Chapter 430 of the main text volume of Mihan: Cao Zhen laughed and Yang Fu privately invited Han Zhangwu in February of the third year, or for Cao Zhen, the current time was February of the third year of Wei Huangchu.
But no matter which year it was, for Cao Zhen, more than five months had passed since he last returned to Luoyang.
More than five months!
This period of time has extraordinary significance for Cao Zhen.
Five months ago, he personally returned to Luoyang to propose a southern expedition to Cao Pi, and received Cao Pi's approval.
Then he returned to Chang'an and asked Xia Houmao to take charge of the food, grass and weapons matters for the southern expedition.
At the beginning, Xia Houzhen promised Cao Zhen that in about five months, he would be able to raise all the military resources for Cao Zhen's 100,000-strong army to march south.
Xia Houmao did not break his promise. During these five months, he almost kept working at night and day.
The high-intensity work pressure made Xia Houmao lose weight.
But Xia Houmao's efforts have yielded significant results.
Cao Wei's national power was already unparalleled in the world. What Cao Wei lacked was just the talent to integrate its powerful national power, and Xia Houmao was precisely such a talent.
When powerful national power meets an effective organization, the power that breaks out is enough to frighten any force in the world.
As early as the beginning of this year, under Xia Houmao's arrangement, grain, grass, ordnance, and soldiers from Guanzhong were continuously transported to Chencang County.
Chencang was Cao Zhen's offensive base for the Southern Expedition.
Thanks to the convenient official roads built in Guanzhong in the Western Han Dynasty, most of the huge amounts of materials departing from Chang'an were transported to Chencang City in less than a month.
Due to the huge amount of supplies, Cao Zhen also built multiple granaries and arsenals in Chencang City to store them.
If Chencang City hadn't undergone an expansion, I'm afraid there wouldn't be enough space to build those granaries and arsenals.
As of today, let alone the massive amount of military supplies that have been transported to Chencang City, the number of Wei troops inside and outside Chencang City alone has reached 90,000.
These 90,000 people are only the number of regular soldiers, not counting the number of auxiliary soldiers and civilians who support these 90,000 regular soldiers.
It is no exaggeration to say that in and around Chencang City in February, the number of soldiers was several times greater than the number of civilians.
Cao Zhen, with a group of close followers, stood on the towering city wall and looked down. What caught his eyes was an endless stretch of vast military camps.
The military camp where hundreds of thousands of people live seems to stretch from the distant sky all the way to the foot of Chencang City. How can it be described with just two words: spectacular.
Seeing this extremely spectacular scene, Cao Zhen's heart was filled with pride and ambition.
There is no man who would not be excited by this scene, not to mention that Cao Zhen is the one in charge of this 90,000-strong army.
Because of the excitement in his heart, Cao Zhen couldn't help but laugh heartily on top of the city.
His laughter quickly infected the close followers standing behind him, and many people laughed along with Cao Zhen.
Cao Zhen's close followers all know that the next enemy they have to face is Mi Yang - the one who has not been defeated since his debut and who is well-deserved to be the number one general in the world today.
Because of Mi Yang's glorious achievements, Wei Chen in Luoyang had a deep fear of Mi Yang. They were both Wei Chen, so why didn't Cao Zhen have a lot of cronies in the past?
However, after seeing the powerful strength displayed by their own side, this fear was gradually suppressed in their hearts.
This is human nature and the unique charm of this troubled world.
Combining the three armies to compete with the heroes of the world is the most romantic thing of this era.
Cao Zhen's hearty laughter did not last long, and he stopped soon.
But although Cao Zhen's laughter stopped, his eyes were still full of satisfaction.
This kind of comfort not only comes from his imagination about the future, but also comes from the relief he feels after relieved of a heavy burden in his heart.
Five months may not be a short time for ordinary people, but for Cao Zhen, who often leads troops in battles, these five months are not a long time.
Because a war often lasts for a year or even longer.
But the previous five months felt very long to Cao Zhen, due to his nervousness and apprehension.
The key reason why Cao Zhen planned to conquer the south was that the Nanzhong Rebellion would occur in Yizhou, and this rebellion would undoubtedly involve most of Yizhou's military strength, food and grass.
In this case, Mi Yang, who led the army stationed in Liangzhou, was equivalent to a lone army.
This is the best opportunity for the Wei army to defeat Mi Yang in recent years, and it is impossible for Cao Zhen to miss it.
However, this opportunity will slowly change as time goes by.
Especially after Cao Zhen received the news that Zhuge Liang led the Han army to a great victory in Nanzhong, this made Cao Zhen feel even more anxious.
What Cao Zhen was worried about was that before he was ready, Zhuge Liang had already led his army to put down the Nanzhong Rebellion.
If this is the case, Cao Zhen will probably have to go to Cao Wei's Ancestral Temple immediately to confess to Cao Cao.
But fortunately, what Cao Zhen was worried about did not happen.
Thanks to Yang Fu's "Strategy of Defeating Diplomatic Relations", the Han army's road to suppressing the rebellion in Nanzhong was full of triumphs, but it was not over yet.
But just at this moment, five months had passed, which made Cao Zhen feel a sense of joy that "God bless the Wei Dynasty" in his heart.
The roller coaster-like mood changes are not understandable to outsiders. Others don't know what kind of inner suffering Cao Wei's general suffered in the past days.
They only knew that Cao Zhen, who was standing in front of them at this moment, was full of high-spirited temperament, which made them full of confidence.
After staring at the military camp under the city for a long time, Cao Zhen asked Yang Fuda, who was standing at the front behind him: "Yishan, where is Bo Ji?"
Faced with Cao Zhen's sudden inquiry, Yang Fu, currently Cao Zhen's most trusted confidant, immediately replied: "According to the report sent by the Yongzhou governor before, he should arrive in Chencang today."
The Yongzhou governor mentioned by Yang Fu refers to Guo Huai, who had previously offered advice to Cao Zhen.
Guo Huai's advice that day put Cao Zhen in a good mood. Cao Zhen was a man who was not stingy with rewards. Soon after, he recommended Guo Huai to Cao Pi as the governor of Yongzhou.
With Cao Zhen's current status in Cao Pi's heart, his recommendation soon became a formal edict from Cao Pi.
Also because of Cao Zhen's kindness, Guo Huai rushed towards Chencang without stopping after receiving Cao Zhen's order.
Hearing Yang Fu say that Guo Huai would arrive today, Cao Zhen felt even better.
After he nodded, he said to Yang Fu: "Notify me immediately when Boji arrives."
After saying this, Cao Zhen reluctantly looked at the vast military camp under the city, and then walked down the city.
Two hours after Cao Zhen walked down the city, a fleet of fast riders leading a dozen personal guards arrived dozens of miles away from Chencang City.
This rider is none other than Guo Huai, who came here at the invitation.
But before Guo Huai could continue to approach Chencang City, he and his personal guards were intercepted by scouts sent from Chencang Camp.
Thanks to Guo Huai carrying a seal, the scouts were able to dispel their concerns and allow them to continue moving towards Chencang City.
This little episode didn't stop Guo Huai from spending too much time, but it made him have an idea in his mind.
According to military regulations, when there is no fighting, the maximum distance that the camp's scouts can explore is no more than ten miles.
However, when he was still dozens of miles away from Chencang City, he was intercepted by the scouts of Chencang Camp. This shows one thing, that is, the scale of Chencang Camp is now very large.
Guo Huai's prediction was correct. After he continued to move a certain distance towards Chencang City, he saw the deer and horse horns outside the camp.
The countless deer and horse antlers emitted bursts of dazzling light under the sunlight, which made Guo Huai feel a little dazzled for a moment.
But after being dazzled, a feeling of pride naturally emerged in Guo Huai's heart.
Under the influence of this sense of pride, Guo Huai couldn't help but speed up his march a little faster.
Because of the seal on his body, Guo Huai finally arrived at Chencang City after passing many checkpoints.
Yang Fu, who had been instructed by Cao Zhen, had been waiting under the city to prepare for Guo Huai's arrival after Cao Zhen left.
Guo Huai came from a well-known family in Taiyuan, and now he is the governor of Yongzhou. This status is worthy of Yang Fu's personal welcome.
One of Yang Fu and Guo Huai was the governor of Liangzhou, and the other was the governor of Yongzhou. It was natural that their jurisdictions bordered each other.
When Guo Huai saw that it was Yang Fu who was greeting him personally, he immediately stopped his galloping from the horse, then jumped off the horse and quickly came to Yang Fu and bowed to him:
"Mr. Yang is interested."
Facing Guo Huai's salute, Yang Fu smiled.
He likes to greet the children of aristocratic families the most.
After Yang Fu returned the favor to Guo Huai, he led Guo Huai to the chariot that had been waiting for him.
After Guo Huai boarded the chariot, Yang Fu also boarded the chariot under Guo Huai's somewhat surprised gaze.
Riding on the same chariot was a sign of closeness in this world.
It is obvious that Guo Huai's previous relationship with Yang Fu did not reach this point.
But after being surprised, Guo Huai quickly realized that this was Yang Fu's show of goodwill towards him.
After realizing Yang Fu's intention, Guo Huai put away his surprised gaze.
As one of Cao Zhen's most valued subjects today, Yang Fu would benefit from getting close to him without any harm.
After Yang Fu boarded the chariot, he first asked an official to enter the city to report Guo Huai's arrival to Cao Zhen, and then he asked the charioteer to drive the chariot toward the city.
When the chariot started moving, Guo Huai had the time to look at the Chencang City Gate, which was getting closer and closer to him.
Because the expanded city gate of Chencang was very tall, Guo Huai noticed the outer city of Chencang built by Cao Zhen as early as when he approached Chencang City. Cao Zhen spent countless manpower and material resources to build it.
However, seeing many things from a distance and seeing them up close are completely different.
When Guo Huai came last time, the outer city had not been completely built. He was anxious to see Cao Zhen, so he didn't pay much attention to the outer city being built in Chencang City.
But now that Guo Huai was getting closer and closer to the Chencang City Wall, he noticed that the outer city of Chencang City was much more majestic than he expected.
Guo Huai couldn't help but think of the Luoyang City he had seen last year.
Although the outer city of Chencang cannot be compared with the city wall of Luoyang City, it is definitely not much different.
At least it is on par with the world-famous Jiangling and Gongan cities.
Thinking of this, Guo Huai realized how much Cao Zhen valued Chen Cangcheng.
Yang Fu, who was sitting nearby, noticed Guo Huai's gaze, and explained to Guo Huai: "At the beginning, the general believed that if the bandit army invaded Guanzhong, they would definitely take Chencang as their main attack direction, so they did not hesitate to build the outer city vigorously."
After saying this, Yang Fu's tone suddenly became relaxed, and he continued to say with a smile: "But maybe after this southern expedition, Chencang City's strong defense will no longer be useful."
The ease in Yang Fu's tone was not concealed at all, and as Guo Huai was a smart man, he quickly understood the implication of Yang Fu's words.
Chencangcheng was not so much defending the Han army as it was Mi Yang.
Judging from the current strength displayed by the Wei army, if the Southern Expedition goes smoothly, Mi Yang may be gone, and Chencang City will of course lose its greatest role.
Although Guo Huai did not think that Mi Yang would be so easy to defeat, he was full of confidence in his army's southern expedition, so he also smiled and echoed:
"When Chencang City is useless, I'm afraid Yang Gongjiuqing will have hope."
Hearing Guo Huai say this, the smile on Yang Fu's face became even stronger.
Perhaps Cao Pi deliberately concealed the Wei army's plan to march south at the beginning, but the gathering of a hundred thousand troops was obviously not a small move, and the other ministers were certainly not blind.
So not long ago, many ministers guessed the major event that the court is doing today.
Seeing that the Southern Expedition could no longer be concealed, Cao Pi followed the trend and stopped concealing the matter, and took this opportunity to publicize Yang Fu's role in this important event.
If Mi Yang was really defeated in this battle, then the first credit was given to Cao Zhen, and the second credit was naturally given to Yang Fu who provided advice.
And given the fear and attention that Cao Wei has for Mi Yang, and Yang Fu's contribution to defeating Mi Yang with his design, the benefits he will gain from this matter will be huge.
Not to mention Jiu Qing, when the time comes, the position of the Three Dukes can also be expected.
When Guo Huai said this, he was clearly congratulating Yang Fu in advance.
Yang Fu seemed to be very grateful for Guo Huai's congratulations.
However, he did not forget the important thing he and Guo Huai were going to do in the same carriage.
After thinking for a while, Yang Fu revealed a piece of news to Guo Huai:
"One hundred thousand troops have gathered 90,000 outside Chencang City, and the remaining 10,000 troops will arrive soon.
After the 10,000-strong army arrives, with the nature of a great general, he will immediately lead his army to march south.
The general called Bo Ji here this time in order to determine the specific strategy for the southern expedition."
Hearing what Yang Fu said, Guo Huai's expression suddenly became serious.
After receiving Cao Zhen's call, he also guessed Cao Zhen's intentions.
But guessing is just guessing after all. Now that his guess was confirmed by Yang Fu, he immediately became cautious.
Guo Huai did not think that Yang Fu deliberately rode with him in the same carriage just to inform him of the news he was about to know.
As Guo Huai expected, Yang Fu then revealed his true intention.
"As far as I know, the general will definitely divide his troops during the southern expedition.
What the general wants to discuss today is the specific route of dividing the troops.
I have always admired Bo Ji, and I will urge Bo Ji to become the commander-in-chief of the Yibie Army at the meeting later.
It's just that Fu has a request, and I hope Bo Ji will grant it."
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