From Guanzhong into Hanzhong, there have been six ancient roads, namely Chencang Road, Bao Shute Road, Fu Luo Road, Meridian Road, Kugu Road, Wuguan Road.

In terms of military strategy, all of these ancient roads are difficult to defend and difficult to attack. However, in the wars of the past and present, five of these ancient roads have still been breached or smuggled many times.

Among them, there is only the Meridian Road in the Meridian Valley, but it is the only steep fortress that has been smuggled many times, but has never succeeded.

Therefore, later generations have the saying that 'the six roads of the Qinling Mountains, the meridian is the king'.

What really made Meridian Valley famous in future generations was because during the Three Kingdoms period, Wei Yan once offered the Meridian Valley conspiracy to Zhuge Liang.

At that time, it was Zhuge Liang's first northern expedition, Wei Yan felt that the Chang'an guard Xiahou Nan was cowardly and had no plan, and was willing to invite 5,000 elite soldiers to take Chang'an directly from the Meridian Valley, Wei Yan thought that Xiahou Nan would definitely abandon the city and flee.

In this way, Chang'an can be easily occupied.

As a result, Zhuge Liang thought that this strategy was too risky and did not take Wei Yan's advice.

But he didn't want to, after Sima Yi learned the news afterwards, he sighed and said: "Zhuge Liang was cautious in his life and didn't dare to make a mistake. If I use soldiers, I will take Chang'an from the Meridian Valley Trail first, much earlier. He is not unscrupulous, but he is afraid of losing and refuses to take risks. ”

It is precisely because Zhuge Liang's five Northern Expeditions all failed, and he died in the process of the Northern Expedition. Coupled with Sima Yi's words, many people sighed secretly: If Zhuge Liang had used Wei Yan's Meridian Valley plot at that time, would he have destroyed the Wei State long ago?

Most people who read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" will prefer Shu, so for Zhuge Liang's several northern expeditions to no avail, many people can't help beating their chests and feet, looking up to the sky and sighing, regretting in their hearts.

It is precisely because of this regret that people miss the Meridian Valley conspiracy even more, and the reputation of Meridian Valley is getting bigger and bigger.

However, let's not talk about the authenticity of the Meridian Valley conspiracy, and it doesn't matter whether Sima Yi said that or not. If you analyze it carefully, you will find that Wei Yan's plan cannot withstand scrutiny, and Zhuge Liang is not at fault for refusing this strategy.

First of all, Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition, his primary purpose was not to attack Guanzhong and occupy Chang'an. On the contrary, he is preparing to occupy the entire Liangzhou.

The reason why Zhuge Liang couldn't wait for the Northern Expedition was because Shu only occupied one state, and its development potential was far from Cao Wei's.

If the Northern Expedition could occupy Liangzhou, then Shu would not only be able to greatly expand its territory, but also increase its population. In this way, if you compare it with Wei in the future, you will not fall too far behind.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang's established strategy this time was to first advance west from Yangping Pass to Wudu County in Liangzhou, and then cross Qishan to the north to occupy Xiaoguan and seize Anding County.

In fact, Zhuge Liang's goal of occupying Liangzhou this time is almost almost achieved. It was only because Ma Tan lost the street pavilion and the Shu army's grain route was cut off that Zhuge Liang had to give up the vast territory he had occupied, and instead began to withdraw his troops.

When Wei Yan proposed the Meridian Valley Scheme, he didn't figure out Zhuge Liang's strategic goals at all. Zhuge Liang did not want to attack Guanzhong and destroy the Wei State, but to capture Liangzhou.

Therefore, even if Wei Yan's strategy could succeed in the end, it would have already run counter to Zhuge Liang's strategy. This is also why, Zhuge Liang rejected Wei Yan's suggestion.

However, if you don't consider Zhuge Liang's grand strategy and just talk about Wei Yan's Meridian Valley scheme, you will also find that this is actually a very ridiculous strategy.

As said earlier: Qinling has six paths, and the meridian is king. Since ancient times, there have been many examples of surprise attacks on Meridian Valley, but there has never been a single successful deed.

The famous general Huan Wen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty attacked the former Qin, attacked Chang'an, and ordered Sima Xun to leave the Meridian Valley from Hanzhong, but was defeated by the Qin army before leaving the valley road.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Western Wei Dynasty sent He Ruodun and others to send troops to the meridian to suppress Lechi. Le Chi and others burned the meridian plank road and guarded the straight valley, so that He Ruodun's troops could not advance.

The army of the fifth dynasty of Later Shu marching north from the Meridian Road was defeated by King Jing Chong of the Later Han Dynasty.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, King Gao Yingxiang wanted to attack Xi'an from Hanzhong, using Wei Yan's Meridian Valley strategy, but Sun Chuanting was waiting for work in Heishuiyu in the Meridian Valley, and after four days of fierce fighting, King Gao Yingxiang was defeated and captured.

The above accounts all show the difficulty of marching from the Meridian Valley.

Taking a step back, even if Wei Yan was able to pass through the Meridian Valley and capture Chang'an by surprise at that time, he didn't consider the consequences?

There is no danger to defend in the Chang'an area, even if Wei Yan led 5,000 troops into Guanzhong, it has undoubtedly become a lone army, and the army of Shu wants to pass through the Meridian Valley again, it is bound to be difficult to compare.

The western, northern, and eastern parts of Chang'an are all Wei territory, and in a few days, Wei can mobilize a large army to besiege Chang'an.

Therefore, even if Wei Yan really defeated Chang'an, he would inevitably end in defeat.

and what Sima Yi said, in fact, there is no way to study it at all. Even if he did say this, it was likely to sow discord.

Wei Yan has a proud personality and an extremely evil temperament, and since the death of the five tiger generals, he often regards himself as the first general of Shu.

Every time he accompanied the army on the Northern Expedition, Wei Yan compared himself to Han Xin of the former Han Dynasty, asked Zhuge Liang to give him the command of 10,000 soldiers, and went all the way to tackle the key problems, and finally joined Zhuge Liang at Tongguan.

Zhuge Liang naturally would not agree to Wei Yan's request, so Wei Yan often hated that he couldn't make the best use of his talents.

Suppose that if Sima Yi's words reached Wei Yan's ears, would it strengthen Wei Yan's mind even more. made him feel that he was right, what Zhuge Liang did was wrong, and he held a grudge?

Since ancient times, the state has not been afraid of external enemies, but of internal troubles. If Zhuge Liang and Wei Yan are not compatible, it will make Lin Xiangru and Lian in the Warring States Period not harmonious, and the harm to Shu is self-evident.

If Sima Yi really said that, then he had already practiced the kung fu of sowing discord.

……

Although the Meridian Valley is extremely steep, it is not easy for the army to pass. However, since this is the closest road between Hanzhong and Guanzhong, many traders usually pass through here.

In the past, Dong Zhuo, Li Dao, and Guo Yan were in turmoil, and many people fled from this place to Hanzhong.

Of course, due to the importance of this ancient road, Zhang Lu in Hanzhong also sent some sergeants to guard the precipitous position. It's just that they will never stop those traders and the people who go to Hanzhong.

On this day, a group of more than 20 people passed by, although they were dusty and haggard, they could not hide their extraordinary temperament.

Except for the leader who has some bookish atmosphere, the rest of the twenty or so people are all powerful people. They also had weapons on them.

Of course, it has become customary to go out and carry weapons in troubled times, so these people are not particularly noticeable.

(In history, Zhuge Liang came out of Qishan five times, and six out of Qishan in the Romance.) ）