In terms of supervision, it also imitated the Ming Dynasty recorded in the history of Harmony in later generations, and set up an inspection institute. There are officials such as the left and right imperial history, the left and right deputy envoys, and the left and right imperial envoys. There are also thirteen overseers (110 people). The imperial envoy is "to correct the impeachment of the hundred divisions, to identify the wrongs, to supervise the various ways, and to be the division of the ears and eyes of the Son of Heaven". The duty of the Thirteen Departments to supervise the imperial history is to "investigate and correct the official evils of the hundreds of internal and external departments, or to impeach them in the face of the seal, or to impeach them with seals."

Brush the scroll inside, inspect the Beijing camp, supervise the township, the examination and the martial arts, inspect the Guanglu, inspect the warehouse, inspect the inner library, the imperial city, and the five cities, and take turns to board the drums. Outside the patrol press, Qing army, admiral school, tea horse, patrol, patrol, transport, Indian horse, Tuntian. Divisions and divisions supervise military discipline". The patrol is called "patrolling on behalf of the Son of Heaven". Although the official is not high (Zhengqipin), he has a lot of power when he goes out to inspect. There are officials such as political envoys, left and right political envoys, and left and right senators, who are in charge of "internal and external chapters and regulations, and perfunctory and refutable matters".

There are also Dali Temple, Hanlin Academy, Guozijian and Tai Hospital. One of the most notable is the Cabinet. Nominally, the cabinet is the emperor's advisory body, with one scholar each from the Zhongji Palace, the Jianji Palace, the Wenhua Palace, the Wuying Palace, and the Wenyuan Pavilion and the East Pavilion.

Originally, Liu Cong also wanted to set up a Privy Council to govern the national military system, but considering that the country had not yet been unified, the high degree of military concentration was not conducive to the performance of the generals stationed everywhere.

The days of not fighting passed quickly, and even the hairy boy Deng Ai has now grown up, and in order to thank Liu Cong for his kindness, he has come to Xiangyang as an official. After staying in Xiangyang for three months, Liu Cong asked him to go to Baishuiguan to study with Wei Yan.

And the confrontation between the Han and Cao Wei could not be broken for a while, the three lines in the east and west, and the middle line basically caused the two sides to hoard heavy troops and move the whole body, so Liu Cong and Cao Cao were also very tacitly determined to hold their troops still. The Western Front and the Eastern Front were able to conduct small-scale battles, and on the Western Front it had always been Xiahou Yuan's main attack and Wei Yan's defense. On the eastern front, Gan Ning and Lu Xun were the main attackers, and Zhang Liao defended.

Because of the existence of Baishui Pass, Xiahou Yuan could hardly bargain, but on the eastern front, because of the long battle line, Zhang Liao was exhausted. Gan Ning and Lu Xun cooperated to push the direction upward, especially in the Jianghuai region, but only in the area south of the Huai River. Further north to the vast plains, Cao Cao's cavalry had an absolute advantage.

Liu Cong is waiting, waiting for Cao Cao's death and the opportunity for chaos in the north! Of course, it is necessary to prepare accordingly before that, and attacking from the Western Front is undoubtedly the most suitable option. The audience area has been the center of the imperial dynasty since ancient times. After the imperial court stabilized, Liu Cong also presided over high-level military meetings more than once, and even Wei Yan, Pang Tong and others went back and forth between Baishuiguan and Xiangyang several times.

Liu Cong finally made up his mind to seize Hanzhong and let Ma Chao. Huang Zhong set out again from Jiangling to join Wei Yan, and then launched an attack on Hanzhong! Historically, Shu Han and Cao Wei also fought for Hanzhong several times. So Liu Cong naturally knows the importance of Hanzhong to himself!

The Hanzhong region is located in a basin surrounded by the Qinling Mountains and the Daba Mountains. It is connected to the Guanzhong region of Wei State by the steep Qinling Mountains in the north, and the Sichuan Basin by the Daba Mountains in the south, which is the most important passage from Guanzhong to Sichuan.

Since the Qinling Mountains are more precipitous than the Daba Mountains, it is much better for the defenders of Sichuan to use the Qinling Mountains as a defensive line to the north than to use the Daba Mountains as a defensive line.

Therefore, when Fa Zheng discussed the importance of Hanzhong, he said: "The upper can overthrow the enemy, honor the royal family, the middle can encroach on Yong and Liang, expand the territory, and the lower can stick to the key points, which is a long-lasting plan." ”

When Yang Hong emphasized the importance of Hanzhong to Zhuge Liang, he also believed: "Hanzhong is the throat of Yizhou, and the opportunity to survive is not in Hanzhong, if there is no Hanzhong, there is no Shu."

Relatively speaking, Hanzhong is not a matter of life and death for the north. In the north, the Qinling Mountains are used as the defensive line, which is obviously superior to the Daba Mountain. It was only when the north was about to attack Sichuan that Hanzhong showed its importance.

The results of this campaign also prove the above point. For the sake of the life and death of the entire Sichuan base area, Liu Bei mobilized all the elite troops and outstanding generals and strategists in Sichuan to fight for the Hanzhong region for a year and a half. On the other hand, Cao Cao in the north not only slowly swallowed up the action of reinforcing Hanzhong, but finally gave up the competition for Hanzhong without much fighting.

Cao Cao's abandonment of Hanzhong was tantamount to temporarily giving up the idea of marching into Sichuan and eliminating Liu Bei's group. Now Liu Cong is also trying to force Cao Cao to give up Hanzhong, so as to prepare for his future march into Guanzhong! And the combination of Wei Yan, Zhang Ren, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong and Pang Tong did not disappoint Liu Cong, and finally won Hanzhong in the spring of the third year of Yongping, and then Wei Yan led his troops into Hanzhong, and he, the governor of Hanzhong, finally lived up to his name.

After the capture of Hanzhong, two views gradually formed within the imperial court on the question of how to capture Guanzhong in the event of the great turmoil in the north. One is the plan of Zhuge Liang, Xun Yu and others, to send suspicious troops out of the valley to attract the main force of the Wei army in the Guanzhong area, and the army will be safe from Tandao, capture Longyou, cut off the connection between Wei Guanzhong and the Hexi region, and lay the foundation for further capture of Guanzhong and Hexi.

The other is Wei Yan's plan to sneak attack Guanzhong. In the end, the first plan was adopted, and the result was that although after 5 Northern Expeditions (more if Jiang Wei's was included), no results were achieved.

The gains and losses in Guanzhong are related to Liu Cong's unification into the city, Liu Cong naturally did not dare to slack off, considering that Shu Han returned from several northern expeditions in history, Liu Cong did not want to divide the world in half all the time. Therefore, on this decision-making issue, he will also put down his posture and repeatedly solicit the opinions of everyone, and he will also combine some military theories learned by later generations.

There are two main versions of Wei Yan's plan to attack Guanzhong in historical records:

The record of "Wei Luo": "Xiahou Nan is the general of Anxi, and the town is Chang'an. Liang Yu Nanzheng discussed with the group, and said: "I heard that Xiahou is young, and the son-in-law is also cowardly and unplanned. This holiday, 5,000 elite soldiers, 5,000 grains, straight out of the praise, follow the Qinling Mountains to the east, when the meridian to the north, but ten days to Chang'an. When the news is prolonged, they will flee by boat.

In Chang'an, there are only imperial history, Jingzhao is too guarded, and the Hengmen Pavilion and the Valley of the Scattered People are full of food. It is still twenty days longer than the fishy aggregation of the East, and the Gong from the valley will be enough to reach. In this way, it can be determined in one fell swoop to the west of Xianyang. Liang thought that the county was in danger, it was better to be safe and honest, and he could take Longyou flatly, and he would be safe and secure, so he didn't need to delay. ”

"The Biography of Wei Yan of the Three Kingdoms" recorded: "Every time Yan goes out with the light, he wants to invite 10,000 soldiers, and he will meet in Tongguan with Liang Yidao, such as the story of Han Xin, and Liang is not allowed." Yan often said that Liang was cowardly, and he sighed that he was inexhaustible. ”

The first half of these two versions is the same, roughly using 10,000 light equipment to sneak out of the Meridian Valley to attack Guanzhong, the difference is the second half: the first version is to plan to occupy the Chang'an area, and wait for Zhuge Liang's main force to meet from the Xiegu, the goal is to take the Guanzhong area west of Xianyang in one fell swoop; The second version is to seize the Tongguan natural danger and keep the Wei army reinforcements out of the pass.

In fact, the current situation is different from the historical triumvirate of Shu Han, Cao Wei and Eastern Wu. There is no danger to defend in the Chang'an area, which is not unclear to Liu Cong, who has rich experience in actual combat, what the result of a decisive battle with the Wei army, which is dominated by cavalry and hoplites, in such terrain

Once Guanzhong became a battlefield, both sides could not rely on the local supply of grain and grass, and the grain and grass of the 100,000 Han army needed to be supplied by Hanzhong crossing the Qinling Mountains. The Wei army can rely on Hedong and the Central Plains for supply (there is water transportation on the Wei River), which is more convenient (Cao Cao relied on the grain and grass in Hedong when he tackled the fortifications), so that the Han army will not last long.

Moreover, Chang'an is the Xijing of Wei State, and it is the seat of Yongzhou governance, and the city wall alone is 80 miles long. Even if Wei Yan defeated or drove away the Wei defenders to occupy Chang'an, he would not be able to hold it at all. Therefore, after Liu Cong analyzed Wei Yan's plan in detail, he came up with a basic framework, that is, a sneak attack on Guanzhong - quickly out of the Meridian Valley to Chang'an with lightly armed troops, and quickly march east to seize Tongguan without attacking Chang'an.

Strategically speaking, Zhuge Liang's plan is to seize Longyou, and then develop it according to the situation; Wei Yan's plan was to directly seize Guanzhong and lay the foundation for the recovery of the Han dynasty in one step.

If the strategic goal of the Han court was to recover the Han dynasty, then the elimination of the Wei state in the Central Plains was the first task that had to be completed. After that, the great cause of reunifying China will follow.

Historically, the Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties used Guanzhong as a base to unify China, while the former Qin used Guanzhong as a base to unify northern China. None of them used Sichuan or Longyou as a base to unify China or the north.

Longyou could not be compared with Guanzhong in terms of population, economic development, and threat to the Central Plains, so the fall of Guanzhong was a more serious blow to Wei.

Therefore, in order to complete the strategic goal of recovering the Han dynasty and unifying China, Wei Yan's plan is relatively positive, while Zhuge Liang's plan is relatively stable and relatively negative. This is also proven by the reality of history.

Tactically speaking, Wei Yan's plan could succeed in a short period of time, and then concentrate his forces to hold the dangerous Tongguan, Wuguan, Puban and other places to ensure Guanzhong

safe, and can prevent the rapid reinforcement of the main force of the Wei army. Since the forces in the Longyou and Hexi areas of Wei were small and scattered, they could be gradually defeated later. This is more ideal for the Han court, which has weak national strength and insufficient troops;

Zhuge Liang's plan was relatively long due to the long road, so that the Wei army could gain time to reinforce the army in the war zone. Moreover, the defense of Longyou was not easy, in addition to the Longshan Pass in the front, there were also the Gaoping detour line in the north and the Wudu in the south, all of which were likely to be attacked by the Wei army. This will inevitably lead to a situation of long-term combat, which is by no means a good tactical choice for the Han army, which has a distant transportation line.

Zhuge Liang's plan seems to be very certain, and it is a safe and stable plan. However, the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and from the actual point of view of history, Zhuge Liang's so-called perfect plan has no hope of complete success in the five Northern Expeditions from 228 to 234. Even the closest to a successful First Northern Expedition.

Since the main force of the Wei army has reached Guanzhong, even if Jieting is undefeated, it will also carry out a long-term battle with the Wei army in Longyou, it is obvious that the transportation line of the Han army from Hanzhong to Longyou is too long, and it is simply unable to support such a long-term operation. The final result is likely to be the same as the hustle and bustle of the Eastern Han Dynasty - the loss of Longyou.

And the seemingly risky Wei Yan plan, once successful, can rely on the natural dangers of Tongguan, Wuguan, and Pubanjin to defend Guanzhong, and at this time, Guanzhong will become a reliable supply base for the Han army, and the Han army's most headache is the problem of grain and grass.

Therefore, even if Zhuge Liang's plan succeeds, there is no hope of final victory, while once Wei Yan's plan succeeds, it can be said that most of the plan to recover the Han dynasty has been completed.

Of course, in order to make Wei Yan's plan smooth in advance, in addition to quietly strengthening the military power of Hanzhong, it is necessary to launch a surprise attack, and this time is when Cao Cao dies and the sons seize the throne! At the same time, it is necessary to make all preparations in concealment, advance quickly, and occupy all important strategic points and dangerous passes as planned before the arrival of Wei reinforcements, so as to block the Wei army outside the pass.

Huang Zhong and Ma Chao were able to lead the cavalry to complete this task in Hanzhong. The other is to find out the deployment of the Wei army in Guanzhong through the intelligence network, and at the same time take advantage of the mobilization of troops and horses everywhere in Wei State, and attack when the weakest in Guanzhong! Of course, in order to ensure the smoothness, Liu Cong planned to secretly transfer some of the generals of the Eastern Front and the Central Front to Hanzhong before this, and Hanzhong gathered many fierce generals such as Wei Yan, Ma Chao, Pang De, Zhang Ren, Han Dang, Xu Sheng, Huang Zhong and even Zhao Yun to form a local suppression of the defenders in Guanzhong.

Of course, such a plan was not carried out with great fanfare, but was hidden in the hearts of Liu Cong, Wei Yan, Pang Tong and others. People are not as good as heaven, Cao Cao died in 220 years in history, there is still a year to go, Liu Cong doesn't know if he has disrupted the course of history, God will accept Cao Cao on time, but Cao Cao is sixty-four years old, and he has spent half of his life fighting everywhere, and he can't live long. The so-called everything is ready, just wait for Ah to return to the West!