I run a training class in Shu Han

Chapter 71 Girl’s Tea

While a general doesn't need to possess an extensive memory or photographic recollection, he must have a certain level of memory to accurately recall the commander-in-chief's orders and relay them throughout the army.

This military order is not long, and if one is determined to memorize it, one can basically remember its main points.

Apart from Zhang Bao, the other three people present were all meticulous and had good memories, so it wasn't too difficult for them to repeat what he said.

The difficulty lies in the fact that Liu Shan had already stuffed the complex information about the battlefield into everyone's minds beforehand, so that they had a deep understanding of the advantages and pressures of both sides. When changes occurred on the battlefield, their minds also changed with the situation.

In this situation, any adjustment command will increase the difficulty of memorization.

If the deployment order is only for an individual, such as telling Zhang Bao how many men to bring, when to appear at what location, and what to do, it will be relatively simple.

However, Liu Shan's military order to adjust the deployment was based on a holistic perspective.

He knew exactly what the situation was between the enemy and himself, how to allocate and adjust troops, what each legion should do, and even how many troops he had left to mobilize. Such meticulous thinking was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

"What, didn't you remember?"

Guan Xing thought hard for a moment, then began to repeat it.

"With the Fourth and Eleventh Columns plus two independent divisions..."

His hands were sweating as he recalled the events.

Although I managed to paraphrase it, there were obvious errors and omissions in the numbers.

Liu Shan shook his head and said, "We don't even know how many reinforcements we'll have, so how can we possibly win?"

Guan Xing lowered his head, his eyes completely devoid of their previous arrogance.

"And you?"

Liu Shan then turned to the other three and asked them, but the situation wasn't much better.

Zhao Tong could remember most of it, but like Guan Xing, he made mistakes in the number of troops dispatched.

Zhuge Qiao is better; his accuracy rate is high in the first half, but there are some errors and omissions in the later part.

The most outrageous one was Zhang Bao. He could remember what the objectives were in the military orders, such as strengthening the defense line, encircling, blocking, and besieging, but he was completely confused about how many troops and how many men to deploy.

"Your Majesty, may I try?"

Zhang's words stunned everyone.

They believed that Empress Zhang, being an empress, was unfamiliar with military affairs and might not even remember the names of the legions, so how could she possibly recite them in their entirety?

Liu Shan smiled and said, "If the Empress wants to try, then let's give it a shot."

After Zhang sat up properly, she began to recite Liu Shan's military order verbatim.

"Sister, you must have cheated! His Majesty must have told you, otherwise how could you have remembered everything?" Zhang Bao shouted.

Zhang rolled her eyes at him and said, "This is a question His Majesty gave you on short notice. How could I have known it beforehand?"

Although Guan Xing and the others believed that she had not cheated, this could not explain everything that had just happened.

"The Empress simply wrote down what I just said without applying it to the war, so it's not surprising that her thoughts are clear. But you, on the other hand, applied military orders to the battlefield, thinking about why you deployed them this way, so your memories are naturally confused."

"Do you still believe you can command an army of 100,000 in battle?"

Guan Xing lowered his head in shame, "Your subject knows he was wrong."

Seeing that the time was ripe, Liu Shan said, "When commanding a large army, the commander-in-chief holds the lives of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people in his hands. Facing a powerful enemy with almost equal numbers and strength, any order issued will determine the lives of tens of thousands of people. We must be cautious."

"If we take one step at a time, without considering the overall situation, without having a strategy, and without any backup plan, then we will be wasting the lives of our soldiers."

"In large-scale military operations, the competition is never about who has more soldiers or whose strategies are more brilliant; it's about who makes fewer mistakes."

"Throughout history, most battles where the few have won have been won in this way."

After some thought, Guan Xing had a clearer direction for his graduation thesis.

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty."

Seeing that the matter was settled, Liu Shan stretched and said, "Now that you've all figured out your direction, I'll be waiting to see your graduation theses. Don't disappoint me."

The four men rose together and bowed deeply to Liu Shan.

"Your Majesty, I will certainly work diligently to repay your kindness."

Looking at the four energetic young men, Liu Shan felt both gratified and impressed.

"Yu Zixing succeeded him. Xing, courtesy name Anguo, was intelligent from a young age, and Prime Minister Zhuge Liang greatly admired him. He became a Gentleman Attendant and Military Supervisor at a young age, but died a few years later. His son Tong succeeded him, married a princess, and rose to the rank of Tiger-General of the Central Army. He died without an heir, and Xing's illegitimate son Yi succeeded him."

"The eldest son, Zhang Bao, died young."

"Yun Zitong succeeded him, and rose to the rank of Tiger-General of the Central Army, acting as Commander of the Army."

"Qiao, courtesy name Bosong, was the second son of Liang's elder brother Jin. His original courtesy name was Zhongshen. He and his elder brother Yuanxun were both famous in their time. Critics believed that Qiao's talent was inferior to his brother's, but his character and ambition surpassed his. Initially, Liang had no son and sought Qiao as his heir. Jin advised Sun Quan to send Qiao to the west. Liang considered Qiao as his adopted son, so he changed his courtesy name and appointed him as the Imperial Son-in-Law Commandant. He followed Liang to Hanzhong and participated in supervising the transport of military provisions. He died at the age of twenty-five in the first year of Jianxing."

One issue that can be observed from historical records about these four individuals is that most of them died young.

If they hadn't died, they would surely have become the backbone of Shu Han's future, and the Northern Expedition would have been a sure thing.

No.

There's not much time left before the Prime Minister's Northern Expedition; we must prepare well.

We need to not only cultivate their abilities, but also conduct regular physical examinations to prevent problems before they arise.

After the four left, Zhang came forward and brewed tea for Liu Shan.

The aroma of the tea, combined with his body odor, made Liu Shan feel somewhat lightheaded.

As Zhang Shi bent down slightly to pour tea, her neck slender and white, Liu Chan suddenly thought of something and stared intently at Zhang Shi's neckline.

Although Zhang had married Liu Shan, the two had not yet consummated their marriage. When Liu Shan looked at her like that, she felt somewhat shy.

"Your Majesty, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Your Majesty, don't move. I've suddenly had a brilliant idea."

"What is it?"

"It's tea!" Liu Shan exclaimed, "A young girl is picking tea."

Zhang asked curiously, "A young girl picking tea leaves? What is that?"

Liu Shan suppressed his excitement and said, "It is the tea in front of us. I have already thought of an excellent marketing strategy to turn tea into a stable source of tax revenue for the court."

During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, tea was a commodity traded privately or regionally, operated by local markets or private individuals. There was no official department specifically responsible for tea, and it was not included in the national monopoly system.

That's because tea is mainly popular in the Jiangnan region, and is mostly limited to the upper class or for medicinal and sacrificial purposes; ordinary people rarely have access to it.

"How can tea be used as tax revenue for the imperial court? What ingenious idea is Your Majesty devising now?"

"Let me tell you about the so-called 'tea picking by young girls,' which refers to young girls picking tea leaves directly with their lips and then placing the fresh leaves in a small basket on the tea-picking girl's chest, using her body heat to 'dry' the tea leaves."

"Then the tea leaves are stir-fried. This process removes the bitterness of the tea leaves while retaining their aroma and the fragrance of a young girl's body."

"After being steeped in boiling water, it tastes wonderful, and those noble families will surely love it."

"How about we call this tea 'Lip Tea'?"