Analysis of the geopolitical background of "Ma Su Lost Street Pavilion"

The Formation of the Central Kingdom [Chapter 88]

Author: Wen Junxuan

Long series, updated weekly

Chapter 88 As soon as they left Qishan

The prime minister of the Shu Han side personally led the Northern Expedition. Did the Cao Wei side really count on Xia Houmao, the attached Ma Ye? Of course not. Hearing that the Shu army was planning a northern expedition, Cao Zhen had already led the army westward with Zhang He as the vanguard. However, due to the influence of Jigu's suspicious soldiers, Cao Zhen did not immediately garrison Longyou, but instead garrisoned troops in Yi County. This can't be blamed on Cao Zhen's miscalculation. After all, Cao Cao took the Baoxie Road in his last southern expedition. Inertial thinking will think that the Shu army will attack in this way. What's more, if you don't set up defenses, maybe Zhao Yun will actually attack Xiegu.

Cao Zhen led the main force to station in Xi County, which does not mean that Longyou was not prepared at all. The person who was sent to Longyou was Guo Huai. Last time Xia Houyuan was beheaded, it was Guo Huai who stepped forward to stabilize Cao's army and showed the demeanor of a general. After Cao Pi became emperor, Guo Huai became the first governor of Yongzhou. The geopolitical center of Longyou is the county seat of Tianshui County, and it is also the city of Hebei where Ma Chao was sad. When Zhuge Liang's troops left Qishan, Ma Zunzheng, the prefect of Tianshui, and his subordinate officials accompanied Guo Huai from Jicheng to inspect eastward.

Seeing the fierce attack of the Shu army, Guo Huai immediately retreated to Shanggui City to defend it. When Ma Chao captured Long, Shanggui was still governed by Yongan County. Now Yongan County has been renamed Guangwei County. The county government has been moved to Linwei City, more than 20 kilometers east of Shanggui, and Shanggui has been included in Tianshui County. Logically speaking, Ma Zun should quickly follow the Wei River Valley to the west and return to Jicheng to set up defenses. However, the relationship between Jicheng and Ma Chao was well known to everyone, and most of the Di people from Wudu who moved north to Longyou were settled in Tianshui. Ma Zun was very worried that he would be betrayed by his subordinates, so he ran to Shanggui even at night. What's even more outrageous is that Ma Zun didn't tell any of his subordinates when he ran away. One of the accompanying Tianshui County officials who joined the army was very familiar to everyone. He was Jiang Wei.

When Jiang Wei and others got up in the morning and saw Ma Zun running away, they were very surprised. After chasing him to the gate of Shanggui City, they found that the city gate was tightly closed. He loudly called on the prefect to return to Jicheng with everyone to defend the city, but Ma Zun said on the city: I will never trust you people again, you are all rebels. Ma Zun's worry was not unreasonable. Seeing that Jiang Wei and the others could not find the prefect, they had to return to Jicheng. As it turned out, Jicheng had indeed surrendered and the four gates were closed to prevent them from entering. Just like when Ma Chao left the city, the city rebelled again. In desperation, Jiang Wei and others had to surrender to Zhuge Liang who then arrived in Jicheng.

The surname Jiang is a common surname in Tianshui. Jiang Xu, who previously raised troops to cut off Ma Chao's retreat, was also from Jicheng. Jiang Wei's father, Jiang Ji, was also a meritorious official in the county and later died in the Qiang rebellion. Although some later researchers believe that Jiang Wei's father died in the war caused by Ma Chao, there is no historical data to support this view, and it is impossible to determine which camp Jiang Jiong belonged to. In any case, Jiang Wei's initial surrender to Zhuge Liang was forced by the situation.

Guo Huai is the prefect of Yongzhou, and there is no problem in organizing resistance in any city within Yongzhou. However, as the prefect of Tianshui, Ma Zun has the responsibility to defend the territory. He lost the county government without any resistance at all, and he was suspected of being guilty. It is difficult to justify some people abandoning their subordinates. Moreover, the counties in Tianshui County indeed surrendered without a fight, and this leadership responsibility cannot be evaded. Not only did the water fall from the sky, but Nan'an County in the west also surrendered to Zhuge Liang. After the war, Ma Zun was severely punished like the Nan'an prefect. It's just that in the future, Jiang Wei rose to prominence in the Shu Han Dynasty. Whether Ma Zun should have his sentence reduced or increased for this is a matter of opinion.

Guo Huai surrendered to Shanggui, and Tianshui and Nan'an surrendered voluntarily. The prefect of Longxi County, the westernmost of the four counties in Longyou, left the choice to his subordinates and the people. The governor of Longxi was a native of Guanzhong, You Chu, recommended by Zhang Ji. He summoned all the officials and people and told them that as a governor, it was his duty and he was prepared to die to serve the country. You can also use my head to surrender to Shu Han in exchange for glory and wealth. You Chu was generous and charitable, and did not like punishment and killing. His official reputation was very good. Inspired by it, the officials and the people all expressed their willingness to live and die and fight.

After reaching a consensus on internal opinions, the next step is how to face the enemy. You Chu placed his troops in formation outside the city. Then he said to the Shu army who came to attack the city on the city, if you can find a way to prevent the Wei army from coming to help, I will naturally surrender in less than a month. If this is not possible, mobilizing troops and mass troops to attack Longxi will only increase consumption. After speaking, he ordered the army to move forward, assuming a decisive battle attitude, but the Shu army really retreated.

The Shu army retreated because what You Chu said did make sense. To be precise, Zhuge Liang thought it made sense. Longxi County is the westernmost county in Yongzhou and is not on the main road connecting Guanzhong. Unless you want to take Liangzhou, it is indeed not the top priority. In comparison, Guangwei County, which guards Longguan Road, is much more important. As long as Guangwei is captured and Longguan is defended, and Wei's reinforcements are not allowed to come in, not only Longxi may surrender without a fight, but Guo Huai's side will also not be able to defend it. If the Longshan front line can't stop it, then it won't be a question of whether to take Longxi or not. In this case, instead of struggling with Youchu in Longxi, it is better to concentrate our forces to capture Guangwei before Cao Zhen's reinforcements arrive.

The key to taking Guangwei lies in Shanggui and the adjacent Linwei City.

Shanggui corresponds to the main urban area of ??Tianshui City, Gansu Province. Strictly speaking, this city is not in the Weihe River Valley, but in the downstream valley of the right bank tributary of the Weihe River. The city actually built in the Weihe River Valley is Linwei City (Maiji District, Tianshui City) East). If Qishan Road directly connects to Longguan Road, it must pass through Shanggui and go north from Linwei City to Qinshui (now named Houchuan River and Niutou River), a tributary on the left bank of the Wei River, to the Longshan watershed. According to the current administrative division, the entire route starts from Tianshui City and extends northeastward through Qinghe and Zhangjiachuan counties. For details, please refer to the direction of G566 (national highway) passing through this area.

Guo Huai came to inspect the defense of Longyou, so he naturally brought troops. Although not too many, he retreated into Shanggui in time, and Linwei City, which was the governor of Guangwei County, would not surrender. This is equivalent to blocking the Shu army's road to Longguan. Zhuge Liang's advance, Cao Zhen, who was still guarding Baoxie Road in Xi County, knew that he had been fooled, and immediately marched towards Longguan with Zhang He as the vanguard. This means that Zhuge Liang can either quickly capture Guo Huai and advance to Longguan. Or find another way to bypass the heavily guarded Shanggui and Linwei to the west of Longguan to block Zhang He. Considering that time waits for no one, if there is such a route, it will definitely be the first choice.

I don’t know if you still have the impression that there is a "Changli Water" now named Hulu River between Jicheng and Shanggui. The Changli River is a tributary on the left bank of the Wei River. Following its valley, you can trace its source up to Xiaoguan. You can also turn eastward at the "Xingguo City" that once blocked Xia Houyuan, and follow the Qingshui River, a tributary on the left bank of the Changli River, to Longguan. . In the center of the Qingshui River Valley, there is the city of Lueyang where Han Sui once garrisoned. This river was also called "Lueyang River" in ancient times, and its source was the most critical node of the battle, "Jieting". To the east of Jieting is Fanxukou, the main pass through Longshan in the Han Dynasty. The Silk Road opened by Zhang Qian back then also passed by word of mouth.

The reason why Han Sui entered Lueyang City after Ma Chao's defeat that day was to control this passage to Fanxukou so that Xiahou Yuan, who came to attack him, would have no worries. Jieting is under the jurisdiction of Lueyang, and Lueyang is under the jurisdiction of Guangwei County. Although Guo Huai now blocked the west entrance of Longguan Road at the southern end of Guangwei County, the Shu army could approach Longguan at the end of Guangwei County. If you want to block Zhang He, it is not enough to occupy Lueyang City. You must push the defense line forward to the street pavilion. The location of the street pavilion is very special. It not only connects to the Lueyang River, but also connects to the source of the Qin River (now known as the Houchuan River). Through the Qinshui River Valley, Fanxukou can be connected to Linwei City and Shanggui, and Longguan Road in a narrow sense points to the Qinshui River Valley.

Obviously, such an important point as the street pavilion could not have appeared in people's sight until Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition. In fact, Zhang Qian had presided over the construction of a post station called "Zhang Mian Yi" here (located in Zhang Mian Yi Township, Zhangjiachuan County, Gansu Province). Many people believe that Zhang Mian is the name of Zhang Qian's son born in the Xiongnu. In other words, Jieting and Zhang Mianyi point to the same location, but like other important strongholds in history, there may be a slight shift in location. Once Zhang He leaves Longguan and occupies the street pavilion, he can go directly south to the Qinshui River Valley and head to Linwei and Shanggui to join forces with Guo Huai. Although Jieting does not have a ready-made city, the terrain between valleys is still very beneficial to the defender.

At the same time, the Shu army also needs to deploy another army in the Qinshui River Valley to prevent Guo Huai from going north to join forces with Zhang He and attack the Shu army in Jieting. According to historical records, Zhuge Liang did deploy troops to assist in the defense of street pavilions at a stronghold called "Lieliu City", responsible for preventing Guo Huai from connecting with Zhang He. According to this requirement, it should be in the upper reaches of the Qinshui River Valley. Among the two outposts of Jieting and Lieliucheng, Jieting that needs to resist Zhang He is undoubtedly the top priority. It can be said that as long as the street pavilion can block Zhang He, Guo Huai in Shanggui will not dare to divide his troops and go north to attack Liucheng. The Shu army's strength out of Qishan this time exceeded that of the Wei army. There were troops deployed to attack and guard both in Shanggui and Longxi directions.

For Zhuge Liang, the importance of the street pavilion was not only to cut off the connection between the Longyou Wei army and the Guanzhong reinforcements, but also to protect the passage north to Xiaoguan. Xiaoguan is under the jurisdiction of Anding County. After the Battle of Tongguan, Cao Cao surrendered Yang Qiu, the general of Liangzhou who was separatist in Anding, and helped him guard this northward passage. Yang Qiu was also very responsible and helped Cao Wei quell rebellions many times. However, Yang Qiu had died before Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, and there was no one on Cao Wei's side who could subdue this borderland to take over. Seeing Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, a rebellion led by Yang Tiao also broke out in the stable people. Echoing the Shu army from a distance. If the street pavilion can block Zhang He, Zhuge Liang can divide his troops from Xiaoguan Road southward to the Guanzhong Plain to steal Zhang He and Cao Zhen's retreat. As a result, the situation was very unfavorable for Cao Wei. Because of this, the rebellion of Tianshui, Nan'an, and Anding greatly shocked Cao Wei. Cao Rui even set out for the expedition himself after Cao Zhen and Zhang He set off.

Since the success or failure of the street pavilion is related to the success or failure of the entire battle, Zhuge Liang must send a very capable person to guard it. Needless to say, everyone knows that this candidate is Ma Su. Ma Di was very talented, and Zhuge Liang had a good relationship with his brother Ma Liang, and he also thought highly of him. During the last expedition to Nanzhong, Ma Su's strategic strategy helped Shu Han gain a stable rear area. Although Zhuge Liang himself should have meant this, it at least proved that Ma Di's strategic thinking was indeed good. The heroes have similar views, and the two often talk day and night. Ma Di was to Zhuge Liang what Zhuge Liang was to Liu Bei back then.

After Ping Nanzhong, Ma Su was first appointed as the prefect of Yuexi. Zhuge Liang decided to transfer him to join the army after the Northern Expedition. If Ma Di can stay in Zhuge Liang's shogunate as a staff officer, it should be said that he is still very qualified. It's not that Zhuge Liang must have his ideas before he can make a decision. No matter how smart a person is, he always has someone with similar thinking to discuss with him so that he can continuously improve his ideas. However, Ma Su was not satisfied with this. "When you go out, you become a general, when you enter, you become a prime minister" is the highest pursuit of scholars. Ma Su has proven his ability as a staff officer and wants to prove himself on the battlefield.

Everyone was optimistic about Wei Yan and Wu Yi's position as governor of Jieting and the army. Wu Yi was a native of Chenliu and was the first general to follow Liu Yan into Shu. After Liu Bei became the lord of Shu, he married his sister and became his queen. She was not only a veteran but also a royal relative. By the way, Wu Yi's sister was originally the wife of Liu Yan's third son, Liu Mao. Liu Yan had plans for the world at that time. Hearing from a fortune teller that Wu Yi's sister was likely to be rich and powerful, he made the decision to marry this relative for Liu Hao. As a result, Liu Maofubo went mad and died soon after. Liu Bei originally thought this was a bit inappropriate and didn't want to marry him, but Fazheng tried his best to promote it. On the surface, it seemed to be because he was rich and powerful, but in fact, it was because Wu Yi was a veteran of the second dynasty in Shu, and marrying his sister could stabilize people's hearts.

Although both Wei Yan and Wu Yi were battle-tested generals, Ma Di had this intention and Zhuge Liang had the intention of cultivating him, so they overcame all objections and gave him this opportunity to let Ma Di lead the army. Wang Ping, Zhang Xiu, Li Sheng and others will go to Jieting to camp and prepare to attack Zhang He. As for Liliucheng, Zhuge Liang arranged for Gao Xiang, a general from Nanjun, to lead an army of 10,000 to settle there. What happened next has been clearly described in the novel. Ma Su was stubborn and must camp on the mountain. Wang Ping is from Shiba and is very familiar with mountain warfare. Ma Su was repeatedly dissuaded from doing so.

The reason why Ma Su persisted was most likely influenced by the Battle of Dingjun Mountain. In that battle of national destiny, Liu Bei's condescending camp was what destroyed Cao Cao. Huang Zhong even killed Xia Houyuan with a dive. Although this tactic failed in the Battle of Yiling, the main reason was that Lu Xun never took the initiative to attack, which depleted the morale of the Shu army. Ma Su's mission this time was to defend, to buy time for the prime minister to capture Longyou and even go north to Xiaoguan. If the Wei army did not attack, then the mission would be completed.

However, Ma Su, who had no actual combat experience, still underestimated his opponent. In front of him was Zhang He, who had extremely rich combat experience. Zhang He saw that all the Shu troops were camped on the mountain tops instead of in the valleys, so he immediately led his troops to cut off the Shu troops' water sources. Theoretically, a person can carry a person without food for seven days, but without water, he will die of thirst in up to three days. If the Shu army wanted to reverse the situation, they had to abandon the mountain stronghold they built and take the initiative to go down the mountain to grab water. With such an offensive and defensive change of position, the geographical advantage identified by Ma Su was gone.

Without water, the stronghold cannot be defended. The soldiers will flee one after another when the morale of the army is disturbed. Only the battalion led by Wang Ping did not panic, but beat the war drums and looked like they were going to attack. Seeing this, Zhang He concluded that the fleeing Shu troops were probably decoys to lure him into an ambush, and stopped the attack. Wang Ping took the opportunity to gather the fleeing sergeants from each battalion and led them back safely.

As soon as the street pavilion was lost, the gate of Longyou opened wide, and Wei troops poured in continuously. Guo Huai also took the opportunity to go north to attack Liuzhou City.

Not only that, of course You Chu, who had been pretending to wait and see, would no longer stand idly by. Judging from the location of Longxi County, the one that can be attacked nearby is Nan'an County, which has surrendered to Shu Han. In fact, You Chu is not the only one participating in the counterattack in this direction. Don’t forget that there is Xinliangzhou to the west of Yongzhou including Hehuang, Hexi, and Jincheng.

Although Zhang Ji and Cao Zhen used troops to suppress the rebellion in Liangzhou several times and achieved great results, this land where Qiang and Hu lived together was never peaceful. In the first month of the first year of Taihe, before Zhuge Liang settled in Hanzhong, another man named Qu Ying rebelled in Xiping County. Zhang Ji, who had conquered Liangzhou, died in the third year of Huangchu. Before his death, he still quelled a rebellion caused by Qu Guang in Xiping. If Ma Su can withstand Zhang He on the front line, even if Han Sui's old land does not surrender to Shu Han, there will be people who will support the separatist rule again. In fact, during Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, this situation occurred in the Heshou area at the western end of Longxi County, which was the territory built by the Song Dynasty.

Qu Ying/Qu Guangying sat down with Yuan Shao and the fierce general Qu Yi, and Qu Yan, who killed Han Sui and surrendered to Cao, were of the same clan. Judging from this origin, in the western part of the empire, the gene of military support and self-reliance is almost integrated into the blood source, and suppression alone cannot solve the problem. After the Quying Rebellion, Cao Rui sent Xu Miao from Jixian County to be the governor of Liangzhou. Xu Miao was still very competent. On the one hand, he slowly gathered civilian armed forces, built water conservancy projects, and recruited people to reclaim land. On the other hand, he used the military expenditures saved to start a business of luxury goods such as gold, silk, dogs, and horses to develop the local economy. The Qiang and Hu are cut off with gentle hands, and small mistakes are not punished. If serious crimes are committed, they will be reported to the tribal leader first to show respect and then dealt with. All these have won more than ten years of stability for Liangzhou under Cao Wei.

When Zhuge Liang went on the Northern Expedition, Xu Miao had just arrived in Liangzhou not long ago. If the Shu army can confront the Wei army across Longshan, then Liangzhou will definitely have uneasy feelings, and Xu Miao will definitely seek self-protection first like Longxi County did. Now that the street pavilion is gone, Zhang He's army comes to cover them up. Xu Miao, those Liangzhou scholars and people, Qiang and Hu who were holding a wait-and-see attitude, naturally knew how to choose.

Under this situation, Xu Miao safely sent his soldiers and Jincheng prefect to lead his troops to Longxi, and together with You Chu attacked Nan'an, which had surrendered to Zhuge Liang.

If Jieting can be defended, Anding, Tianshui, and Nan'an will surrender, and Hanzhong is in hand, the Shu Han will actually form a three-sided siege of Guanzhong. As a result, the street pavilion was lost, and Zhuge Liang, who was on the right side of Longyou, was instantly surrounded by Wei troops on three sides. In this case, only a quick retreat can stop the loss. Except for Jiang Wei, who later surrendered to Zhuge Liang, the only gain from this Northern Expedition was the more than 1,000 households of Xi County people who were relocated when passing by Qishan Mountain (Qishan Mountain belongs to Xi County administratively, corresponding to the current ritual of Gansu Province). county). For the Shu Han, population was extremely precious, but the population of more than a thousand households was not enough to make up for the loss of troops in the Northern Expedition.

Longyou's side withdrew, and Zhao Yun's side no longer needed to put on an offensive posture at Baoxie Road. If the retreat is not planned well, it can easily be overshadowed by the opponent. Especially Cao Zhen, who is confronting Zhao Yun, already knows that Longyou has won, and there is a high probability that he will attack even if he does not retreat. Fortunately, Zhao Yun, who was always brave, deployed properly and cut off the rear personally, allowing this partial division to retreat into Hanzhong in an orderly manner, without suffering greater losses like the Longyou Shu army that had hastily retreated.

As soon as they left Qishan, they ended in failure due to Ma Di's tactical mistakes. The impact of this incident was not only on this battle, but also on the fact that the enemy was alerted but failed to succeed. Because the Shu Han lost Jingzhou and the three brothers Liu, Guan, and Zhang passed away one after another, they were already despised by the Wei State. When Cao Pi was still alive, he kept an eye on Soochow and thought that Shu Han only had one state, so it would be good if he could protect himself. If they attack Soochow by themselves, the Shu Han will not have the strength to sneak attack on the rear. If he attacks the Shu Han, Sun Quan will definitely threaten him from Xiangyang and Hefei. In recent years, Zhuge Liang has been quite willing to take advantage of the situation and deliberately not provoke Cao Wei. As a result, he has been holding back his big move for so long, but there is no progress at all.

Speaking of which, it is still Zhuge Liang's fault that he is a little inaccurate in judging people. Liu Bei actually reminded him early on, saying, "Ma Su exaggerated and was of no use" (this is where the idiom of overstating comes from). Zhuge Liang did not shirk this responsibility. After returning, he petitioned Liu Chan to be removed from his position as prime minister and demoted himself to three levels. Zhuge Liang was responsible for everything in the Shu Han Dynasty, and it was impossible for Liu Chan to let him take the lead. Although at Zhuge Liang's insistence, he was removed from the position of prime minister and demoted to the third rank to the right general, he still took over the position of prime minister, and others would not want to replace him because of this.

Seeing that Zhuge Liang petitioned for self-punishment, Zhao Yun also petitioned for punishment, believing that he had failed along the way and should be punished, and was demoted to the rank of general of the army. Of course, in Liu Chan's mind, Zhao Yun's status will not be shaken at all. Zhuge Liang learned through Deng Zhi that it was Zhao Yun who had planned well and personally cut off the rear and retreated. He ordered Zhao Yun to reward his subordinates with excess military supplies and cloth. Zhao Yun refused on the grounds that he would not be rewarded for his merits. At the same time, he requested that these materials be included in the treasury and be given to the soldiers as rewards in winter. Doing so will strictly enforce military discipline, and will not make people think that he is harming the interests of the soldiers for the sake of a false reputation. His emotional intelligence is not generally high, and his character is not generally good.

The one who really stood out in this battle and accepted the reward was Wang Ping. Wang Ping's merit lies not only in reminding Ma Su many times, but also in staying calm in times of danger and bringing out other troops who had fled. When he defected to Liu Bei that day, Wang Ping was appointed to the position of Yamen General. Although this Yamen General was one word different from the Yamen General of Wei Yan and Zhao Yun, the difference was very big. He could only be regarded as a mid-level officer and not a general. Later, He was promoted to "General Pi". Although he could be called a general, his rank was the lowest and he could lead a battalion (1,000 men).

After the war, Wang Ping was appointed by Zhuge Liang to join the army, which was equivalent to giving him Ma Su's position. Not only that, Zhuge Liang also gave Wang Ping the command of the "Wu Dang Fei Army" based on his background. After Zhuge Liang pacified Nanzhong, didn't he move more than ten thousand Qingqiang families from Yuexi to Shu, and asked the local southerners to pay to recruit brave and ruthless barbarians to join the army, and awarded official positions according to the number of recruits. Well. The force composed of these barbarian mercenaries is the "Wu Dang Fei Army". The word "dang" means "to resist", which literally means an unstoppable army walking on flat ground in the mountains. It is most appropriate for such a mountain warfare army with a special background to be led by Wang Ping, who was born in Ba.

If there is a reward, there will be a punishment. It is certainly not enough for Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun, as the commanders and generals of the two armies, to punish themselves. Zhuge Liang ran the army very rigorously, with clear rewards and punishments. As the person directly responsible for the defeat of this battle, Ma Di must be sacrificed no matter how reluctant Zhuge Liang was. In addition to Ma Su, Zhang Xiu, Li Sheng and other generals who failed to restrain their men at the street pavilion that day and even escaped were also executed. Zhuge Liang was really sad about this result, but there was nothing he could do about it. The Shu Han's national power is the weakest among the three kingdoms. Without an army that enforces orders and prohibitions, there is no way to gain a foothold, let alone carry out the Northern Expedition again and again.

The Shu Han side is summarizing lessons, but the Cao Wei side can hold a celebration banquet. Seeing that the battle on the front line was going smoothly, Cao He also came to Chang'an to watch the battle in March of that year. As for the three rebel counties, the Shu army retreated like this, and each one was faster than the other without any use of weapons.

Now that Cao Rui knew that the Shu Han was not passively defensive in terms of strategy, Cao Zhen had to stay in Guanzhong to guard, while Xiahou Mao was transferred back to Luoyang.

However, what worried Cao Wei the most finally happened. When Wei and Wu were entangled in the western battlefield, Sun Quan made a big move on the eastern battlefield.

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