Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1378: Conferment
Zhang Chunhua saw Sima Yi off, wondering if her husband was overthinking. Everyone in the Cao Wei court and the country knew that Sima Yi was the most trusted by His Majesty and held a very high position. Logically, he should be content and proud, so why was he worried all day long?

Sima Yi rushed to the palace and found that Cao Pi had called not only himself but also several other ministers including Chen Qun. He couldn't help but feel relieved. However, when Cao Pi spoke, he shocked Sima Yi greatly.

"Zhongda, the country is in a critical situation right now. General Xiahou is stationed in Chang'an and cannot go to the front line in person for everything, so I am going to appoint four more generals."

"Chen Qun, the Minister of the Chancellery, is given the title of Marquis of Yingchuan and the title of General of the Garrison Army."

Chen Qun knelt down quickly to receive the order. Everyone, including Sima Yi, was extremely surprised. The title of Marquis of Yingchuan was equivalent to the nominal leader of the Yingchuan faction. Did His Majesty want Chen Qun to be the leader of the Yingchuan faction?

"Cao Zhen is not in the city, I intend to appoint him as the General of the Central Army."

"Xiahou Shang, you will be appointed General of the Eastern Expedition."

Xiahou Shang quickly leaned forward to receive the order. He had been criticized for being too close to Ma Chao before, but now that Cao Pi's order was issued, he felt relieved.

"Sima Yi, the Minister of the Secretariat, was given the title of Marquis of Xixiang and the title of General of the Fujun Army."

Sima Yi also knelt down to receive the order. He had mixed feelings. Although this was a change of the title from General Fujun, as long as a capital character was added, it would have everything it needed. He had finally reached this point!

However, Cao Pi's next words shocked everyone even more, "The above four people will be given the power to promote the imperial court and establish their own government."

Cao Zhen and Xiahou Shang were fine, but Chen Qun and Sima Yi could not hide their expressions. The fake envoys were equivalent to Cao Pi coming in person, and they could execute suspected officials below the rank of two thousand stones in times of emergency or war. They had enormous power, and the official positions and titles just mentioned were far inferior to them!
Cao Pi continued, "The Wei Kingdom is in turmoil because my military and political power are inferior to those of the previous emperor. Fortunately, I have the support of you. I believe that in time, or even now, you can work together to defeat the Jin Kingdom."

Everyone bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, you are so kind. We are so humbled and grateful. We will repay you with our lives!"

Cao Pi nodded slightly, "I am very relieved that you are all loyal to Wei, but if Jin is strong, it will be difficult to curb its arrogance with ordinary means."

"You should have all heard about the Jin State sending troops to attack Chang'an. According to reliable information, they will advance in three directions, just like last time."

"The one in Liang Province has Cao Zhang, Ma Chao and Han Sui to hold them back, but the other two routes are more troublesome."

"There is one way to Luoyang and one way to Jingzhou. It is very necessary to distinguish which side to attack. What do you think?"

Chen Qun and Xiahou Shang were the first to speak up. The two disagreed and argued for a while. Cao Pi saw this and turned to Sima Yi and asked, "Zhongda, what do you think?"

Sima Yi thought for a moment and said, "According to the strength of the Jin army, both sides may be the main force, so if we want to send troops to resist, we must guard both sides strictly."

Cao Pi said, "Oh?"

"If Zhongda chooses, which way do you want to go?"

Sima Yi calmed down and said through gritted teeth: "I will go to Jiangling to confront Zhuge Liang."

After these words were spoken, Chen Qun and Xiahou Shang were stunned, because now privately, if they were to pick a candidate for the Jin commander that the Cao Wei generals least wanted to meet, Zhuge Liang would definitely be ranked in the top two. Compared with the other commander, Lu Xun, he was a much greater threat.

As for the other one, it was Yuan Xi himself. Fortunately, this time the officials and generals of Cao Wei learned that he was in charge of the rear, and they couldn't help but feel fortunate.

But Zhuge Liang also gave them a headache. In the past few years, he had done everything flawlessly and the generals of Cao Wei could not get any advantage at all. So this time Sima Yi actually volunteered to fight Zhuge Liang. Everyone was extremely surprised. You know, Sima Yi had never won in several battles and almost been defeated and killed. Where did he get the confidence?

Cao Pi was very interested: "Zhongda, do you have a way to deal with Zhuge Liang?"

Sima Yi shook his head and said, "Not really."

"But if I can't stop Zhuge Liang, it will be even harder for others. For the sake of Wei, I am willing to do my best to stop him from threatening Chang'an."

Cao Pi heard this and nodded, "Okay, I will give Zhongda 20,000 soldiers and horses to defeat Zhuge Liang!"

The others heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this, but Cao Pi turned to Xiahou Shang and said, "Boren, the route to Luoyang is now in your hands."

"We must stop the Jin army outside Tongguan so that Chang'an can maintain peace and raise money and food. Otherwise, if they attack Chang'an, it will be too late." Xiahou Shang said solemnly: "Your Majesty, rest assured, I will do my best to stop the Jin army!"

Chen Qun breathed a sigh of relief. He was not good at military and political affairs, so the position of general was comparable to that of Xiahou Dun.

The same was true for Cao Zhen. Since he lost one arm, he had to retreat behind the scenes and could no longer lead troops as he wished before.

So it can be seen at a glance that these four generals are responsible for internal affairs, while Xiahou Shang and Sima Yi are responsible for foreign affairs. It can be said that the division of labor is clear.

The military and political leaders of the previous generation have completely withdrawn from the ranks of Cao Pi's important ministers. Xiahou Yuan, the most reliable one, died in battle, and Cao Hong, who was known as him, was defeated in many battles. Finally, he was defeated by Zhuge Liang's surprise attack last year and disappeared on the battlefield.

After many twists and turns, Cao Wei finally found Cao Hong, who was shot in the knee and hit his head after rolling down the hillside. Although Cao Hong survived after treatment, he lost an arm and half a leg and was almost completely disabled.

As for Cao Ren, he also suffered repeated defeats. His biggest defeat was the Battle of Xiangfan under Guan Yu. Although he escaped in the battle, Yu Jin was captured and all his soldiers were killed. In addition, Cao Ren and Cao Pi had some personal grudges and conflicts, so he was transferred back to Chang'an to guard the city, and he was depressed.

The remaining Cao Zhen has fought the most bravely in recent years and is also the Cao clan general most admired by Cao Pi. However, he has a broken arm, so it is difficult for him to charge into battle. Now he has taken over Cao Ren's previous position.

Cao Pi encouraged them and said, "Go back these few days and hurry to find your subordinates. The Jin army is marching very fast and you don't have much time. Five days later, I want to see that you have established a government with all the personnel to resist the Jin army."

Hearing the urgency of the matter, everyone immediately took the order, went back, and began to recruit talents in a hurry.

The news that the four men had opened a government office quickly spread throughout Chang'an. Many sons of noble families and officials of Cao Wei came to their homes, either to establish connections or to recommend themselves. For a time, the homes of the four men were always crowded with people.

Sima Yi already had a plan in mind. He quickly recruited a group of officials he had previously made friends with. Among them was Xu Miao, the military advisor, Liang Ji, the military officer, and Guo Huai, the chief secretary, all of whom were talents that Sima Yi valued.

Xu Miao was born in Jicheng, Youzhou. He served successively as a county magistrate, prefect, military strategist, secretary, and general of agriculture, all of whom had outstanding political achievements. Because he was born in Youzhou, he was quite familiar with the Jin army, which was mainly composed of Youzhou troops, and was an ideal candidate for Sima Yi's military advisor.

Liang Ji had always followed Sima Yi and knew him well. As for Guo Huai, he was originally a Sima under Xiahou Yuan. Xiahou Yuan was defeated and killed, and Guo Huai gathered the remaining troops and escaped back. It can be seen that he is quite capable, but because of the defeat, he has never been reused. Now Sima Yi has reinstated him, giving him a chance to turn things around.

In fact, Sima Yi also had his eyes on Du Xi and Xin Pi, but after much consideration, Sima Yi temporarily gave up the idea of ​​recruiting them. The former had too tough a temper and did not fit in with Sima Yi's decisive character, while the latter had too high a status and was too sensitive. Unless Sima Yi climbed to a higher position, it would be difficult to subdue him.

Sima Yi spent three days finally placing his officials in place, and then wrote a memorial to Cao Pi. Cao Pi didn't even look at it, but signed his name with a stroke of a pen and stamped it with the imperial seal, indicating that Sima Yi officially had his own power.

Sima Yi did not delay and immediately led his troops south to deploy defenses in the area of ​​Maicheng, Nanyang, to deal with Zhuge Liang.

He was under the greatest pressure along the way, because the enemies Nanyang faced were not only Zhuge Liang from Jiangling, but also the Hannan army stationed in Xiangyang. Since the opponent was targeting Chang'an, the possibility of Hannan taking advantage of the situation was quite high.

As Sima Yi expected, although Guan Yu was still on the expedition to Jiaozhou at that time, he sent his son Guan Ping to assist General Hao Zhao stationed in Xiangyang to put pressure on Cao's army by water.

Guan Ping was nearly 30 years old at this time, but for some reason, he had never followed Guan Yu into the army. Guan Yu had even said before that he had no children. However, in recent years, Guan Ping appeared and followed Guan Yu into the army to fight wars. Outsiders did not know the twists and turns that took place.

However, as the son of Guan Yu, he naturally put a lot of pressure on the Wei army. When Sima Yi arrived near Xinye, he took revenge on the Hannan Army in Xiangyang and the Jin Army in Jiangling. The situation this time seemed to be even worse than last time!

Moreover, this time the Jin army was not only led by Zhuge Liang, but also by Wei Yan, who had been defeated by Sima Yi last time. Sima Yi could already imagine how eagerly the other side was eyeing him for revenge.

As for the Jin army, there were still two great generals, Huang Zhong and Wen Pin, but Sima Yi no longer cared about them. It was better to have more debts than to be a burden. What he had to do now was to delay the pace of the Jin army as much as possible. As long as Zhuge Liang did not reach Chang'an first, Sima Yi could get away with the responsibility.

Sima Yi predicted this time that the Jin army would attack Tongguan all the way from Luoyang. Although the route to Jiangling was scary, its real purpose was probably not Chang'an, but the Shangyong Fangling Fancheng passage at the junction of Jing and Yi.

If this channel is lost, Hanzhong, upstream of the Han River, will be directly threatened. Normally, the Han River is turbulent and it is difficult to go upstream, but with the steamship, it is different.

Therefore, Sima Yi's main focus was on this route. In his opinion, this route was much more important than Chang'an.

As for the reason, Sima Yi did not tell Cao Pi clearly, as he naturally had his own plans.

(End of this chapter)