[Lightscreen]
[After Sima Yi put down the Xincheng rebellion, he even sent Shen Yi a letter, falsely claiming there would be no punishment.
Shen Yi, foolish enough to believe it, fell for the trick. 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 Province "one hu of Liangzhou grain" and immediately cursed.
"This Meng Da really is just like his father."
The frustration in his voice was obvious.
You had already raised the banner of rebellion, and yet you still trusted a letter from the enemy?
How was that not asking 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, silently telling him to shut up.
He remembered Mi Zifang's fate far too clearly.
Mi Zifang had been one of Lord Liu's old 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 and tried 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 Xiangfan..."
Before finishing, he shook his own head.
"No. Without Jing Province, troops sent from there would be rootless duckweed, floating without support."
Guan Yunchang studied the map in silence, his eyes thoughtful.
A half-formed idea was already brewing in his mind.
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 the Military Advisor in private, something similar could be made.
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 five thousand troops through Ziwu Valley, seize Chang'an within ten days, and then lock down Tong Pass, completely severing the connection between Guanzhong and the eastern regions.
Once that happened, Guanzhong and Liang Province would become a perfect "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 feel 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 three years later, Cao Zhen had the exact same bright idea.
He confidently told Cao Rui: I will march from Chang'an through Ziwu 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 fifteen 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 ten 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 Yide immediately grinned.
"Wenchang, after we settle Zhang Lu, how about we send you through Ziwu Valley?"
Wei Yan's face instantly flushed red, looking almost as red as Guan Yunchang.
Under everyone's gaze, he could only mutter stiffly,
"If ordered, then I shall go."
"Yide, stop talking nonsense."
Zhuge Kongming lightly stepped in.
"This Ziwu Valley stratagem is not necessarily impossible."
Zhang Yide's eyes widened. He looked at the Light Screen, then at Kongming.
"But didn't the Light Screen say that Military Advisor, you..."
"That was Prime Minister Zhuge Liang."
Kongming's tone was light and almost teasing. "I, Military Advisor Zhuge Kongming, happen to think otherwise."
The room instantly went quiet. Even Zhang Yide blinked.
That... actually sounded weirdly convincing.
Kongming 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 High Ancestor Guangwu, and the Marquis of Huaiyin, Han Xin, striking in coordination..."
"The plan to lock Guanzhong may not be impossible after all."
Wei Yan's eyes immediately lit up.
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 Yunchang were still mentally evaluating the feasibility of the plan, Zhang Yide had already slapped his own chest.
"Military Advisor, that fierce general is obviously me. Send me through Ziwu Valley next year."
Wei Yan instantly glared at him.
That was my stratagem.
Zhang Yide chuckled. "What, does Chief Clerk Wei want to lead an army alone already?"
That hit the sore spot exactly.
Wei Yan's face reddened another shade.
Inside, he quietly made up his mind.
If Lord Liu moved to take Yi Province, 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 thirteenth 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 seven hundred and sixty people.
At first glance, that seems minor.
But the Commentary on the Shuijing Zhu 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.]
[Li Shimin: The mines of japan? Naturally they belong to me.]
Zhuge Kongming's expression grew solemn.
His lips pressed tightly together.
The Longzhong Plan had originally drawn heavily from the precedents of the High Ancestor 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 when watching the Hanzhong campaign, seeing the geographical severance laid bare before him still left a sharp unwillingness in his heart.
Jian Yong and Mi Zizhong exchanged glances.
Jian Yong sighed. "Who would have thought this tianchi marsh was tied to the fate of a state."
"And so what?" Kongming's voice remained calm and firm.
The momentary heaviness on his face vanished at once.
"The High Ancestor Guangwu, had the tianchi marsh."
"Our Lord has the grace of the Light Screen."
"The third rise of Han needs no tianchi marsh."
The words landed with force.
Everyone in the room was stirred by it.
Zhang Yide slapped his thigh.
"Exactly."
"Who are we afraid of?"
"Big Brother already has half of Jing Province and a good portion of Yi Province."
"Compared to two years ago when Cao Cao chased us around like stray dogs, things are far better now."
The room fell silent. Kongming slowly turned to look at him.
Yide.
Sometimes silence truly was a virtue.
---
Liu Xuande, however, was more interested in another matter.
"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 Yi Province was rich in minerals, perhaps those resources could be found.
As for Li Shimin, Liu Xuande was even more intrigued.
According to the Light Screen, this was an emperor who surpassed even the High Ancestor.
And his dynasty had even produced a female empress. Liu Bei was dying to ask him how that worked.
Jiang Wan smiled as he carefully recorded every word.
"This Li Shimin certainly sounds domineering."
Guan Yunchang narrowed his eyes in disdain.
"One who usurp 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 Yide burst into laughter.
"Wenchang, why not bow to Kongming instead?"
At the side, Ma Su was practically itching to speak.
Such astonishing revelations.
Such grand strategy.
He badly wanted to comment.
Unfortunately, Ma Jichang 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 Yong and Liang. 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 Yong and Liang. 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!]