The generals of the Cao clan did play a very key role during Cao Cao's entrepreneurial period.
In the early years, when Cao Cao launched an army to attack Dong, the Cao family not only provided a group of money, food and soldiers, giving Cao Cao the capital to start a business, but also brought to Cao Cao the earliest generals who were good at conquering and fighting.
Cao Ren, Cao Chun, and Xia Houyuan can be regarded as the best among them.
By the way, Xiahou Dun's ability is not bad, but he is not suitable for leading troops in battle. If you let Xiahou Dun guard the place, he can do a good job. As for Cao Hong, there is no problem in charging into battle. Although he is not good at leading troops in battle, he is still a little worse than a few clan brothers or famous generals in the world. He still has basic abilities, which is much better than those like Yang Feng.
But now, times have changed! ! !
Cao Cao himself had already died of illness. Xiahou Dun also died of illness two months after Cao Cao's death. Cao Chun died earlier. Xia Houyuan was beheaded by Huang Zhong at Dingjun Mountain. Among the generals of the Cao clan, he could still stand alone. There is only one Cao Ren left.
Cao Ren is indeed a famous general and a veteran in the army. After so many years of fighting and serving as the commander of Cao Wei's southern army, he is very familiar with these military strategies.
From Cao Ren's perspective, he felt that the direction of Yongliang was not a big problem.
Despite Liu Bei's current campaign in Hanzhong, it is actually not that easy to get out of the Qinling Mountains and attack Guanzhong from Hanzhong.
Among the five roads in the Qinling Mountains, three of them, namely Chencang Road, Baoxie Road and Qishan Road, can carry large armies.
Chencang Road is defended by Cao Zhen. This fake nephew is really good. Although he does not lead many troops, only a few thousand people, the Chencang Road itself is a terrain where one man can guard the gate and ten thousand people can't open it. The mountainous area is narrow and lined. It doesn't launch a large army, so as long as you deal with it carefully, it won't be a big problem.
In essence, the Qishan Road does not cross the Qinling Mountains, but bypasses the Qinling Mountains and enters from Liangzhou to attack Yongliang.
Although the Qishan Road is flat and can carry large armies, it is really too far and puts a lot of pressure on logistics.
Furthermore, the governor of Liangzhou, Guo Huai, was extremely capable and had been very effective in governing Liangzhou in recent years, making both Han and Hu submissive.
If Liu Bei leaves the Qishan Road, he will first face the obstruction of Guo Huai. As long as Guo Huai does not wander, it does not matter even if he cannot stop Liu Bei. As long as there is enough delay, Cao Hong of Chang'an should be able to use this time to set up a defense line even if he continues to mess around. , preventing Liu Bei from entering Guanzhong.
And Baoxie Road is a problem.
The Baoxie Road mountain road is also relatively steep and not suitable for large-scale army operations. However, if you just pass through the Baoxie Road, enter the hinterland of Guanzhong, establish a defensive position, and wait for the entire army to assemble, it is really possible for Liu Bei's army to come from the Qinling Mountains. Get out.
Therefore, after an analysis, Cao Ren suggested that Cao Pi order Guo Huai to strengthen his guard, and at the same time ordered Cao Hong in Chang'an to send troops to strengthen the defense of the exit of Baoxie Road.
After talking about the defense of the Yongliang area, Cao Ren still frowned.
To be honest, Cao Ren really wasn't worried about Yongliang. In his opinion, the mountains in the Yongliang area were steep and difficult to navigate, and Liu Bei was so full that he launched the main attack from there.
What Cao Ren was really worried about was Nanyang and Xudu, and Guan Yu in Xiangfan.
If Liu Bei uses the pretense of going north to Hanzhong and attacking Yongliang to attract Cao Jun's troops to move north, but the actual purpose is to let Guan Yu go north to Nanyang or attack Xuchang, that would be a really fatal thing.
Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Dui" is exquisite here.
Going all the way north to Yongliang and attacking the hinterland of the Central Plains, no matter which way they go, Cao Wei will feel uncomfortable.
You can't tell which one is the main attack and which one is the cover, because both are fatal routes and must be guarded against.
During the Battle of Hanzhong, everyone including Cao Cao believed that Liu Bei's focus was to capture Hanzhong, and Guan Yu's attack on Xiangfan was just a support.
Therefore, Cao Cao insisted on leading his troops north to Hanzhong to confront Liu Bei. In the direction of Xiangfan, Cao Cao only sent Yu Jin to lead his troops to rescue, but did not lead his own troops to fight.
Who would have thought that Guan Yu really flooded the Seventh Army and captured Xiangfan, but Cao Cao failed to defend Hanzhong in the end.
This battle was regarded by Cao Cao as a lifelong shame, and it was also Cao Cao's biggest worry before his death.
Now, it was Cao Pi's turn to face such a situation.
There is a saying that Cao Cao is one of the best military strategists of this era. His judgment of the current situation has always been relatively clear and accurate. But his son Cao Pi was far behind.
Therefore, after listening to Cao Ren's analysis, Cao Pi also began to worry about the safety of Nanyang and Xuchang.
Although Cao Pi was not as good as him militarily, his political sensitivity was not much different.
Cao Pi was not sure whether Guan Yu would attack Nanyang or sneak attack Xuchang, but Cao Pi knew that no matter which Guan Yu chose, he could not let Liu Xie stay in Xuchang.
This is too dangerous.
Especially at the critical moment when Cao Pi planned to usurp the Han Dynasty and establish self-reliance, the Han emperor in Xuchang was the legal basis for Cao Pi to establish self-reliance on behalf of the Han Dynasty, and it must not be lost.
Now Cao Pi has two choices.
The first is to usurp the Han Dynasty in advance, force the Han emperor to give him the "zen position", and complete the transfer of legal authority as soon as possible. In this case, the emperor will have no role, and there will be no need to worry about whether Guan Yu will sneak attack Xudu.
The second is to endure it and move the Han emperor to Luoyang first to temporarily avoid Guan Yu's attack. But this returns to the problem Cao Cao faced in the first place.
Moving the capital would have too great a political impact.
Once the capital is moved, it means that Cao Wei is afraid of Liu Bei's group, and even if Cao Pi turns around and forces the Han Emperor to "zen", he will not be recognized by the world.
After all, everyone knows that the Han Emperor these days has more symbolic meaning than practical significance. The person who really determines the survival of the Han Dynasty is no longer the Han emperor in Xudu, but Liu Bei who separatist power in Jingyi.
If Cao Wei can continue to suppress or even completely eliminate Liu Bei, then the Wei Dynasty will be the destiny of the Han Emperor or not.
But if Cao Wei cannot suppress Liu Bei, and is even beaten to the hinterland of the Central Plains by Liu Bei, then even if Cao Pi has the emperor in his hands, the Wei Dynasty will still be a traitor and traitor.
Cao Pi was also in a dilemma.
Usurping the throne in advance, political preparations have not been completed, and public opinion has not arisen. Suddenly talking about the self-reliance of the Han Dynasty may not be recognized by the people of the world, especially the aristocratic families of the world.
However, the political impact of moving the capital was also very large. Cao Pi could not move the capital easily, otherwise even if he usurped the throne later, he would not be very convincing.
Cao Pi couldn't discuss this issue with a warrior like Cao Ren, but he could discuss it with Jia Xu and Chen Qun, but these two people were really not Cao Pi's confidants.
Therefore, Cao Pi had no choice but to end the discussion and return to the Wei Palace to discuss with his true confidants, Liu Fang and Sun Zi.
These two people are Cao Pi's confidants, and their last names are also very strange. Sometimes I have to wonder if this is Cao Pi's bad taste.
At this time, Liu Fang and Sun Zi were both Cao Pi's secretaries. They followed Cao Pi all year round and often discussed national affairs with Cao Pi.
There is a saying, these two people are indeed outstanding in ability, but they are a bit similar to Chen Zhi. In the later period, he took power and harmed the country, which led to Sima Yi Bingzheng. Therefore, when Chen Shou wrote "Three Kingdoms", he did not give these two people biographies at all. .
Cao Pi told these two people about his dilemma. The two people thought for a while and immediately gave Cao Pi an idea.
Since the most troublesome issue for Cao Pi now is a political issue, he should solve it from the political level. After solving the political issue, we can then consider the military issue.
Since Xuchang is very dangerous now and there is a possibility of being attacked by Guan Yu at any time, then don't let the emperor stay in Xuchang.
Of course, moving the capital also has great influence. Sun Zi and Liu Fang did not dare to advocate moving the capital easily, so the idea given by these two people was that the emperor visited Yecheng.
Yes, if we don’t move the capital, the capital of the Han Dynasty will still be in Xuchang.
However, the King of Wei has achieved great results in governing Hebei in recent years. Since Hebei was pacified, the people have lived and worked in peace and contentment, thinking about the emperor's grace every day. The emperor visited Hebei and visited Yecheng, which was also a good thing to show the majesty of the emperor of the Han Dynasty.
Cao Pi understood immediately.
These two people suggested that the emperor should come to Yecheng to avoid it first, but Guan Yu took away the savings.
Moreover, if Cao Pi wanted to stand on his own behalf on behalf of the Han Dynasty in the future, he would not have to go to Xuchang to force the emperor to write an abdication edict. Anyway, he was in Yecheng, and everything would be "discussed" nearby, and everything would be fine.
Of course, the so-called emperor's visit to Yecheng is just an excuse. Even if Liu Xie arrived in Yecheng, he would still be under house arrest. Who would really let him show any "might of the emperor"? !
Once the emperor is no longer in Xuchang, the possibility of Guan Yu leading troops to attack Xuchang is very small. In this way, he only needs to let Zhang Liao guard Nanyang and let Xu Du order Sima Yi to do a good job in the defense of Xuchang.
As for after repelling Guan Yu's attack, the Han emperor would not go back to Xuchang. He would just give himself the Zen throne in Yecheng and ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.
Cao Pi immediately felt that his embarrassing situation had been resolved, and quickly ordered Hua Xin, Wang Lang and others to go to Xuchang, "persuad" the emperor, visit Hebei, and visit Yecheng.
Liu Xie didn't want to go to Yecheng, really, really didn't want to go.
Everyone knows that Yecheng is the home of the Cao family. It is hard to say whether he will survive if he goes to Yecheng.
But Liu Xie, as long as he had half the courage and responsibility of Cao Mao, he would not be reduced to this situation. Cao Cao at least has a bottom line than Sima Zhao and cannot commit regicide in the street.
It's a pity that Liu Xie doesn't have such courage and responsibility. Even if he doesn't want to go, he doesn't have the courage not to go.
Therefore, in July of the 25th year of Jian'an, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty issued an imperial edict to patrol the world. The first stop was Yecheng, Hebei Province.
(End of chapter)
