Wei Ni

Chapter 57

Xuchang, south of the city.

Qin Lang, who was covered in dust and dust, came to see him, but was stopped softly by the official.

"I'm afraid it's inappropriate to visit His Majesty now."

For Qin Lang's confusion, the servant explained it like this.

He lightly led Qin Lang to glance at the emperor who was chatting with Xiahouhui from a distance, and then suggested softly, "General Xiahou has just arrived, and His Majesty should consult for a long time. If the general is not good, go back to take a bath first." Change clothes and see you again?"

"More reminders."

Slightly nodding his head in greeting, Qin Lang, who was cautious, shook his head and refused, "However, I'll wait here. If Your Majesty wants to ask about the details of the battle, I won't stop there."

Well, he just came back from East Three Counties.

He had previously heard Cao Zhen's words that "after dispatching the clan, enter the front line to experience training", on the occasion of this expedition to Shu, the emperor Cao Rui also sent Xia Houxian and Cao Zhao to supervise the Zhongba camp respectively, and the Zhongjian camp returned to Zhang Yun to dispatch and attack Hanzhong from the Baoxie Valley. Because of the lack of cavalry on the Jingxiang front, Qin Lang was sent to Sima Yi to control the cavalry battalion.

Now, all the troops have returned, and he, who is the closest to Xuchang and supervises the cavalry, is naturally the first to rush back and return his orders.

Of course, he might have waited in vain.

Today, the emperor Cao Rui's mind is not on the Jingxiang or Yongliang fronts, but on how to rectify the internal affairs.

The reason is Xia Houhui's answer.

However, when Emperor Cao Rui asked Xia Houhui whether the previous plan of exhausting Shu could still be carried out, Xia Houhui was silent for a while, and then said sadly, "Returning to your majesty, it is not our country of Wei, but it is Shu Are you tired?"

It also made the emperor Cao Rui realize immediately.

He was originally clever, but the authorities were fascinated by him for a while.

Yes, after the defeat of Shu, the offensive and defensive trends of the two countries are no longer dominated by Wei Guo!
Because of the failure of Emperor Wu Cao Cao and Da Sima Cao Zhen to compete with Shu for Hanzhong County successively, for a long period of time, no one in the ruling and opposition parties of Wei State would lightly say that Shu State could be conquered.And because of Guo Huai and Fei Yao's downfall, the princes of the temple and the generals of Yongliang will not think that it is feasible to select a few elite troops to frequently disturb Wudu and Yinping counties.

In other words, the prerequisites for Xiahou Hui's strategy of exhausting Shu are no longer there.

And his claim of "whether Shu is self-exhausted" is also easy to understand.

Before Cao Zhen’s defeat of Shu, the State of Shu invaded the country three times in two years; now that the fact that the State of Wei was unable to recapture Hanzhong County has been verified again, how can the State of Shu not rush out and invade Yongliang~
Therefore, Xia Houhui's answer was also to secretly ask the emperor Cao Rui's thoughts-the facts have proved that Bashu should not be eager to pursue it. Are you ashamed to be ashamed of the strong walls and clear fields, passive defense, and wait for Bashu to get tired?
Regarding this, Cao Rui was speechless for a long time.

He is not reconciled to implementing passive defensive tactics despite Wei's superiority in terms of both territory and population.

But after calming down and thinking about it carefully, I found that the facts speak louder than words, and I can't be reconciled.
It is true that with the background of Wei's war, it is not unbearable to lose the military battle, but the "undefeated but defeated" mentioned by Xia Houhui earlier has become a prophecy!

Since he succeeded to the throne, Cao Xiu defeated Wu, and Cao Zhen defeated Shu. The clan generals who relied on to consolidate the country had no successors, and now they are facing a blow to their prestige. As a monarch, his top priority is not to be reconciled Instead, consider how to appease people's hearts and how to make the country long-term.

"The two generals Fei and Guo have been in Yongliang for a long time, and their soldiers and horses are also quite elite. They met Wei Yan, the general of Shu, at the station, and they returned in a big defeat. They really failed me!"

After being silent for a long time, the emperor Cao Rui, who was still not sure of his mind, suddenly sighed with emotion, "Since the first emperor, our Wei State has won many wars with the thief Wu and Bashu, and this means that our Wei State soldiers are no longer able to fight? Or is it that the planning and planning of the temple is not good and evil?"

It should be a combination of both.

Xia Houhui just replied silently in her heart.

He knew that Emperor Cao Rui also had an answer in his heart, but he just sighed at the right time, and didn't mean to ask him to answer.

However, at this time, he suddenly remembered that when he visited his fourth brother Xia Houwei, he had witnessed the lifeless scene of the Shi family, who looked like a walking corpse, so he quickly took the conversation, "Your Majesty, Hui secretly thought that maybe the soldiers would be embarrassed to fight. more so."

Ok?
Hearing this, Cao Rui, who was only expressing his feelings, couldn't help but look sideways.

Could it be that during the past few months in Huainan, he also noticed something unusual in the army?
Thinking secretly in his heart, he said in a solemn voice, "You can speak in detail about childish power. Well, don't be shy about other things, and the words here will not be spread outside the four ears."

"only."

Xia Houhui responded without answering, but asked first, "I don't know if your Majesty has heard that when Emperor Wu died in the past, the Qingzhou Army made a noise to leave the army and lure them away? Emperor Wen asked the family of the old Taishou Shulu How many widows are there, is that what he said about the 'widows'?"

uh~
Of course the emperor Cao Rui had heard of it.

I also know the implication of Xia Houhui's words——

In the later period of Emperor Wu, the scholars who relied on Wei Guo to conquer the Quartet could no longer bear the pain of conquest!But in the period of Emperor Wen, the scholar family was already regarded as worthless by the state and county government, and they had no desire to do their best for the country!
After pondering for a while, he tried to ask, "You mean childish, is the military system outdated?"

"Of course!"

Immediately, Xia Houhui nodded heavily, and sighed wryly, "Your Majesty, when Hui went to Huainan to take up his post, he also made a detour to Jiyin County.

Calling on the four brothers in Juyang County, and thus witnessing the hardships of the Shi family, can be described as inhuman! "

After all, before the emperor Cao Rui asked questions, he was eloquent.

"A scholar's family is a farmer in his spare time, and a soldier in a war. However, he farms and grows the grain all day long, but there is no time for him to be rewarded. There is no reward, why do they fight against evil?"

"Furthermore, the marriage leave of a scholar's family cannot be voluntary. When the father dies, the son succeeds, the brother dies, and the younger brother dies, and the descendants of the descendants cannot leave the army. They are no different from slaves! In this way, life is unpredictable, and death is easy. Why should they fight to the death? evil?"

"Sun Tzu's "Starting Ji Pian" has a saying, 'The Taoist makes the people agree with the superior, so you can die with it, you can live with it, and you are not afraid of danger'; Do not listen to his words; reward his merits, but cut them down and ban them. Therefore, the people try their best to follow them. Husbands who farm with strength are laborious, but the people who do it say: You can get rich. War is also dangerous. , and those who do it for the people say: You can be expensive, etc. Therefore, Hui thinks that if your majesty wants soldiers to go to battle without thinking about life and death, and to be determined to die and fight for the country, you must be a shilling soldier, but worry about it. Know what you get, and get what you want!"

This time the emperor Cao Rui listened and fell into a longer silence.

When he was in the East Palace in the early years, he devoted himself to reading, dabbled in all kinds of schools, such as "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and "Five Worms" he understood the principles; what really made him feel incredible was that the system of scholars was really corrupted so much Yet?

There is no reward for plowing, and no reward for cutting. It should have certain credibility.

Otherwise, as the earliest Shijia Qingzhou Army, they would not risk being beheaded and sit together with their families, and they would meet and clamor to leave the army and only want to return to their hometown to work in agriculture.

But life has no expectations, and death has no difficulty. Isn't it so?

Is it alarmist?
But the real existence of the "unborn woman" made him unable to refute it.

After pondering for a long time, he changed to a tactful way of asking, "Zhiquan's words are truly appalling, and I couldn't believe it for a while. Emperor Wen had already learned about the 'unborn woman', how did the prefecture and county not change it? "

Of course nothing has changed!
Moreover, Emperor Wen has only been in power for so few years, how could he have given the slightest thought to manage the military system?

Replied in his mind, Xia Houhui knew that it was difficult for Cao Rui to accept that the Wei State under his rule had so much suffering and was so inhumane.After all, in his heart, he felt that under his governance, the national power of Wei State gradually rose and became stronger day by day, and he was quite proud of his ability to govern the country.

Therefore, Xiahou Hui thought for a while, and continued to speak with his hands clasped.

"Your Majesty, even though Hui behaved perversely to Meng Lang, he did not dare to do anything to deceive the emperor. When Hui first met a scholar's family and saw that their lives were hopeless, he still couldn't believe it, so he asked the fourth brother about it. The fourth brother said He said that the military and military families under his rule still did not see the "childbirth or drowning" thing; The Wei State of the production system is an example!"

To give birth is to drown? !

In the last years of the previous dynasty, there were many miscellaneous taxes and taxes. If the child was born one year old, the money would be exported, so that many people would not raise their children;
Could it be that the people under my rule are no different from the former Ling Emperor? !
This time the Emperor Cao Rui was stunned and looked at Xia Houhui in disbelief.

"Your Majesty, seeing is believing."

And Xia Houhui didn't wait for him to ask questions, so he remonstrated, "There are many military and military camps in the counties and counties around Xuchang. Today, His Majesty is on an east tour, so why don't you pretend to be an ordinary person and look for opportunities to see the truth? That's right."

"Zhiquan's words are very good!"

Cao Rui got up suddenly, impatiently striding towards the felt hall, "I'll take care of it! Well, according to Zhiquan, who should I pretend to be? A traveling scholar or a servant of the minister?"

Nothing seems right.
Xia Houhui, who got up and followed behind, was about to answer, but was preempted by Cao Rui's joyful voice, "Hey, Jesus has returned! It's just the right time!"

It turned out that Qin Lang, who had been waiting in the distance, saw the emperor get up and go back to the felt hall, so he came to pay his respects.

About a quarter of an hour later.

The dusty Qin Lang once again took four or five attendants to Fugou County in Yanzhou.

Yanzhou is the rear of the Huainan battlefield, and many scholars and county soldiers were not mobilized during this attack on Shu.In Fugou County, the Langtang (Dang) Canal runs through it, and the water conservancy and irrigation are convenient. Many years ago, it was painted as a land of military and civilian settlements.

Speechless all the way.

When they arrived at the military station of one of the scholars, the chief officer came out to meet him.

Qin Lang claimed that there were casualties among the grooms and servants of the Xiaoqi camp who accompanied him this time, and he planned to choose some people from the local scholars' families as temporary excuses, so that the chief officer would not dare to stop him, and also let the emperor Cao Rui and Xia Houhui, who were disguised as attendants, go smoothly Entering the camp, it is called selecting personnel, but it is actually inspecting the current situation of Shi's family.

(End of this chapter)