My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 465 Promotion is a double-edged sword

One day in early March, in Mei County, Youfufeng County, Guanzhong.

When Ma Teng heard that Jia Xu was coming to visit and brought Zhang Xiu and a group of cavalry guards with him, he did not dare to neglect him and went out of the city to greet him personally.

Jia Xu was fifty-seven years old this year, and it was not easy for him to travel so hard. Zhang Xiu was also over forty years old, but he was still quite brave, and he had been a general for many years, and his martial arts skills had not fallen behind.

Although the large-scale wars in Guanzhong had subsided for six or seven years, the economic foundation of the area had been completely destroyed and there was no one living there. In recent years, when the harvest was bad, bandits would still swarm around. The hungry people would abandon their farm tools, pick up broken swords and guns, and immediately turn into bandits.

Although Jia Xu had face and prestige in the Xiliang army, he did not dare to travel around Guanzhong without heavy guards.

He cherished his life very much, and he knew very well that the major generals of the Xiliang Army dared not do anything to him, for fear that the young men below could not be restrained. Those who were on the verge of death and starvation would not care about how severe the revenge would be if they robbed and killed important officials of the court.

Along the way, Zhang Xiu had killed three or four groups of 100 thieves while helping Jia Xu clear the way. He hung the heads on the horses' necks without even cleaning the bloody smell, just to scare the other thieves who hadn't taken action yet and calm them down.

Ma Teng, who was on the city wall, saw that Jia Xu and his entourage were so aggressive, so he naturally did not dare to trust them too much. When he went out of the city to greet them, he also asked Ma Chao to bring cavalry to guard them.

When Jia Xu saw Ma Teng, he smiled widely. He glanced at Ma Chao standing next to him and felt that this boy was not simple.

Zhang Xiu was more proficient in martial arts. He carefully observed the details of Ma Chao's horsemanship and weapon handling, and then he was alert and thought to himself: "This general's martial arts is probably better than mine... Is Ma Teng so cautious when welcoming the imperial envoy? Does he still not trust the imperial court?"

Ma Chao is 27 years old this year. He went into battle at the age of 18, and has been in the army for nine years. The year Ma Chao first started, Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu led their troops to attack Wuguan Road and left Guanzhong for Nanyang, so the two sides did not know each other.

According to the novel, when Ma Teng and Han Sui attacked Li Jue and Guo Si, Ma Chao, who was only 16 years old, fought with Dong Zhuo's generals and killed them to establish his prestige. However, this did not happen in the official history. Ma Chao's first battle was two years after the internal conflict between Li and Guo.

Jia Xu could not tell Ma Teng's true attitude, so he tried to test him step by step: "Brother Shoucheng, how are you? Cao Gong wants to use troops against Zhang Lu, but he is afraid that the generals in Guanzhong will be suspicious, so he asked me to show my sincerity and ask Brother Shoucheng to stay in the northwest forever.

Brother Shoucheng has been loyal to the court and has worked hard for Cao Gong more than once or twice. Don't you want to move up to the position of Left General?"

Ma Teng naturally gave a positive response to Jia Xu's kindness. But he didn't want to appear too bureaucratic, so he said some polite words while riding side by side with Jia Xu into the city. When they arrived in front of the government office, he got off the horse first and helped Jia Xu get off the horse.

Ma Teng, Jia Xu, Ma Chao, and Zhang Xiu entered the mansion and sat down. The guards Jia Xu brought with him also stayed outside. Both sides confirmed that the other party had no ill intentions. Jia Xu took the opportunity to make it clear:

"To be honest, just now at the city gate, I saw Brother Shoucheng acting as if he was facing a great enemy, and even asked your son to hold his sword in guard. I was really a little worried. Now that I think about it, if I put myself in his shoes, it's no wonder that Brother Shoucheng is so cautious, as I led a thousand cavalrymen to the gate and needed a fierce general to protect me.

In the final analysis, it is because Guanzhong and Longxi are not peaceful enough, and the generals do not have a strong commander to unite them. This leads to the fact that when disaster strikes, they will take advantage of their neighbors, and it is difficult to control their troops, so they can only plunder each other. Otherwise, why would the imperial envoys need thousands of cavalry guards when they leave the pass? "

Ma Teng nodded and had wine served to welcome the guests. "What Wenhe said is quite true, but the damage done by Li and Guo is very serious. It will take more than three to five years for Guanzhong to recover from its decline."

Jia Xu: "So, in order to eliminate the long-standing problems in Guanzhong, Lord Cao decided to support a strong garrison commander and completely reorganize the Guanxi area. This person must be Brother Shoucheng, so why should you doubt it?"

Ma Teng stroked his beard and said, "National affairs are not a joke. Since ancient times, no one can receive rewards without merit, and if the name is not right, the words will not flow. I wonder what position Cao Gong wants to grant me to fulfill this responsibility, and what kind of merits I need to make to be granted this position?"

Jia Xu took out Cao Cao's secret agreement and placed it on Ma Teng's desk with both hands: "Lord Cao and the general will work together to first attack Chencang and defeat the bandits in Longshan. Then Lord Cao will send General Xiahou to the south to destroy Zhang Lu, and the general will go west on his own to destroy Han Sui.

As long as we have these two military achievements, Cao Gong will be able to stop the gossips of the world. At that time, Cao Gong will give the position of General of the Cavalry, which he currently holds, to Brother Shou Cheng! I am afraid that Brother Shou Cheng will not believe it, so I have made a secret covenant here and will never go against it. "

Even though Ma Teng was mentally prepared, he was still shocked when he heard the title of "General of Cavalry".

He was promoted to the position of Left General a few years ago, which was a pleasant surprise. Regardless of the actual expansion of the troops and territory, at least the position was really high. These rough people from Xiliang actually cared a lot about bringing glory to their ancestors.

Now Liu Zhang was only a general of miscellaneous title, and Liu Biao was only the General of Zhennan. In terms of the rank of general, only Cao and Liu were higher than him, Ma Teng.

After Yuan Shao's death, the position of general remained vacant and Cao Cao had no intention of putting anyone in the position.

If Ma Teng could be promoted to General of Cavalry this time, wouldn't it be slightly higher than Liu Bei's General of Chariots and Cavalry? Although this is just a distinguished title and does not represent actual benefits.

Ma Teng found it a little unbelievable and confirmed in disbelief: "If I can achieve these two achievements, Cao Gong will give me the high position of General of Cavalry? Then Cao Gong will take the position of General that has been vacant after the fall of Yuan Family? And continue to serve as the Minister of Works at the same time?" Jia Xu: "Cao Gong has made great contributions. He has destroyed the two Yuans. If he can also destroy Han Sui and Zhang Lu, Your Majesty will follow the example of Xiao and Cao and re-establish the Prime Minister. This position will belong to Cao Gong - why would Cao Gong covet a position vacated by Yuan Shao?
At that time, I will ask Brother Shoucheng to lead all the ministers to present a memorial to persuade Your Majesty that in this extraordinary time, we must unite the forces of the world to quell the rebellion and chaos. Naturally, we must do extraordinary things and appoint a prime minister to prevent the three ministers from shirking their responsibilities and the military and political inefficiency. "

When Ma Teng heard that Cao Cao wanted to be the prime minister, he subconsciously frowned, thinking that Cao Cao's intention to usurp power was getting stronger and stronger. However, after calming down, Ma Teng thought about it for a while and felt that this was not surprising.

Moreover, Cao Cao wanted to be the prime minister, but did not want to sit in the position that Yuan Shao had held. This was in line with Cao Cao's temperament. And only in this way did Cao Cao's condition of giving up the position of General of Cavalry seem so sincere.

At that time, Cao Cao really needed a foreign prince with a nominally high enough official rank to lead the petition to the emperor to specially restore the position of prime minister. Otherwise, with Liu Bei outside eyeing him covetously, it would be difficult for Cao Cao to convince the people if he just said he wanted to be the prime minister.

In this way, the Ma family would not have to worry about Cao Cao turning against them after their mission was accomplished.

"Cao Cao's idea was indeed well thought out. Originally, among the princes in the outer city, Liu Bei had the highest official position. If Cao Cao wanted to appear to be 'recommended by the wise men of the world to be the prime minister', he had to find a prince in the outer city with a higher official position than Liu Bei to lead the initiative. This way, he could drown out Liu Bei's opposition and make the scene look better.

In this way, as long as Cao Cao can still control the court in the future, the wealth of our Ma family can be maintained. As for real power and territory, we still have to fight for it ourselves - but I am afraid that after this incident, Liu Bei will hate us in the future.

And when that happens, Liu Bei will probably declare that the emperor is being held hostage by Cao Cao, and that all rewards and punishments are determined by Cao Cao. At that time, Liu Bei will openly claim a higher official title... By then, the prestige of the court will probably be exactly the same as when the princes fought against Dong Zhuo."

Ma Teng didn't have any good advisers around him, so he was used to figuring out these superficial principles on his own. Fortunately, he had been working hard for so many years, and he still knew the basics of standing in line and reading the wind direction, so it was not surprising that he could think of this level.

After weighing the pros and cons, he finally felt that Liu Bei was too far away from him. By the time Liu Bei could reach his Ma family, Cao Cao would have been destroyed. Even if there was such a possibility, it would be many years later, and their Ma family still had a chance to slowly adjust.

In this case, Ma Teng decided to cooperate: "Thanks to Lao Wen and my brother for bringing me such good news, I dare not refuse Cao Gong's kindness. In this case, General Xiahou, if you have anything to cooperate with, just ask.

Han Sui cannot be eliminated in a few months, but as long as the court supports me, I can block Longshan Mountain and prevent Han Sui from becoming corrupt and causing harm. I can still do it. I can gradually destroy him in the future.

I have another question. After Lord Cao proposes to appoint me as General of Cavalry, does he need our Ma family to come to the court?"

This was also a question that Ma Teng was most concerned about. What he hoped most was to be like Liu Bei, to be away from home all year round, to have a high title, and to continue to be a local emperor. But he also knew that this would not be completely possible, because if that happened, he and Liu Bei would be almost the same, and Cao Cao would not be at ease.

Since he was a vassal who surrendered to Cao Cao, he had to pay a price. Even if he did not come to the court, he would have to send a hostage.

Thinking of this, Ma Teng couldn't help but secretly glance at his son next to him, wondering whether to send Ma Chao as a hostage in the future.

However, this son is very brave and will be of great use in the subsequent battles with the Qiang people. It is a pity and a waste of his talent to take him as a hostage.

How could an old fox like Jia Xu not see Ma Teng's intention? He immediately went with the flow and said, "Brother Shoucheng should also know that since you have submitted to the court, sending your children to serve as officials is the minimum requirement.

In the future, when Lord Cao asks His Majesty for permission to confer the title of General of the Cavalry on Brother Shoucheng, Brother Shoucheng will still have to go to the capital in person. Including when Brother Shoucheng leads the ministers to petition for the establishment of the position of Prime Minister, he should also be in Xu and Luo.

However, after these two major events are completed, Brother Shoucheng wants to return to Liangzhou, and Lord Cao will not stop him. At that time, you can leave your sons and nephews in the capital to serve as officials."

Ma Teng hesitated for a moment, obviously worried about his own danger, but finally felt that this request was reasonable.

Going to Luoyang and Xudu did indeed risk being detained, but Cao Cao had made it clear that he was only going there temporarily for the sake of ceremony and face, as he was about to return triumphantly for promotion. This was understandable, as he was not being detained for a long time.

Since the position of General of Cavalry was established in the Han Dynasty, there has been no news of any General of Cavalry being stationed in other states for three hundred years. Cao Cao has already shown him mercy.

Ma Teng finally agreed to Cao Cao's deal in full and everything was done according to it.

A few days later, Jia Xu left Mei County, and Xiahou Yuan's army arrived soon after. Ma Teng also fully cooperated with Xiahou Yuan in accordance with the agreement and launched an offensive against the bandits in Longshan in Chencang, Jieting and other places.

Ma Teng sent Ma Chao and Pang De to lead an army each, and they were under the command of Xiahou Yuan.

(End of this chapter)