In October of the ninth year of Yanxi, Emperor Cao Fang of Wei Dynasty came to Chaoge in person to "supervise the war" and was surrounded by the Central Route Army of the Jihan Northern Expedition.
In late October of the ninth year of Yanxi, Ji Han's Northern Expeditionary Army captured Yecheng. Deng Ai did not rest and reorganize, but immediately moved his army southward to outflank Chaoge's rear route.
In early November of the ninth year of Yanxi, Sima Yi, the defender of Cao Wei County, was ordered to abandon Wei County and march westward to rescue Chaoge. Wei County was occupied by Zhang Xi and Wei Yan's troops.
In mid-November of the ninth year of Yanxi, Sima Yi suddenly turned north on his way to the west, raided the undefended Yecheng, and once again occupied the former capital of Cao Wei.
In late November of the ninth year of Yanxi, Xiahouba, Qinlang, and Leyi broke out in three groups, trying to return to Yecheng to join Sima Yi.
In December of the ninth year of Yanxi, the three armies of Xia Houba, Qin Lang, and Le Wei were surrounded by five armies led by Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Deng Ai, Zhang Xi, and Wei Yan near Dangshui, southwest of Ye City.
In December of the ninth year of Yanxi, Xiahou Ba and others repeatedly reported to Sima Yi in Yecheng, hoping that Sima Yi would send troops to respond. However, Sima Yi refused to send troops on the grounds that Shu thieves were encircling the area for reinforcements and could not move lightly.
In the first month of the tenth year of Yanxi, Xiahou Ba and Qin Lang fought hard and fought Zhuge Liang to the death on the south bank of Dangshui. However, they were ultimately defeated in the first battle due to the disparity in strength.
Qin Lang unfortunately died in the battle in order to break through the encirclement and seize the rear. Le Wei defended his flank and was killed by Wei Yan. Defeated and unfortunately captured.
The Emperor Cao Fang of Cao Wei, the Queen Mother Guo, and even the Cao Wei officials who still cherished Wei at the last moment and rushed to Chaoge were mostly captured.
In the late first month of the tenth year of Yanxi, Zhuge Liang led his army to continue northward and counterattacked Yecheng again.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Sima Yi led 30,000 soldiers to evacuate Yecheng and fled east to Jieqiao, where he continued to lead troops to defend the eastern part of Jizhou.
Yecheng was captured by Ji Han again.
As for Cao Shuang, he had already fled to Youzhou early and joined Tian Yu.
At this point, the Sixth Northern Expedition was basically over.
This Northern Expedition basically defeated Cao Wei's main force, captured Cao Wei's emperor Cao Fang and civil and military officials, and captured Yecheng.
Although Cao Shuang, who fled to Youzhou, was still unwilling to fail, with the support of Tian Yu, he established Cao Yu as emperor and continued the Cao Wei regime. But the people in the world were basically certain that this was just Cao Wei's last struggle, and the north The trend is set.
Just like when Yuan Shao lost the Battle of Guandu, although the three brothers Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, and Yuan Shang were still there, no one thought they could come back against the odds. Today, Cao Wei's situation is over.
As for Ji Han, after occupying Yecheng for the second time, Zhuge Liang also began to gradually arrange for the withdrawal of troops.
After all, the Northern Expedition used too much military power, and the pressure on logistics and food was also great. It was of no practical significance to continue to maintain the scale of more than 400,000 troops.
It is also time to rearrange the defense and allow some soldiers to return to the army to reduce the pressure on the rear.
Of course, this was not to indulge the enemy. Zhuge Liang was still wary of Sima Yi and Cao Shuang. Therefore, after occupying Yecheng, Zhuge Liang sent Jiang Wei north to attack Fanyang County in Youzhou and seize the two areas bordering northern Jizhou and Youzhou. All the counties were captured and Jiang Wei was stationed here.
Afterwards, Zhuge Liang appointed Jiang Wei as the governor of Youzhou, leading 50,000 troops and stationed them in Dai and Fanyang counties. Deng Ai was appointed as the governor of Jizhou and led 100,000 troops to stay in Yecheng. Wei Yan was ordered to be the governor of Bingzhou and guard the northeast of the river.
By the way, the Sima Division, which was originally trapped in the northern part of Hedong County, was completely defeated in Yecheng, with almost no reinforcements and no way out, so it had to choose to surrender to Jiang Xu.
After making these preparations, Zhuge Liang ordered Pang Tong to lead the troops back to Luoyang, Jiang Xu to lead the troops back to Yongzhou, and Zhang Xi to lead the troops back to Yanzhou first. After handing over military power to Xu Shu, he led the troops back to Jingzhou.
Zhuge Liang himself temporarily stayed in Yecheng. On the one hand, he continued to create pressure on Sima Yi in the east of Jizhou and Cao Shuang in the northeast of Youzhou. On the other hand, he also had to stay in Yecheng himself to deal with the wealthy families of Hebei.
After all, unlike Deng Ai's attack on Chengdu in history, when Deng Ai attacked Chengdu, the Yizhou family was eager to surrender to Cao Wei as soon as possible. Therefore, after Deng Ai captured Chengdu, he basically just spread the word to settle the matter, and there was no wave in the entire Yizhou. Come.
But the land of Hebei is different. The noble families in Hebei don't have much favorable impressions of the Han Dynasty. However, Cao Wei was really defeated and they had to surrender. Therefore, they want to govern Hebei and win the hearts of the noble families in Hebei at the same time. The Han Dynasty's current policies would not be safe if Zhuge Liang did not personally guard them.
By the way, after capturing Yecheng, Zhuge Liang still had a difficult matter that needed to be dealt with secretly.
That is the whereabouts of Duke Shan Yang of Cao Wei, and Zhuge Liang must determine it.
This is really a very troublesome hot potato. Liu Xie, the "Emperor Xiaomin" at the official level of Ji Han, is a dead man.
But in fact, those at Zhuge Liang's level actually knew that Liu Xie was not dead at that time and was still alive.
Although almost twenty years have passed, Dahan has basically been able to ensure Sanxing. However, if such a person is used by someone with intentions again, although it will not shake the foundation of Dahan Sanxing, it is indeed quite disgusting.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang must find Liu Xie and make proper arrangements at the same time.
You may not necessarily kill Liu Xie, but you must at least ensure that Liu Xie is under your control. This is a basic operation of a politician and has nothing to do with human nature.
But, fortunately, Zhuge Liang got some pretty good news that Liu Xie had passed away five years ago.
Today, Liu Xie's only relatives left in the world are Liu Xie's sons and his widow Cao.
Well, that is, Cao Cao’s daughter.
There is a saying that the Cao family is really a strange flower in the Cao family.
To be honest, even if Mr. Cao pretended to be angry at his brother and stayed with Liu Xie for a while just for the sake of face, it would still be justified for the sake of reputation.
But he has stayed with Liu Xie for so many years. Even when he became a barefoot doctor with Liu Xie, he never abandoned Liu Xie and lived the life of a princess of Wei. For this alone, he is worthy of admiration from the world.
In fact, when Zhuge Liang's people found the sons and daughters of Cao and Liu Xie, Cao had already dressed in mourning clothes and was waiting to die at home.
When Zhuge Liang saw this scene, he didn't know what to say. He could only bow to Cao sincerely, and then sent someone to protect the family secretly. At the same time, he sent a secret letter to Liu Chan, asking Liu Chan to apologize.
This is not something Zhuge Liang can make the decision without authorization. As a human minister and a Han minister, Zhuge Liang must maintain enough respect for the family members of the previous emperor. The only person who can really make the decision is Liu Chan.
If Liu Chan wanted to eliminate future troubles, Zhuge Liang would have to act as a black hand and bear the crime no matter how unwilling he was. But fortunately, a month later, Zhuge Liang received Liu Chan's secret order.
The eldest son of Liu Xie was granted the title of King of Qinghe, and the Cao family was granted the title of Queen Mother, and he was treated with the royal courtesy of the clan. After Qinghe was recovered, the fiefdom was allocated to settle Liu Xie's family.
Zhuge Liang breathed a sigh of relief after seeing this secret order.
At the same time, this secret decree also allowed Zhuge Liang to see Liu Chan's ability to stand alone.
Treating Liu Xie's descendants kindly shows Liu Chan's generous side. The world has been in chaos for decades. Once the Han Dynasty rises again, it is bound to rest and recuperate. What is needed is not a monarch who is good at killing. Being kind to others is what the people of the world need. The Lord.
The title of King of Qinghe, the eldest son of Liu Xie, also showed Liu Chan's political wisdom. Qinghe is still under the control of Sima Yi, and it is still Cao Wei's territory on the surface. Before it is conquered, Liu Xie's family can only stay in Yecheng That is, under Zhuge Liang's supervision.
In this way, we can effectively prevent ambitious people from taking advantage of this family to do something.
It is even said that putting this family in Chang'an is not safe under Zhuge Liang's nose.
There are too many eyes in Chang'an, and too many people are concerned about the life and death of this family. It is not safe to put them in Chang'an.
The fact that Liu Chan can think of this shows that Liu Chan is not a merciful master. If necessary, he will not be merciless when it is time to kill.
Of course, the most important thing is that in Chang'an today, there is only one Li Yan helping Liu Xie handle government affairs, and Li Yan has never been close to Liu Xie. Liu Chan will not discuss such confidential matters with Li Yan. .In other words, this decision was made by Liu Chan himself.
At least from this point of view, Liu Chan has begun to have his own ideas and his own decision-making team.
If it were another powerful minister, I'm afraid he should be wary at this time, but this is Zhuge Liang, and he can only be relieved.
In fact, Zhuge Liang was already considering whether he should report to the emperor, cancel the position of prime minister, and return power to the emperor after he truly pacified Hebei and completely eliminated Sima Yi and Cao Shuang.
(End of chapter)
