Luojing, the imperial capital.

The residence of the chief minister of the current dynasty was located in the southern district of the city, covering an area of ​​hundreds of acres. It was built with splendor and grandeur, and many areas were even more luxurious than the royal gardens.

Outside the quiet study, a row of guards with swords stood upright under the pillars, and there were maids and servants standing at the door with their hands down, their eyebrows lowered and their eyes lowered, ready to be called by the master inside.

After a while, the manager of the Prime Minister's Mansion led a middle-aged scribe from afar. When they reached the door, they whispered a few words and let him in.

The light in the study was slightly dim. The Chief Assistant, dressed in casual clothes, was leaning on the seat behind the desk, his eyes were deep and showed no emotion or anger.

Hearing the gentle footsteps, Zhang Minzhong moved his eyebrows and said in a calm voice: "Is Mr. Cao here? Sit down and talk."

"My lord Cao Yun has met my lord."

The middle-aged scribe bowed politely before taking a seat at the side.

His face and facial features look relatively mediocre, even a bit ugly, but he has an inexplicable air of grace that makes outsiders unable to think of him as contemptuous or indifferent.

Cao Yun has been famous since he was a child and has always been a great talent. However, because of his youth and arrogance, he offended the powerful officials of the dynasty. From then on, he stopped his official career and lived a homeless life.

Later, when he was thirty years old, he met a stranger, became a disciple and practiced Taoism. After completing his studies, he went out to travel in the mountains. By chance, he met Zhang Minzhong, who was still a county magistrate in the south. Looking at his face, he concluded that there was something extraordinary about this man.

He can become a man of the hour.

So he decided to seek help, recommended himself as a staff member, and secretly advised and strategized for him, so that Zhang Minzhong successfully defeated many political opponents and rose through the ranks until he became a highly respected minister.

As a result, Cao Yun also gained a high degree of trust and reliance from the chief minister, and his status was respected in the government. Even Zhang Minzhong's heirs respected him very much.

"This is a report on the recent war in the South. Sir, please take a look." Zhang Minzhong glanced at the files on the desk and continued.

Cao Yun agreed, stood up and took the stack of documents into his hands. After sitting down again, he quickly flipped through the pages and said with a slight frown:

"It seems that the situation in the south...is showing signs of getting out of control. My lord must make plans early."

The encirclement and suppression operations of several southern states and the imperial court's counter-rebellion armies were not going smoothly. Wu Zhence, the most powerful man, already owned seven counties and was currently leading his army to encircle Nanhuai County. He would soon capture it.

The spy in the army secretly reported that this person was secretly preparing to become king on his own.

The remaining princes should not be underestimated, especially Zhao Yuanjin in Jingzhou. Although his current territory is less than two counties, he is a powerful figure who once killed Meng Luo. He also captured Yangcheng County with a surprise attack.

The more than 20,000 imperial elites in the city were completely defeated without doing anything, and most of them became prisoners.

Although Feng Qingyun is now leading the encirclement and suppression, according to the latest battle report, the two armies have been fighting for many days, but the imperial army has made no progress. Not only have they suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, but the commander Yu Fangzhou was so angry that he died of the disease due to the recurrence of old wounds.

Therefore, Feng Qingyun, who was frightened, was holding his troops back and did not dare to continue the offensive. The battle situation had reached a stalemate.

"The fate of the country is difficult, and the rebels and bandits are getting stronger day by day. I wonder if you, sir, have any good ideas to help me?" Zhang Minzhong rubbed his brows with a hint of weariness in his expression.

Cao Yun pondered and said: "For the current plan, we can only concentrate the superior forces of the imperial court to attack one place first, and then consider the next route after pacifying it. What do you think, my lord?"

Zhang Minzhong was silent for a while, then sighed slightly: "This is my fault. If I had adopted Mr.'s words as soon as possible, why would the current situation be like this?"

When the war broke out in various places, the ministers of the imperial court discussed the plan to suppress the rebellion, but Cao Yun did not agree with the strategy of attacking in all directions and advancing on multiple fronts. After all, the imperial court had been suffering from long-term abuses, its prestige and influence were not as good as before, and its control over various places was also worrying.

In addition, the national treasury is empty and it has been unable to make ends meet year after year. How can there be enough financial and material resources to start a war on multiple fronts at the same time?

Moreover, corruption was also serious in the imperial army. They were eating empty pay, drinking soldiers' blood, and reselling military supplies... All kinds of shady stories were emerging one after another. Compared with the founding of the country, the combat power was vastly different.

It's just that the adults in the court are pampered and few are familiar with the world of the people. They despise and despise the refugee rebels from all over the country from the bottom of their hearts, thinking that they are just a group of ignorant and short-sighted mud-legged people. How big a wave can they create?

With the might of the imperial court, you can destroy it with just a flip of your hand!

Although Zhang Minzhong had doubts about this at the time, he still adopted the opinions of his ministers after weighing it several times, and ordered the army to go to various places to suppress the rebellion, which dispersed the strength, resulting in constant defeats and loss of troops. The few generals who could fight performed well.

These will not change the overall trend of increasing erosion.

"If that's the case, then it's Wu Zhence?"

Zhang Minzhong said: "Let all the troops in the south evacuate, and then concentrate on the Huaiyang area. We will give priority to solving this biggest threat, and then move in to suppress the next group of rebels depending on the change of the situation."

"What my lord said is very good, I have no objection." Cao Yun said.

There was some regret in his heart. He originally wanted to say that Zhao Yuanjin in Jingzhou was the most dangerous target, but now Wu Zhence's territory and military power were far superior. He was so powerful that he had become the number one prince in the south. If he could successfully separate himself and become the king

, it will be a heavy blow to the prestige of the imperial court.

Therefore, from Zhang Minzhong's point of view, Wu Zhence must not be allowed to continue to expand. All military forces in the south must be concentrated to destroy him at any cost.

In fact, there is a more bold strategy, which is to withdraw the imperial troops from the south completely, sit back and watch a few princes fight each other, and when each other is seriously injured and exhausted, then attack in one fell swoop to annihilate them, and the overall situation in the south can be decided.

Of course, this strategy is only feasible in theory, but may not be the case in practice. It is more likely that one of the princes will swallow up other separatist forces and take the opportunity to become stronger, which will eventually lead to the complete fall of the entire south.

So Cao Yun just thought about it in his heart and did not propose this immature strategy.

…

Yangcheng County.

"...Lord, after many days of exploration, the scout battalion has pinpointed the main grain and grass gathering place of the imperial army, which is in this small valley twenty miles away."

In the meeting hall, Ling Yuanqing placed a map in front of Zhao Yuanjin and said excitedly.

Qin Feng, who was sitting next to him, glanced at it. The map was drawn by hand. It was relatively crude and incomparable with the map of his own world, but it could still express the necessary information.

Sun Xiangqing smiled and said: "This is God's blessing for our army. With this map, the lord can send an elite brigade to sneak attack at night. As long as the food and grass are burned, the imperial army on the opposite side will collapse without a fight."

Zhao Yuanjin nodded, looked at Qin Feng and said: "The scout battalion certainly contributed a lot. Of course, if this can be accomplished, we still have to thank you for the magical equipment that you brought here."

The storage location of ordnance and grain has always been the top secret in the military. Feng Qingyun is also very cautious in handling this aspect. The location of the grain storage is extremely secretive. There are patrols and patrols around the valley day and night. Unidentified people dare to approach within ten miles.

Anyone within the area will be shot.

Under normal circumstances, if the scout battalion wants to discover this grain and grass gathering place, the possibility is not to say absolutely impossible, but it is also very low, and it is not something that can be accomplished in a short time.

However, Feng Qingyun did not know that there was something called a night vision telescope. The scout battalion under Zhao Yuanjin sent out capable personnel to lurk and track and observe for several nights, and finally successfully confirmed this important target.

There are many examples in history where entire armies were defeated due to food and fodder problems. For example, in the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao was able to defeat Yuan Shao's hundreds of thousands of troops with 20,000 troops. The key reason was that he burned Yuan Shao's granary in Wuchao.

Only then did he turn the tide of the war around and lay the foundation for unifying the north.
Chapter completed!