The next day, my maternal aunt Wang went with Zhonghui and Wang Shen to return to Chang'an.
When Wang said goodbye, he claimed that after returning to Chang'an this time, he would not be able to come to Wugong County again, and told Qin Liang to take care of himself.
But Qin Liang couldn't be sure whether grandma would come again, because she had come three times before, and she said the same thing every time. However, it wouldn't be long before she could find a reason to come to visit Qin Liang. But every time Even though she only dared to stay for a day or two, she was still worried about others being suspicious.
By the time Wang Jinhu arrived in Guanzhong, it was already June.
Third uncle Wang Jinhu has a habit of drinking, but this time Qin Liang does not have to worry about his drinking capacity. The banquet is just to cleanse Wang Jinhu from the dust. Several subordinate officials and generals are considered landlords, and they can drink to their heart's content with him.
The next morning, everyone met again in the front hall of the mansion and finally got down to business.
People who have just arrived are often in a more anxious mood than Qin Liang, who has stayed in Guanzhong for several months. Wang Jinhu asked: "When does Zhongming plan to attack Hanzhong?"
Qin Liang looked around and saw that in addition to General Wei's subordinates, there were two other generals who had joined the army. There were Wang Jinhu, Yang Wei, Xiong Shou, etc. Qin Liang said: "Tentatively, it will be early next month. The wheat planted in the field is almost ripe, so we can harvest it." Go after you get some wheat."
Spring wheat is harvested later than winter wheat, but winter wheat is sown much earlier.
Wang Jinhu was stunned for a moment: "Is there any food stored in Guanzhong?"
Qin Liang said: "Of course, the difficulty in cutting down Shu has always been not the grain and grass, but the transportation of grain and grass." At this time, he explained, "It has been raining a lot in Qinchuan recently. After the rain, the mountain roads are slippery, which is not conducive to marching. Wait for a month. It’s better to go.”
Wang Jinhu then nodded and said: "It makes sense."
After a while, Wang Jinhu couldn't help but mused: "It is said that Jiang Wei has opened Xingshi Mountain, but if it takes too long, will he send more troops to build fortifications and block us in Tang Valley?"
Qin Liang thought for a while and simply said: "No."
But this kind of thing is actually possible. Jiang Wei's head is on his own neck, and Qin Liang can't make a decision for him.
However, Qin Liang recalled his mood before the Battle of Shaopi. He had speculated in public that Wu soldiers were coming, so he was looking forward to Wu soldiers actually coming to attack to verify his foresight.
Just like Jiang Wei took the initiative this time and worked hard to repair the city, his opinion was that the Wei army would take advantage of the situation to attack; if Qin Liang did not go, Jiang Wei might feel disappointed.
Everyone has a psychological need to be recognized, and Jiang Wei is probably no exception?
Of course, if Jiang Wei repented and repaired the Xingshi defense line, Qin Liang's labor force and troops might have been wasted. On the key terrain of Qinchuan, as long as the Shu army defended it, it would be difficult to break through.
The person who wants to scold me then should be Qin Liang!
Qin Liang was silent for a while, as if he was speaking to himself, "The more times like this, the less likely you are to be too persistent. If you are impatient, you will easily be plotted by others."
He looked around and said: "First, let's ask all the soldiers to harvest wheat in peace."
Yang Wei and others cupped their fists and said, "Here!"
Qin Liang had not taken care of the wheat field outside Wugong County for a long time. The last time he went to pull weeds was the day Lu Ning brought the news from Chengdu. At that time, the wheat seedlings were green and green, and they were just knee-high; but someone took care of them later. , the guards will do tasks such as fertilizing, watering, and weeding.
Qin Liang estimated that the wheat would be ripe by now, so he decided to go and see for himself.
It was originally something insignificant, but after sweating so much, Qin Liang still wanted to see the results.
The lineup that went to the field today is still good, including several generals, as well as Zhong Hui, Xin Chang, Wang Shen and other noble family members. However, as long as people are interested, people do not necessarily have to be useful.
For example, Cao Shuang likes to take important officials of the imperial court out hunting. How useful is the prey to the general? It cannot be just for mood.
The weather was clear, the sun was shining brightly, and the fields were very hot. Qin Liang still walked along the ridges towards the middle of the wheat field. Sure enough, the guards took good care of it, there were not many weeds in the field, and the wheat ears had turned golden.
After a while, several riders came over on the road in the distance. The vigilant soldiers around looked around for a few times, but there was no reaction. They were probably people they knew.
Sure enough, when the two men dismounted and walked to the south path, Qin Liang also saw clearly the people coming. It turned out to be Deng Ai and Chen Tai.
Seeing Deng Ai wearing a straw hat, Qin Liang turned to the people around him and smiled: "Shi Zai is more like a person who comes to serve the crops."
Several people turned to look at Deng Ai's straw hat, and immediately understood Qin Liang's teasing, and the group let out a few "hehe" laughs.
The two governors walked along the ridge to the middle of the wheat field and stood still to greet each other. Everyone bowed to each other again.
When Deng Ai met Wang Jinhu, he spoke a few more words, probably because Wang Jinhu had just arrived on the Western Front.
Deng Ai said: "I heard that General Xiaoqi... was on the road, so I rushed to Chang'an first. I really saw him today. I'm glad to meet you."
Wang Jinhu cupped his hands and said, "Nice to meet Ambassador Deng."
Everyone chatted for a while. Qin Liang stretched out his hand and pinched two grains of wheat from the ears of wheat, put them in his hands to observe, and then turned around and said: "The wheat in this land can be harvested."
Yang Wei echoed: "After the harvest, if the weather is still as good as today, the wheat can be loaded into the warehouse in a few days."
Qin Liang suddenly remembered the civilians who were sitting on the ground crying in the valley when Cao Shuang was conquering Shu. He immediately held the grains of wheat in his hands, glanced at the faces of Chen Tai and Deng Ai, and said: "Send orders to officials everywhere to strengthen the people."
If a mule or horse is lost while transporting grain, only one stone of wheat or millet will be compensated for each animal. Unless there is conclusive evidence that someone intentionally killed the mule or horse, then all compensation will be paid."
Chen Tai immediately said: "General, benevolent and righteous."
Zhong Hui said with a smile: "This is a good method. If it is not your own, I won't want to take care of it. But if you have a stone of wheat, it is also your own wheat."
Zhong Hui indeed discovered the problem right away, but Qin Liang still didn't believe that people are inherently good by nature.
Qin Liang continued: "As long as our army can capture Hanzhong, all those who participated in the expedition to Shu, including minzhuang, soldiers, Chinese and foreign troops, will have their land taxes halved for three consecutive years. Meritorious officers and soldiers will be rewarded based on their merits."
"
All the generals bowed their heads and said, "I have the order!"
Qin Liang added: "The generals can preach in each camp that we are attacking Shu to unify the world and end the war as soon as possible. When the war is over, everyone's life will be better."
Several people echoed a few words one after another.
Of course, Qin Liang also knew that these things were probably useless.
At this time, soldiers and civilians were mostly forced to fight. According to the law, those who disobeyed orders, fled and rebelled would have to be punished by their families. People only cared about whether they had enough to eat, and the will to fight mainly came from the ruling class.
However, there is no harm in promoting the justice of war. It is better than nothing. After all, no one wants to see that they are on the evil side.
Everyone walked around in the wheat field under the bright sun. There was no shade around and it was really hot. So the group left the place quickly and rode back together. Qin Liang didn't want to harvest wheat himself anymore.
He no longer has that state of mind.
After Deng Ai and Chen Tai arrived, almost everyone around Qin Liang participated in the decision-making process.
Back at the mansion, Qin Liang had just opened the map he had drawn to look at it, when Chen Tai asked: "After the general passes Xingshi Mountain, where will he take it first?"
Compared with Zhong Hui, who was both from a noble family and had a wide range of interests, he knew the music of singing and dancing, was good at calligraphy, and could also laugh. Chen Tai's temperament was different. He should be a person who does practical things vigorously and resolutely.
Qin Liang pointed to the map and said succinctly: "Nanxiang."
Du Yu's voice next to him said: "The key to Hanzhong lies in Yang'an City (Yangping Pass), but our army's tactics are different. We need to transport large trebuchets to the battlefield first. After Nan'an is captured, the tip pole of the trebuchet can be used to travel across the Mian River, and the ship can
Transported to Hanzhong."
Qin Liang nodded and said: "What Yuan Kai said is absolutely true."
Deng Ai said: "Sima, the horse division is in Shu. He knows... our army relies on trebuchets to attack the city."
Qin Liang turned to look at Deng Ai and said, "Shizai is right. Jiang Wei should have noticed this. But there is another way to transport the trebuchet, which is to take the old road along the Baoshui Waterway.
(Baoxie Road)."
From Guanzhong to Hanzhong, there are four roads in total, from west to east, namely Chencang Road, Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road, and Ziwu Road.
Neither of them are easy to walk. In comparison, the land route along Chencang Road is the most spacious and flat; but on the Baoxie Road in the middle, after passing the Xie Valley section, you can walk along the Baoshui River and there is a waterway. The most difficult one is the Tangluo Road.
and Ziwu Road.
Qin Liang continued: "In Jiang Wei's view, as long as we take Jigu, the exit of Baoxie Road, large equipment can still be shipped to Hanzhong. Moreover, Baozhong City and Hanzhong Administrative Office Nanzheng are both on the line of Baoshui River.
There are several important targets, and Jiang Wei may not dare to put all his main forces in Nanxiang (Xixiang County)."
Deng Ai looked at the map and nodded: "Yes, it makes sense..."
Du Yu guessed that Deng Ai was struggling to speak, so he helped him and said: "Nanxiang is more than a hundred miles away from the nearest Lecheng (Chenggu) and a hundred miles away from Akasaka (Yang County); to the west, Nanzheng and Yang'an
(Yangping Pass) is further away. If the main force of the Shu army is deployed in Nanxiang, other important places will be empty of troops, and it will be difficult for the Shu army in Nanxiang to rush to rescue at short notice. If Jiang Wei does this, it will undoubtedly be a big gamble, and he should not dare to do so."
Deng Ai nodded and said, "It's exactly what Yuan Kai said."
Chen Tai said: "Thinking about it this way, Jiang Wei can probably guess that we may attack Nanxiang and take precautions, but we will not put all our main forces there."
Qin Liang pondered: "The normal deployment should be like this. Jiang Wei's first phase deployment, in addition to guarding against the Mianshui (Hanjiang River) on the east road, the main defense lines should be from Baoshui to Mianshui, Jigu, Baozhong, and Nanzheng.
He had to wait until the Wei army was tired and out of food and grass, and wanted to retreat, then he would defend and counterattack."
Wang Jinhu said: "First make a surprise attack on Nanxiang and open up the Mianshui waterway. Then we will use the trebuchet to smash it over!"
Wang Chen also raised his hand and said: "General Wei will definitely win the battle and capture Hanzhong in one fell swoop!"
Everyone then worshiped one after another: "May the general raise his flag and win."