Chapter 406: Running Thousands of Miles to Attack Dayun Mountain
Chapter 406 Thousands of Miles to Attack Dayun Mountain
Author: Playing with Basilisk
In October of the second year of Zhang Wu, Shen Chen officially entered Jicheng and took charge of Liangzhou.
In the first month after taking office, he did not immediately go to various places for investigation. Instead, he consulted local information and summoned officials from various places to understand the current situation in Liangzhou.
Although Hu and Han have set the policy tone of treating everyone equally, this is not something that can be accomplished with just one or two simple instructions.
When dealing with ethnic issues, we must first be cautious and keep a bowl of water balanced. If it is too gentle, the Hu people will think that the Han people are easy to bully, and they will easily blame the Han people. If it is too brutal, it will cause a large-scale backlash, and the gain will not be worth the loss.
Therefore, the great integration policy of the Tang Dynasty was actually the best way, including the fact that later generations of our country treated ethnic issues equally, and even gave some policy consideration and preference to ethnic minorities.
The reasons for doing this are firstly to seek stability, secondly to unify the Chinese nation, and thirdly to reflect the country's tolerance of all ethnic groups. It is precisely for this reason that China has such stability.
Also the most important point.
In fact, most of the so-called Yi people in our country have Han ancestry. For example, the Huns are actually Han people who migrated north during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. This is recorded in "Historical Records", and genetic testing in later generations also proves this.
For example, the genes of Genghis Khan's golden family coincide with those of Liu Bang's family, the genes of the Liao royal family are those of the Zhou dynasty, the Huns are descendants of the Zhou dynasty's surname Ji, etc.
In addition, Shennong, the first ancestor of Chinese humanities, is Xirong, and most of the ethnic groups in the northwest have Shennong genes. Xuanyuan is from Beidi, and most people in Hebei, Shanxi and other places are descendants of Xuanyuan. The southern barbarians are Chiyou, the ancestors of the Henan area. The eastern barbarians are Shaohao, who are The ancestor of humanities in Shandong area.
Therefore, since we all come from the same bloodline, we should help each other and reflect the inclusiveness of the Chinese nation. Rather than brutally suppressing the Qiang, Di, Hu, and Barbarians in Xiliang, rebellions broke out in Liangzhou and the people were in dire straits. .
This is also in line with the teachings of great men that all forces that can be united should be united.
certainly.
Be gentle when you need to be gentle, and suppress when you need to be suppressed.
If the foreigners feel that they can't deceive themselves by simply being patient, then they can't do it by killing cruelly.
The necessary means are still indispensable.
After a period of investigation, Shen Chen generally understood the current situation in Liangzhou.
At present, there are roughly two main ethnic minorities in Liangzhou, one is Qiang Di and the other is Beihu.
The Qiang Di lived in the Longyou, Tianshui, Anding, and Beiding areas, probably in the central and southern parts of Gansu Province, the eastern part of Qinghai Province, and the southern part of Ningxia Province in later generations.
The Northern Hu lived in the Wuwei and Zhangye areas, which later became the northern part of Gansu and northern Ningxia.
The Qiang and Di people now live together with the Han people quite widely, and they do not reject each other's ethnic integration. For example, Ma Chao's mother is a Qiang girl, and she is of mixed Han and Qiang descent.
This is good news in Shen Chen's eyes. He doesn't want to make Liangzhou a mess.
Because the Qiang people are a semi-nomadic and semi-agricultural civilization, they not only cultivate the fields, but also raise pastures. To form cavalry and expand the army, the horses and knights needed all require the full support of the Qiang people.
Therefore, if the Northern Expedition is to be successful, Liangzhou must be stable.
After a period of understanding, Shen Chen believed that in order to solve the problem, he must understand the problem in depth.
So in the following time, he personally visited some small tribe Qiang commanders around Ji County and asked them about their views on the current Han rule and whether they were willing to accept governance.
In fact, for the Qiang Di, the first priority is survival.
During the Han Dynasty, Gansu was not as desolate as later generations. It was a fertile land with lush water and grass, green mountains and green waters. However, the area of arable land was small, so most of the land was grazed.
In order to compete for water and grass, wars often break out among the Qiang and Di. Their survival pressure is still very high.
Small tribes were naturally willing to submit to the powerful Han Dynasty.
It is not only the issue of the inclusiveness of the Han Dynasty, but also the fact that the Han Dynasty put greater pressure on them to survive in the past. Once they disobey, small tribes will basically be exterminated.
However, the newly appointed Liangzhou Mu was apparently quite reasonable, and he began to threaten the Qiang even before he took office.
Shen Chen even promised that as long as they were willing to accept the governance of the imperial court, the imperial court would help them improve their people's livelihood, adopt reasonable systems, and be willing to help them promote education and carry out agricultural reforms.
If they could survive, who would be willing to risk beheading to offend the Han court?
Moreover, Ma Chao has great prestige in Xiliang, and Zhang Fei has also made a name for himself in Liangzhou in the past two years. As a result, most of the small Qiang and Di tribes in Tianshui County are very submissive and dare not make any mistakes.
Therefore, there are still many small and medium-sized tribes that are obedient.
Shen Chen then launched pilot work in Xixian, Tianshui, Jixian, Xianqin, Chengji, Ayang, Lueyang, Pingxiang and other local counties in Tianshui County.
He ordered the county magistrates in various places to adopt the policies of Hu and Han colleagues, open markets in each county, actively develop agriculture and animal husbandry, use small tribes as villages, and middle tribes as township pavilions, and concentrate the various Qiang tribes around the county and extend outward.
This not only facilitates governance, but can also quickly see results. As for the problem of insufficient water and grass and the need for tribes to migrate, the government will also conduct inspections and then find new grazing locations.
Try to be fair and just.
When encountering conflicts between Hu and Han, or internal conflicts between Qiang and Di, the problem should be solved fairly, rewards should be rewarded, punishment should be punished, and orders should be issued to all parties to clearly state the reasons and results, so that everyone will be convinced.
Half a year later, in the first half of the third year of Zhangwu's reign, the Qiang Di in Tianshui County and Wudu County were basically willing to submit to the rule of the Han Dynasty in the south.
Shen Chen's fair governance policies and principles also achieved initial results, and since then his reputation has spread to Liangzhou.
After a period of time, Shen Chen's governance plan gradually spread to Longyou County and Jincheng County. Because of his at least relatively moderate ethnic policies, he attracted a large number of small Qiang and Di tribes to join. For a time, the Qiang and Di were willing to submit to the Han Dynasty regardless of the Its number.
This situation lasted until June of the third year of Zhangwu, when Mangzhong, the Shaodang Qiang king of Jincheng County, launched a rebellion. At that time, Shen Chen himself was in Jincheng County to inspect whether the local ethnic policies were implemented in place.
Jincheng County and Anyi County were the Ping'an District of Haidong City, Qinghai Province in later generations.
In later generations, there were large areas of hills in this area. Only the two sides of the Huangshui River were ruptured valleys and narrow plains. And although those hills were not high, many of them showed signs of desertification in later generations, and the hills were almost red.
However, during the Han Dynasty, the mountains here were green and full of pastures, and there were large forests in the mountainous areas further away, so the landform was undulating hilly landforms, like the mountains of the Mongolian grasslands.
At this moment, Shen Chen was in the Xihan area south of Anyi County. The specific location was the northwest mountainous area of Hualong Hui Autonomous County, Haidong City, Qinghai Province.
The Qiang tribe is a bit like the Mongolian tribe. Some are farming, some are grazing. Some fields have been opened in the valleys to plant millet and wheat. A tributary in the upper reaches of the Yellow River flows slowly, and there are a large number of tents on both sides.
Shen Chen sat cross-legged on the grass, surrounded by some leaders and elders of the Xiaoqiangshuai tribe near Xihan, all sitting on the ground and listening to what he said.
"Han and Qiang Di have never been enemies, but friends and brothers. The existence of the imperial court is not to rule everyone, but to govern better. Fighting and hatred are never the solution to problems."
Shen Chen looked around the crowd and said seriously: "Liangzhou is not the territory of the Qiang people or the Han people, but the territory of all of us. Each of us lives for survival, so if we want to live a better life, we must We should not be hostile, but should work together."
A Qiang commander said: "But the Han people always conscript us to fight, asking us to bring our own weapons and horses without paying military pay. This does not give us a way to survive."
"This is wrong."
Shen Chen said: "So I am here to correct this mistake, and I want to ask you a question."
"Captain, please speak."
The local Qiang commander in Western Han Qiang is an old man and has always been highly respected, so he can gather many Qiang commanders.
Shen Chen said: "The Han people farmed the fields and paid taxes. With the money and food provided by the court, they could maintain local stability, develop production, and promote prosperity. The Qiang people were unwilling to submit to the court and pay taxes, so the court still had the responsibility to protect the Qiang people. Is it stable?"
The old man thought for a moment and said, "There is no responsibility."
"Yes."
Shen Chen said: "So in the long run, if you are willing to submit to the imperial court, become subjects of the Han Dynasty, and pay taxes, the imperial court will send officials to maintain your order and prevent you from attacking each other to compete for pasture. The large tribes wantonly slaughter and annex the small tribes, which in itself is beneficial to your survival."
"But there are only so many pastures. If we don't grab them, what will we do if we run out of pastures?"
someone asked.
"This is the duty of the government."
Shen Chen said earnestly and seductively: "Since you are willing to become the subjects of the Han Dynasty, the government should help you solve these problems. Reasonably planning the pastures and demarcating farming and grazing areas are also things that the government has to do. You cannot favor one thing over another, and you cannot leave it alone."
Magistrate Xiyi nodded repeatedly and said: "If there are pasture problems, please report them to the government at any time. I will often visit various places in the county to find new suitable pastures."
Shen Chen also said: "People cannot blindly follow nature, but must discover nature and change nature. The upper reaches of the river are here, nourishing a piece of water and soil. But blindly not nourishing the land will only cause water and soil erosion, and the grassland will no longer grow. Grass will grow, so when there is nothing else to do, you should open more canals and irrigate the land to make the grassland full of life."
"Yes Yes Yes."
Everyone agreed one after another.
Their ancestors have lived here for generations, so they naturally understand the principles of development.
Shen Chen looked at them and continued: "The Han Dynasty should be an inclusive and open country. As a subject of the Han Dynasty, everyone has the right to educate and change their life status. In the future, when the Han Dynasty is reunited, it will inevitably connect the Western Regions again. To trade with the West, Liangzhou should seize the opportunity and become the only way for east-west trade, thereby changing its poverty predicament. Education is the cornerstone, both Qiang and Di people should read and learn calligraphy. The county opened a county school, and the government funded the construction of the school. Each tribe could select its brightest children to enroll in the school. After completing the education, they could pass the imperial examination and become officials. This was also for the court to have more talents and for How would you like it if someone from each of your tribes could stand out and lead the development of the tribe?"
Reading and learning calligraphy?
All the leaders of the Qiang and Di tribes were stunned for a moment, and then nodded ecstatically: "Okay, okay, I agree, we all agree."
They can't read, but that doesn't stop them from knowing who the officials who control power in Liangzhou are.
Those people are Han Chinese people who read and learn calligraphy, and they control the interpretation of the law.
Sometimes there is a conflict between the Qiang and the Han, and people say that the black becomes white, and the white becomes black, and the Qiang people often suffer this kind of disadvantage when fighting against the Di people.
However, the Han Dynasty suppressed the Qiang and Di for more than a hundred years. Although the Qiang and Di were the majority in Xiliang, there were very few people who could read and practice calligraphy. The knowledge was controlled by the local aristocratic families in Liangzhou.
Therefore, they became second-class citizens at the bottom. If they wanted to fight for their own rights, they could either join the army and follow the Liangzhou governor or the governor of various counties to fight for promotion, or they could rebel and revolt.
For example, in the early Liangzhou uprising, Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou were the leaders of the Qiang and Hu people respectively. Because of their low cultural level and poor fighting skills, they coerced the Han Sui Bian Zhang to join the group and elected them as leaders.
As a result, they were deceived by Han Sui, and were quickly killed by Han Sui, allowing him to successfully ascend to power. The most important thing was that Han Sui killed the leader of the Qiang tribe, and gained high prestige among the Qiang tribe. Later, Han Sui was defeated by Cao Cao and hid.
He entered the Qiang tribe and was protected by the Qiang people.
It can be seen that the cultural level of the Qiang Di is relatively poor, not to mention not knowing strategy, and they are still in the primitive tribal stage where they obey whoever is stronger.
Now that someone is willing to change this situation and promote education among the Qiang and Di, they are naturally very happy.
In this way, they can finally stand out.
Only Shen Chen's face was actually very calm, and he was neither too happy nor too pessimistic about making this decision.
Qiang Di did not cause much trouble in the Han Dynasty, which had a lot to do with its poor quality.
When fighting, they always rush forward without understanding the art of war and strategy. With the strong bows and crossbows of the Han people, and their relatively primitive weapons and equipment, they naturally cannot defeat the Han Dynasty army.
Once they receive education, they will cause a lot of trouble if they rebel in the future.
This is something Shen Chen is a little worried about.
However, in order to obtain the support of Qiang Di, we must provide them with help.
Education can not only produce more useful talents for the Qiang and Di, but also strengthen their cultural identity and bring them closer to the Han Dynasty.
Just like in later generations after World War II, Western countries recruited a large number of descendants of tribal powerful people in Africa as overseas students, and then let them return to their countries to become elites, helping the West indirectly colonize Africa.
These people received Western education, but although they were dark-skinned, they regarded themselves as Westerners and their compatriots as ignorant fools. They consciously became agents of the West in Africa, commonly known as Mangkhut people, and became managers of Africa.
Although this metaphor may not be appropriate, because Shen Chen does treat everyone equally and treats the Qiang and Di as ethnic minorities in his own country.
But the principle is the same.
If a large number of ethnic minorities could be educated to be close to the Han Dynasty, they would naturally help the country manage their tribes and stabilize the situation in Liangzhou.
Therefore, promoting education among the Qiang Di is a double-edged sword, and you may cut yourself if you are not careful.
But Shen Chen still decided to do it.
The reason is that border instability only occurs in turbulent dynasties.
The dynasty was too busy to take care of itself, and places like Liangzhou became difficult to manage, so it was possible for educated people to become rebel leaders.
For example, An Lushan and Shi Siming, because An Lushan's stepfather An Yanyan came from a family of senior generals in the Tang Dynasty, An Lushan learned the languages of the six countries since he was a child, and also received higher education in the Tang Dynasty, thus launching a rebellion in the late period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. .
In times of peace, given the stability of the Tang Dynasty, An Lushan would not dare to rebel even if he had a hundred courages.
Moreover, the Tang Dynasty was also Shen Chen’s favorite dynasty. It was open to all rivers and encompassed everything. There were countless famous Hu generals in the court. Among the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion alone, four were non-Han, and 29 of the prime ministers were non-Han. This shows the tolerance and openness of the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, Shen Chen believed that he would eventually build the Han Dynasty into a global empire, and then the ethnic minorities around the dynasty would naturally be included and become our country's inherent ethnic minorities and regional territory.
Education, of course, must be implemented along the way.
Faced with such a temptation, many Qiang handsome leaders accepted it one after another.
Seeing that everyone was very cooperative, Shen Chen was ready to say a few more words. However, at this moment, several horses suddenly galloped towards him in the distance.
Several Qiang youths ran over in a hurry and hesitated slightly when they saw Shen Chen.
The old man Qiang Shuai said: "The Governor is our most distinguished guest and also our leader. We are willing to accept his rule. If you have anything, don't hide anything from the Governor."
The leader of the Qiang youth said: "Mang Zhong, the leader of the tribe in the west, plans to launch a rebellion and invites us to join him!"
Qiang Shuai's expression suddenly changed, and everyone was at a loss as well, looking at each other in confusion.
Shen Chen was also shocked, because he only brought more than a hundred riders with him this time. If the enemy suddenly turned against him, he, Jiang Wei, Deng Ai, Shan Yi, Wu Dang and a few other disciples might be the only ones who could go back.
However, he did not say anything immediately, but looked at the handsome Qiang very calmly, and a murderous aura suddenly burst out in his eyes.
The old Qiang commander could naturally sense that there was something wrong in Shen Chen's eyes, and he immediately felt frightened in his heart. He quickly knelt down to Shen Chen and said, "Grand Governor, we will never follow Mang Zhong Zhuyi and their rebellion."
"Yes, we will never follow their rebellion."
Many leaders suddenly woke up and knelt down to express their loyalty to Shen Chen.
Shen Chen's originally calm face suddenly revealed a smile. He looked around at the crowd and said, "Of course I understand your intentions, and I also believe that you will never rebel. And now there is an opportunity in front of everyone. What do you think?"
The old Qiang commander asked: "Please give me a clear explanation from the Governor."
"Um."
Shen Chen stood up, pulled out the Tiger Blade from his waist, looked around at everyone and said: "Everyone, the imperial army has tens of thousands in Liangzhou. It is really not worth mobilizing an army just for the sake of a mere achievement in Mangzhong. How many tribes do you have?" People? How many are there?"
The old Qiang commander immediately said: "To the Commander-in-Chief, there are 1,200 men in our tribe, and we are willing to obey the Commander-in-Chief's orders."
"There are eight hundred people in my tribe."
"I have six hundred."
"I have nine hundred."
"I have."
Everyone spoke to each other and gathered their troops one after another.
The people gathered here this time were all small and medium-sized tribes, with a total number of only a few hundred or a few thousand people.
So even if everyone comes together, they will only make up to 7,000 to 8,000 people.
However, Shen Chen said: "These troops and horses are enough. Everyone, Mangzhong and Zhuyi are the Shaodang Qiang kings. There are tens of thousands of tribes, and the number of troops that can be dispatched is at least 10,000 or 20,000. Not to mention that they are contacting other tribal leaders everywhere. , it is impossible to gather tens of thousands or even more than 100,000 troops at once. But at this time, they have just raised their troops and there are not many soldiers and horses. We raided their tribe and beheaded them directly. Those who made meritorious service in the battle were all Han For your military merits, I will reward you with official positions and give you their pastures and farmland. I need you to understand in this battle that if you follow them in rebellion, the imperial court will mobilize a large army to annihilate the entire clan. But if you are willing to follow, If I put down the rebellion, that will be my Yuan Cong in Liangzhou, do you dare to fight?"
The words were a combination of kindness and power, and many Qiang and Di leaders were so excited that they all said, "Dare to fight!"
"good!"
Shen Chen raised his sword and roared: "You obeyed my order, and in the name of responding to the call, sent troops thousands of miles to attack Yugu and Dayun Mountain! Kill Mangzhong and Zhuyi for me. Whoever can kill them, I will let them do it." General, did you hear that?"
"heard it!"
"Walk!"
Following Shen Chen's shout, the Qiang commanders from all walks of life immediately stood up, each ran towards his own horse, and went back to the tribe to shake people.
In this battle, they followed Shen Chen and rushed thousands of miles to Dayun Mountain to kill the rebellious Shaodang Qiang King!