Chapter 1002 Disagreements in the Military
Every time the Wei thieves made a new move, the prime minister always attributed it to Feng Yong, which made Wei Yan very unhappy.
But he resisted and said:
“Prime Minister, although I know that Feng Mingwen is indeed capable, he is thousands of miles away now. What does he have to do with the current battle situation?”
“If the Prime Minister seriously attributes all the actions of the Wei thieves to Feng Mingwen, then what’s the point of the army’s officers fighting to the death in front of the formation?”
The Prime Minister frowned and before he spoke, Yang Yi, who had always been at odds with Wei Yan, actually stood up:
"I know that Prime Minister Feng Mingwen has always valued Feng Mingwen, but this time the Hanzhong army numbered 100,000, and the Liangzhou army was only a partial force."
"The Prime Minister's words clearly mean that the large army has no merit, but the partial division has merit. If these words really spread, the officers and soldiers in the army will probably complain, saying that the Prime Minister is unfair!"
Seeing that the two people who were incompatible with water and fire actually stood together in an extremely rare situation, the Prime Minister was a little silent:
How great would it be if the two of you could work together to prosper the Han Dynasty like you do now?
Except for Zhuge Liang, Wei Yan and Yang Yi can be regarded as having the highest status and the most senior qualifications in the army.
The two of them stood up to speak together, and most of the people below kept silent.
Guan Xing is Feng Mingwen's brother-in-law, and Zhang Bao is also Feng Mingwen's brother-in-law. Because of their related interests, the two of them must not come forward at this time.
Otherwise, there will be suspicion of partiality.
As for Meng Yan, the tiger-stepping supervisor, there is no need to say more.
First, he had a working relationship with Feng Guiwang Yuexun.
Secondly, whether in Yuexun or other southern counties, his people depended on the Xinghan Society for their livelihood, which was considered a matter of interest.
The most important thing is that his identity is somewhat sensitive, so he naturally dares not to speak out.
The Prime Minister did not answer the two men's words, but just glanced at the tent.
After a period of weird silence, someone finally couldn't hold it in anymore, stood up and said loudly:
"The Prime Minister has always been fair. Those who have done meritorious service must be rewarded even if they are enemies, and those who have done wrong must be punished even if they are close relatives. How can the generals in the army complain? When has anyone ever said that the Prime Minister is unfair?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone looked up.
This person is none other than Wu Yi’s younger brother, Wu Ban.
This time during the Northern Expedition, Wu Yi stayed in the rear of Jincheng, and only Wu Ban led the Jincheng troops.
In the Battle of Longyou, Feng Yong sent an engineering battalion to help the Wu brothers capture Xiagui and Linwei, and the two sides were considered friends.
In addition, Wu Ban was known in Shu for his boldness and his chivalry.
Over the years, all knights all over the world have said: If you don’t know Feng Langjun, it’s useless to call him a hero.
Hence, Wu Ban had long been interested in making friends with Feng Jishi.
More importantly, he is the brother of the empress dowager of the Han family and a real relative. Naturally, he understands the royal family's attitude towards Feng Jishi better than others.
To be disrespectful, as long as Governor Feng doesn't make any big mistakes, he will be ranked second to the Prime Minister.
The person the emperor relies on most is probably not the prime minister's nominal successor Jiang Wan, but Feng Mingwen, who is actually a relative.
Wu Ban has a special status. On the surface, he does not have much interest in Feng Yong, and he does not have much interaction with Wei Yan and Yang Yi on weekdays.
So he naturally doesn’t have so many worries.
Since I don’t rely on you two for my livelihood, why should I be afraid of you?
The important ministers of the imperial court in the future will be young and promising, about the same age as the emperor. If you don’t support them now, when will you wait?
“The Prime Minister has always planned before taking action, and he has many things to look forward to, so what he says now must be reasonable.”
“As for the actions of the Wei thieves, whether they were influenced by Feng Mingwen or not can be confirmed after the war. Why keep discussing it now?”
Wu Ban’s words were ingenious in that he openly supported the prime minister and secretly supported Feng Mingwen.
Although in his heart, he actually didn't have much confidence in the Prime Minister's words.
But it’s not that important.
If the Prime Minister is right, that would be great, but there is no way to confirm it now, so it is useless to say more.
If the Prime Minister is wrong, who will dare to revoke this old story of the Prime Minister once Guanzhong is captured?
If you can't capture Guanzhong... How to deal with the aftermath of the defeat is the biggest thing. What does this matter?
The Prime Minister glanced at Wu Ban, with an imperceptible admiration in his eyes.
Wu Yi and Wu Ban came from the same family as the Empress Dowager. Not only were they loyal ministers of the country, but they were also extremely talented, which was really rare.
Although Guan Xing can't be the first to take the lead, but now Wu Ban steps up, how can he not seize the opportunity?
Seeing him, he quickly responded and said:
"That's right, the Wei thieves are coming from the east and west, and they obviously want to attack us from a flank. The enemy is facing us, so we must retreat from it."
“Have the Wei thieves been mobilized by Feng, er, Feng Mingwen? If we inquire after the war, we will know, so why discuss it at this time?”
No matter how much you dislike your brother-in-law, he is still your brother-in-law.
After all, who would have thought that in the Han Dynasty, someone would dare to occupy the Zhang family's youngest sister after marrying Sanniang.
It is outrageous to marry his mother!
It’s all Feng Wenhe’s fault!
It’s just that in the past few years, Guan Shilang Guansuo, who has become famous like a meteorite, is bound to his brother-in-law.
How much honor Guan Suo has brought to the Guan family, then how deep the bond between the Guan family and his brother-in-law will be.
The Guan family is prospering again, and Guan Xing is naturally happy.
But if this kind of prosperity is because someone in the Guan family is a boy or a girl, Guan Erlang will have some mixed feelings in his heart.
Every time news about Guan Suo comes, Guan Xing always has more and more extravagant hopes:
How great would it be if I really had such a brother?
For the sake of the perfect brother-in-law of the Guan family, even if his brother-in-law is a piece of yellow shit, Guan Xing would still close his eyes and grit his teeth and say:
That’s gold! And it’s still full of real gold!
For Sanniang, for Fourth Brother, and for the Guan family, not to mention he saved my life...
Guan Xing silently hypnotized himself in his heart.
“That’s right, what Anguo said is very reasonable.”
Zhang Bao quickly followed suit.
For the fourth mother, for the prince, for the royal family, not to mention he saved my life...
Zhang Bao silently hypnotized himself in his mind.
When Meng Yan saw that both Guan Xing and Zhang Bao were talking, he was naturally no longer afraid. He coughed and then muttered:
“What General Wu and General Guan said is, well, very reasonable.”
For the people of Yuexi, for the people of Nanzhong...
Meng Yan silently hypnotized himself in his heart.
There is no way. Over the years, Xinghanhui has invested a lot of manpower and material resources to develop a lot of fertile land in the Sunshui River Valley (the Anning River Valley in later generations, the second largest plain in Shu).
Now Xinghanhui has complete control over the main output of Yuexun.
As for the various industries that are emerging in Nanzhong, Xinghanhui also has a lot of shares-if you add in the cooperation between Xinghanhui and the royal family, it is conservatively estimated that the number is at least 60 to 70%.
The various powerful commanders in Nanzhong, as well as the aristocratic families in Shu, can only feed on the remaining three or four ingredients.
However, the life of the Nanzhong Yi people is indeed much better than before.
In particular, the Meng family who moved to Yuexun now have no worries about food and clothing. It is not an exaggeration at all. Some of the children in the family are even "learned at an early age."
All these changes are naturally closely related to the emerging industries in Nanzhong.
The leader of the Xinghan Association is not to be offended, not to be offended!
Since King Feng Gui is so famous in Nanzhong, as a foreigner from Nanzhong, it is normal for me to kneel down and lick him occasionally, right?
Standing at the end, responsible for the army’s food and grass, Li Feng quietly took back his half-step:
Forget it, I’ll keep my mouth shut and just watch from the corner.
…
All the generals suddenly spoke together, making the atmosphere in the commander's tent suddenly awkward.
Wei Yan is the number one general in the Prime Minister's army, and Yang Yi, as a long history officer, is the nominal number one person under the Prime Minister.
The two of them were usually enemies. They joined forces once in a century, but unexpectedly they encountered mild opposition from the important generals in the commander's camp.
This situation, let alone the two of them, was caught off guard. Even the prime minister was a little unexpected.
Zhuge Liang's eyes flashed and he glanced at the people in the tent again.
I don’t know what he thought of, but a somewhat emotional smile suddenly appeared on his face and he nodded:
“That’s right, the top priority now is to retreat from the enemy.”
Wei Yan is fine, as long as he can fight, other things will be discussed later.
However, Yang Yi opened his mouth and seemed to want to speak, but Zhuge Liang did not give him a chance to interrupt.
He held a long whip in his hand, pointed it directly at the huge sand basin on the desk, and started the military discussion.
"It is reported that the army led by Qin Lang does not belong to Guanzhong, but is an elite army of Wei thieves in Luoyang. Many of them have elite cavalry, and their combat power cannot be underestimated."
"He came from Chencang along the bank of the Wei River. There is no need to cross the water. The flat land on the bank is also conducive to the deployment of the cavalry, so we must also respond with the cavalry."
Speaking of this, many people looked at Guan Xing and Zhang Bao.
After the Battle of Xiaoguan, the emperor immediately rebuilt the northern and southern armies.
It was rumored that a certain lady surnamed Zhang fed ghosts with her body and obtained the method of forming an armored cavalry army from the ghost king on behalf of the royal family.
I don’t know if it’s true or not. Anyway, the rumors are well established.
But to be honest, the Northern and Southern armies were indeed built according to the standards of the armored cavalry from the beginning.
According to the plan, the southern army led by Zhang Bao was a fully formed armored cavalry force, while the northern army led by Guan Xing was a fine cavalry auxiliary to the armored cavalry army.
It’s just that Adou and Zhang Xingcai completely underestimated the money-burning ability of the armored cavalry.
Halfway through, I discovered that the living standards of the royal family were plummeting.
If we continue like this, let alone eating the seafood sent from Soochow, even if we drink it, I'm afraid it will only be tea made with tea foam - the money will be almost empty and mice will run away!
At this time, the emperor and his wife thought of Feng Mingwen, who liked to make plans in advance.
It’s just that now that things have happened, we can’t start over from scratch, let alone beg our brother-in-law with shame only in the middle of it.
So in the end I had to lower the standard and change the armor and cavalry equipment into armored cavalry.
The so-called Jiaqi refers to a person wearing armor.
And equipment refers to horse gear and armor.
In other words, both the northern and southern armies now have men wearing armor, while the horses only have leather armor to protect their vital points.
Firstly, it lowers the requirements for war horses, and secondly, it reduces most of the expenditure.
Zhang Xingcai finally had a little money left in his hands, barely able to maintain the dignity of the royal family.
Although this was the first time that the Northern and Southern armies went to war after they were formed, their combat power was not too weak.
Guan Xing and Zhang Bao each commanded three thousand armored cavalry, which could even be regarded as the most powerful cavalry in the hands of the prime minister.
Because the Northern and Southern Army not only completely absorbed the officers and soldiers of the Kansai Cavalry left by Ma Chao, but also received a lot of friendly support from the Liangzhou Army.
After all, the top civil and military officials around Liangzhou Governor were named Zhang and Guan.
The two brothers-in-law and brother-in-law, who finally understood the benefits of marrying their younger sisters, said in unison:
“The general is willing to lead the army there!”
“You two are no more than 6,000 men, and they are all cavalry. We still need a general and infantry to go.”
Zhuge Liang said, his eyes falling on Wei Yan.
Wei Yan lowered his head and remained silent.
In his eyes, Qin Lang's troops only numbered 30,000 to 50,000 at most, and could only be regarded as a partial force of Wei thieves.
If you want to achieve great success, you still have to go to the east. Sima Yi's place is the real main battlefield.
The Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty frowned when he saw Wei Yan deliberately avoiding his gaze, sighed inwardly, and turned to look at Wu Ban:
"General Wu, if I give you 10,000 men, can you be sure to stop the thieves from the west?"
Wu Ban said quickly:
“With regard to the assistance of the two generals Zhang, not to mention blocking, we are sure to defeat the enemy.”
With armored cavalry guarding both wings, the Wei thieves had no advantage of cavalry and had nothing to fear.
Even if there are fewer people than the enemy, it is very easy to defend the camp with the help of the Han's unique bows and crossbows and the favorable terrain.
The Prime Minister nodded:
"General Wu has such a good ambition, but Qin Lang's troops are not comparable to ordinary Wei thieves. If you meet him, you must not underestimate the enemy."
"The three of you only need to guard the camp, block the thieves from the west, and prevent Qin Lang from advancing eastward. That will be considered a great achievement."
"If the thieves approach Wuzhangyuan and interact with Sima Yi in the east, it will shake my plan to seize Guanzhong. Remember this."
Seeing the prime minister's solemn and serious instructions, Wu Ban's heart trembled: "The last general is willing to establish a military order."
After arranging the defense in the west, Zhuge Liang planned to personally take over the main force and prepare to meet Sima Yi's army in the east.
The generals each received their military orders and went out to prepare.
Zhuge Liang looked at Wei Yan who was about to walk out of the tent, and finally couldn't help but said:
“I’ll leave the article long for now.”
Hearing the Prime Minister's words, the others did not react much. Only Yang Yi stood hesitantly and looked at the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister didn't know if he hadn't noticed him or not, as his eyes didn't fall on him at all.
Yang Yi stood for a while and saw that the prime minister did not call him, so he had to exit the tent reluctantly.
“I don’t know if the Prime Minister called me, but do you have something to give me?”
Zhuge Liang glanced at Wei Yan, pondered for a moment, and asked:
"I remember that you have a son named Wei Rong, who is under Feng Mingwen's sect?"
Wei Yan was a little surprised and didn't understand why the prime minister asked about his family affairs. He just nodded: "Exactly."
The Prime Minister pondered for a while, and then continued to ask: "How is the relationship between your father and son?"
Wei Yan became more and more puzzled:
"It's acceptable. Although he is not my biological child, his mother has always taken care of the internal affairs of my house. He often visits my house and is polite to me on weekdays. In his words, he often thanks me for taking care of my mother."
Wei Rong's current status is not ordinary. Just his status as Feng Jishi's first disciple is enough to attract people's attention.
Perhaps few people know that Wei Rong's mother was brought into the palace by Wei Yan in his early years, but it is naturally impossible for Wei Yan to turn a blind eye to Wei Rong's current status.
A few years ago, he had already turned Wei Rong's mother into his first wife.
So regardless of the grievances between Wei Yan and Feng Jishi, it is not an exaggeration to say that Wei Yan was kind to Wei Rong's mother and son, and Wei Rong would naturally not be rude to Wei Yan.
Hearing what Wei Yan said, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but take a deep look at Wei Yan, with a strange expression on his face.
"That's...very good. You can go down first."
Wei Yan went out confused.
ˆPS:
Just after I was discharged from the hospital, I immediately finished a chapter.
I had a minimally invasive surgery, but I still can’t sit for a long time and my back still hurts. I can only follow the doctor’s instructions and get up and exercise for ten minutes every half hour of sitting.
(End of this chapter)