Chapter 694 Despair

Chang'an, Imperial Palace

The war intelligence sent by Dong Guowei was sent to Chang'an at an expedited speed of 800 miles.

The entire intelligence mainly tells about Pingzhou's possession of war weapons such as explosives, and Pingzhou's unstoppable attack and expansion.

This war report was like a drop of water falling into an oil pan. The whole hall was quiet at first, and then it was like a pot exploding.

This time, Pingzhou finally showed its fangs, and at the same time, it also showed its strong strength.

Song Mo sat at the top, his body was emaciated, and the whole person was so thin that he was out of shape, even his lips were unhealthy white. After listening to this war report, he swallowed the fishy sweetness in his mouth.

Xie Zhan guessed right, Pingzhou really had a trump card, and Dali was really going to suffer a big loss this time.

Thinking of the land occupied by Pingzhou, Song Mo was heartbroken.

"This, this, this-Pingzhou has such a magic weapon, how can we fight?" Wu Chunyu was speechless for a while.

All the officials looked at each other, yes, how can we fight and win?

Such a big thing happened, the officials from the aristocratic families temporarily stopped the crusade against Xie Zhan. If the matter of Pingzhou cannot be resolved, it will be a matter of life and death, and no one has the heart to care about personal grudges.

"Your Majesty, if there is really no way, why not negotiate with Pingzhou and divide the land to govern?" An official whispered.

However, after hearing his unfinished words, Song Mo went crazy! He grabbed the inkstone at hand and threw it directly at him, "What did you say? Divide the land to govern? Do you want me to hand over Chang'an, the entire Yongzhou and several other states together?"

The ministers below all bowed their heads and kept silent, trying to reduce their presence as much as possible.

Many ministers thought that the suggestion of dividing the land to govern was actually not bad. If there is no way to deal with the explosives in Pingzhou, it is a good suggestion to negotiate with Pingzhou and divide the land to govern. At least after dividing the land to govern, Dali is still a big country, and it can also be exchanged for a situation of peaceful coexistence between the two sides.

The official who had just spoken defended himself under great pressure, "I just think this method can be used to confuse Pingzhou, stabilize Pingzhou first, and stop it from expanding, and then find an opportunity to defeat the enemy later."

"Do you think those people in Pingzhou are fools? Will Pingzhou agree to divide the land and govern?" Song Mo asked with a sneer. He now knows that the woman in Pingzhou is very ambitious.

Song Mo's words awakened those ministers who were lucky. Yes, under such a good situation, how could Pingzhou agree to divide the land and govern? Even if it agrees, it is not now.

Other ministers seconded.

"Your Majesty is wise. If our Dali and Pingzhou propose to divide the land and govern, doesn't it mean that Dali recognizes the legal status of Pingzhou?" Those lost lands will be difficult to recover.

"Yes, we can think of other ways to stop Pingzhou's expansion."

Song Mo suppressed his inner emotions and said coldly, "Let's discuss it. If you have any good ideas, you can speak freely. Let's brainstorm and find a way to resolve this crisis."

Song Mo's eyes swept across the ministers below. He wanted to see if there was anyone among the civil and military officials who could solve the current problems for him and Dali.

Prime Minister Shen Wan said at this time, "Your Majesty, to solve this crisis, we need to have a general understanding of Pingzhou's strength first."

Shen Wan's words were very pertinent and were agreed by everyone present. Yes, if they didn't even know the strength of their opponents, how could they win?

Shen Wan continued, "The first point is how many soldiers and horses Pingzhou has raised?"

Many ministers nodded. Yes, this is very curious.

"The person in charge of the entire war strategy layout in Pingzhou this time is Qin Heng."

The ministers heard this and secretly glanced at the emperor at the top.

At this time, Song Mo had a blank expression on his face.

The ministers sighed in their hearts, the Qin family.

"There are three armies attacking Xianbei now - the Jintai Army led by Qin Sheng, the Sun Family Army led by Sun Ming, and the Buyeo Army led by Yue Shu."

"We all know that the Sun Family Army is built between 100,000 and 150,000. In other words, the troops sent by Pingzhou to attack Xianbei are between 300,000 and 450,000. Let's take the middle value and count it as 300,000."

"These are the troops attacking Xianbei."

"In addition, the main forces attacking our Dali are the Qin Family Army led by Qin Heng and Qin Zhao and the branch of the Sun Family Army led by Sun Congyi. According to the news sent back by Dong Guowei to General Dong, the total number of these troops is about 200,000 to 300,000."

The ministers calculated the number reported by Shen Wan, which is 500,000 or 600,000?

"Pingzhou still has defensive troops and navy. Pingzhou's defense line is still very long. Let's say the defensive troops and navy add up to 300,000."

Then the total number of soldiers and horses in Pingzhou would be 800,000 to 900,000, nearly 1 million.

When this number was calculated, almost all the ministers took a breath. How did Pingzhou raise a million-strong army?

In fact, they overestimated it. Pingzhou only raised 700,000 regular troops in total. Now, half of the troops stationed in Pingzhou are regular troops and half are militia.

But even 700,000 is very impressive.

After hearing the number estimated by Shen Wan, Song Mo felt extremely upset. They, Dali, did not raise a million-strong army.

Wu Chunyu has always been dealing with numbers, and immediately said, "Pingzhou should have a population of more than 6 million now, but nearly 2 million were snatched from Dali this year, and they are of no great use for the time being. In other words, Pingzhou relied on the previous population of more than 4 million to raise a million-strong army? One out of four people? How did they do it?"

One minister retorted, "Is it possible that the calculation was wrong, or that Pingzhou relied on its own city to attack and not defend?" Four people drew one Ding, and it seemed impossible to think about it!

Murong Jie of the Eastern Xianbei had the most say on this point. He originally thought that Pingzhou's defense must be weak after sending so many troops, so after receiving the order of Tuoba Khan's mobilization, he did not directly support the Sushen tribe, but played the trick of Wei Wei to save Zhao, but unexpectedly faced Qin Yan's head-on attack.

Having said that, other ministers also began to express their opinions or suggestions.

Shangshu Ling Sang Baiqing said, "There is no need to worry about the others. It is certain that Pingzhou's logistical pressure must be very great at this time."

"In other words, they can't hold out for long on such a large-scale attack, unless Pingzhou fights to support the war."

Will Pingzhou fight to support the war?

It shouldn't be. Pingzhou has always been fooling people under the banner of doing good for the people. If they dare to fight to support the war, won't their faces be exposed?

"Another point is that Pingzhou can't swallow up all of Dali's territory at once. It also needs to be digested."

At this point in the discussion, the ministers seemed to see hope and became excited.

"So, if you want to stop Pingzhou from continuing to expand, there are ways."

"From ancient times to the present, if you want to persuade others, it is nothing more than to move them with emotion, enlighten them with reason, show them power, and lure them with benefits."

Of course, the power of power can be eliminated at present.

"And Pingzhou's power is already not small. I don't believe that Pingzhou can really be an iron plate. There must be many factions inside."

The civil and military officials of Dali thought about these aspects and really came up with some solutions. After determining a certain solution, they kept improving it one by one.

Chang'an, Grand Commander's Office

Since Xie Zhan came back from the palace last time, he began to claim illness and not go to court.

Song Mo acquiesced.

At this time, the letter with the content of Dong Guowei's war report was presented to him.

Xie Zhan knew that he had guessed correctly. Pingzhou really had a powerful trump card, and this trump card was a great threat to Dali.

Fan Yang and others were also shocked by the power of the explosives.

"Grand Commander, is there still hope for Dali?"

With such power, if Pingzhou had a large amount of explosives, it would be despairing to think about it.

In the meeting room, everyone looked at Xie Zhan.

"There is hope." Xie Zhan replied affirmatively.

Then he came to the desk, picked up a pen, and began to sort out his thoughts.

Fan Yang, Jiang Boya, Xiao Qun and others gathered around, holding their breath.

Xie Zhan ignored them and immersed himself in his own thoughts.

Pingzhou should have developed such a weapon a long time ago, but it has been suppressed and not used much.

Xie Zhan thought of the Yanmen earthquake and the Jiumen County earthquake.

After learning about the power of explosives, he realized that the two earthquakes were not earthquakes at all, but the illusion of earthquakes caused by Pingzhou using explosives.

There must be some kind of restriction that prevents Pingzhou from having a large amount of explosives.

After figuring this out, Xie Zhan became excited. If this is true, then there is still hope for Dali.

Then, Xie Zhan told everyone present his inference.

After listening to it, everyone present suddenly realized it and felt that it was so.

Fan Yang thought more deeply at this time, "Grand Commander, our series of plans and actions are not useless. At least Pingzhou has exposed weapons such as explosives in advance."

"Yes." Xie Zhan nodded. Otherwise, if Pingzhou waits until it feels that the time is right to take it out, the consequences will be disastrous.