Sima Yi was Sima Yi after all. In just a split second, he thought about all the pros and cons and made a decision.
You still have to tell the truth.
On the one hand, Sima Yi did not believe that Cao Rui did not understand the situation in Jingzhou at all, and telling lies would easily arouse Cao Rui's dissatisfaction and suspicion.
On the other hand, when Cao Rui ascended the throne, he summoned his attendant Liu Ye to talk for a whole day. According to Liu Ye afterwards, Cao Rui "had a lot of the legacy of Emperor Wu."
In other words, Cao Rui's character is somewhat similar to Cao Cao.
Sima Yi had too much say in what would happen if he acted petty in front of Cao Cao.
Sima Yi has been guarding Nanyang all year round and does not understand Cao Rui. However, because of this, Sima Yi feels that he should not be clever and show his sincerity as much as possible. This is the least risky choice for Sima Yi.
"According to a detailed report from Jingzhou, since last winter, the Shu thief Jingzhou guard Guan Yu has been seriously ill and has been unable to take charge. After the spring of this year, there has been no news of Guan Yu's movements. I think he is still recovering at home. All the ministries in Jingzhou are temporarily under the jurisdiction of the Shu thief military advisor Xu Shu. "
"The total number of land and water armies in Jingzhou is about 100,000, with 30,000 troops stationed in Jiangxia, 10,000 troops stationed in Lingling and Wuling counties each, and 15,000 troops stationed in Jiangling. These are all for defense against Soochow, and there is detailed information that no troops have been mobilized. .”
"The remaining 35,000 people, all the Shu thieves are stationed in Xiangfan. Among them, Shu general Zhou Tai led 5,000 troops and stationed them in Deng County, which is regarded as the outpost of the Shu thieves. The other 30,000 people are stationed in Xiangfan to threaten Nanyang."
"The generals of the Shu thieves in Jingzhou, Guan Yu, Xu Shu, Wang Ji, etc., are all in Xiangyang. Wenpin, Shibao, Zhang Ren, Xi Hong, and Pan Jun are divided into prefectures and counties, and each is in charge of county affairs. There is no large amount of soldiers, horses, and food. Scale mobilization.”
"This is all I know, and I hope your Majesty will understand it clearly."
Sima Yi told the truth, but in the end, Sima Yi was still clever.
He told everything he knew about the situation in Jingzhou, but he did not give his own conclusion. Instead, he gave up the right to make judgments and decisions to Cao Rui.
Sima Yi treated Cao Rui in the same manner as he treated Cao Cao.
If it is really Cao Cao, then I guess Cao Cao will be very satisfied with Sima Yi's approach of knowing how to advance and retreat. There is no way, who makes Cao Cao have a problem with Sima Yi all the time. When Sima Yi faces Cao Cao, it is better to say less. .
In addition, Cao Cao himself has outstanding military talents and has his own judgment. Even if his advisers give completely different suggestions, Cao Cao will make his own decision based on his own reality and does not need what Sima Yi said. too much.
Sima Yi used this method to deal with Cao Cao, which was Cao Cao's favorite.
But Cao Rui is not good at it. Cao Rui's military ability may not be as good as that of his father. After all, his father has been on the battlefield and fought with Cao Cao.
Cao Rui listened for a long time, and he could indeed understand what Sima Yi said. But the problem was that Cao Rui did not have enough confidence in his military ability and did not dare to make a judgment easily.
After all, if Shu thieves were not easy to mess with, his father wouldn't give up on Guanzhong and choose to stay in seclusion.
Cao Rui could tell that what Sima Yi meant was that there was nothing unusual about the Jingzhou group of Shu thieves, but Cao Rui still understood the theory of fiction and reality in the art of war.
So, is there really no abnormality, or is it just pretending that there is no abnormality? !
Cao Zhen was in charge of the northwest defense. After collecting information about the Shu thieves' movements, no matter what the purpose was, he at least gave his own analysis and judgment.
As the top leader in Nanyang, can you, Sima Yi, only provide this kind of intelligence analysis that can be obtained through ordinary careful work? !
Thinking back to the two letters that Sima Yi took the initiative to send to him before, Cao Rui was a little dissatisfied with Sima Yi.
"According to General Hussar's wishes, the Shu thieves have no intention of marching north to the Central Plains?!" Cao Rui opened his mouth slightly and asked Sima Yi again.
At this time, Sima Yi still maintained the posture of bowing his head and saluting, and did not notice the change in Cao Rui's face for a while. He was still dealing with Cao Cao in the same way.
"I am too stupid to make any rash assertions, so please let your Majesty take a closer look," Sima Yi said.
This answer made Cao Rui really angry.
I didn’t care about the many messy things you and your son did, just because you are indeed capable of blocking the Shu thieves from the south. But now, when I ask you to discuss matters, as the top leader in Nanyang, you actually do nothing to the Shu thieves. If you can't even give me the judgment of a thief, then what use do you have? !
After all, Cao Rui is not Cao Cao. He has no confidence in his military ability, and he is self-aware. Therefore, he needs his subordinates to help analyze and come up with ideas so that he can choose one of them to execute what Sima Yi did. , Cao Rui didn't feel that he was taking care of his authority at all, but felt that Sima Yi was a bit of a coward.
But after all, Sima Yi was the assistant minister left by Cao Pi, and his abilities were indeed outstanding. Cao Rui couldn't get angry and reprimand Sima Yi because of such a trivial matter.
Therefore, Cao Rui could only endure the dissatisfaction in his heart, turned to look at Cao Zhen, and asked, "General Zhenjun, do you have any judgment on this?!"
As soon as Cao Rui said these words, Sima Yi's heart suddenly thumped, knowing that he seemed to have done something bad.
After asking himself, he turned around and asked Cao Zhen the same question. It was obvious that Cao Rui really needed to come to a conclusion by himself. He seemed to have misunderstood Cao Rui's true intention.
Sima Yi knew that the answer he had just given must have dissatisfied Cao Rui, otherwise he would not have turned around and asked Cao Zhen, who was responsible for the defense of Guanzhong, how he viewed Jingzhou's defense issues.
But Sima Yi has just said that he has no conclusion, so naturally he can't stand up and say that he has an idea now. If he really does this, the emperor will be angry.
I asked you just now and you didn't tell me, but now that I'm asking someone else, you tell me what exactly Sima Yi wants to do? ! Do you still take the Emperor of Wei seriously? !
Therefore, Sima Yi could only say nothing and sit back and watch Cao Zhen speak.
"Soldiers are deceitful, and they are unpredictable." Cao Zhen thought for a moment, then said to Cao Rui, "I think that the Sichuan thieves in Jingzhou have not moved yet, so they may not be unintentionally marching north to the Central Plains."
"Jingzhou is different from Guanzhong. The only way to move troops and food is by land. The land of Jingzhou and Xiang has the advantage of the Han River and the Yangtze River. It takes far less time to transport troops and food by water than transporting food by road. In the past, Jingzhou This is the reason why the Shu thieves invaded the border areas and the time it took for the main army to prepare for war was less than the Shu thieves in Yizhou."
"The Shu thieves in Jingzhou have the largest number of troops stationed in Xiangyang and Jiangxia. These two places are connected by the Han River, and Jiangling, Wuling, and Lingling are also connected by the Yangtze River, making it extremely convenient to mobilize troops. If the Shu thieves really want to go north, After entering the Central Plains, it only takes more than a month to mobilize the troops from Jiangxia to go north to Xiangyang to assist in the war. We can also connect the counties of Jiangling, Jiangxia and Wuling in a short period of time to guard against the invasion of Jiangdong."
"Therefore, I believe that the fact that there is no unusual movement in Jingzhou is not enough to prove that the Shu thieves have no intention of entering Guanzhong from the north."
Don't worry about whether what Cao Zhen said is right or not, what he said was exactly what Cao Rui wanted to hear.
But there is one thing that Cao Rui also understands. He can listen to Cao Zhen's words, but he cannot completely believe them.
After all, Cao Zhen was not the real leader in the Nanyang area. The judgment he made was only based on the intelligence given by Sima Yi just now. Although the analysis he made made some sense, Cao Rui also knew that Cao Zhen had selfish motives.
Cao Zhen's selfishness is actually not difficult to understand.
A few years ago, Cao Zhen, the governor of Yongliang, was beaten so hard that he lost the two prefectures of Yongliang and Yongliang. This was a great shame and humiliation for Cao Zhen.
The majestic Governor of Yongliang and the two prefectures of Yongliang did not have an inch of land under the control of the Wei Dynasty. How ridiculous.
Cao Zhen was often laughed at in private because of this.
In the past few years, the Shu thieves have been recuperating, and Cao Wei has also been recuperating.
With the size of Cao Wei's economy, it has already digested the people of Guanzhong who moved inward, and at the same time has accumulated enough money and food, and the national strength has almost been restored. Cao Zhen really feels that he is doing well again, and wants to follow the Shu thieves One fight and avenging one's previous humiliation.
There have been no large-scale battles for five years, only small-scale harassment battles. This does not satisfy Cao Zhen. Now that the main force of Shu thieves has gathered in the northwest, Cao Zhen certainly hopes to counterattack the Shu thieves.
Even if he cannot wipe out the elite Shu thieves in one battle, he must at least recapture Guanzhong and Liangzhou so that he, the governor of Yongliang, can live up to his reputation.
Cao Rui knew Cao Zhen's little thoughts, so he also understood that Cao Zhen's real purpose was to take this opportunity to persuade the court to preemptively launch an attack on the Shu thieves.
You can believe what he said, but you can’t believe everything he said, as there are indispensable parts of it that are alarmist.
At this time, Cao Rui glanced slightly at Sima Yi who lowered his head and said nothing. After thinking for a moment, he shifted his gaze again and looked at Xia Houshang.
After all, he is getting younger. Cao Rui can't hide his thoughts very well. He is dissatisfied with Sima Yi at the moment.
Although he knew that asking Sima Yi at this time was the most correct thing to do, Cao Rui still wanted to give Sima Yi some time.
Therefore, Cao Rui looked at Xiahou Shang and asked. "What does the General of the Chinese Army have to say about this matter?!"
Xia Houshang lowered his head slightly and said quickly, "Since the late emperor, I have been leading troops to defend the central army. I have no understanding of local practices and dare not make any nonsense. However, I think that I should ask Cao Zidan about the northwest affairs and about Jingzhou. It is right for Sima Zhongda, and I hope your Majesty will investigate it."
What Xia Houshang said is quite impressive.
First of all, Xia Houshang said that he did not understand local practices. This is true. It is different from Sima Yi's shirk behavior of being in Nanyang but not daring to judge the Jingzhou Army.
Secondly, Xiahou Shang also gave his own suggestion - you are right to ask Cao Zhen about the changes in the Shu bandits in the northwest direction, but if you ask Cao Zhen about the changes in the Shu bandits in the Jingzhou direction, you are asking the wrong person.
In the final analysis, you have to ask Sima Yi about this matter.
To be honest, Xiahou Shang was really not helping Sima Yi find a way out. He was actually very dissatisfied with Sima Yi.
This old boy, as a guard, dare not even express his judgment on the enemy. He deserves to be hated by the emperor.
But the problem is that Sima Yi has been guarding Wancheng for five or six years. He has the deepest understanding of Wancheng and Jingzhou. No matter how he goes around, he can't get around Sima Yi.
Xia Houshang just discussed the matter and gave Cao Rui a practical suggestion. He really didn't mean to help Sima Yi.
But Xia Houshang said so, and Cao Rui thought it made sense. He looked at Sima Yi again.
"General Hussars, Cao Zhenjun's words, what do you think of the general will?!"
This gave Sima Yi another chance.
(End of chapter)
