Cao Cao only did two things, and he made Zhuge Liang's lifelong Northern Expedition in vain. After Cao Cao unified the north, he adopted a series of policies to restore economic production and social order. In terms of military power, he did two seemingly mundane things, but they played a key role in making it impossible for Zhuge Liang to conquer Cao Wei. What exactly are these two things? Why is it important?
Grain and grass roots: salt for cattle
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the rural areas of the Central Plains were ravaged by war, the farmland was barren, and people and animals were displaced. After Cao Cao took charge of the central military and political power, he knew that the army would have no return without food and grass, so he made up his mind to restore agricultural production.
From time to time, there are good talents and Wei coveted advice, suggesting: "The rise and fall of agriculture is tied to the power of oxen." In the territory of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there used to be millions of ploughing cattle, but unfortunately the war was blocked, and most farmers have lost this precious power. If the manpower of the farmers can be re-allocated, it will take three years for a bumper harvest to come. "
Cao Cao saw that Wei was reasonable, and urgently summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures. After working together, we finally got the best prescription: to use the profit of salt monopoly to purchase tens of thousands of cattle and livestock, and lease them for free with farmers, which is collectively called "salt for cattle".
After several battles, Cao Cao finally made a decision. In the following year, the northern counties set up cattle pens, separately purchased Yangqu cattle, Tufan cattle, Gaochang red cattle and other heterogeneous breeds, and local cattle, white-haired cattle intricately domesticated, breeding a large number of excellent breeding stock.
In the first month of 209, when the cattle were stockpiled and the grain and grass were sufficient, Wang Lang led hundreds of bureaucrats to inspect the townships to scatter the cattle. The dilemma of "less porridge and more monks" was finally relieved, and since then, the agricultural time is no longer delayed due to lack of physical strength, and the fields are endless, and all are newly ploughed.
The grain and grass envoys are often supervised, and the renting of animals is severely punished; The farmers also take good care of their cattle and livestock, and look forward to continuing their tenure. In the past three years, the crops have been abundant, the grain and grass are abundant, and the harvests have been abundant year after year, and the soldiers have no worries about food. Relying on this good policy, Cao's army's baggage has hardly been cut off, and every party is attacked, and the source of troops is self-sufficient.
In contrast, although Zhuge Liang read a lot of books, formed a peasant army, and went on a northern expedition for many years, capturing Hanzhong and trapping Chencang, he had no choice but to continue to receive grain and grass, casualties and hardships. He said in one sentence: "In the past, I was in Taoyuan, and I planned to write the "Book of Agriculture" to spread to future generations in my last years. Honestly! Cao Cao "exchanged salt for cattle" in one fell swoop, and accumulated a solid foundation for Cao Wei's long-term military rations.
Weapons support: water drainage metallurgy
The benefits of the military revolution depend on the speed of smelting. Although Cao Cao unified the Central Plains, his weapons were inferior, far inferior to the sharp weapons of Zhuge Liang's "Zhuge Repeater". Back then, Cao Cao was repeatedly defeated by Yuan Shao, and the root cause was this.
The problem stems from Cao Wei's backwardness in metallurgy. Traditional smelting requires long-term wind blowing, and military horses have long been requisitioned to the front line, lack of horsepower to help the wind, workers have more manpower and the efficiency is too low. Under all kinds of power changes, Cao Cao recruited Han Ji as a subordinate minister.
Han Ji, the word is high, and Xiangyang Zhongli is a person. He is alert by nature and loves to study, and has created a new method called "water drainage metallurgy". It is roughly a dam along the river, the river water rushes the wooden wheel to rotate, and the mechanical output energy pressurizes the wind chamber to make the furnace blow for a long time, and several people control the fire, and the smelting rate increases several times.
Cao Cao looked at his drawings, was amazed, and personally experimented, and saw that the slag was gathered like rain. Then he issued an edict saying: "This method is talented, is it not just far-fetched to refine the weapon? I should go all over the Celestial Empire and defeat the old enemy with all my might. So he ordered all counties and counties to operate and create their own reward and punishment system to admire the performance.
The first to implement more than 20 counties such as Luyang and Luoyang, hired a small number of foreign craftsmen to teach, and the government built thousands of high-scale exhaust furnaces, entrenched on the banks of large rivers and streams such as Yishui and Weihe. The craftsmen taught the chemistry and mechanics of internal fire, and the children from all over the world mastered the skills in just a few months, and the work efficiency was unprecedented.
In a short time, Longxi, Yanzhou and other important iron and steel towns are like water exhaust furnaces, the sound of the machine rumbles, and the operation does not stop day and night. Blue smoke gushes out from the mouth of the furnace, like a black cloud pressing the realm, and the molten iron seeps into the water from below and condenses, and its shape is black and mottled, like an iron meteorite.
Cao Cao insisted on not letting it, even if he missed the night and was not paid, he must personally review it, and punish him when he was punished, and supervise each by one. The days are deep, the varieties are complete, there are guns, spears and guns, there are armor and Ge, and everything is prepared. This victory of "water drainage metallurgy", Cao Wei greatly developed martial arts, and the soldiers and horses were safe, so they were able to resist Liu Bei and Sun Quan for a long time, and directly defended Zhuge Liang's seven times to attack Wei's division.
Experienced in the army of millions, Zhuge Liang is quite far-sighted, and it is expected that the reason why Cao Wei's armor is becoming more and more brilliant must be wonderful. However, nothing is known about this way, and it is in vain. He sighed: "I know astronomy and geography, formation and footsteps, and I have never paid attention to the science of metallurgy and fire attack, how can it become a drawback?" Although the world's talents are gathered in Shuzhong, they are finally invincible. "
On success or failure: Zhuge Liang recruited talents from all over the world, why was it in vain?
Zhuge Liang has been erudite and talented since he was young, and Xi Cone refers to hundreds of schools. and in the prime of life, from Liu Bei, he served as a military advisor, and every time he made a strange plan to break the enemy, the rule of the well-off, and the people lived in peace. However, Daliang blindly enterprising, the government and the opposition are exhausted, and the Central Plains can be a great cause in the north. Although Zhuge Liang was wise and brave, the supply of military leather equipment could not keep up.
Zhuge Liang is a talented man in Shuman, and he knows that only when there are many talents can he be successful. Then the edict was extended in all directions, and the pavilion was endless, and the heroes gathered in Sichuan. Among them, there are famous people, such as Cheng Buzhi, Wei Qian, Jiang Wan, Fei Yi; There are plans and no plans are accommodated, and each is appointed by the director. The huge project, which is coordinated by Cheng Buzhi and Fa Zheng, has a huge scale.
Do not spin the heel, Shuzhong Zhongchuan to build a machinery workshop, according to the law of smelting and smelting sages to study. Not inferior to Cao Wei's "water drainage metallurgy", Zhuge Liang hired Dongchuan military industry to gather talents, and created the method of "dry ice and living water", which is to put snow into the furnace and spray snow into ice with pneumatic power, so that the furnace temperature drops rapidly, and uses coagulation force to create a Seiko weapon.
Shu Han built a large number of civil works, built along the stream, Kui, canal, Tuojiang River swallowed and vomited water vapor, and the atmosphere was steaming and tumbling. Furnaces are also erected on the high mountains, all over the counties of Laimian and Yazhou, and the wind and furnace fire cover the sun and the moon. Zhuge Liang also ordered the counties to recruit children to practice arcane arts, and the children can be clever and clever.
Zhuge Liang wanted to imitate the Qin Emperor and Han Wu, and advocated a rich country and a strong army. However, the rich country is clumsy, and only the metallurgical and mining industry will be prosperous. Cao Wei's "salt for cattle" is rooted in agriculture, and agriculture is prosperous; The Shu army only relied on heavy weapons and neglected agricultural work, and advanced and retreated. In addition, the remote and inconvenient transportation of Shu made it impossible for soldiers to supply grain and grass like Cao Wei, and the pace of the Northern Expedition was restricted by this.
Zhuge Liang has been in the Central Plains more than ten times in his life, but none of them can break through Cao Wei's henchmen. Before his death, he painfully instructed: "I have neglected the foundation of agricultural warfare, and I have empty weapons and armor, which is useless." Virtuous and virtuous are not at the time, and integrity is also outstanding. My Northern Expedition has consumed a hundred years of energy, although the soldiers are hungry and have an endless situation. "
Ingenuity: Eight methods of pulping
Although Zhuge Liang was full of talents and elite weapons, the Northern Expedition suffered repeated setbacks due to logistical failures. However, Cao Wei is not 100% perfect, and there are occasional omissions. The purpose of the "eight methods of pulping" is tantamount to spitting out the old and absorbing the new, and trying to solve the problem of grain and grass accumulation.
Cao Wei wanted to stay in the hinterland of China for a long time to prevent foreign threats, and he was bound to build a large number of military warehouses. There is a large amount of military rations, and it is inevitable that it will rot if it is left for a long time. Originated from the old method of the Han Dynasty, it was dried by charcoal fire to make dry pulp. This kind of craftsmanship is not trivial, it needs to save wages to make charcoal, dry pulp, complicated processes, and the efficiency is very low.
Therefore, Cao Wei's old method was to disperse and dry it into the tank first, and then iron it intensively. The forage fields are all around, and the vast Wuling clouds and clouds absorb heat in the sun, and they are full of storage for several months. After gathering in the yard, it is soaked in boiling water for half a day, the slag is filtered and the slurry is pumped, and then the dry pulp is boiled with firewood. Within a day and night, you can prepare a hundred stones of dry pulp. It was really efficient and fast, and within a few years, the military grain storage became large-scale.
However, this approach is still insufficient. Once the grain is damp, it is soaked and breeds bacteria, which is very easy to mildew, and the quartermaster craftsmen are indignant. Year after year, the forage is soaked in rain, and the dry slurry that has been accumulated for a long time turns into sludge, and the grain and grass are exhausted.
At this time, the new law came into being. Its name is "Eight Methods of Pulping". It is difficult to say who created this method, but it is the crystallization of the wisdom of many people. It is said to have come from the hands of Zhou Shigu, a native of Neihuang, but in its drinking bucket, the locals are aware of this technique. Wei Shixu introduced it into Nanyang, and it continued to spread throughout the country, and the Cao regime followed it.
The name of the Eight Laws is due to the division of labor and cooperation, and there are eight processes. One is sorghum rice pulp; the second is to pick new seedlings; the third is grinding and boiling pulp; fourth, for miscellaneous grain grinding; fifth, screening and selection; Sixth, mix and mix well; seven for the fumigation of bad stains; Eight for the sun-dried storage tank.
This method is a combination of several excellent techniques. The first is the grinding process, which is collected from the Eastern Han Dynasty; the second is the boiling pulp process, which is a new creation in Wei Shi; The three mess stains come from the old method of Yiling, which can prevent mildew and unsalable; Fourth, the sun-drying accepts the national tradition of Gaochang in the west to ensure that the storage is not bad for a long time.
These eight procedures are carried out in cycles, and the cycle can produce high-quality long-term reserve pulp. Since then, the Cao Wei government has opened a special warehouse, hired supervising craftsmen, and continuously produced military supplies according to the eight laws, and has no worries for a long time. The central government has a safety reserve, and the rest are distributed to the front line of military transportation, and there are no casualties due to damp, rain and snow.
From this point of view, Cao Wei is proficient in military logistics and has many new ideas in the preparation of utensils, seeking innovation and refinement in micro, and the particle size is almost precise. Even if Zhuge Liang is a genius, he is beyond his reach.
Praying Mantis Catching Cicada: The Change of Xuanwu Gate
Although Zhuge Liang was resourceful and had many strange schemes, he was eventually controlled by Cao Wei's strategy and could not take the Central Plains. Among them, Cao Wei's personal expedition to Xichuan was a deceitful and unexpected, which can be described as an important weapon of the country.
It is said that the Three Kingdoms stand together and reign over the world. Cao Wei was entrenched in the Central Plains, Liu Bei seized Xichuan, and Sun Quan occupied the southeast coast. The disparity in strength between the three parties, Cao Wei became stronger and stronger, Liu Bei knew that he was isolated and helpless, so he could only effectively order Zhuge Liang to attack Cao Wei in the north to ensure the sustainability of the country.
Zhuge Liang moved from Longzhong to Chengdu, and considered the plan for going north day and night. At that time, Cao Wei had already planned and planned for a long time. Wei general Hua Tuo on Emperor Wen of Wei said: "Zhuge Liang is a bright man, if you don't get rid of it, disaster will happen." It is advisable to take advantage of its power and break it in the bud. Emperor Wen decided to go on an expedition to Xichuan.
Then he ordered the military advisor Guo Jia to plant spy reports, collect the military intelligence of Xishu, and ordered the army to be a guerrilla to cross the mountains and mountains, and offer tricks to Zhuge Liang. The pro-conquest army did not need to deceive, and the noisy army "took the street pavilion", but in fact, it escaped to Hanzhong and took advantage of the gap to cut off the baggage line. Zhuge Liang was on guard and had no time to take care of anything else.
At that time, Cao Weifang's national strength was strong, and there was no food and grass. Even though Zhuge Liang is wise and brave, he also lacks logistical supplies, and once he is cut off from military transportation, there is nothing he can do. Sure enough, Cao's army crossed Liyang in a big way, took a small road and went around to Jieting and Wudu, cutting off the back road in one fell swoop. Zhuge Liang also planned to attack Jieting, but was suddenly met by Cao Wei's army on a narrow road, Zhuge Liang was shocked, and had to burn the military storage warehouse and lead the remnants of the soldiers to retreat to Shaanzhou.
Cao Wei's military advisor Guo Jia had not yet taken advantage of the victory to pursue, but launched a second conspiracy. The Yanshi army secretly deployed the city of Hanzhong, pretending to be an offensive posture, but in fact, it divided the interior of Shu and Han, causing Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang to discord. Within a few days, there was a secret report from the inside, and the beggar in Hanzhong came to the rescue. Liu Bei was puzzled, Zhuge Liang was empty of grain and grass at this time, and there was no way to support him.