I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 243 As steady as an old dog

On the third day of March, Sun Quan brought the news that 100,000 troops were marching north to Hefei, and he quickly spread the news back to Luoyang.

This news caused an uproar in Luoyang.

Cao Rui and his ministers were not kind-hearted little white rabbits, nor did they naively think that the southeast would be completely peaceful after reaching a paper trade with Sun Quan.

In the era of the Three Kingdoms' struggle for hegemony, let's not talk about which group is nobler than which.

People who can achieve great things will seize the right opportunity.

Since the Wu-Wei paper trade agreement was reached, both parties started to sharpen their knives behind the scenes while doing business with a smile.

But Luoyang did not expect that Sun Quan would fall out so quickly.

This move aroused the anger of everyone in the Luoyang court, except Cao Rui.

When Cao Rui learned that Sun Quan had sent troops, instead of being angry, he was actually a little happy.

There are two reasons:

1. He had urgently summoned Sima Yi back a year ago and handed over the military system to Sima Yi.

In name, Sima Yi was asked to immediately arrange for the establishment of the Southeast Zhechong Mansion, but in fact, Sima Yi was sent to further mobilize Yangzhou's logistics forces.

When necessary, Sima Yi can be replaced as the governor of Yangzhou at any time.

2. Sun Quan's sending troops northward will inevitably cause panic within the Wei state.

Originally, Wei State was not afraid of Sun Quan. After all, the layout of Yangzhou military towns was mature, with hundreds of miles of strategic depth from Hefei to Shouchun.

From Luoyang to Shouchun, there is a dense river transport network for logistical transportation.

It can be said that the area from Shouchun to Hefei was the result of Cao Wei's many adjustments from the Cao Cao era to the Cao Rui era, forming an impregnable front line of defense for hundreds of miles.

If Sun Quan fought alone, there would be no panic in the Wei state.

Even during Zhuge Liang's fifth Northern Expedition and Sun Quan's three marches north, the Wei state was as stable as an old dog.

But this year is different.

Because Zhuge Liang had established a foothold in Guanzhong, Wei's resources were quickly being forced to move westward.

This situation also has a great impact on people's hearts.

What's more, Li Heng also made high-profile threats to increase troops in Chongqing.

I wish that the loudspeaker could reach the ears of the princes of Luoyang: Now I want to increase the number of hundreds of thousands of troops to press you to the ground and rub you back and forth! Just asking you if you are afraid!

In this case, Sun Quan raised another hundred thousand troops, and the pressure in Wei State instantly exploded!

So why is Cao Rui happy when the pressure becomes unprecedentedly huge?

Because this is the best time to transfer conflicts.

When a huge foreign invasion comes like a mountain collapsing, various internal factions will usually have the following reactions:

1. Keep fighting, the external is external, I will kill you today!

For example, the late Northern Song Dynasty and the late Ming Dynasty.

2. Some people immediately secretly collaborate with the enemy to leave a way out for themselves.

For example, the late Northern Song Dynasty and the late Ming Dynasty.

3. Some big bosses have temporarily put aside their conflicts, suppressed internal opposition, and made full preparations for war.

For example, in the early Tang Dynasty.

The first two situations do not always happen.

The reason why the first two situations occur is because the conflicts in the party struggle have become acute and irreconcilable, and the internal resentment has enveloped most people.

Moreover, he himself has been defeated many times.

At this time, some people will collaborate with the enemy to leave a way out for themselves.

But in this era, no one would be stupid enough to start secretly colluding with Yizhou or Soochow when Cao Wei was attacked on the east and west fronts at the same time.

After all, if you are in the management of the largest company and there is a problem in the company, you will never be stupid enough to immediately jump to an opponent that is much weaker than your own company.

Because you can't be sure how you will be treated after jumping over.

The size of Cao Wei is several times that of Sun Wu and nearly ten times that of Yizhou!

Even if Zhuge Liang established a foothold in Guanzhong and captured Longyou, this still could not shake Cao Wei's status as the largest country in the world.

Even if Zhuge Liang took Luoyang back, Cao Wei would still be the largest country with only Henan, Hebei, and Huainan left.

The reason is simple. Hebei, Henan, and Huainan are the richest places in this era. It has the most dense population, the most abundant resources, and the most food.

The reason why Cao Cao moved to Luoyang in his later years was because he wanted to control Guanzhong, further control Liangzhou, and form a defense against Ji Han.

But don't forget, Cao Cao's hegemony was in Yecheng.

Cao Wei's elite troops also came from Hebei.

As for why Cao Cao established a three-line defense in his later years and stopped taking the initiative to attack?

Yizhou consolidated the advantages of mountains and rivers, and Sun Quan guarded the dangers of the waterways south of the Yangtze River.

The most important thing is that in this era, local families are extremely powerful.

Both the Yizhou family and the Sun Wu family provided a lot of support to Liu Bei and Sun Quan.

After the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao realized that he could not unify by force in his lifetime.

Therefore, Cao Cao established a three-line defense and dragged the Three Kingdoms into an era of protracted war.

After a comprehensive assessment of the population, resources, and economy of the north, Cao Cao believed that within three generations, after Ji Han and Sun Wu internally consumed each other, the north would be able to unify the world.

But Cao Cao did not expect that the north at that time was no longer the north of his Cao family.

Judging from these objective circumstances and historical developments, Cao Rui has very deep cards.

Therefore, he is not in a hurry.

In the next two days, the news that Sun Quan sent troops spread rapidly throughout Cao Wei.

The Wei court immediately divided into two factions:

One faction believed that they should send envoys to see Sun Quan for peace talks and resolve the conflict at the negotiating table.

Sun Quan was fine last year, why did he suddenly go berserk?

It’s not that private businessmen are short-sighted, and they are making money for themselves regardless of the national justice!

Do these people still have Da Wei in their eyes?

Is there still a court?

Don’t you know that the court is very difficult?

If you can't understand the court, just kill them all as national traitors!

One group believes that conflicts with Sun Quan should be fought to the end. Sun Quan is a bully and fears hard work.

For example, the faction headed by Liu Fang believed that they should fight Sun Quan to the death.

Even if necessary, the battle in Guanzhong can be slowed down.

In the next few days, the faction headed by Liu Fang began to turn the military pressure from the Eastern Front into a political issue.

Liu Fang did not know where he got some documents, which revealed that some officials had unclear relationships with Sun Wu. They not only reaped huge profits from the paper trade, but were also involved in reselling Wei's state secrets.

Among them was the Li family in Xiping County, one of the descendants of Li Guang at this time.

It also involves the Zhu family of Pei State.

Within just a few days, Tingwei began to investigate.

This case caused a greater sensation than the arrival of Sun Quan's 100,000 troops in Chaohu.

After being exposed, a large number of officials began to write letters asking the emperor to strictly investigate officials who had contact with Wu during the previous trade with Sun Quan.

This was a weather vane that almost cut off any hope of peace talks with Sun Quan.

However, Cao Rui, a political veteran, did not continue to pursue the case. He just killed the chicken to scare the monkeys.

Through this incident, he not only reached an internal consensus on Sun Quan, but also obtained the tribes and fields of the two families.

Cao Rui seems to have benefited from it.

On the seventh day of March, the order sent by Cao Rui to Shouchun came into Wang Ling's hands: defend actively and seek victory in a stable manner.

(End of this chapter)