In October of the second year of Zhang Wu, Shen Chen officially entered Jicheng and entered Liangzhou.

In the first month of taking office, he did not immediately go to various places to investigate and do the work, but consulted local materials and summoned officials from various places to understand the current situation in Liangzhou.

Although the tone of Hu Han's policy of treating everyone equally has been set, this is not something that can be accomplished by simply giving a sentence or two.

In dealing with ethnic issues, we must first be cautious and ensure that a bowl of water is level. If it is too gentle, the Hu people think that the Han people are easy to bully, and it is easy to run to the Han people. If it is too brutal, it will cause a massive backlash, and the gains outweigh the losses.

Therefore, the Tang Dynasty's policy of great integration is actually the best way, including the fact that China in later generations treated ethnic issues equally, and even had some policy care and inclination for ethnic minorities.

The reasons for this are, first, to seek stability, second, to unify the Chinese nation, and third, to reflect the country's tolerance for all ethnic groups. It is precisely because of this that there is such stability in China.

And most importantly.

In fact, most of the so-called Yi people in our country have Han blood, for example, the Xiongnu are actually the Han people who moved north during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, which is recorded in the "Historical Records", and at the same time, genetic testing in later generations has also proved this.

For example, the genes of Genghis Khan's golden family and Liu Bang's family coincide, the genes of the Liao royal family are the genes of the Zhou Dynasty royal family, and the Huns are the descendants of the Zhou Dynasty Ji and so on.

There is also the Shennong of the first ancestor of Chinese humanities is Xirong, and most of the ethnic groups in the northwest are Shennong genes. Xuanyuan is Beidi, and most of the descendants of Xuanyuan are in Hebei, Shanxi and other places. Nanban is Chiyou, the ancestor of Henan. Dongyi is Shaohao, the first ancestor of humanity in Shandong.

Therefore, from the same source in the bloodline, we should help each other and reflect the inclusiveness of the Chinese nation. Instead of brutally killing the Qiang, Di, Hu, and Barbarians in Xiliang, Liangzhou rebelled everywhere, and the people were struggling to make a living.

This is also in line with the great man's teaching that all forces that can be united should be united.

Of course.

If it should be mild, it will be mild, and when it should be suppressed, it will be suppressed.

If you blindly tolerate it, it will make the foreigners feel that it is not okay to deceive yourself, and it is not okay to kill a cruel person.

There should be no shortage of means.

After a period of investigation, Shen Chen generally knew the current situation in Liangzhou.

At present, there are roughly two ethnic minorities in Liangzhou, one is Qiangqi and the other is Beihu.

Qiang Di lived in the areas of Longyou, Tianshui, Anding, and Beiding, probably in the south-central part of Gansu Province, the eastern part of Qinghai Province, and the southern part of Ningxia Province.

Beihu lived in the Wuwei and Zhangye areas, which were later in northern Gansu and northern Ningxia.

At present, the phenomenon of intermingling with the Han people is relatively extensive, and they do not exclude each other from ethnic integration. Like Ma Chao's mother, she is a Qiang girl, who belongs to the Han and Qiang mixed race.

This was good news in Shen Chen's eyes, he didn't want to make a mess in Liangzhou.

Because the Qiang people are a semi-nomadic and semi-agricultural civilization, they not only cultivate the fields, but also graze pastures. To form cavalry and expand the army, the war horses and knights needed to be used all need the full support of the Qiang people.

Therefore, if you want to smooth the Northern Expedition, Liangzhou must be stable.

After a period of understanding, Shen Chen believed that in order to solve the problem, it was necessary to have a deep understanding of the problem.

So in the following time, he personally visited some small tribes around Ji County, Qiang Shuai, and asked them what they thought of the current Han rule and whether they were willing to accept governance.

In fact, for Qiangyi, the first thing is the question of survival.

During the Han Dynasty, Gansu was not as desolate as later generations, but a land of abundant water and grass, green mountains and green waters, but the arable land area was small, so grazing was the majority.

In order to compete for water and grass, there are often wars within the Qiang, and the pressure on their survival is still very high.

The small tribes were naturally willing to submit to the powerful Han Dynasty.

It is not only the problem of inclusiveness of the Han Dynasty, but also the fact that the Han Dynasty put more pressure on them to survive in the past.

But the new Liangzhou pastor is obviously more reasonable, and he began to threaten Zhuqiang before he took office.

Shen Chen even promised that as long as they were willing to accept the governance of the imperial court, the imperial court would help them improve their livelihood, adopt a reasonable system, and be willing to help them promote education and carry out agricultural reform.

If they can survive, who wants to risk their heads to offend the Han court?

Moreover, Ma Chao has prestige in Xiliang, and Zhang Fei has also made a name for himself in Liangzhou in the past two years, resulting in the attitude of most of the small Qiang tribes in Tianshui County being very deferential and not daring to make a mistake.

Therefore, there are still many small and medium-sized tribes that are obedient.

Shen Chen then carried out pilot work in Xixian, Tianshui, Jixian, Xianqin, Chengji, Ayang, Luoyang, Pingxiang and other local counties of Tianshui County.

He ordered the county commanders in all localities to adopt the policy of Hu and Han colleagues, open cities in various counties, actively develop agriculture and animal husbandry, take small tribes as villages, and middle tribes as township pavilions, and concentrate all Qiang tribes around the county seat and extend them outward.

While it is so convenient to govern, it can also quickly see the results. As for the problem of the need for the tribe to migrate due to the shortage of water and grass, the government also investigates and then looks for new grazing sites.

Try to be fair and equitable.

When encountering the contradiction between Hu and Han, or the internal contradiction between Qiang and Di, the problem should also be solved fairly, the reward should be rewarded, the punishment should be punished, and the edict should be issued to the Quartet, the cause and result of the matter should be written clearly, and everyone should be convinced.

Half a year later, in the first half of the third year of Zhangwu, the Qiangdi of Tianshui County and Wudu County were basically willing to submit to the rule of the Han Dynasty in the south.

Shen Chen's principles of fair governance also achieved initial results, and his fame has spread to Liangzhou since then.

After a period of time, Shen Chen's governance plan gradually spread to the area of Longyou County and Jincheng County, because of at least a relatively moderate ethnic policy, attracting a large number of small Qiang tribes to join, and for a time there were countless Qiang who were willing to submit to the Han Dynasty.

This situation lasted until June of the third year of Zhangwu, when Mangzhong and Zhuyi, the kings of Jincheng County, launched a rebellion, and it happened that Shen Chen himself was in Jincheng County to inspect whether the local ethnic policy was in place.

Jincheng County, Anyi County, here is the area of Ping'an District in Haidong City, Qinghai Province in later generations.

In later generations, there were large hills in this area, and only the two banks of the Huangshui River were broken valleys, and there were long and narrow plains. And although the hills are not high, there are many signs of desertification in later generations, and the hills are close to red.

However, in the Han Dynasty, the mountains were full of green and grasslands, and there were large forests in the mountains farther away, so it belonged to the undulating hilly landform, like the mountains of the Mongolian steppe.

At this moment, Shen Chen is in the Xihan area in the south of Anyi County, and the specific location is the northwest mountainous area of Hualong Hui Autonomous County, Haidong City, Qinghai Province.

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The Qiang tribe is a bit like the Mongol tribes, some farming, some grazing, some fields are cultivated in the valleys, millet and wheat are grown, and a tributary of the upper reaches of the Yellow River flows slowly, with a large number of tents on both banks.

Shen Chen sat cross-legged on the grass, surrounded by some leaders and elders of the Xiaoqiang Shuai tribe near Xihan, all sitting on the ground listening to him.

"Han and Qiang have never been enemies, but friends and brothers. The existence of the imperial court is not to rule everyone, but to better govern, and fighting and hatred are never the solution to the problem. ”

Shen Chen looked around at everyone and said seriously: "Liangzhou is not the territory of the Qiang people or the territory of the Han people, but the territory of all of us. Each of us is here to survive, so if we want to live a better life, we should not be hostile, but should work together. ”

A Qiang Shuai said: "But the Han people always recruit us to fight, let us bring our own weapons and horses, and do not pay military salaries, which is not to give us a way to live." ”

"That's wrong."

Shen Chen said: "So I came to correct this kind of mistake, and I ask you a question. ”

"Governor, please."

The local Qiang Shuai of Xihanqiang is an old man who has always been highly respected, so he can gather many Qiang Shuai.

Shen Chen said: "The Han people cultivated the fields and paid taxes, and the imperial court had money and grain, so they could maintain local stability, develop production, and promote prosperity. The Qiang people are unwilling to submit to the imperial court and are unwilling to pay taxes, so does the imperial court still have the responsibility to maintain the stability of the Qiang people? ”

The old man thought for a moment and said, "There is no responsibility. ”

"Yes."

Shen Chen said: "So in the long run, if you are willing to submit to the imperial court, become the subjects of the Great Han, and pay taxes, the imperial court will send officials to maintain your order, prevent you from attacking each other for grassland, and prevent the big tribes from wantonly slaughtering and annexing small tribes, which in itself is conducive to your survival." ”

"But there is only so much grassland, if you don't grab it, what if the grassland is finished?"

Someone asked.

"That's where the government's obligation lies."

Shen Chen said earnestly: "Since you are willing to become the people of the Han Dynasty, the government should help you solve these problems. Rational planning of pastures and demarcation of cultivation and grazing areas are also things that the government should do. ”

The Xiyi County Commander nodded again and again: "If there is a ranch problem, please report it to the government at any time, and I will often go to various places in the county to inspect and find new suitable pastures." ”

Shen Chen also said: "People can't blindly conform to nature, but must discover nature and change nature." The upper reaches of the great river are located here, which nourishes the water and soil. However, blindly not nourishing the land will only lead to soil erosion and no longer grow grass in the pasture, so when there is nothing to do, more canals should be reclaimed to irrigate the land and revitalize the pasture. ”

"Yes, yes, yes."

The crowd responded.

They have lived here for generations, and naturally they understand the truth of development.

Shen Chen looked at them and continued: "The Han Dynasty should be an inclusive and open country, and as a citizen of the Han Dynasty, everyone has the right to educate and change the status quo of their lives. In the future, when the Han Dynasty is reunified, it will inevitably connect the Western Regions again and trade with the West; Liangzhou should seize the opportunity to become the only way for east-west trade, so as to change its poverty dilemma. Education is the cornerstone, whether it is the Qiang people or the Di people, they should read and learn words, I want to open county schools in Liangzhou counties, funded by the government, to build schools. Each tribe can select one of the wise children to study, after completing the study, through the imperial examination, you can become an official, this is also for the court to have more talents, but also for your tribes to have someone to get ahead, lead the tribe to develop, what do you think? ”

Reading and learning words?

All the leaders of the Qiang tribe were stunned, and then nodded again and again in ecstasy: "Okay, okay, agree, we all agree." ”

They can't read, but that doesn't stop them from knowing who the officials in power in Liangzhou are.

Those people are all Han people who read and learn to write, and they have the interpretation of the law in their hands.

Sometimes there is a contradiction between the Qiang and the Han, and people say that the black becomes white, and the white becomes black, and the Qiang people often suffer this kind of loss.

However, the Han Dynasty suppressed Qiang Di for more than 100 years, although Qiang Di was the majority in Xiliang, there were very few people who could read and learn words, and the knowledge was mastered by the local family in Liangzhou.

Therefore, they have become second-class citizens at the bottom, and they want to fight for their own power, either by joining the army and following the Liangzhou Assassin History or the county guards to fight and be promoted, or rebelling and revolting.

For example, Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou, who rebelled in Liangzhou in the early years, were the leaders of the Qiang and Hu people, respectively, because of their low cultural level and the poor fighting themselves, so they coerced the Han Han Sui Bianzhang to join the gang and elected them as leaders.

As a result, they were fooled and lame by Han Sui, and they were soon killed by Han Sui, allowing him to successfully ascend to the throne. The most important thing is that Han Sui killed the leader of the Qiang tribe, but he had a very high prestige among the Qiang people, and then Han Sui was defeated by Cao Cao and hid in the Qiang tribe and was sheltered by the Qiang tribe.

It can be seen that the cultural level of Qiang Di is poor, and they do not know how to strategize, and they are still in the primitive tribal stage of obeying whoever is strong.

Now that there are people who are willing to change this situation and promote education among the Qiang, they are naturally very happy.

In this way, they can finally get ahead.

Only Shen Chen's face was actually very calm, and he was not too happy or pessimistic about making this choice.

Qiang Di did not set off much in the Han Dynasty, which has a lot to do with its poor level.

In battle, they all rushed forward in one go, did not know the art of war and strategy, and with the strong bows and crossbows of the Han people, coupled with the relatively primitive weapons and equipment, they naturally could not defeat the Han Dynasty army.

Once they are educated, if they rebel in the future, it will cause great trouble.

This is also a point that Shen Chen is a little worried about.

However, if you want to get the support of Qiang, you can't help them less.

Education can not only produce more useful talents, but also strengthen their cultural identity and bring them closer to the Han Dynasty.

Just like after World War II, Western countries recruited a large number of children of tribal elites as students in Africa, and then let them return to China to become elites to help the West indirectly colonize Africa.

These people received Western education, but they were obviously dark-skinned, but they regarded themselves as Westerners, and regarded their compatriots as ignorant fools, and consciously became the agents of the West in Africa, that is, the commonly known Mangosteen people, and became African administrators.

Although this analogy may not be appropriate, because Shen Chen is indeed treating Qiang as a minority in his own country.

But the principle is the same.

If a large number of ethnic minorities close to the Han Dynasty can be educated, they will naturally help the state manage its own tribes well, thus stabilizing the situation in Liangzhou.

Therefore, the promotion of education in the Qiang is a double-edged sword, and the slightest carelessness may cut oneself.

However, Shen Chen decided to do it anyway.

The reason for this is that frontier instability can only occur in turbulent dynasties.

The dynasty was preoccupied with itself, and places like Liangzhou became difficult to govern, making it possible for educated people to become rebel leaders.

For example, An Lushan and Shi Siming, because An Lushan's stepfather An Yanyan was a high-ranking general family of the Tang Dynasty, An Lushan learned the six Chinese languages since he was a child, and also received higher education in the Tang Dynasty, thus launching a rebellion in the late Tang Xuanzong.

If it was a time of peace, with the stability of the Tang Dynasty, An Lushan would not dare to rebel if he gave him a hundred courages.

And the Tang Dynasty is also Shen Chen's favorite dynasty, which is inclusive of all rivers and all-encompassing. There are countless famous generals in the court, four of the twenty-four heroes of the Lingyan Pavilion are not Han nationality, and there are 29 prime ministers who are not Han nationality, which shows the tolerance and openness of the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, Shen Chen thought that he would eventually build the Han Dynasty into a worldwide empire, so the ethnic minorities around the dynasty would naturally have to be accommodated and become the inherent ethnic minorities and regional territories of our country.

And education, naturally, must also be implemented in accordance with the trend.

In the face of such a temptation, none of the Qiang leaders refused, and they responded one after another.

Seeing that everyone's attitude was very cooperative, Shen Chen was also about to say a few more words, but at this time, several horses suddenly galloped over in the distance.

Several Qiang youths hurriedly ran over, and saw Shen Chen hesitate slightly.

The old man said: "The Metropolitan Governor is our most honored guest, and also our chief, we are willing to accept his rule, and if there is anything, do not hide it from the Metropolitan Governor." ”

The Qiang youth led by him said: "The tribal leaders in the west, Mangzhong and Zhuyi, plan to launch a rebellion and invite us to join in!" ”

Qiang Shuai's face changed suddenly, and everyone was at a loss, looking at each other.

Shen Chen was also shocked in his heart, because he only brought more than 100 horsemen with him this time, if the enemy suddenly turned his face, I am afraid that only himself and Jiang Wei, Deng Ai, Shan Yi, Wu Dang and a few other disciples could go back.

However, he didn't make a sound immediately, but glanced at the Qiang Shuai very calmly, and a murderous aura erupted in his eyes in an instant.

Lao Qiang Shuai could naturally sense that Shen Chen's eyes were wrong, and his heart sank at the moment, and he hurriedly knelt down to Shen Chen and said, "Metropolitan Governor, we will never follow Mangzhong to recite their rebellion." ”

"Yes, we will not rebel with them."

Many leaders suddenly came to their senses, and they also knelt down to Shen Chen to express their loyalty.

Shen Chen's originally calm face suddenly smiled, looked around at everyone and said, "I naturally understand your hearts, and I also believe that you will never rebel." And now there is an opportunity in front of you, I don't know what you think? ”

Lao Qiang Shuai asked, "Please also ask the Metropolitan Governor to make it clear." ”

"Hmm."

Shen Chen stood up, pulled out the tiger guts knife on his waist, looked around at everyone and said: "Everyone, the imperial army is tens of thousands in Liangzhou, and it is really not worth it to mobilize the army to come for the sake of Mangzhong, how many people are there in the tribe?" How many of them are there? ”

Lao Qiang Shuai immediately said: "Dadu Governor, my tribe has 1,200 sons, and I am willing to obey the dispatch of Dadudu." ”

"There are eight hundred in my tribe."

"I have six hundred."

"I have nine hundred."

"I have ....."

Everyone said a word, and they gathered their troops.

This time, the people gathered here were all small and medium-sized tribes, and the total number of people was only a few hundred or a few thousand.

So even if everyone makes it together, it's just seven or eight thousand people.

However, Shen Chen said: "These soldiers and horses are enough, everyone, Mangzhong and Zhuyi are the king of Burning Dangqiang, the tribe has tens of thousands, and the troops that can be dispatched are at least one or two thousand." What's more, they contacted the leaders of the other tribes everywhere, and it was not possible to say that they could gather tens of thousands or even more than 100,000 troops at once. But at this time, they had just started their army, and the number of soldiers and horses was small, so we raided their tribe and beheaded them directly. Those who have made meritorious contributions in the battle will be awarded the merits of the Han army, and I will reward you with official positions and give you their pastures and cultivated land. In this battle, I need you to understand that if you rebel with them, you will surely be annihilated by the army mobilized by the imperial court. But if you are willing to follow me to quell the rebellion, then it is my Yuan Cong in Liangzhou, do you dare to fight! ”

The words can be described as a combination of grace and might, and many Qiang leaders were enthusiastic, and they said: "Dare to fight!" ”

"Good!"

Shen Chen raised his sword and roared angrily: "You obey my orders, and in the name of responding to the call, you will send troops thousands of miles to attack Yugu and Dayun Mountain!" Beheaded Mangzhong and Zhu Yi for me, who can kill them, I let them be the generals, did you hear! ”

"I heard you!"

"Let's go!"

With Shen Chen's shout, all the Qiang handsomes suddenly got up, rushed to their horses, and went back to the tribe to shake people.

In this battle, they followed Shen Chen, rushed thousands of miles to attack Dayun Mountain, and killed the rebellious King of Burning Qiang!