[Light-screen]
[After the rebellion of Meng Da, Sima Yi submitted a memorial to the throne—and interestingly enough, his thinking aligned almost perfectly with the Chancellor's.
Have Hefei send troops as bait.
Meanwhile, strike quietly from Xiangfan, build a fleet in secret, and attack Xiakou and Dongguan.
Guaranteed victory.
Emperor Cao Rui thought this was excellent.
The boss of the Hefei military district, Cao Xiu, thought: Go screw yourself.
We're both regents entrusted with the empire.
Why should I play the supporting role for you?
Why isn't it your Xiangfan army drawing attention while my Hefei forces march straight south and stab Jiangdong in the heart?
At that point, Sima Yi simply folded his arms and stayed put.
The Battle of Shiting—sparked by Zhou Fang's fake surrender—began in the eighth month.
Sima Yi watched the show from the sidelines until late in the tenth month, only then reluctantly moving out.
He hadn't gone far before canceling the campaign entirely, reporting to Cao Rui:
"Winter water levels are too shallow. Hard to sail."
Cao Rui probably wanted to vomit blood on the spot.
If winter water is shallow, then what exactly were you doing back in August?
But Sima Yi was a regent. So the matter was quietly dropped.
Cao Xiu's situation was simpler.
Halfway through, he realized he'd been tricked.
He flew into a rage—and refused to turn back.
"Fight it out!"
The outcome, however, was deeply unsatisfying for Cao Xiu.
Because he'd marched out believing Zhou Fang, he hadn't mobilized fully. His troops and supplies were both inferior.
Jiangdong, on the other hand, assembled over ninety thousand combat-ready soldiers, prepared supplies in abundance, and appointed Lu Xun as commander.
Sun Quan personally drove Lu Xun's chariot to boost morale.
The result?
After a period of stalemate, Cao Xiu gradually fell into disadvantage.
Then Lu Xun pulled off a beautifully executed night raid.
The Wei camp exploded into chaos.
Just like at Yiling, Lu Xun pursued relentlessly—beheading over ten thousand, capturing tens of thousands of carts, and seizing all supplies.
If Jia Kui hadn't arrived to rescue him, Cao Xiu might not have made it out alive.
For Jiangdong, killing over ten thousand was undeniably a great victory.
Lu Xun proved himself a fully qualified supreme commander, and naturally sought to expand the gains.
Before the battle, he'd already drafted a Five-Route Northern Advance:
First route: Lü Fan and Sun Zhao enter the Huai River.
Second route: Quan Cong and Zhu Huan attack Hefei.
Third route: Zhuge Jin, Bu Zhi, and Zhu Ran attack Xiangyang.
Fourth route: Lu Xun and Pan Zhang suppress Meifu.
And the fifth route?
Of course—have the Chancellor enter the west of the passes.
Now let's look at timing.
The Battle of Shiting began in August and ended in September.
News traveling upstream from Jiangdong to Shu would take another month.
Which means the Chancellor likely received Jiangdong's message—and its "requests"—around early November.
Under these circumstances, the Later Memorial on the Northern Expedition was most likely written.
That memorial is almost wall-to-wall grievance.
Talent is scarce. Shu is poor. The great clans oppose everything. I, Zhuge Liang, am pushing forward against all advice and carrying unbearable pressure.
On the surface, it's a memorial to Liu Shan.
In substance, it's a political statement:
"Sun Quan, stop messing around, at once please be human. We are allies—not your subordinate Yizhou Commandery."
Only then does the stark contrast between the Earlier and Later Memorials make sense.
Because this wasn't the lament of a defeated general.
It was the posture of a statesman.]
"Kongming…" Liu Bei sighed.
He wanted to say something profound, something comforting—but nothing felt adequate.
In the end, he could only pat Kongming's hand.
This mess had been dug by Liu Bei himself.
And Kongming was the one patching it—piece by piece.
Raise funds. Fight wars. Reclaim farmland. Train new talent. Placate allies.
Finally, after much effort, he raised Ma Su to help shoulder the burden—
And got a man who could talk endlessly and do nothing steadily.
As for Sun Quan proclaiming himself emperor?
Liu Bei barely cared anymore.
Later generations had already passed judgment.
An empty imperial title couldn't compete with a nickname like "I am Sun-Brother Ten-Thousand-Quan."
Guan Yu stared at the scenes of Shiting in silence, admiration and regret mingling in his eyes.
"Lu Xun," he said slowly, "is worthy to stand as Zhou Gongjin's successor."
"But Jiangdong," he added, "remains trapped by faction and lineage."
Zhang Fei grew restless.
"But this Lu Xun—where is he?"
"The screen says he rises to fame eight years later!"
"Don't tell me he still hasn't entered service!"
"That's easy!" Huang Zhong slammed Zhang Fei's thigh.
"General Zhang, take eight hundred elite troops, capture every Lu clansman in Jiangdong, and interrogate them one by one!"
Zhang Fei bared his teeth, ready to fire back—then noticed Liu Bei looking over.
He immediately wilted.
"…General Huang's joking," he muttered. "I'm not an idiot."
Storming Jiangdong was obviously impossible.
Mi Zhu's expression shifted, then fell.
If it were a large clan, one could always bribe a collateral branch for information.
But the Lu clan was tiny.
Too tiny.
Jian Yong sighed.
"Kongming is a gentleman. Sun Quan… is not."
The room fell quiet.
Ever since Chibi, they'd unconsciously assumed that attacking Wei required Jiangdong's cooperation.
But from Xiangfan to Shiting, hadn't Sun Quan been exploiting exactly that assumption?
Zhang Fei snorted.
"After Yiling, Lu Xun advised Brother Ten-Thousand to proclaim himself emperor."
"He refused."
"Probably kept that 'King of Wu' title as an escape route."
Guan Yu spoke first.
"Brother, Gan Xingba was right."
"We must prepare for war with Jiangdong."
Liu Bei nodded.
[Light-screen]
[Reluctantly, the Chancellor still marched—and handled the task beautifully.
The key lay in the man he killed during the Chencang withdrawal: Wang Shuang.
Wang Shuang is an interesting figure.
His first appearance was in 222.
After Yiling, Cao Pi went berserk and launched a three-pronged attack on Wu.
Cao Ren attacked Ruxukou.
Defender Zhu Huan feigned weakness, laid an ambush, killed several hundred, and captured one general.
That general was Wang Shuang.
Captured officers were often persuaded to defect. Wang Shuang wasn't important.
So he likely surrendered to Wu.
Then how did he later end up under Zhang He?
Probably got captured again.
Records show Zhang He and Sima Yi defeated Wu forces around Xiangfan in about 226.
Zhang He then stayed there—until Cao Rui urgently summoned him to relieve Chencang.
In such relief missions, a vanguard is usually sent ahead.
Wang Shuang, eager for merit, volunteered.
And was promptly cut down by the Chancellor during the withdrawal.
From Wang Shuang's trajectory, it's clear the Chancellor fulfilled Sun Quan's demand:
Zhang He was indeed pulled away from the Xiangfan front.
Jiangdong's pressure was genuinely reduced.
Which explains why the Second Chencang Expedition looks so strange.]
"This Wang Shuang…" Zhang Fei sighed, recalling a word the screen liked to use.
"…really was unlucky."
"Changed masters twice, desperate for merit—and ended up like that."
Huang Zhong sneered.
"What you said earlier applies here too."
"Why carry Cao Wei's coffin home to cry over it?"
"Cao Ren's troops massacred Wan City. Wang Shuang was probably involved."
Huang Zhong knew Wan City well.
After seventeen years under Liu Biao, there was no part of Nan Commandery he didn't know.
He felt no sympathy at all.
Zhang Fei understood.
He only sighed.
Liu Bei thought further.
The crime of slaughter lay with Cao Ren—but did Wang Shuang have the right to disobey orders?
Liu Bei couldn't ask him to die nobly.
The only thing he could do was end this chaotic age sooner—
So men like Wang Shuang could farm land, care for wives, and never face such choices again.
[Light-screen]
[For someone as meticulous as the Chancellor, accomplishing multiple goals with one action was routine.
In the Collected Works of Zhuge Liang, there's a self-reflection.
While Shu's wealthy clans celebrated victory, the Chancellor himself called Mount Qi a defeat.
He identified the cause clearly:
Troop quality.
At Mount Qi, Han forces outnumbered Wei forces.
And still lost badly.
Either Zhuge Liang was incompetent—
Or the soldiers were.
So after Mount Qi, he trained the army.
Chencang was a demonstration of the results.
High-tech equipment helped compensate—but not enough.
Still, not enough is not zero.
If it's not enough to win big, then let's at least snatch some gains.
That was the second purpose.
Which naturally led to the third Northern Expedition.
The loud siege at Chencang wasn't just to distract Wei for Jiangdong—
It was also to distract them for the Third Expedition.
Early 229, Chen Shi attacked Wudu and Yinping.
The Chancellor advanced to Jianwei.
Guo Huai fled fast enough to escape.
Wudu and Yinping were pacified.
Let's do the math:
October—news from Jiangdong.
Early November—Later Memorial.
December—march to Chencang, twenty-plus days of siege.
Early next year—Chen Shi attacks Wudu and Yinping.
Guo Huai rushes to reinforce, fights Chen Shi.
The Chancellor, returning, casually turns aside and supports Chen Shi at Jianwei.
This was essentially using Chencang as bait to draw reinforcements.
Guo Huai didn't take it.
So after exhausting himself all winter, the Chancellor settled for Wudu and Yinping—and returned to Chengdu to recover.
At this point, the Chancellor had only five and a half years left to live.]
Everyone had been ready to congratulate the strategist for turning a losing battle into profit.
Then the final line appeared.
All words stuck in their throats.
Kongming himself was relaxed.
"Starting tomorrow," he said calmly, "I'll study health preservation with Physician Zhang Zhongjing."
Liu Bei laughed.
"Kongming, not calling yourself 'This Chancellor' today?"
Kongming smiled and shook his head.
"Your military thinking has advanced rapidly," Guan Yu praised.
"The failure at Mount Qi did involve flawed decisions."
"You should've left detachments to threaten nearby cities and led the main force straight for Shanggui."
"Take Shanggui, control the Long Road, pacify Longyou."
"The delay at Mount Qi gave Guo Huai time to seize Shanggui."
"And second—Ma Su."
"That was also a misjudgment."
Ma Su lowered his head again.
Guan Yu only glanced at him.
"Mount Qi demanded caution. Yet at the critical Jieting, you abandoned caution and promoted a new general."
"A mistake in choosing men."
Zhang Fei made an exaggerated face.
"But the strategist did prepare backup plans!"
"He assigned Ma Su four generals! Four!"
"All four tried to stop him!"
"What more could anyone do?"
He turned to Ma Su.
"You know military theory."
"What would you do?"