Zhao Zhao

Ma Chao's rebellion took only a few months, but it had already shrouded the prosperous Chang'an under the clouds, panic, and the streets were depressed.

However, one thing that made Chang'an merchants relieved. Ma Chao did not interfere in government affairs, at least he did not act excessively. The money and food they handed over to Ma Chao were recorded. Xu Shu promised that Guo Jia would compensate them in the future.

Having a lot of money and grain to spend, Ma Chao recruited soldiers very pragmatically, but he did not use the money and grain to enjoy it.

Perhaps the conditions he offered were too generous and ordinary people could not resist this temptation. In just a few months, Ma Chao had nearly 50,000 new recruits.

With a total of 100,000 troops, Ma Chao no longer has to be afraid of Zhang Liao's counterattack or the threat from Yizhou. Moreover, Guo Jia was busy going to war with Sun Quan in Jingzhou and didn't care about Ma Chao at all.

In personally supervising the training of the new army, Ma Chao was doing everything in military affairs, giving people the feeling that he was a genuine warlord!

Returning to the mansion from the military camp, Ma Chao was really not polite. His current mansion belongs to Guo Jia, and he just changed the Guo Mansion to a name.

He had received information from Jingzhou that the Taiping Army and the Jiangdong Army had entered a stalemate war. The two armies bit each other, and it can be foreseen that a life-and-death battle would break out soon.

After understanding, Ma Chao closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then sent Pang De to invite Xu Shu.

Soon, Xu Shu appeared in front of Ma Chao with an expressionless face.

"Yuanzhi, how long has it been since he invaded Chang'an?"

Ma Chao leaned over his forehead, as if he was careless, but Xu Shu knew very well that Ma Chao's words contained murderous intent.

"The general knows it well, why bother asking this question?"

Xu Shu replied lightly.

Ma Chao smiled and didn't make a fuss. If he didn't talk about it, he would just go straight to the point.

"Yuan Zhi, you once told me that Zhang Liao and Yan Yan only had one month of food and grass. Even if he had learned that I had captured Chang'an and had a shortage of food, he would not have been able to last for more than two months. Do you dare to ask, do you know what's going on?"

Faced with Ma Chao's questioning, Xu Shu said nothing and looked calm.

If there were no Chang'an merchants secretly helping, even if the Taiping army in Hangu Pass and Wu Pass did not starve to death, they would definitely lose their combat effectiveness.

Now that things have come, Xu Shu doesn't want to continue to be silly with Ma Chao, it's a matter of leaving fate.

Seeing Xu Shu silent, Ma Chao was not angry and stood up and walked out.

When passing by Xu Shu, Ma Chao paused and said leisurely in Xu Shu's ear: "Yuan Zhi, since you don't say it, I'll go and ask Zhang Liao in person."

Xu Shu suddenly turned around, while Ma Chao had already stepped out of the door and turned around and disappeared from sight.

When the Taiping Army was about to step into the pavilion in Jingzhou, Guanzhong changed again.

Ma Chao led 100,000 armor to advance eastward, and his troops forced Hangu Pass!

Hangu Pass is a dangerous pass from the world, but the difficulty of attacking Hangu Pass from the east is completely different from attacking Hangu Pass from the west.

Hangu Pass is the east gate of Guanzhong, and enemies coming from home are obviously more difficult to deal with than those coming from outside.

Entering Tongguan and passing through the Peach Blossom Pass, Ma Chao and his troops arrived at Xin'an, which was less than a hundred miles away from Hangu Pass. At this moment, Zhang Liao was completely caught in the gap. Ma Chao was a hundred miles away from Guanxi, and Zhang He was a hundred miles away from Guandong.

Ma Chao led 100,000 troops, Zhang He also had 100,000 troops in Luoyang, while Zhang Liao, who was sandwiched in the middle, had only 70,000 troops.

Hebei Yecheng

After Cao Pi became emperor, his first choice was Luoyang. However, because of the severe situation in Sili, he chose Yecheng as the second choice. In addition, the capital city of Qiao County where Cao family came from, Luoyang, Chang'an, Yecheng, Xuchang and Qiao County became the world's most famous "Five Capitals".

After implementing the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng system, Cao Pi successfully stabilized his internal affairs, and it can even be said to be even more united than when Cao Cao ruled. However, Cao Pi was short-sighted and only saw the present moment and did not ponder the future changes in the situation.

The internal stability has been stabilized, so Cao Pi will focus on the outside.

Sun Quan was named King of Wu, and Sun Quan expressed his respect and thanked him.

But he also named Ma Chao the King of Guanzhong, but received no response.

Ma Chao turned against Guo Jia and was unwilling to hug Cao Pi's thigh. Ma Chao was not interested in the Guanzhong King, who was conferred by Cao Pi. Whether there is a title or not, Ma Chao is now the one who dominates everything in Guanzhong.

After Cui Yan and Mao Jie resigned from office and returned to the field, there were many people around Cao Pi who could make suggestions, such as Xun You and the old minister Cheng Yu. However, these two were not only old, one was over fifty and the other was nearly seventy years old. In addition, these two were Cao Cao's right-hand man, so they were Cao Pi's predecessors. Facing these two, even Cao Pi was sitting on the throne, they had to treat them respectfully, so Cao Pi preferred the younger Sima Yi.

Cao Pi, who had been paying attention to the war in Jingzhou, called Sima Yi and directly asked Sima Yi to see the information about Jingzhou and Guanzhong.

Sima Yi has always given people the feeling that he is taciturn and pragmatic, and he frowned when he read the information about the battle between Guosun in Jingzhou first.

"The Taiping Army will definitely be defeated for hundreds of miles in the camp!"

Sima Yi blurted out without hesitation.

After listening to Sima Yi's analysis, Cao Pi asked back.

"If Jiangdong wins a complete victory, won't Jiangdong directly attack Yizhou?"

This speculation makes sense, because the Taiping Army devoted all its troops to attack Jiangdong this time. Once defeated, the worst consequence was that the entire army would be wiped out, and then Yizhou would be empty and slaughtered.

Sima Yi shook his head and said, "After Jiangdong's victory, he will never be able to advance westward to seize Yizhou. Sun Quan bowed to His Majesty because of the situation, but he was actually always on guard against His Majesty."

Cao Pi suddenly realized how could he continue to fight Yizhou after Jiangdong won in Jingzhou, and to the north of the Yangtze River, but there were also Fancheng Cao Ren and Xu Huang. If Sun Quan really went to fight Yizhou, wouldn’t he be afraid that Cao Wei would take the opportunity to go south?

"Since that's the case, then Sun Quan wants to defend Jingzhou?"

Cao Pi's inference was affirmed by Sima Yi.

This made Cao Pi feel very regretful.

"A good opportunity is once a lifetime."

Cao Pi sighed. If Sun Quan dared to invade Yizhou, he might be able to subvert Guo Jia's rule in one fell swoop. This was definitely Cao Pi's dream. Of course, it would be best if Sun Quan finished attacking Yizhou. Before they came back to their senses, Cao Pi would have completely captured Sun Quan's territory.

After all, Sun Quan did not have enough troops to defend the territory of Yizhou, Jingzhou, Yangzhou, and the three states. This is the same as the defeat of Gongsun Zan back then. Therefore, even if Sun Quan won the war with Guo Jia, he would not advance to Yizhou. It is desirable to stick to Jingzhou and maintain the steady development of Jingzhou.

"Your Majesty does not have to be disappointed. As long as Sun Quan wins, Cao Ren and Xu Huang can take the opportunity to capture Shangyong and Xincheng, and divide Jingzhou with the Han River as the boundary with Sun Quan. In this way, our army has a strategic location to capture Hanzhong, and it can also be regarded as a profit."

Sima Yi did not want Cao Pi to be a monarch who focused on gains and losses for a while.

As long as the Taiping Army was defeated in Jingzhou, the Wu brothers in Xincheng and Shangyong would inevitably lead their troops back to Yizhou. Then it would be the time for Cao Wei to take the opportunity to expand.

Sima Yi continued to look at the information in Guanzhong. After learning that Ma Chao was about to start a war with Zhang Liao, Sima Yi was happy and said to Cao Pi: "Your Majesty, the real God-given opportunity is here."

Cao Pi glanced at the Guanzhong information held by Sima Yi and asked thoughtfully: "Does Ma Chao start a war with Zhang Liao? Ma Chao wins and also defends Hangu Pass. Ma Chao is defeated, and Zhang Liao is still as always. How can this be considered a god-given opportunity?"

Cao Pi was not excited. He thought that the variable in Guanzhong should be that Zhang Liao left Hangu Pass to fight Chang'an. As a result, Ma Chao sent troops from Chang'an to fight Zhang Liao. If Ma Chao wins, he will send troops to guard the Hangu Pass and Zhang Liao. What's the difference between him and Zhang Liao?

To guard Hangu Pass, what is needed is troops and the geographical advantage is the advantage of the geography. As long as it is not a wine bag, it will not be thrown away easily.

Sima Yi bowed and said in a deep voice: "As soon as the war broke out in the west of Hangu Pass, the defense against Guandong will naturally be relaxed. If the war is settled and the winner re-arranges, he will miss the best opportunity. Our army should take advantage of the opportunity when Zhang Liao and Ma Chao are fighting fiercely. As long as they occupy Guancheng, Guanzhong will belong to His Majesty."

When Cao Pi heard this, he felt right. He asked again: "Where is Yan Yan from Wuguan?"

Sima Yi said disrespectfully: "Yan Yan only has 30,000 troops. When he learned that Zhang Liao and Ma Chao had started a war, our army joined the war again, he must have been anxious and rushed northward to Tongguan to attack Ma Chao from behind to rescue Zhang Liao. At that time, Cao Zhenke from Wancheng led his army to attack Wuguan and attacked Chang'an directly!"

Cao Pi stood up and paced back and forth, weighing the pros and cons.

There is nothing wrong with trying it out.

There is a 100,000 army led by Zhang He in Luoyang. When Zhang Liao and Ma Chao started a war, they can attack Hangu Pass. If they succeed, they will be able to take the entire Guanzhong and Northwest. If they encounter obstacles, they can also protect themselves if they retreat to Luoyang. If Zhang Liao is stuck in the middle, can he still come out of the pass and take revenge even if he suffers a loss?

Having just ascended the throne and became emperor, Cao Pi needed to win battles to inspire people, and even more so that everyone could see his military achievements. He dare not say that he surpassed Cao Cao, but at least he had good abilities in this regard.

So, Cao Pi agreed to Sima Yi's plan.

When Cao Pi planned to personally write a military order to Zhang He from Luoyang, Sima Yi looked calm and bowed seriously and asked for his order: "Your Majesty, this battle affects the situation in the world. If you can win, you will be just around the corner. The official begged to ask Your Majesty to agree, and the official will go to Luoyang to work hard to lead the troops to fight with General Zhang."

Cao Pi was stunned. Unexpectedly, Sima Yi, who was a civil servant, wanted to lead troops to fight. This was nothing unexpected. Civil and military affairs were not separated. Sima Yi's military talent was recognized by everyone from Cao Pi to Cheng Yu and Xun You.

What he said is true. As long as he can take over Guanzhong and Liangzhou, the situation where Cao Wei's troops are stretched in the formation will be reversed immediately. Sili will no longer need to hoard heavy troops, and will be very calm in marching his troops south.

If you can win this battle, Cao Pi, the emperor, will be 80% sure of his dream of unifying the country.

After pondering for a while, Cao Pi agreed to let Sima Yi go to Luoyang to supervise the battle.

After getting what he wanted, Sima Yi took the order and retreated, and turned his back to Cao Pi, Sima Yi smiled knowingly.

To win the hearts of the people and to revive the Sima family, where should we start? Perhaps it was Shilin, but Sima Yi deeply understood that the lifeline of any hero is the army! What he wants is to establish prestige in the army!

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Chapter completed!