In addition to Jiangnan, there are also people who propose to hit Yihua, Jinzhou, Congbo and other places.

These localities are also areas with relatively large grain production, and as long as they can be defeated, they can basically solve the problem of grain shortage.

It's just that these places are also generally far away from the northwest, and soldiers need to travel long distances.

If it's cavalry, it's better, and if it's infantry, it's going to take a long time.

As long as you have really led a soldier, you know that it is taboo to travel long distances and attack from a long distance in battle.

Because a long journey is not only easy to be attacked by people on the way, but also has a great impact on the morale of soldiers if they are too tired, so they pay attention to the art of war.

However, in order to solve the problem of food shortage, this battle must be fought.

Now the focus of the debate is where to fight.

When Ning Zhiyuan was arguing with the generals, he subconsciously glanced at his little son-in-law Chi Fei who was standing in the corner, and saw that he was frowning tightly, as if he had different ideas.

If it was someone else, Ning Zhiyuan wouldn't care.

But this little son-in-law has proposed effective solutions at critical times many times, which has helped him a lot, so Ning Zhiyuan wants to hear his opinion.

"Ah Zhen, what do you think about this?" Ning Zhiyuan asked directly.

Because Ning Zhiyuan had a very high prestige in the army, as soon as he opened his mouth, everyone immediately stopped talking, and then looked over in unison.

Chi Fei didn't expect his father-in-law to ask himself in front of so many people, and he was a little unaccustomed to it for a while.

But he quickly recovered, and then stepped forward and saluted: "General, there is indeed a foolish opinion that cannot be put on the stage, but I don't know whether to talk about it or not. ”

In front of so many people, he was embarrassed to call his father-in-law directly, so he temporarily changed his name.

"Tell me about it." Ning Zhiyuan looked at him gently.

Chi Fei walked to the front of the unrolled map, then pointed to a route and said, "I think so, if we occupy a place for a long time to govern, it's fine.

But if we just grab a place and run away, it will definitely damage our reputation as a king, and it will also make ordinary people disgusted and hostile to us.

Therefore, it was thought that instead of plundering the grain production areas that were far away and easy to defend and difficult to attack, it was better to expand directly to the east.

Taking the Xiyang Ancient Road as the marching route, passing through Linqi, Yishan, Zhangzhou, Qianhe, Huaixing, Jinjiang and other places, and finally occupying Jiujiang Mansion. ”

"But Jiujiang Mansion is not an important place for grain production, so what can we do if we occupy it?" A general asked.

"The main purpose of occupying Jiujiang is not to grab grain, but to use the mouth of Jiujiang as a transit station to buy grain in exchange for grain outside the Great Wei."

When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up, and this idea was quite fresh. ，

Ning Zhiyuan immediately urged: "Ah Zhen, you go on." ”

Chi Fei continued: "As far as I know, there are many small neighboring countries near the sea near the Great Wei that are rich in grain, such as Baiyu, Gray Yi, and Malai, and we can try to exchange salt or gold and silver for grain from them.

In addition to exchanging grain, another advantage of occupying Jiujiang is that it can use the seaside salt works in Jiujiang to produce large quantities of salt.

We can use part of the prepared salt to exchange grain for goods with these small neighboring countries, and the other part can be resold to the salt merchants of the puppet dynasty at a low price to make money.

Great Wei has had the problem of illegal salt flooding for many years, and what we need to do is to become the largest supplier in this private salt market.

If it goes well, then there will be new entries in the northwest in the future, and it will not be empty. ”

When everyone heard this, they all gathered around, and their faces showed a very surprised expression.

They didn't expect it to be like this, and it sounded like it was quite feasible.

"And what if those small neighboring countries refuse to sell us grain?" A senior general suddenly asked.

Chi Fei said in a deep voice: "Then we can only use force against these small surrounding countries."

It is much better to rob places outside the Central Plains than to rob the people of the Great Wei, who are also Han Chinese.

Although we are no longer tolerated by the imperial court, our reputation among the people cannot be lost.

Otherwise, when there is an incident in the future, the people everywhere will not regard us as a righteous teacher, but will only regard us as robbers like the Hu people.

Once the people's hearts are lost, how will we continue to stand on our own feet in the northwest? ”

The generals fell silent as soon as they heard this.

Indeed, if they really sent troops to loot Jiangnan and other places, then in the eyes of other Han people, what is the difference between their Northwest Army and the Hu people?

The people don't care what banner you hold or what you stand, they only look at how you do it.

No one will regard an army that lives on looting as a righteous army, only as an army of thieves and bandits.

Of course, they know this very well, but if they don't rob it, how will so many soldiers in their northwest survive, which is also a helpless move.

Chi Fei continued: "The most important thing for us now is to solve this year's military food problem first.

Wait until this threshold is passed, and then think about other things.

Although I don't know much about the situation in the northeast, it is not known whether it is really unable to feed the entire Northwest Army.

I believe that no matter how bad the harvest is in the northeast, it will not be worse than in the northwest.

In an area like Jiangnan, where there is plenty of money and food, the imperial court will definitely send heavy troops to defend it.

Even if we can barely defeat it, we will suffer heavy casualties, and the gains will outweigh the losses.

Instead of that, we might as well pick and choose some places to capture.

Our goal at this stage is not to have big fish and meat, but to ensure that we have food to eat, and it is enough not to starve to death.

Other than that...... The above is a small foolish opinion below, please learn from it. After Chi Fei finished speaking, he bowed and retreated.

Everyone looked at him with different expressions, and their eyes had become very different from before.

At this time, Ning Zhiyuan, who had not spoken, finally spoke: "My son-in-law is right, we don't want big fish and meat now, we just want to have food to eat."

What do you think about my little son-in-law's advice? ”

"Shuai, I think Mr. Su's proposal is quite reasonable.

We can try to buy food first, and if it doesn't work, we can grab it.

Anyway, it's all about robbing, so it's better to go straight to rob outsiders. A veteran surnamed Cheng stood up and said loudly.

Other generals also agreed, thinking that this was the truth.

It was not pleasant to be treated as a thief and bandit, and if they had a choice, they certainly did not want to rob the people of Dawei, who were also Han Chinese.

Chi Fei's suggestion opened up a new way of thinking for them.

For a while, everyone returned to the front of the map and had a lively discussion.

It's just that unlike before, everyone is discussing the eastward route that Chi Fei said, and they are also comparing it on the map from time to time.

Those who are qualified to attend tonight are all experienced military generals, and they are all first-class in the layout of the march.

From Chi Fei's description, they could see that this was by no means a short-term plan, but a strategy plan with a long-term goal.

The occupation of Jiujiang was only the first step in this eastward expansion plan, and the next follow-up action was to use the nail of Jiujiang as a stronghold and continue to encroach on the surrounding areas until the entire northeast region was swallowed.

In other words, if this plan is implemented, the focus of development in the northwest will be to expand eastward.

Under this line of thinking, many generals began to think of another tactical line.

That is, starting from Jiujiang, a large number of soldiers were transported by military ships to attack various coastal towns from the sea.

If the sea route is used to transport troops, the cost and time of transporting troops will be greatly saved, which is indeed an excellent method.

When it came to using troops against these coastal towns, the Northwest Army, as the attacking side, had a natural advantage.

If you can fight, you can fight, if you really can't fight, you can leave by boat, you can attack and defend, and you can advance and retreat freely.

Of course, to do this, a large number of warships need to be built.

But this is just a small matter, as long as the entire Northeast is successfully occupied, shipbuilding or something is not a big problem at all.

Many generals felt that the more they thought about this plan, the more likely and valuable it was to be implemented, so they began to discuss it in earnest.

When everyone was discussing hotly, Ning Zhiyuan didn't say anything, just looked at the little son-in-law who retreated to the side and smiled slightly.

"Stinky boy, you have a very bright brain, you can even think of this way." Ning Yafeng walked over and punched Chi Fei very affectionately.

Ning Yabai, who has always spoken little, also looked at her brother-in-law with great appreciation.

This plan is indeed both novel and ingenious, and when you think about it, it is highly feasible and it is very impressive.

Everyone discussed until late before leaving, and finally Ning Zhiyuan announced that they would discuss again tomorrow.

After all, sending a large army to launch an expedition is a major event, and it must be carefully considered, and a decision cannot be made lightly.

After the meeting ended, Ning Zhiyuan left his two sons and his little son-in-law behind.

After everyone left, Ning Zhiyuan said to Chi Fei: "Ah Zhen, while there are no outsiders now, you can also say what you didn't finish just now, don't have any scruples." ”

He had long noticed that the little son-in-law was obviously reserved when he said the end, and he didn't finish his words.

Chi Fei glanced up at his father-in-law and the two uncles, and then said: "Since this is the case, then the son-in-law will say it directly, I hope that the father-in-law and the eldest brother and the second brother will not be surprised."

There is another reason why the son-in-law suggested attacking Jiujiang that cannot be explained.

That is, once the northwest is really defeated, we can withdraw from the Central Plains through the Jiujiang sea outlet, move overseas, and leave a way back for everyone.

As the saying goes, stay in the green mountains, and don't be afraid of no firewood. As long as we are alive, there will always be a chance. ”

The two brothers, Ning Yabai and Ning Yafeng, looked at each other for a moment, and a relieved smile appeared on their faces.

Ning Zhiyuan simply stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work, kid." It's hard for you to think of such thoughtfulness, I'm so happy. ”

Looking at his father-in-law's eyes full of relief and encouragement, Chi Fei suddenly felt a warm patch in his chest.

Three days later, under the leadership of General Ning Zhiyuan, the generals of the Northwest Battalion finally negotiated the final plan: the troops were divided into two routes and took Jiujiang directly.