too difficult. Considering that the Kushans are fighting on their home ground, if they really choose to abandon the capital and concentrate their forces to strangle the enemy along the way, it won't be a big problem." Jia Xu said seriously, "If you say you can dispatch and control three million troops as easily as using your own arms, just ignore what I said."

"The transmission of information is a big problem." Fa Zheng also added, "The Kushan territory is quite large. It is difficult for three million troops to coordinate with each other. It is difficult for 500,000 troops to cooperate with each other on the same battlefield, let alone you are three million separate troops."

"The advantage of the shield guards is clear, but if the Kushan main force is willing to do whatever it takes, there will be no problem in killing one or two assisting groups. So if we fight such a large-scale cooperation..." Zhuge Liang also made a rare suggestion from the side, "It's difficult and basically impossible to achieve. In fact, I suggest that you move step by step, use the regular troops to push forward, and don't divide them. In this way, as long as you don't make any mistakes, the Kushan will have no way to stop you."

"That would take too long and put too much pressure on logistics. To be honest, an army of this size would take more than a year to march. Even I would not be able to cover up certain problems." Chen Xi shook his head. Zhuge Liang's suggestion was very correct. Chen Xi had considered it before. After all, if he took the regular army route, Chen Xi could use Qi Jiguang's method, but it would be very expensive.

The amount of supplies consumed by a million-strong army was already terrifying enough, and now Chen Xi had to use regular troops as well. He had no choice but to give up this unrealistic plan.

To be honest, if there weren't such a huge logistical pressure, Chen Xi really wanted to use the operation of three million regular troops to sweep across the country and directly prove that I, the military god Chen, am invincible in the world. Wouldn't that be cool?

Moreover, compared to the gameplay of dividing the troops into more than ten groups and strangling them together, three million troops gathered in one place and advanced along the Ganges by land and water. Even an iron will like Oswald would feel despair. What's more, there are only a few plain battlefields in the world that can support millions of troops, and the Ganges just fits the bill. If it were possible, Chen Xi would also like to try it, but unfortunately, it didn't work.

If we don't want the domestic people's livelihood to suffer due to spending too much time and consuming too much national strength, it would be best if the three million troops should not take more than one year from the time they set out to defeat the Kushans. In other words, the troops should be sent out in the 13th year of Yuanfeng and the battle should be completed at the end of the 13th year.

Once this time point is exceeded, even Chen Xi’s operation will be severely slapped in the face.

"We can almost hold on." Zhuge Liang said slowly.

"Then the local people can only be said to be alive." Chen Xi sighed and said, "Even if it is for the sake of the hundred years, for the sake of future generations, it is not a reason to make this generation live so hard. We do want to lay a foundation for future generations, but it does not mean that we have to sacrifice this generation. Necessary sacrifices are acceptable. After all, we are all human beings and can understand this logic, but this kind of sacrifice must be limited, not endless."

"It is not advisable to take every penny and use it like dirt." Chen Xi said with some admonition. It would take at least three years for 3 million regular soldiers to defeat Kushan and solve the problem completely. But after three years, the Han Dynasty might return to the situation before fifteen hundred years ago, and Chen Xi's more than ten years of hard work would be all gone.

I fought against the Kushans for the sake of future generations, but should I let this generation suffer again just to fight against the Kushans? This is not the only option.

"The more you think about, the harder it will be to fight. It will be easier to solve if you go into battle lightly and don't think about all those messy things." Man Chong said calmly. He also understood military affairs, although he was not very good at it, but he knew very well that in war, the more you think about losses, the more you may lose.

"So it's very difficult." Chen Xi sighed and said, "But there are still more than two years, and we are still preparing, and the verification has not been done yet. Let's wait until I have confirmed everything else that needs to be confirmed. Now that I am talking about this, I can't give you an answer, but I still have to say what I should say. Even if the Ganges Legion retreats to the defense zone in the next battle, I will still promote the decisive battle."

No one can stop this. Chen Xi knows very well that after killing the Brahmins, there will be no other civilization in Asia that can threaten the Han civilization. Even if a country like Rome has ideas about the Han Dynasty, it is difficult to cause much impact due to the distance. Even if the Han Dynasty falls apart in the future, other empires that inherit the Han civilization will be born again in this place and continue the previous civilization.

At that time, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses to Chen Xi, because they are all his own people.

"It's okay as long as you keep it in mind." Jia Xu didn't continue talking about this matter. He just reminded Chen Xi. Chen Xi was also a smart man, so a reminder was enough for him.

"Don't worry, we never know what will happen then." Chen Xi said with a smile, "Who can guarantee that by then there will be an ultimate military strategist who can command an army of three million and surpass Wu'an Jun and Huaiyin Hou."

Zhuge Liang was speechless after hearing this. It was rare to see a god like Bai Qi or Han Xin in hundreds of years. Even for such people, it was very difficult to command an army of three million to cooperate. However, what Chen Xi said was indeed correct. To be able to do this, one must be an ultimate military strategist who surpassed Wu'an Jun and Huaiyin Hou...

"Xiaozhi, have you set the date for your son's hundred-day banquet?" Chen Xi turned his head and looked at Fa Zheng and asked.

"On the eighth day of next month, I will bring him out for you to see." Fa Zheng looked very proud, then he looked around at everyone and announced very seriously, "Remember to prepare gifts by then, this is my eldest son!"

"No problem, the gifts are ready." Chen Xi said with a smile, "When the time comes, you can draw the lottery for your son. I have even made the props for the lottery."

"Can you specify the grand prize?" Fa Zheng asked very directly, "By the way, what is the grand prize this time? Come to think of it, you haven't done this for many years."

"Some miscellaneous little things, of course they cannot be specified. As for why I haven't done this for many years, it was only last year that I got all the people together. The problem was, did I have the mood to do this under the circumstances last year?" Chen Xi said with a sigh.

The year before last, Lu Su caused a big mess, but he did gather all the people together. The problem was that Chen Xi was in no mood to do this at that time. It was already a good mentality that he didn't kill a lot of people, let alone hold a lottery.

"Yeah, it's a rare occasion that we are all together, what is the grand prize?" Fa Zheng thought about it and realized it was true, then he turned the topic back to the most important grand prize. After all, he was the host this time, and it was also his son's hundred-day banquet, so this must be the internal grand prize, right?
"The long-staple cotton that Han Mou got from West Asia, and the spinning machine that I ordered people to improve." Chen Xi said with a smile, "It's basically equivalent to a technological innovation level."

"I remember that this thing is the foundation of the textile industry? Can such things be released?" Li You looked solemn. This is cotton. Liangzhou and Xinzhou now survive on cotton. Although the cotton cloth of the Han Dynasty has not become mainstream due to the quality problem of cotton, it has occupied one-fifth of the textile industry.

As for the remaining four-fifths, there is wool spinning on the same scale as cotton spinning, and the rest is hemp and ramie.

That's right, the mainstream of this era is still linen and ramie. There is no way around it. The quality of cotton has problems, and the output of woolen textiles has problems. But as I said, being able to account for one-fifth of each is already very awesome in this era. As for silk, I'm sorry, silk has a very high status in the textile industry, but in terms of market share, it is something that most people can't afford to wear. What's there to say?

Those who are dressed in silk and satin are not silkworm farmers, but those who grow ramie basically wear linen clothes. This is very normal, so these days, Chen Xi's large textile factory also mainly produces linen cloth.

By the way, in addition to producing linen cloth, another major commodity of Chen Xi's linen textile industry is actually hemp rope. This thing has a wide range of applications, and the army has a huge demand for it when going to war. The local people also need it in every household. Except that it cannot be exported to earn foreign exchange, the demand for this thing is basically unlimited.

Selling 100 to 200 million hemp ropes a year, although not making much money, they can be sold every year. No matter whether merchants are transporting something, ordinary people are tying something, or the army is stationed to pull and tie up tents, they all need this thing.

It can be said that as long as you make the price of this thing lower than the straw ropes woven by the locals, you will definitely be able to sell it. As for Chen Xi, who has a rope-twisting machine, his product will definitely beat the hand-woven straw ropes by humans, and the quality is better, so much so that these days the sales of hemp ropes are almost half and half of those of linen cloth.

However, Chen Xi will drive linen spinning out of the textile industry sooner or later. If it weren't for the quality problem of cotton, why would Chen Xi still be involved in linen spinning? Cotton cloth is far superior to linen in terms of comfort, warmth and quality. The reason why linen was not killed off is not because of the quality problem of cotton.

Now that long-staple cotton has been obtained, large-scale cotton spinning should also be put into operation. Adding this thing to the grand prize is just a bonus. Can Chen Xi really let a private person control this kind of thing?
"Admission certificate, that's not bad." After listening to Chen Xi's explanation, Li You understood what the grand prize was in his own way. But even so, it was worthy of the grand prize.

"There are some other things. Anyway, they are useless, but they can make some money. They are not worth my time." Chen Xi thought for a while and said, "Although it is good to accumulate a lot, I don't have so much energy to disperse to these things. Give them to others."

I am so impressed. I really can’t say anything about the author’s recent situation.

(End of this chapter)