Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 768 Liaodong Disturbance (Subscribe with Caution)
Kebi Neng was killed, and the Han Dynasty recovered Hetao, which immediately caused a stir in the desert.

Due to concerns about national strength, the Southern Han did not resort to brutal military action, but instead adopted a diplomatic strategy proposed by Deng Zhi, namely, divide, disintegrate, and attack.

In the twelfth year of Jianxing, Dou Bin, the Lord of the Western Regions, whose strength had been damaged, wanted to join forces with Zhu Luohou, the Lord of the Western Regions, and wanted to honor Zhu Luohou as the Chanyu.

The Southern Han, upon learning the news, took the initiative and, through Deng Zhi's long-term persuasion, Tuoba Liwei was persuaded to rebel. With the internal support, the Southern Han sent Wang Ping, the governor of Liangzhou, to lead troops out of the border again to attack Dou Bin from a distance and prevent the two forces from joining together.

At the same time, in order to eliminate the remaining Xianbei forces, Southern Han persuaded the Murong and Duan clans of Xianbei to send troops to attack the Eastern Lord Ju Quyuan.

With the help of Tuoba Liwei, an insider, Wang Ping and Deng Zhi easily tracked down Dou Bin. They led 10,000 miscellaneous Hu cavalry and 5,000 elite Han cavalry out of the border.

Dou Bin led his troops in a fierce battle with the Han army, but Tuoba Liwei rebelled on the battlefield and his troops were defeated. Dou Bin died on the spot.

Wang Ping and Deng Zhi captured more than 30,000 Hu people and seized more than 40,000 cattle, sheep and horses, and returned victoriously.

Tuoba Liwei was named Hanyi Chanyu by the Han Dynasty, and was given Dou Bin's original pastures and had to accept the dispatch of Shuofang Protectorate.

The Western Region leader, Marquis Juluo, originally wanted to lead his troops to support Dou Bin, but when he learned that Dou Bin was killed, he had no choice but to withdraw his troops and planned to move to Mobei the following year to see if he could rebuild the royal court.

In the second half of autumn, the Southern Han launched another expedition against the Marquis of Juluo. The troops were divided into two groups: Jiang Wei led the elite cavalry of the coalition forces of the Western Regions to attack from the west; Wang Ping led the Han and Hu troops of Liangzhou to go out of the Juyan Sea and attack the Marquis of Juluo's troops from the east.

In order to avoid Wang Ping's attack, Juluo Hou led his troops to move westward. On the way, he encountered Jiang Wei's troops and was defeated by Jiang Wei.

Zhu Luohou led several hundred cavalrymen to fight, but encountered an encirclement and attack by Tuoba Liwei on the way. His troops were trapped in the siege, so he died in battle.

After Juluohou died, the Southern Han Dynasty appointed Juluohou's son Hailaer as the Chanyu of Jinzhong to lead his father's old troops in order to prevent Tuoba Liwei from becoming too powerful. Later, three Chanyus of different sizes were appointed in Hexi to divide the vassal states and weaken the power of Xianbei.

The fighting situation in the East is more intense than that in the West.

In order to deal with the Eastern Lord Ju Quyuan, Youzhou Governor Tai Shi Heng joined forces with Murong and Duan to launch a suppression campaign and marched out of Yanshan.

The two armies met on the grassland, and the battle lasted from noon to dusk. Finally, with the fierce fighting of the Murong Xianbei, they finally defeated Ju Quyuan.

Ju Quyuan fled to Lihou Mountain, gathered the Xianbei tribes in western Liaoning, and sent envoys to ask for peace from the Duan family.

The envoy told Duan that the Xianbei tribes were of the same lineage, and if the Han people became powerful, the tribes in Liaodong might have difficulty surviving, so he hoped that Duan would not insist on helping the Han.

After some hesitation, Duan asked for his resignation from Taishi Heng on the grounds that his tribe had been robbed from outside.

Duan decided to stand aside and watch. In order to gain as much support as possible, Ju Quyuan sent someone to contact Sun Quan. On the premise of his death, he explained to Sun Quan the interests of Liaodong and Liaoxi. If the Xianbei tribes in Liaoxi surrendered to the Han Dynasty, Liaodong would most likely not survive.

After weighing the pros and cons, Sun Quan ignored the objections of his subordinates and sent 10,000 elite infantry and cavalry to plunder Youzhou in the south.

Upon learning that Sun Quan had sent troops, Tai Shi Heng was furious. In order to preserve Youzhou, he gave up his plan to continue the expedition against Ju Quyuan.

Taking advantage of Taishi Heng's departure from the northern part of Yanshan, Ju Quyuan led his army back to the old place and sent troops to attack the Murong tribe that was assisting the Han Dynasty.

The Murong tribe had few soldiers, and even though they were brave, they still could not defeat Ju Quyuan. In order to preserve his strength, the leader Mo Huba led his troops to escape at night and sent people to ask Tai Shiheng for help.

Because there were not many soldiers under the jurisdiction of Youzhou, Taishi Heng was unable to take care of the battlefields in the east and north, so he hurriedly sent someone to report to the central government, requesting that the imperial guards be sent across the border, or that Ding Feng, the governor of Bingzhou, lead troops to provide assistance.

After the Southern Han Dynasty recovered the Shuofang counties, it changed the old system because it took into account that there were many Hu people in Shuofang but few Han people. It did not set up prefectures in the counties, but instead established the Shuofang Protectorate, which was responsible for protecting the Southern Xiongnu and Xianbei tribes.

Because Wei Yan had made great contributions in the expedition with Huo Jun, he was appointed as the Protector-General of Shuofang, with his capital in Wuyuan, and Ding Feng was appointed as the Governor-General of Bingzhou.

Spring, the 13th year of Jianxing.

Chang'an, Shangshutai.

Zhuge Liang threw the memorial on the table and said angrily, "Sun Quan rebelled and lived in Pingzhou. The reason why Han did not conquer him was not because Han could not conquer him, but because Han wanted to treat Sun Quan as Dou Rong. I hoped Sun Quan would recognize the situation and surrender. I never thought that Sun Quan would be so bold as to send troops to help the Hu." Zhuge Liang was extremely angry about the collaboration between Sun Quan and Ju Quyuan.

Two years ago, after Huo Jun died during an expedition to the desert, some people in the court suggested taking advantage of the situation to attack Sun Quan.

At that time, the Southern Han had just finished the expedition in the desert, the treasury was empty, and the people and the military were exhausted. Zhuge Liang used the excuse of favors to appease Sun Quan in order to lure him into surrender.

During these two years, Sun Quan was also very tactful and sent envoys to pay tribute every year to express his submission to the Han Dynasty.

Zhuge Liang originally wanted to completely resolve the Liaodong issue after dealing with Ju Quyuan, but he never expected that Sun Quan would cooperate with Ju Quyuan, putting the Han Dynasty into a difficult situation in the Liaodong region.

Minister of War Zhao Ang hesitated for a moment and said, "Prime Minister, now that the governor of Youzhou is asking for help, where should the troops be dispatched from?"

Zhuge Liang fanned himself and paced, then looked at Ma Su and asked, "What do you think, You Chang?"

On the eve of the unification of the world, Zhuge Liang appointed Ma Su as the prefect of Yingchuan.

During his tenure, Ma Su adjusted the harsh policies of the Northern Wei Dynasty and won the hearts of the people for the Han Dynasty. He also cracked down on the powerful people in Yingchuan, causing the population under his rule to increase rapidly.

Not only that, because Ma Su was good at military affairs, he could provide the central government with brave warriors every year, some of whom were good at archery, some were good at fighting, or some knew about military affairs.

During his seven years in office, Ma Su achieved extraordinary political achievements. With such brilliant achievements, Ma Su was transferred directly from Yingchuan County to the central government to serve as the Minister of War.

Ma Su pondered for a moment and said, "Prime Minister, the situation in Liaodong is turbulent now. If we cannot check and balance Ju Quyuan, I am afraid that the generals of Liaodong Xianbei, Goguryeo, and the Three Han will all submit to Ju Quyuan and Sun Quan. The two are interdependent, and if our dynasty does not send out a large army, it may be difficult for them to make any progress."

"In my opinion, we should respond to the request of the governor of Youzhou and send troops to reinforce the northeast, first defeat Sun Quan, then attack Ju Quyuan, and not let the two of them have the opportunity to become powerful."

Ma Su then stood up and said, "I am willing to lead the troops to the northeast to eliminate the two thieves, Ju Quyuan and Sun Quan, for the country."

Zhuge Liang was tempted, but considering Ma Su's experience, he said, "You have little experience in military affairs since you were young. I am afraid you are not qualified to lead troops to fight against the two bandits."

Ma Su was unwilling to miss out on the military achievement, so he cupped his hands and said, "In the past, Zhao She went to war as a grain supervisor and defeated a strong enemy, winning the battle of Yanyu. I dare not compare myself with Zhao She, but I am willing to emulate him. I am willing to sign a military order. If I cannot defeat the enemy this time, I will offer my head to the Prime Minister."

Zhuge Liang hesitated, looked at Zhao Ang and asked, "What do you think, Wei Zhang?"

Zhao Ang ignored Ma Su's look and said, "To ensure that everything goes well, I think we need to select veteran generals to go to war. Generals Pang Tong, Huang Quan, Huo Fan, and Quan Cong are all famous generals of the dynasty. Why don't you choose these four to go to war, Prime Minister?"

Hearing this, Ma Su said anxiously, "I am an experienced general who is very victorious. My talent and virtue are not well known. Sun Quan and Ju Quyuan do not know my ability and will certainly look down on me. If the Prime Minister orders me to lead the troops, I will definitely capture the two men and bring them to Chang'an."

"Not urgent!"

Zhuge Liang was having trouble deciding on a candidate, so he said, "First, gather 10,000 elite soldiers, and then recruit 10,000 cavalry from the border barbarians, just in case. I will carefully consider the candidates for the expedition."

"promise!"

Ma Su had no choice but to leave and decided to ask his brother Ma Liang for help to see if he could persuade the prime minister to allow him to lead the army to war.

Zhao Ang hesitated for a few steps, then turned around and said, "Prime Minister, when King Wucheng was alive, he often said that Minister Ma should not be used for important tasks. Prime Minister, you should use Minister Ma with caution, as sending troops to fight is a major national event."

"Don't worry, Wei Zhang. Liang has his own thoughts."

Zhuge Liang nodded and said, "Youchang is eager to make achievements, which is a taboo in military operations. Liang wants to recruit generals to discuss strategies and select good generals to attack the northeast and defeat these two bandits for the Han Dynasty."

Although Zhuge Liang was close to the Ma brothers, it did not mean that he would use them exclusively. In the past, Zhuge Liang had not had enough experience in military affairs and had misjudged Ma Su. But now Zhuge Liang has rich experience in leading troops and knows the importance of the expedition to the Northeast. How could he be careless in selecting generals?

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)