Chapter 1189: Decision Making (Part 1)

On August 13th, Huangfu Chaobo and his party finally rushed to Luoyang. After a night's rest, Huangfu Chaobo began to gather a group of counselors to discuss sending troops on the 14th.

At this time, Shi A had already returned to Luoyang, because he considered that he would return to Luoyang as soon as possible after inspecting the counties. Therefore, Huangfu Chaobo did not ask Shi A to find him, but was responsible for sorting out information in Luoyang City. Then summarize it and pass the most important parts to yourself.

At this time, all the three Dukes and Nine Ministers of the Tang Dynasty who were in Luoyang, as well as everyone in the Shangshutai, rushed to the side hall of the palace. Even the guard Huang Zhong who was in Runan rushed back, plus the people in charge Shi Ah, the intelligence officer, had more than a dozen officials sitting on both sides of the side hall.

"Shi A, please introduce to everyone the recent information on Bingzhou and Guanzhong!" Huangfu Chaobo ordered;

"Nuo!" Shi A stood up, first saluted Huangfu Chaobo, then turned around and saluted everyone around him, and said: "Your Majesty, my lords, the war in Bingzhou has reached the point where it is about to break out. Days ago, King Zhao Lu Bu's cavalry army had returned to the border of Bingzhou, but according to our shadow guard's observation, the number of troops returning should be less than 55,000. Because it was getting late, we could not get accurate information. "

"Well, where are Zhang Liao's troops?" Guo Jia asked;

"What is certain now is that the State of Zhao has been constantly mobilizing troops to go to Yunzhong. The specific number is not very clear, but the total number should be around 50,000." Shi A shook his head and said;

"Why is this so?" Huangfu Chaobo felt very strange. All the news sent back by the Shadow Guard this time was a very vague quantity. Isn't there a more accurate quantity?

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Shi A heard the words and quickly knelt down and said: "This time when the minister was in Bingzhou, he specially ordered the Shadow Bingzhou branch to be reorganized. However, according to the news that came back, it was really Zhao State has very strict control over intelligence. It is said that Prime Minister Zhao started to form an intelligence organization called the Wolf Pack a few years ago. After several years of development, it is still small-scale in Zhao State. "

"When Wei Chen was in Jinyang, he fought against several spies from the wolf pack. They were indeed very good. Although they are still far behind my Shadow Guard, they are still somewhat capable. With these spies, , Shadow's activities in Zhao State still have some influence. The news returned this time shows that the troops in Taiyuan are mobilized in the name of transporting baggage to the northern counties, so the accuracy in terms of quantity is not that high. ”

"Moreover, according to the news from the shadows, Zhao State is now on guard against our country. The cities and passes in the southern parts of Taiyuan and Shangdang counties have strengthened defenses to varying degrees, which has also made intelligence collection more difficult. It was more difficult before.”

After listening to Shi A's words, Huangfu Chaobo said: "Nowadays, various countries have established their own espionage organizations, and the difficulty of the Shadow Guard will definitely increase. However, after investing so much time and money in the Shadow Guard, is it possible that they can't compete with the newly established ones?" Not a spy?"

Huangfu Chaobo knows that various countries have paid more and more attention to intelligence work, which is inevitable. For example, Gongsun Zan established the Eagle's Nest because he envied his Shadow Guard. The State of Qi has also established the Yanling Guard, plus the Ant Nest of the Wei State, the wolves of the Zhao State, and the Treacherous Guards of the Wu State. It can be said that almost all have their own espionage organizations. The Shadow Guards must want to inquire about the situation. It will get harder and harder.

Shi A was about to speak when Huangfu Chaobo waved his hand and said: "No matter what the reason is, the value of the Shadow Guard's existence is to spy on intelligence. If reliable information cannot be sent back, Gu has invested so much money and energy over the years. , what’s the use?”

"promise!"

"continue!"

Shi A then continued the topic. After introducing the information about Bingzhou, he told everyone the detailed information about Guanzhong. By the time he finished speaking, more than half an hour had passed.

"Shi Aiqing has told the ministers about the situation in Guanzhong and Bingzhou.

Now that there are fighter planes appearing in both places, the purpose of summoning all the ministers is to discuss where our Tang army should invest its forces in order to obtain the greatest benefits. Although Gu had already said years ago that the Tang State should have two to three years to recuperate, but the opportunity must not be missed, and the time will never come again. Now that such an opportunity appears, it is simply impossible to seize it. "Huangfu Chaobo said;

"Your Majesty!" Guo Jia came out and said, "I think we should take Bingzhou first!"

Huangfu Chaobo knew that Guo Jia had always advocated taking Bingzhou first, so he was not surprised by his words. He nodded and said, "But it doesn't matter!"

"Bingzhou is high above it, overlooking it from south to east. If Bingzhou can be obtained, Hebei will definitely be under its coercion. Hebei will definitely not be the same as it is now..."

"No!" Pang Tong objected: "Your Majesty, although Bingzhou has the advantage of terrain, the Zhao State is strong. King Lu Bu of Zhao has the courage to be invincible. His generals Zhang Liao and Wei Xuhou are all talented generals. , Furthermore, Zhao and Wei are allies of each other. If the war between us and Zhao is in a stalemate, Wei will definitely join the war. When the time comes, Qi will definitely not stand idly by. In this way, the Three Kingdoms will definitely attack. The situation and timing will definitely make us stretched and unable to cope, and the king's plan to recuperate the newly attached counties will definitely no longer exist..."

"Hmm?!" The reason why Huangfu Chaobo had not made up his mind was that the two military advisors disagreed, but what they said had his reasons.

After listening to the two, Huangfu Chaobo turned his eyes to the others.

Seeing Huangfu Chaobo looking at him, Lu Su stood up and saluted, saying: "Your Majesty, I agree with Pang Pushe's strategy. Guanzhong was originally a rich place, but it became like this after being controlled by the people of Xiliang. If we can seize Guanzhong, we only need to manage it carefully for a few years, and we will definitely be able to accumulate thousands of grains. At that time, just like the pre-Qin destroyed the six countries, we will send troops to Guandong and we will be able to quell the chaos."

"Otherwise," Lu Su's voice fell, Xu Shu stood up and said: "If Guanzhong can be fully occupied, It is true that if we work hard, we will certainly be able to become rich. However, it is precisely because Guanzhong is vast and has fertile fields that it will take a long time to pacify it. In addition, the situation in Guanzhong is complicated and cannot be pacified in a short time. However, it is different for Bingzhou. If the Zhao army pacifies Wuyuan and Shuofang counties, they will certainly send troops to Hexi and Shangjun. In this way, it will not take much time to pacify the state. At that time, Zhao will definitely concentrate on attacking us. In addition, Wei will send troops to respond, which will certainly tie up a large number of our troops and prevent us from taking care of other things. "