At the end of October of the first year of Jianxing, Chengdu, Prime Minister's Mansion.
"Yuan Chang came to report that the Wei thieves in Tongguan and Wuguan have moved, and they may attack Yongzhou." Zhuge Liang took the military report sent back by Zhang Xi's horse and was also calling everyone for a meeting.
In addition to Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, Pang Tong, and Qin Mi who had recently returned to Chengdu from Chang'an, those who participated in this meeting also included Ma Su, the new minister of the Ministry of Rites, Dong He, the new minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Yang Hong, the prefect of Shu County, and the chief minister of the Prime Minister's Office. Shi Zhangyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Army Jiang Wei.
Fazheng was not in Chengdu for the time being because he wanted to stay in Hanzhong and wait for Li Yan to take over. Liu Ba was seriously ill in Hanzhong and he didn't know whether he could survive it. Naturally, it was impossible for him to return to Chengdu to attend such a meeting.
It can be said that, in addition to Fazheng and Liu Ba, this meeting in the Prime Minister's Office covered the highest decision-making levels of the Han Dynasty today.
Among them, Yang Hong, the governor of Shu County, and Jiang Wei, the captain of the Chinese army, were the exceptions. They attended this meeting on behalf of the emperor, which was a symbol of the emperor's involvement in the matter. It was the result of Zhuge Liang's request to the emperor and the emperor's agreement.
Zhuge Liang never thought about becoming a powerful minister. As long as he had the opportunity, Zhuge Liang never forgot to give Liu Chan the opportunity to shape his own authority.
As soon as the meeting began, Zhuge Liang shared the emergency military report from Zhang Xi with everyone, and then solicited everyone's opinions.
"The former emperor passed away and the new emperor ascended the throne. It is reasonable for the Wei thieves to move. But, will the Wei thieves really invade the pass in large numbers?!" Dong He was a little doubtful, so he was the first to ask.
Although Dong He is now in charge of the civil service, he has also stepped up from the bottom of the county magistrate step by step. It is just that he is more outstanding in government affairs, which does not mean that he does not understand military strategy.
And even if Dong He's military strategy is not as good as everyone present, he has experience in low-level governance and knows that after such a war, even with Cao Wei's deep knowledge, it is impossible to launch another war in less than a year. Great war.
Therefore, Dong He suspected that this was a trick by the Wei thieves to make it look like they were entering the pass, which caused Yongzhou to be on alert and ruined people's livelihood.
This kind of speculation would make sense in normal times, but now, it is inappropriate.
"If the Wei thieves make some changes in the spring, Dong Shangshu's words may not be wrong. However, it is winter and the Wei army makes some changes. If they don't march into the pass, wouldn't it be a waste of money and food?!" Yang Hong shook his head slightly and retorted.
Just experienced the autumn harvest, which is usually a time to recuperate. When the Wei army moved, it was not only tossing Yongzhou's military equipment, but also tossing his own family's money and food. Just after the autumn harvest, Cao Wei felt that his own food and grass were too much, and he was anxious to consume it. Can't approve it? !
Therefore, Yang Hong judged that this matter was not necessarily just an illusion. Maybe the Wei thieves really had a plan to invade Guanzhong.
However, Yang Hong didn't understand either. Did Cao Wei really have the confidence to counterattack the key points? !
Even if the late emperor passed away and the new emperor succeeded to the throne, the political transition of the Han Dynasty is still stable, and the cooperation between the three major officials is still tacit. There is no large-scale turmoil in the Han Dynasty. Cao Wei will really use troops on a large scale at this time. What? !
Yang Hong also felt a little strange about this.
"This is what Liang is worried about!" Zhuge Liang also said, "Liang judged that even if the Wei thieves wanted to take advantage of the late emperor's death to invade, they would not engage in a big war. Yuan Chang always used troops cautiously. If the Wei thieves were only a small group Military penetration, with Yuan Chang's ability, should be no big deal. However, the Wei thieves' actions this time may not be as simple as Liang expected."
As Zhuge Liang spoke, he took out two other military reports from the box on his desk.
"This letter is a military report sent by Liangzhou Zilong a month ago. He said that winter has come too early this year in Liangzhou, and the surrounding foreign races have suffered from white disasters. The losses are not small, and there is a possibility of invading Liangzhou."
"This letter is a military report sent by Yuanzhi of Jingzhou, saying that Zhang Wen, the leader of the Zhang clan in Jiangdong, made a mistake in his speech at the Zhengdan court meeting in Dongwu, and was dismissed from all posts by Sun Quan. In August, he was resentful and angered Sun Quan. The whole family was exiled to Jiaozhou."
"These two battle reports, one from the north and one from the east, have nothing to do with each other. But now coupled with the battle report from Yuan Chang, Liang is really worried."
Zhuge Liang placed these three battle reports in front of everyone at the same time, and everyone's expressions became a little solemn.
If you just look at these three battle reports individually, it's not a big deal.
The Qiang and Hu tribes in Liangzhou suffer losses every winter, especially some small tribes. Every winter because they have difficulty surviving the winter, they enter the territory of the Han Dynasty and seek shelter.
This is also the reason why Ma Chao should be kept in the northwest, and Zhao Yun and Pang De should be stationed in Liangzhou.
Ma Chao is responsible for using his prestige to appease the Qiang and Hu foreigners, while Zhao Yun and Pang De are responsible for using force to deter them.
Every year when winter is approaching, there will be some strange movements among the Qiang and Hu tribes. This is nothing new.
On the other side of Jiangdong, Sun Quan's treatment of Zhang Wen, the leader of the Zhang family, whether it was beheading or exile, was a family matter of Soochow. Even if Zhang Wen had a good relationship with the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty could not suspect anything because of this.
But there are some things that you really can't think about in detail. The more you think about it, the more troublesome it becomes.
It is common for the Qiang and Hu tribes to encounter white disasters, but Ma Chao, the governor of Qinzhou, usually reports to the court, requesting that some food and grass be allocated to relieve the surrounding Qiang and Hu tribes, or to strengthen military armaments. But this time, the Qiang and Hu tribe's unusual movements , Ma Chao did not submit a battle report. On the contrary, it was Zhao Yun and Pang De who submitted the report together.
In such an abnormal situation, Pang Tong immediately frowned and quickly asked Zhuge Liang, "Has any official document arrived from Ma Mengqi?!"
Zhuge Liang also frowned, shook his head slightly, and gave his answer.
Pang Tong's expression suddenly turned serious.
It's not that Pang Tong suspected Ma Chao of having any ulterior motives. Given Ma Chao's situation in Qinzhou, even if he wanted to rebel, Jiang Xu would be the first to refuse.
Moreover, Ma Chao has always been very low-key in his actions over the years, only doing his own duties. Even when he became the governor of Qinzhou, he never interfered in the government affairs of Qinzhou, and most of the military affairs were left to his clan brother Ma Dai. , very well-behaved.
Therefore, no one, including Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, suspected that Ma Chao had any problems. The problem must be those Qiang and Hu aliens.
Obviously, Ma Chao was not notified of the unusual movements of the Qiang and Hu tribes. He even deliberately avoided the Qinzhou area and only mobilized troops and horses around Liangzhou. Therefore, it was Zhao Yun and Pang De who made the report, but Ma Chao did not. An official document arrived.
If this is the case, then it is a bit obvious what these Qiang and Hu aliens want to do.
It can't be that this year we don't plan to ask Ma Chao for help, but instead ask Zhao Yun or Pang De for help, right? !
These two are the sharp knives left by the big man in the northwest, and they are not trying to reason with you foreigners. You left Ma Chao, who is more talkative, and did not ask for help. Instead, you went to Zhao Yun and Pang De. I am afraid that you are not asking for help, but asking for help. Let's fight with knives.
So here’s the question. Zhao Yun’s document also made it very clear that winter in the northwest this year is earlier than before, and the grassland has indeed encountered a white disaster. Where did these aliens get the confidence to go to Liangzhou? A fight with Zhao Yun and Pang De? !
This matter doesn't feel reasonable at all.
And things on the east side are actually quite strange.
Sun Quan has to deal with his own internal affairs and deal with Zhang Wen. This is not a big deal in itself, but the problem is that Zhang Wen is the head of the Zhang family in Wuzhong and one of the four major families in Soochow.
Sun Quan is so stubborn that he will deal with it as soon as he says it will be dealt with? !
There must have been some changes within Soochow, which gave Sun Quan enough confidence to take the risk of falling out with the four major families and deal with the Soochow Zhang family.
Although Sun Quan has made good progress in Huainan and Qingxu over the years, just like today's Han Dynasty, Huainan and Qingxu are both border states. Sun Quan's current base is still in Jiangdong. How did he have the courage to argue with Jiangdong? How can he fall out without causing too much turmoil? !
The four major families in Wuzhong have always been married to each other and have a tacit understanding of each other.
Sun Quan was able to exile Zhang Wen without causing too much turmoil. This shows that the other three major families in Wuzhong did not have much objection to Sun Quan's handling of the Zhang family. This is very strange.
Of course, the most terrible thing is that the Zhang family in Wuzhong has always been the family closest to the Han Dynasty in Soochow.
On the one hand, the rights to sell paper in Soochow, Huainan and other places are all in the hands of the Zhang family, and both parties have interests. On the other hand, Fei Yi, who is in Jingzhou, has always had a good personal relationship with Zhang Wen, and the two of them can Said to be irreconcilable friends.
In recent years, Fei Yi has often established an intelligence network in Soochow through Zhang Wen and obtained information about Soochow.
Now that Sun Quan suddenly disposes of Zhang Wen, it will inevitably affect the Han Dynasty's collection of intelligence about Soochow, and it will also lose an eye in the Soochow court. This will actually have a considerable impact on Jingzhou's security.
Even Qin Mi, who didn't know much about military affairs, saw that there was something wrong with this matter. Qin Mi himself came from a noble family, and although he didn't know much about military strategy, he knew politics.
Zhang Wen's exile actually has many political implications. Qin Mi is both a noble family and a politician, so of course he can sniff out a lot of information from it.
Recall that when Liu Chan ascended the throne, although Sun Quan also sent someone to congratulate him, the person who came was neither Zhuge Jin, the eldest brother of Zhuge Liang, whom everyone is familiar with, nor Zheng Quan, the Taizhong doctor who often visited him. Lixin Captain Feng Xi. This person, whether in official position or reputation, cannot be compared with famous people in the world such as Zhuge Jin and Zheng Quan.
Even if he didn't understand military affairs, Qin Mi could feel Jiangdong's attitude changing from these changes.
Therefore, Qin Mi quickly suggested to Zhuge Liang, saying, "The Lord of Wu sent an envoy to congratulate His Majesty on his enthronement. We must not lose etiquette. Why not send Fei Wenwei to return the gift to Soochow to find out what's going on?!"
Zhuge Liang thought for a moment and nodded slightly.
Now, that's all that can be done.
Fei Yi was sent as an envoy to Jiangdong to test the reality of Sun Quan and the Soochow court. Of course, Zhuge Liang thought more deeply than Qin Mi. If the envoy was to be sent, Jingzhou's defense would also need to be raised to a higher level.
Since Lu Meng's sneak attack on Jingzhou failed, even Zhuge Liang did not have much hope for the civil and military ministers in Jiangdong.
In that group of people, except for Zhou Gongjin and the late Lu Zijing, there really was no one with any long-term vision.
(End of chapter)
