Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong couldn't believe what Zhang Xi said.
Is this Sima Yi really that powerful? !
Not to mention the abilities of Wang Ji and Xu Shu, even Guan Yu had to use local advantages to break Wancheng guarded by Sima Yi? !
A bit overblown, right? !
That's Guan Yu! ! !
Although he is arrogant and not very popular, in Cao Wei, no one among the older generation of famous generals does not recognize his abilities, and Guan Yu himself has dealt with these older generation of famous generals in Cao Wei, and no one I dare not say that I can definitely defeat Guan Yu.
If Sima Yi had this ability, why was he just a civil servant with no reputation at all when he was under Cao Cao? !
Not to mention that Yuan Chang got some rumors from hearsay somewhere and regarded them as important information.
But then I thought about it, and it didn’t seem right.
Zhang Xi, among other things, has a surprisingly accurate eye for people.
This is not what Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong think. Now it is almost universally recognized that people who can be valued by Zhang Xi must be talented people.
From the earliest Huo Jun, Zhang Yi, and Li Qiu to the latest Liu Yin, it can be said that half of the Mesozoic generals in the Han Dynasty were promoted and promoted by Zhang Xi.
Although until now, Zhuge Liang has not understood why Zhang Xi is so accurate in judging people, but as long as Zhang Xi thinks that a person is very capable, he will rarely be wrong.
The only question is - why was Sima Yi obviously capable, but his reputation was not known during Cao Cao's time? !
Although Cao Cao was a Han thief, he was still very good at judging and employing people. Otherwise, he would not have been able to gather so many talents, and finally swept across the Central Plains. Guandu defeated Yuan Shao and occupied most of the world.
Could it be that Cao Cao was too blind to see that Sima Yi was a great talent? !
Zhang Xi gave the answer to this question - Sima Yi did it himself.
Who told him to insist on showing off his aloofness? How could Lao Cao, who dared to pretend to be ill even when he was out of the army to recruit him, could get used to this problem in him? !
In addition, Cao Cao's evaluation of Sima Yi was not very high. He believed that this person was "looking at the tiger and watching the wolf" and was worried that he was uncontrollable, so he had been suspicious of and suppressed him. He would have a chance to show his talents.
That is to say, Cao Pi felt that he had a good personal relationship with Sima Yi and could control him, so he chose to reuse him.
After listening to Zhang Xi's information, Zhuge Liang really wanted to ask Zhang Xi how Zhang Xi obtained this almost top-secret information.
Can you even find out Cao Cao's evaluation of Sima Yi and Cao Pi's attitude towards Sima Yi? !
But back then in Xinye, Liu Bei's attitude towards this choice was not to ask. He believed in Zhang Xi's character and loyalty. Now so many years have passed, even if Zhuge Liang wanted to ask again, he could no longer ask.
Anyway, Zhang Xi's information was rarely wrong. When he entered Sichuan, his judgment on Zhang Ren was wrong, but everything else was basically accurate.
In this case, Sima Yi is really a trouble. If the Jingzhou Army is not led by an outstanding commander, it really may not be able to defeat Wancheng.
For this reason, Zhuge Liang began to pull back and forth among his own camp to see who could go to Jingzhou to replace the sick Guan Yu and command the Jingzhou army.
This candidate is not easy to choose. He must have sufficient leadership ability, be good at strategy and maneuvering, and must also have sufficient prestige in the military.
With so many requirements put together, Zhuge Liang found that except for Zhang Xi, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, there was no one else who could do the job.
Even if he goes to Jingzhou in person, it won't work.
Although Zhuge Liang led the army to put down the Qiang rebellion this time, in fact, he really didn't have much experience in leading troops, and his prestige in the army was far less than that of Zhang Fei, Zhang Xi, and Zhao Yun, let alone replacing the general. Guan Yu takes command of the Jingzhou Army.
But the problem is that Zhang Fei, Zhang Xi, and Zhao Yun each have their own responsibilities and cannot easily leave their area.
Zhang Fei is a general of chariots and cavalry. It is not impossible for him to go to Jingzhou to replace Guan Yu and command the Jingzhou Army. With his official position, prestige in the army, and his relationship with Guan Yu, no one who leads the Jingzhou Army would dare to object.
Although he is slightly lacking in resourcefulness, with the help of Xu Shu and Wang Ji, he can barely do it.
But the problem is, Zhang Fei is now in Chengdu, guarding the emperor's safety. If he goes to Jingzhou, as long as Cao Wei's craftsman is not a fool, he will know that the Han Dynasty will make big moves in Jingzhou.
Otherwise, what kind of mission could make Zhang Fei give up guarding the emperor and go to Jingzhou to stay? !
The same principle applies to Zhang Xi and Zhao Yun.
There are two people, one is a former general and the governor of Yongzhou, and the other is a general of Wei who is also in charge of the military and political affairs of Liangzhou. Both of them have heavy responsibilities and cannot easily leave their jurisdiction. There must be a reason for suddenly running away to Jingzhou.
In this way, Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition plan may be exposed in advance.
And some other less famous generals went to Jingzhou to replace Guan Yu. Regardless of whether the Jingzhou army was convinced or not, they were really convinced. These people could be the Sima Yi who Zhang Xi said was "not inferior to the famous generals in the world". opponent? !
Therefore, no matter how you think about it, the idea of finding a suitable general to replace Guan Yu in controlling the Jingzhou Army and commanding the Northern Expedition is not feasible.
In this case, we can only think carefully about how to trick Sima Yi and transfer Sima Yi to other places.
Well, if Zhuge Liang thought about it, it wouldn't be that easy.
According to intelligence, this Sima Yi was one of the Tuogu ministers appointed by Cao Pi to assist Cao Rui before his death.
The other three Tuogu ministers are Cao Zhen, Xia Houshang, and Chen Qun.
By the way, this candidate is slightly different from what Zhang Xi knew. Originally, there was no Xiahou Shang among Cao Pi's four most important ministers. The original candidate should have been Cao Xiu.
But in this time and space, Cao Xiu really disappointed Cao Pi. Not only did he not listen to the arrangements, but he also got angry with himself afterwards. He stayed in Runan due to illness and was unwilling to return to Luoyang.
How could Cao Pi choose such a person as a lonely and important minister?
So he chose his close friend Xia Houshang as the minister of Tuogu.
But it actually has no impact.
Cao Pi chose these four people as ministers of Tuogu. In fact, there may not be any intention to check and balance each other - four people, two are relatives of Cao Wei and two are representatives of aristocratic families.
But no matter how they check and balance internally, externally, the four Tuogu ministers have no quarrel and seem to be quite harmonious. Moreover, two of them are guarding the outside and the other two are staying in Luoyang.
It is not that easy to drive a wedge between Emperor Cao Wei and a minister Tuogu.
But Zhang Xi thinks that this may not be impossible.
Just because of one thing - the relationship between Cao Rui and Cao Pi is not that good.
For this matter, there is really no need to "use" Zhang Xi's special intelligence network. In fact, Zhuge Liang also knows about it.
When Cao Pi deposed Zhen Mi as queen and appointed Mrs. Guo as queen, the whole world was full of rumors.
Really, there is no need to deliberately collect information. Zhuge Liang himself has received a lot of reliable and unreliable rumors or information.
No matter why Cao Pi killed Zhen Mi and let her be buried with "chaff in her mouth". After all, Cao Rui was Zhen Mi's biological son. Moreover, Cao Rui was already a teenager at that time and he remembered exactly what happened.
The relationship between Cao Pi and his son has not been harmonious since then. Information has been transmitted from Luoyang and Yecheng to confirm these things. There is a high probability that there is no mistake.
Therefore, it is hard to say how much Cao Rui likes Minister Tuogu, whom his father left behind.
Another thing is that Cao Rui is a man with a much clearer mind than his father. Although he succeeded to the throne at a young age, in the second year of Taihe in Cao Wei, that is, the second year after Cao Rui succeeded to the throne, Cao Rui, who had just stabilized the government, had an affair. The sealing edict denounced the "glitz" phenomenon prevalent in the Cao Wei court.
This is the origin of the "glitz case" in history.
The so-called "glitz" phenomenon refers to the fact that some people hold high positions in the court because of their fathers and brothers. They have no talents themselves, but they are still praised by aristocratic families, recommended by Zhongzheng, and recommended to the court as officials.
To put it bluntly, this is the result of the shortcomings that began to appear during the use of the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System.
Historically, Cao Rui was very dissatisfied with this "glitz" phenomenon from the moment he took the throne. However, due to the fact that he had just succeeded to the throne and his prestige was not established, he did not dare to directly attack the aristocratic family. He endured it until the first year of Qinglong, through Dong Zhao took the opportunity to write a letter, setting off a "flashy case" and attacking aristocratic families.
Of course, it is only the third year of Taihe, and there are still several years left before the first year of Qinglong. Cao Rui has just stabilized the government, and the external environment is also very bad. It is impossible to fall out with the family at this time.
However, the hidden dangers left by Cao Pi back then were not eradicated because of his short life. However, Cao Rui's political IQ was no worse than that of his father. Obviously, he had already started his own layout at this time.
No one knows whether it will be possible in the end, but when Zhuge Liang received this information, he was worried for a long time.
From this move, Zhuge Liang can see that Cao Rui is also a far-sighted ruler and may not be easier to deal with than his father Cao Pi.
But now, looking back at this move, it actually gave Zhuge Liang an opportunity to take advantage of.
If nothing else, Sima Yi was from a noble family in Hedong, and his two sons, Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, really had a reputation in Cao Wei that was not weak at all.
You know, today's Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, one is 20 years old and the other is only 17 years old.
At this age, although it can be said that they are old enough to become an official, in terms of officialdom, they are just "little boys". Even if they are really talented, why can they be praised by so many people? !
In the eyes of the aristocratic families, this is just a matter of carrying each other's sedan chairs and bragging to each other, but in the eyes of Cao Rui, who is also a young monarch, can Sima Yi really be pleased with him? !
Why is Chen Tai, the son of Chen Qun, who also comes from a wealthy family and is also the minister of Tuogu, not as famous as your two brothers from the Sima family? !
Since Cao Rui had his own thoughts against the aristocratic family, but due to the bad situation, Sima Yi came from a noble family and was in charge of the military and political power of the place. Can Cao Rui really rest assured? !
(End of chapter)
