Chang'an, the capital of Jingzhao County, was the old capital of the Han Dynasty.
After Cao Cao welcomed the Han Emperor from the west and marched through Guanzhong, after more than 20 years of governance by Zhong Yao and others, Chang'an, which had been ravaged by Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, Guo Si, Ma Teng, Han Sui and others, finally recovered somewhat. vitality.
Today, Chang'an has no less than 40,000 households and a population of nearly 200,000. There are 60,000 to 70,000 people living in the city. Although it is not as prosperous as the pre-Han period, it is still a densely populated city.
Although the fighting in Longyou, Yicheng and other places has been fierce in the past two months, and Chang'an and surrounding cities have been harassed by small groups of Han troops for a period of time, since Wei Emperor Cao Rui stationed in Chang'an not long ago, the soldiers and civilians were originally panicked. My heart gradually calmed down.
Shops and restaurants in Chang'an City have reopened, and pedestrians and merchants are constantly coming and going on the streets. Except for daytime inspections and nighttime curfews that are stricter than before, the daily lives of the people are relatively stable.
But today, Chang'an City has become depressed again. Apart from groups of sergeants patrolling back and forth, there are almost no people on the streets. Every house is closed and they dare not make much noise.
It turned out that the news of the defeat of Zhang He's army had reached Chang'an in the past two days. Cao Rui was shocked, the ministers were at a loss, and the people were afraid. Rumors spread everywhere. Rumors spread from Fufeng County that the Han army had crossed Longshan and killed Guanzhong. Therefore, Chang'an City was under martial law again.
The Wei Emperor's Palace in Chang'an was renovated on the basis of the original Han Palace of Han Emperor Liu Xie. Previously, Li Jue and Guo Si attacked each other and plundered Chang'an, causing a lot of damage to the Han Palace. It was not renovated until Cao Pi succeeded to the throne. , Unexpectedly, Cao Pi passed away after seven years in office and never moved in, but now his son Cao Rui has moved in.
In the main hall of the palace, Wei Emperor Cao Rui looked at Zhang He who was kneeling below without saying a word. The ministers standing on both sides did not dare to breathe for fear of making any noise to anger the emperor.
Zhang He came to Chang'an yesterday. In the past few days, he was ashamed and embarrassed in Qian County. He felt that he had no face to see Emperor Wei. So he recruited defeated soldiers in Qian County and tried his best to make amends, while waiting behind closed doors to await the punishment of Emperor Wei. Feel down.
Cao Rui's edict arrived in Qian County the day before yesterday. Zhang He originally thought that the emperor would remove him from his military duties and imprison him for questioning. Unexpectedly, the edict only asked him to rush back to Chang'an to face the Holy Spirit without any word of questioning. It made him even more ashamed and ashamed.
So as soon as he was announced to the palace today, Zhang He quickly fell to the ground to plead guilty, vowing to die.
Cao Rui really didn't think about how to deal with him. When he first heard that the fifty thousand cavalry had been wiped out, he was really furious. It was really disappointing that the veteran general who had high hopes for him handed him such a disastrous result.
The 50,000 elite infantrymen not only failed to complete the task of defeating the Han army and regaining the lost territory, but ended up being wiped out. Cao Wei had never had such a disastrous defeat since the founding of the country.
Of course, according to Zhang Enshu's report, the number of Wei soldiers who have fled back to Guanzhong in the past few days has been five to six thousand, which is not really considered to be invincible.
But what's the difference between more than 40,000 and 50,000? Moreover, these more than 40,000 soldiers are all elite Chinese troops!
Although Cao Wei occupies half of the northern half of the country, with a vast territory, numerous prefectures and counties, a population of tens of millions, and a total force of no less than 40,000 to 50,000, the most elite Chinese army only has over 100,000 people, and now it has lost more than 40,000. , it can be said that the vitality is seriously injured, and the vitality of the army directly under the emperor is also injured.
At present, Cao Wei's army is mainly divided into three categories: state and county armies, foreign armies, and Chinese armies. The so-called prefecture and county soldiers, as the name suggests, are local armies directly subordinate to prefectures and counties and commanded by local prefects and captains.
The foreign army and the Chinese army are actually the central army that directly obeys the orders of the imperial court. They are deployed outside the capital according to regions and are responsible for defending the borders and resisting foreign enemies. For example, Cao Xiu's tribe is currently the governor of Yangzhou, and Sima Yi's tribe is the governor of Jing and Yu.
One is stationed in the capital, guarding the emperor, the palace, and the capital in peacetime. In wartime, he serves as an elite and conquers all directions, such as Wuwei, Huben, Zhongba and other camps.
The chief and deputy commanders of the Chinese Army are generally the Central Leading Army and the Central Protecting Army, and are often served by close associates of the Wei Emperor. In fact, the Chinese Army is an army directly under the command of the Wei Emperor.
Therefore, the combat strength and size of the Chinese army are related to the Wei Emperor's core military power, stable rule, and the court's prestige in the local area. Now that Jieting has lost tens of thousands of people in one battle, how can Cao Rui not be angry?
But after Cao Rui understood the details of the battle at Jieting, he had to admit that it was not that Zhang He and the others did not try their best, nor that his army was not strong enough, but that Zhuge Liang was indeed extremely intelligent and cunning, and could be matched by extraordinary people.
Moreover, Zhang He was an important minister and general with outstanding achievements, so he could not be harshly criticized for temporary success or failure, so as not to hurt the hearts of the heroes.
But it cannot be ignored. After all, it is a fact that Zhang He lost tens of thousands of troops, leading to the corruption of Longyou and the turmoil in Guanzhong. However, the extent of the punishment must be carefully considered.
Therefore, Cao Rui decided to air Zhang He first, to express his anger and disappointment as an emperor who had just ascended the throne at the defeat of the army, so as not to be despised by the ministers later when he offered favors to Zhang He and mitigated his crimes.
After a while, Cao Rui saw that the fire was almost done and said, "Please get up and talk."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Zhang He's legs were numb from kneeling, and his body was trembling when he stood up. Many people couldn't bear to see him.
After Zhang He returned to the general class, Cao Rui said: "Zhang Qing's family has come to apologize. I wonder how the ministers think I should deal with it?" As soon as this statement came out, the ministers started talking about it.
Some said that Zhang He should be deprived of his official title and demoted to a commoner, some said that Zhang He should remember Zhang He's past military exploits and reduce his crimes, some said that Zhang He should be remembered for the time being and let him perform meritorious service for his crimes, and some said that Cao Rui should be arbitrary and the Holy Heart should commit suicide. In short, There are different opinions and different opinions.
"Liu Shizhong, what do you think I should do?" Cao Rui suddenly asked Liu Ye.
This time the imperial commander personally went to Chang'an in the west town. Cao Rui did not bring many ministers with him. Hua Xin, Chen Qun and other three princes and nine ministers stayed in Luoyang to handle the government affairs. Among the accompanying ministers, they included Liu Ye, the minister, Liu Fang, the secretary and the secretary. Sun Zi's status among the three is the most valuable.
Among them, Liu Ye was well-known for his good planning and strategy, so Cao Rui trusted him more in the military.
In fact, Cao Rui is more willing to let Zhang He take the blame and perform meritorious service. After all, Zhang He is a famous general in the court and is familiar with the geography of Kansai. He will be needed to deal with the Han army later, so Cao Rui hopes that Liu Ye can appreciate his painstaking efforts and speak out to support him. .
Sure enough, Liu Ye did not disappoint him and said: "Your Majesty, I think that although General Zuo was defeated in the expedition, he is still a veteran with outstanding merits and should not be punished with heavy punishment just because of a temporary defeat.
In addition, General Zuo had been a general in Yongliang for a long time and was familiar with the geography and scenery of Guanyou. General Zuo was still required to provide advice and help in dealing with Fang Geliang, so I thought I could demote him and let him perform meritorious service. "
"Yes." Cao Rui did not comment and asked the others: "Do you think what Liu Shizhong said is appropriate?"
As soon as he said this, most people understood that Cao Rui wanted to protect Zhang He and did not want to severely punish him. In addition, Zhang He also had many friends in the court, so the next person who echoed Liu Ye was Zhang He. There are many people who agree with me.
After seeing this, Cao Rui was satisfied and made up his mind: "Since there are many ministers interceding for Zhang He, I remember that he has made a lot of contributions to the country in the past, so I will grant him a reduced sentence and a lighter sentence.
His official position was demoted to that of General Hou, his title was reduced to that of Tinghou, and his residence was reduced by 3,000 households. He was ordered to lead the army as usual, stationed in Qian County, and performed meritorious service. "
"Your Majesty is wise." The ministers bowed and praised.
Zhang He also hurriedly came out to say thanks: "I, Zhang He, would like to thank Your Majesty for your grace!"
Cao Rui's treatment can be said to be neither serious nor light, just right. In terms of official positions, the punishment is not too severe. Although the post general is lower than the left general, he is still in the rank of the four generals.
The most severe punishment was in the title. After Cao Pi ascended the throne, Zhang He's title was changed from Duxiang Marquis to Marquis of Marquis, with a settlement of 3,300 households. Marquis of Marquis was a county marquis. Because Zhang He was from Marquis of Hejian, in order to commend his meritorious service and enhance his honor, Cao Pi made his hometown a fiefdom.
Now Zhang He's title was directly reduced from County Marquis to Ting Marquis, and his residence was also reduced from 3,300 households to 300 households. Such punishment is not too severe.
Zhang He was already satisfied with this level of punishment. In fact, in his heart, as long as Cao Rui allowed him to continue to lead the army, he would accept it no matter how heavy the crime or how severe the punishment was, because he wanted to avenge his shame and never go back to his previous life. Differentiate with the Han army.
