As soon as the voice fell, everyone's gaze in the tent turned immediately to Wei Yan.
Wei Yan showed no sign of fear at all, but instead continued to hold his head high and said, "Chancellor, when the late emperor appointed me as the Administrator of Hanzhong, I had a conversation with him in which I said, 'If there are 100,000 troops approaching, please absorb them for the king. If the whole world comes against us, please repel them for the king.'"
"Now, eight years have passed, and today in the Chancellor's tent, I still say this," Wei Yan's words were resounding. "If Zhang He brings the forces of Guanzhong, I request to swallow them for the Chancellor. If Emperor Cao Rui of Wei brings the entire world against us, I request to repel them for the Chancellor."
"I will not fail to fulfill the Chancellor's strategy of 'cutting off the Yellow River'!"
At this moment, from the standpoint of momentum alone, Wei Yan's haughty and imposing look standing in the tent already overshadowed all the generals.
But at this moment, Zhao Yun, who is over sixty years old, gave a light cough and then stepped forward. With his snow-white beard and his still heroic appearance, as well as his majestic and sturdy posture as stable as a mountain, he had not even opened his mouth when he began to confront Wei Yan in terms of momentum.
"Chancellor," Zhao Yun bowed and said, "I will never forget the responsibility of remembering the late emperor and restoring the Han Dynasty. Since I first followed the late emperor, it has been thirty-odd years."
"We have known each other for several decades, and how I use military strategies and behave myself should be clear to the Chancellor. If the Chancellor is willing to entrust me with this task, I will surely make contributions to the great Han Dynasty!"
Zhao Yun spoke in a calm tone, and all present fell silent.
As for credentials, who in the tent can match Zhao Yun's experience? During the time of Gongsun Zan, Zhao Yun was already serving as the main rider and horsemaster in Liu Bei's army!
Even Zhuge Liang, the Chancellor, has less experience than Zhao Yun by half.
Liang Zhi stood silently on the hall, but his heart was stirred. Struggling to suppress the urge to recall past memories, his mind at this moment was occupied with a different train of thought.
Matters are not as simple as that.
Wei Yan relied on his merits for defending Hanzhong for the late emperor, but in these eight years in Hanzhong, had he ever fought a major battle? Even the peace-keeping was almost nonexistent!
Zhao Yun may have extensive experience, but has he ever served as the commander-in-chief of an army in any battle? He has either been the sharp blade for breaking through fortresses or the swift arrow in a surprise attack. The ability to lead a large army is not reflected in Zhao Yun's record.
Whether it is Wei Yan or Zhao Yun, in the last major battle of Shu Han, the Battle of Hanzhong, they were all engaged in tasks such as surprise attacks, looting supplies, and harassment.
And the task of 'cutting off the Yellow River' for the Eastern Route army is the most important among the three armies. What is needed most is someone who can firmly execute his or her orders.
In other words, there is no need for this person to have an extensive background. What is required is that this individual lead an army solely by their own will and unwaveringly carry out every military order they receive.
"Zhuge Liang deeply inhaled," he said, "General Zhao Yun of the Eastern Command, General Wei Yan of the Northern Command, Lord Struggle for the South Kiosk, General Wu Ban of the Battle Army, and General Deng Ji of the Literary Army!"
"End your report!" The five men standing in the tent all bowed and replied.
At this moment, Zhuge Liang called out a name that surprised everyone: "Where is the Chancellor's military advisor Ma Su!"
"The subordinate is here!" Ma Su answered loudly.
Zhuge Liang looked seriously at the people below the steps and said in a stern and undisputed voice, "Appoint the Chancellor's military advisor Ma Su as the Front Department Commander, in charge of General Zhao Yun, General Wei Yan, Lord Struggle for the South Kiosk, General Wu Ban, General Deng Ji, and General Wang Ping five generals. He will advance northward from Gaigu to the area between Lüe and Yang to intercept enemy reinforcements."
Upon hearing Zhuge Liang's words, the people in the tent were surprised and also felt a sense of finality, to varying degrees.
Ma Su and the Chancellor had a teacher-student relationship and had become close companions every day.
The authority of Chancellor Zhuge Liang had long since been beyond question, ever since Emperor Liu Bei entered Shu. After the emperor's death and the imperial instruction to Zhuge Liang, he was unmatched in the court.
Last year, the successful return from the campaign in the southern region, with such lightning speed and great progress, no one could question the military strategy of Chancellor Zhuge Liang.
If the Chancellor is using Ma Su, then there must be a reason for it.
Wei Yan, Zhao Yun, Wu Ban...
Let's put aside Ma Su for a moment. With these veterans, how could they not be enough to match against Zhang He of Wei? During the battle for Hanzhong, under the command of Emperor Liu Bei, these generals were able to push Zhang He back with one defeat after another!
Ma Su was the first to respond loudly, "I solemnly follow the Chancellor's command! I will not fail the Chancellor's trust!"
Wei Yan and Zhao Yun, and other generals, also reacted and bowed to Zhuge Liang to accept their orders.
……
Be it as it may, we need not speak of how Zhuge Liang explained his military strategy to the generals who had been assigned their tasks, within the tent.
At the same time, within the governance seat of Jiao County in Tianshui Prefecture, the Prefectural Administrator Ma Zun was enduring a torturous moment in his life.
This moment of torture was brought about by the current situation of the army encamped outside the city gates, led by the Shu general Gao Xiang with his thousand cavalry.
It was on the afternoon of December 1st.
On the night of November 27, Lu Pan, who had led 3000 external troops to stay in Jiao County, learned of the Shu army's attack.
On the morning of the 28th, Lu Pan bid farewell to Ma Zun, the Prefectural Administrator, and led his 3,000 external troops to relocate to Shanggu City to the east.
Moreover, Lu Pan's reason was very reasonable and left no room for Ma Zun to find any point to dispute.
The region of Longjiu is mountainous.
One major drawback of the mountainous terrain is the extreme inconvenience of transportation.
It is almost impossible for the counties in Longjiu to communicate with each other, except through natural passages created by mountain ranges and rivers. There is no way to travel like in Luoyang or in the Central Plains, where the terrain is flat and you can go anywhere.
The information "General Zhuge Liang leading a large army to Qinshan" already contains enough clues.
Starting from Wudu Commandery, the Western Han River can be used for shipping and transporting military supplies, which is a natural material channel for the Shu army.
As the main force of troops advances, they will take a route closer to the east bank of Yangshui.
After the two roads converge at Beiyi, they face a fork in the road. To the north from Beiyi leads to Jiao County and Nan'an Commandery.
Qinshan is located east of Beiyi. To follow this path, first there is Qinshan Fortress, then Xixian County, and then Shanggu City.
Since Zhuge Liang's main force had passed Qinshan Fortress, it is obvious that both Xixian County and Shanggu City will soon come under attack by the Shu troops.
And, being two cities within Tianshui Commandery, Jiao County and Shanggu are also different from each other.
Shanggu is located at the junction of the Longshan Pass and the Wei River, so if it is lost, it will cause trouble for the relief army from Guanzhong. However, losing Jiao County does not significantly affect the overall strategy!
Lu Pan used such an excuse to lead all 3,000 external troops from Jiao County away, showing no signs of attachment to the city at all.
The Governor Ma Zun, who was stationed in Jiao County, then became the commanding general in the city. The only forces with him in Jiao County were the 1,500 regional soldiers that had gathered there in the past few days, as well as a few thousand household servants and farmers from some of the wealthy households in the region.
Ma Zun sat in the hall, staring blankly, and thinking about his own life, fortune and prospects.
Shang Qing, an officer who delivered the message, seeing his prefectural administrator in such a state, became increasingly impatient.
"Excellency, Excellency?" Shang Qing stood beside him, frowning and calling out.
"Oh?" Ma Zun snapped back to reality and answered in a daze, "What is it?"
Shang Qing said, "Excellency! I report that there are about one thousand cavalry from the Shu army approaching the city."
Ma Zun said expressionlessly, "They've come, so what? Can their cavalry really break into the city?"
Ma Zun picked up the cup, sipped lightly on the water inside.
Before Ma Zun could put down the cup, Shang Qing said, "The Shu general who has arrived is a man named Gao Xiang, and he wants to send an envoy into the city. He says he has something to report to the Excellency."
"An envoy?" Ma Zun asked. "Why don't we let the envoy come in first and see what he has to say?"
Shang Qing reported this matter to Ma Zun as part of his duty.
He had thought that the prefectural administrator would either berate the envoy or directly refuse to see him, but he never expected the prefectural administrator to allow the envoy to enter.
Out of breath, Shang Qing reminded the prefectural administrator who was known for his ineptitude in the commandery, "I remind the Excellency that in times of war between our two countries, receiving an envoy from the enemy is not conducive to your position!"
Rising from his seat, Ma Zun's expression also became impatient. "How dare you, a mere subordinate, presume to advise your Excellency?"
"Go quickly and bring the Prefectural Assistant Yin and the Prefectural Cohort Leader Liang here. Also, order the gatekeeper to let the envoy in!"
"It's an age-old custom not to kill the envoy in times of war. Go, go quickly!"
Shang Qing had no choice but to comply and went to summon the Prefectural Assistant Yin and the Prefectural Cohort Leader Liang.
As he went to summon the Prefectural Assistant Yin and the Prefectural Cohort Leader Liang, and started walking towards the west gate, Shang Qing began to miss his close friend of many years, Jiang Wei Jiang Boyu.
In August, Shang Qing received a private letter from Luoyang, which coincided with the one-year mark of their separation.
After entering the Imperial College, listening to the Emperor's lectures, accompanying him on the southern campaign and achieving great victory, Jiang Wei had described various things in Luoyang that made Shang Qin extremely yearnful while still in Tianshui Commandery.
Luoyang is the imperial capital, so there must not be any officials like Governor Ma here, right?
After the envoy was brought into the government office, Shang Qing was sent away by the Prefectural Cohort Leader Liang Xu, and he was unable to hear what the envoy had to say.
At this moment, the hall door was closed, and the Shu envoy handed over a package to Ma Zun.
Inside the package, there was a notice of appointment for a county-level land grant from the Shu Han Emperor with an empty space for the recipient's name, as well as three notices of appointment for place chancellors.
The envoy, seeing the expressions of astonishment on Ma Zun and the others, said with a smug expression, "Under heaven, all is Han territory. The traitor Cao Cao and his band have seized land and rebelled. Now is the time to settle accounts. Governor Ma may not know this, but Chancellor Zhuge Liang has led three hundred thousand troops to attack Longjiu!"
"If Governor Ma and the two gentlemen beside him can come to their senses and submit to the Han Dynasty in a timely manner, the four appointments of chancellors in front of you will still be valid."
"If we wait until Chancellor Zhuge Liang leads his main force to besiege the city, we might face a fate worse than death!"
Three hundred thousand!
Ma Zun and the other two looked at each other in horror, their eyes conveying an array of emotions that couldn't be put into words.
Liang Xu, the Prefectural Cohort Leader who possessed considerable wisdom, at this moment of urgency, cleverly coughed and asked, "May I ask, have you communicated with the others in the commandery?"
The envoy smiled and replied, "The respected people of Tianshui Commandery are the Jiang, Yan, Ren, and Zhao clans, aren't they?"
"According to the Chancellor, if Governor Ma can offer to surrender Jixian and submit to the Han Dynasty, the appointments in front of him will still be valid."
"By the time the four families of Jiang, Yan, Ren, and Zhao submit the city, these four appointments will be theirs." (Chapter complete)
