Mount Tai towered majestically. Luo Chengzhi left Fenggao, where he should have continued south, but weapons bristled throughout the Huai-Si Lands. Something seemed to have happened in Chu State, and he could not head south for now. Luo Yuan pointed west. "Chengzhi, why not cross Heluo, pass through Hangu into Guanzhong, and enter Chang'an to meet the Emperor of Wei State first?
"Then, once matters in Chu State are settled, you can follow the Han River and the Yangtze River downstream. It will be no slower than traveling from Fenggao to Jianye."
Luo Chengzhi agreed, and several dozen riders vanished into the endless wind and snow, their flying Phoenix royal banner stowed away. Watching the Luo Clan's party gradually disappear, Luo Yuan slowly settled into his carriage. The curtain fell, and he leaned back inside, closing his eyes for a brief rest. If he died now, he would have no regrets. He, too, would die.
In theory, Wei State was quite powerful. Although it did not hold Nanyang Commandery, the heart of Jingzhou, or Hedong Commandery, the heart of the former Jin State of the Spring and Autumn period, it possessed Guanzhong and Shu, with mountain barriers on all four sides as natural defenses and the Yellow River as a dividing barrier, as well as Liangzhou's great horses. In both war potential and immediately available fighting strength, it ranked second among the Four States, with a chance at first.
The prerequisite was that Wei State's ruling group functioned normally. Unfortunately, since the death of Emperor Ming of Wei State, Cao Rui, that ruling group had been anything but normal. Whatever Sima Yi's character, his abilities were beyond question, and his civil and military talents were both among the finest. After Ji Lingjun swept him and his followers away in one