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Chapter 340 How should my Great Zhou respond next?
The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

More than ten important court officials, including Xiao He, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui, gathered together.

The gathering of these dozen or so important officials in the Hall of Mental Cultivation was already equivalent to a small court ceremony.

Zhou Chen sat upright on the dragon throne, looking at Xiao He and the dozen or so ministers below, and said, "You have all seen the news and you all understand the situation. What do you think, my beloved ministers, should do next?"

Zhou Chen had already shown Xiao He and the others the news from Xidu City, and had also told them about the actions of the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness.

Zhou Chen wanted to see what good suggestions Xiao He and the other ministers had.

Xiao He and the others all looked quite serious when they heard Zhou Chen's words.

Xiao He and his companions had no idea that such a thing had happened in the Western Capital outside the pass. The Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness were actually eyeing the land of the Great Zhou and had already sent troops here.

No wonder His Majesty previously issued an edict to transfer Huo Qubing to the Western Capital.

Xiao He and the others were initially puzzled as to why His Majesty had suddenly issued an edict to transfer Huo Qubing to Xidu City, given that Huo Qubing was in charge of the Divine Martial Guard.

It turns out it was because of the enemy of the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness.

King Zhou Zhan stepped forward and said loudly, "Your Majesty, since the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness are eyeing the land of my Great Zhou, then the Western Capital will not only suffer one attack. In the future, the Western Capital will definitely be attacked by experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness one after another."

"Your Majesty only transferred General Huo to the Western Capital. In my opinion, this old minister is still somewhat weak in terms of resources and manpower."

"Therefore, this old minister requests permission to select skilled members of the royal family and the army, to be led by this old minister, to support the Western Capital."

After Huo Qubing left, the Shenwu Guard outside the city was taken over by Prince Zhou Zhan.

King Zhou Zhan of Kao Shan thus became the leader among the military generals.

As a military leader and a veteran of three dynasties, when the Great Zhou Dynasty encountered a powerful enemy, Prince Zhou Zhan naturally volunteered to rush to the border and defend the country with his own body.

As soon as Prince Zhou Zhan finished speaking, Fang Xuanling shook his head; "Your Highness, even if we draw on the best experts from the royal family and the army, and have them lead the way to support Xidu City, we probably still won't be able to stop the experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness."

"The foundation of my Great Zhou is too weak. In the entire Great Zhou, only General Lü and General Huo and a few others have extraordinary combat power. Compared with the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness, the experts of my Great Zhou are inferior to those of the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness in terms of both quantity and strength."

"If a small city like Wuxi can have four Yin Realm experts and more than a dozen Nirvana Realm experts attacking my Xidu City, how many more experts will there be in the other Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness?"

Fang Xuanling frowned as he analyzed the pros and cons.

"and."

"The problem is no longer in the Western Capital, nor at the border."

"Xidu City is just a city that stands outside the pass of my Great Zhou. People from the hundred cities of the Great Wilderness can bypass Xidu City and go straight to the border of my Great Zhou."

"Especially for those with strength above the Celestial Realm, they can walk on air. Experts like those at the Life-Taking, Nirvana, and Yin Realm levels, who are from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness, can traverse the heartland of my Great Zhou in a single day. This is the greatest threat to my Great Zhou."

Fang Xuanling said with a solemn expression.

As the strategist who devised the plans of both Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling's vision and foresight were unmatched by ordinary people.

Upon hearing Fang Xuanling's words, Xiao He, Du Ruhui, and the others all nodded.

Obviously.

They all agreed that Fang Xuanling was right.

The Western Capital City is located outside the pass. People from the hundred cities of the Great Wilderness do not necessarily have to take the Western Capital City before entering the Great Zhou territory. They can bypass the Western Capital City and go directly into the Great Zhou.

Zhou Chen, sitting on the dragon throne, frowned slightly upon hearing Fang Xuanling's words.

To be honest, even Emperor Zhou Chen hadn't expected this.

If the people of the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness bypass the Western Capital and go straight into the Great Zhou, then things will become very complicated.

Faced with the experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness, the local governments of the Great Zhou Dynasty were simply unable to withstand them.

At that time, the Great Zhou Dynasty might be in turmoil, with fires breaking out everywhere.

"Your Majesty, with the current strength of our Great Zhou, we cannot withstand the invasion of all the experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness."

"However, if it's about dealing with the experts from one of the cities, our Great Zhou can still manage it."

"Therefore, I believe that it is impossible to stop the experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness by only thinking about defense."

"How about we take General Lü and General Huo as the leaders, gather all the experts, take the initiative to attack, and wipe out the experts of the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness, defeating them one by one?"

Fang Xuanling cupped his hands in greeting to Zhou Chen, who was seated on the dragon throne.

As soon as Fang Xuanling finished speaking, Du Ruhui also stepped forward: "Your Majesty, I think Minister Fang is absolutely right. Faced with the successive arrival of experts from the various cities of the Great Wilderness, our Great Zhou cannot defend itself. We should mobilize all our experts to attack and kill those experts from the various cities of the Great Wilderness one by one."

"It would be best to first eliminate the experts from the major cities among the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness, as this would have a significant deterrent effect."

"At the same time, if the city lords and their experts of these major cities die, then these major cities will become easy prey, which can be used as bait to attract the attention of the people in the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness and make them fight each other."

Du Ruhui cupped his hands and said.

While agreeing with Fang Xuanling's opinion, Du Ruhui added his own.

Upon hearing Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui's words, Xiao He immediately stood up as well; "Your Majesty, I disagree."

"According to the wishes of Minister Fang and Minister Du, mobilizing General Lü and his men to launch a proactive attack would be tantamount to opening up the defenses of our surrounding areas."

"Without powerful generals like General Lü guarding the border, our soldiers will suffer heavy casualties when facing the experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness. The forces from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness will also be able to easily penetrate into the heart of our Great Zhou."

"In this way, instead of deterring the hundred cities of the Great Wilderness first, the situation of my Great Zhou will deteriorate into chaos and become uncontrollable."

Xiao He loudly objected.

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui meant to relax the defenses, mobilize all the generals and experts, and take the initiative to attack and kill the experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness.

The Great Zhou Dynasty cannot deal with all the experts in the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness at once, but can't it deal with the experts in one city one by one?

However, this would leave the Great Zhou's border defenses vulnerable and ineffective.

Meanwhile, experts from some of the cities in the Great Wilderness Hundred Cities will easily enter the Great Zhou territory, causing many casualties among the Great Zhou's troops, and even leading to widespread chaos and the destruction of the Great Zhou.

As the Left Chancellor and head of the cabinet, Xiao He would absolutely not agree with such an opinion.

"Prime Minister, given the current situation of our Great Zhou, this is the best course of action. Some sacrifices are inevitable."

"Only in this way can the crisis of the hundred cities in the Great Wilderness be temporarily resolved."

"Otherwise, our Great Zhou would not be able to withstand the successive arrivals of experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness."

Fang Xuanling glanced at Xiao He and said.

"Absurd! You, as high-ranking officials of the court, are you willing to sacrifice the soldiers of my Great Zhou and use the land of my Great Zhou as bait to deal with the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness?"

“You are all aware of the problems within my Great Zhou Dynasty. Do you know what the consequences of doing this will be?”

Xiao He looked sternly at Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling fell silent.

Fang Xuanling was certainly aware of the internal problems of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

However, compared to the ultimate goal of dealing with the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness, Fang Xuanling still believed that making some sacrifices was necessary.

This may be the biggest difference between Fang Xuanling's ability to help that emperor ultimately seize the throne and Xiao He's assistance to Liu Bei in conquering the world.

Seeing the power struggle between Xiao He, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui, the Minister of War, the Minister of Justice, and Zhou Xian, the Eighth Prince, were all astonished.

In their memory, they had never seen Xiao He and Fang Xuanling argue like this before.

This is the first time in history.

Zhou Chen, seated on the dragon throne, watched Xiao He and Fang Xuanling argue but did not intervene. Zhou Chen knew that both Xiao He and Fang Xuanling were acting in the best interests of the Great Zhou Dynasty; they simply had differing opinions, neither right nor wrong.

Besides, only when ministers compete with each other can there be a balance.

If the ministers all share the same opinion and speak with one voice, how can Emperor Zhou Chen control them?
Zhou Chen looked at Jia Xu; "Jia Xu, what do you think we should do?"

Xiao He and Fang Xuanling were also startled and looked at Jia Xu beside them.

Since Jia Xu returned to Luoyang and took office as the Imperial Censor, he has kept a low profile and has never expressed any opinions or suggestions.

However, none of the ministers present dared to ignore the presence of this Imperial Censor.

Previously, this very same Imperial Censor had first assisted His Majesty in suppressing the Shu King's usurpation, then devised a plan to disintegrate the armies of Xiliang and Zhenbei, capturing the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Marquis of Xiliang, and finally annihilated the 300,000-strong army of the Western Rong with a single scheme. Though his reputation was not widespread, his abilities were remarkable.

……

Western Capital.

in the military camp.

Huo Qubing sat in the main seat.

Sitting below were Hua Xiong, Pan Feng, Zhang Liao, Cao Youxiang, and several others.

Huo Qubing has already arrived in Xidu City.

Besides Huo Qubing, Pan Feng and Zhang Liao were also ordered by Zhou Chen to be transferred to Xidu City to strengthen its military power.

now.

Whether it was Huo Qubing, Hua Xiong, Pan Feng, or the others, their faces were pale, covered in blood, and had multiple injuries.

Obviously.

They had just been through a bloody battle.

In fact, it is true.

Besides the people from Wuxi City who were the first to attack Xidu City, Xidu City has been attacked twice more by experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness in the past two days.

Including this latest attack, Xidu City has already suffered four attacks from experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness.

Fortunately, Huo Qubing and his men had already arrived in Xidu City, which stabilized the situation and blocked the three attacks from the experts of the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness.

Of course, all the experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness who attacked Xidu City in these three attacks were turned into corpses and hung on the city walls of Xidu City, becoming a result of Xidu City's efforts to deter other cities in the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness.

Hua Xiong wiped the blood from his face, glanced at Huo Qubing in the main seat, and said in a deep voice, "General Huo, including this time, my Xidu City has already suffered four attacks from experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness. We don't know how many more will follow. This can't go on."

Hua Xiong looked worried.

In just two or three days, Xidu City had already been attacked four times by experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness.

Furthermore, each time, the opposing side had a powerful expert at the Yin Realm present.

Although they eventually managed to stop the attack from these experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness, they also killed all of them.

However, Hua Xiong and his companions were all injured, to varying degrees.

What's most worrying is that who knows how many more experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness will follow.

If this continues, they won't be able to hold out.

Zhang Liao nodded in agreement. "That's secondary. What I'm most worried about is whether the experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness will bypass Xidu City and go straight to Yumen Pass. Those Yin Realm and Nirvana Realm experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness can go straight into the heart of the Great Zhou as if walking on flat ground."

As soon as Zhang Liao said this...

Hua Xiong and Pan Feng's expressions both changed.

Only Huo Qubing and Cao Youxiang raised their eyebrows slightly.

Obviously.

Hua Xiong and Pan Feng had not anticipated this problem.

However, Huo Qubing and Cao Youxiang had already thought of this.

Because Huo Qubing and Cao Youxiang were such masters.

They traveled back and forth between Luoyang and Xidu City by simply crossing the air, and could arrive in less than a day.

However, these were not things they should be concerned with; their task was simply to guard the Western Capital as ordered.

"This is not something we should be concerned with; His Majesty and the ministers in the court will take care of it themselves."

"Unless His Majesty issues a new decree, we should just guard the Western Capital."

Huo Qubing glanced at everyone and said.

Cao Youxiang nodded; "That's right, our current task is to defend Xidu City."

"I have already sent a message back to Luoyang, and I believe His Majesty will soon issue a new decree."

Cao Youxiang said in a soft, feminine voice, his face somewhat pale.

Cao Youxiang had already suffered heavy losses when dealing with the people of Wuxi City, and the subsequent three major battles aggravated his injuries even more.

It can be said.

Of the people present, Cao Youxiang's injuries were the most severe.

However, Cao Youxiang reaped the greatest benefits. After four major battles, thanks to the unique nature of the Absorption Technique, Cao Youxiang digested the absorbed cultivation, and his own strength also increased rapidly.

Cao Youxiang was originally at the early stage of Nirvana, but now he has reached the perfection of Nirvana.

Cao Youxiang was just one step away from seeing through Yin and Yang, entering the Yin-Yang Realm, and becoming a Yin Realm expert.

Once Cao Youxiang has digested the cultivation he has absorbed this time, entering the Yin-Yang realm and becoming a Yin Realm expert will definitely not be a problem.

"Alright, you should all go and heal your wounds first!"

"I will go and guard the city gate. You will come and replace me after you have recovered from your injuries."

Huo Qubing waved his hand and said.

Upon hearing this, Hua Xiong and the others didn't say anything more, got up and left to heal their wounds.

Time is of the essence, and no one knows when the experts from the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness will attack the Western Capital City.

Therefore, they must seize every minute to recover from their injuries.

After everyone left, Huo Qubing's eyes gleamed; "Continuing to defend like this is not a good strategy. These four attacks can only be considered the prelude to the hundred cities of the Great Wilderness. The real battle is yet to come. Prolonged defense will inevitably lead to defeat. Your Majesty should understand this principle."

Huo Qubing thought to himself, got up and left the military camp, and went to the city gate to take charge.

Now, experts from all the cities of the Great Wilderness are arriving one after another, and strong individuals must be stationed at the city gates to prevent sudden attacks from the people of the Great Wilderness.

In fact, Huo Qubing preferred to take the initiative rather than passively defend and be attacked.

While the Western Capital City was facing a crisis in the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness, the Eastern Capital City in the Eastern Wilderness was also experiencing a period of turmoil.

Zhou Chen never dreamed that before the crisis in the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness was resolved, an even greater crisis had emerged, and it was coming from the east.

Compared to the Hundred Cities of the Great Wilderness, the crisis coming from the east is the nightmare of the Great Zhou.

(End of this chapter)