Chapter 73 8. To attack Wu or to attack Shu?

"Also, is the policy of 'vacating Dangyang and retreating to defend Xiangyang' that I proposed at the Changle Hall today really wrong?" Cao Pi's eyes froze, and he looked at them again with a slight thought. This time Cao Xiu no longer kept silent, and replied, "Your Majesty! The distance between Dangyang County and Jiangling City, where the Sun family is based, is less than three hundred miles away. In a flash! And you were bewitched by Sun Quan, and you agreed to withdraw the garrison of Dangyang and return to Xiangyang City—in this way, the royal army of the Celestial Dynasty was thrown six or seven hundred miles away from Jiangling City. To take advantage of this opportunity, you have to gallop non-stop for three days and two nights to get there, I'm afraid it will be too late by then, it's a rare opportunity..."

When Cao Pi heard this, his eyebrows frowned after careful consideration, and he couldn't help turning his questioning eyes to Jia Xu. Under his gaze, Jia Xu could only gently stroke her gray beard, shook her head slightly, and sighed deeply. "Oh? It seems that what I said today is really wrong?" Cao Pi gritted his teeth secretly, and said in a cold voice, "Why don't I also come to 'Wang Gu left and right talk about him', and stabilize Sun Quan in Huatou and words, but secretly Let Cao Ren not have to 'vacate Dangyang, return troops and withdraw northward'!"

"Qizou Your Majesty: In my opinion, since you have publicly promised to 'vacate Dangyang and return troops to the north' first, you might as well use your plan at this moment and find another way to take advantage of the gap." At this time, Sima Yi finally opened his mouth and said , "'How can we know that it is not a blessing?' My Great Wei's move of 'vacating Dangyang and withdrawing to Xiangyang' has won Sun Quan's trust and reassurance. Sun Quan will no longer regard our Great Wei as an enemy-when On this occasion, please Your Majesty immediately issue a secret edict ordering former General Zhang Liao and Zhendong General Zang Baji to lead sharp troops from Hefei and Wancheng to attack Jiangdong!"

"This...Since Your Majesty has issued an edict of kindness to Sun Quan to make peace with him, and then sent troops to attack Jiangdong later, I am afraid that it will damage the arrogance of the Yangyang Dynasty and hinder the observation of the subjects in all directions!" Because Chen Qun had a close relationship with Sima Yi, he also knew that he didn't care about himself, so he bluntly raised it from the sidelines. "Yes! Jiangdong Sun Quan has surrendered, and he has sent 500,000 shi of grain to the common people of the Great Wei. If I rush to attack him secretly, won't I end up being "inhumane" in front of the people of the world? The notoriety of righteousness?" Cao Pi also frowned and said in astonishment.

I saw Sima Yi said with emotion: "Your Majesty! It was Sun Quan who did not hesitate to pay 500,000 shi of grain to our Great Wei in order to gain fame and buy people's hearts. This shows the cunning and cunning of this thief! Moreover, he gave The 500,000 shi of grain given to the common people of Great Wei is actually a secret demonstration to the outside world: it shows that he has surplus food in the east of the Yangtze River, and he has enough energy to fight against Liu Bei! Have to guard against, have to get rid of! "Your Majesty can then ask Zhang Liao, Zang Ba and other generals to send troops across the river to help the Sun family fight against Liu Bei in the name of coming: if he does not refuse, then my Celestial Dynasty Royal Master can just take the opportunity to cross the river and go deep into his territory and control him ; If he refuses, he will be cut down for the reason of not obeying the king's order!"

After hearing what Sima Yi said, Cao Pi couldn't help but fell into deep thought.While Jia Xu was listening, two burning flames suddenly ignited in the depths of his somewhat cloudy eyes, and he stared straight at Sima Yi. If he realized something, he nodded and smiled at him. Seeing that Cao Pi was still hesitating, Sima Yi said further: "Your Majesty, you must not be deceived by Sun Quan's rhetoric! In my opinion, Sun Quan sent an envoy here without reason to show his favor. Internal urgency! Since Sun Quan was ordered by the late emperor to kill Guan Yu and seize Jiangling in Jingzhou the year before last, he has angered Liu Bei, the puppet Shu, and provoked him to attack him this time. Now there are strong bandits approaching from outside Sun Quan. Fearing that we, the Great Wei, would take advantage of the opportunity to ask for it, so we bowed our knees and paid tribute with modest words. On the one hand, we used this to prevaricate the great army of the Great Wei's Eastern Expedition, and on the other hand, we pretended to entrust the Great Wei to be our own foreign aid, so as to show off our superiority and intimidate the enemy. Sun Quan This scheme of 'Iron Tree Blooming' and 'Borrowing the Dead' is really powerful! Since Your Majesty is a traitor, you must not allow him to succeed!"

"Qi Zou Your Majesty: Zhong Da's words are deeply in line with the military strategy, please think carefully about it, Your Majesty." Jia Xu also opened his mouth to applaud Sima Yi's words at this time. "Sun Quan's intentions are naturally clear to me." Cao Pi was still full of suspicion, "However, the Sun family in Jiangdong has occupied Wuyue for decades. To win this opportunity? Sima Aiqing, you are too greedy for merit..." Sima Yi had no choice but to analyze to him again: "Your Majesty, a man who knows the current affairs is a hero, and when it's time to be bold and enterprising, he must be bold and enterprising! According to my opinion, the world is divided into three, and the Great Wei is eight out of ten. The puppet Shu and Jiangdong each protect a corner, blocking the mountains and relying on the river. They should have joined forces to protect themselves and rescue each other in an emergency. Attacking is really a gap between the death of heaven! Your Majesty must seize this golden opportunity, and when Liu Bei attacks Yiling, dispatch Zhang Liao, Zang Ba and other generals to cross the river and attack his confidants. At that time, the Puppet Shu in the west will attack the throat of Jiangdong, and my great Wei in the east will seize Jiangdong's confidantes, and Jiangdong's death will not take ten months! Once Jiangdong is destroyed, the pseudo-Shu will be alone and weak! My great Wei and Send troops from Hanzhong, Xiangyang, and Chaisang to attack the puppet Shu—the puppet Shu will lose its position in advance and retreat, and if it is difficult to balance the beginning and the end, it will undoubtedly perish!"

As soon as he said this, even Cao Xiu showed admiration in his eyes, and he cupped his hands to persuade Cao Pi: "Your Majesty, what Sima Pushe said is very true, please accept it!" However, Cao Pi still hesitated and refused to accept it, and pondered: "Is it so easy for the Sun family in Jiangdong to be taken care of by me? I'm just afraid that it will be self-defeating! Besides, people from far away proclaim their ministers and I attack them in violation of justice. , it will certainly frustrate the hearts of all gentlemen from all over the world, and it will definitely ruin the reputation of Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty as a first-class hero and sage who "does not do anything, goes fast without being fast, and comes without doing anything"! I am not as good as Jiang Dong Is it possible to wait for an opportunity to send troops from Xiangyang to attack the Shu rebels?"

"Your Majesty, the puppet Shu is far away and Jiangdong is close, so it is more difficult for our army to attack the puppet Shu, but it is easier to take Jiangdong! Just because if Liu Bei hears that the great Wei is about to attack, he will always protect his way back to the teacher—— As soon as our army moved, he would have retreated into the Wushan Three Gorges plank road, how could he follow behind? Now that Liu Bei has become angry and raised his army, if he knows that the Great Wei will attack Jiangdong, and knows that Jiangdong will surely perish, he will definitely be happy to see the benefits. Fight for the territory of the east of the river with my Great Wei, and go to Echeng and go east. At that time, you will send General Cao Ren from Xiangyang to attack along the Han River, and then you can kill him!"

Cao Pi pondered for a long time, and finally threw out the most secret thought in his heart: "What I am most worried about is: once Zhang Liao and Zang Ba lead the Qingxu Kuangju to cross the river successfully, they may become the second "Sun Quan" 'Your generation's traitor!" "This..." Sima Yi couldn't help but froze.It turned out that when Cao Cao passed away the year before last, those young and old soldiers who he recruited from the "Yellow Turban Army" thought that "the beams and pillars have been destroyed, and the building will collapse", and they lost their hearts. Xuzhou Inspector Zhang Liao, Qingzhou Inspector Zang Ba and other veteran generals were on standby.As the prince, Cao Pi actually lacked prestige and orders among these young and old soldiers, which greatly stimulated him.Later, Zhang Liao and Zang Ba hurriedly cleaned up the disorderly soldiers, and went to Beijing alone to plead guilty, which slightly eased Cao Pi's suspicion.But since then, Cao Pi no longer really trusts Zhang Liao, Zang Ba and other powerful ministers and veterans, but suffers from the lack of opportunity to deprive them of their military power.

"Your Majesty, you shouldn't doubt Zhang Liao, Zang Ba and other generals! In the deep winter of the fifth year of Jian'an, when the first emperor and Yuan Shao faced each other at Guandu, General Zang Ba spared no effort to stop Yuan's reinforcements in the east, and his contribution was great; And General Zhang Liao, in the midst of the battle, fought for the foundation of the Wei family, went through life and death, and suffered many scars. The Battle of White Wolf Mountain subdued Huayi, and he worked hard! All this was witnessed by my minister and His Majesty Yes!" Sima Yi remonstrated earnestly, "I dare to use the top E crown as a guarantee for the loyalty of the two generals Zhang Liao and Zang Ba. If your majesty has any doubts, you may as well appoint this minister as the Eastern Expedition Supervising Army Minister, let the humble minister personally monitor their Eastern Expeditionary Division!" "This..." Cao Pi seemed to be moved, with a look of hesitation on his face. "Your Majesty! The ministers also feel that Sima Pushe's words are well-founded and worth a try." This time, Xia Houshang and Chen Qun also strongly agreed with one voice. Cao Xiu said even more happily: "Your Majesty—actually, there is no need for Lao Sima Pushe to go out in person. I am willing to serve as the Minister of the Eastern Expedition, and I will never return to Your Majesty until Sun Quan's head is beheaded!" Cao Pi bowed his head and pondered for a long time, but in the end he still flicked his sleeves and his face was as stiff as iron: "I have made up my mind: I will first accept Jiangdong Sun's offer of peace and kindness, listen to his words and watch his actions; wait until Wu Shu At the time of fighting and losing both sides, wouldn't it be safer for me to reap the benefits of the fisherman again?" Sima Yi, Jia Xu, Chen Qun, Xia Houshang, Cao Xiu, etc. were quite surprised to hear Cao Pi's stance until now, but it's hard to go forward and give advice. Cao Pi stretched on the dragon bed, yawned, and a faint tired look appeared on his face. But Sima Yi suddenly remembered something, and hastily arched his sleeves and said: "Your Majesty, I still have two important things to say: one is that I and Wang Su's servant were ordered to go to Hedong, Yelin, Quyang and other counties of Yuzhou to inspect the locust plague. The situation; the second is about the migration of 130,000 military households from Youzhou and Jizhou to Luoyang Jingji that His Majesty mentioned at the court ceremony today..." Cao Pi lazily leaned on the back of the dragon bed, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his tone was a little lazy: "Forget it... I am really tired today, and you still need to do these two 'important things'." Talk to me some other day.”