What's the worst thing in the world?

The answer is feasting, so since ancient times there has been a saying that there is no good feast.

Even if it is a banquet given by the emperor, it seems to be a supreme glory, but after eating, it begins to regurgitate the bitterness.

Several ministers who came to the banquet knew it in their hearts, and they might even exchange opinions privately on the topics they might talk about, but they were still caught off guard by Guo Rong's leapfrogging thinking.

In the inner garden of the palace, Guo Rong and the ministers of the ruling government were "full of wine and food", and began to withdraw from the table and replace them with tea and snacks.

"Now that the war in the southwest has been decided, Qin Fengcheng's four states have been re-incorporated into the territory, opening up the trade route of the Western Regions, Xishu does not dare to take another step, this battle has reaped major strategic results, I mean, simply take advantage of this great victory, through Huainan."

"Holy Lord, don't be in a hurry!" Several ministers present stood up in unison to admonish.

Guo Rong waved his hand, motioned for everyone to sit down, and said with a smile: "The edict ordering Li Gu to deploy the army before the camp on Huainan Road has already been issued, and he has been preparing for the whole army for more than three months, so why not send troops at this time?" ”

Wang Pu glanced at Zhang Mei at his side out of the corner of his eye.

The forehead of this extremely heavy meter meter was covered with oil and sweat.

Although he is good at financial planning, after all, it has not been long since he succeeded Li Gu as the prime minister, and the autumn grain has just begun to enter the warehouse, and more are still on the way, and the money and silk in the treasury are even less pitiful, and it is difficult to pay soldiers, so what can be used to fight?

"Back to the Holy Heavens, the real ...... It's really that the treasury is empty, and I don't dare to start a war lightly......"

Guo Rong shook his head and said: "The left treasury is empty, the right treasury is empty, this is not what I want to hear, what I need is a solution to the problem." ”

Zhang Mei couldn't help the sweat on her face, and carefully explained: "The grain and grass may be able to support a period of time, but without copper coinage, the silver cannot be raised...... Silk silk is even more lacking ......"

"That's not a reason."

Guo Rong slowly lay back, leaning on the back of the chair, "I have no money and food, I have to find a way, but the strategy of Huainan is ready to fly, so I have to send it." ”

Zheng Renzhi said: "The old minister remembers that he sent Li Gu to Yingzhou, although he had the names of Huainan Dao Xing Camp Deployment of the Front Army, Zhilu, Shouzhou Mansion and so on, it was more of a deterrent than a real conquest. Now that the war in my southwest is over, the old minister thinks that the people's livelihood is the first priority. ”

Fan Zhen and the others said in unison: "The minister seconded the proposal." ”

Seeing that Guo Rong pursed his lips and didn't speak, Wang Pu coughed lightly and said: "The minister is in favor of sending troops, the pseudo-Tang Dynasty has few horses, and the land of Huainan is full of plains, which is suitable for the horse team to gallop, so there is no need for many soldiers, it is enough to have three to five thousand horses to cross the river, so it does not cost much, and it can implement the plan of disturbing the enemy's tired army, as long as the puppet Tang army is dragged to move frequently, it is a victory." ”

Wei Renpu said: "If this is the case, it is not wrong to disturb the enemy's training, but it will also make it." ”

Guo Rong shook his head, took a sip of fragrant tea, and said: "Wang Qing's flat side strategy is good, but it disturbs the people too much, and under the iron hooves, the fields will be barren for a long time, and I can't bear to let the people of Huainan suffer from the Central Plains again."

I mean a hard year, a rush to take down the whole of Huainan, and then a year or two of recuperation, which is the second largest granary of my Great Zhou. ”

Wang Pu said: "But if you follow the steps, one city by one, you have to fight one hundred thousand troops, it takes a long time, whether it is the casualties of soldiers or the loss of money and food, it is a quite huge number, and now my Great Zhou national strength is still tired, it is really difficult to support." ”

Wang Pu said: "The minister agrees with Wen Bo's opinion, and now all the surrounding countries are afraid of our soldiers, so they can only lie in wait, and the border is peaceful. And the stability of the people's livelihood in the territory is a good time to develop the economy, such a good opportunity, when we go all out, at most two years, we can be full of warehouses, money and silk, then the soldiers and horses are strong, and the holy Changfeng pointed out, all of them are the surrounding land, isn't it beautiful. ”

Guo Rong waved his hand again, and said with a smile: "Wang Qing's idea is also good, but unfortunately time is running out, the pseudo-Tang Dynasty has attacked Chu and swallowed Fujian in the past two years, and the territory has increased greatly.

And...... If we fight for the economy, we have a thin foundation and few resources, so we are not the opponents of the pseudo-Tang Dynasty, we can only rely on knives and guns, fight bloodily, and do not give the pseudo-Tang a breathing time, so that we have a chance to win. ”

Everyone was silent, and they all knew that what Guo Rong said was true, but it was also a fact that the imperial treasury was empty.

Wei Renpu thought for a while and said: "The minister just made a silent calculation, if you want to attack the Tang Dynasty on a large scale, the army in the east of the river cannot move, and you must strictly guard against the Liao soldiers and Jinyang.

The soldiers and horses in Shaanxi can't move, Qin Feng Fangfu, and must strictly prevent another incident in Xishu, so that the soldiers and horses that can be mobilized are only 50,000 at most.

However, it was easy for the pseudo-Tang to pull out more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, and the minister was worried that it would be difficult for Huainan to go. ”

Zhang Mei hurriedly added: "If you send an army of 50,000, the grain and grass can support you for three or five months, but the salary can only be paid for two months at most, and the ministers ...... I really can't make so many copper coins and silks. ”

Guo Rong nodded, got up, paced, broke a branch of osmanthus and sniffed it on his lips, pondered for a long time, and said: "The soldiers are fine but not many, the guards and horse infantry and the squads in front of the palace, after a year of selection and training, 20,000 can at least be the enemy of 50,000, plus the elite soldiers of each town, it is enough to attack the pseudo-Tang." ”

"As for money and food, Zhu Qing forgot the art of war, 'take it for the country, because the food is for the enemy, eat the enemy for one minute, and be my twenty minutes', if our army's grain and grass can last for half a year, it is enough."

Fan Zhen said: "Shengshang, military affairs, how can you act so risky, Li Gu went to Yingzhou for nearly three months, Huainan affairs, he is most familiar with, and he has never dared to say that he will win, please think twice." ”

Guo Rong laughed, abandoned the osmanthus, clapped his hands, returned to his seat and sat down, motioned for everyone to drink tea, and said: "How can there be a battle to win in this world, with Li Xiang's sentence 'Stay until the early winter, the Huai River is shallow and crossable' is enough, as long as I cross the river with the three armies, what will the pseudo-Tang Dynasty do." ”

Seeing that Guo Rong had made a decision, Fan Zhen knew that he couldn't persuade him anymore, so he had to ask: "Then I don't know how to transfer troops?" ”

"I plan to send Ru, Cao, Shan, Ji, Xu, Bo, Chen, and Cai Bazhou soldiers and horses to Huai first, Li Gu in short, Wang Yanchao as the deputy, and then order the guards and horses to command Han Lingkun to lead 5,000 elite cavalry to help, and these 40,000 soldiers and horses to cross the river first, it is enough. What do you think? ”

Wang Pudao: "There are many soldiers, according to Li Xiang's report, the pseudo-Tang Dynasty does not think that our army will attack Huai, only Shou, Hao, Si three prefectures have heavy troops stationed, with the strongest defense of Shouzhou as an example, one city, one pass and three villages, the defense of nearly 200 miles, but only 7,000 soldiers.

If our army can cross the river in one fell swoop, the enemy has almost no chance of field warfare, and can only defend the city, so our army does not need too many men and horses in the early stage, there are 20,000 enough, one is to save military expenses, and the other is to be in charge of the troops. ”

Zheng Renzhi nodded and said: "Wen Bo is very good at this, it will be winter soon, and the pseudo-Tang Dynasty will not increase the number of troops at this time, and wait for our army to cross the Huai and then decide, let him have more soldiers and horses, at least he will have to gather troops in January, at that time, our army can deal with it calmly."

If the enemy is surging, our army will implement Wenbo's 'disturbance' word, and if the enemy army is weak, we will press it in one fell swoop. ”

Guo Rong rubbed his palms and said excitedly: "Then handle it like this, come and come, take the public opinion plan and calculate it, everyone will work hard and discuss the details." ”

……