Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 643 Ridiculous excuse for war
Within a few months of Deng Zhi's mission to Xianbei, due to Lu Xun's operations, the situation in the Longyou area changed.

In order to prevent an accident, Jiang Ji asked his subordinate Guo Jie to surrender to Guo Huai and asked Guo Huai to send troops south. When Guo Huai leads his troops to Jincheng, he will open the door to welcome Guo Huai into the city.

After Guo Huai received the information, he was worried that it was a false surrender, so he did not dare to agree directly. Instead, he sent people south to understand the situation first, in case Ma Chao led his troops to Jincheng to ambush him. However, seeing that Ma Chao did not lead his troops to Jincheng, and that Guo Jie's letter was sincere, Guo Huai couldn't help but believe it, and then sent someone to tell Cao Zhen.

In order to open up the connection between Guanzhong and the Hexi area and recapture the Hehuang Valley occupied by Ma Chao, Cao Zhen expressed to Guo Huai that he could rest assured to take over Jincheng County, and that he would lead his troops in Guanzhong to march westward for support at any time.

After receiving Cao Zhen's assurance, Guo Huai led his troops from Hexi south to Hehuang in order to avoid long nights and dreams. When Jiang Ji received the news, he sent his son Jiang Wei to Ji County to beg Ma Chao for military support on the grounds that Guo Huai was invading.

After Ma Chao received the news, he immediately communicated with Lu Xun and Huang Quan through letters, asking them to send troops to Guanzhong to prevent Cao Zhen from marching to Longyou.

Lu Xun used illness as an excuse and asked Huang Quan to send troops to Guanzhong on his behalf, hoping to contain Cao Zhen's troops.

Ma Chao learned that Lu Xun was recuperating in Chengdu, and Huang Quan led his troops to Guanzhong. He no longer worried too much, leaving Ma Dai to guard the Longshan roads, and then led his troops to Jincheng. However, Jiang Wei, who sent a message to Ma Chao on behalf of Jiang Jiong, was unable to go out with the army due to physical discomfort and temporarily stayed in Ji County.

At the same time, when Guo Huai led his troops south to Jincheng, he sent someone to contact Guo Jie. Jiang Ji pretended to discover that Guo Jie had rebelled, and declared to kill Guo Jie.

Upon seeing this, Guo Huai wanted to withdraw his troops due to his death due to careful work, but considering that he could not go in vain, he decided to lead his troops to surround Jincheng to see if he could capture the city.

A few days later, Ma Chao led his troops to Jincheng and personally relieved the siege of Jincheng. Seeing that Ma Chao's troops were out, Guo Huai sent his messenger to Guanzhong and asked Cao Zhen to lead his troops to raid Longyou; at the same time, he led his troops to cross the Yellow River north and confront Ma Chao across the Yellow River.

When Ma Chao saw that Guo Huai was leading troops from Hexi to the south, he wanted to defeat Guo Huai in Jincheng so that he could engulf Hexi.

Huang Quan used his troops as promised and led 20,000 troops out of Guanzhong with great fanfare to attract Cao Zhen's troops. Cao Zhen's attention was attracted by Huang Quan, so he led his troops to attack Huang Quan personally, and the two faced off in Luo Valley.

The confrontation between the two sides lasted for more than a month. When autumn entered, Lu Xun suddenly made a move and asked Wuhan Shangshu to attack Ma Chao on the grounds that Ma Chao had snatched the war horse presented by Xianbei.

September, Wuhan Palace, Huanghu Terrace.

"Da Sima, I'm afraid it's too childish for Lu Qiaoqi to attack Ma Chao on the grounds that Ma Chao stole his war horse!"

Chen Zhen, the Minister of the Chancellery, did not quite understand Lu Xun's excuse for attacking Ma Chao. He said, "Hanliang is a vassal state of the emperor. Although Ma Chao is unruly, he can be used. Wei is a great enemy. Now that the great enemy is attacking Liang, our country will fight with Liang instead, which may benefit Wei in vain. We should stop Lu Huqi from using his troops."

Huo Jun read the letters sent by Ke Bineng and Deng Zhi and said: "If we leave Western affairs to Lu Xiuqi now, it would be better to let Lu Xiuqi have a free hand."

"This~"

Seeing that Huo Jun's face was calm and not worried at all, Chen Zhen couldn't help but worry. He looked at Zhuge Liang, who was smiling while stroking his fan, and said: "Prime Minister, you should be discouraged from the current matter, and you must not enter the army greedy for profit."

Chen Zhen took office as Shangshu Ling not long ago and did not participate in the original planning of Longyou. At present, except for Huo Jun, only a few high-level officials such as Zhuge Liang and Liu Chan know about Lu Xun's plan to stab Ma Chao in the back.

Seeing that Chen Zhen was anxious, Zhuge Liang comforted him and said, "Don't worry, Chen Lingjun. The use of troops against Ma Chao has been planned by Da Sima and Lu Qiaoqi for a long time. Now, taking advantage of the struggle between Ma Chao and Guo Huai, a surprise force was sent to Ji County first, and then If you cut off Ma Chao's food supply, you can capture all of Longyou."

"As for using troops on the grounds that Ma Chao snatched war horses, it can only be used as a last resort excuse, thinking that the army is famous!" Zhuge Liang said helplessly.

It really makes people feel nonsense that one country goes to war against another country on the pretext of snatching war horses. But this is also a last resort. You can't tell everyone that the big man has long wanted to stab Ma Chao in the back, but it was just because the time was not ripe.

Therefore, on the pretext of robbing Xianbei's 2,000 war horses, he launched a war against Ma Chao just to make the Han army famous. But you can't say that the big man signed the agreement and then disowned it in the blink of an eye.

What is the actual truth?
In order to defeat Guo Huai, Ma Chao stopped the 2,000 war horses that Ke Bineng sent to the Han Dynasty. He then wrote to Lu Xun and Huo Jun, asking to borrow the war horses. After defeating Guo Huai, Ma Chao would return 2,500 war horses.

There is an IOU and there is interest, although it is mandatory. But overall, it is not enough to start a war. But in order to start a war, Lu Xun had no choice but to confuse right and wrong, and in turn accuse Ma Chao of being wrong.

Chen Zhen learned the whole story from Zhuge Liang, and was helpless and shocked.

"Since Grand Sima and Prime Minister Ge want to use troops against Ma Chao, are they prepared?"

After slowing down, Chen Zhen said: "If the troops are delayed due to the obstruction of the city wall, when Cao Zhen leads his troops into Longyou, the situation may be complicated!"

Huo Jun smiled and said: "Jiang Jiu surrendered to the late emperor in his early years, and he and his son Jiang Wei are already our great Han ministers. With these two people running for contact for our country, and with the warlord Zhao Ang, it is not difficult to go to the cities." Hearing such a high amount of information, Regarding the content, Chen Zhen felt like a clown. There was too much news that he had not heard since he took office as Shangshu Ling.

Of course, Chen Zhen's ignorance is related to the rapid replacement of ministers in the Southern Han Dynasty. After Liu Bei became king, the ministers changed every two to three years, namely Pang Tong - Fazheng - Liu Ba - Sun Shao - Li Yan - Chen Zhen wait.

At that time, many high-level officials knew about Jiang Jiong's surrender to Liu Bei, and Chen Zhen was still serving as the governor of Changsha at that time. It's a pity that many senior officials died of illness in a few years, and the replacement speed accelerated. Chen Zhen was promoted from Changsha Prefect to Shangshu, and then to Shangshu Ling.

"Your Majesty, please issue an edict to send out troops and declare war on Ma Chao on the grounds that Ma Chao has snatched war horses. Order Lu Xun to lead Wang Ping, Wei Yan, Zhao Ang and other more than 30,000 troops to go out. Huang Quan is the deputy general and leads 20,000 troops to obey Lu Xun's military orders! "Huo Jun ordered.

"promise!"

Huo Jun handed the drafted memorial to the visitor so that Liu Chan could stamp it and create a formal edict.

The visitor left with the memorial in hand. Huo Jun handed the letters from Ke Bineng and Deng Zhi to Ge and Chen and said with a smile: "Ke Bineng admired Bo Miao and wanted to keep Bo Miao in the Hetao for a year to help him eradicate it. Budugen or Putou.”

As he spoke, Huo Jun paced with his hands behind his back and said with a smile: "It seems that Bo Miao's act of killing Yan Zhi on the spot was probably appreciated by Ke Bineng. Otherwise, Ke Bineng would never be willing to pay five thousand horses. Only Bo Miao stayed with him for one year."

"In the former Han Dynasty, Zhang Bowang dug thousands of miles into the Western Regions. In the Central Han Dynasty, Ban Ding killed the Huns envoys at night in search of a feudal lord. In the Ji Han Dynasty, there was also Deng Bomiao who killed Wei envoys and Xianbei in anger."

Zhuge Liang admired it very much and said with admiration: "The people of the Han Dynasty today are far more courageous and courageous than Zhang Ziwen and Ban Ding!"

Although what Deng Zhi did had nothing to do with the Western Regions, and its far-reaching impact may not be as great as that of Zhang Qian and Ban Chao, for the Han Dynasty, it greatly increased his prestige in diplomacy. If Deng Zhi manages the grassland, his actions in killing Yan Zhi will be enough for him to be known to many Xianbei tribes.

Chen Zhen was also amazed by Deng Zhizhi. He dared to kill Yan Zhi with thunder in the Xianbei royal court in front of Ke Bi Neng and other ministers. It was really not something that ordinary people could do.

Of course, Deng Zhi's execution of Yan Zhi can only be described as courageous, and then he can be called strategic when he agrees with the alliance between Xianbei and Han through words.

The word "courage" was clearly demonstrated when Deng Zhi killed Yan Zhi!
"Da Sima, Xianbei is currently lending Bo Miao 5,000 horses to serve for one year. You should consider it carefully!"

Chen Zhen pointed to the content of the letter and said: "Five thousand horses are so valuable. Kebi Neng only allowed Bo Miao to work for him for a period of one year. I'm afraid he wanted to lure Bo Miao to work for him with wealth and honor!" "

Huo Jun walked up and smiled and said: "The two thousand horses Ke Bineng sent were taken by Ma Chao. If we don't agree now, how can you and I refuse?"

Chen Zhen frowned slightly and asked, "Do you want Deng Bomiao to stay in Xianbei and agree to Ke Bineng's request?"

"Ok!"

Huo Jun nodded slightly and said truthfully: "Bo Miao is not a man who is greedy for wealth and honor. How can he stay in Xianbei now because of Ke Bi Neng's mere show of kindness? The war is about to break out and the roads are blocked, so it is better to let Bo Miao stay in Xianbei temporarily."

Zhuge Liang saw through Huo Jun's intention and said with a smile: "I'm afraid that Da Sima wants Bo Miao to do something subtle and take the opportunity to secretly investigate the secrets inside Xianbei for future use."

"The one who knows me is Kong Ming!"

Huo Jun stroked his moustache and said with a smile: "The situation in Xianbei is very difficult to contain. We should pay attention to it in advance. And by the way, we should make good friends with Kebi Neng and ask him to send as many troops as possible to help our army in the Northern Expedition!"

Deng Zhi was impressed by Kebi Neng and stayed in Xianbei. Unless Kebi Neng took Liu Bei's command, it would be almost impossible to get Deng Zhi to serve for him.

Letting Deng Zhi stay in Xianbei now would not only help the big man earn 5,000 horses, but he might also be able to get detailed information inside Xianbei for future use.

Thinking about it from another perspective, if Ke Bineng wanted to force Deng Zhi to stay, neither Deng Zhi nor the big man could do anything about it, so they might as well agree to Ke Bineng's request.

"In that case~"

Chen Zhen pondered for a moment and said: "Now it is better to use Bo Miao's meritorious service as an excuse to confer an official title to show that the Han Dynasty has the intention to value Bo Miao."

"good!"

(End of this chapter)