Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 517: Changes in the North
“Don’t worry, second brother. Your sister is my sister. What’s more, Xiangxiang grew up under my care… You can arrange for her to study at the Martial Arts Hall first, and in the future she can either join the staff of the First Division in Wuchang, or stay in the General Staff of the Privy Council in Jinling.” Bai Tu promised Sun Ce.
Although many women were recruited in the military examination this time, the Chu State was not planning to actually send them to the frontline army...
If there are any female generals who are good at military strategy, they can be sent to the staff departments .
"No, she is not that kind of material. If she could learn military strategies, she would have learned it at home long ago." Sun Ce shook his head when he heard this.
The Sun family is not a small family, so they don’t need to go to the martial arts hall to learn these things.
"How about going to the medical class?" Bai Tu asked, changing his mind.
The advantages of female warriors are mainly that they are attentive, responsible and friendly, so they will be assigned to medical and communication positions. Moreover, the existence of female warriors itself is a boost to military morale - women joining the army not only confirms the Eight Strategies for the founding of the Chu State, but also reflects the military and public morale of the Chu State.
"If I were a wounded person, I wouldn't trust her to provide medical treatment." Sun Ce shook his head faster.
"Then..." Bai Tu was still a little hesitant.
However, Sun Ce directly said: "I hope she can join the guards directly... In fact, I came here this time to ask my sister-in-law for help."
As Sun Ce spoke, he gave Lu Lingqi a slightly flattering smile.
Lu Lingqi: ...
What else could Lu Lingqi say? She could only nod and say, "If you are confident, then leave it to me."
Although Lv Lingqi was still very wary of the addition of a woman to the guards, but... firstly, Lv Lingqi was also very familiar with Sun Shangxiang. She had known her when she was six or seven years old. Secondly, Sun Shangxiang was only fourteen years old this year. Judging from Bai Tu's personality, she knew from his performance when she first met him that he would not have any thoughts about a child of this age.
If he was four or five years older, Lu Lingqi might not agree so easily.
Seeing that Lu Lingqi agreed, Sun Ce felt relieved. After all, there was no danger in being a guard and he had his elder brother to take care of him, so it was the position that Sun Ce felt most at ease in.
As for the guards, are there times when they are in danger?
As the tiger girl of the Sun family, Sun Ce felt that it was reasonable for her to suffer casualties while protecting the King of Chu.
As for the other female warriors, most of them were sent to the martial arts hall for further training. Those with military talent were assigned to the general staff, and others were assigned to the medical class, communications class, and propaganda department according to their personalities and strengths...
The emergence of heroic female warriors reflects the military and public morale of the Chu State, but really letting them take the lead in the charge is another matter.
Even so, many scholars from outside the State of Chu who were stationed in Jinling were already looking at it with awe. They did not understand the practice of allowing women to join the army, and it even led to some rumors.
For example, Liu Yan, who had been admitted to Jinling University, criticized this repeatedly. Not only did he argue with other students, but he also contributed articles to various official newspapers, citing a wide range of examples to criticize this behavior.
even……
Under the watchful eyes of the public , this article was published with an introduction by Ni Heng.
Ni Heng's introduction was naturally not very polite. He directly pointed out that these were scholars outside the State of Chu and did not recognize the symbol of Chu learning.
Moreover, Chuxue represents the interests of the people and protects the rights of women. It can be deduced that the princes outside Chu do not represent the interests of the people and are the enemies of the people...
When Liu Yan saw the introduction, he was so angry that his nose twisted, but he still had some confidence in his heart. After all...if his article was indeed published, it would be seen by more people, and naturally he would be able to convince others!
However... at this time, supported by the national strength of Chu, or the living standards of the Chu people, the confidence of Chuxue has been established. Even if their doubts are "incomprehensible and powerful" in the eyes of ordinary people, but...
Hmm? Do you have any problem with Chu Xue?
That must be your fault, otherwise why can't your people eat meat, read books, or see doctors? If you want to make progress, you have to learn from us!
When Liu Yan found out that not only were his articles criticized by the scholars of Chu, but even ordinary people were laughing at him, he got furious and dropped out of school.
As for Yang Yi and others, they had drawn a clear line with him early on - we are here to learn!
…
Just when the second imperial examination of Chu State ended, providing more fresh blood for the reform of prefectures and counties, Ling Tong, who was stationed in Liaodong Port, heard a piece of news that made him concerned.
This news first came from Marquis Yan...
The initial cause of the incident was that a few months ago, the State of Wei successfully manufactured a new type of textile machine - the Wei spinning wheel.
Although he had only heard about some of the structural features, Ling Tong felt that this should be an improvement on the Chu State's textile machine!
In comparison, the textile machines of Chu State did not have such a high level of confidentiality. If someone really took the time to study in Chu State, it would be normal for them to bring them back to Wei State now. The craftsmen camp of Wei State was originally good at "improvement".
Ling Tong also believed that he didn't need to report this kind of thing specifically, as the Wind Catchers must have received the news long ago.
But then, this incident triggered a chain reaction!
The tribes of the Xianbei and Wuhuan in the east, and even the Goguryeo in the east, were frequently plundered, with large numbers of people being taken away and cattle and sheep being robbed...
In the end, even the Marquis of Yan was alarmed. After all, the Marquis of Yan, formerly the Gongsun clan of Liaodong, although he had always used force to intimidate the Wuhuan, Xianbei, Goguryeo, Buyeo and other ethnic minorities, was also nominally the leader and conflict mediator in the north of Youzhou.
Although this was just a means for the Gongsun clan to dominate Liaodong, now that they really can't handle it, they naturally come to Gongsun Kang to "seek justice."
After a little tracking, we found that these small slave-hunting teams were basically from the State of Wei...
Gongsun Kang therefore sent envoys to the State of Wei to persuade Wei to stop this behavior - in essence, Gongsun Kang did not dare to turn against the State of Wei, not to mention... the State of Wei was now only targeting the ethnic minorities in the north and northeast. If he did not care, it would only damage the prestige of the Gongsun family among the ethnic minorities, and it would not be a direct attack on himself.
However, the State of Wei directly denied sending troops and ordered Gongsun to stop slandering...
After further investigation, I found that it was indeed the case... That's weird!
It is true that these slave-catching teams, which consisted of dozens or even thousands of people, were not the regular army of Wei, but the private soldiers of the northern gentry. However... could you explain why there were Ji-made soldiers among these private soldiers, and why they were even equipped with plate armor?
Of course, even so, the Gongsun clan did not dare to confront the State of Wei head-on. After the State of Wei showed its tough stance, Gongsun Kang simply appeased the leaders of various tribes in a perfunctory manner.
Although Gongsun Kang was a domineering person, the Wuhuan, the Xianbei... even his brother-in-law's Buyeo Kingdom were not considered his own people in his eyes.
However, later on, the scope of Wei's slave-hunting teams even spread from the sea to the three Han states in the southern part of the Peninsula...
Some wealthy and powerful families directly sailed to the Three Kingdoms of Korea with their own fleets to plunder labor, and some even settled down there and established sweatshops with armed forces.
Some people from the Three Han who came to Liaodong to do business were also robbed on the way. After the rest arrived at the port, they reported to the Chu garrison.
There were several times when Ling Tong, after weighing the time and speed, immediately ordered his troops to chase...
Those northern nobles did not dare to fight with the Chu fleet. If they were blocked by Chu, they would usually release their people directly. They would also be more restrained within the range of Chu's patrol. However... the ocean is too big, and Chu could not control the Three Kingdoms during the period, nor could it search the ships that were not docked at the two ports of Liaodong.
Ling Cao thought of the teachings of the King of Chu and General Taishi, and believed that although the State of Wei did not dare to take action against other Han people in this matter, it was still detrimental to justice and contrary to Chu learning. It was no different from the wolfish behavior of the Xiongnu when they were strong in the early Han Dynasty. So he sent someone to report the matter.
As for when the news reached Bai Tu...
It was exactly as Ling Cao thought - Bai Tu had already obtained more specific information from the Fengbuwei.
After all, it would be fine if Huang Tianji could not be found, but if Taishi Ci didn't even know about such a large-scale operation by the Wei State, he would probably feel guilty and resign.
However, Ling Cao's report focused more on the feelings of the Three Han, Buyeo and other tribes towards Wei's move...
The reports of the Fengbuwei were more focused on the internal situation of the Wei State - after all, the Fengbuwei would not pay too much attention to the various tribes in the sparsely populated north, either in terms of importance or the difficulty of hiding. Instead, the movements of the people in Wei State have always been the focus of monitoring.
In fact, at the beginning of this year, the Artisan Camp imitated and improved the Chu State's textile loom - after all, this kind of purely mechanical product is easy to be imitated...
Due to the lack of upland cotton that could better bring out the performance of textile machines, the Chu State only spun yarn and flax, so multi-spindle textile machines were not used efficiently in the State of Chu. However, they were already very common among the people. If someone was really determined to spy on them, it would be impossible to keep it secret.
After Wei obtained the improved textile machines, it also imitated Chu's workshop tax and shared the technology for a fee - similar to the situation in Jiangdong at the beginning, adding a new tax would cause resentment, but opening up a new industry and levying taxes from the beginning would be much more acceptable.
Therefore, the wealthy and powerful families in the north set their sights on wool, which was more suitable for weaving and better at keeping warm, as well as... "free labor."
Before, these foreign races were useless to the wealthy and powerful families. They were wild and difficult to tame, and they didn’t know how to farm. Besides, there were already enough farmers who could farm.
The current shortage of labor and the operability of textile machines, coupled with the fact that Wei State has loosened up some civilian purchase rights for military equipment in disguise and even allowed a small number of Ji-made soldiers to be converted into household soldiers... have further tempted them to start stirring up trouble in the north!
A few dozen armored cavalrymen could sweep through a small tribe, and a medium-sized tribe could not stop a few hundred armored cavalrymen. They would kill or overdraw adult males, take away cattle and sheep, and capture women and children to work as laborers...
As for large tribes?
Directly use large amounts of woolen textiles to trade with them for cattle, sheep, and even slaves, thus achieving a "virtuous cycle."
The direct impact on the State of Chu has also become apparent - in the north, the bottom-level market for Chu's Jiangdong brocade and cloth has been rapidly squeezed.
Compared to Chu, Wei's blood-stained wool textile industry was indeed cheap, and wool was more suitable for the north because it was more resistant to cold...
