In September of the seventh year of Zhang Wu, Zhuge Liang led the main force back to Nanyang.
In the battle of Ziyun Mountain, he defeated Cao's army at the cost of only losing thousands of men, captured more than 10,000 people, and killed 20,000 people. It was a great victory.
Carrying the power of this victory, the army returned to Nanyang in a mighty manner.
For a time, the voices in the southern Han Dynasty court that originally questioned Zhuge Liang were swept away, and the gossip in the court almost disappeared.
Countless officials expressed their congratulations to Liu Chan, and no one ever accused Zhuge Liang of not knowing military affairs.
Zhuge Liang asked Zhang Fei, Gan Ning, Lu Chang, Wu Yi and other generals to take the lead in stationing in Wancheng and other places. He, Fazheng, Pangtong, Xu Shu and others returned to Xiangyang to report to Liu Chan.
In late September, the group arrived in Xiangyang.
Liu Chan took the civil and military ministers out of the city to greet Zhuge Liang at the pier in person to celebrate Zhuge Liang's victorious return.
After receiving the news, people all over the city came in droves and crowded the entire dock.
Surrounded by everyone, Zhuge Liang enjoyed star-like treatment and was escorted all the way to the Xiangyang Palace.
It wasn't until they entered the palace that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The people were so enthusiastic. Knowing that Zhuge Liang had won the battle, the whole city was shocked.
Wherever we passed along the way, we could say there were huge crowds of people, cheers were endless, and the whole market was boiling. Even if there were troops standing guard, they could not stop the enthusiasm of the people.
Everyone came to the palace. Liu Chan sat on the throne and asked everyone to sit down. Many ministers in the hall had smiles on their faces and were very happy.
Liu Chan smiled and said: "With this great victory, the Prime Minister has greatly increased his military power. I'm afraid it won't be long before we can start the Northern Expedition again."
"Um."
Zhuge Liang nodded with a smile and said: "Your Majesty, I will never forget the late emperor's long-cherished wish. The road to the Northern Expedition is long, but we still have to forge ahead."
Liu Chan added: "But now that we have withdrawn our troops and returned to Nanyang, shouldn't we recuperate and recuperate? National affairs still require the prime minister."
Zhuge Liang said: "I do need to recuperate, but I plan to go to Wancheng to prepare for military affairs."
"oh?"
Liu Chan was surprised and said: "Does the Prime Minister plan to start the Northern Expedition immediately next year?"
"no."
Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "The late emperor entrusted me with a great undertaking, and I cannot slack off. Therefore, I will actively organize the troops in Nanyang and go north to Henan again at any time."
Liu Chan worriedly said: "But the government of the country still needs the assistance of the prime minister."
Zhuge Liang was not around during this period, and Liu Chan was one head bigger than the other. Although there were Ma Liang, Jiang Wan, Yang Yi, Yin Mo, Fei Yi, Dong Yun, Huo Yi and others helping to deal with it, it was still not like before.
He doesn't need to take care of it.
In the past, when Zhuge Liang was here, not only were all national affairs in order, but also the appointment of officials in various places and the deployment of troops and horses were all handled by Zhuge Liang, without Liu Chan's consideration.
As a result, once Zhuge Liang left, Liu Chan realized how troublesome it was to manage a country.
It ranges from appointment arrangements for officials, tax collection of grain and grass in various places, land distribution for farmers, review of death row inmates across the country, uploading and processing of intelligence from various places, to warehouse construction, road maintenance, grain sowing, and even officials who have disputes over certain things, they all come to him.
solve.
For a moment, Liu Chan's scalp was numb, and he was looking forward to the stars and the moon, waiting for Zhuge Liang to come back. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang was going to Nanyang again, so what would he do?
Zhuge Liang had no choice but to reassure him: "There are other important ministers in the imperial court. Ji Chang, Gong Yan, Wei Gong, Wen Wei, etc. are all talented. If there is anything in the court that your majesty cannot decide, you can naturally ask them."
"But they can't make immediate decisions like the prime minister."
Liu Chan found a reason and said: "Besides, sometimes they have different opinions, and I don't know who to listen to. Only the decision made by the Prime Minister is convincing."
"this"
Zhuge Liang frowned. Shen Chen often advised him not to work too hard and just concentrate on doing one thing. Don't always think about doing all the big and small things.
After Liu Bei's death, the main force in Nanyang in the middle was left without a commander, so Shen Chen recommended him to take on this responsibility.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang felt that if he was asked to lead the Northern Expedition in person, he would naturally have to be in the military camp all the time. Otherwise, if he could not train his soldiers and pay close attention to military affairs, wouldn't it become a situation where the generals do not know the soldiers and the soldiers do not know the generals?
But now Liu Chan hopes that he can handle government affairs, which is a bit contradictory.
There was a moment of hesitation.
Liu Chan came up with a genius idea and said with a smile: "Anyway, Wancheng is not far from Xiangyang. Why don't the Prime Minister set up the Prime Minister's Palace in Wancheng and send all the government affairs to Wancheng? Wouldn't the Prime Minister be able to make decisions?"
This is indeed a good idea, because Wancheng and Han River are connected by the Tiao River. It only takes two days to get from Wancheng to Xiangyang by boat, and it takes four or five days to get to Wancheng from Xiangyang.
What's more important is that the two places are connected by carrier pigeon bases. If there is an emergency, the message can be delivered quickly.
But Zhuge Liang also had to take care of military affairs and government affairs, so he really treated him as an iron man.
Next, Zhou Buyi, who was transferred from Nanyang to the Central Government this year as a servant, was the first to stand up and object: "Your Majesty, Master Shijun once said that if you are not in your position, you will not seek political advice. The prime minister is also a human being. In the past, when he dealt with national affairs, he just I am already very tired, and now I have to take charge of military affairs and the Northern Expedition to Cao Wei. It is difficult to do two things at once."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I think that the Prime Minister has to handle military affairs and government affairs at the same time. It is inevitable that there will be mistakes and omissions. This is not a good thing for both military affairs and government affairs. Therefore, I think it should be separated and government affairs should be left alone." In Xiangyang."
"I also think this is true. Although the Prime Minister can do everything well, if everything is handled by the Prime Minister, what else will the ministers do? Your Majesty should still trust the other ministers."
"I second the proposal."
"I also second the proposal."
For a time, many ministers objected to Liu Chan leaving government affairs to Zhuge Liang.
It's not that they doubted Zhuge Liang, or were afraid that he would seize control of both the military and political affairs, become a powerful official, and usurp the Han Dynasty like Cao Pi.
Under the current system, if Zhuge Liang did this, he would probably be eliminated immediately.
Guan Yu is still there, Zhang Fei is still there, and even Zhuge Liang himself often talks about being loyal to the Han and loyal to the late emperor. There will definitely be no good consequences for him doing this.
Therefore, no one is afraid that Zhuge Liang has great power.
The main reason is that once Zhuge Liang leaves, the southern court will be emptied of power.
It turned out that these ministers could only listen to Zhuge Liang, but now they can take charge of political affairs themselves. This is naturally good news.
Zhuge Liang himself didn't want to be so tired.
Historically, he had no choice, but now that there are so many talented people in the south, there is no need to catch them all by himself.
So he also said: "Your Majesty, what you all said is true. Now that the deputy prime ministers of the three provinces have returned to the court, if I want to make an expedition to the north, all three prime ministers can share the worries of your majesty, so why should I be here?"
"Okay then."
Liu Chan reluctantly agreed, but his expression was obviously very disappointed. It seemed that the happy days of not having to do anything and just lie down every day were gone forever.
Ma Liang said: "Prime Minister, now that the army has withdrawn and returned to Nanyang, Cao Jun will definitely not give up. What if they launch troops against Huainan Pass?"
Zhuge Liang said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, I have a countermeasure. Please relax about this matter."
As he spoke, he looked toward the east with deep eyes.
Cao Wei wanted to take advantage of the death of Liu Bei and the whole country was in mourning to seize the Huainan Pass, but he would not give him such a good opportunity.
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In September of the seventh year of Emperor Zhangwu of Han Dynasty and the eighth year of Emperor Huangchu of Wei Dynasty, Wei Emperor Cao Pi vomited blood and fainted in the Luoyang Palace.
He woke up slowly the next day and was bedridden. His physical condition was not optimistic.
In the West Palace, incense was burning in the palace. Cao Pi had just drank the decoction. He was very weak and his face was extremely pale.
Below, Chen Qun, Dong Zhao, Liu Ye, Jiang Ji and other major advisers accompanied him.
"Is Zhongda back?"
Cao Pi turned his head and asked with difficulty.
Chen Qun replied: "Already on the way."
"When Zhongda comes back, ask him to come see me immediately."
"yes."
"Pass the imperial edict again and escort Xiahou Yuan back to Luoyang, where he will be interrogated and beheaded immediately."
"His Majesty."
Dong Zhao was shocked and said: "No, the hussar general is an important minister of the country, and he must not destroy himself."
Cao Yong was furious and roared, but felt chest tightness. He coughed violently: "What kind of ministers, cough, cough, and harm me to the whole army of the Dawei army.
"Your Majesty"
Dong Zhao wanted to say something, but Jiang Ji pulled him and signaled to Cao Pi that he was angry now and should stop talking.
Seeing this situation, Dong Zhao had no choice but to keep silent.
It was Chen Qun who persuaded him: "Your Majesty, let's wait until Zhongda comes back to discuss this matter. After all, General Hussar has great prestige in the army. If he is killed now, the morale of the army will be damaged."
"Cough cough cough cough."
Cao Pi's mouth was bleeding, and he waved his hands with difficulty and said, "That's it, we'll talk about it when Zhongda comes back."
After that, let everyone go down. He feels too uncomfortable now and just wants to have a good rest.
Two days later, Sima Yi came back exhausted.
Before entering the palace, Chen Qun and others told Cao Pi that he planned to kill Xia Houyuan.
Sima Yi expressed his understanding and then went to see Cao Pi.
The situation over there was very bad for Cao Pi. He was seriously ill in bed. When he saw Cao Pi coming over, he still forced himself on his sick body to ask about the situation.
Sima Yi told Cao Pi what happened at that time. After hearing this, Cao Pi was furious and said, "Xia Houyuan deserves to be killed!"
"Of course he deserves to be killed."
Sima Yi said calmly.
Next to them, Chen Qun, Dong Zhao, Jiang Ji, Liu Ye and others were shocked.
They never expected that Sima Yi would obey Cao Pi's wishes, and looked at him in shock for a while.
Cao Pi said: "Zhongda also thinks Xia Houyuan deserves to be killed?"
"Yes."
Sima Yi cupped his hands and said, "I also tried to persuade the general, but he didn't listen."
"good."
Cao Pi nodded: "Then take Xia Houyuan back to Luoyang and kill him."
Sima Yi then said: "In addition to General Hussar, I also ask your Majesty to kill Xia Houshang, Jia Kui, Guo Huai, Wang Ling, Chen Qun, Dong Zhao, Jiang Ji, Liu Ye, etc."
Chen Qun and others over there were even more shocked, but they quickly understood after a moment and fell silent for a while.
"Why?"
Cao Pi was puzzled.
Sima Yi said: "These people think they can attack, so they are naturally guilty of the same crime as the Hussar General. They underestimated Zhuge Liang. Is it possible that the Hussar General is the only one who bears the blame?"
As soon as these words came out, Cao Pi froze for a moment.
Because even he thinks it's okay to pursue him, doesn't that mean he's also guilty?
After all, no one expected that Zhuge Liang's military ability was so powerful that he could command tens of thousands of troops on the spot and resist Cao's attack until Zhang Fei's reinforcements arrived.
Therefore, this matter was not just a matter of Xia Houyuan's misjudgment, but everyone's misjudgment. It would indeed be unfair to Xia Houyuan if only Xia Houyuan was held responsible.
Thinking of this, Cao Pi could only say: "Forget it then, but the death penalty can be avoided. Xia Houyuan will be demoted to a commoner, and Xia Houshang will be temporarily ordered to lead the front line. Later, I will select suitable candidates to go to the south."
"Your Majesty is wise."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and bowed their hands to Cao Pi.
Cao Pi coughed violently and covered his mouth with a handkerchief. After a while, he said again: "Now that we are defeated, can we still try to seize Huainan Guanzhong?"
Sima Yi said: "Your Majesty, it's the right time."
"Why?"
"Your Majesty, think about it. Liu Bei has recently lost his life, and the power of the southern country has declined greatly. They have no intention of fighting us decisively. What will they think if we are not defeated?"
What would they think?
Cao Pi thought deeply: "If it were me, I would be worried that we would take the opportunity to concentrate our troops to attack Huainan or Guanzhong."
"good."
Sima Yi nodded and said: "But now that we are newly defeated, the enemy will definitely not expect that we will send troops soon, so this is the time when they relax their vigilance the most."
"Cough cough cough"
Cao Pi coughed a few times, breathed heavily, and said softly: "That makes sense."
Sima Yi said: "I heard that Guan Yu has returned to Huainan, and the latest news is that the grain harvest this autumn is about to be harvested. If we take advantage of this time to attack Huainan, and let Sun Quan rebel in the rear, Yangzhou will not be able to harvest grain.
Then the front line must be short of military supplies, and we may be able to defeat Guan Yu in a short time and regain the land of Huainan."
"It's just that Zhuge Liang has returned his troops to Nanyang. What if he takes the waterway to rescue from Nanyang?"
Cao Pi asked again.
They had discussed this issue before.
It was originally planned that if Nanyang soldiers and horses went to rescue Huainan, their main force in Henan would take the opportunity to invade.
But now that Henan has been defeated, it is still unknown whether the main force on our side can invade.
So Cao Pi was very worried.
Only Sima Yi said: "Please transfer the Youzhou cavalry to Henan."
"Youzhou Cavalry?"
Cao Pi frowned: "Tian Yu, Yan Rou and others do still have a lot of cavalry in their hands, but they are only used to guard the border. Xianbei Wuhuan has not been completely defeated. If all the border soldiers and horses are transferred, how can You
Isn’t the state?”
Sima Yi said: "Soldiers need to be quick. This battle is a surprise attack on Huainan. The troops and horses are thousands of miles away. The purpose is to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and strike decisively to make them unable to defend themselves. If Guan Yu can be captured by then, even if there is chaos in the north,
, and can immediately go back to resist.”
"Um"
Cao Pi pondered for a long time, and finally nodded and said: "Okay, then listen to Zhongda's words, mobilize troops from the northern border and go south, and then send someone to send a message to Sun Quan that we are about to attack Huainan and let him prepare. This is what he has done
This is his last chance. If he cannot seize the opportunity, he will never be able to turn around."
"only."
Everyone should give it a thumbs up.
The plan to seize Huainan is finally about to begin.