The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

"Go."

"As long as you follow the military flag, you will not die; on the contrary, you will achieve great military exploits!"

"These people have their way out blocked and their retreat is also being guarded. Calling them stray dogs is too kind; they are nothing more than a bunch of turtles in a jar."

"Stop putting on this show of heroic sacrifice! You're going there to earn military merit, to cut off their heads and secure your own future, not to die!"

"I will not allow you to be arrogant or complacent, but I will not allow you to be timid either."

"We will be the only victors in this battle. Follow our orders and they will be defeated even faster!"

Han Xin realized that his previous worries about their arrogance and complacency were completely unfounded.

These people were once commoners who had lived under the threat of the Manchu Qing dynasty for generations.

There is a natural sense of fear towards those people from outside the Great Wall.

Forget arrogance; just establishing this encirclement to block the Manchu hordes had already exhausted all their courage.

In an instant, Han Xin understood.

What we need to do now is not to suppress their arrogance, but to boost their confidence!

"Your overlord has been fighting on the battlefield for a long time, killing countless enemies!"

Do you know how many men the Qing army originally had?

"More than 120,000!"

"And now? A mere 80,000!"

"The Overlord and the King of Han, who was stationed on the border, worked together to kill more than 40,000 enemies in the chaos!"

"Their combined forces number no more than ten thousand, yet they still managed to achieve such tremendous military exploits. Are you all inherently inferior to those who followed them?"

"I don't believe it. There's nothing in this world that people are inherently inferior to others. If they can do it, are you missing a leg or an arm?"

"You were all trained by me. What they can do, you, with your superior troops, can only do better!"

"Issue the order: the objective of this battle is to completely annihilate Dorgon's remaining 80,000 troops, cut off their heads, and you will gain military merit!"

"After this battle, the Overlord, the King of Han, and I, the Commander-in-Chief, will reward you all for your merits. The one who kills the most enemies and has the highest battle merits will be ennobled and appointed as a general!"

……

"He placed himself on the same level as Xiang Yu and Liu Bang."

"How should I put it? If you say Han Xin was bad at dealing with people, he still managed to climb to the position of Grand Marshal of the Army of the whole country by virtue of his smoothness."

"But if we're talking about his interpersonal skills, just based on what he just said, I reckon both Emperor Gaozu and Xiang Yu would be dissatisfied with him."

By seemingly placing his name last, he was actually positioning himself on an equal footing with the other two.

It's not that Old Zhu is petty and nitpicking his details, but rather that throughout history, very few people would overlook such details.

Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; if you can't even pay attention to this small detail, death is to be expected!

"Perhaps only someone like Emperor Gaozu could tolerate him. These two can truly be described as complementing each other."

"After all, if Han Xin had been under another emperor, someone with his personality would probably have been executed before he was even known as the God of War."

Li Er also couldn't appreciate it.

He greatly admired Han Xin's military strategies, but the problem was that his Tang Dynasty was not lacking in capable and skilled warriors.

On the contrary, looking at the entire court, those who did not have the ability to destroy a country were not even ashamed to call themselves famous generals.

The Tang Dynasty was not lacking in skilled generals, so he did not understand Han Xin's arrogance.

"You two really don't know the hardships of ordinary people, nor the suffering of other dynasties."

"What's wrong with talented people being a little arrogant?"

"If this were in my Great Song Dynasty, I could give him anything he wanted, except for military power!"

Zhao Kuangyin was somewhat speechless at those two people who spoke without understanding the situation.

You have no shortage of famous generals and fierce soldiers under your command, so of course you can spout nonsense here.

Some die from drought, while others die from flooding.

The Tang Dynasty still boasted a wealth of brilliant generals, but then came the Song Dynasty…

It is widely rumored that Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, was wary of his generals, so he used a banquet to release them from military power and promoted civil officials while suppressing military ones, which led to the weakness of the Song Dynasty.

But in fact?

None of those so-called generals were as good as him.

On the battlefield, he might not even deign to look at it!

Even if these people were given command of troops, what good would it do?

Just as Zhao Kuangyin understood them, they were equally well aware of their own abilities.

To rebel against Zhao Kuangyin?

They haven't lived enough yet!

From beginning to end, Zhao's "releasing military power over a cup of wine" was not out of fear that these generals would rebel while he was alive, but rather for the sake of future generations, to prevent the recurrence of warlordism.

As for sending those people to enjoy wealth and honor in the provinces, it was because Zhao felt that their military leadership skills were far inferior to his own, and that it was better for him to personally lead the army than to use them.

If Han Xin were in the Song Dynasty, under his command...

Let alone being on equal footing in words, as long as he doesn't want military power, doesn't want to rebel, and can lead troops to recover lost territories at critical moments, then he can accept being on equal footing in name only!

"Old Zhao is right. Even a general with such skill in battle depends on the era he lived in."

"Born in a prosperous era, a person like him is naturally useless; blind arrogance will only lead to his own destruction."

"In chaotic times, having a Han Xin like him is almost enough to secure the foundation for contending for the throne!"

"In times of chaos, which emperor wouldn't want a Han Xin to assist him? Even if he doesn't distinguish between high and low ranks."

Even Yang Jian felt that his words were too conservative.

Just like the Song Xiaozong era we discussed before, if Zhao Shen could have been given a Han Xin.

Let alone letting him have his way with words, as long as it's certain that Han Xin can win the battle, drive out the Tartars, and return to the old capital, even if it means Zhao Shen has to address him as his elder brother every day, I reckon he wouldn't hesitate for a second!

"Let alone chaotic times, if I had a Han Xin under my command, as long as he didn't want to rebel, I wouldn't hesitate to address him as an equal or even as an elder!"

The next speaker was even more outrageous.

Li Er frowned as he looked at it.

But after seeing the last name, I instantly felt relieved.

The founding emperor was also the one who brought about the downfall of his country—Wang Mang!

That guy is really something.

If he had a Han Xin under his command, he could not only have stabilized his empire, but he might even have been able to completely implement the reforms he wanted!

"So, for people like Li Er, or for ordinary rulers who want to maintain the status quo, Han Xin is dispensable, or even, to some extent, deserving of death."

"But if he really existed in our hands, we'd practically worship him!"

"Look at this, an encirclement with equal forces, it's so well done, it's watertight."

"Which direction Dorgon retreats in, how he retreats, how far he retreats each day, how many soldiers he loses each day, where he camps each day, and how he lives in constant fear are all decided by him."

"Who can rival his control of the battlefield?"

"Being able to command one's soldiers as easily as one's own arm is nothing special; many famous generals can do that."

"But Han Xin's greatest strength lies in his ability to be fully aware of the actions of local generals!"