Three Kingdoms: Ancestors of the Han Dynasty

(The map is in this comment, it will be clearer when combined with the map)

In 231 A.D., the fifth year of Taihe, Emperor Wei Cao Rui, the first month, Guanzhong, Beiyuan.

After the great Sima Cao Zhen died of illness, Cao Rui was shocked. The left general Zhang Yun died in battle. The great Sima Cao Zhen died of illness. The governor of Yongliang, according to Xishu.

And the newly appointed governor of Yongliang, Sima Yi, hurried to Guanzhong, gathered all the generals, and said that everything was arranged according to the great Sima Cao Zhen before his death, and there was no change.Due to the urgency of time, Sima Yi didn't even have time to inspect the important passes in Guanzhong by himself, so he could only order the soldiers of various ministries to guard them strictly.

Because there is another important matter that needs to be dealt with urgently by Sima Yi, that is, Guanzhong experienced a year of war, corvee, and floods. There are no fewer than thousands of people.

It's not that civil matters are more critical than military matters in wars, but Sima Yi firmly believes that Cao Wei, a big country, can't stand the three consecutive years of war, let alone the small country of Western Shu, and Liangzhou is not yet peaceful. , In addition, it was winter, and the Wei Dynasty shrank its troops and stood firm on the city.Without three years of savings this time, Zhuge Liang would have difficulty facing the next long-term offensive and defensive battle.

Therefore, Sima Yi slowed down his control of the army for the time being, but dealt with civil affairs first, dispatched cavalry to seal off the passes in the Qinling Mountains, and prevented the people from fleeing. Relief, repair the canals in various places in Guanzhong, and restore production in Guanzhong as soon as possible.

However, Sima Yi himself summoned officials from all over Guanzhong to inspect the water conservancy in many places, hoping to plan a strategy for marching the army.

As a well-known opponent in history, it has to be said that Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang share many of the same ideas, especially in the army.

When he served as the Sima of the old Cao army, he went to Shu and said, "In the past, Chen Mou, Jizi, took food first. Today, there are more than [-] people who do not farm. It is not through the country. Plow and keep."

When he served as the governor of the two prefectures of Jing and Henan, he also ordered the counties and counties to garrison a large number of troops to make the local garrisons self-sufficient as much as possible.

Now Guanzhong is no exception. I will personally inspect the water conservancy and find a suitable place for the army to feed the Guanzhong army. After all, it is too difficult to support tens of thousands of troops in Guanzhong.

There are many canals in Guanzhong, the well-known ones are Zhengguo Canal, Cao Canal, Longshou Canal, Baiqu Canal, and Chengguo Canal. The functions of each canal are quite different.

The Chengguo old canal that Sima Yi visited today was built in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty. The head of the canal is located in the northeast of Mei County.

Sima Yi led dozens of Guanzhong officials behind him and walked on the top of Qishan Mountain overlooking the Guanzhong Plain.

Sima Yi held up his whip and pointed to Mei County on the west side, and said to the people behind him: "Look, everyone, we have traveled all the way from Chencang, and the fields during the journey are all dry land, which is very barren and there are few cultivators. Irrigated by the Chengguo Canal, the water and soil are suitable, and there are many fertile fields.”

As he said that, Sima Yi took the topographic map of Guanzhong, pointed to the area between Sishui and Mei County on it, and said.

"The land in Guanzhong is high in the west and low in the east, so we can draw the Si (sound the same as Qian) water as the water source, extend the Chengguo Canal westward to the vicinity of Chencang, and irrigate the land in between with the Si water, so that thousands of hectares of good farmland can be obtained. Our army Soldiers can station their troops here, they can replenish the government treasury, and they can also support the passes at any time. I wonder what you think?"

Sima Yi has been thinking about expanding the national canal for a long time, and the military station has been used to supplement the country is only the most superficial thinking, but the real purpose is to use this place as a military base, so that it can block the invasion of Western Shu at any time to the west or south.

When Sima Yi arrived in Luoyang to meet Cao Rui, he got Cao Zhen's book "Strategy of Defense against Shu". After reading it on the westward journey, Sima Yi deeply lamented Cao Zhen's deep thinking, and deeply agreed with Cao Zhen's defense strategy of imitating the Western Shu and Hanzhong.

In the current situation in the western region, after Wei lost Liangzhou, he no longer had a view of Longyou. Instead, Xishu owned Longyou, Hanzhong and other places, and carried out two bread-and-butters in Guanzhong. If you want to add Gaoping, you can also Say three bread sandwiches.It can be said that since then, Wei will be at a disadvantage in the west, and defense is more important than offense.

And if you want to defend, it is most important to build a complete defensive system. According to Cao Zhen’s brief introduction to Fangshu, the west side of Guanzhong should first defend the three passages, one is to go south to Chencang along the Li River, and the other is to go south to Chang’an along the Jing River , the last one is the Chencang Wei River.

There is Anding County in the direction of Jingshui, and it can be protected by Fuyi General Guo Huai. Sima Yi also talked with him in person, and it is indeed as Cao Zhen left out, and it can be of great use.The core of the defense on the remaining two roads on the west side is basically near Chencang and Qianshui.

At the same time, Chencang is not only the main point of defense in the west, but also the core of defending the enemy from the Chencang Road in the Qinling Mountains in the south. Another place where troops are stationed is Wugong County.

On the east side of the Qinling Mountains, there are Baoxie Road, Ziwu Valley, and Tangluo Road.Go out of the Baoxie Road to Wuzhangyuan, and Mei County faces Wuzhangyuan across the Weishui River; although the Ziwu Valley Road goes straight to Chang'an, it is difficult to go, and thousands of soldiers can be sent to defend it; out of the Tangluo Road to Manshui, there is the Qin Great Wall At the ruins, Sima Yi wanted to build Luogu Pass on the former site of the Qin Great Wall to stop the enemies on this road.

Baoxie Road and Tangluo Road are not far from each other, and Wugong County is in the middle. It can save Mei County to the west, and support Luogu Pass to the east.

The most important thing is that Wugong County and Chen Cangdao live together on the Wei River, and they can use boats to go up and down to rescue and deliver news.

Therefore, after Sima Yi thought deeply, he extended Chengguo Canal westward to Chencang Reclamation Army Station. At the same time, he could also garrison here to build the northern plains to guard against the enemy on the west side.

Chief Shi Du Xi looked at the topographic map in Sima Yi's hand, nodded slightly, and said, "What the general said may be true."

The official in charge of water conservancy in Guanzhong thought for a while and said: "The general's words are just right for water conservancy, so we can do it."

Sima Yi nodded slightly, and continued to point to the east side of the Chengguo Canal, saying: "The old Chengguo Canal could only flow into the Menglong Canal (near Wugong and Zhouzhi) due to insufficient water. The canal continues to extend eastward to Huaili (now Xingping City), where it flows into the Weishui River."

The water conservancy official glanced at the map. Knowing the topography and water potential near Huaili, he said with confidence, "As the general said, martial arts are not far from Huaili, so we can do it. At the same time, we can reclaim thousands of hectares. Good land can be used as a military station."

The purpose of the east extension is also very simple, to continue to provide food and grass for the soldiers and soldiers defending the east side of the Qinling Mountains.

Sima Yi handed the map to the attendant, thought on his back, and ordered: "Zixu (Du Xizi), I will entrust the matter of Chengguoqu to you and Governor Xu. Before the spring plowing in the first month, the people in Guanzhong will be issued corvée labor." , or use labor instead of relief to expand into a national canal."

"No!" Du Xi replied.

After inspecting the Chengguo Canal, Sima Yi wrote to Wei Emperor Cao Rui, requesting that [-] military households in Jizhou be relocated to Huaili as an army station, to supplement the lost soldiers, practice battles in autumn and winter, and repair fields and mulberries in summer and autumn to prepare for Shu Kou.At the same time, it is requested to move [-] Kanto craftsmen to Jingzhao, set up an equipment workshop, and smelt iron farm tools and weapons.

Wei Emperor Cao Rui naturally agreed, and ordered Du Zhi Shangshu, Sima Fu, Sima Yi's third brother, to be in charge of this matter and coordinate with Sima Yi.

After finishing all this, Sima Yi looked to the south confidently.As long as the grain and grass in Guanzhong are accumulated and Zhuge Liang attacks, and he can't hold out with the grain and grass, Zhuge Liang will naturally retreat because of the lack of food.

Sima Yi can't be blamed for being cowardly, it's just that Guanzhong is so important that he can't make mistakes. Cao Zhen's lesson from the past is right in front of him!