With the development of the power of the Fenwu Army, the number of literati under Han Cheng gradually increased.

However, for the grasp of the strategic direction, he can only rely on Han Cheng himself, and his advisers can only give reference opinions at most, but cannot make a final decision.

Just like Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Pair", there is only direction. If you disagree, it is still Liu Bei's words.

Han Cheng called all the scribes together, mainly Li Ru, Fu Zhu, Ju Pei, and Geng Wu.

Han Cheng solemnly said to the four of them: "I called you here today, mainly to let everyone think about it together, is it better for us to go north or south now?" ”

The grasp of strategic direction has always been a strong point.

But since Han Cheng asked so, according to his understanding of Han Cheng: Han Cheng should want to go south and north, and he is hesitating.

However, he thought that now was not a good time to go south, and as soon as Han Cheng's words fell, he stood up, bowed to Han Cheng, and said: "My lord, to the south of my Yanmen County, is Taiyuan County and Shangdang County in Bingzhou; To the southwest are Xihe County and Shang County, which are merged with the state; Xihe County and Shangjun are bordered by the Qiang people, and the population is sparse, and there are many mountains, which are not suitable for land cultivation, so these two counties are of little use to us now, and I think they can be ignored for the time being. ”

After listening to the words of the frustrated teacher, Han Cheng said: "What Changshi said is very right, I haven't considered Xihe County and Shangjun for the time being, and what I said about going south is also the meaning of going south to Taiyuan County." Please continue to talk about it. ”

After receiving Han Cheng's affirmation, he continued: "The current Taiyuan County is in chaos on the surface, and bandits are rampant, but in fact, the Taiyuan Wang clan has not been greatly affected.

If our army occupies Taiyuan County, it will face the situation of being an enemy on all sides.

In the south, it will be in contact with the Xiliang army in Sizhou, in the north it will be in contact with the Southern Xiongnu and other ethnic minorities, in the east, it will also guard Changshan County and Dai County, and the internal will always be on guard against the rebellion of the Taiyuan Wang clan. If we now have 60,000 troops, then going south is the first choice, but now our army has only more than 30,000 men, which is not enough to support our fourth-front operations.

So I don't think it's the best time to go south at this time.

And now is the time to go north.

The first reason is: at the end of last year, our army fought the Southern Xiongnu Army at Yanmen Pass, killing and wounding more than 20,000 Southern Xiongnu troops; The second reason is that we received news that in March of this year, there was a civil strife among the Southern Xiongnu, and at least 3,000 troops were killed or wounded.

After these two wars, the number of troops of the Southern Xiongnu is not as good as before, and our army can take the opportunity to unite with the Xianbei tribe in the northern part of the Southern Xiongnu and attack from the north and south, which will definitely make the Southern Xiongnu department collapse and prevent future troubles. At that time, he will raise troops to the south and point his sword at the Central Plains. ”

As a captain of the intelligence battalion, Li Ru has a large amount of information in his hands, and he knows everything about what Fu Zhi said.

"This is a good talent, a big mind and a very accurate strategic vision, and he is a character. I don't know where the lord found it? I had never heard of this person when I was in charge of the whole country before.

However, this person still lacks some experience, is a little taken for granted, and is not ruthless enough.

The Southern Xiongnu Department, just relying on the north and south to attack, how could he be slumped?

However, if a little action is added in the process of attacking the north and south, the Southern Xiongnu will not only collapse, but may become a member of our state.

As for small actions, it's not my Han nationality anyway, so it's nothing to be ruthless. ”

Thinking of this, Li Ru stood up and said to Han Cheng: "I agree with Fu Changshi's plan, first the north and then the south, is the way to success." However, in terms of the plan of the long history, I think it is better to add a little strategy to let the Southern Xiongnu completely submit to me and merge with the state. ”

When Han Cheng heard Li Ru's words, he hurriedly waved his hand at Li Ru, motioned for Li Ru to stop, and said to the remaining two, "I don't know what Zhengnan and Geng Wu mean?" ”

Geng Wu used to be Han Fu's other driver, he was loyal to Han Fu, but he hated Yuan Shao to the core.

He didn't think much about what Han Cheng said about going north and south, and he didn't have too many ideas, he just cared about when Han Cheng would return to Jizhou, and Geng Wu had a lot of ideas about Jizhou, a familiar place.

Geng Wu heard Han Cheng's question, and replied bluntly: "The subordinates don't have any opinions on any plan for the lord to go north or south. As long as the lord says, his subordinates will do their best to implement it. ”

When Han Cheng heard Geng Wu say this, he knew that he had asked in vain, so he turned his gaze to the trial.

Seeing Han Cheng looking at him, he touched the mustache he had just grown last year, and said, "Although I just talked about the disadvantages of going south, I think that the plan to go south still has more advantages than disadvantages.

Although the capture of Taiyuan County and other places will cause our army to have insufficient troops, this phenomenon is not unsolvable.

If our army quickly moves south, occupies all counties in Taiyuan County, and quickly implements the land division order, we can quickly recruit troops from among the people, and there will be enough military strength to defend Taiyuan County, and there will be no enemy on all sides. ”

After Han Cheng heard what the judge said, he fell into deep thought.

Li Ru looked at Han Cheng's contemplative expression, he didn't know what Han Cheng was thinking in his heart at the moment, and thought to himself: "This judge is also resolute and decisive, but he also owes shortcomings. Let's summarize and add to the two of them yourself. ”

So he stood up and said to Han Cheng: "Don't worry, I think you can let the two sets of plans of Fu Changshi and the judge be implemented at the same time."

As for the strategy of going south, although the plan of judging the master is feasible, it is too tough.

We can do it on two sides at the same time, on the one hand, we can send people to contact the Taiyuan Wang clan to find out whether the Wang clan has the intention of returning to obedience.

On the other hand, they attacked the county seat in the north of Taiyuan County, laid down one county, stabilized one county, and then continued to attack the next county, slowly encroaching on the territory of Taiyuan County.

That is, the oppression of the Taiyuan Wang clan is conducive to the submission of the Taiyuan Wang clan; And there will be no four-sided defense as the long history has said. ”

Han Cheng said to the four of them: "Captain Han's plan to go south is good, I'll think about it carefully when I go back." ”

He said to Li Ru again: "What is your strategy for the ethnic minorities in the north?" ”

When Li Ru heard Han Cheng's words, he looked like he was not smiling, and said: My strategy is to 'drive the tiger and devour the wolf'. ”

Han Cheng asked, "Who is the tiger and who is the wolf?" You put it bluntly, what are we? ”

Li Ru said unhurriedly: "Back to the lord, my subordinates think that if they want to solve the affairs of the ethnic minorities in the north, they can't just consider the Southern Xiongnu people, but also consider the Xianbei people in Bingzhou and Xianbei people in Youzhou.

In my strategy, Kirby Neng of the Xianbei tribe in Youzhou is a tiger, and the Bu of the Xianbei tribe in Bingzhou and Huchuquan of the Southern Xiongnu tribe are wolves, and we are the meat that lures the wolves. ”

Han Cheng said: "Captain Han, everyone doesn't understand what you said, why don't you talk about it specifically, what is the 'driving the tiger and devouring the wolf' method?" ”

After Li Ru heard Han Cheng's order, he looked calm and said, "This matter is also easy to say, take four steps.

In the first step, we opened a trade checkpoint with the Southern Xiongnu and the Xianbei in Bingzhou.

The second step, a few days after the opening, send two teams of men and horses disguised as caravans to go to the Southern Xiongnu Department and the Xianbei Department of Bingzhou, and vigorously advocate the prosperity of the land of our Merge Prefecture.

The third step, which is the most important step, is to arrange for a part of the people to defect to Hu Chuquan's subordinates, and promote the alliance between Hu Chuquan and Budu to go south.

In the fourth step, send someone to inform Youzhou Xianbei Kirbineng and tell him the news that Budu and Hu Chuquan led the army to go on the expedition.

Then, we just waited quietly to see the play. ”

After listening to Li Ru's words, he suddenly had doubts about Li Ru's identity: "Han Cheng's second uncle is not like a literati who reads poetry and books, but like a strategist who gives advice.

Although he added a little to his own strategy, this point is not the icing on the cake, but like the finishing touch. ”

After listening to Li Ru's words, Han Cheng suddenly remembered a famous sentence of Zhuge Liang in his heart: "The way of using soldiers, attacking the heart is the top, and attacking the city is the bottom; Psychological warfare is the top, and military warfare is the bottom. ”