"Cai Zhuge had already understood the origin of Jiang Wei's strange demeanor, and he was stunned for a few seconds before blurting out:"
"How did Cao Rui explain these two strategies?"
Jiang Wei did not bother to account for the terms 'King of Wei' and 'Cao Rui', but instead, he gathered his thoughts and began to explain to Zhuge Liang with earnestness.
"The Emperor started his discussion from the Battle of Red Cliffs."
Red Walls? Zhuge Liang narrowed his eyes slightly and listened more attentively.
Jiang Wei said in a clear voice, "Your Majesty once said that the Battle of Red Walls was the first time in history that the South could defeat the North with its own strength."
"Whether it was the war-torn chaos of the North or the stability of the South, and regardless of the various reasons, such as military strategies and pandemics, in the end, it was still a victory for the South over the North."
Hearing Jiang Wei's words, Zhuge Liang remained motionless but began to nod in his heart.
Former Emperor Liu Bei founded the dynasty, and the Battle of Red Cliffs marked the beginning of all possibilities. However, why would Cao Rui mention Red Cliffs?
Without waiting for Zhuge Liang to ask, Jiang Wei continued, "Your Majesty said that Your Excelency proposed the 'Long Meeting' in Year 12 of Jian'an, while Lu Zizhen proposed it in Year 5 of Jian'an."
"The Long Meeting and the Mat Strategy were actually both actions to quickly integrate forces, aiming to break the strategic balance before Northern forces recover their strength."
"Between the Sun and Liu families, whenever there is a chance to absorb one another, they will turn against each other. And when there is no hope left, they will become as harmonious as ever."
"The agreements at Xiang River, the loss of Jiangling, and the Battle of Xiao Tan were all like this."
Jiang Wei's words were concise and to the point, yet the information contained in his speech encompassed the heroes of Wu and Shu, including Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Sun Quan, Lu Zizhen, and Lu Su.
With just a few light, casual words, he spoke of the tumultuous and vast half of their lives.
Zhuge Liang's eyes widened, looking straight at Jiang Wei, "Did Cao Rui speak to you all these things in front of your 500 students?"
"Yes," Jiang Wei replied with a slightly surprised tone. In Zhuge Liang's eyes, this was the strategic wisdom that the elite of the court kept hidden away, not to be disclosed lightly, yet here it was being casually discussed in the Great University of Wei.
Zhuge Liang gently sighed.
Jiang Wei noticed that Zhuge Liang seemed to be a bit off, and bowed slightly to ask, "Has Your Excelency finished speaking? Is there something I have yet to mention?"
"Please continue," Zhuge Liang said.
Jiang Wei continued, "Your Majesty also said that the phrase 'The North is full of troubles' in Lu Zizhen's Mat Strategy, and the phrase 'Wait for changes in the world' spoken by Your Excelency, are both about the same matter."
"From Jian'an 5 to Jian'an 24, the time left for Sun and Liu was only 20 years. This was the first time that the North was somewhat weaker than the South."
"Twenty years have passed, and there will be no more opportunities!"
Jiang Wei ultimately held back and did not speak the four characters 'The Mandate of Heaven is in Wei' that the Emperor had said in the Grand Academy.
With Zhuge Liang's intelligence, how could he not know that what Cao Rui said that day was entirely correct?
The 'Brilliant and Mighty Force' mentioned in Cao Rui's letter is indeed here.
Zhuge Liang silently memorized the words that Jiang Wei had just said in his heart.
With an air of indifference, he asked a few more questions about the Gongnon Uighur people and the event of the oath at Luo River two years ago.
After two hours of conversation with Jiang Wei, when Jiang Wei had a chance, he also learned about some of the governance matters in Shu.
It was not until Yang Yi requested to enter the tent to report on the military situation in the southern Wuxing region that the conversation between the two was interrupted.
"Sir Wei, please place the report here," Zhuge Liang indicated the table in front of him: "Then send off the envoy from Wei for me."
Zhuge Liang stood up from his seat, looking at Jiang Wei from a distance of ten chi: "The separation between Wei and Shu has been long. Conversations like ours might take three days and three nights to exhaust."
"Let me write a reply letter first."
However, in no time, Zhuge Liang had finished writing the reply with cursive script.
Then, Zhuge Liang slowly took out a jade amulet from his waist: "Just now, as a token of your kindness for sharing many things about the state of Wei with me, I would like to present you with this jade amulet. It is also a return gift for our conversation."
Jiang Wei was taken aback for a moment, then declined with a smile, "As an envoy of Wei, I cannot accept a gift from the prime minister of an enemy country."
Zhuge Liang shook his head slightly, "Please do not refuse. Take it back. I will tell Cao Rui in the letter."
Jiang Wei thought for a moment: "Very well, I will present the jade amulet that Your Excellency has given to the emperor."
"That is none of my business," Zhuge Liang looked at Jiang Wei's eyes and faintly said, "Sir Wei, let him go."
"Yes." Yang Yi replied.
"Your servant takes his leave." That was Jiang Wei's words.
Zhuge Liang gently waved his hand, then sat back into his seat.
Yang Yi first escorted Jiang Wei out of the tent, and then there were some mundane matters of guiding and blinding the eyes, which took Jiang Wei through a camp on the farthest west side of Chiting. Afterwards, he returned.
It took nearly half an hour.
When Yang Yi returned to the tent, he found Zhuge Liang sitting on the seat, with a closed-minded and silent expression.
It seemed as if there was no trace of any movement when he sent Jiang Wei out.
"Prime Minister, Prime Minister?" Yang Yi softly called out.
Zhuge Liang sighed heavily and faintly raised his eyes to look at Yang Yi, "Sir Wei, summon Guoda, Wenwei, and Wu Ziyuan."
Yang Yi, though confused, instinctively went out of the tent to summon the three men.
Xiang Lang and Fei Yi were close by, but Wu Yi's camp was further west, past the old path of the Guода River.
After waiting for about two ten-minute sessions, the four men gathered outside the tent and entered together.
"Do you know what the envoy Jiang Boqiao told my counterpart?" Zhuge Liang raised his eyes to look at the three men of literature and one man of arms, who were also the most important four people in the camp of Chiting.
Before the four could respond, Zhuge Liang spoke: "From what I can see, the king of Wei, Cao Rui, is more talented and strategic than his father and similar to Cao Cao. However, because of his natural wealth and young age as an emperor, he does not have the same constraints as his father."
"What does Prime Minister mean by this?" Xiang Lang, the Chancellor, asked in surprise.
"The Wuu kingdom's officials and subjects are united from the top to the bottom, and their administration is as smooth as that of the Han dynasty. Moreover, with its vast territory and numerous population, the gap between it and the Han will grow even larger."
"Let Wei Wen Chang come back," Zhuge Liang whispered, "It is important to keep our camp secure. Wait for Wei troops to run out of food and retreat."
Yang Yi, whose personality was more fiery, directly asked, "Prime Minister, Wei Yan has no sign of defeat yet. Is it a bit of a waste to retreat like this?"
"Is it not because the Wei envoy, Jiang Wei, has used his words to sway Prime Minister?"
"He deceived me?" Zhuge Liang laughed, "No, Sir Wei, you are thinking too much."
"It is better to let Wei Yan fight at the front than to have Wei troops come to Chiting, to such a perilous place where mountains and rivers intersect, and engage in battle with our Han troops."
"Let's hold out against the Wei army at Chiting."
Retreating Wei Yan and relying on the well-built camp defenses at Chiting against Wei troops is indeed a reasonable strategy.
Yang Yi bowed and said, "Then I will send the military report to Wei Yan immediately."
Zhuge Liang silently nodded, but within a moment, his eyes regained their sharpness as he looked at the three people in front of him again:
"I want you to remember the defeat in the Battle of Longyou! Today's defense is for tomorrow's battle!"
"After the withdrawal, the preparations for military reforms, training troops, and equipping weapons are to be planned now!"
"Once the Wei army retreats and the main force returns to Hanzhong, the Prime Minister's Office will not leave Hanzhong! Remember this! It will be when the troops are fully trained that I will return to Yong and Liang states in the north!"
"I will follow Prime Minister to restore the Han dynasty, no regrets in nine deaths!" Yang Yi was the first to loudly respond.
Xiang Lang, Fei Yi, and Wu Yi also responded in unison.
...
As Jiang Wei returned to the city of Xian, miles away in Luoyang, Guan Jiu, who was assisting Sir Wei Zheng in handling the position of Inspectorate of the Capital in the service of Sir Wei Zheng's daughter's father-in-law, encountered a rather thorny issue.
Before Cao Rui left Luoyang, he had for the second time granted the post of Inspectorate of the Capital to Wei Zhen, who was then serving as the Left Minister of the Secretariat.
As the king was not in the Northern Palace, and neither was Wei Yi or Cao Zhen, Wei Zhen and Dong Zhao transferred their office to a different location.
Wei Zhen resided at the Secretariat and managed all miscellaneous affairs as the Left Minister of the Secretariat.
Dong Zhao moved his office into the Marquis of Taijun's Mansion, taking over the military and logistical supply responsibilities from Cao Zhen.
While managing the daily affairs of the Inspectorate of the Capital, Wei Zhen entrusted it to Guan Jiu, who had returned to Luoyang from Yan Province with no tasks assigned.
Guan Jiu was truly free of duties.
He held the title of Inspector of the Overseas Cavalry, and all five regiments, including the Overseas Cavalry Camp, followed the emperor to Longyou.
Liu Ye remained in Yan Province as the provincial governor, while Guan Jiu returned to Luoyang, and then found Wei Zhen and assigned him some duties. He concurrently held the position of the Inspector of the Capital's Secretary.
A middle-aged clerk looked at the man standing in front of him, wearing a cheerful smile and fine clothing, about thirty years old, outside the Inspectorate of the Capital's office.
"Are you here to see Marquis Guan? Who are you?" the middle-aged clerk asked out loud.
"I am Gongsun Huang, a Third Department Official," Gongsun Huang took out his official document from his waist and handed it over: "There are important matters to report to Marquis Guan."
"Oh, it's Gongsun Huang, the Attendant," the clerk's face also brightened: "Please wait a moment, I will go ahead and inform Marquis Guan."
"Thank you."
This was just a trivial matter for the middle-aged clerk.
But when Guan Jiu heard the name Gongsun Huang, he stood up from his seat in a hurry and went directly to the office to meet him in person.
After all, Guan Jiu had just returned from Liaodong and Youzhou not long ago, and the past actions of Gongsun Yuan were still vivid in his mind.
"What matters do you have to report?" Guan Jiu narrowed his eyes at Gongsun Huang.
Gongsun Huang's eyes rolled, and he looked around at the passing clerks, whispering: "Can I enter with Marquis Guan and slowly explain what I have to say?"
"No need!"
Guan Jiu directly rejected, walked up and patted Gongsun Huang's shoulder, coldly saying: "Do you know about the insult that your brother Gongsun Yuanduo offered me in Liaodong?"
"Now that you are not avoiding the official, but directly seek to come to my door? Whatever you have to say, just say it here! The official does not allow you to enter."
Gongsun Huang seemed to have made a great decision, looking up at Guan Jiu, and sweat trickled down from a line on his forehead.
Guan Jiu saw the situation and was startled. He asked in a low voice, "What is it?"
Gongsun Huang said: "Gongsun Yuanduo is going to rebel!" (End of Chapter)
