At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 332 Pang Tong is on an envoy

Seeing that all the Qiang tribe leaders were silent, the tribal leader of Mianhui Road couldn't help but said anxiously: "If Mianhui Road is attacked by the Yizhou Army, how will you be spared?"

The Qiang leaders remained silent.

They were able to force the imperial court to establish ethnic autonomous regions where they lived, not only because of their own strength, but most importantly because the Qiang's residences were basically on the plateau.

Based on the climate and conditions there, if the Han people attack, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced, but they are not too afraid.

Mianlui Road is different.

This place is located at the southern end of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and on the bank of the Yangtze River. It is not impossible for the Han people to attack it.

As for Wenjiang Road further north, it is roughly where Wenchuan was in later generations. Even more than a thousand years later, the Qiang Autonomous County still remains.

As for the Jiandi Road further north, it almost belongs to the birthplace of the Yangtze River. The natural conditions are getting worse and worse, and it is basically impossible for the Han people to attack this place.

These are only the Three Daos in Shu County. As for the Three Dao Qiang people in the Guanghan Kingdom, they all live on the plateau.

Compared to the Nanzhong area with its barren mountains and rivers, the Liudao Qiang located in the plateau area are even more out of reach for transportation in this time and space.

This is why, after Zhou Qi occupied Yizhou and spent a lot of money and food to pacify Nanzhong, he never paid much attention to the Liudao Qiang.

It's not that Zhou Qi doesn't want the Qiang of the Six Paths to be sincerely attached to him, it's just that he has more than enough ambition but not enough power.

The Qiang leaders knew that the area where their tribes were located was almost impossible for the Han people to attack, so they felt confident.

They were afraid of the Banzhen barbarians, and they did not have an advantage in military strength, so they were naturally unwilling to take risks to rescue Mianli Road.

Seeing everyone's evasive eyes, Mian Ledao immediately became furious and shouted sternly: "Since you are facing death and refuse to save me, I will lead my own troops to come back for reinforcements!"

Guo Jia hurriedly stepped forward to dissuade him and said: "Chief, please don't panic. The Yizhou Army is so powerful that it may be difficult to deal with it with only the troops and horses of the Mianlui Road Headquarters."

"In my opinion, it is better to temporarily move all the troops in Mianlui Road to Wenjiang Road and rely on the geographical advantages to defend the Yizhou Army. The conditions on Mianlui Road are bad, and the Yizhou Army will not stay here for a long time. After they withdraw, they will It’s not too late to return to live in Mianlui Road.”

After finishing speaking, Guo Jia looked at the Qiang leader of Wenjiang Road and asked: "Your Excellency, are you willing to temporarily take in the tribes of Mianlui Road?"

If it were in the past, the leader of Wenjiang Road would not allow the Mianlui Road tribe to migrate to his jurisdiction.

One is because Wenjiang Road cannot support so many tribes.

The second reason is because they are worried that the other party will occupy the magpie's nest, or even become the guest.

But now it's different.

If the Mianhui Road is captured by the Yizhou Army, the opponent's next target will definitely be Wenjiang Road. Although the terrain of Wenjiang Road is more steep than that of Mianhui Road, the ferocity of the Banzhen barbarians has already penetrated into the hearts of the Qiang people, and the leaders of Wenjiang Road are naturally afraid. .

With the tribes of Mianlui Road working together to resist the Yizhou Army on Wenjiang Road, the benefits to Wenjiang Road will outweigh the disadvantages.

The migration of the Qiang people is much easier than that of the Han people.

They were originally nomadic people, living in pursuit of water and grass. After receiving the order from the tribal leader, they began to move north quickly.

When Yan Yan, Chen Wu, and Pang Tong arrived at Mianlu Road, they found that the place was empty.

Looking at the earthen walls and earthen houses left by the Qiang people in Mianluo Road, but not seeing a single living person, Yan Yan, who had traveled a long distance, couldn't help but hold back his anger and planned to destroy all these earthen walls and earthen houses.

Although the Qiang are nomadic people, in this harsh plateau environment, they will also build earth walls to protect themselves from wild animals and earth houses to keep out the cold.

However, this is not their only long-term residence.

If the local aquatic plants are not enough to support the tribe's livestock, they will temporarily abandon their earthen huts and start migrating. When the aquatic plants grow again later, they will return to live.

If these earthen walls and earthen houses are destroyed, although it will not cause substantial harm to the Mianhui Dao Qiang people, it will also increase a lot of burden when they return here in the future.

Pang Tong heard this but did not reply. Instead, he covered his heart and felt a little breathless.

Although Mianlui Road already belongs to the south of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, its altitude is not low. Pang Tong, a scribe who grew up in Jingzhou, is naturally a little uncomfortable with it.

He turned to the guide beside him and asked: "The living conditions on Mianfa Road are already so bad, so if we continue to the northwest on Wenjiang Road, will the natural conditions be even worse?"

The guide nodded and said, "That's true. If you weren't born and raised there, it would be difficult for you to survive on Wenjiang Road."

Pang Tong took a deep breath and looked at the sluggish Banzhen barbarians. He finally understood why the Han Dynasty established the Qiang Autonomous Road here.

Although Banzhenman is an expert in mountain warfare, this is a plateau area. Even if they are strong, they can't stand it here.

"It seems that I took it for granted before."

Pang Tong couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself as he thought about the plan he had just started.

According to the art of war, his method of attacking and rescuing the target is indeed very clever, but it is a pity that the results on paper are shallow.

Only after Pang Tong personally experienced the harsh living environment on Mianlui Road did he realize how naive his previous ideas were.

He turned to look at Yan Yan and said: "Burning earthen walls and earthen huts will not only bring no substantial harm to the Qiang people, but will actually gain their hatred. The gain outweighs the loss."

"I took it for granted before. With the current physical condition of the soldiers, it is no longer realistic to continue heading northwest to attack Wenjiang Road. Let's withdraw our troops."

Although Yan Yan was a little reluctant to return without success, he felt dizzy and nauseated, looked at the frightened soldiers, and finally sighed slightly.

The news of the Yizhou Army's withdrawal soon reached Wenjiang Road. Compared to the cheers of the Qiang leaders, Guo Jia frowned.

He had previously learned that Yan Yan had led tens of thousands of troops to conquer the rebels, and he was originally a little happy.

Guo Jia had stayed among the Qiang tribes, and even though he received the greatest help from everyone, he still felt strong altitude sickness.

Although he still didn't know the reason, he vaguely felt that this harsh environment would definitely greatly reduce the combat effectiveness of the Yizhou Army.

Guo Jia originally wanted to lure the enemy deeper and then defeat the Yizhou Army on Wenjiang Road.

I never thought that the Yizhou Army would retreat so decisively.

In fact, Guo Jia still underestimated the impact of altitude sickness on the combat effectiveness of soldiers. Even Banzhenman, who was good at mountain warfare, could not stand this environment.

If the Qiang people of Mianli Road were not afraid of Banzhen barbarians from the bottom of their hearts, even if they were outnumbered and defeated many in Mianli Road, it would still be possible to win.

Although the plateau is high in altitude, it is not as hilly as many places in Badi, which is very unfriendly to cavalry.

On the contrary, many places here, especially where the Qiang tribes live, are mostly vast grasslands, where the cavalry can exert its full combat effectiveness.

What's more, the Qiang people are more familiar with the geography of the plateau than the Banchen barbarians who came as guest troops. If the two sides really want to fight, it is still unclear who will win and who will lose. After Pang Tong returned to Chengdu, he compiled what he had seen, thought, and thought into an official document, and then handed it to Zhou Ji.

After reading the contents, Zhou Ji's face couldn't help but become very solemn, and asked: "Is there really something similar to a curse on the plateau? Most of the soldiers felt dizzy and had difficulty breathing after going up there?"

Pang Tong nodded solemnly and said, "That's true."

Zhou Ji stood up and paced back and forth in the room, and then said helplessly: "If this is the case, we can only sit back and watch the rebels become arrogant, but we can't send troops to conquer them?"

Pang Tong was silent for a long time, and then sighed: "My subordinates believe that the Qiang of the Six Paths have surrendered for nearly a hundred years and have not invaded the border for decades. The reason for their rebellion this time is also because they were bewitched by others."

"Moreover, the places where the Qiang of the Six Paths live are in a special geographical location and are difficult to conquer. It is better to find a way to defeat them first and then focus on appeasing them."

Zhou Qi felt quite helpless when he heard this.

How difficult it is to go to the plateau to conquer the Qiang. It is even more difficult than conquering the barbarians in Nanzhong.

Pang Tong's suggestions were out of helplessness.

Zhou Ji thought for a long time, and then said: "My father has quite a lot of experience in dealing with barbarians. I would like to go to Xiangyang and ask my father for advice. What do you think, Shi Yuan?"

Pang Tong said: "This is the best thing."

But Zhou Qi, who was fighting fiercely with Yuan Shao, said in his heart after receiving the petition: "People in this era don't know what altitude sickness is."

"Fortunately, the altitude of Mianluo Road where Shiyuan and others are heading is not too high, otherwise the entire army would most likely be annihilated."

When the Tang Dynasty was at its strongest, it could not defeat Tubo. The problem was altitude sickness.

If you want to overcome altitude sickness, you must first move the soldiers to a place with sufficient altitude for adaptive training. After adapting to the altitude of the training area, they can then change to a place with a higher altitude.

Although this can solve the problem of altitude sickness, it takes a long time and requires a huge investment of manpower and material resources.

For Zhou Qi now, this is obviously not worth the gain.

The most important thing is, what if the Six Paths are defeated?

It would be difficult for the Han people to survive on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau after they migrated there. If enough Han people don't migrate there, sooner or later the place will be dominated by the Qiang people.

There is no shortage of land in the world today. What is lacking is population and fertile farmland.

Even if Zhou Qi wanted to expand his territory, he would give priority to the south instead of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau where living conditions are harsh and extremely difficult to control.

Thinking of this, Zhou Qi immediately replied to Zhou Ji with a letter.

The letter first explained in a way that people in this time and space could understand why soldiers had various abnormal reactions, defined it as altitude sickness, and also proposed methods to solve this problem.

Zhou Qi did not agree with the use of troops against the Qiang of the Six Paths, and also agreed with Zhou Ji's idea of ​​mainly appeasing them.

However, Zhou Qi also pointed out that the Qiang people are afraid of power but not moral. If they only use gentle methods, the other party will become more and more arrogant. They should find a way to give them a severe lesson and then show kindness to them.

He also implicitly suggested that the reason why the Liudao Qiang rebelled was because Ma Chao had always had prestige among the Qiang people.

Ma Chao was a man of extraordinary bravery and was honored as the "Mighty General" by the Qiang people. However, Ma Chao was unruly and ambitious, and was not willing to be inferior to others.

If possible, you can plan to instigate rebellion or capture Ma Chao.

If we can get Ma Chao's allegiance, the Liudao Qiang rebellion will be broken without any attack, and it will be much easier to pacify Liangzhou in the future.

When Zhou Ji, Pang Tong, and Lu Xun saw Zhou Qi's reply, they couldn't help but be shocked.

None of them expected that His Royal Highness the King of Chu, who was far away in Xiangyang, not only had a clear understanding of the situation in Yizhou, but also knew about the unknown altitude sickness.

What made Pang Tong most unbelievable was that His Highness the King of Chu actually knew the unknown Ma Chao so well.

At least before this, Pang Tong and others had never taken Ma Chao seriously, thinking that the Qiang rebellion was the work of Guo Jia.

But after seeing Zhou Qi's analysis, they realized the importance of Ma Chao.

After reading Zhou Qi's detailed analysis of Ma Chao's character, Pang Tong locked himself in the study for three days. When he finally came out, his eyes were dark and his hair was messy.

He didn't care about sorting out his image. Instead, he met Zhou Ji directly and said, "I have a plan that may be able to cut off Cao Mengde's arm!"

But they said that Ma Chao, Guo Jia and the Qiang leaders were gathering on Wenjiang Road, intending to fight to the death with the Yizhou Army, but they did not expect that the other side would retreat so simply.

After the leader of the Mianhui Dao Qiang people learned that the Yizhou Army had retreated, he hurriedly sent people back to the tribe to investigate, but the results puzzled him.

Just because after the Yizhou Army invaded Mianlui Road, they actually did not invade the autumn there. Not only were the pastures not ruined, but even the earthen walls and earthen houses were not destroyed.

"Is this the Heavenly Kingdom?"

Although the leader of the Qiang people in Mianluo Road was puzzled, he couldn't help but feel a little grateful to the Yizhou Army.

After learning that the Yizhou Army had withdrawn its troops, the Qiang leaders of Wenjiang Road couldn't wait to ask the tribes of Mianlui Road to withdraw, so as not to compete with the herdsmen of their own tribe for pasture.

The leader of Mianlui Road did not want to be under the control of others, so he led the tribe to withdraw to Mianlui Road.

What he didn't expect was that not long after he led the tribe to retreat, an envoy from Yizhou came, and the person who came was none other than Pang Tong and Pang Shiyuan.

"You said the person here is Shi Pang Shiyuan, governor of Yi?"

After the leader of Mianluo Road learned about the identity of the envoy, he couldn't help but look shocked.

Even he, the leader of the Yi state, knew how respected the status of Yizhou was in history.

Now the two sides are in a state of hostility. As a scribe, the other party dares to come to his tribe as an envoy. The leader of Mianluo Road can't help but admire him.

He thought for a long time and then said: "Please!"

The reason why he didn't think of killing Pang Tong directly or detaining him was that, in addition to the fact that the Yizhou army had not committed any offense against Tribe Qiu before, there was another very important reason, that is, compared with the other five roads, the geography of Mianlu Road was If the location is too close to Chengdu, it can also be conquered by the Yizhou Army.

At this time, he can take shelter in Wenjiang Road with the help of Guo Jia.

However, if this rebellion fails, after Guo Jia leaves, the Qiang tribes will fight on their own again.

At that time, Mianfa Road will become the first target of the Yizhou Army.

It is for this reason that if possible, he is not willing to completely offend the state of Chu. At least there is no harm in them having contact with Pang Tong, the governor of Yizhou.

(End of this chapter)