Chapter 50 Rumors arise

After hearing A Dou's words, Zhuge Liang said with a serious expression: "Your Majesty, now our only way to attack Wei is to advance eastward, even if we seize Nanyang, we still need to advance eastward. Sun Quan is different. If Sun Quan seizes Nanyang, we can go from Huainan to Xuzhou, or from Nanyang to Xudu eastward. Therefore, Nanyang is far more important to Sun Quan than to us. Nanyang, Sun Quan is bound to win, so we might as well send Nanyang to Sun Quan to stabilize Sun Quan's heart. However, Nanyang is only separated from Chang'an by Wu Pass, so we must hold this Wu Pass in our hands."

After Zhuge Liang finished speaking, he looked at Adou hesitating, and then said, "Your Majesty, this is the way to choose. If you want to take something, you will inevitably give up something. I think that Nanyang can give Sun Quan, and our troops to enter Sili is the right way. As long as we seize Sili, we can attack Bingzhou across the Yellow River in the north, and go east to Hulao to break Yanzhou."

"Sili? Prime Minister, do you think Sun Quan will compete with us for Sili?" A Dou asked.

"Haha, your Majesty doesn't have to worry. I expected Sun Quan would definitely not compete with us for Sili. If we gave up Nanyang, the only way to send troops was to advance to Sili. If Sun Quan occupied Sili, it would be equivalent to blocking our way to send troops. At the same time, Sun Quan's front line was also lengthened. In that case, Sun Quan would not only worry about Cao Wei, but also us. For Sun Quan, it would be harmful to others and not good for himself. So even if Sun Quan attacked the city of Luoyang, he would still give Sili to us." Zhuge Liang continued.

"So, if Sun Quan only got one Nanyang, but we could get Sili, wouldn't Sun Quan suffer a lot? Will Sun Quan do this loss-making transaction?" A Dou asked again.

"Your Majesty, Sun Quan is not a loss. Don't forget that there is still Jiangxia! If Cao Wei loses Nanyang, Jiangxia cannot be defended alone. And Xinye, Yiyang, Anfeng and Hefei can be connected into a line, and the entire southern bank of the Huai River, from the upper reaches to the lower reaches, belongs to Sun Quan!"

Only then did Adou remember that there was another Jiang Xia in the hands of the Wei Kingdom.

Although Sun Quan successfully occupied Shouchun, Wenpin also captured Jiangxia. Yiyang and other counties in the upper reaches of the Huai River were still within the control of the Wei Kingdom. If Lu Xun occupied Nanyang, Jiangxia would become an isolated city and would inevitably be out of protection, which would cause the upper reaches of the Huai River and other places to fall into the control of Sun Quan. In this way, the Lu Xun Corps in Jingzhou and Sun Quan in Shouchun could be refined into a front line by land, and at the same time greatly shortened Sun Quan's front line, which had very important strategic significance for Sun Quan.

Pang Tong stood up next to him and said, "Your Majesty, what Kong Ming said is very true. Now we can only advance eastward. Sili is the center of the world. As long as we capture Hulao Pass and Xingyang, we can attack and retreat and defend. Dong Zhuo defended Xingyang and Hulao Pass to the death, and then he could block the coalition forces of the eighteen princes. And Sili attacked Bingzhou from the north, which could directly threaten Jizhou. Sili said Sili is the place I must occupy. On the contrary, if we occupy Nanyang,

It is equivalent to blocking Sun Quan's path, and then we still have to attack Luoyang in the east, while Sun Quan can only attack Cao from Huainan. In this way, Sun Quan will inevitably feel angry and will definitely peek at Huainan. If you are not careful, it may lead to the disaster of Jingzhou. Besides, Nanyang is not something that Sun Quan can take down just as Sun Quan wants to take. Although there are not many Cao troops in Nanyang, Sima Yi is not an ordinary person. If Sun Quan wants to bite the hard bone of Nanyang, he might have to knock down one or two front teeth!"

Adou nodded slowly, and then said, "Then according to your wishes, I will agree to Sun Quan first?"

"Your Majesty will agree first. When attacking Cao Wei, Your Majesty can divide his troops into two groups, attacking Tongguan and Wuguan. Tongguan has to wait for an opportunity to attack Sili. As for Wuguan, there is no need to be too serious. If you seize Wuguan, you don't have to advance again." Pang Tong said, thinking carefully, and then continued: "If we attack with Eastern Wu, Cao Rui will definitely be difficult to resist. If I expected it, Cao Rui will definitely send a small number of generals to guard Tongguan and Wuguan, and rely on the terrain level to deal with us, in order to win time, and the army will mainly be sent to Jingzhou and Huainan to resist Sun Quan. As long as Sun Quan is defeated, it will be difficult for our army to accomplish anything alone. Therefore, this battle must be fast, and to capture Tongguan or Wuguan with lightning speed, you can break the enemy."

"The one who guards Tongguan now is Guo Huai. Guo Huai's father was the prefect of Yanmen back then. He had defeated the Xianbei people many attacks, so Guo Huai is very good at defending; as for Wuguan, the guard is Xiahou Ba, the son of Xiahou Yuan, and is also the descendant of the famous family..." Pang Tong said here and secretly looked at A Dou.

In short, A Dou and Xiahou Ba are still relatives, and Zhang Fei's wife is Xiahou Ba's sister. In this way, A Dou should have called Xiahou Ba "uncle", so when it comes to Xiahou Ba, Pang Tong secretly glanced at A Dou.

"Guo Huai? Xiahou Ba? These two are not easy-to-use lights!" Thinking of these two people, Adou couldn't help but feel headache.

"Your Majesty, I think it would be better for us to let Zhang He come to guard Wu Pass." Pang Tong continued.

"Zhang He? Zhang He is a general of Wei State. He has outstanding martial arts and extraordinary wisdom, but he is much better than Xiahou Ba!" Adou said in confusion.

"What your Majesty said is that Zhang He is a general of Cao Wei. Since following Cao Cao, he has made many military achievements. At that time, Cao Cao's brothers, Xiahou brothers and five good generals, there is only Zhang He left. When Cao Cao was alive, Zhang He was the first general under his command and ordered Zhang He to be the prestigious prince. However, after Cao Pi usurped the throne, he only appointed Zhang He as the left general and the Duxiang Marquis. Now several years have passed, but he has not yet been promoted. On the contrary, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi are already the most powerful minister. Xiahou Shang and Cao Xiu's official title are already higher than Zhang He. Even Guo Huai, who was once under Zhang He, was promoted to General Yang Wu, the governor of Yongzhou, and the Marquis of Sheyangting. Although his official position is slightly lower than that of Zhang He, the left general, his power is more than three points!"

"So I expected that Zhang He must be dissatisfied with this now. It's okay for the others to say that they are all members of the Cao family. It's understandable that Sima Yi is now in office as a Grand Marshal and is even more a governor of one side. Zhang He must be resentful of Sima Yi. Wuguan is under the jurisdiction of Nanyang, which is Sima Yi's defense area. If Zhang He comes to guard Wuguan, he will inevitably be incompatible with Sima Yi, and the other hand, he can take advantage of Zhang He's eagerness for quick success and instant benefits to break Wuguan!"

"What he said makes sense." A Dou nodded with satisfaction.

Zhang He has not been doing well in recent years. Since Cao Pi ascended the throne, he has launched a large number of new people, such as Sima Yi, Guo Huai, Deng Ai, Xiahou Shang, etc., and has been promoted by Cao Pi one by one. It is precisely the saying that the Yangtze River pushes the previous waves!

But the key is that Zhang He, the former wave, is not old yet and does not want to be photographed on the beach. Seeing Sima Yi gradually becoming a high-ranking minister, Guo Huai, the Sima under his command, also caught up. Deng Ai, a stuttering like the garrison, also became the general that Cao Zhen and Sima Yi relied on. Although he was the left general, his title was more than actual power. Zhang He was unhappy in his heart, and he felt that he had nowhere to display his ambitions.

When he was under Cao Cao's command, Zhang He was appointed as the vanguard when he went to war, and most of the commanders Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren were Cao Cao himself. Zhang He accepted this arrangement. He originally thought that Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren were dead now, and it was his turn to be the head coach in this round, but unexpectedly, the head coach became Cao Zhen and Sima Yi, and wanted to go back to be the vanguard again. The vanguard was replaced by Deng Ai, Xiahou Shang and others. Most of the time, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi did not use Zhang He, especially Sima Yi, and simply regarded Zhang He as a mascot. This made Zhang He feel a little helpless, but it was more resentment, resentment towards Cao Zhen, Sima Yi, and resentment towards Cao Pi.

In fact, this cannot be blamed on Cao Zhen and Sima Yi. After all, Zhang He was the general who Cao Cao relied on back then, and he was also the first-class general in the court. On weekdays, the command of Cao Zhen and Sima Yi was only at the level of a miscellaneous general. Then a left general popped up, and he was also a very experienced general. Even if Cao Zhen and Sima Yi wanted to command, they were afraid that they would not be able to command. At the same time, they were even more afraid that if there was a mistake, Zhang He was injured or died, which would affect the morale of the army. In comparison, even if three or five miscellaneous generals were killed, it would be better to die a left general to have a great impact on the morale of the army.

Therefore, there is often a situation where every battle, when facing the enemy head-on charge, there is nothing to do. When it is about to win, it is Zhang He's turn to go on the field. When it retreats, Zhang He retreats with the central army, and the rear guard always gives it to others.

Zhang He had almost no chance to fight with the enemy, which greatly reduced Zhang He's chances of making meritorious contributions. On the contrary, Deng Ai, Guo Huai and others rushed up like rockets.

After all, Cao Zhen was a member of the Cao family. Zhang He had to endure the dissatisfaction with Cao Zhen, but he was different to Sima Yi. In Zhang He's eyes, Sima Yi was not as good as himself in terms of qualifications. He led troops to fight. Zhang He thought he was not inferior to Sima Yi. Sima Yi sat on Zhang He's head, and Zhang He had long been dissatisfied. In secret, Zhang He always disobeyed Sima Yi's orders, and because of Zhang He's official title, Sima Yi could not do anything to Zhang He, but this conflict was destroyed.

In terms of the ability of a general, Zhang He is definitely several times more difficult than Xiahou Ba. However, after Zhang He has been in the battle for a long time, he must be eager to make contributions, which is exactly the easiest point to use. On the other hand, Xiahou Ba knew that he was not capable of his ability, and he would definitely hold on to it honestly. If it were Zhang He, he would have tried every means to kill the Shu army and gain credit. This is Zhang He's biggest weakness.

As the defensive side, the most taboo thing is not to defend honestly and always think about some tricks to retreat to the enemy. If you are extremely smart, you will be sure to win. If you are smart, you will be wronged by your cleverness and will make mistakes. Just like when Cao Ren and Zhou Yu fought in a battle, both sides thought about ways to go back and forth to the robbery camp, but every time one side of the robbery camp failed and lost the initiative.

Zhuge Liang coughed dryly and said, "Your Majesty, Shi Yuan is right. Xiahou Ba is far inferior to Zhang He's age, experience and ability, so he will definitely stick to the end without seeking merits but seeking no mistakes. If Zhang He comes to this point, he will definitely not be as calm as Xiahou Ba. This is the opportunity for our army to win! The so-called drowning people are mostly water-like people, which is the reason."

Generally speaking, novices are careful when doing things, not seeking merit but seeking no mistakes. Just like swimming, those who know how to swim know how to swim know how to swim, and they dare not approach when they see water. At most, those who have just learned to swim dare to swim in shallow water at most. Only those who are good at water dare to swim into deep water, and the chances of accidents will increase greatly.

Now Xiahouba is the one who just learned to swim, so he is naturally cautious when entering the water. Zhang He is the one who has good water quality. He plays a variety of swimming and diving as soon as the water is ready. This is the so-called careful sailing for a thousand years. In this way, even if a person like Xiahouba cannot gain much advantage, he will not suffer much loss.

Zhuge Liang continued, "Your Majesty, why don't we spread some rumors and lead Zhang He to come! Besides, your Majesty can let that person walk around in Yecheng."

The "that person" that Zhuge Liang mentioned was Xu Shu.

Zhuge Liang knew about Xu Shu's undercover identity. When Xu Shu left, he had already told Zhuge Liang about the incident, so Zhuge Liang knew about Xu Shu's identity. On the other hand, Pang Tong didn't know. After all, Pang Tong was still determined to surrender to Jiangdong at that time, so Xu Shu did not recommend Pang Tong.

Pang Tong was also considered a core minister of Shu, and he also vaguely knew that there was a spy sent by Shu in the senior management of Wei. Pang Tong had long guessed that the spy was Xu Shu. However, Pang Tong was not stupid enough to ask Liu Bei. When Pang Tong knew about this, he had to continue to pretend that he didn't know about it.

Adou replied to the envoy from Jiangdong, saying that he would not compete with Sun Quan for Nanyang. At the same time, in order to relieve Sun Quan's doubts, he also agreed that even if the Shu army captured Nanyang, he would give it to Sun Quan with both hands.

Sun Quan made a wise decision. He made a verbal agreement with Liu Bei, but after more than ten years, he tried his best to get Jingzhou back. This time, Sun Quan's envoy said that he would write down the characters as a certificate. At the same time, in order to prevent Adou from delaying time or prevent Adou from taking it out of context, he also indicated the time and scope on the characters. It was stipulated that if the Shu army occupied any county in Nanyang, it would need to be returned to Dongwu within one year, and each county in Nanyang would be marked.

However, this does not include Wuguan. The envoy sent by Sun Quan was obviously entrusted by Sun Quan, so it would be fine if Wuguan didn't. After all, Wuguan is the gateway to Chang'an, and Sun Quan also knows how to make choices, so he left the gate for others.

In this way, both Sun and Liu had a desire to jointly attack Wei. Shu had an opportunity to seize Sili, and could march into Hebei in the future with Sili; while Jiangdong took Nanyang to connect the front line, and at the same time accumulated capital for the future capture of Yanzhou, Xuzhou and other places. It was a joy to everyone.

More than ten days later.

A sudden news came from Chang'an that A Dou wanted to take advantage of Cao Pi's new mourning opportunity to conquer Wei.

At the same time, it seemed to confirm the accuracy of this news, and the Shu army began to gather in the direction of Chang'an.

Then two news also spread on the streets and alleys of Chang'an.

The first news was that after Emperor Liu Chan was drunk, he said that fortunately Xiahou Ba was guarding Wu Pass, so the Shu army would be able to seize Wu Pass without bloodshed. If the Wei State sent Zhang He to guard Wu Pass, it would be difficult for the Shu army to seize Wu Pass.

Another news is that Adou intends to take Zhang Fei as the commander and attack Wuguan.

These two messages are combined and can't help but make people think about it.

When A Dou was drunk, he said that he had captured Wu Pass, and that the soldiers were not bloodless. There was only one way to conquer the city without bloodlessness. One was that the people who were defending the city fled, and the other was that the people who were defending the city surrendered. Xiahou Ba naturally could not escape. A Dou's implication was that Xiahou Ba would surrender.

At the same time, Zhang Fei, who was attacking Wuguan, was a relative of Xiahou Ba. Xiahou Ba was Zhang Fei's brother-in-law, and Xiahou Ba was also the uncle of Liu Chan, the emperor of Shu Han. In fact, in terms of closeness and alienation, Cao Cao and Cao Ren and others were cousins, and were separated from Xiahou brothers by another layer. Cao Rui and Xiahou Ba were both three generations away. In this way, it seems that Xiahou Ba and Adou are closer than Cao Rui.

The people's associations are very rich. In addition, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and others have contributed to the fire, and soon many different versions have been circulated among the people. The central idea of ​​most of them is that Xiahou Ba wants to surrender to this nephew in Chang'an, so he wants to offer Wuguan. The official title A Dou promised to Xiahou Ba is much higher than that Cao Rui gave!

With the spread of those who are interested, this news quickly spread to Yecheng.

Chang'an.

Not long after the Jiangdong envoy left, Adou ordered the reorganization of troops. All the ministers in the court realized that they were going to fight again. Then the food and grass began to be gathered continuously in Chang'an, which further confirmed everyone's ideas.

A Dou took a break from his busy schedule and took advantage of this time to inspect various places in Yongzhou. First, to see the reconstruction of Yongzhou, and second, to start to stabilize people's hearts because the war is imminent. Especially for the Di people who have just migrated to Yongzhou, the sense of belonging is not very strong and is easily exploited and caused chaos. Therefore, A Dou personally went to several places where the Di residents are concentrated, and talked with several Di chiefs to stabilize the Di people.

After returning to Chang'an, A Dou rested for a day, and early the next morning, he went to the morning court.

In the hall, all civil and military officials stood neatly below like troops being inspected.

"Ahem..." A Dou cleared his throat and said, "My dear friends, I'm calling you here today, mainly for one thing. Cao Pi of Wei State was defeated, so I plan to... Huh!"

As Adou said, he suddenly discovered that behind Guan, Zhang and Zhao, there was an old man standing there. His hair, beard, and eyebrows were all white, but his waist was straight and he stood there with energy.
Chapter completed!