Chapter 63: Too Much Grace (Seeking Follow-up Reading) Sima Yi was only thinking about two things at this time: one was strategy, and the other was military strength. From a strategic perspective, if Sun Quan allowed Zhou Cang to pretend to surrender for political purposes, then what Cao Wei should strive to do is to frustrate Sun Quan's political goals. It doesn't matter whether you ignore it, defend the city, or fight cautiously. In short, doesn't Sun Quan want to get kills and record victories? Then don't let Dongwu go back empty-handed, and it would be best if Sun Quan could lose many soldiers and generals. In terms of military strength, Sima Yi did not know why the emperor was so sure that Sun Quan could send out at most 100,000 men. Sima Yi also did not know about the Battle of Shiting in the original history, but he was clear that Cao Wei's logistics were half as difficult as Eastern Wu's. If Cao Wei wanted to deploy troops in the Wancheng-Wankou area, 100,000 troops would be almost the upper limit. Others were not clear, but Sima Yi was clear. During Cao Pi's three southern expeditions in the third, fifth and sixth years of Huangchu, Sima Yi was the chief manager of logistics, sitting in the rear and coordinating food and armaments. The troops of the four states of Yu, Yang, Qing, and Xu, including the foreign troops and the local state and county troops, can indeed squeeze out a quota of about 150,000. The last time Cao Pi went to Guangling in person, there were nearly 150,000 troops on the battlefield that was nearly a thousand miles wide. But that is under the premise that the Huai River-Zhongdu River serves as a waterway. There was no water transport along the way from Hefei, an important town in the southeast of Cao Wei, to Wancheng. A hundred thousand soldiers was the upper limit.
But how should he tell the emperor? Sima Yi was at a loss for a moment. Sima Yi looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, there are some things I would like to discuss." Seeing Cao Rui nod, Sima Yi continued, "Your Majesty, I think that if we want to annihilate Sun Quan's 100,000 troops, sending 150,000 troops from the southeast is the limit. 150,000 against 100,000, it must be very difficult to annihilate them." "I think it is not feasible in terms of manpower and logistics." Sima Yi tentatively looked at Cao Rui's face, but Cao Rui was not as unhappy as he had imagined. Instead, he calmly asked Sima Yi, "How many troops do you think you can send out, Sima?" "One hundred thousand! From Hefei to Wancheng, the logistics can support a maximum of one hundred thousand people. If there are more, I will be powerless." After hearing what Sima Yi said, Cao Rui also began to think. Military affairs are the most important thing for a country, and the most important thing is logistical support. Cao Rui was not stubborn. Since Sima Yi said 100,000, and Cao Xiu also had 100,000 troops in Shiting in history, 100,000 must be a more reasonable number. However, Cao Rui knew that Sun Quan would dispatch nearly 100,000 people at Shiting, and he would feel a little bit at a loss if he could not use this information to gain the most advantage. Cao Rui looked at Sima Yi and said, "What if we confront the Eastern Wu in the Wancheng area? What I mean is that no matter how many troops Sun Quan sends, the Great Wei will send 100,000 troops." "If Sun Quan sends out 20,000 or 30,000 troops, then a hundred thousand troops will be enough to swallow them up. If Sun Quan sends out a hundred thousand troops, then we can confront Sun Quan in the Hefei-Wancheng-Wankou area." "Doesn't Sun Quan have fewer soldiers than Wei? Put on a national war posture and lure all of Sun Quan's available troops to Wancheng." "While we are fighting with Sun Quan in Wancheng, we can still use our military strength in other locations to try to outnumber the enemy and perhaps achieve something. What do you think?" Sima Yi asked in doubt: "Your Majesty, are you going to use your national strength to fight against Sun Quan?" Cao Rui nodded: "That's right." Sima Yi bowed and saluted: "Comparing national strength is the right way. In this case, Your Majesty, please allow me a few days. I will go back and calculate the logistics situation of each party." Cao Rui patted Sima Yi's arm gently and said, "Thank you, Sima Qing." Cao Rui has now found the correct way to use Sima Yi: nominally he is responsible for all administrative affairs of the Wei State, big and small, but in fact, as the emperor's chief of staff, he plans national politics and military affairs in the temple. Make full use of Sima Yi's intelligence to the greatest extent possible. Sima Yi was originally a civil official, and Cao Rui did not send Sima Yi to Jingzhou to command the troops as happened in history, but instead sent Chen Qun instead. Presumably, Sima Yi would not pursue military power at this time.
What about Cao Zhen? With his status as a relative and the authority of a general, Cao Zhen was responsible for the specific military affairs for the emperor Cao Rui, who knew nothing about military affairs. One person is responsible for the planning and the other is responsible for the execution. It would be even better if the two of them could be tied to Cao Rui all the time. After the conversation, just as Cao Zhen and Sima Yi stood up to salute and were about to turn around and leave, they were stopped by the emperor from behind. Cao Rui looked at Cao Zhen and Sima Yi and said, "There are so many military affairs these days. I dare not be careless at all. I want to discuss everything with the general and Sima Qing." "It takes a lot of time to go in and out of the palace, so I came up with an idea." "I have specially reserved two rooms for you two in the palace outside my study. General and Sima Qing, you can work next to my study these days. Come on, let's go and take a look." Cao Zhen and Sima Yi both showed surprised expressions. Cao Zhen even asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, how can a minister work in the palace? I'm afraid this is not appropriate, right?" Sima Yi also bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the general and I are external officials after all, not internal officials such as the minister of the imperial court or the imperial guards. How can we work in the North Palace? The reward is too great, and I dare not accept it." According to common sense of the time, the closer one is to the emperor, the more favor and honor one will receive. The court officials such as Shizhong and Sanqi who served the emperor would only envy and be jealous. Since Cao Rui ascended the throne, he often ordered Cao Zhen and Sima Yi to enter the palace. Conversations and rumors between the court and the public even compared the two to the pillars of the country. Now the emperor has reserved a room for the two of them in the palace. This favor is simply too great! At least Cao Zhen and Sima Yi felt so at this time. Cao Rui smiled and shook his head: "How can it be that the reward is too great? The late emperor left me four ministers, the Grand Marshal and Chen Zhenjun went to Yangzhou and Jingzhou to command one side. Then, in Luoyang, can't I only rely on the two of you?" Cao Rui was in the middle, holding Cao Zhen and Sima Yi's sleeves on the left and right, and walked towards the courtyard. Cao Rui had already ordered the eunuchs to clean up the two rooms. Cao Rui smiled and said, "The one on the west side is for the general, and the one on the east side is for Sima Qing. What do you two think?" Even though Cao Zhen and Sima Yi had seen the emperor's unconventional behavior many times in the past few months, they still had no idea that he would keep ministers around to work. How could they feel about this? Of course, they could only thank him. Cao Zhen was quite moved at this time. As a member of the Cao clan, he was trusted by the emperor with the important task of general. What more could he ask for? Sima Yi also felt that the emperor was too gracious. How could he allow an outsider to work next to the emperor's study? There was no precedent in history! Seeing the two men's expressions, Cao Rui smiled and added, "By the way, I will have someone bring you two horses from the imperial stables later. From now on, the general and Sima Qing can both ride horses into the palace." "The affairs of the Wei Kingdom will still trouble you!" (End of this chapter)