Chapter 3 Chapter 2 Ma Di goes to jail

Ma Di woke up suddenly from the nightmare. He gasped violently, struggled to stretch out his hands, and then hung down again, with a moan of "ho ho" from his throat, as if something was pressing on his chest. Since escaping from the siege of the Wei army a few days ago, Ma Su has been in this extremely unstable mental state, and many negative emotions such as gloom, depression, confusion, and anger have been added to his spirit and body. , bringing him to the brink of collapse, like a crumbling plank road between Sichuan and Sichuan. That breakout was nothing short of a miracle. In the torrent of the Wei army, the Han army was being strangled gradually, when suddenly cloudy clouds filled up, and then it began to rain heavily.The timing of the rainstorm was an irony for the thirsty and defeated Han army; however, although it could not reverse the entire defeat, it somewhat slowed the Wei army's offensive.The remaining Han army, including Ma Di, took advantage of the chaos caused by the heavy rain and fled out in one go.

Ma Di was not at all happy for his lucky escape, and the battle of just a few hours had brought about a huge change in this man.Originally, he was very confident in himself, believing that by strategizing, he could win thousands of miles, and that precise calculations could control everything.But when he was actually on the battlefield, he realized that the calculations in the temple were far less cruel and real than the primitive hand-to-hand combat.In this chaos, he was like a leaf in a stormy sea, powerlessly drifting with the shouts of killing, unable to control his own destiny at all.Every soldier who fell beside him caused a new blow to Ma Di's fragile psychology.The boundary between life and death is so blurred here that all his emotions are swallowed by only one enlarged psychological state-that is "fear".

This is the first time he has experienced a real battlefield, and it will also be the last time. When escaping from Jieting, Ma Su ignored the rout soldiers around him, whipped his mount desperately, and rushed forward blindly.He kept rushing for thirty or forty miles, and didn't stop until the horse was exhausted, foaming at the mouth and fell to the ground.Ma Di found a well water nearby. He lay down on the mouth of the well and drank directly into the wooden barrel, and he recovered a little bit of energy.Then he leaned to the surface, and all he saw was a haggard, tired face. When the fear of personally experiencing the battlefield gradually subsided, another emotion emerged in Ma Di's heart.He had a lingering sense of guilt towards Prime Minister Zhuge for the defeat of Jieting. He didn't know how to face the prime minister. Shu Han's painstaking efforts over the years were ruined in his own hands.But more, it was anger towards Wang Ping.He wished he could fly back to the West City right away, and chop that fellow Wang Ping's head off in front of the prime minister.If it weren't for him, the Han army would never have failed, and the street pavilion would never have been lost!

Ma Su embarked on the road back to the base camp with many complicated and contradictory feelings.Along the way, he kept repeating his nightmares, constantly falling into timid and angry emotions; he also had to endure the severe cold and hunger at night in Yongliang—because there was neither tent nor fire, let alone wine and meat .Sometimes he even had to go to the grass beside the road to look for scattered potato chips. When he finally walked to the west city where the Han army's main camp was located, his uneasy mood became more and more obvious.But his other desire is even stronger, that is to denounce Wang Ping's escape in public and give him severe punishment.From Ma Di's point of view, this is also a way to reduce his guilt towards the prime minister.

When Ma Di saw the city wall of Xicheng, he didn't go in directly, but found a nearby farmhouse, intending to clean himself a little.The past few days of eating and sleeping made him look very embarrassed, his helmet and armor were broken and messy, his hair was disheveled, and his face was covered with dust and sweat.He felt that he should not enter the city with such an image, even the defeated should maintain their dignity. There is a subtle difference between "defeated" and "fleeing back in embarrassment". There was no one in the farmhouse, the door was ajar, the inside and outside of the house were messy, the pots and stoves and the kang were covered with dust, the commonly used utensils and items were gone, only a few ladles were scattered at the door.It shows that the owner was in a hurry when he left.

Ma Di brought a bucket and a ladle, fetched a bucket of clean water from the well, then took off his helmet, untied his hair and washed it carefully.After washing his hair and face, he found another cloth, took off his armor, and wiped the stains on the armor plate.At this moment, there was a rush of horseshoes outside.Hearing the sound, Ma Di stood up, put on the armor again, straightened the helmet, rubbed his face with his hands, and then went out. Standing in front of the farmhouse were two knights from the Han army. They came to investigate when they saw the horses in front of the farmhouse.When Ma Di walked out of the house, the two of them subconsciously raised their knives and looked at this strange soldier in armor warily.

Looking at the two soldiers in brown armor, Ma Su felt a sense of kindness in his heart.He spread his hands high, and said in a calm voice: "I am Ma Di, the forward general of the Han Dynasty, and joined the army in the prime minister's residence." The two knights were taken aback when they heard this, and they reined in their mounts at the same time.Seeing their reaction, Ma Di smiled, and said, "Take me to see the prime minister quickly, I have something important to report." The two looked at each other, got off the horse together, and walked towards Ma Su.Ma Su also greeted him, and when he stretched out his hands, his arms were firmly held down by the two of them.

"You... what are you doing!" Ma Su was startled, opened his mouth and scolded bitterly, while twisting his body desperately.One of the knights twisted his right arm and said to him in an apologetic tone: "Ma Junjun, I'm really sorry, we are only following orders." "On orders? On whose orders?" "By the order of the prime minister, anyone who sees Ma Su will be sent back to the camp immediately." "Should... hold him back to the camp?" Ma Di carefully chewed on the meaning of these four words...not "bring him back to the camp", not "lead him back to the camp", but "carry him back to the camp".The word "Zhi" shows that in the verbal orders of the Han army, Ma Su has been treated as a violator rather than an officer, which also implies the prime minister's annoyance to a certain extent.

However, Ma Di was not surprised by this. He believed that after meeting the prime minister, everything would be clear.So he stopped resisting and let them tie him behind his back and put him on the horse.Then the two knights each took the two ropes that were connected to Ma Su, and clamped them to his left and right sides, and the three of them walked side by side towards the west city.Ma Di noticed that the edges of the armor of the two of them were not severely worn. It seemed that they belonged to the prime minister's guards and did not participate in direct combat. "Ma Canjun, if you feel uncomfortable, just say so."

"Hehe, it doesn't matter, you are also acting according to military orders." The attitude of the knights was quite respectful. They also understood Ma Di's status in the prime minister's residence, and they didn't want to offend the general too much.Sitting on the horse, Ma Di looked at the messy fields and farmhouses around Xicheng, and suddenly asked, "By the way, why is it so messy around here? What happened?" "Oh, this is the prime minister's order, all the common people in Xicheng are required to return to Hanzhong with the army." "Our army is going to retreat?"

After hearing this, Ma Su subconsciously leaned forward. "Yes, the troops of General Wei and General Wu in front have almost withdrawn. Hey, the situation was good at first, but in the end...uh...the street pavilion was lost?" "Oh……" Hearing this, Ma Di sat back on the saddle again, and now he doesn't really want to talk about this topic.At this time, another knight also joined the conversation, and said with great interest: "I heard that the prime minister also subdued a Wei general, it seems to be called Jiang Wei?" "Yes, General Wei from Tianshui is younger than you, Ma Canjun, and you are also in your twenties. He heard that he was betrayed by his own people and had nowhere to go, so he came to join our army. The prime minister thinks highly of him. The enemy who surrendered before Will never have been treated so well." Hearing this, Ma Su felt a little uncomfortable.The two knights didn't notice his expression, they were chatting among themselves. "Have you met Jiang Wei himself?" "I've seen it before. She's young, with a white face, no beard, and looks like a scholar. When General Wang Ping came back two days ago, all the generals in the battalion went to meet him. I happened to be the flag guard, and I was at the gate of the village. , so I can see clearly, standing next to the prime minister." Hearing this sentence, Ma Di's whole body was shaken. He turned his head and asked eagerly with staring eyes: "You said, General Wang Ping came back a few days ago?" Startled by his expression, the knight paused before replying, "Yes, it was about four days ago, and they said they retreated from the street pavilion." Ma Di calculated in his mind that if Wang Ping left the day the Han army cut off the water, then he should have arrived in Xicheng four days ago.This shameless guy really ran away. Thinking of this, he was so angry that his whole body began to tremble, and his hands were tied behind his back and kept shaking. "Did he say anything after he came back?" Ma Di suppressed his anger and continued to ask. "...What I said, don't be angry when you join the army." The knight scratched his head hesitantly, looking at Ma Di's eyes, the latter signaled him to continue talking. "Right now, there are rumors in the army that you violated Jiedu when you joined the army, went up the mountain with water, and deliberately rejected General Wang, which resulted in a big defeat..." "Nonsense...nonsense!" Ma Di couldn't bear it any longer, and the depression and grievance accumulated in the past few days all turned into anger, which shocked the knights on both sides.They thought for a moment that Ma Su was about to break free from the rope, so they rushed over to hold him down.Ma Su yelled and cursed while struggling, which made the two of them flustered for a while. At this time, they had almost entered the gate of the west city, and a group of soldiers greeted them. The leader, Qu Zhang, raised his spear and shouted: "Who is making noise here!" "Report, we have caught Ma Su." "Ma Di!" Hearing the name, the famous song chief immediately raised his flat eyebrows, rode up to Ma Di, looked at him carefully, waved his hand and said, "You lock him here first, I'll go and ask my superiors what to do. " "What's the use of asking for instructions, take me to see the prime minister!" Ma Di's patience has reached its limit.The head of the song cast a cold glance at him, and said: "The army is about to retreat. Don't let him shake the morale of the army by shouting and shouting. Seal his mouth." A piece of cloth was torn from his waist and stuffed into his mouth.A pungent fishy smell hit Ma Di's nose, choking him speechless. After explaining all this, Qu Chang left with his people.The two knights stood on both sides of Ma Su, not daring to take their eyes off for a moment.Ma Di leaned against the uneven city wall, gasping for breath. He wanted to shout out but in vain. He could only stare at everything in front of him with his bloodshot eyes. Those two knights were right, the prime minister did plan to retreat from the west city with the people.The city was full of dust, and people and animals were screaming everywhere. Soldiers and ordinary people with their children and children were mixed together, all in a hurry; large and small chariots, civilian carriages, and ox carts crossed in front of Ma Su. , the wheels made a heavy muffled sound as they rolled on the yellow ground, and the coachman's scolding and whistling sounded one after another. Whether they are soldiers or ordinary people, they all cast curious eyes when they passed by Ma Di.They didn't know Ma Di's identity, but they could tell from the appearance of his armor that he was a high-ranking officer of the Han army. How such a person fell into such a state, people couldn't help guessing. "who's that person?" "He is Ma Di." "Is that Ma Di who lost the street pavilion and forced us to flee back to Hanzhong?" "Yes, that's the man." "This kind of young master is not staying in Chengdu, what is he doing on the front line?" "Shh, he is the celebrity in front of the prime minister, so keep your voice down." Ma Di could hear someone whispering next to him, he turned his head and saw two soldiers squatting by the wall next to them, they were secretly looking at this side while whispering.In addition to anger, he also felt a chill from the bottom of his heart: the lies fabricated by Wang Ping had spread from the headquarters to the lower ranks of soldiers, which would be a huge blow to Ma Di's influence in the army in the future. All he could do now was wait to meet the prime minister, tell the truth, and hope that Huang Xi, Zhang Xiu, Li Sheng, Chen Song -- whoever he wanted -- would also survive the big defeat.With them as witnesses, it will be easier to expose Wang Ping's lies and restore his reputation. Ma Su leaned against the city wall with his back against the scorching sun, and his fair face, which had been washed clean, was gradually drenched with sweat.He hung his head motionless, suppressing the many emotions rising in his heart, waiting to meet the prime minister. While Ma Di was waiting bitterly under the scorching sun in Xicheng, Prime Minister Zhuge fell into another kind of pain. The failure of Jieting was unforgettable to Prime Minister Zhuge. When he received the report of defeat, his strong sense of frustration and disappointment almost caused the mainstay of the Shu Han to collapse. Jieting fell, and Longxi's advantage was completely overturned in an instant; the Wei army who opened up the Longshan passage could continue to advance westward, behind them was Wei's huge reserve of troops and supplies, while the Han army only had troops in Longxi. One hundred thousand people and the arduous and long Hanzhong supply line.Zhuge Liang is actually not afraid of Zhang He, he is confident enough to defeat that person; what he is afraid of is that the situation in Longxi and the Wei army will evolve into a war of attrition, in which case the Han army has no chance of winning, these are not a few tactical victories can make up for it. As the supreme commander, he could not place all the bets of the Shu Han on a battlefield with a very low winning rate, so as soon as Zhuge Liang received the report of defeat, he immediately ordered the whole army to abandon the siege and retreat quickly—although all previous efforts would be wasted in this way. But at least the entire army can return to Hanzhong safely.He didn't want to risk the whole Shu Han. The troops of the forwards Wei Yan and Wu Yi began to retreat cautiously after receiving the order.As the general reserve force of the whole army, Zhuge Liang arranged for the relocation of the whole city's people in Xicheng, and at the same time responded to the retreating Han army-of course, he was also anxiously waiting for the news of Ma Di.At this time, Wang Ping came back. According to Wang Ping's report: Ma Su showed a strong desire for domination and dictatorship from the very beginning, and refused to listen to any suggestions from Wang Ping.After arriving at Jieting, he did not set up camp on the road to defend the city as planned. Instead, he went up the mountain by the water. He acted improperly and demoted Wang Ping several miles away.Later, the Wei army surrounded the mountain, and the Han army was defeated. Fortunately, Wang Ping was behind him waving the flag and shouting, so the Wei army was puzzled and did not dare to chase. Wang Ping's statement was approved by most of the generals in the battalion.In their impression, this is indeed Ma Di's behavior style: arrogant and arrogant, talking on paper.Zhuge Cheng was skeptical about this report. He knew Ma Di very well, and he did not think that Ma Di would do something that obviously violated common sense, such as abandoning the water and going up the mountain. However, in any case, the street pavilion was lost, and this result made the prime minister very sad, so he was eager to see Ma Su and wanted to understand the whole thing, so he issued an order to the whole army: if you see Ma Su, immediately kill him Bring it back to camp.However, when Ma Di arrived, there was another reason that made Zhuge Liang hesitate to meet Ma Di face to face. Since Wang Ping came back, there has been such a rumor among the Han army: Ma Su is the prime minister's confidant, and the prime minister will definitely pardon him.Even if there is punishment, it will definitely benefit from it. The rumor never went public, but the undercurrent was more damaging.Even though Zhuge Liang's authority is enough to make everyone dare not openly oppose anything, the secret criticism still makes him feel like a pain in the back.Ma Di's appointment has now been proven to be a mistake. If someone deliberately blames this mistake on the relationship between the prime minister and Ma Di, not only his prestige in the army will be shaken, but Li Yan, Qiao Zhou and others will also make use of it in the rear.This is what Zhuge Liang cannot tolerate. After weighing it over and over again, Zhuge Liang finally let out a long sigh, put the feather fan in his hand on the table, and then said to Qu Chang who was waiting for the order in a purely businesslike tone: "Put Ma Di in the prison cart and return to Hanzhong with the army before sending him out." When he gave this order, a look of guilt flickered in his eyes, but this had no substantial impact on the execution of the order. When the captain came back to Ma Di with this decision, Ma Di couldn't accept it anyway. He was like a man who had been thirsty for a long time and someone suddenly snatched the water bowl from his mouth.The prime minister was close to him, but it was hard to see him, so when two soldiers came and pushed him to the prison car, he struggled desperately with an expression of disbelief, and shouted hoarsely: "Let me see the prime minister! Let me see the prime minister!" See the prime minister!" "Hmph, this is the prime minister's order, Ma Canjun, don't make things difficult for us." Qu Chang said coldly, while Ma Su yelled, "That bastard Wang Ping must have caused trouble... Why do you arrest me and let me go, I am a majestic prime minister..." "We acted according to orders. If we have anything to say, go back to Hanzhong and talk to the people in the Military Cao Division." Qu Zhang interrupted him impatiently, reached out and took out a piece of cloth to stuff his mouth.He seemed to shrink back for a moment, so Qu Chang leaned over with confidence.At this moment, Ma Su broke away from the soldier suddenly, stretched out his fist and hit him.Qu Chang was caught off guard, and was hit hard on the bridge of the nose by Ma Di's punch, and fell down screaming.His subordinates were very angry, and immediately rushed forward, pinned the mad prisoner's shoulders, pressed his head to the ground, and someone secretly kicked Ma Su while taking advantage of the chaos. After this commotion, Ma Su was tied up again, his arms were tied behind his back with brown ropes, and his mouth was gagged again with cloth strips.Soon the prison cart was also pulled over. This cart with the cage was made of unprocessed wood. The railings full of knots were extremely rough, mottled in color, and emitted an unpleasant smell. The smell of turpentine; the craftsman didn't even smooth the edge of the cage, it was rough and full of burrs. Ma Su was pushed and shoved into the cage without even untying the rope. The narrow space and the pungent smell made him feel very uncomfortable; he couldn't even express his complaints, he could only stare at the congested blood. Eyes, let out an indistinct "uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu".The soldier closed the wooden door with a bang, and locked the entire cage firmly with an iron chain. "Okay, tied it up, let's go." Hearing the people behind waving their hands, the coachman in front waved his whip, and the two horses lowered their heads at the same time, and the whole prison cart shook first, then began to move slowly, and the wheels rolled on the loess road. Huge crushing sound. Ma Su shook his body with the car, and his whole body was hurt by burrs from time to time. He never expected to return to Yizhou in this way.Now the only thing Ma Di can do is look at the big banner of the commander-in-chief's mansion in the distance through the wooden fence in disappointment.Soon he couldn't even see such a scene, because the prison car gradually left the west city, merged into the dusty and crowded traffic on the avenue, and followed the Han army's supply troops and the people of the west city slowly towards Hanzhong. go. When these supply troops left, the main force of the Han army also completed its final assembly.They burned the west city, and then gradually withdrew from the Wei territory one by one.The whole process was very careful, and this kind of leisurely retreat can be regarded as a military masterpiece, but it is a pity that it could not save the fate of the Han army's defeat. Regarding the actions of the Shu army, the Wei army did not seriously pursue them.Zhang Yun believed that since the Shu army had been successfully pushed back, there was no need to forcefully pursue and kill them, which would only increase casualties. The irony is that he did not know at that time that three years later, he would die in battle while chasing the Shu army. ——So Wei Jun turned his head and concentrated his energy on dealing with the Longxi rebels who had lost foreign aid. In the second year of Wei Taihe and the sixth year of Shuhan Jianxing, the first Northern Expedition ended in this way. Compared with all the frustrated Han soldiers, Ma Di's will is even more depressed.Along the way, he not only has to endure the scorching sun, hunger and thirst, but also the curious and contemptuous gazes around him.However, he no longer had the anger and impulsiveness that he had when he first arrived in West City, and was replaced by loss and depression.This is not so much that he accepted this cruel reality, but rather that Ma Di is simply physically weak. The only belief that supports him now is to arrive in Hanzhong as soon as possible, and then pour out his grievances to the prime minister. For most of the time on the way back, Ma Su lay motionless in the cage with little hope, his dusty and sweat-stained hair hanging down in a mess, looking very down and out.The people around gradually got used to his quietness, and gradually turned a blind eye from curiosity at the beginning.The escorting soldiers occasionally asked him about his health, and more often, they simply left him alone. During this period, Ma Di also met several former acquaintances and colleagues, but they all avoided talking with him directly for different reasons, which made Ma Di's attempt to entrust a third party to pass the message to the prime minister also shattered. The first person to walk past him was Wei Yan, the former general of Zhenbei, the former governor of the Han army. This black-faced man had never had any special affection for Ma Di—to be precise, he had no affection for the group of scholars in the prime minister's mansion.Holding his long gun, he slowly walked past Ma Di's prison car, only slightly glanced over at the prisoner, then let out a cold snort, and continued walking forward. The second person who came over was a young man whom Ma Di didn't know. He was much younger than Ma Di. He wore a green scarf and a short hat, and his cheekbones were stained with two clusters of plateau red that is unique to Northwesterners. The result of years of wind blowing.Although his face was not as elegant as Ma Su's, it was more rough.When he passed the prison van, he happened to meet Ma Su's eyes, and the two looked away from each other, walking their own paths.At that time, Ma Su didn't know that the young man's name was Jiang Wei, nor did he know that it would be a long time before the two met again. The third person to walk by was Xianglang, the chief minister of the prime minister's mansion.When Ma Su saw him coming, he felt a sense of relief in his heart.In the prime minister's mansion, he and Xiang Lang joined the army, and the other was a long history. They were both colleagues and friends, and they got along very well with each other.When he saw Ma Di's prison car, he didn't approach it, but made a gesture from a distance. Ma Di understood what he meant, which was "be quiet, don't be restless, stay calm", this is the only thing Xiang Lang can do so far. , but after all, this made Ma Su feel relieved a lot: since Jieting, this is the first time he has received a kind response. The last one to pass by was Wang Ping. He held the rein and tightly clamped the horse's belly with his legs, deliberately avoiding Ma Di's eyes.When he was about to get close to the prison car, he kicked his mount violently and galloped away from the car.Ma Di didn't even have time to cast an angry glance. Ma Su's long-awaited prime minister never appeared.In this regard, Ma Di just murmured to himself: "Go to Hanzhong, everything will be fine when you get to Hanzhong." After nearly a month of trekking, this army finally arrived safely at Nanzheng, the seat of Hanzhong.The heavy vehicles and the exhausted common people were all crowded outside the city waiting for arrangements, the neighing of cattle and horses and the voices of people one after another, and the dust was flying; the same exhausted Shu Han regular army also had to take on the duty of vigilance and security, and the yawning soldiers put their hands on The long spear turned sideways, trying to make this chaotic group more orderly. Prime Minister Zhuge slowly entered Nanzheng City on a wooden wheeled cart. Beside him, the civil servants holding account books were busy counting the loss of food, grass and weapons; Get angry with your subordinates. "It seems that this place will be lively for a while." The prime minister closed his eyes, while listening to these noisy voices, he waved the lupine thoughtfully.The storage of weapons, the delivery of grain and grass, the resettlement of immigrants, the formation of farmland, and the official documents sent by the imperial court during the Northern Expedition, there are as many things to deal with as mountains.But what worries him the most at the moment is how to explain the failure of the Northern Expedition to the court. This time it cannot be regarded as a big defeat, but the Han army did lose a lot of soldiers and money and food, and got nothing. Compared with the grand propaganda before the war, this ending is really unsatisfactory.There are quite a lot of discussions between the ruling and opposition parties, and Zhuge Liang can even foresee the degree of political dilemma he will face.In order to give the court a satisfactory explanation, it is first necessary to sort out who is the most direct responsible person, and all this depends on who is responsible for the failure of Jieting. Thinking of these things, Zhuge Liang walked into the prime minister's mansion with a heavy heart.He didn't care about taking a break, and went directly to the study room, habitually spread out a blank sheet of paper, picked up the pen for a while but didn't know what to write.At this time, a small official in soap clothes walked in quickly. "Prime Minister, Fei Yi (yi) Fei Changshi is asking to see you." Zhuge Liang was a little surprised when he heard the name, and then he put the brush back on the pen holder and ordered him to come in quickly. After a quarter of the time of burning incense, a man in his thirties came in from the door holding a talisman.This person has a square face, wide eyebrows and long beard, and his robes are meticulously dressed with great grace.Before he had time to salute, Zhuge Liang greeted him down the hall first, held his hand, and asked half puzzled and half joyfully, "How did Wen Wei come back so quickly? How is the contact with Soochow?" Fei Yi laughed, saluted first, and then replied unhurriedly: "Everything is handled according to the prime minister's wishes, and the position of Lord Wu and Sun Quan on the Wu-Shu alliance has not changed." After a short pause, he continued Said: "They are happy to see the success of your Northern Expedition, Prime Minister." "Well, it really looks like the style of Wu people." Zhuge Liang nodded sarcastically. Soochow is not that reliable as an ally, but as long as they can continue to exert pressure on the southern border of Wei State, it will be of great help to Shu Han.The two returned to the house and sat down at the table. Fei Yi took out a volume of official documents from his pocket and handed it to Zhuge Liang: "Master Wu asked me to convey his respect to the Prime Minister, and expressed his willingness to send troops to support our country's Northern Expedition." "Oh, he has always been very generous in words." Zhuge Liang looked towards the southeast, with a touch of dissatisfaction in his tone, and threw the document aside, "Wen Wei really took credit for being an envoy to Soochow this time." Que Wei." "It's just a labor of words, and it's still far behind the soldiers who are fighting with their lives." Fei Yi condescended a little, and then asked cautiously, "I have already returned to Chengdu, and His Majesty asked me to come to Nanning. Zheng Lai returns to you, and by the way inquires about the prime minister's retreat..." When Zhuge Liang heard his words, his heart suddenly moved.The matter of Jieting involves many interests in the army, and even he himself has to avoid it.Fei Yi has always been in charge of liaison with Soochow, relatively independent from the Han army, and he has a good relationship with the generals, so it is perfect for him to investigate this matter.What's more—Zhuge Liang didn't want to admit that he had such a mentality—delegating Fei Yi to do the investigation would be of great benefit to Ma Di, who was also a colleague of the prime minister's mansion, and the two of them were also good friends. "The thieves are powerful, and our army is at a disadvantage, so we have to retreat." Zhuge Liang said twelve words.Fei Yi just looked at Zhuge Liang, but didn't speak. He knew that the prime minister had more to say. "The Northern Expedition failed, and I can hardly absolve myself of the blame, but there is still no conclusion as to why it failed, so Wen Wei, I hope you can do something." "Appreciate further details." So Zhuge Liang told Fei Yi about the defeat of Jieting, Ma Su, and Wang Ping, and then said: "Wen Wei, since you are an envoy of the imperial court, it is up to you to investigate this matter, and your Majesty can also show fairness to you. how about?" Hearing this request, Fei Yi couldn't help frowning, stroked his beard with his right hand, and didn't speak for a while.His hesitation was not unreasonable. Intervening in the army to conduct investigations as a long history would easily lead to hostility and rejection.Zhuge Liang saw his hesitation, stood up, took out a large seal from the back box and handed it to him. "Wen Wei, I now let you be the lawmaker Cao Cao and join the military of the Prime Minister's Mansion. Give you the deputy seal of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and you have the right to recruit anyone in the army in the name of the Prime Minister's Mansion at any time and any place. You can also read the various manuscripts of Cao Cao." Zhuge Liang's tone became more serious when he said this, "This matter must be investigated as soon as possible, so that I can report to the imperial court." After saying this, he looked at Fei Yi meaningfully, and added: "Although Ma Di is my staff, I still hope that you will not be biased because of this, and that the investigation should be done fairly." "Yi must be exhausted and dull, and he will live up to the entrustment of the prime minister." Fei Yi hurriedly held the big seal with both hands, and lowered his head.He chose a sentence from Zhuge Liang's "Teacher List" to express his determination, which made the prime minister more at ease. After Ma Di arrived in Nanzheng, he was immediately escorted to the cell where Cao belonged to the military prison.All the prisoners here are soldiers who have violated the military law, so the environment is slightly better than that of ordinary prisons: the cells are large in size, the windows allow enough sunlight to come in, and the ventilation is good, so there is not much turbid and oppressive smell; the beds are three layers Fresh hay and a piece of tarpaulin are much more comfortable than the cold floor. Ma Di had also been here several times during his stay in Nanzheng, so the prison and cell boss also showed a certain degree of respect for this soldier, so they did not intentionally embarrass Ma Di. But Ma Su didn't wait too long here.He rested for about half a day, and then he was taken out of the cell by two prison guards, and came to the cell where Cao belonged to the military prison.In order to prevent the partition wall from having ears, this room has no windows, only a heavy iron door to enter and exit. During the day, the room still has to light several candles to keep the light on. The lack of air circulation has a decaying smell. After the iron gate was closed with a bang by the departing jailer, Ma Di looked up and saw Fei Yi sitting in front of him. "Wen—Wen Wei?" Ma Su said in surprise, his voice hoarse due to the long journey of the previous month. Hearing his shout, Fei Yi hurried over to help him up, seeing his desolation, couldn't help but ask regretfully: "Youchang, how did you get to this point..." While talking, Fei Yi helped him to the table and poured him a glass of wine himself.Ma Di took the wine glass, and the grievances in his stomach seemed to have finally found an outlet. At this time, he was nearly forty, tears filled his eyes, and cried like a child, while Fei Yi sat aside, just shaking his head gently. After he calmed down a bit, Fei Yi continued: "This time, I was ordered by the prime minister to investigate the Jieting incident." "Where is the prime minister? Why didn't he come?" Ma Di asked eagerly. This question has been lingering in his heart for more than a month. Fei Yi smiled and said to him: "The prime minister is afraid of rumors in the army. You are a close friend of the prime minister. If the prime minister comes to visit you, then even if you are innocent, he will be criticized for favoritism." Seeing that Ma Di was silent, Fei Yi tried to persuade him, "Although the Prime Minister has his own concerns, he has been worried about you, otherwise he would not have appointed me to investigate." He deliberately emphasized the word "I" and looked at Ma Su .Fei Yi's voice is not loud, but it has a calming power, which is why he has good contacts in Shu Han. "You—you're right..." "The most important thing now is to clarify the whole matter so that the prime minister and the court can have an explanation. You Chang, you are a talent promoted by the prime minister himself, and you will be entrusted with important tasks by the Shu Han in the future. What a mess." After hearing Fei Yi's words, Ma Di took a deep breath, drank the wine in his hand, and began to tell the whole experience from his marching to Jieting to his retreat back to Xicheng.Fei Yi took a pen to record while listening, and asked questions from time to time, because he was not a soldier, and some technical details needed to be explained by Ma Di. The entire questioning and recording process lasted an hour and a half.After Ma Su finished saying "So I went back to West City like this", Fei Yi finally put down the brush in his hand, let out a breath, and rubbed his sore wrist.Originally, he could assign a writer or clerk to record, but this investigation has a lot to do with it, so he decided that it would be better to do it himself. "So Xiaochang, do you have anything to add?" Ma Di shook his head, so Fei Yi carefully poked the paper full of words evenly, took out the secondary printing and stamped a bright red stamp on the edge, then rolled the whole document into a roll along the edge seam, and tied it with silk thread it is good.This is a meticulous clerical style. Ma Di watched him finish all this with full expectation, and felt that things had finally turned for the better. Fei Yi put the paper in his arms, rubbed his hands, and said to him: "If what you said, Xiaochang, is true, then the truth of this matter will soon be revealed; but before that, don't worry about it. Please believe me, I will not let you suffer unjustly." "It's all about Lao Wenwei..." Ma Di murmured, Fei Yi smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and said softly, "If nothing happens, you will be able to recover your reputation and return to the prime minister's residence in three days, don't be too depressed." 说完这些，费祎吩咐外面的人把门打开，然后吩咐了几句牢头，转头冲马谡做了个宽心的手势，这才迈着方步离开。 马谡回到牢房的时候，整个人的精神状态全变了，一扫一个月以来的颓势；他甚至笑着对狱吏们打了招呼。这种转变被狱吏们视做这位“丞相府明日之星”的复出预告，于是他们的态度也由原来的冷淡变成恭敬。 当天晚上，马谡得到了一顿相当不错的酒食，有鸡有酒，甚至还有一碟蜀中小菜。马谡不知道这是费祎特意安排的，还是牢头们为了讨好他，总之这是外部环境已经逐渐宽松的证明；于是他就带着愉快的心情将这些东西一扫而光，心满意足地在草垫上睡着了。 接下来的三天时间对马谡来说是异常的漫长，期待与焦虑混杂在一起，简直就是度日如年。只要一听到牢门口有脚步声，他就扑过去看是否是释放他的使者到来了。他甚至还做梦梦见到丞相亲自来到监狱里接他，一起回到丞相府，亲自监斩了王平，众将齐来道贺…… 到了第三天，一大早他就被狱吏从草垫上唤醒。两名牢子打开牢门，示意让他到榷室，有人要见他。 “释放的命令来了！”马谡心想。他一瞬间被狂喜点燃，重获自由的一刻终于到了。他甚至不用牢子搀扶，自己迫不及待地向榷室走去。 一进榷室，他第一眼见到的就是坐在那里的费祎，然而第二眼他却从费祎的表情里品出了一些不对的味道。后者双手笼在长袖里，紧闭双目，眉头皴皱，脸上笼罩着难以言喻的阴霾，在烛光照耀下显得无精打采。 “……呃，费长史，我来了。” 马谡刻意选择了比较正式的称呼，因为他也觉察到事情有些不妙。费祎似乎这时候才发现马谡进来，他肩膀耸动了一下，张开了嘴，一时间却不知道说什么是好。马谡就站在他对面，也不坐下，直视着他的眼神，希望能从中读到些什么。 过了半天，费祎才一字一句斟酌着开口了，他的语调枯涩干瘪，好像一具破裂的陶瓶：“幼常，这件事情相当棘手，你知道，军中的舆论和调查结果几乎都不利于你。” “怎……怎么可能？”马谡听到这个答复，脸色登时变得铁青。 “王平将军的证词……呃……和你在战术方面的细节描述存在着广泛的不同。” “他在说谎，这根本不值得相信！” 费祎把手向下摆了摆，示意让马谡听他讲完，保持着原有的声调继续说道：“问题是，并不只是王平将军的证词对你不利，几乎所有人都与幼常你的说法相矛盾。这让我也很为难……” “所有人？还有谁？” “裨将军李盛、张休、黄袭，参军陈松，还有从街亭逃回来的下级伍长与士卒们。” 费祎说出这几个名字，每一个名字都对马谡造成了沉重的打击。 “他们……他们全活下来了？” “是的，他们都是魏延将军在撤离西城时候收容下来的，也跟你是同一天抵达南郑。”费祎说完，从怀里拿出两卷文书，同时压低了声音说，“这是其中一部分，按规定这是不能给在押犯人看的，不过我觉得幼常你还是看看比较好。” 马谡颤抖着手接过文书，匆忙展开一读，原来这是黄袭与陈松两个人的笔录。上面写的经历与王平所说的基本差不多，都是说马谡的指挥十分混乱，而且在扎营时忽略了水源，还蛮横地拒绝任何建言，最后终于导致失败，全靠王平将军在后面接应，魏军才没有进一步采取行动。 他注意到两份笔录的结尾都盖着黄与陈的私印，而且陈那一份笔录的文笔也与他一贯的文风符合，说明这确实是出自那两个人之手。 问题是，这两个人同样亲历了街亭之战，为什么现在却忽然说出这样的话来？这是彻底的伪证，马谡完全不能理解。他将这两份文书捏在手里，几乎想立刻撕个粉碎，然后摔到他们两个人的脸上。 “对了，丞相呢？丞相他一定能明白这都是捏造！这太明显了。” 听到马谡的话，费祎长叹了一口气，伸出手来拿回笔录，这才说道：“其实，这些份文书和你的口述丞相已经全部看过了……” “……他说了什么？” 费祎没回答，而是将两手摊开，低下头去，他所要表达的意思再明显不过了。马谡缓缓地倒退了几步，按住胸口，不敢相信这是真的。开始时的狂喜在这一瞬间全转化成了极度震惊。 “那么……接下来我会怎么样？” “朝廷急于了解北伐的全过程，所以两天后南郑会举行一次军法审判……”费祎喘了一口气，仿佛被马谡的郁气逼得难以呼吸，“这一次失败对我国的影响很大，所以直接责任人很可能会被严惩……” 费祎选择了一种相对冲击力小一点的叙述方式，不过想要表达的信息是一样的。这对于已经处于极度脆弱心理状态的马谡是致命的一击。之前马谡即使做了最坏的设想，也只是预见到自己会丧失名誉与仕途前程，他没有想到自己的生命也将面临危险，而且就在几天后。 更何况他非常清楚自己是被人陷害的，这更加深了马谡的愤怒与痛苦。他彻底绝望了，把头靠到榷室厚厚的墙壁上，开始撞击。开始很轻，到了后来撞得越来越用力，发出“嘭嘭”的声音。费祎见势不妙，急忙过去将这个沮丧的人拉回到座位上。 “幼常啊……”费祎扳着他的肩膀，将一个小纸团塞进他的手里，用一种异常冷静却蕴涵着无限意味的口吻说，“事情还没有到绝对难以挽回的地步，不要在这方面浪费你的力气。” 马谡抬起头，大惑不解地看着他，又看了看自己手心里的纸团。 “不要在这方面浪费我的力气？” “对，你应该把它用到更值得的地方……” "……what?" “回牢房之后，自己好好想想看吧。”费祎的脸变得很严峻，但柔和的烛光给他的轮廓笼罩出一丝焦虑的关切，还有一种奇妙的暗示，“这不是我应该告诉你的事情。” 诸葛丞相坐在自己的书房里，心神不宁地摇着羽扇。距离费祎着手调查已经过去三天，结果应该已经出来了。这一次是属于朝廷使者独立于汉中军方的调查——至少名义上是——费祎的结论将代表着朝廷的最终意见。 关于街亭之败，他始终认为马谡并不会做出舍水上山的举动，至少不会毫无理由地这样做，这是出于多年来累积的信赖，否则他也不会将如此重大的责任托付给马谡。 但是他对马谡不能流露出任何同情，因为这有可能招致“唯亲徇私”的批评，甚至还可能会有人抬出先帝来非难他的决策，并引发更加严重的后果，要知道，这关系到北伐失败的责任……现在街亭的罪名归属与丞相在朝中的立场之间有着微妙的联系，身为蜀汉重臣的他必须要像那些西域艺人一样，在政治的钢丝上保持令人满意的平衡才可以。 “幼常啊幼常，你实在是……” 丞相闭着眼睛，双手摩挲着光滑的竹制扶手，叹息声在这间空旷的屋子里悄然响起，过多的思虑让他的额头早早就爬出了皱纹。 一直到中午，小吏才通报说费长史求见，诸葛亮“刷”地站起身来，立刻急切地说道：“快请。” 穿着朝服的费祎迈进屋子，动作十分缓慢，好像进屋对他来说是一件十分为难的事情，而一卷文书好似是名贵的古董花瓶一样，被他十分谨慎地捧在手里。 “文伟，调查进展如何？” “是的，已经结束了，丞相。”费祎说得很勉强，他双手将文书呈给丞相，“经过详细的调查，王平将军应该是无辜的。” 诸葛亮的脸色一瞬间变了一下，随即恢复到平时的模样，但是却没开口说话。费祎停了一下，看诸葛亮并没有发表什么评论，只好硬着头皮继续说道：“我秘密约见了王平将军的部下以及从街亭溃退下来的马参军麾下残兵，他们的描述基本与王平将军一致，参军陈松和裨将军黄袭都愿意为此作证。” “幼常……哦，马谡他是怎么说的？” “他的说法与王平将军完全相反，他坚持认为是因为王平舍弃对水源的坚守而导致了街亭之败，但目前似乎只有他一个人的供词是这样，缺乏有说服力的旁证。” “是吗……”诸葛亮低声说道，同时黯然打开文书。忽然之间，他注意到这卷文书的边缘写了一个小小的“壹”字，不觉一惊，抬起头来问费祎：“文伟啊，这调查文书可是曾送去过邸吏房？” “是啊……因为时间紧迫，原稿太草，我一个人来不及誊写，就委派了邸吏房的书吏们进行抄录。”费祎看诸葛亮问得严重，有点不安，“丞相，不知这是否不妥……” “不，不，没什么，你做得很好。” 丞相摆了摆手，一丝不被人觉察的叹息滑出了嘴唇——现在一切都太晚了。 在公书中标记“壹”“贰”等字样，是邸吏房的书吏们用以区分抄录与原件的手段。而这对诸葛丞相来说，意义重大。 邸吏房的工作就是抄录正式公文并以“邸报”的形式公之于外，任何秩一百石以上的官吏都可以随时去那里了解最新的朝政动态。因此那里每天都有官员们的专人等候着，以便随时将新出笼的朝廷公告与决议通报给各级部门。 换句话说，让《街亭调查文书》通过邸吏房誊写，实际上就等于提前将文书的内容公之于众。诸葛亮本人看到调查结果的时候，其他将领和官员也会看到——于是丞相府就丧失了对报告进行先期修改的可能。 从程序上说，费祎这么做并没什么错误，但诸葛亮知道这一个程序上的不同将令马谡的处境更加艰难，而自己更难施以援手。 “丞相，如今看来幼常的形势很不妙，您看是不是暂时押后几日审理？否则他很危险啊……”费祎忧心忡忡地问道。 诸葛亮苦笑着摇摇头，刚要张嘴说话，忽然听到一个响亮的声音从门外传来：“兵狱曹急报到！” 诸葛亮和费祎同时扭头去看，一名小吏气喘吁吁地跑进邸院，单腿跪在地上，大声道：“禀丞相，兵狱曹有急报传来。” "speak." “在押犯人马谡今晨在转运途中逃跑。”