Wei Ni

Chapter 56

Yingchuan, Xuchang Palace.

This palace, which was the residence of the last emperor of the Han Dynasty in the early years, is very simple.

Not only is the scale small, there are not many pavilions, not even a magnificent main hall.

In this way, when the emperor Cao Rui visited Xuchang Palace in the east, he did not stay overnight. Instead, he lived in the southern part of the city with felt as a hall, and handled government affairs and received courtiers and other things.

Therefore, after staying in Xuchang for nearly a month, he got tired of it.

And I have to go back to Luoyang.

But the biggest reason is not the smallness of Xuchang Palace.

But in the autumn and July, Cao Zhen, the great general, and Sima Yi, the great general, fought against Shu and lost.

This time, the temples of Shu, Yongliang, and Jingxiang have been prepared for more than a year; tens of thousands of troops have been mobilized, and hundreds of thousands of Li and common people have been conscripted to serve as corvees to transfer supplies and fodder. Cao Zhen went to Ziwu Valley and Sima Yi went to the three eastern counties. , Zhang He went to Baoxie Valley, and Guo Huai and Fei Yao took Qishan Road, marching in four directions, with the vow to take back Hanzhong County, they ushered in a very ironic result-only two months later, the main forces of both sides The Wei army, as the attacking side, had never fought a frontal battle, so they automatically returned from strikes!

In this regard, the ruling and opposition parties in Wei State thought that they had lost to Tianshi.

Since mid-August, it has been raining continuously for more than 30 days from the Qinling Mountains to Wanluo.

Rivers such as the Han River, Yi River, Luo River, and other rivers all overflowed their embankments, while Cao Zhen, who was walking through the Ziwu Valley, encountered landslides and the plank roads were completely damaged.

After the courtiers accompanying Xuchang Palace learned about it, they gathered together to invite Emperor Cao Rui.

Claiming that it is impossible to conquer Shu, Cao Zhen should be ordered to stop the army to reduce the loss of national power.

The emperor remonstrated.

In this way, Cao Zhen, who was in charge of the main force, returned from his strike, and the rest of Sima Yi and others who were supporting the battle naturally also followed the trend.

In the massive campaign of defeating Shu, only two battles took place.

One is Xia Houba who was entrusted by Cao Zhen as a pioneer.

As the forerunner of the main force to attack Shu, Xiahouba marched very quickly, leading his headquarters through the Qinling Mountains before the heavy rain, arrived at Xingshi Mountain, camped in the valley, and overlooked Chenggu County (Lecheng) at the eastern end of Hanzhong County in Shu The gold (garrison) siege.

The Shu army saw its general's flag outside.

Underestimating that he is a son of Gaoliang who gained the position by his family background, he also deceived him that he had never been in the battle in person, so he sent troops to attack him.

As soon as the war started, the Wei army was at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, Xia Houba was quite brave, and regardless of safety, he led his troops to resist desperately on the front line of the antlers, and finally survived until the follow-up soldiers came to rescue the siege.

This small battle is a close call.

The other battle did not take place in Hanzhong County, but far away in Longyou of the Wei Dynasty, Yangxi (Xi) in Nan'an County, and it was an unplanned encounter.

The reason for this has to start with the geographical advantage of the Shu Kingdom.

For the Shu Kingdom, which has strong mountains and rivers, no matter how many routes the Wei Kingdom invades this time, the two counties of Hanzhong and Wudu need to be defended.

Among them, Hanzhong County was garrisoned by Zhuge Liang, Prime Minister of Shu.

In addition, Li Yan, another important minister of the Shu Kingdom, was called to lead [-] troops to Hanzhong County to assist in the defense. In this way, the defense of Wudu County naturally fell on Wei Yan.

Zhuge Liang, Prime Minister of Shu, dispatched Wei Yan as the general and Wu Yi as the deputy, and a combined force of about 7000 people took the Qishan Road to the Jianwei Garrison Point below Qishan, so that Guo Huai and Fei Yao's troops could not go south. .

And out of strategic considerations, when Shu Prime Minister Zhuge Liang asked Wei Yanxi to go west, he could try to contact the Qiangzhong tribe.

Qiangzhong is not the name of a county or a valley.

In a broad sense, it generally refers to the area where the Western Qiang thrived, the entire county of Longxi and part of Jincheng County (later drawn as Xiping County); and in the current period when Wei and Shu are fighting for the front, it refers to the west of Xiangwu County in Longxi County. The area of ​​Baohan at the head of the river.

There are large and small Xiqiang tribes in this area.

Among them, Tang Fan, the tribal leader who thrived in the land of the head of the river, once raised troops to respond when the Shu Kingdom sent troops to Longyou for the first time.

However, Tang Fan was also defeated by Guo Huai after the first Northern Expedition of Shu State failed.

But he was not killed, but fled into the continuous plateau valley with the remnants of the defeated general.

If Wei Yan had a chance to contact him and told the fact that the main force of Yongliang and Liang in the Wei State was used to attack Shu, he would definitely lead the tribe out of the mountains to attack the river head, bringing turmoil in the Longyou of the Wei State.

However, it's a pity.

The envoys sent by Wei Yan have not yet found Tang Fan, and the Wei army who attacked Shu from all directions has stopped.

If it was an ordinary general, he would be very happy and satisfied with the result of defending against the enemy outside the country, and would take advantage of the situation to lead his troops back.

But Wei Yan is different.

As early as when Liu Beixiong ruled Bashu and called him the king of Hanzhong and promoted him to be the prefect of Hanzhong, he once said, "If Cao Cao comes from the world, please reject it for the king; The words of ".

If there is such a bold and ambitious person, he will not be satisfied with empty work.

But he didn't follow the usual practice of military battles, he pursued Guo Huai and Fei Yao who had returned from the strike, and fought fiercely with the Wei army before they retreated into the city of Tianshui County, taking the opportunity to seize the city.

Rather, they are well versed in the essence of the art of war of "don't stop when returning to the teacher". Since the Wei army will automatically stop fighting before the two sides have fought fiercely, the morale of the soldiers will not be damaged. Set up an ambush.

Therefore, he found another way and took a slanted sword.

He chose to take Dongting Road (Shiying Road) north to Nan'an County, hoping to take down the empty Nan'an County before Wei Jun returned to Tianshui County, and also isolated Longxi County (Qiangzhong) from Longyou. .

If all goes well, it will not be difficult to lure the Qiang people in Longxi and even Hehuang to revolt against Wei again, and there is hope that Wei and Shu will divide Longyou equally.

Of course, this step-by-step approach is also risky.

It was a big taboo of going deep into the army alone, and it was easy for Wei Guo to cut off his way back and catch a turtle in the urn.

It can be regarded as "success or benevolence".

However, neither of these possibilities occurred.

Guo Huai and Fei Yao, who had not led their troops back to Shanggu, also heard the news that the Shu army had attacked Nan'an County after going around, and immediately led the soldiers to rush to the rescue. The two sides met in Yangxi.

The strength of the two armies is equal and they meet on a narrow road, so the brave will win.

The Wei army was defeated in this battle, and fled back to the city to guard at the cost of nearly half of the casualties.

But the Shu army who came in light clothes saw that the Wei army had retreated into the city, and the strategy of capturing Nan'an County was no longer possible, so they went back.

It was precisely because of this defeat of the Wei army that the emperor Cao Rui wanted to call Xia Houhui to ask for advice when he returned to the capital Luoyang.

Gein Guo Huai and Fei Yao are not county soldiers, but the elite Wei Guo relied on to defend Longyou!
Needless to say, Guo Huai's Ministry, during the first Northern Expedition of the Shu State, only his headquarters in the whole of Longyou survived the loss of Shangyu County; then General Fei Yao's Ministry was stationed in Yongliang for more than ten years, and he had repeatedly fought against the rebellion in Liangzhou and Hexi , and also acted as Zhang He's deputy to break through Jieting and defeat Shu's first Northern Expedition.

The great defeat of the two of them also made the emperor Cao Rui begin to realize that the reason for the defeat of Shu Shu may not be due to the timing.
Perhaps, it is also because today's Wei soldiers may not be as good at fighting as Shu soldiers?
If this is the case, can the strategy of "strengthening the walls and clearing the country, using soldiers to exhaust Shu, and waiting for the poor and weak to destroy them in one battle" that Xia Houhui said before can still be implemented?
But he said that after Xia Houhui got Li Changshi's report, he didn't dare to neglect, and rushed over quickly.

When I arrived at Xuchang Palace, I was already full of travel and dust, and I was deeply tired.

He reported his name to the guards on the outside to see him, and the person who came out to welcome him was his younger brother Xia Houhe.

The brothers haven't seen each other for several months, so they are happy to see each other, but there are too many soldiers around him, Xiahouhe didn't speak privately, before introducing Xiahouhui into the palace where the emperor is, he only had time to remind him in a low voice, "nearly Your Majesty has been in a bad mood for several months, the sixth brother should not speak disobediently to the Lord."

In response, Xia Houhui nodded silently.

He knows why.

In April, Grand Fu Zhongyou passed away, and in June, Empress Dowager Bian died, and now Cao Zhen failed to conquer Shu, it's no wonder the emperor is in a good mood!

Not long after, the servants can enter the palace through the pass.

Xia Houhe tidied up his clothes, and after entering the hall, bowed his head and walked forward, paying respects.

As for Xia Houhui, as soon as he entered the hall, he paid homage directly, and reported to himself loudly: "General Yamen Hui, I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

The reason for this is because he is no longer a close minister of the emperor~
A mere border guard, if he hadn't been summoned by the emperor, he wouldn't even have the qualifications to meet the emperor.

Even if you are lucky enough to be summoned, you must pay homage to the emperor from a long distance in accordance with the order of superiority and inferiority of the ranks.

Although, even if he was as young as Xia Houhe and walked up to the emperor before paying homage, Cao Rui would not be offended or blamed for his strangeness to him.

But he didn't want to be impeached by the judiciary, which would add to his troubles.

This scene fell in the eyes of the emperor Cao Rui, and he felt a lot of emotions for a while.

A courtier who is dedicated to the public, defies power and dares to speak out for the country, is not even qualified to face the king.

When did the state of Wei show such signs of far-off virtuous ministers and treacherous ministers?
Could it be that the self who has been working hard to govern has already shown signs of fainting without knowing it?

With this thought in mind, Cao Rui stood up silently, waved Xia Houhe and many courtiers away, and walked slowly to Xia Houhui, "Zhiquan got up and walked with me."

"only."

Xia Houhui stood up in response to the sound, and followed closely behind.

After leaving the felt hall, the emperor Cao Rui walked aimlessly, looking around from time to time, as if he wanted to find a high place to relax in the wind.

It's just that Xuchang's terrain is flat, only the west of the city is surrounded by mountains, and it's hard to find even a low hill in the south of the city.

"Does Zhiquan know?"

That’s all, Cao Rui, the son of heaven who ascended to the top of his mind, said slowly, "The Great Sima failed to defeat Shu, and I have ordered the strike. Alas, what Zhiquan said earlier was correct."

"Report to Your Majesty, Hui has already learned."

Xia Houhui responded softly, and immediately added, "Your Majesty, it's right that Qi Shi doesn't want to be neglected."

These words also made Cao Rui pause slightly, and suddenly felt that the scenery in late autumn was especially bleak.Then he lost his intention of continuing to walk and see, walked to a protruding stone at random and sat down, beckoned Xia Houhui to sit on the ground, told the situation of Guo Huai and Fei Yao's defeat by the Shu army, and then asked softly.

"The matter has come to this, can Zhiquan's previous plan of exhaustion still be carried out?"

(End of this chapter)