Three Kingdoms

Chapter 47 Sima Yi Pretends to Seize Power

According to Zhuge Liang's will, the later master Liu Chan frugally arranged Zhuge Liang's funeral, and Zhuge Liang was buried in Dingjun Mountain.

At this time, an official told Liu Chan, the queen master, "General Quan Cong of Eastern Wu sent tens of thousands of troops to station at the border of Baqiu. I don't know what's the plan?"

The Empress Liu Chan was shocked: "Just after the prime minister passed away, Soochow betrayed the covenant and invaded our country. What should we do now?"

Jiang Wan said: "I can guarantee that Wang Ping and Zhang Ni will station [-] troops in Yong'an City to guard against the army of Soochow. Your Majesty will send another eloquent person to Soochow to report the funeral of the prime minister, and take the opportunity to observe the situation of Soochow. The actual situation."

The Empress Liu Chan said: "Who is willing to go to Soochow?" An official stood up and asked for orders, saying: "I am willing." Everyone looked carefully and found that it was the minister Zongyu. The empress Liu Chan was very happy and immediately ordered Zongyu to go. Report the funeral to Soochow and find out the actual situation of Soochow.

Zong Yu came to Soochow to meet Sun Quan.Zong Yu saw that the civil and military ministers of Soochow were all wearing mourning clothes.Sun Quan said to Zong Yu: "Eastern Wu and Shu are already united into one family. Why did you increase your troops in Baidi City?" Zong Yu said: "I thought it was our territory, and our soldiers should defend it. Your Majesty, why bother to ask more questions." Sun Quan laughed and said, "Your eloquence is not inferior to that of Deng Zhi." Then he said to Zong Yu, "I heard that Prime Minister Zhuge has passed away, and weep for him every day. I also ordered all the civil and military officials to be Prime Minister Zhuge Hang filial piety. I was afraid that the Wei army would seize the opportunity to attack Shu, so I sent troops to guard the border of Baqiu. I had no other intention." Zong Yu thanked Sun Quan.

Sun Quan said again: "I promised not to invade Shu in the early years, how could I betray the covenant?"

Zong Yu said: "Emperor Liu Chan of our country sent me to report the funeral of Prime Minister Zhuge to Your Majesty."

Sun Quan took out a golden arrow, broke it with one hand, and swore: "If I betray the covenant, my descendants will be extinct!"

Zong Yu thanked Sun Quan again.After returning to Chengdu, he reported the actual situation of Soochow to Liu Chan, the queen master.The master Liu Chan was overjoyed when he learned that Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu had broken his arrows into an alliance, and rewarded Zong Yu heavily.

According to Zhuge Liang's will, the later master Liu Chan named Jiang Wan the prime minister and general.Jiang Wei was granted the title of General Fuhan and Marquis of Pingxiang, commanding the national army.

Because Yang Yi was not reused, she complained and wanted to surrender to Wei.Fei Yi reported to the Empress Liu Chan, who ordered Yang Yi to be killed, but Jiang Wan dissuaded her, and Yang Yi was banished to the common people.

Cao Rui saw that the Shu army no longer invaded the frontier, and Soochow did not dare to cross the Yangtze River to attack.So he ignored the government and lived a life of debauchery and luxury.The people of Wei State were miserable.

One day, Guan Qiujian, the governor of Youzhou, reported back to the court: Gongsun Yuan of Liaodong rebelled, proclaimed himself King Yan, and led troops to invade the northern frontier.

When Cao Rui learned about it, he was shocked and turned pale. He summoned all civil and military officials to discuss state affairs and how to level Gongsun Yuan.

Sima Yi said: "With [-] troops, I can put down the traitor Gongsun Yuan."

Cao Rui said: "If you take such a small army and go all the way to Youzhou and Liaodong in the north, I am afraid that you will not be able to recover the lost land in Liaodong."

Sima Yi said: "Soldiers are not many, and wars are won by surprise. Strategies can predict the outcome of a war."

Cao Rui asked, "Can you predict what Gongsun Yuan will do?"

Sima Yi said: "If Gongsun Yuan abandons Liaodong and flees to a farther place, that is the best way to escape. It is not a bad strategy for Gongsun Yuan to send troops to resist our army. If Gongsun Yuan sticks to Xiangping, he will undoubtedly lose. "

Cao Rui asked, "When will you be able to return from this expedition?"

Sima Yi said: "It is more than 4000 miles to Liaodong. It takes [-] days to go to Liaodong, [-] days to attack Gongsunyuan, [-] days to return home, and [-] days to rest on the road. About one year is enough."

Cao Rui asked again: "What if Eastern Wu and Western Shu invade our country again?"

Sima Yi said: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I have already arranged a plan to resist Western Shu and Eastern Wu."

Cao Rui was overjoyed, and immediately ordered Sima Yi to lead his troops to advance to Liaodong and wipe out Gongsun Yuan.

Sima Yi sent the vanguard Hu Zun to lead the troops to march rapidly, and Hu Zun set up camp in front of Gongsun Yuan's camp.Gongsun Yuan ordered Bei Yan and Yang Zuo to divide [-] troops into the Liao Tunnel, and set up camp for [-] miles, with a very tight defense.Hu Zun sent someone to quickly return Sima Yi.

When Sima Yi learned of this situation, he couldn't help laughing and said: "Gongsun Yuan doesn't fight our army, he can't hold out, he wants our army to relax his defenses, so that he can sneak attack. I think most of Gongsun Yuan's army is Stationed here, Xiangping must be empty. Our army pretended to attack Xiangping, and he would definitely go to rescue him. Our army lay in ambush halfway and caught him by surprise." So he immediately led his troops to attack Xiangping.

When Bei Yan and Yang Zuo heard that Sima Yi led troops to attack Xiangping, they were shocked, and immediately led an army of [-] to rescue Xiangping.A sentry from the Wei army reported back to Sima Yi.

Sima Yi laughed loudly and said, "I fell into my trap!" So he immediately ordered Xiahouba and Xiahouwei to lead a thousand troops each to lie in ambush on the banks of the Liaoshui River.

Bei Yan and Yang Zuo rushed to the bank of the Liaoshui River and were ambushed by the Wei army. They were defeated by Xiahouba and Xiahouwei.At this time, Gongsun Yuan also led the troops to arrive.Bei Yan and Yang Zuo came to fight the Wei army again, and Xia Houba killed Bei Yan with a sword.Gongsun Yuan was afraid of the Wei army, so he immediately fled back to Xiangping with his troops.Wei Bing surrounded Xiangping City on all sides.

It was already autumn at this time, and the autumn rain continued for a month. Sima Yi stood firm in the camp.The rain besieged the Wei army's camp, and Wei's soldiers could not sit still.The general Qiu Lian asked Sima Yi to move the barracks to the opposite mountain. Sima Yi was furious and killed Qiu Lian on the grounds that Qiu Lian did not obey the order. For a while, no one dared to speak of suffering.

Sima Yi ordered the soldiers of Dazhai in the Nanying camp to retreat [-] li so that the people in the city could go up the mountain to cut firewood and graze cattle and horses.

General Chen Qun asked Sima Yi: "When you attacked Shangyong Mengda before, you divided your troops into eight groups. It took only eight days to arrive at the city of Shangyong, and you put down Mengda's rebellion with lightning speed. Now you You led [-] troops, traveled thousands of miles to Liaodong, did not order to attack Xiangping City, but stationed the troops in the mud, and let the people of Xiangping come in and out freely. I really can't figure out what you are doing this for?"

Sima Yi smiled and said: "How do you know how to use troops! Back then, Meng Da had fewer soldiers and more food, but our army had more soldiers and less food, so we couldn't make a quick battle, but could only catch him by surprise. Now that Liao has more soldiers, our army There are few soldiers, the enemy is hungry and has nothing to eat, but our army has enough to eat. Why did our army attack the city desperately? Our army let them take a path, let them relax their vigilance, escape from Xiangping City, and then our army took the opportunity to attack Fight fiercely, at that time, we will win more with less, and our army will surely win!"

Chen Qun was overwhelmed with admiration.

So Sima Yi sent people to Luoyang to urge the delivery of grain and grass.Cao Rui wanted to send grain and grass to Sima Yi, and the ministers all advised Sima Yi to withdraw his troops.

Their reason was that it was raining heavily, which was very unfavorable for the Wei army to march and fight.Cao Rui refuted them, saying that Sima Yi was good at using soldiers and Gongsun Yuan would definitely be defeated.

Sima Yi stood firm in the camp, and a few days later, the weather was fine and cloudless.One night, Sima Yi watched astronomy and saw a big star falling into the sky. He was overjoyed and said to his generals, "Gongsun Yuan will surely die in five days. When the time comes to attack the city, don't relax."

The next day, the Wei army began to attack on a large scale.Surrounded Xiangping tightly on all sides, built earth mountains, dug tunnels, erected gun mounts, installed ladders, and attacked fiercely regardless of day and night. Arrows shot like rain, and Xiangping was in danger.

Gongsun Yuan's army had eaten up all the food and grass, so he ordered to kill cattle and horses to make ends meet.The soldiers and civilians in the city hated Gongsun Yuan to death, and they all wanted to kill Gongsun Yuan and surrender to the Wei army.Gongsun Yuan was panicked every day.Wanting to surrender to the Wei army, Sima Yi scolded him to return to Xiangping every time.

Gongsun Yuan couldn't stay in Xiangping anymore. At night, he selected a thousand soldiers and quietly escaped from Xiangping City. When he walked to the southeast corner, he was ambushed by Sima Yi and Gongsun Yuan was killed.

Sima Yi returned with a big victory.

Cao Rui, the emperor of Wei State, got a serious illness and was about to die of illness, so he immediately summoned Sima Yi and Cao Zhen's son Cao Shuang to the palace to listen to the order.

Cao Rui hopes that Sima Yi and Cao Shuang can properly assist Prince Cao Fang.Both Sima Yi and Cao Shuang agreed.Cao Rui died after finishing his orders.

At present, Sima Yi and Cao Shuang supported the prince Cao Fang to ascend the throne and became emperor.Cao Fang appointed Sima Yi as Taifu, which was the meaning of General Cao Shuang, and Cao Shuang took control of the military power from then on.Cao Shuang thought he was a high official and powerful, so he didn't take Sima Yi seriously at all.In order to avoid Cao Shuang's framing, Sima Yi stopped going to court to see the emperor all day long on the grounds that he was seriously ill. Brother Sima also resigned and lived at home idle.

Cao Shuang and his subordinates are extravagant every day, regardless of state affairs, just want to enjoy themselves, and almost forgot about Sima Yi.

Cao Fang appointed Cao Shuang's subordinate Li Sheng to serve as a magistrate in Jingzhou.Li Sheng followed Cao Shuang's order to investigate Sima Yi's actual situation.

When Sima Yi learned that Li Sheng was coming to visit, he immediately said to his two sons: "This is Cao Shuang who came to find out about our real situation." So he took off the crown, let his hair loose, and went to bed and hugged the quilt to pretend to be seriously ill.

Li Sheng came to Sima Yi's bedside and said to Sima Yi: "We have never come to see the Taifu. We never thought that the Taifu would be sick like this. The emperor ordered me to go to Jingzhou to take up my post, and I came here to say goodbye to you."

Sima Yi pretended to be deaf, dizzy and unconscious, and said: "Bingzhou is a frontier, you must guard it well when you get there."

Li Sheng said, "It's Jingzhou, not Bingzhou."

Sima Yi still pretended to be crazy and said: "Are you from Bingzhou?"

Li Sheng said, "It's Jingzhou in the south."

Sima Yi laughed loudly and said, "You are from Jingzhou!"

Li Sheng said, "Why is Taifu so ill?"

Sima Yi's subordinates replied: "Teacher is already deaf!"

Li Sheng said, "Please borrow the paper and brush for use."

The subordinates immediately sent paper and pens.Li Sheng wrote down everything he wanted to say.Sima Yi tremblingly read the note written by Li Sheng, and laughed again: "I am so sick that I am deaf. You have to take care." After speaking, he pointed to his mouth.The maid immediately brought Tommy to feed Sima Yi.Tommy fed it into Sima Yi's mouth, and it flowed out again after a while, his mouth was full of Tommy and saliva, very filthy.Sima Yi pretended to be choked up and cried, "I'm getting old and I'm going to die soon. My two sons are not sensible. I hope you can teach them. If you see General Cao, you must ask him to discipline them!" , fell on the bed, constantly gasping for breath.

Li Sheng quickly reciprocated Cao Shuang. When Cao Shuang learned that Sima Yi was ill and confused, he couldn't help laughing and said, "Sima Yi is going to die soon." So he didn't take Sima Yi seriously.

Sima Yi waited for Li Sheng to leave, and immediately stood up again from the bed, put on his clothes, wiped Tommy off his mouth, and said to his two sons: "Li Sheng must report the news to Cao Shuang when he returns. If Cao Shuang knew about my If he is sick like this, he will definitely relax his vigilance. When Cao Shuang goes out to hunt in the city, we will eliminate him."

Within two days, Cao Shuang invited Cao Fang to worship the late emperor.All bureaucrats, big and small, went out of the city.

Sima Yi and his two sons immediately acted upon hearing the news, dispatched troops and generals, sealed off the capital, seized military power, and forced Cao Shuang to surrender.Cao Shuang was lucky, thinking that Sima Yi would not kill him, and returned to the city to surrender. Unexpectedly, Sima Yi not only did not spare him, but also killed all Cao Shuang's clan members. Father and son were promoted to rank.Sima Yi and his son pretended not to accept it, but Cao Fang insisted that the three of them accept it.Sima Yi and his son finally took over the power of the country, which shocked the government and the public and shocked the whole world.

General Xiahouba of the Wei army was dissatisfied with the Sima family's power, so he led his [-] soldiers to rebel and surrendered to Shu.

Jiang Wei and Xia Houba discussed strategies to deal with Wei.Xia Houba told Jiang Wei: "Sima Yi, an old thief, has always wanted to annex the Kingdom of Shu. He has two new generals under him, one named Deng Ai and the other named Zhong Hui. They are very powerful. them."

Jiang Wei said: "These two boys can't lead troops to fight at all. I didn't take them two boys seriously."

(End of this chapter)