Liu Bei died of illness in Chang'an in the fifth year of Zhangwu. Prince Liu Chan ascended the throne in Chengdu, inherited the throne, and followed the queen as the empress dowager. The world was amnesty and the Yuan Dynasty was changed to Jianxing.
When the news reached Luoyang, Cao Pi happily announced that he would suspend court for three days, and the king and the people would have fun together. But at least he had a better memory this time, and he stopped drinking and taking drugs with his friends.
Even if Cao Pi wanted to, Sun Zi and Liu Fang wouldn't dare.
The last time I drank and took drugs with Cao Pi, I almost made Cao Pi die, and the two of them were also very frightened.
Later, Cao Pi recovered, but the two of them didn't get anything good. They were almost impeached by Cao Wei's officials and directly rebuked them as sycophants. This time, even if Cao Pi still wanted to drink and take drugs, the first two people who refused were the two. people.
No one wants to have the label of "sycophant" attached to their name behind their back.
Of course, Cao Pi really didn't want to make any more trouble for himself this time, so he only stayed away from court for three days, and he didn't even dare to drink more.
After the restoration of the government, the first thing Cao Pi did was to summon his ministers to discuss the crusade against the Shu thieves.
Now that Liu Bei is dead, the Shu thieves must be leaderless. If they don't take advantage of this moment to send troops to regain Guanzhong, what are they waiting for? !
Then, Cao Pi was poured cold water on him.
The veteran minister Zhong Yao stood up and declared, citing scriptures - "Rituals do not defeat mourning."
Zhong Yao started from "Zuo Zhuan" and continued to Dong Zhongshu's "Spring and Autumn Fan Lu", focusing on explaining the reason why "rituals do not defeat mourning".
We, Cao Wei, follow the Zen orthodoxy. What we do must not be petty, but must reflect the magnanimity of a great nation.
Now that Liu Bei, the leader of the Shu thieves, has died of illness, we cannot take advantage of others' danger. We should abide by etiquette and even send envoys to express our condolences. Only in this way can we show the style of a great country.
Of course, if Zhong Yao was just such an old-fashioned person who didn't know how to adapt, he wouldn't have been able to be reused by Cao Wei in both dynasties.
In fact, Zhong Yao also knows that the "propriety does not stop mourning" recorded in historical records is just an excuse in most cases. The main reason is that when the leader of a country is attacked by an enemy country just after his death, it is easy to force the domestic The nobles temporarily gave up their internal conflicts and united to save the country first.
The current situation is actually similar.
The Shu thieves are not a monolithic entity. There are many internal contradictions, especially among the Yizhou faction, the Dongzhou faction, and the Jingzhou faction, which have not reached a true balance.
Now that Liu Bei is dead, Liu Chan is only twenty years old this year. He does not have enough prestige and means to suppress the officials in the court and suppress the aristocratic families in the country. In this case, the factions will easily fight among themselves for their own interests. .
But once the Wei Dynasty sends troops to attack Guanzhong, the various factions may temporarily give up their internal fighting for the common interests and unite to resist the Wei Dynasty. If this has not been fought, wouldn't it be in vain for Liu Chan to use this to establish Prestige may even lead Liu Chan to use this war to clear some opposition and establish the basis of his own rule? !
Well, even if Liu Chan, a boy who is only twenty years old, does not have this brain, what about Zhuge Liang, Zhang Xi, and Zhang Fei who were left alone by Liu Bei? ! Are they easy to mess with? !
Therefore, Zhong Yao's "rituals do not defeat mourning" was actually a high-sounding excuse for Cao Pi. His original intention was to dissuade Cao Pi from launching an immediate attack on the Shu thieves.
It is possible to fight, but we cannot fight as soon as Liu Bei dies. Wait a few months, wait until the internal conflicts among the Shu thieves are aroused, and the internal fighting becomes out of control. Then we will send troops again, but it will be worse than now. It is much easier to send troops.
After all, Zhong Yao was an outstanding person who could still guard Chang'an when he faced the Ma Han warlords in Liangzhou in Guanzhong. This was very clear and what he said was well-founded. Cao Pi was a little shaken after hearing this.
After Zhong Yao, the person who stood up to oppose sending troops was Jiang Ji.
For nothing else, just one word - no money.
We were defeated in Guanzhong and returned to Luoyang last year, losing a lot of food, grass and weapons. Now it's only been a year, and it's not that easy to slow down this momentum.
Another thing is that last year Manchong moved 400,000 people from Guanzhong to enter the customs. The money and food just to accommodate these people was an astronomical figure. Last year, the harvest in the hinterland of the Central Plains was insufficient, and the Qingxu Prefecture was missing. The Pengcheng Kingdom has been destroyed and needs to be rebuilt. Even if all the taxes from the Central Plains region last year are added in, it may not be enough. How can there be extra money, food and military equipment to support a campaign to attack Guanzhong? !
As for the operating expenses of the imperial court in Hebei, does it not require money or food? !
If the Wei Dynasty attacks Guanzhong at this time, it would be okay if it can be defeated quickly. The Wei Dynasty has a strong foundation and a tight belt. It has mobilized a batch of grain and grass from Hebei. It is not impossible to attack Guanzhong and Chang'an. It is so Is it easy? !
The Shu thieves fought tooth and nail to capture Guanzhong, how could they let it out so easily? !
Another thing is that the current governor of Yongzhou among the Shu thieves is Zhang Xi and Zhang Yuan. Who has the courage to say that he can defeat this famous general in the world and occupy Guanzhong in a short time? !
What Jiang Ji said was true. Although it was true, it was a bit too straightforward. Cao Zhen stood up and asked Cao Pi for orders.
"The final general is willing to lead tens of thousands of elite troops from the Central Plains to march westward to Chang'an, capture the Sichuan thief Zhang Xi alive, and offer him to his subordinates."
Cao Zhen has no choice. If he doesn't stand up, won't it appear that there are no generals in the court? ! !
Cao Zhen is now the general of the central army of the Wei Dynasty. It would be really embarrassing if he didn't stand up and ask for a battle on behalf of the general group.
But Jiang Ji was not used to this guy's faults and asked directly, "I wonder how many soldiers the general needs, how many good generals, and how long will it take to capture Guanzhong?!"
Cao Zhen paused for a moment after hearing the words, and then said, "There is no reason for everyone to know the military formation in advance. The only thing is that the soldiers must use their lives and the three armies work together."
This makes sense, but Cao Zhen himself didn't sound confident.
If it was so easy to recapture Yongzhou, then Cao Wei would have taken action long ago. Why would he have people drive out of Guanzhong? !
Things like soldiers, food and grass are all easy to talk about, and if you squeeze hard enough, there will always be some, but the leading generals have really been in decline in the past two years in the Wei Dynasty.
Last winter there was even more bad news. First, Zhang Liao died in the battle at Wancheng, and then Zhang He, who was brought back to Luoyang to recuperate, died of illness a year ago because his knee injury was too severe and could not be rescued. In spring and February this year, Xu Huang, who was stationed in Pengcheng, also Because they were seriously ill due to the spring cold, their condition deteriorated quickly. The famous generals of the older generation of Cao Wei who unfortunately died in early April were really withered seriously.
As for the Mesozoic Era, Cao Xiu has been losing his temper since his last attack on Shouchun failed, and he has been making excuses to recuperate. Guo Huai and Cao Zhen were defeated in succession and were driven from the pass into the pass. Xiahou Shang has been guarding the central army. Without experience in leading troops outside, Sima Yi showed his face a little when he blocked the attack of the Shu thieves Jingzhou Army in Wancheng. However, if he wanted to guard Wancheng, it was impossible for him to lead the army to counterattack Guanzhong.
In today's Cao Wei, no one is confident enough to defeat the famous Shu bandit general Zhang Xi and reoccupy Guanzhong. Although Cao Zhen stepped forward to ask for a fight, anyone with a discerning eye could see how confident he was.
Not to mention Jiang Ji, even Cao Pi could tell that the confidence in Cao Zhen's words was seriously lacking.
The girl Jiang Ji is talking about quick victory, but you are talking about "soldiers working with their lives". In the end, we still have to drag ourselves into a protracted war.
The current national financial situation is not insufficient to launch a battle, but the problem is that after launching this battle, even if Guanzhong is captured, the gains will not be worth the losses.
Guanzhong, which had been in turmoil for years, could not immediately provide enough tax money and food for the Wei Dynasty in the short term. Instead, it had to spend money and food to govern the place.
Input-output is not directly proportional. If he fails again, Cao Pi doesn't want to experience another failure.
Since Cao Pi took the throne, he has been losing. If he continues to lose like this, and there is still talk of "submitting to heaven and obeying people, abdicating and replacing Han", the emperor's position will be unstable.
With the confidence of Cao Zhen in speaking, Cao Pi did not dare to accept Cao Zhen as his general. Since the battle could not be resolved quickly, it would be better not to fight this battle in the first place.
At this time, Cao Pi somewhat retreated and gave up his plan to conquer Guanzhong westward. But five days later, a letter from Wancheng changed Cao Pi's mind.
The memorial was sent by Sima Yi, which detailed Sima Yi's views on the situation after Liu Bei's death.
Sima Yi argued that he should take this opportunity to regain Guanzhong.
But it's not just about sending troops to take it by force. It's about timing and strategy.
In the memorial, Sima Yi offered three strategies to Cao Pi.
The first plan is to send people to take a detour to Bingzhou to contact the Qiang, Di, Xianbei, and Huns in the northwest of Liangzhou, so that they can take advantage of Liu Bei's death and the Shu thieves to organize their internal affairs to launch a rebellion and attack Liangzhou. The border attracted the attention of the Shu army.
The second plan was to send envoys to Soochow, promising the land of Qingxu, and induce Soochow to send troops to attack Jingzhou, split the Wu-Shu alliance, and at the same time share the military pressure on Jingzhou.
The third plan was to take advantage of the opportunity when the Shu army was tired of coping after the above two troop movements. Guo Huai led the army out of Wuguan. Luoyang selected a general to leave Tongguan and attack the Sanfu area in Guanzhong with two groups. A complete victory, as long as we can capture a piece of land and occupy the springboard to the west, we can stop as soon as possible.
The subsequent strategy, according to Sima Yi, was to bring the war to Guanzhong, seize the springboard for the westward advance, and then send troops to harass the Guanzhong area without giving Guanzhong time to recuperate.
In this way, after the Wei Dynasty has rested and recuperated for several years, it will then send its army westward, so as to be prepared for war but not prepared, it will be possible to recapture the two states of Yongliang and drive the Shu thieves back to Shu.
The more Cao Pi looked at it, the more he felt that Sima Yi's strategy was really good. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this strategy was feasible.
Therefore, Cao Pi once again summoned Zhong Yao, Jiang Ji, Liu Ye, Man Chong, Cao Zhen, Xia Houshang and others to discuss Sima Yi's strategic plan.
But this time, neither Zhong Yao nor Jiang Ji had any objections to Sima Yi's strategy.
This strategy will take at least about half a year from the initial planning to the actual implementation. After this period, it will basically be after this year’s autumn harvest.
With this year's autumn grain as a hoard, it would not be a big problem for the Wei Dynasty to march north to Guanzhong and fight a battle that would take half a year.
Furthermore, this strategy does not require the Wei to take action immediately, but to wait for the Qiang Hu soldiers and Jiangdong to take action before the Wei sends troops. At the same time, it disperses the troops of the Shu thieves, and the defense of Guanzhong is bound to be affected. This will make it easier for Wei to attack Guanzhong.
Finally, Sima Yi's vision was very precise, and the strategy he formulated was not very ambitious. It was not a strategy that only looked at the immediate situation and only required occupying a springboard. With the combat power of the Wei army, it was not impossible to achieve a quick victory.
What most admired the civil and military personnel of the DPRK and China was the real killer move in Sima Yi's strategic layout. It was the "Tired Shu Strategy" proposed by Sima Yi - not giving Guanzhong a chance to recuperate and using harassment and destruction to prevent the Shu thieves from developing. Guanzhong.
This is beneficial to Wei.
After all, the Wei Dynasty has two passes, Wuguan and Tongguan. It can be said that it can't be defeated with ease. Let's hide at the pass. If Zhang Xi has the ability, then why don't you come and attack the pass? !
With the size of the Wei Dynasty, it is no problem at all to bear a small force to raid Guanzhong. But if you Shu thieves want to conquer a pass like Wuguan and Tongguan, it will be impossible for them to send out large troops and fight a protracted war. It simply cannot be done.
This strategy of tiring Shu is the truly beneficial way of fighting for the Wei Dynasty.
(End of chapter)
