Cui Shang didn't speak for a while, obviously seriously considering Jiang Feng's question.

In fact, this issue has been raised a long time ago, and officials and generals have been having heated discussions on this issue in the past few days.

However, due to the complexity of the situation, the views of the officials and generals are also very different, and they are mainly divided into two factions.

One faction advocated maintaining the status quo, not intervening in the Jin-Liang War, and actively rectifying the Huaiyou's own internal affairs, especially the newly incorporated Pinglu Prefectures, Yanyunyi Prefectures, and Xu Sihai Prefectures.

This faction believes that in addition to the rectification of the army, it is more important to start with the restoration of the economy and the people's livelihood, which is a rather large task and also very difficult, and the gap in money and food required is not small.

Those who hold this view include not only government officials such as Chen Wei, Wang Huang, Du Tuo, and Yang Xun, but also generals with more conservative views such as Lu Qiming, Yu Mingzhen, and Qin Han.

The other faction naturally advocates that we cannot rest on our laurels, and we must seize the advantageous situation before the Jin army breaks through the beam, so as to prepare for the unexpected.

There are two branches of thought that hold this view.

One is mainly composed of Yang Kan, Long Kui, Lang Kun, Ding Man, Luo Ye, Zhao Wenshan and others, including Wang Pu and others, who advocate full and active intervention, and should immediately seize the three prefectures of Song, Pu, and Cao, and establish a solid defense system in these three states, and at the same time use the influence of recovering Pinglu to fight for the land of Heshuo to the north, so as to gain an advantage in the Central Plains with the Great Jin and Khitan people in the future.

The other group advocated limited intervention in the Central Plains, such as occupying Pu and Cao Erzhou, supporting Yuan's acquisition of Song, Chen, and Xu Prefectures, trying to establish an alliance with Caizhou Yuan's clan to jointly resist the Great Jin, and at the same time integrating in Huainan to obtain Hezhou and Shuzhou, further consolidating Huaiyou's foundation in Huainan, ensuring that there were strong monetary and silver resources to support Huaiyou's position in the Central Plains, and at the same time choosing a favorable opportunity to wait for the opportunity to recapture Shenguang Erzhou.

This group, represented by Wang Miao, Mei Kuang, Chai Yong, Luo Chenggan and others, seemed to be relatively conservative on the surface, but proposed to start a war in the south.

Internally, Cui Shang was the second of the radical factions, that is, to launch a limited offensive in the north, to obtain the two states of Pucao, to avoid direct conflict with the Shatuo, and to form an alliance with the Yuan clan, mainly in the south to expand the situation and lay a good foundation.

Because in his opinion, the situation in the south is much better than that in the north, whether it is Hezhou or Shuzhou, or Shenguang Erzhou, the conditions themselves are not bad, and the surrounding situation is not so bad, these places only need to be taken and operated a little, they can quickly become a land of fish and rice, and Huaiyou's military strength is enough to ensure the safety of these places.

But he also knew that even this seemingly relatively conservative idea still had some radical risks in it, such as if he wanted to seize Shenguang Erzhou, he would inevitably include Nanyang as an enemy, and if he wanted to take Hezhou, it would definitely attract the hostility of Li Wu.

It can be said that the above three points of view are more or less hidden dangers, just like the first more conservative opinion, do you think that if you don't intervene now and develop yourself behind closed doors, it will be too much?

Have you asked the Shatuo people if they would agree?

Do you think that if I don't offend anyone, people won't offend me?

There is no such good thing in the world, and the Shatuo people will not maintain restraint because you want to maintain restraint, he will also maintain restraint, he will only look at who has more benefits and who is more stable.

If Huaiyou behaves more calmly in front of the other party, it may make the Shatuo people feel weak and bullied.

Also, once the Khitans are stimulated to invade Heshuo in the south, can Huaiyou still sit still?

If you don't take advantage of the fact that the Khitans are not ready to seize the strategic places and horse breeding places in Heshuo and accumulate strength, how can you confront the Khitan iron cavalry on the Central Plains in the future?

In the same way, there are many risks in choosing the first group of radicals, and once they want to seize Song Prefecture, they will definitely have to clash with the Yuan clan, who have long planned to seize Song Prefecture.

If they take the initiative to fight for Heshuo in the north, maybe the Khitans, who have not yet made up their minds, will feel the threat and go south in advance?

Although it is a matter of time before the Khitans go south, it is also excellent to be able to delay the time for the other party to go south and gain more time for Huaiyou to recuperate and accumulate strength.

Because of this, Cui Shang also finds it difficult to answer this question, because every choice has pros and cons, and even the pros and cons are equal, and there are many risks that are difficult for him to predict.

Seeing that Cui Shang's face was full of confusion and difficult to answer, Jiang Feng also understood the difficulty, in fact, he had also been thinking about this question for the past few days, and he couldn't sleep.

Because any decision will have a far-reaching impact on the future of Huaiyou, and even directly affect the trend of Huaiyou in the struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains.

"Bai Ling, I'm afraid this question is not easy to answer, because I haven't made up my mind yet, but how do you think we should deal with Zhu Mao's problem?" Jiang Feng simply avoided this problem,

Zhu Mao sent an envoy to Qingzhou.

At present, Zhu Mao has occupied Qizhou, but he did not take over Zizhou according to the promise given to him by Jiang Feng at the beginning, but stationed troops in Qizhou, and Zizhou finally surrendered to Huaiyou.

This posture is very good, but this is not what Jiang Feng wants.

With the increasingly severe situation in the north, Zhu Mao's force has also become somewhat pivotal.

According to the news fed back by Wuwentang, both Daliang and Dajin are actively contacting Zhu Mao, and it is estimated that they have also offered high conditions, but Zhu Mao has not expressed his position so far, and now he has sent the envoy to Qingzhou, which is of great significance.

"Zhu Mao defeated Qizhou, and currently reorganized part of the Pinglu Army in Qizhou, with a total strength of about 15,000 people in six armies, this force is not much, it is said that it is a lot less, compared to when Zhu Mao left Yanzhou, it has increased a little, but the combat effectiveness may not have increased much, because in the battle of Qizhou, Zhu Mao's troops have also lost a lot, and the troops can only be increased in number, but it will take time to really integrate. ”

Cui Shang patiently introduced Zhu Mao's situation.

"Zhu Mao is very self-aware, he has already expressed his attitude on different occasions, he is not a qualified festival envoy, because he does not understand the economy and people's livelihood, and is not interested, so there will be the defeat of the Taining army in Yanyunyi, his situation in Jeju is only unsatisfactory, if it is not for the support of Huaiyou, he will not last long, even if he takes Qizhou, he can not change this fact. ”

"Hehe, Bai Ling, according to what you mean, Zhu Mao is preparing to belong to Huaiyou?" Jiang Feng asked with a smile.

The county prince didn't smile, Zhu Mao may indeed have this intention. Cui Shang Zhengse said: "His envoy has arrived in Qingzhou, his subordinates have seen each other, and after a long talk, his subordinates feel that Zhu Mao's attitude is still relatively clear, he wants to lead the army to fight, this is probably his most fundamental will, he hopes to be able to master a more powerful army than his original Taining army, and he wants to prove himself by confronting the strongest general army in the world." ”

"Prove yourself against the strongest army in the world? Who is the strongest army in the world? The Liang army, the Jin army, or the iron cavalry of the Khitans? It can't be the Huaiyou army, right?" Jiang Feng said with a smile.

"The envoy didn't say, maybe Zhu Mao felt that the Liang army had declined, and the Shatuo Iron Cavalry and the Khitan Ranger were his enemies, and there might be Nanyang and Caizhou Troops in the future?" ”

"Bai Ling, you said that if you invited Zhu Mao to Qingzhou, do you think he can come?" Jiang Feng said leisurely.

"Huh?" Cui Shang's mind turned sharply, "The county prince is trying to test Zhu Mao?"

"If he can trust so-and-so, he is naturally willing to come, then so-and-so is willing to work hand in hand with him, if he can't believe so-and-so, then maybe it is better for us to maintain the current pattern. Jiang Feng groaned slightly, and then made a decision, "I don't see his envoy anymore, you convey it to his envoy and ask him to tell Zhu Mao that he is willing to drink the water of the Mahe River with Duke Mao and forget about Youjin, how about it?"

Chang'an is a little more quiet after the snow, a few old soldiers are weakly sweeping the snow on Suzaku Street, and the side doors of several mansions are occasionally opened and closed, which seems to prove that this street is still popular.

In a mansion in the Kaihuafang next to the Jianfu Temple, there was a squeak, the door of the middle courtyard opened, and the two women who strolled out were whispering, "Xiao Jin, are you really going to Xuzhou?"

"Why, do you want to go too? Or, let's go together, how about it?" The woman called Xiao Jin was Li Jin, the milky yellow floor-length skirt slowly swam in the corridor, and only then did she come out of the warm room, the court was covered with snow, and the breath was covered with white mist.

"Hehe, I'm afraid you just want to go alone, what is it if I go, how much is that an eyesore?"

The tall woman has a pair of slender eyebrows, a goose egg face and bright eyes, red lips, a snow-white fox fur, slender jade fingers, pinching a plum blossom, and gently sniffing the fragrance of the stamens.

"Go and go, there is no shadow, how can it be so unbearable as you say?!" Li Jin's face turned slightly red, "Love to go or not, it's rare to find an excuse to give you a chance to go out for a walk, or when will your family release you out of Chang'an City?"

"Hey, it's harder to get out now. The tall girl frowned slightly, "Dang Xiang Hu Qi is still not going in the north, Chang'an City is now a lot of displaced people, the law and order is not quiet, prices are soaring, this snow is two more games, I don't know how many frozen bones will have to be tomorrow morning." ”

A purple-robed man hurriedly walked inside, but he never expected to meet the second daughter, "Your Highness!"

"Second brother, where are you going in such a hurry?" The tall girl looked very happy to see her brother, her brother didn't go home much during this time, he came and went in a hurry, and he didn't even have a chance to speak, so he finally bumped into it today.