The first year of Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor in the southern suburbs of Chengdu, established the Han court, and inherited the Han dynasty.

And Zhuge Jin, the envoy of Eastern Wu, also happened to arrive in Chengdu to congratulate the Han Emperor Liu Bei on his accession to the throne and the alliance.

After more than ten days of consultations, the two sides reached an agreement to form an anti-Cao alliance again after three years of opposing relations.

In order to win over Sun Quan, Emperor Liu Bei of the Han Dynasty called Sun Quan as the general of the Eastern Expedition, succeeded Wu Hou, and took Wu Land as his food town.

In the palace.

After the envoy Zhuge Jin completed his mission and left, the Han Emperor Liu Bei also took the throne and summoned the ministers to discuss the Northern Expedition and other military affairs.

"Zhu Aiqing, since the victory of the Hanzhong War, it has been three years, my Bashu, Jingxiang counties are full of grain, the treasury is solid, the country and the people are safe, now I have inherited the Han family, when we continue to uphold the Han thief is not separated, the king is not biased, swear to the Northern Expedition in the Central Plains, break its pseudo-Wei, and rejuvenate the Han world."

"I don't know what you think, in this Northern Expedition, the main direction of our army's attack should be to cross the Qinling Mountains to capture Guanzhong, or march from Xiangfan to capture Wanluo?"

With a high shout like a heavy dantian, the ministers under the rank all discussed privately.

In the meantime, although Zhang Fei, the general of the cavalry, was full of sideburns, he was still wearing a battle armor and was mighty and majestic, and at this moment he couldn't help but stand up and say loudly: "Your Majesty, I want the main force of our army to send troops from Hanzhong to pass the pass, first capture Liangzhou and then take Chang'an, in order to return to the old capital." ”

"In this battle, please also ask Your Majesty to make sure that the ministers are the vanguard."

In an instant, Zhang Fei took the lead in happily asking for war and put forward his own proposal.

And with him off to a good start, the rest of the generals are also impassionedly asking for battle.

"Silence!"

After mobilizing the excitement of all the generals, Liu Bei waved his hand to stop, and then turned his head to look: "Prime Minister, Xiaozhi doesn't know what to think of Yide's main force to take Guan Long?" ”

Hearing this, Fa Zheng under the stairs pondered for a while, and said slowly: "The minister seconded the proposal!" ”

"The minister also seconded the proposal."

The two said one after another.

Subsequently, Fa Cheng smiled and explained softly: "Your Majesty, since Cao Pi abolished the Son of Heaven without authorization and established the puppet Wei, the capital will be set in Luoyang, and Jingxiang can directly take Wanluo to threaten the hinterland of the Central Plains if he goes north, and the puppet Wei will inevitably gather a heavy army to garrison. ”

"If our army takes Jingxiang as the main part of the Northern Expedition, it will definitely be resisted by the full strength of the Wei army, and it is very likely that it will return in vain."

At this point, he immediately said: "But if you march from Hanzhong, it can be very different, first of all, the Qinling Mountains are extremely wide, there are several plank roads, and our army has many routes to send troops, so it can also confuse the defenders of Guanzhong, so as to achieve the effect of surprise." ”

"Secondly, three years ago, General Guan Shao had married the Qiang tribes in Liangzhou, and he also married the beloved daughter of Yang Ju, the king of Baimaqiang, if our army can win Liangzhou, then Baimaqiang will help it!"

Then, Fa Zheng squinted his eyes and smiled at Ma Chao on the side: "Of course, the most important thing is that the hussar general is a person from Xiliang, and he has full prestige in the Qiang world, and our army will get twice the result with half the effort when he takes Liangzhou." ”

After a few words, Fa Zheng slowly explained, and told them one by one the military advantages that had been taken out of the Qinling Mountains to seize Guanliang.

After speaking, Liu Bei also thought deeply and agreed with it, and then said: "I don't know what the prime minister's suggestion is?" ”

When the words fell, Zhuge Liang shook the feather fan lightly without hurrying, stepped out, and said with a light smile: "Your Majesty, since Fa Xiaozhi has expounded the general military advantages of our army in Qinchuan, then the minister will talk about the political advantages." ”

"More than two hundred years ago, Guangwu Zhongxing Han was set to be in Luoyang, why not?"

"Because Emperor Guangwu relied on the Kwantung clan and the strong to take the world, he needed to set the capital of Luoyang and distribute the corresponding benefits to everyone, which also created a situation where the power of the Kwantung clan has grown rapidly since Guangwu, and the tail cannot be shaken off."

"And now the puppet Wei has lived in the Central Plains for decades, and the Kwantung scholars are also attracted to it, if our army wants to follow the example of Gao Wu in the Northern Expedition, take Guanzhong as the base, make friends with the scholars in Guanzhong internally, and recuperate Once the time is ripe, they will go out of the customs and sweep the land of Kanto, and destroy the pseudo-Wei in one fell swoop."

"The so-called heaven has no two days, the people have no two masters, at this moment the pseudo-Wei and our country stand side by side, but if our country can return to the old capital, it will surely inspire the hearts of the people of the world, let the people see the belief in the recovery of the Han family, and let them see that Your Majesty is the orthodoxy of today."

In a word, Zhuge Liang and Fa Zheng, the two important ministers of the DPRK and China, expressed their opinions, and each unanimously explained the military and political advantages of the Qinling Mountains.

After pondering for a moment, Li Yan, who was in court clothes, couldn't help but stand up and arch his hand: "Prime Minister, the words of Shangshu, Yan deeply admires, but Yan has lived in Shu for a long time, and there is one thing I have to say, the difficulty of Shu Road, if our army really wants to march into Qinling, it is bound to cross layers of mountains." ”

"But under the desolate and uninhabited Qinling Mountains for eight hundred miles, how will our army's grain road be replenished?"

As soon as these words came out, there was a burst of discussion in the court.

"Yes, too. What Li Changshi said is true, although the remaining veins of the Qinling Mountains of 800 miles can pass through the sergeants, how can a large amount of grain and grass pass through Qinchuan safely and supply the soldiers of our army who have entered the customs? ”

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Yun couldn't help but echo his words: "The so-called soldiers and horses have not moved, grain and grass go first, what Li Shangshu said is extremely true, if the grain road problem cannot be properly solved, I am afraid that the Northern Expedition has little chance of success." ”

"In this way, it is better to focus on Jingxiang, at least the land of Jingzhou is flat and complemented by waterways, and our army has excellent efficiency in transporting grain, so at least the Northern Expedition does not have to worry about the problem of grain roads."

As Zhao Yun said this, the ministers led by Yi and Deng Zhi echoed their words and began to support the Northern Expedition to Jingzhou.

In fact, this is also a fight between the two sides.

It must be known that this Northern Expedition will be a protracted war, and if the main attacker can win a complete victory and open up the territory, he will inevitably win greater military achievements.

And Zhao Yun also has to fight for it at this time, and the Northern Expedition is mainly based on Jingzhou, so that his son-in-law Guan Ping can make meritorious contributions again.

What he thinks is that as long as Guan Ping can make another great contribution this time, the future career in the court will inevitably be unobstructed and prosperous.

When the ministers were at a stalemate with each other's opinions, Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang with a calm face, and said in a low voice: "The prime minister can have a way to solve it, if our army goes out of the Qinling Mountains to solve the problem of the grain road?" ”

"Yes."

Hearing this, he didn't expect Zhuge Liang to respond categorically.

For a while, the ministers were puzzled, what good plan did Zhuge Liang have?

But the topography of the Qinling Mountains is innately generated, so can't it be solved by manpower?

In response to this, Ma Chao's expression moved slightly, and he couldn't help but say excitedly: "If the prime minister has any good plan, please come quickly." ”

Whether the problem of the grain road can be solved is related to whether this battle is mainly based on the Northern Expedition of Shuzhong or the Northern Expedition of Jingxiang, and Ma Chaonaturally attaches great importance to it, because only by attacking from the land of Shu can he have a broader place to use.

"Speaking of which, this matter is also related to Major General Guan."

Hearing this, Zhuge Liang shook the feather fan lightly, said a word, and continued: "If it weren't for the idea that he entered Shu three years ago to provide Liang with this idea, Liang might not have thought of making this magical thing." ”

"What is it?"

Seeing Zhuge Liang's confident expression, Emperor Liu Bei of the Han Dynasty also looked slightly moved, and hurriedly asked.

"Wooden Oxen and Flowing Horses."

"What is this, can the prime minister take a look?"

Hearing this, Zhuge Liang said: "Please also ask Your Majesty to move the minister's cold house and test it yourself, whether it will work or not, and then decide on the route of sending troops?" ”

"What the prime minister said is very true!"

After that, Liu Bei's face was overjoyed, and he immediately announced his temporary retreat from the court, and then went to Zhuge Mansion with him.