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

Chapter 360 People yearn for peace
"The long post asked the wrong question."

Sima Yi slowly shook his head.

"You should ask how to get the rulers and ministers of Shu Han to agree to our demands?"

"I believe the answer lies not in Ye City, not in Luoyang, and certainly not in Chang'an."

"It lies within the world!"

"What is the world? It is the world whose people have long been weary of war!"

At this point, Sima Yi suddenly stood up, walked to the center of the arena, and, in full view of everyone, took out a roll of cloth and threw it to the ground.

The roll of cloth unfurled slightly due to inertia, revealing only about a third of it, yet it was already covered with dense handwriting, with two or three characters in a row.

It is clearly a person's name.

"This is a petition from the people of Ji County requesting that I remain in office."

Sima Yi's words astonished everyone present.

Chen Qun was even more astonished, speechless:

"I never imagined that Zhongda would win the hearts of the people in Youzhou so much?!"

Sima Yi turned around with his hands behind his back and said:

"With your talent, if you came to Youzhou, you might be more popular than I am."

"Shuda is also one." Sima Yi then pointed to his third brother, Sima Fu.

His gaze then swept over his second son, Sima Zhao, passing him directly past the latter's expectant gaze, before pointing to several experienced generals and officials present.

"Please don't think I'm being modest; I truly believe this."

"In all these years in Youzhou, I have only done two things: annihilated the invading barbarians and pacified those who were willing to submit. As a result, the border was peaceful for two or three years, and the people were all grateful."

Everyone was stunned.

Although I don't believe that Sima Yi really "only did two things", I still understand the general principle.

The people of the world have suffered from chaos for far too long!
Although Youzhou was remote, there were few major battles after Emperor Wu of Wei swept across the north.

However, the Han dynasty was free from internal wars, while the border nomadic tribes invaded year after year, causing constant disturbances.

Why?

Because the border nomadic tribes saw that the Central Plains were not yet settled and did not yet possess the power and might of the Han Dynasty, they did not hesitate to raid southwards every year.

This is all the fault of the chaotic times!

"This is where the will of the people lies!"

"This is also why I am willing to return south to meet with you all!"

Sima Yi revealed his true intentions in one sentence.

"We are banding together not to compromise with Chang'an, but to follow the trend of the times and the will of the people, and to force Chang'an to grant land and appoint kings and nobles!"

"If we could bring peace to the world without fighting or with minimal fighting, then which scholar in the world wouldn't eagerly await that?"

"If the hearts of all the people in the world have something to look forward to, even Zhuge Liang and Mi Wei would not dare to go against the tide and greatly disappoint the people's expectations!"

These words caused another uproar among the guests, who began to discuss the matter animatedly.

Clearly, they were all interested.

Even Chen Qun couldn't help but discuss it with the people around him.

Finally, the man said to Sima Yi:

"If Zhongda can accomplish this task, then from now on we will follow your lead without question!"

Hearing his friend make a slight joke about his surname, Sima Yi curled his lips and said:
"This long article really knows how to give me a tough challenge!"

"Very well. Since I was the one who initiated this, I should be the one to complete the most difficult step."

Without saying a word, Chen Qun stood up, bowed deeply, and then left.

Other relatives and friends followed suit upon seeing this.

For a time, Sima Yi, who only held the title of general, seemed to have once again become the hope of the scholars of Ye City.

Sima Zhao was stunned by this scene and admired his father's methods immensely.

He stepped forward eagerly and said:
"I am willing to help you accomplish this task, sir!"

Sima Yi said without turning around:
"Do you know what Chen Changwen is talking about?"

Sima Zhao was taken aback.

He really hadn't thought about it.

But the words had already been spoken, and it was too late to take them back, so he could only bite the bullet and continue:

"No matter what it is, as long as it benefits the family, I will do it even if it means suffering a bloody head!"

"Alright then." Sima Yi turned around, his face full of mockery.

"I've arranged for you to enter the palace tomorrow to meet the Emperor. You should tell His Majesty to follow the will of the people and submit to the Emperor of Shu Han."

"If His Majesty does not respond, then you shall kowtow to the ground and prove your loyalty with your death!"

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and left.

Sima Zhao stood there stunned for a while before realizing that his father was playing a trick on him.

I was filled with shame and indignation. But after calming down and thinking about it...

If I were really to handle this matter myself.

It seems that only desperate measures like "head injury and bloodshed" are left.

I wonder what ingenious plan my father has to break this deadlock?

……

The fifth month of summer in the fifth year of Jianxing.

After a siege lasting nearly two years, Jinyang, the formidable city of Taiyuan Prefecture, was finally captured.

The breakdown here can be divided into two levels.

First, there's the defensive system of walls and moats within Jinyang City itself.

After enduring repeated torment from various means such as stone cannons, fire, trenches, and flooding, it inevitably collapsed.

There's not much to say about this process.

The focus is on the second level.

Before this battle, Liang Xi, the governor of Bingzhou under Cao Wei, had intended to shrink his defensive perimeter to the area around Jinyang, the capital of the prefecture.

Then, while using the fortified city to wear down Zhao Yun's army, they waited for reinforcements from You and Ji to come and relieve the siege.

But only half of this goal has been achieved.

Zhao Yun's northward advance was indeed delayed in Taiyuan for nearly two years.

Meanwhile, reinforcements from other directions were also blocked by Zhao Yun for nearly two years.

So in May of that year, the Wei army in Jinyang, facing a severe shortage of food and external support, finally lost all order and collapsed.

It is said that when Zhao Yun entered the city, the streets were filled with a putrid stench, and there were even scenes of cannibalism.

In short, with the fall of Jinyang City, the other counties, whose foundations had already been eroded by Liang Xi, could no longer hold out on their own.

They all surrendered one after another.

By the end of May, Taiyuan County in Bingzhou, along with the neighboring small county of Xihe, were both incorporated into the territory of the Shu Han.

Even Jiuyuan City, the capital of Xinxing County in the north, quickly surrendered to Zhao Yun after the governor of Yanmen, Qian Zhao, withdrew.

At this point, Bingzhou included Yanmen Commandery in the far north, the northern part of Xinxing Commandery, and half of Shangdang Commandery in the southeast corner.

The remaining counties were all recovered.

Once Bingzhou is completely captured, the Han army will gain an extremely favorable strategic position against the Wei army.

Therefore, Zhao Yun only made a brief reorganization in Jiuyuan before planning to take advantage of the victory and head north to Yanmen to wipe out the remaining enemy forces.

However, before the troops could even set out, they were met with strong opposition from Lu Yu, the governor of Bingzhou.

He even wrote a memorial to Chang'an, stating his reasons for opposing it.

There are two core arguments.

Firstly, the two-year-long battle in Bingzhou, during which Cao Wei employed its traditional scorched-earth policy, severely damaged local production.

This cannot even be described as a situation where everything is in ruins and needs to be rebuilt.

The question remains whether there will be any chance of revival in the next ten years.

This is not Lu Yu's alarmist statement.

Rather, since the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling, Bingzhou, due to its unique geographical location, had been plagued by internal and external wars for many years, resulting in widespread poverty and hardship.

Therefore, during the Huangchu era of Cao Pi, he had no choice but to relocate the Xianbei tribes, such as Budugen, who were willing to submit, to Yanmen and Taiyuan counties to serve as a barrier for the Central Plains.

This expedient measure brought a period of relative peace to the core territory ruled by Cao Wei.

However, it also further destroyed Bingzhou's traditional farming and weaving production system.

In Lu Yu's words, "most people are not dedicated to agriculture" and "their livelihoods are not based on farming."

This is an extremely serious problem for a civilization centered on agriculture.

But this problem remains unsolved.

In the near term, whether Zhao Yun continues his northern expedition or marches eastward into Hebei in the future, he will not be able to obtain supplies locally, hence the saying "the army has no source of funds".

Looking further ahead, if the situation in Bingzhou is allowed to continue in this state of decay, this newly acquired land will sooner or later become a heavy burden for the Shu Han state.

At that time, let alone increasing national strength, it was not even possible to wage war against foreign powers.

It's possible that Guan Luo will have to invest a lot of manpower and resources to suppress bandits and pacify the border.

Just like Liangzhou was to the Later Han Dynasty in the past.

Secondly, there is the issue of purely military gains.

It turns out that although Liang Xi was completely defeated and killed in Jinyang, Qian Zhao of Jiuyuan had taken the initiative to retreat.

Its main force did not suffer significant losses.

Even while retreating, they did not forget to divide their forces to reinforce several important mountain passes in Shang'ai and Leping counties in the east.

That is, Jingxing, one of the Eight Passes of Taihang, is located within Bingzhou.

This means that Zhao Yun will not be able to use this route to leave Hebei in the short term.

(End of this chapter)