Chapter 189: Still Sun Zhongmou

The thirteenth year of Tiansheng was the last year with Tiansheng as the reign title.

After the New Year, the era name will be changed to Guangping.

It probably means to recover the world and pacify the four directions.

However, at the end of the 13th year of Tiansheng, Luoyang did not receive any good news.

An army of 40,000 led by Qu Tushi'an, the Protector of Jingyu, and Murong Hui, the King of Xia, attacked Wancheng. They fought with Huang Niujiao for several months but returned without success.

Because of the coming of winter, they were short of food and clothing and had to retreat.

They were still being chased by Huang Niu Jiao on the way of retreat. If it weren't for the alertness of the elite central army led by Murong Hui, the entire army would have been in danger of being overthrown.

Even so, Qu Tushi'an recruited new volunteers and powerful troops, but was still defeated and lost the city of Biyang.

The loss of Biyang City made Li Yuanhui of Jianghuai curse along, because Biyang was located on the western foot of Fangcheng Mountains. If Biyang was lost in Jingzhou, the Western Wei army could enter the southwest of Yuzhou through the passage in Fangcheng Mountains, and then threaten the northwest of Yangzhou.

Li Si was not concerned about the affairs of Yuzhou, but if the Western Wei army from Jingzhou attacked, it would be closely related to him.

On the other hand, Zhou's troops, who were originally stationed in Xinchun and Xunyang, moved thousands of households from the two counties to Wanxian and Shiting after the autumn harvest.

Seeing this, the Western Wei army naturally sent people to take over the two cities. Moreover, Xunyang in the north of the Yangtze River was across the river from Chaisang under the jurisdiction of Yuzhang County.

The Eastern and Western Wei were separated by only a river, and how they got along was a major test for both sides.

In terms of legal succession, both sides descended from the Great Wei and claimed that they were the successors of the Great Wei.

This is the biggest disagreement between the two sides, it’s either you or me.

At present, the two sides have not yet reached the point of fighting each other, mainly because their current strategic directions are different.

It was obvious that after Cao Yuanjing of the Eastern Wei captured the four counties of Jiangdong, his next target would be Huainan.

Because to guard the Yangtze River, we must also guard the Huai River.

Whether for the long-term goal of a northern expedition to the Central Plains or for practical considerations of Jiangdong's defense, seizing the three counties between Jiangbei and Huainan is their top priority, because it is related to the survival of the Jiangdong regime.

The Western Wei Dynasty exchanged Wancheng for Xiangfan, which was equivalent to taking over all the counties in Jingzhou except Shangyong, Xicheng and Fangling, and had hundreds of thousands of troops.

Then, taking advantage of the opportunity when Yizhou Governor Tang Gong Li Yuan went north to send troops to Longyou, Cao Xuan personally led an army of 200,000 and hundreds of warships westward, marching along the direction of Yiling, Xiling, and Zigui, all the way to Yong'an.

After besieging Yong'an for more than a month, the army suffered heavy casualties.

The person stationed in Yong'an in Yizhou was the cousin of Duke Tang Li Yuan, named Li Zhu. He had previously served as the Wannian Ling. Later, after Murong Zan entered Guanzhong, he brought his family and a large number of clansmen to Yizhou to seek refuge.

Li Zhu was only about thirty years old, but he was careful in his actions and well versed in military affairs. After arriving in Yizhou, Li Yuan directly appointed him as the governor of Yong'an, in charge of the eastern gate of Yizhou.

Li Zhu did not disappoint Li Yuan. Relying on the defense of Yong'an city and the terrain of Qutang Gorge, he prevented the 200,000 Western Wei troops from advancing and suffered heavy casualties.

Cao Xuan and his generals looked at the Yong'an City and announced the withdrawal order helplessly, "It really is 'the road to Shu is difficult'..."

On the warship, Cao Xuan sighed helplessly.

Generals such as Ding Jingzhen, Lei Shimeng and Zhang Wenxiu were also in low spirits.

At this time, Kuai Wenxian, the Minister of Records of the Ministry of Rites, said, "It took Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han several years to enter Yizhou from Jingzhou. Your Majesty and the generals have only been fighting for a month. Why are you so discouraged? Since Your Majesty has risen to the occasion, you should learn from Emperor Zhaolie's unyielding determination and show your trustworthiness to the world."

This sentence made everyone feel a little ashamed. Cao Xuan even bowed and said, "Thank you, Lord Kuai. I appreciate your teaching." Kuai Wenxian bowed in return, "Your Majesty, your words are too kind."

Objectively speaking, Cao Xuan was quite capable, he listened to advice, and was decisive when it came time to make decisions. He had some of the style and courage of his ancestor Cao Mengde.

After being reminded by Kuai Wenxian, he immediately regained his fighting spirit.

However, the troops had to be withdrawn. It was already November and the cold weather was not suitable for military deployment.

Although their surname was Cao, the Western Wei group's previous strategy was a replica of the Longzhong Plan, "to control Jing and Yi and protect the rocky mountains and barriers."

Now that the attack on Yong'an has failed, Cao Xuan is also thinking whether he can change his thinking and directly "lead the army of Jingzhou to Wanluo"?
After I mentioned this idea to Kuai Wenxian, it was directly rejected.

"Send troops to Yuzhou? We are going to attack Yizhou. Luoyang is too far away to reach us. They also think that we will not threaten Luoyang in the short term, and there is a big enemy in Guanzhong nearby. But if we send troops to Yuzhou, it means that the Eastern Yan court will focus on us in Jingzhou. The Eastern Wei has 200,000 troops stationed in Sili, all of whom are the best in the world. If they march south, our army will not be able to stop them. Your Majesty, have you forgotten the incident when Guan Yu flooded the seven armies?"

Kuai Wenxian's meaning is very clear. If you go west to attack Shuzhong, Luoyang will think you have no ambition and will ignore you for the time being.

Because there is a serious concern in China.

But if you send troops to the northeast to attack Yuzhou, Luoyang will definitely turn around and fight you to the death.

Before Guan Yu conquered Xiangfan, Yuzhou and Sili were already shaken. Now he has even taken Wancheng. From the geographical point of view, he can definitely send troops north.

But in terms of strength, if the hundreds of thousands of refugee troops in Yuzhou really dared to march north to the Central Plains, it would be like throwing an egg against a rock when facing the elite central army in Luoyang.

They don't even look at you, so they sent a detachment over. If you try to join them, wouldn't that be asking them to send their main force?
Cao Xuan was silent for a while when he heard this, but because he was not stupid, he understood it immediately.

After thinking it through, he said, "Since this is the case, I wonder if Mr. Kuai has any good advice for me."

Kuai Wenxian said, "Your Majesty, Jingzhou has just been conquered, and we have 400,000 soldiers. At present, there is still food in the treasury to support us. What about next year? What about the year after? Has your Majesty thought about how to support these 400,000 soldiers?"

Cao Xuan nodded upon hearing this. In fact, he had also realized this problem in the past few days. However, he was worried that the generals would have objections if he disbanded the army before the country was settled. However, Kuai Wenxian's words made him firm in his determination.

If we can invade Shu, the Land of Abundance must have a large amount of grain reserves, and some things can be considered later, but now there is no hope of entering Shu in the short term, so some things must be done.

"What Kuai Gong said is very inspiring. I understand that at this time we should streamline the military and government, lay off the old and weak and return them to the people, and not let the land go to waste."

The Jingzhou army is now eating grain from the Dayan granary, but this grain will be eaten up sooner or later. If agricultural production is not restored as soon as possible, maintaining such a large-scale army will be a dead end.

After all, an army without food can do anything. In fact, the Western Wei Dynasty, which occupied the Jianghan Plain and the Dongting Lake Plain, was a land of fish and rice, with large areas of fertile land. As long as it was cultivated properly, it would be no problem to feed an army of more than 100,000 or 200,000.

After the emperor and his ministers discussed the matter, they decided on specific matters such as streamlining the military and government, laying off the elderly and weak, and restoring farming.

In addition, Kuai Wenxian also made a suggestion to Cao Xuan, secretly communicating with the Eastern Wei and plotting to take over Jianghuai.

"Right now, Jingzhou in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is in my hands, and Cao Yuanjing in Jiangdong in the lower reaches wants Jianghuai. We can make an agreement with him to attack from both sides and take Jianghuai together. Cao Yuanjing just suffered a great loss at Ruxukou, so he will definitely not refuse to join forces with our army."

Cao Xuan was puzzled when he heard this and said, "But if so, wouldn't this be a way to help the Eastern Wei?"

Kuai Wenxian said with a smile: "If our army can take Jianghuai, we will take Jianghuai. If there is no chance, we will wait for the Eastern Wei army to attack the Yangtze River. I will pretend to attack Wankou with a small force, but actually use the main force to attack Jiangdong."

Upon hearing this, Cao Xuan praised him and said, "Kuai Gong's plan is comparable to Liang Ping's, and he is not inferior to Zhuge Liang. If this plan succeeds, he can conquer the Central Plains in the north, and he can also be as good as Sun Zhongmou if he retreats."

When Kuai Wenxian saw Cao Xuan's happy expression after hearing what he heard, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart that this man had no long-term ambition.

In this age of great contention and time of calculation, instead of thinking of unifying the world, you want to establish your own regime and become Sun Zhongmou?
(End of this chapter)