Zhuge Liang sat quietly in the hall, meditating for more than an incense stick of time.
In the past, when the prime minister was thinking, no one dared to interrupt him.
But just now, Wei Yan and Yang Yi were arguing in the courtyard, which caused the prime minister to come out in person. The prime minister first sighed, and then remained silent, which made the two of them panic.
Wei Yan and Yang Yi looked at each other. Although both of them had resentment and anger in their eyes, they still apologized to Zhuge Liang at the same time.
"Prime Minister, please calm down. It was I who was rude just now." Wei Yan was the first to bow and salute.
Yang Yi immediately said, "I have disturbed the Prime Minister's official duties. Please punish me."
Fei Yi couldn't help but roll his eyes in his heart. You two did such a thing in the yard, and now you know how to beg for mercy?
What have you done so far?
Zhuge Liang said slowly: "Wen Chang, Wei Gong, you two are important ministers of the state and are the backbone of my Northern Expedition. Colleagues should work together and not slander each other."
"A gentleman should be harmonious but different. Do I need to tell you this truth in person?"
Generals have their own majestic demeanor, and soldiers have the appearance of scholars.
But under Prime Minister Zhuge's intimidating gaze, the two were unable to resist for a moment and could only bow their heads and apologize, saying that they would never do it again.
"Wenchang, your troops in Hulu Valley should move." Zhuge Liang said softly.
"Is the Prime Minister going to let me go north?" Wei Yan asked with a look of surprise.
"No." Zhuge Liang shook his head and said, "Your troops are now the northernmost. You should withdraw first, followed by Wu Yi's troops, and then most of the army will withdraw last!"
Wei Yan looked at Zhuge Liang in astonishment: "Prime Minister... Prime Minister, are you going to withdraw the troops?"
"Yeah." Zhuge Liang nodded slightly.
"We still occupy Xi County and Lucheng. We may be able to capture Qishan, and the situation in Longyou is uncertain. How can we retreat?" Wei Yan asked anxiously.
At this time, Wei Yan was personally brave and was also good at leading troops in battle, but he still lacked a lot in military strategy.
Before Wei Yan took charge of the military affairs in Hanzhong, he was just a brave general who led troops to fight under the personal command of the previous emperor.
This is the gap between them and the generals of Cao Wei.
Cao's army had been established for more than 30 years, and had won countless battles, lost many battles, and had countless times of stalemate or deadlock. The generals of the Wei State had been replaced from generation to generation, but the current Han army generals did not have so much experience.
No matter how long the two armies fight, the ultimate goal is to defeat the enemy. If there is no hope of victory, why bother to confront each other again?
It was not the time when the late emperor and Cao Cao were fighting for Hanzhong. Qishan and Xixian were remote and not as important as Hanzhong.
The army had wasted food and grass in vain. The Wei army had already fully deployed its troops in Shanggui and could not win.
If we don't retreat now, do we have to wait for the Wei army to attack us?
As early as after the battle of Lueyang, Zhuge Liang heard that Cao Zhen and Wei's Lord Cao Rui had arrived. With an emperor in front of him and being able to keep calm in his own territory, what was the point of wasting time here?
"This is just a withdrawal, not a defeat!" Zhuge Liang's expression became serious, and he said in a sonorous voice: "After the withdrawal, my prime minister's office will still be stationed in Hanzhong with the army to train troops."
"I can stay in Hanzhong forever, but can Cao Wei's central army stay in Longyou forever? Cao Rui, Cao Zhen and others will eventually have to return to Luoyang."
"In one or two years, I will lead the army to conquer Longyou again! By then, we will occupy Longyou and Liangzhou!"
Wei Yan and Yang Yi looked at each other. Neither of them had expected that the quarrel they had just had in the courtyard would actually become the final trigger for the Prime Minister's decision to withdraw his troops.
The prime minister had accumulated power over time, and although the Han army suffered a loss of more than 20,000 but less than 30,000 soldiers, it did not damage the vitality of the Han Dynasty. Naturally, the generals in the prime minister's office agreed.
Wei Yan and Yang Yi stayed in the hall, while Fei Yi, following Zhuge Liang's instructions, summoned all the officials of the government and the generals near the West County camp to the county government hall.
The order to withdraw had been issued, and with Zhuge Liang's personal explanation, everyone was able to accept it. It must be said that in terms of unifying thoughts and reaching consensus, Zhuge Liang did a great job in training the Han army in the Northern Expedition.
After the order of withdrawal was determined, the ministers of the prime minister's office and the generals received the order and went back to prepare for the withdrawal.
However, Zhuge Liang kept Fei Yi and Wei Yan.
"Wenwei," Zhuge Liang looked at Fei Yi, "We have previously moved more than 3,000 households from Ji County, plus more than 3,000 people from Linwei, a total of about 13,000 people."
"When Wenchang leads his troops to retreat first, you will arrange for Wenchang's troops to take all these people with them and move them to Chenggu County in Hanzhong County to cultivate land there."
"You should arrange for Wu Yi's troops to take the 1,000 households of people from Xi County with them when they retreat, and also leave them in Chenggu. Remember not to make any mistakes."
"I understand." Fei Yi and Wei Yan saluted at the same time.
"There is one more thing." Zhuge Liang said, "Didn't Gao Xiang bring back a letter written by Cao Zijian a few days ago?" "I personally wrote a letter to refute him. Wen Chang sent an envoy from the army to deliver it to Shanggui on my behalf. Remember to deliver it to Cao Rui."
Wei Yan thought for a moment, then bowed and said, "I will send someone to deliver it, but whether Cao Rui can see it himself is beyond my knowledge."
"It's okay, just do your best." Zhuge Liang waved his hand gently.
……
While Zhuge Liang was arranging the withdrawal of troops, the Wei Dynasty was also busy in Longyou.
Ten days ago, General Cao Hong, who set out the latest, had already led his troops to Longyou. At this moment, all the central armies of the Wei Dynasty were assembled here.
Since the emperor himself was in Shanggui, local officials from the four counties of Longyou, as well as Qiang and Di chieftains from surrounding counties, were also arranged to come and pay homage to the emperor.
The previous arrangements for the Liangzhou Qiang people such as Qiu Ling and Zhi Wudai were too generous, which made many local Qiang and Di people in Longyou envious and they also asked the court to naturalize.
In view of the fact that the enthusiasm of these Qiang and Di people was really hard to refuse, and the fact that the population of Yongzhou, Qinzhou and Liangzhou of the Wei Dynasty was really empty, Cao Rui, after discussing with Sima Yi, Cao Zhen, Yang Fu, Chen Jiao and other ministers, made the decision to move 100,000 Qiang people from the four counties of Longyou to Guanzhong for farming.
There are only about twenty tribes in total of one hundred thousand Qiang people, big and small.
For Wei, it was just the addition of a dozen marquises and ten Sima officials. But the increase in population was substantial, and could be regarded as a good policy to enrich the counties.
During the chaotic period at the end of the Han Dynasty, Yongliang was the place with the most rebellion. Especially in the Guanzhong Plain near Chang'an, from the Qiang Rebellion in the Later Han Dynasty to the Yongliang Rebellion, as well as the waves of disasters caused by Dong Zhuo, Han Sui, Ma Chao and others, many places were almost deserted.
These lands, which should have been turned into fertile farmland, are just sitting there empty anyway, so it is a good opportunity to put them to use.
The Qiang people were brought from the remote mountain valleys to the Guanzhong Plain, where they could serve as the settlers of the Wei Dynasty and make a living by farming. Although they also paid taxes in a 50-50 ratio, the surplus would still be more than before.
The chiefs obtained official positions and titles and officially entered the official aristocracy system of the Wei Dynasty.
The Great Wei also received manpower reinforcements.
It can be said that this policy satisfies all three parties and everyone is happy.
The Qiang people from Liangzhou replenished Longyou, and the Qiang people from Longyou replenished Guanzhong. This also avoided the harm caused by local officials being appointed, and the original tribes could be further dispersed.
This is the benefit of having the emperor in person.
With the emperor here, and the generals, the prime ministers, and the ministers all here, the situation is almost the same as when we were in Luoyang.
In the afternoon, Cao Rui was in the county government office reading a letter sent from Luoyang when Jiang Wei came in from outside and said, "Your Majesty, the Protector of the Qiang, Lu Xun, requests to see you."
Cao Rui looked up at Jiang Wei, nodded slightly, and then continued to read the document.
Lu Xun walked in slowly, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have followed your Majesty's order and selected 8,000 Qiang cavalry volunteers from the 30,000 Qiang cavalry that we brought with us. They are all strong and strong men between the ages of 20 and 35."
Cao Rui nodded: "Did you encounter any trouble?"
"Some, but not many." Lu Xun paused and explained in detail: "Your Majesty, the ten tribes that have expressed their willingness to naturalize in Wei have not encountered any problems, but the chieftains of the other tribes still have some complaints."
"It's normal to have complaints." Cao Rui said calmly, "This time, they didn't get the title, and they had to hand over the cavalry in their tribe. And they are not allowed to have some complaints?"
"How did you do it?"
"Your Majesty, I ordered the chieftain of the Puyan tribe, who was the most violent, to be killed as a deterrent. He wanted to order his Qiang cavalry to withdraw to Liangzhou, and he also stirred up trouble and wanted to lead other tribes to do the same."
"If we don't kill this man, it will be difficult to demonstrate the majesty of the Wei Dynasty."
Cao Rui glanced at Lu Xun with a hint of approval: "Lu Qing did the right thing. The Wei Dynasty gave them face and pointed out the right path for them. This person's behavior is damaging the reputation of the Wei Dynasty."
"You are the captain of the Qiang Guard, so you need to be both kind and strict. You can't just show kindness, otherwise no matter who they are, they will eventually become greedy."
"You will lead these eight thousand Qiang cavalrymen, together with the two thousand cavalrymen you have already organized in Xiping County, and march towards Lintao in three days."
"Remember to pacify them first. But if there are tribes that don't obey the Wei Dynasty, kill their chieftains and move their people back. Longyou is in need of people, and the Qiang people are also my people."
Lu Xun bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I will do as you order."
Cao Rui looked at Lu Xun and said, "By the way, Mr. Lu, I have something else to tell you."
Lu Xun was a little confused at this time.
Since he surrendered to the Wei Dynasty, almost all his conversations with the emperor were focused on the affairs of the Qiang people, and there were not many private conversations.
The arrangements for the Qiang people have just been completed, and Your Majesty has said this again. Is there anything else?
Just when Lu Xun was at a loss, Cao Rui's few words excited Lu Xun's whole body: "Mr. Lu, I received a letter from Sun Quan regarding your family." (End of this chapter)
