The Three Kingdoms began with island farming

Chapter 567 War Levels
"Your Majesty has a heart as broad as the sea, but you are too kind." Sima Yi said with a sigh.

In Sima Yi's eyes, Tian Ze was a wise and enlightened monarch, but he was not ruthless enough. He lacked the domineering attitude of being the only one who is superior to others, which did not conform to his values.

However, the reality is that he has no other choice.

Would he defect to other princes, give up his bright future, and start a business with Cao Cao and others in misery?
He's not that stupid.

Tian Ze's problem is not one of principle but one of selectivity.

Just like Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing had the Wenjing rule, but the Xiongnu became stronger. Emperor Wu expanded the territory and pacified the Xiongnu, but the treasury was empty and the family fortune was wasted.

It's just a different choice. After all, you can't have your cake and eat it too. This is true for almost any monarch.

But what Sima Yi found difficult to understand was that Tian Ze, who pacified such a chaotic world, was actually a wise and benevolent monarch. This was totally unreasonable.

However, after gaining a deeper understanding of Tian Ze's strength and history of success, Sima Yi had to admit that it made sense.

When your strength is strong enough, strong enough to be able to launch dimensionality reduction attacks and continuous flying dragons on your face, you can indeed win no matter how you play.

"We naturally cannot do what His Majesty forbids. But there are some things His Majesty is unwilling to do, and as his subjects, we have to think about and do them on His Majesty's behalf."

After hearing what Sima Yi said, Zhang Liao nodded in agreement.

The ass decides the head.

Tian Ze has been relying on his own abilities and insights to push the general trend, but it is impossible for him to go against the characteristics of this era and change human nature.

Power comes from the top down, but more often it comes from the bottom up.

The powerful families were only weakened, but a new bureaucratic system and vested interest groups inevitably emerged, and Zhang Liao was one of them.

They will instinctively protect the interests of Tianze and Da Qi.

However, many interests are in conflict, which means that their ideas are destined to be impossible to be completely consistent with Tian Ze's.

Tian Ze was also very aware of this, so he never criticized him too harshly and just tried his best to guide him.

The higher the position he holds and the further he goes, the more helpless Tian Ze feels.

Because the trend that he could once push forward with his own strength has gradually formed a new, stronger trend, and even he himself can no longer push it forward.

To a certain extent, this is what is called the dragon slayer eventually becoming the dragon.

Tian Ze took this very easy.

Nothing can be achieved overnight. In this feudal era, it was already very good that he could push social development and productivity to the level of the Ming Dynasty in history and ignite the spark of science and technology.

He led to a leap forward in the development of the times, but it was impossible for him to achieve it in one step.

The limitations of the feudal era doomed the dynasty to collapse. It was almost impossible to break the 300-year dynasty cycle.

But as long as the times are progressing and people's lives are getting better, what is there to be stubborn about?

Tian Ze felt that he had done nothing wrong, but he also didn't think that Sima Yi, Zhang Liao and others were wrong, they were just in different positions.

After a brief exchange with Sima Yi, Zhang Liao also gained a deeper understanding of this future partner.

Ma Chao and others were confused and not interested in it.

Sima Yi didn't expect these four politically incompetent warriors to be of any use. He just wanted to reach a consensus with Zhang Liao and gain Zhang Liao's respect and recognition.

Although Zhang Liao was a military commander, his political wisdom was not low. Otherwise, he would not have been able to become the first person of a different surname under the suspicious and xenophobic Cao.

It is also for this reason that Sima Yi has a very high opinion of Zhang Liao, even above Guan Yu and Xu Rong, and believes that he is more capable of commanding a region.

When the war reaches the level of an empire, the requirements for the commander are no longer the same.

In a war involving fewer than a hundred men, the commander's martial arts are more important than his ability. As long as he can lead the charge and break through the enemy's formation and boost morale, he can secure victory.

When the scale of a war reaches thousands or tens of thousands of people, the role of individual bravery is no longer so obvious, and the role of the commander's command ability becomes increasingly prominent.

Most of the competitions are about who can find the opponent's flaws first, who can react and change formation faster, and who can make use of superior military forces.

When the scale of a war reaches more than 10,000 people, what is tested more is the commander's comprehensive military capabilities, such as organizational capabilities, logistics capabilities, and the ability to control the army.

When the scale of the war reaches this imperial level, it tests not only military capabilities but also political capabilities.

Especially now that the composition of both the attackers and the enemy is extremely complex.

How to face Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others, how to play your role in a normal war, do your job well, how to finish the war afterward...

These are even more important than the battle itself.

It was based on this consideration that Tian Ze sent Zhang Liao and Sima Yi over because they were the most suitable candidates and were not weak in both military and political abilities.

If it were anyone else, even Guan Yu, Zhang He, or Xu Huang, the effect would certainly not be as good as Zhang Liao's.

If Guan Yu was leading the army, given his arrogant personality, he would most likely just ignore Yuan Shao and others and do his own thing.

If Zhang He led the army, he would probably just play a supporting role and do nothing, and his subjective initiative would be poor, unless he was the leader or it concerned his own affairs.

If Xu Huang led the army, it would be difficult for him to handle the relationship with Yuan Shao and others. Although he would not be excluded, he would not be able to integrate into the group.

Of course, this does not mean that Zhang Liao is stronger than them. Zhang Liao also has his own shortcomings, such as sometimes thinking too much and preferring tactics. It’s just that for the current battlefield, Zhang Liao is more suitable.

Naturally, there was no need for the two smart people to say much. With just a simple communication, they reached a consensus and understood each other's meaning.

Then Zhang Liao got to the point and asked, "Zhongda, what do you think of this battle?"

Sima Yi said calmly: "If the Northern Xiongnu don't have any strong trump cards, we will definitely win."

"The strength of the four kings should not be underestimated. To be honest, if they can work together as they do now, and if they have the national strength of Kushan, I'm afraid Your Majesty will have a headache."

Zhang Liao nodded slightly when he heard this.

The combination of the civil and military forces in this army made even him tremble with fear.

Lu Bu was the vanguard, Gongsun Zan was on the flank, Yuan Shao was the center, Cao Cao was the support, and there was also a luxurious lineup of civil and military officials.

Even if we bring all the civil and military officials under your Majesty's command, with equal military strength, I'm afraid we can only win 40-60.

Moreover, these soldiers were veterans who had fought for many years, and they were considered elite even in his eyes. He didn't know how he had gathered so many of them right under their noses.

It turns out that none of these princes are simple. They fought desperately in the Central Plains War, but they all held back in the end.

Zhang Liao secretly hated.

(End of this chapter)