While Ma Su was fighting wits and courage with hundreds of civil and military officials in the court, in the Dayuan Kingdom in the Western Region three thousand miles away, the cavalry general Sima was preparing to attack the Parthian Empire three thousand miles to the west of Dayuan Kingdom.
In the three thousand miles between the Western Region and the Parthian Empire, there are many scattered small countries. If you want to attack Parthia, you must first settle these small countries.
Sima Yi is fifty-seven years old this year. At this age, he has already lost half his life by fighting in such a far place. If he fights from the Western Regions to Anxi, he feels that the other half of his life will be handed down on the way.
When he thought about attacking Rome after attacking Parthia, Sima Yi kept having a crazy idea in his mind: Why attack Rome in Parthia? He might as well stay in the small country in the Western Regions and become king. The women here are fair-skinned, beautiful and have long legs.
, his blue eyes are as charming as amber. While his old bones are still dry, it would be nice to reopen his family here and spread out its branches.
More than four months have passed since he launched his army in July. During this period, Sima Yi traveled to the countries in the Western Regions and traveled thousands of miles. There is no thorn in the entire Western Regions now. The first few countries that danced happily,
Either the city was massacred by him, or the country was massacred by him.
However, this former mainstay of the Wei Dynasty, one of the three heroes in the late Han Dynasty, was now stooped, with a sickly look on his face, and he looked very bad.
But the physical exhaustion was only secondary. The mental torture made Sima Yi intolerable.
He, Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun are known as the three heroes in the world, but many people think that he is not worthy to be ranked with the latter two. Zhuge Liang helped the weak Shu Han rise and dominate the world with his unparalleled personal ability; Lu Xun had the ability to fight
He has an impressive record of victory and annihilation in every battle; only he, Sima Yi, has all the records combined to attack Mengda from a thousand miles away. Even if he adds the record of pacifying the countries in the Western Region, it is far inferior to the other two perverts.
There is another reason why his reputation was damaged. He was defeated by Ma Su, and the Wei Empire he tried to protect was easily wiped out by Ma Su.
Therefore, after the world was unified, criticism against him suddenly increased. Those Wei officials and soldiers who had resentment for the fall of Wei put all the blame for the fall of Wei on his head, saying that he supported the army and respected himself.
Failure to return to rescue the army led to the rapid defeat of the Wei Dynasty.
All in all, all the criticism can be summed up in one sentence: Is Sima Yi worthy of being ranked among the three heroes with Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun? He is not worthy of carrying shoes. A guy who even had to attack Tian Yu, the man who was guarding the isolated city for two years, has the right to be one of the three heroes.
One of the heroes?
Sima Yi considered himself an open-minded person and was rarely affected by outside public opinion, but this criticism still bothered him.
Those who criticize him, if they know anything about marching and fighting, they will know that Sima Yi is by no means a parallel import. Perhaps he is not as strict as Zhuge Liang in terms of formation and military discipline; in terms of patiently looking for opportunities to fight and giving the enemy a fatal blow, he
Not as accurate as Lu Xun.
But, can these two defeat him?
Can't win!
Then why doesn't he deserve to be called the Three Heroes?
In fact, criticism from ordinary people did not make Sima Yi so angry. What made him so angry was the content of the edict read by the envoy from Chang'an.
The general meaning of this edict from the general is as follows:
[The countries in the Western Region have been pacified for two months. Why don't you, Sima Yi, go and destroy the Parthian Empire? When you went out for the expedition, you patted your chest and promised that Rome would never be returned until it was broken. Why are you lingering in the Western Region now?
Don't talk nonsense about the army needing to recuperate and food and grass need to be raised. I, a general, have also led troops, you can't fool me! What does it take to raise food and grass to support a war? If there is not enough food and grass, just rob it! Whoever you arrest, rob him, hurry up
Take your army to the west and kill Emperor Anxi!
Lu Xun, who sent troops at the same time as you, has already destroyed Liaodong Gongsun Yuan, and the three Koreans have now reached Japan. It is estimated that Japan can be defeated within half a year at most. Zhongda, what is your current record in this expedition?
Are you in no hurry at all when you are ranked first from the bottom? Is it true that people all over the world say that you "exaggerate"?
By the way, there is one more thing I want to tell you. In August, I was stabbed in the chest and almost died. It took several days to recover from the injury. I suspect that the murderer Wang Ping was your eldest son Sima.
It was ordered by our master, but there is no evidence for the time being, so I have not pursued it to the end. You are away on an expedition and just concentrate on the war. Don’t worry about things at home. I will take care of your wife, children, and children.】
Sima Yi accepted the order with an expressionless face, and after arranging the angels to go down to rest, he held the edict in his hand and his face instantly became gloomy.
"The general is threatening the general with family and friends, and using words to urge the general to go out for the expedition. However, the general has been ill recently and is not suitable for the expedition. What should we do?" Deputy General Niu Jin said worriedly at the side.
Seeing Niu Jin so worried, Sima Yi quickly calmed down, shook his head and sighed: "What else can we do? Let's go to war."
"General, if you weren't involved by Zhuge Liang in the first place, how could Ma Di be able to accomplish the task of destroying Wei? He was originally just a subordinate general under Zhuge Liang's command, and he got through bad luck and rose to prominence. Now he dominates the general and orders everything around him. He doesn't care about you.
I am in trouble, and I have repeatedly urged you to go out for battle. This is because I want you to die, general!"
Sima Yi looked at Niu Jin and said seriously: "The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. There is nothing to say. What he said is correct. I am indeed worthy of my reputation. In addition, Ma Di is also really capable. He is not as unbearable as you say."
Niu Jin said angrily: "General, why don't we quietly lead the army back to Chang'an and kill that Ma Su! Our army's lieutenants are all Wei people. We should work together to defeat Jin!"
Sima Yi slowly sat back on the blanket and recalled every detail of the five years he fought with Zhuge Liang. At that time, Wei was strong and Shu was weak. The first few times he faced the Northern Expedition of the Shu army, he dealt with it calmly and did not let Zhuge Liang take advantage.
.
But since Zhuge Liang and Ma Di separated their forces, things suddenly changed. Every time, Zhuge Liang was in front to contain him, and Ma Di led a side force to attack in another place. The Wei soldiers hated Ma Di with itch, but they
Nothing can be done.
In the end, Ma Su relied on Liu Bang's method of dealing with Xiang Yu during the Chu-Han conflict and destroyed the Wei state.
Looking back now, the anger in Sima Yi's heart still lingers for a long time.
Niu Jin gritted his teeth and said, "General, when we confronted Zhuge Liang at Wuzhangyuan in Guanzhong, Ma Di took the opportunity to sneak attack Liangzhou; when we went to Longyou to resist Zhuge Liang, Ma Di took the opportunity to sneak attack Guanzhong; when we confronted Zhuge Liang in Weinan, Ma Di took the opportunity to encourage Wuhu to go south.
, captured Bingzhou and Youzhou; while we were defending Zhuge Liang in Chang'an, he quietly sneaked down the river and attacked Luoyang. I despise such rat-like behavior!"
Sima Yi sighed quietly, "Niu Jin, remember, sneak attack is also a skill. Your eyes were covered by anger, and you only saw the side of Ma Su who was used to sneak attacks, and did not see Ma Su's other strengths. In fact, he
He knows everything about astronomy and geography, and is excellent in military law and strategy. Have you forgotten about counterintuitive schemes and the victory over Zhang He's seven formations in a row? This person must not be underestimated. From now on, don't talk about urging troops to march to Beijing again. I'm afraid we
As soon as we set off here, hundreds of thousands of troops over there are already waiting for us to fall into our trap."
Hearing this, Niu Jin was stunned for a moment, and after a while he said in a low voice: "I understand, General."
"Well, get ready and set off in three days."
"But General, your body?"
"Three days, it's almost done. My whole family is in their hands, so how dare I not set off?"
The two generals were talking and fell silent, each thinking.
Chang'an City, Chariot and Cavalry General's Mansion,
Master Sima listened with a gloomy face to the latest information about the assassination case that his cronies had learned about, without saying a word. His younger brother Sima Zhao clenched his hands tightly, sweating involuntarily.
Almost, my eldest brother was almost exposed.
Unlike Fei Yi and Yang Yi, they were both old and important ministers of the Shu Han Dynasty. Without evidence, Ma Di could not make a heavy move, and in the end he could only send him to the border areas to make matters worse. Jia Chong was just a small city guard, how could Ma Di want to torture him?
Just how to torture.
As long as the jailer responsible for torture in the court was more aggressive, Jia Chong would never be able to withstand it. Sima Zhao knew very well that Jia Chong was a thoughtful and clever person, but his bones were not that hard.
But the strange thing is that just when Jia Chong was about to lose his ability, Ma Di suddenly stopped and stopped investigating.
This made Sima Zhao confused, but at the same time he was secretly glad to have escaped disaster.
"Brother, this is really good news."
Master Sima was as calm as ever. He waved his followers to retreat, frowned slightly, and thought about the whole thing. He vaguely felt that there was something fishy about this matter from beginning to end, and he himself was also a victim.
He and Fei Yi had indeed interacted once before, and the two parties had not established any relationship beyond colleagues. About a year ago, Fei Yi visited him again and said that the former Han general Wang Ping had an old grudge with Ma Su.
If you intend to assassinate Ma Su, you need some money and connections so that you can escape after the assassination. I hope Master Sima can give you some help.
Master Sima sternly rejected Fei Yi on the spot, but after thinking about it later, he still asked Jia Chong to send him 10,000 gold.
Of course, Master Sima did not ask Jia Chong to say that the money was due to his instructions. He only asked Jia Chong to use Fei Yi as an excuse to ask for an official post and recommend him for the post of Captain of the North Gate, so he gave him ten thousand gold.
In this way, Fei Yi also had money and connections (when he wanted to run away, he would think of Jia Chong, who was the guard), and Sima Shi had completely picked himself out. Once the matter was defeated, all the clues came to Fei Yi
It's broken there.
Although this operation was definitely not concealed from Fei Yi's guess, the guess could not be used as evidence. Even if the incident failed and Fei Yi was arrested, as long as Jia Chong was killed, he would not be implicated.
Originally, Master Sima felt that this plan was flawless. No matter whether it succeeded or not, he would sit firmly on the Diaoyutai and watch the changes.
But unexpectedly, after the assassination failed and Fei Yi and Yang Yi were dispatched to the border at the speed of light, things suddenly took a turn - without Fei Yi confessing, Jia Chong was arrested without warning.
Master Sima still can't figure out how Jia Chong was exposed. According to the information sent after Jia Chong was released from prison, General Ma Di identified his Master Sima as the mastermind from the beginning, and did not bother Jia Chong too much.
As soon as she opened her mouth, she went straight to the point and aimed at him.
This made Master Sima a little panicked. He kept looking in the mirror these days to see if he had the words "I am the mastermind behind the scenes" written on his face. Otherwise, how could Ma Su do this without getting any effective information?
Has he been accurately identified among all the officials?
Could it be relying on intuition?
this is too scary.
Master Sima shuddered a little.
With his wisdom, he knew that this was not the time to attack Ma Su. He was just doing a small favor for Fei Yi. He did not expect that the consequences would be so horrific.
It was really close that the Sima family was wiped out because of him.
After calming down, the two brothers looked at each other and Sima Zhao said doubtfully: "Brother, I think there is something fishy about this matter!"
"What do you think is strange?"
"Obviously, Fei Yi and Wang Ping are not ready for the assassination. They have no chance to make a move. Wang Ping cannot directly rush into the general's mansion and kill Ma Su. They can only wait for the opportunity. Ma Su does not wear soft armor.
It’s time to let down your guard. By coincidence, at that time, Ma Di announced a banquet to celebrate the victory of the Eastern Expedition. As far as I know, Ma Di did not hold a banquet when he captured Liangzhou, Longyou, or even destroyed Wei and Wu.
A banquet to celebrate. Isn’t it strange that such a big banquet was held for a mere small victory in the Eastern Expedition?”
"I suspect that the general is fishing!"
Master Sima's eyes lit up, "Brother Zhao, go on, what else did you discover?"
"substitute!"
Sima Zhao analyzed carefully: "I wonder if my brother noticed that the general behaved quite abnormally at the banquet that day?"
Master Sima did not speak, but looked directly at Sima Zhao, gesturing for him to continue speaking.
"First of all, he will not refuse anyone who comes, and he will drink until he is drunk. This is one of them. After being stabbed in the heart, the general returned to normal in just a few days. This is the second of it. According to the imperial doctor and the ministers of the internal affairs who were present, the general
After so much blood was lost that day, it is a miracle that he survived. It is absolutely impossible to recover in just a few days. This is the third reason."
Sima Zhao gestured with his hands to shape the shape of the washbasin and added: "With these three oddities, the person sitting high at the banquet must be a substitute. He may have been dead for a long time."
"Brother Zhao, that's good! What else did you discover?"
"No, no more."
Master Sima nodded and summarized Sima Zhao's analysis, "Also, Ma Su suddenly stopped, not because we were lucky, but because he got what he wanted from another line."
"Which line?"
"The Western Regions." Sima Shi said quietly, "Brother Zhao, don't forget that my father is still fighting in the Western Regions. Since the Western Regions were pacified, my father has stopped moving forward. After the assassination incident, Ma Di must have used this as a condition to send a letter to threaten his father.
Rest in peace in the Western Expedition. If it goes as expected, my father must have sent his army westward by now."
Hearing this, Sima Zhao immediately fell to the ground in admiration.
"Brother, have you guessed this?"
"Well, when it comes to scoring, sometimes we can guess it, sometimes we can't."
