Guo Xiancheng and Cao Hui sat opposite each other, their faces full of frustration.

For Qi, the war has ended. This battle of Qi took great pains to join forces with several forces to kill the newly rising Ming Dynasty, and finally ended in failure.

Now we can only see military failures, but the subsequent political continuation will be the highlight. It can be imagined that because of the failure on the battlefield, Qi will fall into a passive situation next.

"Under the look of them." Guo Xiancheng said blamingly: "Mr. Cao, I underestimate them. I, Guo, have fought countless big battles in my life, but this time I fell to this place. For nearly a month, I have been in a big army of tens of thousands, and I have not even taken down a single Shayang. If I could take Shayang in time, the barbarians of Zhengyang County might not collapse so early, and there is still a lot of potential. I will apologize to Your Majesty."

Cao Hui shook his head, "General Guo, don't blame himself. This time, he had to start a war in advance due to an accident. He was not prepared in all aspects, and it was not a simple military battle. From the intelligence analysis I can receive now, our plan was well understood by the Ming people. Li Wei and Gexiang were just two chess pieces that the Ming people stocked. They had long been under Qin Feng's control. Using these two people to mobilize the barbarian army to move out in advance and catch all parties off guard was something they had planned long ago. Qin Feng was so brave and admired."

"How can such a confidential plan be leaked? Is it an internal problem?" Guo Xiancheng asked.

"No." Cao Hui shook his head: "The rogue still comes from Li Wei and Ge Xiang. The two of them were too greedy and thought that Zhengyang was their world, doing whatever they wanted and without any scruples. Only then did the Ming people noticed it, and thus took the tricks and created the current situation."

"Even so, the strength of the Ming army has given us a clear understanding from now on. I am afraid that from now on, our strongest opponent will not be the Chu people, but the Ming people." Guo Xiancheng was a little sad: "Mr. Cao has also looked at the weapons and armor of the Ming people we seized these days. It is not a little better than our Daqi. Although these are all external objects, we must admit that on the battlefield, these things can sometimes determine the success or failure of an army. Our Daqi military system must reflect carefully, why can't we do what the Ming people can do?"

Cao Hui smiled bitterly: "General Guo, do you know the reform of the administration of Ming people?"

"I heard of it, but this has nothing to do with me, so I didn't pay much attention to it. What does this have to do with this war?" Guo Xiancheng asked strangely.

"It has something to do, not only it has something to do, but it also has a lot to do." Cao Hui sighed: "Qin Feng abolished the way of recruiting scholars in various countries. In our Daqi, the selection of officials is now walking on two legs. One leg is to obtain scholars in science and technology. One article determines life, and the other leg is to recommend talents and be appointed by officials."

"There is no problem!" Guo Xiancheng said: "Scientific examinations are a way for everyone, and recommendations can pick up the remains and select those with special talents."

"Of course the original intention was good, but now it has changed." Cao Hui said: "Scientific examination, one article determines lifelong life, this is great. Everyone is thinking about how to write this article? Are you pragmatic? No, General Guo, you have heard of the jokes that we had made during the spring plow last year, right?"

Guo Xiancheng laughed, "It's the top scholar who can't tell the difference between wheat seedlings and leeks? It's also unlucky enough. Such a big ugly person in front of the emperor. He should have been promoted quickly by the Hanlin Academy. He was promoted quickly. That's better. He was kicked to the poorest county to experience life by the emperor."

"It's funny to say, but it's not funny if you think deeply. In fact, there are many such jokes, how many people really let the emperor know? Two years ago, the River Superintendent, who was appointed by the Ministry of Personnel, knew nothing about the river craftsmanship, but he was very scholarly, stubborn and forced to copy the knowledge in books, which caused a great disaster. In the end, he lost his head and caused the people of Daqi to suffer a lot."

Speaking of this, Guo Xiancheng also fell silent. "I have a captain under my command, and his home is there. The flood made him no relatives."

Cao Hui sighed heavily: "There are very few talents that can be truly selected on this leg, and the other leg has become even more distorted and has almost become a weapon for our officials in Daqi to form cliques and form cliques for personal gain. Ha, everyone recommended is their own people. Regardless of whether he is a virtuous person or not, or whether he has real skills, for these people, it is good to have a seat. Over the years, the emperor noticed some clues and ordered strict investigations. This is good. He doesn't recommend his own people anymore, but the officials colluded and recommended each other's people, and it is hard to guard against!"

Guo Xiancheng spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders, and did not dare to speak much, because he often did such things.

"In contrast, in the past two years, the Ming people have reformed their administration, eliminated the redundant and inferior, and accepted officials as officials. There are more than a dozen scientific research projects. If the article is well written, it has become insignificant. Qin Feng is more pragmatic. He values ​​people who can do things in real life. No matter how many books the person has read, he will succeed, even if this person only has some expertise in a certain aspect. I have seen their official inspection system. Qin Feng proposed an assessment principle, saying that Wugong is a failure. Has General Guo heard of it?"

"Is there a mistake in Wugong?" Guo Xiancheng was a little surprised, "This statement is very novel."

"It's also amazing. To put it bluntly, this is to deal with those who occupy the pit and don't poop." Cao Hui said: "The Ming people have a small test every year and a big test every three years, which forces officials to work hard one by one. There are very few officials who stay in the yamen now and work hard, and these officials are going out to find things to do. One or two of them are not scary, but it's like this across the country, so that's scary. Once you went to Changyang quietly.

I came here to go to Baoqing Port, but on the way, I saw their county magistrate Ma Xiangnan, who was a county magistrate. He rolled up his pants and sleeves and sat on the ridge of the field to discuss with the old farmer how to ferment the fertilizer better. He also asked his subordinates to take paper and write it down, saying that they would promote it in the whole county. At that moment, I really wanted to kill this county magistrate. But when I came back, I was worried, but I didn't expect to meet Fang Dazhi, the county magistrate of Shayang County. You can't imagine what he was doing?"

"What is he doing?"

"He was discussing with a group of merchants how to grow the world? Among them, there are a few merchants from our Qi State." Cao Hui shook his head: "A county magistrate talked about how to make money and how to make money. He thought about how to provide convenience to merchants, how to loosen the constraints of merchants, and how to reduce unnecessary taxes and fees. Hehe, General Guo, don't think that this guy is digging the corners of Ming Dynasty. He, he thinks farther. Later I found those merchants. Do you know what Fang Dazhi thought? He thought that when the merchants' business is big, he will naturally collect more taxes. If these merchants do a big business, they can hire more people. If these people take their wages, they can buy more things. He calls it a driving consumption. On the other hand, when the consumption is pulled up, it will stimulate the prosperity of business. General Guo, do you think our county magistrates do this?"

Guo Xiancheng shook his head.

"Let me talk about it again, why can the Daye Iron Mine and the iron smelting plant make such good quality steel? Because Qin Feng generously turned those big craftsmen who didn't recognize a few big words into officials. The craftsman who was named the chief supervisor by Qin Feng received a salary of comparable to their chief minister Quan Yun. How could this craftsman not be grateful? He even moved the bedding and rolls to the iron factory, where were food, drinks, and slaughtering? He thought about how to improve the quality a little bit throughout the day. And such people are everywhere in the Ming Dynasty. Can we do these things? Let these people who have never read books become officials and enjoy the welfare of officials, but I am afraid that the court will be quarrels soon!"

Guo Xiancheng smiled bitterly.

"When it comes to the welfare of officials, the welfare of our Daqi officials is the best in the world. They do not pay taxes or pay taxes. Everyone has a large amount of land but has not contributed to the court. As for the officials of the Ming Dynasty, there is no such welfare at all. They should pay, and even a penny cannot be lost. A clearing of the land, he dug out millions of acres of fertile land that are hidden in the future." Cao Hui sighed: "Every time I see this information, I feel like I am on pins and pins. Our Daqi is still a giant. Although the Ming Dynasty is still like a minor young man, I can see every muscle of his muscle is getting stronger day by day. Whether I or the emperor, I can see where the problem of our Daqi is, but I can't change it. This is the most helpless thing."

"Since we see the threat, we must destroy him immediately while they are not stronger." Guo Xiancheng said.

"That's what we think, but unfortunately, we failed this time." Cao Hui said: "The war in Zhengyang County has ended. The main forces of the Ming army such as Panshi Camp, Ruijin Camp, Canglang Camp, and Hanshan Camp are advancing towards Shayang County under the command of Zhang Xiaozheng. Including Wang Gui's troops, the Ming army gathered an army of more than 50,000 people and was on the way to Shayang. For us, the war has ended. Next, we must think about how to end the war decently. Otherwise, if it is not good, it will turn into a battle that will stun the country. If that is true, wouldn't the Chu State faint from laughing?"

"Where is Zhongping County?" Guo Xiancheng asked.

"The news from Zhongping County has not been heard yet, but just looking at Zhang Xiaozheng's main force coming to Shayang, it can prove that Qin Feng was at least not defeated in Zhongping County, which is very telling. So far, Xiao Qiang has not sent troops, and I am worried that the Qin people will fail. Considering the situation in Qin State, we have to worry that they will turn against each other!" Cao Hui was worried.
Chapter completed!