Guanzhong, Jingzhao, ten miles outside the east gate of Chang'an City.
Cao Zhen, the general of Wei who was fully equipped with honors and guard, got out of his chariot in person and held hands with someone to say goodbye.
The man had stubble and animal clothing, and greasy dirt could be seen faintly on his face and body. He could vaguely smell an indescribable smell without getting close.
However, Cao Zhen seemed to be unaware.
Holding his hand and smiling at Yan Yan, he walked for dozens of steps and said, "I know what Shouchan is talking about. There is no need to worry. Let's go back first. Good news will arrive within five days."
Well, he is the heir to the Bald Hair Division, Bald Hair Shouchan.
In May of this year, Yang Fu, the governor of Fufeng, who was ordered by Emperor Wei of Wei, moved them into Guanzhong.
When the agreement on migration was reached, the Wei State built houses for them, gave them abundant grazing land, and allowed old farmers to teach them about farming. The Xianbei tribe of the Bald-haired Tribe was under the control of Cao Wei, and paid a fixed tribute of cattle, sheep, and horses every year.
In times of war, the tribesmen were voluntarily recruited to fight with Cao Wei's army.
Everyone gets what they need.
The tribal leader, a bald man, was awarded the title of "King of Fengyi" by the State of Wei and moved to Luoyang with his wives and concubines to live in peace.
His son Tufa Shoutian was left to lead the people in Guanzhong, and was awarded the official position of Fufeng Commandery by the Wei State.
He came to Chang'an this time to seek supplies from Cao Zhen for the winter.
Yang Fu, who was restrained by him, flatly rejected his request.
After all, his tribe members have been nomadic in the west of the Hetao Plain all year round. How can they lack winter clothes, tents and other items for the winter?
It’s nothing more than insatiable greed!
Yang Fu, who was already upright and disapproved of moving to Xianbei and entering Guanzhong, would not agree to such an unreasonable request.
But Cao Zhen agreed.
He was also treated with great courtesy and personally escorted him ten miles away from Chang'an, holding hands and saying goodbye.
Therefore, when the bald Shoutian turned around and left, there was a man holding a sword beside Cao Zhen, his face and voice were full of anger.
He whispered, "The Xianbei barbarians are vulgar, illiterate, rude, and cunning, and act only for profit. The general is too indulgent now, and he is afraid that in the future, he will be arrogant and do many illegal things."
I saw that he was nearly eight feet tall and nearly forty years old.
He has a broad forehead, a square forehead, a heavy nose, thick eyebrows and strong beard, and scorching tiger eyes. He is extremely majestic and has a voice as loud as a bell.
He is Xiahouba, the second son of Xiahouyuan, the late general of the Wei Kingdom who conquered the west.
Because Xia Houyuan died in the Battle of Hanzhong, he often gnashed his teeth against Shu and was determined to avenge his late father.
However, his official career was not smooth.
Not long after Xia Houyuan's death, Wei Wu and Cao Cao also collapsed.
After his mourning, Emperor Wen Cao Pi was already in power, and his brother Xia Houheng succeeded him, so he only assumed the post of general.
Because in the past when "Wei seized the direct descendants", the only people in Xiahou Yuan's lineage who were on good terms with Cao Pi were Xiahou Shang, Xiahou Cheng, Xiahou Rong and Xiahou Weier.
Among them, Xiahou Cheng and Xiahou Rong both died young, and Xiahou Wei was not very young.
After Cao Pi came to the throne, he only promoted Xia Houshang to be an important minister.
Later, Xiahou Shang also died, and the mother of his son Xiahou Xuan was Cao Zhen's sister, so she was treated well by Cao Pi.
Now that Cao Rui came to the throne, in order to win over Cao Zhen, he repeatedly promoted Xiahou Xuande to become the most important official in the line after Xiahou Yuan.
Even if Xiahou Shang's subordinate is Xiahou Ru, his level of importance cannot be compared.
The turning point for Xiahou Ba was that Wei lost the land of Longyou this year.
After Cao Zhen took control of Chang'an in the center of Guanzhong, he promoted Xiahou Ba to the general of Miscellaneous Numbers based on Xiahou Yuan's achievements in the past and the prestige in the army, and ordered him to follow him around, hoping to inspire the officers and men to dare to die. He also planned to gain more experience.
After a while, they were dispatched to Jincheng or Xiping County to suppress the Qiang and Hu tribes that were ready to make a move.
However, after hearing Xiahou Ba's words, Cao Zhen gave up this idea.
well.
Although Zhong Quan has a father's style, he lacks a lot of tactics!
Cao Zhen sighed quietly, feeling a little sad in his heart.
It is true that, as Xiahou Ba said, the Xianbei barbarians are cunning in nature and should not be treated kindly to avoid causing trouble in the future.
But with this truth, how could he not know it?
Not to mention, he was also one of those who disapproved of moving to Xianbei and entering Guanzhong.
It's just that the emperor's edict has been issued, and there is no room for change, so we can only make use of the situation to our advantage.
For example, these Xianbei Hulu were treated as consumables in war.
Xianbei, a nomadic herder in search of water and grass, often used troops in autumn and winter when their war horses were strong.
In other words, to meet their unreasonable demands now is to "give them what they want first."
Cao Zhen planned to send them to recruit tribesmen to enter Wuwei County via Anding in winter, and then go south to harass and plunder the Longyou land occupied by Ni Shu.
There is no need to mobilize everyone, just divide the three to five thousand cavalry into multiple teams to harass the common people of Longyou.
And, don’t worry about them rejecting it.
It is their nature to invade and plunder.
The Wei army provided them with supplies and weapons, had guides to show them the way, and promised to give them all the proceeds from the plunder, which would arouse the greed of these barbarians.
Furthermore, moving them to settle in Guanzhong would have meant fighting for the Wei Dynasty.
The two armies were fighting fiercely and were determined to fight to the death. They were simply asked to send out their cavalry to plunder. How dare the bald Shou Tian'an refuse?
In this case, why should I condescend to show my kindness and show my favor now?
When these Xianbei barbarians plundered the land of Longyou, people were in panic, and loopholes appeared in the defense line against Shu, which was the time for Wei to find a fighting opportunity! But the army came out and took Longyou back in one fell swoop!
There is no need to worry that generous gifts of materials to these barbarians will cause their power to increase greatly and their tail will not be lost.
The Xiongnu of the past and the Xianbei of today all rely on tactics that use the vast grassland as their depth, avoid fighting for a long time, wear down the supplies of the Central Plains dynasty's army, and then seize the opportunity to defeat it.
In terms of head-on confrontation, in front of the well-armored Wei army with strong crossbows and sharp arrows, the barbarians were slaughtering cattle and sheep wantonly.
Now that they have settled in Youfufeng, Guanzhong, lost the vastness of the grassland, and after repeatedly depleting their strength with Nishu, wouldn't they be at the mercy of the Wei Dynasty?
In Cao Zhen's mind, he had already made a decision.
After driving Ni Shu out of Longyou, he went to Luoyang and used force to coerce these Xianbei Hulu into households. In units of a thousand households, they were broken up and moved to various states and counties to settle down to avoid the danger of raising tigers.
If anyone dares to disobey orders, he will be slaughtered!
Anyway, there were no Xianbei tribes lingering in the territory of the Wei Dynasty, so it would not be a pity to kill them.
But Xiahou Ba couldn't see this, which proved that the power in his mind was not enough to defend one side.
Unexpectedly, I don’t know that if I give up, I will gain something.
Furthermore, this moment is not that moment.
Tian Yu, the captain of Wuhuan Guards, went out of the fortress and was defeated by Kebineng in Mayi City, which made the five Xiongnu tribes who had attached themselves to Bingzhou become ruthless.
The soldiers in Hedong and Jizhou must stay behind to deter unrest in Bingzhou, and they can no longer be mobilized to fight in Guanzhong.
If we don't treat these barbarians favorably at this time and let them serve the Wei Dynasty, where can we dispatch troops to harass Longyou?
Sending troops from Guanzhong to attack Longyou would be limited to the terrain and geography and would achieve half the result with half the effort. If the delay is too long, let Ni Shu's foundation in Longyou be consolidated, and then attack with all his strength, there is still a slight chance of victory!
And in recent months, Liangzhou military reports have arrived as scheduled, with a sentence at the end: Zhuge Liang, the prime minister who rebelled against Shu, used Shu brocade tea and other things to seduce the Qiang and Hu tribes in the Huangshui River Basin, which has made Liangzhou people turbulent!
Over time, it is feared that the Qianghu tribe and the powerful rightists in Liangzhou will all turn away from the Wei Dynasty. Can the 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers and horses stationed in Liangzhou still be able to defend their territory?
As the saying goes, the lesser of two powers harms each other.
This is the time I can’t wait for!
Why don’t you want to part with just a few supplies?
well.
Zhong Quan can be a sudden general, but not a supervising general.
As for Liangzhou and Longyou, only Guo Boji can supervise the war in our great Wei Dynasty.
I sighed again in my heart.
Cao Zhen turned his head and looked at Xiahou Ba, and said with a smile, "Zhong Quan's words are reasonable. However, there is no need to worry too much, I have a decision in mind."
After saying this, he boarded the car and drove back to Chang'an City.
As the wheel rolled forward, I closed my eyes and thought, wondering how to transfer Guo Huai to Liangzhou.
Well, after the Longyou War ended, Guo Huai, as the governor of Yongzhou, was still responsible for losing his land even if he had a rebellion to pacify Yang Tiao. He was dismissed from the post of governor and became a general with no title and stayed there. Cao Zhen's subordinates obeyed.
Although Cao Rui and Gong Gong of Luoyang knew that Guo Huai was not responsible for the loss of their land, they still had to inform the court of the law.
Otherwise, if there is a precedent, it will be difficult for anyone to respect the strictness of the law in the future.
Longxi County, Lintao County, Wangqu Valley.
A Han family camp was built next to the ruins of the Great Wall of King Zhaoxiang of Qin.
The two flags hunting in the wind are each embroidered with the words "Xuanwu" and "Tiger Step".
Prime Minister Zhuge Liang sent Zheng Pu's headquarters and two thousand tiger infantry troops led by Jiang Wei to station here for nearly two months.
During the Seven Heroes period of the Warring States Period, King Zhaoxiang of Qin, in order to resist the invasion of the Qiang and Rong tribes in the northwest, started from Wangqu Valley, roughly followed the Tao River to Lintao, settled in Didao, and then turned back to Shouyang County in the east, winding to the end of Above Pingxiang County.
It appears in the shape of "ji".
Today, this ruined site, which was blown away by wind and rain, has also become the dividing line between the Han Dynasty, Tang Fan, the leader of the Heshou Qiang people, and Ni Wei.
After the Longyou nobles were relocated, the prime minister asked his soldiers to build the Xiaoguan Road, Longguan Road and the Weishui River Valley and other passes. He also sent troops and horses from various ministries to disperse and station in order to hold the defense line.
Zheng Pu sent him here because he wanted to see Qu Valley, which is also the boundary between Longxi and Wudu counties.
Further west in Wangqu Valley is the habitat of the Qianghu tribe, which is outside the territory of the Han Dynasty and is dominated by the ginseng and wolf species Qiang.
Since all the Di tribes in Wudu County were registered as household registrations by the Han Dynasty, and a large number of Bashu Li people moved to settle there, a force of soldiers and horses was necessary to guard them to prevent Qiang and Hu who did not obey the king from taking advantage of the situation to plunder.
Furthermore, Yang Ji has already gone to Yinping County, and with the full support of the prefect Liao Hua, he has begun to turn the Baima Qiang in the west of Yinping into Han people.
Zheng Pu is stationed here and can enter the Bailong River Basin along the Qiang River at any time to support Yang Ji if anything goes wrong.
Jiang Wei also came with his army because he was familiar with Qiang affairs.
The prime minister wanted him to try to see if it was possible to recruit those Qiang and Hu men to be used by the Han Dynasty.
They are not registered in the household registration, but hired to fight.
Similar thoughts to Cao Zhen.
The prime minister also thought about paying some baggage and letting a third party force harass the Wei army in Wuwei and Jincheng County.
His original intention was also to allow the Han Dynasty to prepare for war with peace of mind, so they deliberately dragged the Wei army into the quagmire of war and delayed the Wei army's attack on Longyou.
I think we have similar views.
Both sides know that time is the key to determining victory or defeat.
As far as the Han Dynasty is concerned, if the Wei army can be prevented from leaving Longyou within two years, then there will no longer be an opportunity to rebel against Wei.
It's just that this idea is not very practical.
With Wei's national strength, nearly a hundred thousand troops could be mobilized in at most one year to fight for the ownership of Longyou.
After all, the military system of the Wei Dynasty was based on the death of father and son, and the death of brother and brother.
As long as there are no shortage of military households, there will be no shortage of soldiers.
One year is enough time for them to train for the army.
Moreover, when Wei Wei came out with troops again, they would definitely attack Hanzhong County, Wudu County, and Longyou County in a virtual and real way. They would use the human sea tactic to test out the weak points of the Han's defense, and then seal the victory in one fell swoop.
This is a gap in national power, and even if the Han Dynasty has geographical advantages, it will be difficult to offset it.
In particular, in order to turn Hanzhong County into a land of grain and fodder, and turn Longyou into an outpost, the Han Dynasty depleted the inventory of Bashu in less than a year.
Once the war lasts for more than three or four months, the food supply in the Bashu land may be exhausted.
Therefore, the prime minister, who was always cautious, did not pin his hopes of defending Longyou on Ni Wei's mistakes.
Inducing the Bashu nobles into dividing their households and strengthening the border, and using Shu brocade tea to make good friends with the Qiang and Hu tribes, is to increase Longyou's defensive capabilities, rather than to benefit the competition for time.
Whether he can win over the Shenlang Qiang to join the war is the prime minister's last hope to gain time.
It is also the only hope.
Originally, the best choice was to let Tang Fan, the leader of the Qiang people at the head of the river, go from Jishi Gorge in Heguan County into Niwei Xiping County to harass them.
Because the Qiang and Hu tribes in the Huangshui River Basin were disturbed by changes, they had never surrendered to Ni Wei.
But Tang Fan refused the Prime Minister's solicitation.
He followed the example of Song Jian, who used to call himself "King of Han Dynasty at the Head of the River", and became a new force in the separatist power of Pouhan.
Neither offending the Wei Wei nor vassaling the Han Dynasty, I wanted to wait for the price in a balanced manner, and did not make a choice until the outcome of the Han and Wei Dynasties was determined.
Although doing so is a manifestation of short-sightedness.
But it’s helpless.
After all, neither Han nor Wei will send troops to attack him, lest they be taken advantage of by the other side.
Under such circumstances, Jiang Wei shouldered a heavy responsibility.
After he surrendered to the Han Dynasty, the Prime Minister treated him with kindness and kindness, and he was willing to sacrifice his life to help the Han Dynasty.
It's just that sometimes, determination is not the decisive factor in success.
The leader of the army has been here for nearly two months. He has frequently entered Wangqu Valley to consult with various chiefs of the Shenlang Qiang tribe, but has not made any progress.
Those great chiefs were only interested in the Shu brocade and tea of the Han Dynasty.
The troops marched out of Longyou to harass the Wei army. They did not want to harm the tribesmen for no reason.
The reason is simple: in the past 100 years or so, the Xianling Qiang who frequently rebelled and rebelled, and who were once the most powerful Qiang in Liangzhou, were either moved to change their species, killed, or killed by other species.
The Qiang annexed it, and now it has become nothing more than its name.
The wolf breeds the Qiang and does not want to make the same mistake again.
In particular, in their north, there is still the Shaodang Qiang Panhuan whose influence has spread to the West Sea (Qinghai Lake).
There are also many disputes over pastures between the two sides. If the Han is greedy for materials, money and food, it will damage countless tribesmen and weaken them, and they may be burned as Qiang and devoured!
