Chapter 80 Blocking the Road Seeing the emperor's exaggerated assumption, Zhang He, who had just arrived and was not used to the emperor's jumping thoughts, immediately said: "So in your Majesty's assumption, your Majesty is worried that Zhuge Liang has too many soldiers, so you want to destroy the road?" Cao Rui chuckled and said, "It is not my purpose to destroy the road. Don't you and the general know where Zhuge Liang can attack from? I just want to restrict the road for Zhuge Liang to attack." "General Zhang, I have long heard that the roads in Shu are difficult. Ziwu Road, Tangluo Road, Baoxia Road, Chencang Road, which of these four roads do you think is the easiest to block?" Zhang He is worthy of being called a famous national general. His many years of experience in commanding troops in Yongliang have made him extremely familiar with the mountains and rivers and the geography of the border. How could a general not know the mountains and rivers and the geography? Zhang He was silent for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, if you want to destroy a road, the Baoxiadao Road is the easiest to destroy. I heard that the plank road of the Baoxiadao Road is located between cliffs. Holes are dug into the mountains, wood is inserted as beams, and wooden planks are laid to connect the road. Since it is a plank road, it must be easy to destroy." Cao Rui nodded and said, "Openly repairing the plank road, secretly passing through Chencang, this is the Baoxia Road! When Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang was the King of Han, in order to show Xiang Yu that he had no intention of competing for the world, he burned all the plank roads that passed by, showing the world that he had no intention of returning." "Now I and my ministers know that the Baoxia Road is easy to destroy. If the other three roads are not easy to destroy, can we build passes on them?" Zhang He hesitated for a moment and said, "There are not many soldiers in Yongliang at present. There are no soldiers stationed on the Ziwu Road, Tangluo Road, and Chencang Road, so there are naturally no complete passes." "Since Your Majesty mentioned building a pass, there are indeed suitable places on these three roads." How can the Shu Road be called difficult if there are no passes? Cao Rui nodded and said, "I also know geography. A pass must be built in a narrow and dangerous place. The Shu Road is narrow and dangerous. How can it not be suitable for building a pass?" Zhang He folded his hands and said, "The three roads are different, and the places where passes can be built are also different. Then I will start with the Ziwu Road, the easternmost one."
Cao Rui did not say anything, but stretched out his hand to signal Zhang He to continue. Zhang He said: "From Chang'an City to the south to the mouth of Ziwu Valley, go up the valley for more than 20 miles, you can reach the watershed between Ziwu Valley and Fengshui. This place is accessible by plank road and can be burned. From the watershed, go south for another 20 miles, you can reach the old site of Ziwu Pass." "Although Ziwuguan has long been in ruins, its geographical location is dangerous and if soldiers are sent to repair it, it can still be used." Cao Rui nodded slightly. "That means from Chang'an to the entrance of Ziwu Valley, there is a plank road about 20 miles south, and Ziwu Pass about 50 miles away, right? With this distance, if we station troops at Ziwu Pass, even if Ziwu Pass is lost, we can retreat to the area between Ziwu Valley and Fengshui and burn the plank road, and the enemy troops will not be able to get through." Zhang He agreed, "Your Majesty is right. The Ziwu Road is about 600 to 700 miles long. If we lock down these two positions, the enemy will be trapped in the Ziwu Road." Cao Rui took a breath and said, "What about Tang Luodao?" Zhang He thought for a moment: "The total length of the Tangluo Road is nearly 700 miles. From the mouth of Luogu along the Xiluogu River, about 80 miles southwest, there is the Eighteen Bends Ridge. This place is extremely steep and we can build a pass here. In addition, there are many mountains from the Luogu in the north to the Tangshui Valley in the south. If we control one or two of them, we can block the Tangluo Road." Cao Rui continued to ask: "General Zhang is right. Can you tell me and my ministers more about the Chencang Road?" Zhang He nodded and said, "If we want to build a pass on Chencang Road, it will be much easier than Tangluo Road and Ziwu Road. There is Sanguan Pass about 40 miles southwest of Chencang City. Sanguan Pass is just like Ziwu Pass, dilapidated and without soldiers stationed there. If we repair Sanguan Pass, it will have a similar effect to Ziwu Pass and block the enemy from Chencang Road." "Do you understand?" Cao Rui pointed his hand back in the direction of Zhang He and looked at Cao Zhen, Cao Hong and everyone present. "There are only four roads from Hanzhong to Guanzhong. The Baoxia Road can be destroyed, and the remaining three roads can be used to build passes for defense." "Even if the enemy can capture the pass, the time gained is enough for Wei to deploy troops. Of the two places, Guanzhong and Longyou, at least Guanzhong is safe." "If there is no worry in Guanzhong, we can focus on Longyou. Even if Zhuge Liang's army comes, we will be able to defend it more calmly." Cao Rui coughed lightly and said, "I will not talk to you about the art of war, but only about the simplest deployment of troops. If Ziwu Road, Tangluo Road, Baoxia Road, and Chencang Road were all unobstructed, there would be no way to know which of Zhuge Liang's four roads in Guanzhong and one road in Longyou were the real troops and which were the decoy troops." "I don't think a few passes will stop the enemy forever, but at least it will give Wei time to calmly deploy its troops." Cao Zhen listened to the emperor's statement and sighed softly: "Your Majesty is wise. I have also been to Yongliang many times. It is true that the counties are in ruins and all industries are in decline. This is inseparable from the chaos in Liangzhou for many years." Cao Rui nodded and motioned Cao Zhen to continue. Cao Zhen continued, "In my early years under Emperor Wu, I fought against Ma Chao and Han Sui. General Zuo, who is here today, fought against Song Jian. I also fought against the Qiang people with General Zuo." "But the chaos in Liangzhou did not just start in recent years. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Beigong Boyu, Li Wenhou, Bian Zhang, and Han Sui of Liangzhou all rebelled. If we go back even further, the Qiang Rebellion has been harassing the border counties of Liangzhou for hundreds of years." "It has only been ten years since the Wei Dynasty occupied Yongliang. If we do not transfer troops from the Central Plains, it will be difficult to resist 80,000 people with only the strength of Yongliang." Cao Rui clenched his left fist on the table, and stroked the wine cup with his right hand. His eyes narrowed slightly: "In this case, Yongliang and Liangzhou need wise and brave generals to lead us."
After hearing the emperor's words, combined with the fact that Xiahou Mao had just lost his position as Governor of Guanzhong and the title of General Anxi yesterday, and that Zhang He had just rushed back from Mei County, it seemed that the emperor's choice of person to command Yongliang was about to be announced. But after all, it hasn't been revealed yet! Except for General Cao Zhen and General Cao Hong, almost all the generals of the Cao and Xiahou families present held their breath and looked at the emperor on the stage. Some people were excited and nervous, but some people had gloomy expressions. They were Shangshu Xiahou who sat below Cao Hong. To the surprise of everyone present, Cao Rui named a name that no one had guessed. "Xiahou Zhongquan!" As the emperor's voice came out, everyone looked at Xiahou Yuan's second son, Xiahou Ba. Xiahou Ba opened his eyes wide and looked at the emperor in disbelief. But then he realized that it was the emperor who was calling him, so he stood up from behind the desk and walked into the hall. Xiahou Ba bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, I, Xiahou Ba, pay my respects to you." (End of this chapter)