After Chen Jiao walked out of Sima Yi's room, Sima Yi immediately went to find the emperor and told him what they had just discussed. Of course, the final tacit conversation between the two could not be told to the emperor under any circumstances. Everything he said was true, but he just said less. It must be said that it was indeed a high-ranking position for Chen Jiao, the former Shangshu Ling of the Wei Dynasty, to govern Qinzhou. The three points he mentioned were all relevant to the current situation and were also matters that needed to be resolved urgently. "I have approved all three things." Cao Rui thought for a while and said slowly, "But I have a few things to correct you." "Your Majesty, please give your instructions." Sima Yi responded with a bow. "Bo Yue, call the general here." Cao Rui pointed at Jiang Wei who was standing there. "Yes, sir." Jiang Wei received the order and went to look for Cao Zhen. "Please wait a moment, Sikong. When the general arrives, I will talk to both of you at the same time." Cao Rui said. "That's right." Sima Yi said.
Looking at Jiang Wei's departing back, Sima Yi began to think. Your Majesty's standards for selecting and employing people have always been clear. He made his inner world empty and his outer world powerful, and sent all his trusted and important ministers to serve outside the capital. Your Majesty’s former attendants include Huang Quan of Yuzhou, Liu Ye of Youzhou, Chen Jiao of Qinzhou, and Yang Fu of Yongzhou. The most important states of the Wei Dynasty were all filled by ministers who had served as ministers. Sun Zi of Yanzhou and Jiang Ji of Yangzhou were also people that Your Majesty had kept by your side for observation. Moreover, Your Majesty never hesitates to disrupt the distribution during the Huangchu period. After the victory in Huainan last year, Jia Kui was used to contain Cao Xiu in Wancheng, and Zhu Gai and Qian Zhao were transferred to Guanzhong. Zhu Gai was in Huainan, and Qian Zhao was in Bingzhou. The positions of these two people have not been moved for at least ten years! Plus the current Lu Xun and Guo Huai... Whenever there is a vacancy in each state, Your Majesty will send a trusted and important official from your side. After each victory, His Majesty would dispatch generals to their respective garrisons and personally promote their ranks and titles. In less than two years, Your Majesty's authority in selecting and employing people has become even greater than that of Emperor Wen! Thinking of this, Sima Yi couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Who taught His Majesty this ability? Could it be a gift from heaven? Not to mention Jiang Wei, and Zhong Yu, the son of Zhong Taiwei... How did Your Majesty discover such a talented young man? Cao Zhen walked in steadily, bowed and took a seat. After Sima Yi briefly stated the background, Cao Rui began to speak: "The three points Chen Jiao mentioned are indeed the things that need the most attention right now." "It's right to attack Wudu hastily, but leaving the central army to guard Qinzhou and look after the relocated people for him is a bit of an overreaction." "Which army does Your Majesty want to use?" Cao Zhen asked. "I will say this. If we take back Wudu and confront Shu, I will not leave the central army in Qinzhou. I will bring all the 50,000 central army back to Luoyang." "As for the number of troops," Cao Rui looked at Cao Zhen and said, "General, how many troops do we have now, apart from the Central Army, including Guanzhong and Longyou?" Cao Zhen replied: "I will give your Majesty a rough number first."
"Originally, Yong and Liang states had a total of 40,000 foreign troops, including 20,000 from Zhang He and 20,000 from Qian Zhao and Zhu Gai, totaling 20,000." "Lu Pan lost 2,000 men in Shanggui, Zhang He's army lost 2,000, and Qian Zhao's army lost 6,000. All told, there are still 30,000 foreign troops left." "There are about 2,000 soldiers left in the counties of Longyou, and 9,000 in Guanzhong. Add to that the 10,000 men that Chen Qun has dispatched from Xiangyang to Chang'an. So, the total military strength of Guanzhong and Longyou should be 51,000." "Fifty-one thousand people..." Cao Rui repeated in a low voice: "Fifty-one thousand people is still a bit too many." "General, if the 9,000 county soldiers in Guanzhong do not move, and only Generals Qian and Zhu leave the remaining 5,000 foreign troops in Guanzhong there, who would be better to choose to stay in Guanzhong?" If that's the case, only 9,000 county soldiers and 5,000 foreign troops will be left in Guanzhong, and the rest will be placed in Qinzhou? 14,000 people, leaving a senior general to lead them is enough. Cao Zhen thought for a moment and recommended Qian Zhao, who had cooperated well with him in this battle: "I think it is more appropriate for Qian Zhenxi to stay in Guanzhong." "Where did Zhu Gai go?" Cao Rui asked. "Let Zhu Gai return to the central army to lead the troops! His rank is high enough. He is the only one who has not made any achievements in Longyou this time. Letting him return to Luoyang is a kind of consolation." "That's great." Cao Rui nodded. "Then Qinzhou still has 37,000 troops left? 35,000 of them are foreign troops, so there is no shortage of combat power." Sima Yi sat aside, listening to the discussion between the emperor and Cao Zhen, and it indeed confirmed his previous thoughts. Wherever the emperor is, the central army must be there! The emperor is not in Qinzhou. Even if we try every means to squeeze out troops for Qinzhou, we must take all the central troops with us! Sima Yi then bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, there are 10,000 Qiang soldiers selected by General Lu here." "Ten thousand Qiang soldiers, I think it is far from enough." Cao Rui glanced at Sima Yi and said calmly: "The Qiang people are under my rule, and my foreign troops are responsible for fighting. Are the Qiang people just farming in the rear and living comfortably?" "This is the second thing I want to tell you." "In addition to Lu Xun's 10,000 Qiang soldiers, I believe Zhang He must select another 13,000 Qiang soldiers from Qinzhou to bring me a total of 60,000." "If we want to use Qinzhou alone to deal with Shu, how can we do it without 60,000 soldiers? If we want to integrate the Qiang people into Wei and prevent them from shedding blood for Wei, how can we unite against the common enemy?" "I believe that no one is born with the ability to fight. Since we have accepted the Qiang people, we should select soldiers and generals from them. This is how we treat everyone equally!" "Your Majesty is wise." Cao Zhen and Sima Yi both bowed in response. "I haven't finished yet," Cao Rui waved his hand, "Lu Xun brought 30,000 Qiang soldiers with him, and tomorrow he will take away the selected 10,000." "Before disbanding the remaining 20,000, let them relocate the Qiang people for me! Using Qiang people to relocate Qiang people will not damage the reputation of the court." …… On the first day of February, most of the Wei army gathered outside Shanggui City was finally ready to set off. Jiang Wei rode his horse behind the emperor, looking at the moving army and the countless flags of various colors, and was a little dazed for a moment. Yesterday, Jiang Wei found an opportunity to recommend his sworn brother Shangguan Qi to Your Majesty, hoping that he could have the opportunity to enter the Imperial Academy and serve as an official. But His Majesty just smiled and looked at him, without agreeing, but transferred Shangguan Qi's position as a county official to serve as an assistant to Chen Jiao, the governor of Qinzhou. His Majesty also said that not all talents are qualified to go to Luoyang. A young county official like Shangguan Qi should be trained in the affairs of the state, rather than going to Luoyang to learn the Five Classics! The Five Classics...General Affairs... When Jiang Wei was puzzled, His Majesty smiled and explained: "Bo Yue, do you think I value the Five Classics or general affairs? It's just that for those nobles in Ru, Ying, Wan and Luo, if I want to use them, I must select them based on the Five Classics. As for capable officials from the border areas like Shangguan Qi, Qinzhou is in need of people!"
Jiang Wei wanted to ask His Majesty why he was chosen for the job. But he just thought about it and didn't dare to ask. The army set out on the first day of February, advancing no more than 40 miles a day, and each army camp spread out nearly 20 miles. On the fifth day, we arrived at Xi County and took over an empty city. After receiving the order from His Majesty, Jiang Wei placed the ancient zither he brought from Shanggui on the city wall of Xi County. The army arrived at Lucheng on the eighth day of the first lunar month and temporarily stationed there, awaiting arrangements for the next step of the advance. With the emperor's personal order, the captain Zheng Si, who had held out at Qishan Fort for more than two months, was brought to the Lucheng camp by Zhang He, who was sent by the emperor. When Zhang He first met Zheng Si, he smiled and patted his shoulder: "I have long felt that you are a man of great use! You have guarded Qishan Fort for two months and have brought honor to His Majesty!" "What are the casualties in Qishan Fort?" Zheng Si, who was originally very happy, hesitated and stammered, "General, can I tell the truth?" Zhang He's heart skipped a beat and he frowned, "Don't try to be cunning in front of me, boy! Tell me the truth, how many of the 1,500 men I gave you are left?" "Only eighty men were lost." "What's going on?" Zhang He frowned and asked, "The Shu army has been attacking you for two months, and only lost eighty people? Guo Boji lost three thousand people in Shanggui!" Zheng Si said awkwardly, "More than 40 of them were killed or injured by the Shu army when they were carrying food that had not yet been transported into the fort on the first day of the Shu army's attack." "Except for the first day, the Shu army only surrounded the perimeter and never launched a forceful attack." "The remaining thirty-odd people were mostly scouts who went out at night to explore the way and deliver messages, and never came back. Three of them died from stray arrows..." Zhang He felt a little disappointed, but he quickly adjusted his mindset: "When you come before your Majesty, tell me what you have to say. Don't hide anything! Don't make false reports. Do you understand?" Zheng Si nodded repeatedly. In order to advance faster, the Shu army did not launch an attack on Qishan Fort at first, but simply sent people to surround it and continued to attack. On the way back, they had no intention of attacking the fortress built on the mountain, and they passed by Qishan Fort like the wind. As Zhang He expected, the emperor simply praised Zheng Si and said that he would be rewarded after the army returned. On the second day after arriving in Lucheng, Cao Rui and his ministers and generals personally came to Qishan Fort. Qishan Fort is indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack, it can be said to be extremely difficult to attack. The mountain where it is located rises abruptly from the ground of the Xihan River Valley. It is more than ten feet high and guards the center of the valley. It is completely unconnected to the mountains on both sides. "General Zhang, what is the circumference of Qishan Fort? How high is it?" Cao Rui asked and looked at Zhang He beside him. "Your Majesty," Zhang He said, bowing, "Qishan Fort is built with a circumference of one and a half miles and a height of fifteen feet." "It took quite a lot of effort to build Qishan Fort back then." Cao Rui sighed and nodded: "I want to use Qishan Fort as the center, connect the two ends of the mountain, and build a majestic city in this West Han River Valley!" "The seat of Qinzhou is located here!" (End of this chapter)