The 30,000 central troops marched northward, almost taking over one city a day.
We set out from Xuchang on the 16th, reached the north of Yanling on the 17th, reached Weishi on the 18th, passed Kaifeng on the 19th, and arrived in Junyi on the afternoon of the 20th.
Junyi is a small county to the west of Chenliu County, but it is located beside the Chuandang Canal, and is an important place for water transport between the Yellow River and the Huai River. Military supplies from Hebei often pass through Junyi when they are transported south by water.
After Cao Rui arrived in Junyi, he met with Sun Zi, the governor of Yanzhou, who came to pay homage. Sun Zi had been in office in Yanzhou for more than two years since he was exiled in the first year of Taihe. As the governor of a large state, it was not an injustice for him.
The army would only stay for one night. After Sun Zi hurriedly met with the emperor and left, the attendant Pei Qian asked to see him next.
It was already late at night, Cao Rui was already a little tired. He sat at the table and looked at Pei Qian, already yawning: "What does Minister Pei want to see me about?"
Pei Qian bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty, regarding the matter of You and Bing, I have something to say."
Cao Rui nodded slightly: "Tell me!"
Pei Qian said, "I have been thinking about recruiting the Wuhuan, Xianbei, Xiongnu and many other non-Hu people from the grasslands these days, and I think the court should make a decision sooner."
Cao Rui was puzzled: "According to the previous discussion, shouldn't we order Bingzhou's General Tian Yu, who protects the Wuhuan, and Youzhou's General Xiahou Xian, who protects the North, to recruit them after we reach Yecheng?"
Pei Qian nodded: "That's right. But after thinking about it, I always feel that it's too late."
Cao Rui took a deep breath and said, "What do you mean? How can it be too late?"
Pei Qian said, "Your Majesty, if the army marches at the speed it has these days, it will be early February when we reach Yecheng. If we send envoys to recruit the various tribes, I'm afraid it will take until the end of February or early March to notify them all."
"The Xiongnu lived in Bingzhou's Xihe and Taiyuan counties, the Xianbei were divided into three tribes, and the Wuhuan were mostly in the border areas of Yanmen, Daijun, Shanggu, and Yuyang."
"I just feel that if we gather our forces too slowly, or if something goes wrong, the royal army may not be able to reach Liaodong before the end of summer."
Cao Rui thought thoughtfully: "So Pei Qing wants to recruit the foreign tribes in advance? If someone refuses to obey, it will be too late to recruit them after the crusade?"
Pei Qian nodded seriously: "That's right."
Cao Rui's expression also became serious: "Pei Qing once served in Dai County and is familiar with the Wuhuan and Xianbei tribes. In your opinion, how many people can be recruited from each tribe?"
Pei Qian said: "Your Majesty, the road to Liaodong is long, and it is difficult to maintain the logistics if too much food and grass are collected. Too many soldiers are useless, just select some elite troops from each department."
"The Xiongnu are poor. The five Xiongnu tribes in Bingzhou have their Han Sima left to guard their tribes, and each Xiongnu commander has sent out 600 elite soldiers. The Xiongnu can recruit 3,000 cavalry."
Cao Rui nodded: "What about Wuhuan and Xianbei?"
Pei Qian said: "This is also what I am worried about."
"The Wuhuan are easy to talk to. It is a good policy to recruit 5,000 cavalry from various tribes."
"Since the Xianbei's Kebi Neng was defeated by the Protector of Wuhuan Captain Tian Yu in the first year of Taihe, he nominally submitted to the Wei Dynasty and made continuous contributions year after year."
"If Kebi Neng is obedient, the Xianbei can recruit 10,000 cavalry. If Kebi Neng is unwilling to accept the call, then we should first attack Kebi Neng, and then unite all the tribes and ethnic groups to go to Liaodong."
Cao Rui nodded: "I know what you mean."
"How about this? Send someone to summon Bingzhou Tian Yu and Youzhou Xiahou Xian tomorrow morning and order them to recruit the foreign tribes."
"The Xiongnu, the Western Xianbei, and the Bingzhou Wuhuan gathered at Yanmen, while the Central Xianbei, the Eastern Xianbei, and the Youzhou Wuhuan gathered at Daijun."
"At the end of February or the beginning of March, I will go to Yanmen in person to meet with the chieftains of various ethnic groups."
Pei Qian had thought a lot when he came here, but he didn't expect the emperor to agree so quickly, so he hesitated and asked, "Your Majesty, should we discuss this with the Privy Council again?"
Cao Rui chuckled and said, "It's okay. I have discussed it with the Privy Council before. It should be fine."
"Since Pei Qing came to look for me late at night and suggested that I leave in a hurry, would Pei Qing be willing to go ahead for me?"
Pei Qian bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, do you want me to go to Bingzhou or Youzhou?"
Cao Rui said, "With Tian Yu in Yanmen, why would Pei Qing be needed to go to Bingzhou?"
"Didn't Pei Qing serve as the governor of Dai County in the past? You can go to Dai County with the imperial seal to handle the recruitment of Youzhou. I will issue an edict to let Xiahou Xian help you, so that he can free up his hands to prepare for the military training."
After hearing the emperor's words, Pei Qian bowed deeply and said, "I will definitely live up to your majesty's trust!"
Cao Rui yawned again: "Since Pei Qing is so anxious, let's leave tomorrow."
"Yes." Pei Qian continued, "Your Majesty, please give me a deadline."
Cao Rui said, "It is now January 20th. Youzhou is a long way away, so I will give you two months." "Are you all going to Dai County on March 20th? Is that a problem?"
Pei Qian asked again: "Your Majesty, the conscription of the Central Xianbei and the Eastern Xianbei is..."
Cao Rui waved his hand and said, "Pei Qing, do it yourself. Xiahou Xian and Liu Ye are both sensible people. How to recruit troops and how to avoid rebellion by foreign tribes, you should discuss it among yourselves. How can I manage so much detail?"
"Go back now, I want to go to bed."
"As you say, I understand." Pei Qian bowed and left slowly.
Zhong Yu, the Palace Attendant who was participating in the expedition for the first time, entered the tent, slowly blew out the oil lamp, and walked out quietly.
……
At the same time, in Hanzhong County, Yizhou, inside the city wall of Yangping Pass.
Yangping Pass is the key point connecting Shuzhong and Hanzhong. If Wei occupied Yangping Pass, Shu could not enter Hanzhong from Jinniu Road.
In the general's mansion in Guancheng, Xin Pi, Guo Huai and Hao Zhao gathered around the fire to discuss military responses.
Guo Huai put his hands in the sleeves of his thick robe and said in a deep voice: "If we calculate the time, Your Majesty should have received our message, right?"
Xin Pi nodded and said, "I have roughly calculated the time. It takes seven days from Yangping Pass to Chencang, four days from Chencang to Luoyang, and one day from Luoyang to Xuchang. If we give it another three days, the news should arrive on the fifteenth day."
Hao Zhao, sitting nearby, nodded and said, "Zhuge Liang didn't come earlier or later, but he just happened to arrive outside Yangping Pass on the first day of the first lunar month."
"Don't people in Shu celebrate the New Year? How dare he do this to me?"
In the defense system of Hanzhong in the Wei Dynasty, there were three cities and 20,000 soldiers.
Guo Huai was stationed in Mianyang and was in charge of the three cities of Yangping Pass, Mianyang and Nanzheng.
Hu Zun was in charge of Nanzheng, while Hao Zhao was in charge of Yangping Pass. It is said that the idea of letting Hao Zhao guard Yangping Pass was proposed by His Majesty to the general in person in Chencang.
Of the 20,000 troops in Hanzhong, 10,000 were foreign troops, and 10,000 were Qiang soldiers recruited in the past two years. Qiang soldiers were not good at field battles, but if they were used to defend the city, they would not be much different from foreign troops.
Guo Huai asked, "Who among us can understand Zhuge Liang's character?"
"The general has already told us that he will not lead his troops to Hanzhong, but will station them in Chiting."
Hao Zhao asked, "To the west of Chiting is Xiabian in Wudu County, and to the south is Wuxing Pass. Is the general trying to prevent Zhuge Liang from luring the tiger away from the mountain by making a feint attack at Yangping Pass and then launching a real attack at Wudu or Dazhong?"
Guo Huai shook his head: "It's hard to say. The general has his own considerations. We have 20,000 soldiers defending the three cities, so we should be safe. We should not interfere with the general's deployment."
The fire in the furnace flickered, making the faces of the three people dim and bright.
Xin Pi looked at Guo Huai and said, "Bo Ji, I have a rough guess in my mind. You and Bo Dao should listen to it."
Guo Huai smiled and nodded: "Xin Gong is on an inspection tour. If Zhuge Liang hadn't come to attack, Xin Gong would have returned to Chang'an long ago. What's Xin Gong's advice?"
Xin Pi said: "Think about it carefully, could it be that Zhuge Liang is testing the deployment of Wei's troops?"
The smile on Guo Huai's face gradually faded, and he began to turn serious: "How can he predict the deployment of Wei's troops? Please let Lord Xin tell me."
Hao Zhao also said seriously: "Please give me some advice, Mr. Xin."
Xin Pi said: "You two have been in Guanxi for a long time, so I don't need to look for any maps. I will just tell you directly."
Guo Huai nodded: "Xin Gong, just tell me directly. From Dazhong in the west to Nanzheng in the east, the mountains and rivers, the terrain, the dangerous places and the plains are all in my mind, so you can tell me as you like."
Xin Pi nodded: "You see, Qinzhou and Hanzhong are the front lines facing the enemy, and are actually divided into three parts by mountains and rivers."
"The easternmost is Hanzhong, the middle is Wudu and Xiabian, and the westernmost is Dazhong. Hanzhong belongs to your General Guo, Xiabian belongs to General Zhang, and Dazhong belongs to General Lu."
"Last April, when Zhuge Liang invaded Dazhong, Zhang He went forward to Dazhong, and the general went to Xiabian to take charge."
"Now that Zhuge Liang has invaded Yangping Pass, how will the Wei army be deployed in the eyes of the people of Shu?"
Guo Huai frowned: "From the perspective of the Shu bandits, perhaps General Zhang should go to Hanzhong, and the general should also come with him."
"Dazhong is isolated!" (End of this chapter)
