Mengda was very familiar with the terrain of Shangyong where he had been operating for several years. The terrain of Shangyong City was blocked by water on three sides. As long as he built a wooden fence outside the city, it would be enough to stabilize itself. After thinking about the countermeasures, Mengda immediately began to deploy. Ten days later, the vanguard of Wu Shu reinforcements finally arrived at Xincheng County under Mengda's control.
Xincheng County is called a county, but it actually governs the three counties of Shangyong, Xicheng, and Fangling. The reason for such division is because Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi, loved Meng Da very much during his lifetime, but he did not expect that Meng Da would be But it became a thorn in the side of Wei State.
After the reinforcements from Wu and Shu arrived, they each sent their generals to Anqiao and Mulan in the west city to rescue Mengda. However, Sima Yi, who had arrived half a month earlier, had already anticipated everything. He immediately sent his generals to block the enemy from the main road. Successfully Resisting the Wu-Shu coalition forces, Wu, Shu, and Mengda were unable to take care of each other and fought independently.
Immediately afterwards, Sima Yi personally led the main force to forcefully cross the Han River and break through the wooden fence that Meng Da thought was extremely strong.
After breaking through the first line of defense, the Shangyong City Wall appeared in front of Sima Yi.
Sima Yi couldn't help but secretly admired that this Mengda was really extraordinary and worthy of the name of a famous general. He actually used the wooden fence and the terrain to last for so many days. But Sima Yi also understood that Meng Da could not survive for a few days, because with his rapid attack, people in Shangyong City were panicked and no one had the will to fight.
Sima Yi divided his troops into eight groups and attacked the city day and night. Finally, after six days, the city garrison no longer wanted to stand up and fight in vain.
Mengda's nephew Deng Xian, general Li Fu and other important generals came out to surrender. Meng Da's head was also chopped off by Sima Yi on the day the city was breached.
One month later, Meng Da was sent to the capital. Sima Yi captured more than 10,000 people and returned to his base in Wancheng in a majestic manner.
After this battle, the reputation of Sima Yi, Marquis of Wuyang, completely surpassed that of Yingyin Marquis Chen Qun, who was previously equally famous with him, and was directly chasing Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen, the famous clan generals of the time.
Sima Yi's outstanding abilities and achievements also gave Emperor Cao Rui, who originally wanted to accuse Sima, more worries. After all, the current Sima Yi is a minister who has the ability to protect the environment, the people, and the country. However, he has only been on the throne for more than ten months, and his foundation is still shallow. If he asks questions at will, he will probably lose his popularity among the government and the public.
Therefore, after Cao Rui rewarded Sima Yi for his merits, he issued an order to appoint a new governor of Xincheng, and focused on encouraging farmers to grow mulberry trees and prohibiting floating fees. From then on, this southern land was truly attached to Wei.
After handling many matters in Xincheng County, Cao Rui knew that he had to deal with Shen Yi, the prefect of Wei Xing who had repeatedly dealt with him.
Shen Yi had been in Wei Xing for a long time. Not only did he dominate the territory, but he also secretly carved official seals at every turn. Many of his close associates had false accusations. Cao Rui had long been intolerable for his many crimes. The reason why he did not deal with him early was because he was afraid of Meng Da. Now Meng Da Now that Da has been conferred the headship, how can I allow Shen Yi to continue to cause trouble to one party?
Soon, Cao Rui exposed the evidence of Shen Yi's crime and took it to the capital. However, more than 7,000 people who followed Meng Da in rebellion were moved to Youzhou, a place they were unfamiliar with.
Because of Sima Yi's thunderous blow, the two lieutenants on the Shu-Han border, Yao Jing and Zheng Ta, were confused. They originally thought that the Wei Kingdom had lost its new emperor, and the famous general Meng Da took the opportunity to cause chaos. Even if the Wei Kingdom was not destroyed, it would be turned upside down. But who would have expected that in just two months, Meng Da would be destroyed.
The two men, who were afraid of the Wei State, thought about it again and again, and finally ordered more than 7,000 of their subordinates to surrender. For Cao Rui, this is simply a great joy.
At this time, in the southwest of Wei State, border counties were newly attached. The three southwest counties that had been ruled by Meng Da for a long time had false household registrations, so Cao Rui couldn't wait to check. But after all, the hearts of the people in the southwest have not yet returned. If he acts too hastily, Cao Rui is worried that it will cause changes. Therefore, he wanted to ask Sima Yi, who has been stationed in Jingzhou all year round, to see if he had any good countermeasures.
Thinking of this, Cao Rui couldn't help but sigh. Although he was dissatisfied with Sima Yi, he seemed to be inseparable from him.
On this day, Cao Rui personally came to Wuyanghou Mansion in the east of Jinshi. He wanted to hear Sima Yi's thoughts in person and take the opportunity to understand Sima Yi's personality.
After learning the emperor's doubts, Sima Yi immediately expressed his thoughts:
"Your Majesty, I would like to inform you that two generals from Shu have recently returned. I think it is because Zhuge Kongming tied them with a dense net and the people were overwhelmed, so they abandoned them and returned to the Wei Dynasty. In the opinion of the humble minister, your majesty should be more generous. If you follow the outline, the people will naturally be happy. After a few years, if you continue to take care of the people, then both the officials and the people will be safe."
[Note 3: Data people refer to the surveyed population. 】
After hearing Sima Yi's words, Cao Rui thought about it again and again, and finally nodded. He then asked:
"If you want to attack the two captives from Wu and Shu, which one will come first?"
Sima Yi pondered for a moment, opened the map in the mansion, pointed at the map and explained to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, Wu thinks that our country is not used to water warfare, so we dare to live in Dongguan. In my humble opinion, anyone who attacks the enemy must grab his throat and rip out his heart. Xiakou and Dongguan are the heartthroats of thieves. If you first Lead an army to attack Wancheng as a suspicious force, lead Sun Quan eastward, and then send a naval force to Xiakou, so that you can catch the enemy unawares and take advantage of their weakness to strike at them. This magical army will fall from the sky and it will be destroyed."
After hearing Sima Yi's strategy, Cao Rui praised him in his heart, and naturally became less wary of him.
Soon, Sima Yi returned to Jingzhou again and continued to garrison in Wancheng. At this point, the southwest border of Wei State was stabilized.
In the cold winter of December of this year, the emperor was in a good mood, so before the Yuan Dynasty meeting, many elders of the three dynasties received special favors from the emperor:
Taiwei Zhong Yao was promoted to Taifu Dinglinghou; Situ Huaxin was promoted to Taiwei Bopinghou; Sikong Wanglang was also promoted to Situ Lanlinghou.
As for the remaining officials, they all have their own rewards.
As the new emperor, Cao Rui was much more generous in granting titles than his father, Emperor Wen. During the reign of Emperor Wen, even close confidants such as Xia Houshang were only granted nobility at the level of rural marquis during their lifetime. It was not until Xia Houshang's death that Emperor Wen posthumously awarded the title of Changling Marquis to Xia Houshang's family.
But Cao Rui is different. As long as he plays a decisive role in the empire, he will not hesitate to reward people. After he ascends the throne, he will officially confer marquis titles to those who have made outstanding contributions. In addition to the previous four people, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, Sima Yi, and Chen Qun, these ten people The rest of the people also enjoy great honors because of this.
Cao Rui's actions made the entire court show an unprecedented vitality.
But just after the New Year, when Cao Rui finally breathed a sigh of relief, an urgent message suddenly came from Yongzhou:
Zhuge Kongming, the Prime Minister of Shu, personally led an army to invade the north. Thousands of miles of land and tens of thousands of people in the three northwest counties were surrendered!
This was the second year of Taihe in Cao Rui's reign. It was the first month of the New Year. The whole court and the people of the country were still celebrating the festival. No one expected that Zhuge Liang would raise his troops to attack at this time!
Originally, a year ago, military reports came from Guanzhong, saying that Shu Han Zhendong General Zhao Yun and Yangwu General Deng Zhi led an army out of Jigu. General Cao Zhen speculated that the Shu captives wanted to attack Xi County from the north of Xiegu Road. Therefore, after reporting to Cao Rui, he personally supervised the troops in Guanyou and went to resist Zhao Yun.
Under Cao Zhen's fierce attack, the Shu army was defeated in Jigu. However, although the Shu army was frustrated, Zhao Yun was not afraid of danger. In addition, he was well-organized and only lost hundreds of people.
The imperial court had always paid little attention to the Shu captives who lived in a corner, but this time, everyone in the government and the public, as well as the general Cao Zhen, had miscalculated.
It turned out that the 10,000 Shu troops led by Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi were just suspects. The real main force of the Shu army was led by Zhuge Kongming himself!
Just when Zhao Yun successfully attracted the attention of General Cao Zhen, Zhuge Liang personally led the main force to take advantage of the situation and launched a fierce attack on Qishan.
Because Cao Rui and Cao Zhen despised the Shu Han, Yongzhou was unprepared in advance. Therefore, when they suddenly heard that Zhuge Liang had brought tens of thousands of troops to kill, the local governors were shocked.
The three counties of Nan'an, Tianshui and Anding in Longyou were unable to resist. The prefects of Tianshui and Nan'an even abandoned the city and fled eastward in panic. And Tianshui guards Jiang Wei, Liang Xu, Yin Shang, Shangguan Yong and others also surrendered to the enemy!
Guo Huai, the governor of Yongzhou, saw that the enemy's attack was fierce and he could not resist it for a while, so he retreated to Shanggui and waited for the imperial court to rescue him.
In an instant, three of the five counties in Longyou of the Wei Dynasty surrendered to Zhuge Liang. Only two counties, Guangwei and Longxi, were still holding on and refused to surrender. You Chu, the governor of Longxi County, resisted resolutely.
The Shu army, which had always been despised by the imperial court, this time actually frightened the entire Wei Dynasty.
At this time, Emperor Cao Rui felt as if he was sitting on pins and needles, with thorns on his back and a lump in his throat.
Although he has been troubled by wars from all sides since he took the throne, this time is the most troublesome for him. Because Longyou was an important place for the Wei Dynasty to connect with the Western Regions. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the princes separated themselves into one side, which cut off communication between the Western Regions and the Central Plains. Emperor Wen Cao Pi seized the opportunity ten years ago and sent Cao Zhen to quell the Xiliang rebellion in one fell swoop. Through the Western Region, we can reconnect with the countries in the Western Region.
But now, the three counties of Longyou were captured by Zhuge Liang in one fell swoop, and the main route between the countries in the Western Regions and the Wei Dynasty was cut off. This is what makes Cao Rui most distressed.
Cao Rui understood that if Zhuge Liang was allowed to lead the Han army to advance all the way, not only would the Western Region be wiped out, but they would also cross the Wei River and approach Chang'an!
Thinking about this, Cao Rui no longer dared to be careless. After the court meeting, Cao Rui made a decision, that is, the imperial commander would go on a personal expedition. He understood that people in Longyou were in panic this time and the situation was precarious. Only by going there personally to take charge could he stabilize people's hearts.
But Cao Rui also understood that Luoyang was thousands of miles away from Chang'an, and even if he were to lead the expedition in person, he would still be far away from each other.
Finally, he decided to send Zhang He, the famous general of the dynasty who was stationed in Yongzhou and the Marquis of M County, with an army of 50,000, to confront Zhuge Liang, while he himself recruited the troops of Yongliang and rushed there.
After all, Zhuge Liang was not an ordinary person. He understood that Zhang He was a famous general of Wei, and when he led his army this time, he would definitely come to capture Jieting, the choke point captured by the Han army.
But although Zhuge Kongming is called a wise man, he still makes mistakes after all his worries. He sent his confidant, Ma Di, to join the army to guard the street pavilion.
Although Zhuge Liang also sent General Wang Ping as his deputy to assist Ma Di in guarding Jieting, he also ordered Gao Xiang to lead an army to garrison in Liliucheng, north of Linwei and to the left of Jieting, to meet Ma Di. However, Ma Su was a headstrong person, so he often had conflicts with Wang Ping.
In this way, Ma Di stationed his troops in Gushan, eventually putting himself in danger.
Zhang He was so smart that he quickly discovered the Han army's fatal flaw - water.
Soon, Zhang He sent troops to cut off the Han army's water source. As expected, the Han army was in civil strife due to lack of water, and Ma Di had no choice but to abandon the army and flee. Zhang He took advantage of the situation to attack, and the Han army was defeated, and the street pavilion was returned to the Wei Dynasty.
Gao Xiang, who was in Liliucheng, was soon defeated by Guo Huai.
At this time, Cao Rui had also led an army to Chang'an. When the Wei army on the front line heard that the emperor was coming in person, their morale was greatly boosted.
After the loss of Jieting, the Shu Han army lost its geographical advantage and its military morale was even further frustrated. As a last resort, Zhuge Liang had no choice but to take the people of the three counties of Longyou with a population of more than a thousand families and lead his troops back to Hanzhong. The land of the three counties was therefore restored to the jurisdiction of the Wei Dynasty.
