Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 378 Han Sui Messenger
The news that King of Han Liu Bei led his army to station in Chang'an undoubtedly shocked dozens of princes, big and small, in Yong and Liang states. At this moment, Guandong was almost integrated into one, and the tens of thousands of troops were definitely not just coming for Li and Guo.

Liu Xuande must have been thinking of taking action against Yong and Liang, just like how Guangwu dealt with Wei Xiao and Dou Rong.

The wealthy families who had some clan textual inheritance immediately reacted and wondered what to choose at this time.

Should he fight to the bitter end for the military power in his hands, or follow Dou Rong's example and submit to the King of Han?

Within ten days or so, all kinds of news in Longyou spread widely, causing countless people to talk about it.

"Open the city gate! Open the city gate quickly! I am ordered by my master to go to Ji County to visit the former general. This matter is urgent and cannot be delayed."

At the gate of Zhudao County, Hanyang Prefecture, dozens of cavalrymen rode in from a distance. The leader was a middle-aged man with a rough, dark yellow face and a military hat on his head. He ignored the arrows and crossbows on the city wall, and instead kept waving Han Sui's flag and riding back and forth and shouting.

"My general has long been an enemy of Han Wenyue, so don't even think about passing through here."

A military officer on the city wall also shouted in reply.

"This is a different time. Now is the time for the two families to put aside their past grudges and fight the enemy together. How can we let the old grudges affect the future?"

"You don't know the importance of this matter. It's useless to talk to you. Hurry up and ask Ma Mengqi, the son of the former general, to come out and answer. I am ordered by Lord Han to travel to various counties as his messenger. Who are you? What qualifications do you have to answer me?"

The dark-skinned middle-aged man raised his head, glanced at him, and said with a sneer.

The captain of Ma Chao's army was instantly humiliated and his face turned red, but he dared not say anything else.

After all, his status was far inferior to the other party, and speaking any more would only bring humiliation upon himself. He could only go and inform Captain Ma who was stationed here. At least as the son of a former general, he was qualified enough to talk to the other party.

Soon, Ma Chao, who was over eight feet tall and had a strong face and nose that looked very much like his father Ma Teng and was known for his strength and bravery, looked down with his eyes and shouted angrily in a deep voice: "Han Wenyue sent someone to kill my mother. This hatred is irreconcilable. I will never give up until I get Han Sui's head!"

"If you want to make peace, I'm here. You can't enter this city."

When the middle-aged man heard Ma Chao's angry words, he immediately apologized and said, "Mengqi, there are many misunderstandings in this matter. It was the soldiers who did it without authorization. At that time, the two families were angry, so Lord Han did not explain it clearly, so the misunderstanding continues to this day."

"Lord Han has already investigated the situation and killed more than a dozen members of the rebel army. He ordered me to come with my head to apologize to General Xiang. If you don't believe me, please look here!"

As he said this, he ordered his men to open the package on the horse and lifted up the bloody head to signal Ma Chao.

Without waiting for the other party to reply, he immediately bowed and said, "Your Excellency knows that just killing the leader of the bandits is not enough to apologize to General Xiang and Captain Ma, so a few days later, 97,500 bushels of millet, 600 cattle, sheep and colts, 400 craftsmen and servants, and 390 pieces of cloth and fine silk will be sent to the city of Zhudao, just to apologize to Captain Ma."

"After I meet with the former general and discuss the survival of the two families, I will send another 100,000 bushels of rice to Ji County. What do you think, Captain?"

"Lord Han always looks guilty for accidentally killing the former general's wife, but unfortunately the dead cannot be brought back to life, so he can only pay for his sin with rice and cloth!"

The middle-aged man wearing a military cap bowed to Ma Chao again and sighed. The reason why he called Han Sui "Lord of the Palace" was because Ma Teng had repeatedly opposed Li Jue and Guo Si who occupied Chang'an. In order to appease Ma Teng, Li Jue had to use the emperor's edict to appoint him as the general, so that Ma Teng surpassed Han Sui in official position.

Therefore, in order to maintain his momentum, the messenger wearing a military cap kept calling Han Sui "Lord of the House".

At this time, he was not lying to tease Ma Chao. Han Sui was really prepared to spend a lot of money to win over Ma Teng. After all, King of Han Liu Bei was coming with great momentum, and Han Sui also knew that he had rebelled against the Han Dynasty again and again, and it would be absolutely difficult for him to gain the trust of the King of Han.

Rather than submitting to the King of Han and letting him move his family to Luoyang, and eventually dying in obscurity, it would be better to directly win over Ma Teng, who was equally powerful and had a high prestige among the Qiang and Hu people, and have the two families join hands to fight against Liu Bei.

Anyway, the Guandong nobles hated Liangzhou and the Qiang people. If they rebelled a few more times, the Guandong people would give up. Then he and Ma Teng could openly submit to the court.

Therefore, to achieve this goal, the key is to prevent Ma Teng from giving up the gap in Longyou, otherwise the Han army will be able to pour into Yongliang like a tide. How can he stop the torrent by himself at that time?

Han Sui was confident that he could persuade Ma Teng because Ma Shoucheng had actually let the two thieves Li and Guo, who had held the Han emperor and empress hostage, escape to Wuwei County. At this moment, Liu Bei was marching into Guanzhong. If he heard about this and learned the reason, no matter what Ma Teng's difficulties were, Liu Xuande would not easily let him go.

Ma Shoucheng would have no way out except to join him in fighting against the Han army.

Ma Chao was still deep in thought on the wall. The middle-aged man below saw that he was wavering and said, "Now that the King of Han has taken Guanzhong without a fight, he will surely try to get his hands on the counties in Longyou. If the two families cannot put aside their past grudges, they will surely be defeated by the King of Han."

"Ma could have returned to the Han family before, but now they let the two thieves Li and Guo escape. The King of Han will definitely hold Ma accountable. Now it's a matter of life and death. Driving us away is a small matter, but the destruction of Youfufeng Ma is a big deal. Mengqi, please think carefully about this."

After hearing this, Ma Chao was silent for a long time, clenching and unclenching his clenched fists. Finally, he made up his mind resolutely and shouted to the soldiers around him, "Open the gate! Let this man pass through the city gate and go to Ji County to discuss the survival of the Ma family with Aung."

"I will let go of the rest of the blood feud for now."

Han Wenyue, if it weren't for the enemy approaching at this moment, I would have killed your messenger and used his head to sacrifice to my mother...

Ma Chao's eyes fell on Han Sui's messenger who was wearing a military cap. He did not believe a single word of what the man said before, except for what he said later.

The urgent sound of "da da da..." quickly passed through the city. Dozens of people carrying the mission had no time to stop. After bowing to Ma Chao and apologizing, they immediately whipped their horses and passed through the west, galloping along the river bank to the east without stopping.

The union of the two families would take time, and there could be no further delays on the road. He had to discuss the matter with former General Ma Teng as soon as possible, and then he could mobilize troops and occupy strategic locations.

Then send people to lobby the many Qiang tribes and have them participate in this matter at the same time, and it would be best if the two states of Yong and Liang could be turned upside down.

Let the Qiang and Hu people in Beidi, Anding, Hanyang, Wudu, Longxi, Jincheng, and Wuwei counties rise up at the same time, so that the sounds of drums and horns will once again shake the land of Sanfu.

The middle-aged messenger pulled up the reins neatly, and seemed to recall the past scene, revealing a ferocious and vicious grin.

(End of this chapter)