I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 198 The carnival of Cao Wei’s monarchs and ministers

"What do Liu Qing say?" Cao Rui asked.

"Sun Wu's most powerful force is the navy. The navy is spread out south of the Yangtze River to prevent the king's army from going south. However, Wu thieves are not good at field warfare, so they returned north several times without success. Yizhou's best is crossbowmen. , Crossbow troops focus on field battles, but in the past Zhuge Kongming had few troops and little food and grass, so he often rushed north and retreated hastily. "

As Liu Fang spoke, the other ministers listened carefully and couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"If Sun Wu captures Yizhou and obtains Yizhou's soldiers and horses, which will make up for Sun Wu's shortcomings of not being good at field warfare, Sun Quan will definitely look for good generals in Yizhou to train Jiangdong's troops. This will cause endless trouble for us."

Cao Rui was reminded by Liu Fang and couldn't help but nod.

Sun Wu was able to hold the land south of the Yangtze River for so many years because of the navy and the barriers of lakes and rivers in the south of the Yangtze River.

Cao Rui also has a deep understanding of the strength of the Yizhou soldiers, which were trained by Zhuge Kongming himself.

Even Sima Zhongda, the most capable fighter in the Wei Dynasty, suffered a lot.

"That's a bad word."

The speaker was Gao Tanglong.

"Your Majesty, most of Yizhou's troops are now in Guanzhong. Even if Sun Quan takes Yizhou, what else can he get?" Gao Tanglong said, "Sun Quan takes Yizhou and Zhuge Kongming wants to return to Chengdu. It will be too late. , I venture to guess that he can only use Hanzhong as his backing, resist the Wu soldiers in the south, and continue to sit in Guanzhong, but without the support of Yizhou, Zhuge Kongming will undoubtedly lose. Once Kongming is defeated, the court returns to Guanzhong, and Master Wang drives straight in and goes south to Hanzhong. , Yizhou is just a piece of cake!"

Cao Rui did not express his position. He suddenly realized a problem.

Liu Fang has made a lot of money from Yizhou's paper business in the past two years. Naturally, he does not want Yizhou to change hands. This involves personal interests.

However, Gao Tanglong made little profit from the paper trade with Yizhou, so he naturally did not care about Yizhou's life and death.

It's the butt that determines the head.

For Cao Rui, no matter whether Sun Quan gets Yizhou or not, he himself cannot take back Yizhou in a short time.

He is very clear about his current goal: to expel Zhuge Liang from Guanzhong.

"Zhongda." Cao Rui called.

"The minister is here."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I think what Gao Shengping said is absolutely true." Sima Yi said, "Sun Quan took Yizhou, but it was not the complete Yizhou. As long as the court can defeat Zhuge Kongming and take Yizhou back from Sun Quan, it will be much easier. We don't have to Prevent Sun Quan from taking Yizhou, and even help Sun Quan take Yizhou when necessary."

"Where is Chen Sikong?" Cao Rui asked again.

Chen Qun said: "I second the proposal."

Cao Rui's eyes fell on Situ Dong Zhao again, and Dong Zhao said: "I second the proposal."

The classic balance between the three countries lies in who loses and helps whom.

The logic is very simple. If one party is allowed to annex the other, one of the parties will inevitably grow stronger and pose a greater threat.

In essence, the reason why the three countries are called Dali is a potential consensus reached by the three countries based on the situation.

As for Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, assuming that the most powerful of the three is Sun Wu, Zhuge Liang may not keep an eye on Cao Wei, and may even send envoys north to ally with Cao Wei.

Regarding Cao Wei usurping the Han Dynasty, it was a political slogan for the Northern Expedition.

How could a person like Zhuge Liang not understand the difference between objective facts and political slogans?

Liu Fang said, "Your Majesty, the main force of our army is also in Guanzhong. If Sun Quan takes Yizhou, he will start another rebellion in the southeast. By then, the country will be in danger of overthrowing!"

"Liu Changshi is serious again!" Gao Tanglong said, "Can a mere Kong Ming really use the power of the entire Wei Dynasty?"

Before Liu Fang could refute, Gao Tanglong continued: "Since the rebellion in Guanzhong, the imperial court has not dispatched troops from Xiangyang, nor has it moved the defense of Yangzhou. However, Sun Quan went north once and retreated hastily under His Majesty's personal expedition, which shows that the defense of Yangzhou Even if Sun Quan takes Yizhou, his ambition grows and he sends troops northward, what will happen?"

"As I said just now, Sun Quan's strength will be greatly increased if he obtains the Yizhou crossbowmen!" Liu Fang obviously did not intend to compromise.

The current paper trading in Yizhou is making me a lot of money, but you idiots just can't stand it and want to divide the profits.

Moreover, when I discussed the paper business with Sun Quan a few months ago, each of these people was more excited than the other.

It’s nothing more than a matter of profit!

"Even if Sun Quan has commandeered some of Yizhou's crossbowmen, it will still take time to move to Jiangdong, and it will even take time to integrate with Jiangdong's soldiers and horses. During this time, we can defeat Kongming first and capture Hanzhong. Yizhou will be easily accessible!"

"This statement..."

Liu Fang wanted to refute, but Gao Tanglong did not give him a chance. Instead, he said: "After acquiring Yizhou, the imperial court can build ships and train naval forces in Jiangzhou. Then go east along the Yangtze River, devour Nanjun, and attack Wuchang! To the west and north The troops will frighten Wuchang and shake the left side of the Yangtze River!" The troops in the west and north mentioned by Gao Tanglong refer to the capture of Nanjun and the establishment of positions in Nanjun. North of Wuchang there is also the southern governorate with Xiangyang and Jiangxia as its depth.

These two places can form a pincer attack on Wuchang.

As for what Gao Tanglong said about heading east from Yizhou, is this strategy feasible?

Highly feasible!

After the Western Jin Dynasty destroyed Wu, a large number of warships were built in Yizhou.

By the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin army's strategy to destroy the Song Dynasty had discussed whether to attack the west or the east.

The logic of taking the east route is that Jiangnan in the Song Dynasty was a land of taxation. If Jiangnan was occupied, Zhao Gou would have no money and was basically finished.

The reason for taking the west route is that after capturing Guanzhong, go south to Yizhou, enter Jinghu from the east of Yizhou and enter Jiangdong.

When Mongolia invaded the Southern Song Dynasty, they also took Bashu, built ships in Bashu, and sailed eastward along the river.

For this reason, the Southern Song Dynasty also laid iron piles in the river near Baidi City to prevent Mongolia from advancing eastward.

Why is there this logic of taking Yizhou and heading east?

It may be difficult for people in the 21st century to understand.

Because in ancient times, bridge-building technology was very immature, and the Yangtze River was a natural chasm for the ancient armies.

Crossing the river is not difficult for a few people, a dozen people, or a hundred people.

But in ancient times, the southern expedition involved tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops.

Prime Minister Cao has a say on this point.

Wanting to cross the Yangtze River with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of troops is a technical job.

The opponent only needs to set up dense sentries on the Yangtze River in advance, so that they can strike accurately when the enemy is crossing the river.

This logic is the same as the Great Wall.

Unless the north moves southward with the overwhelming force of Mount Tai, the south will have no way to resist.

For example, Yang Guang destroyed Chen, Zhao Kuangyin destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty, etc.

If the southern regime had some strength, it would be difficult for the north to defeat it.

So it went down the river from Yizhou and was used by many powerful regimes in the past dynasties.

Cao Wei's many southern expeditions failed.

The most typical example is that not long after Cao Pi took the throne, the Battle of Yiling had just ended, and Ji Han was extremely weak. Cao Wei did not have to worry about the western front, so he used half of the country's troops to attack Wu in three directions.

The result was crushed.

After Gao Tanglong finished speaking, the hall fell into dead silence.

He immediately spoke to Cao Rui's heart.

Cao Rui was a man with few ambitions, but he performed well after succeeding to the throne and was as talented as Cao Cao in military affairs.

The situation in the Three Kingdoms has reached this stage. Ji Han's main force gathered in Guanzhong, and Sun Wu finally sent troops to march westward. This indicates that Yizhou is on the verge of collapse.

As long as the Wu army crosses the Baidi City defense line, Yizhou will be almost like a piece of meat on the chopping board.

As for the Baidi City defense line?

Hard to break!

But at this moment and that moment, Wu Jun did not need to break through at all.

Since Yizhou is empty, wouldn't it be enough to bypass the Baidi City defense line, go directly to Jiangzhou, and then gather a large army to attack Chengdu?

Cao Rui was so excited that he asked Sima Yi: "What do Zhongda think?"

Sima Yi said: "I think we can send an envoy to see Zhuge Kongming."

(End of this chapter)