He Jin came from a humble background, and after becoming a general, he looked down on those who came from humble backgrounds even more. Therefore, although Wu Kuang led part of the Yulin Army, he was not valued by He Jin, because there were at least a dozen middle and high-level generals like Wu Kuang under He Jin, most of whom were from families, including Wu Kuang, although the Wu family had long since declined.

The two talked for a while, Ma Chao didn't sell Guanzi, and said: "Don't hide it from General Wu, I really have something to ask for the general to come today, I heard that Chen Liuren Wu Yi is quite talented in both civil and military affairs, and intends to hire him as the general's Sima, but it is not easy to be abrupt because no one recommends him." After many inquiries, I learned that this person was the general's nephew, and asked the general to recommend it on his behalf. ”

Wu Kuang was overjoyed when he heard this, hugged his fists and said: "When the champion Hou conquest of the Black Mountain thief is employed, Ziyuan's ability to serve the country is also a matter of glory to the ancestors, I immediately wrote a letter to the family and sent it back to Chen Liu's hometown, Ziyuan has been weak for the crown for many years, and it is his honor to serve the champion Hou!" ”

Ma Chao had already predicted that Wu Kuang would definitely hope that his nephew would have a future, Ma Chao was red, and his future was limitless, and now he took the initiative to reuse the people of the Wu family, how could he disagree? As for the relationship between Ma Chao and He Jin, it is not something that he can participate in as a small general, in his opinion, more flowering is the royal road for the development of the family, in case He Jin falls, it is Ma Chao who can replace He Jin, so he wishes that someone from the Wu family could join Ma Chao's camp! This is called a two-line investment.

Ma Chao struck while the iron was hot, and then said: "Thank you so much General Wu, I also heard that General Wu has a son named Wu Ban, I don't know how old he is now?" Can there be a table word? ”

Wu Kuang said: "The last general does have a son, who has just turned seven years old now, and has no expression yet, and is practicing martial arts with his cousin in Chen Liu's hometown. ”

"I see!" When Ma Chao heard this, he immediately dispelled the idea of recruiting Wu Ban, but instead started Wu Kuang's idea, and said with a serious face: "General Wu had many military exploits with the general in the crusade against the Yellow Turban, and now he is serving as the rafter of the general's mansion, commanding the left and right Yulin Army, and he is also a talented person. Why worry about the Yellow Turban's rebellious party? It's a pity! ”

Wu Kuang didn't dare to shout, but he was very useful in his heart. Ma Chao is not too pressing, the purpose of his words is to give Wu Kuang a thought, and let him know that "I, Ma Chao, admire you very much", is enough. As long as He Jin dies and Wu Yi does not go to Xishu, Wu Kuang will most likely come to join him, and Chen Liuwu's family will completely get into his own chariot.

In order to show his sincerity, Ma Chao repaired a letter on the spot, printed the seal of General Wei and handed it to Wu Kuang, and made an appointment with him in person. When the banquet was dismissed, the relationship between the two was already quite close, and when Wu Kuang said goodbye, Ma Chao gave another 50 gold to express his gratitude.

After getting the Wu family, Ma Chao's heart suddenly felt a lot easier, it can be said that this trip to Luoyang ended successfully, and the harvest was far greater than the expected goal.

In the next few days, Ma Chao visited Yuan Kui, Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, Yang Biao and other important ministers of the dynasty. originally wanted to win over Yang Biao's only son, Yang Xiu, thirteen-year-old Yang Xiu admired Ma Chaoji, and happily agreed to be the head of the general's mansion, but Yang Biao didn't do it! His Yang family's generation has Yang Xiu a lone seedling, how can he go to the east and west with Ma Chao to fight for the west before he is too young to be weak?

Ma Chao didn't insist that Yang Biao was a die-hard member of the Han family, so leave their father and son to Dong Zhuo and Cao Ying! As for the other little Zhengtai Zhou Yu in Luoyang City, he has long disappeared at this time, which is regrettable. It turned out that Zhou Yu's father, Zhou Yi, once served as the commander of Luoyang and lived in Luoyang City, but was dismissed half a year ago for offending Xiaohuangmen, and then moved his family to nowhere to be found.

Three days later, Dian Wei, Huang Zhong, Wen Ping, and Li Yan returned one after another, and the gold and silver brought by Ma Chao from the Southern Xiongnu court would also be squandered. Ding Yuan was worried about the battle situation in Baibo Valley, and his heart was like an arrow, and Ma Chao didn't want to stay in Luoyang for a long time, so he asked Emperor Ling for his resignation. Before leaving, he didn't forget to find a chance to meet Princess Wannian, and specially explained the matter of Diao Chan, although he was not sure whether Diao Chan was there or not.

Ma Chao's 1,000 Shenwei battalion cavalry, as well as more than 1,300 strong men who had just been recruited, plus Ding Yuan's 1,000 Bingzhou elite soldiers, a group of more than 3,000 people set out from Luoyang, crossed the Yellow River, crossed Hanoi County and entered Jiguan, and came to Shangdang County to govern Changzicheng two days later. Ding Yuan made a deal with the party Taishou Duan, and then hurried to Baibo Valley.

Shangdang County mainly refers to the area of Changzhi City, Shanxi Province in the later generations, connecting Taiyuan County in the north, Hedong County in the west, Sili Hanoi County in the south, and Taihang Mountain in the east.

"Interpretation of Names" said: "The party, the so, is the highest on the mountain, so it is said that the party is also." "It's actually a piece of high ground surrounded by mountains. Di Ziqi's "National Policy Geographical Names Examination" said that "the earth is extremely high, and the sky is the party, so it is called the party", which means this. Due to the high potential and danger, it has been a strategic place since ancient times, and it is known as the saying that "the party can hope to win the Central Plains".

Ma Chao's intention to put forward Shangdang County is like this, with Shangdang as a base for troops and grain hoarding, the south can seize Hanoi at any time, and crossing the Yellow River is the hinterland of the Central Plains Luoyang and Hongnong generation; Xike looked at Hedong County, and then captured Tongguan, directly took 800 miles of Qinchuan, and the ancient capital Chang'an was within reach; Out of Huguan in the east is the economically and culturally developed areas such as Jizhou and Yanzhou, which he has coveted for a long time; To the north are the four counties of Taiyuan, Yanmen, Xinxing and Hexi, and they can take the opportunity to seize the land of these four counties as long as the state is in chaos. In this way, the Hetao area of Bingzhou and the Southern Xiongnu and the counties of Xiliang can be completely connected and surround Guanzhong on three sides.

It was the early winter of November, the weather was gradually getting colder, and Ma Chao's food and grass were about to run out, and the sergeants were all wearing single clothes, shivering from the cold. Seeing that the army was in urgent need of resettlement, Ma Chao immediately sent someone to call the local Taishou Duan Cheng over.

After the Yellow Turban attack, the military strength of the Shangdang area was extremely weak, and bandits were rampant. In history, Zhang Yang captured many counties of Shangdang County with 2,000 soldiers and horses, and attacked and killed Shangdang Taishou, and finally after Yuan Shao withdrew his army, he pocketed Hanoi County and recovered the Montenegrin thieves such as Zhenggu.

Duan Cheng is nearly fifty years old, a native of the Shangdang, and was appointed by the imperial court after the Yellow Turban was pacified. Duan Cheng was not afraid of Ma Chao, who had two thousand soldiers and horses, and was even more disdainful of Ding Yuan, who was simply the emperor of the local soil. The Duan family mansion in Shangdang City covers a huge area, the decoration is elegant, the courtyard is majestic, there are high walls around each other, and the township soldiers guard it, just like a small dock fort in the city.

Not long after, Duan Chengcai, who was dressed in brocade clothes and had a shiny face, came with more than a dozen entourage, and said with a smile: "General Wei has arrived, and the lower officials have missed the distance!" Forgive sins, forgive sins! ”

Ma Chao has already learned some basic information from Ding Yuan's mouth, this period has become extremely greedy, the Duan family was originally a local family, since Duan Wei entered the court as a eunuch more than ten years ago, the Duan family has also risen with the tide, and now it has developed into a family.

Ma Chao already had an idea in his heart, and said coldly: "The general will be ordered by the Son of Heaven to crusade against the Black Mountain thieves, and the troops will be stationed in the party, but you are so snub to the party and the general, if you delay the military situation, you will not be able to cut off ten heads!" ”

Duan Cheng nodded again and again and said, "That's it!" Is that! The lower officials will set up a banquet for the generals to receive the wind and wash the dust. ”

"No need!" Ma Chao's face was gloomy, and he asked, "Dare to ask Duan Taishou, how will the more than 2,000 soldiers under the command of this general be settled?" Winter is coming, is in urgent need of cold things, in addition to a large amount of ordnance and money and food, the imperial court did not allocate a soldier to the general, a money and a grain, but there is an edict for the general to collect from the local counties, so there is a section of labor too guarded. ”

"Ugh!" Duan Cheng was immediately stunned for a while, and said: "There are several military camps in the city, and if it is insufficient, you can requisition private houses, and it is easy to resettle more than 2,000 people!" As for the money and grain, now that the counties have just finished harvesting in autumn, there is still some surplus grain in the county treasury, and there will be no shortage in a month or two, if it takes a long time, I am afraid that I can't afford it! ”

Ma Chao secretly sneered in his heart, couldn't bear it at the moment, nodded and said: "It's so good, but there is something in front of me and Lao Duan Taishou to help!" ”

Duan Cheng saw that Ma Chao was so easy to dismiss, and he was also happy in his heart, and he hugged his fists and said with a smile: "The general's begging for thieves is a utilitarian move to benefit the people of the party, but there are orders, and everything is obeyed!" ”

Ma Chao said: "The Art of War: Know yourself and know your opponent, and you will not be defeated in a hundred battles!" Shangdang County is a place where the activities of bandits in Montenegro are rampant, and I want to know about the activities of the thieves in each county, so I would like to ask Duan Taishou to summon the county commanders or county magistrates of each county, as well as the county magistrates and county lieutenants to the eldest son city, and I will have something to ask in person! ”

This request is not excessive, it can be said that the necessary preparations before sending troops, Duan Cheng immediately agreed. Then he personally led Ma Chao to inspect the military camp in the city, the eldest son city is a big city, built in the Spring and Autumn Period, military facilities are readily available, and more than 2,000 soldiers are placed effortlessly.

Ma Chaogui is a concubine of the dynasty, and he is also a general of Wei of the third duke, so Duan Cheng does not dare to be too lazy, at least on the surface.

That night, Ma Chao gathered several henchmen and generals in one place, and said apologetically: "I didn't expect this passage to be so ignorant, I will bear with it for the time being, and after three days, the general will launch a mutiny, find a crime and press it on the head of the Duan family, and get rid of it in one fell swoop!" Ladies and sisters-in-law, it's all right! ”

Ma Chao swore that Huang Zhong, Dian Wei and other four people would bring their families over, but now they live in a few dilapidated houses, which is not as comfortable as living in their hometown! The four of them didn't say anything, but there would definitely be complaints from their wives at home, so Ma Chao also felt disgraced, even if he offended Duan Wei, he couldn't care about it.

Huang Zhong said: "The lord doesn't have to blame himself, the so-called strong dragon does not suppress the head snake!" Reckless action will only cause panic among the people, and the lord's move is just a dismount, which can not only get rid of Duan Cheng, but also deter county officials, and at the same time buy the hearts of the local people, which is very appropriate! ”

Wen Ping nodded, and said: "It is effortless for the more than 2,000 soldiers and horses under the command of the lord to capture Shangdang City, but it is very insufficient to hold the Kei Pass and Huguan and continue to crusade against the Black Mountain thieves, I don't know what the lord has planned?" ”

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