No matter who thinks of it, Zhao is just a weak country, with less than 50,000 soldiers, and there are no famous generals, and the city is only four states, and it is located in the Hebei Plain, so there is no danger to defend.

However, the Jin side is a big country with nearly 300,000 troops, and in recent years, it has successively defeated powerful forces such as the Liang State and the Khitan State, with a strong military force and thousands of generals.

It can be said that in front of Jin Guo, Zhao Guo is like a five or six-year-old child facing an adult, and it is difficult to play any role.

Therefore, they all felt that once Li Cunqiao decided to crusade against Zhao State, he would inevitably level Zhao State in an extreme time.

And if the State of Wu is the Northern Expedition, Jing Xiang and others believe that no matter how weak the State of Liang is, it will not be weaker than the State of Zhao; In other words, it was impossible for Wu to take Liang faster than Jin to take Zhao.

Therefore, unless Yang Wu is stupid, he should not go on a northern expedition during the Jin army's crusade against Zhao, after all, this kind of timing is not as good as the one after the last battle of Huliupo.

After having this judgment, Zhu Youzhen was suddenly relieved.

He then asked, "Then what do you think, when did the Wu Kingdom go on the Northern Expedition?" ”

Jing Xiang stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the time of Wu's Northern Expedition should not be too long, it must be within the last five years. ”

"Within the last five years?"

"Not bad." Jing Xiang nodded and said, "Your Majesty, although the plan of the Wu State is to accumulate strength, sit and watch the battle situation in the north, and then wait for the opportunity to go on a northern expedition. However, for Wu Guo, they will definitely not wait too long. ”

"First of all, since Wu conquered Lingnan six years ago and completely unified the south, in recent years, in addition to using troops overseas and domestic bandits, etc., there have been small-scale wars with Shu State.

If an army has not been tempered by actual combat for a long time, it is likely to become corrupt and degenerate, and the soldiers do not know how to fight; So King Wu won't delay for too long. ”

"The second point is that those meritorious old ministers who followed Yang Xingmi to establish the foundation of the Wu State, there are not many left, and if these old ministers want to make a northern expedition to the Central Plains in their lifetime, they will inevitably persuade King Wu to move troops."

"The third point is the national strength of Wu, after several years of savings, the preparations for the Northern Expedition should have been made, and waiting any longer will not only not be beneficial, but it will be easy for people to slack off and be comfortable."

……

Jing Xiang cited many reasons, and finally came to the conclusion that Wu would inevitably send troops to the Northern Expedition in the next five years, or even two or three years, and it was impossible to continue to delay.

After listening to this analysis, everyone immediately began to discuss.

"If it is really the Northern Expedition within five years, then what will our country do at that time?"

"If the Wu army goes on a northern expedition, is it possible for us to defeat them?"

"Is it possible to negotiate peace with Wu again?"

……

Although the ministers did not necessarily respect Jing Xiang, everyone admired Jing Xiang's insight and talent, and no one stood up to question his judgment.

Even Zhang Hanjie and Zhao Yan, whom Zhu Youzhen trusted, did not question Jing Xiang's judgment.

"Enough! What kind of system is it to be so noisy? Seeing that everyone was talking and the scene was a little chaotic, Li Zhen stood up and scolded.

After stopping the chaos of the ministers, he turned to look at Zhu Youzhen, bowed deeply, and said: "Your Majesty, what Lord Jing said is reasonable, Wu Wang Yang Wu will not delay for too long, and please make plans as soon as possible." ”

"Plan ahead?" Zhu Youzhen sighed, and said with a sad face: "Qing asked me to make plans early, but I don't know what else I can do now?" ”

As soon as he talked about the Northern Expedition of Wu, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness in his heart.

Originally, with the military strength of the Liang State, it was very reluctant to be able to block the southward movement of the Jin army, but when he thought that the Wu State might go north at any time, he felt very depressed in his heart.

As long as Wu Guo went on a northern expedition, everything he was doing now would be in vain.

Originally, he was still counting on delaying every day, maybe something big would suddenly happen within the Wu or Jin states, so that the Liang state could find a chance to turn the tide of safety, but as time passed, these hopes quickly became extravagant hopes.

As the emperor of the Liang State, he is certainly the supreme master of the Central Plains, controlling the life and death of countless people, but at the same time, he also has to shoulder the unimaginable responsibility of ordinary people.

In history, the reason why he chose to commit suicide when the Jin army was approaching the city was that in addition to the empty troops in Kaifeng at that time and it was difficult to defend, another important reason was that the successive defeats made him feel hopeless.

It was this despair that made him give up his plan to flee and make a comeback; At the same time, he also gave up the plan to defend the city and resist stubbornly and stick to the plan to wait for help, but committed suicide directly, pushing the Liang State to the final destruction.

And the situation facing the Liang State today is even more severe than the Liang State in history, and the pressure on Zhu Youzhen's body is naturally greater than that of him in history.

The reason why he hasn't collapsed so far is just that there is still a trace of luck in his heart, as long as Wu has not yet gone on a northern expedition and has not yet reached Luoyang, he still has a glimmer of hope.

However, the frustration and depression in his heart are getting stronger day by day.

"In the past, when the first emperor was in his heyday, Wang Shifan, Zhao Kuangning and other feudal towns were all tied, and Li Keyong, Li Maozhen and others were also under the military authority of the first emperor. I can't imagine that the situation in my Liang country is so rotten now, is this because God is disgusted with me? ”

Hearing Zhu Youzhen say such frustrating words, Zhang Hanjie was shocked in his heart, and hurriedly stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I think that even if the Wu army goes on a northern expedition, our army may not be able to stop it, why is Your Majesty so frustrated?" ”

Zhu Youzhen shook her head and was silent.

Blocking the Northern Expedition of the Wu Army? He didn't have the slightest confidence.

The Liang army was able to block the Jin army, and the main thing it relied on was the geographical advantage, if it weren't for this, the Jin army would have gone south long ago.

The strength of the Wu State in the south was not weaker than that of the Jin State, but the Liang State did not have a Yellow River natural danger to rely on; Moreover, the strength of the Liang army stationed in the south is far from being comparable to the strength of the Yellow River defense line, and the Wu State has no other enemies to contain it, so it can concentrate on the Northern Expedition, so it can be said that the Wu State will be able to use more troops than the Jin army.

In this case, why did Liang Guo stop Wu Guo?

The more Zhu Youzhen thought about it, the more pessimistic he felt, and seeing this situation, Jing Xiang stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the Northern Expedition of Wu is difficult to stop, so why doesn't Your Majesty take the initiative to give up the Central Plains and retreat to Luoyang and Guanzhong?" ”

"What? Take the initiative to abandon the Central Plains? Everyone was stunned for a moment.

"Give up the Central Plains?" Zhu Youzhen was also a little surprised.

"Yes, our current strength is not enough to hold the Central Plains at all, but for the sake of the Central Plains, we not only have to fight a bloody battle with the Jin army, but also always guard against the Northern Expedition of the Wu Army. In this case, why didn't Your Majesty take the initiative to abandon the Central Plains, retreat to the lands of Luoyang and Guanzhong, and let the Jin State and the Wu State fight endlessly for the Central Plains? Jing Xiang explained.

"This ......" Zhu Youzhen obviously couldn't accept Jing Xiang's suggestion, but felt that it seemed to make some sense.

Jing Xiang hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, there is no danger to defend in the hinterland of the Central Plains, and we have to face the two-sided attack of the Jin State and the Wu State, in this situation, even if the first emperor is still here, it is difficult to resist." Luoyang and Guanzhong can be called fertile for thousands of miles, and the terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. ”

"If Your Majesty retreats to Luoyang and Guanzhong, and follows the plan of Wu State, you can sit back and watch the Jin State and Wu State fight, while we can recuperate and accumulate strength in order to counterattack the Central Plains in the future; Even if it is not good, it can protect itself. ”

Zhu Youzhen subconsciously shook her head and said: "Jingqing's strategy sounds reasonable, but now that Wu Guo has not called, should we give up the Central Plains first?" This is not feasible. ”

The ministers were obviously stunned by his suggestion before, and for a time no one spoke out to refute it; It was only at this time that he reacted, and for a while everyone stood up to refute it.

"Abandon the Central Plains? How can this work? At the beginning, the emperor fought a hundred battles to get the Central Plains, how could he give up easily? ”

"The Central Plains is rich, and it is the place where our dynasty's military resources and wealth are located, if we give up these places, our dynasty's national strength will inevitably be greatly damaged, and then it will be reduced to the bottom of the world." Zhao Yan's face turned red, and he said loudly with his neck stalked.

"Even if the Wu army is strong and the Northern Expedition is difficult to stop, but it is better to fight, and it is not too late to retreat when it can't be defeated, how can you admit defeat before you fight?" Zhang Hanjie shouted angrily.

……

Jing Xiang smiled bitterly in his heart, his original plan was to wait until after the Northern Expedition of Wu State to put forward this opinion, in order to take advantage of the situation and the momentum of Wu State to persuade Zhu Youzhen to move the capital to Chang'an and retreat from Guanzhong.

However, at this time, he saw that Zhu Youzhen was extremely depressed, and most of the ministers in the palace were also pessimistic, so he couldn't help but say this suggestion in advance, but as a result, he was naturally opposed all the time.

However, he still defended himself: "If you are ready to retreat now, you can calmly hoard money and grain, move the people, etc., and prepare for a foothold in Luoyang and Guanzhong in the future; If you wait until you can't fight and then retreat, I'm afraid that it will be too late. ”

Indeed, the relocation of the people and the hoarding of grain and grass are not trivial matters, which cannot be completed in a short period of time, and must be prepared in advance.

If you wait until you have a hard fight with Wu and then consider retreating to Luoyang and Guanzhong after defeat, I am afraid that it will be too late by then.

Not only that, after all, there are still some elites in the current Liang army, if these elites are brought into Luoyang and Guanzhong, it will also be a force for the future; And if you wait until the defeat of the Wu army in the battle, those elites will be lost, and it will be difficult to retreat in the future.

Li Zhen had long been aware of Jing Xiang's idea, and naturally stood up and agreed at this time: "Your Majesty, now that the Wu and Jin families are powerful, it is really difficult for our army to fight with them at the same time; It's a good opportunity to take a step back now. ”

Other ministers who originally knew about Jing Xiang's thoughts also stood up and echoed them at this time, finally so that Jing Xiang would not seem to be alone.

And Zhu Youzhen and the others also calmed down at this time and began to think carefully about whether Jing Xiang's suggestion was feasible.