It was late at night and people were sleeping soundly, but the lights in the Prime Minister's Mansion were still brightly lit, and people were still coming and going in all the offices, making it look busy.
Prime Minister Zhuge's southern expedition is about to begin, and arrangements for the deployment of generals, deployment of troops, and transfer of military supplies, etc., are being stepped up. However, with Zhuge Liang in the middle, and with the abundance of talents in the mansion, although everything is complicated, it is proceeding in an orderly manner.
"Prime Minister, the list of generals for the Southern Expedition has been drawn up. Please take a look at it, Prime Minister." In the public room, Yang Yi, who was joining the army on duty, walked up to Zhuge Liang and reported softly.
Yang Yi was transferred to the Prime Minister's Mansion not long ago to join the army. Before that, he served as the prefect of Hongnong. Hongnong County is now in the Wei Dynasty. As the prefect, he is naturally the remote leader.
It is said that Yang Yi had outstanding talents and was highly appreciated by the late emperor and Prime Minister Zhuge, so he should not be given an empty position. However, who told him to offend his immediate boss Liu Ba when he was appointed minister in the first year of Zhangwu?
Who is Liu Ba? He was once a great talent that even the late emperor could only dream of. Zhuge Liang once praised him: "I am not as good as Zi Chuyuan when planning and planning." Yang Yi's reputation and status are not as good as others. It would be strange if he was not left idle. .
However, now that Liu Ba has passed away, Zhuge Liang thought that talents were rare, so he transferred him back to the Jihan Center soon after the beginning of the new year, and he was in charge of government affairs together with Zhang Yi.
At present, the war is about to begin, and there is a shortage of military personnel. The prime minister's office already has four people, Zhang Yi, Yang Yi, Ma Di, and Liao Hua, who have joined the army. However, Zhuge Liang still feels that this is not enough and is already planning to add more people.
Zhuge Liang put down his brush, raised his head and said with a smile, "It's Duke Wei. Let me see who are there?" He took the slip and read it.
His eyes glanced at the names of Zhao Yun and others one by one, and he nodded involuntarily. There were both veterans and newcomers on this list, which was a good match.
But when he saw Guan Xing's name, he couldn't help but frowned, thought for a moment, then put down the slip and said to Yang Yi with a smile: "Wei Gong did a good job. These generals were chosen very appropriately."
Yang Yiqian said: "This is all planned according to the wishes of the prime minister. Yi dare not take credit." Zhuge Liang nodded and continued: "It's just Guan Xing among the generals of the Southern Expedition. I think it's inappropriate."
Yang Yi was a little surprised. Guan Xing was the son of the famous general Guan Yu and was highly appreciated by Prime Minister Zhuge. He could be said to be a leader among the younger generation. Letting him participate in the Southern Expedition could not only train his generals' talents, but also make them more capable. After getting the merit, Yang Yi thought that his choice was very suitable, but he didn't expect that he was refuted by Zhuge Liang.
"May I ask Prime Minister why this is happening?" Yang Yi asked puzzledly.
Zhuge Liang replied calmly: "Nothing else, it's just that the Chinese army needs to rejuvenate the country and take charge."
Is that all? Yang Yi didn't believe it, but seeing that Zhuge Liang didn't know how to elaborate, he knew it and stopped asking. He handed over his hand and said, "Yes, Yi understands. I will remove General Guan's name after I return."
Zhuge Liang nodded and said: "Well, Duke Wei will notify the Zhuge Liang on the list tomorrow morning to discuss matters in the mansion."
The next day, the hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion was full of seats and all the wise men were gathered. On the left hand side of Zhuge Liang were sitting officials such as Zhang Yi, Yang Yi, Ma Su, and Liao Hua, and on the lower right were military generals such as Zhao Yun, Wang Ping, Ma Zhong, and Gou Fu.
"Prime Minister, everyone has arrived." After the chief bookkeeper finished counting the knots, he stepped forward to report.
Zhuge Liang nodded, shaking his feather fan slightly with his left hand, and stroking his beard with his right hand. He looked around at everyone in the hall, secretly thinking that there were now a lot of talents.
After a while, Zhuge Liang said loudly: "Everyone, the rebellion in Nanzhong has been going on for nearly two years. It can be said that it has been going on for a long time. The country's vitality has not recovered before, so the imperial court has not sent a large army to conquer it. Now that the country's strength has been restored, it is time to go south to quell the rebellion and regain the lost territory. time.
Liang was ordered by the Emperor to command the Southern Expeditionary Army, and he called you here today just to discuss important matters such as troop strength, date, and route. You can speak freely without worrying about etiquette. "
"We would like to listen to Prime Minister Jun's order." Everyone stood up and responded.
It was said that they were discussing military strength, strategy and other matters. In fact, everyone had already discussed these matters in detail before. Today was actually just to formalize everything, so everyone did not make any changes and waited patiently for the order. Can.
When Zhuge Liang saw everyone like this, he immediately smiled and said: "Well, I won't be verbose anymore. I will tell you." Yang Yi stood up and responded: "No."
He paused and said: "Everyone, according to the wishes of the Prime Minister and the current national strength of my Han Dynasty, the imperial court plans to recruit 25,000 elite troops for this southern expedition. The troops will be divided into three groups to go to Nanzhong to quell the rebellion."
"The first route was led by the prime minister, with Yang Yi and Liao Huaei joining the army, and Zhao Yun and Wang Ping as generals. They went to Yueqi County to join Yang Qing and Yang Mingzhi first, and then crossed the Lu River to attack Yongkai's bandit army from the west flank. "
"The second route is to take the subordinate governor Ma Zhong as the prefect of Zangqi and lead five thousand troops to Zangqi County to attack the traitor Zhu Bao."
"The third route, with Li Hui, the commander of the surrender, as the chief general, and the newly appointed Yizhou prefect Wang Shi as the deputy general, led five thousand troops and went straight to the hinterland of Yongkai, Yizhou County."
"The three armies first gathered in Bodao County of Jianwei County, and then divided into three armies and marched to Zanggao and Yizhou counties. Finally, the three armies converged on Yizhou to reach Nanzhong and put down the rebellion."
Yang Yi finished describing the deployment of troops and the route of march in one breath, then took a breath, bowed to Zhuge Liang, and returned to his seat to wait for others to ask questions.
Of the three-pronged army, Zhuge Liang personally led the first one without saying much, but the subordinate commander Ma Zhong led the first one was somewhat beyond the expectations of those who didn't know the inside story.
Since Ma Zhong was transferred to the Prime Minister's Mansion by Zhuge Liang as a subordinate, he has been hardworking, loyal and courageous, and has been praised by everyone in the government.
In fact, Ma Zhong was originally called Hu Du. After the late emperor defeated Sun Wu in the eastern expedition and retreated to Yong'an, in order to supplement the loss of troops and strengthen the defense of Yong'an, Yan Zhi, the governor of Brazil County, sent Ma Zhong to Yong'an to deliver the soldiers from various counties.
After the late emperor met Ma Zhong and had a detailed conversation with him, he said to Liu Ba, the minister at the time: "Although Huang Quan died, Hu Du was restored. There is no shortage of virtuous people in the world." It can be seen that the late emperor had secretly thought of Ma Zhong. Compared with Huang Quan.
This time, Prime Minister Zhuge sent Ma Zhong to Nanzhong as the prefect in order to give full play to his ability to be generous, generous and decisive. After the Nanzhong was pacified, it was necessary to select capable officials to stay, and Ma Zhong was both civil and military, which was suitable. Candidate.
Among the three rebel thieves in Nanzhong, Zhu Bao from Xianzhong County was the weakest. Therefore, he had the smallest number of troops in this area, with only more than 5,000 people. However, Zhu Bao was not a famous general who was good at military affairs, so Ma Zhong could deal with him if he went there.
The leader of the third route was Li Hui, the governor of the surrender. Zhuge Liang ordered him to command a group of soldiers and horses starting from Pingyi County and attacking Yizhou County along the road. Accompanying him were the former prefect of Jianwei County and the new prefect of Yizhou County, Wang Shi.
The Nijiang Dudu District was an important garrison town set up in the Nanzhong area by the late Emperor Liu Bei after he entered Shu. It was also the highest military and political institution established by the Jihan court in the Nanzhong area. Its highest officer was called the Nijiang Dudu, and together with the Hanzhong Dudu and Jiangzhou The governor and the Yong'an governor were the four permanent garrison governors of Jihan.
"庲 surrender" means "庲 surrender" with the same sound as "庲 surrender", which means that the barbarians in Nanzhong who are dissatisfied with the king's transformation can come and surrender.
The first governor-general of the subjugation was Deng Fang. He had a strong ambition, a strong will, a light fortune and a fruitful spirit. He was not confused when faced with difficulties. He was able to control more with less and secure his career. Of course, due to various conditions, Deng Fang took office. It does not have sufficient control over Nanzhong, and its headquarters is also located in Nanchang County on the northern edge of Zhuti County, which is close to Jianwei County and far away from the hinterland of Nanzhong.
The second governor-general of the surrender was Li Hui. He was a native of Yizhou County in Nanzhong. After he took office, he moved his headquarters from Nanchang County to the southeast to Pingyi County, which is more than 100 miles away. Strengthened the imperial court's control over Nanzhong.
However, this was still insufficient. After the Nanzhong rebellion, Li Hui was unable to quell the rebellion with his own strength, so he had to reluctantly retreat to Pingyi County.
Nowadays, the imperial court is launching a large-scale southern expedition. He is not only the highest military and political officer in Nanzhong, but also a native of Yizhou County. Therefore, the imperial court asked him not to lead an army to march towards his hometown.
Now not only have the generals and troops for the Southern Expedition been determined, but the county guards who will remain in office after the rebellion has been put down have been well prepared. As long as the three armies march smoothly and meet in Yizhou County, they will be able to complete the king's orders and make contributions to the Southern Kingdom.
Zhuge Liang looked at Zhao Yun and asked, "What does General Zilong think of this marching strategy?"
Zhao Yun pondered for a long time, touched the beard under his chin and replied: "The prime minister's arrangement is exquisite, Yun et al. should do their best to serve."
Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "Since you all have no objections, I will order your generals to lead their own troops and gather at the Chinese army camp outside the city in ten days."
Zhao Yun and other generals heard the order and stood up and responded: "I will obey the Prime Minister's military order."
