Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 400 394. Cao Wei's Employment
Feng Xi asked Xu Shu for the latest military intelligence. Although he knew that Xu Shu would never make mistakes, Xu Shu was limited by the perspective of the times and was definitely not as sensitive as he was to some things.

For example, after the Battle of Fancheng, if it had not been for me, even if Zhuge Liang had taken over, he might not have paid much attention to Deng Ai, let alone tried to keep him.

There is no way, this has nothing to do with ability, it is just that I simply don't know. Even Liu Bei, who is the most discerning person in this world, can't tell at first glance whether a person will have great talent in the future or whether he can make a name for himself, but Feng Xi can tell just by his name.

Similarly, if Cao Wei made a deployment on the border, such as sending some unknown young generals over, even if Xu Shu was prepared, he would not be on guard or careful. But if it was Feng Xi, after seeing the other party's name, he would know the other party's ability and would make some corresponding deployments.

Just like poor Wen Yang, his father Wen Qin's name was known by Feng Xi, who then made some targeted arrangements. As a result, he became an unexpected gain of the counter-espionage plan, and as a result, Wen Yang in this world could not be born.

"Let me see... Well, after Cao Ren died, he actually let Xiahou Shang take his place in Nanyang... It's a pity that Xiahou Shang is also a short-lived ghost. I guess Cao Pi will have to change another general in two years. But it's hard to say, who will die first, Cao Pi or Xiahou Shang."

The first thing Feng Xi looked at was the military situation in Nanyang. In the original timeline, Cao Ren was still quite strong and even had time to go to Jiujiang to fight the third battle of Ruxukou before he died.

However, after the Battle of Fancheng two years ago, Cao Ren's old bones were blown away, crushed by the rubble, and then he took a few deep puffs of smoke. He was already bedridden, half-dead, and later died.

When Cao Pi faced the death of his uncle who had provided him with a lot of help when he first came to power and became emperor, he also gave him considerable face. In addition to holding a funeral for him with the highest standards for literati and officials, he personally bestowed on him the posthumous title of Zhonghou and allowed him to be enshrined in the imperial temple of his father, Cao Cao, which was considered to be giving Cao Ren enough face.

But even though Cao Ren was dead, Nanyang had to be guarded by someone. It was fine to give the general counties to outsiders, but the Cao family would never give military power to outsiders, it could only be the Cao family and the Xiahou family.

This has not changed in the original timeline or now. For example, Xu Huang, who died five years earlier because of Feng Xi's intervention, had made great contributions and had outstanding military achievements. He had rebelled against the Baibo bandits when Cao Cao first took over Emperor Xian, and followed Cao Cao throughout his life.

In the end, he was promoted to the rank of Right General and Marquis of Luxiang before being killed by Feng Xi, but it seemed that his official position was quite high. After all, most of the Five Tiger Generals of Ji Han at that time were only at the level of generals of the front, back, left, and right.

But don't forget that Xu Huang was not the top leader in Nanyang. He had someone above him. Who was it? General Xiahou Shang, the General of the Southern Expedition. It's interesting to say that Xu Huang, who was nominally in a higher position, had to obey the orders of Xiahou Shang, who was in a slightly lower position.

Feng Xi didn't particularly disparage Xiahou Shang. You said he was incompetent, that's definitely not the case. In the original timeline, he was the one who could defeat Zhuge Jin, and the loss of the three counties of Shangyong was also closely related to him.

But even if you say he was very capable, he didn't have that many military achievements. Apart from joining Cao Zhang in attacking the Wuhuan in Dai County in the north, he didn't do much.

Even during the Battle of Hanzhong, he was captured alive by Huang Zhong. At that time, Xiahou Yuan captured Chen Shi alive, and Huang Zhong captured Xiahou Shang alive. When the two were exchanging prisoners, Xiahou Shang was shot by Huang Zhong. Fortunately, the arrow did not hit the vital parts. Even if he returned with the arrow, it would be a disgrace to the emperor.

Such an ordinary young general, because of his good relationship with Cao Pi and being a member of the Xiahou family, which was Cao Wei's confidant, was transformed into the General of the Southern Expedition after Cao Pi usurped the throne. How could Feng Xi not look down on him?
Feng Xi had previously defeated the elite and main forces of the Eastern Wu, recovered Jingzhou, and only after he destroyed Wu this year did he secure the title of General of the Eastern Expedition. You should know that even though Feng Xi had recovered Jingzhou and taken Jiaozhou, and had killed and injured nearly 200,000 people from Cao Wei and Sun Wu in several battles, there were still people in Chengdu who thought he was unworthy of the position. Let's look at Cao Cao again. The Cao family and the Xiahou family were fine, but Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan, and Xiahou Dun had indeed made great contributions to Cao Cao, so there was no problem for him to lead the army.

What about you, Xiahou Shang? I don’t even mention Xiahou Shang, what about Xiahou Mao?

Who is Xiahou Mao? When it comes to the Three Kingdoms period, it is naturally Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition. The most controversial of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition is the Ziwu Valley Strategy.

Wei Yan believed that he could personally lead an army and raid Chang'an through Ziwu Valley. As long as Chang'an was captured, he could cooperate with Zhuge Liang from inside and outside to occupy the entire Guanxi region, and even move eastward to capture the entire Guanzhong region.

But Zhuge Liang naturally would not agree to such a risky move, so he had several disputes with Wei Yan, and the conflict further deepened.

The core of Wei Yan's Ziwu Valley strategy was Xiahou Mao.

Xiahou Mao was the second son of Xiahou Dun. He married Cao Cao's daughter, Princess Qinghe. As the second generation of the Xiahou family, he had a very good relationship with Cao Pi. After Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty, Xiahou Mao did not make any contribution and was directly promoted to General Anxi, holding the imperial seal.

What does this mean? Xu Huang, who had been a soldier all his life, was the right general. Zhang He, although a surrendered general, had devoted himself to the cause since his surrender to Cao Wei, and had fought hard against Ji Han in the Guanzhong area with all his might, and was the left general.

Xiahou Mao had never done anything and was not even as experienced as Xiahou Shang. This man had never even been on the battlefield and his experience was almost completely blank. However, because he had a good relationship with Cao Pi, he was promoted to General Anxi and was also granted the title of Imperial Seal.

So whenever someone said that Cao Cao was not picky about who he employed, Feng Xi wanted to laugh. Yes, he was not picky about who he employed, but the fact that I would employ you does not mean that I would completely trust you.

In addition, although Xiahou Mao was only a small Anxi general, he was able to command Zhang He, Guo Huai and other capable people. Relying on his status as a son-in-law, he was promoted to the rank of Grand Commander by Cao Rui in the original timeline, in charge of 200,000 troops in Guanxi. Relying on his large numbers, he almost drowned old Zhao Yun, but was later defeated by Zhuge Liang.

It is no wonder that when Wei Yan first proposed the Ziwu Valley strategy, he took it for granted that "as soon as I arrive, Xiahou Mao will definitely abandon the city."

The Cao family seems to have great trust in those foreign generals, but in fact, they all need to be paired with a confidant of the Cao family, and these confidants often have terrifying power.

(End of this chapter)