Three Kingdoms: Ancestors of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 332 Cao Zhen died of illness
In the dim night, several oil lamps illuminated the dimly lit room, and the air in the room was filled with an unpleasant smell of herbs.

Cao Zhen's body was withered, his face was pale, and a blanket was draped over his shoulders. He pressed his hands on the table and held a pen in the book.There was still an empty medicine bowl on the table not far away, and there were residual medicine residues in the bowl, emitting residual heat.

Cao Zhen held the pen to write, and looked up at the door in front of him from time to time, his eyes were deep and confused, as if he was caught in some kind of thought.Then he took the map of Guanzhong from the couch, put it on his knees, pointed on it, and muttered to himself.Thoughtfully, he wrote the following, writing a strategy for the defense of Guanzhong.

"Boom! Boom!" There was a knock on the door.

"What's the matter?" Cao Zhen responded softly.

"Great Sima, please see me." A voice came from outside the house and entered.

"Boji (Guo Huai characters), please come in quickly!" Cao Zhen got up according to the table, regardless of the blanket that fell from his shoulders, and drove Guo Huai into the house.

The thin Guo Huai stepped inside, bowed his hands to Cao Zhen, and said hastily: "Huai has met Da Sima, I wish Da Sima well."

Cao Zhen held Guo Huai's hand tightly, smiled with relief on his pale face, and said, "I really feel relieved to see that Boji is healthy!"

Guo Huai showed gratitude, looked at Cao Zhen, and said worriedly: "Thank you, Da Sima, for your concern. I wonder if Da Sima is in good health?"

Cao Zhen pulled Guo Huai into his seat, shook his head, and said bitterly, "I'm not going to hide anything from Boji, I'm afraid I won't live long, and I'm going to die soon."

Guo Huai's expression changed drastically, he held Cao Zhen's fat hand and said, "Did Sima see a doctor?"

Cao Zhen patted the back of Guo Huai's hand, and said: "Doctor Yanzhen, the body is obese, the meridian is blocked, the depression and anger hurt the liver, and the blood often surges up. The evil energy has entered the body, hurting the heart and chest, and it is heart palpitations. It is difficult to cure. .”

When Guo Huai made his debut, he was deeply loved by Wei En, and he joined the army to fight in the northwest. After the Battle of Hanzhong, he has been under Cao Zhen's command, and he is very grateful to Cao Zhen for his respect.Now that I hear about my condition, I can't help feeling sad.

Cao Zhen had already looked away, and said slowly: "The purpose of calling Boji here today is to entrust the army to return to the army. I am really grateful for the kindness of Emperor Wu's upbringing, and the virtue of being promoted by Mengwen Emperor. I want to do my best. , Conquer Western Shu, pacify the world, and rejuvenate the Wei family, but the sky fails to fulfill people's wishes, and it is difficult to serve your majesty."

"Zhuge Liang's cunning use of troops is really incomparable. In the Battle of Longyou, he was trapped in Guanzhong by bait soldiers, and missed a good opportunity for rescue; last year when he attacked Shu, he really couldn't conquer Longyou. Instead, he used Fei Yao by mistake, causing the entire army of ten thousand people to be wiped out. ;This year, Zhuge Liang raided Gaoping City and harvested Wushui Dongmai, so that he handed over the situation of the battle. In addition, he was not aware of it for a while, and lost the battle. In the past three years, he has lost his army, lost his generals, and even lost his country. !"

As he spoke, his eyes were wet with tears, Cao Zhen wiped the corners of his eyes from his cuffs, and said with a nasal voice: "Even General Zhang died in battle, Governor Yang didn't hear about it, overthrew two prefectures, and lost tens of thousands of troops, what shame is there really?" And see Your Majesty!"

Guo Huai's mood was also a little low, Cao really had a fault, so how could he have no fault.I lost to Wei Yan in Huangzhong, which caused Liangzhou to switch from offense to defense, and now Zhuge Liang made his second northern expedition to Liangzhou.However, he led the flanks to attack Xishu, but was the first to lose, his troops were defeated, and the whole army was defeated.

Guo Huai had mixed emotions in his heart, and said in a deep voice: "The battle of Gaoping City was the result of Huai's passing, and the troops were defeated, so that the army was defeated. I implore Da Sima to take responsibility."

Cao Zhen restrained his mood, and after a while, he said: "This battle is not Boji's fault, but Zhang Hu's army went deep alone, acted recklessly, and underestimated Western Shu, which caused serious damage to the heavy cavalry. The Ministry, so that the sergeant broke up. I really said in the memorial, I really asked His Majesty to punish me for my mistake."

When Guo Huai heard the words, he hesitated to speak, but for a moment he didn't know how to thank Cao Zhen for what he had done.

To be honest, this battle was not all due to Zhang Hu's underestimation of the enemy, but it was the first time he encountered Zhuge Liang's magnet array, and he didn't notice it for a while, which led to serious casualties for the heavy cavalry.Of course, Cao Zhen also knew the inside story, and sent people to study this matter after the war, but he was always looking for someone who was responsible, and Zhang Hu, who died in the battle, was the most suitable person.

After all, Zhang Hu was killed in battle, and there is no proof of his death, and Zhang Hu was also the first person to go to the front line, so he can't justify not taking responsibility.

The north wind blows everywhere outside the house, and the night is cold in the northwest.Cao Zhen, who was weak, couldn't help shivering. While talking, he put the blanket that had fallen on the couch over his shoulders, and at the same time handed Guo Huai a memorial that had already been written.

Guo Huai didn't know what it meant, he took it and spread it out for a look, his expression changed.

In the memorandum, Cao Zhen commended Guo Huai again, and said that Guo Huai had a foresight and had advised before the war.Taking retreat as the strategy of advancement, the people of several counties in the east of Liangzhou were moved to Anding County, so that Western Shu would be left without an owner for thousands of miles.At that time, you can advance or retreat, and you will no longer be limited to Xishu...

Cao Zhen rubbed his chest lightly with his right hand to breathe freely, and said: "General Zhang is dead in battle, and Western Shu has become a certainty. Under the current situation, there is really no way to advance. Maybe it won't be long before they will retreat. I really think that Western Shu Occupying Yongzhou and Liangzhou, with Hanzhong as its wings, Guanzhong is in a weak position and faces enemies on many fronts."

"In the short term, my Great Wei should take defense as the best strategy. If we want to defend, we should shrink our troops and guard dangerous places. Please see Boji, the terrain in Guanzhong is high in the north and low in the south. If I were Zhuge Liang, I would first take the north of Guanzhong and be condescending. , and out of Guanzhong. From this point of view, Anding County is an important place."

Cao Zhen took the map of Guanzhong and said, pointing to Anding County in Guanbei.

Guo Huai nodded slowly, agreeing with Cao Zhen's opinion.There are two critical rivers in Guanzhong, namely Weishui and Jingshui.The Wei River originating from Longyou runs through both sides of Guanzhong from east to west and flows into the Yellow River.

The Jingshui originating from Longshan flows into the Weishui from the northwest near Chang'an, and Anding County is the upper reaches of the Jingshui.If the Shu Han is allowed to conquer Anding County, they can go down the river and reach Chang'an, and Guanzhong will basically fall.Therefore, the importance of Anding County is self-evident.

Cao Zhen raised his head to look at Guo Huai, and said in a deep voice: "Therefore, I appointed Boji as the general who conquered Shu, led the prefect of Anding, and also served as the general who Fuyi."

"General Fuyi?" Guo Huai asked with a frown.This is something he didn't see in the memorials. At the same time, Cao Wei never set up the post of General Fuyi, and he didn't know where the Qiang barbarians were under his jurisdiction.

"Exactly. To the north of Guanzhong, Shangjun and other places are now occupied by the Qianghu. If the Western Shu wants to attack the key points, it will definitely use the Qianghu for its own use. If our Great Wei wants to repel the Western Shu, we can only rely on Guanzhong. The people are not good enough, and they still need to use the Qianghu in the north for their own use. When Boji was in Longyou, he was good at forming the heart of the Qiang and Di, so this job must be Boji. I don’t know if Boji dares to take this important task?"

Cao Zhen pointed to the blank space outside the map and said.

Hearing this, Guo Huai's face was serious, and he cupped his hands and replied, "I will definitely live up to Da Sima's trust."

Cao Zhen smiled gratifiedly, and said, "Boji should not lose Wei."

"promise!"

After talking for an unknown amount of time, Guo Huai withdrew as the night darkened.

After Guo Huai left, Cao Zhen never took a break, but wrote at his desk, discussing Cao Wei's next western deployment.

It is pointed out that if Ke Bineng of Xianbei cannot be eradicated, then Cao Wei's west and north lands will never have peace.At the same time, it also focuses on the concept of shrinking the defense line, building the Guanzhong defense line to resist the Shu Han, and moving the people from Xiaoguan, Chaona and other places to the west to go deep into Guanzhong.

From north to bottom in the west, Wuzhi, Huating, Qianxian, and Chencang are the defense lines, while Chencang, Meixian, and Duxian are the main points in the south.Deploy heavy troops in key places such as Guanzhong, and send troops to help them when the enemy attacks, so that they can be safe and peaceful if they stick to it.

And build a beacon tower on the north side of the roads in Hanzhong to prevent the Shu Han from attacking.

……

In the early morning, Cao Zhen just put down his pen on the case, and let out a long breath.

Just as he was about to sort out the memorandum on the case, suddenly there was a huge pain in his chest, and he fell on the case in a cold sweat.

Cao Zhen still wanted to make a sound, but he couldn't at all, so he could only pick up his pen again with difficulty, and wrote the words "Fang Shu Zhilue" crookedly on the memorial.

"thump!"

Cao Zhen couldn't hold on any longer, his obese body was pressed on the case, the case almost overturned, and the belongings were scattered on the ground.The pitch-black ink was poured all over the ground, and the white towels were all blackened.

Only a few memorials were firmly held by Cao Zhen in his left hand, while his right hand was holding the brush tightly, and he fell to the ground with a blue face, muttering: "I'm so ashamed!"

The guards outside the door heard the change in the house, and shouted 'Da Sima' a few times, but Cao Zhen didn't respond.

Everyone looked at each other and pushed open the door, only to see Da Sima lying on the cold ground, calling for the doctor hastily.

Not long after, the crowd flocked.The doctor came out of the room, sighed, and shook his head.

Grand Sima Cao Zhen died of illness!
The next day, the whole army was in plain sight.

(End of this chapter)