Seeing Zhuge Liang's persistence, Liu Bei stopped persuading him, but began to worry about Zhang Fei again. "Since the military advisor is like this, it is better to let Yide and Xiaozhi go together. I don't know what happened to Yide..."
"The third general is as strong as an ox. Ziyu may simply want to see him. Your Majesty, please stop thinking about it," Zhuge Liang said.
"Well, it's probably because I'm lonely and worried." Liu Bei nodded insincerely.
Seeing that Liu Bei's expression returned to normal, Zhuge Liang reminded him seriously: "Tomorrow we will return to Chengdu and take away most of Hanzhong's soldiers and horses. We have to ask Wen Chang to guard the passes carefully. Deng Shizai's farming methods must not be stolen by Cao thieves." Walk."
"The military advisor reminds me that through this battle of Hanzhong, we have discovered that good craftsmanship can turn stone into gold. We are not as good as Ziyu in this regard. Why don't we let Wen Chang completely blockade Hanzhong?" Liu Bei tried to ask.
"The top priority is to recuperate. The future expedition to Yongliang will depend on Hanzhong's food. Blocking the road will allow us to concentrate on farming." Zhuge Liang replied affirmatively.
Liu Bei was deeply convinced, and sadly asked: "Let the military advisor explain it to the commander. Zhong Miao's untimely death makes me a little sad..."
"Well, Liang has one more thing to say, I don't know if I should say it or not..." Zhuge Liang hesitated.
"There's no harm in talking, military advisor."
Zhuge Liang has always been open-minded, but this was the first time he was so reserved, so Liu Bei was a little curious.
"Wen Yunchang has defeated Wenpin and completely occupied the channel of the Han River. He is now dispatching troops to go north to attack Xiangyang and Fancheng. The young master and Mencius have captured the three eastern counties. Will the king inform them in advance and let them pay attention to their plans? For General Guan's attack, it is best to send another general to take charge, so that Cao Ren and Lu Chang will be the turtles in the urn." Zhuge Liang hesitated slightly, but still expressed his thoughts.
"Who does the military advisor recommend?" Liu Bei frowned and asked again.
"Zilong is very cautious in using troops. He once used an empty camp to retreat Cao Hong. Why not send him to help the young master?" Zhuge Liang asked carefully.
"Zilong fought hard and needs to return to Chengdu to rest. Shangyong will do this for the time being. There should be no problem with Ziyu at Yunchang's side. Furthermore, Shangyong's Shen Dan and Shen Yi Chufu, Feng'er and Zidu may not have time to go there. I need help. If you are lonely, the military advisor should go to the commander first." Liu Bei pretended to yawn.
"Wei." Zhuge Liang bowed and left.
It's not that Liu Bei doesn't want to use Zhao Yun, but his position needs to be balanced.
Zhuge Liang's brother-in-law Kuai Qi was killed by Meng Da's rebel soldiers in Fangling. Liu Bei had always been worried that there would be a gap between the two.
Meng Da was recommended by Fazheng to conquer the Three East Counties. If his military power was taken away by Zhao Yun, the Dongzhou faction behind Meng Da would be dissatisfied.
When Liu Bei occupied Yizhou and wanted to lavish rewards, Zhao Yun was hated by everyone and tried to stop him, because this move made him a lonely minister in the eyes of all officials. Fortunately, Liu Bei had a clear mind and was very careful in using it.
Originally, Zhao Yun could rely on his military merit to be promoted to general like Huang Zhong and Huo Jun, but in the end Liu Bei weighed it again and again and finally chose to be temporarily aggrieved.
Although Liu Bei is already the king of Hanzhong, the timing is still wrong. Unless he conquers places other than Yizhou and Jingzhou, he still needs to hide Zhao Yun because Liu Bei needs the big families in Yizhou and Jingzhou to provide troops, horses, money and food.
Although Jiaozhou, where Lantian is located, is not controlled by the nobles, it has high mountains and long roads, and the land is barren and barren. It is not a big state that can conquer the world, so it can only be regarded as a supplement.
Because of this, Lantian's drastic reforms were turned a blind eye by the nobles, and it felt like they were deceiving others.
Liu Bei returned to Chengdu with his army. Wei Yan, according to Zhuge Liang's instructions, set up checkpoints on Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road, and Ziwu Road in the northern part of Hanzhong. In addition to preventing the craftsmen from Guanzhong from entering Hanzhong, it also prevented local people from bringing new technologies and new technologies. Liangzhong fled into Wei territory.
As for Chencang Road to the west of Hanzhong, it was guarded by two generals, Ma Chao, the governor of Yangping, and Zhang Fei, the prefect of Wudu, which was beyond Wei Yan's defense area.
Not long after Liu Bei was named King of Hanzhong, Cao Cao, who was resting in Chang'an, received the news and was so angry that he immediately sent troops to Hanzhong again, making Liu Bei's King of Hanzhong only in name only.
Liu Ye was so frightened that he quickly admonished him: "No, King Wei. Liu Bei has become a climate now. Even if you are furious, you should be patient for the time being. In addition, the people's resentment in the country is boiling due to corvee service. There were numerous casualties in the stampede of soldiers when they went out of the praise chute. No matter what, you shouldn’t be angry.”
When Cao Cao evacuated from Hanzhong, more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians were crowded in the Baoxie Valley. At that time, there were often heavy rains and flash floods in the mountain streams in summer. The Baoxie Valley plank road built by Xia Houyuan collapsed in many places because it could not withstand the load.
Less than 10% of the tens of thousands of people who migrated from Hanzhong survived to Guanzhong, and 30% of Cao's army died on the way due to injuries, illnesses and other reasons. Because Zhang Fei was unreasonable in his use of troops, Cao Cao left tens of thousands of people in Chencang for Cao Zhen to fight with Zhang He. Responsible for guarding the gate of Chang'anxi and coordinating the security of the entire Liangzhou.
Cao Cao rested in Chang'an for two months. He only had more than 30,000 available troops left around him. He had no ability to counterattack Hanzhong. Now he is just complaining.
"This little man who weaves mats and sells shoes dares to establish himself as the king of Hanzhong. He is even conferred by the emperor. Liu Xuande loses his face." Cao Cao paced on the spot and cursed.
"King Wei, it is rumored that Liu Bei also obeyed the emperor's imperial edict..." Du Xi, the Prince Consort, reminded him.
"Impossible. Even if the emperor really dares to make the king, the edict will never leave Xudu. It must be a big-eared thief trying to make the edict." Cao Cao kept chattering.
Du Xi replied awkwardly: "King Wei still remembers that in the first month of last year, Shaofu Geng Ji, Sizhi Weihuang, imperial physician Ling Jiben and others abducted the emperor to rebel?"
"Zixu means..."
"Geng Ji and others falsely ordered Guan Yu to go north to serve the king. It is said that Liu Bei's imperial edict was also issued by them. This is obviously false. However, these traitors have been killed and died without any evidence. It can only be said that Liu Bei misunderstood the rebels. It's a thief's edict, but Liu Bei still had the edict on clothes and belts before..."
Cao Cao slapped the case and shouted: "Do you believe it? Liu Bei is so treacherous, how could he misbelieve it? Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and others are not blind, they are just these traitors who made an edict and immediately asked the emperor to issue an edict to inform the world and announce Liu Bei's independent rebellion. sin."
Liu Ye advised: "Now that the tripartite force has been formed, Liu Bei and Sun Quan have formed an alliance. Didn't General Zhang send news a few days ago that Sun Quan went to attack Hefei again? At this time, it is meaningless for the emperor to issue an edict. King Wei wrote Don’t you remember what happened in the 22nd year of Jian’an?”
"What's going on?" Cao Cao looked curious.
"That year, the King of Wei withdrew his troops from Hefei, wasn't it because of the rumors spread in Xudu? If it really came from the emperor's will, it would be fine. If Liu Bei sent people to spread the rumors, then the person who planned all this would be too terrifying." Liu Ye swallowed his saliva.
Cao Cao's eyes widened and he murmured: "How can Liu Xie have such courage? Who is planning for the big-eared thief? Why do you think Gu is more terrifying than Zhuge Villager?"
