The beginning of the Three Kingdoms Cheng Yuanzhi

Chapter 259
After being proclaimed Duke, Cheng Yuanzhi received the treatment of "Praise and worship without fame, entering the court without going, and walking on the sword in the palace". Although he is not an emperor, he is actually equivalent to an emperor.

But if you want to become king further, the previous prestige is not enough, and you need to re-expand the territory and increase new prestige (chips).

So, who to hit?

At this time, there are still six princes left in the world: Sun Quan of Jiaozhou, Liu Bei of Jingzhou, Liu Zhang of Yizhou, Zhang Lu of Hanzhong, Ma Chao of Liangzhou, and Han Sui.

If you add Dong Xianbei, you have seven enemies.

Among these opponents, first exclude Sun Quan and Liu Bei. After all, the two have formed an alliance, and it is too strenuous to fight; Liu Zhang in Yizhou cannot fight because Yizhou is blocked by Liu Bei in Jingzhou and Zhang Lu in Hanzhong; It is possible to fight, but it is too far away; Ma Chao and Han Sui in Xiliang have become ministers in name, Ma Chao's old father Ma Teng and Han Sui's son are still hostages in Xudu, and it is not easy to beat others for no reason.

In this way, Zhang Lu in Hanzhong is left.

The situation Cheng Yuanzhi is facing now is almost the same as that faced by Cao Cao in the original time and space, but there are subtle differences.

In the original time and space, after Cao Cao sent out the news of attacking Zhang Lu, Ma Chao and Han Sui in Guanzhong believed that Cao Cao's extermination of Zhang Lu was a lie, and his real goal was to destroy Guo and take the opportunity to destroy himself.So more than a dozen warlords from Xiliang and Guanzhong gathered in Guanzhong, supporting 10,000+ troops to resist Cao Cao's westward advance.

But in this time and space, Ma Chao and Han Sui were driven to Xiliang, did not occupy Guanzhong, and hardly bordered Hanzhong Zhanglu.

Therefore, there is no such situation as "the lips die and the teeth are cold", "the country is destroyed by false means", and the situation of "a bunch of rabbits are startled by rolling the grass".

Cheng Yuanzhi decided to send troops to Hanzhong because he wanted to use Zhang Lu to establish a new prestige, and by the way, see if he had a chance to get ahead of Liu Bei and occupy Yizhou.

Follow Liu Bei's path, leaving Liu Bei with nowhere to go!
At this time, all the civil and military personnel in Hebei were still immersed in the joy of being promoted to the ranks. When they heard that Cheng Yuanzhi, who had just returned from the southern expedition, was going to conquer Zhanglu in the west, they immediately exploded.

The first person who jumped out to object was the number one counselor, the honest judge, he reasoned and said:
"Wars have been going on for years, the national treasury is scarce, and hundreds of thousands of civilians are recruited each time. The common people are war-weary, and there are quite a lot of complaints. I hope the Lord will think twice about the Western Expedition!"

Tian Feng, Jushou and others also echoed: "Last year, there was a severe drought, and the people had little harvest. This spring, plague broke out in many places, and many people died of illness. My lord should be sympathetic to the people. Let's rest for a year or two, and it won't be too late to levy Zhang Lu again." !"

What everyone meant was: Zhang Lu is right there, he can't run away, there is no difference between fighting earlier and later, but if we fight now, the people really can't take it anymore.We understand your lord's desire to attack Zhang Lu urgently to establish prestige and become king.But at this time, Xizheng is indeed a little too hasty.

It is rare for everyone to have the same opinion and think for the people.Cheng Yuanzhi felt relieved, waved his hands and said with a smile: "Even so, the western expedition to Zhang Lu is urgent!"

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, not understanding why it was urgent.The lord is only 48 years old, in his prime, and in good health, why can't the Western Expedition be slowed down?

Could Zhang Lu run away by himself?
Everyone's reaction made Cheng Yuanzhi very disappointed. Since Guo Jia's death, he has no strategic masters under his command.

Sima Yi may be half, but he is still very immature, and he is not in Yecheng, but went to Jingzhou to garrison.

Jia Xu is a quick-witted strategist. If you don't ask him, he will never think about it or say a word.

Yang Xiu is a scheming and versatile prime minister-type talent. His strengths lie in governing the country and guessing people's hearts. His weaknesses are in military strategy and strategy.

Others, such as Tian Feng, Jushou, Xun You, Liu Ye, etc., have limited vision and cannot foresee hidden dangers that are too far away.

Looking around at the bewildered expressions of the crowd, Cheng Yuanzhi sighed, and suddenly met Xu Shu in the crowd.

The latter smiled slightly, as if he had something to say.

Cheng Yuanzhi stared, and said in a deep voice, "Yuan Zhi, why are you smiling and not talking?"

Good guy, you're blatantly fishing again!Believe it or not, deduct your salary until you owe me!
Xu Shu was called out and had no choice but to come out and ask, "Could it be that Duke Ming is worried that Liu Bei will go to take Xichuan?"

In one sentence, everyone present was enlightened and suddenly realized.

So it turns out that the lord is worried about this!

In that case, Xizheng is indeed urgent!
If Liu Bei is allowed to occupy Yizhou and Hanzhong, the consequences will be disastrous.

Hanzhong is bordered by the Qinling Mountains in the north and the Daba Mountains in the south. The two mountains stand parallel to each other, stretching from east to west.The Qinling Mountains are high and steep, reaching Longshan Mountain in the west and connecting Xionger Mountain and Funiu Mountain in the east; Daba Mountain stretches along the borders of Yizhou, Guanzhong and Jingzhou.

There is Wuguan at the eastern end of the Qinling Mountains and Sanguan at the western end. There are also three valley roads passing through the middle of the Qinling Mountains and reaching Hanzhong. They are Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road and Ziwu Road.

The south entrance of Baoxie Road is called Baogu, and the north entrance is called Xiegu. The total length of the valley road is 470 miles.During the Warring States Period, Sima attacked Shu by mistake, and it was this way that he entered his army.

Baoxie Road mainly runs along Baoshui and Xieshui valleys.The river valley is deep and dangerous, and the cliffs are erected, making it difficult to pass.Therefore, in the past dynasties, plank roads were often built on Baoxie Road.

The south entrance of Tangluo Road is called Tanggu, and the north entrance is called Luogu. The valley road is 420 miles long.Among them, there is a section of the main peak of the Qinling Mountains. The winding mountain road twists and turns for more than 84 miles, with a total of [-] windings. It is not easy to march and is easily blocked.

The south entrance of Ziwu Road is called Wugu, and the north entrance is called Zigu. It is a hundred miles south of Chang'an City. The total length of the valley road is 660 miles.

Three valley roads connect Guanzhong and Hanzhong.However, due to the height of the Qinling Mountains, every valley road twists and turns, deep and steep, which is not conducive to the large-scale movement of manpower and material resources, especially not conducive to the transportation of grain and grass supplies.

It is okay to use these valley roads to send out surprise troops, but it is almost impossible to advance troops on a large scale.

This shows the importance of the North and the South in Hanzhong.

When Hanzhong was controlled by Yizhou in the south, the Qinling Mountains were the boundary between the two sides; when Hanzhong was controlled by the north, Yizhou in the south could only rely on the dangerous Daba Mountains to resist.

Guanzhong is the upper reaches of the northern region, and the Qinling Mountains are the southern barrier of Guanzhong; Yizhou is the upper reaches of the southern region, and the Daba Mountains are the northern barrier of Yizhou.And Hanzhong is sandwiched between the Qinling Mountains and the Daba Mountains.

In this way, Hanzhong, which is located in the middle of the two upper reaches, reflects the degree of interests of the north and the south, which is far from comparable to that of the Huaihe River and the south of the Yangtze River.

The gains and losses of Hanzhong are enough to have a decisive impact on Yizhou and Guanzhong.

There are two passages between Hanzhong and Yizhou: Jinniu Road and Micang Road.

Jinniu Road starts from Mian County in the north and reaches Jiange in the south; the highest peak in the middle is called Chaotianling, and Jiange is the throat at the southern end.

Jinniu Road was first opened by King Hui of Qin when he conquered Shu, and Micang Road got its name after crossing Micang Mountain.

In the situation of confrontation between the North and the South, the significance of Hanzhong to Yizhou in the south is more important than to the north.

This is because of the Jialing River and the Hanshui River. Hanzhong is more closely connected with the south. On the other hand, the Qinling Mountains are more steep than the Daba Mountains.It is more difficult to go northward from the Qinling Mountains in Hanzhong, but it is easier to go southward from the Daba Mountains.

If the two sides take the Qinling Mountains as the boundary, they can share the danger of the Qinling Mountains; if the Daba Mountains are the frontier, the geographical advantage lies in the north.

Therefore, no matter anyone, as long as he has a long-cherished wish to unify the world, Hanzhong should not only be cut down, but should be cut down early.

This is also a top talent, but it's a pity that I can't use it~——Cheng Yuanzhi looked at Xu Shu approvingly, and fell silent.

In the original time and space, the Shu Han rose from Hanzhong from its founding to its demise. In 219, Liu Bei won Hanzhong, proclaimed himself King of Hanzhong, and established the Shu Han; in 263, Jiang Wei lost Hanzhong, and the Shu Han quickly perished.

From this alone, we can see the importance of Hanzhong.

If Hanzhong is not guarded, the door of Yizhou will be open, and the Yizhou regime will hardly be able to establish a country.

Therefore, in the original time and space, Huang Quan compared Cao Cao and Hanzhong to "cutting the arms of the Shu people", and Yang Hong emphasized that "if Hanzhong is lost, there will be no Shu!"

Thinking of this, Cheng Yuanzhi made up his mind, and said to the crowd in a deep voice: "I have made up my mind, the three armies will set off soon, and march west to Zhanglu!"

(End of this chapter)