The hour was approaching dusk, and a remnant of the sun slowly sank below the horizon, leaving only a few red clouds, still lingering in the vast twilight.

"General," Li Ru stood beside Fei Qian, looking at the setting sun together, and suddenly said, "Although there are many rebellions in Xiliang, there is no rebellion, why is it?" ”

Fei Qian thought for a moment and said, "A traitor instead of a rebel king? ”

Li Ru nodded and said, "That's right." ”

The Xiliang rebellion has been going on for a long time.

Since the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Xiliang has not been very peaceful, and it will break out once in more than ten years, but Xiliang is so noisy, has it always been like dealing with the Yellow Turban Thief, slaughtering tens of thousands of people at every turn to make Jingguan, and not killing all these Xiliang Shi clans with a rod, which is also a relatively interesting thing.

Who wants to rebel at every turn?

The kind of people who shout all day long that they want to change the day, ask for the lives of all the people, and want to create heaven and earth, most of the time, are either fools or mallets, and I am afraid that before the slogan is shouted, they will be caught and taken to prison or directly beheaded by the thief Cao.

The Han Dynasty has experienced three or four hundred years, and these three words of the Han Dynasty are already deep-rooted, which is not only a person's, but also a concept in the hearts of most people in Xiliang.

It is true that most Xiliang people are reluctant to rebel, but it is also true that Xiliang people have also made trouble with Bian Zhangbeigong, Han Sui Ma Teng and others for a while. However, in name, whether it is the Han people in Xiliang or the Qiang people, they have indeed not clearly expressed their opposition to the Han Dynasty, which is completely different from the three brothers of Zhang Jiao, "Cangtian is dead, and Huangtian should stand".

Xiliang is poor and barren, whether it is animal husbandry or farming, coupled with the combination of soldiers and disasters, wars are continuous, officials perversely, and tyrannical expropriation, which eventually caused the livelihood of Xiliang to wither, the people are poor and wealthy, and the people are full of sorrow.

So in the end, there was a rebellion.

The imperial court sent troops to suppress it several times, but even among the troops who came to suppress it, most of them were originally Xiliang's people, and they knew the real reason for the Xiliang rebellion in their hearts, so in many cases, it was mainly to defeat and surrender, and there were not many people who were really killed, and throughout the decades of the Xiliang rebellion, only one or two were beheaded tens of thousands, and most of the rest were thousands, or even hundreds.

Li Ru let out a long sigh and said, "...... The people also work hard, and they can be well-off. Benefit this China, in order to appease the Quartet. There is no indulgence and deceit, and there is no conscience. style to curb abuse, not afraid of light. Rouyuan can go far to determine my king......"

Fei Qian was silent, speechless.

This Da Ya Fei Qian also knows, and of course understands what Li Ru means. In fact, these truths have been explained very clearly as early as the pre-Qin period, but most rulers always habitually turn a blind eye when facing interests.

For one term of office, loot one party. Anyway, when the political achievements are in hand, pat your ass and leave, who cares about the flood behind it? It was in this situation that Xiliang went from the horse breeding land of the pre-Qin Dynasty to the source of trouble, dragging down the Han Dynasty.

“…… Therefore, if the general wants to calm the west," Li Ru turned his head to look at Fei Qian and said, "The combination of fire and water is the most important." If the government is lenient, the people will be slow, and if it is slow, it will be rectified violently; If you are fierce, the people will be disabled, and if you are disabled, you will be lenient. Wide to help fierce, fierce to help wide, government is to be ...... with peace"

Fei Qian shook his head and smiled: "This matter is easier said than done......

There are two sides to everything, and the ancients recognized this early on, and have always paid attention to and advocated the search for a special balance between these two opposite aspects.

That is, the mean.

But many people in later generations think that the golden mean is outdated, that is, outdated, so they oppose the golden mean, the pursuit of the ultimate, anyway, it is just a word, how cool how to come, isn't it just a little extreme, a little extreme, what's not to do?

Of course.

But don't forget that the extreme to the end will cause a strong backlash.

Xiliang is like this, when he surrenders, he blindly uses wide, and then he starts to harvest when he sees that the crops in the field are growing well, and he does not keep his hand when he harvests, and then he cuts and cripples the leeks, and then the next one who comes with a sickle suddenly finds that these leeks are demonized......

But now is the time to talk about governance, is it?

This Xiliang, there is not even a skim of the eight characters.

Facing Fei Qian's somewhat helpless smile, Li Ru also laughed hoarsely twice behind the leather robe, and said, "It's okay...... As long as the general knows what to expect...... The Western Liang Tribes, like local chickens and dogs, are very easy to take. As expected, Jiang Zhongyi should be in the Xiliang tribes at this time and make a plan to stir up trouble......"

"A plan to disrupt the chaos?" Fei Qian turned his head to look at Li Ru with a little surprise, and said, "Could it be that Wenyou has already made arrangements?" ”

"General Mo is strange, a certain person was born in Xiliang, how could he not leave some means?" Li Ru arched his hand and said, "Before entering Hanzhong, I had already instructed Zhong Yi that once Xiliang changed, he could act according to the plan......"

Without waiting for Fei Qian to continue asking, Li Ru pointed in the direction of the lower debate and continued: "What's more, this is a strategy to stir up chaos...... Hehe, in fact, didn't the general also use it? ”

Fei Qian smiled, then waved his hand and said, "This matter is an accidental idea, not intentional. ”

Li Ru nodded and said, "It's an unintentional move, so it's impossible to guard against it." Seeing Han Wenyue leaving in a hurry, you can see that the general's strategy has worked...... However, a hundred war horses can cut off the aid of the Korean Covenant, which is very cost-effective......"

"Haha...... In this way, it is indeed a good deal......" Fei Qian nodded and said, and then asked, "I don't know how Wen You can arrange it?" ”

Li Ru said: "Now that Han Wenyue wants to meet the general, he must borrow the power of the Xiliang tribes, and the Xiliang tribes, on weekdays, have no subordinates, complicated thoughts, and dirtiness is also a common thing, if it is not for life and death, it is absolutely impossible to cooperate with each other, this is one of them." Han Wen about Han was just a small official in Jincheng in his early years, and he relied on the left and right sources, borrowing the knife and borrowing the momentum, so he got the current position, but the Xiliang tribes were not beneficial, so there must be a gap, which is the second. Third......"

"Xiliang used to be in turmoil, nothing more than chaos to seek determination, but now Xiliang has deviated from the outside of the court, there is neither harsh government and servitude, nor cool officials, is there any reason to rebel again?" Li Ru said lightly, as if he was saying something very common and simple like one plus one equals two, "Therefore, Han Wen's appointment to raise troops and urge the general is to kill himself......

Fei Qian nodded, and then said, "...... But what if the Korean Covenant stops? Well...... I see...... In this way, there will be a battle in Qishan......"

"Exactly. However, general, it is easy to defeat the Han army, and it is difficult to ...... Xiliang" Li Ru arched his hand and said, "After the defeat of Han Wenyue, it is not appropriate for the general to enter Xiliang quickly, and it is the best policy to still stick to Guanzhong......"

Fei Qian took a breath, nodded slowly, and said after a moment of silence: "Wen You, in fact, Xiliang is difficult to determine, and there are many factors, but there is no direct road connecting the east and west, which makes it difficult for soldiers to transport grain and grass materials...... Therefore, if you want to calm down the Xiliang, you need to pass the road first...... There are many treasures in the Western Regions, and there are short-sighted people in the imperial court who regard them as chicken ribs, isn't it ridiculous...... If there is a straight road, one is convenient for the garrison, and the other can also be used for trade, and the three are ......"

"Straight? Western regions? ”

Li Ru frowned, and his eyes followed Fei to the west, groaning and thinking......

………………………………

Qi Shan, in the era of Brother Zhu, is naturally haunted by dreams, but at this point in time, there is not much attention, it is just a transit point, and there is not much special significance for the time being.

In the period of Wei-Shu contention, the reason why Qishan is important, in fact, the most critical factor is because this place is connected to Hanzhong in the south, Tianshui in the north, Xiliang in the west, and the waterways and dry roads all gather here, which is actually the throat of Longshu and the key point of the military into Guanzhong.

However, now, the entire Han Dynasty is still nominally one, plus Hanzhong is under the control of Zhang Lu, and it has not had any connection with Guanzhong or Xiliang for a long time, let alone any conflict, so this place of Qishan only has a slight special meaning in Fei Qian's mind, and as for others, the importance here is not as good as that of Fanxudao or Yangpingguan.

Around Qishan, there are three roads that can continue north, reach Longyou, and return to Guanzhong.

The first road is Yangxi Valley Road.

From Qishan to the West Han River to the southwest, about fifty or sixty miles away, is Lidian. Lidian is not a storefront, but a county seat. And in the northwest of Lidian, there is a river, that is, Yangxi, meandering for about two hundred miles, you can lead to Tianshui, after arriving at Tianshui, you can go straight down to Weishui, enter the right Fufeng, you can also idle Weishui westward, arrive at Longxi. This one is the longest, but it's relatively easy to walk.

The second road is called the Wooden Doorway.

Starting from Qishan, go north along the mountain, you can reach Lucheng. The city is not big, in Wednesday, there are three gates of east, southwest and northwest, because there are many brine earth, so it is named. There are many salt wells in this place, and salt officials have been set up here since the pre-Qin period, and the area is long and narrow.

After ten miles to the north from Lucheng, there is a fork in the road, and the northwest direction is a river valley, this river is called the Chouni River, leading to the second road Mumen Road; The north direction leads to the third road, Tietangxia Road.

Along the Chouni River has been going upstream, about twenty or thirty miles, you will arrive at the Mumen Valley, after the Mumen Valley will be much more open, you can go northwest from the Jihe River, you will reach Shangqi, and then turn to Tianshui or go east into Guanzhong.

Except for Mumen Valley, this road is relatively open. Of course, this openness was only for marching, and if it was used as a battlefield, it was still narrow, and it was not conducive to cavalry advances.

The third road is called Tietangkyo Road.

Mentioned earlier the fork of ten miles north of Lucheng, continue to the northeast less than thirty miles, the mountain becomes steep again, need to turn to the east, the cliffs on both sides here are towering, the valley road is winding, the water of the Western Han Dynasty rushes through the valley, the momentum is amazing, the cliffs on both sides of the bank are black as iron, so it is called Tietang Gorge. Continue north from Tietang Gorge, climb over Yunwu Mountain, and then go north to the outside of Shangtai City. This is the shortest, but the most difficult, with narrow roads over mountains and mountains.

At that moment, Han Sui took the soldiers to guard Qishan, and the soldiers were busy, cutting down trees and building a camp.

"Don't look at the young people who are in the west, the strategy is really outstanding, the plan in this plan is good, and if you are not careful, you will lose everything...... However, since a certain has withdrawn from the defense, this strategy of Zhengxi is useless......" Han Sui propped his hands on the table, stared at the map spread out on the table, and said with a more complicated emotion, "This Zhengxi...... However, if you want to enter Longxi, you can't get around this place...... Let's see what correspondence there is to the west......"

Since he learned that there were indeed quite a few war horses in the Diren cottage, as Ma Chao said, Han Sui didn't dare to continue to chase Fei Qian.

Frightened, he ran away overnight.

A very important reason why Han Sui has been able to obtain his current status in Xiliang over the years is that Han Sui is cautious by nature and does not do risky things as much as possible, just like when he learned that Jincheng was lost, he would rather believe it or not, and lead the troops back to Jincheng. This is even more true at the moment, with a major suspicion on the side of the Di people, how can Han Sui continue to chase south with a big grin, in case the Di people really send troops and cut off their own back road, wouldn't it be completely over?

Even if you don't continue to catch up, it is extremely risky to be stationed to defend the next game. Although the lower debate is also a key point of the road, but on the one hand, it is necessary to resist the troops of Fei Qian, and on the other hand, it is necessary to be careful to defend the people, if you are a little careless, you will be attacked from both sides, and the problem will be big, so it is better to retreat directly and be stationed here in Qishan.

"Uncle has been on the battlefield for a long time, how could he fall for the plan of the thief in the west? But didn't we retreat here give Zhengxi a chance to join forces with the Di people? Ma Chao stood on the side, also looked at the map, and said, "Why don't you level the Diren cottage first?" ”

Han Sui lowered his head and looked at the map, did not look up, sighed and said, "Alas, after all, Wang Yi has been friends for many years...... I don't know why, but I don't want to break off my friendship for many years......"

Although the words are very beautiful, but in fact, because although the Di people are not many in number, they are good at mountain battles, and the Di people cottages are mostly built on the mountains, and it is very troublesome to really attack, so they simply pretend that they don't know anything and retreat directly overnight.

However, the expedition to the west did not retreat and advanced, but it also confirmed the speculation in Han Sui's heart, if it wasn't for the connection between the expedition and the Di people, how could the expedition to the west lead the army with great arrogance?

Unlike Ma Chao's habit of taking revenge without staying overnight, Han Sui prides himself on being a gentleman, so it is not too late to settle this account after defeating Zhengxi.

Ma Chao glanced at Han Sui, then turned his gaze to the map, and said: "The little thief who marched to the west has sent soldiers to Guanzhong, and it is time to calculate that its reinforcements should also arrive, I don't know ......."

As if he was talking about something, something would come, and halfway through Ma Chao's words, he heard a commotion outside the camp, and the soldiers reported that Cheng Gongying had an urgent military intelligence report!

Han Sui raised his head suddenly: "Pass in!" ”

The last glimmer of light of dusk flickered at the door of the tent, as if in a final battle with the night, and in the midst of the stalemate, a soldier staggered in and fell to the ground with a pop......

Han Sui's eyes widened, looking at the blood stains on the soldier's face, the corners of his mouth twitched, and the words he was about to ask seemed to be blocked by something and stuck in his mouth, but his heart couldn't help but sink down suddenly, as if he had fallen into an endless abyss, dark and lightless.