Zhang He slowly retreated and stationed in Ji County, leaving Fei Yao to guard Xinyang and monitor Shangqi's every move nearby.

The next day, Zhuge Liang led more than 20,000 cavalry back to Shangqi City, and at the same time brought back a news that Wei General Tian Fu burned the grain in Mumen under the pressure of Chen Shi and Gao Shen, and fled in a hurry. This is not good news, the army has been burned for two or three months, which is undoubtedly a very frustrating thing, but compared to falling into the hands of Zhang He, it is somewhat comforting.

Without this batch of military rations, Zhuge Liang still had the grain and grass that Wei Ba transported from Guanzhong to save the emergency, but Zhang He was really powerless. Before launching another attack, he must solve the problem of food and grass for the army. He had no choice but to collect it from the people. The Shu Han army retreated to Shangqi and Longguan, and the Longyou counties also returned to Cao Wei's rule, and they had to feed Zhang He's army. It is estimated that many people will feel very depressed, because Zhuge Liang has been in Longyou for nearly half a year, and the military rations were once very tight, and he did not levy them violently, and now the first thing to return to Cao Wei is to hand over a large amount of taxes, which is really not something to celebrate.

In the face of these proud generals who have just won the battle, it is estimated that some people will miss the benefits of the Shu Han army.

It's a pity that these ideological tendencies are not helpful to the current Zhuge Liang, who is also anxious now.

The battle in Longyou is basically settled, the first Northern Expedition of the Xingshi mobilization, the main force in Longyou for half a year, the only result is Shangtai City, that is, Yongzhou Thorn Shi Guo Huai and Tianshui Taishou Ma Zun, and the Longxi Taishou You Chu and others who were captured by Ma Tansheng before, and the price paid is nearly 10,000 people killed, more than 20,000 people injured, two batches of grain and grass and a large amount of material consumption.

This achievement is not satisfactory in any way, and from the day Zhuge Liang returned to Shangqi City, all kinds of criticism have been in the dust. At the first meeting convened by Zhuge Liang, Lai Min ignored Zhuge Liang's words. When Hu Ji scolded him, he said seriously, I am now thinking about how to report the results of this Northern Expedition to the first emperor when I am thinking about the New Year's festival. I'm not in the mood to listen to those details.

As soon as these words came out, there was silence in the big tent, and the calm Zhuge Liang also changed his face, and he was speechless for a long time.

Joined the army as a member of the Prime Minister's Office. Wei Ba attended the meeting, but he didn't speak from beginning to end, just quietly watched this scene in the big tent. Of course, he would not jump out and accuse Zhuge Liang like Lai Min. This is not because he is also a Jingxiang faction and has to maintain the face of the Jingxiang faction in front of others, but because he knows that it is actually useless for Lai Min to do this. To put it nicely, it's nerdy, to put it mildly, it's two to infinity, except for a moment of pleasure on the lips. There is no practical point.

Between fame and profit, he attaches more importance to profit. He is also waiting for his own merits.

The meeting broke up unhappily, Wei Ba had just walked out of the big tent, Jiang Wei rushed out, and bowed his hand very politely: "Wei joins the army." Please stay, the prime minister wants to see you. ”

Wei Ba shrugged his shoulders and exchanged glances with Zhao Guang. Zhao Guang nodded knowingly and left first. Wei Ba turned around and followed Jiang Wei to the back tent, Zhuge Liang had just taken off his robe and changed into a household clothes. Seeing Wei Ba enter the account, he just glanced at it and said lightly: "Ziyu, sit!" ”

"Whoa." Wei Ba saluted respectfully, but did not sit down immediately, but looked at Zhuge Liang's face and said sincerely: "Prime Minister, you have lost weight." ”

Zhuge Liang was stunned for a moment, subconsciously raised his hand, touched his thin face, was silent for a moment, and sighed lightly: "What is the use of being thin?" ”

Wei Ba shook his head: "Why should the prime minister listen to the nonsense of those pedantic scholars, they don't understand anything, they only know that it is not easy to sit and talk about the Tao, and they know that marching and fighting." When the book is used, there is little hatred, and I don't know how difficult it is. These dead readers, dead readers, and dead scholars who read dead are not worth the prime minister's attention. ”

Zhuge Liang's eyes tightened, and he looked straight at Wei Ba, who looked at him without changing his face. The two looked at each other, and sparks flew in their respective minds. Jiang Wei, who was standing on the side, was so nervous that he held his breath. Wei Ba's words seem to comfort Zhuge Liang, accusing Lai Min of not understanding affairs, how can it not be understood as accusing Zhuge Liang himself? Jiang Wei didn't have much contact with Wei Ba, he only knew that he usually looked very gentle, but he didn't expect that as soon as he met Zhuge Liang in private, such a lethal sentence came.

After a while, Zhuge Liang's eyes flashed first, letting go of Wei Ba's forced gaze, and he waved his hand to signal Jiang Wei to go out first. Jiang Wei was stunned for a moment, and when he understood, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. These days, he accompanies Zhuge Liang around, and he can't leave for a while, Zhuge Liang can be said to be confident in him, and he has nothing to hide from him, but he didn't expect to talk to Wei Ba, and he actually asked him to stay away for a while.

Jiang Wei bowed, turned around and went out. Only then did Zhuge Liang stretch out his hand and motioned for Wei Ba to take a seat. Wei Ba lowered his head, sat down, and waited quietly. Zhuge Liang got dressed and sat down, the corners of his mouth raised slightly: "How is Guanzhong, how long can you keep it?" ”

Wei Ba smiled calmly: "Before I came to Longyou, Shangluo suffered the greatest loss, with nearly 8,000 casualties before and after. If Cao Wei continues to attack like this, I estimate that he will be able to hold it for three months at most. ”

"Three months?" Zhuge Liang raised his hand and stroked his beard, and muttered for a moment: "Three months is not enough." ”

"Three months, that's enough." Wei Ba's voice was not loud, but it was very resolute.

"Is it enough?" Zhuge Liang squinted at him.

"That's enough." Wei Ba replied in the affirmative again.

Zhuge Liang's eyes flashed, and he stared at Wei Ba intently again: "Then you can tell me, Weishenme said that three months is enough." ”

"Whether it's Shangluo or Tongguan, I've made a lot of preparations. On both the offensive and defensive sides, the casualty ratio is four to one, and even if the newly recruited soldiers are not strong enough in the future, I think there will still be two to one. The original main force was 20,000, and the newly recruited recruits were 40,000 to 50,000, and the defenders were less than 5,000 at each pass, so it was possible to lose, that is to say, our army's casualties were about 40,000 to 50,000, and it was possible to be broken through by the Wei army. ”

The corners of his mouth grinned: "If Cao Wei wants to forcibly break through Tongguan and Shangluo, he needs at least more than 100,000 casualties." Prime Minister, do you think Cao Rui is so ruthless? ”

Zhuge Liang's eyes flashed, and he once again let go of Wei Ba's eyes. He slowly rubbed his fingers, thinking about Wei Ba's words. Wei Ba didn't say a word, and waited quietly. From the day he set off from Chang'an, he was thinking about how to bargain with Zhuge Liang. For this moment, he has been preparing for too long, and now he has made the merit of capturing Shangqi. Zhuge Liang faced the accusations of the ministers, and he was in a hurry to rush back to Chengdu to preside over the major events that Eastern Wu might come to attack, and the options he could make were really limited. There are only so few bargaining chips he can use to negotiate, and the balance of victory is always held in his hands by Wei Ba, so why should he worry about Zhuge Liang's tricks.

All stratagems. It's all based on strength. Now that the Northern Expedition has made meritorious contributions, the main force has failed, and Zhuge Liang is in domestic and foreign difficulties, he really has no capital negotiations. If you help me guard the pass, I can keep it, if you don't help me, I can still keep it. It's just that the losses are greater. It's really not interesting to use this to bargain with me. Prime Minister, you have more troubles waiting for you, so don't intrigue with me here. I'll admit you're a master, but you don't have any hole cards. Besides. If you lose Guanzhong, my loss is not small, are you willing to give it up?

Seeing that Wei Ba was confident and unmoved, Zhuge Liang secretly sighed, and had to take a step back first: "Three months is too long." ”

Wei Ba raised his eyebrows, indicating that he didn't quite understand.

"There is news from Chengdu that Sun Quan has entered Jiangling, and Lu Xun's forward has arrived in Zigui, and there is a possibility of a large-scale invasion." Once Zhuge Liang opened his mouth, the look on his face dimmed a little. Telling Wei Ba the news is actually showing his difficulties first, that is, bowing to Wei Ba. "I'm going to rush back to Chengdu soon, and we're about to fight on two fronts."

Wei Ba's face was calm, and he didn't show a sudden realization. Although Zhuge Liang did not transfer this information to him, he had already guessed that in front of Zhuge Liang, there was no need to cover it up, otherwise it would easily arouse Zhuge Liang's disgust and contempt.

"Ziyu, can you repel Cao Wei as soon as possible?" Zhuge Liang saw that Wei Ba was indifferent, and he had no intention of asking him for help, so he had to take the initiative to speak again. "Fighting on two fronts is very unfavorable to our army."

Wei Ba breathed a sigh of relief at this time, and said lightly: "It is impossible to repel it, after all, the difference in strength between the two sides is too big, we have more than enough rules, and the attack is insufficient." However, we can let Cao Wei retreat. ”

"How do you get them to retreat?"

"The prime minister will give me another 20,000 people, and with these 20,000 people, I think Cao Rui will retreat in the face of difficulties."

Zhuge Liang didn't speak, and his eyes became extremely fierce. As soon as Wei Ba opened his mouth, he asked for 20,000 people, which was not the point, the point was that he said "give me" instead of reinforcing Guanzhong. In other words, his meaning is obvious: Guanzhong is mine, you can't grab it.

The silence in the tent was eerily silent, and Wei Ba could almost hear Zhuge Liang's gasps, but he wasn't nervous. He believed that Zhuge Liang would agree to his request, because he had no more choice. And with Zhuge Liang's character, he probably can't play the hooligan method of breaking the jar and falling, and would rather lose Guanzhong than give him a chance.

So Wei Ba looked at Zhuge Liang calmly, picked up the water cup on the case, and took a sip calmly.

I don't want you to praise, anyway, you praise me and I don't mean it, since I can't cooperate with one heart and one mind, I can only retreat to the next best thing and fight for the right to bargain with you.

Zhuge Liang's voice was very cold, and he could hardly hear any emotion: "Ziyu, you are just a member of the army, I am afraid that you will not be able to lead an army of 20,000 people." ”

Wei Ba smiled slightly, and sure enough, as he guessed, Zhuge Liang gave in, and the current counterattack was just some unwillingness, he had actually accepted the deal. With the real profit in hand, Wei Ba was in a good mood, but he didn't mind saving some face for Zhuge Liang.

"Prime Minister, I am not qualified enough, but my father, General Zhenbei, and General Zhendong, my family's division, are both battle-hardened generals, and it is more than enough to command an army of 20,000." He paused, and added: "What's more, there is also a rising star who has just captured Guo Huai, my senior brother Zhao Guang." ”

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Uh, I didn't ask for a monthly pass for a few days, and it went all the way down and fell below 60. Starting today, add a monthly pass! It's the middle of the month, there should be a subscription monthly pass, so let's vote for it. (To be continued.) )