This was the first time that Zhang Xi knew about Zhuge Liang's acceptance of a disciple. To be honest, Zhang Xi thought that after his own interference, Zhuge Liang might not have the intention to accept Jiang Wei as his disciple.
One is because Jiang Wei himself has had a good opportunity to show off his military talents. He is not as untrusted by the court as the surrendered generals in history. He needs Zhuge Liang's endorsement to show off his abilities and talents.
On the other hand, now that Guanzhong has been captured, and seeing that the next step is to recover the Central Plains, Zhuge Liang has no sense of urgency at all and needs to find a successor for himself.
But who knew that Zhuge Liang still accepted Jiang Wei as his disciple, and passed the "Six Tao" and "Twenty-Four Books of War" to Jiang Wei several years in advance.
Zhang Xi really didn't know what Zhuge Liang was thinking, and under the current circumstances, Zhang Xi didn't have the heart to ask Zhuge Liang what he thought.
The real purpose of coming to Chang'an this time was to hold a meeting to discuss the Northern Expedition.
Zhang Xi also asked about this matter when he visited Pang Tong and Fazheng.
Especially these two people, why did they not agree to the Northern Expedition before, but now they made a 180-degree turn and agreed to the Northern Expedition?
These two people were actually helpless.
In essence, Pang Tong and Fazheng did not disagree with Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition. They also knew that sending troops to the Northern Expedition before Sili had fully recovered was the best time to capture Sili.
But the interest groups behind them don't think so, so they have to stand up and speak on behalf of these people.
Therefore, these two people were not actually opposed to the Northern Expedition in the true sense.
As for Zhuge Liang, he persuaded these two people to remain neutral for the time being, and then returned to Chengdu himself.
When Zhuge Liang returned to Chengdu this time, he first met Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, and reached an agreement with the Wuxun Group to use the Wuxun Group to suppress the voices of the Jingzhou and Yizhou factions.
Then, Zhuge Liang met with the heads of the Li family, the Wang family, and the Huang family of the Shu family, had a secret conversation, and conducted a series of exchanges of interests in exchange for their not opposing the Northern Expedition.
Yes, Zhuge Liang allowed them not to support it, but not to oppose it.
In other words, Zhuge Liang tacitly agreed that they would not contribute money or food to subsidize the Northern Expedition. However, when Sili was conquered in the future and the interests of Sili were shared, the Yizhou people would naturally not have a share.
One for one, it's a fair and reasonable thing.
After settling the Yizhou faction, Zhuge Liang did not give the Jingzhou faction a chance to react. He went directly to the court and formally requested the Fourth Northern Expedition, and he also submitted a "departure list".
Of course, this "Leading Master's List" is different from the "Leading Master's List" that Zhang Xi knew. Zhuge Liang did not need to instruct the emperor Liu Chan, but the part where Zhuge Liang recalled the late emperor's special encounter was basically not much different.
Today's imperial court is still dominated by veterans. Many veterans of the Jingzhou faction who followed Liu Bei in the past couldn't even raise their objections when they saw Zhuge Liang's "Execution List".
As for the Shu families who were supposed to raise objections, no one jumped out and found any excuse to oppose the Northern Expedition this time. Instead, they all fell silent.
With the support of the Wuxun Group and the acquiescence of the veterans in the DPRK, Zhuge Liang finally got the emperor's order and officially sent troops to the Northern Expedition.
In this way, Zhuge Liang adopted a half-forced, half-persuaded approach to the Northern Expedition, and then returned to Chang'an to prepare for various Northern Expedition matters.
Fazheng, Pang Tong, Wu Yi and others also rushed to Chang'an from Chengdu and Hanzhong and began to cooperate with this Northern Expedition.
And now, the reason why the discussion has not officially started is that we are waiting for Generals Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, who have set off from Chengdu to supervise the army, to arrive in Chang'an. At that time, we can officially start preparing for the Northern Expedition.
Fighting is definitely necessary, but Zhuge Liang has his own idea of how to fight, but this idea has not yet been agreed upon by everyone.
So, just wait.
Without waiting long, in about seven or eight days, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun led the vanguard of 10,000 Yizhou County soldiers and arrived in Chang'an.
Now that everyone is here, let’s start the discussion.
According to Zhuge Liang's idea, this time the troops were sent out in two directions.
Along the way, they entered Nanyang through Wuguan, attacked Yingchuan County, entered Henan from Yingchuan County, and attacked Luoyang.
The other route started from Zuo Fengyi, with the Chang'an navy as the main force, crossed the Yellow River at Pubanjin, entered the Hedong area, and threatened Hongnong County behind Tongguan.
Zhuge Liang never thought of having a head-on confrontation with Tongguan, a strong fortress. If he could go around it, it would be better to go around it.
The main combat ideas are these two, but Zhuge Liang has not yet fully figured out which one is the main attack and which one is a feint attack.
According to Zhuge Liang's thinking, stability is still the main priority. It is safer for the main force to set off from Nanyang and attack Yingchuan County. After all, the place is really flat and there is no danger to defend. As long as the troops advance normally, they can defeat the enemy in front of them. , you can intimidate Luoyang.
The Pubanjin line is mainly a feint attack line to contain Cao Wei's Hedong and Hongnong defenders.
But the shortcoming of this idea is that the goal is too obvious.
Sima Yi, who is in charge of Luoyang, is not a fool. Wang Ling of Yingchuan County is also a man with both civil and military skills. How can they not know the importance of Yingchuan County and that Yingchuan County is unsafe to defend? !
Therefore, if the troops advance from the direction of Yingchuan County, they will definitely encounter a strong blockage from the enemy, and a large-scale decisive battle may even break out at the junction of Nanyang County and Yingchuan County.
This might be a battle in which one thousand enemies are killed and oneself suffers eight hundred losses.
In view of this, Pang Tong and Fazheng jointly proposed a more risky strategy.
The frontal battlefield is still dominated by the Yingchuan County battlefield. They accumulate troops there and put on a posture of fighting a decisive battle, attracting the main force of the Wei army to gather in Yingchuan County.
But the real breakthrough point was Hongnong County.
It is better to use the Chang'an Navy to lead thousands of people to break through Pubanjin and enter Hedong County, and then directly turn around and go south to attack Hongnong County.
After occupying Hongnong County, it depends on the actual situation.
If Luoyang's defenses are empty, these 10,000 troops can march directly eastward and attack Luoyang before the Wei army from Yingchuan returns for reinforcements.
If Luoyang is prepared, then don't act rashly for the time being and attack the remaining counties in Hongnong County, causing a shocking situation in Luoyang, forcing the Wei army in Yingchuan County to return for reinforcements, and creating opportunities for friendly forces on the frontal battlefield to follow up.
This strategy actually sounds more threatening, but the risk is not small.
Not to mention that it is impossible for Cao Wei not to defend Pubanjin. It was here that Cao Cao crossed the Yellow River to avoid the threat of Tongguan and directly attacked Chang'an, defeating the coalition forces of Ma Chao and Han Sui.
How could Sima Yi not know his importance in this place.
And even if Sima Yi really didn't realize it, how could the Han army easily cross the Yellow River and occupy Pubanjin, so how could they enter Hedong and even Hongnong County so smoothly?
Hedong is Sima Yi's hometown. It is impossible to hide any disturbance in this place from him, and Sima Yi will definitely not be unprepared for Hedong.
This place must be a difficult place to move.
Hongnong County is also a place where the Central Plains aristocratic families gather, and the Central Plains aristocratic families generally support Cao Wei.
Ten thousand soldiers and horses crossed the Yellow River. With limited logistical supplies, they rushed into areas such as Hongnong and Hedong where there were many aristocratic families. I am afraid that the private soldiers of the local aristocratic families would be enough to make it difficult for the Han army to move. .
You can't go on a killing spree in these two places. After all, if you occupy Heluo in the future, without the support of local aristocratic families, this place will not be stable.
So, this is a very big risk.
But the problem is that Pang Tong comes from a wealthy family, and although Fa Zheng fled to Yizhou, his family was not a small aristocratic family when they were in Fufeng County, so how could he not be aware of these difficulties.
There are many aristocratic families, so it is indeed not an easy place to attack. However, for the aristocratic families, as long as it does not affect their actual interests, it is not important to them who rules Heluo.
It's hard to say about the Hedong family. After all, the Hedong family has always had a good relationship with Cao Wei, and Sima Yi is now staying in Luoyang. The Hedong family should be more inclined to Cao Wei.
But in Hongnong County, it’s hard to say.
Don't forget, there was a lot of hatred between the Hongnong Yang family, the largest family in Hongnong and one of the leading families of the Han Dynasty, and Cao Wei.
Yang Xiu died in the hands of Cao Cao back then. After Cao Cao finished killing everyone, he still asked Yang Biao very heartbrokenly, what do you think about the death of your son.
What ideas could Yang Biao have? ! You, Cao Cao, dare to kill the queen. How dare Yang Biao say no? !
Really, compared with Cao Cao, Liu Bei's trap to kill Yang Feng was nothing.
After all, Yang Feng can only be said to be a branch of the Yang family, while Yang Biao and Yang Xiu, one is the head of the Yang family in Hongnong, and the other is the legitimate son and future heir of the family! ! !
Probably for this reason, Cao Wei has always been wary of the Hongnong family. In the Cao Wei court, there were many talents from the Hedong family and the Yingchuan family, but there were really few people from the Hongnong family. An official in the Cao Wei court.
Therefore, it is not impossible to attack Hongnong County, it just requires the court to propose sufficient exchange of interests in exchange for the defection of the Hongnong family.
Especially the Hongnong Yang family, although their power is no longer what it used to be, the reputation of the Fourth Generation and the Three Dukes and the heritage accumulated over hundreds of years are still there.
If the Yang family in Hongnong could be instigated before the war, and when the army came to Hongnong, Yang stood up and raised his arms, Hongnong could basically be defeated without a fight.
With the entire Hongnong as a support, it is easy to march into Luoyang or attract the Wei army from Yingchuan County to return for reinforcements.
Don't tell me, after such a combination of punches, even Zhuge Liang was a little excited.
But the question is, what is the price that needs to be paid to persuade the Hongnong Yang family to switch sides? !
(End of chapter)
