HLnovel Chapter 492: The people within Shu Han are all good people; author, please stop with the conspiracy
Chapter 492: The people within Shu Han are all good people; author, please stop with the conspiracy
[This chapter connects to the previous two chapters]
"Jiang Wan, what are you doing here?"
The first person to jump up and angrily berate Jiang Wan was not Fei Yi, but Yang Yi.
Let's go back to the night when Fei Yi first arrived at the front line at Wuzhangyuan.
Fei Yi said to Yang Yi:
"Lord Wei, Wei Yan is suspected of colluding with Wei. This is the letter I discovered."
Yang Yi quickly took the letter.
The crooked handwriting above is definitely written by Wei Yan.
"The Prime Minister has just passed away, how could Wei Yan act like this?"
Yang Yi was furious, but Fei Yi used a similar excuse to persuade him to lead his army back to Hanzhong as if nothing had happened.
As for Wei Yan, Fei Yi told Yang Yi that the Prime Minister had already made arrangements!
Ma Dai was the "backup plan arranged by the Prime Minister"!
If Wei Yan had no intention of rebelling, Ma Dai would not have killed him, and everyone would have been fine.
If Wei Yan harbors rebellious intentions, then... we can only ask Wei Yan to die!
Yang Yi believed Fei Yi's explanation.
Therefore, when he saw Wei Yan defeat Sima Yi's army and take a shortcut to block the road, his heart sank.
However, Ma Dai's "consistent performance" turned the tide.
But Yang Yi wasn't stupid either.
Upon seeing Jiang Wan appear in Nanzheng, he immediately realized that it might all be a scam!
"Lord Li, Yang Yi has also returned. You may read the announcement now."
"Yes!"
Li Fu bowed to Jiang Wan, took out Liu Shan's imperial edict, and read it aloud:
"By His Majesty's decree, Jiang Wan is hereby appointed Grand Marshal, concurrently serving as Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and transferred to Hanzhong to oversee military affairs at the front!"
"What!?"
Yang Yi stared in disbelief, while Fei Yi clenched his fists.
Fei Yi painstakingly planned everything, but that scoundrel Jiang Wan suddenly jumped out and stole the credit!
Ah……
To avoid suspicion, Jiang Wan could not possibly succeed Zhuge Liang to his former position as prime minister.
Therefore, Jiang Wan's specific position was not important, as long as it was high enough.
He could be a Grand General or a Grand Marshal; they are just honorary titles anyway.
However, by being appointed to the position of Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, transferred to Hanzhong, and given overall command of military affairs, he effectively became Zhuge Liang's rightful successor!
"how so!?"
"What merits or abilities does Jiang Wan possess?"
Yang Yi launched into a tirade of curses.
Yang Yi's contempt for Jiang Wan was not just ordinary, but extreme!
How ridiculous and amusing that someone who had never even been to Hanzhong and had never truly participated in the Northern Expedition suddenly became the successor to the prime minister!
Jiang Wan smiled slightly.
"Yang Yi, haven't you figured out the current situation yet?"
"Lord Li, please tell him!"
Li Fu's expression was serious. He pointed at Yang Yi, and then at Fei Yi standing next to Yang Yi.
"Before his death, the Prime Minister told me that he had entrusted the affairs of state to Lord Jiang."
"Besides the Prime Minister's dying words, His Majesty's edict is also here. Do you two have any further objections?"
"Haha...hahahaha!"
"Li Fu! As a close advisor to His Majesty, how could you be in cahoots with Jiang Wan? What benefits did you receive from Jiang Wan?"
Yang Yi was furious.
At this moment, he was like a loser being toyed with.
Everything has deviated from his expectations!
"Yang Changshi, watch your words."
"Lord Li is now the Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat. All your duties will be transferred to Lord Li from now on!"
"What!?"
Yang Yi was dumbfounded.
Jiang Wan, who had always been based in Chengdu, the rear area, was simply destined to succeed Zhuge Liang.
What is Li Fu?
He's a local from Yizhou!
Neither from the Jingzhou faction nor the Dongzhou faction, yet such a person became the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and the number two figure in the Northern Expeditionary Army.
Just then, Fei Yi launched a counterattack.
He looked sharply at Jiang Wan.
"Grand Marshal, if I remember correctly, the power to record the affairs of the Secretariat should conflict with the authority of the Grand Marshal, right?"
"Oh, right, the Grand Marshal is the successor verbally designated by the Prime Minister."
"In that case, we will all make way for the Grand Marshal. He may lead his men on the Northern Expedition!"
Jiang Wan's expression turned grim as she pointed at Fei Yi:
"Fei Yi, what do you mean by that?"
"I didn't mean anything by it, I just wanted to tell the Grand Marshal something."
"Don't eat too rudely."
"Otherwise, if someone like you, who has never commanded troops before, suddenly arrives in Hanzhong, do you think anyone will cooperate with you?"
Jiang Wan gritted her teeth.
Li Fu was the same.
This is also what they are most worried about.
To be precise, although Jiang Wan was one of Zhuge Liang's confidants, he did not join the Northern Expeditionary Army.
Zhuge Liang kept Jiang Wan in Chengdu to assist Liu Shan and stabilize the rear.
Therefore, Jiang Wan was very popular in Chengdu and had established beneficial relationships with many people.
Including Li Fu, this is Jiang Wan's biggest bargaining chip.
He agreed to let Li Fu take over Yang Yi's position.
Otherwise, no matter how much Liu Shan favored Li Fu, he wouldn't have been able to join the Northern Expeditionary Army or gain Zhuge Liang's favor. Within the Shu Han circle, he would only be able to sit in his current position.
The upside potential has reached its limit!
after all……
Li Fu's name is not mentioned in the "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops"!
However, Li Fu was Liu Shan's most trusted close advisor, and only Li Fu had the opportunity to speak with Zhuge Liang on his deathbed.
In other words.
The conversation between Li Fu and Zhuge Liang was a top secret, known only to the two of them.
What exactly was said remains unknown.
Since no one knows, that leaves room for manipulation!
At this moment, Fei Yi's words made Jiang Wan understand.
There are some interests he has to give up, whether he likes it or not!
He could kill the generals in the Northern Expeditionary Army who had good relations with Yang Yi and Wei Yan.
But he can't eliminate everyone!
Otherwise, if the Northern Expeditionary Army is lost, everything will be over once the Wei Kingdom attacks.
……
After that day, the story of Li Fu and Zhuge Liang's dying conversation spread throughout Shu.
Those unaware of the facts mostly believe that Zhuge Liang designated Jiang Wan as his successor, and that Fei Yi was Jiang Wan's successor after him.
after all.
Although Jiang Wan became Grand Marshal, he "voluntarily" handed over the power of recording the affairs of the Secretariat to Fei Yi!
This vividly demonstrates the unity and positive spirit of the Shu Han state during its Northern Expeditions!
It is said that a knowledgeable person who witnessed Zhuge Liang's death in later generations cursed while watching the film: "The people of Shu Han were all good people, but the author is just spouting conspiracy theories all the time!"
Some argue that Jiang Wan was merely a transitional figure, while Fei Yi was the one Zhuge Liang truly valued.
but……
Have you ever seen a successor who sat in the highest position of power in Shu Han for a full ten years?
After Jiang Wan came to power, Fei Yi arrested Yang Yi, saying that Yang Yi had made outrageous remarks and had the intention to defect to Wei!
Afterwards, Yang Yi was demoted to a commoner and died mysteriously a year later.
Along with Yang Yi and Wei Yan, many mid- to high-ranking generals of Shu Han also disappeared.
In other words, those who clearly followed Zhuge Liang in the Northern Expeditions and fought almost the entire campaign, yet whose birth and death dates cannot be found in later generations.
People such as Gao Xiang, Chen Shi, Meng Yan, and Yuan Lin are included in this list.
From that day onward, the Shu Han state ceased to appoint official historians.
Some fragments can only be found in the Chronicles of Huayang.
……
In 234, Jiang Wan became Grand Marshal, Fei Yi became Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and Li Fu became Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat.
Upon learning this news, Li Yan died of grief before Yang Yi.
In 235, Ma Dai led a northern expedition, but was defeated by Wei general Niu Jin, losing more than 2,000 soldiers.
He died soon after, depressed and dejected.
It is said that Ma Dai was originally in good health, but died suddenly for some unknown reason.
In the same year, another tomb of Wei Yan was discovered in Hanzhong.
The person who erected the tomb was Jiang Wei.
In 240, five years later, Jiang Wan launched the Northern Expedition, but with little success.
The reason for this is probably that too many important generals of Shu Han died in the past few years. Apart from Wang Ping and Jiang Wei, there are no middle and high-level generals in Shu Han with experience in the Northern Expeditions!
In 244, Jiang Wan passed away, and Fei Yi succeeded to all the power left by Jiang Wan, becoming even more powerful than Jiang Wan had been.
In 252, Fei Yi planned to establish his own government.
At the end of the year, Jiang Wei, acting on Liu Shan's orders, brought back a surrendered general from Wei named Guo Xiu.
In 253, Fei Yi was assassinated by Guo Xiu.
In 263, the Shu Han state was destroyed.
In 264, on the road to Luoyang.
Chen Shou asked his teacher Qiao Zhou for advice:
"Teacher, how many people wrote the *Chu Shi Biao* (Memorial on Dispatching the Troops)? I feel like some are missing."
Qiao Zhou sighed and patted Chen Shou on the shoulder:
"The descendants of Jiang Wan and Fei Yi are still alive, but Yang Yi, Wei Yan, and Li Yan have no descendants."
Chen Shou understood Qiao Zhou's meaning.
Thus, from then on, the final section of the Shu chapters included a biography of a disgraced official.
……
P.S.: In the next chapter, Commander Su will return. I've done my best in these three chapters. Readers are welcome to leave comments at the end of each chapter and discuss!