Shuhan

The external court was over, and Liu Bei held an internal court in the inner hall.

Those who can be invited to the inner court are naturally the trusted ministers of the Han Dynasty, and they are existences that Liu Bei can completely trust.

Zhuge Liang, Fangfa, Wu Yi, Du You and others are prominently listed.

"His Majesty."

Liu Bei's face was pale, and he was half lying on the table cushion, leaning on the cushion.

When Zhuge Liang and others saw this, they couldn't help but show worries on their faces.

"I'm fine, no need to worry."

But you don’t look like you’re okay?
"Are you sure you can send troops to quell Cao Zhen's troops?"

I was in the outer court just now to calm the hearts of the courtiers, especially those of the Guanzhong gentry.

But now the internal dynasty naturally has to face difficulties head-on.

"Your Majesty, Cao Zhen's troops have nearly 40,000 people, and they are all elites. It may not be an easy task to recover Yong County now." Fa Zheng was worried.

Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan lightly, frowned, and slowly stepped out of the queue and said: "Your Majesty is determined to regain Yong County, and I should do my best to assist you. However, the battle of Yong County is not an easy task."

He paused and continued, "The enemies led by Cao Zhen are extremely elite and numerous, but our army is insufficient in strength. This is one of the difficulties."

When Liu Bei heard this, his brows furrowed even more tightly, but he remained calm and signaled Zhuge Liang to continue.

"Furthermore," Zhuge Liang continued, "the Guanzhong family secretly supported Cao Zhen, which was a great danger to our army. Although they did not openly rebel, they secretly funded the enemy army and provided food, fodder and weapons, making Cao Zhen even more powerful. If our army wants to win, we must first Solve this problem."

Liu Bei was silent for a long time after hearing this, and then he sighed and said: "I also know that this battle is difficult, but the Han Dynasty is in danger, how can I just sit back and ignore it? Does the Zhuge Qing family have a good strategy to break this situation?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head slightly and said, "Although there are good strategies, we need to think long-term. I think the most urgent task is to increase the number of troops in Guanzhong and strengthen training to improve the combat effectiveness of our army. At the same time, send capable generals to various parts of Guanzhong to lobby the aristocratic families, strive to resolve conflicts, and weaken Cao Zhen's support. Only by taking a two-pronged approach can we have a chance of victory."

Liu Bei nodded slowly after hearing this, and said with a firm look in his eyes: "What Zhuge Qing's family said is true. I immediately ordered more troops to the front line and selected capable generals to lobby. The rise and fall of the Han Dynasty depends on this!"

At the critical moment, Han had no choice but to make concessions to the Guanzhong gentry.

This is not a good start for the prince. Liu Bei has a reputation for benevolence and righteousness, so this is the best start.

just
Liu Bei sighed in his heart. After this was opened, the power of the Guanzhong gentry would probably be difficult to contain.

When the prince ascended the throne, it suddenly became much more difficult to deal with him.

but.
Compared with Guanzhong being occupied by the Wei State again, it seems that it is not so difficult to accept the surrender of the Quan family.

"Your Majesty, in addition, the prince sent a secret letter. As for the content, your Majesty will know clearly after reading it."

now.

Yong County is a hundred miles away from Chang'an.

Cao Zhen's headquarters was actually not as comfortable as imagined.

On the upper floor of Yongxian City, Cao Zhen stood leaning on the railing. Looking at the scene in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a surge of complicated emotions in his heart.

Almost no people can be seen on the streets in the city, and the once bustling bustle has turned into silence.

The outside of the city was even more desolate. Apart from the soldiers and camps of the Wei army, there was no other life.

As for the reason for the silence, it was naturally because Cao Zhen sent troops to plunder and massacre the city to vent his anger.

His cavalry was newly defeated, so in order to boost morale, he had no choice but to resort to this strategy.

As for the people
He couldn't care anymore.

It's all Han's fault!

It's all Liu Bei's fault!

If he didn't come to attack Guanzhong, would the people of Guanzhong be in such trouble?

As for him plundering and massacring the city,
It's not an intentional move.

Cao Zhen sighed softly, turned around and walked down the tower.

War is cruel, but sometimes it is inevitable. The only thing he can do is to minimize the suffering caused by the war to the people so that they can return to a peaceful life as soon as possible.

After Guanzhong was recovered, the people in Guanzhong could live and work in peace and contentment.

"How long will the food and grass in the city be enough to support the army?"

Hao Zhao stepped forward immediately and said, "Two months."

Cao Zhen frowned.

"We haven't captured a batch of Han army food and supplies, so why is there still not enough food and grass?"

Hao Zhao stood in front of Cao Zhen and explained with a solemn expression the reason for the Wei army's shortage of food and grass.

He said in a deep voice: "General, the Han army's food and grass baggage captured by our army is really limited. When the Han army retreated, they had taken away most of the food and grass as much as possible, and the supplies we could get were not much."

Cao Zhen frowned. He had expected this, but after hearing Hao Zhao's confirmation with his own ears, his heart still sank.

He could only nodded with a sad look on his face and motioned for Hao Zhao to continue speaking.

Hao Zhao continued: "Moreover, our army has a large number of people, and the daily consumption is huge. As the war continues, the consumption of food and grass is also accelerating. I am afraid that our existing reserves cannot support it. "Too long."

Cao Zhen took a deep breath, knowing that what Hao Zhao said was true. Although the Wei army was brave and good at fighting, the problem of food and grass had always been a problem that troubled them. He asked: "What about the food and grass supplies provided by Liangzhou in Longxi?"

Hao Zhao shook his head and said: "General, the situation is not optimistic. The grain output in the Liangzhou region of Longxi is limited. Coupled with the frequent wars in recent years and the decline of people's livelihood, the grain supplies they can provide are getting less and less. We have tried our best to urge them. But the effect is not obvious.”

After hearing Hao Zhao's explanation, Cao Zhen couldn't help but feel worried in his heart.

Food and grass are the key to war. Without enough food and grass support, no matter how powerful the army is, it will be difficult to fight for a long time.

He must find a way to solve this problem as soon as possible, otherwise Wei Jun's situation will become even more difficult.

"I'm afraid it's not because the people's livelihood in Liangzhou and Longxi is in decline, but because some people's hearts have changed and they don't want to strongly support the Wei Dynasty."

The aristocratic family is just a wallflower.

The most numerous families in Longyou are aristocratic families.

Longxi is named because it is to the west of Longshan Mountain. Since ancient times, it has been a country with four fortresses and a must-have for military strategists. Longxi has given birth to many aristocratic families, and is famous for the Longxi aristocratic group, the most famous of which is the Sixteenth Famous Family.

If you pull out any one of them, they are all famous.

For example, the Li family in Longxi was the origin of the later Tang Dynasty.

The more people there are, the more thoughts they have.

Now that Chang'an has been occupied and Longxi has severed contact with Wei, he is thinking of currying favor with Han.

"But what can we do if the food and grass in the rear are reduced?" Hao Zhao had a look of helplessness on his face.

Send troops to threaten the Longyou family?
Yes, you can, but if you go to intimidate aristocratic families, how can you regain Chang'an?

But if we don't scare the Longyou family, what will happen to the Wei army's logistics and food?
"Everyone," Cao Zhen's voice was low and powerful, "the army is short of food and the situation is serious. We must take measures quickly to solve this problem."

If the morale of the military is unstable, how can we talk about anything else?
As the commander-in-chief, Cao Zhen knew that he had to stand up now!
Hao Zhao, Guo Huai and others looked at each other and saw the seriousness in each other's eyes.

Call ~
Cao Zhen let out a breath and continued: "I have a few ideas that I want to discuss with you. One is to write to the aristocratic families in Longyou and use intimidation to ask them to provide food. These aristocratic families have huge influence in the Longyou area. , with abundant food reserves, we use emotion and reason to force them to provide us with food and grass."

Cao Zhen emphasized the words "emotion" and "reason".

At this time, it is no matter how cruel the means is, as long as the goal can be achieved, no matter what!

He paused, glanced at the generals, and continued: "Second, persuade the Guanzhong nobles to side with us. The Guanzhong area is rich in products, and the nobles have a large amount of food and fodder in their hands. We can promise high officials and noble titles. and various benefits to win their support and let them provide us with food and grass support.”

At this point, a cold light flashed in Cao Zhen's eyes: "Third, plunder the Han army's grain team. The Han army's grain team is our goal. As long as we can successfully rob their grain and grass, we can greatly relieve our pressure. This requires us to dispatch elite troops, pay close attention to the movements of the Han army, and attack decisively whenever we have the opportunity."

Finally, he slammed his fist on the desk and said fiercely: "Fourth, capture Chang'an quickly! Chang'an is the logistics gathering place of the Han Kingdom, and its food reserves must be abundant. As long as we can capture Chang'an quickly, we can It’s a tough battle to completely solve the food and grass problem, but we must win it!”

After all, Guanzhong was thrown away under his nose, Cao Zhen. If he didn't take it back, how could he wash away the shame?

Every family has a sutra that is difficult to recite, but no matter how difficult it is to recite, Cao Zhen must recite it, recite it well, and finish reciting it! (End of chapter)