Chapter 616: Soldiers but no food
Chang'an Temporary Palace.
Cao Rui and his men were standing at the entrance of the palace. When he saw the chamberlain and his men running towards him, he hurriedly greeted him and asked urgently, "Is General Zhang okay?"
“Your Majesty, General Zhang has been unconscious.”
The chamberlain quickly said to Cao Rui.
Cao Rui's eyes fell on the soft couch with a gauze tent behind it. He stepped forward and opened it to take a look, and a stench rushed towards him.
Zhang He was lying inside with his eyes closed tightly. He was already skin and bones, shaped like a skeleton. The white linen wrapped around his knees was leaking pus and exuding a putrid smell.
The calf was extremely swollen, black and shiny, as if it would burst at the slightest touch.
Cao Rui quickly put down the gauze curtain and covered his mouth, feeling a churn in his stomach.
The personal chamberlain shouted quickly, "Quick, carry it in quickly!"
The guards quickly carried the soft couch to the room prepared at the front.
Cao Rui suppressed his nausea, turned his head and shouted, "Doctor!"
Several medical workers from the palace rushed over.
“Go and treat Old General Zhang quickly, be sure to cure him!”
Cao Rui ordered sharply.
No one noticed that his hands were shaking slightly.
Back in the hall where he usually handles government affairs, Cao Rui's face was still a little pale.
Long Pass was lost, Wei Zhen was defeated and died, Cao Zhen lost his troops and generals, and Zhang He was seriously injured...
In less than three months, a series of bad news hit the originally high-spirited young emperor.
The confidence built up by defeating Sun Quan was now gone.
“Here comes Sun Zi, the secretary of the Xuan Zhong Dynasty, and Liu Fang, the **** of the Zhong Shu Dynasty.”
Cao Ruiqiang calmed down and ordered.
Zhongshu's predecessor was Secretary. After Cao Pi became emperor, he changed the name of Secretary to Zhongshu, and appointed Zhongshu Ling and Zhongshu Supervisor.
Although the name has changed, the duties and powers have remained the same, and the power has even increased. It is a key department that holds secrets and is the most important eyes and ears of the Wei Emperor.
At the same time, Zhongshu Ling and Zhongshu Jian were also the most trusted people by Emperor Wei.
Sun Zi and Liu Fang received the summons and hurriedly went into the palace to have an audience. "Your Majesty, Sun Zi (Liu Fang), is here to see you."
“You two dear friends, you don’t need to be polite, please sit down first.”
Cao Rui asked the two of them to take a seat, and then said, "The two dear friends must also know that General Zhang was seriously injured and fell into a coma. He was just sent back to Chang'an today by his cronies."
"The situation in Longyou is now in a state of decay and is difficult to deal with. I can't sleep day and night, but I am helpless. Now the important officials in the court are far away in Luoyang. Only two of them are my confidants and stay with me."
At this point, Cao Rui looked at Sun Zi again, with a look of shame on his face, "Sun Aiqing, you once told me that the land of Hanzhong is a heavenly prison, and you must have 150,000 or 60,000 elite soldiers to defeat Shu."
"You also persuaded me to stick to the dangerous pass and not to go south easily. It was really good words. I regret not listening to you, because the military capital was destroyed and the army was defeated. Now I know that I was wrong. I hope you will not worry about it. "
When Sun Zi heard this, he fell to the ground and said that he did not dare, "The Shu captives are very cunning and took advantage of Wei's unpreparedness. They just succeeded by luck. Your Majesty does not need to blame yourself."
Cao Rui sighed, "But now that the Shu captives are occupying Long Pass and peeking into the pass, I am really worried. What can I do?"
Sun Zi replied, "Your Majesty, the only way to enter Guanzhong from Hanzhong is Chencang. There is a general guarding it personally, so there is no need to worry. And from Longyou to Guanzhong, you must pass through Qian County."
"It can be said that Qian County is a more important place than Longguan. Therefore, General Zhang personally led his elite troops to cross the Longshan Trail, leaving 20,000 troops to garrison Qian County."
When Cao Rui heard this, he showed a very unwilling look on his face, "In this case, doesn't it mean that Longyou is surrendered to the Shu captives?"
"Your Majesty, the Kwantung reinforcements that have arrived in Chang'an are only 60,000, and the total number of troops in Guanzhong is just over 100,000. In addition to garrisoning Chencang and Qian County, we also need to garrison a large army in New Taipei County to guard against the northwest. To pacify the rebellious army.”
"In this way, the 100,000-strong army in Guanzhong has more than enough defense, but not enough aggressiveness. If there is another defeat, Guanzhong will probably no longer be owned by the Wei Dynasty. Now, coupled with the new defeat of the army, morale is low, and it needs to rest and recuperate. I can fight again.”
“In my opinion, Your Majesty, it’s better to be patient and wait for the Hebei army to arrive, and then make plans whether to fight or defend.”
Sun Zi said with a sincere expression.
Hearing these words, Cao Rui felt even more regretful.
If he hadn't been too greedy for merit and rushed to Wudu, causing the army to be defeated, he should have started to counterattack Longyou at this time.
Unexpectedly, one step was wrong and every step was wrong.
But now even if we don’t have enough troops to attack Longyou, we should be able to send out a large army to quell the peaceful chaos, right?
If Anding County is in hand, even if Longguan is lost, at least we can attack Longyou via a detour from Anding County.
Wei is strong but Shu is weak. If the army is in a stalemate, the Shu captives may not be able to hold on.
Thinking of this, Cao Rui asked again, "What about Anding County? Even if we have no choice but to stop the Shu captives in Longyou, then Anding County can always send a large army there first, right?"
This time, before Sun Zi could speak, Liu Fang reminded him, "Your Majesty, when the army is going on a campaign, we must also pay attention to the food and fodder. The government in Guanzhong now has very little food in stock, and it is barely enough to support the army for a month."
"If the army goes on another expedition, people will eat the horses' chews and waste more money. Therefore, I ask your majesty to order an order to urge Luoyang to deliver grain and grass as soon as possible. Otherwise, when reinforcements from Hebei arrive, there will be no grain available."
"What did you say? Not enough food and grass?" Cao Rui, who was planning to win the game, suddenly stood up as if a bucket of cold water was poured on his head.
"How could there be insufficient food and grass? There has been no war in Guanzhong for nearly ten years, and the soil and water are fertile. Isn't it enough to collect food for ten years to support the army for three months?"
Liu Fang remained silent.
Cao Rui has been upset by the continuous bad news these days. Now he heard that there was a shortage of food and grass in Guanzhong, and he was furious. "Liu Fang, tell me, why is there a shortage of food and grass?"
Even in the Central Plains, where the late emperor had launched a large-scale military campaign in the past few years, it could not prevent the price of grain from becoming increasingly cheap, so Sima Zhi proposed to restore the five-baht currency.
Not to mention that there has been no war in Guanzhong for a long time, how could there be no food?
"Your Majesty, in the past, General Anxi was in charge of all matters in Guanzhong. How can I know the details?"
Liu Fang had no choice but to reply.
“General Anxi?”
Cao Rui was stunned.
Isn’t that his uncle Xia Houmao?
Xia Houmao had a good relationship with the late emperor and married Princess Qinghe, the eldest daughter of Emperor Wu. Her status was of great importance.
When Cao Rui heard what Liu Fang said, he immediately understood. How could he not know the details? Obviously he didn't dare to say it.
After thinking about this, Cao Rui became even more angry.
“Come, let Xiahou…”
Cao Rui was so impulsive that he wanted to tell Xia Houmao to come over and confront him, but when he saw the two people below, he suddenly stopped talking.
If Xiahou Mao had made such mistakes before the personal expedition, Cao Rui would have killed him without any scruples.
It's just that he went on this trip personally to increase his prestige. Unexpectedly, he lost his land and lost his troops. When he returns to Luoyang in the future, he is afraid that he will be underestimated by the officials.
In this case, it is the time when the support of the royal clan is needed.
With this thought, he had to suppress his anger and nodded, "I already know about this, and I will ask General Anxi what is going on."
(End of this chapter)