"My lord, you are not good at hiding it. Once you know the truth, you will inevitably not reveal your flaws in front of your majesty. We did not tell the truth, so please forgive me, lord."
Jia Xu slightly cupped his hands and looked apologetic at Liu Zhang.
"No wonder, no wonder His Majesty came to me alone that day and said that Huangfu Song's defeat completely disrupted his plans!"
Many things are a bit strange, and it feels like there is always something abnormal. After this point is revealed, everything naturally becomes logical.
Liu Zhang also understood the reason why Liu Hong was so angry. From the beginning, he had no intention of letting himself take the lead in quelling the northwest rebellion.
This time things happened so suddenly. Huangfu Song was defeated in a battle, which frightened Liu Hong. He was afraid that the tomb would be damaged and he was afraid of becoming a sinner of the Han Dynasty!
"Two strategists, according to your wishes, even if I repeat the feat of quelling the Yellow Turbans this time, I'm afraid I won't be able to lead it alone, right?"
Jia Xu and Xun You smiled and nodded. Liu Zhang was really smart, and he knew everything.
"That's right, so this time we can't wipe out the rebels directly, we just need to repel them."
"Due to financial problems at that time, the imperial court would definitely not be able to expedition to Xiliang. When the rebels rise again next time, my lord can show off his talents!"
Liu Zhang couldn't help having a headache when he heard Jia Xu's words. I didn’t expect there to be so much intrigue in the court!
"I thought I could rely on the rebellion in the northwest to become the governor of Hanzhong this time! It seems that I thought too much..."
Seeing the disappointment on Liu Zhang's face, Jia Xu spoke out to comfort him.
"Lord, don't be impatient. You have to eat your food in one bite. The situation is now very good."
Liu Zhang nodded helplessly, thinking that was all he could do.
"Lord, the front is Hangu Pass."
Liu Zhang looked up and saw a towering checkpoint.
Hangu Pass is an important barrier to guard the Guandong princes from entering the Guanzhong Plain.
The Qin State once used Hangu Pass to reject millions of soldiers from the six kingdoms. Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, used this pass to fight against Xiang Yu. It was a very dangerous pass.
The Yaoshan Mountains have almost isolated all land routes between the Central Plains and eastern Guanzhong. Only a more than ten kilometers long "crack" exists in the Choosangyuan area near the Yellow River in the north, and the entrance to this narrow valley is Hangu Pass. !
If they want to attack Hangu Pass head-on, the invading enemy must first cross the fast Hongnong River in front of the defenders, and then attack the towering and steep city wall.
Just facing one of these two is already quite difficult, let alone facing them at the same time?
And even if they were lucky enough to finally conquer the pass, they would still have to pass through a narrow valley that was dozens of miles long and could only accommodate a few people walking side by side. This was a natural ambush site.
No matter how many soldiers and horses there are, they can't be used at all! If you keep attacking, you will only continue to cause self-inflicted casualties, thus turning into a fueling tactic.
For the military in this era, this is an almost impossible task. It is absolutely not an exaggeration to describe this place as one man in charge and ten thousand men incompetent.
Therefore, in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, some people praised that even if Hangu Pass was blocked with a pill of soil, it would be difficult for the Kwantung army to break through.
This easy-to-defend but difficult-to-attack terrain provides a huge advantage for the rising political power in the Guanzhong area to strive for world hegemony.
The most famous ones are Qin Shihuang Ying Zheng and Han Gaozu Liu Bang, who relied on Guanzhong to conquer the world.
Not long after, Liu Zhang led his troops to Hangu Pass, but what he saw in front of him shocked him.
Hangu Pass is very dilapidated and it seems that it has not been repaired for a long time. Moreover, the guards were all very loose and it didn't look like there was a war in Guanzhong at all.
What puzzled Liu Zhang the most was that although the Hangu Pass in front of him was dangerous, it was far from natural danger, let alone the natural defense line of Hongnong River and the dense forest of Choosangyuan!
"Is this Hangu Pass? The Qin State relies on this pass to resist the Six Kingdoms?"
Liu Zhang looked at Jia Xu with great confusion. Even if he were killed, he would not believe that this level could hold millions of troops!
Jia Xu looked at Liu Zhang in surprise, as if Liu Zhang had asked an idiot question.
"My Lord, are you joking? This is not the Hangu Pass of the Qin Dynasty."
"What! There are two in Hangu Pass?"
Liu Zhang was so surprised that he even raised his voice a lot!
"Yes, this is Hangu Pass after Emperor Wu moved, also commonly known as Hanhan Pass, on the North Xiao Road. The Qin Hangu Pass my Lord mentioned was on the South Xiao Road, but it has been abandoned now, and it is now called Hongnong County."
"In other words, there is no longer only one way from Luoyang to Guanzhong?"
Xun You's reaction to Liu Zhang was a little strange, but he still nodded to him.
"Yes, when Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, he took the Nanxiao Road and avoided the new Hangu Pass."
"What about Tongguan?"
Liu Zhang hurriedly asked, all this caught him off guard.
"Tongguan? What Tongguan?"
Xun You was confused by Liu Zhang's question. He turned to look at Jia Xu, as if asking him if he knew.
"My lord, I have never heard of Tongguan. I only know about Tonghe. Tonghe is too far from here."
The more Liu Zhang listened, the more shocked he became. He found that his understanding of the terrain had been skewed!
There are two Hangu Passes, and they have become useless. Even Jia Xu and Xunyou don’t know about Tongguan, so it must not have been built yet!
Wouldn't it be smooth sailing from Guanzhong to Luoyang?
I still want to follow the trend of the pre-Qin Dynasty, being condescending and relying on Xiongguan to compete with Cao Cao.
All this has become a flower in the water, the moon in the mirror!
"Gongda, can Qin Hangu Pass still be used? Can it still be used to resist the soldiers of the six countries?"
Xun You thought for a while and finally shook his head.
"My lord, Qin Hangu Pass was built on a crack in the Choosang Plain. Originally, the Choosang Plain was very high, surrounded by steep cliffs, and covered with primeval forests. Moreover, it was built on the Yellow River, and the Yellow River became the natural danger of Hangu Pass. "
"It's a pity that all this has become a thing of the past! The Yellow River continues to dive, and the coast has been exposed. Now you can pass directly through the shallows without going through Hangu Pass. Moreover, due to excessive deforestation, there are no forests in the Choosang Plateau. With the situation, not to mention pedestrians, even the army can pass."
"In short, the situation in which Qin used Hangu Pass to reject millions of soldiers from the six countries will probably never happen again..."
Liu Zhang suddenly panicked and looked at Xun You without giving up.
"Then there must be a solution, right? Guanzhong and Luoyang are really unimpeded directly? Hasn't anyone raised any questions in these years?"
Xun You didn't understand why Liu Zhang was so obsessed with Hangu Pass, let alone why he cared about it. He could only chuckle and shake his head.
"My lord, after Emperor Gaozu unified the whole country, both Guanzhong and Guandong were all Han territories. Moreover, the world has been at peace for a long time. In the four hundred years of Han Dynasty, there was only one Wang Mang. Even if there were other wars, they were all external. Who cares about Hangu Pass?"
Indeed, Xun You was right. Who among the 400-year-old Han people could have imagined that a civil war would happen one day?
Wasn't Wang Mang's attempt to take advantage of the right time, place and people completely destroyed by Liu Xiu, the chosen one?
In this era, the big man is still people’s theme!
But everyone can think this way, but Liu Zhang can’t!
He knows very well what he will have to face in the future, so he must be prepared for a rainy day!
"Wenhe, Gongda, everyone can care less, but we can't!"
