Three Kingdoms: Ancestors of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 551

It's night, the cold wind is blowing gradually, the cold moon is like a hook, the clear light is shining on the ground, and the shadows of the trees are swaying.

Pan Jun carried a lantern in his hand and walked in the cold. Before going to sleep, he heard the strong wind outside the window, and couldn't stop thinking about the Privy Hall, so he got up at night to take a look.

The hub is the central place; the secret is the secret of the country.At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the palace was dilapidated and there was no office space. Liu Chan deliberately gave up a side hall in Weiyang Palace for ministers to live in, and evacuated a side hall to use as an office. The place of government affairs is called: Zhongshu Hall; Said: Privy Hall.

After Zhuge Liang settled in Guanzhong, he continued to use this place without any changes.

After walking a few steps, I saw the dimly lit lights in the Privy Council Hall, and a familiar figure walking through the window.Pan Jun pushed open the lightly covered door and asked, "But the prime minister?"

Holding an oil lamp, Zhuge Liang turned around and saw that it was Pan Jun, his partner for many years, and said with a smile, "Chengming hasn't fallen asleep yet?"

Pan Jun picked up the lantern, shook his head, and said, "It's windy tonight. Before going to bed, I was worried that the windows in the hall were not tight enough. A strong wind would blow into the hall and damage the official documents, so I came here to check."

Zhuge Liang put down the oil lamp, and said with a smile: "Chengming is still an old problem, worrying about nothing."

Seeing that Zhuge Liang was thinking about military affairs, Pan Jun deliberately lit the lamps in the hall, and said with emotion: "It is inevitable to be old. I am always worried that something is not done well and something went wrong. How is the Prime Minister's health recently?"

The autumn in Guanzhong is getting colder, Zhuge Liang is getting older and lacks energy. He contracted a cold last month and has just recovered.

Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "It is inevitable for people to suffer from illness, but it is just a cold, and it can be cured by taking a few patches of medicine. The most troublesome thing now is to re-adjust the deployment, how to conquer the Wei Dynasty next year."

Because before, Sun Quan asked the big Han to send troops to Jingbei, thinking that he would cooperate with Soochow's attack.When Zhuge Liang was discussing the Eastern Expedition, he left a group of soldiers and horses out of Wuguan as bait soldiers.Unexpectedly, Sun Quan changed the direction of attack because of Wenqin's surrender, so the big man could only cancel his plan to send troops out of Wuguan and readjust his deployment.

Pan Jun looked at the map of Hedong and complained. "Old thief Sima is cautious. He has built a city in the east of the river and stored more grain and grass. He has no intention of fighting our army."

Sima Yi vigorously repaired the four cities of Puban, Fenyin, Pishi, and Anyi in Hedong. Puban pinched Pubanjin, Pishi contained Longmenjin, and Fenyin controlled Fenyindu.As the governor of Hedong County, Anyi can support the cities of Hedong in all directions.At the same time, he was repairing the city in Tongguan, with the intention of letting the big man fight, but he would not be able to avoid the battle.

The tortoise shell that Sima Yi built this time is far stronger than the tortoise shell that he built in Guanzhong.Since the Han Dynasty has Hanzhong, Longyou, and Liangzhou, it has already half surrounded Guanzhong geographically.Of the dangers of the four fortresses in Guanzhong, only the Yellow River and Tongguan are left. Such fortifications are inherently deformed.

When Li Yuan entered Guanzhong, he was also at a disadvantage when facing Xue Ju, who occupied the advantageous location in Longyou.If it weren't for Li Shimin's battle of Qianshuiyuan, Li Yuan would basically have to go back to Taiyuan.

The east side is different. The east side has the danger of the Yellow River, and Fenglingdu on the side is guarded by Tongguan, and only the west side is exposed to the big man's attack.If there is no shortage of food and grass, and the defenders do not fight, it will be very difficult for the big man to capture it, unless Sima Yi's deployment is wrong.

Zhuge Liang tapped Tongguan on the map, and said: "Tongguan is in the hands of Sima Yi, and it is like a sharp sword against my throat in Guanzhong. My big man can only deploy soldiers to defend here, but there is nothing we can do about it!"

Hantongguan was built on the loess plateau, instead of Tongguan in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, which was moved northward to the plateau due to the erosion of the river by the Yellow River hundreds of years later.Its terrain is steep, there is a forbidden valley in the southeast, the surrounding peaks are connected, the valley is deep and the cliff is steep, the mountain is high and the road is narrow, and there is a narrow narrow path in the middle, which can only accommodate one car and one horse.

Even if the big man wants to deploy heavy troops to attack Tongguan, it is difficult to use it due to the terrain, and Cao Wei's arrangement of thousands of people is enough to stop the attack of tens of thousands of big men.Therefore, Cao Wei's possession of Tongguan is equivalent to having the key to open the pass of the big man, and he can attack at any time, but the big man has to deploy heavy troops to guard it.

Pan Jun pondered for a while, and asked, "This time, how does the Prime Minister want to attack the East?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said, "It's not decided yet, we still need to think about it for a few days."

"The sky is dry and things are dry, be careful with candles~"

The voice of a watchman came from the dark night, breaking the conversation between the two.

Seeing that it was late, Zhuge Liang said, "It's late at night, Cheng Ming might as well rest early. Tomorrow there will be military and political affairs."

Pan Jun was also a little sleepy, yawned, and said, "Isn't Kong Ming leaving?"

"Your Majesty didn't reply to the letter, so leave after writing." Zhuge Liang pointed to the scarf placed on the table, and said.

"Good, Kong Ming should put his body first and rest as soon as possible."

After speaking, Pan Jun bowed his hands and returned to the room first.

Zhuge Liang stared at the map for a while, then sat back on the couch, holding a pen and ink, and was about to write.For some reason, Zhuge Liang sighed again.

Staring at the flickering lights, it didn't take long for Zhuge Liang to write a letter again.

"Your Majesty's enterprising heart is well known to all ministers. There are ministers in the court, so please be at ease. Since your Majesty pacified Guanzhong and the ministers have been in charge in Guanzhong, Liu Ba, Yang Qun, Ma Yu, and Ding Li have died in the middle of the year. , Bai Shou, Liu He, Deng Tong, etc., as well as Qu Chang and more than [-] generals, are all Jingzhou soldiers left by the late emperor."

"Ziyuan (Wu Yi) has been sick since the beginning of autumn, and he is afraid that he will die soon. Therefore, Zijun (Wang Ping) is often appointed to manage the military affairs in Guanzhong. Today, there are six out of fifty ministers, and next year there will be seven. .Chengming's idiot chief minister is three years old and will be sixty years old. Ji Chang's junior minister is six years old and will be fifty years old. There are fewer and fewer people who advance and retreat with the ministers."

……

"The ministers are ashamed of the old age, and the dragon bell is like an old man. Thinking of the country's prosperity in the spring and autumn, the time when I feel that I can help your majesty is getting less and less. The late emperor went on many expeditions, and he taught your majesty flawlessly. , nothing more. "I ordered the minister to write Shen, Han, Guanzi, and Liutao to His Majesty, so I personally taught them."

While writing, tears welled up in the corners of Zhuge Liang's eyes, he raised his head a little to ease his emotions, and lowered his head to continue writing the letter.

"When Emperor Baidi passed away, Your Majesty was still very smart when he was young, and served his ministers like a father. At that time, Yizhou was exhausted, and powerful enemies peeked at it. Every time I remember, I feel that it was difficult at that time. Fortunately, Your Majesty has the gift of heaven. , Higher than the Tai and Shi Erzu, the three prosperity of the Han Dynasty is just around the corner. Now that I can still wear armor and go on expeditions, I am not slow in thinking, so I should do my best for your majesty.”

……

At the end of writing, Zhuge Liang stopped writing for a long time and wrote.

"The minister is old, and his thoughts are confused. The words he said are afraid of contradicting the actions of the minister. If your majesty is displeased, I hope to forgive it."

Zhuge Liang put down his pen on the table, looking at the ink absorbed by the scarf, he couldn't calm down for a long time.

Since the beginning of this year, too many Jingzhou generals have died of illness, and general Wu Yi is seriously ill.Although Yang Yi and Pan Jun, his partners, are able to manage the board, they are visibly aging.And after I experienced the Battle of Guanzhong, especially this year, my sideburns became whiter and my physical strength was far worse than before.

Today's Zhuge Liang feels that time waits for no one, and two-thirds of the land is still unconquered, but he is nearly sixty years old.But now he only hopes to take an extra piece of land for the big man, accumulate more national power, and overcome the Central Plains as soon as possible.

Suddenly thought of something, Zhuge Liang ignored the format of the letter, picked up a pen and continued writing below: "Zi Jun, Wen Chang, Shi Zai, De Xin, Boyue, and Shao Xian are all good generals of the Han Dynasty, among them Zi Jun has a stable temperament and is proficient in military affairs. The art of war can be entrusted with important tasks in times of crisis. Shaoxian put the country first and the art of war second, so you can trust it.”

"Wen Chang and Bo Yue are staunch, brave and strategic, aggressive in the art of war, and the survival of the country should be treated with caution. Shi Zai, a man of virtue and trust in civil and military affairs, can be decisive in dealing with things, and stand with power and kindness; Putting soldiers first, anyone can be appointed as a supervisor.”

Zhuge Liang took a breath, put the towel and silk into a bamboo tube, and sent it tomorrow.Then he stood up, looked at the map again, and looked at Nanyang County in the lower right corner. Perhaps as the recent Minister Lu Zhi said, it is easy to take Nanyang, but difficult to conquer Hedong.

But thinking of the alliance of dividing the world, Zhuge Liang couldn't help sighing!
(End of this chapter)