Wancheng, in the inner hall of the Jingyu Governor's Mansion, Sima Yi, the cavalry general of Cao Wei, is reading a letter carefully in his hand. Sandalwood incense is burning in the copper stove nearby, which can make people feel relaxed and calm.
However, Sima Yi seemed not to be affected much by the sandalwood. Although his face was calm, his frown revealed that he was not as calm as he looked.
Sima Yi's qi-nurturing skills have always been top-notch. Usually, there are few things that can make him moved. But at this moment, he couldn't help sighing, and the expression on his face was also unpredictable, because the scroll in his hand was from Guanzhong. Battle report.
A few days ago, the news that Zhang He was defeated by the Han army at Jieting reached Wancheng. Sima Yi was also shocked by the tragic defeat of tens of thousands of elite troops.
As an important minister of Cao Wei, the briefings he received were very detailed, so he read them several times almost every day in the past few days, hoping to use these details to figure out Zhuge Liang's military style of this great enemy.
"Alas, even though Junyi hurriedly followed the Shu army, he was still one step behind the Shu army and was blocked in Jieting. However, the key to the army's failure was that it was defeated by the Shu people in the field. If Junyi could have fought in the formation battle outside Jieting city If I defeat Zhuge Liang, I'm afraid the whole army will not be annihilated now." Sima Yi put down the slip and closed his eyes in deep thought.
Sima Yi opened his eyes again, stood up and left his seat, pacing around the room, thinking: "In the battle of Jieting, although Zhuge Liang often made strange plans, his military tactics were still based on upright formations. The Shu army's formations It’s really powerful, I will definitely be careful if I encounter him in the future.”
"According to Zhang Junyi's recollection, the battle formation deployed by Zhuge Liang was somewhat similar to the ancient Bagua formation, but the changes seemed to be more complex and subtle. It was not simply based on the eight directions of rest, life, injury, Du, Jing, death, surprise, and open. The layout is to change the large formation into small formations and eliminate the enemy troops in the formation one by one..."
Thinking of this, Sima Yi returned to the case and spread out a piece of Caihou paper, dipped his pen in ink and drew his guess on Zhuge Liang's eight formations.
"Father, what are you drawing?"
Sima Yi had just finished drawing a basic Bagua array when he suddenly heard a shout from behind. He was so frightened that the brush he was holding shook, and a few ink dots fell on the paper.
Sima Yi turned around and looked back, and saw a handsome young man standing on tiptoe in front of him. His face darkened and he shouted angrily: "How can you behave so sneakily?"
This young man is about seventeen or eighteen years old. He has a tall figure and beautiful eyebrows. He is wearing a blue brocade train and pleated cloud-soled shoes. He is indescribably elegant and has an indescribable jade tree in the wind. Anyone who sees it will be fascinated by it. I want to call him Pianpianjia.
The young man showed no fear in the face of Sima Yi's scolding. Instead, he grinned and said, "Hey, father, what are you drawing? Why does it look like a Bagua array?"
"It's not wrong to say it's the Bagua array, it's also wrong to say it's not." Sima Yi smiled and said: "Zhao'er, what my father drew was exactly the Shu army's battle array that General Zhang He fought at the street pavilion. It was just a guess based on the battle report. I don’t know how different it is from the formation made by Zhuge Liang, the false prime minister of Western Shu.”
It turned out that this young man was Sima Zhao, the second son of Sima Yi. Sima Yi brought only Sima Zhao to his family when he took office in Wancheng. Other relatives, including his eldest son Sima Shi, stayed at home in Luoyang.
Different from the strict training of his eldest son Sima Shi, Sima Yi gave Sima Zhao a loose and pampering education in addition to the proper civil and military knowledge. Sima Zhao could play and play around with the children of the emperor at will. Wandering west, his character is quite out of touch.
Sima Zhao took a closer look, but he couldn't see the reason. He simply laughed and said: "Haha, why should father worry about this Lao Shizi formation? Why not ask the emperor to serve in Kansai? As long as he faces Zhuge Liang, father can't do it. Do you know the reality of the formation?
And I think that General Zhang He and General Cao are just like this. They were fooled around by Zhuge Liang. My father has to take action to deal with the Shu thieves, otherwise our Majesty will still be defeated. "
"Asshole." Sima Yi heard this and glared at Sima Zhao: "Who taught you to criticize the emperor and important ministers of the country like this? How dare you, a child with a yellow mouth, comment on important military and state affairs?"
"No one can teach me, it's the child's own thought." Sima Zhao said submissively.
"Hmph, don't say these words outside, otherwise you will be careful."
Sima Zhao lowered his head and responded.
: "My child knows."
Seeing that he had listened, Sima Yi continued in a soft tone: "My father naturally thought of the confrontation with Zhuge Liang in Guanxi, but Wancheng is also inseparable from my father. Without my father's control, Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu Dynasty can't live without my father." I’m afraid I’ve been thinking about causing trouble for two months.”
"Father, do you mean Soochow wants to raise troops to invade the country?"
Sima Yi replied: "The country is dealing with Xishu. Soochow must have some ideas for such a good opportunity. However, I am guarding Jingzhou, and there is also a great Sima watching over Yangzhou. Even if Sun Quan has the intention, he can take advantage of it."
"I see, my child understands."
Sima Yi said: "You are still young, and military affairs are not something that a young man like you can handle. If you want to help your father with important affairs, you still need to study for a few more years."
"Father, my child has been reading for a long time this morning." Sima Zhao said weakly.
Sima Yi smiled and said: "I know, go play with your bad friends, as a father you still have business to deal with."
"Yes, I'll leave my child." Sima Zhao ran out happily.
Sima Yi looked at his son's back and smiled lovingly, then turned back to the case and started painting again.
After more than ten days of measures to calm the people, the lives of the people in the four counties of Longyou have gradually returned to normal.
The military discipline of the Han army was austere and the people had no offense. The officials were honest and diligent and the people were fair and strict. The benevolent and kind governance style of Zhuge Liang and others made the people of Longyou feel fresh and new.
Recalling the successive rulers in the past thirty years, the officials and people of Longyou now know what it means to love the people like a son. Suddenly, the prestige of the Han Dynasty increased day by day, and the people's memory of Cao Wei began to fade from this moment.
"Prime Minister, after many days of hard work by Qing, Youchang, and Wei Gong, we have finally calculated the household registration population of the counties in Longyou, and I am here to report it." In the public room, Yang Qing first exchanged glances with Ma Su and Yang Yi, and then He raised his hands and said to Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang put down the official document in his hand, raised his head and said happily: "Oh? How about you get your household registration sorted out so quickly? Well, let's talk about it."
"Yes." Yang Qing took out the slip from his arms and read: "Based on the books sent by the Tianshui counties, Qing also checked with Youchang and Wei Gong against the files from the Ling Emperor period, and now it is roughly clear that Long How many people are there in the four counties on the right?
There are 8,932 households in Tianshui, 4,755 households in Nan'an, 8,571 households in Longxi, and 9,320 households in Guangwei, totaling 30,000 registered households. One thousand five hundred and seventy-eight, population 157,890. "
"Is this the only number of people in the four counties and nineteen counties? It seems that Yongliang is in ruins after continuous wars." Zhuge Liang smiled slightly and said: "But along the way, I saw powerful people from all over the country in the manors and docks. The fort is quite big."
It is definitely abnormal that the registered population of the four counties of Longyou is less than that of the one county of Hanzhong. Although the population that flowed into Hanzhong when the heroes came together was no less than 100,000, many were later moved away by Cao Cao, so even if Hanzhong experienced less war However, one county in Hanzhong cannot be more than the four counties in Tianshui, Guang, Wei, Nan'an and Longxi.
The reason is simply that the powerful surnames have hidden a lot of people, especially in the Yongliang area, where warlords are prone to chaos and Qiang and Hu are often intruding.
In order to protect themselves, people from the same clan and hometown would often live together under the leadership of local powerful people. Over time, ordinary people became customers, tenants, and slaves of powerful powerful people, and these people could not be counted in the official household registration.
Yang Qing replied with a smile: "I can't hide anything from the Prime Minister. These days, the three of me have made secret visits and made inquiries, and we finally know the general situation of the hidden population in the four counties of Longyou."
"Oh? How many household registrations are hidden by powerful surnames?"
Yang Qingdao: "Let You Chang talk about this matter."
