Chapter 417 Everyone takes what he needs, food crisis
Author: Soy Sauce Mixed History
Chapter 417 Everyone takes what he needs, food crisis
When Liu Bei worshiped Mi Yang as the shepherd of Liangzhou, he divided the area under Liangzhou's jurisdiction very clearly.
According to Liu Bei's division, Liangzhou has a total of six counties under its jurisdiction, namely: Hanzhong, Hanxing, Yinping, Wudu, Tianshui, and Longxi.
However, after Mi Yang became the shepherd of Liangzhou, his decrees could only be implemented in the two counties of Hanzhong and Hanxing. This was because the other four counties were not actually under the control of the Han Dynasty.
Compared with Tianshui, the two counties of Longxi, Wudu and Yinping are closer to Hanzhong County, Mi Yang's base camp. Based on the current situation, Mi Yang is most likely to take back these two counties.
Ma Chao was as frightened as a bird. Even though he was in Hanzhong County in the past, he did not dare to have the slightest intention of inquiring about the news.
Therefore, Ma Chao did not know that the Wei army was about to attack Hanzhong in a large scale.
But Ma Chao is a veteran after all, and it is not difficult for him to guess Mi Yang's intentions from his request.
In Ma Chao's view, since Wudu County was originally the territory of Liangzhou, it was reasonable for Mi Yang to want to take back Wudu County.
However, although Ma Chao's guess is not wrong, it is not all Mi Yang's inner thoughts.
What he wants is not just Wudu County.
However, Mi Yang also had concerns about Ma Chao, so he did not speak out all his inner thoughts.
After Ma Chao heard Mi Yang's answer, he thought he had guessed Mi Yang's true intention, so he began to think deeply.
Wudu County is barren, and there are not many Chinese people in it.
However, in Wudu County, there are a very large population belonging to the Qiang and Di ethnic groups.
Based on Ma Chao's understanding of Wudu County, the Qiang and Di population in Wudu County is more than double the population of Huaxia.
In this case, whether Mi Yang wanted to capture Wudu County or govern Wudu County well, the Qiang and Di people in the county were the political allies he had to win over.
Since Ma Chao had promised Mi Yang to assist him, Ma Chao did not hide his inner thoughts. He told Mi Yang everything he knew about the Qiang and Di people.
After explaining his understanding of the Qiang and Di people in Wudu County, Ma Chao volunteered and proposed that he would send his younger brother Ma Dai to Wudu County to recruit some Qiang and Di people for Mi Yang.
As Mi Yang said, this matter is not difficult for him.
During the Battle of Wudu, he used his prestige to recruit more than 10,000 Di troops for Zhang Fei.
However, in the face of Ma Chao's volunteering, Mi Yang smiled and said to Ma Chao: "This matter is not urgent for the time being."
Hearing what Mi Yang said, Ma Chao was a little puzzled.
Ma Chao cupped his hands and said to Mi Yang: "Soldiers need speed. If Zhou Mu wants to capture Wudu County, he should send troops early.
Otherwise, if the time delay is too long, Ni Wei will inevitably learn the news, and by then it may not be that easy for Zhou Mu to take over Wudu County."
In fact, Wudu County briefly belonged to the Han Dynasty.
On the eve of the Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Bei sent Zhang Fei and Ma Chao to capture most of Wudu County.
But unfortunately, Wudu County was later recaptured by the Wei army.
It is precisely because of this lesson that Ma Chao suggested that Mi Yang should strike first.
Otherwise, if the Wei army is on guard in Wudu County, it will not be so easy to capture Wudu County.
Facing Ma Chao's advice, Mi Yang had other concerns, but he still said:
"Although the Hussar General has prestige among the Qiang and Di people in Wudu County, there are many tribes among the Qiang and Di people, and not all of them worship the prestige of the Hussar General. Has the Hussar General forgotten his strength?"
"Wudu County must be captured, but we cannot act rashly. If people like Qiang Duan are not eliminated, Wudu County will not be able to defend it even if it captures our army."
Seeing Mi Yang mention the strong end, Ma Chao fell into silence for a moment.
Although Ma Chao has a reputation as a mighty general among the foreigners in Yongliang, it does not mean that his name can make all the foreigners in Yongliang worship him.
Otherwise, the Han army would have embarked on the Northern Expedition long ago.
Not to mention other places in Yongliang, take Wudu County as an example. There are many Qiang and Di people in Wudu County who worship Ma Chao.
However, there are also many Qiang and Di people who ignore Ma Chao, such as Qiang Duan, the leader of the Di tribe.
An important reason why the Han army failed in the Battle of Xiabian was that the Di army led by Qiang Duan suddenly rebelled, which put the Han army in a difficult situation both internally and externally, and had to retreat from Wudu County in defeat.
A master who never forgets the past and the future. From this point of view, Mi Yang's worries are very reasonable.
After listening to Mi Yang's concerns, Ma Chao also knew the stakes involved, so he did not advise Mi Yang again.
The reason why he just advised Mi Yang to capture Wudu County as soon as possible was because of some selfish motives.
As long as Wudu County is attacked, Mi Yang will always ask for his help due to his prestige among the Qiang and Di people.
For Ma Chao now, what makes him feel that there is still some hope in life is the fighting on the battlefield.
When Ma Chao was silent, the aura of decadence on his body became stronger.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would be hard for Mi Yang to imagine that General Shenwei Tian, who was feared back then, would become like this today.
But who can blame anyone else?
Normal people really can't understand what Ma Chao has done in the past.
However, Mi Yang still needs Ma Chao's help for many things going forward, and he doesn't want to see Ma Chao become too decadent.
For Ma Chao in history, the cause of his death is inseparable from his heart knot.
So Mi Yang raised his glass again and said to Ma Chao: "Although I don't plan to use troops against Wudu County immediately, the Hussar General can send his cronies to contact the Qiang and Di people in Wudu County during this time.
It would be best to be able to distinguish among the Qiang and Di people in Wudu County, which ones are loyal to the Han people and which ones want to rebel against them. Then I will be of great use."
After saying this, Mi Yang seemed to feel that it was not safe, and he promised Ma Chao:
"Gu Jin takes the wine in his hand as a promise. When the time comes, General Hussar and Gu will share the glory that attracts the attention of thousands of people."
After making a promise to Ma Chao, Mi Yang drank all the wine in his hand.
Sure enough, when Mi Yang spoke for the first time, Ma Chao still looked quite uninterested.
But after hearing Mi Yang's promise to him, Ma Chao instantly became energetic.
If others made this promise to him, Ma Chao wouldn't care too much.
But now it was Mi Yang who made the promise to him. With Mi Yang's achievements, his promise was undoubtedly very valuable.
And what does Ma Chao lack most now?
What he lacks is the word glory.
Perhaps only by achieving enough glory can the breathless insults he carries be alleviated.
Ma Chao, who became energetic again, immediately raised his hands to Mi Yang and said:
"Don't worry, Zhou Mu. Within two months, Chao will definitely find out all the information Zhou Mu wants to know."
After finishing speaking, Ma Chao quickly raised his wine glass and drank the wine in one gulp.
This means that the commitment between him and Mi Yang has officially come into effect.
Seeing that Ma Chao finally regained his energy, Mi Yang relaxed and continued to feast with Ma Chao.
The time for banquets always passes quickly, and soon it gets dark outside.
After realizing that it was getting dark, Ma Chao proposed to Mi Yang that he wanted to leave.
Facing Ma Chao's resignation, Mi Yang did not stop him.
He just got up and respectfully saw Ma Chao off.
After Ma Chao left the tent, Fa Miao couldn't wait to get up and asked Mi Yang:
"Does Zhou Mu think Ma Mengqi will sincerely help?"
Fa Miao's words revealed his deep distrust of Ma Chao.
Not only Fa Miao is like this, but Mi Yang's other confidants here also have such expressions.
From the beginning to the end, neither Fa Miao nor Mi Yang's other confidants believed in Ma Chao.
But they are not targeting Ma Chao. Their attitude can be said to represent the attitude of 99% of today's Han ministers towards Ma Chao.
Facing Fa Miao's inquiry, Mi Yang smiled casually and said to Fa Miao:
“Just because one’s virtue is lacking does not mean that it cannot be used, the important thing is how to use it.
He and I are just taking what we need, there is no such thing as sincerity."
The reason why Mi Yang had thoughts about Wu Du was that on the one hand he really wanted to take back his ancestral territory, and on the other hand it was for the future defense of Hanzhong.
Mi Yang did not confess his other intentions to Ma Chao just now, which means that Mi Yang does not trust Ma Chao.
However, Mi Yang is different from many people in the world. Most people in the world pay attention to one principle - focus on virtue first, and then discuss talent.
This principle originated from the four-hundred-year-old scholar-raising system of the Han Dynasty. Due to four hundred years of development, this principle has become deeply ingrained in the hearts of many people in the world.
But Mi Yang came from a later generation, and he naturally disagreed with this principle in his heart, and could even be said to be dismissive of it.
Speaking of this, Mi Yang and Cao Cao are quite similar.
Therefore, things that seemed to require caution in Fa Miao seemed to be very logical here in Mi Yang.
Mi Yang's words were addressed not only to Fa Miao, but also to the other confidants present.
After listening to Mi Yang's words, although they still had concerns in their hearts, they did not give any more advice in the end.
The reason why they advised Mi Yang to remonstrate was that Mi Yang did not understand the dangers of Ma Chao.
Now from Mi Yang's words, they knew that Mi Yang didn't know Ma Chao's character, so they felt relieved.
After discussing the issue about Ma Chao, Mi Yang asked about the defense of Fa Miao and Hanzhong.
After learning that the Wei army was about to attack Hanzhong in a large scale, Mi Yang was not too worried.
This is not because Mi Yang is arrogant, but because he is a time traveler and has natural foresight of the Wei army's future offensive strategy.
Historically, the Wei army's offensive strategy was jointly discussed by the important ministers of the Wei state.
As long as the people are still the same people, the offensive strategy they discussed will generally not change much.
Looking at the strategy used by the Wei army to attack the Han army several times in history, it is very likely that when the Wei army attacks Hanzhong in the future, it will adopt the old strategy of dividing its troops in several ways.
The great Wei Dynasty had a great family and a great business, and no matter how many soldiers it was, they could not afford the huge family business that Cao Cao had laid down.
After deducing that the Wei army would probably divide its forces to attack Hanzhong in the future, Mi Yang successively sent troops to several important towns in Hanzhong to guard them.
But Mi Yang only had 30,000 troops, and Wei had many soldiers, so they could divide their troops however they wanted.
But no matter how Mi Yang divided his troops, he had to keep some of his troops as mobile troops.
Therefore, no matter how careful Mi Yang was, he could only ensure that each important town in Hanzhong had enough troops to guard it. He really did not have the energy to take care of important towns outside Hanzhong.
For example, Wudu County.
In history, the Wei army also marched from Wudu County, so Mi Yang came specifically to seek Ma Chao's assistance before the war began.
If the Wei army has enough soldiers and horses this time, then Wudu County will also be a good strategy for the Wei army to advance.
What Mi Yang wanted Ma Chao to do today seemed to be simply to make Wudu County's heart turn towards the Han people.
But once a Wei army really chooses to march from Wudu County in the future, Mi Yang's arrangement today will turn into a big surprise for the Wei army in the future.
As for Mi Yang's suspicions about the various directions of the Wei army's invasion in the future, he had already discussed it with his confidants.
After the discussion, Mi Yang handed over the specific troop deployment matters to Fa Miao.
Under Mi Yang's inquiry, Fa Miao replied to Mi Yang: "All the troops and horses have been in place recently."
After hearing Fa Miao's answer, Mi Yang nodded with satisfaction.
However, Fa Miao then said with a sad face: "The arrangement of Zhou Mu may not allow the enemy to take advantage of it, but Miao is afraid that our army will not have enough food and grass by then."
Fa Miao's worry also put a sad look on Mi Yang's face.
Lack of food and fodder is the last thing any general wants to hear.
There is a joke on the forums of later generations, that sentence is: Wei is not short of people, Wu is not short of food, and Shu is not short of poverty.
Although this sentence was said in the form of a joke, it also vividly reflected the biggest dilemma Ji Han faced in history.
Today's big men really lack everything.
Although Ji Han did not lose Jingzhou in this generation, successive years of wars had already consumed every drop of Jingzhou's national power.
For at least three years, it will be difficult for Jingzhou to provide national help to the Han Dynasty.
Although Hanzhong is considered a prosperous place, Mi Yang has just implemented the New Deal this year, and the New Deal has caused a huge loss of food and grass.
If Mi Yang had not just defeated a large number of rich locals and used their grain reserves to supplement himself, Liangzhou would have been in a state of food shortage.
Lack of food is what Mi Yang is most worried about right now.
It's just that no matter how many tricks Mi Yang has, he can't conjure things like food out of thin air, so he doesn't have a good solution to Fa Miao's concerns now.
unless.
Mi Yang first comforted Fa Miao: "Don't worry too much about food and grass. You will find a solution when the time comes."
When Fa Miao saw Mi Yang's confident look, his worries instantly eased a lot.
No matter whether Mi Yang really has a way or not, his calm mood will always affect his subordinates invisibly.
After appeasing Fa Miao and others, Mi Yang asked Fa Miao to retreat first.
After Fa Miao and others retreated, Mi Yang took out a silk book and began to write.
This silk book was written by him to Zhuge Liang.
Mi Yang did not have the ability to conjure food and grass out of thin air, but Zhuge Liang now has this ability.
Because Mi Yang learned the news not long ago that Zhuge Liang had won a great victory in Nanzhong.
It would be easy for Zhuge Liang to conjure grain to supply Liangzhou out of thin air.
As long as he can completely pacify Nanzhong before Liangzhou can no longer hold on, that will be fine.
Historical books have eight words to evaluate Zhuge Liang's positive significance after he pacified Nanzhong: "With military resources, the country will be rich."
These eight words filled Mi Yang with a sense of security.
In the writer's profession, the emphasis is on selling one's art and not one's oneself.
But I used my sick body to write this chapter, which can be regarded as selling myself.
Let's count the votes.
ps: Yesterday’s chapter will be added after I’m completely recovered. I really can’t write two chapters today.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!