Zhang Yan took the letter written by Chen Deng from Zhang Zhao and hurriedly read it.

But see Chen Deng wrote in the letter: "Ming Gong saw the words like meeting, Deng, since the order of Ming Gong Nandu to assist Liu Xuan, it has been more than half a month. Now I will tell the truth what I have seen and heard in Jiangdong in this half month, and after Ming Gong sees it, please make a decision as soon as possible. Yangzhou Assassin Liu Xuan, although there is a talent to govern the place, but there is no command of the general's skills, and Yuan Shu's general Sun Ce is brave and good at fighting, Zhou Yu, Lu Fan, Sun Jing, Zhu Zhi and others for its advice, Cheng Pu, Han Dang, Huang Gai, Sun Ben, Sun He and others for their minions, since crossing the river, one after another victory, the reputation is loud. Most of the people with lofty ideals in the Jiangdong area admire each other, and they continue to recruit troops and horses along the way, and their strength has increased greatly, and there is a great tendency to sweep Jiangdong. If Sun Ce defeats Liu Xiang and then pacifies other places, once he occupies Jiangdong, it will be difficult to compete with it, and it will also become a big trouble for our army. Deng thought that Xuzhou was the place of the four wars, there was no natural danger, the pass could be defended, and only by attacking everywhere and fighting to nourish the war was the best policy. Jiangdong is a land of outstanding people, rather than letting Sun Ce occupy it, it is better for Ming Gong to take it by himself. At this time, Liu Miao was embarrassed, and Ming Gong could lead the army across the river in the name of reinforcements, and after repelling Sun Ce, he could engulf Liu Xuan. If the Ming Duke wins Jiangdong, with the people of Wu Yue, and the land of Xuzhou, Qingzhou and Yanzhou, it is enough to win the Central Plains and compete for the world. Deng's words, every sentence from the bottom of his heart, I hope that Ming Gong will make a decision as soon as possible! ”

After reading this letter, Zhang Yan's mood was surging, and he also admired Chen Deng's strategic vision.

Zhang Zhao saw Zhang Yan's expression after reading the letter, so he asked curiously, "Lord." What does the letter say? Do you want the lord to send a rescuer? ”

Zhang Yan then handed the letter to Zhang Zhao. Said slowly: "You guys take a look at each other first." ”

Zhang Zhao took the letter. After reading it in a hurry, and then handing it to Chen Qun, Chen Qun finished browsing, and then said to Zhang Yan: "I don't know how the lord should respond to Chen Yuanlong's letter?" ”

Zhang Yan did not answer, but asked people to call Zhang Hong and Chen Qi to prepare to discuss major matters.

After Zhang Hong and Chen Qi came to the hall, Zhang Yan asked Chen Qun and Zhang Zhao to tell Zhang Hong and Chen Qi about the current situation.

Chen Qi believed that the attack on Qiaoxian by Guo Gong, the assassin of Yuzhou, was a trivial matter. Just send a general to repel Guo Gong. However, he very much agreed with his son Chen Deng's proposal, believing that it was the best time to send troops to Jiangdong at this time on the grounds of helping Liu Xuan, and also agreed with Chen Deng's grand strategic construction of occupying Jiangdong and connecting it with Xuzhou.

Also agreeing with Chen Deng's suggestion were Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong both believed that Jiangdong was a treasure land, and suggested that Zhang Yan take it as soon as possible.

After Zhang Yan listened to the words of Chen Qi, Zhang Zhao, and Zhang Hong, he saw that Chen Qun had not spoken, so he asked, "Long text." What's your opinion? ”

Chen Qun replied: "Lord Qi, the views of his subordinates are completely different from those of several adults......

Zhang Yan was a little surprised. "Oh, let's hear it." ”

Chen Qun sighed and said slowly: "In the past few months, due to our army's repeated battles, money and food have been consumed a lot. This year, because of the severe drought, the grain harvest in Xuzhou failed, and there was a famine in other places. And now, our army has just defeated Cao Cao to occupy Yanzhou, Yanzhou is ruined, and it is the time when we need money and food......

Hearing this, Zhang Yan immediately interrupted Chen Qun's words and asked: "When I took over Xuzhou from Tao Yuanjun, I asked people to make some statistics, the grain in the granary can overflow, and the money in the treasury is hundreds of millions. ”

Chen Qun is not only Pengcheng Taishou, but also Zhang Yan's right-hand man in charge of grain and grass.

Hearing Zhang Yan's question, Chen Qun replied: "When the lord took over the Xuzhou pastoral, there was indeed a lot of money and grain in the Xuzhou treasury, but in the past few months, our army has fought repeatedly, and has suffered drought and locust plagues one after another, and has taken out a lot of food to relieve the victims. Not only that, but our army has doubled its strength this year to 100,000 people, and the daily rations required are also double those of the past. Moreover, he also mobilized grain, grass and military salaries from Qingzhou and Yanzhou, and his subordinates recorded every expense one by one, and if the lord did not believe it, he could consult the books. ”

After listening to Chen Qun's explanation, Zhang Yan frowned and asked, "Then how much grain does our army have?" ”

"I don't know the money, but there is really not much food, only about 150,000 stone left, which is enough for our army for a year, if we want to mobilize grain and grass to Yanzhou, then our army will only have half a year's food." Chen Qundao.

Zhang Yan stopped talking, he didn't expect that his expenses in the past few months would be so huge, and he would spend two years of money and food that Tao Qian had saved at once.

Fighting, it's really strength!

Chen Qun continued: "My lord, my subordinates oppose the fight for Jiangdong, not only because of money and food, but also because of some other reasons. Jiangdong is a barren land, the local mountain people are fierce, brave and ruthless, these mountain people are often unwilling to accept the management of the government, at least to resist the law with violence, at worst to gather the people, gather people to make trouble, and even gather people to besiege the official residence. These mountain people are all descendants of the ancient Yue people, so they are called Shanyue. ”

After a pause, Chen Qun continued: "Shanyue usually cultivates the valleys, and knows how to use copper and iron to make weapons, armor and agricultural tools, they are scattered and live in small groups, they are good at practicing martial arts, relying on mountain dangers, forming an arm, their leaders have many titles such as 'handsome', 'big handsome', 'zongshuai', etc., and have repeatedly attacked the settlements where the Han people live. Therefore, even if our army occupies Jiangdong, it cannot fully own its land, but must always be on guard against Shanyue attacks. If our army starts a war with Shanyue, it will have to go into the mountains to encircle and suppress, and it is very likely that we will get ourselves into the quagmire of war. ”

"The subordinates thought that instead of going on an expedition to Jiangdong, it was better to attack Yuzhou at close range, and now the counties of Yuzhou are in charge of each other, and there are more than the Yellow Turban Party to make trouble, and this is the best time to attack Yuzhou. If the lord personally leads the army to go, the counties in Yuzhou will inevitably be in danger of everyone, and they will surrender when they hear the wind, and they can occupy it without spending any troops. As the old saying goes, those who win the Central Plains win the world. Once he occupies Yuzhou, the lord can take Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Yuzhou as the foundation, and if he pacifies Yuan Shu in Huainan, he can win the world. ”

Zhang Yan listened to Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, and Chen Qi all listened to it sincerely, and Chen Qun's words were also impassioned and sonorous.

From these words alone, Zhang Yan can understand Chen Qun's strategic planning, which is to let him take the Central Plains as the foundation.

One is to let him judge the situation and take advantage of the situation to occupy Jiangdong, and the other is to let him weigh the pros and cons and occupy the Central Plains. The two strategic plans, although different, are both in his mind.

But in Zhang Yan's heart, he wanted to occupy Jiangdong and the Central Plains.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Yan finally spoke: "Whether it is occupying Jiangdong or occupying the Central Plains, it is all for the sake of our army." Judging from the current situation alone, the situation in the Central Plains is clear, and our army has no opponents except for Yuan Shu in Huainan. However, Yuan Shu has many generals and strong strength, and if our army sends troops to Yuzhou, Yuan Shu will inevitably take advantage of the situation. At that time, our army will inevitably fall into a situation of opposing Yuan Shu, and for a while, I am afraid that our army will not be able to defeat Yuan Shu, but will gradually fall into a protracted war. On the contrary, when Sun Ce went to take Jiangdong, he did not bring many soldiers and horses, and if our army was left to its own free repercussions and allowed to develop, it would inevitably raise tigers. As far as our army is concerned, it is relatively easy to deal with Sun Ce at this stage, but it is more difficult to deal with Yuan Shu, and if Sun Ce wins Jiangdong, the harm will far exceed that of Yuan Shu. Therefore, I decided to send troops to Jiangdong and repel Sun Ce first. As for the occupation of Jiangdong, we cannot rush it, and we can only think about it in the long run. ”

After saying this, whether it was Chen Qun, Chen Qi, Zhang Zhao, or Zhang Hong, they all felt that the analysis was very good.

Chen Qun said: "Since the princess has made up her mind, her subordinates have nothing to say, so I can only wish the princess a victory and success." However, if the lord sends troops to Jiangdong, how should he deal with the matter of Yuzhou Assassin Guo Gong attacking Qian County? ”

Zhang Yan thought for a while, and then said: "Qian County is Xu Chu's hometown, so send Xu Chu to lead 5,000 troops and return to Qian County to repel Guo Gong." However, Xu Chu has always been reckless, and he can only be a general, not a leader......"

Speaking of this, Zhang Yan looked around and said to Chen Jue: "This matter still needs to be bothered by Chen Beijia to go through it personally, led by Chen Beijia and led Xu Chu to Qian County, and after repelling Guo Gong, Chen Beijia will temporarily serve as the minister of Pei Guo and stay in Qian County to peek at the movements of the Central Plains?" ”

Chen Jue hugged his fists and said, "Oh! ”

The plan was decided, Zhang Yan asked Chen Qun to prepare grain and grass, and then asked Zhang Zhao to write a reply letter to Chen Deng, informing Chen Deng that if he held on to Moling for a while, he would soon lead the army to Jiangdong.

In addition, Zhang Yan wrote another letter to Mi Zhu and sent someone to send it over, asking Mi Zhu to prepare some military salaries and send someone to transport it to Jiangdu in Guangling County, from where he would lead his army to cross the Yangtze River and go to Jiangdong to defend against Sun Ce.

After the meeting was dispersed, Zhang Yan summoned Tai Shi Ci again and asked Tai Shi Ci to gather 5,000 soldiers and horses and prepare to go on the expedition with him.

After being busy with these things, Zhang Yan had free time, returned from the front hall to the back hall, and went to visit his wife Mi Zhen, whom he hadn't seen for a long time. (To be continued......)