There were a total of 120,000 troops in Shu Han, and Zhuge Liang led 80,000 of them.
Excluding the 10,000 imperial guards who could not be deployed near Chengdu and Shu County, the 8,000 garrisons in the Nanzhong counties and Hanjia and Qianwei counties, and the 5,000 defenders in Yong'an.
The only troops that could be mobilized were Li Yan's 10,000-plus troops near Jiangzhou.
In fact, Zhuge Liang was right to worry.
On April 10th, although Li Yan had already set out from Jiangzhou, he had not yet left Ba County.
It’s still far from Hanzhong.
It was already late March when Li Yan received Zhuge Liang's letter. After careful consideration for a few days, Li Yan believed that it was not possible to mobilize troops based solely on Zhuge Liang's letter without an imperial edict.
We are all ministers in this palace. Although you are the prime minister, my troops do not belong to the Northern Expedition Army and are not under your command!
How can I withdraw all the troops from Jiangzhou just because of your words? What if the people of Jiangzhou rebel? What if the Wu Kingdom attacks us?
It’s against the system!
After thinking slowly for two days in Jiangzhou, Li Yan wrote another long memorial and sent it directly to Chengdu, instead of replying directly to Zhuge Liang.
The gist of the letter was that the Han Dynasty only had 120,000 soldiers, and the Prime Minister had taken away two-thirds of them, all of whom were elite soldiers. What use could my 10,000 soldiers have now?
When Liu Chan, who was far away in Chengdu, received Zhuge Liang's memorial requesting Li Yan to send troops, he directly gave the order to Li Yan.
The day after Li Yan sent the letter, he received Liu Chan's edict. It was already April 1st.
With the imperial edict, Li Yan had no way to shirk responsibility anymore and began to count the troops stationed there, prepare food, fodder, and military equipment, and another five days passed.
On April 10th, Li Yan had just entered the territory of Baxi County.
But Zhuge Liang, who was in Yang'an Pass, was unaware of all this.
If Yangping Pass was really occupied by the Wei army, there would be no way to send news to Hanzhong except the Micang Road!
Zhuge Liang gritted his teeth and said, "In addition to sending a message from Yangping Pass, is there any other way to go back to Shuzhong and send a message to Hanzhong from Micang Road?"
"Wei Gong!"
Yang Yi then stepped forward with a bow.
Zhuge Liang said: "Send someone to look for Li Yan along the Baishui, Langzhong, and Dangqu roads! Let Li Yan stop at Hanchang to guard. While he is supporting the evacuated soldiers and civilians from Hanzhong, he will be on guard against the Wei army there!"
"Send another person to Yangping Pass first! If Yangping Pass is blocked, we can take the path that the former emperor took to Dingjun Mountain and bypass Yangping Pass to send a message to the cities in Hanzhong!"
"Follow the order."
Although Yang Yi decisively responded to Zhuge Liang's order, he couldn't help but have doubts in his heart.
Is it possible? Can we just go around Yangping Pass? Going over the mountains to the counties of Hanzhong, isn't that just giving the Wei army heads?
Yang Yi didn't dare to say it out loud, not because he was afraid, but because he couldn't think of any better way at the moment.
Zhuge Liang slowly looked at the people in the tent and said, "General Wu Yi, the General of the Northern Expedition, will be in charge of guarding Yang'an Pass. I will go to Baishui Pass and lead the team to repel the enemy!"
Everyone agreed.
Wu Yi sighed in his heart.
Is it difficult to defend Yang'an Pass? Of course it is not difficult.
Of the 12,000 people originally in Wuxing, only a little over 10,000 were able to retreat to Yang'an Pass. Retreating at night was already a very good achievement.
Although they were defeated, they had a strong city to rely on and it was not difficult to restore morale.
But what really made Wu Yi lament was Zhuge Liang's move to go to Baishui Pass in person again.
If there is no hope of going north to Wuxing and Yangping Pass, the Prime Minister might as well take all the officials in the government back to Baishui Pass and Chengdu!
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Hanzhong was about to be lost, so it would be good enough if we could just hold on to Shu!
But Zhuge Liang didn't even mention it.
He still retained hope of going north, but he did not trust Wei Yan, so he wanted to go south to Baishui Pass to command the troops personally.
As a subordinate, Wu Yi had no way of saying anything. He could only watch Zhuge Liang continue to travel south, dragging his body, which had not yet recovered from the cold.
……
At the Chiting camp, Cao Rui also met someone he had not seen for a long time.
Upon hearing that Guanqiu Jian wanted to see him, Cao Rui, who was sitting in his tent, put down the documents at hand and said with interest: "Zhonggong is coming from Luoyang? Let him in!"
After a moment, Guanqiu Jian walked in quickly from outside the tent.
"Your Majesty, I, Guanqiu Jian, pay my respects to you!" Guanqiu Jian bowed respectfully.
Cao Rui smiled and said, "Zhong Gong, I haven't seen you for a long time! Don't bow, get up and sit closer to me!"
"As you wish." Guanqiu Jian responded with the same delight.
Sima Yi, who was standing by, saw this scene. Although he smiled slightly and nodded towards Guanqiu Jian who bowed to him, he also felt a little jealous.
Of course it wasn't a fight for favor! What was there for Sikong, one of the Three Dukes, to fight for with a small lieutenant with a salary of two thousand stones?
Rather, he was jealous of the natural affinity between Guanqiu Jian and the emperor, and their joy when they met, as if they were friends. Once upon a time, Sima Yi, as one of the "Four Friends of Cao Pi", also had a similar relationship with the late emperor Cao Pi.
It’s just that the world has changed and the past is gone.
Sima Yi was not treated so closely in front of the emperor.
Apart from Sima Yi, the only important official in the tent was the attendant Wang Su.
As the governor of Qinzhou, Chen Jiao returned to Qishan City to take care of the newly established Qinzhou government affairs, while Yang Fu, as the governor of Yongzhou, also returned to Chang'an.
After Yang and Chen left, His Majesty asked Yang Fu to write a letter to summon Xin Pi who was in Chang'an.
There are only two attendants now, and I really don’t know who Your Majesty will fill in.
After a few polite words, Guanqiu Jian bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Wei Pushe has something to say to you, and I'd like to pass it on to you."
Cao Rui shook his head and laughed, "Why is Master Wei so cautious? Can't you just say it in a letter?"
Guanqiu Jian hesitated for a few moments and said, "Your Majesty, the Minister of the Imperial Guards wants to ask Your Majesty to return to Luoyang as soon as possible, and also said that the emperor should not stay outside the capital for a long time."
Cao Rui sighed and turned to look at Sima Yi: "Sikong, we set out from Luoyang on December 6th, right?"
"That's right." Sima Yi replied, "Today is April 11th, a total of four months and five days."
Cao Rui shook his head slightly: "The last time I went to Huainan, the round trip was only three months. It has been four months now, and the war is not over yet."
"I know that Master Wei is right. Although I am also an emperor, I have not yet unified the country. It is okay for me to be a little different from those emperors in the peaceful years."
"I will write back to Master Wei, Zhong Gong should not be concerned about this matter."
Guanqiu Jian nodded, and then said, "I was ordered to go on a northern tour on the first day of May last year, and it has been almost a year now."
"I have not yet had time to report to Your Majesty in person what I have seen and felt in Youzhou and Bingzhou."
"Then let's talk about it today. I don't have too many trivial matters today." Cao Rui looked at Guanqiu Jian: "Let's talk about Gongsun Yuan first. What do Liu Ye and you think of this person?"
Guanqiu Jian said: "Your Majesty, we have the same opinion about Gongsun Yuan, Liu Gong and I. Gongsun Yuan is ambitious and has evil intentions. He has both the ability and the willingness to rebel."
"I wonder if Your Majesty is familiar with the roads in Liaodong?"
Cao Rui said, "I have heard some of it in general, but I don't know the details. Zhong Gong can try to tell me."
Guanqiu Jian paused and said, "When Emperor Wu attacked Wuhuan in the past, it was July. The coastal route was blocked due to flooding, so Emperor Wu's entire army, led by a local man named Tian Chou, set out from Lulong Pass and marched 500 miles along the mountain road before reaching Liucheng."
"I remember this." Cao Rui nodded: "Zhang Liao killed the Wuhuan Chanyu in a battle!"
Guanqiu Jian said: "The reason why Emperor Wu took a long detour was, on the one hand, because the coastal road was muddy and impassable, and on the other hand, the bandits blocked the dangerous parts of the road."
"Forgive me for being blunt, but if Wei were to conquer Gongsun clan again, it would still be as difficult as it was during Emperor Wu's time."
"Is it because of that Binhai Road?" Cao Rui frowned, as if he remembered something, and suddenly understood it.
From Youbeiping to Liaodong, or the Binhai Road, isn’t this the road to Shanhaiguan in later generations!
Guanqiu Jian nodded and said, "It is the coastal road. I arrived in Liaodong in August. The coastal road from Liaoxi to Liaodong is more than 400 miles long and is extremely muddy. It is definitely not a place where a large army can march."
"Besides, even if we reach Liaodong, there is still a swamp over 200 miles wide, known as Liaoze, blocking the way."
Cao Rui asked, "How can there be a swamp in a place like Liaodong?"
Sima Yi coughed lightly and said, "Your Majesty, the Liao River often floods in the summer. As early as the Han Dynasty, it often hindered Liaodong's farming and postal delivery. This problem has been accumulated for a long time."
Cao Rui thought for a moment: "So, if we want to attack Liaodong, we have to walk along the Binhai Road and cross the Liaoze before the rainy season? Because Liaodong is cold in winter, we should try to finish the battle before winter?"
Sima Yi thought for a few moments and said, "Your Majesty is right. Liaodong's local geography and weather are like this, and it is really beyond human power to change."
Cao Rui chuckled: "With such a favorable location, if it weren't so far from the Central Plains, I'm afraid everyone would have wanted to grab it during the chaos!"
"I remember that Gongsun Du, the first governor of Liaodong, was appointed by Dong Zhuo?"
Guanqiu Jian interrupted, "That's right. In the past, Gongsun Du had a good relationship with his fellow countryman Xu Rong, who was also a favorite general under Dong Zhuo. It was because of this relationship that Gongsun Du was able to get the post in Liaodong."
Cao Rui sneered: "Golden horns, silver edges, and grass belly, Gongsun Du has chosen a good place. This is how you can survive in troubled times!"
"Zhong Gong, I have heard about Gongsun Yuan's disrespect to you and Liu Ye. How can I allow such a disrespectful and rebellious person to hold an official position? The court has been leaving him alone for several months, right?"
After saying that, Cao Rui turned to look at Sima Yi and said, "Sikong, if I had not defeated Wu and Shu, I might have been able to reward him with some official positions to appease him."
"But I don't want to do that now. Why should I appease a mere Gongsun Yuan? If he suddenly seizes the throne, the internal situation will inevitably be unstable. I will not give him any reputation."
"Can you issue an imperial decree to invite him to Luoyang?"
"Sure!" Sima Yi answered without hesitation: "Now that Wei has won many battles against foreign enemies, we don't need to worry about Gongsun Yuan."
"It is the right thing for the court to order him to come to Luoyang." Sima Yi looked at the emperor: "But it is better for Your Majesty to issue this decree after you return to Luoyang." (End of this chapter)
