The heavy rain rattled outside the house, and in the sound of the rain, the words of the people continued.

"As soon as Yuan Shao dies in the ......, leaving behind the land of Sizhou, even if the lord can get two of them, it is almost difficult to win the war with Cao Cao...... On the battle array, Lie doesn't understand, but since taking over Shanggu County, surveying the land and census the population, although in the early years, the lord moved hundreds of thousands of people from Montenegro into the north, but the land can only barely supply these people's stomachs, not to mention that the soldiers and horses in Shanggu County are more and more numerous, the soldiers need to eat and drink every day, the war horses need to be raised, the hoarded cattle and sheep also need to be grazing, the land occupied, the people who wield, all of which need grain to support. ”

"It's so serious?"

"That's true, Lie checked the account books, the lord almost wiped out his savings for several years when he attacked Liaodong, and the soldiers' pensions were never deducted and reduced, and the cost of the three armies abroad was even more unimaginable, plus this year's battle with Yuan Shao, the dry food brought by the cavalry was moved as much as possible from the number of cattle and sheep taken from the Wuhuan people."

Wang Lie said eloquently, got up and walked to the map hanging on the first side, and pointed to Youzhou and the two states: "Before Lie said that he would try not to fight in a few years, or on the premise of getting these two states, after all, these two states are not rich, and the state is small and the population is not much, and it is mostly mountainous, and the land of Youzhou is vast and fertile, but unfortunately the population is too small, coupled with the destruction of the war before and after, the people are displaced, and the farmland is almost difficult to be cultivated. ”

Gongsun Zhi frowned and looked at Bing Yuan: "Genju, what do you say?" ”

"Some of the Lord's past measures made Yuan feel good, but other things, I dare not agree." Bing Yuan has a fierce temperament, although his words are respectful, and his tone is a little rushing: "...... has been fighting for many years, although the casualties of the soldiers have been compensated, but people have grown up step by step after all, and if they go down with a knife, their lives will be lost for more than ten years, or even decades. ”

Wang Lie secretly pulled the robe of the talking figure, shook his head quietly, and motioned for him to restrain his tone. Gongsun Zhi waved his hand indifferently: "I'm not Yuan Benchu, it's not that I can't accept people's words, Genju, you go on." ”

Bing Yuan straightened the collar of his robe, walked out of his seat and arched his hand upwards: "In the past, Liaodong was cold and cold, and the Central Plains was in turmoil, so I took refuge with You'an (Guan Ning) in the past, gathered and taught the people virtues, reclaimed the fields, gathered people for the village, and gathered the village for the village pavilion, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, so that Liaodong became more and more prosperous. What's more, the lord only has these barren five counties at the moment! ”

The rain was pouring down, and in the main hall of the council, the two scribes who were in charge of Shanggu County successively expressed their attitudes and advised them on the possible outbreak of war in the future.

Although there was a five-year period of peace, the soil and grain cultivation in the north was relatively incomparable with the mild and humid climate of the Central Plains.

"Where's Wen You?" He turned his gaze to that side.

Li Ru shook his head, "Ru also agrees with the meaning of the county guard and the county Cheng this time, after taking the You, and merging, there are no years of recuperation, it is difficult to fight with Cao Cao, he has a lot of generals and strategists, and his own ability is very powerful, once the war lasts for a long time, it will not be beneficial to us, and then the troops, grain and grass will be dwarfed, and the north will be difficult to protect." ”

"You're all trying to persuade me not to fight anymore." Gongsun Zhi's fingers lightly tapped the armrest, and with one last blow, he smashed his fist on it: "But have the three of you ever thought that even if my Gongsun Zhi develops and recuperates behind closed doors, will he Cao Cao stop where he is and wait for me to catch up?" When I can support the logistics of 50,000 soldiers and horses for a year, he can have food to support 200,000 soldiers and horses for a year! In terms of population, we will lose, and if we also lose in momentum, we don't need to fight, just surrender. ”

"The lord is wrong with this!" Bing Yuan stepped forward to argue with reason, and arched his hand: "At the moment, we can't even hold on for a year, if we can last for a year in a few years, the outcome is unknown, and Cao Cao's own strength has made Cao Cao not to be underestimated." ”

Gongsun Zhi waved his hand to let him go back and sit down, shaking his head: "Cao Cao will never see me sitting big, if he doesn't come to stir up, it will be that Cao Cao." ”

"If you have an idea." Li Ru, who listened for a while, finally took the initiative to speak: "Move the population of Shuofang over, and send two cavalry teams of Xianbei and Xiongnu to go deep into the grassland, or loot grain in the Western Regions to supplement military resources, and at the same time, there are also a large number of prisoners for the vanguard army to consume in battle, no matter how bad it is, it can also be used as military food......

Seeing that the middle-aged strategist's words paused, Wang Lie and Bing Yuan on the opposite side immediately objected: "Killing and looting are still feasible, if people are used as military food, how is it different from wild beasts?" ”

"How can you follow the rules in troubled times and not be a beast, can you be a gentleman?" Li Ru retorted to them.

"Cannibalism in troubled times has existed since ancient times, but we haven't reached that point yet, if the lord wants to go one step further, how can he do anything that damages his reputation, Li Changshi, please be cautious."

In the main hall, you and I refuted each other, Gongsun Zhi just listened with a smile, and waited until the two sides stopped for a while, and then he opened his mouth to interject: "Wen You's words are not unreasonable, I Shanggu County is poor in materials and population, so I can only change my thinking, try my best to make up for the shortcomings, shorten the distance with Cao Cao, plunder the Western Regions, and rob food and property are all feasible strategies, as for the prisoners to use military food for the time being, they will be used to march and fight for the time being, if it really reaches the point of lack of military food, it is not impossible to eat a few meals, After all, my grandson Zhi also ate a piece of human flesh when he was in Montenegro. ”

"Alas....." Bingyuan slapped the table and tilted his head away.

Gongsun Zhi's eyes swept over the three of them, smiled and got up and walked across the screen, when he opened the window, the sound of the rain rushed into the hall to sweep away some dullness, he looked at the rain curtain outside and said: "It's not enough to plunder the Western Regions, we must curb the development of Cao Cao, the ox tendons for making bows and crossbows, and the war horses for cavalry expansion must be stuck, and I would rather sell them to Xiliang Ma Teng at a low price than hand them over." He turned around and stretched out two fingers and looked at the three of them: "Second, take advantage of the cavalry, loot and burn the crops in Jizhou every autumn harvest, and force Cao Cao to take out the grain in the official warehouse to help the people." ”

"How many people have been displaced like that....." Bing Yuan turned back and said with a sigh.

Wang Lie smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "It's better for Juncheng to use your fame to recruit the landless people to Youzhou to cultivate in the past?" ”

"Whatever you say, it's what you say."

Although it is said that a country lies in the people, and the people lie in the food, but in the eyes of the people standing above, it is better to continue to divide the country, it is better to make peace in the chaotic country again, even if it is much better than now for decades, the discussion in the hall continued for a while, and after the night fell, the foreign strategy was basically finalized, and now the war on the surface has been fought, and the confrontation in the secret should begin.

After sending away Bing Yuan and Wang Lie, Gongsun Zhi stopped Li Ru, who was about to get into the car, with a serious gaze: "You and I don't know much about the way of business, now is the time to use the Zhen family, tomorrow you send someone to recruit their people left behind in Shanggu County." ”

"Confucianism naturally knows."

Seeing Li Ru get into the car and disappear into the night, Gongsun Zhi walked a hundred zhang away from the empty street with Dian Wei and other guards with his hands, and restrained Cao Cao like Yuan Shao, which was a bit of a headache to think about, but it could only be used as a business war to temporarily slow down the development of the opponent's army.

"Let's talk about it when I see the Zhen family tomorrow......"

He looked up at the rain line that connected the heavens and the earth and thought.