Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

"Are you confused?" Zhuge Liang was still furious. He pointed his finger directly at Wei Yan and was so angry that he couldn't speak.

Wei Yan was at a loss as to what to do. He stood there helplessly with his hands folded. He looked at Zhuge Liang and then at Yang Yi. Yang Yi turned his head away with a mocking expression. Jiang Wan also lowered his head and ignored him. Only Fei Yi was a good man and carefully reminded him:

"Wen Chang is indeed confused! Those are His Majesty's imperial guards. If the Prime Minister sends you to bring His Majesty's imperial guards, wouldn't that mean that the Prime Minister has seized His Majesty's military power? Do you want the Prime Minister to be like Wang Mang or Cao Cao? As a minister, you can't do this!"

"Prime Minister! I spoke carelessly. Please punish me!" Wei Yan realized that something was wrong after Fei Yi's reminder, so he quickly bowed down and kept his head down without saying a word.

To be honest, Fei Yi was a little exaggerated, and it was almost like threatening Wei Yan. But Zhuge Liang did not blame Fei Yi at this time, but said earnestly:
"I am commanding troops at the front, and Your Majesty is issuing orders in the rear. Although it is a suggestion for me to withdraw my troops, as a subject, how can I not listen to the advice?"

"As for Wen Chang's words, don't say any more. Duke Wei's words are not the way of a gentleman. It is my fault as the Prime Minister that Your Majesty personally led the army to Baishui to provide support."

After that, Zhuge Liang stood up from behind the table and said with a bleak expression: "One has done everything humanly possible and knows the destiny. The destiny is with Han, not Wei. I look eastward, but I can't see Chang'an."

"Duke Wei." Zhuge Liang mentioned Yang Yi's name.

"I'm here." Yang Yi bowed.

Zhuge Liang said, "I will write a letter to your majesty later. Regarding the three things your majesty said, my only response is to withdraw the troops. You will go back to Baishui with Li Sunde, take my letter with you, and explain the military situation here to your majesty. You can stay in Baishui afterwards and don't need to come back."

Yang Yi was somewhat surprised: "Then what should I say to Your Majesty?"

Zhuge Liang said, "Let's say that I want to lead the army to withdraw slowly and wait for an opportunity to ambush one or two Wei troops. If possible, I want to fight with the Wei army near Wujie. Now it is the end of February, and I will lead the army back to Baishui at the end of March."

Yang Yi thought for a long time, and then whispered: "What if I see someone attacking the Prime Minister? Why not bring back all the captured Wei prisoners and Wei army flags captured on the battlefield to Baishui, so that everyone in the court can see the hardships of the Northern Expedition Army, and hopefully calm down the disturbances."

Zhuge Liang waved his hand and said, "Mr. Wei, go ahead and do it. I'm tired. You guys go do your own things. Mr. Wen, follow me."

"Yes." Wei Yan stood up quickly, and when he saw Zhuge Liang turned and left, he found a chance to express his gratitude to Fei Yi. When Wei Yan and Yang Yi looked at each other, he saw that Yang Yi looked like he deserved a beating, so Wei Yan suddenly raised his fist and hit Yang Yi's face without warning. Yang Yi instinctively tried to dodge but didn't have time to dodge. His eyes widened in horror, but he only found that Wei Yan's fist stopped two inches in front of his face.

"Wei Yan, are you crazy?" Yang Yi yelled and stomped his feet.

Wei Yan, however, imitated Yang Yi's expression with a mocking look, turned around and clasped his fists towards Yang Yi, then turned around and chased after Zhuge Liang. Although Zhuge Liang heard Yang Yi shouting from behind, he never looked back.

He no longer cared about these things.

Once one of the two evenly matched armies retreats, the situation changes rapidly.

Wei Zhen remained as prudent as ever, even too prudent. No matter how Zhuge Liang retreated, Wei Zhen would lead 40,000 troops to stay 15 miles behind Zhuge Liang, which was the number of Qiang soldiers from Qishan in the rear who were recruited here.

Zhuge Liang traveled 50 li per day, and Wei Zhen followed him. Zhuge Liang rested for three days, and Wei Zhen also rested for three days. It was not until Zhuge Liang's army had all retreated to Wujie that Wei Zhen led his army to gradually approach Zhuge Liang's army, making a posture of attacking and provoking him.

According to the geographical location of Wujie, which was like a three-way intersection, Wei Zhen's troops had opened up a small road to communicate with Zhou Duo's troops. Seeing that Wujie was about to be recovered, the number of Wei troops inside and outside Wujie had reached nearly 50,000.

At the same time, Liu Chan, who was in Baishui, sent officials to the front line every day to inquire about the battle situation, without missing a single day.

On March 26, the person who came from Wujie Office was not other officials, but the Prime Minister's Chief Clerk Yang Yi himself.

"Why is Duke Wei here?" Zhuge Liang raised his eyebrows and asked, "Didn't I ask you to stay in Baishui and accompany His Majesty?"

"It was His Majesty who sent me here." Yang Yi explained in a low voice: "Your Majesty and I have been discussing military and political affairs for several days. I already know what Your Majesty thinks."

"What does Your Majesty say? What is your intention this time?" Zhuge Liang looked at Yang Yi.

Yang Yi cupped his hands and replied, "Your Majesty's meaning is that you should ask the Prime Minister to lead the army back to Baishui, and from now on you should temporarily suspend the Northern Expedition and focus on domestic affairs and state affairs. You should focus on enriching the country and strengthening the army, and you should not talk about war lightly."

Zhuge Liang's eyes narrowed instinctively. Just as he was about to frown, Yang Yi hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty has told me that this is the fifth time that the Prime Minister has led a northern expedition during the Jianxing period. Let's not talk about the first, second, and third times for now, let's just talk about the fourth and this time. Although the Prime Minister won every battle, each time there was damage on both sides. Although the royal army suffered only about 60% of the damage of the Wei army, the national strength has still been damaged year after year."

"During the first Northern Expedition, the Prime Minister was able to command 80,000 troops. During the fourth expedition, 40,000 troops were deployed, but last year only 35,000 troops were deployed. It is not a wise move to fight against the State of Wei. Moreover..."

"What's more?" Zhuge Liang asked.

Yang Yi lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, you said that the Prime Minister said in his early Longzhong Plan that the expedition to the north would have to wait until there was a change in the world. Now the political affairs of Wei are stable, the military is strong, and I have never heard of the monarch of Wei being absurd and lazy. This is really inconsistent with the four words 'change in the world'."

"Your Majesty, why don't you take a few more years to recuperate, train your troops, enrich the country and strengthen the army, and wait for changes within Wei before launching a northern expedition? Wouldn't that be better?"

Zhuge Liang sighed again. He had sighed too many times recently. "Did Duke Wei ask Your Majesty, if there is no Northern Expedition, how can the Han Dynasty establish itself in Yizhou? What if people are discouraged?"

Yang Yi replied: "Your Majesty said that with a prime minister in charge of military affairs, people will not be discouraged. The Han Dynasty lasted for 400 years, and the late emperor started his business for decades. Victory or defeat is not determined by a moment, but by the long term. I hope the prime minister will think carefully about this."

Zhuge Liang said: "Your Majesty has already made his own plans for military and political affairs. As a minister, how can I not listen to your Majesty's words and always make my own decisions? Now that we are back to the army, I think it is time for your Majesty to gradually take charge of the government."

Yang Yi asked, "Your Majesty, will you agree?"

Zhuge Liang said: "I will just do my duty as a subject. Don't say anything more." (End of this chapter)