The Jagged Emperor of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 742
Hanzhong County, since Zhao Yun and Wei Yan cooperated, under the planning and operation of Shi Guangyuan and Liu Chan, it has been in the hands of Shu Han for some years.Since Wei Yan sent troops here and swept away the local surnames and wealthy families, killing blood in Hanzhong, Liu Bei appointed him as the prefect of Hanzhong and added him as General Zhenyuan.

It should be said that Wei Yan is the most courageous and resourceful figure among those followers of Liu Bei when he started his business, but because he is relatively young, and because his qualifications have always been relatively shallow, his status is not comparable to other civil servants and generals.Therefore, at that time, Wei Yan was of course a little bit aggrieved, and even had a thought that his talents were underappreciated.

However, Liu Chan and Shi Guangyuan's plans for Hanzhong made Wei Yan start a war where he showed his talents.

In addition, after taking the land of Hanzhong, Liu Chan obviously spent a lot of time thinking about how to increase Wei Yan's credit.This is how Wei Yan led his army to sweep the rebellion of the local powerful and powerful people in Hanzhong.At that time, Zhao Yun, who had a higher military rank, was actually left behind in Nanzheng, and he should have acted in the anti-insurgency work.

But why did Liu Chan choose Wei Yan instead of Zhao Yun?

Liu Chan has his own considerations.Zhao Yun has always been heavily relied on by Liu Bei, and he will definitely return to Liu Bei's side for a long time to come.Then, let Zhao Yun make greater contributions at this time, except for his promotion, it seems that it will not increase too much contribution to the Shu Han.

But Wei Yan is different.At that time, Wei Yan's military rank was not high enough, and his fortune was not smooth. He was only talented, but he didn't have enough opportunities and platforms to show his talents.In addition, it is impossible for Wei Yan to be Liu Bei's confidant. If he wants to go out to work, it is impossible for Liu Bei to keep him in Chengdu.

So much so that Liu Chan couldn't help but sigh in his heart at that time, the position of prefect in Hanzhong seemed to be destined from heaven to be specially tailored for Wei Yan, and it really couldn't be more suitable for Wei Yan.

It was precisely because he was keenly aware of these differences between Zhao Yun and Wei Yan that Liu Chan used Wei Yan instead of Zhao Yun at the time. He wanted Wei Yan to make greater contributions and become the Shu Han guarding Hanzhong. A general close to the Cao Wei occupied area.

Wei Yan is not a fool, of course he is well aware of Liu Chan's special appointment and is even more grateful.Later, Liu Chan also got enough rewards from Wei Yan, the prefect of Hanzhong.That is why Jingzhou is suitable for lack of food and grass, and Wei Yan's Hanzhong County is actually the one who contributed the most.Wei Yan did know how to express his gratitude.

As a result, Wei Yan did not disappoint Liu Chan, and quickly and decisively appraised the rebellion before Liu Bei ascended the throne of Hanzhong King in Hanzhong.Generally speaking, such achievements should be great.But at the time when Liu Bei was at his most energetic, Wei Yan's assessment of the rebellion allowed him to ascend to the throne in a glorious manner. It was impossible for Wei Yan not to get the favor of the lord at that time.

Therefore, Wei Yan succeeded in taking the position, not only serving as the prefect of Hanzhong County, but also becoming the prefect of Hanzhong, a large county with a large population, and was conferred such a high military position as General Zhenyuan, and finally realized his wish to become a general guarding one side.However, in terms of the contributions Wei Yan made at that time, such a conferment is actually not too much.Therefore, Zhuge Liang and Dong He, the two chief officers of General Zuo, had nothing to say about this.

Moreover, Wei Yan should be said to be a man capable of writing and martial arts. Since he became the prefect of Hanzhong, he has gradually shown his talent in government affairs, and managed the huge Hanzhong County in an orderly manner.

Of course, Wei Yan's achievements were even recognized by Yan Pu, who was persuaded by Liu Chan to come out again.It is definitely not an easy task for Wei Yan to be recognized by Yan Pu, who has always been strict.The cooperation between these two people should be said to be quite pleasant.

Moreover, Wei Yan at this time is just a proud general, far from developing the arrogance of the only one in the world when the famous generals of the Shu Han withered in the future, and he was the only one left. It is impossible for him to appear like in history. The irreconcilable contradiction between Yang Yi.This created the necessary conditions for him to coexist peacefully with people like Yan Pu.

With the cooperation of these two people, the economy and life in Hanzhong were quickly restored.

However, after General Zuo's order was passed to Hanzhong, the peaceful life in Hanzhong was completely broken.General Zuo's Zhuge Liang and Dong He seem to have been inspired by Jingzhou and Cao Wei's undefeated battles, and their ability to fight against the Jiangdong army, so they really dare to formulate a scope that includes Jingzhou and Yizhou. huge strategic plan.

The most important part of it is, of course, that General Zuo's mansion authorized Liu Chan, the elder son who was fighting far away in Jingzhou, to enlist any army in the Shuhan territory to participate in the battle against the Jiangdong army, and to prepare to sweep Jiangdong to eliminate the astonishing intention of the Eastern regime.

Another essential link, of course, is the Hanzhong land on the back of Yizhou.Since it directly borders Cao Wei's territory, it is of course the place chosen by General Zuo's mansion to send troops to Cao Wei.

General Zuo asked Wei Yan to send troops to Cao Wei. Of course, his real intention could not be the true Northern Expedition.The current Shu Han doesn't have that strength at all, and they are fighting two large-scale battles at the same time.General Zuo's mansion wanted Wei Yan to send out a large army to pretend to be going to the Northern Expedition, so as to distract Cao Wei's attention and their main force.

In this case, once the army of the eldest son Liu Chan really achieves the goal of destroying Soochow, Cao Wei's troops will have already entered the Guanzhong area, and it will be too late to return to the division in time to suddenly attack the Jingzhou area.In this case, the army of the eldest son Liu Chan will no longer have any worries about the conquest of Jiangdong.

So fundamentally speaking, the dispatch of Wei Yan's army to the north was actually just a response to Liu Chan's battlefield.But their role is so important, it is an indispensable link.

Originally, it was absolutely impossible for a proud general like Wei Yan to be willing to be someone else's green leaf.But this time Wei Yan received the order from General Zuo's Mansion and understood the strategic intention of General Zuo's Mansion, but he accepted the task very diligently.After all, he is deeply favored by Liu Chan, and the friendship between the two is also extraordinary, so of course he will do his best to help.

Of course, Wei Yan was not an easy guy to tame.His personality is very similar to Deng Ai's to some extent, that is, his persistent pursuit of fame and fortune.Therefore, after he took over the task, he ordered the whole army to start preparing for the war, and must create momentum for the Northern Expedition with great fanfare; but on the other hand, Wei Yan summoned his meritorious Cao Yan Pu, and had a four-day discussion with him .

As a result, something that would definitely surprise General Zuo's mansion happened like this.It was good for Wei Yan to accept the mission, and it was good to start to create a momentum to let Cao Wei know that his troops were dispatched early, but Wei Yan decided not to fake it, he wanted to play real with Cao Wei.

In other words, Wei Yan's so-called Northern Expedition this time was to actually send troops instead of just creating momentum.

Of course, Wei Yan dared to do this, of course he had his own reasons.

Wei Yan immediately wrote a letter to General Zuo's mansion in the name of the prefect of Chinese characters, telling Zhuge Liang and Dong He the reason why he wanted to do this.

First of all, after the restoration of Hanzhong, the reserves of grain, grass and various ordnance are already sufficient.Even the army has been well trained for a long time.With such logistical support and military support, it should be possible to carry out a Northern Expedition.

Secondly, Wei Yan's intention of the Northern Expedition, it should be said that the goal is not very huge - what he wants to take this time is not the two states of Yongliang and Liangzhou in the bowl.Wei Yan still has self-knowledge, if he wants to take it, he must use the power of the entire Yizhou, and it may not be something that can be obtained.Therefore, for the time being, he wants to take the north of Hanzhong and the Sanfu land north of the Qinling Mountains, and seize the most fertile area in Guanzhong.Once the army in Hanzhong can hold on to the Sanfu area, Cao Wei's Yongliang and Liangzhou must be seriously injured within a year or two.At that time, it will be absolutely effortless for the Shu Han to win the two states of Yongliang and Liangzhou.

Third, Zhang Ji, the governor of Yongzhou, guarded the two prefectures of Yongzhou and Liangzhou in Chang'an.This person is absolutely outstanding in government affairs, and he is also good at martial arts, but even so, he is only a scribe, not a general who can conquer wars.Therefore, it is possible for such a person to govern a land of thousands of miles, but Wei Yan bluntly said that Zhang is neither his opponent.

After enumerating the above three points of view, Wei Yan's document immediately put forward the famous strategy of the Northern Expedition "Ziwu Valley Miracle", which is very famous in later generations.

Meridian Valley, the north-south vertical trend, is about 350 miles long, which is about [-] kilometers.It starts from the Qinling Mountains in the southwest of Gaoguan'an County, Shaanxi Province in the north, and ends in Shiquan County in the south.Its northern exit is called "Zikou", and its southern exit is called "Wukou".

Li Bai claimed that "the road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to go to the blue sky". This famous poem is also applicable to Ziwu Valley.There are cliffs and cliffs everywhere in the valley, and plank roads are needed to pass through, because this is in the thousands of miles of Qinling Mountains.The Qinling Mountains include the extremely famous Zhongnan Mountain, which is high in the west and low in the east, and is the watershed between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. "Zizhi Tongjian" records: "Ziwu: Baozhong County, which belongs to Hanzhong County, was learned by Wang Mang."

Even though the road is so difficult, in fact, Wei Yan's Ziwu Valley conspiracy is extremely simple to express: Wei Yan will and his deputy Pang De personally lead more than [-] elite soldiers from Hanzhong County, and suddenly appear under the city of Chang'an through the Ziwu Valley, and take it in one fell swoop. Go to Chang'an.In the end, Tongguan was raided from behind, and it could be easily taken down to resist the main force of the Cao Wei army coming from Luoyang.And the other army that received the order of the Northern Expedition, that is, Ma Dai's army that is now guarding Yangping Pass, will also go out of Xiegu to enter Chang'an and Tongguan, and the two armies will join forces at Tongguan.

It should be said that Wei Yan's strategy is relatively aggressive, but it is actually relatively comprehensive.On the premise of not violating the combat intention of General Zuo's Mansion - successfully attracting and holding back Cao Wei's army, it also successfully realized Wei Yan's own ambition to make contributions.

It can be seen from this that Wei Yan is really not a simple person.

General Zuo's mansion was indeed surprised after receiving Wei Yan's document.However, the two chief officials of General Zuo's Mansion also seemed a little dissatisfied with Wei Yan's actions. After all, Wei Yanming wanted to carry out their orders, but in essence, they completely subverted the strategic plan of General Zuo's Mansion.

Moreover, from their point of view, Wei Yan's actions are more for his personal purpose than for the overall situation.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang and Dong He had an urgent discussion for a day, and finally refuted Wei Yan's "Ziwu Valley Conspiracy" and strictly ordered Wei Yan to follow the original plan to join forces with Ma Dai's army via Qishan Mountain. That's it.

But the two chief officials of General Zuo's mansion, why did they treat Wei Yan's "Ziwu Valley Strange Conspiracy" like this?It should be said that Wei Yan's strategy is not guaranteed to fail.And once the expected results are achieved, it will definitely be a huge opportunity for the future conquest of Yongliang and Liangzhou.

But the eyes of the two chief officials of General Zuo's Mansion seem to be broader than Wei Yan's.In their view, the current overall situation of the Shu Han is not the real Northern Expedition, nor the three assistants of Chang'an, nor the two prefectures of Yongliang and Liangzhou, but Jingzhou and Soochow, and the raging war between them.Therefore, even if Wei Yan really wins Chang'an and Tongguan, it actually means that Yizhou must continue to use various military forces to support Wei Yan's army in defending the three auxiliary lands of Chang'an.And to firmly occupy the Sanfu area, it is bound to have another protracted battle with Cao Wei's army.

Today's Yizhou is struggling to support the Jingzhou army and Jiangzhou thousands of miles away. How can there be any spare energy to pass through the extremely difficult Shu Road to support Wei Yan's troops to hold on to Chang'an Sanfu.If it is possible, it is definitely the most nonsense thing in this world.

Therefore, the two chief officials of General Zuo's Mansion knew that Wei Yan's "Ziwu Valley Mystery" was actually not bad, and it was possible to realize it, but it was simply unrealistic to implement it.They refuted it, of course it was within reason.

It should be said that "Ziwu Valley Strange Conspiracy" really embodies Wei Yan's painstaking efforts and the highly anticipated strategy of the Northern Expedition. Of course, he has given great expectations to this.But as the reply from General Zuo's Mansion was sent to Nanzheng, Wei Yan's heart suddenly felt a little cold, and his face suddenly became ugly.With his proud personality, the direct criticism from General Zuo's mansion really hurt his self-esteem.But General Zuo's Mansion, as the highest military authority of the Shu Han, could not be called "highest" if it did not have the authority to hurt Wei Yan's self-esteem.General Zuo's office can do this.

Since the strategic planning for the Great War in southern Jingzhou had just started, Wei Yan still had a long time to prepare for the Northern Expedition.Of course Wei Yan was not convinced in his heart, so he once again wrote a letter to General Zuo's residence, clearly insisting that his "Ziwu Valley Mystery" was the correct approach.

This time, General Zuo's mansion was no longer polite, and the terms of criticism became even more severe.Even General Zuo's Mansion told Wei Yan in a dangerous tone that if he continued to do this, he would not rule out temporarily changing the commanding general or sending a supervising army to his army.Of course, the candidate to supervise the army is definitely from the General Zuo's office.

Faced with such a reply, Wei Yan certainly felt helpless.But the official rank crushes people to death, not to mention the General Zuo's mansion is more than one rank or two higher than him, that is the immediate boss of all the soldiers of the Shu Han!

As a result, Wei Yan no longer dared to insist on his "Ziwu Valley Mystery", and became a man with his tail between his legs a little bit aggrieved.

As for Ma Dai, the preparations for the Northern Expedition went very smoothly, and the whole army carried out their tasks honestly.

Ma Dai's attitude of obedience just reflects Wei Yan's rebelliousness from the opposite side.Therefore, General Zuo's satisfaction with Ma Dai reflected that they were not very satisfied with Wei Yan.

Human beings are made through such comparisons.

(End of this chapter)