In the ninth year of Chu Li, Wei Yan led his troops, and under the command of Fazheng, the troops came out of Ziwu Valley!
In order to avoid Longyou's sneak attack - although Liu Bei's situation was unclear, Guan Yu should have no intention of fighting, but Ma Chao was hard to tell... so Zhao Yun still stayed in Hanzhong.
Wei Yan was very excited and wanted to lead his troops into battle, but Zhao Yun made a special agreement with him to make him obey Fa Zheng's command.
It is not easy to pass through the Ziwu Valley. Even if the journey is safe, even if it is an elite army, it will take six or seven days to pass through with light equipment...
Historically, when Cao Zhen was conquering Shu, he wanted to go to Ziwu Valley out of the blue. However, after a heavy rain, he lingered in the valley for more than a month. In the end, he didn't even touch the edge of the Shu army, so he ran out of ammunition and food, and could only rush.
retreat.
Both the Chu and Han armies had many scouts here, and the terrain was not suitable for an attack. It could not be passed in a day or two. In fact, there were not many surprise troops.
Moreover, it was not yet the first lunar month, so Fazheng felt a little uneasy - if there was a bad spring or a heavy snowstorm, he would be in trouble this time!
Even if they have been carefully dealt with, once bad weather occurs, the Chu army can only achieve an "orderly withdrawal."
However, there was not much precipitation in Chang'an and Hanzhong in the winter. Finally, on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the Chu army fought with a small group of Han troops.
However, the Han army now had no intention of fighting. Instead of facing any major obstacles, Fazheng was able to retreat a lot. After that, they continued to advance. On the sixth day of the lunar month, they discovered that there was already a Zheng army camp ahead!
Although the road was rugged and the artillery was still being transported, the advantage of the Chu army's crossbows was still fully demonstrated.
After learning that the Chu army was advancing, Sima Yi specially arranged for Xu Huang to lead 10,000 troops in an effort to block Ziwukou...
The narrow terrain greatly restricted the advantage of the Chu army, especially the rugged terrain, which made the artillery transportation of the most powerful weapon extremely slow.
Although the Chu army often had the upper hand in battles, it was difficult to turn its advantage into a decisive victory!
Of course, if it continues, Fazheng is confident that he will be able to force his way out of Ziwukou in half a month.
However, only two days after the battle, Zhong Yao came to the Chu army's formation as an envoy...
Fazheng naturally treated Zhong Yao with courtesy and invited him into the camp first - Fazheng himself was from Fufeng, Guanzhong. Zhong Yao was more than 20 years older than him and had been an official in the "Chaozhong" in his early years. Dong Zhuo threatened
When the emperor moved west to Chang'an, Zhong Yao was also in the court, and Natural Law recognized Zhong Yao.
"Who is Mr. Zhong going to be the envoy this time?" Although Fazheng didn't mean to be careless, he didn't do so much in the camp. He didn't even prepare tea. He asked bluntly as soon as they met.
After all, Zhong Yao is a court official, but he is also Cao Cao's "spokesperson". At the same time, he is cooperating with Zheng Hou this time. Who is the messenger? It's really hard to say!
"Long time no see, Xiaozhi is still so righteous and eloquent." Zhong Yao, who was already in his fifties, smiled at the unkind Fazheng.
Fazheng said nothing, still staring at Zhong Yao in front of him.
Fa Zheng is a "righteous man", which obviously does not mean that he values righteousness over life, but that he is not smooth in dealing with things - this is something Fa Zheng himself still understands.
This is indeed the case, but Fa Zheng's lack of smoothness, Wei Yan's hatred in history, and Mi Heng's hatred now are completely different things. It can only be said that Fa Zheng is not that omnipotent, and is far from flawed.
Seeing that Fazheng didn't answer, Zhong Yao continued without feeling embarrassed: "It doesn't matter whose envoy I am. If the King of Chu wants to do so, I can be the envoy of the King of Chu back to Chang'an... But this time the Chu State sends troops.
Why?"
"Zheng Hou Zhang Yan was cruel and was deceived by Sima Yi. He killed the Han Emperor and plundered the people of Chang'an. How could I, the great Chu, stand by and watch?" Fazheng sneered.
Why did Chu send troops?
Nonsense, Chang'an is in chaos, why doesn't Chu send troops? Is this still the time when we need a reason to attack the Han capital?
Since Zhong Yao asked such a stupid question, Fa Zheng naturally had only a "stupid" answer.
Zhong Yao didn't feel angry when he saw Fa Zheng being so "pragmatic". He just smiled slightly and then said the same pragmatic words.
"Oh? If I were the king of Chu, I should be more concerned about Xichuan now, right? This is a letter to Xu Jing, the prefect of Shu County. If the Chu State is interested, it can use this strategy to rebel against Xu Jing." Zhong Yao said and took out his chips.
Or rather, it’s fishing bait!
Indeed, for the Chu State that already occupied Hanzhong, from a purely strategic perspective, Xichuan should be the first target.
Otherwise, we have Hanzhong in our hands but still need to be wary of Xichuan, which will completely fail to take advantage of Hanzhong's geographical advantages.
On the contrary, if Xichuan can be taken, then the land of Hanzhong and Bashu will also be returned to the Chu State. Not only will half of the world be included, but Hanzhong, Xiangfan, and Huainan will all be in the Chu State, which is enough to capture the dragon!
Even...even if the Qi army of Longyou is left alone to fight with the Zheng army in Guanzhong and take the opportunity to regain Qingxu, Longyou will be the best.
When Fazheng heard this, he opened the letter that was not sealed in the first place.
Most of them are ordinary greetings and words of solicitation. Looking at this letter alone, nothing can be seen. However, Fazheng does not think that Zheng Hou...or Sima Yi is naive enough to use this "empty city strategy"!
Shu County is the core of Xichuan. Both the city and Guanghan are among Shu County.
Of course, it is precisely because of this that Xu Jing is far from being the best in Shu County. On the contrary, because of the existence of Shuhou Mansion, his power is more limited than that of ordinary governors.
However, it is undeniable that if Xu Jing assists, Shu County will be easier to invade. Even considering Deng Ai's progress in Nanzhong, he can try to enter Shu this year!
but……
"Hua Xin, the great scholar of Chu State, was detained by Marquis Zheng in Chang'an. If we don't see Hua Xin for a day, the Chu army will not withdraw its troops!" Fa Zheng simply revealed something.
Zhong Yao frowned slightly when he heard this and said, "Master Hua left without saying goodbye before Marquis Zheng entered the city that day. Maybe... he was delayed on the road? I will also look for him on his behalf later."
Fazheng was not worried that Sima Yi would dare to deliberately detain Hua Xin at this time. After all... Hua Xin was of little use to the Chu State from a pragmatic perspective.
On the contrary, if someone touches Hua Xin at this time, he will have to face revenge that is countless times the actual loss of Chu State!
Liu Xie might act on his own initiative, but Sima Yi had no reason to act on his own initiative.
As for Liu Bei?
Fazheng doesn't know anything about Liu Bei now...
At the same time, the news of Liu Xie's death was officially announced in Chang'an City!
As the "chief culprit", it was naturally Dong Cheng who had repeatedly slandered and misled Liu Xie. After Liu Xie's death, he was also beheaded by Zhenghou Zhang Yan, the righteous messenger who upheld justice and rescued the Marquis of Qi.
Liu Xie did not abdicate, so naturally he did not get the word "Xian". At Sima Yi's suggestion, Zheng Hou drafted the posthumous title of Xiao Ai for him, and at the same time, in Chang'an, he enshrined the son of Empress Fu as the emperor...
Historically, both of Empress Fu's sons were killed by Cao Cao. However, due to the White Rabbit Effect, before Cao Cao took action, the Han Emperor had already moved eastward, and naturally the princes were also killed.
However, although Concubine Dong Guifei and the prince she gave birth to were not executed, they were deposed as common people and placed under house arrest.
After learning the news, Liu Bei stayed up all night and had a heart-to-heart talk with Hua Xin the next day...
After the afternoon, Hua Xin came to the palace calmly and handed in his resignation openly and openly - as if the person who disappeared a few days ago was not him, and he just woke up from a hangover today!