In an alternative account from the "Zizhi Tongjian" that instead places this event as having occurred somewhere in the year of 241, it was Sima Yi who was proposed the idea of building such a canal by Deng Ai, for which he only thereafter petitioned the state for. The agricultural project was set in motion and eventually completed, and whenever there was a battle in the southeast between the Wei and Wu armies, the Wei troops could rush downstream toward the Huai River area to counter the enemy. The abundance of food resources and waterways in the upper stream were advantageous for the Wei forces.