According to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it is said that Zhuge Liang's six out of qishan were helped by teacher Luo Guanzhong to Zhuge Liang. In fact, Zhuge Liang had a total of five Northern Expeditions, and only two of them were out of qishan. This time, we talk about the Second and Third Northern Expeditions.
This time I am afraid that I will be scolded very badly.
In 228 AD, in August (September), Eastern Wu broke the Cao Wei Grand Sima Cao Xiu at Shiting, and the news reached the Shu kingdom, and it was already November. Zhuge Liang believed that the main forces of the State of Wei had all run to the east and went to the State of Wu, and Guanzhong was naturally weak, and proposed to attack the State of Wei. The ministers of the DPRK and the Central Government had some different voices about whether they could win, and Zhuge Liang wrote to liu Chan, the lord of the rear, saying:
Emperor Xiandi was deeply concerned that "the Han and thieves are not separated, and the king is not partial", so he entrusted me with the great task of begging for thieves. With the wisdom of the emperor, examine my talents, of course, know that my talents are insufficient, but the enemy is very strong. However, if you don't crusade against the enemy, Wang Ye will be defeated sooner or later, so why not send troops to fight! Therefore, the emperor entrusted me with great things without doubt. Since the day I was ordained, I have slept restlessly and have no appetite for food. I thought that if I wanted to go north, I should first sweep the south, so I crossed the Shanghai River and went deep into the barren land (referring to the pacification of the southern and central regions). It is not that I do not want to cherish myself, but I consider that it is impossible to live in the Capital of Shu and want to revive the great cause, so I am willing to risk danger to fulfill the last wish of the former emperor. But many people argued that Cao Wei should not be used as troops. Now that Cao Wei was quite tired in the west and using troops in the east facing the State of Wu, the art of war had the principle of taking advantage of the enemy's fatigue to fight, and the current situation was in line with this principle. I would like to state my comments as follows:
[The subject bows down and tries his best, and after death]
Gao Zuming was like the sun and the moon, and his advisers were far-reaching, but they also experienced crisis and heavy blows, and finally turned the crisis into safety. Now His Majesty is inferior to Gao Zu, and we, the courtiers, are not as good as Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, and we intend to formulate a century-old strategy and wait for the world to settle down, which is the first thing I cannot understand. At the beginning, Liu Xuan and Wang Lang were in various prefectures and counties, talking about the way of safety and danger, quoting the words of the saints at every turn, saying that there would be no war this year, no conquest next year, and finally let Sun Ce sit on the throne and annex Jiangdong, which is the second thing I cannot understand. Cao Cao's strategy of wisdom and strategy, dumping other people eight streets, used soldiers such as Sun Wu and Wu Qifusheng, but also encountered danger in Nanyang, Wuchao, Qilian, Liyang and other places, and even almost died in Tongguan, and then usurped the world and temporarily stabilized. My talent is not as good as Cao Cao's, but I want to calm the world without danger, which is the third thing I can't understand. Cao Cao attacked Changba five times but could not win, four times crossed Chao Lake without success, and appointed Li Fu and Li Fu plotted to kill him (Li Fu was a partial general of the Eastern Han Dynasty, appointed by Cao Cao, but together with Dong Cheng, Changshui Colonel Zhongji, Yilang Wu Shuo and others, he conspired to kill Cao Cao, and later the incident occurred and was killed by Cao Cao. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms Liu Bei calls him a prince and the Book of Later Han calls him a prince), entrusted to Xiahou Yuan with a heavy responsibility and Xiahou Yuan was defeated, the former emperor has always praised Cao Cao as "able", and Cao Cao has so many failures, not to mention that I am so blunt, how can I win every battle! This is the fourth thing I can't understand. Since I arrived in Hanzhong, but in the rest of the year, I have lost Zhao Yun, Yang Qun, Ma Yu, Yan Zhi, Ding Li, Bai Shou, Liu Guo, Deng Tong, and so on, as well as more than seventy generals from Qu Changtun, more than 70 people, more than 1,000 people from the scattered horses and martial horses of Qingqiang, these generals and troops are all elites gathered from the four sides in the past few decades, not one state can gather, if in a few years, I am afraid that I will lose two-thirds, then what to rely on to fight the enemy! This is the fifth thing I can't understand. Now the people are exhausted and tired, but the big things cannot be stopped; if the big things cannot be stopped, the cost of garrisoning and sending troops is not too much, and if we do not take advantage of this time to make some progress, but intend to confront the strong enemy for a long time in the land of one state, this is the sixth thing that I cannot understand. In that year, Cao Cao marched south to Jingzhou, and Emperor Xian was defeated by the thieves. Cao Cao's heart was swollen, and he clapped his hands and said to everyone, the world has been taken care of! However, Emperor Xian,connected sun Wu in the east and Yizhou in the west, marched north and killed Xiahou Yuan, which clearly foreshadowed Cao Cao's mistakes and the revival of the Han Dynasty. However, the state of Wu suddenly broke the covenant, resulting in the defeat of Guan Yu, and after that, we were frustrated at Zigui, and Cao Pi usurped the throne as emperor. The changes in the world are really difficult to predict. I can only bow down and do my best, and after I die, as for success or failure, it is not something I can foresee.
Yi Zhilu said: This is the famous "Table of Later Masters", but it is not written by Zhuge Liang, and the controversy is relatively large. This table is from the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms , Zhuge Liang Biography" Pei Songzhi's annotation "Han Jin Spring and Autumn", the old Pei at the end of the quotation specifically confessed, this table, the bright collection is nothing, out of Zhang Yu's silent memory. Zhang Yu was the Great Hongxu of the State of Wu, and there is no biography of him in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The table zhuge liang gave to the later lord was silently written down by the imperial court cadres of the State of Wu, which was indeed somewhat puzzling. There are many contradictions in this table, for example, according to the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Yun Biography", Zhao Yun died in the seventh year of Jianxing, that is, in 229 AD. This table was made at the end of 228 AD, but it said that Zhao Yun had died, which was a hard injury. In addition, many people have discussed from the style of the text, the examples in the text, etc., and believe that this table must be a forgery, which also has a certain reason. However, then again, after all, this table is not copied down by Zhang Yu from the Shu Kingdom word by word, but should be "memorized" after returning to Eastern Wu, and the style of writing shows the characteristics of Zhang Yu, or some errors, and even Zhang Yu intentionally or unintentionally joins his personal views, which is not impossible. I personally feel that this table is very likely to be made for Kong Ming, and its content is very close to the situation kong Ming is facing, "Han thieves are not opposed, Wang Ye is not biased", "Subjects bow down and do their best, and after death", it seems that others cannot say it. What's more, if it is Zhang Yu's forgery, what is the purpose of his forgery?
In December, Zhuge Liang led a large army from Sanguan (山關, in the southwest of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province) to besiege Chen Cang.
Unfortunately, Cao Wei had already prepared.
As early as the beginning of this year, Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition, due to the defeat of Ma Mo at the street pavilion, Zhuge Liang withdrew. The Wei general Cao Zhen believed that Zhuge Liang had suffered a setback in the direction of Qishan Mountain, and if he sent troops again in the future, he would definitely attack Chen Cang. Therefore, Cao Zhen asked the generals Hao Zhao and Wang Sheng to guard Chen Cang, build a city wall, and strengthen the defense.
Zhuge Liangbing approached Chen Cangcheng and sent Hao Zhao's compatriot Jin Xiang to persuade him to surrender. Hao Zhao stood on the city tower and said to Jin Detail:
You are familiar with the laws of the State of Wei; you know hao zhao's personality. I am deeply favored by the country, the family is prosperous, please do not need to say more, it is a big deal that I will repay the country with my death. You go back and say sorry to Zhuge on my behalf, let him let the horse come over.
[Hao Zhao: Let the horse come here!] 】
Jin Xiang returned the favor, but Zhuge Liang was not dead hearted, and asked Jin Xiang to go again, telling Hao Zhao that Chen Cang had few soldiers and could not resist the Shu army at all, so why should he kill himself. Hao Zhao said to Jin Xiang, I have finished everything I should say, although we are relatives and fellow countrymen, I know you, and the arrows of my sergeants do not know you! Jin Xiang had to return.
Zhuge Liang believed that he had tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, while Hao Zhaocai had more than a thousand defenders, and that the Wei rescuers might not arrive in time, so he launched a large-scale attack. The Shu army set up the ladder, and Hao Zhao shot a rocket at the ladder, and in an instant, a raging fire broke out, and all the soldiers on the ladder were burned to death. Hao Zhao tied a stone mill with a rope and threw it at the Shu army's rushing car, which was also destroyed. Zhuge Liang made a hundred-foot-high wooden frame, shot arrows at Chen Cangcheng from a commanding height, and filled the moats of the moat with earth blocks, wanting to climb the city wall directly, and Hao Zhao built another city wall in the city to strengthen the defense. Zhuge Liang dug tunnels and wanted to enter the city through tunnels, and Hao Zhao also dug horizontal tunnels in the city to intercept them. In this way, day and night, the attack and defense were held for more than twenty days, and Zhuge Liang could not do anything about Chen Cang.
Cao Zhen received Hao Zhao's report and immediately sent the general Fei Yao and others to rescue Chen Cang. The Wei Ming emperor Cao Rui urgently summoned Zhang Guo, who was stationed at Fangcheng (in the southwest of Ye County, Henan Province), and ordered him to attack Zhuge Liang. Cao Rui personally came to Henan City (Luoyang City, Henan Province) and set up a banquet for Zhang Gao to practice.
Cao Rui asked Zhang Gao, Lao Zhang, when you lead the army to arrive, will Zhuge Liang have already laid down Chen Cang?
Zhang Gao replied:
Emperor, I reckon that before I reached Chen Cang, Zhuge Liang had already retired. By all accounts, Zhuge Liang's grain and grass could not support ten days.
Zhang Gao led more than 30,000 troops to march day and night to Reach Nanzheng (Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province), and Zhuge Liang led his army to retreat.
The Wei general Wang Shuang pursued the Shu army and was ambushed and killed by Zhuge Liang. Cao Rui issued an edict granting Hao Zhao the title of Marquis of Guannei, and then ordered Zhang Gao to return to Luoyang and worship him as a general on the Western Che Riding.
Yi Zhilu said: It is worth discussing here.
First, Zhuge Liang's actions were all expected by Cao Wei. Cao Zhen judged that if Zhuge Liang sent troops again, he would definitely attack Chen Cang, so he made preparations in advance; Zhang Gao deduced that Zhuge Liang was short of food and would retire in ten days at most. Later, we will see that Guo Huai and Sima Yi, the assassins of The State of Wei, also made judgments on Zhuge Liang's actions, and they were extremely accurate. It gives us a feeling that Zhuge Chengxiang, who is considered by later generations to use soldiers like gods, what he wants to do and what results he will get are all within Cao Wei's expectations. To be honest, although I am not a Shu Han fan, I am also a little frustrated when I read these places.
Second, Zhuge Liang's combat effectiveness does not seem to be too strong. Tens of thousands of people attacked Chen Cangqian's defenders, for more than twenty days, they did not conquer, no matter what the objective reasons, the battle index was not too high.
Third, Zhuge retreated from the army not necessarily because he ran out of grain. According to the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Zhang Guo", Gao Chen's night entered Nanzheng and retreated. This meant that Zhang Hao didn't care about Chen Cang at all, and it was enough for them to have Fei Yao at that head. Zhang Gao swung his army to Nanzheng, the seat of hanzhong county, and played a game to encircle Wei to save Zhao, and I guess Zhuge heard that Hanzhong was in a hurry, so he hastily withdrew his troops.
【Ming Emperor Cao Rui, strong is not simple】
Fourth, Cao Rui's ability to control the overall situation is commendable. Cao Rui asked Zhang Gao, "When General Chi arrives, is it so bright that Chen Canghu is gone?" General, you have not yet arrived, will Chen Cang have already been taken down by Zhuge Liang? This sentence revealed that Cao Rui was actually ready for Chen Cang to be attacked by Zhuge Liang. On the one hand, Zhang Gaojian was sent to guide Zheng, forcing Kong Ming to return to the army; on the other hand, if Zhuge did not withdraw, Cao Zhen's army approached Chen Cang, and Zhuge would also be dragged there to death.
Therefore, I am quite suspicious that if Zhuge Liang captures Chen Cang, will he be able to defend it?
In the spring of 229, Zhuge Liang sent his generals Chen Shi to attack Wudu Commandery (ChengXian County, Gansu Province) and Yinping Commandery (文县, Gansu Province). Wei Guohuai led an army to rescue Shi Guohuai in Yong prefecture (the state government set up Chang'an). Zhuge Liang personally arrived at Jianwei City (Xihe County, Gansu Province), Guo Huai retreated, and Zhuge Liang captured the Second County.
Later Lord Liu Chan issued a letter of policy saying:
The Battle of the Street Pavilion was all because of The Horse, but you took all the responsibility and demanded to be punished. I really have no choice but to respect your opinion. Last year, he sent troops to attack the State of Wei and beheaded the general Wang Shuang; this year, Guo Huai fled; he sent down to appease the various departments of Qi and Qiang, and recaptured the two counties of Wudu and Yinping, and the military might deterred the stubborn enemy, and the merits were prominent in all directions. Fang is in turmoil today, the culprit and the evil have not yet been awarded the head, you shoulder a heavy responsibility, preside over the great politics of the military state, but for a long time to degrade yourself, this is not a good practice to carry forward the great cause of the first emperor. Now, reinstate you as prime minister, and you will not resign any longer.
As a result, Zhuge Liangguan was reinstated and served as chancellor again.
Yi Zhilu said: There are many opinions about why Zhuge wanted to attack Chen Cang. There is a saying that Zhuge fought Chen Cang, ostensibly to cooperate with Eastern Wu in attacking the State of Wei, and that the State of Wu won the Battle of Shiting, and the State of Shu had to express it, but the actual purpose was to attack Wudu County and Yinping County.
Let me ask you, why did Zhuge fight Chen Cang first and then Wudu and Yinping, not the other way around?
Let's look at the situation in Wudu and Yinping.
According to the Book of Later Han and the Chronicle of the County, the Guanghan vassal state, that is, Yinping County, belonged to Yizhou, with three cities, 37,110 households, and 205652 mouth. Wudu County, belonging to Liangzhou, seven cities, 20,102 households, 81,728 mouths. This is the data of the fifth year of Yonghe (141 AD). The two counties have a combined population of nearly 300,000, which is still considerable.
However, in the early years of the Jin Dynasty, the population fell off a cliff.
According to the Book of Jin and Geography, Wudu County, five counties, three thousand households. Yinping County, two counties, three thousand households.
That is to say, in more than 100 years, these two counties have plummeted from nearly 60,000 households to 6,000 households, and the population has gone from 10 to 89.
So, how many people were there in these two counties when Zhuge Liang attacked Wudu and Yin? There are no specific data in the history books, but we can make some inferences based on some historical materials.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and Taizu, in the twentieth year of Jian'an (215 AD), in March, Cao Cao marched on Zhang Lu, arrived at Chen Cang, and entered the territory of the Xian people from Wudu. The Qi people rebelled, and Cao Cao sent Zhang Gao, Zhu Ling, and others to attack it. In April, Cao Cao left Chen Cang, and Dou Mao, the King of Qi, led more than 10,000 men to resist Cao's army. In May, Cao Cao attacked Tuzhi.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, in 215 AD, Cao Cao sent Zhang Jie to Wudu to migrate more than 50,000 people from the Qi tribe ("luo" roughly means "hu") to Fufeng and Tianshui.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Cao Pi, in 219 AD, the Shu general Meng Da led the people to surrender, and Yang Shu, the king of Wudu, led his troops to surrender and settled in Hanyang Commandery (Tianshui County).
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, after Liu Bei captured Hanzhong, Cao Cao thought that the Wu capital was too far away to defend, and wanted to move the people away. Wudu was too defensive of Yangfu, and moved more than 10,000 households from people and ethnic minorities to Jingzhao, Fufeng, Tianshui and other places.
According to the Huayang Guozhi Hanzhong Zhi, in the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219 AD), Liu Bei sent the generals Lei Tong and Wu Lan to attack Wudu Commandery, and were killed by the Wei general Cao Hong. The State of Wei appointed Yizhou Shi Yangfu to govern the county. Yang Fu believed that Wudu was too close to the Shu state, and moved the ethnic minorities (氐叟) to Fan County (汧县, 汧), Yong County, and Luoyang County in Tianshui County (which should be the same thing as the above example). In the seventh year of Jianxing (229 AD), Zhuge Liang sent the protector Chen Shi to lead an army to pacify Wudu and Yinping Counties, which were classified as Yizhou. The Wei generals Xiahou Yuan, Zhang Gao, and Xu Huang conquered Shu Han and often attacked from this county, while Zhuge Liang, Wei Yan, and Jiang Wei came out of Qinchuan from here, resulting in no people left here.
In summary, after Cao Wei's massacres, migrations, and decades of war, in Zhuge Liang's pacification of Wudu and Yinping, even if the two counties had not yet reached the point of "deserting and leaving no people", the population must have been quite sparse.
Since the time of Cao Cao, Wudu and Yinping have not been the key places guarded by the State of Wei, so they have moved out a large number of people here, and Chen Cang's defenders are more than a thousand, so can the defenders of Wudu and Yinping have more than a thousand?
From another point of view, if the Shu state wants to seize these two counties, it is a matter of laughter.
Some people say that the strategic position of these two counties is important and is an important export of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition. So Zhuge went out of Qishan for the first time and played Chen Cang for the second time, so why didn't he take these two counties first? In December 228 AD, Zhuge withdrew his army from Chen Cang, almost without repairing his troops, and attacked the two counties in the spring of 229 AD. Why was he in such a hurry?
Let's look at the results first.
After taking the two counties, Liu Chan immediately announced that Zhuge Liang had been reinstated as chancellor for his merits in killing Wang Shuang and seizing the second county.
In other words, if he had not taken these two counties, Zhuge Liang would have no reason to reinstate himself.
Let's consider it from the point of view of human nature. After the defeat of Jieting, Zhuge Liang demoted himself to the third rank, dismissed him from the post of chancellor, and became a rear general. By this time, his future status as a general had been more than a year old, which was actually quite embarrassing. If Chen Cang is laid down this time, even if he does not hold it, as long as the people of Chen Cang, grain, and materials are all drawn to the Shu Kingdom, it will be a great achievement, and it is logical to restore the phase. But tens of thousands of people failed to capture Chen Cang, who only had more than a thousand defenders, it was really very faceless, Kong Ming was also a human, and he also had to take care of face, if it were not for the wang shuang who was not afraid of death, he wanted to fight an autumn wind behind Kong Ming's ass, sending troops to Chen Cang was simply a laborer who hurt the people and had no achievements, and there was no way to explain it after returning to the army. What's more, a considerable number of courtiers were already opposed to sending troops, and they were all waiting to see the joke! In this case, we think about it with a knee bump, if we don't fight Wudu and Yinping, and go directly back to Chengdu, how will Kong Ming explain to the rear lord Liu Chan? How do I confess to my subjects? Does he still want to continue to do this? Of course, no one dares to stand up and accuse the prime minister, including those who are waiting to see the joke, but their slightly upturned mouth will expose their inner sourness.
【Face is very important】
Through the previous analysis, we know that the population of Wudu and Yinping is sparse, and there will not be many defenders, so as long as a large army is dispatched, it is a matter of minutes to take the second county. Therefore, taking Wudu and Yinping is the only way for Zhuge Liang to save the bureau (Yan), and I speculate that the most likely situation is that Kong Ming ordered Chen Shi to send troops to the second county on the way to Chen Cang's withdrawal, and then personally led the army to Jianwei to block Guo Huai and take the second county in one fell swoop.
I tend to think that taking Wudu and Yinping, which had long been in Zhuge Liang's plan, was an alternative to salvage the situation at any time. When to fight depends on the situation of the Northern Expedition. If the First Northern Expedition had taken Longyou, the two counties would not have surrendered; if the Northern Expedition had failed, the capture of the second county would have increased the territory of the Shu state and made a great contribution; there was both a reason to restore the post of chancellor and to block the mouths of the opposition.
To tell the truth, Wei Guo didn't care about these two counties at all. The State of Shu also did not take good care of these two counties, according to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Deng Ai's Biography, in October 263 AD, Deng Ai led an army to take the Yinping Road (in Yinping County), traveled more than 700 miles in no man's land, chiseled the mountain passage, and built a bridge pavilion. You see, Yinping County is not guarded at all, how can we talk about paying attention to it?
【Picture from the network】