The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 170 Volume Are you willing to go to Ziwu?
Ma Teng was cursing at this moment.

We clearly agreed not to care about this rebellious son Ma Chao, and to let him live or die!

But after hesitating for half a day, Ma Teng gathered his troops and marched south from Guzang to Lingju.

"You little bastard! Just wait and see how I'll deal with you when I get back!"

Ma Teng cursed a few more times, while Ma Chao happily shouted, "Dad!"

"You still think I'm your dad!?"

Ma Teng was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, but this was obviously not a good time to teach Ma Chao a lesson.

"You three should lead your men to the south quickly and harass the Qiang people from the side. Remember not to engage in direct combat with them!"

Now that the father is here, how can he let his son charge into battle on the front line?
Moreover, Ma Teng vaguely guessed which tribe the Qiang people belonged to by their clothing.

Lost!

The culprit who turned Liangzhou into a mess under the banner of "revenge for Han Sui"!
As the saying goes, enemies are extremely jealous when they meet!
If it weren't for the trouble caused by Mi Dang, Ma Teng would still be living a good life in Jincheng. How could he have fallen into this situation today?
"You're looking for death! Whoever kills the enemy will be rewarded with a million gold coins!"

Ma Teng also became furious and directly offered a huge reward.

When Mi Dang saw Ma Teng's flag appear here, despair was revealed in his eyes.

After all, Ma Teng was quite famous in Xiliang.

It was because Midang knew that he was no match for Ma Teng that he asked Qiangduan and Agui from Wudu and Yinping counties to help him.

But no matter how much I planned, I never expected that things would turn out like this.

"After all, the remnants of the army encountered Ma Teng's main force."

The two Di tribes from Wudu and Yinping collided with the army from the imperial court.

And now, Mi Dang can only use his own troops to fight against Ma Teng.

After running for a day and a night, the exhausted Mi Dang finally chose not to escape again. Instead, he waved his blade and rushed towards Ma Teng.

Seeing this, Ma Teng narrowed his eyes slightly.

court death!

Those who stand with a stick are hungry; those who drink first after drawing water are thirsty; those who see profit but do not advance are tired!

This is the current situation of the Qiang people behind Midang!
In addition, the sudden appearance of Ma Teng's army made the Qiang people on the opposite side look frightened. With such performance, what reason did Ma Teng's soldiers have to lose to the enemy?
Ma Chao, Fa Zheng, and Meng Da, who had not reacted just now, gradually woke up and began to harass the Qiang people from the flank, using the mobility of the cavalry to tease them. When the other party relaxed their vigilance, they rushed forward again, cut off a piece of the complete group on the opposite side, and quickly bit them to death... Over and over again.

Ma Teng's army in front did not dare to fight with Midang to see who would win in a narrow road. Instead, after charging head-on for a while, they retreated and attracted the Qiang people under Midang to chase them.

When the Qiang were tired of chasing them, Ma Teng ordered his cavalry to turn around and fight. When they were tired of killing, they retreated again and looked at the Qiang quietly...

Although both were from the Western Liang Iron Cavalry and used the same cavalry tactics, Ma Teng and Lu Bu had completely opposite fighting styles.

Like a tiger descending from a mountain, he rushed over and was ready to tear the enemy to pieces.

A venomous bee buzzes around the enemy, then stares at you at the right moment and runs away...

Mi Dang originally wanted to take advantage of his last breath to disperse Ma Teng's army, but as he saw Ma Teng getting farther and farther away, he knew that it would be impossible for him to bring his people back intact.

"Shameless!"

Mi Dang cursed Ma Teng.

But at this point, the annihilation of the Qiang army was inevitable.

I am not willing to accept this!
He looked at Ma Teng's general flag floating in the air, and suddenly an idea came to him.

"Ma Teng! Do you really want to destroy our Qiang bloodline?"

"Don't forget that you also have Qiang blood in you! Isn't it considered betraying your ancestors?"

"Moreover, if you really kill us and let Liangzhou have peace, aren't you afraid that the Han Dynasty's royal court will think you are useless and kill you?"

Mi Dang felt like he had found a way to survive—

"Ma Teng! As long as you let us go today, we will definitely follow you in the future! We will only obey your orders! By then, even the Han people's royal court will not be able to do anything to you! Isn't this a win-win situation?"

"You, Ma Teng, are a local lord after all. Do you really intend to hand your fate over to others?"

Mi Dang's voice was quite loud.

Not only Ma Teng could hear it, but Fa Zheng and Meng Da on the flank also heard the charming shouting.

Both of them looked changed.

Mi Dang...actually advised Ma Teng to keep the enemy at bay?

Advise Ma Teng to keep the enemy at bay and show his own value, so that Ma Teng will let him go...

Have the Qiang people today evolved to this level?

And what worries the two of them the most is that what Mi Dang said makes sense!
If the Qiang threat was completely quelled and Liangzhou was made under the rule of the imperial court, would Ma Teng still be qualified to rule his own region?
It can be said that once the imperial court completely puts down the Qiang rebellion this time, it will not only bring ten years of peace to Liangzhou, but also shatter Ma Teng's "dream of becoming a prince".

At that time, Ma Teng truly handed his life and property to the court and the emperor.

Is that really the situation that Ma Teng wants to see?
Fa Zheng and Meng Da both held their breath, waiting for Ma Teng's reaction.

On Ma Teng's side, there was also a long silence.

"Ugh."

How could Ma Teng not understand what Mi Dang said?

That was why he was reluctant to let Ma Chao go to Lingju, in order to seek a bargaining chip for himself in the future. However, Ma Chao, a filial son, secretly stole the military token and took the initiative to lead the cavalry to intercept the Qiang people, which obviously handed over Ma Teng's only bargaining chip to others.

At this point, if he let Mi and the others go, then Ma Teng would probably become a thorn in the side of the imperial court.

"I, Ma Teng, do not want to be a traitor to the Han Dynasty."

This is the bottom line and the answer.

Ma Teng did not respond to Mi Dang.

In other words, Ma Teng’s own actions are the best response!

Pulling the reins, Ma Teng urged his horse to charge, leading the cavalry behind him, in the direction of Midang.

Ma Teng's rare toughness made Ma Chao, who was standing beside Fa Zheng, cheer.

"Xiaozhi, Zijing! Look! My father is also a hero!"

Fa Zheng and Meng Da breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Ma Teng did not agree to Mi Dang's conditions.

it's over!
The Qiang threat that had harassed Liangzhou for decades was completely suppressed with Ma Teng's charge!

"Ma Liangzhou deserves to be remembered in history for his achievements today, and he can certainly be called a hero!"

Fa Zheng and Meng Da also urged their horses forward and began to cooperate with Ma Teng to smash the last Qiang tribe into ashes!

By the time Lu Bu and others behind him caught up, Ma Teng had already cleaned up the battlefield.

More than three thousand people were beheaded and two thousand Qiang soldiers were captured!
If the battle records are added together with those of Lu Bu and others, more than 6,000 people were beheaded and nearly 20,000 enemy troops were captured!
Such a result would be considered a great victory even in the days of confrontation between the Han and the Huns!
The local tyrants and noble families in Jincheng presented gifts to the imperial army and offered wine and meat to reward the soldiers.

Some famous scholars from Guanzhong who had lived in seclusion in Liangzhou for many years also came out and came to Jincheng to recite poems and compose essays for the soldiers, praising the strength of the Han Dynasty.

The governors and county magistrates of the four counties in Hexi also rushed to Jincheng to express their loyalty to the court.

Even Shanshan, the country closest to Liangzhou, which was the small country in the Western Regions renamed from Loulan, immediately sent envoys to Jincheng, pestering Wei Kang and Xun You, asking them to be taken back to Chang'an to continue serving the emperor of the Han Dynasty...

Compared to the uproar caused by the Battle of Jincheng, the few people at the center were confused.

"The court...what does that mean?"

After the news of the victory over the Qiang people reached Chang'an, instead of sending timely praise, Chang'an became even more silent.

Xun You also wrote a private letter to Jia Xu and Xun Yu, asking what happened in Chang'an. However, the two were vague and only gave Xun You one word in reply:

"Wait!"

Wait?
What are you waiting for?
Xun You didn't want to understand whether something had happened on the Grand Tutor's side, or whether the Emperor had some strange idea.

Now that we have finally defeated the enemy, why is the only answer just "wait"?

I won’t talk about how to reward people based on their merits.

How to arrange the positions is not discussed.

Even the imperial court had no idea how to deal with these captured Qiang people!

……

"It's not a good idea to waste time like this."

Xun You knew best the dilemma the court was facing now.

"These 20,000 Qiang captives are also human beings! If we trap them here, something unexpected might happen!"

"Not to mention that they also need food every day! Food for 20,000 people! Even if it's just to keep them full every day, it's still a huge expense!"

"If the imperial court does not make a decision soon, will we have to keep supporting these 20,000 Qiang people forever?"

The same is true for Lu Bu and Ma Teng.

kill!

Although killing prisoners is an ominous thing.

But isn’t the purpose of the imperial court this time to capture all the Qiang people in one fell swoop and prevent them from harassing Han territory again?
Moreover, the four hundred years of experience of the Han Dynasty has proven that only dead aliens are good aliens.

Instead of continuing to waste food to feed them, it is better to kill them immediately and get rid of them once and for all!
However, Wei Kang was a scholar after all, and he thought this move was too cruel, so he argued endlessly with several people.

A few days later, just when Wei Kang had given up on feeding these Qiang captives under pressure, news finally arrived from Chang'an.

Xun You looked strange after checking the message.

The others were also shocked when they received the court's reply.

"The Emperor... is truly audacious!"

……

"call--"

After struggling for a while, Xun You sent someone to bring a small Qiang leader for questioning.

The little Qiang leader was extremely nervous, and he obviously knew that now was the critical moment to decide the fate of their tribe!
After Xun You confirmed the accuracy of the information he had, he asked the Qiang leader:

"Have you ever been to Hanzhong?"

"Replying to the Han Dynasty lord, we are all Di people from Wudu and Yinping, so we have naturally been to Hanzhong!"

"Then... have you walked along the Hanzhong Ziwu Road?"

(End of this chapter)