Liu Bowen naturally knew what Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking.
But what else could he do now that things had come to this? He could only continue to comfort Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, the situation is far not as bad as you think."
"Although Xu Da was defeated, the troops under Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min will be greatly weakened after this battle."
"And Zhang Dingbian, who is behind us, only has 120,000 to 130,000 soldiers under his command."
"But we still have 200,000 soldiers and horses in our hands, not counting the scattered soldiers in various prefectures, counties and government offices. As long as we can advance step by step, we will definitely be able to turn the tables."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Sir, please don't comfort me anymore."
"I know the situation better than you. If the battlefield was still in the north, on Zhang Wuji's territory, we might still have a chance of winning, but now, all the main battlefields are in our territory."
"In recent months, people's livelihood, economy, and farming have all been greatly affected. If we continue to fight like this, our disadvantage will only get bigger and bigger."
"It will become increasingly difficult to supply our 200,000-strong army."
Not far away, Li Wenzhong said: "Your Majesty, no matter how difficult our supply is, it will be much easier than Zhang Wuji's. If we fight on our home turf, many of our things will be destroyed, and our logistical supplies may also be affected, but it is indeed Zhang Wuji who will be more affected."
"After all, we are fighting on our home soil, while Zhang Wuji is on an expedition. Moreover, the cult leader has fought from the northernmost part to the southernmost part, and it is difficult for him to replenish his troops and food supplies."
Similarly, Tang He, who had also asked for food from Zhu Yuanzhang, said: "General Li's words make sense."
"However, I think that the problem of food and wages is much easier for Zhang Wuji to solve than us. After all, Jiangnan is not Zhang Wuji's territory. If he is short of food and wages, he can rob them without any scruples. Anyway, they are not his own things, so he will rob them without any scruples."
"However, the issue of manpower is Zhang Wuji's Achilles' heel."
"Even though we suffered a great defeat, after all, the south is also our territory. We can recruit troops much faster than Zhang Wuji."
Liu Bowen said: "General Tang is right. What we need to do now is to avoid another big battle with Zhang Wuji."
"Zhang Wuji has come from afar and is surrounded by many experts. Otherwise, how could General Xu and the three generals be captured?"
"And at this moment, Zhang Wuji is probably thinking about having another decisive battle with us, and what we have to do now is to delay it."
"If we delay for another year or two, even if there are no good opportunities for battle, we can slowly wear down the enemy forces. At the very least, we can force Zhang Wuji to retreat."
After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's sad eyes seemed to light up again.
"Sir, what you said makes sense. We can't fight Zhang Wuji anymore at this moment. Pass the order down and let all the county and government offices in our territory close the city gates and defend them to the death. If Zhang Wuji attacks the city, we can only defend the city and fight to the death. We must never leave the city. Zhang Wuji doesn't have many soldiers and horses left. Even if I consume a little bit, I can consume him completely."
"As for us, let's rest here for a day, then turn around and direct our troops towards Zhang Dingbian behind us."
"Zhang Dingbian's troops are much easier to deal with than Zhang Wuji's. They have been fighting in Jiangnan for a long time. We only need one or two small victories to crush their morale."
"Proceed steadily and cautiously at every step."
"First, we need to exhaust Zhang Dingbian. As long as Zhang Dingbian suffers one or two slightly bigger defeats, then even if we cannot defeat Zhang Wuji, we can force him to retreat."
…
Liu Bowen, Tang He, Li Wenzhong and others all thought Zhu Yuanzhang's arrangement was good. Or, as long as Zhu Yuanzhang didn't go crazy and kill Zhang Wuji, they were already satisfied.
That night, Zhou Zhiruo was still the one who personally cooked and prepared meals for Zhang Wuji and the other girls.
This is making the best use of everything. It is not wartime now, and the situation has been relatively quiet in recent days. Since Fuzhou has just been captured, it is impossible to find a very good chef. Even if they find one, they may not dare to use him. In this way, the only one left is Zhou Zhiruo who can be made full use of.
With Li Yao helping in the kitchen, Zhou Zhiruo opened three stoves together. The speed was so fast that it was dazzling. In less than a quarter of an hour, she had prepared six large dishes of hot dishes.
For an emperor, six dishes for dinner may be a little too few, but it also depends on who made them.
After a while, the girls accompanied Zhang Wuji to have dinner.
At this moment, Yu Fei started to eat voraciously. She was so exhausted last night that she was too lazy to get up for meals all day. If she hadn't been so hungry at night, she would probably still be too lazy to get up.
"Sister Zhou, the food you cook is so delicious. It seems like we sisters haven't had a good chat for a long time. Come to my room tonight. I want to have a good talk with you."
Zhou Zhiruo was a little surprised: "Sister, what do you mean by saying this? Aren't we together every day?"
Although Zhou Zhiruo said this, when she looked at Yu Fei, she found that Yu Fei was also looking at her meaningfully.
They are all sisters, she knows very well what kind of person they are. She can guess the dirty thoughts in her mind with just one look.
However, even if it was dirty, Zhou Zhiruo endured it. It didn't matter if it was just me coming to find you tonight. Some things might seem embarrassing the first time, but after the first time, you won't feel embarrassed anymore.
After thinking about this, Zhou Zhiruo changed the subject: "Okay, since sister wants to chat with me, I will prepare a pot of good wine and come to you tonight, and we will drink and chat."
The two of them thought that they had hidden the meaning of their words very deeply, but just as Zhou Zhiruo had just thought in her heart, they were all thousand-year-old foxes and could know what the other was thinking with just one look.
It’s just that all the women saw through it but didn’t say anything.
Those who saw through everything but didn't speak out naturally included Zhao Min, but she chose to remain silent. After all, she was still eating the food made by Zhou Zhiruo. If she spoke harshly to her now, she would probably not be able to eat her meal.
…
After dinner, Zhang Wuji first came to Yu Fei's room cautiously.
His sneaky look is a bit funny, but sometimes, it is more interesting to do legitimate things secretly.
As for Yu Fei, although she knew that these embarrassing things could not be hidden from Zhao Linger and the others, what could she do? Just thinking about it made her feel excited, so she had to try it.
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