After the War 2

Cao Pi died.

What meaning does the death of an emperor hold for a country? The death of a head of state, especially an emperor called the Son of Heaven, is never light even if that emperor was a puppet.

And Cao Pi was the first emperor of Wei who held quite strong imperial authority. In some ways, it was a death with even greater repercussions than that of Cao Cao.

This situation was completely unexpected even for me. I had guessed that Cao Pi would die in the not too distant future, but I didn’t know he would die a year earlier than in the original history.

If I had known Cao Pi was going to die, we would have kept pressuring Wei instead of moving south towards Yingchuan.

Perhaps others felt such regret too, as Liu Bei brought up the idea of attacking Wei again taking advantage of the gap left by Cao Pi’s death.

Most military officers agreed. It was partly due to being immersed in the great victory of the Battle of Luoyang, but it was also a judgment made considering the internal division caused by the combination of Liu Bei’s jiao sacrifice in Luoyang and Cao Pi’s death.

However, Pang Tong and I took the opposite stance.

First, Pang Tong argued that they still had latent strength left, and our attack could have the adverse effect of uniting them and quelling internal turmoil.

As lips and teeth depend on each other, Wu and Wei are now in no position to fight each other. So Manchong and the officers and soldiers under him in Huainan will be mobilized to stop us. In addition, as Sima Yi killed Kebineng and removed even the last threat in the north, he will also bring those who were guarding the north to the Central Plains.

‘Zhang He proved his loyalty by defeating Ma Chao along with Sima Yi. From Wei’s standpoint of lacking talents, there’s no reason not to use a famous general like Zhang He.’

Xiahou Dun, Sima Yi, Manchong, Zhang He, Xin Pi.

If these new Five Tiger Generals remaining in Wei gather to face us, victory is hard to guarantee.

Above all, what Pang Tong was wary of was following in the footsteps of Cao Cao and the Yuan clan after the Battle of Guandu.

Cao Cao, who had won a great victory against Yuan Shao at Guandu, strongly pressured them afterwards when Yuan Shao died.

However, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, who had been divided fighting over succession, joined forces to repel Cao Cao in the face of the huge external threat he posed, so afterwards Cao Cao took a step back and assumed an attitude of watching them wage civil war to their hearts’ content.

Pang Tong argued against continued attacks, pointing out that it could lead to the unfortunate situation of Wei overcoming its confusion by achieving internal unity in the wake of Cao Pi’s death.

The pro-war faction also offered rebuttals to Pang Tong’s reasoning.

Their rebuttal was that while the problem with the Yuan clan then was that it was divided in two, now the risk factor for Wei was that a mere youth barely twenty was emperor.

They argued that with little experience and not having received proper imperial education while crown prince, wouldn’t he make blunders out of fear?

Here, I took Pang Tong’s side.

‘The young Cao Rui was a wise ruler.’

In the original history, Sun Quan, like the Han military officers now, looked down on Cao Rui and launched an attack taking advantage of Cao Pi’s death. However, Cao Rui shows cold judgment and easily repels Sun Quan.

Not only that. Cao Rui responds calmly and accurately without panicking even to Zhuge Liang’s first Northern Expedition that threw Wei into shock, and defeats even Zhuge Liang.

Cao Rui proves his ability again even in Zhuge Liang’s fifth Northern Expedition, a simultaneous northern attack by Shu and Wu.

Cao Rui’s analytical ability, judgment, and execution in achieving perfect defense by directly giving orders to Sima Yi blocking Shu and Manchong blocking Wu is at a level reminiscent of Cao Cao himself.

Before and after Cao Pi’s death. Having missed the moment before Cao Rui properly established his authority as emperor, we had already missed the timing for attack.

With Pang Tong and I, who held the largest stake in mobilizing troops, together expressing opposition, Liu Bei also chose internal stability following our argument.

With Guan Yu deceased, the military hierarchy was Grand Commander Pang Tong – General of Chariots Zhang Fei – General of Chariots and Cavalry Ma Chao – General of the Guards Zhang Ran. However, as Ma Chao’s position declined after being defeated by Sima Yi in the Bingzhou war, and my position rose after receiving the post of Acting General-in-Chief, there was a difference in actual rank.

Anyway, just as it’s difficult for us to attack Wei, Liu Bei’s decision was to proceed with moving the capital now that Wei also has no leisure to attack us.

The turn of the military officers was over, and it was now the turn of the civil officials. Is moving the capital an ordinary matter? There were countless things to pay attention to, and it was the greatest of great events mobilizing all civil officials.

I think the whole remaining year will probably be spent just on moving the capital.

Thanks to this, I was given a long-awaited vacation full of leisure.

As rewards for meritorious service are scheduled to be carried out once Zhuge Liang guarding Jingzhou returns to Chang’an, I could wait while resting at ease.

‘Ah, then Zhuge Liang is doing both the war and being mobilized for the capital move issue, doing twice as much work as others.’

Maybe Zhuge Liang would rather like it. Since he’s a workaholic.

‘I heard in reports that he blocked Lu Xun well, but information about the stratagem to sow discord was not included as it’s top secret. Zhuge Liang will probably tell me about that directly by word of mouth when he returns?’

When Zhuge Liang comes, I’ll have things to do one way or another too.

So I was going to enjoy the leisure until then – but Pang Tong came to see me.

When I let Pang Tong in, he immediately stated his business.

“First, thank you for lending a hand in stopping the war.”

“What are you saying? I didn’t take the Grand Commander’s side, but opposed the war because I also thought it was right. You have no reason to thank me.”

“I know too. That you’re not someone who takes sides for anyone. But you’re also a military officer, aren’t you? I’m grateful that you made a cool-headed judgment while desiring military achievements like everyone else.”

After finishing such empty courtesy, we began to discuss future directions.

It’s basic to secretly plot to cause as many internal rebellions as possible in Wei and Wu, but in the end war is necessary to definitely destroy and absorb enemy countries.

“Currently, the one to be most wary of in Wei is Sima Yi.”

“Not Manchong?”

“In terms of military talent alone, Manchong may be more threatening, but Sima Yi has something Manchong doesn’t.”

Manchong has no central connections. In contrast, Sima Yi not only has connections but has worked in central government posts and secured a foothold in the center by forming various networks starting from Emperor Cao Pi.

Therefore, Manchong can only remain a border commander. It’s not for nothing that Sima Yi compared him to Lin Xiangru.

‘I think Cao Rui also compared Manchong to Lin Xiangru in the original history. Was the situation a little different then?’

Anyway, unlike such Manchong, it would not be wrong to call Sima Yi a central figure.

This is because Sima Yi can freely involve himself in important national affairs through his position as a high minister and various connections and reputation.

“Currently, Sima Yi is the person who has achieved the most results among the Wei rebels. Even Cao Rui, who is usurping the title of emperor, cannot treat Sima Yi’s words carelessly.”

Unless Cao Rui builds strong imperial authority by proving his ability in blocking Zhuge Liang or Sun Quan’s northern expeditions, Sima Yi’s voice will inevitably be big for now.

‘Whatever the process, Sima Yi has succeeded in everything he’s aimed for so far.’

He killed Guan Yu and led to all-out war with us, and in Bingzhou he also did his part well by repelling Ma Chao and beheading Kebineng.

It’s said that rumors are circulating that if Sima Yi had been supreme commander instead of Cao Pi, the outcome of the Battle of Luoyang would have been different, so he has also firmly established his internal reputation.

And Sima Yi’s fearfulness was not simply in his military talent. Political ability surpassing military talent. That Sima Yi’s true value lies in his talent for devising schemes is revealed in this entrustment by Sima Yi.

“Hearing what he said, he compares Wei to the old state of Zhao and our country to Qin. By mentioning the Warring States period, this is to give Wei, which is wavering in the face of our country’s great cause, a sense of national consciousness.”

“He’s also denying our country’s justification of succeeding the lineage of the former Han dynasty, both Western and Eastern Han.”

“That’s right.”

“Sima Yi… When I heard about him from you and Kongming, I only considered him a person to watch out for, but he’s truly cunning. Isn’t he subtly comparing himself to Li Mu while emphasizing that he is Wei’s last hope?”

It was killing two birds with one stone – dressing himself up as a loyal minister of all time who received entrustment from Cao Pi’s close friend, while heightening Wei’s justification and national consciousness and denying Han’s justification.

As if newly realizing Sima Yi’s dangerousness, Pang Tong said while deeply sighing:

“I was thinking of advancing through Bingzhou or Henei since crossing Hulao Pass is difficult, but with Sima Yi being formidable, that won’t be easy either. I was going to pay them back in kind for daring to compare our country to Qin.”