Chapter 585: The plan is good, but it underestimates Gao Yao!

Chapter 585: The plan is good, but it underestimates Gao Yao!

"How long do you think it will take for 150,000 tons of food and 20,000 war horses to reach your hands?"

Zheng Lu looked at Wu Rui seriously, as if waiting for his answer.

Wu Rui pondered for a moment, then said slowly: "I'm afraid we'll have to wait and see how far this battle will go." His voice was low and firm, as if he had already thought deeply about this issue.

Zheng Lu nodded, indicating that he understood Wu Rui's point of view. He continued, "That's it. Your Majesty, do you think that the benefits we will gain from the alliance with Gao Yao are greater, or the 150,000 grain and 20,000 war horses?"

Wu Rui frowned slightly, thought for a moment and replied: "This... is naturally the former." There was a hint of helplessness in his tone. It was obvious that he was not very satisfied with the answer, but he could not refute it.

Zheng Lu smiled slightly, as if he had expected Wu Rui to answer like this. He continued, "Your Majesty is wise. Although these 150,000 grains and fodders seem to be free, in fact, the cycle of these 150,000 grains and fodders is too long. It can even be said that as long as we do not go to war with Gao Yao, these grains and fodders will not reach us."

"On the other hand, as for opening up trade with Gaoyao, there have actually been a lot of trade exchanges before. However, these trade exchanges were basically carried out by caravans. The key is that Gaoyao does not restrict important materials such as grain, salt, and iron. This will undoubtedly greatly meet the needs of our army. Even if it is only for a short period of time of a year or two, we can stockpile a large amount of war supplies. The benefits of this are really innumerable!" Zheng Lu expressed his biggest idea without reservation.

When hearing what Zheng Lu said, although it was true in theory, it was probably not that simple. Wu Rui also pointed out bluntly: "But if we do this, we will definitely offend the other three families. Then, how should we deal with it?"

Wu Rui's worries are not unreasonable. After all, an alliance with Gao Yao may cause dissatisfaction and resentment from other forces.

Zheng Lu had obviously anticipated that Wu Rui would have such concerns. He smiled slightly and explained, "This is why I proposed to inform the other three families about the alliance with Gao Yao. Gao Yao can do business with the king, so can't the king do business with the King of Chu, the King of Wei and others?" What he meant was that by publicly announcing the alliance with Gao Yao and showing equal trade opportunities to other forces, perhaps unnecessary trouble could be avoided.

At this moment, Zheng Lu's mouth curled up with a smile, and he gently reminded Wu Rui, as if he was waking up a sleeping person. After Wu Rui heard Zheng Lu's words, his eyes suddenly lit up, as if he was struck by lightning, and he instantly understood the deep meaning of Zheng Lu's words.

If Gao Yao wants to do business with me, then I can do the opposite and do business with the King of Chu and the King of Wei! Moreover, the materials involved in these businesses are very scarce, and both the King of Chu and the King of Wei are in urgent need of these materials. In this way, not only do I not have to go to war, but I can also gain huge benefits from it. Isn't this a good thing to kill two birds with one stone?

Just when Wu Rui was very excited, Zhou Ke poured cold water on him. He frowned and said worriedly, "But this still can't solve the problem of Hanzhong! If Gao Yao forcibly seizes Hanzhong, what should we do? At that time, if Gao Yao breaks the alliance, how should we deal with it?"

Zhou Ke's question was like a heavy hammer, hitting Wu Rui's heart hard. Indeed, even if the method Zheng Lu said was feasible, it was probably just Gao Yao's delaying tactic. Once Hanzhong was lost, Nanjun would probably still be in an extremely dangerous situation.

"It's not difficult to properly resolve this matter. After all, this will successfully divert Gao Yao's attention away from us. Therefore, we only need to make adequate preparations in advance and arrange for the King of Chu and the King of Wei to go to support Wang Ben."

"If Gao Yao is really determined to capture Hanzhong, he will need to mobilize at least 150,000 troops to succeed. When the battle between the two sides reaches a certain level, we can take the opportunity to bypass Gao Yao's rear and launch a surprise attack."

"In this way, Your Majesty will be in a favorable situation where you can attack or defend. As for the so-called permanent covenant, everyone knows that it is just a cover. It's just a matter of seeing who tears the paper first."

"As long as our plan is thorough enough, we can not only work together with the King of Chu, the King of Wei and Wang Ben to set a trap for Gao Yao and put him in a dilemma of being attacked from both sides, but if everything goes well, we may even be able to seize several counties such as Bashu, Dongting and Cangwu in one fell swoop, thereby completely suppressing Gao Yao's power. Therefore, I think, Your Majesty, we should sign this alliance..."

"To put it another way, Gao Yao offered such generous conditions, but we turned a deaf ear to them. Once the news spreads and reaches the ears of the King of Chu and the King of Wei, I'm afraid that even if they don't say anything on the surface, they may still be suspicious of the king in secret."

Zheng Lu also explained his idea, and this was not just a plan, but a relatively large plan, even taking into account the subsequent matters. If everything went well, the biggest beneficiary would definitely be Wu Rui, there was no doubt about that.

Of course, Zhou Ke's worries were not without reason. Even after Zheng Lu told him about his plan, Zhou Ke still thought that Zheng Lu's plan was a bit too idealistic. The premise for the success of Zheng Lu's plan was that Gao Yao was unable to discover all this possibility.

But Zhou Ke had done a deep study of Gao Yao, and was very meticulous and careful in his work. He believed that Gao Yao would never make such a mistake, otherwise he would end up losing more than he gained.

And Zhou Ke did not have no idea, he just had no way to explain it, that is, surrender. In Zhou Ke's opinion, the more he studied Gao Yao, the more difficult it would be to defeat him. The foundation of the Southern Territory was too strong. If they really fought a protracted war, the foundation of several princes combined would not be as strong as Gao Yao. Gao Yao was fully capable of directly dragging down these four families.

But Zhou Ke was Wu Rui's subject after all, so there were some things he couldn't say casually. This was also the most basic truth. No matter which method was used to deal with Gao Yao, in Zhou Ke's opinion, as long as Gao Yao didn't really seek death, Wu Rui's chance of winning was very low, and Zheng Lu's plan just sounded good.