Zhuge Liang personally took command of Youzhou and led his army in the Northern Expedition. Jiang Wei led the troops out of Shanggu County and Wei Yan out of Guangning County. After the two armies joined forces, they attacked the Yan State together and approached Jixian County.
With the abilities of these three people, not to mention Cao Shuang, even if his father Cao Zhen is resurrected, it may be difficult to effectively block Ji Han's Northern Expedition army.
Cao Shuang was quite self-aware on this point, so while he asked his second brother Cao Xun and third brother Cao Xi to lead troops and garrison in Shanggu County to establish Yan's outer defense line, he also ordered Sima Yi to give up the defense of Jizhou. In the east, lead the troops back to defend Yan State and ensure the flanks of Jixian County.
One thing to say, if it were four years ago, under Cao Shuang's defensive arrangement, Zhuge Liang would still have to go through a lot of trouble to break through the two lines of defense on both sides of Jixian.
But let’s face it. Today’s small court of Cao Wei is no longer the great Wei that occupies two-thirds of the world.
Since Yecheng was captured, Cao Wei's energy and spirit have been completely shattered. Although Cao Shuang supported Cao Yu to succeed him and continued Cao Wei's legal system, there are some things that everyone knows.
Apart from anything else, the support provided by the aristocratic families in Hebei to Cao Wei will definitely be less than before.
Three or four years ago, the wealthy families in Hebei were very afraid of and rejected Ji Han's policies. After all, everyone was used to living a comfortable life, and no one wanted to go back to that kind of life controlled by others.
At that time, even if Cao Wei lost Yecheng and was forced to retreat to Youzhou, there were still many wealthy families in Hebei who were willing to support Cao Wei's small court, and Cao Shuang relied on the support of these people to gain a firm foothold in Youzhou. , supported Cao Yu as emperor, and had the confidence to deprive Tian Yu of his military power.
But, in the past three or four years, the attitudes of the wealthy families in Hebei have also changed a lot.
One is that Cao Shuang really has no ability. It has been three or four years since he lost Yecheng, and he has no intention of working hard to govern.
Internally, there was no way to completely control Sima Yi, gather Sima Yi's military power, and form a joint force.
Externally, not to mention counterattacking Yecheng, even counterattacking Fanyang County near Yan State failed.
He has always been in a state of confusion and just living one day at a time.
The other is that during the three or four years that Zhuge Liang was in charge of Jizhou, he continued to win over the hearts and minds of the people of Jizhou through both hard and soft methods. At the same time, it also made some wealthy families in Hebei see that as long as they could accept Ji Han's policies and cooperate with the implementation If you do, although you will lose some privileges, you will still belong to the privileged class and will not be suppressed too much.
At least in terms of core interests, Ji Han had no intention of falling out with the wealthy family.
Especially the aristocratic families in the west of Jizhou, they have no choice, they are already under the control of the Han. They can either accept the rule of the Han, or be suppressed and eliminated by Zhuge Liang for various reasons. With Zhuge Liang's talent, it is completely possible. These aristocratic families are left speechless.
On one side is the prosperous Han Dynasty regime, which is about to be rejuvenated. On the other side is the small court that is in a state of confusion and may be destroyed at any time. How should the aristocratic family choose? Do you still need to ask? !
These days, the aristocratic families who don't know how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and don't know how to choose, have completely disappeared in the wars that lasted for more than forty years.
Therefore, when Zhuge Liang launched the Northern Expedition to Youzhou, Cao Shuang could clearly feel that whether it was the aristocratic families in Jizhou or the aristocratic families in Youzhou, they were actually far less concerned about fighting against the Shu thieves than before.
This is an internal disadvantage.
And external unfavorable factors directly killed Cao Shuang.
Cao Shuang dispatched Sima Yi to go north to Yan State and defend the flanks of Jixian County. However, Sima Yi refused Cao Shuang's transfer order because he was unable to go north on the pretext that Shu thief Deng Ai's soldiers had invaded the boundary bridge.
If Cao Shuang could have been prepared for Sima Yi's disobedience to military orders, then Cao Xi's surrender to the enemy before the battle was completely unexpected by Cao Shuang.
Yes, Cao Xi, who was ordered to form a defense line with Cao Xun in Shanggu County, suddenly chose to surrender to Ji Han when facing Jiang Wei's attack, causing one side of Shanggu County's defense line to be directly broken through by Jiang Wei.
Cao Xun was caught off guard. He had to face Wei Yan in the front, who had already invaded Shanggu County, and Jiang Wei in the rear, who had broken through the defense line and outflanked him. Cao Xun had no time to react, and was immediately surrounded by people.
Don't expect Cao Xun to lead his troops to break through at such a disadvantage. He doesn't have this ability.
Moreover, for Cao Xun, in addition to leading troops to break through and being defeated and killed in battle, it's not like he didn't have a third choice. His third brother Cao Xi could choose to surrender to the Shu Han, so why couldn't he? !
Therefore, when Cao Xun found that he was surrounded, he did not even offer symbolic resistance. He directly sent his confidants to confront Wei Yan's camp and ask for surrender.
In this way, the news that the entire northern defense line, which Cao Shuang had placed high hopes on, was wiped out, reached Jixian, and Cao Shuang was almost made sick from anger.
At this time, the Cao Wei court was already in chaos.
The northern defense line was completely lost, Cao Xun and Cao Xi surrendered to the enemy, and the southern defense line was completely useless. If the Shu thieves wanted to advance from the southern line, they could directly bypass the eastern part of Jizhou and enter the Yan Kingdom.
Faced with such a bad situation, there were also very big differences of opinion among the officials of Cao Wei.
Some courtiers believed that they should temporarily avoid the enemy's edge and continue to retreat to the northeast to Liaodong, relying on the terrain there for defense. At the same time, they sent envoys to persuade Goguryeo and use Goguryeo's power to block the advance of the Shu thieves.
These courtiers are basically Cao Wei's old officials who retreated to Liaodong with Cao Shuang. They are indeed loyal to Cao Wei, but their ability and vision are hard to say.
Let's not talk about how Cao Wei's main force has been lost now. Even if he retreats to Liaodong County, what can he rely on to hold on?
Just say Goguryeo. Is Goguryeo so easy to talk to? !
The moral integrity of these people is not much better than that of the Xianbei and Jie people. When you are strong, they will be more submissive. If you are poor and you invest, they will sell you in the blink of an eye.
Another part of the courtiers believed that now that the general situation of the world has been decided, it is difficult for the Wei Dynasty to recover, so it is better to ask for surrender based on this to preserve the Wei clan.
These courtiers were basically from wealthy families in Hebei, especially those from Youzhou. They did not want to be buried with Cao Wei, let alone go to the more remote Liaodong.
In terms of climate alone, this place is unbearable for these wealthy families.
In order to support their remarks, as expected, these Cao Wei ministers brought out the infallible astrology theory and prophecies, and vigorously stated that the three fortunes of the Han Dynasty were destined by destiny. Once again fully proved the truth that Confucian scholars know how to adapt best.
The two groups of courtiers had a heated debate over whether to leave or surrender, but the final decision still had to be made by Cao Shuang.
To be honest, Cao Shuang didn't want to ruin Wei's foundation in his own hands.
But there is one thing to say, even if you choose to retreat to Liaodong and rely on the power of Goguryeo to stop the Shu thieves, can you still expect to make a comeback with just one county? !
Today is not the era of the late Han Dynasty, when heroes competed for the throne. And even if it were, in a bitter and cold place like Liaodong County, no one would be able to become powerful, right? !
Population, economy, cultivated land, and taxes, none of them can support the revival of Cao Wei. Going to Liaodong will only delay the demise of the Wei Dynasty.
It’s just the difference between a few years of early death and a few years of late death.
Another thing is that Cao Shuang is actually not selfish.
In the past, Cao Shuang refused to surrender. On the one hand, he was reluctant to give up the power in his hands, and on the other hand, he did not trust Shu Han.
Although Cao Xi once persuaded him to surrender on behalf of Shu Han when he was in Yecheng, Cao Shuang was still a little worried at that time. He still didn't quite believe that Shu Han would treat Emperor Cao Wei with the attitude of a subjugated king, and he didn't quite believe in Shu Han either. The Cao family will be spared.
After all, on the basis of the establishment of the Shu Han Dynasty, the Cao family was a rebellious generation. The three Yi tribes can be regarded as a manifestation of the benevolence of the Han emperor.
But the situation is different now. The emperor Cao Fang of Cao Wei and the queen mother Guo who were captured in the Battle of Yecheng are both alive and well now. They were given the title of marquis and raised in Chang'an.
Although he is not very rich, at least his life is safe.
Therefore, in Cao Shuang's view, it is not impossible to use Cao Wei's foundation as a bargaining chip to ask Shu Han to surrender and seek glory and wealth after surrender.
As for Cao Yu, Cao Shuang doesn't care about that much.
It's just that, even if Cao Shuang thinks so, it's not easy to directly deal with the group of Wei loyal ministers in the court. There must be a suitable reason and excuse.
This excuse is not easy to find.
At this time, Cao Shuang received a piece of mixed news - the Tuoba clan of Xianbei took advantage of Goguryeo to invade Liaoxi County.
Now, no matter whether it is to withdraw to Liaodong or borrow troops from Goguryeo, it is impossible to realize it.
The Tuoba clan had cut off the Wei Dynasty's last escape route.
Now, Cao Shuang had a reason, but Wei's foundation was completely gone.
The next day, Cao Shuang held a court meeting and announced the news.
Then the Wei court reached a consensus and sent envoys to request surrender.
In September of the fifteenth year of Yanxi's reign, Wei Yan and Jiang Wei led their troops to the city of Jixian, but they did not attack.
In October of the fifteenth year of Yanxi, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, personally led his troops to the city of Ji County. The emperor of Cao Wei, Cao Yu, held the ceremony of leading the sheep and went out of the city to ask for surrender.
Zhuge Liang accepted it and Cao Wei was destroyed.
(End of chapter)
