[Lightscreen]
[After Sima Yi crushed the Xincheng rebellion and killed Meng Da, he still had one loose end to deal with.
Shen Yi, the governor of Weixing, had spent years behaving like a local warlord with an official seal. He had repeatedly reported Meng Da's suspicious behavior to the Wei court, and when Meng Da finally rebelled, Shen Yi even cut the road to Shu and prevented reinforcements from reaching him.
But once Meng Da was dead, Shen Yi suddenly realized something rather unpleasant.
If Sima Yi had just destroyed one powerful man for plotting rebellion, what exactly was going to happen to another local official who had been carving his own seals and handing out appointments without proper authorization?
So Shen Yi became suspicious.
Sima Yi, naturally, noticed.
Instead of sending an army to drag him out, Sima Yi sent someone to persuade Shen Yi to come and meet him.
Shen Yi came. He was foolish enough to believe.
That was the mistake. A very big mistake.
Once he arrived, Sima Yi questioned him about his unauthorized appointments and private use of official seals. Then the invitation became an arrest.
The next thing he knew, Sima Yi had him stuffed into a cage and sent straight to Cao Rui. In less than a month, the rebellion was completely crushed.]
Zhang Fei still remembered the mess in Liangzhou, that old saying about 'one hu of Liangzhou grain', and immediately cursed out loud.
"This Meng Da really is just like his father!"
The frustration in his voice was impossible to miss. " You had already raised the banner of rebellion, and yet you still trusted a letter from the enemy? How was that not begging to be skinned alive?
Ma Su could not help lowering his voice in admiration. "This Sima Yi truly deserves to be called a famous general."
Ma Liang shot his younger brother a sharp glare. "Youchang, just shut your mouth. Don't talk too much."
He remembered Mi Zifang's fate far too clearly. Mi Zifang had been one of Lord Liu's oldest followers, a man who had practically emptied his family fortune to help raise the army. If even someone like that could end up ruined, what exactly did the Ma brothers have to rely on?
Huang Zhong narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the map on the Light Screen. Then he slowly voiced a thought.
"If troops had been sent to reinforce Meng Da from the start, and if Xincheng were held... then from there one could march on Xiangyang-Fancheng..."
Before finishing, he shook his own head. "No. Without Jingzhou fully in hand, troops sent there would be rootless duckweed, floating without any support."
Guan Yu stared at the map, his mind turning fast. A half-formed idea was already brewing in his head.
At the same time, he could not help envying this map from the future. It could rotate freely, mark routes, and display terrain with perfect clarity. Compared to this, the painstaking sand table in the County Office suddenly looked laughably clumsy. He wondered whether, if he asked Kongming in private, something similar could be built.
Zhuge Liang, meanwhile, was staring at the name Sima Yi. The Light Screen had mentioned before that he would one day be worn down to death by this very man.
So, the fellow has some skill, does he? Perhaps I should look into those health and longevity techniques the Light Screen mentioned.
[Lightscreen]
[In 227, the Prime Minister gathered troops in Hanzhong. It was in that year that the Prime Minister's office began formally drafting plans for the Northern Expedition.
At that time, Hanzhong Governor Wei Yan proposed the famous Ziwu Valley stratagem.
His plan was simple and bold: lead 5,000 troops through Ziwu Valley, seize Chang'an within 10 days, and then lock down Tong Pass, completely severing the connection between Guanzhong and the eastern regions.
Once that happened, Guanzhong and Liangzhou would become a perfect example close the gate and beat the dog situation. As long as Shu Han steadily reinforced from Hanzhong, taking the region would only be a matter of time.
The Prime Minister's reaction was essentially: that sounds beautiful, but why exactly do you think it would work?
Wei Yan was full of confidence. The Wei forces in Chang'an were lax, and the defending commander Xiahou Mao was a famously useless fool. Taking the city would be easy.
The Prime Minister felt tired just hearing it. Have you even walked Ziwu Valley before?
In truth, the refusal was not just caution. The route itself was brutally difficult.
Only 3 years later, Cao Zhen had the exact same bright idea. He confidently told Cao Rui: I will march from Chang'an through Ziwu Valley Road into Hanzhong. Zhuge villager will never see it coming.
The result? Cao Zhen spent a month on the road and still did not make it halfway. Cao Rui, afraid his own uncle would die somewhere in the valley, had no choice but to order a retreat.
Centuries later, during the late Ming, the rebel Gao Yingxiang tried the same move. After spending 15 days painfully climbing out from Hanzhong, he was greeted by waiting Ming troops. He was sent to Beijing and executed.
As for Li Zicheng, the famous later rebel, he was Gao Yingxiang's nephew, effectively the second-generation Chuang King.
So when Wei Yan said 10 days to Chang'an, that could only be described as a very beautiful plan.]
The map was marked clearly before everyone. At a glance, the route looked absurdly close. Who would have thought the road itself was such a nightmare?
Zhang Fei immediately grinned wide. "Hehehe,..Wenchang, after we settle Zhang Lu, how about we send you through Ziwu Valley first?"
Wei Yan's face instantly flushed bright red, almost as red as Guan Yu's famous complexion. Under everyone's amused stares, he could only mutter stiffly, "If that order, then I shall go, ."
"Yide, stop talking nonsense." Zhuge Liang stepped in lightly.
"This Ziwu Valley stratagem is not necessarily impossible."
Zhang Fei's eyes went wide. He looked at the Light Screen, then back at Zhuge Liang. "But didn't the Light Screen say that Zhuge Liang, you..."
"That was Prime Minister Zhuge Liang." Zhuge Liang's tone was light, almost teasing. "I, strategist Zhuge Kongming, happen to think otherwise."
Everyone in the room froze all at once. Even Zhang Fei blinked a few times. That... actually sounded weirdly convincing.
Zhuge Liang continued calmly. "If our main force advances by Baoxie Road while avoiding the rainy season, with soldiers equipped with leg wraps, charcoal powder, and prepared rations... and if a fierce general leads a detached force through Ziwu Valley... then, by imitating the dual-route strike of the Gaozu and the Marquis of Huaiyin, Han Xin, striking in perfect coordination... the plan to lock down Guanzhong may not be impossible after all."
Wei Yan's eyes immediately lit up like lanterns. He looked like a student who had just been handed the answer key by the examiner himself. He had learned something. A lot, in fact.
While Huang Zhong and Guan Yu were still mentally evaluating the feasibility of the plan, Zhang Fei had already slapped his own chest hard.
"Kongming, that fierce general is obviously me. Send me through Ziwu Valley next year!"
Wei Yan instantly glared at him. Hey, that was my stratagem!
Zhang Fei chuckled, poking the sore spot exactly. "What, does Chief Clerk Wei Wenchang want to lead an army alone already?"
Wei Yan's face reddened another shade. Inside, he quietly made up his mind. If Lord Liu moved to take Yizhou, he had to volunteer. He absolutely could not keep rotting away as a Chief Clerk. If he stayed guarding Jiangyang with Guan Ping much longer, by the time Hanzhong was taken he might still be carrying documents instead of a spear.
That was unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable.
[Lightscreen]
[Before the Northern Expedition officially began, there was another regrettable event that many people already know about: the great Wudu earthquake.
The reason Sichuan experiences frequent earthquakes is complicated. Simply put, it is still caused by plate tectonics movement, more or less similar to Japan.
Crustal movement brings rich mineral deposits. For example, Japan had the famous Iwami Silver Mine, Ginzan Silver Mine, which in the 13th century supplied one-third of the world's silver.
Sichuan's mineral reserves rank first in our nation.
But it also brings disaster.
In 186, the Wudu earthquake caused mountain collapses that killed 760 people. At first glance, that seems minor.
But the Commentary on the Shuijing Zhu noted that Wudu's name originated from the Tianchi marsh to its west. That Tianchi marsh was a natural barrier lake. Its greatest advantage was raising upstream water levels and slowing river flow, making transport much easier.
That was why Liu Bang and Han Xin could launch multiple strikes from Hanzhong. The Han River's water level had once been high enough to keep logistics pressure extremely low.
But the Wudu earthquake changed everything. The lake disappeared. Without it, mountain rivers rushed straight downhill without pause. The connection between Chengdu and Hanzhong was effectively severed. Troops and grain now had to crawl over land. The convenient river transport of the Han founding era was gone forever.]
[Chat Server Log]
[Li Shimin: The mines of Japan? Naturally they belong to me.]
Zhuge Liang's expression grew solemn. His lips pressed tightly together. The Longzhong Plan had originally drawn heavily from the precedents of the Gaozu and Han Xin. But at the time, he had been far away in Nanyang. His understanding of Shu's geography had come from books and secondhand accounts. No one had ever laid out the consequences so clearly before him.
Even though he had already mentally prepared himself while watching the Hanzhong campaign records, seeing the geographical severance laid bare before him still left a sharp feeling of unwillingness in his heart.
Jian Yong and Mi Zhu exchanged glances. Jian Yong sighed. "Who would have thought this Tianchi marsh was tied to the fate of an entire state."
"And so what?" Zhuge Liang's voice remained calm and firm. The momentary heaviness on his face vanished at once.
"Gaozu emperor had the Tianchi marsh. Our Lord has the grace of the Light Screen. The third rise of Han dynasty needs no Tianchi marsh."
The words landed with solid force. Everyone in the room felt stirred by them.
Zhang Fei slapped his thigh hard. "Exactly! Who are we afraid of? Big Brother already has half of Jingzhou and a good portion of Yizhou. Compared to two years ago when Cao Cao chased us around like stray dogs, things are far better now!"
Everyone stopped talking for a beat. Zhuge Liang slowly turned to look at him. Yide. Sometimes not thinking too much truly is a virtue.
Liu Bei, however, was more interested in another matter entirely.
"So Japan truly is rich in minerals?"
His interest was not in silver. Silver could neither fill an empty stomach nor quench thirst. In some ways, it was less useful than Shu brocade. What truly interested him now were coal and iron. If Yizhou was rich in minerals, perhaps those same resources could be found there.
As for Li Shimin, Liu Bei was even more intrigued. According to the Light Screen, this was an emperor who surpassed even the Gaozu. And his dynasty had even produced a female empress. Liu Bei was dying to ask him how that had worked out.
Jiang Wan smiled as he carefully recorded every word. "This Li Shimin certainly sounds domineering."
Guan Yu narrowed his eyes in open disdain. "One who usurped his lord deserves death. My only wish in this life is to lead ships eastward in conquest."
Wei Yan immediately bowed. "I am willing to accompany the General."
Zhang Fei burst into loud laughter. "Wenchang, why not bow to Kongming instead while you're at it?"
At the side, Ma Su was practically itching to speak. Such astonishing revelations. Such grand strategy. He badly wanted to add his own comment. Unfortunately, Ma Liang had already locked onto his wrist with iron fingers. Not a single word was escaping.
[Lightscreen]
[In the spring of 228, the Prime Minister's Northern Expedition army officially set out.
At the beginning of the campaign, the Prime Minister publicly declared to the north: I am taking Mei through Xie Valley.
In reality, the commanders of that route were Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi. Their job was to act as a decoy, tying down the enemy's strength. The Prime Minister personally led the main force to strike the Mount Qi region.
His goal was Longyou, the provinces of Yongzhou and Liangzhou. And there was a massive advantage: the region was practically empty!
When Cao Pi was alive, he appointed Cao Zhen as the Grand General of the West, giving him total control over Yongzhou and Liangzhou. He was the five-star supreme ruler of the region.
But Cao Pi... well, he was never one for logic. After the Battle of Yiling, Sun Quan slapped Cao Pi's face. In a fit of rage, Cao Pi decided to consolidate all his strength to slap back. He recalled Cao Zhen to the capital to help invade Wu. And then... the records just stop.
Maybe they were just good friends, maybe Cao Zhen didn't want to go back to the frontier to eat lamb, or maybe they just weren't afraid of the west anymore since Han Sui and Ma Chao were gone.
Either way, when the Prime Minister attacked, the highest official of the region was still in Luoyang enjoying the high life! It was the best chance the Northern Expedition would ever have!]