Introduction: In February 228 AD, Zhuge Liang sent an army to the Northern Expedition, and the then governor of the front department, sima and Liangzhou assassin Shi Weiyan proposed the strategy of meridian valley, but Zhuge Liang did not adopt it, and after achieving an initial victory, Ma Mo Jieting was defeated, and finally the merits were returned. As a result, Wei Yan's plot also seems to have become the basis for demeaning The Chancellor, if so, if the wind is even more arrogant. So why didn't Zhuge Liang use Wei Yan's Meridian Valley Conspiracy?
Relations between the three kingdoms in 228
The mutual relations between the three countries
In 223, Liu Bei, in revenge for Guan Yu, captured Jingzhou and led a large army to attack Wu. However, he was defeated in the Battle of Yiling and died shortly after in the White Emperor City.
Zhuge Liang, the chancellor, quickly adjusted his strategy and united with the State of Wu again, and the two countries also entered a relatively stable period of alliance. Under the unanimous strategy against Wei, the Shu state was able to march south and manage Hanzhong under the great reduction in strength, and its national strength was slightly restored.
The States of Wu and Wei also had several offensive and defensive wars in Hefei, but there was a significant change in strength.
On the other hand, due to the deaths of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others between the Shu state and the State of Wei, Cao Wei, who had already occupied the northern region, despised Shu Han very much. From the time Zhuge Liang published the "Table of Renunciation" in March 227 to declare the Northern Expedition, to the spring of the 228th year of his real Northern Expedition, for nearly a year, the State of Wei did nothing, although the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui wanted to preemptively attack, but his subordinates all opposed it on the grounds of "labor and division" and continued to maintain a consistent defensive strategy.
Five ancient roads from Hanzhong to Guanzhong
Five ancient roads
During the Three Kingdoms period, from Hanzhong to Guanzhong, there were about 5 ancient roads, from west to east: Qishan Road, Chen Cang Road, Chu Chu Road (also known as Xiegu Road), Luo Luo Road (also known as Luo Gu Road), and Meridian Road.
Qishan Road, Zhuge Liang finally chose this road in the First Northern Expedition. The advantage of this road was that the road was wide and suitable for the passage of large armies, while the State of Wei could not achieve the stationing of large armies. This is also the reason why Zhuge Liang still chose this path during the third and fourth Northern Expeditions after the failure of the First Northern Expedition.
Chen Cang Road, from The Scattered Pass to the first line of Chen Cang City. Why Cao Zhen built Chen Cangcheng in advance, we don't know. However, it was also at Chen Cang that the general Hao Zhao successfully resisted tens of thousands of Shu troops with more than a thousand troops, which was also an important reason for the failure of Zhuge Liang's second Northern Expedition.
The Chu Chu Road (Xiegu Road), from Hanzhong exit is in Yu County. Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition was to take Zhao Yun as the way to suspect soldiers, but this line was garrisoned by Cao Zhen. When Zhao Yun was defeated and retreated, he also burned the boardwalk.
The exit is the west side of Chang'an. It is said that Liu Bei opened, although it is the closest to Chang'an, but the road is dangerous and difficult to pass.
Meridian Road, Liu Bang entered Hanzhong to take the Meridian Road, and in order to paralyze Xiang Yu, he also burned a section. In later generations, the Constant Temperature Harvest Qin and Liu Yu's Northern Expedition also took this path, and Gao Yingxiang, the king of the Chuang Dynasty, also intended to sneak up on Chang'an from the Meridian Valley.
Wei Yan stills (from the new Romance of the Three Kingdoms)
The first Northern Expedition, the question of the existence or non-existence of the Meridian Valley Conspiracy?
To determine why Wei Yan's "Meridian Valley Conspiracy" was not implemented, it was necessary to see if it really existed.
The record of Wei Yan's Meridian Valley Plot is from:
"Three Kingdoms Chronicles of Wei Yan": Yan every time he shines out, he wants to invite tens of thousands of soldiers, and liang is a stranger to Yu Tongguan, such as the story of Han Xin, and the bright system is not allowed. Yan often said that the light was timid, and the hatred of oneself was inexhaustible.
Pei Songzhi's commentary on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms of Wei Yan quotes Wei Luo: Xiahou Shu was the general of Anxi, the town of Chang'an, Liang Yu Nan Zheng and the group under the plan, Yan Yue: "Wen Xiahou Shu is few, the lord and son-in-law are also cowardly and unscrupulous. This holiday, yan jing soldiers 5,000, 5,000 negative grain, straight out of the praise, along the Qin Mountains to the east, when the meridian and north, but ten days can reach Chang'an. When the whims are prolonged, they will flee by boat. In Chang'an, there are only Yushi, Jingzhao Taishou, Hengmen Pavilion and The Valley of scattered people. It is still twenty days before the East meets, and the Gong from the Valley of The Slope will be enough to reach. In this way, it can be determined in one fell swoop to the west of Xianyang. "Liang thought that this county was in danger, it was better to be safe from Tan Dao, you can take the Right of Long, and the ten must be conquered without worry, so there is no need to delay the calculation."
From these documents, we can see that Wei Yan, as a general, would put forward the "Meridian Valley Conspiracy" every time he went north. What is interesting is that "Wei Luo", such a history book of the State of Wei, is the most clearly recorded among them, and as for the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Yan Biography" is ambiguous. It is inevitable to wonder whether the Meridian Valley conspiracy really exists.
Zhuge Liang stills
If it really exists, is the Meridian Valley Conspiracy feasible?
Meridian Valley Conspiracy, Odd? Judging from the many wars of later generations, it is not unusual. From the perspective of practical conditions, it is also difficult.
According to the "Wei Luo" quoted in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Biography of Wei Yan", Wei Yan "can reach Chang'an in ten days", but the meridian road is 1,000 miles long, with 5,000 elite soldiers, it is not easy in the narrow boardwalk; second, Xiahou's horse will really be frightened by Wei Yan to "abandon the city and flee"? What we have to admit here is that Xiahou's horse is indeed a clumsy disciple, but with the status of Chang'an, Wei Yan wants to easily capture it with 5,000 (or 10,000) soldiers, which is obviously more difficult.
The third point is that if Zhuge Liang went out of the Xiegu Road according to Wei Yan's plan to meet him, it was unknown whether Zhuge Liang could "still have twenty days" and break Cao Zhenbu's defense in Yu County. If not, what awaited Wei Yan was the total annihilation of the army.
Zhao Yun stills
Fourth, if the previous three points, Zhuge Liang and Wei Yan's army achieved their strategic goals and successfully occupied Chang'an, what was needed was to control the entrance to the Guanzhong Plain, Tongguan. The distance between Tongguan and Chang'an is more than 100 miles, and the key is that as a place where soldiers must fight, Cao Wei will inevitably move. From this, from a comprehensive point of view, it is obvious that the Meridian Valley is strange and difficult.
Why would Zhuge Liang take Zhao Yun as a suspicious soldier and give a praise ramp, while he chose qishan road?
First, Cao Weifang's rule in the northwest was not stable, and it was impossible to achieve a large-scale garrison. Second, there are also the Qiang on the side, and they can use their strength. "Biography of Guo Huai": And broke the Longxi famous Qiang Tang hoof in Yuhan, the main biography of the Three Kingdoms Zhihou also records the united northwest tribes.
In fact, in the initial stage of the First Northern Expedition, the effect was also very obvious. Zhuge Liang's departure from Longxi was like a real "miracle", and the 5 counties of Yongzhou: Tianshui, Guangwei, Anding, Nan'an, and Longxizhong, Tianshui, Nan'an, and Anding Taishou abandoned the city and fled, the three counties surrendered, Guangwei County had no record of resistance, and only Longxi County, under the leadership of Taishou Youchu, desperately resisted. And it was also after Emperor Wei Ming's personal visit to Chang'an that Zhuge Liang had in fact controlled most of Tianshui County, and the Guanlong Ancient Road naturally became the focus.
Map of Yongzhou
At this time, Zhuge Liang sent Ma Mo to garrison the street pavilion, and Gao Xiangtun to garrison Lieliu City. The later process is well known, Ma Mo violated Zhuge Liang's orders, garrisoned the mountain, but was cut off from water by Zhang Guo, and finally defeated.
At this time, the "Biography of Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms" Pei Annotated quotes the "Yuan Zi Zhengshu" "Liang Zhi is also in the street pavilion, the former army is broken, Liang Tun goes to count the miles, not saved; Officers and soldiers meet each other and march again, and this is also brave. ”
That is to say, Zhuge Liang did not rescue. And after the First Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang made a statement: "Subjects are weak and talented, they are not evidenceless, they are pro-Bingxu and Li Sanjun, they cannot train the rules and the law, they are afraid of things, to the point where there are street pavilions that disobey orders, and the loss of Ji Gu's non-discipline, all of this..."
Zhang Gao stills
What is basically certain here is that Zhuge Liang was not rescued at that time. Therefore, he actually had an unshirkable responsibility for the failure of the Northern Expedition.
As for Zhuge Liang's use of soldiers, as a colleague, Chen Shou, the author of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", commented that "Gai strain will be slight, not his strength!" He thought that Zhuge Liang himself was not good at generals.
It is also in this way that some people also form a complete "chain of evidence" between all this and the Meridian Valley conspiracy, and Zhuge Liang refuses to take risks and uses soldiers badly. As a weak party, Zhuge Liang cut the strong with the weak, and cutting the Wei state with the land of one state was the biggest risk at that time.
And what exactly caused Zhuge Liang not to use Wei Yan's Meridian Valley Plot?
Some people used the fact that Liu Bei promoted the general at the time of Wei Yan was even more reluctant to be directly under Zhuge Liang's jurisdiction to speculate on Zhuge Liang's intentions of disagreement. In fact, it is quite reasonable to take Zhuge Liang's march by hand, and it is also in line with Zhuge Liang's style.
And this reason is actually only its appearance, and the real thing is Zhuge Liang's plan to kill Wei Yan, Chen Shou has a saying that "Wei Yan did not surrender to Wei in the north and returned to the south, but to kill Yang Yi and so on, the original intention is so, it is inconvenient to betray", here Chen Shou is the meaning of beating the drum for Wei Yan. However, since Wei Yan was killed, the Shu Han court has no waves to see the reason.
That is the status between the two. Zhuge Liang was a chancellor and a politician, while Wei Yan was a military general.
As the pillar of the Shu kingdom, Zhuge Liang must be cautious and cautious, and even more consider all aspects of the problem. And this kind of caution, even can allow failure, can accept small-scale failure, he made the risk of attacking with weakness, but also in the "Longzhong Pair" to wait for the heavens, to attack instead of defend, and these are the reasons why Zhuge Liang chose the most stable Qishan Road for the first time and rejected Wei Yan's Meridian Valley plot. The same is true for not choosing "Meridian Valley Conspiracy" later.
Reference: Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Biography of Zhuge Liang, Pei Notes quote Yuan Zizheng Shu
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Biography of Guo Huai
Wei Luo cited in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Wei Yan
"The Teacher's Table"
"Longzhong Pair"