Cao Rui and his men were standing at the entrance of the palace. When he saw the chamberlain and his men running towards him, he hurriedly greeted him and asked urgently, "Is General Zhang okay?"
"Your Majesty, General Zhang has been unconscious."
The chamberlain quickly said to Cao Rui.
Cao Rui's eyes fell on the soft couch with a gauze tent behind it. He stepped forward and opened it to take a look, and a stench rushed towards him.
Zhang He was lying inside with his eyes closed tightly. He was already skin and bones, shaped like a skeleton. The white linen wrapped around his knees was leaking pus and exuding a putrid smell.
The calf was extremely swollen, black and shiny, as if it would burst at the slightest touch.
Cao Rui quickly put down the gauze curtain and covered his mouth, feeling his stomach churn.
The valet quickly shouted, "Hurry, carry it in quickly!"
The guards quickly carried the soft couch to the room prepared at the front.
Cao Rui suppressed his nausea, turned around and shouted, "Doctor!"
Several medical workers from the palace rushed over.
"Go and treat General Zhang quickly. You must be cured!"
Cao Rui ordered sharply.
No one noticed that his hands were shaking slightly.
Returning to the hall where he usually handles government affairs, Cao Rui's face was still a little pale.
Long Pass was lost, Wei Zhen was defeated and killed, Cao Zhen lost his troops and generals, and Zhang He was seriously injured...
In less than three months, a series of bad news hit the originally high-spirited young emperor.
The confidence built up by defeating Sun Quan was now gone.
"Here comes Sun Zi, the secretary of the Xuan Zhong Dynasty, and Liu Fang, the eunuch of the Zhong Shu Dynasty."
Cao Rui calmed down and ordered.
The predecessor of Zhongshu was Secretary. After Cao Pi became emperor, he changed the name of Secretary to Zhongshu, and established Zhongshu Ling and Zhongshu Supervisor.
Although the name has changed, his duties and powers have remained the same, and his powers have even increased. He is a key department that holds secrets and is the most important eyes and ears of the Wei Emperor.
At the same time, Zhongshu Ling and Zhongshu Jian were also the most trusted people by Emperor Wei.
Sun Zi and Liu Fang received the summons and hurriedly entered the palace to see him, "Your Majesty, Sun Zi (Liu Fang), is here to see you."
"My dear friends, there is no need to be polite. Please sit down first."
Cao Rui asked the two of them to take their seats, and then said, "The two dear friends must also know that General Zhang was seriously injured and fell into a coma. He was just sent back to Chang'an today by his followers."
"The situation in Longyou is now in a state of decay and is difficult to deal with. I can't sleep day and night, but I am helpless. Now the important ministers in the court are far away in Luoyang. Only two of them are my confidants and will never leave my side."
At this point, Cao Rui looked at Sun Zi again, with a look of shame on his face, "Sun Aiqing, you once told me that the land of Hanzhong is a heavenly prison, and you must have 150,000 or 60,000 elite soldiers to defeat Shu."
"You also advised me to stick to the dangerous pass and not to go south easily. These are really good words. I regret not listening to you, because the military capital will be destroyed and the army will be defeated. Now that I know my mistake, I hope you will not worry about it.
"
When Sun Zi heard this, he fell to the ground and said that he did not dare, "The Shu captives are very cunning and took advantage of the Wei Dynasty's unpreparedness. They just succeeded by luck. Your Majesty does not need to blame yourself."
Cao Rui sighed, "But now that the Shu captives are occupying Long Pass and peeking into the pass, I am really worried. What can I do?"
Sun Zi replied, "Your Majesty, the only way to enter Guanzhong from Hanzhong is Chencang. There is a general guarding it personally, so there is no need to worry. And from Longyou to Guanzhong, you must pass through Qian County."
"It can be said that Qian County is a more important place than Longguan. Therefore, General Zhang personally led his elite troops to cross the Longshan Trail and still left 20,000 troops to garrison Qian County."
"What we need to do now is to send good generals and heavy troops to Qian County as soon as possible and repair the city walls while the Shu captives have not yet established a stable foothold in Longyou and have no time to look eastward. As long as Qian County is not lost, the Shu captives in Longyou will not be able to enter Guanzhong.
"
When Cao Rui heard this, he showed a very unwilling look on his face, "In this case, doesn't it mean that Longyou is surrendered to the Shu captives?"
"Your Majesty, the Kwantung reinforcements that have arrived in Chang'an are only 60,000, and the total number of troops in Guanzhong is just over 100,000. In addition to garrisoning Chencang and Qian County, we also need to garrison a large army in New Taipei County to guard against the northwest.
To pacify the rebellious army."
"Based on this, the 100,000-strong army in Guanzhong is more than adequate in defense, but not aggressive enough. If there is another defeat, Guanzhong is in danger of losing control of the Wei Dynasty. In addition, the army's morale is low due to its new defeat and it needs to rest.
Only then can we fight again.”
"In my opinion, Your Majesty, it is better to be patient for a while and wait until the Hebei army arrives to decide whether to fight or defend, and then make plans."
Sun Zi said with a sincere expression.
Hearing these words, Cao Rui felt even more regretful.
If he hadn't been too greedy for merit and rushed to Wudu, causing the army to be defeated, he should have started to counterattack Longyou by now.
Unexpectedly, I made a mistake every step of the way.
But now even if we don't have enough troops to attack Longyou, we should be able to send out a large army to quell the peaceful mob, right?
If Anding County is in hand, even if Longguan is lost, at least we can attack Longyou via a detour from Anding County.
Wei is strong but Shu is weak. If the army is at a standstill, the Shu captives may not be able to hold on.
Thinking of this, Cao Rui asked again, "What about Anding County? Even if we can't help but kill the Shu captives in Longyou, then Anding County can always send a large army there first, right?"
This time, before Sun Zi could say anything, Liu Fang reminded him, "Your Majesty, when the army is going on a campaign, we must also pay attention to the food and fodder. Now the government in Guanzhong has very little food in stock, and it is no longer enough to support the army for a month."
"If the army goes on another expedition, people will eat horses' chews and waste more money. Therefore, I ask your majesty to order an order to urge Luoyang to deliver grain and grass as soon as possible. Otherwise, when reinforcements from Hebei arrive, there will be no grain available."
"What did you say? Not enough food and grass?" Cao Rui, who was planning to win the game, suddenly stood up as if a bucket of cold water was poured on him.
"How is it possible that there is not enough food and grass? There has been no war in Guanzhong for nearly ten years, and the water and soil are fertile. Isn't it enough to collect food for ten years to support the army for three months?"
Liu Fang remained silent.
Cao Rui had been upset by the continuous bad news these days. Now he heard that there was a shortage of food and grass in Guanzhong, and he was furious. "Liu Fang, tell me, why is there a shortage of food and grass?"
Even in the Central Plains, where the late emperor had launched a large-scale military campaign in the past few years, it could not prevent the price of grain from becoming increasingly cheap. That is why Sima Zhi proposed to restore the five-baht currency.
Not to mention that there has been no war in Guanzhong for a long time, how could there be no food?
"Your Majesty, in the past, all matters in Guanzhong were decided by General Anxi. How can I know the details?"
Liu Fang had no choice but to reply.
"General Anxi?"
Cao Rui was stunned.
Isn't that his uncle Xia Houmao?
Xia Houmao had a good relationship with Cao Pi, and he married Princess Qinghe, the eldest daughter of Emperor Wu, whose status was of great importance.
When Cao Rui heard what Liu Fang said, he immediately understood. Why didn't he know the details? He clearly didn't dare to say it.
After thinking about this, Cao Rui became even more angry.
"Someone, let Xiahou..."
Impulsively, Cao Rui opened his mouth and wanted to tell Xia Houmao to come over and confront him, but when he saw the two people below, he suddenly stopped talking.
If Xiahou Mao had made such mistakes before the personal expedition, Cao Rui would have killed him without any scruples.
It's just that he went on this trip personally to increase his prestige. Unexpectedly, he lost his land and lost his army. When he returns to Luoyang in the future, he is afraid that he will be underestimated by the officials.
In this case, it is the time when the support of the royal family is needed.
At this thought, he had no choice but to suppress his anger and nodded, "I already know about this, and I will ask General Anxi what is going on."