The sudden military situation disrupted the deployment of the Han army in Longyou.
No one expected that Cao Zhen, who still chose to be trapped in Zuli City after losing many troops and generals, would take the initiative to stop his troops and go back.
The war has been going on so far, no matter what angle you consider it, Wei cannot retreat.
Because of the withdrawal of troops, the powerful people in Liangzhou, the Qiang and Hu tribes, and even the soldiers and traders, after witnessing this battle, no longer believed that Wei had the strength to recapture Longyou and compete with the Han Dynasty.
This means that the Wei State surrendered Liangzhou!
However, could Cao Zhen and the ministers of Wei Luoyang Temple not even see this?
Is it taking retreat to make progress?
For example, Liangzhou was regarded as an outcast in the game between the two sides, and after the Han army marched into the four counties of Hexi Province, the Wei army came from the Wushui River Valley to surround Zuli County, so that the Han army could not look at each other.
Or is it a different approach?
For example, they felt that the logistical pressure was too great for the Wei army from Guanzhong to enter Longyou from Anding County, so they instead focused on the weakness of the Han army's defense line, which was too long, and returned to intimidate Hanzhong County; even if the Han army captured the Anyin Fortress, it would not be possible.
We dare not send too many troops to attack the four counties in Hexi.
These two speculations are the views most supported by many generals of the Han Dynasty.
But the matter was too strange, and the cause and effect were unclear, so no one dared to make a definite conclusion.
After Prime Minister Zhuge Liang learned the news, he immediately asked the soldiers to postpone the plan to send troops due to the unknown situation, and sent a large number of agents to sneak into the pass to collect intelligence.
He also communicated with Wei Yan and Zhang Bao, and took advantage of this free period to transport some grain and baggage to stockpile.
Quan should be prepared for a rainy day in case Wei rebels and besieges the city again.
However, in Wei Yan's letter, he also asked for orders to lead the army to attack Hexi.
The reason was that he speculated that the Wei State's sudden and unreasonable withdrawal of troops was because Cao Zhen died of illness.
In fact, this kind of speculation was also mentioned by someone in Longyou.
Cao Zhen has suffered from frequent illnesses in recent years, which is no secret to the Han Dynasty.
Nowadays, the army and horses are working hard, the battles are not going well one after another, and they have to eat and sleep in the cold wind and frozen soil for nearly half a year in the severe winter. Well, it seems to be reasonable?
Furthermore, Wei Yan also mentioned something.
Trapped in the city, he patrolled the city every day and witnessed the Wei army's withdrawal from the siege.
Cao Zhen, who had always lived and fed with the soldiers, was different from before when he retreated and marched. Not only did he not show his face, but his car was also tightly surrounded by soldiers.
This made Wei Yan feel that even if Cao Zhen did not die, he would be seriously ill and would soon die.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain the Wei State's withdrawal of troops.
The Prime Minister didn't say much about his views.
He was simply told to wait for military orders on the grounds of "not to act rashly", and to make further plans after careful investigation and clear information.
Moreover, it will be spring in March in a little while.
Spring plowing must not be delayed. It is a good time to inquire about the news, so that the soldiers can return to the military garrison in Longyou and sow this year's grain first, thus easing the difficulty of transporting grain from Shu to Longyou.
As for the reason why the Wei State retreated its troops, whether it was a pretense or out of necessity, whether it was good or bad for the Han Dynasty, time will tell the answer.
Anyway, the longer Yanyinsai is subordinate to the Han Dynasty, the more disadvantageous it will be to Wei.
Just stay the same to cope with all changes, there is no need to be eager and reckless.
With this idea in mind, the prime minister left behind the garrison troops and led the army back to Ji County, Tianshui County, where he was busy repairing weapons, armor, and supervising the cultivation of mulberry trees.
Zheng Pu also returned to the Lu family courtyard where his family was gathered.
His headquarters was crippled, and there was no source of troops for him to replenish for the time being, so he had nothing to do for a while.
Simply, he left all the trivial matters in the army to Zhou Tai.
As for the duties of protecting the generals of the Central Guards and promoting low-level military attachés, the Prime Minister is on the right side of Longyou and all troops and horses are ready to rush to the battlefield at any time. He is not needed to perform his duties for the time being. He just happens to have half a day's leisure when he returns.
But leisure is not easy to enjoy.
Little Jingji, who was just over one year old, no longer recognized him.
Whenever I see him, I will shyly dodge; if I get close, I will howl and cry.
Hey, it's annoying.
Time flies by, never leaving day or night behind.
Before you know it, it is spring in March, and the banks of the Weishui River are once again green and green, glowing with vitality, and the fields of military and civilian villages are full of busy people.
Zheng Pu, who came out from the Prime Minister's office in Ji County, rode his horse back slowly.
My thoughts also fluctuated with the bumps on the horse's back.
Recently there have been two pieces of news.
First, Liu Xie, who was deposed as Duke of Shanyang, died of illness.
Cao Ruisu of Luoyang expressed his condolences and sent envoys to protect the funeral. He was posthumously named Emperor Xiaoxian.
The other was Cao Zhen, the great Sima of Wei. After he dismissed his troops and returned to Guanzhong, Cao Rui sent people to take him back to Luoyang to recuperate.
But according to rumors in Luoyang, Cao Zhen's medicine has failed and he has reached the stage of preparing for his funeral.
The cause of the disease was shortness of breath, heart attack, and even vomiting of blood.
The anger and anger were naturally the reason why the Wei army retreated - the common people in Guanzhong gathered a crowd to rebel!
The leader of the thieves is Zhang Mu, a native of Guanghan, Yizhou.
Yes, it was the Mianzhu thief Zhang Mu and Zhang Gongshang who was once subordinate to Liu Zhang. The late emperor Liu Bei made Shuhuo Luocao a bandit, and was later recruited by Zheng Pu as a military commander.
As for how he was in Guanzhong, we have to start with the first military expedition of the Han Dynasty to Longyou.
In the first Northern Expedition of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Mu took three hundred bandits who had followed him as Xuanwu soldiers and subordinated him to Zheng Pu to defend Xiaoguandao.
After the war, less than fifty of the three hundred bandits survived, and most of them were disabled.
Although the Han Dynasty fully compensated the soldiers who died in the war and took care of his children and future generations, Zhang Mu still felt guilty and felt that he had no face to face orphans and widowed mothers.
Since he was no longer in his prime, he requested to withdraw from the army and went to Guanzhong to work more intensively.
At that time, Zheng Pu persuaded him many times.
However, Zhang Mu had a strong will and could not change it, so he went around on his behalf to make his wish come true.
Zhang Mu, who has been a bandit for many years, is bold, careful and decisive in killing.
When we entered Guanzhong via the Tangluo Road from Hanzhong County, it happened to be the time when the Wei State led the Xianbei Tufa tribe into Fufeng on the right, and moved the Li people from the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains to Jingzhao, where Fengyi was on the left.
Because he had no household registration, he pretended to be a commoner who did not want to move, and took advantage of the chaos to join the bandits.
He wandered around like this for several years, during which he was jointly pursued by the government and Xianbei, and was transferred to Zuo Fengyi.
When the Wei State moved the knights and concubines from Jizhou into Guanzhong, he looked for an opportunity to escape from the bandits, robbed and killed a knight from Jizhou, pretended to be his identity, and entered his household registration in Jingzhao.
He served as a citizen for several years. He often taught martial arts to young people from his hometown and spared no expense or money to help orphans and widows, so he was highly respected.
On the eve of the autumn harvest last year, Cao Zhen planned an expedition to Longyou, and all the prefectures and counties in Guanzhong were enforcing corvee services. Zhang Munai was waiting for the opportunity to provoke people with words and inflame people's anger.
This year is the beginning of spring, and the news of the defeat in Longyou's war has spread to Guanzhong, and everyone is afraid.
The government once again imposed corvées and asked Li Shu to transport grain and baggage to Gaoping City before spring plowing. The people were uneasy and complained a lot.
Zhang Mu privately used the excuse that all of Cao Rui's heirs had died in infancy, and secretly spread the idea that Cao Wei had no destiny. He also took the opportunity to clamor for endless government service, and that everyone would be drafted into the army to fill ravines, which made the common people extremely afraid and angry.
While doing corvee work on the road, he also killed several government officials at night, which aroused conflicts between the officials and the people.
The officials investigate strictly and make the people fear the crime.
Many Li Shu, who could no longer bear the burden of corvee service, gathered together to support Zhang Mu and rebelled against him.
Zhang Mu's scheme succeeded, so he selected brave men from among the crowd and snatched the baggage grain along the Wei army's "Yangling-Chiyang-Qixian-Tukou" transfer route. And every time he succeeded, he would give most of the grain as a gift. The local Li Shu claimed that they "taken the food from Wei's harsh government and gave back the food for the Li Shu's livelihood."
Therefore, his reputation became more and more powerful, and his followers were like clouds.
Moreover, because Cao Zhen led his army to Longyou, other garrison troops were deployed along the Qinling Mountains, resulting in a lack of troops at the junction of the three counties of Jingzhao, Youfufeng, and Anding, leaving the government unable to control civil unrest in a timely manner.
It was already half a month later when the government reported to Gaoping City and Zhao Yan, who was supervising the rear, sent other troops back to fight the rebellion.
At this time, Zhang Mu had completely destroyed the supply line of Wei's army in Longyou.
The final result of the matter was that Zhang Mu was besieged and executed by many soldiers and horses of the government, and the entire three auxiliaries in Guanzhong were shaken; a lot of food and supplies raised from Luoyang and other places in Hedong were burned, and the Longyou army could not survive; Luoyang Cao Rui had no choice but to issue an edict asking Cao Zhen to stop his troops.
Cao Zhen, who led the army to besiege Zuli City, was so angry that he vomited blood and fell to the ground after hearing the news.
After returning to Guanzhong from the army, he suffered from multiple illnesses and was unable to stay or take charge of the affairs.
He knew that he would never have a chance to recapture Longyou in this life.
Therefore, before man dies, his heart dies first.
In other words, Zhang Mu actually made it difficult for the most outstanding military commander in the Wei Kingdom to fulfill his ambition as a mere man, and he was about to die with hatred.
It's really surprising, and I can't help feeling that things are unpredictable.
Zheng Pu's emotion was even deeper.
He originally agreed to Zhang Mu's request, but it was just because he couldn't express his feelings, so he only got his wish.
Who would have expected that Zhang Mu would actually influence the direction of the war?
