After several days of long journey, the Shu Han army finally returned safely to Xi County. Tired soldiers and baggage trucks all crowded in the open space outside the north gate waiting for arrangements. The neighing of horses and the noise of people were mixed together, and the city
Dust is everywhere outside.
It's a time of chaos.
The personal guards of the Prime Minister's Palace arrived quickly and cleared the roads in an orderly manner to maintain order.
The listless soldiers raised their spears on their shoulders, trying to make some space and make the chaotic scene more orderly.
Zhuge Liang rode a simple but not simple four-wheeled wooden cart from a distance and slowly entered the west county. Behind the four-wheeled cart, there were a group of Cao civil servants holding account books on the left, and on the right were Wei Yan, Deng Zhi, and Jiang Wei:
Wang Pingping is a general.
The moment tens of thousands of Shu soldiers saw Zhuge Liang, they immediately fell silent. All of them consciously put away their spread legs and straightened their backs. Those soldiers who were not in the queue were looking for their positions in a panic.
, causing another large-scale commotion at the scene.
As soon as they returned to the temporary Prime Minister's Mansion in the city, meritorious officers and secretaries at all levels were busy counting the casualties of the battle, pensions, food, horses, armor and weapons. The generals and deputy generals divided up to arrange the soldiers of each battalion, and
He yelled at the soldiers for their poor performance.
Civil officials with meritorious service and above and military generals with military generals and above followed Zhuge Liang to the hall and stood on the left and right.
"Prime Minister, General Guan Xing died of serious injuries and has gone..."
Zhuge Liang closed his eyes, put down the feather fan in his hand, let out a long sigh, and forced his thoughts from "weapons into the warehouse, grain and grass inventory and delivery, the dispatch and placement of soldiers in each battalion, and the things sent by the imperial court during the Northern Expedition, which were piled up like the Himalayas"
"Official Documents and Memorials" of the same height were extracted.
He ordered the soldiers to load the coffins of Guan Xing and Zhang Bao into vehicles and transport them to Chengdu. He frowned and thought about how to explain to the court and His Majesty the reasons for the failure of the Northern Expedition.
Every war launched by the Shu Han not only requires a legitimate reason before the war, so that His Majesty can obtain permission, but also the justice and rationality of the war must be instilled in the soldiers;
After the war, it is also necessary to summarize and take inventory of the war, tell the entire army what was gained and what was lost in this battle, reward those who have made meritorious deeds, and punish those who have made mistakes.
This is the complete process of a war.
It is also the duty of a commander: to give an explanation to the court and to the generals and soldiers under his command.
The kind of war that is started in a muddle-headed manner will not last long. As this kind of war is fought, you will find that there are fewer and fewer soldiers, and soon there will be no soldiers available.
Just like the warlords who dominated Xiliang for thirty years in the past, they ate large portions of meat, drank from large bowls, gathered in the city walls, and relied on force to show off their strength. They could start a war at will, or end a war at will, and they would follow the rules after the war.
Not carefully taking stock of gains and losses.
Their soldiers have no idea what and how much they have gained after a war, and what and how much they have lost.
Even their soldiers had no idea why they were fighting.
Such an army will be fine in good times, but in times of adversity, the whole army will collapse in an instant.
For this reason, Zhuge Liang needs to make a summary report on this Northern Expedition.
Fortunately, this time the Northern Expedition was generally considered a small victory, and the three counties of Liangzhou were captured. This was also the first time in the post-Liu Bei era that Ji Han captured Wei's territory.
However, Ji Han also lost two second-generation generals and nearly 10,000 soldiers were killed. Compared with the slogan of "capture Longyou and occupy Liangzhou" that he boasted before sending troops, the results of this battle were somewhat unsatisfactory.
It is foreseeable that there will be considerable criticism in the court. Guan Xing's death in battle is easier to deal with, but Zhang Bao's death in battle... is difficult to explain.
Zhang Bao is the son of Huanhou Zhang Fei, the brother of the two queens, and the brother-in-law of Liu Chan...
Zhuge Liang could even foresee the extent of political censure he would face. In order to give the court, that is, His Majesty and the Queen, a reasonable explanation, it was necessary to determine who were the most directly responsible persons and who should be responsible for the failure of the Weishui River.
There is no doubt that the heavy snowfall and the freezing of the Weishui River were the main culprits. This caused the Han army to instantly fall into the dilemma of fighting more with less, and directly led to the death of Generals Guan and Zhang.
In other words, God is the first responsible person, Zhuge Liang himself is the second responsible person, and Wei Yan is the third responsible person because he failed to stop the troops Xiahou Ba and Hao Zhao came to support.
Although it is indeed not easy to explain, Zhuge Liang actually doesn't feel much pressure in his heart.
Because Ma Su had won a great victory in Liangzhou, and because he had seen the dawn of victory in the Northern Expedition, his mood was not heavy at the moment, but on the contrary, he was a little agitated.
If the earthen pot is not broken outside the well, the general will inevitably die in battle.
It is beyond human control.
While his thoughts were swirling, Zhuge Liang went straight to the desk, spread out a piece of Caihou paper, and picked up his pen, but for a moment he didn't know what to write.
"I am a commoner, I work hard in Nanyang, I know how to farm, but I don't know how to fight..." Cross them all out! It's a bit too childish to write like this.
"The late emperor had not even started his business yet, but he had spent all his budget..." That's inappropriate, cross it out! This paragraph was already written in the apprenticeship list last time.
"The late emperor was deeply concerned about the Han Dynasty. The thieves did not stand alone and the royal family was not in peace, so he asked his ministers to fight against the thieves. With the wisdom of the late emperor, he measured the talents of his ministers. Therefore, he knew that when his ministers attack the thieves, the enemy is weak and the enemy is strong. However, if he does not attack the thieves,
The king's career has also perished; if he just sits there and awaits his death, who will attack him? That's why he entrusts his ministers with no doubts..."
Well, this section is fine, continue...
"On the day I was ordered, I couldn't sleep well, and I couldn't eat well. I thought about the northern expedition, and it was better to go south first. Therefore, I crossed Lu in the fifth month, penetrated deep into the barren area, and ate under the sun. I must not regret myself, and I can't live in peace in the capital of Shu for the sake of the king's career.
, so he risked the danger to fulfill the late emperor's will, but the people who discussed it said that this was not a plan. Today, the thieves are tired from the west and are busy in the east. The art of war has taken advantage of it. This is the time to advance. I would like to state what I have done as left
…”
"Since I arrived in Hanzhong, in the middle of two or three years, I lost Zhang Bao, Guan Xing, Yang Qun, Ma Yu, Yan Zhi, Ding Li, Bai Shou, Liu He, Deng Tong, etc., as well as Qu Chang, and more than seventy generals.
People, sudden generals, Wuqian, Jisou, Qingqiang, scattered cavalry, and more than a thousand armed cavalry..."
"It is difficult to overcome the situation. In the past, the first emperor defeated the Chu army. At this time, Cao Cao raised his hand and said that the world was settled. Then the first emperor connected with Wu and Yue in the east, captured Bashu in the west, raised his troops to march north, and Xiahou was appointed as the leader. This move failed.
Plan, and the Han affairs will be completed. Then Wu Geng breaks the alliance, Guan Yu is defeated, Zigui falls, Cao Pi proclaims himself emperor. Everything is like this, it is difficult to reverse it. I have dedicated myself to death and died; as for success or failure, it cannot be reversed by my wisdom.
See you..."
All the civil and military officials held their breaths, lowered their heads and watched Zhuge Liang splashing ink.
After a while, the memorial was completed in one go. Zhuge Liang wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at Yang Yi: "Attach this table and the battle report together and submit it to Chengdu as soon as possible."
Yang Yi stepped forward to collect the letter, put it into a drawstring bag, turned and left.
Zhuge Liang looked around at everyone and wanted to reward the soldiers. However, due to the small defeat on the Longyou battlefield, all the soldiers in the army had not achieved any military exploits and could not be awarded any awards.
In the end, he had no choice but to encourage everyone, waved his hand and ordered Chief Shi Feiyi to stay, while the others dispersed their accounts.
Everyone filed out, leaving only two people in the tent.
Seeing Zhuge Liang's frown, Fei Yi said cautiously: "Is the Prime Minister worried about Liangzhou?"
Zhuge Liang slightly nodded his head: "Young Chang has been promoted to the governor of Yongzhou, the general who conquers the west, the Marquis of Wuxiang, and the captain who protects the Qiang, and has the full power to supervise the Qiang affairs. Last time, he declined the title of 'King of Liang' proposed by Wen Wei. Now that he has achieved such great success, he is already unbeatable, so how can we not make people worry?"
"Wen Wei, can you do some magic?"
Fei Yi pondered for a moment: "Ma Su has lived in the Qiang land for a long time and has a high reputation. He has more than 100,000 Qiang soldiers under his command. Now he has sent troops to Liangzhou, which is powerful in the world. Although he is still as deferential to the court as he was yesterday, he can make decisions on his own when issuing conquests. , it is like an independent kingdom, and the Prime Minister cannot ignore it."
"In order to prevent him from losing his tail in the future, for the sake of my subordinates, it is better to call him back to Shu, give him a high salary and support, and not let him command the army again; or he can be placed under the prime minister to lead a partial army. As for the defense of Liangzhou, it can be done separately Recruit other generals to station..."
"Wen Wei!" Zhuge Liang interrupted Fei Yi with a serious expression and looked directly at the latter: "The great cause of the Northern Expedition of the Han Dynasty has not been accomplished this season. Why do you cut off your arm and doubt the words of a good general?"
"Since you first said this, let me just listen to it and don't care about it. Don't mention it again in the future!"
"Back off."
Fei Yi's heart trembled, and Nono resigned silently.
In an empty room,
Zhuge Liang fell into deep thought.
…
At the same time, Liangzhou was in prison.
Fei Yao, who was leaning against the cell wall, looked at the smiling man outside through the cell bars, with a decadent look on his face and a gloomy tone:
