As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the tent immediately looked towards Wei Yan.
Wei Yan showed no fear, but continued to speak with his head held high: "Prime Minister, when the late emperor appointed me as the governor of Hanzhong, I told the late emperor, 'If a hundred thousand people come, please swallow them for the king. If the whole world comes, please reject them for the king.'"
"Eight years have passed, and today in the Prime Minister's tent, I still say the same thing." Wei Yan's words were powerful: "If Zhang He leads the people of Guanzhong to come, I will swallow him up on behalf of the Prime Minister. If Emperor Cao Rui of Wei leads the whole country to come, I will reject him on behalf of the Prime Minister."
"I will definitely live up to the Prime Minister's strategy of 'breaking the Long Mountains'!"
At this moment, in terms of momentum alone, Wei Yan's arrogant look as he stood in the tent seemed to have overwhelmed all the generals.
But Zhao Yun, who was already over 60 years old at this time, coughed lightly and then stepped out. His gray beard matched his still heroic face and his majestic posture as steady as a mountain. As soon as he stepped out and had not yet spoken, he started to compete with Wei Yan in momentum.
"Prime Minister." Zhao Yun bowed and said, "I will never forget my duty to the late emperor and restore the Han Dynasty. If you count, it has been more than 30 years since I first followed the late emperor."
"We have known each other for decades. The Prime Minister has long known how I use troops and how I behave. If the Prime Minister is willing to give me this task, I will definitely make great contributions to the Han Dynasty!"
Zhao Yun spoke in a calm tone, and everyone present kept silent.
In terms of seniority, is there anyone in the central army tent who has more seniority than Zhao Yun? When Gongsun Zan was still alive, Zhao Yun was the main cavalryman in Liu Bei's army and was in charge of the cavalry for Liu Bei!
Even Prime Minister Zhuge Liang could not surpass Zhao Yun in terms of seniority.
Zhuge Liang stood silently in the hall, but his heart was filled with turmoil. He forced himself to suppress his reminiscence of the past, but at this moment, Zhuge Liang had another consideration in his mind.
That's not how it works.
Wei Yan had the experience of guarding Hanzhong for the previous emperor, but did he fight a major battle in the eight years he was in Hanzhong? He barely even managed to quell a rebellion!
Zhao Yun has a lot of experience, but which battle did he lead as a general? Either he was a sharp blade for attacking or a quick arrow for assaulting. The ability to lead a large army is not reflected in Zhao Yun's resume.
Whether it was Wei Yan or Zhao Yun, in the last major battle of Shu Han, the Battle of Hanzhong, all they did were raids, food looting, and harassment.
The Eastern Army's mission of "cutting off the Long River" is the most important among the three armies. What is most needed is someone who firmly executes his orders.
In other words, this person doesn't need to have a deep resume. What is needed is that this person can command the troops under his own orders and unswervingly execute every one of his military orders.
Zhuge Liang took a deep breath and said, "General Zhao Yun, the General Wei Yan, the General Wu Ban, the General Deng Zhi, the General Wang Ping, the General Wang Ping!"
"I'm here!" The five people standing in the tent bowed in response.
At this time, Zhuge Liang called out a name that surprised everyone: "Where is Prime Minister Ma Su?"
"I'm here!" Ma Su answered loudly.
Zhuge Liang looked at the people below the steps solemnly, and said in a dignified and unquestionable voice: "Order the Prime Minister's military officer Ma Su to lead the front troops, and supervise the five generals Zhao Yun, Wei Yan, Wu Ban, Deng Zhi, and Wang Ping, to go north through Shanggui to Lueyang to stop the enemy reinforcements from the west!"
As soon as Zhuge Liang's words came out, everyone in the tent was surprised, but also had a more or less sense that the dust had settled.
There was a teacher-student relationship between Ma Su and the prime minister, and also a relationship of mutual assistance.
As early as after the late Emperor Liu Bei entered Shu, no one dared to question the authority of Prime Minister Zhuge. After the late Emperor died and was entrusted with the care of the orphan, no one in the court could compare to him.
After returning victorious from the campaign against Nanzhong the year before last, with such swift military action and such great progress, no one doubted the Prime Minister's military strategy anymore.
Since the prime minister wants to use Ma Su, there must be a reason for it.
Wei Yan, Zhao Yun, Wu Ban...
Let's not talk about Ma Su. With these veterans, can they not defeat Zhang He of Wei? When fighting for Hanzhong, the generals under the command of the late emperor defeated Zhang He repeatedly!
Ma Su was the first to respond loudly: "I will obey the Prime Minister's order! I will not let you down!"
Wei Yan, Zhao Yun and other generals also reacted and saluted to Zhuge Liang to receive his orders.
……
Not to mention how Zhuge Liang explained the military strategy in the tent to the generals who had been assigned tasks.
At the same time, in Ji County, the capital of Tianshui County, the prefect Ma Zun was facing a difficult moment in his life.
This tormenting moment was caused by the thousand cavalrymen led by Shu general Gao Xiang, who were currently outside the city.
It was the afternoon of December 1st.
On the evening of November 27, Lu Pan, who led 3,000 foreign troops stationed in Ji County, learned of the attack by the Shu army.
On the morning of the 28th, Lu Pan bid farewell to the governor Ma Zunma and led 3,000 foreign troops to move to Shanggui City in the east.
Moreover, Lu Pan's reasons were so legitimate that Ma Zun could not find any grounds to refute them.
Longyou is mountainous.
One of the disadvantages of mountainous areas is the extreme inconvenience of transportation. The counties in Longyou can only rely on the natural routes created by the mountains and rivers to travel between each other. It is impossible to be like Luoyang and the Central Plains, where all the land is flat and you can travel anywhere.
Zhuge Liang led a large army to Qishan. The two words "Qishan" in this news already contained enough information.
Starting from Wudu County, there is the West Han River, which can be used by ships to transport military supplies and fodder, making it a natural supply channel for the Shu army.
The main force will advance through a closer road along the east bank of Yangshui River.
After the two roads merged at Beiyan, they faced a fork in the road. Going north from Beiyan, they could reach Ji County and Nan'an County.
Qishan is just east of Beiyan. Following this road, you will first reach Qishan Fort, then Xixian, and then Shanggui.
Zhuge Liang's army passed through Qishan Fort, so it goes without saying that Xixian and Shanggui would soon be exposed to the attack of the Shu army.
Moreover, although both are cities in Tianshui County, Ji County and Shanggui are different.
Shanggui was located at the junction of Longshan Road and Weishui Road. If Shanggui was lost, the army from Guanzhong would have trouble coming to support. However, if Ji County was lost, it would not be a big deal strategically!
It was with this excuse that Lu Pan took all 3,000 foreign troops away from Ji County, without showing the slightest attachment to the county.
The governor of Ji County, Ma Zun, became the commander of the troops in the city. In Ji County with Ma Zun were only 1,500 soldiers from the prefectures and counties who had gathered there in the past few days, and 5,000 to 6,000 servants and farmers from some of the big families in the prefecture.
Ma Zun sat upright in the hall, in a daze, quietly thinking about his life, wealth and future.
Shangguan Qi, the official who delivered the message, became even more impatient when he saw the look on his governor's face.
"Your Excellency, Your Excellency?" Shangguan Qi stood aside and shouted with a frown.
"Oh?" Ma Zun came back to his senses and answered as if he understood something: "What else?"
Shangguan Qi said, "Your Excellency! I heard that there are cavalrymen from the Shu army outside the city, about a thousand of them!"
Ma Zun said expressionlessly: "They are coming, but can their cavalry still attack the city?"
Ma Zun picked up the water glass and took a sip of the water.
Before Ma Zun put down the cup, Shangguan Qi said, "The Shu general who came is a general named Gao Xiang, and he wants to send an envoy into the city to report something to the Lord."
"Is there a messenger?" Ma Zun asked, "Why not let the messenger come in first and see what he has to say?"
Shangguan Qi reported the matter to Ma Zun simply because he was fulfilling his duty.
I thought the prefect would either curse at the envoy or directly reject him, but I didn't expect him to let the envoy in?
Shangguan Qi was furious, and he warned the governor who was known for his incompetence, "I remind you, Your Excellency, that the two countries are at war now, and meeting with the envoys of the enemy country may be disadvantageous to you!"
Ma Zun stood up from the table, his expression becoming impatient: "You are just an assistant, not even an employee, and you are giving me instructions?"
"Quickly call Yin Zhubu and Liang Gongcao, and tell the gatekeeper to let the messenger in!"
"Two countries are at war but they still don't kill envoys. Go quickly, go quickly!"
Shangguan Qi had no choice but to obey the order and go.
After calling the chief clerk and the imperial assistant and walking towards the west gate, Shangguan Qi actually began to miss his long-time friend Jiang Wei.
In August, Shangguan Qi received a private letter from Luoyang, which happened to be the one-year anniversary of their separation.
Entering the Imperial College, listening to the emperor's lectures, accompanying the emperor on the southern expedition, returning with a great victory... Bo Yue's description of Luoyang made Shangguan Qi, who was still in Tianshui County, extremely yearning for it.
Luoyang is the place where the emperor lives, so there must be no mediocre people like Governor Ma!
After welcoming the messenger into the government office, Shangguan Qi was driven out by Gongcao Liang Xu and had no chance to hear what the messenger said.
At this time, in the closed hall, the Shu army envoy handed a package to Ma Zun.
Inside the package was a blank appointment letter for a county marquis with the seal of the Shu Han emperor on it! There were also three appointment letters for a pavilion marquis!
Seeing the surprised expressions of Ma Zun and the other two, the messenger said with a rather smug look, "The whole world belongs to the Han. The Wei rebels and Cao thieves have been making trouble. Now it is time to pay their debts. Governor Ma may not know that Prime Minister Zhuge has already led an army of 300,000 to attack Longyou!"
"If Governor Ma and the two gentlemen beside him can wake up and submit to the Han Dynasty soon, the four titles of nobility in front of us will still be valid."
"If we wait until Prime Minister Zhuge leads his army to the city, I'm afraid we will be killed!"
Three hundred thousand!
Ma Zun and the other two looked at each other in horror, with many unspeakable meanings in their eyes.
Gong Cao Liang Xu was very resourceful. He was quick-witted and coughed before asking, "Excuse me, envoy, have you contacted other people in the county?"
The messenger smiled and replied, "The four surnames of Tianshui County are Jiang, Yan, Ren, and Zhao, right?"
"The Prime Minister said that if Governor Ma is willing to surrender Ji County, then Governor Ma's appointment will remain valid."
"If we wait until the four families Jiang, Yan, Ren, and Zhao surrender their cities, these four appointments will be theirs." (End of this chapter)
