Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

As the sun sets in the west, the meeting hall outside the earth building is brightly lit and bustling with people.

The first person to stand up and express his opinion was Xun Chen, who stopped people on the street today. However, he changed his previous polite and modest attitude and asked some very sharp questions right away?

"Princess, when you made this decision to further escalate the conflict, did you know how many cities and towns there were in Jizhou's nine counties, how many people there were, how many noble families there were, how many checkpoints, fortresses, and rivers there were? You pushed the entire Jizhou clan towards the enemy. Their simple strategy of fortifying their walls and clearing the fields would be enough to render your army unable to advance. With no food or supplies and an external enemy invading, how could you capture the cities occupied by the clan thieves? And how could you repel this foreign enemy, Gongsun Zan?"

Zhang Mo felt nervous, but she replied calmly, "I have some understanding of Jizhou's topography and culture. Jizhou has ninety-nine counties and one hundred and twenty-four cities and towns..."

As she spoke, she called for a map of Jizhou, which was hung on the wall. The topographical details Xun Chen had asked about were clearly marked on it. Zhang Mo continued, "The population and the number of gentry were counted when the governor of Juzhou surveyed the land last year. I have a rough idea of ​​them. As for how to eliminate the clan bandits in the counties and prefectures and drive out Gongsun Zan in the face of food shortages, that is precisely why I summoned you today."

Looking at the well-made map in front of him, Xun Chen was stunned for a moment. To be honest, he had been in Jizhou for so many years but was not very familiar with the specific topography and culture of various places in Jizhou. He asked that question just now just to scare her with some big data and let her retreat. He didn't expect that she knew it better than himself.

Xun Chen was impressed, but also quickly realized what was happening. He asked, "Since Princess is so clear, let's not discuss the final outcome of this battle for now. Let's first consider the consequences. All the counties and prefectures in Jizhou have been forced to rebel, and the local clans are defending their cities. If you want to eliminate them, you must attack them one city and one county at a time. Have you ever considered what Jizhou will eventually become? You are trying to turn Jizhou into another Yongzhou. Even if you succeed in repelling the foreign enemies and eliminating the internal thieves, the people of Jizhou will have fled or died. What use will this piece of empty land have to you?"

Now it was Zhang Mo's turn to be speechless. For the past two days, her mind was full of thoughts about where to get food and supplies, how to fight the battle, and she had also considered the consequences of failure, but she had never thought about the impact of such a battle on the people of Jizhou. Not to mention that everyone would run away or die, such a large-scale and wide-ranging battle would inevitably affect this year's spring plowing. How many people would starve to death in Jizhou next year?

The reason why Xun Chen asked her about the population of Jizhou was to tell her that relying on the grain production of Bingzhou or other states and counties, plus the food and fodder needed for war, would not be enough to provide aid to the people of Jizhou.

"Are there not enough rebel clansmen in Jizhou right now?"

Lu Bu held his wife's trembling hand beneath the table and said, "Even if I compromise, will those people just settle down? If we don't catch the traitor, when Gongsun Zan's army arrives, Changshan and Julu will be lost. It's better to force the traitor out beforehand. Then we'll know where the enemy is and whether to defend or attack. We'll have a clear target. Furthermore, if we can capture four or five cities, we'll have the first installment of military rations. I can then transfer troops from Bingzhou to fight Gongsun Zan while we eliminate the internal traitors and resupply food and fodder."

Xun Chen shook his head and sighed, "Your Majesty, if you do this, you're really going to destroy the entire Ji Province."

Lü Bu snorted, "How can we defeat these rebels without first eliminating them? Those clan rebels are all from our own region, protecting each other. They're thieves when they're out, and civilians when they're back. Gongming and Zijing have dispatched troops several times, but with little success. If they gather their forces and launch a surprise attack on our rear when Gongsun Zan's army arrives, our Jizhou Military Region will be in danger of being completely wiped out."

Xun Chen was about to argue, but Lü Bu interrupted him, "The situation in Ji Province is already like this. Compromise or escalation is only the difference between a narrower area and a wider area involved in the war. This war must be fought."

"The chances of winning this way are really too low..."

Xun Chen sighed softly, shook his head, sat back in his seat and said nothing more. Chen Gong next to him wanted to speak, but seeing that Lu Bu had made up his mind, he thought better of it. There was not much difference between fifty steps and a hundred steps. Attacking half of Jizhou and the whole Jizhou was just a matter of difficulty and the extent of the damage. Instead of arguing about this, it would be better to think of some practical ways to solve the current dilemma.

"Since the King and Princess have made up their minds, I think it would be better to use grain collection as an excuse rather than cutting down their troops to force the rebels to rebel openly."

Just as everyone fell silent, Jia Xu spoke. He sat at his seat with a calm demeanor, his eyes slightly narrowed, and said lightly, "Tell the commanders of Jizhou to put aside the clan bandits for now and immediately send their troops to the major counties to collect military rations. Based on the data provided by the governor of Juzhou, those with more land should pay more, and those with less should pay less. I suspect those rebels who are unwilling to pay will inevitably rebel. Those loyal to the king will not easily surrender to the enemy for such a small amount of food. As for those who are wavering, whether they rebel or not is up to them."

"Of course, the prerequisite is that Your Majesty cannot be suppressed by Gongsun Zan militarily. Otherwise, those who are loyal to Your Majesty will be forced to surrender to the enemy even if they don't want to, for the sake of their lives and property."

"Let's take a step back and say that even if the rebels endure the humiliation and pay the grain, the Tang army's food and fodder problem will be largely solved, and the lord can continue to send reinforcements to Jizhou. However, I don't think they are that stupid, and they will definitely not pay..."

After Jia Xu finished speaking, the hall suddenly fell into an eerie silence. Everyone looked at him at the same time. Jia Xu raised his eyelids, looked at everyone blankly, and asked blankly, "What's wrong? Is it not possible?"

"Jia Jun, Jia Jun!" Xun Chen looked at him with a wry smile. "If you have such a plan, why didn't you tell me earlier? You've made me and the lord argue for two days, and now you're arguing with the princess again. You...what can I say about you?"

Jia Xu looked innocent. "Unjust! I just thought of this... and... this method only appeases those loyal to the king. The rebels are still there, the rebellion is still widespread, and the food and fodder problem has not been solved. This war is still difficult to fight."

Chen Gong smiled and said, "Didn't Lord Jia just say that we should collect grain from the wealthy families in Jizhou? As far as I know, the Zhen family in Jizhou is very wealthy. Their property is not only in Jizhou, but they also have many shops in Yanzhou, Qingzhou, and Xuzhou. Borrowing a few hundred thousand dan of grain from them to solve our urgent needs should be no problem."

Jia Xu glanced at Lu Bu and Zhang Mo and said calmly, "I'm afraid it's not easy to borrow the grain from the Zhen family!"

Chen Gong looked confused. "Isn't the fourth lady of the Zhen family married to the princess's third brother? Why is it difficult to borrow money?"

Jia Xu reminded him, "The Zhen family also has a fifth lady who came to Jinyang with her fourth sister."

"and then?"

Feeling Lü Bu's unfriendly gaze, Jia Xu shrank back and stopped talking. Zhang Mo, however, said, "The Zhen family wants to marry the fifth lady to the king as a concubine!"