Lu Shen has been under a lot of pressure on his shoulders recently.

Although he has grown up very quickly and has been fully trained in the past two years, whether it is the Battle of Jiangbei last year or the fight against the Yan army in Baotai Mountain this year, it is essentially a defensive counterattack-type war, and the corresponding strategy is formulated according to the enemy's attack.

Now what he wants to plan is a Northern Expedition involving more than 100,000 troops, a battle line of more than 100,000 miles, and a mobilization of more than 200,000 people.

Of course, Xiao Wangzhi would not hand over such an important task to Lu Shen alone, he himself, the staff and staff of the Governor's Mansion, and the commanders of the various armies in Huaizhou all needed to plan for this matter and brainstorm to determine the final strategy.

It's just that Xiao Wangzhi pays special attention to Lu Shen, and the requirements for him are also very high, and correspondingly, Lu Shen's authority is also very high, he can not only access all the information of the Governor's Mansion, but also find the inspector of the Warp Weaving Department to ask about the relevant details at any time.

Offense and defense are completely different, and Lu Shen knows this.

There will inevitably be flaws in the active attack, unless you have a crushing level of troops and can push all the way through, you can only have a trade-off and focus. In the past two large-scale battles, Lu Shen took advantage of the flaws exposed by the enemy in the movement of troops, found the opponent's weakness and then completed a one-hit kill.

Now Beiyan is on the defensive, appeasing the rebel forces in the territory, such as the Seven Star Gang and Yunfu Village, while assuming a posture of stubborn defense on the border.

From Dongyang Road in the north of Huaizhou, to Moyang Road in the west of Huaizhou, and then to Jiangbei Road further west, Beiyan has formed a thick defense line on the long border of more than 1,000 miles through more than ten cities and passes that control the traffic arteries.

Even if you can complete a breakthrough somewhere, you still have to dig through the depth of the other party step by step.

If the Huaizhou army wanted to go on a northern expedition, there were only three routes to choose from.

One of them is to go all the way north from Lai'an City, surprise attack Yongquan Pass and then storm Qingtian City, and open up the pass into Beiyan Dongyang Road.

The second is to go north from Panlong Pass, first capture Xinchang City in the west and Pingli City in the north, and then break all the way along the northwest direction to Heluo City.

The third is to reserve sufficient troops to defend the northern part of Huaizhou, and transfer the rest of the troops to cross the ancient road of the Shuangfeng Mountain Range, cooperate with the Jingzhou army all the way to the north, and steadily recover the entire territory of the Moyang Road.

Each of the three routes has its own advantages and disadvantages, and it is difficult to choose.

In the study, there are dozens of files on the large case, and two large maps hang on the west wall.

Lu Shen sat in front of the desk, writing more than 100 pieces of paper, on which were the summary and sorting of various information, as well as the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of various plans and strategies.

It was a rare clear weather outside, and the warm sunlight of early winter was sprinkled under the porch, and Song Pei, who moved a small stool to sit outside the door, put his hands on his cheeks, drowsy.

The sound of footsteps came quietly, Song Pei immediately woke up, looked up, and saw Wang Chulong and Jinshu walking slowly, the latter carrying a tray with a soup cup and spoon on it.

Song Pei hurriedly got up and saluted, "The girl is here." ”

Wang Chulong glanced at the closed door of the study, and said softly: "Lu Gongzi has been working hard recently, and I have a recipe for the ancestral nourishing soup in my family, so I specially boiled one to help him calm his nerves and replenish qi." Jin Shu, give the soup to Miss Song, and we will go back. ”

Song Pei was not stupid, and said gratefully: "The girl has a heart, please wait a moment." ”

She didn't wait for Jinshu to come over, so she took the initiative to turn around and knock on the door a few steps, and called, "Young Master, Miss Wang is here." ”

After a while, the door opened from the inside, Lu Shen's eyes swept over the tray held by Jinshu, and then looked at Wang Chulong and said, "You are a guest from afar, how can you bother to do these things." ”

Before Wang Chulong could reply, Jin Shu said crisply: "Master Lu, although my young lady is from a big family, she is not the kind of person who does not distinguish between grains and grains. This bowl of nourishing soup is made by her, and Miss's cooking skills can't even be compared to our Wang family's cooks! ”

Wang Chulong said helplessly: "Jinshu, silence." ”

Song Pei took the tray from Jinshu's hand, entered the study and put it on the table, and Lu Shen said to Wang Chulong: "Miss Wang, if you have nothing to do, please come in and sit down, it just so happens that I have something I want to ask you." ”

"Don't dare to ask for advice."

Wang Chulong smiled indifferently and entered the study with a calm expression.

The two maids whispered softly under the porch, and when Lu Shen returned to the room, he only half-covered the door and did not close it completely.

Wang Chulong noticed this detail, and after sitting down, he said, "Master Lu, please use the soup first, so as not to get cold for a while." ”

"Okay."

Lu Shen nodded in response.

This cup of nourishing soup should be made of ginseng, licorice, atractylodes and other things, but I don't know what Wang Chulong added, and the entrance only feels extraordinarily sweet, without any bitter taste.

A cup of soup was quickly drunk, Lu Shen looked at Wang Chulong's slightly expectant gaze, and said with a smile: "Miss Wang is a good craft, what the brocade book says is true." ”

Wang Chulong bowed his head and said: "It's good if Gongzi Lu likes it, if you don't dislike it, I can do it a few more times, how about it?" ”

Lu Shen said: "Then there is Miss Lao Wang." ”

One asks directly, the other responds calmly, all of them are thoughtful characters, and there is no excessively charming atmosphere.

Lu Shen put the soup cup back on the tray and asked, "Miss Wang, have you ever seen Qingyu Huaijin with your own eyes?" ”

"Lord Yongping?"

Wang Chulong's eyebrows frowned slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he said: "I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but I often hear the elders in the family talk about this Jing Dynasty county lord. ”

"I am very interested in this woman's life and temperament, although there is information about her in the army, it is not very detailed, and I ask Miss Wang to tell me one or two."

"Good. Qing Yu Huai Jin is the eldest daughter of Qing Yugong, the marshal of the Southern Courtyard of the Jing Dynasty, and has been deeply favored since she was a child. When she was in Heluo City, she lived in Zhuoyuan, which was the former residence of Yang Guangyuan, the marshal of Jinghe. Although she has no official position on the surface, she can drive the Chinese military officials at will, and even the Inspector's Office Attendant Wang Shidao has to follow her instructions. ”

Wang Chulong said unhurriedly, and seeing that Lu Shen listened very attentively, he continued: "Uncle Jia said that the privy envoy Pang Shigu obeyed Qing Yu Huaijin's words, and the commander of the Jing Army stationed in Heluo City, Mou Lianghu, Liuke and Nu Lu Huan, were also under his control, and she was only twenty-two years old this year, so she had the power to mobilize nearly half of the Yan army. Perhaps because Emperor Jing and Qing Yugong were too favored, Qing Yuhuai Jin was quite conceited, and she was repeatedly frustrated at the hands of Lu Gongzi this year, and it was a big blow to her. ”

Lu Shen would not be complacent because of this, because judging from Beiyan's subsequent arrangements, the young county lord had not lost his mind.

After pondering for a while, he said slowly: "Does Qingyu Huaijin have any people or things that he cares about?" ”

Wang Chulong pondered with his eyes and said softly: "The people she cares about should only be the relatives of the Qingyu family, as for things...... I haven't heard of her having a special love for things that are hard to part with. However, I once heard my uncle say that Emperor Jing once made a great wish that if the southern expedition went well in the future, he would give Heluo City and the vast territory to the south to the Qingyu family as a fief. ”

"Fiefdom?"

Lu Shen's heart moved slightly, and he subconsciously repeated.

Wang Chulong looked at him curiously.

Lu Shen reined in his thoughts and diverted the topic: "The girl said before, the guards of Pingli City and Zhu Zhen, the head of the soldiers and horses of Moyang Road, can be used by me?" ”

Wang Chulong nodded and said, "Yes." But other than that, our Wang family has no other help in the army. ”

Lu Shen looked at her with blazing eyes and asked, "Can Miss Wang contact Manager Zhu directly?" ”

Wang Chulong had been authorized by Wang An before he came, and if the Wang family wanted to change the court, they had to establish merit before they were qualified to negotiate, so they responded: "Yes, I don't know what Lu Gongzi wants me to do?" ”

Lu Shen said calmly: "I hope that Chief Manager Zhu can replace the guards of Xinchang City with his henchmen." ”

Wang Chulong made up for the border geography, of course, he knew that the two fortified cities of Xinchang and Pingli were like a pair of fists clamping Huaizhou Panlong Pass, if the Huaizhou army wanted to attack north from Panlong Pass, it would not be able to bypass these two cities anyway.

Now the guards of Pingli City are from the Wang family, and Lu Shen asked her to send a message to Zhu Zhen and replace the guards of Xinchang City with his own people, could it be that he plans to let the Huaizhou army go north from Panlong Pass, and break through to the northwest to attack Heluo City?

According to her understanding of Lu Shen, such a bold move to take risks was indeed something he could do.

As soon as she thought of this, she didn't ask much, and said with a little curiosity: "This matter should be done, and I will ask people to go to Moyang Road with the token to find Manager Zhu later." Lu Gongzi, do you plan to let the army raid Xinchang and Pingli? ”

She would not object to Lu Shen's plan, but this matter had to be done normally, at least not so that outsiders could see the strangeness.

The lords of the two cities can secretly release water, but they just want to take out the Wang family, because at present, Heluo City is still firmly in the hands of the Jing Dynasty, and the Wang family will inevitably be killed by the Jing Dynasty county lord when it is exposed at this time.

Lu Shen knew very well the concerns in her heart, and said with a smile: "Miss Wang, don't worry, when I want to attack these two places in the future, I will definitely cooperate well with the master general opposite, and I will not let people suspect your Wang family." ”

Wang Chulong's heart was relieved, and he came to his senses, and said with a little puzzlement: "Isn't Gongzi Lu going to take these two cities first?" ”

Lu Shen shook his head and said frankly: "First of all, it will take time for the General Manager Zhu to remove the guards, if we keep our troops moving, after he changes the generals, we will attack immediately and successfully capture the city, Qing Yu Huaijin or Wang Shidao can see the strangeness in it, and they will inevitably find out your Wang family along the way." Furthermore, I need to convince the puppet Yan and other bigwigs that Xinchang and Pingli are well defended, and our Huaizhou army will not seek a decisive battle with the Yan army in that vast terrain. ”

Wang Chulong thought for a moment, and soon smiled: "It seems that Lu Gongzi has a perfect plan. ”

"There is no one-size-fits-all solution."

Lu Shen turned his head to look at the topographic map hanging on the wall, with a calm expression: "But this time it should be able to surprise the north." ”

"Surprise?"

Wang Chulong savored the word with great interest.

Lu Shen looked back at her and smiled: "It can also be said to be frightened." ”

Wang Chulong couldn't help but cover his mouth and chuckle, his eyes were full of light.

When she was in Heluo City, she was used to seeing the intrigues of those men in the clan, and she was full of calculations all day long, but now she saw Lu Shen using the world as a chess game, and she suddenly felt that this was what the man did.

(End of chapter)