As early as July, Cao Pi adopted Sima Yi's plan to weaken Shu and began to plan against the Shu Han.
First, through the relationship between the Guanzhong family who had moved inland, he contacted King Hu Zhiyuanduo of Liangzhou, and persuaded Zhiyuanduo to send troops to attack Liangzhou on the condition that he be allowed to annex him with gold, silver and jewelry.
One thing to say, Cao Wei's move was actually quite stupid. The gold, silver, and jewelry were not edible or drinkable, and were not even legal tender. He actually wanted to bribe King Hu of Liangzhou to work for them.
As for the included condition, it is indeed a bit attractive to the surrounding foreign races at this time, but now that Cao Wei does not even have Guanzhong in his hands, where can there be a place to place the troops of King Hu Zhiyuan of Liangzhou? !
This is nothing more than an empty-handed argument.
But the problem is that the situation of the Hu people these days, after four hundred years of suppression by the Han Dynasty, is really not that good.
Even though the Hu people these days are relatively "upright", to be able to reach the position of King Hu, Zhiyuan Duo's IQ and political skills are not inferior. Even if they are not as "sinister and cunning" as the people of the Central Plains, they still have the basic political literacy. , there is still no shortage of Zhiyuan.
The conditions given by the Han people did seem a bit unrealistic, but for Zhiyuan Duo, it was really impossible for him to ask for more.
It is true that gold, silver and jewelry cannot be eaten or drunk, and they are not even legal tender, but this does not prevent these things from bringing Zhiyuanduo the food their tribe needs.
To the north of Liangzhou is the famous Silk Road. Although the countries in the Western Regions along this route are not big, there are always countries rich in food, and in these countries, luxury goods from the Central Plains are hard currency.
Often a pearl can be exchanged for a thousand pounds of grain.
Another point is that if you bribe the soldiers and officials at the Han border, you will die if you are caught. But if it is gold, silver and jewelry, at least officially, it cannot be considered a crime.
As the leader of a large tribe, Zhiyuan Duo still has these visions.
And this included condition is what Zhiyuan Duo needs most now.
Life was not easy for the foreign races during the Han Dynasty and even the Three Kingdoms period.
Since Emperor Xiaowu of the previous Han Dynasty dug his way through the Western Regions, the Qiang people have been prominent in the Liangzhou area for a while, and other tribes have been beaten to the ground by the Han people.
Life is not easy for aliens.
The biggest hope of today's foreign tribes is to be like the Southern Xiongnu, and the whole tribe will join in. Only in this way can they live a good life.
But the problem is that not everyone can enjoy this qualification.
The Southern Huns annexed the territory in order to contain the Northern Huns. After all, the Huns were the Han's number one enemy, and the Han would not allow the Huns to stand up again.
But if other tribes want to join in, it's not that easy.
Just look at Wuhuan in the past. He showed off his power on the border and was famous for a while. As a result, Emperor Wu of Wei went to the north and his back was broken in the first battle. He has not recovered yet and is in a state of being torn apart.
Today, there is a huge power vacuum in the northern grasslands of Cao Wei. Tribal leaders with a little vision want to move there. The most determined person is Bu Dugen, the leader of the Xianbei people.
This person passed Cao Wei's Wuhuan Colonel Yan Rou and obtained the qualification to pay tribute. Now the whole family has moved to the original territory of the Wuhuan people and is developing quite well.
But now, Zhiyuan Duo has obtained the qualification of being attached, which is more reasonable and legal than paying tribute. After this military uprising is over, regardless of victory or defeat, he will lead his tribe to move to the north of Cao Wei.
It is much easier to compete with the Xianbei and Wuhuan people than to compete with the Qiang people who have been here for more than a hundred years, and the brave and capable Han people.
It can be said that both sides got what they needed. Therefore, Zhiyuanduo agreed to Cao Wei's request and began to mobilize troops to prepare for a fight on the border of Liangzhou.
He doesn't really want to risk his life against the Han people in Liangzhou. Zhi Yuanduo knows that with the little combat power he has at hand, if he goes head-to-head with the Han people, he will most likely not get any benefits.
It's just pretending and putting on a show. If you can get some benefits from the Han people in Liangzhou, that would be the best. If not, then move the whole family and go to the north of Cao Wei to survive.
Of course, Zhiyuan Duo is not a fool. He knows that he must be cautious when doing this in Liangzhou.
Therefore, he did not even have contact with the strongest local Qiang force, and simply planned to rely on the strength of his own tribe to do this.
Just kidding, those Qiang people are the most distrustful race.
Although they are now regarded as aliens by the Han people, the Han people themselves admit that the Qiang people were the same ancestors as the Han people in ancient times, and they, the outsiders, are the serious aliens.
In addition, the Qiang people's "Shenwei Tianjiang" is now an official in Qinzhou, which was newly designated by the Han people, and the Qiang people are migrating there. If I contact the nearby Qiang tribe to start a rebellion, I am afraid that I will still Before he could take action, his tent was already surrounded by the combined forces of Han and Qiang people.
And this is also the reason why Ma Chao did not receive the message, but Zhao Yun and Pang De discovered something strange.
But no matter how you put it, as long as Zhiyuan Duo agrees to attack Liangzhou, then whether he pretends to attack Liangzhou or actually attacks, it will be the same to the Wei court.
As long as we can attract the attention and strength of the Shu thieves to the northwest area and divert possible northwest reinforcements from Yongzhou, it will be enough.
As for the second route, Cao Pi sent an envoy headed by Jiang Ji to Jiangdong to persuade Sun Quan to send troops to attack Jingzhou.
This military journey is actually very difficult.
No matter what the two countries have in mind, at least on the surface, the two countries are allies.
It wouldn't matter if something like betraying the alliance and making a sneak attack succeeded, but if it didn't succeed, the infamy that the side that betrayed the alliance would bear would be huge.
Sun Quan had already betrayed him once, and he accompanied him to Jiangxia County for this purpose. In subsequent interactions with the Liu Bei Group, Sun Quan's side was always the weak side, and he would always be brought up by the Liu Bei Group's envoys to make trouble.
Of course Sun Quan was angry, but the problem was, who asked him to steal the chicken and failed? He could only hold back his anger.
Now it is not that simple to persuade Sun Quan to take the initiative to betray the alliance and attack Jingzhou.
But after all, Jiang Ji, as a wise man in the middle and late period of Cao Wei, was the only one who could compete with Sima Yi. Naturally, he had his own methods and rhetoric.
After Jiang Ji arrived at Soochow, although he met with Sun Quan immediately, he did not take the initiative to mention the joint attack on Shu. He just performed the work of an ordinary envoy, nominally to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
But privately, Jiang Ji visited the residences of Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, Sun Shao, and Sun Sheng, and conveyed the true purpose of his mission through these people.
Among these four people, Zhang Zhao is currently the oldest official in Soochow, and he is also an old official who has never been too cold towards the Sun-Liu Alliance.
Gu Yong is Sun Quan's most valued civil servant at present, and he is obviously planning to let Gu Yong succeed Zhang Zhao in the future.
As for Sun Shao and Sun Sheng, they were the clan generals of Soochow and Sun Quan's confidants who single-handedly took control of the military.
Through these four people, Jiang Ji explained a truth - now that the Shu Han has occupied four states in the world, and the military is at its peak, once Cao Wei cannot withstand the attack of the Shu Han, then Jiangdong, which is relatively peaceful, will really be like a wolf and a tiger. The opponent of Shu Han? !
Although Jiangdong now also occupies Huainan and Qingxu, in the last war, even if Jiangdong used a sneak attack, he only captured half of Xiapi County, while the Shu Han conquered Guanzhong in one fell swoop.
Even if the Han-Wu alliance continues to maintain its strength and attack Cao Wei's Central Plains region from the east and west together, how much territory can you seize from the Shu Han in Jiangdong? !
Okay, even if the Shu Han really takes you as an ally and gives you half of the Central Plains, the question is... what will you do next in Soochow? !
Once the Shu Han occupied the Central Plains, it would be equivalent to occupying half of China. At that time, Shu would be strong and Wu and Wei would be weak.
Do you, Soochow, want to continue to maintain the alliance and imitate Qi Wangjian's waiting for death, or do you want to unite with Wei and fight against Shu together? !
If you have to wait for death, then think of me, Jiang Jibai.
But if we want to unite with the Wei Dynasty, why do we have to wait until the Shu Han has connected all the territories and become more powerful? !
Isn’t now the best opportunity? !
Wouldn't it be nice to take advantage of the opportunity of Liu Bei's death and the new king's succession, with unstable power and numerous internal conflicts, to capture Jingzhou in one battle? !
Moreover, in Jingzhou today, Guan Yu is seriously injured and is resting, and will not be able to govern in the short term. Although Wang Ji has outstanding abilities, his qualifications are not enough to convince the public, and there will inevitably be conflicts with veterans like Xu Shu.
In addition, Cao Wei in the north can send Sima Yi and Wang Ling to send troops out of Wancheng and Xuchang to threaten Xiangyang and attract the main force of the Jingzhou army. Isn't this the best time for Soochow to attack Jingzhou? !
Jiang Ji's words really moved Gu Yong, Sun Sheng, Sun Shao and others, and Zhang Zhao, Zhang Zhao is not really the French strategist who makes bad ideas in the novel.
The person who can shoulder the important task of taking care of Sun Ce is the kind of person who doesn't understand military strategy.
To be honest, if the person who led the troops to the funeral had not been Zhou Yu, he might not have been able to take away half of the decision-making power from Zhang Zhao. Zhou Yu has the qualifications to suppress Zhang Zhao, but it does not mean that others can fool Zhang Zhao casually.
Is it true that Sun Quan called Zhang Zhao "Mr. Zhang" out of respect for Zhang Zhao's age? !
Zhang Zhao had already found the biggest loophole in Jiang Ji's words - everything was just Jiang Ji talking to himself and had no actual meaning.
Jiang Ji believed that after Liu Bei's death, the Jingzhou Army would fall into an internal fight between the Wang Ji faction and the Guan Yu faction. This was purely Jiang Ji's self-imagination. Zhang Zhao could not predict what Jingzhou would become.
Jiang Ji claimed that Cao Wei would launch an attack on Xiangyang from Wancheng and Xuchang in order to counter Jiangdong's backstab. But if you don't send troops later, or just send troops to show off, it is not impossible to trick us.
Furthermore, with that difficult bastard Wenpin guarding Jiangxia, Jiangdong's attempt to bypass Jiangxia's surveillance and sneak attack on Nanjun would be much more difficult than what Lu Meng faced when he attacked Jingzhou.
This is a plan that only exists in Jiang Ji's mind, or to put it more bluntly, it is to trick Soochow and provoke internal fighting between Soochow and Shu Han.
Zhang Zhao actually saw it clearly, but Zhang Zhao did not reject Jiang Ji.
Because Jiang Ji was actually right about one thing - Shu Han could not be allowed to continue to grow in power.
(End of chapter)
