Chapter 573 The troops approach Qishan
But it is said that Huang Chong led 1,500 people, carrying dry food, on the mountain path, crossed the remaining branches of the Qinling Mountains, reached the Xun River, and then went south along the Xun River Valley, finally reaching the intersection of the Xun River and the Han River. at.
Xunkou was indeed as he thought. There was no defense at all. Only a hundred Wei soldiers were patrolling the mouth of the river. When they saw the Han army coming, they dispersed without any resistance.
Huang Chong's confidence increased greatly, so he ordered his soldiers to rest for a while at Xunkou. At the same time, he sent sentinels to Mulansai to investigate. Once the situation was clear, he would directly seize the pass.
He was holding back his energy during this trip, just because he wanted to achieve military success.
It seems that today is the day to make great achievements.
The sentry returned soon, and Huang Chong was shocked by the news he brought back: Mulan Sen had a clear flag and seemed to be guarded by many Wei soldiers.
"My trip was to cross the mountain quickly with rations. How did Cao Cao know that I wanted to seize this pass?" Huang Chong felt as if cold water was poured on him. He didn't want to believe it at all. "Is it a false flag?"
After working so hard, how could he retreat so easily when he heard the enemy was coming? Huang Chong gave the order to break out of camp immediately and led his army to the foot of Mulan Fortress. As expected, he saw that the fortress was heavily fortified, which was different from Xunkou.
At that moment, I could only sigh and said, "Cao thieves must have capable people."
With such a small force, if you want to capture such a pass, there is no other way but to take it by surprise. Now that the fortress is fortified, it seems that this trip is destined to be in vain.
Before retreating, he reluctantly sent someone to ask who was being imprisoned.
"A certain person is a subordinate of Sima Gong, the general of Wei Qiaoqi, and Hu Zun is also one."
General Wei at the fortress replied loudly, "Sima Gong knew that this place was dangerous, so he sent someone here early. How can you, the little thieves, escape from Sima Gong's sight?"
Although he had been mentally prepared for a long time, Huang Chong was still shocked when he heard this. He thought to himself that Sima Yi was really powerful and could predict that he would attack Guan early.
Although he was extremely reluctant, he still had to withdraw his troops to avoid being surrounded.
Li Yi at the other end was also unable to capture Anqiao. When he got the news of Huang Chong's return, he went to join them.
After hearing about the situation of Huang Chong, Mulan Sai and his entourage, Li Yi thought for a moment and said after careful consideration, "I'm afraid I was deceived by Hu Zun."
Huang Chong was startled and asked, "What do you mean by this?"
"If I were Sima Yi, I could have predicted that someone would attack the pass and set up an ambush. How could you come back safely?"
After hearing this, Huang Chong suddenly felt that it made sense, but he was still confused, "But how can we explain that Mulan Fortress is heavily guarded?"
"This is beyond my knowledge. In my opinion, Sima Yi should have done this just in case, rather than expecting someone to come. After all, the pass is the only way to go from Wei Xing to Shangyong. It won’t hurt to make some preparations.”
When Li Yi said this, he sighed in admiration, "This Sima Yi is meticulous in his actions. He is indeed a capable person."
Huang Chong nodded. At this time, he had to be convinced even if he was not convinced, so he stopped looking down on the heroes of the world.
The news of the appearance of Han soldiers in Mulansai soon spread to Sima Yi's army. All the generals in the army admired the general for predicting the enemy's opportunity.
Sima Yi had an indifferent look on his face, as if he was full of wisdom, "How can a bandit be so smart as to be able to climb the hall? Now the Wu bandits are blocked in Fangling, the Shu bandits are blocked in Anqiao and Mulansai, Shangyong Mengda, and there are no reinforcements." Come on, this city will undoubtedly be destroyed, and all the generals must step up their attack on the city and not slacken off."
“No!”
After everyone left, Master Sima asked curiously, "How do you know that the Shu thieves will attack Mulansai?"
After everyone left, Sima Yi had a look of joy on his face, "I sent troops to Mulansai just as a precaution. Not only to guard against Shu thieves, but also to guard against Shen Yi."
“Your Excellency, are you worried about Shen Yi?”
Sima Shi said something unexpectedly, remembering that his Excellency had scolded Shen Yi when he learned that Meng Da rebelled, and immediately asked, "Is it possible that Shen Yi also has rebel intentions?"
"The Shen family has been in the three counties of Shangyong for a long time and has deep roots. They have long regarded the three counties as their own territory." A sneer appeared on Sima Yi's face, "Then Shen Yi carved seals without authorization and gave them to others privately to win the hearts of the locals. How could I Do you believe this kind of people?"
"What's more, I want to bring in local wealthy families like the Shen family to relieve your majesty's worries about me."
Speaking of this, Sima Yi smiled gloomily.
Sima Shi was confused when he heard this, "Don't you have great favor and trust in your Majesty now? How can you say that you are worried?"
"Our Majesty is not a simple person. If it weren't for the establishment of a queen, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to see his intention."
Sima Yi chuckled and said, "The Yu family from Hedong is originally the head wife and a prominent family. Your Majesty did not make her your queen, but instead made the Mao family, who was of low origin, do you really think he just doted on his concubines? No, he just imitated the late emperor. It’s just wisdom.”
Seeing his son's puzzled look, Sima Yi was not harsh on him, he just understood.
At this time, Dalang has just lost his crown, and the game between the forces of the DPRK and China is beyond his ability to see clearly at the moment. He brought him to his side just to give him a long experience.
So Sima Yi explained to Sima Shi in detail, "Back then, Queen Zhen was from a prominent family in Hebei. The first emperor deposed her and replaced her with Queen Guo because she was worried that the powerful family in Hebei would become too powerful."
"Why? Because Hebei is the old place of the Yuan family. Yecheng was originally the old capital of the Wei Dynasty. However, before the death of the late emperor, he visited all directions and did not enter Yecheng. Why do you think? It was just to suppress the big families in Hebei. Reputation ear."
“Two of the four auxiliary ministers in the court are relatives of the royal family. Chen Changwen and I represent the Hanoi family and the Yingchuan family respectively. This is the balance set by the late emperor for His Majesty today.”
"If the Yu family from Hedong is established as the queen again, the family will become too powerful, which is not what your Majesty wants to see, so he followed the example of the previous emperor and established the Mao family with no foundation as the queen."
Having said this, Sima Yi looked at his son, and then pointed at himself, "The Sima family and the Yu family are both aristocratic families, and they share the same spirit. The Yu family was deposed. Although the Sima family will not be affected for the time being, we must be careful. For the best."
"So this time, I will not only put an end to the Shangyong Rebellion as soon as possible, but also attack the Shen family to let Your Majesty know that I am loyal. Not only will I not collude with the local wealthy families, but if they make mistakes , I will still be ungrateful, do you understand?"
After hearing this, Master Sima suddenly realized. He didn't expect that the fight for the queen's position two thousand miles away would actually affect this place?
Seeing his elder man's thoughtful expression, Sima Yi nodded with satisfaction.
In the court, there is no need to be careless at all. The higher you are in a high position and the more powerful you are, the more careful you must be.
At that time, Emperor Wu once ordered himself to move forward, and then suddenly turned his head, saying that he was standing still with his face behind him, which was the sign of a wolf. He once warned the late emperor that he was not a human minister, and he would definitely predict the affairs of the Cao family.
Fortunately, I had a good relationship with the late emperor. After hearing about this incident, I deliberately worked hard at my official duties and forgot to sleep at night. Even small things such as cutting grass and herding horses had to be done personally. This dispelled Emperor Wu's doubts.
Now that your Majesty has an emperor like Wu, if you dare to bully his young age and start to despise him, you will definitely suffer.
"Well, you are still young, and things like this are beyond your imagination now. The most urgent task is to defeat Shangyong City as soon as possible."
Sima Yi interrupted Sima Shi’s train of thought.
Sima Shi nodded, thought for a moment, and suddenly smiled, "The boy has a way to break the hearts of the people in the city."
“Let’s try it.”
"Then Mengda dared to defend the city, but he relied on the danger of Shangyong City and Wu Shu as an external support. Now that Wu and Shu's reinforcements have been blocked, as long as this news is spread to the city, the morale of the army will be shaken. If we try to persuade him to surrender, Mengda will no longer be willing to hold on."
“Your Majesty, what you mean is...”
“Call the troops to find an opportunity to pass the message to other guards in the city. If they are willing to help open the city gate, not only will they not be charged with the crime of rebellion, but they will be rewarded heavily!”
Sima Yi said coldly.
“The child understands!”
Shangyong City was originally under-prepared due to Sima Yi's rapid arrival. Now that news came that Wu Shu could not respond, people in the city suddenly fluctuated.
In January of the sixth year of Jianxing, sixteen days after Sima Yi attacked Shangyong City in eight groups, Mengda's nephew Deng Xian and his trusted general Li Fu finally collapsed mentally and secretly opened the city gate to surrender. The Wei army took the opportunity to swarm in.
Mengda was caught off guard and had nowhere to escape. After being captured, he was beheaded in public. Sima Yi ordered that his head be passed down to Luoyang.
At the same time, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, announced that he would leave Jikou through Xiegu and prepare to take Yicheng. At the same time, he sent Zhao Yun as the commander and led the suspected army to set off.
Then using the artificial stone road built last year, he ordered Wei Yan to lead the front army and quietly stationed in Ju County at night.
The Wei army sentries guarding various roads in Hanzhong learned about the road Zhao Yun was taking, and immediately passed the news to Luoyang on flying horses.
Since the death of Liu Bei, Shu has been silent. When Cao Rui heard that Zhuge Liang was in Hanzhong, he only thought that he was patrolling the border and training in martial arts to prepare for his attack on Hanzhong. He even thought of sending troops to attack Hanzhong at one time. .
Not only Wei Emperor Cao Rui, but also Cao Wei's court and people from top to bottom looked down upon Shu.
I never thought that Zhuge villagers would be so bold, secretly gathering a large army and sending troops from Hanzhong to invade.
The news reached Luoyang, and for a while, the government and the public were shocked.
General Cao Zhen rushed to Chang'an overnight to take charge of the overall situation. He quickly gathered the troops in Guanzhong and headed for Xicheng.
Fortunately, Meng Da's head was reported to the capital at this time. Cao Rui immediately circulated the head in the streets of Luoyang and publicized it to appease people's hearts, and then burned it in all directions of Luoyang.
Since the Mengda Rebellion was over, Cao Rui ordered Zhang He, who was stationed in Jingzhou, to rush back to Luoyang at night.
Because Sima Yi, the general of the Hussars, wanted to appease the people in the new city, Cao Rui asked him to take full charge of Jingzhou's defense affairs.
Zhuge Liang in Hanzhong heard that Cao Zhen in Guanzhong had been fooled, so he notified the front army Wei Yan to go to Long. At the same time, he personally led the main force to follow closely, and rushed towards Qishan, the throat of Hanzhong to Longyou.
Wei Yan received the order and as soon as he left Ju County, he assigned a force to Liao Hua and asked him to enter Yinping, the military capital, to mow down the scattered Wei troops nearby to protect the flanks of the grain road, while he led his troops directly northward.
After Zhuge Liang led his army to Ju County, he ordered Ju County's guard Zhao Guang to take the name of Feng Yong. At the same time, he used Ju County as a grain garrison base to attack Longyou.
When the banner of the Han Dynasty appeared under Qishan City, the Wei soldiers in Qishan City thought they were dazzled and suddenly panicked.
In the early years, due to the Qiang-Hu Rebellion and the Ma Chao Rebellion, as well as the impact of the Hanzhong War, the counties in Longyou were severely weakened and their population dropped sharply.
In the past two years, the number of business trips between Longyou and Hanzhong has increased, giving them the illusion of peace. Who would have thought that Ji Han would actually attack with a large army?
“The enemy is attacking, the enemy is attacking! Close the city gate, close the city gate quickly!”
The guard of Qishan City waved his whip and struck the soldiers, urging them to close the city gate with burning heart.
Before Wei Yan rushed to the city, the city gate was finally closed with a bang, and the suspension bridge of the moat was also pulled up.
Seeing the heads swaying on the city wall, Wei Yan laughed, reined up his horse and shouted loudly, "Cao thief in the city, listen, I am Wei Yan, the general of the Han Dynasty's Northern Expedition Army. I know who I am, so hurry up." Open the city gates quickly and surrender, otherwise..."
Before he finished speaking, there was only a "whoosh" sound, and an arrow shot down from the city, and finally landed softly a foot away in front of him.
Although there was no shouting in the city, this arrow has already expressed its attitude.
Wei Yan was furious.
It's just that he has just arrived with his army and has not made any siege equipment for a while. In addition, although the city is small, it is extremely dangerous. It is to guard the intersection to Tianshui from the north.
If the army wants to go to Tianshui via this place, it must capture this city.
At the moment, he had no choice but to have the trees cut down and prepare to attack the city before the Prime Minister's army arrived.
At this time in Longyou, it is time to prepare for spring plowing.
At Luomen in Tianshui, a group of people were coming from the west along the Wei River.
The leader looked to be in his forties, tall and elegant in appearance. He was looking at the fields on both sides of the river as he walked. He was Guo Huai, the governor of Yongzhou.
He could only hear him say, "I once heard that in the past two years, some people have deliberately abandoned their fields to raise sheep. Can Chief Ma have done anything like this?"
Ma Zun, the prefect of Tianshui County, stepped forward quickly and said, "Back to the governor, there are indeed people raising sheep in the past two years, but the fields are not abandoned, but the barbarians are driven to enclosure the land for raising sheep."
"Driving the barbarians to enclose the land?" the governor asked a little strangely, "the barbarians herd cattle and sheep, and the Han people plowed the fields. This is the right thing to do. Listening to your tone, is it possible that there are wealthy families in Tianshui who imitate the barbarians to herd cattle and sheep?"
“Replying to the governor, it’s true.”
Guo Huai originally came from a noble family, so he naturally knew how important the wealthy families were to their fields. If they enclosed the land for farming, that would be normal.
Because in the past two years, a kind of plow has spread from Shu, called the curved shaft plow, which only uses one person and one ox. It is not only extremely convenient, but also labor-saving. It is much better than the previous two oxen plow.
It is best to use it for farming.
In the past, it was difficult to open up wasteland, but with this kind of plow, it is much easier to open up wasteland.
I did not expect that the Longyou Grand family was abnormal.
At that moment, Guo Huai was thoughtful, "In the past two years, Hu people have been coming to tell me that the Han people in Longyou do not allow them to graze. I originally thought that in Guanzhong and Longyou, the Hu people kept driving cattle and sheep here to graze. , just enough to appease them.”
“I didn’t expect that something like this happened. Then do you know why they don’t farm but herd cattle and sheep?”
When Ma Zun heard this, a look of embarrassment appeared on his face. He glanced at the people following him and coughed, "Return to the governor, these things were all done by the local big families. How do you know this?"
Nowadays, local officials must have a good relationship with the local aristocratic families to be able to hold office. Guo Huai did not want to embarrass Ma Zun.
Moreover, it is almost an open secret that the wealthy families in Guanzhong, Longyou, and even Liangzhou have many connections with the south.
Even the late emperor held a special court meeting because of the excessive inflow of Shu brocade and wrote a "Book of Discussing Shu Brocade with the Officials" in order to warn wealthy people not to be proud of Shu Brocade.
Where does Shu brocade come from? Aren’t they all from Shu?
The price of brocade brought from Wu to Shu is more than double, so the wealthy families in Longyou, Guanzhong, will find ways to buy it directly from Shu, and then transfer it to the Central Plains.
Although the imperial court deeply abhorred such behavior as liaison with Shu bandits, it had to hold its nose and accept it because it was impossible to stop it.
(End of this chapter)