Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

"Xu Yuanzhi is so afraid of fighting, how shameful!"

Man Chong, holding a document in his hand, stood up angrily from the cabinet duty room and pretended to walk towards the study.

After Sima Yi left Xuchang, Cao Rui threw all the documents related to the Secretariat to Man Chong for review first.

Man Chong was serious about his work and always did things personally. He would always go to the Shangshu Office in person to communicate with the corresponding Shangshu in person. He would ask about every detail thoroughly before returning to the palace to report to the emperor.

The ministers were not used to Man Chong's meticulous work style and felt a little annoyed. However, Cao Rui, his superior, was naturally very satisfied with Man Chong's meticulous work attitude, as they had different positions.

Today, Liu Ye came from the Privy Council and brought the latest military report from Xu Shu in Fancheng. After entering the palace, he first went to Man Chong to report something.

In the Privy Council, Liu Ye had always intended to be in charge of military affairs. But after Man Chong returned to Luoyang, he acted in a majestic and arbitrary manner, and Liu Ye actually fell to the level of Wang Guan in the past, letting Man Chong make the final decision on everything.

Seeing Man Chong walking out quickly, Liu Ye followed behind him and said, "Hey, General Man, please don't be anxious, just go slowly."

Man Chong did not answer, but just walked forward.

The two entered the study room one after the other. Cao Rui looked at Man Chong and Liu Ye, asked Lu Yu to wait aside, and asked:
"I heard your footsteps coming quickly. What's going on? What happened?"

Man Chong clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Xu Yuanzhi sent a letter back from Fancheng. This man is cowardly and afraid of fighting. He is unwilling to attack Yukouwu, but he even made a big excuse."

After that, Man Chong stepped forward and handed over the letter in his hand with both hands: "This is Xu Yuanzhi's document, please take a look, Your Majesty."

Cao Rui said nothing, raised his right hand to take it, unfolded the letter, read it carefully twice, folded it and put it in the envelope, and placed it on the pile of documents on the left side of the desk. It was obvious that he had no intention of returning the letter to Man Chong.

"You two should sit down and discuss this matter in detail. There is no need to be too anxious." Cao Rui said, "Liu Qing received the document first, right? You should speak first."

Seeing the emperor mention his name, Liu Ye felt as if he had met a bosom friend. His heart warmed and he stood up:

"Your Majesty, General Ningyuan Xu Yuanzhi received the order from the Privy Council and believes that it is not appropriate to attack Yukouwu at this time."

"There are three reasons."

"First, the imperial army is supporting in Yangzhou and will build a city in Yangzhou to force the Wu army to return. According to the time, the news of Yangzhou should not have reached Sun Quan's camp yet, so Sun Quan is not aware of it, and therefore should have no intention of retreating."

"If we attack by force, the army may suffer too much damage. If something goes wrong, it may affect the battle situation in Xiangfan."

"Secondly, Yukou Wharf was built with its back to the water. As winter approaches, the water level will gradually decrease, and Yukou Wharf will also move further away from the water surface. Yukou Wharf is not like Ruxu, it is located further north. If it is very cold this winter, Yukou Wharf may freeze over."

"When we attack them, we should be able to take advantage of their situation."

"Third, Sun Quan has not retreated yet. We should wait until Sun Quan learns about Yangzhou and is about to retreat but is hesitant, and then attack him to force his will and make him leave quickly."

"So it is not appropriate to attack right now."

Cao Rui sighed softly: "If you follow my words, I feel that Xu Shu's words are correct and in line with the principles of military strategy."

Man Chong, however, interrupted and said, "Your Majesty, I have a different opinion."

"Tell me." Cao Rui nodded slightly.

Man Chong said: "Xu Yuanzhi said so much, in my opinion, it is nothing more than cowardice."

"After lifting the siege of Fancheng, he was afraid that he could not capture Yukouwu, so he talked about the weather and Sun Quan's thoughts. How could Xu Yuanzhi guess what Sun Quan was thinking?"

"How can he know whether Chen Situ of Yangzhou will succeed? How can he be sure that Sun Quan will return? This is just wishful thinking and speculation."

"This..." Cao Rui fell into deep thought for a moment.

Man Chong continued, "Your Majesty, the Xiangfan battlefield is not just Fancheng, but Fancheng, Yukou, Yuliangzhou, and Xiangyang. If we only stop at Fancheng and do not want to attack, then what should we do with Xiangyang, which has been under siege for a month? Should we wait for Sun Quan to retreat?"

"There is still Zhao Dujian in the city, and there are still 10,000 soldiers. The army is separated by a small river called Han, but they are just sitting there defending Fancheng without coming to the rescue. This is to discourage the army's morale. Forgive me for being frank, but what Xu Yuanzhi said is to gamble with the people in Xiangyang City, betting that Sun Quan cannot capture Xiangyang!"

Cao Rui took a breath and asked, "Have the Right General Zhu Gai's army arrived in Fancheng?"

"Already arrived." Liu Ye replied.

Cao Rui asked again: "If we count the military strength, the imperial court's army in Fancheng currently has about 30,000 people?" "That's right." Liu Ye nodded.

Cao Rui then asked, "Has there been any updates on the battle from Chen Situ?"

Liu Ye shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, the news that Xuchang has heard is that Chen Situ led his troops south and Governor Jiang led his people to repair the city. No new news has been received yet."

After that, Liu Ye added: "The matter of Yangzhou is unknown, but I think Chen Situ and his men should be able to handle it smoothly."

Cao Rui nodded, stood up from his seat, walked out with his hands behind his back, stood in the corridor, looked up at the clouds in the sky, and said nothing much.

Man Chong and Liu Ye looked at each other, then stood up and followed, standing on the left and right sides of the emperor.

After Cao Rui was silent for a stick of incense, Liu Ye finally couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, Xu Yuanzhi is in Fancheng and can see things more closely than we can in Xuchang. Perhaps, why not listen to Xu Yuanzhi's advice?"

Cao Rui squinted at Liu Ye and said, "It was you who asked Xu Shu to attack Yukou a few days ago, and it was you who asked me to listen to Xu Shu's words today. Liu Qing, are you going to attack or not?"

Hearing the emperor's question, Liu Ye responded seriously:
"Your Majesty, I said a few days ago that we should attack Yukou. This is based on the overall situation of the Central Government. Removing Yukou will benefit the Great Wei and will not harm it. We should attack it quickly."

"I said today that we should not attack, not because I was moved by Xu Yuanzhi's words in Jingzhou and Yangzhou, but because I heard Xu Yuanzhi's concern about casualties. I am not in Fancheng, and Your Majesty is not in Fancheng either, only Xu Yuanzhi is here. Since he can say this, he must have also assessed the fighting spirit of the Wu army, otherwise he would not dare to speak falsely."

Overall, Liu Ye, who is in charge of the Privy Council, has a very pragmatic attitude and his starting point is to seek truth from facts.

In comparison, Man Chong seemed a little anxious and emotional.

Cao Rui then looked at Man Chong and said, "General Man also heard what Liu Qing said just now. Do you still insist on what you said just now?"

Man Chong bowed and said, "Your Majesty trusts Xu Yuanzhi, and Liu Youjian also trusts Xu Yuanzhi. It's not that I don't trust him, but because although Xu Yuanzhi is familiar with military strategy, he has never led a large army alone before, let alone served as the commander-in-chief of a faction and commanded tens of thousands of people to fight."

"As a counselor giving instructions on military strategy, the perspective and feelings are completely different from being a commander-in-chief commanding the troops personally. With more than 30,000 infantrymen, including 10,000 Wuwei Battalion, in my opinion, they are enough to dominate the area north of the Han River."

"Xu Yuanzhi has his reasons for staying here, and I have my reasons as well. I am just afraid that since he is leading a large army for the first time, he doesn't know how to fight this battle."

Cao Rui remained calm: "General Man, what do you think I should say to Xu Yuanzhi?"

Man Chong said, "Xu Yuanzhi is the commander of Fancheng. I understand why we should trust him. But if Your Majesty trusts him, you should still urge him to do his best. How can you wait for Yangzhou to be relieved just because you are afraid of damaging your troops when you are leading troops in battle?"

"That's good." Man Chong said, "There are many soldiers in Xuchang. I think we should increase their troops to reassure them and let Xu Yuanzhi attack as quickly as possible. It's 600 miles from Xuchang to Fancheng, and it takes ten days to march there. It would be appropriate to order him to launch a general attack ten days later."

Cao Rui nodded, kept silent, and continued to look up at the sky.

As an emperor, one often has to face this kind of dilemma and decision-making process with no correct answer.

Liu Ye is very intelligent, but one of his shortcomings is that he often finds it difficult to stick to his position. He tends to waver due to what he thinks is a more correct result, and seems to be overly cautious in judging the situation.

Man Chong was a man of integrity, and his style of doing things was the same. In his opinion, Yukouwu, north of the Han River, must be taken away, and the Xiangyang defenders must be given confidence, and a strong attack was the right way.

The difference between the two is very clear, and each has his own strengths and weaknesses.

Should he fully trust Xu Shu and believe that Chen Qun's oppression in Yangzhou would force Sun Quan to return, or should he trust Man Chong's decision and order him to attack quickly?
Ultimately you still have to choose one.

Cao Rui turned to look at Liu Ye and said slowly: "If we send troops from Xuchang, which army should we dispatch?"

Since Wei had been winning in recent years, Cao Rui still believed deep down that attacking was better than waiting.

The mentality of winners and losers is different, and the emperor is no exception. After winning once, twice, or three times, he will naturally believe in victory the fourth time.

Cao Rui chose Man Chong's strategy, but asked Liu Ye which army to send.

Liu Ye thought for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the troops near Luoyang right now include 10,000 infantrymen from the Central Army's Xiaowei Battalion, 10,000 cavalrymen from the Central Army's Yulin Left Army, 10,000 cavalrymen from the Central Army's Commander Battalion and the Five Colonel Battalions, 10,000 infantrymen and cavalrymen from Liaodong, and 3,000 Xiongnu light cavalrymen."

"Your Majesty, the distance from Xuchang to Fancheng is 600 miles, and the troops have just returned to Luoyang. Why not let the brave guards who arrived earlier go?"

Cao Rui thought about it and rejected it: "It's not appropriate. What Xu Shu lacks is not infantry. No matter how many infantry he has, they won't be able to make full use of it. Cavalry should be better."

"How about this? I will send Zhong Gong's Central Commander Camp and 3,000 Xiongnu light cavalry to Fancheng. What do you think?" (End of this chapter)