Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

At that time, that is, in the seventh year of Taihe, the navies of Wei and Wu were still somewhat similar.

The Wei navy base was in Shouchun, in the middle reaches of the Huai River. If they wanted to go to the sea, they had to go east along the Huai River for hundreds of miles to Huaiyin, where they would make logistical supplies before going to the sea. The Wu Kingdom was not much different. Their fleet went east along the river from Jianye, rather than to Wujin and Piling, which were closest to the sea.

After all, it was still not the era when sea vessels flourished.

After the fleet consisting of twenty warships quickly returned to Shouchun and stayed in Shouchun for only one night, Cao Rui himself boarded a dragon boat at the Huaishui Wharf outside Shouchun City at noon on the next morning, ready to go south with the fleet.

The four cabinet ministers Cao, Dong, Sima and Chen originally wanted to accompany the emperor, but were rejected by Cao Rui on the grounds that the distance was not far. He ordered them to handle daily government affairs in Shouchun and only brought four attendants, four palace attendants and some necessary entourage.

The central commander Guanqiu Jian and the five colonels' camps, each with 5,000 cavalrymen, were stationed on the left and right banks of the Fei River, following on both sides of the dragon boat.

The warships led the way, with the tower ships in the middle and nearly a hundred oil tankers following behind. It was an extremely majestic and magnificent scene.

The dragon boat at this time was different from the overly extravagant dragon boat of Emperor Yang of Sui in later generations. It was just a slightly larger building ship with some dragon-shaped decorations on it, large and small flags of various colors fluttering in the wind, and colorful paintings on the hull. If viewed from the aesthetic point of view of later generations, it would only feel rustic and exaggerated, but this era liked this kind of decoration.

At the end of last year, Cao Rui came to Shouchun from Luoyang, also along the route of Luo River, Yellow River, Caoqu, Wo River and Huai River, and it was not wasteful.

"When the late emperor was watching the troops on the riverside during the Huangchu period, who among you was in front of him?" Cao Rui asked casually as he stood on the top floor of the ship, holding the railing with both hands, admiring the vibrant scenery on both sides of the Fei River.

After a pause, Xu Shu, the attendant, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, in the fifth and sixth years of Huangchu, I was the only one who served the late emperor."

Cao Rui turned around, looked around at everyone, and laughed: "That should be the case. Pei Qing should be the governor of Jingzhou, Lu Qing should be the governor of Hebei, and Wang Qing should be studying at home. Am I right?"

"Your Majesty is well-informed and has a good memory." Pei Qian responded with a bow.

Xu Shu said slowly, "I remember that in August of the fifth year of Huangchu, Emperor Wen set out from Xuchang, passed through the Cai River, Ying River, and Huai River to enter Shouchun, and in September he arrived at Huaiyin, and then passed through the Zhongdu River to reach the north bank of the Yangtze River. At that time, Sun Quan sent people to build a defensive city on the south bank of the Yangtze River, which stretched for hundreds of miles. In addition, there were many Wu ships cruising on the river, and the river was flooded and could not be crossed."

"In October of the sixth year, Emperor Wen led his army to Guangling again. More than 100,000 soldiers lined up on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Sun Quan also went to the south bank to supervise the battle. I heard with my own ears that Emperor Wen said, 'The sky separates the north and the south' when he was looking at the river bank."

Cao Rui said calmly: "I remember this incident. At that time, Jiang Zitong was in front of the late emperor. In the winter, the canal water froze, and it was impossible to enter the river or return to the north. It was all thanks to Jiang Zitong's strategy of digging a canal to release the boats that we were able to bring the boats back."

"Mr. Lu, send someone to the boat behind to call Jiang Ji over."

"As you wish." Lu Yu responded and left.

Not long after, Jiang Ji came by boat. As Lu Yu called out to him urgently, Jiang Ji also walked in a hurry and arrived in front of Cao Rui, panting a little.

The Taihe years were a period of peace and stability for most officials in the court. His Majesty did not like change, and as long as senior officials did not have major problems or needed to be rotated, they could almost always stay in one place.

According to Cao Rui's own theory, all the current contradictions in Wei must be subordinated to the great contradiction that Wu and Shu have not yet been unified. To improve administrative efficiency, if officials are competent, there is no need to replace them, and it is better to make fewer changes. Therefore, Jiang Ji became more and more wealthy in Yangzhou.

Cao Rui looked at Jiang Ji for a few times and said, "Mr. Jiang, when the fleet returns, I will also go to Chaohu to take a look at the shipbuilding factory. Just now, I was talking with the ministers about the two times when the late emperor inspected the troops in Guangling in the fifth and sixth years of Huangchu. I remembered your past achievements, so I sent someone to summon you to my side."

Jiang Ji bowed slightly and said: "My contribution is so insignificant that it is not worth mentioning."

"How can it be a trivial achievement?" Cao Rui said, "Before when I was in Shouchun, I met you a few times during the New Year. You were on tour in various places, and I rarely saw you. This time, you will follow me to Chaohu and Dongxing. I will have time to listen to your thoughts."

"I intend to attack Wu next year. Do you have any plan?"

The year after that, Wu was attacked? The ninth year of Taihe, Wu was attacked? ?

Jiang Ji stood up, his eyes slightly opened instinctively, a hint of surprise flashed between his eyebrows, and he responded with a cupped hand: "Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance. Please allow me to think about it for a while."

"Okay." Cao Rui smiled, then turned around and continued to look at the scenery on both sides of the Fei River.

This was indeed shocking news to Jiang Ji. If Jiang Ji remembered correctly, this was the first time he heard about the attack on Wu after His Majesty arrived in Yangzhou.

When His Majesty came to Shouchun at the end of last year, he only said that he was inspecting the southeast and never discussed military affairs. But from another perspective, if the 50,000 central troops came with the emperor, it would not be surprising if he really wanted to do something. It would be a natural thing.

But if Your Majesty had intended to attack Wu before, then Sima Yi, as a cabinet minister, Sikong, and Shangshu You Pushe, should have also informed him. Your Majesty has been in Yangzhou for more than two months, and Jiang Ji had not heard any rumors before today. So this is the first time he said it today?

Not only Jiang Ji, but also the four ministers were surprised by the emperor's words. However, this was in line with the emperor's character, which always surprised his ministers.

Jiang Ji said slowly: "Your Majesty, attacking Wu is a major event that will affect the entire body. Wu State stretches a thousand miles from west to east, from Yiling and Jiangling in the west to Jianye and Wuhui in the east, all connected by the Yangtze River, and to Jiaozhou in the south. It is deep and vast, with many lands and cities."

"If we want to attack Wu, we must mobilize the whole country of Wei. The power of the southeast corner is not enough."

Cao Rui nodded with a hint of approval: "I agree with that. Wu is also a large country with a radius of thousands of miles. Didn't Yin Fan tell me before that Wu has a total of 180,000 soldiers. Wu and Shu are allies, so they may be able to send some elite troops to reinforce us. During the whole process of conquering Wu, we will have to face the resistance of an army of about 200,000 at least."

Jiang Ji continued, "Your Majesty is right. The Yangtze River stretches a thousand miles from east to west. Although it separates the north and the south, it is also weak inside. If one part is broken, the rest will be difficult to resist. So we should focus on the key points."

Cao Rui asked in return: "Which is more important?"

"Yangzhou is the most important!" Jiang Ji answered calmly.

"Hahahaha." Cao Rui laughed a few times: "Of course, Yangzhou is the most important. When the troops go to war, I will inevitably use Jiang Qing's strength to help me."

"I haven't heard Mr. Jiang's strategy for several years. Tell me, how should the court use the army?"

Jiang Ji clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, the so-called use of troops is nothing more than the two words 'exchange'."

Cao Rui asked: "How do we exchange pieces?"

Jiang Ji said: "Take the world as a chessboard, Wei is mainly for attack, Wu is mainly for defense. Now Wei is using troops along the Yangtze River, only in Xiangyang, Jiangxia, Wancheng, Ruxu, plus the navy that has risen in the past two years, a total of five places. Wherever there are Wu soldiers along the Yangtze River, we must respond with the court's army. This is the exchange of pieces. Use the people of Jingxiang to attack Xiangyang, use the people of Yuzhou to attack Wuchang, and use the people of Yangzhou, Xu, Qing, Yan, Sili and Hebei to attack Jianye. Then the Wu army will be faced with enemies everywhere and be embarrassed everywhere!"

Cao Rui couldn't help but shake his head: "What Mr. Jiang said just now is actually to tie down Wu's troops in various places and then find a place to defeat them. In my opinion, it is just standard."

Jiang Ji said something shocking: "I think we can recruit the strong soldiers from Guanxi to fight in the east. The Shu Kingdom has been weak in its repeated invasions. They are not strong enough. The Wei Kingdom does not need to leave so many soldiers in Guanxi!"

Cao Rui stared at Jiang Ji for a long time, but he didn't rush to refute him, nor did he say anything against him. He then instructed Pei Qian, "Pei Qing, please make a note of this. Later, summon the Privy Council to ask for a recent record of the deployment of troops in Guanxi to see where we can squeeze out some more troops."

"As you wish." Pei Qian responded.

Jiang Ji continued, "I have privately estimated that if we want to attack Wu, we need to mobilize at least 250,000 soldiers to have a chance of victory. Among them, there must be at least 50,000 naval forces and 500 ships. Otherwise, it will be difficult to win in Yangzhou and cross the river!"

"Two hundred and fifty thousand?" Cao Rui repeated calmly, and then said calmly: "I understand, Jiang Qing, please go back to the ship first."

Jiang Ji just felt a little puzzled. Today, the emperor had only asked for half of his advice, and he hadn't even elaborated on some of the details of his ideas, but he was sent back by the emperor.

"I obey your order." Jiang Ji still took the order and left.

After Jiang Ji left, Cao Rui looked at the four attendants who were guarding him and said, "What do you think of Jiang Ji's plan? I am not talking about his idea of ​​sending troops from multiple directions, which is nothing special. I am talking about his idea of ​​200,000 infantry and 50,000 naval forces."

The attendants were silent. Xu Shu glanced around, coughed lightly, and spoke first: "Your Majesty, although Governor Jiang has led troops, he has never actually commanded a battle, so he said such a thing."

"Xu Qing, what do you think is wrong?" Cao Rui asked.

Xu Shu continued, "Although the Wu army has 180,000 soldiers, this is just a figure on paper. It does not mean that the Wu army can really use these soldiers to resist Wei in various places on the south bank of the Yangtze River. In addition to the prefectures and counties along the front line of the river, troops must be sent to guard various places in the interior, the Shanyue in various places must be suppressed, and the barbarians in Jingzhou and Jiaozhou must also be used."

"Although I cannot give an exact number, I estimate that it would be difficult for the Wu army to even put two-thirds of its troops on the front line."

Cao Rui raised his eyebrows: "Xu Qing, are you saying that the Wu army defending along the river only has about 120,000 troops?"

"That's exactly what I meant." Xu Shu bowed.

"We should be generous in estimating the enemy's strength. Even if we use the number of 150,000, I think at least 200,000 soldiers are needed." Pei Qian said at this time: "But 50,000 naval forces is a bit exaggerated." (End of this chapter)