Xiao Changyong looked left and right, but his heart sank a little.

Most of the courtiers in the palace are now eager to try, and they are obviously very interested in using troops in Qianzhou.

Come to think of it, more than half of the courtiers here are military generals, and which general will think that there are few battles, so that he and his sons have less opportunities to make meritorious contributions?

Even his eldest son, Xiao Keding, had no intention of standing up and speaking for his father at this time, and only stood in the middle of the team with his eyes and nose, as if he didn't know everything.

Xiao Changyong sighed secretly in his heart, is this battle still inevitable after all?

Just as he was about to accept the facts, a person stepped out from behind him and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what Xiao Hou said is not unreasonable, if you are in a hurry to use troops against Qianzhou again at this time, it will be endless troubles for the imperial court!" ”

The sudden solidarity made Xiao Changyong's heart suddenly happy, and he hurriedly turned his head to look, and saw Shen Zhou bowing his hand there.

Sun Ning didn't have much surprise, but said thoughtfully: "How do you say this?" ”

"Hey, Lord Shen, don't be alarmist, why is there endless trouble for using troops against Qianzhou? Do you think that the current soldiers and horses of the imperial court will not even be able to take Qianzhou? Yan Hu asked with some dissatisfaction.

Shen Zhou smiled disapprovingly, and then rushed to Sun Ning on the side and said, "Your Majesty, what the minister said was carefully considered. However, it is not that I think that my army is not the opponent of the soldiers and horses under the Qianlong clan in Qianzhou, even if they occupy a geographical advantage, as long as the imperial court is willing to send troops, it is a matter of time before they take the entire Qianzhou.

"At most, because of the geographical relationship, it took a year and a half to capture the entire Qianzhou."

Sun Ning immediately followed his words and said, "Since this is the case, then why do you want to prevent the imperial court from sending troops to Qianzhou?" ”

"Your Majesty, if there is nothing in the world, then a rebellious minister like the Long family should send troops to clean it up with all his might, but the current situation in the sky is much more complicated."

Shen Zhou said solemnly: "Now that the Central Plains has been divided by many rebels, the imperial court can only move to the southwest in order to make a comeback...... In the same way, I am afraid that all the actions of the imperial court in Sichuan and Shu in the past two years have already fallen into the ears of people such as the Guo family in Liangzhou, the Jiangnan families, and Zhao Wei of the Pingtian Army.

"The ministers are really a little worried, whether they, especially those rebels, are willing to give the imperial court a chance to continue to grow......

His words finally hit the point, which made the expressions of Sun Ning and the other civil and military people immediately become serious.

Yes, while the imperial court continued to develop and stabilize its power in the southwest, many changes have also taken place in various parts of the Central Plains in the past two years.

"The minister received relevant news before that the Guo clan of Liangzhou not only annexed the land of Lianghuai in the past two years, but also entered Huguang, and almost included this area under his command. Next, their target must be Xianghu, and judging from the forces that are still scattered there, it won't be long before Xianghu Lake will also be included in its bag, so that the eastern gateway of Sichuan and Shu will be opened......"

Shen Zhou's gaze swept over the others who had calmed down and looked hesitant, and continued: "There is also the Pingtian Army in the north, which has not stopped moving forward in the past few years, not only taking many important cities near the capital Luoyang one by one, but also sending troops and horses west into Chang'an, and then pointing directly at the land of Hanzhong in Longxi.

"Your Majesty, maybe they haven't really captured these key positions yet, but if they continue to consume for another year or two, the consequences will be unimaginable.

"By that time, we will be able to unify all the southwest, but several key gateways to Izukawa will be controlled by real traitors. Not only will it not be able to send troops to the Central Plains smoothly, but it will face the unfavorable situation of being attacked on both sides at any time, and at that time, it will be a real danger!

"Therefore, I hope that Your Majesty will think twice, and it is important to seek a corner, but the overall situation in this world must also be clearly seen. At least before our strength is not enough to go east to the Central Plains, we must make the enemies of the two sides fearful, and dare not use troops against Hanzhong and Xianghu without authorization, so as to ensure that we do not lose the door! ”

If you talk about the big picture, none of the courtiers in the palace can compare to Shen Zhou.

As early as a few years ago, he was able to provide advice for Sun Ning to enter Sichuan and Shu to re-establish his foundation, and now he can make the most accurate judgment according to the situation in front of him.

Now other people can't say anything against it, if they really send troops to Qianzhou desperately, and all the gateway roads are occupied by foreign enemies, if the enemies of the two sides see the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and go straight into Sichuan and Shu, then the imperial court is really dangerous.

So from this point of view, this Qianzhou is really difficult to fight.

But is it just that, allowing Qianzhou Longshi to be autonomous without interference?

The aftermath is still not small, and it may even make some tribes in southern Yunnan and Sichuan and Shu also have other thoughts, which still have an extremely adverse impact on the imperial court.

Sun Ning thought of this, and his brows wrinkled tightly, this is really a dilemma, it seems that no matter which side he chooses, it is wrong, and there are great hidden dangers.

And this time, even Shen Zhou didn't have a proper way to deal with it, Zhuge Qingyun was also thinking about it there, and he couldn't come up with any way for a long time.

It was even more impossible for the other generals to give advice to Sun Ning, and they all stood silently with bitter faces.

This made the atmosphere in the entire hall a little more depressing, and it also made everyone feel even hotter, and sweat wet a large part of the clothes on their bodies.

Just when Sun Ning was about to put the matter on hold for the time being and let them leave, a person stood up again: "Your Majesty, the minister has a way, or he can take Qianzhou at the lowest cost!" ”

Everyone followed the sound and saw that it was Guo Chong who walked out.

"Tell me." Sun Ning suddenly became interested and hurriedly said.

Guo Chong glanced around, and then said: "The minister is actually not familiar with military affairs, so he understands a truth, if you want to make a place surrender, there is not only one way to use troops to attack." There is a way to attack the enemy, attack the heart for the top, and attack the city for the bottom.

"Put it here in Qianzhou, their local area is easy to defend and difficult to attack, if they attack everywhere, not only will it be protracted, but the loss of the court will inevitably be huge, so why don't we change our strategy and only besiege it?"

"Siege but not attack?" Sun Ning's eyes lit up, obviously he had grasped the key.

"Your Majesty, Shengming, just need to cut off those passages for him to go out of Qianzhou, and when his food stock is exhausted, even if the Qianzhou Long clan wants to insist, the generals and people below will not starve to death with them!"

Guo Chong smiled and said: "When the minister went to Qianzhou before, he also took a careful look, the local mountains are many and the fields are scarce, and the land is extremely barren, and the little grain produced is far from enough for hundreds of thousands of people in the territory.

"Most of the grain in Qianzhou comes from Sichuan and Shu, or is purchased from Huguang and other places in the Central Plains, so as long as these water and land roads are cut off for him, then Qianzhou will not be able to fight!"

Although he was smiling, his words were so cold and ruthless, directly announcing the beginning of the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of people in Qianzhou......

……

It's the last day of 2022... I hope that everything will go smoothly for you and me in the new year!!!