On this side, Ma Chao didn't know that he was already in other people's calculations.

At this moment, he is leading his troops and galloping on the vast Qiangzhong grassland. After four days of non-stop raids, Ma Chao had already wiped out the Qiang tribes such as Xianling, Yaodang, Beiyan, Beihe, Shenwolf, and Zhong, and also raided the tribes of the Di and Xiaoyue clans.

In this raid, about 100,000 households and 500,000 people of the tribe were surrendered. This may seem like a big number, but it's not. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the Qiang people who settled in the five counties of Jincheng, Hanyang, Anding, Beidi and Longxi alone had a population of 259,990 households and 1001802 people, not including the population of Qiang. After a hundred years of Hanqiang battles, there were only 500,000 people left in the entire Qiang, and the losses were not small. Of course, most of these 500,000 people are women and children, and young and middle-aged people are under his command. Originally, when he entered Qiangzhong, he rode 100,000 steps, but now it is 150,000.

Except for the Baimaqiang and Yak Qiang, which are far away in Yizhou, because the distance is too far and the mountains and rivers are blocked, they cannot be conquered, and the Rong Di in the Qiang has been basically subjugated by him, and its leaders have been eliminated. In front of him was the last Qiang tribe - the Wuqiang.

This Qiang is distributed under Jishi Mountain, and Jishi Mountain is the farthest border of Qiang, after Jishi Mountain, there is no Qiang to survive, there is Ma Chao known Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

At this time, it was dusk, and Ma Chao led 150,000 iron horsemen, lined up neatly on the grassland, divided into one division after another, that is, 2,000 horsemen. It is only ten miles away from the tribal camp at the foot of Jishi Mountain. Zhang Xiu, Pang De, and everyone were waiting for Ma Chao's order. As long as Ma Chao gives an order, 150,000 iron horsemen will go straight to the Wuqiang camp.

Ma Chao is also waiting. He ordered his attendants to spread a carpet on the floor and put it on the table, on which were a dozen gold plates, a small plate containing some pickles, starch sugar, and meat soup, a slightly larger plate containing grapes, pears and other fruits, and the largest plate was hand-grasped mutton.

Yes, this hand-grabbed mutton is Ma Chao's "originality". Ma Chao took a small silver knife offered by the Qiang people, cut the lamb ribs, dipped them in the dipping sauce made of pepper, ginger, dogwood, and vinegar, and put it in his mouth leisurely and ate it.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were no chili peppers, and the only ones that could provide a spicy feeling were Sichuan pepper, ginger and dogwood. Among them, pepper is still a bulk commodity at this time, which can be exported to the Silk Road, and the nobles of the Han Dynasty also use pepper to smear the walls from time to time, which is the "pepper room". And vinegar has long been available, and in the army it is used not only for seasoning, but also for disinfection of wounds.

Although there is no chili, at least it is spicy, this mutton is not greasy, it is tender, the meat is fragrant, and Ma Chao eats it very fragrantly. Suddenly hearing the sound of swallowing saliva on the left and right, Ma Chao knew that the left and right must be hungry, and motioned to the left and right attendants to take a piece of lamb ribs. The attendants were familiar with Ma Chao, and they didn't shirk it.

After eating a piece of hand grab, and then drinking half a mouthful of mare's milk wine offered by the Qiang people, Ma Chao suddenly realized: No wonder there were so many faint kings in ancient times, it turns out that faint kings are all people who can enjoy and live.

Just as he was eating happily, more than a dozen Qiang riders rushed from the direction of Jishi Mountain, all of them were covered with iron armor, which was the scout sent by Ma Chao.

"Meet the young master." The scouts came to Ma Chao.

"How's it going?" Ma Chao chewed and grabbed in his mouth and said vaguely.

"There are more than 4,000 households, more than 20,000 people, and many cattle and sheep, all over the mountains and wilderness. There were not many soldiers, but more than a thousand horsemen, all around the tent of their chief. And the young master advanced quickly, and they didn't know that the young master had arrived here. ”

Ma Chao nodded, this is not difficult to solve, you can make a forced landing, and you don't have to use swords anymore.

"Young master, give the order!" Pound said feverishly.

Ma Chao said: "Ling Ming? ”

"The last general!" Pound looked at Zhang Xiu, who was not named and pouted with a bitter face, and said happily.

Ma Chao glanced at Zhang Xiu and said, "You and Zhang Xiu each led 50,000 troops to surround the Qiang." ”

When the sullen Zhang Xiu heard this, he immediately raised his head excitedly, and proudly stuck out his tongue at Pound and made a grimace. Pound was helpless.

Ma Chao smiled: "Okay, let's go." Remember, show that the general trend is the trend, make a forced landing first, and then use your sword if necessary to minimize bloodshed. ”

"Yes, brother remember!" Zhang Xiu was overjoyed.

"Yes, the last general will not be dishonored." Pound said.

Zhang Xiu hammered Pang De's shoulder and said proudly: "Let's go, Brother Ling Ming!" ”

Pang De said: "Okay, let's go, let's see who leads the troops to kill the Wuqiang tribe first!" ”

With that, Pound took the lead and left.

Zhang Xiu shouted "Hey, wait for me", and hurriedly climbed on the horse.

Soon the two disappeared in front of Ma Chao, and Ma Chao saw the two armies killing the Wuqiang tribe from the left and right, surging away like two black mudslides on the vast and verdant grassland.

Jia Xu looked at the galloping two departments and said with a smile: "The generals under his command are harmonious, this is a rare blessing for the young master." I don't know how many people have failed in ancient times because of the discord among their subordinates. ”

Ma Chao smiled: "They are all childish, and they don't have the demeanor of a general." ”

"The same cannot be said. Although the two generals are honest by nature, they are strong in leading troops, and there are so many 50,000 horsemen, but they can make unified dispatch, so that the troops can advance and retreat freely, and they are not mediocre. Jia Xu said.

Ma Chao looked into the distance, two iron horsemen with a total of 100,000 horses, under the wave of the banners of Pang De and Zhang Xiu, quickly launched a formation like a wild goose, about to surround the Wuqiang tribe, and couldn't help but feel a little lonely. Because he had promised the imperial court that after obtaining the full power of Liangzhou, he would be disarmed to 50,000 horses.

Ma Chao said disappointedly: "It's a pity that after returning to the army, I will never see such a majestic iron horse again." ”

Jia Xu said: "There are not many soldiers, but fine. Even if there are less, the young master's iron cavalry will still be the number one force in the world. ”

Hearing this, Ma Chao's heart was slightly comforted.

While talking, Pang De and Zhang Xiu had already settled the Wuqiang and were escorting more than 20,000 Wuqiang to this side.

In order to show his attention, Ma Chao ordered the people to remove their diet and sit on the horse's back. Wu Qiang was escorted over. More than 20,000 men knelt on the ground, and some cavalrymen roamed around with scimitars, guarding against possible rebels in the crowd.

Ma Chao looked around, except for a few young adults, the rest were all women and children who were not tall enough to wheel. People looked indifferently at Ma Chao, who was dressed in splendid and gorgeous, most of the adults' eyes were dull, some were still dodging, and the ignorant children looked at Ma Chao's eyes flickering.

Ma Chao has encountered such a scene dozens of times a day in the past four days. At this moment, Zhang Xiu, who was riding on a horse, tied a person's hands with a rope and pulled him to Ma Chao.