Chapter 620 It seems that I have become Wei Bao’s mentor!

Chapter 620 It seems that I have become Wei Bao’s mentor!

"You mean to say that Liu Bang will not only not fight with our army, but will also take the initiative to retreat? Why?"

Listening to Xiao He's words, Gao Yao said with some surprise,

"Yes, there are three main reasons. First, if Liu Bang intervenes in this war, the final result will be either victory or defeat. If Liu Bang fails to successfully stop our army, then our army will still be able to completely occupy the Dongjiao area. In this case, Liu Bang will feel extremely uneasy. Not only will he waste a lot of manpower in vain, but he will also have to worry about the counterattack that our army may launch."

"After all, all the princes, including Liu Bang, knew that the best outcome for them was to completely wipe out our army's manpower, thus preventing our army from launching another northern expedition in the short term. However, none of the princes had the strength to launch a counterattack."

"Moreover, even if Liu Bang succeeds in stopping our army and foiling our plan to occupy Dongjiao, this is only a temporary situation. The princes cannot really station troops in the eastern suburbs for a long time, and our navy has absolute dominance. This means that Liu Bang will still be worried all day long, because our army may retake the Dongjiao area at any time and occupy a favorable terrain. In this way, Liu Bang will face tremendous pressure and difficulties."

"So no matter whether he wins or loses, Liu Bang will not gain anything, and will even be hated by our army. It is completely unnecessary and there is no need to go through so much trouble."

After Xiao He finished speaking, Gao Yao was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly, indicating that he agreed with Xiao He's point of view. Indeed, some things can be made up by personal ability, but some things cannot be made up.

Take the manufacture of various ships, for example. This is not a simple matter. Let's not talk about whether the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan really knows how to make ships. Even if he knows, it takes a lot of time to test and improve to meet the standards for going to sea. Moreover, there are many requirements in the selection of wood. Different woods are suitable for different types of ships, which requires a lot of time to study and try.

More importantly, navigation requires professional nautical charts. The reason why Gao Yao was able to have a complete nautical chart was entirely because he had the help of a system that provided him with a panoramic map, which enabled him to draw an accurate nautical chart. However, the earliest nautical chart in history appeared in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, and the nautical charts at that time were very sloppy and could not meet the needs of navigation at all.

Therefore, even if the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan could live for thousands of years, he could not change this fact. To explore the complete sea map, it would require countless lives to fill it, and the difficulties and risks involved were unimaginable.

At the same time, it will take a lot of time to slowly take shape. In this respect, Li Yi is a bit of a cheat. Even so, it took nearly ten years to train a navy of this scale. The mysterious Yi Xiaochuan, let alone being equal to him, would need at least twenty years to develop to half of Li Yi's level. What's more, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan is in the north, where there are even fewer people who can sail. If you want to train a navy of the same level, it will take at least thirty years to complete.

Therefore, what Xiao He said is not without reason. In terms of the cultivation of naval strength, this is a real hard power, which cannot be easily made up by a mysterious person like Yi Xiaochuan with his intelligence and talent. This cannot be changed in any way, even if he lives longer.

Even if Liu Bang and other princes joined forces to repel Gao Yao this time, Gao Yao could directly use naval forces to capture Dongjiao at any time and build a port there. In this way, he could launch surprise attacks on Liu Bang's counties, which was undoubtedly a huge threat to Liu Bang, and this threat was something he could not escape.

"In addition, there is another important issue, that is, the distribution of benefits after victory. Liu Bang did not intervene in the coalition of princes at first, and did not send troops until his own position was threatened. So what would the other princes think? Would they have a different view of Liu Bang? After all, Liu Bang did not gain any benefits in this war, but would become the main target of Xiang Yu and Wei Bao in the next period of time. Faced with such a situation, how could Liu Bang not be worried?"

"After all, compared with Wei Bao, with whom we have cooperated many times, the benefits that can be brought by continuing to cooperate with Wei Bao are obviously far greater than the benefits brought by cooperating with Liu Bang. Xiang Yu definitely cannot fail to see this."

Xiao He's words successfully attracted Gao Yao's attention. However, Li Yi, who was standing by, was puzzled by Xiao He's firm attitude. He couldn't help but ask in confusion: "Oh? Why is that?"

Gao Yao did not hide his doubts and asked Xiao He directly. Xiao He smiled and explained, "The reason is very simple, Prime Minister. When choosing a partner, you should try to choose someone you can control. Otherwise, how to distribute the benefits after getting the benefits becomes a big problem. And how to further develop and grow? You know, Xiang Yu has a counselor like Fan Zeng! His wisdom is also not to be underestimated, and is definitely not inferior to ours. How could a capable person like him not see through the key? In comparison, Wei Bao is obviously easier to deal with, but Liu Bang is much more difficult!"

Xiao He explained the reason to Gao Yao without any hesitation. This was like a revelation to Gao Yao. It turned out that Wei Bao's current strength was just a coincidence. His success depended more on luck than real strength.

The reason why Wei Bao was able to enfeoff the kings, become the leader of the princes' coalition and attack Xianyang was largely due to a combination of circumstances. Originally, it should have been Xiang Yu who accomplished this feat. However, Xiang Yu suffered a disastrous defeat in Kuaiji, and the army he led was only a remnant of the defeated army, and was also facing the dilemma of food and grass shortage. As a result, Wei Bao took the opportunity to pick up a big bargain.

Not only that, the scenes in history where the imperial court sent 100,000 or even 200,000 troops to resist the princes no longer exist. These forces that were supposed to fight against the princes now turned to deal with Gao Yao. This undoubtedly gave Wei Bao more room and opportunities for development, allowing him to gradually expand his power.

It can be said that the rise of Gaoyao created favorable conditions for Wei Bao to some extent. It was precisely because Gaoyao attracted the main attention of the court that Wei Bao had the opportunity to stand out in this relatively relaxed environment and continue to grow and develop.