After a long and harsh winter, the snow has finally melted.

The afternoon sun shines on the body, which makes people warm from the heart.

Several envoys sent out also brought back the results one after another.

The team that went to Sister Leqiang's department and the Xiaoyue clan traded goods for goods, and exchanged them for thousands of stone grains and thousands of sheep.

Xun Yu said with a sad face: "General, a thousand stones of grain, thousands of cattle and sheep, it is simply a drop in the bucket, and it is only enough for 20,000 people to eat for half a month at most." Our army's surplus grain, cattle, sheep and livestock are only enough to eat until the beginning of April at most, and it will take at least three and a half months before the autumn grain is put into the field, and in addition, after many people in Lingju have survived the winter, they have not even had any grain for spring farmland, and the government must not only distribute grain to the people, but also have to give rations, and if they survive until the autumn harvest, they will get at least 20,000 stone of grain, or 80,000 sheep. ”

"20,000 stone of grain, 80,000 sheep!"

Luo Zheng's brows furrowed unconsciously, and he asked, "Can Sister Le Qiang and Xiaoyue's clan come up with 20,000 stone of grain?" ”

Li Meng was more familiar with the Qiang people, and hurriedly replied: "General, although the Qiang people also farm, they still mainly graze. Moreover, these Qiang people are better at herding sheep and horses than us Han people, and farming is not flattering. What's more, most of these Qiang people occupy the mountains and stand on their own, and they are not registered in the official government, so they cannot get good land, so they can only open some mountain land on the mountains to cultivate, and there is not much land, and the grain harvest is actually not much. A large tribe of more than 20,000 people like Sister Le will plant more than 30,000 acres of mountainous land at most, and if the harvest is good, it would be good to be able to harvest 50,000 stone of grain a year, but now it is estimated that there is no 20,000 stone of surplus grain. ”

Xun Yu also nodded and said: "What General Li Meng said is true, Yu has inquired about it, and Sister Le does not have 20,000 stone of grain left. ”

Luo Zheng asked: "What about cattle and sheep, since these Qiang people are mainly grazing, there should be a lot of cattle and sheep livestock, right?" ”

Xun Yu said: "There are a lot of cattle and sheep livestock, and there are tens of thousands of cattle and sheep in these nomadic departments, and there are still more than 100,000 sheep in most places like Sister Le." However, Sister Le Qiang and Xiaoyue's family have often been blackmailed by the Liangzhou rebels and warlords over the years, and their lives are not easy. And cattle, sheep and livestock are the main food of the Qiang people, and they have to breed, and they can't kill too much at a time, otherwise it will affect the number of cubs under them, and even under the trivial reaction, life will become more and more difficult. ”

Luo Zheng said in a deep voice: "Then what should we do, we can't be hungry, right?" ”

Xun Yu groaned: "According to the people who came back, Sister Le Qiang and Xiaoyue didn't want to make enemies with the general, so they reluctantly squeezed out a thousand stones of grain and three thousand sheep to trade with us. Why don't Yu send someone to go again to see if he can buy more cattle and sheep from Sister Le Qiang and Xiaoyue. When the Qiang were in alliance, they would consult with the Qiang tribes to see if they could borrow some grain. ”

Luo Zheng said 'um' and said, "That's the only way, how is the matter of the alliance arranged?" ”

Xun Yu replied: "It's almost arranged, the location is set at Baicaotan at the northern foot of Longwei Mountain, where there is a flat river within a radius of dozens of miles, and it will not be attacked by anyone, and it is only eighty miles away from Lingju, just the distance." ”

Luo Zheng nodded, "What about the various tribes of Zhuqiang, how many tribes will participate in the alliance?" ”

Xun Yu said: "Sister Le's department, Xiaoyue clan, and Frozen department, and Dian Na department have all agreed to participate in the alliance, and more than a dozen small tribes with a population of hundreds to thousands will also come, only the largest Burning Department, Zhong Qiang Department, and Gong Tang Department have a very strong attitude, and Zhong Qiang's department has beaten out the people sent by Yu, which can be said to be a blatant rebellion against the Qiang Captain Department."

Luo Zheng's eyes were condensed, "Ququ, a tribe of more than 10,000 people, dares to be so presumptuous." ”

Xun Yu thought for a while, and then said: "If the three largest tribes of the Burning Dangbu, Zhongqiang Tribe, and Gongtang Department don't come, there will be no point in meeting the alliance this time." Most of those small tribes will come to participate in the alliance, and most of them don't want to be the first to be targeted by the Captain of the Qiang Guard, but most of them will still take a wait-and-see attitude. If the general can't help but burn the three major departments, those small tribes will definitely not obediently obey the control of the Qiang Captain's Department. Therefore, Yu thought that it was best for the general to destroy the Zhongqiang branch that openly provoked the Qiang Lieutenant Department before meeting the alliance, otherwise it would not be enough to deter Zhuqiang. ”

"Yes, please send troops to level Zhongqiang's other departments."

Xu Chu, Zhao Yun, Li Meng, Wang Fang and other generals were excited, and they all agreed.

Since returning to Luoyang at the end of August, there has been no war for half a year, and these generals who are accustomed to war have long been idle in their hearts.

Luo Zhengsen said: "General Ben also has this meaning. ”

Xun Yu said in a condensed voice: "Zhong Qiang's other troops cultivate nomadism in the area between Yuanwei and Zhiyang at the northern foot of Gaolan Mountain, and the distance from Lingju is only two hundred miles, and the cavalry will arrive in one day. There is still half a month before the alliance, and it should be too late! ”

Luo Zheng said fiercely: "What Wen Ruo said is very much in line with my wishes. Zhong Qiang's other department is not more than 10,000 people, how many men can there be. Even if you add women who can ride horses, it will not exceed three thousand, and it will be easy for this general to be destroyed. ”

"General, the last general is willing to be the vanguard."

Wang Fang was the first to jump out and hurriedly invited the baby.

Luo Zheng waved his hand and said: "Wu Xi led 5,000 infantry soldiers of the Northern Army to stay and defend the city, and Xu Chu, Zhao Yun, Li Meng, and Wang Fang went out with this general. They all went to the hour to count the soldiers and horses, and asked the soldiers to bring three days' dry rations, and set off early tomorrow morning. ”

"Yes."

The generals responded with a bang, and all of them were excited.

Luo got up and prepared to leave the council room.

Xun Yu hurriedly said: "General, the Wu family has more than 700 mouths, and this grain ......."

Luo Zheng said: "Didn't General Ben ask you to sell them grain at twice the market price?" ”

Xun Yu smiled bitterly: "The general doesn't know, more than 700 people sit and eat the mountain, and no matter how thick the family background is, it will have to be eaten up." ”

Luo Zheng sighed, touched his chin, and said lightly: "Then there is no way, Liangzhou has been in war for many years, food is the root of life, even if you take more money, you can't buy food, General Ben is willing to sell grain to him, and he has done his duty." ”

Xun Yu said helplessly: "You can't let all the more than 700 people of the Wu family starve to death, right?" ”

Luo Zheng laughed and said, "There is a way, it depends on whether Wu Yi is willing to accept it." refuses to contribute to General Ben, and asks General Ben to raise 700 mouths for him, where in the world is there such a cheap thing. Turning around, he told Wu Yi that he would either take five hundred private soldiers in exchange for the required rations, or he would find a way to do it himself, and General Ben was not obliged to feed him so many people. ”

Xun Yu was even more helpless, so he had to obey the order.

I began to wonder how to tell Wu Yi about this when I turned around.

Zhong Qiang is also known as Zhong Cunqiang, in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, after the Han army defeated Xian Lingqiang and burned Dangqiang, some Qiang people were moved to the Sanfu area, most of the Qiang people fled to the outside of the Saiwai, and some were attached to Zhong Qiang, thus strengthening the power of Zhong Qiang.

In the first year of Emperor Yongchu (107 years), Longxi Xian Lingqiang and tens of thousands of Zhongqiang united, participated in the Qiang uprising in Liangzhou, blocked the Longdao, the county was glutinous and could not be controlled, to the time of Emperor Shun, it has been rebelling and attached, it can be said that it is the most repeated tribe among the Qiang people.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhong Qiang has become the strongest tribe among the Qiang people after Xian Ling and Yaodang, with no less than 50,000 under the control of the strings, becoming one of the main countervailing forces of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

However, the leadership of the rebels in Liangzhou has changed frequently, and it has actually split several times.

It was not until the Liangzhou assassin Shi Geng was killed that Ma Teng raised troops and united with Han Sui, the Liangzhou rebels, which originally had a strength of 100,000, were divided again, and most of the Qiang people defected to Ma Teng, which is also the root cause of the contradiction between Ma Teng and Han Sui.

After Ma Teng was the general of Fubo Ma Yuan, Ma Yuan conquered the Xiqiang tribes, and was called the Shenwei Tian General by the Qiang people, and the Xiliang Ma family had unparalleled prestige among the Qiang people, and almost could respond to a hundred calls, and most of the Qiang people such as Xian Ling and Zhong Qiang who followed the Beigong Boyu uprising defected to Ma Teng, which is also the main reason for Ma Teng's rapid rise and later overpower, and his strength even surpassed Han Sui.

Nomadic in the northern part of Gaolan Mountain, Zhongqiang moved from the southern foot of Gaolan Mountain due to the civil strife in Zhongqiang during the reign of Emperor Yongjia.

There is a piece of hilly plain with a radius of 100 miles in the middle of the northern foot of Gaolan Mountain, the river passes through here, giving birth to this fertile soil, every season and summer, the knee-high pasture grass makes the cattle and sheep of the Qiang people eat and want to swell their bellies.

The Qiang people used to live on higher ground, and this tradition has not changed.

Standing ten miles away, you can see at a glance the community composed of felt bags and earthen houses, but the houses built of earthen houses are not beautiful, and they are very ugly.

The felt bag is the symbol of the nomadic herdsmen, while the earth house is the result of the Qiang people learning the farming culture of the Han people.

However, the Qiang people were not completely assimilated by the Han Chinese, so there was a mixture of felt bags and earthen houses.

After the sun set, the Zhongqiang people drove the cattle and sheep back to the circle.

After nightfall, an hour later, a group of uninvited guests suddenly came to the dense forest thirty miles northwest of Qiangzhai.

For mobile phone users, please go to M. to read.