Seeing that Zhuge Liang left the jade ring, Jiang Wei refused to admit defeat:
"Although the jade ring presented by Your Majesty is made of Kunshan jade, the Western Regions where Kunshan is located is already under the jurisdiction of the Western Regions Chief Secretary's Office of the Great Wei."
"Let alone one jade ring, even if there are ten or a hundred, what loss will it have on the wealth of Wei?"
Zhuge Liang stared at Jiang Wei for a moment, then sighed softly, "The messenger, please go. I still have military affairs to attend to. Please don't get in the way here."
Jiang Wei bowed and said, "Goodbye!"
After that, he turned around and left.
……
Another day and a half passed before Jiang Wei returned to Xiabian City.
Cao Rui and his ministers sat in the government hall. He opened the box brought back by Jiang Wei, read it for a few moments, smiled and shook his head, and put down Zhuge Liang's letter:
"Zhuge Liang has nothing to say to me."
Sima Yi asked curiously, "Your Majesty, I wonder what Zhuge Liang wrote in his reply?"
"In addition to some useless words, he also wrote me a passage from the Analects!" Cao Rui chuckled a few times and read it out:
"The Duke of Qi asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied: "The ruler should be a ruler, the minister should be a minister, the father should be a father, and the son should be a son." The Duke said: "Well! If the ruler is not a ruler, the minister is not a minister, the father is not a father, and the son is not a son, even if I have millet, how can I eat it?"
Sima Yi was silent for a few moments, and also sneered: "Zhuge has run out of tricks! He can only say these empty words to fool Your Majesty."
"After losing Longyou this time, how could the Wei Dynasty give him another chance? It's just venting anger with the words of the ancients!"
Cao Rui nodded slightly, then looked at Jiang Wei: "Did Bo Yue gain anything?"
Jiang Wei bowed and replied, "I have two things to say."
"First, the Shu thieves led me blindfolded on horseback to Zhuge Liang's camp. But I know the nature of horses and have some estimate of the distance. It is about 100 to 150 miles."
"Bring the map." Cao Rui waved towards Yang Fu.
Yang Fu stood up to get the map, but he had already started talking: "If it is 100 to 150 miles, it must be in Chiting or Panxiting further south, not in the north. Did Bo Yue change boats?"
"Change once on the way, and once before arriving." Jiang Wei replied.
Yang Fu had already spread out the map in front of the emperor and pointed to Chiting and Panxiting.
Cao Rui raised his eyes and looked at Yang Fu: "Are these two places dangerous?"
Yang Fu thought for a few moments and said, "It's all river valleys and wild lands. There weren't many people there in the past. When the Wei army marched into Hanzhong via Chencang Road, they set up a military station in Chiting."
"Panxi Pavilion is also along the river, but the flat area is much smaller."
"Military station?" Cao Rui said with a smile, "Then it seems to be this Chiting. The mountains are like the sea and the setting sun is like blood. Chiting must be the place where blood is shed."
"Bo Yue just mentioned two things?"
"That's right." Jiang Wei nodded and said, "The second thing is that Zhuge Liang threatened me with my relatives in Ji County who were captured in Hanzhong. He wanted me to tell him when Your Majesty received the military intelligence of Longyou in Luoyang and how many days later he sent troops."
Cao Rui did not ask Jiang Wei about his response to Zhuge Liang.
Since Jiang Wei could tell me, it meant that he was open-minded and had no intention of hiding anything.
Cao Rui just waved his hand gently, and then said: "Since Bo Yue is back, I have a second letter to Zhuge Liang, please write it for me."
Jiang Wei opened his mouth and was stunned for a few moments, but he reacted quickly, skillfully moved the table into the hall, and prepared the writing brush, ink, and silk.
Cao Rui said in a deep voice: "Tell Zhuge Liang that I tried to persuade him last time, but he showed no sympathy for my intentions."
"But even though he was rude to me, I was still magnanimous and prepared to show him a way forward."
Cao Zhen, Sima Yi and the others all looked at the emperor. Last time Zhuge Liang had rejected his attempt to persuade him to surrender, he said "the ruler is the ruler, the minister is the minister". What could he say this time?
Cao Rui said calmly: "There is no blood feud between Wei and Shu. It was Sun Quan of Jiangdong who killed Guan Yu first, took in the rebel general who assassinated Zhang Fei, and then defeated Liu Bei at Yiling, causing his death."
"According to his previous Longzhong Plan, his strategy of controlling Jingzhou and Yizhou was repeatedly blocked by Sun Quan. In public and private terms, Sun Quan's hatred for Shu was much greater than that for Wei."
"The Great Wei is willing to send troops to help the Kingdom of Shu to recover Jingzhou, without taking a single cent, just for the sake of the alliance between the two countries! If he is willing, I will also use Wudu as a filler and send it out together, just for the sake of the alliance between the two countries!"
Cao Zhen said, "Your Majesty, Zhuge Liang is not a fool. How can we trust him? How can the Wei Kingdom help him get Jingzhou back?"
Cao Rui glanced at Cao Zhen and said calmly, "Why not?"
"Let me ask you, is there any difference to Wei whether Jingzhou is in Sun Quan's hands or in Liu Chan's hands? It's nothing more than two dogs fighting over a bone, and they will inevitably weaken each other. What's wrong with that?"
"There are many unpredictable things in the world! Would Zhuge Liang have thought that Sun Quan would kill Guan Yu?"
"This..." Cao Zhen shook his head gently: "It's just to delay the time. Your Majesty, I think it's all right to write something."
Jiang Wei stopped writing and looked at the emperor tentatively.
"That's all. There's nothing more to say." Cao Rui looked at Jiang Wei and said, "When you meet Zhuge Liang, tell him that I have high hopes for him. Don't let me down again!"
"As you wish." Jiang Wei agreed immediately.
It took another three days to go back and forth. When Jiang Wei returned from the Shu army camp again, Zhou Duo's troops, who were the vanguard of Xiahou Xian's army, had just arrived in Dazhong.
That’s right, it took Zhou Duo a full twelve days to complete the 420 miles.
Qinzhou and Yizhou were considered remote states in the whole world, and the junction of Wudu and Yinping counties was even more remote.
The road from Wudu to Wujie exists almost only in the records of Wudu County. It has been many years since a large military force has passed through it.
From the junction of the Xihan River and the Pingluo River, going upstream for a full 200 miles, nearly one-third of the journey is blocked by shrubs and rocks.
Even Zhou Duo, who was eager to return home, had to go back to Xiahou Xianshen and join the group.
They cut down bushes and cleared rocks, built roads through mountains and bridges over rivers, and in this way they passed the 200-li road along the Pingluo River.
It was not until we arrived at Wu Street that we saw a smooth road.
Zhou Duo followed Fei Yao's 4,000 cavalry and galloped towards the northwest direction of Dazhong.
Lu Xun had already occupied Dazhong, but he did not march southward toward Wujie to mobilize his troops. Instead, he stationed his troops in Dazhong.
"General Fei, Jin Ning, why are you two here?" When Lu Xun heard the scouts report that a large group of cavalry was coming under the banner of "Wei", he led his personal guards out to greet them.
After Fei Yao and Lu Xun exchanged a few words, he pointed to the Chief of the Qiang Guard Zhou Duo and said, "Chief of the Qiang Guard Zhou should talk to General Lu."
After Zhou Duo slowly told Lu Xun about the Wei army's entry into Xiabian and Xiahou Xian's troops' arrival at Wujie, Lu Xun sighed and said, "It's not that I don't want to continue southward. First, I didn't wait for your Majesty's reply, and second... I really encountered some troubles in Dangchang and Dazhong."
"What do you mean?" Fei Yao asked curiously.
"What else could it be? It's nothing more than surrender and then rebellion!" Lu Xun said, "After selecting Yang Chao to lead the Di people in Dangchang, I will lead the entire army of 10,000 Qiang cavalry south to Dazhong."
"Although Dang Tan's troops quickly captured Dazhong, I was stationed in Dazhong for only three days. Yang Chao's relatives came south from Dangchang to Dazhong to look for me."
"Just two days after I left, the Yang family members in Baima Di who still remembered Yang Qianwan killed Yang Chao on the charge of collaborating with the enemy."
"I had no choice but to return to Dangchang and kill the new leader. All the members of the Yang clan were executed except for Yang Chao's branch."
"They chose Yang Long, Yang Chao's half-brother, as their leader, and then they returned to Dazhong again."
Lu Xun spread his hands helplessly: "I just rested for a few days and you guys came."
Zhou Duo and Fei Yao had already reported the situation in Wudu and Yinping counties to Lu Xun in full.
After a few more words, Lu Xun sighed: "Although I can organize the army to march south, I am still worried about losing my way back."
"If there is no Wei army stationed in Dazhong, I will never feel at ease. How about General Fei leaving a thousand cavalry in Dazhong? I will also leave the first thousand volunteers I recruited from Xiping County here?"
"One thousand cavalrymen in the center and one thousand Qiang cavalrymen as the rear wing are enough to keep our route intact."
Fei Yaosi paused for a moment, thinking about the emperor's instructions to Xiahou Xian and Lu Xun as the leader, and finally made up his mind and replied: "Since General Lu has such a plan, I will allocate a thousand cavalry!"
"But don't the 1,000 Central Army cavalry and the 1,000 Qiang cavalry have any command over each other?"
Seeing this, Zhou Duo volunteered and said, "General, I can stay here and help manage the affairs of the two camps."
Lu Xun nodded with satisfaction: "Jin Ning, I will leave the 1,000 cavalry in Hetang to you."
"Now that I have the cavalry of General Fei and General Xiahou at my side, there is no need for me to keep the volunteers I recruited in Linqiang as my headquarters to suppress the rest of the Qiang cavalry."
Fei Yao also looked at Zhou Duo: "Zhou Changshi took charge of the situation, and General Xiahou's praise is worthy. I will leave the 1,000 cavalry of Sima He Feng to you!"
"General Lu, when are we leaving?"
Lawrence Lu answered without hesitation: "It's evening now, we will go to Wu Street tomorrow morning!"
"I think your majesty has been confronting the Shu army for some time. We must speed up and help your majesty from the side as soon as possible!"
Fei Yao nodded heavily.
……
Lu Xun and Fei Yao led a total of 9,000 Qiang cavalry and 3,000 central army cavalry and sent them to Wujie early the next morning.
Jiang Wei also rushed back to Xiabian from the Shu army camp for the second time, bringing Zhuge Liang's reply letter.
"Your Majesty, this is Zhuge Liang's reply to your Majesty." Jiang Wei held the letter in both hands and presented it.
Cao Rui opened it and read it for a few moments, then threw the document to Cao Zhen: "General, please take a look at it, and then let the Minister of Works take a look!"
"Zhuge Liang has learned his lesson. I lied to him and he did the same to me."
After reading it, Cao Zhen smiled without saying anything and passed the document to Sima Yi.
Sima Yi read it several times, shook his head and said, "Withdraw troops in batches, Wei and Shu supervise each other? And send hostages to each other?" (End of this chapter)
