Li Yan spent half a year to connect Xiangyang and Wancheng to take Nanyang County into his pocket, and while making great achievements, he also showed his military talent. Compared with the slow progress of Zhuge Liang's two Northern Expeditions, he proved with practical actions that he deserved to be a great general, and also proved Zhuge Liang's assertion that he did not know soldiers from the side, laying the foundation for regaining military power from Zhuge Liang and realizing Liu Bei's edict.

If everything goes well, Zhuge Liang will give up his military power and be willing to be a prime minister who is only responsible for civil affairs, which is equivalent to giving up control of Shu Han. The prime minister who does not have military power is not afraid, and the general with military power can impeach the prime minister at any time.

At all times, military power is a killer weapon.

Zhuge Liang refused to be tied, and would rather be suppressed by the General's Mansion in Chengdu, and refused to give up his military power, and returned to Chengdu to firmly grasp the military power of Guanzhong and Longyou, and use the military exploits of the Northern Expedition to prove himself, so as to achieve the goal of countering Li Yan.

Li Yan issued an edict in the name of the emperor, deciding not to make any moves within two or three years and rest with the people, but also to restrict Zhuge Liang's meritorious service, at least not to give him an excuse to use the power of the whole country to go out of the army. In Li Yan's view, without the help of Yizhou, with the strength of Hanzhong and Guanzhong alone, Zhuge Liang can gather very limited, and the possibility of pacifying and annexing the state is very small.

Therefore, he did not block Zhuge Liang's departure from the state and merge with the state, but held a mentality of watching the show, waiting for Zhuge Liang to mobilize the people but gained nothing, and then accused Zhuge Liang of righteousness and sternness, and confirmed his crime of not knowing soldiers. Completely deprive him of military power.

Originally, everything was similar to Li Yan's estimate, but one thing was a little unexpected, Wei Ba actually agreed to Zhuge Liang's request to exchange war horses for fire bullets, and agreed that Zhuge Liang used the method of beating white strips, and gave Zhuge Liang 1.2 million fire bombs and 500,000 stone meters before and after. This is a real help, not to mention 1.2 million fire bombs, just 500,000 stone meters, which gave Zhuge Liang two more months.

Li Yan was very angry, but he couldn't do anything about Wei Ba. This is not an official allocation. It is a private transaction, and logically speaking, Li Yan cannot blame Wei Ba. When he defeated Zhuge Liang and took over the power. He will hold Wei Ba accountable again. It doesn't even need any reason. Dealing with political opponents in court. Reasons are always secondary, and strength is the most fundamental reliance.

Li Yan also knew that Wei Ba's doing this was a manifestation of his weak heart. If Zhuge Liang loses too badly. Let Li Yan be dominant, and his fate will not be too good. The rabbit died and the fox was sad, starting from his own interests, he also needed to help Zhuge Liang. Otherwise, how could Zhuge Liang's white strip be exchanged for a million fire bombs and 500,000 stone meters.

The three-man rivalry, just like the conflict between the three kingdoms, the enemies and allies are not fixed. Unless one side has an absolute advantage, no one has a full chance of winning, and even horizontal and vertical are inevitable.

Fortunately, all this was within the acceptable range of Li Yan, and he believed that Wei Ba would not want Zhuge Liang's family to dominate, and 1.2 million fire bombs and 500,000 stone meters were not enough for Zhuge Liang to win the game.

However, Zhuge Liang's current speed of advancement completely shook Li Yan's confidence. It took less than two months to advance to the periphery of Luoyang, making his record of winning Xiangyang in one month seem so pale and not worth mentioning. If Zhuge Liang successfully wins Luoyang City again, then who will remember his Li Yan's record in winning Wancheng in the future?

In the face of the triumphant Zhuge Liang, does he still have a chance?

This was a sudden crisis, and Li Yan couldn't help but be nervous.

Ma Yan was also a little flustered, but it was probably because he was not Zhuge Liang's most direct opponent, so he was not as nervous as Li Yan and maintained his basic sanity. He thought for a moment and laughed.

"General, the prime minister's advance speed is indeed very fast, but this does not mean anything." Ma Yan exhaled slowly, raised his head, and looked at Li Yan with a smile: "General, it's not so much that the prime minister is making rapid progress, but that the Wei army is not well prepared. Since Hangu Pass moved to a new location, the danger of Hangu no longer exists, Cao Zhen has been ill for a long time, and the troops are insufficient, and in the face of the prime minister's cutting-edge army, even defeats are inevitable. Now that the prime minister's army is in Hangu Pass, less than thirty miles away from Luoyang, the Wei army has no way to retreat, and it will inevitably defend it. The prime minister is thousands of miles away from Chang'an, and the difficulty of long-distance transportation can be imagined. This is the end of the strong crossbow, and it is impossible to wear Lu Minye. ”

Li Yan was silent. These words are empty words, and you can say that he has a point, or you can say that he has no reason at all. Zhuge Liang is not the first time to lead troops, can he not understand these truths?

"Secondly, the prime minister marched so quickly, I am afraid that it is also a last resort. Now it is close to the month of La, there are still three to four months before next year's spring ploughing, he has already exhausted the grain stocks in Hanzhong and Guanzhong, and hundreds of thousands of strong men gathered on the battlefield, if he can't solve the battle before the spring ploughing, let these strong men return to the land to cultivate, next autumn, what will he harvest? ”

Li Yan raised his eyebrows, and his heart moved. This reason is more real than the one just now. Zhuge Liang went all out, if he couldn't solve the battle before spring ploughing, if he didn't plant in spring and harvest in autumn, it would be inevitable that there would be a big hunger in Guanzhong. If there is no food, even if you make immortal achievements, how can Guanzhong be stable. Guanzhong is Zhuge Liang's foundation, and it is impossible for him to sit back and watch Guanzhong collapse.

However, Li Yan is still not at ease. Zhuge Liang can attack Hangu Pass so quickly, can't he make persistent efforts to capture Luoyang? Even if he can't conquer Luoyang, it is possible to divide his troops to capture the state. Don't forget that the Wu army is also attacking, and the striker has already reached Yingchuan, which is only a step away from Luoyang. Once the two sides attack Luoyang, how long can Cao Rui hold on?

Quick decision, maybe it is Zhuge Liang's jihua.

Li Yan didn't discuss it with Ma Jian again, and there was no point in discussing the use of soldiers with Ma Yan. After Ma Yan left, Li Yan wrote a letter to Meng Da, hoping that he would be ready, and if necessary, he would either send troops to Yingchuan to attack Luoyang and get a piece of the pie, or prepare to attack Wu, destroy the alliance, and disrupt Zhuge Liang's Jihua.

After Ma Tan left the General's Mansion, he also wrote a letter to Wei Ba immediately. He was right in front of Li Yan, but he couldn't predict the outcome. He can only form an alliance with Wei Ba now. Let's see what Wei Ba is going to do. In his opinion, whether Zhuge Liang can take Luoyang and Bingzhou with all his might, and whether Wei Ba is willing to help will be an important factor.

……

Zhuge Manor outside Chengdu.

Huang Yueying hugged Zhuge Zhan and quietly looked at a clump of green bamboos in the courtyard. Although it is already winter, the climate in Chengdu is warm, and the bamboo is an evergreen plant, so I can't see a little bit of winter, but the emerald color is a little dull, not as bright as the bamboo in spring.

Ma Shi took Zhuge Pan's hand and stood aside silently. From time to time, his eyes glanced at the letters on the case.

This letter had just arrived from the front. Zhuge Liang doesn't care how busy he is. Every three to five days, I would write a letter back, either to tell about the situation at the front, or to inquire about family affairs, or to ask about anything important. Purely as a greeting. From the beginning of the Second Northern Expedition. He hasn't been back to Chengdu for more than two years. It was through these letters that I kept in touch with Huang Yueying.

Huang Yueying's mood has never been so heavy, and even when Zhuge Liang was bedridden a few months ago, she was never so worried. Ma didn't know what Zhuge Liang's letter was about. Maybe it's because the war isn't going well?

Thinking of the front line, Ma always can't help but think of her deceased husband Zhuge Qiao. If Zhuge Qiao was still alive, he would definitely be the prime minister's right-hand man, and his situation would not be so embarrassing. She is a member of the Xiangyang Ma family, and her marriage with Zhuge Qiao is a symbol of the friendship between the Xiangyang Ma family and Zhuge Liang, and now that the Ma family and the prime minister have broken up, Zhuge Qiao is also dead, and her status in the Zhuge family has become very embarrassing.

"Sister-in-law." Zhuge Jun walked in quickly, followed by a middle-aged man.

Huang Yueying glanced at Zhuge Jun in surprise, not knowing how he could lead a stranger into the door without notifying him in advance.

"Sister-in-law, this is my brother Zhuge birthday, the word is on vacation, and I just came from Chang'an."

Huang Yueying's eyes tightened, she knew this person, and she heard Zhuge Liang mention it. Zhuge Dan came from Luoyang and asked to see Zhuge Liang in Chang'an, Zhuge Liang felt that this person was too exaggerated and unrealistic, so he did not arrange his specific affairs for the time being, and asked him to travel in Chang'an for a period of time to understand the situation in Chang'an. Later, Zhuge never appeared again, but I didn't expect him to come to Chengdu.

"It's a public holiday, please be seated." Huang Yueying waved her sleeves silently and put away the letter on the case. And let the servant serve tea. Huang Yueying's face was gentle and solemn, neither too enthusiastic nor too raw.

"I don't know if I came from Chang'an on public leave, what do you think?"

Zhuge Dan put down the teacup in his hand and smiled slightly: "Sister-in-law, you must have received a letter from your brother and know the battle situation on the front line." ”

Huang Yueying was noncommittal.

"That sister-in-law thinks, why did my brother come to the city, but he stagnated?"

"I'm a woman, and I have limited knowledge about the use of soldiers, so please take a leave of absence to solve my doubts."

Zhuge Dan was also polite: "Actually, it's very simple, because my brother doesn't have the certainty of winning with one blow, and he can't afford the consequences of failure, so hesitating." ”

The corners of Huang Yueying's mouth twitched, and then she regained her composure: "Then how can he win with one blow?" ”

"Either bring people to help, or weaken the strength of the Wei army." Zhuge Dan was not modest at all, and said bluntly: "The Wu army is already attacking Yingchuan, but their progress is too slow, if there is no special situation happening, it will be difficult for them to enter Henan County and besiege Luoyang within two months." To speed things up, you'll need additional reinforcements. ”

"Where are the reinforcements?"

"Nanyang."

"Nanyang?" Huang Yueying pondered for a moment: "Meng Da of Nanyang is Li Yan's person, will he send troops to assist your brother in making meritorious contributions?" ”

"Nanyang not only has Meng Da, but also Wei Feng, as well as Zong Pre and Deng Zhi." Zhuge Dan arched his hand: "With Luoyang at his fingertips, Li Yan will not have the idea of getting a piece of the pie." Instead of letting him send troops to attack Eastern Wu and corrupt the alliance, it is better to let him send troops to Luoyang to help his brother. ”

Huang Yueying's heart moved: "Then how can you say that Wei Feng will send troops?" ”

Zhuge Dan smiled, raised his hand, and pointed to the side.

That was the direction of the Wei family's manor...... (To be continued......)