Ma Zun was after all the county magistrate, and was one of the two thousand official appointments by the official government of the capital Luoyang in the great land of Wei.
In front of the principal clerk Yin Xiang and functionary Liang Xu, Governor Ma Zun could not sell Hexian County.
But to say that Ma Zun had an unyielding sense of honor and dignity, and that he would have killed the Shu army messenger on the spot or immediately expelled him, Ma Zun did not act in such a manner at all.
After politely sending away the Shu army messenger, Governor Ma Zun's face turned cold all of a sudden: "Zhuge Liang is underestimating me! This official was selected by Marshal Sima and appointed by the late emperor as the governor of Tianshui. How can he commit such treasonous acts?"
Liang Xu and Yin Xiang, both in the same hall, began to look puzzled and suspicious at this moment. Just a moment ago, Governor Ma was polite to the Shu army messenger; how could he now suddenly appear so dignified and solemn?
Unlike Ma Zun, who was from Jingzhou Changtan, Liang Xu and Yin Xiang were both local people from the area of Yong Province and Nanchuan. After a glance at each other, Liang Xu spoke out: "What is Your Excellency's meaning?"
Standing up, Governor Ma Zun looked upward and pretended to be deep and profound. He spoke slowly: "This official, as the governor of Tianshui, has a responsibility to defend his territory! Principal Clerk Yin Xiang and Functionary Liang Xu, do you want to surrender the Shu army and become traitors?"
This question was completely out of the blue, and Liang Xu and Yin Xiang denied repeatedly. It was Liang Xu who asked again, "Your Excellency, it's come to this point. I beg you to speak plainly. How should we proceed? The underling will follow Your Excellency's lead!"
"That's good to hear." Governor Ma Zun looked confident and began to analyze with the two: "What do you think, General Lu Ban? Why did he go to Shangguan? It is because the Shangguan territory is more important and needs to be defended more firmly?"
"The imperial court appointed me as the governor; it is to have me preserve the territory of the entire county, not just the city of Ji. Although Ji County is the capital of the prefecture, Shangguan also falls under my jurisdiction!"
As he looked at the disbelieving expressions of Liang Xu and Yin Xiang, Governor Ma Zun still spoke the next words: "I plan to move the thousand and five hundred county soldiers of Ji County to Shangguan!"
"Assisting General Guo and General Lu in defending Shangguan, awaiting the arrival of imperial troops, that is what the official should do!"
"And, the official will also report directly to General Guo about the shameless act of the Shu army using titles and profits to entice our Wei officials and soldiers." Governor Ma Zun flourished a few appointments sealed with the great seal of the Shu Han Emperor Liu Shan, saying, "These are ironclad evidence!"
Liang Xu and Yin Xiang grew increasingly speechless.
Yin Xiang, who had remained silent, asked: "If the prefectural magistrate goes to Shangguan, what about Ji County? The Shu army messenger said that Zhuge Liang has a large army of three hundred thousand men; even if it is claimed to be false, there must be at least one hundred thousand!"
"Why would there be three hundred thousand or one hundred thousand men? I haven't heard that when Liu Bei attacked Sun Quan, he only had fifty thousand men from the entire Shu territory," Ma Zun said casually, nodding: "The matter of Ji County will of course be entrusted to the county magistrate Feng Yi to defend!"
As a native of Yinxiang, Governor Ma Zun would naturally be fine if he left. The government could only blame him for a while. Since he didn't run away, as the county magistrate, he had to defend the more important city, which he could explain to the Luoyang Emperor!
But Liang Xu and Yin Xiang, two local people, couldn't behave in such a way. In front of Governor Ma Zun, the two began to whisper to each other.
"Oh, what are you two doing?" Ma Zun asked sternly.
A moment later, the clerk Yin Xiang said: "If Your Excellency wishes to relocate to Shangguan, there are already soldiers in Shangguan. Please let Your Excellency go alone and don't take the county troops with you. I am a native of Ji County and hope to remain in Ji County to assist the county magistrate in defending against the Shu army."
Liang Xu also said: "I will accompany Your Excellency to Shangguan!"
"No!" Governor Ma Zun refused firmly, "The Shangguan area is more important and requires heavy defense! I must take these fifteen hundred county troops with me!"
Yin Xiang, a local resident of Ji County who is over fifty, has worked as an official for nearly thirty years in the county during the Han and Wei dynasties.
Standing up, Yin Xiang's tall and thin figure was accompanied by burning eyes. After bowing, he spoke even more earnestly: "Can the prefectural magistrate leave a thousand soldiers for Ji County? If not, five hundred soldiers will do."
"You people from Gansu are so ignorant!" Governor Ma Zun was so angry he was jumping up and down: "I've said that Shangguan is more important to the imperial court. If Shangguan survives, then Ji County can survive, and the Longyou region can survive! How can you not understand this?"
Yin Xiang seemed to have used all his strength, moving slowly and bowing to Governor Ma Zun: "Then please take care on your journey, Your Excellency. The underling will remain in Ji County."
"Wouldn't it have been easier to do this earlier?" Governor Ma Zun sighed and shook his head, hurrying to grab the bundle and go outside, intending to return to his mansion, find his wife and concubines, as well as servants, to pack and gather their belongings.
Liang Xu, from Fufeng Commandery, looked at Yin Xiang with an air of apology and bowed deeply: "Please take good care of yourself, big brother. I will go to Shangguan along with Governor Ma."
Yin Xiang sighed heavily: "Go ahead, let's go together. I will handle this matter here."
Liang Xu dared not respond and immediately went out as well, leaving Yin Xiang to sit alone in the hall.
...
After another three days, Governor Guo Huai and the military governor of Anxi Prefecture, Hu Zun, arrived in the city of Shangguan after traveling 400 miles at a great rush and rush.
On their way past Lueyang, Governor Guo Huai had already sent people westward along the route of Chengji, Pingxi and Fan to search for Hao Zhao in Yuguan.
By the time Governor Guo Huai and Hu Zun arrived in Shangguan City, it was already the afternoon of the fourth day of the twelfth month.
The location of Shangguan City is strategic and is the junction of the Longshan Pass and the Wei River in the northern part of the Longyou region. There are mountains on both sides of the north-south axis, and the Wei River passes through a plain in the middle. Shangguan City is situated on the northern bank of the Wei River.
At the southern bank of the Wei River, the Eastern Army of Shu, including Zhaoyun's department, Deng Zhi's department, Wang Ping's department, and the Middle Army of Shu led by Liao Hua, had already set up their camps on the southern bank of the Wei River. They were facing off with Shangguan City across the Wei River and had not yet been able to encircle it.
Governor Guo Huai and Hu Zun took advantage of this gap to enter the city of Shangguan without hindrance. The departments of Wei Yan and Wu Ban, following the Eastern Army, are still one day's distance away from this place.
After entering the city, Governor Guo Huai naturally took the first thing to check the strength and discuss strategies with everyone to resist the enemy.
But to his surprise, upon entering the city, he found Governor Ma Zun in the official residence of Shangguan City for the first time!
Governor Guo Huai asked with a look of skepticism, "Governor Ma, I remember that in the military dispatch from General Lu, you were said to be in Ji County. How did you get to Shangguan?"
Governor Ma Zun answered with gravity: "Governor Guo, I did not come here on my own. I brought all 1,500 county troops from Ji County with me to Shangguan City, against the opposition of others!"
Governor Guo Huai, as a prefectural magistrate, was well aware of the kind of person Governor Ma Zun was. Although Ma Zun's move was primarily to save his own life, it also coincidentally reinforced the military strength of Shangguan City!
Governor Guo Huai nodded in agreement, "Governor Ma did the right thing! I suppose that Lieutenant General Zang is on his way to reinforce Shangguan City by now."
"Hold out in the city of Shangguan, blockade the enemy's transportation, and wait for the arrival of left general and the imperial troops!"
"Governor Guo is absolutely right!" Governor Ma Zun said, "If Governor Guo wishes to discuss military strategy, why not first have someone summon General Lu back?"
"General Lu left at dawn and went to the north mountain to observe the movements and camp arrangements of the Shu army,"
Governor Guo Huai nodded, "Send someone to call General Lu back quickly!"
Before the county officers could go out for even a quarter of an hour, General Lu Ban had already walked into the official residence of Shangguan City.
Hearing Governor Guo Huai's arrangement, General Lu Pan's face showed a hint of embarrassment: "Your Excellency, it seems that the current military strength in Shangguan City is not enough to block the enemy's traffic; we can only barely protect ourselves."
As Governor Guo Huai rushed back, he hadn't had a chance to go to the north mountain to carefully observe the Shu army's camps. Therefore, he asked: "There are three thousand foreign troops in the city, besides the 1,500 county troops brought by Governor Ma Zun and another four thousand local retainers and farmers around here."
"How can it not block the traffic?"
General Lu Pan bowed and replied, "I just observed from the north mountain of the city. The enemy on the southern bank of the Wei River may have tens of thousands of troops!"
"There are only 4,500 fighting troops in the city, and 4,000 civilians can only serve as auxiliary troops to defend the city. How can they fight?"
Governor Guo Huai frowned: "Few thousand? You're an experienced general, so you must have some rough estimate of the number, right?"
General Lu Pan sighed slightly: "The Shu army camps are all situated on the southern bank of the Wei River. Three or four miles west of Shangguan City, there is a part of the Shu army, and another part is to the east of Shangguan City."
Based on the scale of the two Shu army camps, it is estimated that there are at least 200,000 or more people.'
So many?
Governor Guo Huai was shocked inside, but his face remained unchanged. As the Inspector of the Yong Province, he was responsible for military matters in the Longyou region under the command of Rong Commandant Zhang He. He naturally couldn't show any signs of timidity in front of others, and had to maintain a confident appearance.
"More than 20,000 or 30,000 people?" Governor Guo Huai asked calmly. "Have you learned anything about the movements of the Shu army?"
General Lu Pan answered, "As I expected, the Shu army has only two options."
"The first is to attack our city of Shangguan. The second is to go around or north of Shangguan, occupying the Longshan Pass or attacking the city of Linwai."
Governor Guo Huai, upon hearing General Lu Pan's words, sat quietly in the hall and pondered.
Although Shangguan is strategically located on a major route, it is not like Tongguan or Sanguan, which are situated in the middle of a valley and can only be accessed by attacking them.
Many cities strategically located along transportation routes can be bypassed by the enemy if they really insist.
However, if they bypass such a key city, they must leave significant troops to defend the surrounding area, preventing the city from sending out troops to disrupt logistics and attack the rear.
That is to say, they need to divide their forces.
The scale of the Shu army is so large that it seems they have a grand plan.
It seems that the first report from Qinshan Fort, saying that the Shu army has at least 20,000 or 30,000 people, was an underestimate. If there were really 20,000 or 30,000 people, how could they all be gathered outside the city of Shangguan now?
Governor Guo Huai stroked his beard and looked at the people in the hall: "Shangguan City has high walls and strong defenses, and the Wei River to the south serves as a shield. There is also this prefectural governor and General Lu here. Even if the Shu army is three times our size, it will definitely be difficult to capture us within a month or more!"
"The Shu army has come all the way from Hanzhong, and their supplies will definitely be scarce. With me here, defending Shangguan City is certainly safe!"
"General Lu," Governor Guo Huai turned to look at General Lu Pan, "take advantage of the time before the Shu army surrounds us and send messengers along the Longshan Pass to Chen Cang to inform Lieutenant General Zang of the military situation here."
