The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 253 Jiang Wan's Advice
Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei's eyes widened in disbelief:
"After the city fell, I ordered the spoils to be transported to Dasanguan in batches. Gongyan, please don't misunderstand!"

Jiang Wan's expression remained unchanged:

"What percentage has been transported away?"

Zhang Fei scratched his disheveled, graying hair:

"Forty to fifty percent! Half of the proceeds will go to His Majesty!"

Jiang Wan shook her head and sighed, "This is the general's fault."

"How can a general, who is the commander-in-chief of the three armies, keep half of the spoils for himself?"

"When Your Majesty attacked Liu Zhang in Yizhou, you made a pact before the battle that Your Majesty would not take a single penny of the spoils from the treasury, but would use it all to reward your subordinates. As a result, the soldiers of the three armies fought to the death, and Your Majesty finally gained control of Yizhou."

"After capturing Chengdu, His Majesty kept his promise. Even when the subsequent military supplies were insufficient, he did not regret it. Instead, he consulted Liu Zichu and issued Zhibai coins to replenish the treasury."

"From then on, all the soldiers in Shu trusted His Majesty without a doubt. Thus, they fought for Hanzhong and gained Hanzhong, swallowed Hexi and gained Hexi, cut off Longyou and completely occupied Guanzhong."

"As the saying goes, 'If we do not learn from the past, we can avoid repeating it in the future.' Shouldn't the general take this as a lesson?"

Zhang Fei feared neither heaven nor earth, but he held Liu Bei and Guan Yu in the highest esteem.

Hearing this, he had completely sobered up and hurriedly said:

"That may be true, but in the past I have always divided the spoils equally with His Majesty!"

Jiang Wan stepped forward and loudly pressed for an answer:

"Is a general of the past merely a commander of a small force, the same as the commander of an army of 100,000 today?"

"Or does the general think he lacks the capacity to command the three armies and wants to pass the command position to someone else?"

"If that's the case, Wan will no longer concern herself with this matter and will report the general's intentions to the court."

Zhang Fei was speechless.

It took me a while to realize:

"Has someone complained to Gongyan?"

Jiang Wan countered with a question:

"Why ask a question you already know the answer to, General? I have been serving as a military judge under your command since I came to complain to me every single day."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei couldn't help but mutter a curse.

In the end, he didn't dare to yell at Jiang Wan.

Jiang Wan, however, acted as if she hadn't heard, her voice remaining stern as before:

"If General only wishes to continue being a general, living a life of debauchery, then I will say no more. Tonight I will pack my bags and return to my hometown of Lingling to retire."

"But if the general still has the ambition to restore the Han dynasty, then please hold yourself to the high standards of a commander of the three armies."

"Even if we can't be as utterly ruthless as His Majesty, we should at least maintain a strict system of rewards and punishments, right?"

This time, Zhang Fei readily agreed, rising to bow and saying:
"Gongyan is absolutely right, Fei knows he was wrong!"

"From this day forward, I will abstain from alcohol! I will refrain from being impulsive!"

Then, to show his determination, he stomped on and smashed a ceramic wine jar.

Jiang Wan's eyelids twitched, but thankfully she wasn't frightened.

Zhang Fei then said, "Gongyan, if you have any other suggestions, please speak them!"

Jiang Wan: "There are indeed two more things."

"First, please have the general immediately arrest Zhang Da and Fan Qiang, and then escort them to Shu for trial by the authorities."

"Secondly, General, please immediately dispatch troops from Chencang to Wuzhangyuan to open up the Baoxie Road for Wei Zheng in the north!"

Zhang Fei frowned upon hearing this:
"The second matter is easier to discuss; I had this intention all along."

"Although Zhang and Fan often annoy me, they are still my old subordinates. What crime have they committed?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wan handed a handwritten letter to Zhang Fei.

However, it was not the Mi-style paper that was already widely used in Sichuan, but rather the old-fashioned bamboo slips.

Zhang Fei merely glanced at the inkpad belonging to the Wei official on the bamboo slip, and it already changed color:
"Those two dared to collude with the enemy?"

Jiang Wan shook her head:
"Not just two people."

"To be honest, the general has been whipping the soldiers lately, and Wan deliberately did not stop him. In fact, he wanted to take this opportunity to eliminate enemy spies."

"But to our surprise, we dug up several large fish."

He immediately stepped forward and whispered in his ear.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei turned completely pale, then looked up to the sky and sighed:
"Having served in the military for half my life, only today do I realize the shortcomings in my military command!" He then solemnly bowed to Jiang Wan and said:
"Although it is somewhat impolite to ask this, I am in dire need of a capable official like Gongyan. I wonder if you would be willing to serve as my chief clerk?"

Now it was Jiang Wan's turn to change color.

It's not that I dislike the position.

Although the Chief Clerk of the General of Chariots and Cavalry was a private subordinate of the General's Mansion, he did indeed have a legitimate official rank of one thousand shi (a unit of grain).

It was two ranks higher than his original official position.

At present, Zhang Fei, the General of Chariots and Cavalry, is only second in rank to General Guan Yu and General Ma Chao.

But Guan Yu was far away in Jingzhou, and Ma Chao was far away in Hexi.

In Shu, and right now, Zhang Fei has actually become the number one general before the emperor.

Therefore, it wasn't a loss for me to transfer from the Ministry of Personnel to the General's Mansion.

That's just Zhang Fei's temper... Oh well, His Majesty and the Prime Minister sent him to assist Zhang Fei, isn't it to help him fill in the gaps in his abilities?
Remembering Zhuge Liang's entrustment before his departure, he no longer hesitated and said, "How dare I disobey?"

Zhang Fei laughed loudly, and instinctively reached for a jar of wine to drink it down.

Fortunately, he remembered his earlier promise and awkwardly put it down.

"By the way, Gongyan just ordered me to immediately send troops to Wuzhangyuan?"

"Exactly!" Jiang Wan said, slightly anxious.

"This morning, Zhao Zhenbei sent a letter from Longyou, saying that he received a message from Lu Shuihu of Anding north of Jieting."

"The Hu people say that tens of thousands of Xianbei cavalrymen are heading down the Yellow River from Yanmen and Taiyuan. In another half month, they will be able to cross the Yellow River westward from Puban Ferry and enter the pass, reaching the north of the Wei River!"

“The Wei army has always been vigilant against the Xianbei people and kept them outside the Great Wall. Now they have allowed them to go south to Sili. There must be some collusion between them.”

"If we receive the assistance of tens of thousands of Hu cavalry, our army may not have the advantage in the horse-racing area north of the Wei River!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei's expression became completely solemn.

……

News of the Xianbei knights marching south to Guanzhong reached Nanyang at the end of October.

Mi Wei immediately ran to Wancheng to see Guan Yu.

After some discussion, the father-in-law and son-in-law both agreed that it was no longer realistic to send reinforcements into the pass at this time.

After all, the only way to enter the pass from Nanyang is through the Danshui Pass in the south.

Along the way, the Qinling Mountains rise high and steep on both sides, and Wuguan Pass, one of the four passes of Guanzhong, blocks the way.

The Wei army in Guanzhong had long been on high alert and guarded this area.

Not to mention that according to the original plan for this Northern Expedition, Nanyang only needed to send Guan Ping's troops north to make a feigned attack to distract the enemy and relieve pressure on other directions.

Therefore, Guan Ping was not prepared to launch a forced attack beforehand.

If we only start preparing now, we will inevitably miss the opportunity to enter the pass and intercept the Xianbei people.

Fortunately, Guan Yu's army had already occupied all of Nanyang by this time.

Nanyang is well-connected, with roads leading not only to Guanzhong but also to Luoyang.

Regardless of the main army's passage, there are many small paths in the mountains that lead to the various prefectures of Sili.

So the two men gritted their teeth and decided to send troops directly to Xuchang, thereby forcing Luoyang to be unable to fully support Guanzhong.

Or, if Cao Pi really wanted to defend Guanzhong at all costs, Guan Yu might have been able to take the opportunity to capture Xuchang.

In short, the goal is to seize the initiative in the war as much as possible.

We must never fall into the enemy's rhythm.

On this point, neither Guan Yu, Mi Wei, nor Yang Yi, Liao Hua, nor anyone else disagreed.

The disagreement stemmed from who should be the commander-in-chief.

Guan Yu insisted on personally leading the troops, and asked Mi Wei to take over as garrison commander of Nanyang.

Although Guan Yu was old, his tiger-like might remained.

Apart from Miwei, no one dared to dissuade him.

Miwei can only express his feelings directly:

"My maternal uncle is a high-ranking general, a pillar of the court. I dare to speak frankly, but his life is more important than conquering any number of great cities!"

"As for military affairs, Wei can handle them. Why should my brother-in-law risk his life and put Jingzhou in danger?"

(End of this chapter)