After the discussion was over, everyone had dispersed. Zhuge Liang returned to his own room and sat down to rest for a while. Suddenly he heard a warning from the clan outside the door: "Prime Minister, General Guan Xing, the Attendant and Supervisor of the Army, would like to see you."
"Oh?" Zhuge Liang was surprised at first, but then he understood the man's intention, sighed and said, "Let him come in."
"I'm glad to have met you, Prime Minister." A tall, tall and heroic young general entered the room, walked up to Zhuge Liang and bowed in salute.
Zhuge Liang turned around when he heard the sound, and was helped up by someone who came to him: "There is no need to be polite to Xingguo, just sit down." Guan Xing sat down and said: "Prime Minister, I don't know why the prime minister removed Xing's name from the list of the Southern Expedition. ? Is Xing not qualified?"
"You are worrying too much about rejuvenating the country." Zhuge Liang said with a smile: "Most of the troops have been mobilized for the southern expedition, and Chengdu is somewhat empty. The emperor must be close to the important ministers to protect him. As a servant, you are a close minister of the emperor and a central supervisor. It is most appropriate for a general like you to stay in Chengdu.",
Although this explanation is also an important reason, the real reason why Zhuge Liang did not let Guan Xing go with him was out of love for the Guan family.
After being invited out of the mountain by the late emperor Sangu Thatched Cottage, Zhuge Liang developed a deep friendship with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and other Yuan Cong veterans during the years of establishing the foundation, especially Guan Yu.
In the past, when the late emperor entered Shu, he and Guan Yu were the important civil and military officials who stayed in Jingzhou. The two of them cooperated tacitly, not only managing Jingzhou in an orderly manner, but also ensuring that Jingzhou was foolproof, and that the Cao and Sun families had no chance to take advantage of it.
Although Guan Yu was kind to his soldiers and proud of the scholar-bureaucrats, he just looked down on those scholars who could only talk empty words. He had always admired Zhuge Liang, a great talent in governing and rejuvenating a country.
Therefore, when this young man who was several decades younger than him praised him with his beautiful beard, his dissatisfaction with Ma Chao's high position immediately disappeared.
Nowadays, the only family of the Guan family is Guan Xingding, so Zhuge Liang does not want Guan Xingyuan to be involved in danger. If anything happens, how will he be able to see Guan Yu under Jiuquan in the future.
Moreover, Guan Xing is still young and his talents are extraordinary. Zhuge Liang has high hopes for him and believes that his future role will be on the battlefield of the Northern Expedition.
Guan Xing also guessed Zhuge Liang's intentions, but as the son of the famous general Guan Yu, he did not want to hide in the rear and enjoy a comfortable life when the country was raising troops. Moreover, there were many people in the court who criticized and even resented Guan Yu for losing Jingzhou. , so he has long wanted to make contributions and revitalize the Guan family.
Guan Xing glanced at Zhuge Liang gratefully, then bowed and said: "The Prime Minister's wishes, Xing Ming feels deeply, but Xing is the head of the Guan family, how can he lag behind others in the imperial court's southern expedition? Isn't this not right?" My late father’s famous name?
Yang Mingzhi is only a few years old in Changxing. He can do great things in Nanzhong and he can be successful. Seeing the Prime Minister's pity and sincerity in serving the country, Xing Zhongjun allowed Xing to participate in the war. "As he said this, he bowed to the ground.
Zhuge Liang pondered for a long time, sighed softly, and stepped forward to help Guan Xing up. He smiled and said: "Anguo doesn't have to be like this. I understand. Go back and prepare well. Follow me south in a few days."
"Really? Prime Minister Xie!" Guan Xing said excitedly.
Zhuge Liang said: "Of course it is true. Are my words false? It's getting late. Let's go back and rest."
"No." Caring left with a steady and steady pace. Zhuge Liang looked at his back, shook his head slightly, and laughed softly: "This kid!"
Three days later, when various government offices in Chengdu were stepping up preparations for the southern expedition, bad news suddenly reached Zhuge Liang.
"What? Mr. Wen Yi is gone?" Zhuge Liang stood up and said in surprise, and the pen in his hand fell to the ground at some point.
Ma Su replied with a sad face: "Yes, his son Wang Shan just came to the Prime Minister's Mansion to report his funeral. He has already sent someone to the Prince's Mansion to help him deal with Wen Yi Gong's funeral."
"Yes." Zhuge Liang sat down dejectedly, and after a while he said calmly: "Youchang will first draft a letter on my behalf to the imperial court to provide me with a special pension. In the afternoon, he will accompany me to the palace to pay my respects."
"No." Ma Su responded and left.
Zhuge Liang walked to the window with a sad face, looked up at the sky, and sighed after a long time. It was really uncomfortable for the country to lose another important minister before the southern expedition. Wang Lian had been seriously ill this year and his medicine was ineffective. Although Zhuge Liang had been mentally prepared, he was still very sad at this moment.
He remembered that Wang Lianxian had managed the salt industry for many years and accumulated rich wealth for the great cause of the Shu Han Dynasty. He had indeed made great achievements in strengthening the national power through hard work. Later, he joined the Prime Minister's Office as his long history, and he was able to advise and assist him with all his heart, so that he could avoid many mistakes. It can be said that he is unswerving.
Zhuge Liang felt sad for a while, and then remembered that the position of Prime Minister Chang Shi had become vacant again after Wang Lian left. The Prime Minister Chang Shi was the leader of the subordinates and had the most authority, so one must be careful in selecting candidates for this position.
Especially when you go south, you should carefully select. It stands to reason that Zhang Yi is already in charge of government affairs, so it is logical for him to be promoted to the position of chief minister. However, after all, Jun Sigong's achievements were not obvious after returning from Soochow, so he was promoted to the position at this moment. Still not enough prestige.
"Yes, this man is qualified for the job." Zhuge Liang suddenly had a candidate, turned back to the desk and picked up his pen again.
Seven days later, all preparations for the southern expedition were completed. Zhuge Liang appointed Xiang Lang, the infantry captain, to succeed Wang Lian and serve as Prime Minister Chang Shi. Together with Zhang Yi and Ma Su, he stayed in the rear to direct everything in the Prime Minister's Office. Yang Yi and Liao Hua joined the army to accompany the army. painting.
On that day, Zhuge Liang went to the palace to bid farewell to the emperor. With Zhao Yun, Guan Xing, Ma Zhong and others as generals, he personally led 25,000 troops and horses to march to Nanzhong.
Wang Lian, Zhang Yi, Ma Su and other important officials were sent to the capital dozens of miles away. When leaving, Zhuge Liang called Ma Su to him and gave him a few words.
Although he was slightly disappointed that Ma Su had not invited him to go south with the army, Zhuge Liang then thought that leaving him in Chengdu to preside over government affairs was also an important task, so Zhuge Liang did not dwell on it.
"You Chang, the army is about to leave. I wonder what you can teach me?" Zhuge Liang asked earnestly.
He has always believed in Ma Su's talents, especially in general terms, and he paid special attention to Ma Su's views. Such questions have both a sense of elaboration and a sense of expectation.
Ma Su straightened his clothes and said in a deep voice: "Prime Minister, I have something to say, and I hope you will take a closer look at it. The barbarians in the south have relied on the remoteness and danger of their land and have been dissatisfied with the king for a long time. Now that the Prime Minister has personally unified the army, they will be able to subdue them."
However, once the army returns in triumph, the barbarians will definitely rebel against the imperial court. Therefore, he thought that the way to use the army was to attack the city as the bottom, to fight with the heart as the top, and to fight with the soldiers as the bottom. If you can convince your heart, then Nanzhong will be at peace. "
Zhuge Liang laughed when he heard this and said: "What You Chang said is exactly what I meant, and you really understand my heart."
"I am just speaking out of my feelings and speaking from my heart. I hope the Prime Minister will examine it." Ma Su said modestly.
After getting the answer he wanted to know, Zhuge Liang said goodbye to everyone with a smile. Sitting in the car, he secretly said happily: "It seems that Youchang is still very resourceful. He can see through the problems in Nanzhong at a glance and will definitely be able to stir up trouble in the future." What a heavy responsibility.”
The Southern Expeditionary Army advanced by land and water, and did not invade Minqiu along the way. Soon the army arrived at the scheduled gathering place in Bodao County, Jianwei County. Here Zhuge Liang met Wang Shihe, the prefect of Yizhou who had been preparing for a long time. Li Hui, the governor of Nijiang and the governor of Jiaozhou, came to receive the order.
