Three Kingdoms: Ancestors of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 272
It was deep winter, there was heavy snow outside the palace, and the north wind howled, and in a short while the outside of the palace was covered with white snow.The four bronze stoves in the hall were burning vigorously, and the orange flames reflected the corners of the hall red.

Seeing that Wu Zhi was still in deep thought, Cao Rui continued: "Sikong (Chen Qun) thought that Sun Quan had attacked Hefei many times in the past ten years but failed. It is better to maintain the status quo if there is too much corvée, or the gain outweighs the loss.”

Wu Zhi frowned slightly, looked up at Cao Rui, clasped his hands and asked solemnly: "I dare to ask Your Majesty, do you agree with General Zhengdong (Man Chong)'s words?"

Cao Rui hesitated for a while, and said, "I think what the general (Jiang Ji) said is very reasonable."

After a pause, Cao Rui added: "Liu Shizhong (Liu Ye) also agrees with my words."

Wu Zhi closed Man Chong's memorial, thought for a while, and asked, "Since your majesty has made a plan, why do you ask the minister's opinion?"

Cao Rui showed hesitation, and said: "In terms of military strategy, what General Zhengdong said is also reasonable, so it is difficult for me to make a decision. I want to hear Wu Qing's opinion."

Wu Zhi sneered, and said: "The generals of the guards have a superficial view. Wei is strong and Wu is weak. This is a fixed number. How can it be changed? Building new cities in danger, destroying old cities to show the enemy's weakness, this is the essence of the art of war. Shu general Huo Yi It is in line with this way to use the strategy of luring the enemy to go deep and go around and cut off Feiyao's army rations."

"In the past, Soochow attacked Hefei several times. Every time our army came to rescue, it was difficult to stop because of the advantage of the navy. But now it shows the enemy's weakness and lures Soochow to go deep into our country. At that time, our army can be elite. If the cavalry rushed to the rescue, they would be able to cut off the way of the Eastern Wu army."

Speaking of this, Wu Zhi laughed a few times, and continued: "The soldiers of the Eastern Wu are short of fighting in battle. If they dare to fight our army in the field, they will be humiliating themselves."

Cao Rui tapped on the desk, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Wu Qing intends to agree with General Zhengdong's words to build Hefei City?"

Wu Zhi looked at Cao Rui on the steps, cupped his hands and asked, "May I ask, Your Majesty, should our country now want to defend from the west or attack from the west?"

Hearing this, Cao Rui didn't know what to do. After a long silence, he said, "Before, our intention was to defend against Western Shu in the west and attack Eastern Wu in the south. Now..."

Although I didn't say anything later, I basically knew that Cao Rui was in a tangled situation.

Before the Northern Expedition of the Great Han Dynasty, Cao Rui and his cronies made a national policy of defending from the west and attacking from the east. However, following Zhuge Liang’s successful attack on Long, Cao Rui listened to the words of the Great Sima Cao Zhen and temporarily changed it to attacking the Han from the west and recapturing Longyou; .

But with the defeat of Cao Zhen, the army lost [-] soldiers, overthrew the army of one state, and the strategy of seizing Longyou in the west was completely shattered. Now Cao Wei really doesn't know which plan to implement. It seems that the east and west lines are defending.

Wu Zhi seemed to see Cao Rui's predicament, and said slowly: "Your Majesty, the situation in the world is not conducive to our Great Wei. We have lost troops and generals over the past few years, and now we should think about ways to break the situation."

Hearing this, Cao Rui cheered up and asked, "Wu Qing has a plan to offer peace to the country."

Wu Zhi straightened his back, with a solemn expression, and said: "I am deeply favored by the late emperor. Your majesty, as the post of assistant minister, ordered you to enter the court. How dare you not offer your majesty the strategy of peace."

Cao Rui straightened his clothes slightly, raised his hand and said, "I am all ears, Wu Qing, please speak."

Wu Zhi caressed his beard and thought for a while, and said: "Your Majesty, there are two strategies for stabilizing the country, one is to use good ministers and capable officials inside to curb the wind of vanity and falsehood; the other is to station troops outside to show the enemy that they are weak."

"Can you tell me in detail?" Cao Rui asked curiously.

Wu Zhi sorted out his thoughts, and said slowly: "There are many domestic officials who are vain and false, and they are often motivated by profit. They are eager to get rich and powerful, and they are hard to reuse. If they are used, they will harm the country. Your Majesty should restrain them and not hire them. Bi Gui, Deng Yang, Li Sheng, Ding Mi and others."

Wu Zhi glanced at Cao Rui, saw his face agreeing, and continued: "Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of the Western Shu Kingdom, watched him, and he did the administration himself. Although my Great Wei Sikong has the name of the Prime Minister, it is difficult to take on great responsibilities, and he has no talent for the Prime Minister. Moreover, he is in an important position, but he does not personally engage in political affairs. Your Majesty should reprimand, promote and reuse capable officials, and give them important tasks."

Cao Rui nodded slightly, and asked earnestly: "Your words are reasonable, but Chen Sikong is overwhelmed by the heavy responsibility. I don't know who can be an important minister in the country?"

"I think that the general (Sima Yi) can be the minister of the country, and the general is the important minister of the late emperor (Cao Pi). When the late emperor went out to fight, he would leave the general to manage the affairs of the country. When the late emperor went to the east, the general Fujun would be the general manager of the western affairs. ;The first emperor went to the west, and the general Fujun was in charge of the east."

Wu Zhi said with a serious face, talking eloquently.

"The Great General is the late Emperor Jian Ba, who left His Majesty behind. His loyalty and wisdom are supreme, and he is the minister of the country. Your Majesty can entrust important affairs to the Great General in the future!"

Cao Rui nodded slowly, approvingly said: "As Wu Qing said, the general is a loyal minister of the Wei Dynasty and should be reused. Although Sikong is a great talent, he often talks in empty talk rather than doing it himself."

"Your Majesty can persuade farmers to cultivate during the farming season to show His Majesty's respect for agriculture." Wu Zhi continued.

"Good!" Cao Rui said.

"As for the military, I think that Western Shu and Eastern Wu have their own dangers, and it is difficult to rush down. It is better to send important officials to guard the border, repair the city, show the enemy's weakness, let the enemy attack, and consume its national strength. Wait for recuperation, 20 years Afterwards, the population of the Central Plains will prosper, and the population will double that of Shu and Wu, and if we attack again with a large army, the world will be at peace.”

Wu Senqing was passionate, and he stated his strategy to stabilize the country, and said.

"For example, the Northwest is dominated by the Great Sima, supplemented by the Right General (Zhang Yun), who is ordered to guard the dangerous point with heavy troops, and Zhuge Liang raises his troops to attack, consuming the national power of Western Shu; Jingzhou is dominated by the Great General, who rescues the states and prevents Lu Xun from going north; Jianghuai took General Zhengdong as the commander, listened to his words, repaired the new city of Hefei, showed the enemy's weakness, lured the Eastern Wu to invade, looked for a good opportunity to fight, and smashed it."

Cao Rui listened attentively, pondered for a while, and asked: "To defend Eastern Wu, our army can defend Hefei and Xiangyang. I don't know where to defend Western Shu. At present, Zhuge Liang wants to raise troops to invade Liangzhou. I don't know what to do?"

Wu Zhi stroked his beard and pondered, and said: "As far as the current situation in the northwest is concerned, one or two places can be stable, especially Liangzhou is thousands of miles away from Luoyang, so it is difficult to guard. We should adapt to local conditions, and look at Da Sima. , How the right general arranges the military."

After a pause, Wu Zhi said, "If your Majesty is not afraid of the rumors, you may imitate Emperor Wu and move the people from Hanzhong to Guanzhong. If there are no people in Liangzhou, it will be useless for Western Shu to gain."

Hearing this, Cao Rui showed displeasure, and said: "Abandoning Liangzhou is definitely not feasible. The northwest has already lost Longyou. If Liangzhou is abandoned again, people in the world will treat me like this."

Wu Zhi didn't say any more, and said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty forgives me for making a mistake."

Cao Rui waved his hand and said, "Your words should not be spoken to the outside world."

"Remember!" Wu Zhi respectfully replied.

Cao Rui sighed slightly, with his military vision, how could he not know the current situation in the northwest.Western Shu has the upper hand, and Cao Wei is on the defensive.

Not long after Liangzhou regained its borders, and after the Hexi Rebellion a few years ago, Cao Wei was afraid to further rectify Liangzhou's powerful and noble families. Now it is very difficult to defend against the invasion of the Shu Han!
Abandoning Liang and moving the people into Guanzhong, when the Shu Han seized Liang, it would be useless to face the thousands of miles of unowned land that Cao Wei gave up.

Although the plan is good, it is not suitable for me!

Cao Rui can only place his expectations on Cao Zhen and Zhang He now, hoping that they can hold Liangzhou at a disadvantage.

Interestingly, Sima Shi got engaged to Wu Zhi's daughter three months later.

(End of this chapter)