"The 50,000-strong army marched to Long to rescue failed, and the bandits will definitely become more rampant. I predict that both Shanggui and Qishan will not be safe. The situation in Longyou has deteriorated to this point. I wonder if you have any clever ideas for me to wipe out the Shu army." Recover the lost ground?" Cao Rui's tone was slightly anxious.
After dealing with Zhang He's punishment, Cao Rui still talked about how to deal with the current situation as a top priority.
Since he came to the throne, he has never encountered such a dangerous situation. Even when Soochow invaded last year, he did not panic at all. He dispatched troops and generals and responded with ease. As expected, he successfully repelled the Wu army and won the victory. He ascended the throne. The first battle since.
Unexpectedly, in the next year, the Shu Han invaded Guanlong again in multiple directions. Most of the counties in Longyou were attacked by the Han army and fell into the hands of the enemy. Although Cao Rui was panicked and worried at that time, deep down in his heart, he was confident that he would win the final victory. There is still enough confidence in victory.
Because Cao Wei completely crushed Ji Han in terms of national strength, the end of a war is often a competition between the two sides' national strength. There is no doubt that Cao Wei has a great advantage in this regard.
But now Cao Rui's confidence in winning this war has been shaken. He has to admit that Longyou will no longer be named Cao for a long time. Now his plan is to ensure that no other prefectures and counties are captured by the Han army, and to temporarily abandon Longyou and wait for its recovery in the future.
Sun Zi came out and said: "Your Majesty, we, the Wei Dynasty, are currently powerless against Longyou. Therefore, I believe that the first task at the moment is to guard the exits of Longshan and Qinling Mountains to prevent the Shu army from entering Guanzhong.
At present, our Wei Dynasty only has 50,000 or 60,000 troops in Guanzhong, and 30,000 of them are under the command of General Cao Zhen. They are currently confronting Shu General Zhao Yun in Xicheng.
The rest are mainly in Chang'an, that is, the 20,000 Chinese troops who followed His Majesty from the west. There are no large armies guarding in other directions. Once Zhuge Liang sends troops to invade Guanzhong, we will not have many troops to resist, so I ask your Majesty to call another 30,000 troops to Guanzhong to strengthen defense. "
"Well, what Sun Qing said makes sense." Cao Rui nodded and asked, "What do you think?"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone spoke up and objected: "Your Majesty, I think it's inappropriate." Everyone looked at it, and it turned out to be Yan Fei, the prefect of Jingzhao.
Chang'an is the county seat of Jingzhao County, and naturally the Jingzhao Prefecture is located in Chang'an City. In fact, Chang'an was the old capital of the Han Dynasty and the most important town in Guanxi. The Wei court had many official offices here.
The more important ones are the Yongliang Governor's Palace, the Jingzhao Prefect's Palace, and the Diannong Zhonglang General's Palace. Of course, the Yongzhou Governor's Palace was originally also in Chang'an, but in order to strengthen the management of Tianshui and other Longxi counties, the current governor Guo Huai will be the governor for a long time. The government was set up in Shanggui. After all, Chang'an already had senior officials such as the Governor of Yongliang and General Diannong Zhonglang, so there was no need to place all the government offices in Guanzhong.
As one of the many high-ranking officials in Chang'an City, Yan Fei is naturally qualified to go to the palace to discuss matters. Moreover, his official reputation in Guanxi has always been very good. Since he became the prefect of Jingzhao in the early years of Huang Chu, he has encouraged farmers to teach, build education, and build universities. He was well-behaved and deeply loved by the people of Jingzhao.
Therefore, Cao Rui also attached great importance to Yan Fei's opinion. When he heard his objection, he immediately asked: "Oh? Why did the Yan Qing family say this?"
"Your Majesty." Yan Fei replied: "I am not well versed in military affairs. I only consider money, food and military needs. If we transfer 30,000 troops from Guandong to Guanzhong, it will cost a lot of money and food. Although most of them are transferred from Guandong, But Jingzhao and Guanzhong also need supplies, and the burden on the people is already very heavy. If we increase the number of troops, I am afraid that it will trigger a civil uprising."
After so many years of governance, Guanzhong has regained some of its vitality, but it is still not as prosperous as the Guandong prefectures and cannot support the long-term garrison of nearly 100,000 troops.
Previously, Cao Wei only deployed ten thousand troops and horses in Guanzhong. In addition to being very lax about Ji Han's vigilance, the most important reason was that he did not want to garrison a large army and increase the burden on Guanzhong.
Seeing Yan Fei's blunt objection, Sun Zi couldn't help but immediately retorted: "How can you care about the cost of money and food when defending the country's territory?"
He then raised his hands and said to Cao Rui: "Your Majesty, don't lose a big deal for a small amount. Although it costs a lot to transport military supplies, we, the Wei Dynasty, have several states and can afford it. Zhuge Liang's army is on the right side of Longyou. You can kill them as far as Guanzhong, you must be on guard."
"This..." Cao Rui hesitated, then asked Xiang Yanfei: "Then according to the wishes of the Yan Qing family, how should we, the Wei Dynasty, respond?"
Yan Fei said: "Your Majesty, the general is in Yicheng. He is the backbone of the army and knows strategy well. Why don't you ask the general before making any calculations?"
"Well, we need to seek the general's opinion on this matter."
Cao Rui nodded and asked Liu Ye, "What do Liu Qing think?"
"Your Majesty, I also think that we should ask the general first before deciding whether to send additional reinforcements." Liu Ye replied.
Cao Rui said: "In that case, we will first send someone to Xicheng to ask the general for his opinion. The selection of the envoy will be arranged by the Zhongshu Supervisor."
"I obey the decree." Liu Fang, who had not spoken much, responded quickly.
Seeing that the discussion was almost done, Cao Rui immediately said he would withdraw from the court: "Let's stop the discussion here today, and all the ministers should disperse." After that, he got off the throne and walked to the side hall.
"I will respectfully send you off to Your Majesty!"
After the ministers bowed to see off Emperor Wei, they dispersed. Only Liu Ye slowly slowed down and fell behind everyone. After everyone's backs became smaller and smaller, he stroked his beard and smiled, turned around and walked towards the side hall.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Liu would like to see you." In the side hall, just as Cao Rui sat down and took a sip of tea, a chamberlain approached and reported.
Cao Rui was slightly surprised: "Oh? Didn't the court just leave?" After pondering for a moment, he said: "Xiang him to come in."
After a while, Liu Ye entered the side hall. After the ceremony, the monarch and his ministers took their seats. Cao Rui asked: "Liu Shizhong must have a clever plan to teach me when he comes back."
Liu Ye smiled, cupped his hands and replied: "Your Majesty, just now the superior has too many eyesight, and did not prevent the secret from being leaked, so I did not say much. I will wait until the ministers have left, then I will come to the side hall to see the saint alone before entering. Words from my confidant." After saying that, he turned his head slightly and looked at the left and right sides.
Cao Rui realized this and waved all the maids in the palace to retreat outside the palace. After he and Liu Ye were the only two people in the palace, he said, "Okay, now it's just you and me, the emperor and my ministers, so you can speak out boldly."
"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty." Liu Ye bowed and said, "Just now, Your Majesty was asking the court for advice. The two Dukes of Sun and Yan were debating whether to increase the number of troops. I thought that it was no longer necessary to send reinforcements from Guandong. I thought that the General would also That would be the reply.”
"Why is this?" Cao Rui asked puzzledly.
Liu Ye said: "Your Majesty, although the 50,000-strong Chinese army was almost wiped out and Longyou fell into Zhuge Liang's hands, the Shu army also suffered heavy losses. Just as we, the Wei Dynasty, are unable to send another large army to Long in the short term, the Shu army will have to wait for at least half a year. There will be no large-scale invasion of Guanzhong, so there is no need for us to increase our troops."
"Then Longyou really gave up to the Shu thieves like this?" Cao Rui said: "I want to increase my troops, not only to protect Guanzhong, but also to have a decisive battle with Zhuge Liang. If I don't regain Longyou quickly, I'm afraid The people of the world will despise Wei, and the rebels from all directions will take the opportunity to cause chaos."
Although he had accepted the result of losing Longyou for a long time, he was still a little unwilling to accept it. He hoped that Liu Ye, a wise man, could come up with a clever plan to reverse the situation.
However, although Liu Ye is an astute person, he still has no way to save himself from the current situation. All he can do now is to try his best to remedy the situation.
"Your Majesty, Emperor Taizu Wu also experienced many setbacks in the past, but he was finally able to stand proud among the heroes and lay the foundation of the Wei Dynasty. This was because he focused on the overall situation and was based on the long term.
Therefore, I also hope that your majesty can follow the example of Emperor Taizu, temporarily endure the temporary defeat, rest the troops to recuperate, and save food and grass. When the time comes, turn defeat into victory and gain full success. "
Cao Rui said: "What does the Qing family mean?"
