Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 528: Reward and plead guilty
"Han Ji Zhaowu Ji": "In the third year, Zhongzu left Wuguan...and could not return the army. Wei Rencheng King Cao Zhang pursued him, and all the generals were defeated by him...The emperor ordered Quan to supervise the rear army and fight with it. Shoot Akira."

When Fei Yao led his troops to Liushan, they saw the headless body of Cao Zhang and burst into tears.

Now that Cao Zhang was dead, Fei Yao and his Wei army had no intention of pursuing the Han army. They hastily withdrew their troops and returned. Carrying the decapitated body of Cao Zhang, they reported the battle situation to Sima Yi who followed closely behind.

When Sima Yi learned that Cao Zhang had died in an ambush, he was in a daze.

Cao Zhang is an extraordinary general. Ever since Cao Cao conquered the Central Plains, Cao Zhang has appeared as a general, assisting Cao Cao in pacifying Daijun Wuhuan and repelling Kebineng. After that, Cao Zhang stayed in Guanzhong or on the border for a long time to help Cao Cao stabilize the domestic situation.

Especially after the Battle of Xiangfan, first there was a huge defeat, and then Cao Cao died of illness. The political situation in Cao Wei was unstable and people's hearts were floating. As a result, Cao Zhang led 30,000 Wei troops to Peiping Liaodong, which had a relatively positive significance and was of great significance in helping the Cao family regain its prestige.

Today, Cao Zhang died due to pursuit. For the Wei army and even the Wei state, it was by no means as simple as the death of a prince. Its impact on the morale of the army and the Northern Wei Dynasty was far greater than defeat and surrender in a forbidden war.

"quick!"

Sima Yi calmed down and ordered his attendants: "Clean up the body of King Ren as soon as possible, then put it in a high-quality coffin and send it to Chang'an as soon as possible."

"promise!"

In the past, 40,000 people entered Wuguan. Counting the 10,000 people subsequently transferred, the number of returned troops was less than 40,000.

"Assuming that your majesty is wise enough to see clearly, how can you blame the general for this matter?"

When the attendants retreated, Fei Yao was frightened and bowed to Sima Yi, saying: "Fu Jun, the current king of the city has been killed in battle. As a deputy general, Yao is guilty of poor protection. Please ask Fu Jun to save me. I will always be grateful."

Especially if the attacking side is unfortunately defeated, the number of losses will far exceed this amount, which can be said to be a serious injury.

Now that Cao Zhang has led his troops to repel Liu Bei, and if he severely damages the Han army, his prestige will definitely rise, and Cao Pi will become even more afraid of him. Now that Cao Zhang died in an ambush, Cao Pi might be secretly grateful while feeling sad. With this mentality, Cao Pi probably would not implicate Fei Yao in Cao Zhang's death.

"Thank you Fujun!" Fei Yao said.

The most panicked person at the moment was Fei Yao, who was responsible for leading troops to reinforce Cao Zhang. Now that Cao Zhang is in ambush alone, if Cao Pi wants to hold him accountable, Fei Yao must be punished.

After chatting for a few words, Fei Yao happily left.

Even though there are so many casualties, this is actually the disadvantage of the offensive side. The attacker often has to fight deep into the enemy's territory and launch attacks over difficulties and dangers. In order to defeat the enemy, he often pays high casualties.

In order to curb all the signs that would hinder him from becoming emperor, Cao Pi stripped Cao Zhang of his military power and sent Cao Zhi to a feudal state.

"That's fine!"

Sima Yi was a trusted minister of Cao Pi, so Fei Yao had no choice but to become a disciple of him in order to avoid guilt and protect himself.

Sima Yi had been with Cao Pi for too long, and he knew Cao Pi's character well. Although Cao Pi ascended to the throne of God, he was wary of many of his brothers, not to mention Cao Zhi, who was his direct heir. As far as Cao Zhang is concerned, Cao Pi was afraid of Cao Zhang's military strategy, and Cao Zhang actually supported Cao Zhi as the crown prince.

If we include Liu Bei's several consecutive battles with the Wei army since he entered Wuguan, as well as his continuous attack on Bailuyuan, the Han army lost no less than 10,000 people and was seriously injured in the battle.

Sima Yi helped Fei Yao up and sighed: "The general guarded Lantian and Bailuyuan to keep Chang'an stable. In addition, he defeated Liu Bei, which was a great contribution to the country. King Ren of the city was defeated and died. It was not the fault of the general, but because of His Highness' greed for credit. He advanced, so he was ambushed and defeated."

Fortunately, the Southern Han Dynasty launched many Northern Expeditions, and it can be said that they were never defeated. Even if they did not win big victories every time, they had many small victories. There has never been a saying that the Northern Expedition was fruitless.

Sima Yi returned to the main tent and wrote down the story of the battle in detail, emphasizing Cao Zhang's words about Liu Bei's insistence on pursuing the enemy after Liu Bei withdrew his troops. However, in order to leave a good image for Cao Zhang, Sima Yi often described the results of Cao Zhang's repeated defeats of the Han army in his battle reports.

The results of the victory mentioned in the memorials of the two men were not false. The Southern Han Dynasty suffered considerable losses in this withdrawal. Cao Zhang's pursuit was too fierce and he pursued day and night for several days. In addition, Huang Quan's true defeat of the enemy in Nabo caused the Han army to lose no less than five to six thousand casualties.

After much trouble, Sima Yi and Fei Yao wrote a memorial to Cao Pi, describing the battle to defeat Liu Bei as a great victory. Among them, Cao Zhang died in an ambush. In addition to Cao Zhang's own greed for merit, Sima Yi and Fei Yao said that they had failed to take good care of him and requested to be demoted.

Fei Yao hurriedly bowed a few times and begged, "Please Fu Jun, please say a few words of kindness to Yao. Yaodang will be grateful."

Seeing that Fei Yao was so sincere, Sima Yi also intended to accept the favor and said: "General, please return to the camp first and record the events before and after the battle in detail on the silk. When a certain time comes, I will comply with the general's silk. You and I exchange words. To prove it, I must convince His Majesty.”

In this Northern Expedition, although Liu Bei was not allowed to go to Guanzhong, he indirectly helped Ma Chao separatize Longyou, weakening Cao Wei's strength in Guanxi, and attracted Cao Wei's army, allowing Huo Jun to calmly fight in Xuhuai. Even if Lu Xun's strategy proceeds normally, the two counties of Longnan can also be occupied by the Southern Han Dynasty.

In short, this was the Northern Expedition. In terms of losses of troops and horses, the Han army suffered a lot. But in terms of the overall strategic situation, the results achieved by Liu Bei's Northern Expedition are definitely not small.
-
Equivalent to the frustration of the Wei army, the Han army was happy for it.

In the early morning, in order to demonstrate Huang Quan's success in killing Cao Zhang, Liu Bei went out of camp to greet Huang Quan.

After waiting for a long time, Huang Quan was nowhere to be seen. Liu Bei asked, "Where is General Zhenbei now?"

Taishi Heng shook his head and said: "Since the scouts were sent last night to report, there is no specific news about Huang Zhenbei. Now Heng has ordered the scouts to go out to investigate, and there will be news back later."

After Huang Quan killed Cao Zhang, he sent someone to inform Liu Bei. However, because he was worried that the Wei army would continue to pursue him, he deliberately stayed to wait and see. When he saw that the Wei army had collected Cao Zhang's body and retreated, and there was no Wei army pursuing him this morning, he dared to lead his army back to the camp.

"Your Majesty, why don't you return to the camp and rest for a while? When Huang Zhen arrives in the north, I will send someone to inform Your Majesty."

"No rush!" Liu Bei calmed down and said, "In terms of material journey, Gong Heng is about to arrive at the camp."

At this time, the scouts rode to the camp, walked up to Liu Bei, raised their hands and said, "Your Majesty, the north of Huangzhen is only two miles away from the camp!"

Hearing this, Liu Bei showed joy on his face and said with a smile, "My general has returned to camp, and all the ministers are following me to greet him."

"promise!"

In order to welcome Huang Quan, Liu Bei ordered the gate of the camp to be opened wide. The white soldiers of the pro-army army acted as a guard of honor, the flags were fluttering in the wind, the halberd bearers were standing majestically on the left and right, and the drummers were beating golden drums and playing songs.

Liu Bei led Fei Guan, Chen Dao and more than a dozen other civil and military officials to go out to welcome Huang Quan, Zhu Huan and their entourage.

The etiquette of Liu Bei's day was very important. In addition to Huang Quan's great achievements, Liu Bei actually meant to reuse Huang Quan. Over the years, many generals have died in battle or from illness. Generals such as Lu Su, Gan Ning, Guan Yu, Huang Zhong, Deng Fang, and Shiren have died successively.

When a general in charge passed away, Liu Bei had to be replaced by someone. In recent years, there have been not many generals who have caught Liu Bei's attention. Among them, Huang Quan, Lu Meng, and Shi Ran are the leaders, followed by Wei Yan, Zhu Huan, and Wang Ping.

If the king regards his ministers as his hands and feet, then his ministers will regard him as his heart. Now Huang Quan is expected to be treated with great courtesy, so that Huang Quan can be made to serve the Han Dynasty.

After a while, I saw Huang Quan riding his horse in front of him. Fu, Feng, Zhu and other generals were separated on the left and right, and the sergeants under his tent were all in honor.

Three or forty steps away from the camp, Huang Quan did not dare to ask for help. He dismounted his horse and advanced forward. He bowed his hands and saluted, saying: "General Quan of Zhenbei has fulfilled his mission. Prince Cao Zhang has been beheaded, and the pursuers of the traitors have withdrawn."

As he spoke, Huang Quan asked someone to hold Cao Zhang's head and offer it to him.

Liu Bei opened the wooden box and saw Cao Zhang's head with a yellow beard, placed in the box, with a ferocious expression and a fierce look on his face, which shows how aggrieved he died.

Although he was slightly surprised, Liu Bei, who had killed many people, quickly recovered and said with a sneer: "What would Cao Cao do if he knew that his beloved son with a yellow beard was dead?"

"Your Majesty, what should be done with this head?" Zuo asked.

Zhu Huan suggested: "Your Majesty, why don't you spread the word to the border counties to enhance the power of our great Han Dynasty?"

Liu Bei pondered for a while and objected: "Although Cao Zhang is an enemy, he has no cruelty to living creatures. He can be buried on the spot."

Liu Bei was indeed interested in passing the news to the border counties. But remembering that I had met Cao Zhang before, I still had interactions with his father, Cao Cao. Liu Bei couldn't bear to treat him so cruelly.

"promise!"

Liu Bei held Huang Quan's arm and said to everyone: "Young man with a yellow beard, you have strong martial arts and have defeated our army many times. Today, my parents are famous for their bravery. They advanced with the army and lost their troops. It is all the merits of all the ministers!"

Huang Quan did not dare to be greedy for credit, so he raised his hand and said: "Learning the enemy in formation, the achievements of Generals Feng and Fu, setting up ambushes and beheading generals, are all the work of General Zhu."

Hearing this, Liu Bei patted the back of Huang Quan's hand and said with a smile: "Gong Heng is smart and resourceful. He accepts orders at the critical moment and defeats the enemy. It's all thanks to your planning!"

"Come here, read out the edict!"

"promise!"

Killing Cao Zhang and defeating the Wei army was a great victory. Liu Bei will naturally enthrone Huang Quan, Zhu Huan, Feng Xi, Fu Wei and other generals with outstanding military exploits.

Previously, Huang Quan had no success and moved him to Zhenbei General, but now Liu Bei only moved him to Daiyou General. Wenpin, the former right general, was moved to the left general. Today, among the four generals in the Southern Han Dynasty, except for the former general Huang Zhong who died due to illness, Mi Fang is still the rear general.

However, Liu Bei had already planned that if Lu Xun could capture the two counties of Longnan this time and ensure that Longyou would not fall into the hands of Wei, he would make him a former general.

Zhu Huan, who killed Cao Zhang, was promoted to General of the Southern Conquest and Dutinghou because of his merits.

When Liu Bei first went to Jiangdong, he wanted to use his eldest daughter to win over the Wu people. Zhu Huan, who was also from Wu County, was selected together with Lu Xun. Because Huo Jun recommended Lu Xun, Zhu Huan was eliminated.

After the elimination, because Liu Bei focused on training Lu Xun, the gap between Zhu Huan and Lu Xun became wider and wider. Fortunately, Zhu Huan gradually emerged with outstanding talents, and Liu Bei especially valued him.

Feng Xi and Fu Wei had previously made mistakes in retreating from the enemy, and they and the other generals were only rewarded with a small amount of money and food.

"I thank you, Your Majesty!" everyone shouted loudly.

"Haha~"

Liu Bei subconsciously wanted to touch his short beard, but then he realized that it had been cut off by him, so he smiled and said: "I have hosted a banquet in the tent, and all the gentlemen will follow me into the tent. Let's have a good time tonight, and we will not return until we are drunk!"

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)