The news that Luoyang had been lost and that Sima Yi had retreated to Hulao Pass reached Yecheng. Cao Rui had about half a cup of tea without any reaction.
Completely confused.
Cao Rui really couldn't accept the frustration of losing Luoyang.
This was even greater than the frustration Cao Pi felt when he lost Guanzhong.
If Guanzhong is lost, it is lost. After all, the core of Cao Wei's rule is in the Central Plains. In Hebei, Guanzhong was only recovered less than ten years ago. If it is lost, it is just a barrier to protect the Central Plains.
But Luoyang. That is the core of the Central Plains.
Originally, Cao Wei relied on the two legs of the Central Plains and Hebei to advance, but now, one of his legs was cut off abruptly. How do you ask Cao Rui to accept this fact.
Not to mention that only Luoyang was lost, Hedong, Hanoi, Yingchuan, and even the eastern half of Henan are still in Cao Wei's hands. This makes no sense at all.
The importance of Luoyang lies in the fact that it is not just a city, but also has very important political meanings.
Once Luoyang is lost, people in the Central Plains will be in turmoil. Whether it is Hedong, Hebei, or Yingchuan, once people's hearts are dispersed, it is only a matter of time before these places are lost.
When Cao Rui finally accepted the fact that Luoyang was lost, the first thing Cao Rui thought of was to issue an edict to mobilize all the soldiers from the northern counties of Bingzhou, Jizhou, Youzhou, and Qingzhou to assemble in Yecheng.
He wants to conquer Luoyang in person! ! !
It is a pity that this edict was not finally issued. As soon as Chen Qun, who was responsible for handling the edict, saw that Cao Rui had issued such an edict, he immediately went to the palace to see Cao Rui and explain the pros and cons.
Yes, Chen Qun knew the emperor's thoughts very well. Similarly, it was not that he did not understand Cao Rui's intention of doing this.
Luoyang is related to the gains and losses of the entire Central Plains and half of the Wei Dynasty. It is normal for Cao Rui to want to take it back.
But the problem is that the current situation does not allow Cao Rui to do this.
It is not impossible to mobilize troops from the four states to Yecheng, but how many soldiers from the four states can be mobilized is a question.
All the county soldiers in Jizhou were led by Cao Zhen to conquer Gongsun Yuan in Liaodong. Although the war was temporarily suppressed, Cao Zhenguang said that he had won a great victory and suppressed the rebellion. Cao Zhen was vague about how much he had lost. You Do you know how many Jizhou County soldiers are left who can fight continuously? !
Nearly half of Youzhou's county soldiers were lost during Gongsun Yuan's rebellion in Liaodong. Now those few troops have to stay in Youzhou to watch over Liaodong and prevent Liaodong careerists from revolting after Cao Zhen returns to the army. They cannot be easily mobilized.
The county soldiers in Qingzhou are also responsible for defending the place. After all, Soochow has occupied Beihai County in the south of Qingzhou, and Soochow's warships are the best in the world. If they really want to send the soldiers from the northern counties of Qingzhou to Yecheng, they will cause Soochow to cross the sea. As for entering the northern part of Qingzhou and occupying Qingzhou, it is also a problem that the gains outweigh the losses.
As for the county soldiers in Bingzhou, the foreigners in the north are quite honest and can't make a big splash for a while. It's not impossible to mobilize troops from Bingzhou.
However, the emperor was going to fight the Shu thieves in Luoyang on a personal expedition. He couldn't just lead such a small number of troops and go to the battle in such a hurry.
Although Chen Qun was only a civil servant, he still knew the principle of "before the troops and horses are moved, food and grass go first".
It is already February, the time for spring plowing. Sending so many soldiers to go south to fight will inevitably affect the spring plowing in the north.
After spring plowing, it is also an era of drought in the traditional sense. At this time, a family may face famine and be unable to survive. For a country's finances, this is also the time when capital needs to be used.
Not to mention anything else, the food and grass needed to be prepared for the southern expedition. The consumption of this money and food is enough to give Chen Qun a headache.
These days, even Cao Wei's food reserves are not too large, so it is not impossible to insist on a war, but the problem is that after the war is over, regardless of winning or losing, the court will have to tighten its belt.
Well, to take a step back, even if the food reserves are sufficient to support the army's southern expedition, how many troops and horses need to be sent, who should be appointed as generals, how to plan the offensive route, and how to attract the main force of Shu thieves for a decisive battle. These all need to be planned in advance good.
It doesn't mean that you, the emperor, can take back Luoyang by marching to Luoyang City with your troops and horses to attack the city.
Another thing is that the risk of the imperial commander's personal expedition is too great.
If something goes wrong, the Wei Dynasty may really lose its national destiny. It is better to avoid this situation if it can be avoided.
War is not a child's play, nor is it a child's play, even less is it a personal conquest. It is definitely not something that Cao Rui can decide with an edict in a rage.
As a veteran of three dynasties, Minister Tuogu, and the minister of the Prime Minister's Office, Chen Qun must persuade Cao Rui to withdraw his orders.
If you want to fight, you can, but you can't be as hasty as you are now. This will not be beneficial to the country.
I have to say that Chen Qun's persuasion was mature and prudent. Cao Rui was left speechless.
After all, Cao Rui is not that kind of fatuous and irritable lord. He is actually very clear-headed. It’s just that he was so angry just now that he didn’t have time to think so much. Now that he was persuaded by Chen Qun, he slowly calmed down and finally calmed down. Realize that it is not a good idea to engage in personal conquest now.
However, we can't just sit back and watch the Shu thieves occupy Luoyang. Once the Shu thieves gain a firm foothold in Luoyang, it's really hard to say whether the people of the Central Plains will support them.
In fact, Chen Qun also knew about this issue. What Cao Rui said was reasonable. If nothing else, the "people's hearts" in Yingchuan County were already quite unstable.
Not to mention the two counties of Hedong and Hanoi, which are closer to Luoyang. If there is not a Yellow River blocking it, I am afraid that the "people's hearts" there will be even more chaotic than in Yingchuan County.
Therefore, Chen Qun suggested to Cao Rui that it was still necessary for the Jizhou County soldiers led by Cao Zhen to continue going south to support Hulao Pass and create enough pressure on the Shu thieves in Luoyang.
At the same time, it is not a big problem to mobilize soldiers from Bingzhou and counties. It is better to mobilize soldiers from Bingzhou and counties to go south to support and defend Hedong.
At least, maintain the front line first and calm the hearts of the people in the Central Plains, and then consider how to detonate troops, how to plan the march route, and how to retake Luoyang.
Cao Rui calmed down, thought carefully, and decided to follow Chen Qun's plan.
But there is a small problem. Bi Gui, the governor of Bingzhou, is not good at military affairs. He is asked to lead troops to support Hedong County and take charge of the defense of Hedong County. Not to mention Cao Rui, even Chen Qun is not at ease.
The current Wei Dynasty can't afford to have people leading troops to wander around. Bi Gui is good at handling government affairs, but he still has to send someone trustworthy to lead troops in battle.
But now, within the Wei Dynasty, are there any generals who are trustworthy and capable of leading troops on an expedition? !
This trustworthiness not only refers to loyalty to the Wei Dynasty, but more importantly, he must also have the ability to allow Cao Rui to trust him with military power.
Under this situation, Chen Qun proposed the first candidate to Cao Rui - the prefect of Runan, Guo Huai.
If we really want to talk about the current Wei Dynasty, the only people who have the ability to command the three armies and can compete with Zhuge Liang, Zhang Xi and others are Sima Yi, Guo Huai, and Cao Zhen.
Sima Yi is now newly defeated. He has just lost Luoyang and is defending at Hulao Pass. It is obviously unrealistic for you to ask him to control the soldiers of Bingzhou and County and command the defense of Hedong remotely.
Besides, Cao Rui is not happy either. Now Cao Rui feels upset when he hears Sima Yi's name. How much he hoped for him at the beginning, how disappointed he is now.
Not to mention Cao Zhen. After quickly quelling Gongsun Yuan's rebellion, Cao Rui had confidence in the abilities of this clan uncle again and felt relieved to leave it to him.
But the problem is, let alone the fact that Cao Zhen has not come back, even if he returns to Yecheng, he still needs to lead his troops south to support Hulao Pass and take charge of the defense of Yanzhou, and he will not be able to escape.
Then, only Guo Huai can call it.
As for the three counties of Runan in Guo Huai's hands, compared with the entire Central Plains, the gains and losses of those three counties seem insignificant.
At worst, we can transfer all the garrison troops from those three counties to Xuchang, or let Chen Tai take care of the defense of the three counties.
Anyway, according to Chen Qun, the biggest threat at the moment is the Shu thieves. Soochow is not a target that cannot win cooperation. Even if these three counties are lost, they should be regarded as the price of cooperation.
Therefore, Chen Qun thought that Cao Rui recommended Guo Huai, and transferred Guo Huai to the north to lead the Bingzhou County troops to guard the east of the river.
This is actually the most suitable candidate. With Guo Huai's ability, even if Zhuge Liang met him, he would still have a headache for a long time. But Cao Rui didn't think so.
This Guo Huai has some ability, but his record over the years really makes people lose confidence.
Moreover, according to the general consensus of the ministers in the court, Guo Huai's ability is no better than Sima Yi. In fact, Sima Yi's reputation is much greater than that of Guo Huai. There is no way, Guo Huai has always lost in these years. On the contrary, Sima Yi He indeed performed better. Even if the ministers in the court wanted to brag for Guo Huai, they couldn't.
All in all, although Cao Rui also knew that Guo Huai's ability was considered good in today's court, the problem was that Guo Huai's record against the Shu thieves made Cao Rui afraid to hand over the Bingzhou army to him. What if he What if it's wasted again? !
When Chen Qun saw that Cao Rui was still hesitant about Guo Huai, the most suitable candidate, he immediately knew that the emperor had no intention of using Guo Huai.
Then recommend the second person.
Therefore, Xiahou Ba, the second son of Xiahou Yuan, the general who conquered the west, was recommended by Chen Qun.
On the one hand, Xiahou Ba is also considered a clan general and has a natural advantage in terms of trust.
On the other hand, Xiahou Ba is indeed the person with the strongest military strategy ability among Xiahouyuan's disciples.
Of course, the reason why Chen Qun recommended Xiahou Ba also had a lot to do with Xiahouhe's performance in the Luoyang offensive and defensive battle.
Xia Houhe eventually followed the Sima brothers and retreated to Hanoi County. His performance in this battle was not only recorded truthfully by Sima Division, but also slightly beautified and sent to Sima Yi. Finally, Sima Yi followed him Together with the confession report, it was sent to Yecheng.
Sima Shi and Sima Yi deliberately beautified Xia Houhe's performance and role. In fact, there was nothing they could do. Who made them and their son fail to defend Luoyang?
Sima Yi knew with his heels that if he lost Luoyang this time, the emperor would definitely hold him accountable, and selling a favor to Xia Houyuan at this time also hoped that Xia Houyuan's lineage could accept the favor at the critical moment and help him exonerate himself in front of the emperor. For a moment, this is what the father and son had in mind.
But Chen Qun didn't think so much. After seeing the battle report, he found that in the entire Luoyang battle, although Xia Houyuan did not play a big role, at least Xia Houyuan's seventh son was loyal to the country and also aware of current affairs. The famous Xiahouhe is like this. Xiahouba, who has always been famous for his good military strategy, should not be any worse in ability, right? !
Since the emperor doesn't trust generals with foreign surnames, it's okay to recommend a clan general this time, right? !
(End of chapter)
