Zhuge Liang looked at Wei Yan with some confusion. "Didn't Wenchang say that Chang'an is more difficult to attack? Why do we have to go to Guanzhong?" Zhuge Liang said. Wei Yan cupped his hands and said, "I think we can go through the Baoxia Road to cut off Long." Zhuge Liang felt speechless for a moment. After learning about Zhuge Liang's plan of a northern expedition last year, Wei Yan once proposed in a letter to Zhuge Liang that they could go north from Ziwu Valley to Chang'an and directly occupy Guanzhong. This rather bold strategic idea was rejected by Zhuge Liang at the time. Regardless of how difficult the Ziwu Road was to travel, even if the army was led through the Ziwu Road and reached Chang'an, how could they guarantee a quick capture of Chang'an and resist the reinforcements from the Wei army from the east? Just now, Zhuge Liang heard that Wei Yan had changed his mind and gave up the plan to take Chang'an directly, and he felt relieved for a moment. As a result, Wei Yan's reckless thinking remained unchanged. The so-called "breaking Long" means to cut off the Long Mountains so that the Wei army could not advance westward into Liangzhou. Longshan is a rather broad geographical concept.
The west is called right and the east is called left. Longyou refers to the four counties of Nan'an, Tianshui, Guangwei and Longxi east of the Yellow River and west of Longshan Mountain. The non-existent "Longzuo" is actually the Guanzhong region. In Zhuge Liang's mind, there can be no "gambling" element in the Northern Expedition, but it should be a strategy of steady progress, first taking Liangzhou and then Guanzhong, and gradually realizing it. If one wants to occupy Longyou, one must lead a large army out of Qishan and occupy the four counties of Longyou in a fair and just manner. How could he lead a surprise force northward from Hanzhong and block the Guanzhong area east of Longshan Mountain, thus making it impossible for the Wei army to attack? What's the difference between this and Wei Yan's previous belief that the Wei army would not be able to advance into Guanzhong if they were blocked in Chang'an? Zhuge Liang looked at Wei Yan and said patiently, "Wen Chang, the army must take the Qishan Road anyway. The Ziwu Road is too long and too dangerous, and it is far away from Longyou. The only roads we can use are the Tangluo Road and the Baoxia Road." "My intention is just to lead a small army to Guanzhong to attract the Wei army. How can Wenchang think that a small army can resist the Wei army in Guandong?" Wei Yan said without hesitation: "Prime Minister, I can do this!" Zhuge Liang frowned: "How did you do that?" Wei Yan replied: "My general guess is that the Prime Minister intends to attack Longyou and occupy Liangzhou. The strategy he is using is also the strategy that Wei Xiao used to cut off Longyou." During the Xinmang Dynasty, the world was in chaos. Wei Xiang, who occupied Tianshui, relied on the dangerous terrain of Longshan Mountain to repeatedly defeat Liu Xiu's army that was trying to pacify Liangzhou. No military strategy emerges out of thin air; almost all of them can be found in history in one way or another. Zhuge Liang nodded: "Wei Xiang cut off Long and almost occupied Liangzhou. These stories can still be used as a reference." Wei Yan said: "Prime Minister, there are only two roads from Guanzhong to Longyou. The valley road along the Wei River is winding and difficult to travel. If the Wei army attacks in large numbers, they can only take the Longshan Road." "If I march north from the Baoxia Road, occupy Yumi where the Longshan Road meets Guanzhong, and block the eastern end of the Longshan Road, wouldn't the Prime Minister be able to lead the army to march across Longyou?" Zhuge Liang said helplessly: "If we go north from Baoxiadao, we have to pass through Meixian and Yongxian. How can we reach Yumi?" "In my opinion, Wen Chang's strategy is worse than attacking Chang'an!" Wei Yan said anxiously: "Prime Minister, please go to Longyou first and transfer Zhang He's army there. Then I will block Yu Mi and Liangzhou will be within easy reach, right?" Zhuge Liang was silent for a moment and did not answer.
Wei Yan's idea is actually too idealistic. Wei Yan had just said that Zhang He had replaced Xiahou Mao as the governor of Guanzhong, and it was obvious that Chang'an could not be captured for the time being. But this doesn’t mean that we can’t defeat Zhang He! Several years ago, Zhang Fei had defeated Zhang He in Langzhong. Everyone knows about this. Therefore, Wei Yan only thought that Zhang He could defend the city, but he was definitely not his opponent in a field battle. He valued his opponent a little, but not much. He also infinitely overestimated his own combat power. I wonder if it was because the famous generals of the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu died one after another in a few years that gave Wei Yan this illusion. Zhuge Liang said slowly: "I already know Wen Chang's plan. There is still about a year left, so there is no rush to decide how to mobilize the troops now." It is naturally necessary to go out of Baoxiade or Tangluo Road and set up a decoy force in Guanzhong to attract the Wei army. But why must Wei Yan be used? Zhao Yun or Wu Yi will also work! …… Wei, Jizhou, Yecheng. Yesterday, Si Tu Wang Lang, Jizhou Governor Lu Zhao, Weijun Prefect Zheng Hun, and Zhen Xiang of the Zhen family went to the tomb of Empress Wen Zhao Zhen to pay homage. After performing the Tailao ritual as ordered by the emperor, Wang Lang discussed with everyone and prepared to build a tomb for Queen Zhen on the original site. In fact, it just made the original simple mausoleum more magnificent and in line with the ceremonies of the queen. Before setting off, Wang Lang seriously asked the emperor about this matter. Wang Lang is concerned about two things. First, whether to move Empress Wen Zhao’s mausoleum to Luoyang and bury her with the late emperor. Second, should they follow the late emperor's will and have a simple burial? As expected, the emperor rejected both of them. The emperor said at the time, why move the body when it has been buried? Empress Wen Zhao probably didn't want to live with the late emperor, and the late emperor probably didn't want to either. Therefore, after Wang Lang had roughly agreed on the details with everyone, he returned to Yecheng before evening. The two school officials have been detained for about four days. Wang Lang ignored the two men, but asked them to write down what the Yecheng school had done since the 23rd year of Jian'an on the next morning. Wang Situ personally questioned the two school officials, who had already been extremely frightened for several days. After hearing Wang Situ say that they could still survive if they told the truth, they naturally wrote down everything they knew. It's afternoon now. Wang Lang was reading the report of two school officials carefully behind his desk. After reading it, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, the school affairs were always handled by Cao Cao himself, and no other ministers could interfere, not even Cao Pi, the crown prince. During the reign of the previous Emperor Cao Pi, for some unknown reason, school affairs were brought under the jurisdiction of the Secretariat, and the power of Liu Fang and Sun Zi also grew. Now the emperor sent me to Yecheng with an imperial edict to investigate the matter, which is indeed the first time in history. The two school officials did confess some things, but if any of what they said were to be spread out, it would probably cause unrest in the court. Wang Lang wanted to write a letter to report the matter to the emperor, but after thinking it over, he put down the brush that he had raised.
As for this kind of secret matter, I will discuss it with Your Majesty in person after returning to Luoyang! …… At this time in Luoyang City, Cao Rui finished his afternoon archery training and was still reviewing documents in his study as usual. General Cao Zhen was also in the study. Cao Zhen sat on the chair and said, "Your Majesty, Zhang He has sent the traitor Qu Ying from Mei County to Luoyang." "I have come to ask Your Majesty, should we follow the previous example and hang his head outside Luoyang after being thrown into the market? Or should we do something else?" Cao Rui looked up at Cao Zhen and asked, "What do you think we should do, General?" Cao Zhen was a little surprised: "In my opinion, we should follow the previous example." Cao Rui said slowly: "I roughly remember that in the pre-Han and post-Han times, the rebels always sent their heads to Chang'an or Luoyang, hung their heads outside the city gates, and used the names of envoys from various countries to intimidate the four directions, right?" Cao Zhen replied: "That's right." Cao Rui said: "What if we change our thinking and send the rebel's head to all directions?" "Send the head to all directions?" Cao Zhen asked, "Do you want to send the head of this thief to all the border counties?" Cao Rui nodded, "That's right. In the past, the Han Dynasty sent the head to Chang'an or Luoyang to intimidate the envoys. How many envoys are there in Luoyang now? We have long been enemies with Shu and Wu. Those small countries in the Western Regions are just here to cheat for rewards. There is nothing to scare them." "Why not send the head to all the frontier counties so that officials and subjects can see it? This will be an effective deterrent!" Cao Zhen nodded and said, "Your Majesty, this is indeed possible, but isn't it too time-consuming?" Cao Rui said: "It doesn't matter. The more time we have, the more time we have. There won't be traitors like this waiting to be killed every year!" "If the general estimates, how long will it take to send the head to all directions?" Apparently, the emperor was having wild thoughts again, so Cao Zhen replied seriously: "Your Majesty, if we want to send the head to all directions, we can first leave Luoyang, cross the Yellow River to Bingzhou, pass Pingyang, Xihe, Taiyuan, Yanmen, and go to Daijun in Youzhou." "If Daijun goes further east, it will be Shanggu, Yuyang, Youbeiping and Liaoxi." Cao Zhen couldn't help but interrupt and asked, "Your Majesty, do you really want to spread the news to all the border counties? Do you also want to spread it from Liaoxi to Yangzhou?" Cao Rui smiled and shook his head: "General, you are right. We don't have to travel to all the border counties." "Yongliang, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou each have their own governors stationed there. I think that's enough. Sending the head to the border counties of Bingzhou and Youzhou is basically the same." Cao Rui looked at Cao Zhen and said, "If I take this opportunity to send people to the border to comfort the soldiers in the border counties, what do you think, General?" Cao Zhen thought for a moment, then said, "I roughly remember that right after Your Majesty ascended the throne last year, you selected a group of officials to go to various places to comfort people, right?" Cao Rui nodded and said, "Yes, last year, that group of people went to various places, but after returning to the court, they had almost nothing useful to say." "Either the officials and the people were jubilant, or they were kneeling down to thank God for his grace. There was no real substance at all." "General, do you think this will work?" Cao Rui asked, "I will take this opportunity to send people to all the border counties in Hebei and conduct a thorough investigation. This way, we will have more evidence when dealing with Hebei's affairs in the future." "At the moment, Wu and Shu are still the most important. It would be better if the Xianbei and Wuhuan tribes in the north did not make any mistakes."
Cao Zhen replied: "Your Majesty, what you said makes sense, but who should we send?" Cao Rui said: "How about Guanqiu Jian? I will ask him to go all over the border counties and take a close look at the situation, then report back to the court." Cao Zhen nodded and said, "Zhong Gong is a talented man, but he is a little young. It would be good if he could find someone with a long military career to work with him." (End of this chapter)