Mythic version of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 7217 Be Prepared
"Actually, there are many reasons. I just gave it a push." ​​Mahinda explained. Without the conflict between the Southern and Northern nobles, it would have been useless for him to speak. Although Vasudeva I was extremely wary of Mahinda, he was still willing to cultivate and use the people Mahinda pointed out.

Of course, it mainly concerns the officers and generals of the Northern Nobles. After all, officers and generals have relatively little destructive power, especially non-top-level officers and generals, who basically have no destructive power and can at most bully local areas. Is this a problem for a feudal dynasty? Not at all. Feudal dynasties can easily indulge in this kind of fun.

Even top generals like Han Xin and Bai Qi, if their political skills and political acumen were mediocre, their destructive power against the imperial authority would be limited.

Honestly, for the emperor, the most difficult to deal with were the civil officials. As for the military generals, so what if they were a little arrogant? Use them while you can, and when they are no longer useful, seize an opportunity to take them away. Is that difficult?

Weren't there plenty of mentally unstable military generals in the Han Dynasty?
During the Western Han Dynasty, there were Zhou Bo and his son Zhou Yafu who, relying on their merits, didn't even give the emperor face. After the emperor came to power, look what kind of mess he made of them. In the middle, there was Li Guang, who was "reliable in character." He was so displeased that he killed the magistrate of Baling. His son, Li Gan, was furious about his father's death and directly injured Wei Qing, the commander of the army group. Of course, when Huo Qubing found out, he took revenge on the spot and shot Li Gan to death in Ganquan Palace!

Of course, we won't mention the abstract actions of Li Guang and Li Gan. In fact, the most abstract one is Huo Qubing. At that time, Li Gan was the Imperial Physician, one of the Nine Ministers, in charge of the palace guards. Then Huo Qubing killed this guy in the palace. This is already an abstract thing that is hard to describe.

In a normal dynasty, this would already be considered a rebellion.

Think about what happened in later generations. When Emperor Xuanzong killed three of his sons in one day, wasn't it because the crown prince and his entourage were tricked into entering the palace? Because they were wearing armor and carrying weapons, they all died.

Even before killing anyone, Huo Qubing directly shot and killed the Nine Ministers in charge of the palace guards at the gate of Ganquan Palace, which could be considered a rebellion.

From a certain perspective, the reason why Huo Qubing is more abstract than Dou Xian is that Huo Qubing was able to overthrow the Nine Ministers in the palace, while Dou Xian, although abstract, only killed a marquis on the spot at the gate of Weiyang Palace.

I can only say that they are all abstract in their own way!

Therefore, in feudal dynasties, emperors were very tolerant of the madness and abstract nature of their generals and commanders. On the contrary, they were not so lenient towards civil officials who played tricks. After all, any emperor with a brain could clearly see who could shake his throne more deeply.

Therefore, many of the officers and generals that Mahinda had designated back then survived. For example, the Saka people like Urdu, as long as they were willing to work hard, the Kushans at least provided them with food and lodging and guaranteed the intensity of their training. Otherwise, if everything were taken away, what would be the point of opening a mental image?

This is also the basis for Oswin's ability to persuade Urdu and others.

"Well, speaking of this, I think I need to have an open and frank discussion with everyone." After explaining, Ma Xinde felt that since things had already come to this point, there was no need for Chen Xi to send someone to investigate afterward; it was better to discuss it here and now.

"What is it?" Chen Xi sat up straight. Ma Xinde wasn't the kind of person who would talk nonsense regardless of the occasion. Since the other party could speak so seriously, Chen Xi naturally became cautious as well.

“Oswin’s capabilities may exceed your expectations to some extent,” Mahind said, pursing his lips.

"Why?" Chen Xi asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Because when we were settling scores with the Kushans back then, Vasudeva I asked me to show the younger generation of the Kushans what I was capable of.” Mahinda felt there was no point in keeping this a secret, so after Serian died, he returned to the political center of the Kushans, and Vasudeva I personally welcomed him.

Even though Mahinda had already prepared himself to find a place to retire, he still believed that one should live life to the fullest, not waste yesterday's events, not waste today's scenery, and not fear tomorrow's path. Having thought about what to do next, Mahinda, with the idea of ​​settling the debt owed to Serian, helped Vasudeva I look at all the able-bodied men that the other party had brought, and gave him some simple guidance.

“At that time, I never thought I would surrender to the Han Dynasty. My idea was to go to Tibet with Fuwode, put pressure on the Han Dynasty from the southwest, tie down some of the Han Dynasty’s troops, pay off the debt owed to Serian, and then retire there,” Mahinda said with a touch of nostalgia.

To be fair, Ma Xinde hadn't enjoyed much before coming to the Han Dynasty. He came from a poor background, became self-taught, and finally reached the top, only to be exiled by the Yuezhi. In his old age, he partnered with Selian, intending to live out his remaining years without expecting anything better. Unexpectedly, Selian died suddenly.

He then returned to Kushan with a sense of guilt. After all, there were many inhuman people and very few human beings in Kushan, and Mahinda was a man of humble origins who still had some sense of loyalty. Since Serian had not betrayed him, he would naturally keep his promise to Serian.

This led to the devising of strategies to go to Tibet and contain nearly 200,000 Han troops.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is not suitable for normal people to live on, but Mahinda was born in the northern Guizhou mountain area, which is close to the Himalayas and has an average altitude of three to four thousand meters.

For Mahinda, that place was tough, but it was indeed his hometown. It wasn't really suitable for retirement, but it would be quite suitable for him to die there.

So Mahinda followed Fuwod to Tibet, and it was after he had given instructions to that group of people that he made it clear.

There were many intelligent people in the upper echelons of the Kushan Empire, even Vasudeva I was one of the more intelligent ones. He clearly sensed from Mahinda's words and expression the sense of relief that he wanted to leave. Considering that everyone knew what they had done back then, after Mahinda helped him instruct that batch of people, Vasudeva I parted ways amicably.

At the time, Vasudeva I did not expect that Mahinda would defect to the Han Dynasty. The Kushans were very unhappy with Mahinda, but they still had some loyalty to the Kushans and did not want to stay with them. Instead, they chose to protect the Kushans in their own way.

Moreover, while leading troops to Tibet to threaten the core area of ​​the Han Dynasty was a good strategy that could buy more time for the Kushan Empire, it was also very dangerous. It was similar to Yu Jin's current decision to switch sides, both of which were doomed to failure.

Mahinda had done so much that Vasudeva I and others really couldn't say anything. Even now that they knew Mahinda had surrendered to the Han Dynasty, they had nothing to say. Mahinda had done his best, staying in that kind of place for several years and keeping hundreds of thousands of Han people busy.

This is a lone battle; could they have done better in their place?
No!

It should be noted that even a top-tier officer like Foward almost certainly died and did not return alive.

I just didn't expect time to pass so quickly. Five or six years have passed. If those young men selected by Vasudeva I had really worked hard, there should now be five or six officers who can lead legions. As for officers who can lead one or two thousand men, there should be dozens, or even more.

This number might not seem like much at the empire level, but this level is actually the middle layer of a large army, a crucial level connecting the top command with the centurions below. Dozens of such officers, combined with the officers already in the Kushan Empire, would be enough to maintain a new army group.

More importantly, this command method, which does not rely on the visualization of gods and Buddhas, was the foundation for Vasudeva I, Dukhlai, Bangim, and others to reconstruct the Southern Noble Army.

The Kushan legions can be roughly divided into two types: the elite Northern Kushan legions and the Southern Kushan legions, which are no less capable than the Northern Kushan legions in small-scale battles, and may even be better, but are no more than wild dogs on the roadside when the scale is large, and may even be inferior to the elite legions of small countries.

Those who were massacred by the Han Dynasty were generally the latter. Even if the former could not defeat the Han Dynasty, they rarely suffered large-scale collapse and disintegration. Their fighting strength and will were quite good.

The reason why Nan Gui is so weak is that the unity of the hundred-person team brought about by the visualization of gods and Buddhas is too independent and clear. This gives the Brahmin a strong fighting power at the hundred-person scale. The team with the same visualization, with the blessing of gods and Buddhas, can even enable the centurion to have a fighting power that exceeds that of a normal Qi Refining Realm cultivator, and is even close to the internal Qi leaving the body.

This is also why the Han dynasty suffered many losses at the hands of the elite Southern Nobles in the early days. Later, it was discovered that the Southern Nobles were only strong at this size. Beyond this size, the more people they had, the more useless they became.

Even with such a powerful force, in large-scale battles, teams lacking coordination are easily routed when facing a large regular army.

As top-tier Brahmins, Zhu Helai and Banqim were well aware of their family's weaknesses, and they even knew how to make up for them, since Rahul had already demonstrated it to them. As for why, even after the demonstration, the Southern Nobles were still so inept in large-scale battles, that remains to be seen.

Then the only explanation is to look for the cause within the Brahmins themselves.

Now, the Brahmanical system has been greatly impacted by the Han Dynasty, so Zhu Helai can join forces with Banqim to make some changes to the previously locked system. For example, they can eliminate the centurions who use concentrated Buddhist and divine visualization and replace them with centurions of the Northern Nobles. Then, they can replace the thousand-man army with strong young soldiers with a certain overall vision, thus structurally changing the Southern Noble Army.

However, it's still possible to assemble a few centurions in the North. The most important backbone of an army group of a thousand or five thousand men is limited for an empire.

There is a surplus in Beigui, but it is definitely not enough to be fully implemented.

Masind, who owed Serian a favor and returned to the Kushan Empire, was able to solve this problem; in fact, it was a perfect fit for his expertise.

"Um, how many people did you help screen back then?" Chen Xi asked after a moment of silence.

"About two or three hundred?" Ma Xinde recalled for a moment. "Because the requirements are very clear, we need some officers who can command a force of one thousand to five thousand men. You know, if we don't require things like Legion Talent, Mind Image, or Mind Abyss, then at this level, we only need someone with basic command skills. It's not difficult for me."

"No, why don't they just ask you to help open a few mental images?" Chen Xi said speechlessly, but he could understand to some extent. After all, the first thing he did after learning about Ma Xinde's talent was to ask Ma Xinde to help optimize it. Even now, Ma Xinde is still working hard to help Chen Xi with his development. This ability to put the right people in the right positions is just too incredible.

“I did look for them, but how should I put it? In the past two years, I’ve helped solve some problems with the technical and management personnel of state-owned factories, mines, and large workshops. You should have noticed something as well.” Mahinda said with a hint of weariness, “My talent isn’t invincible. I just discovered that the other person had this potential and then put them in a position that suited that potential.”

Mahinda is very talented, but his talent is not actually suitable for discovering people at the top, because people who can reach the top have too many potentials, and Mahinda cannot accurately judge which potential is the greatest.

Essentially, Mahinda is looking for people to work with, rather than tailoring teaching to individual needs.

The reason why Urdu, Salman, and Assam were trained into legion commanders with mental visions and ranked in the top tier in the Imperial Wars is not simply because these three people have the potential to achieve mental visions, but because these three guys really listened to Masind and spent more than ten years in the mountains honing themselves.

Think about the other dozen or so potential Scythians who haven't developed their inner potential yet. You can tell that potential is just that—potential. Whether you can actually possess it depends on your efforts later in life.

“If you ask me to find a few dozen guys who can manage a few dozen people, I can find them quickly. Even if they aren’t capable when they first come, with some training, they’ll be fine and definitely qualified. But if this is about managing a scale of several thousand people, then there are very few people who are suitable for this position.” Ma Xinde explained simply, “If there are young people who can develop their talents in a few years, then I need to mentor them. If there aren’t such people, even if I mentor them, they still won’t be able to develop their talents.”

This is what a renowned teacher is.

“The Kushan Empire is a great power, after all. If they send me a thousand-man commanders, even if not all of them are, there would be seven or eight out of ten. I can quickly identify them with a glance. But even if I point out the right path, it won’t be easy for the young legion commanders sent by the Yuezhi to open up a new world.” Mahinda said helplessly.

“Mental talent isn’t everything. Mahinda is very capable, but it’s not as exaggerated as you think, Lord Chen. He can produce hundreds of Kushan commanders. Even a famous general like General Huangfu can roughly judge who is worth cultivating by looking at his subordinates. There’s no need to actively cultivate them. Letting them grow freely is enough. They’ll emerge after a few deaths.” Langarajan added from the side, indicating to Chen Xi not to overestimate Mahinda’s mental talent, after all, it’s just mental talent.

"That's pretty much it. Legion talents and mental images can indeed be unlocked, but those either require time or a lucky draw based on natural talent. Of course, I used to perform like a genius, and I had officers who developed mental images under my guidance on the battlefield to support my theory, so the Kushans thought I could easily help people unlock mental images, but it's not that simple." Mahinda said with a touch of nostalgia.

“That’s a battlefield. Those who survive are already qualified, some even on the verge of success, but they just can’t get past that hurdle. I just stepped in at that time. Just look at Urdu and the others. To truly guide relatively ordinary people to achieve mental imagery, it takes about ten years, and they also need to work hard enough,” Mahind said with emotion.

“But in reality, people who can work that hard are not ordinary people. Hard work and forcing oneself to work hard are actually a kind of talent,” Rangarajan said with a hint of sarcasm.

This is reality. Effort is a very important quality, especially sustained and persistent effort. It is clear that most people do not have this quality.

“In my eyes, most people in this world are actually quite similar, at least in terms of aptitude. The remaining differences are actually in education, self-effort, and focus. Two people with the same aptitude can have a huge difference because of these differences.” Ma Xinde pointed to himself and Huangfusong. “I have the potential to be a commander, but I have never worked hard in that direction. I can develop my aptitude in all aspects, but it is definitely not as good as it is now.”

Chen Xi nodded in understanding, saying that this was normal.

"In other words, the Kushan Empire should have an additional army group, and this army group may be composed of the Southern Kushan Empire?" Chen Xi said with a hint of seriousness.

"Pretty much. Judging by the timeline, those people should be able to command around a thousand men by now, which should be enough to form an army group." Mahinda thought for a moment and said, "So you should be on guard. The Kushan army's maximum strength may not be low, and if Oswin really only has 250,000 troops, then the enemy's command strength may be far higher than that of the same level."

“Okay, record this too, and send it to Wenze via express courier. Make sure he receives it today.” Chen Xi turned to Yuan Yin and said. High-speed intelligence transmission is something all three empires have the technology for; it’s just a matter of cost. However, the Han dynasty’s problem is almost solved.

"Is there anything else you want to add? If not, I'll have someone go to the side hall of Weiyang Palace and send this thing to Wenze right now." Chen Xi looked at the group of people around him and asked very seriously, "This thing costs a lot of money to activate once, so send it to everyone who wants it."

"That's all. To be honest, I don't even know why you called me here. You should know my current situation," Zhou Yu asked, looking around.

It's been mailed, completely mailed. Why isn't there a holiday yet? This is so frustrating!