Chapter 87: Horses (1)

Before dawn, Cao Cao's brother "Xiahou Miaocai" went to the west. After hearing this, the county commander was stunned, and said to the left and right: "I haven't seen such a person with such an outstanding demeanor and loyalty to the king's affairs for a long time!" ”

The cavalry of more than 400 people did not drag down in any other way, and moved very fast, and it only took half a day to reach Hongnong, and then pass through Huayin, cross the river and go to Qi County. Next, they did not take the road from Sili to Xiliang through Longxian, but went directly to the west, crossed hundreds of miles of mountains and forests, and forcibly entered Anding County.

It wasn't until the mountains and rivers were left behind that everyone's hearts finally relaxed.

Looking at the scenery that was completely different from the Central Plains realm, Yan Zhong couldn't care about the pain in his thighs, laughed loudly, he raised his horsewhip, pointed to the mountains on both sides, and said one by one.

"Junhou, this place was originally the place where the ghost Fang dog Rong Yiqu and other generations settled, until the time of King Qin Huiwen, sent troops to destroy Diyi, so that this place was incorporated into China. Later, Qin destroyed the Han Xing, the Xiongnu entered the Kou, most of the population who settled here was taken captive, it was Emperor Wu who sent troops to attack the Xiongnu in the north, and this place returned to China. ”

Yan Zhong was very interested, and talked eloquently, "Every time China is strong, Liangzhou will open China's fold, but every time China is weak, Liangzhou is the source of trouble." ”

Chen Chengxin said: Where is this, there are three kingdoms after the Han Dynasty, two Jin and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, five dynasties and ten kingdoms, as well as Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing........ The more it came to the future, the more the importance of Liangzhou decreased. However, in this era, Liangzhou is still very important, a bit like Liaodong in the late Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Liu Hong of the Han Dynasty once prepared to let every household in the country pay "ten yuan" to levy the Liangzhou rebels, saying that ten yuan is not much, and the people can take it. Fortunately, this good idea was dissuaded by Fu Xie, and the so-called "cool salary" was not promoted.

Chen Cheng heard Yan Zhong talk about this matter, and sighed: "This is really nothing new under the sun, how many people who have always been emperors know how difficult it is for the people below to live?" ”

He said to Yan Zhong: "I don't know where Fu Xie is now?" Such characters must be known. ”

Yan Zhong sighed and said: "Duke Fu was already killed in battle when he was in the fourth year of Zhongping, and later the imperial court posthumously named him the Marquis of Zhuangjie!" ”

It turned out that Fu Xie was originally from the Northland, and later became an official in the court. The Liangzhou rebels were strong, and Cui Lie, who was Situ at the time, once proposed that it was better to give up Liangzhou, but was angrily reprimanded by Fu Xie in person, and said: "Liangzhou is the world's key rush, the national domain guard, Gaozu pacified Longyou, Shizong (Emperor Wu) opened up Liangzhou, set up four counties, and people at the time called it the arm of the Xiongnu and Zhang China's fold." Now the governance of Liangzhou is chaotic, there is a rebellion, the world is in turmoil, and His Majesty is unable to sleep and eat. Cui Lie, as Situ, can't share worries for the country, but he has to give up a territory of thousands of miles, and the minister doesn't know what the truth is! ”

He said fiercely: "If the Xiliang rebels all have the land of Liangzhou, their strength will be even stronger, and the next attack will be even more fierce." At that time, is it necessary to abandon Sanfu and Chang'an? If Cui Lie doesn't even understand this truth, then he is stupid and incompetent. If he understands this truth, then he is disloyal to His Majesty, and he should be beheaded in front of the emperor immediately! ”

As soon as these words came out, Cui Lie's face turned pale. At that time, Cui Lie was in the position of the third public, but Fu Xie dared to reprimand him in person, and his strong temperament can be seen. Later, Liangzhou Assassin Shi Geng disdained his advice and led the soldiers and horses of the six counties to conquer the rebels in Liangzhou, but the soldiers mutinied, the army broke up, and the rebels were directly killed.

Fu Xie was the Taishou of Hanyang at that time, because the soldiers and horses in the city were all evacuated by Geng, and when he was surrounded by the rebel regiments, he only had a total of two or three hundred soldiers in his hands. Among the rebels besieging the city, there were thousands of Hun cavalry from Beidi County, who had received his favor, and knelt outside the city together to beg him to go out of the city and surrender, saying that he would not harm him, and would escort him back to Beidi, but Fu Xie sternly refused, he generously stated, saying:

"Even a tyrannical king like the King of Shang had Bo Yi die of hunger strike for him. Now that the court is not as brutal as the king of Shang, how can I have the same character as Boyi? Since I'm a Hanyang Taishou, I can only be here! ”

He said to his son Fu Gan: "You have wisdom, and you can encourage it." The main book Yang Hui, my Cheng Ying also. ”

Your wisdom is far better than mine, please be sure to be good and motivated, the county master Yang Hui is my Cheng Ying.

After saying this, he went out of the city with three hundred men to fight the rebels, and died in the battle.

After listening to Yan Zhong's words, Chen Cheng sighed and said, "Fu Gong can really be called a great husband, and the word "Zhuangjie" is appropriate!" ”

He asked, "I don't know where Fu Gong's grave is?" Such a hero, even if you can't see each other, you should go and worship sincerely. ”

Yan Zhong said: "After the death of Fu Gong, Yang Hui, the chief bookkeeper, and his son Fu Gan returned to his hometown Lingzhou. The prince will garrison the troops here for the time being, and when I go to open the joints, then lead the prince forward. ”

So Chen Cheng went down to the village thirty miles outside Pengyang City, and Yan Zhong brought thirty horsemen into the city.

Pengyang is located in the mountains and rivers, there are many mountains, few plains, the territory of Qiang and Hu are mixed, and the number of Han people is less than three-tenths. More than half a month ago, the kingdom defeated Chen Cang and was immediately killed by Han Sui. Seeing that Han Sui was so cruel, Ma Teng was afraid, and left Hanyang with his troops to live in Anding County.

Although Anding County has a vast territory, it does not have many household registrations in the territory, and it cannot be compared with Hanyang County and Longxi County occupied by Han Sui. Fortunately, although Han Sui was thoughtful, although it was better to lead troops to fight than the Qiang and Huns, compared with Ma Teng, it was just equal. Moreover, the other generals all have their own troops, and there are many Qiang people outside, so a delicate and fragile balance is maintained between everyone.

With the defeat of the troops under Chen Cangcheng, the fragile balance was broken, and the various departments were eyeing each other, all looking in all directions with fear, for fear that they would become the next unlucky ones to be killed. Hearing that hundreds of cavalry suddenly came from outside the city, Ma Teng couldn't help but start wondering what was going on, was it someone from the imperial court? Or Han Sui's people? Or maybe the Hu people from the north went south?

There is not much farmland outside the city, and there are many Qiang people grazing. Hundreds of well-equipped cavalry approached, and immediately someone rushed back to the city on horseback to report the incident. After Ma Teng received the news, he first asked his soldiers and horses to prepare, and then when he was pondering, he heard that Yan Zhong had arrived, Ma Teng was first surprised, and then overjoyed. Yan Zhong is quite famous in Xiliang, and if he can get this person's help, his strength will immediately increase a lot.

Ma Teng personally led the troops to the gate of the city to greet him, saw Yan Zhong, and said with a smile: "I heard that Mr. went to Luoyang before, and I was very sorry in my heart, but I didn't want to see him here. ”

Yan Zhong jumped down from the horse and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for a long time, General Ma's demeanor is still the same." ”

Hearing Yan Zhong say this, Ma Teng couldn't help but laugh. His mother was a Qiang, so he was able to get the Qiang to serve him, and after joining the rebels, he quickly raised an army. But the so-called "success is also Xiao He, defeat is also Xiao He", also because his mother is a Qiang person, so the scholars in Liangzhou don't look down on him. Yan Zhong was a famous man in Liangzhou, and it would be happier to get his support than to get thousands of soldiers.

Ma Teng pulled a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy behind him and said, "Meng Qi, why don't you come to see your uncle?" ”

This young man is Ma Teng's eldest son, surnamed Ma Mingchao, and his name is Mengqi. Ma Chao's face was full of reluctance, and he reluctantly bowed, saying: "My nephew visits my uncle." ”

Yan Zhong saw that Ma Chao was eight feet tall, with a face like jade and a strong voice, although he was a little dissatisfied with his attitude, he still reached out to help him up, and said with a smile: "The tiger father has no dogs, and General Ma has given birth to a good son!" ”

Ma Teng smiled and said politely: "Where, where." ”

He introduced Ma Tie, Ma Xiu, Ma Dai and other juniors to Yan Zhong one by one, and Yan Zhong said a lot of good things. Ma Teng saw that the cavalry brought by Yan Zhong was fully armored and the soldiers were majestic, so he asked, "I don't know what the origin of these cavalry brought by Mr. It looks even more elite than the soldiers and horses under my command. ”

Yan Zhong looked left and right, and said, "There are many people here, it's not a place to talk, please ask General Ma to take a step to speak." ”

Ma Teng didn't think too much about it, and said, "Then please come with me." ”

He came to lead the way and led Yan Zhong to his home. Ma Chao followed behind, looking at the equipment on Yue Qi's body, his eyes couldn't help flashing, and he lowered his head and said something to Ma Dai. Ma Dai heard this and shook his head again and again.

After Ma Teng occupied this place, the soldiers and civilians in the city became increasingly scarce, and the city was desolate. When resisting the Xiliang rebels, the county government had already been burned down once, and after Ma Teng entered the city, he did not repair it, but lived in the home of a rich man, and put the place where he handled military and political affairs at home.

The house is not far from the county office, and there are three entrances before and after. Because of its location, the original owner built the house as a fortress, and the surrounding courtyard walls were built high and thick. But such a building can at most stop the rebellious soldiers and bandits, and in the face of tens of thousands of Xiliang rebels, the original owner can only abandon his hometown and flee to Chang'an City.

After Ma Teng moved in, he strengthened and added to it, built enemy towers and arrow towers, and stockpiled food and weapons inside. When Yan Zhong was outside the city, he saw that there were many soldiers and horses in the city, and now he saw Ma Teng's house like this, and he had a bottom in his heart.

After sitting down in the lobby, without waiting for Ma Teng to ask, Yan Zhong said, "I heard that Han Sui has killed the kingdom?" ”

Ma Teng originally had something to ask, but Yan Zhong said so. Immediately put other things aside and asked, "Sir has heard about this too?" ”

Yan Zhong said with a smile: "As soon as I entered Liangzhou, I heard the rumors of the people. ”

Ma Teng was silent, and Yan Zhong deliberately said, "Since the kingdom is dead, Han Sui is the leader of the Xiliang Army, right?" Han Wenyue is resourceful, and after he becomes the leader, he will definitely wave his troops eastward again. Under his command, General Ma can also make great achievements! ”

On the side, Ma Chao couldn't hold back any longer, stood up, and shouted: "What is Han Sui?" is also worthy of being the leader of the Xiliang Army? ”

Yan Zhong turned his head and asked, "Does Meng Qi have a different opinion?" ”

Ma Chao said loudly: "On the family background, my family is after General Fubo Ma Yuan!" In terms of leading troops to fight, my father is far better than Han Sui. The position of the leader of the Xiliang Army should be done by my father! ”

The others in the hall, such as Mahew Ma Dai and others, all showed expressions of approval.

Yan Zhong took in the looks of everyone in the hall, and said in his heart: This Ma Chao is not very old, but his ambition is not small. It's not so much that Ma Teng wants to be the leader of the Xiliang Army, it's better to say that this is what Ma Chao means.