Chapter 89: A group of extraordinary talents from all over the world gathered together, and the deadly situation was actually broken?

If it were someone else, they might dismiss Hai Rui's words with disdain.

But Liu Fu, a modern man, had received far more ideas than these ancient people, and immediately replied to Hai Rui:

"Let me try to say a few points. Everyone here, including the students of Ocean University, might as well listen to what I'm saying and see if I'm right. Then we can all correct my mistakes together, how about that?"

Upon hearing Liu Fu's words, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui exchanged a smile and nodded.

In their view, Liu Fu actually said that, openly asking everyone to point out his mistakes.

This is reminiscent of Emperor Taizong's humbly accepting advice, and it seems as if he has encountered a wise ruler.

Liu Fu ordered his men to unfold a map of the entire Later Han Dynasty and addressed the crowd:

"Liaodong is located northeast of the Later Han Dynasty, and it is adjacent to the Later Jin Dynasty. The Later Jin Dynasty is said to have more than 400,000 strong men, and its cavalry is second only to the Liao Dynasty. With such a powerful enemy on our north side, the simplest point is that we cannot even resist the invasion of the Later Jin Dynasty. If our vassal state is not peaceful, how can we talk about governing the country?"

Liu Fu smiled slightly:

"Lord Hai, is what I have said one of your concerns?"

After Liu Fu finished speaking, Zhuge Liang and Xun Yu, who were standing beside him, both cast admiring glances at him.

Hai Rui nodded as well:

"Your Majesty is right."

"I discussed this with Prime Minister Zhuge, Vice Prime Minister Xun, Vice Prime Minister Xiao He, and several others. We all agreed that in Liaodong today, we must first resolve the external threats before we can resolve the internal threats. If we cannot even eliminate the external threats, what is the point of our hard work in governing the people?"

"The Later Jin cavalry only needed to march south once to burn, kill, and plunder, destroying the wealth we had accumulated over the years. Therefore, we must resolve this external threat no matter what."

Liu Fu nodded:

"Dear Hai Da, there is no need to worry about external threats."

"oh?"

Upon hearing Liu Fu's words, everyone cast strange glances at him in surprise.

Among them, Zhuge Liang and Xun Yu were particularly prominent. The rest of the court officials were all civil officials, and even Xiao He was responsible for rear defense.

Secondly, there was Xun Yu, who repeatedly defended Xuchang while serving under Cao Cao and had some experience in military affairs.

In addition, as the Chancellor of Shu Han, Zhuge Liang launched several campaigns against Wei, using offense as defense, and was also enshrined in the Temple of Martial Arts. Even when he heard Liu Fu's words, he was greatly surprised.

"Why does my lord feel that there are no external threats?"

Kongming then said:

“Liang has already investigated the population of the entire Later Han Dynasty, which is just over ten million. Of these, less than 30% are able-bodied men. The population of Liaodong is 1.26 million, of which less than 300,000 are able-bodied men, accounting for only one-fifth of the total population of Liaodong. This is even worse than the population situation of the entire Later Han Dynasty.”

Xun Yu also cited the same example:

"Half of them are old, weak, sick, or disabled, followed by women and children, with the fewest being able-bodied men. Even if all the able-bodied men in Liaodong were recruited, there would only be a little over 200,000 new soldiers. Meanwhile, the Later Jin's 400,000 cavalry are all veterans who have fought for many years. Their combat experience is far superior to ours, and their strength far surpasses ours. Even if we use these new soldiers to hold the strategic passes, all the able-bodied men in the civilian population will be conscripted into the army, which will inevitably lead to widespread resentment among the people. Moreover, if this happens, who will cultivate the land? Who will harvest the grain? Who will support the old, weak, sick, and disabled?"

Xun Yu then bowed deeply and said:

"Your Excellency should reconsider. In my opinion, this is a dead end."

Liu Fu was taken aback when he heard the words of these extraordinary individuals.

But he didn't reveal his hand to them; instead, he wanted to test what clever ideas these people had.

Liu Fu knew beforehand that this was a dead end, and if he hadn't had the cheat code and the system, he would never have been able to solve this mess.

I'd like to know how these geniuses would get things done without using cheat codes?

Liu Fuyi humbly sought advice, and Zhuge Liang stepped forward at this moment:

"The situation in Liaodong, including the current situation and problems facing the entire Later Han Dynasty, is primarily a population issue."

Kongming lightly tapped several locations on the map with his feather fan and said:

"The population needs to reproduce, but this process takes a long time and is extremely difficult to recover in less than 40 or 50 years. Therefore, the first priority should be to expand the population in order to solve the problem."

"There are barbarian tribes in Dongshan, scaled people in Donghai, and seventy-two barbarian caves in the southwest. Does my lord have any interest in them?"

Liu Fu was taken aback and immediately pressed for an answer:

"Prime Minister, please tell me how to handle this matter?"

Kongming only said two words:

"Localize it!"

"The barbarians have long lived in the mountains and forests and are not civilized. However, there are also enlightened and civilized people among them. Since they are all human, they naturally know that cooked delicacies are better than eating raw meat, and silk and satin are better than walking naked in the forest. What the Later Han Dynasty should do is to Sinicize these barbarians, not to try to exterminate them. If we keep exterminating them and causing bloodshed, the barbarians' hatred for the Han people will only increase."

“Regularly prepare cooked food for the barbarians, or even just give them a few coarse clothes or some life-saving medicine. This will show goodwill to the barbarians, and they will gradually become friendly to the Han people. Then, we can select the enlightened barbarians, trade with them, teach them to farm and read, and assimilate them into Han culture. After that, we can hire the strong barbarians to serve as Han soldiers to guard the border. In this way, the problem of the Later Han Dynasty not having enough soldiers can be solved. It will take about three to five years to assimilate the barbarians into Han culture. With barbarians guarding the border, the remaining Han men can engage in farming and production at home, and thus reproduce and thrive.”

Zhuge Liang's words truly shocked Liu Fu to the ground!

He suddenly remembered that this guy captured and released Meng Huo seven times, conquering the southern barbarians. Even in the 21st century on Earth, there are still many people in the southwest who commemorate this prime minister of Shu Han. Museums still have many inventions and creations that Zhuge Liang taught to the barbarians back then.

"Truly worthy of being called the greatest prime minister of all time!"

Liu Fu couldn't help but give a thumbs up in praise.

Xiao He then said:

"Kongming's strategy is excellent. During this three-to-five-year buffer period of Sinicization, the Later Han can first show weakness and send some gold and silver to the Liao and Jin states every year to show goodwill. It can also conduct a few short-term marriage alliances to stabilize relations first. Once the barbarian troops arrive, the natural barrier can be used to stabilize the situation and then plan for development!"

Xiao He's words were actually correct. Even powerful emperors like Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang made peace through marriage alliances. Temporary show of weakness was for better development in the future.

At this moment, Xun Yu also stepped forward, cupped his hands to Liu Fu, and said:

"My lord, please see, the shortage of men is not a big problem. The territory of the Later Han Dynasty is vast. We can abandon the Liaodong region and rely on a few strategic mountains for defense. The Liao and Later Jin people will not cultivate the abandoned land, so it will only be temporarily barren. However, after we retreat and shrink back, the defensive line will be mostly mountainous, and the Liao and Jin cavalry will be useless. Only a small number of troops are needed to guard against their invasion. At this time, we can start to develop steadily, build water conservancy projects, and produce goods to sell to the Liao and Jin. We can then make money from them and then turn around and attack them."

"Within ten years, the Later Han will be able to recover. At that time, we will be able to lead the barbarian troops to recover lost territory and fight against the Liao and Jin again. If we have a few famous generals to command the troops, why should we worry about not winning the war and the Later Han not prospering?"

Good heavens!

These people truly deserve to be called geniuses of the world. Liu Fu has really learned a lot today!

However, it seemed unnecessary to go through all that trouble. Liu Fu then opened the Beast Breeding Ranch, allowing everyone to see his precious beasts...