The Three Kingdoms of the Widow

Counting with fingers, this is the fourth Northern Expedition.

Zhuge Liang had only one purpose in calling Wei Yan back.

"Repel the Wei army?" Yang Yi said impatiently.

"Call to Chang'an."

Before Yang Yi could be astonished, Zhuge Liang added another sentence: "This is the lowest goal."

"Does the Prime Minister have a specific strategy?" Wei Yan felt very happy that he was valued.

"I lead an army, Wen Chang leads an army."

Wei Yan waited for a long time, but did not see Zhuge Liang's next words: "...that's all?"

"That's all." Zhuge Liang gave him an affirmative answer.

"Then... army dispatch, marching route..." Wei Yan thought of a possibility, but he couldn't believe it. , a little incoherent with excitement.

"Sir, what you mean is that General Wei can make arrangements on his own and take whatever route he wants. Sir, he will lead an army to serve as General Wei's assistant, and finally meet up in Chang'an." Jiang Wei added what Zhuge Liang hadn't finished saying.

"If I want to implement the plan of Ziwu Valley..." Wei Yan never forgot his old plan.

"Do as much as possible." This is what Zhuge Liang said.

For a moment, Wei Yan wanted to kneel on the ground to thank God, no, the prime minister should be most grateful.But he has not been dazzled by the sudden good luck, and he has not forgotten the reason why Zhuge Liang rejected his proposal: "This time the prime minister is not worried about changes in the road?"

"Not this time, this time is a defensive counterattack, the odds of winning are on our side."

The fourth Northern Expedition was actually forced to fight back, but it went surprisingly smoothly. Zhuge Liang handed over an army to Wei Yan. Let Wei Guo evolve into a disadvantage, and Zhuge Liang cooperated with Wei Yan to leave Qishan, and the journey went smoothly.

Jiang Wei asked Zhuge Liang why he did this, but Zhuge Liang didn't answer him, only saying that it would be good to let Wei Yan try this method.

There are some things that Zhuge Liang can't say, such as the fundamental reason why Wei Yan was allowed to try a new strategy, which can be summed up in a few words.

"I'm running out of time."

Time is running out, and there are still many things to do. Taking advantage of the limited time to save as much family property as possible for the big Jihan, it will take some time for the descendants to lose in the future.It's good to have an explanation when I see Liu Bei when I look back.

Ah, I think too much, things like burial will not happen, and it is unlikely to be shared, so I can't see it.

With Ji Han's national strength, it is difficult for the weak to challenge the strong to achieve anything, but the strong to challenge the weak is the best time for the weak to find loopholes and counterattack. This is the case in all battles in history where the weak defeated the strong, Chibi and Guandu are also the same. The strong one took the initiative to find fault and was beaten with a face covered in smears.

So Cao Zhen was provoked by Sima Yi to take the initiative to attack this time. It was simply a godsend opportunity for Ji Han to win, and it was probably his last chance.

Cao Zhen was ashamed this time, and was forced to retreat by Wei Yan.Cao Rui was furious, and an imperial decree called him back.The coach withdrew, and the enemies in front had to deal with it. Shangyu, who stopped Zhuge Liang during his first Northern Expedition, would not have such good luck this time, unless he contributed another Jiang Wei to make Zhuge Liang turn around-in short, the result was Guo Huai this time. Shangbei was defeated.The culprit that led to his defeat was precisely the countermeasure offered by Jiang Wei, who was familiar with the terrain here - Jiang Wei was forced to surrender to Shu because of his own people's distrust. "Bar.After Zhuge Liang continued to advance eastward, Cao Rui hurriedly asked Ji Yu Wenwu, and Wu Zhi, who had just been reused, patted his chest and recommended someone to replace Cao Zhen.

Who?

Hussar General Sima Yi.

After hearing this, Cao Rui wanted to strangle Wu Zhi to death.But Wu Zhi turned a blind eye to the emperor's white eyes: Your Majesty, if you can find someone else, I didn't say anything.

……nonsense!If I can find it, I will ask you!

When Cao Rui secretly gritted his teeth and declared Sima Yi to go to the hall, Sima Yi smiled slightly outside the hall: After all, the little fox is still a little tender.

Cao Rui didn't ask Sima Yi what his opinion was, but directly told her to lead tens of thousands of horses to repel the Shu army immediately, and that her son was not allowed to go this time.

"Sima Master Sima Zhao has no job now, so he is not allowed to enter the barracks."

"When the country employs people, why should Your Majesty stick to official positions?"

"No, no, no!"

Sima Yi was not angry at all, and said calmly: "I can agree to your majesty's unreasonable request, but correspondingly, I have a request, and I hope your majesty can agree."

"If you say that, I don't want to agree."

"Your Majesty, listen first before making a decision."

Sima Yi demanded that almost all of Cao Zhen's front-line generals be withdrawn and replaced by those Cao Yu appointed after she opened the mansion, except for one person——

"Zhang Junyi, General Zhang is familiar with the situation ahead, and has quite a lot of experience. He has repeatedly injured the Shu army and made military exploits for the country. He is in the army, and the ministers can ask for advice. The Shu army knows that he is there, and they will be afraid."

Cao Rui looked at Sima Yi coldly: "What do you want to do?"

"I want to win, so I can share your worries for His Majesty."

Sima Yi's reasons were high-sounding, and Cao Rui couldn't find a reason to refute them. In fact, every time the coach is changed, a group of generals will be replaced along with it. Reasonable, perfect and can't fault a bit.

But Cao Rui firmly believes that Sima Yi must have no good intentions, and what makes him feel depressed is that he knows this and can't change the result.

Cao Rui agreed.

Sima Yi immediately went out to defend against the enemy, and appointed Zhang He, who was far ahead, as the vanguard governor of the army, and Guo Huai retreated to the counties in Longxi.

"It is strictly forbidden for anyone to fight against the Shu army privately, and guard their own camps and cities. Anyone who violates the order, regardless of victory or defeat, will be beheaded for public display!"

Everyone suddenly felt the pressure: "General, if you stick to your defense, if Zhuge Liang's army overwhelms the city..."

"What are you afraid of! This governor will personally face Zhuge Liang, so you don't have to worry about confronting her."

Everyone was silent, Sima Yi spoke too thoroughly, and she didn't save anyone face at all. She knew that what everyone was afraid of was fighting Zhuge Liang, but she actually said that.

Sima Yi turned to Zhang Yun beside him: "What does General Zhang think?"

"The general's plan is very good."

Sima Yi was very satisfied: "Okay, write this down, and use it as a strategy for the war against Shu, and keep it going."

This... is a bit too much. Expediency and national strategy are two concepts.

"Don't worry, 'army is impermanent, water is impermanent', it will change when it is time to change."

When will that be?

"It's time for the governor to issue the next policy."

Everyone looked at each other in dismay and was still puzzled, but Sima Yi announced the dissolution of the account without interest, but in the end she seemed to remember something: "Where is the letter written by Mrs. Jiang Wei? Remember to send it as soon as possible."

Jiang Wei wandered outside the tent, occasionally holding the edge of the tent to look inside.

Zhuge Liang was rubbing his temples inside and reading side newspapers.

Jiang Wei hesitated, and finally walked away lightly, and went to the kitchen to ask Zhuge Liang about his diet.

"Prime Minister... I don't eat much at noon..." The gang leader rubbed his hands, "Rice with dried meat and some steamed mustard greens."

"Is there any fish?" Jiang Wei suddenly asked without thinking, "Where is the tofu?"

The leader of the gang was stunned for a moment: "How can there be fish in this army? At most, there can be some dried pickled fish. Tofu is not easy to bring, and there is no such thing. The prime minister never said to cook these two kinds of dishes when he sent troops."

Fish and tofu are Zhuge Liang's favorite foods. Both Ma Di and Zhao Yun told Jiang Wei that they are easy to digest and nutritious, not greasy.When I lived in Chengdu, I used more ginger and peppercorns to remove the fishy smell. Zhuge Liang also put a little Qin pepper in the dishes according to the unique taste of Sichuan and Sichuan.Once the troops are dispatched, the diet is always sloppy, and Zhuge Liang is unwilling to cause trouble to the kitchen. Eating has become a task rather than a pleasure. He often holds the rice bowl to look at the map, or puts down the bowl to go to a meeting halfway through the meal, and eats again. It's a normal day.

This way of life is very harmful to the body.

Jiang Wei knew that Zhuge Liang didn't eat much, and this was still compared to when he first arrived. I really don't know what he would think if he heard about Zhuge Liang's appetite in this world...

Jiang Wei looked down at the few medicinal herbs in his hand again, and continued to say to the gang leader nonchalantly: "There must be fish at night."

"Ah... ah?" The gang leader wondered if he heard it wrong, "General, there is no water in this place, where can I find fish? Even if I find fish, there will not be enough spices!"

"I don't care about that. You go find a map by yourself, find a place with a river or a lake to catch fish. Spicy condiments are everywhere, and a handful of laurel leaves can be put in the pot. In short, let the husband have a good meal at night. Fishy fish."

"There is no one to catch the fish, in case Wei Jun comes..."

"Wei Jun won't come! It's been so many days that they only defend and don't attack! I don't believe that they will come after you catch a fish! You have plenty of time! Don't talk nonsense and catch fish!"

The gang leader was frightened by Jiang Wei's sudden bad attitude, and he agreed repeatedly.

"Also, you can add more ginger and the like, but you can't put Qin pepper to increase the taste. Too spicy seasoning will stimulate the stomach. Mr.'s current health is mainly based on a light diet." Jiang Wei said before leaving.

Jiang Wei's conjecture was correct, Wei Jun had no time to pay attention to such trivial things as the Shu army's catching fish. At dinner, Jiang Wei sent a plate of steamed fish to Zhuge Liang's desk.

Zhuge Liang was a little surprised: "There are still fish here."

"As long as there is water here, there are a lot of fish, but the locals don't like to eat fish."

"That's right, it's too troublesome to pick pricks." Zhuge nodded.

"Do you like to eat, sir?"

"It tastes good, but don't make it next time, the fast horse in the army is not used for this."

"Then sir, eat more, I'll take my leave first." Jiang Wei clenched the few pieces of herbs in his hand, and turned to leave the big tent.

Zhuge Liang sighed from behind, and nodded Jiang Wei with his chopsticks: "Bo Yue, there's no need to go, do you really think Sima Yi will send troops out of the city?"

Sima Yi's "lax defense" deliberately released several prisoners of the Shu army.

One of them was incited to rebel, and Sima Yi Xu Yihoulu only asked the other party to find a chance to bring Jiang Wei a letter.

As expected, this man lived up to his trust. Jiang Wei was shocked when he took the wooden tablet and opened it: the outside of the wooden tablet was written by his mother himself. The inscription is indeed Jiang Wei's most familiar handwriting.On the inside of the wooden tablet, there is a document in which Sima Yi opened the mansion and recruited Jiang Wei to be the cao rafter of the warehouse, and the edges are decorated with ink dots.By the way, some plant roots rolled out of the wooden tablets.Jiang Wei identified it carefully, and it turned out to be a common medicinal material in Tianshui's hometown - angelica.

The visitor also said: "General Sima sent a special message to General Jiang: the general's mother is still in Wei, and she misses the general very much. If the general is willing to abandon Shu and return to the country, loyalty and filial piety can be achieved. General Sima will stay for the general. Please do it early. decision."

Hearing these words, Jiang Wei's thoughts turned several times in an instant. He looked at the other party, and his sly eyes were also watching his reaction. Jiang Wei knew that he had to make a decision.He said to the visitor with a little surprise: "Wei has been looking forward to returning to China for a long time! This letter from the general is like rain after a long drought!"

Then, Jiang Wei wrote a letter to Sima Yi in his own tent, agreeing to cooperate with the inside and outside at three o'clock at night.

"The general can't hold out for several days. If he still doesn't send troops at this time, it will be difficult to achieve great things with only one person's strength."

The visitor promised Sima Yi that he would send troops to help.

"You think this is a good opportunity for the opponent to give up sticking to the policy, so you feign surrender, don't you?" Zhuge Liang looked at Jiang Wei.

Jiang Wei didn't speak, he was still wondering what went wrong.

"Don't think about it, that person has already been arrested when he delivered the letter. If you want to ask me where to stop, are you pretending to surrender or not—"

Jiang Wei looked up.

"You are my student..."

Does that mean that the master has unconditional trust in his students?

"I lied to you. The real reason is that I found out that you only wrote a reply to Sima Yi, but not your mother."

"..."

"You child... Should I say you think too much or too little? Why don't you discuss such a big matter with me?"

"The person Sima Yi sent to contact me also wanted to test me. I think this is the best opportunity to lure Sima Yi to give up his strategy. If I hesitate a little, the other party will become suspicious, and this opportunity to lure the enemy is gone...so I want to feign surrender first... As for the future, I am worried that after discussing with my husband, if he arranges an army, someone will leak the news. Why don't I lead my troops to intercept Sima Yi's army leaving the city first, and then... I believe that my husband will find a way. "

"Alas..." Jiang Wei knew that it might arouse others' suspicion, but he still did it. The purpose was to win the Northern Expedition. Zhuge Liang felt very relieved. This is the biggest difference between Jiang Wei and Ma Su.

"Sima Yi is playing tricks on you. Her whole strategy is not to seek merit but to seek no fault, so your false surrender will not impress her at all, and she will not send troops to respond. Otherwise, at this time, the sentry would have paid back."

"Then our army..."

"There is no good way, let's spend it. By the way, Boyue, go and write a letter to your mother to report that you are safe." Zhuge Liang passed the plate of fish by the way, "Also, the fish is cold."

Sima Yi received Jiang Wei's second letter, which was different from the first surreptitious contact. This one was delivered in a dignified manner. When he opened the wooden tablet, he also rolled out a pile of herbs and a piece of white silk, which was written by Jiang Wei to Mother's letter: "A hundred hectares of fertile land is not in one mu. But there is polygala, not in angelica." Under the word "polygala", there are emphatic dots of ink.

Sima Yi nodded and smiled, but then felt a little pity, of course she didn't send troops out of the city for the so-called "response" last night, and according to the report from the sentry, Jiang Wei didn't go either.It seems that Jiang Wei is solemnly declaring: even Zhuge Liang's students are not something you Sima Yi can play with.

A military doctor was called to identify it, and the military doctor replied to Sima Yi that the messy pile was indeed the root of Polygala, and unlike Angelica, which is rich in Tianshui, Polygala is abundant in Sichuan.

Is this the rhythm of the second hometown? Sima Yi sighed.

A partial general came up to ask the general that the rainy season was coming. If he continued to hold on, should he strengthen the city defense, repair the barracks, and move the soldiers from the lowlands to the high places and so on.

"No need." Sima Yi vetoed the proposal, "The Shu army can't keep up with food and grass, and they are about to withdraw soon. They don't have time to attack. As for the soldiers, they will have to live like this anyway, so let's get used to it in advance."

A heavy rain made people feel cold.

Zhuge Liang looked at the dark sky, and remembered the six words he often heard from his grandfather: time is fate and destiny.

"Sir, His Majesty's order has arrived. Food and grass..."

Zhuge Liang no longer looked at the sky: "Notice Chief Wen, don't force it, it's dangerous to go deep alone, let's withdraw."

"Yes." Thinking of the current situation, Jiang Wei felt somewhat reluctant, but to be a general, one must have the courage to make up his mind.

"We also arrange for the withdrawal of troops."

"Will Sima Yi send people to chase after us while we withdraw?"

"meeting."

Jiang Wei was a little surprised: "Then I will be the queen, sir."

"No, just send Guan Xing to ambush a thousand crossbowmen at the wooden doorway. The rest of the army will return to Hanzhong one by one. The food and grass for the return journey must be arranged."

Jiang Wei said "yes" again, and when he stepped back, he heard Zhuge Liang say a word, and the rustling rain made this sentence very unclear.

"Zhengfang, this is your last chance, you don't want it anymore."

When the sentry came to report, Zhuge Liang suddenly withdrew his troops, and the Wei army camp was in an uproar.

"This is Zhuge Liang's strategy!" Most people think this way.

Sima Yi asked Zhang He, Zhang He shook his head: "It should be really retreating."

"Explore again!"

As a result of further exploration, it was found that the Shu army had already passed the wooden doorway, which meant that they really retreated.

This time, the generals demanded to pursue: "This opportunity is hard-won! General, please order!"

"What order! Continue to stick to the governor!"

Someone nearby used the method of provoking generals: "The general stands still and fears Shu like a tiger. Isn't he afraid that the world will laugh at him?"

Sima Yi glanced at this person: "Don't be afraid."

...that is to say, Sima Yi admitted frankly that he was indeed afraid of Shu like a tiger, and that the Shu army was much more terrifying than the people in the world ridiculed.

"What does Junyi think?"

"What the general said is very true. The opponent is returning to the army. He is not a defeated army, so he cannot pursue him."

Hmm - Sima Yi nodded in satisfaction: "Let's go."

Everyone was dissatisfied and walked out, but Sima Yi called Zhang Yun from behind: "Junyi stay here."

Zhang He stopped in his tracks.

"There is a task for General Zhang—ask General Zhang to lead 5000 people to pursue the Shu army."

Zhang He looked at Sima Yi: "General, the final general obeys the order to stand firm and does not intend to attack."

"I know." Sima Yi nodded, "I did it on purpose."

Zhang He's eyes widened.

"Does Jun Yi want to disobey?"

"Want to know why."

Sima Yi took out a piece of Shu brocade from his bosom, held it in his hand and looked at it repeatedly: "You must be thinking in your heart, because I am competing with Cao Zidan for military power, so I will start with you under Zidan's command first."

This is indeed the reason everyone can think of.

"Wrong." Sima Yi mercilessly interrupted Zhang Hewei Guangzheng's guess, picked up a brush, and wrote something on the Shu brocade, "I didn't think about such a serious reason. I just want to avenge myself."

personal enmity?

"I have a daughter named Sima Qinghe." Sima Yi finished writing.

Zhang He understood in an instant.

"My daughter made great contributions in the battle at Jieting. She told you to rescue her before, but you didn't go. After she came back, it was you again. I think His Majesty reported the details of her going to the army."

Zhang Yun never thought that there was anything wrong with what he did. A little girl's life is not as important as tens of thousands of troops; as for reporting in front of Cao Rui, there should be no concealment.

"You are a loyal minister, so I will tell you the reason. You can go now." Sima Yi dried the ink on the Shu brocade and stuffed it into Zhang Xi's arms, "Bring it well, so that we can find you in the future."

Zhang He raised his hand, clasped his fists, and there was no hesitation in his eyes that see through life and death: "The last general takes orders."

Zhang He fought against Wei Yan at the wooden doorway, Wei Yan feigned defeat and lured the enemy into ambush, Zhang He still rushed straight ahead abnormally under the cliffs and densely wooded terrain on both sides, it was useless to persuade the left and right, the road was unclear in the dark Under the circumstances, Zhang Yun seemed to be desperate, and rushed into the straight road first, and all the soldiers were thrown far away.

Suddenly there was a sound of drums on the cliff, and then the flames shot up into the sky, and the rolling logs and stones fell like raindrops, and thousands of crossbows were fired from both sides.

No one could tell exactly how many arrows Zhang He had hit, Zhuge Liannu was not just kidding around, and basically all the arrows went towards Zhang He alone, and he and his mount looked like hedgehogs in the end.

A generation of famous generals ended up like this.

When Sima Yi heard the report, he burst into tears, shouted "I am the one to blame", and sent a letter to Cao Rui, mourning the heroic soldier Comrade Zhang He who died for the country.The ministers of the DPRK and Central Committee also deeply regretted that Zhang Xi's death was too worthless. He survived after so many days, and it would be fine if he persisted for a few more days. Why must he go out for military exploits?Although the general wondered why Zhang Yun had originally opposed the pursuit and why he led his troops in the end, but the incident had already happened, and Sima Yi had already taken responsibility, so there was a reason for his doubts.

Cao Rui looked at Sima Yi's upper face: "Since General Zhang was shot to death by random arrows, how can he tell his face? Since he can't tell his face, how can he know it's him?"

"It's because of him..."

"On the body?"

"Uh... there are no features on him that can be identified. The Shu army may have done it on purpose. I'm afraid we won't be able to identify the body. The arrows didn't hurt the general's face, so I identified it based on the general's head."

"Oh……"

Zhuge Liang was sitting on the four-wheeled cart on the way back, and there were long and short ink marks on the Shu brocade in his hand:

-…..--.-.-

-.-----..-

Sima Yi didn't tell Cao Rui the truth either. The reason why she knew that the dead person was Zhang He was not based on his appearance, but because there were similar marks on the sand next to the corpse:

-...-..-.--

The author has something to say:

According to official historical records, Sima Yi was defeated by Marquis Wu once before Sima Yi sent Zhang Yun to pursue him.

Regarding the Mumendao, there is a theory in the history circles that is a conspiracy theory: Zhang He was deliberately killed by Sima Yi, otherwise it would be impossible to explain the strategy that Sima Yi had used for so long. kind of thing.

Sima Yi may have also learned from Senior Sister Guo to send angelica... Jiang Wei sent Yuan Zhi back to see "Miscellaneous Notes".

The dots at the end are Morse code... The decorations around the document sent by Sima Yi to Jiang Wei are dots and horizontals, which are for Zhuge Liang to see, and the wooden doorway has been discussed at that time.Finally, on the Shu brocade is Sima Yi's message: thank you, which means thanking Zhuge Liang for helping her avenge her murder of her daughter.What Zhuge Liang left next to Zhang Xi's body was his answer to Sima Yi: "draw means even, and Meng Da doesn't owe you anything."