My father, Gao Huan, is an invincible prince!

Chapter 24: Strategizing for Change and Revolution, Truly a Matter of Utter Flaws!

This is one of the core reasons why he prioritized the reorganization of the army.

As a historian who looked back on history, he knew very well that the Eastern Wei Dynasty had to take the lead in implementing the Fubing system and the Juntian system before the Western Wei Dynasty's Yuwen Tai completed his reforms.

This would allow the Eastern Wei to minimize the costs of raising and defending its troops while simultaneously enhancing the army's combat effectiveness.

Otherwise, even if the Eastern Wei's paper strength was several times that of the Western Wei, the Eastern Wei's finances would eventually be dragged down by the Western Wei at a very low cost.

Putting aside everything else, the hundreds of thousands of troops stationed along the riverbank alone are a force that the Eastern Wei dynasty cannot sustain indefinitely with its current strength.

As for why he chose to implement the Fubing system and the Equal-Field system instead of adopting the more advanced conscription system, the reason is quite simple.

Given the current national conditions of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the implementation of the Fubing system (a military system based on conscripted soldiers) is most suitable.

In some respects, the Eastern Wei was actually more suited to implementing the Fubing system than the Western Wei.

Although the two Wei states were similar in terms of national conditions, Gao Huan of the Eastern Wei had a significantly stronger control over the Xianbei nobles compared to Yuwen Tai of the Western Wei.

And this is precisely the essential condition required for implementing the Fubing system.

Why?

The so-called Fubing system, to put it bluntly, was a process of taking the benefits from the top nobles and distributing them equally to the middle and lower classes of commoners, that is, the so-called good families, and turning these good families from private soldiers of nobles into the national armed forces.

Historically, Yuwen Tai implemented the Fubing system out of necessity.

Guanzhong was devastated, its military manpower was exhausted, and the Xianbei nobles each held their own armies and refused to obey orders.

Left with no other choice, he could only compromise with the Xianbei nobles by restoring the old Xianbei system and bestowing Xianbei surnames upon powerful Han families, thus allowing the Han people to first assimilate into the Xianbei people.

Then, by leveraging the Han people's strong assimilation ability, they subtly and gradually Sinicized the Xianbei nobles.

The joke that later generations called the Yang Sui dynasty "Pu Liu Ru Sui" and the Li Tang dynasty "Da Ye Tang" comes from this.

But the Eastern Wei Dynasty was different.

Thanks to Gao Huan's "double-dealing" tactics over the years, the Xianbei people of Eastern Wei now regard the Han people as their farm slaves.

The Han people of Eastern Wei regarded the Xianbei people as their protectors.

This situation of mutual dislike, however, led to a very interesting outcome by sheer chance.

Even though the Xianbei nobles possessed all the fertile land in the world, they regarded farming as a lowly task and preferred to let the land grow weeds and graze sheep rather than do it themselves.

This gave Gao Cheng an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

He only needs to spend a very small amount of money to take back the idle land in the hands of the Xianbei nobles, and he can directly fast forward to the equal-field system.

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There is absolutely no need to compromise with the nobles and officials like Yuwentai did.

This was a matter of perfect timing, favorable location, and harmonious relationships. Even when Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, first established the Zhenguan era, he might not have had such favorable conditions.

After all, the powerful clans of the early Tang Dynasty had already recovered from the weakness caused by the Hebei Incident and the Hou Jing Rebellion.

Therefore, Gao Cheng would naturally not give up such an opportunity.

......

After a short while, Gao Cheng reviewed the existing conditions and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He immediately got up and walked behind the door, intending to send someone to report to Gao Huan that the strategy had been perfected.

By the way, have you heard any news from Duan Shao, Hulü Guang, and Gao Yang since they went to Ye City?

Before he could speak, Wang Hong's voice came from outside the door: "Your Highness, the King has sent Lu Lecha here, saying he has important matters to report."

Gao Cheng looked up in response, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He had barely finished writing his strategy when Gao Huan's messenger arrived. Was it a coincidence, or a meeting of minds?

That's fine, it saves us from having to send someone on another trip.

He immediately raised his voice and announced, "Speak!"

After speaking, Lu Lecha immediately pushed open the door and entered, kneeling on one knee to greet him: "Greetings, Your Highness."

Gao Cheng nodded, signaling him to stand up.

He then walked back behind the desk and sat down, asking directly, "What has the King summoned you for?"

Lu Lecha said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, the matter of calculating military merits in Jinyang has been resolved, and the deployment of the generals has been finalized. Therefore, I have specially ordered you to inform Your Highness of this."

Upon hearing this, Gao Cheng raised an eyebrow again, a strange feeling passing through his heart, but he remained expressionless: "Please explain in detail."

Lu Lecha responded and reported in a deep voice: "The King decrees: Huli Gonggong shall lead 30,000 infantry and cavalry to garrison Fenglingdu and guard the gateway to Guanzhong; Hou Jing Gonggong shall pass through Henan and become the Grand General of Henan Circuit, overseeing the military affairs of thirteen prefectures including Yu and Yan; Gao Ang Gonggong shall pass through Hebei and become the Grand General of Hebei Circuit, garrisoning Jizhou and controlling Shandong."

"In addition, Wei Jing and Ku Digan went to Ye City to take charge of the affairs of the Secretariat and assist in the administration of the court; Dou Taigong was stationed at Tongguan, Duan Ronggong guarded Jinyang, and Peng Legong was appointed as the vanguard commander, stationed at Puban..."

"The rest of the generals have also been assigned their duties and have already set off. The King has specifically instructed the Crown Prince to inform them."

After listening, Gao Cheng tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his face calm but his feelings were extremely complicated, and he remained silent for a long time.

Because history, in the end, repeats itself.

According to historical records, after Gao Huan launched his northern expedition against Liu Lisheng in the second year of the Tianping era, he began preparations for the western expedition almost without any buffer period.

The following year, in the third year of the Tianping era, the first major battle between the Eastern Wei and Western Wei was launched—the Battle of Xiaoguan.

Gao Huan's current deployment is exactly the same as the records in historical books.

Huli Jin was stationed at Fengling, guarding the vital passage for the Western Wei to the east; Hou Jing was in charge of Henan, and Gao Aocao was in charge of Hebei, both seeking reinforcements.

Even when Wei Jing and She Digan entered Ye City, it was all in preparation for the western expedition.

Indeed, history can be quite stubborn at times...

However, despite his complicated feelings, Gao Cheng had no intention of stopping the war.

Firstly, since Gao Huan did not consult him before making these decisions, but only sent someone to tell him the results after they were made, it shows that Gao Huan had already made up his mind.

Given his father's ruthless temperament, even if he tried to persuade him, he might not be able to.

Secondly... Gao Cheng also harbored a selfish motive.

He needs this war to divert everyone's attention so that his strategy can be implemented.

At the same time, this war is also needed to slow down Yuwentai's progress, preventing him from having time to carry out reforms.

After all, it's a zero-sum game.

Sometimes, the final outcome between two opposing forces may not depend on the gains or losses of a single battle, but rather on who can preserve their strength.

He didn't need the Eastern Wei to directly overwhelm the Western Wei in terms of hard power.

Victory can be achieved by preserving the strength of the Eastern Wei while continuously weakening the Western Wei, making it even worse.

"The Crown Prince?"

After Lulecha finished speaking, seeing that he remained silent for a long time, he couldn't help but call out softly as a reminder.

Gao Cheng snapped out of his reverie and, seeing that Lu Lecha was still waiting, simply nodded slightly and said in a flat tone, "I understand. Is there anything else?"

Lulecha shook his head: "Nothing else."

Upon hearing this, Gao Cheng said nothing more, but nodded again: "In that case, please report back to the King that I have completed and perfected the strategy, and it can be circulated at any time."

He paused, then added, "Also, please ask the King when I can return to Jinyang?"