Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 650: Longtu Chengping
Xiangwu County, Han army camp.

Inside the big tent, as the Han army's war in Longyou was progressing smoothly, officers, civil servants and military officers chatted happily, recounting their respective achievements and discussing the current progress.

Yang Ang smiled widely and said, "Tianshui, Guangwei, Nangan and Longyou are now safe. Ma Chao was ambushed and fled. Our army has captured all the troops. Ma Chao has lost his territory and soldiers, like a lost dog. Longyou is now in our army's pocket!"

"We set out in October and achieved our goal in December. We conquered Long in just over fifty days, which was extremely fast. Even if the Wei soldiers in Hexi and Guanzhong knew that our army had captured Long, they would be helpless."

Wang Ping smiled, which was rare, and said, "Han Longyou has just been stabilized. We can ask General Huang to withdraw his troops now, so as to avoid being defeated by the Wei army if they stay in Guanzhong for too long."

The campaign for the Han Dynasty to take over Longyou went too smoothly. Except for the conflict that broke out when Wang Ping attacked Wangji County by surprise, the rest of the cities almost surrendered on hearing the news. The Han army took over the Longyou counties without any losses.

After successfully conquering the counties, Ma Chao's troops, which he had accumulated for many years, were in a state of shortage of food and fodder, and faced with the Han army's psychological attack. It can be said that all 20,000 to 30,000 troops surrendered to the Han army without any military conflict.

In just over fifty days, the troops and territory of Longyou were all taken by the Han army. Even if the Wei army learned of the sudden change in Longyou at the first time, it would be difficult for the Wei army to change the overall situation given the current situation.

Moreover, the rapidity of the Han Dynasty's surprise attack on Longyou not only saved Longyou from the destruction of war, but also made the Han Dynasty accept all the tens of thousands of troops under Ma Chao. Once the Han Dynasty had digested Longyou, Longyou and Bashu would be combined to suppress Cao Wei in the Guanxi region.

As he spoke, Wang Ping bowed to Lu Xun and praised him, saying: "The commander-in-chief has made careful plans and used troops like a god. Now that we have conquered Long, the commander-in-chief should be credited with the greatest achievement."

"The governor's plan is as brilliant as a god. We really admire him!"

Yang Ang, He Da and other civil and military officials congratulated Lu Xun in unison.

However, compared to the joy of the crowd, Lu Xun remained calm and said, "Although Longyou is initially safe, Ma Chao's life or death is unknown. Ma Chao has always had great ambitions, and as the former lord of Long, he is deeply loved by the people of Long."

"If we let Ma Chao escape now, he will definitely join forces with the rebellious Wei, or flee westwards into the Qiang. In the future, he will contact the Qiang people and invade Longyou every year, which will become a serious threat to Longyou!"

On the issue of Longyou, Lu Xun did not dare to relax, let alone open champagne to celebrate too early. He stabbed Ma Chao twice in the back, causing his country to be destroyed and his people to die, and forged a life-and-death feud with him. If he let Ma Chao run away, based on his understanding of Ma Chao, Ma Chao would unite with Cao Wei and frantically retaliate against Longyou.

Although most of the counties and Liang soldiers in Longyou surrendered to the Han Dynasty, they had always been under the rule of Ma Chao. Once the Han army lost power, they would definitely surrender to Ma Chao again; or Ma Chao would collude with those who were loyal to Liang and rebel together.

When he learned that Ma Chao was planning to flee to Qiangzhong, Lu Xun was actually quite worried. Once Ma Chao escaped to Qiangzhong, the Qiang people would be able to harass Longxi and Jincheng with their power. In order to resist Ma Chao, Longyou would probably fall into a long-term war, which would be very detrimental to the rule of the Han Dynasty.

After hearing what Lu Xun said, the atmosphere in the tent became a little depressing. Fortunately, Wei Yan's messenger arrived in time, and the atmosphere in the tent became lively again.

After a while, a scout entered the tent and reported the good news, saying, "Reporting to the General of Cavalry, when Ma Chao was trying to break through the siege at Luoma Gate today, he was shot and killed by Liu Yin, the Lieutenant General who was left by General Wei to suppress the bandits. In addition to his cavalry, the Liang army advisor Cheng Gongying also died with Ma Chao."

As he spoke, the cavalry general handed the package he was carrying to Lu Xun and said, "General Wei has cut off Ma Chao's head. Now I want you to present it to the general of the cavalry."

Hearing that Ma Chao was killed, Lu Xun couldn't help laughing and said, "Ma Chao has been in Guanlong for more than ten years, but now he died at Luoma Gate. This must be God's will!"

Then, in order to verify whether it was Ma Chao's head, Lu Xun opened the coarse cloth package, but saw Ma Chao's head inside, which was almost the same as the face of Ma Chao in Lu Xun's memory.

"Come here, cover Ma Chao's head with lime powder, then put it in a sandalwood box, choose someone to send it to Wuhan, and report the good news to your majesty and the Grand Marshal."

Lu Xun changed his mind halfway through his speech and said, "Wait a few days, I will compile a list of meritorious soldiers and send it to Wuhan for your Majesty's approval!"

"promise!"

Wang Ping bowed to Lu Xun and said, "Now that Ma Chao is dead, there is no more major trouble in Longyou. What we are worried about now is only Ma Chao's former subordinates and the local counties. If we can handle it properly, Longyou will be at peace soon!"

"Ok!"

Lu Xun nodded slightly and said, "Ma Chao has many old subordinates, such as Ma Dai. If you want to win over the people, you must not treat Ma Chao and his family badly!"

After a short pause, Lu Xun said, "We will collect Ma Chao's remains, carve a wooden head for him, and bury him with the ceremony of a marquis. Then tell everyone that I have recommended Ma Qiu as a marquis of Guannei, and the family property will remain with Ma family."

By showing courtesy to Ma Chao, Lu Xun symbolically appeased the old subordinates in Longyou. After things stabilized a little, Lu Xun would move all the Ma family members to Wuhan to prevent the Ma family from reviving in Longyou.

"Commander-in-chief, where are the surrendered troops?"

Wang Ping said worriedly: "There are 20,000 to 30,000 Liang soldiers. If we don't deal with them quickly, it may not be a long-term solution."

The biggest gain of the Han Dynasty's conquest of the six counties in Longyou, apart from the six counties' territory, was the 20,000 to 30,000 Longyou troops that Ma Chao had assembled. However, the surrender of tens of thousands of troops was not without its drawbacks. Not only would it waste food, but if they were not properly appeased, it would form a bad direction. "Surrender troops?"

Lu Xun hesitated for a moment and said, "Ma Chao is a warlord. He uses the barren land of Longyou to support an army of 30,000. The soldiers in his army are not well-matched. We can remove the old and weak and keep the strong and fit to serve in the army."

"Except for Gao Gang, Jiang Xu, Jiang Jiong and others who surrendered early, the rest of the surrendered soldiers must be screened. The old and weak will return to their hometowns to farm, and the strong will join the army."

"promise!"

It is impossible for tens of thousands of Long soldiers to stay together. In order to facilitate the Han Dynasty's rule over Longyou, the best way is to select the best and strongest soldiers to stay and adjust the personnel positions in the army to ensure that the Han Dynasty controls the Long soldiers.

Huo Jun and Zhuge Liang discussed with Lu Xun about conquering Longyou, and gave him the right to act at his own convenience. In addition, since he was the governor of Yongzhou, Lu Xun had the right to make military and political arrangements in Longyou before seeking Wuhan's consent.

Standing up from the couch, Lu Xun asked, "Is there anything to report from the Tianshui direction right now?"

"Reporting to the governor, General Zhao ordered his men to submit the household registration of Liang State to the army, and the governor can review it at any time," said the military officer Yao Rong.

"How many registered households are there in the six counties of Longyou?" Lu Xun asked curiously.

Yao Zhu recalled the contents and said, "Jincheng and Xiping each have 3,000 to 4,000 households. Tianshui and Guangwei counties have more households, 8,000 to 9,000 households each. Longxi and Nan'an have several hundred more households than Hehuang counties. The six counties of Liang have about 32,000 households, with about 130,000 men and women."

As he spoke, Yao Zhun's tone became more serious, and he said, "There are very few registered households in the six counties of Longyou. Although it was caused by the Qiang rebellion, there were also powerful people and clan leaders who hid the population. Now there are many powerful people and big families who surrendered in Longyou. If the Han wants to bring Longyou under its rule, it should act with caution."

The population of Longyou was small, and Lu Xun had been prepared, but he did not expect it to be so small. Of course, as Yao Jun said, many people in Longyou were hidden, and the population that was actually registered was not large.

After all, Ma Chao relied on the powerful people in Longyou as his base, and the powerful people and big families sent troops to fight for him. Ma Chao must treat these powerful people well and compensate them with political and economic benefits.

Lu Xun paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, shook his head and smiled, saying: "There are more than 30,000 households in the six counties, and each household supports one soldier. How difficult is that? No wonder Ma Chao needs the Han Dynasty to provide food in order to use his troops!"

The Liang Kingdom established by Ma Chao was so deformed that it almost relied on blood transfusions from the Han Dynasty to survive. Once it lost the blood supply from the Han Dynasty, or if the Han Dynasty used military force against Ma Chao, it would only be a matter of time before the Liang Kingdom was destroyed.

Because the Liang State founded by Ma Chao was deformed, many powerful people in the country did not think highly of Ma Chao, and only surrendered under the pressure of Ma Chao's military power. Therefore, after the Han Dynasty entered Long, many powerful people directly surrendered to the Han Dynasty, not to mention that Jiang took the initiative to lead the way.

"Commander-in-chief, although Ma Chao is dead, there are still people in Longtu who are not obedient!"

Yao Jun thought for a while and said, "For example, Qu Ying, the governor of Xiping, and Ma Dai, the governor of Guangwei. Although they have few soldiers, we must eliminate them."

Ma Dai is Ma Chao's cousin, so there is no need to introduce him too much. Another Xiping prefect, Qu Ying, was from a prominent family in Xiping County. When Ma Chao was conquering Hehuang, Qu Ying led his troops to meet Ma Chao. Ma Chao appointed him as Xiping prefect, and he and Jincheng Jiang Jiong were in charge of Hehuang.

The Qu family was a big family in Xiping County. Originally, they were surnamed Qu. During the reign of Emperor Ai of Han, they offended a nobleman and had to flee to Xiping in Hehuang with their entire family. Over the past two or three hundred years, the Qu family became a well-known family in Xiping, befriended the Qiang people, and had great power.

During the late Han Dynasty, the famous general Qu Yi came from the Qu family of Xiping. The reason why he was familiar with the military tactics of the Qiang and Hu peoples and was able to defeat Gongsun Zan at Jie Bridge had a lot to do with the fact that he grew up in the Hehuang area.

Lu Xun paced and chanted, saying: "Xiping Qu Ying is a dog that guards the house. Now send people to Xiping and let him stay as the governor of Xiping. This is enough to appease his heart. Guangwei Ma Dai, first send people to persuade him to surrender. If Ma Dai refuses to surrender, then send troops to attack him."

After a pause, Lu Xun ordered, "Let Wei Yan take charge of Longxi County temporarily and lead the troops to Didao to prevent Qu Ying or the Qiang people in the west from rebelling!"

"Wang Ping led his troops back east and seized all the passes in Longshan to prevent the Wei army from seizing the strategic points of Longdao. Yang Ang led his troops to Hanzhong to support Commander Huang in withdrawing his troops from Luogu."

"promise!"

Wang Ping and Yang Ang bowed in response.

After Wang and Yang left, Lu Xun seized the opportunity to write a memorial praising his achievements and describing the course of the war.

In the memorial, in addition to the normal report, Lu Xun also proposed to the Wuhan central government, on the grounds of facilitating the management of the Qiang and Di people, that Yinping and Wudu be incorporated into Yongzhou, forming an administrative region of two Hehuang counties + two Longnan counties + four Longyou counties.

Later, when Lu Xun wrote a memorial to praise his achievements, he actually wanted to be a county lord. However, considering that his achievements were far less than Huo Jun's, Lu Xun could only quietly put this thought aside.

(End of this chapter)