My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 646: Only by hiding defeat as victory can the court be stabilized

"General Huang is too modest. The lord is clear about rewards and punishments. If you win a battle, you should be rewarded. Why should you be so timid?

Besides, the war has just begun. If I don't reward you heavily for your victory today, what will the generals think? How can people's hearts be united?

In ancient times, King Zhao of Yan built the Golden Tower to seek talents, and he started with Kuai. General Huang Lao today is just like Guo Kuai in the past, so you can accept it without any problem! "

In response to Huang Zhong's tears of gratitude and humble refusal, Zhuge Jin's speech was also very tactful.

Just a few words made Huang Zhong feel warm in his heart, and he was able to save face completely. He no longer had to worry about whether his sudden reward and promotion too quickly today would cause jealousy among his colleagues in the future.

This kind of thing was very likely to happen, and it was not Zhuge Jin's aimless battle of wits and courage with the air.

In the original history, Huang Zhong bravely killed Xiahou Yuan in Dingjun Mountain during the Battle of Hanzhong, and Liu Bei promoted him from a general of miscellaneous rank to General of the Western Expedition. After the Battle of Hanzhong ended, Liu Bei was named King of Hanzhong, and Huang Zhong was promoted to General of the Rear, one of the Four Generals.

This incident once caused Guan Yu, who was staying in Jingzhou, to be dissatisfied. Finally, Zhuge Liang wrote a letter to comfort Guan Yu, saying that Huang Zhong "is still not as extraordinary as Huang Ran". Only then did Guan Yu feel happy and said no more.

Today, although Huang Zhong did not rise to the rank of Four Expeditions General all at once, his contribution is not as great as killing Xiahou Yuan in a parallel universe.

He only defeated Yu Jin and killed Shi Huan and Cai Xun, but did not achieve overall victory in the Jingbei Campaign.

More importantly, he had only officially joined the army for over a month, and his rapid promotion would easily cause the old people who had followed Liu Bei for many years to have thoughts.

In this situation, Zhuge Jin cleverly brought up the examples of King Zhao of Yan and Guo Wei.

Reminding everyone to look forward and pay attention to the war that is about to begin, and that it is time to risk their lives, this cleverly resolved everyone's concerns and allowed Huang Zhong to accept it completely calmly.

After all, "awarding medals during wartime" and "rewarding according to merit after the war" follow two different logics.

While the fierce war is still going on, promotions at this time must follow the logic of "whoever fights the best and works the hardest will be promoted the fastest."

Just like before the decisive battle between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, Liu Bang could even appoint kings of different surnames for free. No matter if you are Han Xin, Peng Yue, or Ying Bu, as long as you can help me fight Xiang Yu, I will make you a king.

After a war or a period of phased battles are over, people sit down and discuss rewards and rewards. Only then can they consider mountaintops, factions, and historical contributions.

Only at this time did Liu Bang have the courage to say, "You guys who are armed to the teeth are just meritorious dogs, while people like Xiao He and Zhang Liang are meritorious officials."

As the prime minister, Zhuge Jin is naturally qualified to set the tone.

With just a few words, he switched everyone's expectations of being rewarded for their merits to the mode of "the war is not over yet, everyone still has a chance", which was a piece of cake.

Huang Zhong didn't understand all these twists and turns for a moment, but he just instinctively felt that Situ was very perceptive and clear about rewards and punishments.
Every good deed done by the people below, or every good intention when doing things, can be seen by Situ and reflected in rewards and punishments.

"I can't speak, but I only know that Ma Fubo once said that a general should be strong even when he is old. The war is imminent, and I, an old man, have been offered a huge sum of money in exchange for my bones. I will do my best to serve the people and let the world see that this bone sale is right!"

Huang Zhong's words inspired the other soldiers around him. They were so excited that they planned to make further efforts and accomplish more big things.

Zhuge Jin led everyone back to the city in a cheerful and cheerful manner, and Huang Zhong set up a welcoming banquet to help Zhuge Jin relieve his fatigue.

During the banquet, Zhuge Jin kept on making witty remarks, which boosted everyone's morale and made them eager to make achievements, so there was no need to mention the details.

After the banquet, Huang Zhong couldn't help but ask for instructions on the subsequent combat plan arrangements.

Zhuge Jin did not reveal more for the time being, but just comforted them:

"Old General, please be patient. After this battle, Cao Ren will not dare to act rashly again. In ten days at most, General Guan's reinforcements from Yangzhou will arrive. It will not be too late to consider the next stage of the war then.

In the next few days, you should take a good rest, recover your strength and treat the wounded, and wait for good news from Huo Zhongmiao in the west."

……

On behalf of Liu Bei, Zhuge Jin rewarded Huang Zhong and other meritorious generals, which greatly boosted the morale of Liu Bei's army.

The morale of Liu Bei's army was high and they were eager to fight. It seemed that if only Cao Cao dared to come, they would dare to defeat Cao Cao himself.

Liu Bei was in Yicheng, and he also held banquets for several days to celebrate his success. Whenever he got drunk, he would sigh to the people around him:

"Zi Yu has not been in battle for a long time. I have been thinking of him for these years. He has been obsessed with the strategy of governing the country. In the future, he will reform the Han Dynasty and eliminate the accumulated problems.

Unexpectedly, Ziyu's ability to adapt and master tactics remained the same as it was four or five years ago, and even became more sophisticated. Fortunately, Kong Ming also gained a lot of experience and progress in the three years of pacifying Shu, and was able to stand alone in Guanxi.

They are brothers, really... The world is so big, and the history is so long, it is hard to find ancient people to describe it. "

Liu Bei wanted to come up with some words to describe the fact that the brothers Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang were equally matched and rivals of each other, but due to his limited knowledge, he could not come up with any suitable words, nor could he find any ancient allusions to make an analogy.

Equally matched? They are brothers, okay? You can't use this word like that.

As for the temporary rivals...they are actually rivals.

Liu Bei actually felt a kind of pain similar to that of "the author of The Book of Songs/The Analects of Confucius didn't know how to quote idioms."

People who write scriptures are always lonely, because they are responsible for creating the original idioms for a language and culture.

Every four-character phrase in the Book of Songs has become an idiom for later generations.

The same is true of the Analects.

The new history that the Zhuge brothers have continuously created in recent years can be regarded as benefiting future researchers and creators of Chinese language and literature, and can create countless idioms and allusions for them to quote.

It’s just a pity for people of the same generation who are at a loss for words and have no idioms to use.

……

At the same time, on the other side, in Xiangyang City, the atmosphere was gloomy at this moment.

Some people are happy and some are sad.

Yu Jin retreated back to Xiangyang miserably. He took 47,000 to 8,000 men with him when he went out to fight, but only 15,000 to 16,000 were left when he came back, a full two-thirds of the troops were gone.

More importantly, even for the 15,000 or 6,000 people who escaped, in order to reduce the weight and increase the speed of running, their armor loss rate was very high.

Even if they came back alive, half of them would have to be re-equipped, otherwise they would have to be transferred to become light infantry.

When meeting Cao Ren, Yu Jin felt ashamed.

So before returning to Xiangyang, he took off his armor in advance and did not even dare to put on clothes. He also asked someone to find some thorns on the road and tie them to his back.

After seeing Cao Ren, Yu Jin immediately stepped forward and knelt down to plead guilty:

"I am incompetent. I was defeated miserably by Huang Zhong in Dangyang and lost countless soldiers. I am too ashamed to see the general and the prime minister!"

Cao Ren's face turned pale, and he did not immediately express his intention to pardon Yu Jin, because he was also very strict in military discipline, and he did not know at this moment how Yu Jin had lost.

He must clarify the situation and confirm whether it is "not a war crime" before making a judgment.

So he just snorted coldly: "At the moment when we are facing a powerful enemy, it is time to use people. I hope you can make up for your crime and make meritorious contributions! You can wait for the Prime Minister to decide on the merits and demerits! I will not punish you for now."

Yu Jin felt more and more ashamed and could only nod.

Cao Ren had trained all the soldiers who needed to be trained, and the troops still needed to be appeased, so he allocated some wine and meat to feed the soldiers who had escaped.

As for Yu Jin, he was treated the same as the ordinary soldiers who had returned from the defeat. He was first given some light wine and dried meat to fill his stomach, and then he ate coarse wheat rice mixed with bran and wild vegetables like the soldiers.

After satisfying his hunger, Cao Ren called Yu Jin to the Jingzhou governor's mansion alone and asked him about the details of the defeat.

At first, Cao Ren was full of disdain, thinking that Yu Jin must have fought too badly and did not perform well, or that he was not good at commanding the army. The morale and morale of the troops were unstable before the battle. What kind of person was he?

But after listening to Yu Jin's detailed account, Cao Ren became more and more frightened.

Especially since he had participated in the Battle of Guandu eight years ago, he had personally experienced Cao Cao's most difficult moment. He also knew how Cao Cao risked his life and everything he had, and finally won the fight and destroyed Yuan Shao.

At this moment, Cao Ren couldn't help but sweat when he saw the various changes in the enemy's situation described by Yu Jin. He asked himself if he had been in command at the time, he would have had no chance of escaping Zhuge Jin's plan.

Can I resist taking such a tempting bait? Can I resist stepping into the trap set by Zhuge Jin?

How much of this is determined by the performance before the battle?
And how many of them were already destined before the fighting even started, when the decision was made to send troops to rob food/burn granaries?

After some reflection, Cao Ren could only sigh, thinking that he could not escape these plots.

When reviewing the situation, he specially sought out Jia Xu, hoping to discuss it with him.

On the one hand, it was to seek some psychological comfort, and on the other hand, it was also to confirm whether it was possible to avoid this great defeat through Yu Jin's on-the-spot performance.

After listening to Yu Jin's retelling of Huang Zhong's deployment strategy and Zhuge Jin's vicious plan to lure the enemy, Jia Xu couldn't help but gasp.

"Hiss... Huang Zhong's deployment is so vicious... So, he actually catered to the thinking habits of our generals step by step, and targeted them... This is simply unbelievable!"

Jia Xu is an expert, and what he is best at is taking advantage of the enemy's habitual thinking and mentality to do things in a targeted manner.

Therefore, in the entire Cao Cao camp, apart from Cao Cao himself, it is probably only Jia Xu who can best see the deepest and most malicious intentions hidden in Zhuge Jin's deployment.

Jia Xu could not come up with the later psychological terminology of "taking advantage of the enemy's path dependence and making targeted calculations".
But he could fully understand Zhuge Jin's logic behind doing this, as well as how Zhuge Jin's original thinking path was deduced through reverse thinking.

Laymen watch the excitement, experts watch the doorway. After being explained by Jia Xu, a manipulator of human hearts, Cao Ren finally understood how sinister Zhuge Jin was. His inner criticism of Yu Jin was temporarily transformed into pity.

"Wen Ze is also a pitiful man. He is facing such a dangerous situation. If I were to go, or even if I took Jia Wenhe with me, I would probably not be able to escape... How despicable! How could there be such a fickle person as Zhuge Jin in the world? Didn't the world say that he was a great scholar of the time, good at discussing the rise and fall of virtues and fortunes, and even Your Majesty praised him? They also said that he was good at mechanical engineering, agriculture, medicine, and astrology, and knew everything. They also said that he was the best in the world in terms of military strategy, governance, personnel training, and military tactics...

Now, he has even thought of using the enemy's past successful experience to defeat them. What else can he not do?"

Cao Ren certainly knew that Zhuge Jin was good at using troops, and was very good at military tactics and deployment. But they did not know until the first day that Zhuge Jin was also so good at this kind of calculation that specifically targeted human weaknesses.

It seems that Zhuge Zhizhi's puzzle has been filled with another piece of the puzzle.

Of course, at that moment, Cao Ren obviously overestimated his evaluation of Zhuge Jin a little, but there was nothing he could do about it - because, Jia Xu, whom he invited to help him analyze the value of Zhuge's plans, had now become a Zhuge fan.

Jia Xu knew very well that if he did not describe Zhuge Jin's strategy as powerful and extraordinary,

So, he didn't see the problem, failed to remind Cao Ren and Yu Jin, and ultimately led to Yu Jin's defeat. What responsibility should he, as a strategist, bear?
Only by praising the enemy's strategy as rare in heaven and unique on earth can one cover up one's own problems.

"It's not that I have no strategy, but that Zhuge is too cunning."

All this led to the fact that everyone in Cao Cao's camp had to exaggerate Zhuge Jin's unstoppable conspiracy in order to cover up their own incompetence.

……

The day after Cao Ren reviewed the situation, all of this was transmitted from Xiangyang to Wancheng via express messengers.

Cao Cao had just learned the details of Yu Jin's disastrous defeat and how much loss his side had suffered.

At the beginning, Cao Cao was also shocked and confused, mixed with resentment and anger.

However, the details in Cao Ren's battle report were written very clearly, and Jia Xu helped him polish it.

Therefore, Cao Cao could fully feel how cunning the enemy was, and he quickly felt relieved and did not want to blame the front-line generals anymore.

Cao Cao was, after all, a cunning and treacherous man. After his initial anger, he calmed down and sneered:
"When did Zhuge Jin become so far-sighted? In order to cover up his own stupidity, has Jia Wenhe begun to deliberately emphasize the enemy's cunning?"

Hearing Cao Cao's laughter, Sima Yi and Guo Jia, who had forced himself to attend the military meeting despite his illness, were both a little puzzled.

Guo Jia had not yet read Cao Ren's battle report. He was just worried that the prime minister's words would undermine internal unity, so he kindly advised:

"Why do you say that, Prime Minister? Zhuge's plan is known to the world. Doctor Jia can't see through it, so there's nothing we can do..."

Cao Cao waved his hands in self-mockery: "I don't blame him, I just saw through his intention to take credit for others' achievements. Even if he didn't brag about the enemy like this, would I punish them?

Zhuge Jin's strategy this time was indeed hard to guard against. If I were to ask myself, I myself did not see through it. When Zixiao sent someone to ask for instructions, I also wondered if God was helping me and could recreate the Guandu story and turn the tide.

Haha, now it seems that all these hopes were deliberately given to us by Zhuge Jin as part of his seduction. It’s not unfair that he lost!"

After making fun of himself, Cao Cao couldn't help but be stunned for a long time. After all, more than 30,000 troops just disappeared. He could understand it, but he still felt sad.

The more Cao Cao thought about it, the more depressed he became. He couldn't help but slam the table, and tried to find another excuse to vent his anger.

Sima Yi and Guo Jia were also worried when they saw this. They both saw a hint of dejection in the Prime Minister's gaffe, which was not a good thing.

Sima Yi was still of low status and could not leave Cao Cao to assist in military affairs, so he had nothing to say at this time.

Although Guo Jia was seriously ill, he had been with Cao Cao for a long time and had a lot of experience. He was keenly aware that the prime minister was somewhat disappointed with Jia Xu.

If the military affairs of the front line were still fully entrusted to Jia Xu, Guo Jia was worried that the prime minister would not be able to resist taking over the duties and directly commanding, which would easily lead the generals on the front line to feel that they were no longer trusted by the prime minister.

The war is about to escalate. It would not be a good thing if the generals did not know their soldiers and the soldiers did not know their generals.

Thinking of this, Guo Jia seemed to have an epiphany, and he volunteered:

"Don't worry, Prime Minister! Victory and defeat are common in the military. Although General Yu lost 30,000 soldiers this time, it was a temporary mistake. As long as we use our troops prudently in the future and don't advance rashly, and keep the situation stable, there will definitely be changes!

During the Battle of Guandu, the Prime Minister and Yuan Shao fought for more than a year, but in the end, they still waited for the change. What we need to do now is to wait for the opportunity.

Liu Bei had just won a victory, so he must be feeling arrogant. After Guan Yu's Yangzhou troops arrived to support him, Liu Bei might launch a counterattack in advance and attack Xiangyang and the Xianshan stronghold.

Our army is still stronger than Liu Bei in total strength, and we have strong cities such as Xiangyang and Fancheng to rely on, and the Xianshan stronghold is in a three-way battle. Using the strong to defend the weak and fight to consume troops, how can we still be defeated by Liu Bei?
I am willing to go to Fancheng to assist Xu Gongming in defending Hanbei. In this way, even if Liu Bei relies on Guan Yu to use his superior navy to forcibly assist Xiang and Fan, with Doctor Jia in Xiangyang and me in Fancheng, I will be able to ensure that the army's morale is stable, act according to the situation, and eventually wear down Liu Bei!

When Liu Bei's army is exhausted and their offensive is exhausted, it will be time for the Prime Minister to counterattack!"

After listening to Guo Jia's advice, Cao Cao felt a little better.

He also realized that the root cause of his previous defeat was that he was too impatient.

Zhuge Jin exposed a flaw, letting Cao's army see that "before Guan Yu's reinforcements arrived, Cao's army had the opportunity to use the time difference to concentrate superior forces." Then Cao's army became anxious and reluctant to give up this advantage, and insisted on making full use of it, but ended up falling into a trap.

Now, we must not be impatient any longer. As long as we remain unmoved no matter what flaws the other party shows us, we will not fall into their trap.

Cao Cao's method of deploying troops surprisingly had some of the mentality of Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang in history when his grandson was in power.

In history, Sima Yi was not the one who was brave enough to fight at the beginning, but was beaten badly by Zhuge Liang in the end, so he just retreated and avoided the battle. Anyway, he just dragged out time with Zhuge Liang until Zhuge Liang could not survive.

Today's Cao Cao suffered a great loss at the hands of Zhuge Liang in Hanzhong the year before last, and just after arriving in Jingbei this year, he suffered a great loss again at the hands of Zhuge Jin.

Any one of these two brothers could knock out several of Cao Cao's teeth immediately, leaving him with a complete psychological trauma.

However, shadows are shadows, and the idea of being determined to hold on and wait for changes, and to use a strong city to consume Liu Bei's energy, is not wrong.

But Cao Cao still respected wise men and was very concerned about Guo Jia, his friend for many years.

Guo Jia volunteered, and he still worriedly asked:

"Feng Xiao, you are so weak, how can you go to the front line of Fancheng? What if the city is surrounded in the future and something goes wrong..."

Guo Jia, however, seemed to have a last ray of light, and he tried to cheer himself up and said: "A real man should devote himself to military affairs. Even if he dies in a national disaster, it is a blessing! My sick body will not be good for me to stay in Wancheng.

If I can go to the frontline to make achievements, maybe I can relieve the depression in my heart and get better. Besides, when I go to Fancheng, I will definitely bring enough medicinal materials and doctors, so the Prime Minister does not need to worry! "

Seeing that Guo Jia had said this, Cao Cao did not try to stop him.

He just asked the garrison in Wancheng to send another team to follow Guo Jia south to Fancheng.

Guo Jia was in poor health, so after asking for his life that day and discussing all the military matters, he asked to go back and rest. He would set out south the next day.

Cao Cao did not keep him, but personally escorted him out of the hall, watching Guo Jia being carried on a sedan chair and sent out of the mansion. Cao Cao felt mixed emotions, tears welling up in his eyes.

After watching Guo Jia leave, Cao Cao sighed, and turned around to see Sima Yi still standing there, neither humble nor arrogant, with no intention of leaving.

Cao Cao looked Sima Yi up and down and asked softly, "Does Zhongda have anything else to teach me?"

Sima Yi did not dare to be arrogant. He just bowed to Cao Cao solemnly again, and then reminded him calmly and quietly:
"Prime Minister, I have something else to say, but I don't know whether I should say it or not."

Cao Cao sneered, thinking that the other party was asking knowingly: "Go ahead!"

Sima Yi then carefully advised: "General Yu Jin suffered a disastrous defeat and lost tens of thousands of troops. This is already a major blow to the military.

But my subordinates are worried that what is more terrifying is that the impact of this incident on the prestige of the court will be greater than the military.

Prime Minister, do you still remember that during the Battle of Hanzhong, General Xiahou died at the hands of Zhang Fei, and the imperial army in Hanzhong was almost destroyed. The news spread back to Xudu, Yecheng and other places, causing many people to feel...unstable.

The prime minister spent a year or two to gradually pacify the various regions, destroy their chieftains, and subdue the rest. If Liu Bei had not been busy annexing Liu Zhang and recovering Yizhou in those two years, I am afraid that the instability within the court would have been taken advantage of by Liu Bei. "

When Sima Yi said this, Cao Cao's eyebrows twitched involuntarily.

Of course he knew the past events that Sima Yi mentioned.

Historically, during the years when Cao Cao was in charge of the court in Xu Du, whenever Cao's army suffered a military defeat on the front line, Cao Cao's prestige in the court would be shaken, and many officials who opposed him would emerge.

Once Cao's army wins on the front line, Cao Cao's prestige will rise and he will be able to suppress many voices of opposition.

Therefore, in history, Cao Cao's later military operations were actually rarely about expanding territory. As long as he won in name, he would immediately find an excuse to promote himself.

Historically, Cao Cao completed the three steps of preparation for usurping the Han Dynasty, namely, conferring the title of Duke of Wei and adding the nine gifts, and conferring the title of King of Wei, through the three major expeditions of conquering Ma Han, conquering Sun Quan in Hefei, and conquering Zhang Lu.

But among them, only the conquest of Zhang Lu actually controlled new territory. The conquest of Ma Han was just to suppress the rebellion, and the conquest of Sun Quan did not expand the territory, but only made Sun Quan surrender in name.

It can be seen that in history, Cao Cao did not need to expand the territory under the actual control of the imperial court through war. As long as he won in name only and combined with certain operations, he could also be promoted.

Sima Yi's words at this time were obviously a reminder to him: Compared with the military issues on the front line, more attention should be paid to the stability of the rear, and some means should be used to eliminate dissidents and stabilize the basic situation.

Otherwise, if the news of Yu Jin's defeat spread, the situation would become even more troublesome as the country was caught in internal and external difficulties.

After some consideration, Cao Cao had to admit that Sima Zhongda was indeed very insightful in this regard.

This problem really needs to be prevented.

However, since we have already suffered a military defeat, how can we conceal the defeat by turning it into a victory?

Cao Cao's eyes revealed a hint of sternness, and he asked calmly: "Zhongda, do you have any advice on this matter?"

(End of this chapter)