Chapter 8 Chapter VII Notes

The Battle of Jieting took place in the sixth year of Jianxing in the Shu Han Dynasty, the second year of Taihe in Cao Wei, and 228 AD. The background of the battle was Zhuge Liang's first northern expedition to the Central Plains. At that time, the strategy of the Shu Han was to lure Cao Zhen's army in Xiegu with Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi's feigned attacking troops, while the main force of the Shu army, under Zhuge Liang's personal command, launched a surprise attack from the Qishan line to the Longxi area where Wei's military strength was weak, so as to achieve The effect of making a surprise move and attacking the west is to try to occupy the entire Longxi area before Wei Guo reacts.

From the map, the east-west Qinling Mountains and the north-south Longshan Mountains (now Liupanshan) form an inverted "Ding" character, separating the three regions of Longxi, Hanzhong and Guanzhong from each other.The Longshan Mountains separated the Guanzhong and Longxi regions of Wei State. If Cao Wei wanted to send reinforcements to Longyou from Guanzhong, they would have to go through Lueyang, which was located in the middle of Longshan, where Jieting was located.From the perspective of the Shu army, Jieting must also be controlled to ensure that the Wei army's reinforcements cannot enter the Longxi battlefield in time, so as to buy time to clear the Wei army's forces in Longxi.

"Hanshu Yangxiong Jiemo" says: "(Longshan) sounds like Ditui. Ying Shao said: There is Daban in Tianshui, named Longshan, and there are collapsers beside it, which are heard hundreds of miles away, so it is called Ditui. Said: "There are nine times on the hill, and the upper one is crossed in seven days, and there are four injections of clear water on it. It is said that there are nine times in the hills of Longshan, and the upper one is passed in seven days, and there are four injections of clear water on it." It is enough to see the steepness of Longshan Mountain. With the technical capabilities of the Three Kingdoms era, it is impossible for the large corps to cross directly, and they can only take the street pavilion, which proves the importance of the location of the street pavilion.

The Shu army paid enough attention to Jieting.Since Zhuge Liang Qishan entered the battlefield, the entire corps was divided into three parts: Wei Yan and Wu Yi were responsible for attacking Shangyu, Jicheng, and Xixian County, and their task was to pacify Longxi as soon as possible; Ma Su, Wang Ping, and Gao Xiang were sent to the streets In order to prevent the Wei army's reinforcements from threatening the Shu army's flanks; Zhuge Liang was stationed near Xicheng as a strategic general reserve. Appointing Ma Di as the commander of the resistance army, this personnel decision caused great controversy at the time. "Three Kingdoms Shu Shu Ma Di Biography" records that "from time to time there are veteran generals Wei Yan, Wu Yi, etc., and the commentators all said that it is appropriate to be the pioneer, but they are against the crowd and lead the masses to the front", which shows that Zhuge Liang intends to promote them. I hope that Ma Di can use this opportunity to gain actual combat achievements.But it is conceivable that the front-line generals must be dissatisfied with such an airborne commander.

According to research by historians and geographers such as Hong Liangji and Fan Wenlan, it is confirmed that Jieting is located in the northeast of today's Shuiqin'an County.The specific location, as stated in "Qin'an County Chronicles", is today's Longshan——"Duanshan, its mountain is the street of Lueyang, it is in the middle, it is not affiliated with other mountains, and below it is Lianhechuan, which is the place where Ma Di defeated the army." In the 14th year of Qianlong, Jiang Yun, magistrate of Qin'an county, thought it was an ominous name and renamed it Longshan."

Today's Longcheng Town at the foot of Longshan Mountain is the street pavilion of that year.Longcheng is located in the open part of the northern section of a Sichuan Road about 2 kilometers wide and about 5 kilometers long, 40 kilometers northeast of Qin'an County.Because the Longshan Mountain stands in all directions in the Zhenxi River Valley, the mountain is high and the valley is deep, the situation is dangerous, and the Qingshui River blocks the way, the only way to travel between Guanlong and Longban is through Guguan Gorge and across Longban; walking along the line of Red Deer-Longshan-Longcheng Town is a The only open road from Chang'an to Tianshui.At that time, the place where Ma Di was stationed was more than 200 meters above sea level, with a radius of thousands of square meters and a top that could accommodate thousands of people. It was shaped like a wheat-grass pile in a farmhouse; in Xuelichuan, 2.5 kilometers northwest, a piece of "Shu" was found cast on it. The crossbow machine is now in the Gansu Provincial Museum.

At that time, the specific deployment of the Shu army near Jieting was as follows: Ma Di, Wang Ping, Li Sheng, Zhang Xiu, Huang Xi and others led about 20,000 people to block Guanlong Avenue, while Gao Xiang led a partial army to station in Jieting. Lieliu City in the north, to prevent the flanks of Ma Su's troops from being attacked. Regarding the conflict between the two coaches Ma Su and Wang Ping, there is no clear record in the history books.However, Ma Di, as a senior staff officer and confidant of the prime minister, and an elite who has never participated in actual combat, suddenly parachuted into the immediate boss of the veteran Wang Ping, will inevitably arouse suspicion of "sexual narrowness" ("Shu Shu Wang Ping Biography") Wang Ping was dissatisfied, which led to conflicts.From a psychological point of view, this possibility is very high.

Regarding the attack of the Shu Han, Cao Wei responded immediately after the initial shock passed, and sent the right general Zhang He and 50,000 cavalry to reinforce.When Zhang He's troops passed through Jieting, they happened to meet Ma Su who came to stop him. Regarding the Battle of Jieting, the historical records are very brief. "Three Kingdoms: Ming Emperor Ji" only said: "The right general Zhang He hit Liang at the street pavilion and broke it. Liang was defeated and the three counties were leveled." Ma Di was at Jieting. Su blocked the Nanshan Mountain, but did not go down to occupy the city. He cut off his way, attacked, and broke it." "Three Kingdoms: Zhuge Liang's Biography": "Liang sent Ma Di to supervise the troops in front, and he joined forces to fight in Jieting. Su violated the integrity of the Ming Dynasty, acted inappropriately, and was greatly broken by unity." "Ma Di Biography": "Su, leading the masses in front, fought Wei general Zhang He in the street pavilion, and was broken by unity, and the soldiers were separated." "Wang Ping Biography" : "Su Sheshui went up the mountain, disturbed by his actions, Ping Lian ruled against Su, Su could not be used, and was defeated in Jieting. The crowd was scattered, but Ping led a thousand people, and beat drums to support himself. Wei general Zhang He suspected his ambush, and did not go to force Also." The material contained does not include the content of the preceding quotation.

Based on the above records, the general context of the Battle of Jieting can be sorted out: Regarding the appearance of Zhang Yun’s army, Ma Di did not choose to defend the city, but moved his troops to Nanshan—that is, Maiji, which is 200 meters above sea level. Cliff - to defend.Wang Ping repeatedly advised Ma Su on this, but Ma Di didn't listen. As a result, the waterway was cut off by Zhang He, causing the entire army to collapse.Fortunately, Wang Ping waved the flag and shouted at the back, and Zhang He was afraid of an ambush and did not pursue in depth, so the Shu army was saved from the fate of being wiped out.

There are several doubts here.First of all, Ma Di's decision of "relying on the Nanshan Mountain and not going down to occupy the city" cannot be said to be completely wrong.Jieting is located in the depths of Wei State, and it is a small city itself. It can be imagined that its scale and strength are not suitable for sticking to it. What's more, the narrow Guanlong passage suddenly widens to about 2 kilometers when it reaches Jieting. In such a wide area, it is difficult to compete with Zhang Yun's 50,000 troops.If he didn't give up the city and go up the mountain, but set up camp on the road without any danger to defend, he might lose even worse.

"Three Kingdoms Ming Emperor Ji" notes "Wei Shu": "It was the unknown plan of the courtiers at that time. The emperor said: "Bright and blocking the mountain is solid, and now it comes by itself. It is not only combined with the art of military letters to people; but also bright and corrupt the three counties. If you know how to advance and don’t know how to retreat, now and at this time, it will break the light. Nabu reined in troops, horses and cavalry to reject the light with 50,000 horses and cavalry.'" In other words, the time when Zhang Xi left Luoyang was roughly the same time as the time when Zhuge Liang entered Longxi from Qishan quite.Luoyang is about 700 kilometers away from Jieting, and Qishan is about 400 kilometers away from Jieting; but the Wei army is taking a smooth road in the territory, while the Shu army is inside the enemy's territory. It will take time to occupy Xixian and ensure that there is no remnant in the area. Wei Jun interfered with the supply line before continuing northward, so the time difference between Zhang He and Ma Di's arrival at Jieting should not be too long.In other words, Ma Di may not have the time to build strong fortifications-and this is absolutely necessary for persistence. So it can be imagined that within a few days after Ma Di arrived at Jieting, Zhang Yun's reinforcements had already approached Jieting.Ma Di thought that there was not enough time to build fortifications, so he decisively decided to move the entire army to Maijiya to camp—or he foresaw the difficulty of stationing on Jieting Avenue from the beginning, and directly camped on the mountain. This does not mean giving way to the enemy.Even if Ma Di camped on the mountain next to the road, Zhang Yun did not dare to continue marching towards Longxi. Ma Di could cut off his rear at any time and threaten his flanks.Therefore, Zhang Xi's only choice is to destroy Ma Di first, and then go west-but Ma Di is stationed at Maijiya, and there is danger to defend, and it is not easy to destroy him.In other words, Ma Di's "resistance to Nanshan, not to occupy the city" just chose a location that was easier to defend, and it did not have any adverse effects on the strategic purpose of "blocking aid". The only problem lies in the water source, which is the key to Ma Di's failure. The "Biography of Zhang He" says that it is "extremely draining the way", and the "Biography of Wang Ping" says that it is "above the water and go up the mountain". The two records are somewhat contradictory.According to the latter, Ma Di abandoned the water source and ran to the mountains-it is hard to imagine that Ma Di, who has been a military staff officer for so many years, would ignore the water source issue.Considering the geographical characteristics of Longshan "four injections of clear water", there may be water sources at or not far away from the heights where he was stationed, so Ma Su was able to go up the mountain to camp with confidence.This possibility is taken in the novel, but it is difficult to be sure about the reality in history. Regardless of whether it was "going up the mountain with water" or there was a "way to draw water" on the mountain, in short, this waterway was cut off by Zhang Yun at the beginning of the Battle of Jieting.Exactly how Zhang Xi cut it off, and why Ma Di didn't think about it thoroughly, cannot be found out from the history books.In the novel, I designed it to mean that Wang Ping and Ma Su had conflicts, and instead of protecting the water source, they escaped by themselves, leading to the annihilation of the entire army.This is based on a possible imagination, and there is no historical evidence to support it. In short, Ma Di was defeated at Jieting, and Zhang Yun's large troops entered the Longxi area, posing a great threat to the Shu army. After the Guanlong passage was unblocked, Cao Wei's follow-up troops could continue to march in.The Shu army had only 100,000 soldiers, and a war of attrition would mean defeat. Therefore, Zhuge Liang had to order the entire army to retreat in order to prevent Longxi from becoming a meat grinder for the Shu army after learning of the defeat at Jieting.The Shu Han's first Northern Expedition came to an end. The ending of Ma Di is somewhat doubtful in the records in "Three Kingdoms". "Three Kingdoms: Zhuge Liang's Biography" contains "Kill Su to thank the public", "Zizhi Tongjian Volume 71" says "(Liang) took Su and sent him to prison, and killed him... Liang not only punished Ma Su and General Li Sheng, but also captured General Huang Xi and other soldiers."These two records are consistent with the general view that Ma Di was killed by Zhuge Liang because of the defeat at Jieting. However, in "Three Kingdoms: Ma Di Biography", it said: "Su went to prison for something." A textual research by a netizen: "Hanshu Su Wu Biography" contains "the predecessors and the things that came back, nine people who returned with Wu." Note: "The things are called Death is also because it is the same as ghosts and things." Wang Xianqian added a note to quote Song Qi saying: "Things should be written from the southern version, and the sound is gone." Wang Niansun was also quoted: ""Shiming":'Since the Han Dynasty, it has been called Death is the cause of things, and it is said that all things are rotten'. "Historical Records · Zhang Chengxiang Biography" collection interpretation: "things, nothing; therefore, things; words have nothing to do with things." The case is close to the Song Dynasty, Things are the same as 歾, "Shuowen": "歾, the end" or death, the sound of 歾 and objects is close but the words are connected. Today, people in Wu say things without the sound of words, and the language has a heavy ear. The reason of things is like death. "It can be seen. The interpretation of "things" here is death, including all causes of death. The word "wugu" still exists in Japan today, which refers specifically to death, and it is also a trace left over from ancient Chinese. However, in "Three Kingdoms: Biography of Xiang Lang", it is written: "Lang Su and Ma Su were kind, and Su fled. Lang knew about it but refused to act. Liang hated him, and he was dismissed from office and returned to Chengdu." In other words, there are three versions of Ma Di's ending in "Three Kingdoms" alone: ​​execution, death in prison, and escape. However, on closer inspection, the three are not contradictory.These three statements may be the development of the same thing at different stages.Ma Su may have tried to escape first, was arrested, was sentenced to death, and died in prison. Judging from the point of "Lang knows but does not act, Liang hates it", the time of Ma Su's escape occurred after the Shu army retreated from Longxi, and the goal of his escape was not to find Zhuge Liang in private—maybe he planned to go north to Cao Wei, or He planned to go directly south to Chengdu to intercede with the Empress and Jiang Wan, but this point is now uncertain.In short, instead of voluntarily surrendering himself, Ma Di bypassed Zhuge Liang and tried to escape. But even with Xiang Lang's help, Ma Di was finally caught.Next is Zhuge Liang's "Kill Su to thank the public".Although the article says "thank you all", it does not necessarily mean a public execution.Considering Ma Di's identity, Zhuge Liang may have adopted a relatively mild approach of "death in prison", and then made the death result public. Of course, there is another possibility: Ma Di was publicly sentenced to death first, but there was still a period of time between the two steps of "conviction" and "execution".During this interval, Ma Su "died" due to illness or other reasons.Therefore, he was "killed" in legal procedures and official documents, but the actual cause of death was "accident" (this possibility is adopted in the novel). Whether it is death due to illness or death, according to the previous textual research, it can be called "things". My friend Ye Gong has made a special article about Fei Yi, so I won’t go into details here.The character of Fei Yi in the novel is formed by referring to this article. "Three Kingdoms Shu Shu Biography of Fei Yi" says: "(Yanxi) Sixteen Years First Meeting, Guo Xun, a descendant of Wei, was sitting. (Fei) Yi drank and got drunk, and was killed by Xun's sword." Fei Yi's assassination was a major event in Shu's political arena. It marked a major change in Shu's defensive national strategy since Zhuge Liang's death, and the rise of Shu's hawks.Judging from "The Biography of Fei Yi", this incident is just an accidental incident.But if it is linked with other historical materials, this assassination is not so simple. Assassin Guo Xun's resume is like this. "Wei's Spring and Autumn Annals" said that he "has a long history of industry and is famous in Xizhou". "Zi Zhi Tong Jian Jiaping Four Years" contains: "(15th year of Yanxi) Han Jiang Wei Kou Xiping, won the Zhonglang General Guo Xun." That is to say, Jiang Wei attacked Xiping. Although Xiping was not defeated, he was captured. Guo Xun of Wei Zhonglang.Later, Guo Xun returned to Shu Han, and his official position was General Zuo.You know, this is the position where Ma Chao, Wu Yi, and Xiang Lang once sat, which shows that the Shu Kingdom treats them as much as they treat Xiahouba. But this person was not sincerely surrendering, and he finally assassinated Fei Yi.After Wei Guo learned about it, he posthumously granted Guo Xun the title of Marquis of Changle Township, and made his son a noble. ("Zizhi Tongjian Five Years of Jiaping") If this assassination incident is carefully deduced, there are many doubts.As far as the motive is concerned, this cannot be a conspiracy planned by the Wei court.Fei Yi is a well-known dove. During his tenure, the two countries were the most peaceful period, and there were almost no large-scale armed conflicts.Wei Guozheng is enjoying his success, and it is impossible to assassinate him and let the hawk Jiang Wei take power, asking for trouble. This can't be a personal grievance. Even if Guo Xun has a grudge against Fei Yi, he is not a god. It is impossible to figure out when Jiang Wei will attack Xiping, whether he will be captured, and whether he will be killed directly or reused after being captured. etc.If the assassination of Fei Yi was really due to personal grievances, it would be impossible to base the whole plan on so many chances. And if these two possibilities are ruled out, the remaining person who has the most motivation to kill Fei Yi is Jiang Wei. The discord between Jiang Wei and Fei Yi is well known. The former is a hawk who attacks Wei, while the latter is a dove who insists on a conservative strategy.During Fei Yi's administration, "every time (Jiang Wei) wanted to mobilize the army, Fei Yi often refused to follow suit, and his soldiers were no more than 10,000." It can be said that Jiang Wei was suppressed miserably by Fei Yi.After Fei Yi's death, it was Jiang Wei who could obtain the greatest political benefits.In fact, this is also the case. Chen Shou recorded in the "Three Kingdoms·Jiang Wei Biography" very meaningfully: "In the spring of the sixteenth year, Yi died. In the summer, Wei led tens of thousands of people out of Shiying." In just one line, Jiang Wei couldn't wait. If the happy mood is clear, everyone knows it. In other words, Jiang Wei had sufficient motives for Fei Yi's death. And what kind of person is Jiang Wei? "Jiang Wei Biography" contains a note in Pei's Note: "Fu Zi said: Wei is a man who likes to make a name for himself, he caresses the dead, and does not repair the karma of the common people." Lengtouqing, on the contrary, is very manly, good at "supporting the dead".And Guo Xun assassinated Fei Wenwei at the New Year's Eve meeting in full view, making it clear that he wanted to die together and didn't want to go back alive. This is the standard style of a dead man. Looking back and studying Guo Xun's resume carefully, we will find that Jiang Wei was the initiator of the Xiping Battle, Jiang Wei was the one who captured Guo Xun, and Jiang Wei was the one who caught him and sent him back to the court instead of killing him.In other words, it seems that Guo Xun entered Shu after being captured by accident, but in fact these accidents can be completely controlled by Jiang Wei-Jiang Wei has the ability to decide the time, place and disposal of the prisoners. A series of coincidences that only Jiang Wei can make inevitable. These several pieces of evidence are combined and speculated, coupled with the sufficiency of the motive, it is hard not to doubt that Jiang Wei is innocent in this assassination. Those of us who live in later generations can still deduce that Jiang Wei has the motive and suspicion of killing with the help of incomplete historical materials, and there must be people in Shu at that time who would have suspected him.But according to the records in the history books, Jiang Wei is completely innocent and has nothing to do with this matter. Why is this? There is such a thing in "Zi Zhi Tong Jian Jiaping Four Years": "If you want to assassinate the Han Lord, you can't get close to him. Every time you live up to your life, you worship and go forward. You are hindered by the left and right, and things often fail." One record is very doubtful, because if it was true that Guo Xun wanted to assassinate the Empress Dowager when he was on his birthday and was "restrained by the left and right", then his intentions had been exposed long before he met the Empress Dowager, and he should have been arrested and punished at that time. How could he still be allowed to go to the New Year's Eve banquet at the beginning of the 16th year of Yanxi and get close to Fei Yi? What's more, the assassination of the empress is of no benefit to Wei Guo.At that time, Liu Chan's son Liu Rui was canonized as the prince in the first year of Yanxi, and there was no dispute over the establishment of an heir in the court.In other words, Liu Chan's death will not lead to chaos in the Shu Han.What reason does a Wei Guojiang have to hate the Empress so much to the point of repeatedly attempting to assassinate him? Therefore, this record is not like a description of Guo Xun's meeting with the Empress Dowager, but rather like a supplementary narrative added after the assassination to fully prove Guo Xun's "bad intentions".However, this supplementary narration seems to be just a piece of dark material for the officials of the Shu Han to expose and criticize Guo Xun's counter-revolutionary behavior, but after careful deduction, it is not difficult to find that it has profound meaning.It gives a hint: "Guo Xun originally planned to assassinate the Empress Dowager, but because it was too difficult to do so, he had to settle for the next best thing, and instead assassinated Fei Yi, the chief minister of the Empress Dowager." As long as the Kingdom of Shu believes that the record is true, then Jiang Wei's suspicion can be clarified-"I have no motive to kill the emperor of my dynasty." If further inferences are made, maybe this record is Jiang Wei or someone he instructed. The court official said it. The last thing to mention is Guo Xun's identity.Given Guo Xun's status and reputation in Wei, it is unlikely that he will cooperate with Jiang Wei.The "Guo Xun" who entered the Kingdom of Shu may just be Jiang Wei's substitute for a dead soldier, and the real Guo Xun may have died in the Battle of Xiping.With Jiang Wei's status, it is a breeze to hide the corpse of a specific enemy and replace it with his cronies. Based on the above-mentioned signs, it is not difficult to find that the formation of the entire assassination incident may be as follows: Jiang Wei first captured or killed Wei Zhonglang general Guo Xun, and used the dead man he raised under the name of Guo Xun, publicly declaring that he had captured "" Guo Xun".Then Guo Xun was escorted to Chengdu, and under the impetus of his loyalty and Jiang Wei's sidelines, he gained the trust of the Shu Kingdom and worshiped him as General Zuo.Then at the meeting at the beginning of the 16th year of Yanxi, Guo Xun, who had been planning for a long time, killed Fei Yi and completed his mission of being a dead man.In order to clarify his suspicion, Jiang Wei instructed the officials to tell the emperor Liu Chan that Guo Xun had rebellious bones in his head. He tried to assassinate the emperor several times but was stopped by the left and right, so as to prevent others from suspecting himself. Although there is no direct evidence proving that Jiang Wei was involved in the assassination, and historical data only give a few incomplete points, it can still be inferred from the motives, abilities, conditions and his consistent style that Jiang Wei was involved in the assassination. Wei and Fei Yi's death are inextricably linked.This possibility is partially borrowed in the novel. Lupus is actually what we would call smallpox today.Ge Hong's "Elbow Reserve Emergency Prescription" says: "The gains from Jianwuzhong's attack on the captives in Nanyang are called captive sores." Infected by human beings, when the class teacher returned to the court, he also brought this infectious disease back to the Central Plains, known as "lu sore". Therefore, it should be possible that Ma Su suffered from this disease in the article. "Book of Jin·Chen Shou Biography" says: "Shoufu joined the army for Ma Di, Su was punished by Zhuge Liang, and Shoufu also sat and was tortured." Since Chen Shou's father joined the army for Ma Di, he should have also participated in the battle of Jieting. It is based on this; but Chen's father's name is not recorded in Shishi, and the "Chen Song" written in the book is fabricated.And "Huayang Guozhi·Chen Shou Biography" contains: "... (Shou) Brother and Son Fu, with a long letter and a literary talent." It is mentioned that he has an elder brother, but his name is not known. In the novel, he is tentatively called "Chen Shou". Germany". According to "Book of Jin·Chen Shou Biography", Chen Shou died in the seventh year of Jin Yuankang. According to this, he should have been born in the eleventh year of Jianxing in the Shu Han Dynasty.In the novel, Ma Di met Chen Song in Nanzheng in Jianxing six years ago, and his brother Chen De was five years old at that time, ten years older than Chen Shou, so the age setting is reasonable. Strictly speaking, this is not a rigorous historical novel, but an attempt to link together several possibilities at different historical time points.This possibility is not necessarily historical fact, but it is certainly possible that it has happened.In other words, the events of historical facts are fixed, but there are many possibilities for the internal connection between events.If the official history is regarded as side A, then these "possible connections" with different probabilities hidden behind it belong to side B. The failure of Jieting is certain, Ma Di's escape is certain, and Fei Yi's assassination is certain. These are all official history belonging to side A.However, behind these historical events, there may be hidden connections: Ma Di may have taken the blame for Wang Ping in Jieting; Fei Yi may have deliberately framed Ma Di; A discussion of this possibility, so I think it is more appropriate to call this novel a "possible" historical novel. When writing, I deliberately chose a more Western-style writing style, which can be regarded as an alternative interpretation of the Three Kingdoms. Please forgive my bad taste. Finally, I would like to thank Ye Gongqikai and Qinshou Gongyu Danayan for their support in historical materials, historical insights and creative skills during the writing period.In fact, my inspiration and understanding of the history of the Three Kingdoms all depend on the daily teachings of the two of them.If there is any success in this novel, it is all because I stand on the shoulders of the two of them-of course, this is the side A. From another historical perspective, I stand on the shoulders of the two of them. underfoot...