Wushi County, Anding County, Jingshui tributary valley.
Wei Yan, who had returned from vacation to inspect the farming affairs, was sitting on a rock rising up by a river.
Wearing a uniform, his slightly disheveled hair was casually tied with a Gebu belt, and he was holding a bag of mare's milk wine. He was drowsy in the heat, and he didn't have the slightest bit of majesty of a hussar general.
Zheng Pu, who was leading his horse on foot, saw it from a distance and couldn't help but make a joke, "The general is taking a nap by the water, is he thinking about the joy of fish?"
Yes, he returned from Hexi.
The reason is that in early summer and April, the Xianbei Tuoba Tribe and the Southern Xiongnu Liu Bao secretly reached a mutual alliance and entered the northern part of Wuyuan County (today's Guyang County) in the Hetao Plain.
Although most of the counties in Wuyuan County are close to the river, and there are mountains that cut across the north and south. As long as the Manyi Valley is guarded, Tuoba is weak and unable to plunder, but the Wei officials did not take it lightly.
After all, nomadic tribes migrate throughout the seasons and are especially good at traveling thousands of miles.
In other words, Shuofang County and Yunzhong County both face the threat of border harassment from the Xianbei Tuoba tribe.
Therefore, when Liu Bao took the initiative to ask for orders to drive out Tuoba Liwei with his own troops, the Wei officials did not become suspicious and immediately agreed.
When the Zahu tribe spread the news back to Hexi, Zheng Pu asked Xu Zhi and Zhang Te to lead the Xiliang cavalry south to the Guanchuan Valley to wait for orders, while he himself took more than ten cavalry to look for Wei Yan.
There is no need to stay in Hexi.
Besides, taking the Xiliang cavalry southward would also allow Liu Bao, who had no worries, to turn against Wei as soon as possible.
After Wei Yan learned about it, he asked Wu Ban to temporarily take charge of the defense of Yangcheng and control the affairs of various ministries. He came to discuss with Zheng Pu about sending troops this autumn.
Although he has a higher official position and oversees the main force, Zheng Pu is the commander-in-chief of the partial division. He also has arbitrary power in battle and is not included in his leadership powers.
For example, the Cavalry Generals Zhao Guang, Liu Yin and Zhang Ni, as well as Jiang Shu stationed in Gaoping City, were clearly placed under Zheng Pu's control by the Prime Minister.
As for why he went north alone instead of waiting for Zheng Pu to rush to the military camp in Yangcheng to work together with the generals...
Wei Yan felt there was no difference between the two.
The generals in the military camp outside Yangcheng were able to come up with insights that Wei Yan could not imagine.
Why is it necessary for everyone to discuss it?
Moreover, he felt that he was very similar to Zheng Pu: he planned strategies, was not afraid of dangers, and always sought to win by surprise.
Therefore, it is better for the two of them to discuss it privately.
In order to avoid proposing a slightly dangerous strategy, other generals would take the lead in rebutting it out of the desire for stability.
At that time, if he uses the authority of the commander-in-chief to veto, it will not be conducive to the joint efforts of all ministries. If he does not veto, he will not be able to implement his own plan. Why bother?
Moreover, it is rare for the Prime Minister to delegate power this time!
Just let him discuss the decision with Zheng Pu. There is no need to send people to Wuzhangyuan to ask for orders.
"Remind me of the learning of Lao and Zhuang! I don't even remember the Analects of Confucius, so how can I have time to pay attention to the 'Joy of Fish'?"
Hearing this, Wei Yan slightly opened his eyes and glanced over, cursed, took out another wine bag that he had prepared and said, "Zijin, come and sit down. It's windy here, so it's cooler."
"Okay, General, wait a moment."
Zheng Pu smiled and bowed, took the river water forward and washed away the dust on his face, then sat down and took the wine bag and drank.
As soon as the sour kumiss took his mouth, he was instantly shuddered, with goosebumps all over his body, and he felt the heat dissipate. Immediately, he pulled off a small leather bag from his waist and handed it to Wei Yan.
"Although the general doesn't like the contents of the cup, it happened that when he was leaving Hexi, a noble man gave him some grape wine and brought it with him to drink with the general."
Pu grape wine?
Wei Yan, who had been feeling sleepy, finally became somewhat interested.
He had certainly heard of Pu Tu Niang, but he had not been stationed in Wuwei for a long time and assigned all government affairs to Fei Yi, so he had never tasted the treasures of Haoyou's family.
He reached out and took it, pulled out the stopper and took a sip, his face immediately full of disgust.
“It’s too astringent and not strong.”
, frowned and took another sip, smashed it a few times, and looked even more disgusted, "It's not as good as mare's milk, and it's not as powerful as Cao Pi who rebelled against the Wei Dynasty. Although Zijin is not very majestic, he is still good at it.
I have been in the army for many years, drinking strong wine, riding a good horse, and showing off the bravery of the men in our army. How can I be good at such flashy things!"
I kindly brought you here to have a drink with you, but you were scolded?
Even though he had long been aware of Wei Yan's unpleasant temperament, Zheng Pu still felt angry when he heard this.
He stretched out his hand and said, "If the general doesn't like it, then just give it back to me."
However, after Wei Yan tightened the cork, he directly tied the small leather bag to his waist.
Well........
Unable to help, Zheng Pu was speechless.
But Wei Yan didn't seem to notice, and changed the topic directly, "Zijin previously let Wen Wei and Boyue supervise all the troops to go south. Are you not afraid that Liu Bao's traitor might disturb me in Hexi?"
All right.
Zheng Pu retracted his hand angrily and told him about his conspiracy with Tuoba Liwei, "If this plan goes well, the traitor Liu Bao will not go south again within a few years, even if he rebels against the counties in Hetao, Wei."
To support the strength of Guanzhong. Well, general, I wonder what the situation in Guanzhong is like now? The three areas of Yangcheng guarded by Wei Wei, how can the general support me to break them?"
"Oh, it's so difficult!"
Unexpectedly, when Wei Yan heard this, he sighed in a rare way, "Unless I go against Wei's majesty and lose the spirit of our own army, our army will not be able to break through the three areas of Yangcheng in a short period of time. Even if I forcefully attack the fortress at the cost of casualties, and
If you let Governor Zijin ride on the side to defeat Wei's reinforcements, whether the city can be conquered or not is a matter of choice."
oh.......
So pessimistic?
Zheng Pu was surprised and puzzled.
Wei Yan didn't wait for him to ask questions, smiled bitterly, and then explained the reason in detail.
It turned out that it was just spring plowing in March, so he left the Liaohua tribe to farm outside the city, and personally worked with Wu Bandu's tribes to build earthen hills and dig trenches to trap Yangcheng. However, he cut down trees and built various siege equipment to intimidate the defenders in the city.
When he was in the army, he found that the defending Wei army was not frightened or panicked because of the huge disparity between the enemy and ourselves. Everyone performed their duties in an orderly manner.
He didn't even bother to take a second look outside the city, as if he didn't understand the situation of being besieged.
It is this kind of indifference and calmness that is similar to a life-and-death situation that makes Wei Yan and his generals understand clearly——
These Wei guards did not lose morale because they were besieged, nor did they suffer casualties after being attacked by force, which would trigger civil strife after the reinforcements did not arrive for a long time. Moreover, Wei Yan went to Huicheng and Fanxukou to observe the defense, and found that they
The morale of the soldiers guarding Yangcheng was not even half as low.
How strange!
When did Bi Niwei, who had been repeatedly defeated in battles, have so many soldiers who were indifferent to life and death?
Or could it be said that Sima Yi, who was against the Wei Dynasty, had different motivational methods from ordinary people?
This was the confusion between Wei Yan and his generals.
In fact, they got it right.
When Sima Yi made the plan to isolate the three places in Yangcheng, he also made a special appearance to Wei Emperor Cao Rui, asking for an edict to allow these garrison soldiers to hold on to the day when the food supply was exhausted.
It was a claim to these garrison soldiers that as long as they could hold on to the city with all their strength, the Wei State would separate their families from the "worldly military system" and grant them farmland so that they could become Li Shu from then on.
If he dies in battle, he will be given a generous pension, and his family will not be taxed for three years.
Of course, rewards and punishments are inevitable.
If they lose the city within one year of age, then the whole family will be punished as slaves of the border army!
Within two years, if reinforcements arrive and the city is destroyed, the family members of those who died in battle can be pardoned; the family members of those who surrendered and begged for survival will move to the border and become military households as before.
After three years of age, no matter whether reinforcements arrive or not, no matter whether the city is destroyed or not, no matter whether they die in battle or surrender, their family members will be released from the military, and they will be granted land and receive a heavy reward!
Therefore, it is not surprising that these Wei troops who guarded the three areas of Yangcheng did not care about life and death.
"Zijin, it is too difficult to replenish the strength of our army. To prepare for the future restoration of Guanzhong, it is not advisable to attack the city by force."
After Wei Yan explained the situation in detail, he shook his head helplessly and made a conclusion, but also couldn't wait to tell everything about what he was thinking, "Therefore, I have been thinking on my own recently and gained a little bit. Zi Jin will give me some details."
Actually, there is already a plan?!
Zheng Pu, who was still thinking about what he had just heard, couldn't help but feel a little thump in his heart.
Without him, the entire Han generals were well aware of Wei Yan's "ingenious scheme" of succeeding without success.
Moreover, he has a very high self-esteem and cannot tolerate refutation or persuasion from others.
However, you still have to listen.
At worst, if you listen and feel that the strategy is not advisable, you can just blame yourself for not being able to respond.
Zheng Pu comforted himself in his heart, nodded gently, cupped his hands and said, "General, if you don't think I'm stupid, please elaborate."
"We are both doing something for the country, so what are you doing with this hypocritical etiquette!"
As expected, Wei Yan cursed impatiently before wiping his beard and continuing, "There are two things I am thinking about."
"First, it's a quick move."
"At the end of winter last year, I had already written a letter to inform the Prime Minister, but the Prime Minister thought that the time had not come yet. So Zhao Yihong sent his troops to respond outside, leaving Old General Wu to supervise several troops to continue to defend Yangcheng; and I personally supervised Ju Xiao
Xing, Liu Xiuran, Liao Yuanjian, Zhang Bogong and other troops went to plunder all the counties in Longdong."
"Well, for this trip, Zijin needs to supervise the Xiliang cavalry to help me cut off the reinforcements coming from Jingzhao or Zuo Fengyi against the Wei Dynasty."
"If this strategy goes well, Longdong will belong to our great Han Dynasty. In order to defend the heart of Guanzhong against the Wei Dynasty, he will definitely abandon the western part of Youfufeng."
"The other is a delay."
"It's because Lao Zijin, the commander of the army, came to the outside of Yang City to monitor the rebel Wei defenders. I divided three troops and horses to besiege the city with you, while Zijin divided one or two thousand cavalry with me and went south to occupy the Miwei meeting. It was not to attack Chencang.
City, I want to set up a camp to confront Chencang, send soldiers and craftsmen to work together, widen the Weishui River Valley, and let our army's farm fields in Shanxi, Jixian and other places on the right side of Longxi be connected with the meeting of Qinwei."
"In this way, our army can camp in the fields when the people migrate to Qianwei, without having to suffer the hardship of transporting grain and fodder. Moreover, the fertile soil of Qianwei will ensure that our army has sufficient food and can fight for a long time!"
"At that time, when he rebels against Wei and sees that his army has gained a foothold in Guanzhong, he may spontaneously come to ask for a battle."
After saying this, Wei Yan asked quickly, "Zi Jin thinks our army should move quickly? Or should it be slow?"
Yes, I am not asking whether the strategy is feasible or not, but asking Zheng Pu which one is better...
