Ji Ping's current control is mainly Hedong County, Hanoi County and Shangdang, Hexi, and half of Taiyuan County in Bingzhou, except for Hanoi County, that is, half of Shanxi from Taiyuan to Yuncheng in later generations.

This is a long and narrow terrain from north to south, the two sides are Taihang Mountain and Lvliang Mountain Plateau, the east side of Taihang Mountain is the Shangdang County Plateau Basin, the west side of Lvliang Mountain is the Xihe County Plateau Basin, there are several bead-shaped basins in the middle, Hedong County, Taiyuan County, etc., there is a Zhongtiao Mountain barrier in the south, and there is Yanmen Pass in the north.

Economically speaking, this kind of terrain is inconvenient for transportation, which is not conducive to development, but from a military point of view, it is an extremely favorable position for internal operations, and the shape is favorable, and it can overlook the fortress, Henan, and Jizhou on three sides.

There are five main roads between the territory currently controlled by Ji Ping and the eastern Jizhou and the Central Plains, that is, the five of the eight Taihang Mountains, Yiguan Mountains, Taihang Mountains, Bai Mountains, Fukou Mountains, and Jingjing.

After Ji Ping took control of Hanoi County, Yiguan Cheng, Taihang Cheng, and Bai Cheng were included in his territory, and now the connection with Jizhou is Fukou Cheng and Jingjing, Fukou Cheng leads from Shangdang to Handan in the north of Yecheng, and Jing Cheng leads from Jinyang, Taiyuan County to Changshan County, Jizhou.

As long as he controls these two passages, he can attack and defend Jizhou, and completely control the initiative, but these two passages are not currently under his control, nor are they under the control of Han Fu or Yuan Shao, but in the hands of the Black Mountain Army that dominates the 800-mile Taihang Mountain.

Now Gongsun Chan and Yuan Shao are competing for Jizhou, and the Montenegrin Army and Gongsun Chan are military alliances, and they will inevitably participate in it, as long as the Montenegrin Army participates in the battle for dominance. Ji Ping can take advantage of the chaos, and his purpose is not just to control the two passages. In one fell swoop, he also had to uproot the Black Mountain Army that had been dominant in Taihang Mountain for eight years, which was his ultimate goal.

Otherwise, the Shangdang County he controlled, and even the Taiyuan County he would conquer next. Under the threat of the Montenegrin army, there is no peace at all, not only is it a trouble, but there are too many variables, and Ji Ping does not like this kind of variable.

However, after witnessing Gongsun Zhan's soldiers, Ji Ping felt a sense of urgency in his heart, and he deeply felt that it was very difficult to achieve his goal in this Youji campaign.

He currently has a lot of troops. There are more than Gongsun Zhan, but he is facing a situation where he is surrounded by enemies on all sides, and he has to guard against Dong Zhuo in Guanzhong, the Qiang in the northwest, the Xianbei in the north, the Xiongnu, and the million Black Mountain army that runs through almost the east side of his territory, so that he has almost no troops to mobilize.

He didn't think about stopping this war, because at the beginning of the war, it was impossible to close it at all, and the forces of all parties were intertwined, and contradictions and interests were entangled. The ambition of the human heart, whoever participates in it, will be stirred into the battle, and it is inevitable, even if he is a god descending from heaven. There is no power to stop it at all, he just wants to spend the minimum cost to achieve his set goal.

After returning to Zhen's house. Ji Ping summoned Li Ru and began to discuss the current form. Consult Li Ru's Jianyì.

The most important thing for a competent strategist is to think ahead, anticipate the enemy's opportunities, and spend a lot of effort in advance. Otherwise, the strategist of the hindsight is useless at all, and can only mislead the master, and Li Ru is undoubtedly a competent strategist who has done a lot of work in the early stage.

Hearing Ji Ping's inquiry, Li Ru drank a glass of wine, smiled leisurely, and said: "Han Fu is weak, and it is easy to seek Jizhou with Yuan Shao's fame, so Jizhou will return to Yuan Shao first." ”

Li Ru paused when he said this, and said: "Gongsun Chan and the state pastor Liu Yu have a political disagreement in Youzhou, and they are limited by Xianbei and Wuhuan, so it is difficult to turn around, so they must take Jizhou in the south to make a long-term plan, so Gongsun Chan and Yuan Shao must have a battle, and this battle between Youzhou and Hebei is also." ”

"Yuan Shaonai, the head of the scholars, when he enters Jizhou, he will take the Montenegrin thieves as the enemy, and the Montenegrin thieves are friendly with Gongsun Zhan, so in the battle between Youzhou and Hebei, there must be the participation of the Montenegrin army."

Li Ru groaned, and said: "Yuan Shao has entered Jizhou, then the Bohai Sea is empty, and its side is green and the yellow scarf is raging, with Yuan Shao's wisdom and strategy, he will definitely enter the Bohai Sea with the yellow scarf, in order to coerce Youzhou, Youzhou is the root of Gongsun Zhan, this is to attack it must be saved, and Gongsun Chan also has to move troops to save him." ”

Ji Ping suddenly remembered the battle in history when Gongsun Zhan's reputation reached its peak, that is, to defeat 300,000 Qingxu Yellow Turbans, and he had to admire Li Ru's wisdom.

Li Ru continued: "Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu's brothers have always been at odds, Yuan Shao wants to take Jizhou as his foundation, how can Yuan Shu turn a blind eye? Yuan Shu connected Sun Jian in Nanyang, took Jingzhou in the south, and mapped Luoyang in the north, how could Yuan Shao sit idly by and watch it big? And Liu Biao in Jingzhou, Bao Xin in Yanzhou, and Cao Cao were close to Yuan Shao, and Sun Jian in Yuzhou and Tao Qian in Xuzhou were close to Yuan Shu, and ...... Dong Gong will not do nothing. ”

Speaking of this, Li Ru made a final summary: "Therefore, although this battle started because of the dispute between You, Hebei, and Hebei, it will eventually become the battle of You, Hebei, He, Si, Qing, Xu, Yan, and Henan, which is the first battle in which the princes compete for power, divide the place, and compete for the world!" ”

Ji Ping is familiar with history, and naturally knows that Li Ru's analysis is right, in history, although the battle between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan is not as famous as the battle of Guandu and Chibi, it lasted for nearly ten years, and countless princes were involved, and their bones were broken, and the pattern of Yuan and Cao Xiong was established.

He was silent for a while, and said slowly: "In Wenyou's opinion, what is this victory?" ”

He naturally knows the outcome of this battle better, but he wants to listen to Li Ru's opinions, know what it is, and know why it is, whether this battle situation is a doomed result, and how he can plan in it. Because now in addition to Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zhan, Yuan Shu and other princes, there is one more him in the world, and the forces in Hedong, Hanoi and half of the state, even if he does not take any action, it is bound to have a great impact on the overall situation of Tianda.

Hearing Ji Ping's inquiry, Li Ru was silent for a while before he said: "Today's Han world is the world of the family, and whoever gets the power of the family will be the winner." This is his deepest experience after Dong Zhuo's failure.

"The power of the family? …… The power of the family ......" Ji Ping muttered twice, suddenly laughed, looked at Li Ru, and said, "Wenyou, do you know what the result I am most looking forward to in the troubled times?" ”

"I would like to hear the lord's opinion." Li Ru threw away the distracting thoughts in his heart, and there was a little more curiosity in his eyes.

Ji Ping said leisurely: "The people survive, and the family is dead." ”

Li Ru was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help laughing.

Ji flattened his face: "God knows this, you know it, I know." If they let them know, they will rebel against me. Then don't blame me for letting you carry the black pot. ”

"How dare the villain! How dare the villain! Li Ru shook his head again and again, and couldn't help laughing again.

Ji Ping also smiled and drank a glass of wine. sighed: "Wen You, what I said before is not a lie, the power of the family in the world is indeed too big, so big that the Son of Heaven can't restrain it, so big that it forces the people to rebel, just say Huainan Yuan's family, protégés and former officials are all over the world, and the two of them are in dispute." It can stir up the overall situation of the world! Is this still a big man? ”

As Ji Ping spoke, he felt that the wine was surging, and muttered: "Huan Ling is faint, appointing eunuchs, don't they know the harm of eunuchs, because the party is too powerful, so that the Son of Heaven is also afraid, many of them are certainly high-spirited." But a huge force is pressed on the world, and all decrees that harm the interests of the family cannot be issued at all, and the head of the party, the three monarchs, 'Dou Wu'. is poor and extravagant, exploiting the people, and even Lu Zigan can't look at it. But how many officials and scholars came out to criticize Dou Wu? In their eyes, they only want to eradicate the eunuchs and the traitors...... In fact, they are not governing the world. If they govern well, they will not compete with the people for profit. If you don't hide the tenant farmer's household, the Son of Heaven is a Ming monarch, and the treasury is naturally abundant......"

Li Ru's face became heavy.

"Celebrities, the world has its own celebrities." Ji Ping sneered: "But if you blindly attach importance to fame and honor, and worship celebrities morbidly, it is better to swoop down and do something for the people in a down-to-earth manner, and your achievements are like Huangfu Song and Duan Xi, but because you were born in Liangzhou, you were excluded by the Kwantung scholars......"

Li Ru listened silently, his eyes couldn't help but moisten, at this moment, he really felt that he had met a Ming master, who could see clearly the shortcomings of a qiē disease, and did not discriminate against the people of Liangzhou.

"My biggest ambition is to be at ease, to read and sleep, to fly and to fly, just like Cao Cao and Liu Bei when I was young, but I was born in troubled times, and it is difficult to protect myself." Ji Ping smiled bitterly: "I escaped from the palace, gave up the whole world, and occupied a piece of fucking territory, this sounds really ridiculous, because I can't stand this sick world, I don't want nearly a million people in Luoyang to be killed by Dong Zhuo's old dog, I don't want the people in the world to be chaotic, I don't want to be chaotic, I'm not a saint, but I'm not a ...... of wood and stone."

Ji Ping was a little incoherent, but this was his deepest feeling, since the crusade against Dong Zhuo, he has hardly been relaxed, and even his two wives don't have much time to accompany him, galloping on the battlefield, running back and forth, just for that trace of obsession.

There were some words in his words that even Li Ru had never heard, but he understood them.

Li Ru got up and bowed to Ji Ping, and said in a deep voice: "Confucianism and others should do their best, and they should break their bones to fulfill His Majesty's grand wish." ”

Ji Ping drank another glass of wine, and said in a loud voice: "Yes, since we have joined this game, we must do a thorough job, it is exactly what Gongda said, break and then stand, break the monopoly of the family on officials, give the children of the poor family and the common people a platform and opportunity, let the world be full of vitality, so that the alien race does not dare to use swords against the Han Dynasty." ”

Li Ru nodded excitedly.

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of carving outside, Ji Ping was stunned, and then got up and walked out of the house quickly.

When Li Ru rushed out, Tianya was already resting on the side, and Ji Ping was holding a piece of paper with a solemn face.

Seeing Li Ru, Ji Ping said slowly: "The Montenegrin army invaded Shangdang County, Xu Huang led the troops to fight, and the Montenegrin army scattered between the mountains and deep valleys, and Hanoi County also encountered intrusion when transporting grain, but was defeated by Zhang Yide. ”

Li Ru's face froze.

When the two returned to the house, Ji Ping's tone turned solemn, took the map under the case, and gestured: "Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao have three goals, one is to pacify the million Black Mountain Army, so that Shangdang, Jinyang, and Hanoi will be stable and have no worries; the two, seizing Changshan Country and Zhongshan County; The three, in Youzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou cloth. Another most important thing is to reduce the casualties of the people in the chaotic war, in Wenyou's view, how to start? ”

Li Ru groaned and said: "Lord, the conquest of the Montenegrin thieves is not in a hurry, but Xu Gongming can temporarily show weakness to the enemy, so that the Montenegrin thieves despise the party, and then send spies into Taihang Mountain to inquire about the distribution of thieves, and when Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan fight, the Montenegrin army will not threaten the party, and will inevitably enter Jizhou to participate in the war, and it will be a good opportunity to conquest." ”

Ji Ping nodded, this is to show the enemy to be weak and take advantage of the fire to rob.

Li Ru said: "Changshan Country and Zhongshan County are the land of black mountain thieves, although Gongsun Zhan has traveled with soldiers and horses, but he only conscripted soldiers and grain, and did not interfere too much in county affairs. ”

Ji Ping was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but say, "Wen You, hurry up." ”

Li Ru said slowly: "Liu Zihui is a famous man in Zhongshan, the lord can make the Zhongshan Zhen family unite with the middle family of the county, and jointly promote Liu Zihui as the Taishou of Zhongshan, and secretly belong to Gongsun Zhan. ”

Ji Ping's eyes couldn't help but light up, Li Ru's plan is good!

If Liu Zihui, who was under him, became the Taishou of Zhongshan, then he would have a lot of room for covert manipulation.

Li Ru said again: "When the Black Mountain thieves are pacified, no matter who loses or wins Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao, the lord directly ordered Zhang Wenyuan to send troops from Jinyang to occupy Changshan Kingdom, and Liu Zihui is in Zhongshan County as a countermeasure, these two counties can be obtained lightly, but only at a time." (To be continued......)