Liu Bei received good news from Pang Tong's office: Ma Chao, Zhao Yun, and Jiang Wei broke through Cao's army, captured more than 2,000 people, and led the victorious army to return Tens of thousands of people were rescued and returned with them.

Liu Bei first sent Liu Chan and Shangguan to carry food, clothing, etc., to prepare to appease the returning people, pack up the houses and wait for these fleeing people to live, and then went to Luoyang.

Pang Tong led the crowd to greet Liu Bei and invited Liu Bei to enter Luoyang. Liu Bei waved the horse whip in his hand and said: "Shiyuan, calculate the time, Meng Qi, Zilong, and Boyo will return in the next two days." This king will not enter Luoyang City, and will go directly to the street pavilion camp! ”

Pang Tong said: "Your Majesty, it's too early to calculate the time!" ”

Liu Bei said: "Shiyuan, this king wants to see the street pavilion, the street pavilion wants land, this time it is easy to lose and almost cause a catastrophe, go and see, arrange the layout, we can't suffer two losses in one place!" ”

Pang Tong readily agreed, and everyone rode to the street pavilion. Li Hui greeted everyone from the street pavilion camp.

Liu Bei looked at the newly established street pavilion camp, and said to Pang Tong: "This street pavilion is a critical place, but unfortunately we want to be foolproof, it's really not good to stand up!" ”

Pang Tong responded: "What the king said is very true, if you want to have fewer garrisons around the street pavilion, you must rely on the mountains to set up camps, but it is not good to get water.

The large battalions, which are convenient for water access, have to be too many hands and need to be heavily garrisoned. This army of soldiers and horses has to be stationed for a long time, and it will be protracted, and too much money and food will be consumed.

If Cao Jun does not come, it is tantamount to wasting a new force in vain, and it is not cost-effective. On the contrary, it is better to defend Jingyuan in the front and Luoyang City in the back, and there are city walls to rely on in both places. More than 2,000 people are stationed in the street pavilion for warning. ”

Liu Bei said: "This time, Jieting, Luoyang, and Jingyuan are all easily broken, which makes me worried, Longyou is about to relocate the people, and if this Cao army forcibly removes the people again, he can't afford it!" ”

Pang Tong was relieved: "The king is too worried, the fall of Luoyang and Jingyuan was caused by the sudden attack of the Cao army, and both Luoyang and Linjing have held out for more than 20 days.

If Longyou has soldiers and horses as backup, a little resistance, the army comes to the aid to ensure that the two cities are not lost. Cao Jun will not dare to ignore the two cities, expose the back road and risk advancing to Longyou! ”

Liu Bei said: "I heard Shi Yuanyi say that everything is okay as usual, but this king has thought about it, forty miles around the street pavilion, no, no, eighty miles of land, and it will not move into the people." Directly changed to a military cantonment and let the soldiers stationed there cultivate.

In this way, even if the Cao army came in, there was no one for eighty miles, only a strong city, a clear wall, and much safer! ”

Pang Tong praised: "Good way." We also have to put in some effort in Anding County, and we only left a few thousand soldiers and horses before. It is better to use Anding County as a bridgehead to attack Guanzhong. The garrison is at least 10,000 troops, and the Anding County in our hands is fully tuned. ”

Liu Bei said: "The part of Anding County in our hands was renamed and renamed Jingyang County, and the governance was located in Jingyang City!" ”

Liu Bei immediately summoned the generals and continued to discuss the stationing of the street pavilion. Everything was finalized, Liu Bei appointed Li Hui as the Taishou of Jingyang County, and Li Yong as the assistant to Li Hui as the magistrate of Jingyang County. As for sending Zhao Yun or Ma Chaotun to Jingyang County, we will decide after the two of them return!

The next day at noon. Cheng Ji, who went to pick up the response, sent someone to report that Ma Chao's soldiers and horses were less than ten miles away.

Liu Bei said quietly: "Got it, go down!" "The people who came gave up.

Liu Bei turned his head and said, "Let's go Shiyuan, go and meet the triumphant army!" ”

The two walked side by side, Liu Bei pointed to the looming dust in the distance and said: "Ma Chao's bravery and good fighting reputation is well deserved, this time he captured the general Wang Shuang, injured Xu Huang, and shocked Cao Jun!" ”

Pang Tong knew that Liu Bei's words were not completely praised, and he still harbored a sense of jealousy. Ma Chao is an official title officially appointed by the imperial court, and he is also the overlord of one side that once divided the party.

Pang Tong replied positively: "Your Majesty, you have to use Ma Chao's name now." To complete more important things, Longyou and Liangzhou have lost a lot of people in several wars. The population of the Qiang tribe exceeded that of the Han Chinese, so they had to be guarded against.

No matter what form it takes, it is imperative to recruit the Qiang tribe to join the army, stabilize the locality, and strengthen the strength of our army! ”

Liu Bei said: "Shiyuan means that the recruited Qiang soldiers and horses are led by Ma Chao!" ”

Pang Tong said: "Your Majesty, Ma Chao is responsible for gathering the Qiang soldiers and horses, and does not command the Qiang soldiers. Let Ma Chao's conditions force the Qiang tribes not to refuse the proposal of conscription.

When the Qiang soldiers are recruited and trained into an army a little, they can also be led by a capable general! ”

Liu Bei said with satisfaction: "Shiyuan can see it thoroughly. This king had discussed with Kong Ming and Yongnian before, and Xihe Zhurong itself was our strategy.

The problem now is that the generals who command the Qiang soldiers and horses cannot have only one Ma Chao, so that the Qiang people can be driven willingly.

We should try our best to find generals who can replace Ma Chao in order to have a comprehensive impact on the Qiang people! I'm constantly picking the right people. Jiang Wei, Shi Yuan can remember! ”

Pang Tong continued: "I remember that Jiang Wei participated in the selection held by the king back then, and he was able to write and martial arts, and excelled. With He Yuan and Wang Hei, it is a material that can be made! ”

Liu Bei said: "Shiyuan remembers it well, Jiang Wei has a lot of achievements in this campaign, Cheng Ji praises him, and I intend to promote him."

There is no doubt that he works with Jiang Boyo, and there is no doubt that his evaluation is 'Liangzhou Sergeant'! Jiang Wei is a native of Tianshui, the Jiang family is a big family, very influential, Yang Fu broke Ma Chao when Jiang Xu sent troops to support, and Jiang Wei is his clansman.

However, Jiang Wei's father died early, Jiang Wei supported his mother, and he was a rare talent. This king is considering reusing it! ”

Pang Tong said: "When the king looks at people, there will be no deviation." The concern is that Jiang Wei is young and has no reputation, and the Qiang people are all brave and aggressive people, who is willing to obey him, and suddenly orders him to lead the Qiang soldiers, which is not perfect! ”

Liu Bei said: "That's true, but Jiang Wei's advantage is also that he is young, and he may be able to replace Ma Chao in time." ”

Liu Bei paused for a moment and said, "Jiang Wei's method is slower, and this king still has a method here that will work immediately." What does Shi Yuan think about intermarrying with the leader of the Qiang tribe? ”

Pang Tong thought about it and said: "Your Majesty, it's not good to let the prince marry a Qiang girl!" The identity does not match! This matter will have an extremely bad impact on Childe! The scholars will look down on the childe!

The king thinks about it, the dignified Liu clan of the Han Dynasty, marrying a Qiang woman, and spreading it will damage the name of the son, even if it is a purposeful marriage! ”

Liu Bei said: "I thought of this relationship, so I planned to wronged Zhang Bao to intermarry with the leader of the Qiang tribe and establish Zhang Bao's name." ”

Pang Tong nodded and said: "It is indeed a good way to kill two birds with one stone, but this Qiang tribe is not the only one, and it takes a little effort to think about who should be the most beneficial to marry!" ”

Liu Bei said: "This king asked Huang Quan to be a matchmaker, and selected one of the leaders participating in the war to intermarry. Huang Quan settled the strength and weakness of each tribe, and could choose the tribe that maximized the benefits to intermarry. ”

Pang Tong said: "Huang Quan will do a good job." But at the moment, Huang Quan doesn't have the heart to think about it! ”

Liu Bei said: "With Huang Quan's ability, the remaining month is enough to quell the rebellion, and then we will discuss this matter!" Pang Tong nodded secretly.

Ma Chao's troops came first, and Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei led their troops to break off to prevent Cao's army from chasing. Ma Chao led 3,000 soldiers and horses to drive away the captured Cao army and the captive elite people.

Liu Bei saw it from afar and said strangely: "How can there be Cao Jun dressed as ordinary people?" Didn't you say that Ma Chao was escorting the surrendered Cao Jun? ”

Pang Tong said uncertainly: "The battle report said that Ma Chao broke Cao's army and captured more than 2,000 people. In order to prevent the Cao army's army from coming to seize and prevent the enemy from changing, they were escorted back first, why are there so many people! ”

Liu Bei hit the horse and said: "Go and see!" ”

The crowd marched forward. Ma Chao came to Liu Bei and dismounted and arched his hand: "See the king!" ”

Liu Bei raised his hand and said: "General Ma is exempt, the general breaks the Cao army, frustrates the enemy's spirit, destroys the enemy's majesty, and makes great achievements, this king should reward the general." ”

Ma Chao excused himself, he didn't even dare to say it, and the smile on his face was obvious. Liu Bei changed his words and said: "General Ma, I look at how the captives still have people dressed as ordinary people, not like Cao Jun, but like people's husbands!" ”

Ma Chao explained: "The king has good eyesight, only two thousand of these 5,000 people are Cao Jun, and the rest are grain transporters captured by the last general, these people were carrying the equipment, armor, canes and other materials for the retreating Cao Army, and they didn't have time to escape, so they should be killed for Cao Ren and them."

The last general actually captured more people. But General Zhao didn't know why, after the interrogation, he let go a lot, and in the end, the last general insisted, leaving 10,000 people, but there were a lot of runs on the road! ”

Liu Bei moved and said, "Did Zilong ask something like whether he has parents, wives and children, whether he was forcibly requisitioned to transport grain, and whether there are any adult men in the family?" ”

Ma Chao was stunned and said: "How does the king know!" ”

Liu Bei said: "General Ma, since the beginning of the army, this king has not once captured the people, and the people follow me voluntarily.

Because this king pursues the so-called 'benevolent government', how sad it is that the people lived in the era were forcibly evicted from their homeland, and it was not done by the righteous people.

Zilong has been by the king's side for a long time, so he naturally acts the same. The people who are dismissed by Zilong must be ordinary people who want to support their parents and raise their young sons. ”

Ma Chao said: "Your Majesty, I will speak bluntly. From the perspective of a general, if you can't win the war, you will not be able to exert 'benevolent government'.

The people themselves are not the ones who dare to give up their lives, they are all the ones who are powerful and succumb to whom! Whoever gives the benefit is the same as turning his back on the old and following the new!

Cao's army moved my people, and our army should plunder the people under their rule. For the people who transport grain, it is even more necessary to let them know the fate of transporting grain to Cao Jun, so that the people can be afraid and dare not help Cao Jun and consume Cao Jun's strength! ”

Liu Bei licked his chapped lips and said, "What General Ma said makes sense. However, the people's grain transportation itself is driven by conscription, and blindly being tough will lead the people to centrifuge and help the enemy! ”

Ma Chao stopped answering, and changed the topic: "Your Majesty, this time I captured dozens of Cao Jun's generals and school secretaries. Among them, the most famous is Cao Ren's general Wang Shuang, the most powerful.

This Wang Shuang is a native of Longxi. Making good use of the broadsword, Jiang Wei fell to the upper hand after thirty rounds of fighting, and the last general took the opportunity to attack from the side, commanding the cavalry to disperse his left and right soldiers and horses, and capture them alive! ”

Liu Bei was overjoyed and said: "Since you have the ability and are from Longxi, you can surrender to me and bring it here!" ”

Ma Chao waved his hand, and everyone escorted Wang Shuang, and Liu Bei saw that he was indeed a strong man with a tiger's back and a bear's waist. Liu Bei was about to speak, Wang Shuang shouted: "My general treats me very well, how can I be willing to surrender to a thief, don't talk nonsense!" ”

Liu Bei smiled when he heard this: "The reckless man is loyal, and he will go down, so that he will be entertained, and he is doing calculations!" General Ma fought hard, and followed Li Taishou (Li Hui) to the big tent to rest, so that the soldiers could have a good rest! Ma Chao gave up and left.

Pang Tong looked back at Ma Chao far away, turned his head and whispered to Liu Bei: "Ma Chao is like a sharp knife, just stab at the enemy, kill all those who stand in the way, turn a blind eye to benevolence, righteousness and morality, and have no mercy!" ”

Liu Bei sighed: "I only know killing, how can I do it, if I am a rogue, I can ignore it and act recklessly." If you want to take away the county, develop in the long run, and let the people return to their hearts, Huairou is necessary. Ma Chao is not like the Han people, but more like the Qiang people. No wonder the Qiang people worship it like a god! ”

Pang Tong said: "Your Majesty, Ma Chao is not qualified to be the overlord of one party, but it is easy to be a general!" ”

Liu Bei sighed: "I hope this knife doesn't stab at this king!" ”