Although Cao Pi promised Cao Zhen to convene ministers to discuss the matter, it was just a matter of war and confidentiality was the priority.
The Southern Expedition must not be discussed with great fanfare, so in the early morning of the next day, Cao Pi only summoned a few important ministers in the Wei Dynasty.
These ministers are Hua Xin, Wang Lang, Jia Xu, Chen Qun, Chen Jiao, Liu Ye and others.
They were either the Three Dukes and Nine Qings of the Great Wei Dynasty, or they were famous wise ministers in Cao Wei.
It can be said that together with Cao Pi and Cao Zhen, they formed the highest decision-making level of the Wei Dynasty.
Before all the ministers were summoned into the palace by the chamberlain, they had already learned about Cao Zhen's return yesterday through their personal connections.
So when they saw Cao Zhen who had already taken his seat in the main hall, there was no surprise on their faces.
But when they saw someone in the hall, they were all a little surprised.
That person is Cao Rui.
The ministers who can be summoned to the hall today are far more sensitive to politics than ordinary people.
Before, Cao Rui was canonized as King of Qi by Cao Pi, which already made them have a vague guess in their hearts.
And when they saw Cao Rui sitting at the head of the ministers with Cao Pi today, the guess in their minds turned into an inference.
Thinking of this, the ministers who had just arrived in the hall became even more cautious about today's discussion.
The emperor and the prince are here together, so what we are discussing today is definitely a big deal.
As expected by the ministers, as soon as the ministers took their seats, Cao Zhen took the initiative to go out and tell everyone present his strategy for the southern expedition.
Of course, under Cao Pi's instruction, when Cao Zhen talked about the strategy for the southern expedition, he specifically stated that it was the strategy first proposed by Yang Fu, the governor of Liangzhou.
When they heard that Cao Zhen had returned this time and wanted to lead an army to conquer Hanzhong, all the ministers present showed shocked expressions on their faces.
Even Cao Rui is like this.
The Southern Expedition, at a time when the Wei army was losing consecutive battles against the Han army, would undoubtedly make most Wei officials resist in their hearts.
So almost as soon as Cao Zhen finished speaking, ministers came out to reject Cao Zhen's proposal.
This minister was Wang Lang, then Sikong of the Wei Dynasty.
Wang Lang was a famous Confucian scholar in the world, and he had countless disciples and former officials in the world.
Coupled with his upright character and respectable status, he dared to take the lead in raising objections to Cao Zhen's southern expedition.
Wang Lang's reasons for opposing Cao Zhen's southern expedition were nothing more than those that Cao Pi was worried about before.
So after Wang Lang finished explaining his reasons, Cao Zhen politely refuted Wang Lang's words one by one.
Considering Cao Zhen's current status in the Wei Dynasty and his military exploits, apart from being polite to Cao Pi, other people really didn't have the capital to be polite to him.
Under Cao Zhen's rude rebuttal, Wang Lang's entire old face turned red.
He looked around at his colleagues in the hall, hoping that they would come out to help.
But just when Hua Xin, Chen Qun and others were about to go out, a majestic voice suppressed the bodies of Hua Xin, Chen Qun and others on the seats.
"The southern expedition is feasible."
When Cao Pi said these words, it meant that as the emperor of Wei, he had publicly agreed with Cao Zhen's southern expedition.
Since Cao Pi had this attitude, Hua Xin, Chen Qun and others certainly did not dare to have any objections.
Even though Cao Pi was not as diligent in political affairs as before after returning to Luoyang, he was good at imperial skills and still firmly controlled the entire Cao Wei court.
This was Cao Pi's greatest strength, and it was also what Cao Cao valued most about him.
Cao Zhen represented military power, and Cao Pi represented imperial power. When the two men's opinions were unified, no one in the Wei Dynasty could reverse the decisions they made.
After Cao Pi used his authority to set the tone for the Southern Expedition, he then asked the question he was most concerned about today:
"The Southern Expedition is inevitable. Do you have any good advice to offer?"
The reason why Cao Pi summoned his ministers today was not to ask them whether they should march south, but how they should march south.
After Cao Pi made this inquiry, all the Wei officials present looked thoughtful.
The Southern Expedition was a big deal, and they had just received the news. No matter how wise they were, they still had to give themselves some time to think of a good strategy.
While the ministers were thinking, Cao Pi turned to Cao Rui and said:
"See more, think more, learn more."
Facing Cao Pi's instructions, Cao Rui, who still had a somewhat immature face, nodded slightly.
When Cao Cao was alive, he liked to take Cao Rui with him for training whenever he had banquets or discussed official matters.
So maybe for ordinary teenagers, it is difficult to fulfill Cao Pi's request, but for Cao Rui, it is not difficult to do it.
It goes without saying that Cao Rui is talented.
Many people think that Sima Yi was Zhuge Liang's biggest opponent in history, but Sima Yi was essentially just a knife in Cao Rui's hand.
He is only worthy of being Zhuge Liang's tactical opponent.
It was Cao Rui who truly confronted Zhuge Liang on a strategic level and used Cao Wei's huge national power to kill Zhuge Liang at all costs.
He who shines in all directions and whose thoughts are far-reaching will be given a posthumous title of Ming.
When Cao Pi saw Cao Rui, after listening to his words, a thoughtful look appeared on his face, and there was joy in his eyebrows.
He is lucky in this life, having a wise father and an excellent son.
Time passed slowly. After about a quarter of an hour, Liu Ye among the ministers stood up first and bowed to Cao Pi:
"If we want the southern expedition to be effective, our army can take action and send out troops in several directions."
Liu Ye's intelligence was one of the best even when many Cao Wei heroes were still alive.
With his intelligence, it was not difficult to come up with a specific strategy for the southern expedition.
In addition, Liu Ye is a person who attaches great importance to fame, so he will be the first to speak out among the Wei officials.
The Southern Expedition tactics presented by Liu Ye were also recognized by everyone present after his further explanation.
What Liu Ye said about moving with the camera was that the Wei army would launch an attack after the Nanzhong rebellion started and the main force of Yizhou was held back.
In this way, at least Liangzhou will not receive reinforcements from Yizhou.
And this tactic can also echo Yang Fu's southern expedition strategy.
Even from the perspective of insurance, if Nanzhong cannot hold back the main force of Yizhou, then the Wei army can cancel the plan of the southern expedition in time.
In this way, the Wei army was invincible from the beginning.
As for the reason why Liu Ye proposed the tactic of sending out troops in several directions, it was because of the tight defense network in Hanzhong.
The advantage of the Wei army over the Liang army was that it had more troops and sufficient food and grass.
Liang Jun's advantage lies in its geographical location.
The terrain in Hanzhong is steep, and the Wei army cannot launch a large-scale battle outside a certain fortress at once, so it is better to divide the troops into separate groups to attack Hanzhong.
The characteristic of the Hanzhong Defense Network is that each fortress can respond to and support each other.
So as long as the Wei army can cut off the communication between the main fortresses in Hanzhong with its strong military strength, then the Wei army will be able to defeat each of the fortresses in Hanzhong.
Another advantage of dividing troops is that the enemy will not be able to figure out the direction of one's main attack, ensuring that one's side is always the one with the initiative.
If Mi Yang wants to defend Hanzhong, he must not ignore any possibility.
In this situation, the only thing Mi Yang could do was to divide his troops and stay on one side.
Although the terrain of Hanzhong is steep, due to the characteristics of Hanzhong's defense network, Mi Yang had many places to defend.
Mi Yang's military strength was far inferior to that of the Wei army, and he had to divide his forces for defense, so the number of Han troops in each corresponding fortress must not be large.
One man can stop ten thousand men, which is often just an exaggerated adjective.
The real situation is that no matter how dangerous the fortress is, it still needs a certain amount of troops to defend it, otherwise it will not be difficult to win.
Just like the fall of Yangping Pass at the end of Jihan Dynasty.
After Liu Ye finished explaining the specific tactics he came up with, Cao Pi turned his attention to Cao Zhen. He wanted to hear Cao Zhen's opinion.
After all, the coach of the upcoming Southern Expedition is Cao Zhen, and any tactics require his approval before they can be implemented.
After Cao Zhen listened to the tactics presented by Liu Ye, he thought about it and smiled on his face:
"I really admire you for being such a talented person."
Cao Zhen's words undoubtedly affirmed Liu Ye's tactics.
Although Liu Ye has never been fully recognized by Cao's clan, Cao Zhen is a man who knows military strategy.
The two tactics Liu Ye proposed did not conflict with Yang Fu's southern expedition strategy, and could greatly improve the success rate of his southern expedition. Why should he oppose it?
As for Liu Ye's tactics, which required him to wait for a period of time, this was not a big deal in Cao Zhen's opinion.
The reason why Cao Zhen wanted to conquer the south was solely for the sake of the Wei Dynasty, not for his own achievements.
So as long as what Liu Ye said is reasonable, he doesn't mind waiting for a while.
But Cao Zhen still had a question in his mind. Cao Zhen asked Liu Ye: "Do you think our army will use enough troops when it comes to Japan for the southern expedition?"
There are many benefits to sending troops out in several directions, but the corresponding total force consumption is definitely not low.
Facing Cao Zhen's inquiry, Liu Ye already had an answer in his mind.
"It should be around 100,000."
When Liu Ye said these words, all the ministers present looked at him sideways.
No wonder Liu Ye would advise Cao Zhen to wait for a while.
Even if we weren't waiting for the best time, just preparing the corresponding weapons and food for a hundred thousand troops would probably take quite a while.
Although they were surprised in their hearts, everyone here knew that it was not difficult for the Wei Dynasty to mobilize an army of 100,000.
In recent years, although the Wei Dynasty has been defeated repeatedly on the front line, the economic development in the rear has never stopped, not to mention that the national power of the Wei Dynasty is already very strong.
During the same period in history, when Cao Pi attacked Sun Quan several times, the total number of troops he used was around 100,000.
The largest one was the "Guangling Military Observation" clearly recorded in history books.
"There are more than 100,000 soldiers and more than 100 banners."
There are more than 100,000 regular soldiers alone, not counting the corresponding auxiliary soldiers and civilians. This is an epitome of the national power of the Wei Dynasty.
At present, the total number of regular soldiers in Jihan is less than 100,000.
The ministers all knew this, and Cao Pi, as the head of the family, naturally knew it too.
So although all the ministers looked surprised, Cao Pi was very happy.
"Then raise an army of 100,000 and sweep across Hanzhong."
In Cao Pi's opinion, it's not like the Wei Dynasty couldn't afford such wealth.
Moreover, the one he wanted to attack was Mi Yang. For such an enemy who was about to become his nightmare, he would be worried if there were fewer troops.
After Cao Pi said these words, even if Chen Qun and Chen Jiao were extremely reluctant, they did not dare to go against Cao Pi's decision at this time.
The amount of weapons, food and fodder required by an army of 100,000 people is huge, and they will not have to prepare all this by then.
Thinking of the massive official duties they were about to face, Chen Qun and Chen Jiao felt bitter in their hearts.
But compared to the bitterness of Chen Qun and Chen Jiao, Cao Zhen's face showed emotion.
He was thanking Cao Pi for trusting him so much.
Cao Zhen bowed deeply to Cao Pi and said his words of resignation.
Now that the corresponding military affairs have been negotiated, it is time for him to return to Guanzhong.
Return to Guanzhong to prepare for war.
Facing Cao Zhen's resignation, Cao Pi felt reluctant to give up, but he also knew that the military situation was urgent, so he agreed to Cao Zhen's request.
With Cao Pi's permission, Cao Zhen immediately left the hall.
He has always been so resolute.
After Cao Zhen left, Cao Pi began to arrange other affairs.
Cao Pi looked at Situ Huaxin and said, "Lao Qing has to worry about selecting the envoys to be sent to Nanzhong and Jiangdong."
There is a very important content in the Southern Expedition Strategy presented by Yang Fu, which is to send envoys to Nanzhong and Jiangdong respectively.
Hua Xin already knew the necessity of this from what Cao Zhen said just now.
It's just that the envoy sent to Nanzhong is easy to choose, but the person sent to Jiangdong is not easy to choose.
There is no other reason. Although there are mostly foreigners in Nanzhong, Sun Quan's reputation in the world is worse than that of the foreigners in Nanzhong.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After hesitating for a while, Hua Xin expressed his concerns.
"Sun Quan is only interested in profit. If there is no great benefit, I'm afraid he won't help my court."
After hearing Hua Xin's concerns, all the ministers present fell silent, even Liu Ye, who was always full of cleverness and scheming.
Sun Quan is actually a local prince, and the interests that can make him excited are not things that ministers like them should mention.
The performance of the ministers was noticed by Cao Pi, and he had already thought about Hua Xin's concerns.
Accordingly, he already had a decision in his mind.
"Let the envoy tell Sun Quan that I am willing to make friends with him in the Qin and Jin Dynasties."
As soon as Cao Pi said this, all the ministers present looked at each other in shock.
Use marriage as a bargaining chip for cooperation?
If this is the condition, Sun Quan is indeed very likely to agree.
The marriage between the Cao family and the Sun family has already happened.
Every marriage between the Cao family and the Sun family represents a short-lived political alliance.
But if I remember correctly, Cao Pi hated Sun Quan very much.
Unexpectedly, Cao Pi, who had always hated Sun Quan, would take the initiative to propose such a condition for the sake of the Southern Expedition.
Thinking of this, a kind of expectation began to emerge in the hearts of the ministers present.
In today's hot-blooded world, who wants to be a person who shrinks and avoids enemies?
Even Kodō, who treats humiliation as a meal, still has many passionate men.
In the past, they were timid and avoided the enemy, which was largely due to Cao Pi's influence.
Now that they see that Cao Pi seems to have regained his fighting spirit, as human subjects, they will naturally not flinch anymore.
With one hundred thousand troops prepared for a fierce battle in Hanzhong, it is not yet known who will win and who will lose.
After discussing everything, Cao Pi ordered all ministers to retreat first.
Before the ministers left, Cao Pi strictly ordered the ministers not to reveal everything discussed today.
He will give Mi Yang a surprise then.
Facing Cao Pi's strict order, all the ministers left one by one with serious expressions on their faces.
It's just that although Cao Pi had wonderful thoughts, there was one thing he didn't know.
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This chapter has been completed!