My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 690: Putting back your fist is to make your next punch more powerful
After Cao Cao proposed the idea of moving the capital, the two Xuns, Mao Jie, the Sima brothers and other civil officials and staff quickly started a discussion.

Everyone quickly reached a consensus on whether or not to prepare a plan for relocating the capital, but the only disagreement was on the specific operation and urgency.

After Cao Cao listened to everyone expressing their opinions and confirmed that no one objected, he also felt that such a discussion was too chaotic.

So he broke the problem down himself and asked everyone to discuss it point by point.

"Since everyone has no objection to this matter, let's discuss the destination of the capital first. If the capital is moved, where should our Han Dynasty move to? The rest of the details can be discussed later."

Cao Cao raised a key and specific question, which brought everyone back to the focus of the discussion.

Several aides pondered for a while, but Xun Yu was still hesitant.

Sima Yi, who has risen rapidly recently, took the initiative to jump out and offer suggestions:
“Prime Minister, I think that for the sake of military stability and long-term peace, it would be better to persuade Your Majesty to move the capital to Chang’an.

Chang'an is dangerous because of the Guanhe River and is far away from Nanyang. Even if Liu Bei comes with great force, he will not be able to threaten Chang'an for at least a few years."

As soon as Sima Yi said this, Xun Yu frowned subconsciously, but did not scold him directly.

However, Sima Yi's elder brother Sima Lang was shocked. If Cao Cao hadn't been sitting there, Sima Lang would have spoken out to dissuade his younger brother.

"What happened to my second brother? He was originally indifferent to fame and fortune, and he would act after careful consideration. He also had no strong desire for credit. How come he has changed so much in just half a year after following the Prime Minister to Wancheng? At this time, how could he talk nonsense about important matters without going through Lord Xun?" Sima Lang pondered in his heart, very puzzled.

Fortunately, Cao Cao didn't mind at all. He stared at Sima Yi meaningfully, then looked at Xun Yu, Mao Jie and others, then cleared his throat with a light cough:

"What do you think of this argument?"

After Xun Yu was called, he had to speak. He originally didn't want to refute others first, but since Cao Cao asked him, he could only refute first and then establish.

"All of you present here are pillars of the court and loyal to the prime minister. Your words and strategies are all for the country. The prime minister has been open to all opinions, and I am not willing to comment on other people's strategies.

But... what Zhongda just said really reminded me of something in the past."

Cao Cao cooperated with great interest: "What's the matter?"

Xun Yu: "...when the Prime Minister went to Xingyang and Chenggao to fight against Dong Zhuo, Li Ru advised Dong Zhuo to move the capital to Chang'an."

Cao Cao did not show any surprise when he heard this answer, but smiled confidently: "How can I be compared with the thief Dong!"

Xun Yu bowed his head hastily: "Of course I don't mean that, but I thought that when the emperor was still a young child, he was forced by traitors to move the capital to Chang'an.

At the age of fourteen, he gradually understood the ways of the world and made his own decision. He returned to the east despite all the hardships. He was on the road for two years and returned to Luoyang at the age of sixteen.

Moreover, Dong Zhuo forcibly abducted the emperor and was eventually punished, and Li Jue and Guo Si who followed him were also punished by heaven. It can be seen how unpopular their rebellious actions were.
Although Guanzhong has recovered a little, it has only been peaceful for six or seven years. The quarrel between Ma Teng and Ma Chao also consumed a year. The population is dwindling and the fields are barren. It is really not suitable to be the capital of the country! Please let the Prime Minister take a look!

In contrast, Luoyang was once covered with thorns and the fields were barren. It had only been six or seven years since the Battle of Guandu, but Luoyang was the place where the emperor had once intended to return.

In the first year of Jian'an, the prime minister advised the emperor to move to Xudu. The reason was not to abandon the old capital, but because Luoyang was desolate and lacked people to farm, and the transportation of grain and fodder could not be sustained. Xudu was close to Luyang and had abundant grain and fodder.

Now that Luoyang has recovered after six or seven years, there is no problem in supporting the emperor and the court officials. If the prime minister can ensure the temporary separation of military and political affairs, use Luoyang to support the court, and use Xudu to support the army and resist Liu Bei's northward advance, then great things will surely be achieved. "

Xun Yu sincerely expressed his concerns. His main concern was still focused on political status, and he did not talk much about the pros and cons of military affairs.

Xun Yu was a politician after all, and what he valued most was not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessors. Especially moving the capital to Chang'an, which Dong Zhuo had done before, was a move that he was worried about for the sake of military security. He was worried that Cao Cao's reputation as a traitor would be further exacerbated.

How would the people of the world view the imperial court at that time? Wouldn't Liu Bei have more excuses to rebel? This would be like handing the handle of a knife to the enemy.

Cao Cao's vision and perspective were, of course, the highest among all those present. Through his simple observation just now, he had clearly understood that Wen Ruo was more concerned with settling political accounts, while Zhong Da seemed to still be focusing on military interests, and his considerations were still somewhat biased.

"It seems that the people of the Sima family really don't pay much attention to the study of stabilizing people's hearts. Look at Zhongda, he was sensible and knew when to advance and retreat. Now it seems that he was just an accidental success, just saw through the factions in the court, and wanted to show his loyalty and become a lone minister?"

Cao Cao couldn't help but think so.

After all, Sima Yi had also made contributions when he advised him to "take advantage of the victory to be granted the title of Duke and stop while the going is good". In that matter, Sima Yi's political decision was right. It was through that operation that Cao Cao gained a new understanding of the comprehensiveness of Sima Yi's talents.

But now it seems that although Sima Yi's conclusion was correct, the process may have been guessed. It is also possible that Sima Yi has seen through the so-called "court respectability" is worthless nowadays, and the status in the court is not important. The most important thing is the trust and reuse of the prime minister himself.

Therefore, he made a choice and made every effort to promote the interests of the prime minister in exchange for trust and reuse.

If we have to find an example to make an analogy, his image in Cao Cao's mind is a bit like Zhang Song and Fa Zheng on Liu Bei's side. They are all willing to do whatever it takes for the benefit of their lord and offend people and become lone ministers.

However, these are not important for the time being. Cao Cao just wants to observe the personalities of these people and improve his understanding of the character of his staff.

After Cao Cao figured it out, he quickly took over the conversation and asked Xun Yu, "So, Wen Ruo doesn't even need to find another excuse to suggest moving back to Luoyang. Just say that Luoyang had no food back then, but now it has food after a few years of recuperation. The emperor can go back if he wants, and Xudu is just a temporary residence where Your Majesty has condescended to stay for thirteen years."

Xun Yu quickly declined, "The Prime Minister has served Your Majesty diligently over the years, so how can you say that you are condescending to me?"

Cao Cao waved his hand indifferently: "Alright, no need to explain. From the perspective of the righteousness of the government, what Wen Ruo said makes sense. But the military advantages and disadvantages analyzed by Zhongda just now cannot be ignored. Why don't Wen Ruo think about this issue carefully?"

Xun Yu thought about it and decisively defended his point of view: "Militarily, moving to Chang'an is indeed easier to defend than moving back to Luoyang. But the advantages of Luoyang should not be underestimated. Dong Zhuo had to give up Luoyang because of the situation.

At that time, Yuan Shao, the Prime Minister, and most of the other princes were in Xingyang, and they had already pressed their troops against Hulao, the eastern gate of Luoyang. Sun Jian, the general who was responsible for suppressing the rebellion, had originally conquered Wancheng, Luyang, and Yangcheng. He threatened the three passes south of Luoyang, namely Huanyuan, Taigu, and Yique.

Wang Kuang, the governor of Henei, used the counties under his jurisdiction to fight against Dong. Henei and Luoyang were separated by the Yellow River. After crossing the river and taking Mengjin Ferry, the army fighting against Dong could enter the Yiluo Plain. Therefore, Dong was facing heavy pressure from the east, south and north.

The Prime Minister is now facing only heavy pressure from the south, so why worry about whether the three passes of Huanyuan, Taigu and Yique are strong enough?"

Xun Yu's words were still not enough to completely reverse the fact that "Chang'an is militarily safer than Luoyang."

But it is also a realistic analysis and proof that "under the current circumstances, although Luoyang is slightly less safe than Chang'an, it is not a big problem."

Moreover, Luoyang was indeed much safer than Xudu militarily, because although there was Tongbai Mountain between Xudu and Wancheng, it was similar to the Funiu Mountain between Luoyang and Wancheng. However, the gap of Tongbai Mountain, Fangcheng, was far less solid than the three passes of Huanyuan on Funiu Mountain.

There is a relatively easy road between Xudu and Runan. If Liu Bei's army attacks Xudu from Wancheng and Runan in the future, one to the northwest and the other to the northeast, it will be dangerous. Luoyang cannot be attacked by Liu Bei now.

In this way, although there is a slight disadvantage in military points, a lot of political points can be gained. After comprehensive consideration, it is definitely safer to move back to Luoyang first.

After listening to this, Cao Cao combined the opinions of several other aides and finally made the official decision: he decided to go to Luoyang.

After deciding on the general direction of "where to go", the remaining topics are how to go, what reasons to find, and when to go. And in what Xun Yu said just now, he actually mentioned the reasons and excuses. That is, Luoyang was originally the capital, the emperor wanted to return to Luoyang, and it was only because of a temporary shortage of food that he had to move to a nearby grain-producing area.

Therefore, a few people just discussed and polished this statement a little bit, and then passed it.

Finally, there is the specific time and method of implementation.

The migration would require the migration of a large number of people and military supplies. Even if the local people did not need to move for the time being, the court officials, their families and servants, as well as the emperor's harem and eunuchs, would account for at least tens of thousands of people, or even hundreds of thousands.

So after some demarcation, Cao Cao decided that the people and the garrison should not be moved for the time being, and even if the capital was moved in the future, they would still mainly remain in Xu County - unless Liu Bei's army really wanted to continue advancing northward and approached the three passes of Luonan, and there was an actual need for combat, then more troops would be transferred there in advance.

This is also to prevent the grain reserves in the Yiluo Plain from being consumed quickly and increase the loss of their own materials transportation. After all, the grain in Xudu has been stored for so many years, and the accumulation is huge, and it will be very troublesome to transfer it.

The best way is to start from this year, after the summer and autumn grains are harvested, the annual revenue of the court will no longer be transferred to Xudu, but to Luoyang and other places. And Xudu will slowly eat up the stock to reduce the trouble.

As for the transportation method for relocating the capital, the water transportation around Xudu is still well developed. If you want to go to Luoyang, you can try to take the Ru and Yingshui roads, and then use a section of the Yellow River waterway.

There is nothing much to elaborate on the details of this matter, because the area of Xu and Luo is roughly equivalent to the land of Han and Wei in the ancient Warring States Period. As early as the Warring States Period, the people of Wei built a canal system including the Honggou to connect the rivers in eastern Henan. It only needs to turn around at the last section of the Yellow River at Mengjin, Luoyang, which is not a big problem.

However, the transportation of personnel and supplies from Xudu to Luoyang was relatively easy to solve, but withdrawing personnel and supplies from Wancheng to Luoyang or Xudu was more troublesome.

After all, the reason why Luoyang and Xudu could easily resist the threat from Wancheng was because of the natural barriers of Funiu Mountain and Tongbai Mountain. Since there were such dangerous mountains blocking the way, water transportation would definitely not exist. If Wancheng wanted to be evacuated, many things would have to be transported over the mountains.

The loss in land transportation is at least twenty times that of water transportation, so we need to coordinate as carefully as possible and avoid detours as much as possible.

Considering that Wancheng might be lost in the future, Cao Cao must of course plan how to gradually evacuate the population around Wancheng in the future.

Dong Zhuo had done the same thing in the past. When he moved the capital to Chang'an, he drove away all the people in Luoyang.

However, Dong Zhuo was too cruel and ruthless. According to statistics, of the nearly two million people in the Yiluo Plain at that time, only 800,000 to 900,000 people made it to Guanzhong alive, and an estimated 60% died or fled.

Cao Cao was relatively respectable, and his brutality was certainly milder than Dong Zhuo's. In addition, he was not in such a hurry now, so the scale of migration would be much smaller, which would be easier to handle.

The area around Wancheng has been repeatedly destroyed by wars. As early as the Yellow Turban period, Nanyang was a severely affected area.

But the former Nanyang County was, after all, one of the most populous counties in the world. Except for Jizhou and Bohai counties, there was basically no other county in the world that could compare with it in population.

Therefore, even after years of destruction, there is still a considerable surplus population. During the years when Wancheng was controlled by Liu Biao, it had the opportunity to recuperate. Before the war between Cao and Liu in northern Jing, Nanyang's population did not reach one million, but it definitely had hundreds of thousands.

In the end, after preliminary calculations, Cao Cao believed that a total of up to 150,000 households could be relocated from Nanyang County to reduce the losses after the "fall" of Nanyang County.

This move is similar to what Cao Cao did in history when he foresaw that he could not hold Hanzhong, so he moved the population of Hanzhong and then gave up.

Of these 150,000 households, 100,000 sought to move to Henan Yin, where Luoyang was located. There was no need to move to the hinterland of Luoyang. They could cross the Funiu Mountain nearby and settle in the north of the three passes of Huanyuan, Taigu and Yique, restore the reclamation of wasteland nearby and provide long-term military farms for the garrisons at the three passes.

Because in the foreseeable future, the three passes of Luonan, which are located at the border of Henan Yin and Nanyang County, are likely to become the front line of the long-term confrontation between the armies of Cao and Liu.

For such short-distance migrations, the total distance is generally between one hundred and three hundred miles. Even if they travel by land, the people will not suffer too much, and there will not be too many deaths or escapes on the road.

Of the remaining 50,000 households, about 20,000 to 30,000 households, especially those living on the northwest side of the Nanyang Basin, can evacuate to the Wugu Pass nearby.

Wuguan Road is a Qinling valley road connecting Wancheng and Chang'an. There are Qinling Mountains on the north and south sides and the Danshui River Valley in the middle.

Wuguan was one of the "Four Passes of Qin" in the past, and it was to prevent Nanyang in Chu from threatening Guanzhong. Now Cao Cao moved some of the people of Nanyang to Shangluo, Lantian and other counties in Wuguan Road, and provided nearby garrisons for local troops, and all of them were militarized to enhance the potential for long-term defense.

Finally, there are still 20,000 to 30,000 households, mainly in the northeastern corner of Nanyang County, close to the Tongbai Mountain area. Then they will directly cross the Tongbai Mountain and retreat to Yingchuan County where Xudu is located.

Specifically, the people from Bowang County, Xinye County and other places in Nanyang were evacuated to Ye County, Kunyang and Dingling on the side of Yingchuan County.

This route was basically the route that Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu took before the Battle of Kunyang. It was very safe.

In the Battle of Kunyang, the founding battle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu led Liu Xuan's army to attack northeast from Nanyang, passing through Bowang and Yexian and crossing Tongbai Mountain to reach Kunyang and Dingling. Then Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty army moved south from the hinterland of Yingchuan County and fought a decisive battle with Liu Xiu in Kunyang.

Cao Cao also took into account a principle when evacuating the population this time, that is, to evacuate as close as possible to reduce the loss of labor. Some counties in Nanyang were close to Henan Yin, some were close to Wuguan Road, and some were close to Yingchuan County. All of them were evacuated as close as possible.

Of course, this migration plan of 150,000 households does not mean that all of them will arrive smoothly, because there will definitely be some people who do not want to migrate and will take the opportunity to escape, or even hide in the mountains temporarily, and then return to their hometown when Liu Bei's army attacks in the future.

This kind of thing could account for 20% if it was small, or 30% or 40% if it was large, and Cao Cao had no choice. He had not planned to completely evacuate Nanyang County, and he had originally planned to leave the old, weak, sick and disabled behind.

At this point, the entire capital relocation and supporting evacuation plan has been completed.

After the matter was settled, Cao Cao was in no mood to keep them, so he let them go on their own.

The Sima brothers had the lowest status and were the last to leave.

Until he left the house, Sima Lang had not shown any intention of teaching his brother a lesson. But as soon as he left the prime minister's residence and got in the car, without any outsiders around, Sima Lang's face immediately fell.

"Second brother! Why did you take the initiative to persuade the Prime Minister to move the capital to Chang'an today? Don't you know about Dong Zhuo's atrocities? You can't even mention such things! And you have further offended Xun Lingjun! You are not so careless!"

Facing his elder brother's reproach, Sima Yi could not explain much, but just said calmly: "I think Xun Lingjun is now more and more full of righteousness and morality, and he may not be very loyal to the prime minister. It's better not to move the capital. After moving the capital, I am afraid that the conflict between him and the prime minister will definitely become greater and greater -

Since ancient times, there have been casualties in the relocation of the capital. When Dong Zhuo relocated the capital, the population lost a million people. Even if the prime minister was more moderate, there would definitely be considerable casualties among the people who migrated and evacuated from Nanyang.

Xun Yu was too careful about his reputation. He didn't want to be associated with such cruel things, so he was willing to stand on high and point fingers. If he also put on an attitude of not wanting to do dirty work, did the prime minister have to bear the infamy of doing dirty work himself?
Therefore, we might as well show that we only care about military affairs and do not understand the political affairs from the beginning. This way, we can appear to be loyal to the prime minister and draw a clear line with Xun Yu.

When Lord Xun is carrying out the relocation of the capital and evacuating the people of Nanyang, if any problems arise, we will not be blamed.

Because we were against his plan from the beginning, he could only find people who supported his plan to carry it out. "

After listening to his second brother's explanation, Sima Lang thought about it for a moment and couldn't help but shudder.

My second brother has only been in office for a few years, how come he has become like this? Our Sima family has always been loyal and trustworthy. My father Sima Fang was Cao Cao's benefactor when he first started his career. He recommended Cao Cao, who was only 20 years old, to be the Northern Commander of Luoyang.

Wouldn't it be better for our family to just do good things and not get involved in those murky waters of grudges and struggles? Why was my second brother so busy choosing sides? He really couldn't understand.

(End of this chapter)