Wei Feng and Wei Ba were overjoyed when they heard this, and quickly packed up the case of the book piled up with bamboo slips and silk books in front of Wei Yan, and asked two cases to be carried outside. The father and son sat in groups, eating and chatting. As the warm fragrance of the food floated in the big tent, the originally serious military camp became a little warmer.

"I went back to the village first to prepare for the accounting page. With the strong support of my wife, after the hard work of the craftsmen day and night, I finally completed the task on the morning of the third day. Later, Manager Chen and the people from the prefect's office sent to each county, so I didn't ask. The basic transformation of weapons has been completed, and the iron masters are doing the final improvement. It is estimated that in about half a month, the first batch of swords and halberds will be able to equip my Wei family's troops for trial."

Wei Yan nodded repeatedly. He had received a letter from his wife and knew everything about what happened in the Wei family manor. He had no objection to the handling of the great manager Zhang Ping and his maid Huan'er. Since the wife had nothing to say, he certainly would not blame Wei Ba. In his eyes, although Wei Ba was a concubine's son, he was not a member of the family slaves. But if Wei Ba himself was useless, he could only be bullied. If he wanted him to stop him, it would be unlikely that Wei Ba himself could be tough, so he naturally wanted to be forced. As long as he had a son who was worth it, even if Zhang Ping and Huan'er was beaten to death, it would be worth it.

"Later, I went to the prefect's office in Nanzheng City, read the archived official documents, and read all the newspapers for the past two or three years." Wei Ba paused and said, "I also specially read the relevant newspapers for the twenty-fourth of Jian'an."

Wei Yan's hand holding the chopsticks stopped, and after a moment he returned to calm. He nodded and said unanimously, picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, chewed it slowly, until the meat was chewed and swallowed it into his stomach. Then he put down the chopsticks and asked slowly, "What did you see?"

"I saw a lot of questions." Wei Ba said carefully. This matter was very important. The official document was not detailed enough. It was just a scale and claw, which was far from enough to reveal the truth. But he knew that his father Wei Yan was in Hanzhong at that time, and he should have learned more about what he would not say in the official document.

"Tell me," Wei Yan raised his head and glanced at the door of the tent. Dunwu, who was standing at the door, immediately understood and turned around and left the tent.

"The Marquis of Guan attacked Xiangyang in July of the 24th year of Jian'an. The Battle of Hanzhong ended in May. The former emperor was king in Hanzhong in July and sent Liu Feng, Meng Da and Li Yan to attack the three eastern counties. It is believed that Hanzhong had basically stabilized at that time. But why did not respond to Guan Hou in Chengdu in the next few months?"

Wei Yan narrowed his eyes slightly and ignored him.

"After that, the Guanhou River flooded the seven armies and its power was greatly enhanced. Cao Cao urgently dispatched all the troops to rescue Fancheng, among which Xu Huang was transferred from Guanzhong. Cao Wei was on high alert, and more than ten armies reinforced Fancheng, so that Guanhou was short of troops and could only transfer troops from Jiangling and the Public Security Bureau. Why was the first lord indifferent? If an army was ordered to go down from Hanzhong to follow the Mian River, it would be very convenient to support Guanhou, and there was no need to mobilize Jiangling and the Public Security Bureau's troops, so that Lu Meng had an opportunity to take advantage of it."

"Besides, if Guan Hou was defeated, why didn't he go west to Hanzhong, but to return to Jiangling, and to return from Zi to Chengdu?"

Wei Yan touched his beard and pondered for a moment, then turned to Wei Feng and said, "Afeng, you were in Hanzhong at that time. Can you explain Aba's questions?"

Wei Feng shook his head: "Dad, let me say something in my heart. I have always had a question like Aba in my heart. I can't figure it out. I'll ask my dad to solve the problem."

Wei Yan pondered for a moment and shook his head. "Although you read the diary, it's still far from enough. It's too early to discuss this issue. When you read all the diary from the 20th year of Jian'an, you may understand the truth."

Wei Ba said oh, and did not ask any further. His purpose was not to ask the reason for Guan Yu's defeat, but it was just a report of the results of his hard work during this period, so that his father knew that he had not wasted his time. His real purpose was to remind his father about the risks of the Ziwu Valley plan, and hoped that he would not be stubborn and had a dispute with Zhuge Liang for this, which led to a rift.

"In addition, I have read the newspapers of the past few years. Until the end of last year, the Prime Minister was going to send troops to the north."

"Let me tell me." Wei Yan's expression relaxed.

"I noticed a problem. This time, Prime Minister Zhuge's troops were about 120,000 to 130,000, and the total troops stationed in various places were about 250,000. In other words, the Prime Minister mobilized almost all the troops he could mobilize and fought with all his strength. Judging from the current situation, our army's troops were better than Cao Wei. Even if Cao Wei transferred the main force of the imperial guards from Luoyang, our army would not be at a disadvantage. We could attack with a dignified army, and there seemed to be no reason or necessity to take risks."

Wei Yan's mouth trembled slightly, his eyelids raised, and he looked at Wei Ba: "You only know one thing, not the other."

Wei Ba bowed and said, "Please give me advice."

"Yes, our army's strength is indeed better than the Guanzhong garrison of Cao Wei. Even if Cao Wei transferred the main force of the imperial guards from Luoyang, we were not many. However, there is a big problem here. Among the 120,000 soldiers mobilized by the Prime Minister, except for the barbarian soldiers who had just surrendered, the real main force was the new recruits. The actual battle they experienced was only the Battle of Southern Central the previous year, and they had never experienced a real big battle at all. Our opponent was the main force of Cao Wei who had been through many battles, especially the main force of the imperial guards stationed in Luoyang. There has been almost no one in the past few years."

"New recruits?" Wei Ba was surprised. The approximate number of troops in the official document was because the Prime Minister's Mansion needed some food to be supplied by Hanzhong, but the official document did not mention the new recruits and veterans. If all 120,000 were new recruits, the combat effectiveness would be greatly reduced.

"It seems that although you have read the official report of Jian'an about 24, you have not read the official report of Zhangwu during the Zhangwu period. You don't know that the main force of our truly experienced warriors have almost all lost the Qiting. Now there are only three parts that can be considered a Qiting warrior: of course, the strongest is my Hanzhong garrison. Although the number of people is small, the combat power is the strongest. I believe you have seen this in the manor. Secondly, the Bai Li Bing, which was the remaining power brought back by the Qiting master back then. The strength is far inferior to that of the past. Now from Chen to rule, he stationed in Yong'an to guard against the Wu people. Secondly, there are more than 20,000 people in Li Yan's hands. These people are mainly the Dongzhou soldiers of the year, and their combat power is also not weak. Now he stays in Zhenjiang Prefecture, so he naturally guards Chengdu and is ready to take over the east and north directions at any time."

"Therefore, the Prime Minister can only be the new soldiers." Wei Yan took a sip of wine and then said: "And, these 120,000 soldiers cannot attack on the whole line. At least two to 30,000 people will be left as support in Hanzhong to prevent Cao Wei from taking advantage of the situation. The Prime Minister will not be able to fight more than 100,000 people. If he is divided into suspicious soldiers, he will only have 70,000 to 80,000. Compared with the main force of Cao Wei, although our number is not inferior, when it comes to combat power, with the fact that Cao Wei has many cavalry, our army is almost all infantry, so our strength is too far apart."

Wei Yan stood up, walked to the map, and pointed to the Qinling Mountains: "Our army must first cross the Qinling Mountains to attack Guanzhong. It is difficult to come and go, and transporting grain is even more troublesome. Only Han Xin's story is effective, and it is impossible to seize Guanzhong with lightning speed, and then use Guanzhong as the basis to compete with Cao Wei and restore the Han family's world. Hanzhong is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is also not conducive to attack. Moreover, the place is small and not enough to accommodate 100,000 people. Taking Hanzhong as the foundation can only be a domineering cause. If you want to compete with the Central Plains, it is absolutely impossible. Otherwise, Emperor Gao would not have lost all his fighting spirit just because he was named King of Hanzhong."

"Only by taking Guanzhong first, we can compete for the world. If we want to seize Guanzhong without superior strength, how can a dignified army work? Furthermore, governing the country with righteousness, using strange troops, and only thinking about a dignified army, wouldn't that be a duke Xiang of Song? There is a saying in military tactics, how can we win with righteousness, and focusing on the right army, and focusing on the right army, how can we win?"

Wei Yan shook his sleeves and showed a look of pride. "You have only been reading for a few days. It is rare to be able to ask this question, and I feel very relieved. However, your foundation is too thin after all, and you are not yet able to point fingers. Boy, follow me to learn for a while before shaking your lips."

Wei Ba was a little embarrassed. He wanted to convince his father, but he didn't expect to be despised by his father first. However, the problems his father mentioned did make some sense, such as the distribution of troops, which he had never known before. He should have thought that there were not many veterans with strong combat power, but he didn't expect that being despised by his father was also expected. But then he thought, in history, my father's Ziwu Valley plan was indeed not adopted by Zhuge Liang. Is it just because of Zhuge Liang's cautiousness? No, no matter what the other situations are different, the Ziwu Valley plan itself is indeed a problem.

Wei Ba smiled, put down his chopsticks, and bowed: "Dad, I do not know much about military affairs. I will gain a lot from being able to get my dad's advice. However, I still have different opinions on the plan to send troops to Ziwu Valley, and I want to ask my dad for advice together."

"Hmph, I can't tell that you have read the book for a few days and are so brave that you dare to question my plan. Well, just say it and I will explain it clearly to you so that you won't go out and talk nonsense and damage my face."

Wei Ba smiled helplessly and had to say his questions one by one. Wei Yan listened carefully, and there was a disapproving smile on the corner of his mouth. When Wei Ba finished speaking, he laughed, leaned over and tapped Wei Ba's head: "Boy, it's not bad, these problems you mentioned do exist. Seeing these means you are really trying your best. However, since you are a surprise soldier, how can you not take risks? You can fall down when you sit at home on weekdays, let alone fight with troops? Who can't fight with strong bullying the weak? If you want to defeat the strong with weak, how can you not come up with surprise soldier? I believe the Prime Minister understands this principle, and he will definitely adopt my suggestion. I have made up my determination, so you can wait and see."

Wei Ba shook his head. "Dad, I guess the Prime Minister will definitely not agree with your plan."

Wei Yan sneered and looked down on it. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Chapter completed!