Whether it was the party struggle in the capital or the movements after Han Sui fled, Ma Chao still didn't know. At this moment, because of the concern that they had been fighting continuously for more than half a month, from late June to late July, the soldiers were tired; The number of prisoners and soldiers in the battle of Ayang reached tens of thousands, and it would take a few days to be subdued, so Ma Chao did not immediately pursue Han Sui again. Ordered his 80,000 troops to rest temporarily in Ayang City.

However, Ma Chao's heart was still full of thoughts about defeating Han Sui. And on the second day he commanded that the generals would meet together for deliberation. After a while, Pang De, Duan Xuan, Zhang Ji, and Zhang Xiu immediately came to stand in line in Ma Chao's tent and under the seats, and respectfully saluted Ma Chao.

"See the lord!" The four generals shouted.

Ma Chao nodded, but when he raised his eyes, he saw that there were only four people who came to discuss the matter, and he had some doubts in his heart. In addition to Ma Dai, who was sent to capture Longxi, there should be five generals. After thinking about it for a while, Ma Chao remembered that Ma Teng had given him a general, that is, Ju Yi, but he didn't come.

Ma Chao asked, "Why didn't General Ju Yi come?" ”

Pang De said angrily: "Young master, Ju Yi is quite arrogant and very distant from us. I don't know. ”

Zhang Xiu also said dissatisfiedly: "Brother, I think that Ju Yi is arrogant for my brother!" I don't know what he is capable of, he dares to do this to his brother! ”

Duan Xuan also said: "Even if he has some skills, he shouldn't disobey the rules of the army." The lord beat the drums and gathered the generals, but Ju Yi deliberately delayed coming, I think he deliberately made the lord ugly. ”

The audience will say this, and Ma Chao is not too angry. Because he knew that Ju Yi was quite arrogant, he didn't even look at Yuan Shao, so he incurred Yuan Shao's persecution, which was also the cause and effect of his own planting. But Ma Chao didn't mind, because he knew that Ju Yi had trained an elite division like Xiandeng Camp. So despite Ju Yi's arrogance, Ma Chao still planned to subdue him for his own use.

Ma Chao waved his hand and said, "Regardless of him, let's discuss military affairs first." ”

"Yui." The four generals pressed down their anger.

Ma Chao asked, "Ling Ming, what is the situation of the captives and surrendered troops?" ”

Pang De immediately stood out of the queue, bowed down, and said, "Young Master, there are 40,000 prisoners and surrendered soldiers in the Battle of Ayang. The generals are stepping up to disperse them into various divisions, and now that the reorganization has been completed, they have been initially rewarded with a thousand dollars each, and the morale of the army has been initially settled. In two days, after the propaganda of the commander of Yangyi, these captives and soldiers were willing to fight for the lord. Don't worry. ”

Ma Chao nodded, very satisfied. Ma Chao found that because of the large number of Qiang people in the army, it was often the Qiang witches who mastered their thoughts (for example, Li Dao listened to the witches' prophecies and divination). Ma Chao was worried that these witches would confuse the people, so he forcibly kicked them out.

But later, Ma Chao thought about the loss of the spiritual soothing effect of the witches, and the army was uneasy, so he thought of emulating the establishment of the Zheng throne in later generations, so he set up a special position in the army, called "Captain Yangyi". For every 2,000 people, that is, in one section, there is a Yangyi Commander. They are responsible for promoting Ma Chao's ambition for Ma Chao, that is, to save the chaos and calm the people, so that these rebels who once abducted the people of Xiliang Sanfu can change their ways.

Later, Ma Chao found that Captain Yangyi gradually had a high status among the soldiers, and Ma Chao taught Captain Yangyi to preach loyalty for him, so that the soldiers would be more loyal to him; In addition, Ma Chao instructed these Yangyi lieutenants to supervise the captains and marquis for him to prevent turmoil.

Ma Chao asked: "The selection of the captain of Yangyi is related to whether the heart of our army is neat and consistent. You must let me pick it myself, and no one is allowed to interfere, understand? ”

The generals said solemnly: "Only." ”

Ma Chao said again: "In the past few days, have there been displaced people?" ”

Duan Xuan said: "Back to the lord, there are many around. The last general had already listened to the orders of the lord and assigned his troops to distribute 1.2 million stone military rations to the people of Beidi County, Anding County, and Hanyang County near Anding County. There has not been a famine yet, and many people have returned with grain to prepare for farming, so the lord does not have to worry. ”

Ma Chao nodded and said, "That's fine." With so much military rations distributed, how much food does our army still have? ”

Duan Xuan said: "The entire tile pavilion has been emptied, and there are only more than 500,000 stone military rations left in our army." ”

"How long can you eat?" Ma Chao asked.

Duan Xuan said: "It's only about a month old. ”

Ma Chao nodded and said, "Okay, I know." ”

Duan Xuan said, "My lord, these fifty stones will be exhausted in a moment. After a month, what will our army do? ”

This is very tricky, and Ma Chao instantly had a headache. Yes, the land of Xiliang is not as fertile as Sanfu, and there are not so many rivers for irrigation, and the people are also hovering on the verge of famine due to the impact of war, where can they find military rations? And without military rations, what will the 100,000 iron cavalry that has been expanded with great difficulty eat?

Ma Chao thought about it again and again, and said: "It's okay, I should write a letter and ask my father to go to the court, and the court will definitely allocate food to my army." Moreover, after resting for two more days, I led the army to pursue Han Sui. Presumably, Han Sui will be able to make trouble, and he must still have enough military rations. ”

Duan Xuan said: "Only." ”

At this moment, there were suddenly several quarrels outside the tent. Ma Chao had just heard someone arguing, and when he looked up, he saw a person stretching out his hand to open the tent and walking in crookedly, and that person was Ju Yi, who was absent from the meeting.

As soon as he came in, Ma Chao smelled a strong smell of wine, and the source of the taste pointed directly to Juyi. Ma Chao was a little angry, it was already a violation of military regulations to be late, not to mention that alcohol was not allowed in the army for no reason. And this Ju Yi violated two military regulations at once, fortunately, he didn't make a mistake, if he made a mistake, Ma Chao would have the heart to kill him.

After Ju Yi entered the camp, he saw that Ma Chao and the four generals were all blue-faced, as if they didn't pretend not to see it, they stepped forward with a light smile, bowed slightly to Ma Chao, and said: "The last general is late, don't blame the young master." ”

Ma Chao didn't say a word. Pang De stepped forward, pointed at Ju Yi angrily, and shouted: "Ju Yi, you are late for the meeting, and you should be punished with a rod for twenty according to military law; If you drink alcohol in the army, you should be punished with a cane for fifty! ”

As soon as Ju Yi heard Pound's words, the smile on his face suddenly froze. Ju Yi turned his head, looked at the angry Pang De, looked at it for a while, and then turned his head to look at Ma Chao. Ma Chao was already furious, he knew that this Ju Yi was arrogant, but he didn't expect him to be so arrogant.

Ju Yi actually withdrew his arched hands, straightened up, and sneered at Ma Chao, who was sitting in front of him: "You want to punish Ju with military law?" Is this what General Pang meant? Or does it mean the young master? ”

Ma Chao glared at Ju Yi angrily, but remained silent. Zhang Ji, who has always been gentle, couldn't stand it anymore, stretched out his hand and drew his sword, pointed at Ju Yi, and said, "Ju Yi, what are you?!" How dare you disobey your lord?! ”

Zhang Xiu also drew his sword with his uncle and pointed at Ju Yi.

Ma Chao was a little curious at this time, the two generals drew their swords for him, and he was eager to see how Ju Yi would deal with such a difficult situation.

Ju Yi turned his head to look at the two uncles and nephews and the sword they were holding tightly, and when Ju Yi turned his head to look, Zhang Xiu was angry, and put the sword on Ju Yi's shoulder. Ju Yi didn't care at all, glanced at him, turned his head to look at Ma Chao who was sitting safely, and said coldly: "What? The lord has allocated the last general to the young master for less than two days, and the young master is going to kill the last general? ”