Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 543 537. Recall
"Heh, Cao Zhen's calculations are quite good. I guess someone is giving him advice. Could it be that he was forced into a desperate situation and they re-employed Sima Yi?"

Cao Zhen's actions naturally did not escape Feng Xi's sight. He had originally prepared for Cao Zhen to intervene, but he learned that Cao Zhen's Guanzhong army was like crazy, almost all of them came out and rushed straight to Jieting.

"You really think Zhuge Liang and his men are easy prey."

Although he had not met Zhuge Liang, the two had surprisingly similar views on this. Cao Zhen's purpose in doing this was obvious. Unfortunately, Cao Zhen underestimated Zhuge Liang and the Sichuan Army.

In the original timeline, Zhuge Liang led several northern expeditions, forcing Cao Zhen, Sima Yi and others to defend themselves. There was even a fire in Shangfang Valley, and a heavy rain, whether it was God's will or man-made, killed Sima Yi himself on the spot.

Although the offensive and defensive situation has now been reversed, Feng Xi is still confident that Zhuge Liang will personally go out to defend Jieting. Even if he cannot inflict heavy casualties on Cao Zhen, he will be more than capable of withstanding Cao Zhen's desperate attempt.

What's more, the Han army today is not the Han army of the original timeline. Its weapons, training, and experience are far from comparable to the new army of the original timeline.

"Since Cao Zhen likes to move westward, let's attack Luoyang directly. Also, let the people in Luoyang spread the news that Cao Zhen deliberately moved westward in order to pretend to be in a stalemate with the Han army, but in fact he had other plans."

Since you, Cao Zhen, dared to follow Sima Yi's plan and rushed directly to Jieting, attempting to capture Zhuge Liang before the Han army captured Luoyang, Feng Xi would naturally give him this opportunity and march directly north.

On the day that Feng Xi's carrier pigeon flew into Luoyang, the streets were filled with the news that General Cao Zhen did not send a single soldier to aid Luoyang, but instead went in the opposite direction and attacked Liangzhou.

The key is that these rumors are not afraid of investigation and they are all the truth. It’s just that Feng Xi was willing to help others and passed the news back to Luoyang in advance.

Along with it, there were some other news. For example, Cao Rui was defeated and was named Marquis of Jincheng; for example, Cao Rui was trapped in Luoyang because of the fall of Liangzhou; for example, Cao Zhen had been treating Cao Rui well during this period...

There is a joke in later generations that "the best rendering tool is the human brain". Often, directly throwing a conclusion to everyone will naturally lead to speculation. However, if you deliberately reveal a few words as clues and let everyone fill in the blanks, everyone will believe it without a doubt.

After all, it is a conclusion reached "after complex reasoning and unraveling the mystery", and most people will not overturn their own conclusions so easily, especially for something like this that is itself prone to being full of conspiracy theories.

Since Cao Pi came to power, he had set a bad precedent of brothers fighting each other. Most people with discerning eyes saw how Cao Pi treated Cao Zhi and Cao Zhang. It was almost the same with Cao Li. Many brothers who had second thoughts about Cao Li were exiled to the border and became marquises in remote places, and were not allowed to return to Luoyang for life.

Therefore, if it is said that Cao Rui and Cao Zhen have joined forces and are planning to watch the fall of Luoyang and then re-establish the Wei Dynasty, the credibility is still very high.

What the common people knew naturally soon reached the ears of the princes and ministers who were usually high and mighty.

Everyone has their own channels, so Cao Zhen's movements can be known after a little verification. Now Cao Zhen has led 50,000 troops to attack Jieting for a few days, so everyone basically knows his movements.

This kind of information that is nine true and one false is the easiest to be believed, especially when the false part is something that people have to imagine.

"Ridiculous! Who made Cao Zhen so bold as to leave Luoyang alone and attack that damn Jieting! He went to Liangzhou, so where am I! Where is Luoyang! Is Cao Rui so charming?" Needless to say, Cao Li has already gone mad. When he heard Cao Zhen's arrangement, he turned into a desktop cleaning master and hit and smashed a bunch of future cultural relics.

"Your Majesty, please calm down your anger. From what I can see, the general is not afraid of fighting, but wants to defeat Zhuge Kongming's Sichuan army first, and then rush to Luoyang with all his strength."

Chen Qun also knew about military affairs, and he knew what Cao Zhen was planning after a little thought. After all, Cao Zhen had few choices, and each choice had its own reasons, so it was hard to say which was better or worse.

"Haha, if he can't defeat Zhuge Liang, then I will become the credit of the Han army, right? Immediately give me an order to let Cao Zhen lead the elite troops of Guanzhong to return to Luoyang for support. There must be no mistakes! I will not listen to any excuses. Come back to me immediately, immediately!"

Since it concerns himself, Cao Li doesn't want to hear any excuses like planning, arrangement, or program. He now only wants to see the nearly 100,000-strong army in Guanzhong. Everything else is empty talk.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to report. The general is currently in a standoff with Zhuge Liang. If we withdraw hastily, Zhuge Liang is definitely not an ordinary person and will definitely take the opportunity to chase and kill us. The general..."

Seeing that Cao Li was really angry, Zhong Yao, who was over 70 years old, had to stand up and speak a few words for Cao Zhen. Zhong Yao was in Chang'an, managing Guanzhong, but now that he was old, he returned to Luoyang to semi-retire. Now the situation was urgent, Zhong Yao naturally had to defend Cao Zhen, who had his own considerations.

"Is the Grand Tutor speaking for the Great General? Or does the Grand Tutor think that the Great General is more important than me? Or does he think that my life or death is irrelevant? After all, my good brother, Cao Rui, the Marquis of Jincheng, is still in Chang'an. If I die in the hands of the Han army, you can let him inherit my throne. Besides me, you also have the merit of following the emperor, so promotion is a piece of cake."

Seeing that all the ministers were tending to follow Zhong Yao, Cao Li's face turned livid. He no longer cared about the demeanor of an emperor, slammed the table, stood up from his dragon throne, pointed at the noses of the ministers and started cursing.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. We dare not do that."

Seeing that Cao Li now looked like a mad dog, everyone naturally did not dare to offend him and could only kneel down and admit their mistakes.

"Since you don't have this idea, why don't you do what I just said?! Draft an order immediately and have the general return to Luoyang for assistance. There must be no mistakes!"

Cao Li glanced at all the ministers. No one dared to look at Cao Li directly. They bowed their heads and remained silent.

"Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance. I am afraid that I need to explain it to the general. I would like to be an envoy and go to Guanzhong to discuss the pros and cons with the general."

Zhong Yao sighed and decided to retreat in order to advance, planning to go to Cao Zhen in person to explain the situation. Although Zhong Yao was struggling to walk now, the matter was of great importance and he could not help but feel anxious.

"Your Excellency is ill now, and it is not appropriate for you to travel so far. Although I am old, I am still a dozen years younger than Your Excellency. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to serve as an envoy and meet the general to explain the pros and cons."

However, a person at the side did not give Zhong Yao the opportunity and asked for permission.

(End of this chapter)