Now that he had decided to adopt Zhuge Liang's strategy, Liu Xie began to prepare for the departure of the fortress. Unexpectedly, in the spring of the third year of Long'an, when the snow first melted and the glaciers began to melt, King Heng Tuoba Liwei once again sent envoys to the court.
He eloquently stated his interests to the court, described the various signs of disobedience to Xianbei by Murong and Ku Huiguan, and expressed his willingness to lead his own army to conquer the two thieves for the court.
After Liu Xie received the report, he changed his usual enthusiastic attitude towards the Xianbei people. On the pretext of discussing in Taige, he kept these envoys aside. It was not until the third day that he formally received the Xianbei envoys in the palace. This group of people
The leader of the envoy was named Ba Ba Wu. When he met the emperor, although he looked embarrassed and nervous, his posture was always as upright as a pine, and his words and deeds were neither humble nor arrogant, showing that he was courageous.
Ba Bawu was not good at words, so he came up and asked, "What do you think of His Majesty the Emperor? My king has been waiting in Saibei for most of the autumn and winter. Now the horses are starting to lose weight. If he doesn't reply, I'm afraid he will have to wait until June this year."
”
The more anxious the Xianbei people became, the more indifferent Liu Xie became, saying slowly: "Prince Heng and I are related by marriage. How can we despise the alliance between our family and our country? It's just that sending troops is not a trivial matter. It is related to the overall situation of the country, so we have to be cautious. I
When urging Taige, the ministers always said to wait a few more days, I am also anxious! You can wait a few more days until the results come out, and then report back to King Heng." Then he sent them away again and called
General Ma Chao went to receive them.
However, due to the long delay of Bataba Wu, after ten days, a second batch of Xianbei envoys came to inquire about the current situation. This also shows that Tuoba Liwei attaches great importance to this matter to the highest degree. It is also possible that Tuoba Liwei attaches great importance to this matter.
He also felt that after the new emperor ascended the throne, the relationship between the two countries began to become subtle and sensitive.
Ma Chao was forty-one years old at this time. After being promoted to the General of the Conquest of the South, he was also granted the title of Marquis of Yiyang. He was one of the few Marquis of Ten Thousand Households in the imperial court. He went to the residence of the Xianbei people. After entering, those people had already gathered together.
We were waiting for him. That day, Ma Chao was wearing a white military uniform with cross-collar and narrow sleeves, and a gold-studded belt around his waist. He was eight feet tall and handsome in appearance. When the Xianbei people saw him, they couldn't help but whisper: "There is such a beautiful person in China."
!" He quickly invited him in and made room for him to sit in the chair.
Ma Chao was equipped with only a short sword, and he knelt on the mat. Hu, the same group, explained: Since the Liao people failed to be wiped out the year before, the country attached great importance to this expedition. It would select 50,000 elite soldiers from the five prefectures, and it was bound to be established in one battle.
Powerful, so it takes a long time.
Unexpectedly, the Xianbei people were very angry when they heard his explanation. The leader, Baba Wu, stood up suddenly and cursed in Xianbei dialect: "We know that the Celestial Empire has millions of soldiers, but it took so long. I'm afraid it's not aimed at the bandits."
, but the intention is for my king!" Seeing the leader stand up, the barbarians rushed to draw their swords first, with more than a dozen bright blades dancing in front and behind Ma Chao. This was like throwing a stone into the crowd of crows competing for food, provoking the barbarians.
There was a commotion. The Xianbei translator, who was sitting next to Ma Chao, was so scared that his face turned pale when he saw the barbarian suddenly having a fit, and he hurriedly lowered his head and covered his face, not daring to make a sound.
But Ma Chao was unmoved, and said calmly in shock: "The two countries are married and have been friends for two generations. How can the emperor be suspicious for no reason? He just wants to succeed in the war and not cause disaster to the people." He pushed it with his hand.
The translator next to him asked him to tell the Xianbei people, and continued: "You and I are both real men. We have always been upright when fighting. How could we play some tricks for no reason? I believe that the warriors of Xianbei are also concerned about this kind of behavior."
Disdainful."
After hearing these words and seeing that Ma Chao spoke calmly throughout, the Xianbei people calmed down. They all inserted their knives into their sheaths, sat down to drink buttermilk, and talked to each other loudly, as if they were in a market. After a while,
Yes, Ba Ba Wu asked Ma Chao through the translator: "You are so calm, you must be a famous warrior on the battlefield, right?" Ma Chao smiled and said nothing, lifted up his sleeves to expose his arms, and saw scars all over his arms, and
The dent left by the piercing between the branches. When the barbarians saw it, they were all overjoyed. Some people said: "Men have scars, just like women have beautiful faces. They look more pleasing to the eye." The Xianbei people had some admiration for Ma Chao. The leader added: "When we arrived in China, there were too many etiquettes among the people. Except for my king, many of them were not used to walking in the streets, so they just shot willows by the river for fun. General, do you want to come together and try it?" After hearing this, Ma Chao immediately
He stood up and said: "Just what I want!"
A group of people came to the back of the house and saw a grass seed bag hanging on the branch of a willow tree by the river in the distance. They estimated that it was a hundred and twenty steps away. The foreigner took the bow and arrow and gave it to Ma Chao, asking him to go forward to the tip of the tongue.
Ma Chao saw a line drawn where he stood for archery, about eighty steps away from the target, so he waved his hand and said, "No need to go, it's right here." After that, he stood a hundred steps away, nocked an arrow and drew his bow.
He shot an arrow right into the bag. Once he hit the target, the arrow passed through the bag, and the grass seeds inside fell out.
When the crowd saw it, they all clapped and applauded. They ordered the servants to take the broken bag, replace it with a new bag, fill it with grass seeds, and hang it up. Ba Bawu asked for an arrow, and this time he handed it to Ma Chao politely.
.Ma Chao did not hesitate, re-cocked the arrow, aimed at the target, lowered his shoulders and took a breath, keeping calm, then raised his finger to release the arrow, and with a whoosh, he hit the target again.
This time the Xianbei people did not applaud. Ba Bawu looked solemn, bowed and saluted and said: "It may have been a fluke, but the second time I can only say that you are a sharpshooter. I hope I don't meet you on the battlefield!" Ma Chao heard this, stroking his fingers and laughing.
Babawu noticed that Ma Chao was not wearing a jade bracelet, so he took off the jade bracelet on his right thumb without hesitation, handed it to Ma Chao with both hands, and said, "This rare treasure is perfect for you to have on your finger!" Ma Chao saw it!
The jade was green and clear. Knowing that it was a rare treasure, I thanked him and accepted it. When the crowd saw it, they also gathered around, vying to bequeath the treasure.
But after this incident, the court also knew that Tuoba Xianbei's patience might have reached its limit. Liu Xie privately told the Taiwan ministers: "Raising Xianbei in Yunbei is like feeding a wolf in a cage. He can't starve to death.
I can’t arouse his ferocity, and I don’t know how many years it will take to raise a good dog!”
Zhuge Liang said: "Although I said in my policy statement that I should be wary of Xianbei, it is true as Wu Qi said that consolidating the foundation of the country is not in danger of virtue. As long as the court diligently cultivates politics and remains strong for a hundred years, it will naturally win over the foreigners."
Liu Xie said "hmm" and finally ordered Wei Xi to draft an edict, and also ordered Liu Fang to find Ba Wu and others to deliver oral instructions: "The matter of sending troops has been decided. In March this year, the country sent 50,000 cavalry.
General Meng Da is the chief general, and General Zhou Buyi is the deputy general. Your army only needs to send people to guide the way, and the battle is bound to be successful."
The barbarians were all a little disappointed when they heard that the general was not Ma Chao, but they were happy after all when they finally got an answer. They saluted Liu Fang and said, "Since our country is preparing to send troops, my king will not fall behind. Today, we will not lag behind."
The mission has been completed, and we are waiting for the army of the king in the royal court! See you in March!" He took the edict and left in a hurry that night.
Soon, one day at a party at the Prime Minister's Mansion, Ma Chao sat next to Chen Chong and drank for a while. Chen Chong noticed that Ma Chao had a large jade jade ornament on his hand. It looked familiar and he glanced at it frequently. Ma Chao had always been with Chen Chong.
After making good friends, he saw that he looked wrong, so he took it off and handed it to him to see. Chen Chong refused, but asked him: "Is the inside of the jade jue engraved with the two small characters 'North and South'?" Ma Chao hurriedly took a closer look, and it was true as he said.
Shocked, he asked Chen Chong how he knew.
Chen Chong said sadly: "To be honest, this should be the relic of my disciple Xu Yuanzhi! The two characters 'North and South' were carved by me at the request of my uncle-in-law, which means 'across the north and south, to pacify the Kyushu'. I cut this jade
I gave it to him in the hope that he could assist the late emperor and achieve great things. Unexpectedly, he died in the middle of the road, and the jade sword disappeared. I chose the style of this wandering dragon and asked the master to carve it. I don’t want to think about it.
We can still see you today."
Ma Chao was startled and asked quickly: "When did it happen? I had indeed heard about Xu Shu's reputation back then, but I didn't know that the prime minister was so optimistic about it?"
Chen Chong said: "At that time, the late Emperor and I had just entered Chang'an, and Yuan Zhi was the military advisor. He led the strategy of defeating Heishan, Yuan Shu, and Gengcang thieves. Unfortunately, he died after the Bohai War, and even his descendants
None of them are left behind, and I don’t know how many people will remember them in future generations.”
"Ah, when the Prime Minister said this, I remembered that at that time, I was still fighting with the Qiang people in Longshang, and they talked about the talents of the Central Plains. After the Prime Minister, there was Xu Yuanzhi, and even Cao Cao was not famous!" Ma Chao looked at the Xianbei envoy again.
Tell Chen Chong the story of the gift of jade.
Chen Chong hurriedly asked the name of the Xianbei envoy, but he said to himself: "Yuanzhi was killed twenty years ago. At that time, he was killed by Cao's army. Tuoba Xianbei has been included in my account.
It can't be him who is the one who is straight. In the past twenty years, this jade sword has probably changed its owners many times."
Ma Chao looked at the jade stone in his hand that had gone through vicissitudes of life and said: "Everyone says that a good thing can be exchanged for hundreds of owners. It has lasted for thousands of years. This is true. I think this jade has the first signs." He wanted to return the jade stone to Chen Chong, but Chen Chong hurriedly refused.
Said: "No, it's just a coincidence. Now that you have Meng Qi, you are his true master, and you deserve it." Then he thought again: "This thing has been tossed around and changed so many owners. I don't know if Meng Qi can wear it."
How long?" But Ma Chao drank calmly and didn't seem to think so much.
It turned out that Ma Chao was still regretting that he could not lead the army to the north. But after the Ma Dai case, he was no longer the young man who used to ride his horse to the right and gallop wantonly. Instead, he became more and more aware of the overall situation of the court. He thought to himself that since he was already a highly respected minister, as long as he could preserve the family's wealth, he could do whatever the Lord asked him to do. Although he still yearned to make contributions, he was not as enthusiastic as before.
In a blink of an eye, it was early March. Meng Da and Zhou Buyi set off from Luoyang with 50,000 cavalry, and Liu Xie personally drove them to Heqiao. The spring was lingering, and thousands of green willow silks hung down like green hair. Through the willow trees, Under the green shade, you can see the empty blue sky on both sides of the river beach.