Zhang Jiao now actually controls the four counties of Changshan County, Zhao County, Julu County and Zhongshan Kingdom, occupying less than one-third of the territory of Jizhou, among which Changshan County and Zhao County are basically mountainous areas, and the available arable land area is very small, Julu County and Zhongshan County have a lot of arable land, but these two counties are in a state of being attacked on both sides, and there will be a war at any time, in fact, the battle between the Inhuman troops on both sides has never stopped, so it is impossible to cultivate the heroic legend of the Three Kingdoms game with peace of mind.

On the one hand, he was able to maintain a large number of troops in these two counties to guard against the sneak attack of the Inhuman troops instructed by Yuan Shao and Liu Yu, and at the same time he could cultivate a large amount of farmland, providing barely enough food for the soldiers and believers under Zhang Jiao's command, and then buying some from the outside with paper charms.

Although the food problem can be balanced, but it is not safe, once the purchase of grain channels is broken, or the sharp rise in grain prices will seriously threaten Zhangjiao's food security, in addition, if these two situations occur, it is likely that the grain planting in Julu and Zhongshan is also reducing production at the same time, if this is the case, it will not be a disaster, and the situation will be worse than imagined.

If we think about the long term, food security will also threaten population growth and the smooth development of the Zhang Jiao forces, that is to say, the food problem is not only a matter of life and death, but also a problem that restricts the development and growth of the Yellow Turban forces.

Therefore, the food problem has always been a headache for Zhang Jiao, and it is a major problem of the most important importance.

Now that Han Fu is waving his army south, he is facing Yuan Shao in the Central Plains, Zhang Jiao feels that if he doesn't do something at this time, he seems to be very sorry for this great opportunity, but what should he do and to what extent? Zhang Jiao didn't have a bottom in his heart, especially now when he was not eager to burn his eyebrows. Zhang Jiao will inevitably have the psychology of Gou An, which is human nature.

So Zhang Jiao, who hesitated, simply summoned his henchmen, the so-called one person is short and everyone is wise.

Zhao Ai'er introduced the surrounding situation now, especially about Han Fu and Yuan Shao, as well as the details of the current battle in the Central Plains. Zhao Ai'er's intelligence organization has been established for more than two years. Now it can be regarded as useful, and the information obtained is still very detailed and accurate.

Zhang Jiao nodded with satisfaction, looked at several of his henchmen and smiled calmly: "Now that the situation has changed in my favor, it would be a waste if I let go of this opportunity." Think about it, how can we make the most of this opportunity to expand our power? ”

Zhang Yan looked at everyone, as the successor who had been designated by Zhang Jiao, he should be the first to speak at this time, so he thought for a while and said, "Father-in-law." Now that Han Fu and Yuan Shao's center of gravity are in Henan, our army can take the opportunity to seize more territory, but the child feels that he can only choose one of the two, and he should form an alliance to fight the other. ”

Zhang Jiao smiled noncommittally, turned his eyes to Zhao Ai'er, Zhao Ai'er cleared her throat and said: "I also agree with Zhang Yan's idea, pulling one dozen is the most beneficial choice for our side, just pulling whoever fights whom." To what extent these are more important. ”

Zhang Niujiao also spoke: "Now that Han Fu is weak and Yuan Shaoqiang is strong, of course, they are even weaker and stronger

Zhou Cang scratched his head, he had no idea, and Zhang Jiao didn't expect him to have any ideas, so he turned his gaze to Liu Yan, who had been frowning slightly and not making a sound.

Liu Yan sorted out his thoughts and said slowly: "Master." Zhang Yan's opinion is very feasible, and the senior sister's opinion is also the key, in fact, in the final analysis, there are two questions, one is how far we can go. The other is how far can our opponents tolerate? ”

"Oh, what do you say, junior sister?"

Zhang Yan asked curiously. Everyone's eyes also looked at Liu Yan, Liu Yan smiled and said: "How far can we go, is to say how much we can fight, how much the other party can tolerate, is to say how much they can tolerate how much they have lost, if we can't fight and still insist on fighting, then it is meaningless waste, as for the latter problem, it is the dividing line that can not let us fall into a protracted war." ”

"What do you mean is that we are looking for a balance between the two?"

"Exactly, this is the benefit of alliances, alliances can make our enemies more tolerant, alliances can give us more maneuver and choice, and we can concentrate our forces in one direction as much as possible."

"Well said, but how do you do that?" Zhao Aier praised.

Liu Yan smiled again and said: "It doesn't matter who is strong or weak, because the strength and weakness will change in the near future because of the changes in their respective territories, so let's see who can let us get more benefits." ”

Zhang Niujiao nodded, and Zhang Yan also nodded in agreement: "Reasonable, I think Han Fu seems to be more able to give us benefits, and Yuan Shao has always been very hostile to us." ”

Liu Yan nodded and said: "I see it this way, although Han Fu's troops have gone south to fight, there has not been a large-scale troop movement in the areas bordering me in Guangping and Wei County, so if we attack now, the only benefit may be that the other party's reinforcements will arrive a little slower." Looking at Yuan Shao again, Yuan Shao's policy continued to tilt southward during this time, not only eating Mount Tai, Lujun, and Peiguo in the Central Plains one after another, but even fighting with Tao Qian in Pengguo. Therefore, the number of Yuan Shao's troops in Hejian and Anping in the north was essentially reduced, which can also be seen from the information of the senior sister, although Yuan Shao tried his best to cover this up. ”

That's right1 Zhao Ai'er nodded affirmatively: "It's just that the old and weak are exchanged for the young and strong, and those who can fight have been transferred to the south, and the rest in the north are old and weak, if it weren't for careful investigation, we wouldn't have found this." ”

Liu Yan spread his hands: "You see, in this way, it is obviously easier to fight Yuan Shao, in addition, please pay attention to the relationship between Yuan Shao's layout in the Central Plains and the second uncle, Yuan Shao's territory is faintly surrounded by the second uncle's territory on three sides, if you are the second uncle, will you take this opportunity to raid Yuan Shao's territory?" ”

Zhang Jiao nodded and didn't say anything, he wondered why Zhang Bao didn't take the initiative to invite him to send troops to attack Yuan Shao, which made Zhang Jiao very concerned.

Liu Yan did not continue to dwell on this issue, after all, this was a matter related to the three Zhang Jiao brothers themselves.

"Therefore, I judge that if we make a move in Jizhou, the second general will definitely cooperate with us in Yanzhou, so that we will be a tripartite attack on Yuan Shao, and basically, the odds of victory are quite large. I think all that's left is the question of how much territory we can lay and how much we can hold. ”

Everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to Zhang Yan, after all, Zhang Yan is responsible for military issues, and how much territory can be laid, maybe Zhang Yan really needs to answer.

Zhang Yan thought for a while and said: "If you only count the troops, I'm talking about the garrison troops, we can only include Anping County under our command at most, and no matter how much it is, we won't be able to defend it, and after Anping County is swallowed by me, Julu County is basically in a state of being invincible, we are actually just pushing Julu's garrison troops outward, which is the most feasible choice." ”

Liu Yan looked at the map on the side, Zhang Yan's consideration was very thoughtful, pushing the garrison army of Julu to the periphery, and at the same time releasing the population in the mountains to the plain, on the one hand, increasing grain production, on the other hand, reducing consumption, between one in and one out, the benefits will be huge.

On the other hand, the Yellow Turban Army originally occupied one-third of Anping County, and now taking advantage of the situation to take Anping County is also a relatively simple choice, because there is no need to mobilize troops on a large scale, nor do you need to transport supplies on a large scale, and this suggestion is also the best in terms of war costs.

"Zhang Yan's suggestion is very good, but I think we should set a bigger goal and not just limit ourselves to Anping County, for example, after taking Anping County, we should advance to Hejian and Bohai County at the same time1

Everyone looked at Liu Yan who was smiling like a fox in surprise, and couldn't figure out why Liu Yan would say this, isn't this statement contrary to her previous remarks?

Zhang Jiao also looked at Liu Yan with some confusion and asked, "Didn't the apprentice say that he should do what he can?" Our strength can only reach Anping, so why should we continue to move forward? ”

"Hehe, Master, there is also a question of the enemy's tolerance here. Guys, if I wanted to snatch a piece of bread from him, then what we should do was take more of it from him, and then give him back some of it, and in the end we were left with only one piece. In this way, the other party will feel that our behavior is not very excessive, on the contrary, it should be said that it is quite restrained, which can greatly improve the enemy's tolerance for our behavior, so as to avoid Yuan Shao's retaliatory attack on Anping County in the future, and even more to avoid fighting a protracted war in Anping County. ”

"Hehe, I understand, junior sister's plan is brilliant 1 Zhang Yan suddenly admired, and the others also suddenly realized, Zhou Cang looked at Liu Yan with some scruples, and felt that it was better to stay away from her, this person is too insidious, she sold someone and asked someone to help her count the money, and she can't be like this.

"Haha, what a plan! In this case, let's arrange it according to this idea, Zhang Yan and Niu Jiao, and the battle will be handed over to you, and you must win a complete victory1

"No1

"Apprentice, you prepare a letter to Zhang Bao, asking him to cooperate with us in attacking Yuan Shao, and the specific time is decided by Zhang Yan."

"The apprentice understands 1 Zhao Ai'er's response.

Liu Yan suddenly interjected: "Master, don't worry, this matter has to wait and talk, now is not the best time1."

Zhao Ai'er was stunned for a moment, and asked in surprise: "Senior sister, do you want to wait for Han Fu to say something?" ”

Liu Yan's beautiful eyes flowed, and she smiled and said:

"Exactly, Han Fu also has to show some sincerity here, what the little sister means is that Han Fu must give up Guangping City to us to increase the safety of Julu City, what does the master think of this idea?"

Zhang Jiao stroked his beard and smiled happily: "It's up to the apprentice's plan 1."