That night, in Hefei city.

Zhao Ming stood in front of the window and fell into deep thought. Several soldiers from behind were still surrounded in front of the sand table, discussing strategies, and quarrels came from time to time.

At present, the problem facing the Ming army is two choices. Whether to go north, fight Wu Sangui, or return to Nanjing to quell the Nanjing rebellion first.

"If Xuzhou is lost, Shandong and Hebei will definitely not be able to defend it."

"Xuzhou City is high and thick, and Nanjing is the one who is in charge!"

"The Ming Dynasty's national strength is far better than that of the Zhou army~"

The soldiers argued, and they all blushed.

While listening to the arguments among the crowd, Zhao Ming looked at the window and thought in a daze. Unconsciously, the debate behind him gradually became smaller, and the military members seemed to gradually reach a consensus.

"Your Highness!" Zhang Jiayu walked behind Zhao Ming and bowed and said.

Zhao Ming withdrew his thoughts and turned around, "Where are the results for the military to discuss?"

Zhang Jiayu nodded slightly, "At this time, there are only two roads in front of the army, whether to settle the country or fight against foreign countries."

Zhao Ming nodded, "Continue!"

Zhang Jiayu said: "I think it is not appropriate to entrust things in Nanjing."

Zhao Ming said: "Why?"

"The Ming Dynasty's national strength is stronger than the Zhou Kingdom. The two countries should have been attacked by Zhou Shouming. Now Wu Sangui dares to take advantage of the situation because of the internal disagreement of the Ming Dynasty. If His Highness pacified Nanjing and unified the Ming Dynasty, Wu Sangui could only withdraw his troops obediently." Zhang Jiayu said in a deep voice: "The Nanjing change has been delayed for more than half a year. If it continues to drag on it, people's hearts will inevitably change. Furthermore, if the army is heading north at this time, it would be fine if Wu Sangui fights with His Highness. If Wu Sangui does not fight and retreats, how can the war be resolved?"

Zhao Ming frowned. After heading north, the Zhou army did not fight him. This was exactly the problem that Zhao Ming was worried about.

Wu Sangui had an elite cavalry in his hand. After conquering Hetao, he had no worries about war horses. The number of war horses in the army was far greater than that of the Ming army.

Zhao Ming's troops and horses were sharp and firearms were facing a head-on battle, and no one was afraid of it. However, the rivers in the north were sparse and were mainly plains, which was conducive to cavalry fighting. Wu Sangui wanted to avoid the war and went around with Zhao Ming. It was difficult for the Ming army to catch up with the Zhou army.

I don’t know when the war with Wu Sangui will be over.

After all, there are more than 100,000 rebels in Nanjing. If they rush out, both internal and external troubles will not be resolved by then, Zhao Ming's prestige will inevitably be greatly hit.

Seeing Zhao Ming's expression, Zhang Jiayu continued: "I think that behind the high walls of Xuzhou City and the Zhou army had no giant cannons, it would be difficult to capture it for a while. Guanzhong was barren, and the land in Henan was not rich, and the strength of Zhou State was far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty. If Wu Sangui attacked Xuzhou, if he could move quickly, it would be beneficial to Zhou State. If he could not move quickly, the military rations alone would be enough for Wu Sangui to have a headache. The battle of Xuzhou will become the initiator of the decline of Zhou State."

Zhao Ming's heart moved when he heard the silence, turned around and walked to the sand table, waved his hand, "Your family continues to talk!"

Zhang Jiayu followed, picked up the wooden pole on the sand tray, pointed to Guanzhong and said, "Wu Sangui's army went on a war, and the supply of grain and military supplies mainly came from Guanzhong and the newly occupied Henan. However, these two places have been war-torn for a long time and have not yet been restored. I guess that a large part of the supply of the Zhou army needs to be transferred from Sichuan, and with the strength of the Zhou State, it will definitely not last long for the war."

Zhang Jiayu pointed to the route from Xuzhou to Zhou State and said, "If such a long supply takes a long time, it will definitely drag down the strength of Zhou State. Therefore, if His Highness goes north, Wu Sangui may retreat again. It is better to let Wu Sangui attack Xuzhou and use the battle of Xuzhou to drag down the Zhou State so that the world will be unified in the future."

Zhao Ming stroked his short beard under his Hubei and smiled. If Xuzhou was used as the battlefield, the Ming Dynasty would be as convenient as shipping and the Grand Canal. It would be much easier to transport supplies and replenish troops than Wu Sangui.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty was already stronger than the Zhou State. If Wu Sangui could be dragged to Xuzhou, it would not take long before Zhou State's treasury would be consumed by the Battle of Xuzhou.

In the final analysis, when fighting, what is fought is still money and food, and what is compared to national strength.

The treasury of Zhou State was consumed, and it would be much easier for Zhao Ming to attack Zhou State in the future.

"Okay!" Zhao Ming clenched his fists and sneered: "Then let Wu Sangui spend time in Xuzhou, and wait until he pacified Nanjing, he will destroy it in one battle!"

At this moment, Zhao Ming was in a good mood. After looking at many participating soldiers, he smiled and said, "Thank you all for your hard work, let's go back and rest!"

Zhang Jiayu and others joined the army quickly bowed and said, "Your Highness should also rest early."

Everyone bowed and left the lobby, but Zhao Ming was so excited that he couldn't sleep.

Following the suggestions put forward by Zhang Jiayu and others, Zhao Ming realized that Wu Sangui's campaign to attack Xuzhou might be an opportunity for him.

Zhao Ming looked at the sand table and thought about it again. Xuzhou was close to the Yellow River and Beijing was close to the sea. As long as it was arranged properly, he could take advantage of the advantages of the navy and constantly transport troops, food, and equipment to Xuzhou and Beijing.

Wu Sangui's army was working hard to fight away from the borders of Zhou. After a period of time, Zhou would definitely not be able to bear it.

Zhao Ming became more and more excited the more he thought about it, as if he saw the scene of Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui kneeling at his feet.

At this time, outside the hall, a lieutenant suddenly came in and said anxiously: "Report to the king, Nanjing is urgently reporting!"

"Nanjing urgent report?" Zhao Ming was puzzled, took the military newspaper from the captain, opened it and frowned immediately.

Zhao Ming burned Nanjing's food and grass, then blocked Nanjing with deep trenches and high ravines, waiting for the food in Nanjing to be exhausted and chaos.

Now, as grain prices in Nanjing decrease and grain prices soar, Zhu Yihai, Yan Yingyuan and others naturally will not sit still and wait for death.

The defenders in the city recently discovered that Zhao Ming's army seemed to have decreased outside Nanjing. Yan Yingyuan and others immediately judged that it was likely that Zhou State sent troops, and Zhao Ming mobilized a large army to deal with the Zhou army.

This greatly boosted the morale of the rebels in Nanjing. In order to respond to the Zhou army and carry out a proper cooperation, the defenders in the city suddenly left the city and launched a raid on the Ming army camp.

Although the Ming army soldiers in the camp outside the city had already been prepared to block the Ming army in the attacking camp, this was a very bad signal.

If the rebels in the city rushed out of Nanjing, Zhao Ming's Jiangnan base camp would be in danger.

Although Zhao Ming has a large territory today, his taxes mainly come from Jiangnan.

If Nanjing discloses it and affects Jiangnan, Zhao Ming may have problems before Wu Sangui.

After reading the military newspaper, Zhao Ming's face darkened. He slowly closed the newspaper and immediately ordered in a deep voice, "Transfer the will of the orphan king, and make meals at the fourth day of tomorrow, and the camp will be drawn at the fifth day of the day, and the army will return to Nanjing!"

The next morning, before dawn, the Ming army stationed in Jiangbei, except for one step, entered Shouzhou and monitored Xiangcheng, and part of the Zhou army division, heading to Huai'an. The driver reinforced Xuzhou, the rest of the troops drove to the camp in a mighty manner and left the south of the Yangtze River.
Chapter completed!