Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

Chapter 1233 Kill two birds with one stone

The cold wind howled, blowing the flags in the palace.

Wei State, Qingzhou, the imperial palace.

Sima Yi stood on the palace wall, looking at the soldiers patrolling the city wall, with an unfathomable cold light flashing in his eyes.

He had already received Chu Ning's letter, and faced with Chu Ning's request, he found it difficult to refuse.

But he also understood that Chu Ning asked him to send troops just to take the opportunity to contain the Han Dynasty.

As long as the Han Dynasty and its troops are unable to participate in the war, Chu Ning will fight the Qin Dynasty to the death.

So, should he agree to Chu Ning's request?

Although he occupied three states of Wei, the harvest this year was not very good. Even though Qingzhou was a granary, it was impossible to ensure the supply of food and fodder for his troops.

Now Chu Ning has put forward the conditions and he has the final say on how much food and grass he wants!

However, he cannot make the decision alone.

Although he had control over the situation in Wei, many of his ministers were under Cao De's command, and he wanted them to come forward on their own initiative.

To this end, he specially summoned everyone to discuss the matter on the palace wall.

While he was lost in thought, footsteps were heard on the stairs of the palace wall.

Turning around, I saw a group of civil and military officials standing in two rows and slowly walking forward.

"Greetings to King Gaoling!" Everyone came to the palace wall and bowed in greeting.

Sima Yi nodded slightly, glanced at everyone, and then raised his right hand: "My Lords, there is no need to be so polite.

The reason why we invite you here this time is to discuss the matter of the Crown Prince of Chu inviting us to send troops to attack the Han army.

He promised that as long as our army went out, we could provide as much food and fodder as needed."

As soon as these words came out, a burly bald general suddenly stood up and said in a muffled voice:

"The Han Dynasty has occupied our city. I have long wanted to drive them out, but I have always been suffering from a lack of food and grass!"

"Since the Crown Prince of Chu is willing to provide food and fodder, I am willing to serve as the vanguard and attack the Han army!"

But just as he finished speaking, an old man in his sixties stood up to object: "General Xu, this is absolutely impossible. The Han army is now powerful and has occupied the city. If our army attacks rashly, we will surely suffer heavy casualties."

"you……"

Xu Fang's face was gloomy: "As the Minister of Rites, don't you want to recover the lost territory?"

"The Han army has occupied several states of our dynasty, and countless people are waiting for us to recover the lost land and drive out the Han army. Yet you are standing here without making any progress. This is simply shameful!"

"You..." The sixty-year-old man's face turned red due to the scolding, and for a moment he didn't know how to fight back.

At this time, another civil official said righteously: "General Xu, it's not that we don't want to regain the lost territory, but the gap in strength between the two sides is obvious. Once the war starts, I'm afraid the Han army will take the opportunity to attack Qingzhou."

Seeing someone refute, other civil officials also spoke up to agree.

"Yes, we are already running low on food and grass in Qingzhou. It would be unwise to start a war rashly."

"That's right. The most important thing now is to recuperate, expand your strength, and wait for the right time to strike."

"If we take action now, our army will have no chance of winning. Instead, it will anger the Han Dynasty. It is better to wait."

The civil officials’ meaning was simple: they did not want to go to war with the Han Dynasty.

Although he said he wanted to rest and recuperate, he was actually still afraid of the Han army and wanted to live in peace in a corner.

Sima Yi naturally understood what the civil officials were thinking, but he was not angry. Instead, there was some expectation in his eyes when he looked at the other military generals.

When the military generals saw that the civil officials were working together and King Gaoling was reluctant to speak, they immediately understood.

King Gaoling wants to take action!

Otherwise, I would have spoken out against it long ago.

The generals looked at each other and then jumped out to refute.

"Lord Zhao, you keep saying that we need to rest and recuperate, but don't you know that while our army is resting and recuperating, the Han army is also resting and recuperating?"

"Yes, the Han army is strong and has a large population. Once they recover, they will definitely attack us."

"Instead of waiting for the Han army to attack us, why don't we take the initiative to attack them? We will die anyway, so why not give it a try!"

"The Han army is not attacking now, which means they are not sure they can defeat us. Why don't we take the opportunity to launch an attack!"

"Since the Crown Prince of Chu is willing to provide food and fodder, our army has nothing to worry about."

For a moment, the military generals were like angry lions, and they launched a fierce attack on the civil officials.

When had the civil officials ever been treated like this by military generals? Although they were stunned at first, they soon came to their senses and spoke out in rebuttal.

When the guards around saw this scene, they looked at each other in bewilderment. No one could believe that the adults who were usually so high and mighty were now like the shrew in the vegetable market.

Sima Yi watched everyone cursing at each other, but he was not impatient and just watched quietly.

Gradually, everyone felt something was wrong and turned to look at Sima Yi, only to find that Sima Yi had not spoken.

The originally noisy scene suddenly became quiet.

Sima Yi glanced at everyone and sneered, "Go on, why don't you continue?"

"You can just pretend that I don't exist and continue arguing. Tell me the result when the argument comes out!"

There was a strong sense of pressure as soon as he spoke, and there was a hint of coldness in his tone.

Seeing this, everyone's faces changed slightly, and they all lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

Only Xun Yu, who didn't speak, stood straight as usual.

When everyone was bowing their heads, Xun Yu stood out.

Sima Yi couldn't help but turn his head to look at Xun Yu and asked, "Master Xun, what do you think about this matter?"

Xun Yu looked solemn, stepped out of the formation, and said in a deep voice: "Prince Gaoling, if we attack the Han army now, our army is not sure of victory."

Sima Yi raised his eyebrows, showing surprise.

He didn't believe that this was Xun Yu's idea.

Sure enough, Xun Yu continued, “However, if we reject the invitation of the Crown Prince of Chu, we will not be able to obtain the food and grass that our army needs most at the moment if we learn that Chu Ning will not tell us.”

"I think we can agree to Chu Ning's request and expand the troops after obtaining food and grass, but we are also afraid that the troops will attack the Han army!"

"Chu Ning's goal is only to delay the Han army. As long as we help him achieve his goal, he won't care whether we confront the Han army or fight to the death!"

Sima Yi's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Yes, what Chu Ning wanted was nothing more than for the Han Dynasty to not interfere in the war between the Qin State and the Chu-Zhou coalition forces.

As long as he met Chu Ning's requirements, Chu Ning would give him food.

With food, he can continue to recruit soldiers and expand his strength.

When the time was right, he would launch a fierce attack on the Han army and regain the lost territory.

This is a two-pronged approach!

As expected of a strategist that even Cao De was wary of, Xun Yu is indeed powerful.

Sima Yi looked at Xun Yu deeply, then laughed out loud, patted his shoulder with his hand, and said loudly:

"Master Xun, this is a great idea. We will do as you say!"

"Since this is your plan, Lord Xun, then you should go to Yanzhou to negotiate with Chu Kuang and bring back food."

"General Xu Fang, I order you to lead 30,000 troops to attack the Han army!"

"Remember, this isn't a fight to the death, we just need to hold back the Han army!"

"Yes!" Xu Fang's eyes lit up. He responded and immediately went down to make arrangements.