When Han Mo returned to the camp, Xiao Lingzhi and Xiao Jun were still sleeping. It had been more than three hours. Han Mo could only stay by the side until it was dawn. Xiao Lingzhi woke up first. Seeing Han Mo sitting on a chair reading a book, she couldn't help but rub her eyes and said, "Han Lang, are you back? Why don't you wake me up?"

Han Mo put down the book, walked over, kissed her forehead, and said softly: "When I came back last night, I saw that you were already asleep, so I was worried about quarreling at you, so I didn't let you get up..."

Xiao Lingzhi frowned and said, "Why did I sleep last night? I can't even remember it."

"Maybe life in the border has been hard recently, so I'm a little tired." Han Mo stroked Xiao Lingzhi's hair lovingly, "Zhi'er, I'm really sorry for you to let you suffer with me here."

Xiao Lingzhi leaned against Han Mo's arms, feeling very warm. She smiled sweetly and said, "If you let me follow you in the military camp, Zhi'er will not feel wronged. Zhi'er is just afraid that you won't let me follow you!"

Han Mo shook his head and said seriously: "Even if the sky falls, I will hold your hand and let you be by my side. No one in this heaven or underground can take you away from me."

Xiao Lingzhi's heart was moved and her face was filled with happiness.

"Zhi'er, wash and have breakfast." Han Mo carried Xiao Lingzhi from the bed to the edge of the bed and helped her put on her shoes. Xiao Lingzhi was quite surprised, but she was extremely sweet.

How many men can wear shoes for women in this world?

Han Mo had already cooked the porridge. When Xiao Lingzhi was washing, Xiaojun woke up. Han Mo also washed up and did not eat breakfast. So he rushed to Dashuai's camp.

Not a moment after he entered the tent, the newly appointed general of Linyang Pass Tiekui had already led Qin Luo and Wang Siyu to the tent. The three of them looked very solemn, and even anger flashed in their eyes.

After visiting, Tiekui said directly: "General, news came from the north."

Seeing the expressions of the three people, Han Mo knew that the matter was extraordinary and frowned and asked, "Has Qingjun been defeated by the Beiman again?"

"I'm afraid there is no need to hit this time." Tie Kui clenched his fists and said, "I sent envoys to the capital a few days ago to go forward. After many inquiries, our people learned that the envoys went to the north to negotiate with the Northern Barbarians."

"Peace talk?" Han Mo frowned and said, "The Northern Barbarians are in full swing, and there are almost 100 alliances with Wei. How could they easily accept peace talks?" He stood up and walked to the huge map of the Four Kingdoms in the tent, which clearly marked the twenty-six counties of the Four Kingdoms in the Central Plains.

Tie Kui and the other two followed behind, looking at the map.

"According to the news reported, the Northern Barbarians have captured half of the land of Zhongshan County in the northern part of Qing State, and a group of people seem to have invaded Gaoyang County." Tiekui pointed to the map and said: "Although Wang Yanping is quite talented in command of the army, there are serious problems with logistics supply. Moreover, compared with combat effectiveness, the Northern Barbarian cavalry is far stronger than the Qing army. Most of Zhongshan County is in plain areas. The Northern Barbarian cavalry is very fast there. Whether it is assembled and attacked or retreated, it is far from comparable to the Qing army."

"In other words, the Qing army will not last long, and the Northern Barbarians will be very likely to completely capture Zhongshan County?" Han Mo asked with a frown.

Wang Siyu said solemnly: "In fact, the Northern Barbarians suddenly came back from the extreme north, and there was no warning in advance. It can be said that they caught the Qing people off guard. Moreover, the tens of thousands of barbarians were all barbarians who lived on horseback since childhood. They were bloodthirsty, but they had extremely strict organization. Perhaps we were taught a lesson in the previous dynasty, and their combat methods were much higher than they once were. They suddenly attacked Yanmen Pass and easily attacked the pass. Fortunately, it was Wang Yanping. If it were an ordinary general, Zhongshan County would have been taken down by the Northern Barbarians long ago."

"The Northern Barbarians now learn to surround the siege, attack at night, burn grain, and pretend to retreat and set up ambush. The progress is really great." Tie Kui sneered: "If nothing unexpected happens, if Qing State does not increase troops to the northeast, Zhongshan County will be completely trapped in the latest twenty days."

Han Mo pondered for a moment and finally said, "General Tie, in your opinion, at this time, the Northern Barbarians will agree to negotiate with the people of Qing to stop the army?"

Tiekui thought for a while and said, "Since the people of Qing dare to send people to discuss, they naturally have enough capital, otherwise they would not have done such useless achievements."

"Then what conditions do you think the people of Qing will come up with?" Han Mo asked calmly at Zhongshan County on the map.

Tiekui said: "The Northern Barbarians are greedy, and they are now in full swing. If there are no conditions that can impress them, it will be difficult to stop the army." After pausing, he frowned and said: "The Northern Barbarians attach importance to actual goods. I think the people of Qing want the Northern Barbarians to stop and should bring out huge wealth."

Wang Siyu said slowly: "The nobles of Qing State have been corrupt over the years. It is said that their treasury is very empty. Even if Shang Zhongli is in charge of the Qing army, the military pay of the Qing army is often short of... If you want to give the huge wealth to the Northern Barbarians, the Qing State may not have such financial resources. In other words, if the Qing State's treasury really had such financial resources, Shang Zhongli would have asked the Qing State's court for military expenses to equip and strengthen the military power."

Han Mo nodded slightly and said, "Commander Wang is right. Although Shang Zhongli is known for his defense, in my opinion, no general in the world doesn't like attacking in his bones." He paused and said, "After Shang Zhongli defended first and then attacked the Wei army, after three years of reorganization, he suddenly launched an attack on our Dayan and caught us off guard..." At this point, Han Mo couldn't help but look at Tie Kui.

Tiekui looked calm, but his fists were clenched.

The Battle of Shanggu City happened during that attack, and Tiekui will naturally remember it for life.

"So Shang Zhongli still likes attacking in his heart. Defense is just a helpless choice." Han Mo said slowly: "For ten years, he has never sent troops to attack. First, it is because Wei State has Sima Qingtian and I, Dayan, have a great commander, and he dare not act rashly. Another reason is naturally because Qing State's national strength is not enough to support him in launching wars abroad. This is enough to show that Qing State's financial resources are getting worse and worse. It is undoubtedly extremely difficult to use huge wealth to satisfy the appetite of the Northern Barbarians."

Qin Luo immediately said: "General, Qingguo has a vast land and a wealth of resources. As the saying goes, the goods in the world come from Qing merchants. Their wealth should be the greatest."

Han Mo smiled faintly and said, "Qing Country is indeed rich in resources and has a large land and abundant resources, but those nobles are greedy and exploiting the people. A large amount of wealth in the national treasury among the people is accumulated by a small number of people. If compared with the wealth of the nobles of the four Central Plains, the wealth of the Qing Country is as numerous as a cow. The wealth of the Lu family alone can be as rich as a country." After a pause, he walked back to his seat and sat down, and said lightly: "The nobles are rich, but it does not mean that the Qing Country is rich.

The more wealth the nobles gather and the more serious the exploitation they exploit, the income of the Qing State treasury will naturally become weaker and weaker. Once there is a state affairs, the nobles will never pay out money from their own wealth, but can only allocate money from the national treasury. How can a weak treasury support a huge country? Just like this time, the Qing State people are going to negotiate with the Northern Barbarians and really have to use huge wealth to satisfy the Northern Barbarians. Are those nobles willing to pay out money from their own wallets?”

Qin Luo was a martial artist and did not understand this kind of economics at first, but after Han Mo's explanation, he understood why Qing's country was vast and wealthy, but its national strength was weak.

The nobles controlled trade through various channels, levyed heavy taxes, and put the silver that was originally going to enter the treasury into their own pockets. Although the nobles were all full of money, the country became weak.

Moreover, these nobles have formed a solid united front, and any force that wants to take out silver from their pockets is their enemy.

This is a huge force that can affect the whole body. Even if the treasury is weak, the court cannot use tough measures to get silver from the nobles. If that happens, greater internal turmoil will arise.

This aristocratic cancer has actually become the main reason for the decline of Qing State, but this cancer was born in the throat of Qing State and easily removed, which may cause life worries. Therefore, before finding a real treatment, the cancer grew very steadily in the throat of Qing State, dragging Qing State down step by step.

"No silver?" Tie Kui sneered: "The people of Qing will cede the land and seek peace!"

"Cece the territory and seek peace?" Qin Luo and Wang Siyu were both surprised.

Han Mo seemed to have expected it and nodded, "Yes, there are only three things to ask for peace, including compensation, marriage, and cede land. The people of Qing cannot afford huge amounts of money. As for marriage... the Northern Barbarians mobilized troops and sought actual benefits. At this time, the Northern Barbarians would never agree to the marriage. If the compensation and cedes with each other, they would only be cede land!" He sneered: "If the people of Qing really wanted to negotiate with the Northern Barbarians, this time they sent envoys, they would definitely let the envoys take the land."

Wang Siyu looked solemn: "How can the people of Qing do such a shameful thing?"

Although the Central Plains were divided into four countries, the people of Yan also regarded the Northern Barbarians as part of the Central Plains culture.

Tiekui said slowly: "Wang Yanping retreated repeatedly on the Northeast Front, and the Qing people could no longer deal with the two battles. They must find a way to calm the Northern Barbarians first and deal with the Wei State with all their heart."

Han Mo touched his chin, pondered for a moment, his eyes returned to the map, and asked slowly: "General Tie, in your opinion, if the people of Qing want to cede land, where will they cede to the Northern Barbarians?"

Tiekui walked to the land picture and took a quick photo of Zhongshan County with his palms, then in Gaoyang County, and then said: "If we are not wrong, if the people of Qing really want to cede land, these two counties will definitely not be able to be protected."

"Most of Zhongshan County has been captured, Gaoyang County is in turmoil, and there are a large number of descendants of the Northern Barbarians. The Northern Barbarians will inevitably make territorial requests for Gaoyang County." Tiekui walked to the front of the general's case and said seriously: "For a long time, the four counties of Zhongshan, Gaoyang, Yangping and Hexi have been listed as the four counties of the Northeast of Qing State, becoming a system. Hexi is located in the north, and Yangping is connected with the two counties of Zhongshan Gaoyang. I am afraid that the Northern Barbarians will be greedy and the lions will speak loudly and make demands on Yangping. If that is the case, the northeastern region of Qing State will be equivalent to being completely in the hands of the Northern Barbarians, and the consequences will be unimaginable."

Speaking of this, everyone's expressions became serious.

Han Mo slowly stood up, carried his hands on his back, and walked to the big tent. Qin Luo had already stepped forward and opened the big tent. Han Mo carried his hands on him and stared at the military camp in the distance outside the tent. After a long time, he slowly said: "I hope the people of Qing are not so backbone." After a pause, he said coldly: "If they really do this and cut the three northeastern counties to the Northern Barbarians, then... sooner or later, I, Yan, will regain every inch of lost land from the Northern Barbarians, and we will not make any mistakes in the previous dynasty's charity against the Northern Barbarians."
Chapter completed!