Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 469 A Letter from Sima Yi

"What's the matter that you're so panicked?!"

Outside Cao Rui's sleeping quarters in the imperial palace of Luoyang.

Sima Yi, who had been ordered to return, grabbed the eunuch and asked, "What happened?"

"General of the Flying Cavalry~"

The eunuchs around Cao Rui naturally recognized Sima Yi.

They quickly bowed and said, "His Majesty received the military report, read it, cried out, vomited blood, and fainted. We are currently busy fetching the imperial physician."

"Go quickly, go quickly!" Sima Yi waved his hand and stepped aside, signaling the eunuchs to hurry up and get to work.

Sima Yi, standing outside the hall, frowned slightly.

What kind of military report could cause the Emperor to lose his composure like this?

'We've lost Guanzhong, what could be more devastating than that?'

He had a vague idea in his mind, but felt it was impossible, so he shook his head and gave up the idea.

After the physicians' emergency treatment, Cao Rui was finally out of danger.

However, the physicians advised that the emperor's extreme anger had severely damaged his health, and that he needed to rest and recuperate at this time, and absolutely must not be subjected to any further stimulation.

An emperor who can be so enraged by a major blow to the country that he vomits blood can't be too bad, no matter how bad he is.

They are a hundred times better than those so-called emperors who could laugh and not miss their homeland even when their country was destroyed, or who would rather endure endless humiliation than give up their lives.

"His Majesty."

Upon finally being granted an audience, Sima Yi bowed to Cao Rui and said, "Please take good care of yourself."

As Cao Rui lay on the bed, tears welled up in his eyes.

He waved his hand, gesturing for Sima Yi to look at the military report.

Sima Yi, who hurriedly returned with Meng Da's head, did not have a detailed understanding of the situation in Guanzhong.

All I heard was that the situation was dire.

As the military report stated, after Tongguan was captured, everyone was dumbfounded.

"How can it be?!"

He knew the situation was bad, but he never imagined it would be this bad.

"Tongguan has been lost?"

"They couldn't even hold out for a single day?!"

"Zhuge Liang, he was truly terrifying!"

He was genuinely terrified; Zhuge Liang's abilities were simply too frightening.

They not only easily captured Guanzhong, but also conquered Tongguan in a single day.

Is this something a human could do?!

Could it be that Zhuge Liang used sorcery?
"His Majesty."

Sima Yi was puzzled. "Could it be that the garrison commander has surrendered the pass?"

In his view, the only way to capture Tongguan, such a strategically important pass, in such a short time was for the defending general to surrender.

"it's not true."

Cao Rui shook his head. "Almost all of them, from the garrison commander of Tongguan down, died in battle. They did their best."

‘Hiss~’

Upon hearing this, Sima Yi gasped, "The Shu army is so fierce and capable in battle?!"

"Read it all!" Cao Rui closed his eyes, pointed to the battle report in Sima Yi's hand, and said, "Read it all before you speak."

Upon hearing this, Sima Yi lowered his head and carefully read through the battle report.

After reading it, his expression was extremely strange.

"Magic?"

"a bolt from the blue?"

"Divine lightning strikes from the heavens, breaking through the barrier?"

"Your Majesty, is this battle report real or fake?"

“It must be true.” Cao Rui opened his eyes, his gaze filled with exhaustion. “I don’t believe in any sorcery, but that Zhuge Liang must have used something we don’t yet know to break through the barrier.”

"This is what I'm most worried about right now."

Sima Yi remained silent.

He understood the emperor's meaning.

If we can break through Tongguan, we can certainly break through Luoyang!

"The rebel army is now close to Luoyang." Cao Rui coughed and instructed, "I intend to entrust you with the command of the troops around Luoyang."

"No matter what, we must hold out until the Grand Marshal returns."

At this time, Wei still had a large military force, but most of them were garrison troops stationed on the border and local county troops.

After the disastrous defeat in Guanzhong, only two field armies remained.

One was the Imperial Guard, mainly composed of the emperor's personal troops, located around Luoyang.

There was also the army led by Grand Marshal Cao Xiu, which fought against the Wu Kingdom.

Zhang Liao's troops, who had once decisively defeated Eastern Wu at Xiaoyao Ford, were previously under Cao Xiu's command.

Cao Rui's intention was to concentrate all available troops across the country to fight a decisive battle against the advancing Shu army.

As for the suggestions made earlier, such as temporarily relocating the capital to avoid confrontation and negotiating peace with the Shu Kingdom, Cao Rui rejected them all.

It wasn't that he was stubborn and determined to resist to the death, but rather that Cao Rui put himself in Zhuge Liang's shoes. If he were in Zhuge Liang's position, who was trying to rebuild the Han Dynasty, would he accept peace talks?
Absolutely not!

After the capital is moved, will the wars stop?
Absolutely not!

Since that's the case, what else is there to say? Let's just do it.

He refused to believe that a large army with an overwhelming advantage could not defeat the Shu army unless the Battle of Kunyang was repeated every day!

Sima Yi did not refuse and immediately bowed solemnly to accept the order.

He was very clear about his identity.

As a subject of Wei, I should naturally consider serving the state of Wei and risk my life for it.

Given his current status and position, even if he surrendered, he wouldn't have a good ending.

The Shu Kingdom had its own court and ministers; even if they surrendered, they would have no chance of rising to prominence.

Therefore, we must do our utmost to serve the Great Wei!
After Sima Yi took command of the troops, he immediately led his men to Hongnong County.

Cao Rui, despite his illness, did his best to raise funds, supplies, and reinforcements for him.

The decisive battle that will determine the fate of the Wei Kingdom is about to begin. "The Shu army is moving too fast."

When Sima Yi arrived in Hongnong County, he learned that the Shu army had already left Shanzhou and that the vanguard had entered the territory of Mianchi.

The speed at which the Shu army moved also greatly surprised him.

Sima Yi decided to test the strength of the Shu army first, so as to provide information for subsequent battles.

In the hills of Mianchi, they easily ambushed the vanguard of the Shu army.

Logically speaking, this should have been a glorious victory, at least severely damaging the vanguard of the Shu army.

But when the two sides started fighting, Sima Yi immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"The morale of the Shu army is so high."

"Even though they were ambushed, they were still able to fight to the death with high morale."

"The Shu army has so many armored soldiers."

"Even the vanguard elites wouldn't have this much armor!"

"Their armor is so sturdy that bows and crossbows are almost useless!"

"I see."

Sima Yi quickly analyzed the reason for the Shu army's outstanding combat power.

On the one hand, there was the boost to fighting spirit brought about by consecutive victories and extremely high morale.

Furthermore, the superior equipment of the Shu army greatly impressed Sima Yi.

The Shu army, which had been ambushed, successfully retreated with the help of reinforcements.

After the battle, Sima Yi inspected the captured Shu army equipment and was filled with dread.

"The armor is made entirely of tempered steel."

"The weapons are so exquisite and sharp!"

"What are all these things?"

Interrogating the prisoners revealed that the Shu soldiers carried many unfamiliar items such as canned food, instant noodles, rain gear, entrenching tools, sleeping bags, water purification tablets, first aid kits, and rubber boots.

With the captives' explanations, Sima Yi tried each of these things.

Although many of these things were new to me, they were delicious to eat and easy to use!

"No wonder the Shu army is so powerful."

I picked up the kettle, poured water into the can, shook it to bring out the grease, and drank it all in one gulp.

Sima Yi wiped his mouth. "This kind of enjoyment is only for a captain."

"But even a lowly soldier in the Shu army has one."

He immediately asked the Shu prisoners, "Where did you get all these things?"

"Don't even mention that Shu could make it themselves, even my Great Wei couldn't!"

It's not that they can't be made; in fact, the technology behind these things isn't very advanced, so it's still possible to make similar imitations.

The problem is that, given the national strength of Wei, it can at most meet the needs of officers and above.

However, the Shu army managed to have it throughout its entire force.

The implications of this are truly terrifying.

The power of the Shu Kingdom had actually reached such a terrifying level?
The prisoners bowed their heads and replied, "It was brought by Lord Lin Jia."

Sima Yi was very curious: "Who is this Lady Lin?"

"We are just lowly soldiers and do not know their origins."

The prisoners responded in hushed tones, “We only know that Master Lin has extraordinary abilities; there’s nothing he can’t get his hands on.”

"And~"

"When we attacked Tongguan before, Lord Lin even used a magic weapon to summon heavenly lightning to destroy the Tongguan pass."

There was no such thing as a secret manual for prisoners of war in ancient times.

In a life-or-death situation, one would naturally say whatever one knows in order to save one's own life.

Even though they didn't know much, the information revealed by these lowly soldiers was enough to greatly shock Sima Yi.

"Such an extraordinary person exists in this world?!"

"No wonder the Shu army's combat strength suddenly increased so much, no wonder the Tongguan Pass, a strategically important pass, was so easily breached."

"So that's how it is~~"

Sima Yi, whose expression was slightly excited, paced back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back.

"What Shu can give, my Great Wei can give as well, and even more and better!"

"With the help of this extraordinary person, how can the world not be at peace!"

Having figured it out, Sima Yi immediately began writing a letter.

This is a letter written to Lin Dao.

The letter was very clear: it was meant to lure Lin Dao to join the Great Wei.

In his letter, Sima Yi made a grand promise, stating that as long as Lin Jiazhu was willing to come, the entire Wei state would welcome her with open arms.

Whatever Lord Lin desires, Great Wei shall do its utmost to provide it.

Wealth, beauty, fame, and titles—as long as they are requested, they will be granted.

Sima Yi also implied in the letter that Shu was a small and poor country, and even if the whole country were to flatter Lin Jia, it would not be able to offer many good things.

The letter was written with great sincerity, even bordering on servility.

Sima Yi, however, felt no shame whatsoever; on the contrary, he greeted the Shu prisoners with great joy.

"Who among you is willing to risk everything for a better future?"

He held up the letter in his hand and said, "Whoever can deliver this letter to that Lord Lin, I will surely recommend him for a noble title!"

Three days had passed when Lin Dao received the letter.

Looking at the letter written by Sima Yi in my hand, and at the passionate words on it.

Lin Dao was also at a loss for words, both laughing and crying.

"Does this guy think I'm someone who only cares about profit?"

"If you knew that my main purpose in coming here this time, besides helping Prime Minister Zhuge, was to find you, you might be very happy."

"But do you know that I came to find you so that your whole family could participate in a swimming competition in the Luo River!"

"Your Sima family should pay the price for offending the Goddess of the Luo River by deception."

"Don't look down on the river god of the Luo River; the Milky Way is also a river!"

(End of this chapter)