Chen Qun's recommendation of Sima Yi was half-public and half-selfish.
From a public perspective, Chen Qun believes that Sima Yi is currently the only candidate who can stabilize Sili's situation.
Regardless of whether it is Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, or Xia Houshang, none of them are as capable as Sima Yi.
It’s not about the gap in military capabilities, but about comprehensive capabilities.
The current Sili region is not a place that can be maintained solely by relying on military capabilities.
Can the Yingchuan family, the Hedong family, the Hongnong family, these wealthy families be able to live comfortably with the political IQ of Cao Zhen and others? !
In the last war, the Sili and Yanzhou areas were almost completely depleted, and all their elite troops were exhausted. They were forced to deploy soldiers from the field to replenish their numbers. Without these conditions for forceful suppression, political softness became the only option.
Otherwise, once Cao Rui moves back to Yecheng, war will easily break out in the Sili area.
There are too many factors that contribute to this possibility.
Some are instigators of Shu thieves sneaking into Sili, some are common people who cannot survive because of this war, and some are careerists in the Sili area who want to fish in troubled waters and strive for enough benefits for themselves. It’s not that Chen Qun looks down on the Cao family. The three generals of the clan are really unable to do this delicate work.
Therefore, Sima Yi, who was born in a Hedong family, had sufficient political acumen and outstanding military capabilities, was the most suitable candidate to stay in Luoyang at this time.
As for selfishness. As the leader of the aristocratic family, Chen Qun would of course prefer to see someone from the Sili family stay in Luoyang.
Although the Yingchuan family from which Chen Qun was born and the Hedong family from which Sima Yi was born are not easy to deal with, they are all Central Plains families anyway, and in some places, they can cooperate with each other through the exchange of interests.
Another thing is that the development of the Zhongyuan family has not been very smooth in recent years. He is the only one who occupies a high position in the court, Chen Qun. On the contrary, the talents of the Hebei family tend to catch up from behind and slowly occupy the court.
Now that Chen Qun is over sixty, he must cultivate a new spokesperson and interest leader for the Central Plains family in advance, who will be responsible for fighting for the interests of North Korea and China for the Central Plains family.
Looking at the children of the Central Plains families in the court now, only Sima Yi has such qualifications and abilities. Even if Chen Qun is not willing, he must stand by Sima Yi.
This was Chen Qun's public spirit and selfishness in recommending Sima Yi, and Chen Qun didn't think there was anything wrong with what he did. At least in his heart, Sima Yi was indeed the most suitable person to stay in Luoyang.
Chen Qun's suggestion made Cao Rui think.
In fact, it was not that Cao Rui had not considered letting Sima Yi stay behind, but when thinking about the importance of Luoyang as one of the two capitals, Cao Rui subconsciously hoped that the clan generals could guard it, so that Cao Rui could rest assured.
However, now that Chen Qun said this, Cao Rui started to think about it seriously.
Sometimes, one's own family members may not be reliable. Cao Rui still can't calm down when he thinks of Cao Zhen and Cao Xiu's two tricks in this war.
It's really just my own family who only deceives my own family.
From this, Cao Rui also began to think about whether the Wei Dynasty's long-standing strategy of reusing clan generals was right or wrong.
During the reign of Emperor Taizu Wu, the generals of the clan were indeed outstanding. Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Chun and others were all selected to lead the army for a while. Although Xiahou Dun was a little stretched in leading the army, he controlled the rear and eliminated Emperor Taizu Wu's worries. Still very good.
Even Cao Hong at least had the aura of being brave and fighting for his life.
In this case, using clan generals to control the generals is indeed a good way to effectively control the troops under your command.
But now, things are really different.
Within the clan, there are no outstanding generals.
Cao Zhen's ability can be regarded as the most outstanding person in the clan, but compared to Cao Ren, Xia Houyuan and others, he is still inferior. Cao Xiu is probably on the level of Cao Hong. As for Xia Houshang, it's hard to say. Cao Hong may not even be at his level.
Cao Rui imagined for a moment, if he were Emperor Taizu Wu, would he let Cao Hong stay in such an important place as Luoyang? !
When he thought of this, Cao Rui suddenly became enlightened.
Although my family can trust me, sometimes they are really unreliable.
Maybe, it's time to change.
However, Cao Rui also had a worry about appointing Sima Yi.
Sima Yi was from a Hedong family. If he was allowed to take charge of Sili, would it be possible for the Hedong family to dominate the Sili area? !
And when he moves back to Yecheng, he will inevitably be beyond his control over Luoyang and Yanzhou. In this case, how to check and balance the Hedong family? !
Excluding the issue of interest groups, Cao Rui is now a little unsure about Sima Yi.
It's not that he doubts Sima Yi's ability. At this point, Cao Rui still believes that Sima Yi has the ability to stabilize the hearts and minds of Sili's army and the people under the current situation, and at the same time, it is possible to block the next attack of Shu or Wu thieves. What Cao Rui really thinks about is, Is it really credible that this person is Sima Yi? !
Cao Rui actually didn't know much about Sima Yi. He only knew that he was one of the Tuogu ministers left to him by the late emperor.
And Sima Yi has been sitting in Wancheng these years. Cao Zhen, Xia Houshang, Chen Qun and others often appear in front of Cao Rui, allowing Cao Rui to have an intuitive impression and judgment. Among the four great Tuogu ministers, Cao Rui is the most loyal to Sima Yi. Those who don’t understand are also the most doubtful.
In addition, Cao Rui suddenly remembered the rumors of "Sima Ten Dragons" that had been spreading in the Sili area.
The Sima family already has a good reputation in Hedong. If Sima Yi is allowed to stay in Luoyang again, will Sima Yi collude with the Hedong family and have some inappropriate thoughts? !
It was not that he was worried that Sima Yi would rebel, Cao Rui was mainly worried that Sima Yi and the Hedong family would join forces to fool the court.
Among other things, the Dingkou tax in the Sili area accounted for a large proportion of the revenue of the Wei Dynasty. Cao Rui could not tolerate anyone playing dirty tricks in it.
After thinking about it, Cao Rui finally made a decision.
He worshiped Sima Yi as the general who conquered the west, and also served as the commander of the Sili school. During the holidays, he was the governor of Yu and Sizhou affairs, and was granted the title of Marquis of Anping.
He worshiped Wei Wei Xinpi as the general's advisor, controlled the three armies during the holidays, and stayed in Luoyang.
Yes, Cao Rui finally left Sima Yi to guard Luoyang and governor of all military and political affairs of Yuzhou and Sili.
But Cao Rui also did not forget to put a tight spell on Sima Yi. He kept Xinpi, the guard, who also upheld discipline and made it clear that Xinpi had the right to control the army.
Cao Rui thought about it and finally decided that as long as he firmly grasped the military power, even if Sima Yi really merged with the Hedong family, Xinpi would be able to respond in time, so as not to cause too serious damage to the interests of the court.
Furthermore, Xin Pi was not only a veteran of three dynasties, but also from the Yingchuan family.
You, Sima Yi, are from the Hedong family, so I will find you a "mother-in-law" Xinpi who is from the Yingchuan family and has more prestige and qualifications than you, to check and balance each other and prevent your family from becoming dominant.
Chen Qun, on the other hand, had no objection to Cao Rui's arrangement.
Xinpi was from the Yingchuan family, and he was in the same group as the Yingchuan Chen family.
Internally, Xinpi was responsible for restraining Sima Yi and preventing Sima Yi from colluding with the Hedong family and infringing on the interests of the Yingchuan family. Externally, Xinpi and Sima Yi united to completely cut off the black hands of the Hebei family trying to reach out to the Central Plains to seek benefits.
Well, with such an arrangement, I can only say that the emperor is wise! ! !
Just like that, things in Luoyang were arranged. Next, it was time to think about how to clean up the mess in the east.
Cao Xiu couldn't let him stay in Runan any longer. If he stayed any longer, the entire Yuzhou would be lost.
After losing half of Runan County, Pengcheng Kingdom has been surrounded by the Soochow Army on three sides, leaving only Yanzhou as a retreat. Whether it is still necessary to continue to hold on is also a question that needs to be seriously considered.
From another perspective, the Wei Dynasty has just experienced a major defeat and has insufficient troops. It is taboo to continue to distribute its troops in such a scattered manner. Therefore, Cao Rui is determined to shrink the defense line.
The significance of the existence of Pengcheng State is that in the future counterattack against Qingxu or Huainan, Pengcheng State will have a troop dispatch point connecting Xiapi and Langya counties, and it is just north of Shouchun. Its geographical location is still very important.
But now, all three sides have been occupied by the Soochow Army. Not only that, Runan County, which could have played a containment and response role, has also been largely wasted by Cao Xiu. If this continues, it is not a question of whether Pengcheng Kingdom can hold on, but In the future, what should we do if Soochow breaks through the barrier of Runan County and directly enters Yanzhou?
The current focus on Soochow is not only the defense of Runan, but also the defense of Yanzhou.
Therefore, Cao Rui wanted Jia Kui, the governor of Yanzhou who was stationed in Pengcheng State, to withdraw his troops and ask him to return to Yanzhou and redefine it.
Well, there really aren't many people who object to this.
Although this matter is somewhat frustrating, from the reality of the situation, it is like this. If he continues to be stationed in Pengcheng Kingdom, Jia Kui may fall into the siege of the Soochow Army at any time.
At this time, Yanzhou no longer had enough troops to provide necessary support to Pengcheng Kingdom, and the county soldiers were almost wasted by Cao Xiu.
By withdrawing from Pengcheng Kingdom, although the hope of counterattacking Qingxu was temporarily lost, from the perspective of preserving Yanzhou and defending Luoyang, it was necessary to do so.
In this way, Cao Rui issued an edict, asking Jia Kui of Pengcheng to arrange the withdrawal of troops as soon as possible and retreat to Shanyang County with Jiang Ji for defense.
As for Yuzhou, Yingchuan County continues to be guarded by the prefect Wang Ling.
At least in this battle, Wang Ling did not make any mistakes in response except lending troops to Cao Xiu due to personal relationships. Cao Rui finally thought about it and decided to balance the merits and demerits and continue to let Wang Ling stay in Yingchuan.
As for Runan, Cao Rui directly issued an order for Cao Xiu to come to Luoyang to meet the emperor. In other words, Cao Rui directly deprived Cao Xiu of his military power.
This time, Cao Xiu didn't hesitate to go. After all, the situation was different.
Back then, Cao Xiu dared to resist Cao Pi's edict because Cao Xiu and Cao Pi still had a good personal relationship. He knew that even if he had a disagreement, Cao Pi would not do anything to him as long as there was a justifiable reason.
After all, they are a family of the same generation.
But for Cao Rui, Cao Xiu didn't have such confidence. What kind of temper could this eldest nephew have? Cao Xiu didn't know what to do with him. He didn't have that kind of friendship in the past, and now they were even more generations apart.
If Cao Ruizhen were more ruthless, just because everyone had the surname Cao, he would not be able to avoid Cao's sin of passing on the emperor's orders in lieu of leave, and in the end he lost the city and the land.
Therefore, Cao Xiu obeyed the order and came to Luoyang, but Runan's defense still needed to be arranged.
At this time, Sima Yi, the newly appointed general who conquered the west and was the governor of the Henan Province, finally made his first suggestion after taking office.
He recommended General Jianwei Guo Huai to guard Runan, and said boldly, "Guo Boji is worthy of being Lu Xun!"
Upon hearing this, Cao Rui readily agreed and immediately appointed Guo Huai as the governor of Runan. He immediately went to Shangcai to take office to guard against Soochow's invasion.
(End of chapter)
