Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

Following that, Emperor Gaozu of Liang and Lord Qin asked several detailed questions.

Li Hongyun answered what he could, and for those questions he couldn't, he either said the situation was unclear or not a cause for concern, managing to muddle through in any case.

Such strategic planning had to be full of details to persuade someone.

For example, in history, the "Longzhong Plan" is only recorded with a few short sentences in the historical texts. Why could stating it make the other party consider you a confidant and entrust you with all important national affairs?

It must be because they discussed many details not recorded in the historical texts.

For example, if you talk about entering Sichuan or capturing Jingzhou, the other party would definitely ask how to capture Jingzhou? How many powers are there in Jingzhou that can be rallied? Which should be allied with, and which should be struck? What if external forces interfere during this process?

If you cannot answer these questions, your so-called strategy is merely a castle in the air, unconvincing to anyone.

The real Longzhong Plan became so famous not just because it later almost perfectly predicted the course of history, but also because it was filled with numerous details during the discussions.

For example, analyzing how many factions of power there are in Jingzhou, how the gentry divides into factions, who are the respective leaders of these factions, what are their characters like, what are their political demands, and based on these different characteristics and demands, who should be allied with, and who should be struck…

Even during the analysis of power dynamics, assurances could be made, like someone being a good friend could be used for support; someone with connections to his family could be developed; someone with conflicts with other forces could be exploited...

And after all these details were analyzed, one could truly win another's enthusiastic agreement. As time passed and these predictions came true, this strategic planning would become an eternal classic known throughout history.

However, Li Hongyun's capabilities at that time clearly were not up to this level.

His understanding of the current situation was not necessarily better than that of the locals. After all, he was not very familiar with many important figures of this era who were not mentioned in the historical records.

But Li Hongyun's advantage lay in that he had previewed the later "script", knowing the images that had been historically concluded, and besides, he was just a 14- or 15-year-old child.

Given his young age and lack of experience, it didn't matter if many details were missing; Emperor Gaozu of Liang would not scrutinize too closely.

Conversely, because of his young age and inexperience, when some of his judgments proved correct, it made Emperor Gaozu of Liang even more amazed.

His age, in turn, became an advantage of moderate significance.

In short, through a performance enhanced by "eloquent rhetoric", Li Hongyun, playing the part of Prince Qi, successfully gained a crucial position among Emperor Gaozu of Liang, the Crown Prince, and Lord Qin.

Afterwards, when difficulties arose, his offering strategies and advice to Emperor Gaozu of Liang generally met with little resistance.

Finally, Emperor Gaozu of Liang made up his mind.

"Good! I will find a pretext to summon Gao Junya, Wang Wei and others to discuss matters in Jinyang Palace, publicly reveal their collusion with the Turkic forces, eliminate them root and branch, and then issue a proclamation to raise troops!"

In fact, throughout the entire process of raising troops, it still was Emperor Gaozu of Liang's will that played a decisive role.

However, through this performance, Li Hongyun gave everyone anillusion that he was the chief strategist behind Jinyang raising troops.

Even if not the chief strategist, he at least played the second most important role, higher even than Lord Qin.

After all, Lord Qin had advised for so long to no avail, but Li Hongyun settled the matter with one stroke.

Thus, Li Hongyun's initial objectives were achieved.

…

Afterward, the screenplay also largely developed according to the content Li Hongyun had planned.

The first key decision after leaving Jinyang was the battle at Huoyi against Song Laoseng.

According to the original historical development, heavy rain fell continuously at that time; Emperor Gaozu of Liang wanted to retreat, but Lord Qin took great effort to persuade him not to and then used a reverse psychology tactic to force Song Laoseng into battle.

As a result during the battle, the Crown Prince fell from his horse, Song Laoseng took advantage of the victory to pursue, causing the left and the center forces of the Liang Army to retreat after being impacted.

At a critical juncture, Lord Qin led two hundred cavalrymen down from the hillside, attacking from behind the enemy lines and turned the tide of the battle, and successfully chased them down to Huoyi where he beheaded Song Laoseng.

The second key decision was facing Qu Tu Tong at River East.

According to the original historical events, this battle was long in a stalemate, and Emperor Gaozu of Liang hesitated. Pei Ji advocated wiping out Qu Tu Tong before crossing the river while Lord Qin advocated for the importance of speed in warfare and suggested crossing the river into Guanzhong immediately.

After much consideration, Emperor Gaozu of Liang chose a compromise, part surrounding River East and part crossing the river, and later it was proven that Lord Qin was right—once they crossed the river, things went smoothly and captured the Yongfeng Warehouse, rapidly increasing the power of the Rebel Army.

During these two key decisions, Li Hongyun continued to play his role as a cunning strategist, making accurate predictions about wartime situations.

At the battle of Huoyi, he first fully supported Lord Qin in persuading Emperor Gaozu of Liang not to retreat, then during the troop deployment, he advised Emperor Gaozu of Liang to be cautious of the left and center army formations, suggesting to arrange Lord Qin's cavalry at a higher position, which had a crucial effect in turning the tides at a key moment.

During the standoff with Qu Tu Tong at River East, he not only agreed with Lord Qin's decision, urging Emperor Gaozu of Liang to quickly cross the river to capture the Yongfeng Warehouse, but he also actively requested to follow Lord Qin to rapidly expand power and played a crucial role in the conquest of Guanzhong.

In fact, most of these decisions were probably suggested by Lord Qin or other strategists; Emperor Gaozu of Liang was the final decision maker, and without Li Hongyun, history would have followed the same course.