The Three Kingdoms: A vicious plan was offered, and Liu Bei was stunned!

Chapter 125: Ma Mengqi shows off his achievements, Luo Gongqi deceives people

"In the past, Yuan Shao's generals Gao Gan and Guo Yuan colluded with the Southern Xiongnu Huchuquan to plunder Hedong. I led 10,000 cavalrymen and killed Guo Yuan, which was a great achievement!"

Ma Chao was very proud of this incident. He fought very bravely at that time. When he was shot in the leg, he simply wrapped it with a cloth strip and continued fighting. Later, he attacked Guo Yuan when he was halfway across the Fen River.

But it was not he who killed Guo Yuan, but Pang De.

Luo Yuan laughed and said, "You killed Guo Yuan, but I remember it was Pang De who killed him. Could it be that I remembered it wrong?"

Ma Chao's face changed. He was not frightened by Luo Yuan. He thought Luo Yuan didn't know about this matter. He didn't expect that he knew it clearly.
"You don't know the situation. At that time, Ling Ming and I were chasing Guo Yuan. I shot Guo Yuan's horse. Just as I was about to kill him, Pang De showed up and killed Guo Yuan, who should have belonged to me. Although I didn't kill Guo Yuan myself, it was still my credit. Besides, Pang De was my subordinate, so the people he killed should also be counted as mine!"

Luo Yuan smiled and said, at least you are not shameless enough to steal Pang De's credit, so there is still hope.

"Well, in that case you can be considered the one who killed him, but is this little credit enough for you to lead the army?" Luo Yuan said with a smile.

Ma Chao frowned. He had wanted to take over for a long time, but Ma Teng had always disagreed. Although he hated Luo Yuan, he had to admit that Luo Yuan was an opponent worthy of his respect!
"May I ask you something?"

Luo Yuan nodded slightly. Gan Ning and Huang Zhong were both curious. What was this guy going to do?
Then Ma Chao said, "How can I make my father trust me with the army? What should I do if I want to lead the army?"

Luo Yuan said: "In the past, Emperor Wu attacked the Xiongnu during the siege of Baideng City by Emperor Gaozu, and established his prestige through fighting. We Han people should have a sense of justice when leading the army. What is justice? We should fight for national hatred and family grudges. The superiors know that blood feuds must be avenged, and the army will know who the superiors are. If the grudges are not avenged, how can the soldiers be motivated?"

Ma Chao scratched his hair and said angrily: "I don't understand, please explain it more clearly!"

"If a person cannot distinguish between hatred and favor, and still wants to lead the army, the soldiers will have no confidence in him. If you do not take revenge, the soldiers will not believe that you are a dignified person. If you do not repay favors, the soldiers will think that you will not be rewarded for your merits and will not be willing to fight for you. How can you lead the army? So if you want soldiers to follow you, you must take revenge when you have hatred, just like Gou Jian who endured hardships to destroy the State of Wu, and the Qin Dynasty who destroyed the six kingdoms by violence. At the same time, you must be able to reward the soldiers. The reason why the soldiers follow the commander to fight is that the commander can reward them after the victory!" Luo Yuan said: "If you can do this, then you can lead the army!"

"Is that all?"

Luo Yuan said: "That's all. If you can maintain fairness, your army will be invincible."

Ma Chao thought about it and finally understood, "What you said makes sense. I need to think about it carefully!"

After saying this, Ma Chao walked away with a basin of buns, feeling secretly delighted. "Luo Gongqi, I deceived you and let you plan for me in vain!"
Finally I won once.

Gan Ning whispered to Luo Yuan: "Why did the lord tell him this way of commanding the army?"

"Of course I hope he will remember that he has a blood feud with Han Sui, so that he can kill Han Sui. Do you want me to kill Han Sui myself?"

Huang Zhong rolled his eyes at Gan Ning and said, "You are also stupid. Who is the lord? Have you ever seen him take the initiative to teach others how to do things?"

If this happens, it must be that the lord is plotting against others.

I won’t ask, I just have a feeling that I am very smart!
Luo Yuan ate quickly, then took Huang Zhong and Gan Ning to meet Zhong Yao. Xu Shu and the others stayed behind to protect Wen Ji and the others!

Ma Chao saw it and quickly chased after him: "Why didn't you wait for me? Didn't we agree that I would save your life today?"

"Oh, I forgot, sorry to bother you, young general!" Luo Yuan bowed perfunctorily. Ma Chao was satisfied. Although it was perfunctory, but... Luo Yuan just bowed and saluted.

Another little advantage.

Soon the four of them arrived at the prefect's residence in Chang'an and met Zhong Yao, but Han Sui had not yet arrived.

Zhong Yao was a little surprised to see Ma Chao, but he didn't ask any more questions. He first placed Luo Yuan and others inside.
Gan Ning said: "Han Sui's men have not arrived yet, which shows that they have no intention of negotiating peace!"

Huang Zhong laughed and said, "I'm afraid he wants to leave the lord alone on purpose."

Luo Yuan smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. He has many soldiers and horses, and everyone is afraid of him. Even Meng De doesn't dare to provoke him easily. If he wants some pomp and circumstance, we can still give him that. Besides, we don't have to be idle, so we can chat with him!"

Luo Yuan was not in a hurry at all. Instead, he talked to Ma Chao about the things on the grassland. Ma Chao was very knowledgeable in this area. In fact, he had a very high prestige among the Hu people.

Later, when he rebelled against Cao Cao, he lost several times and then he pulled the foreign tribes on the grassland to rebel again. He was really a talented guy. After losing the battle, he went to the grassland to recruit people and make a comeback.

After listening to Ma Chao's words, Luo Yuan realized that the Sanfu area, including the entire Chang'an, Yuyang, Shangdang and other Han Dynasty territories, had almost fallen long ago and were almost all pastures of the Hu people.

The foreign races are now able to run rampant in the northwest region, and Cao Cao can only maintain the current situation. There are still more than a dozen forces near Chang'an!
Those forces are not as strong as Ma Teng and Han Sui, but they are led by these two.

Luo Yuan looked solemn. The Han Dynasty's defense line in the north was useless. The foreign races benefited from the hegemony of the princes.

Luo Yuan looked at Ma Chao and asked, "Do you have the will to control the grassland?"

"Huh?" Ma Chao was confused. The grassland was so poor, what could I do if I controlled it? Of course, Guanzhong would be the best. Ma Chao smiled and said, "Explain it more clearly!"

Luo Yuan said: "If you are willing to attack the grassland after you take over the army from your father, I can submit a petition to the emperor to appoint you as the General of the Northern Expedition!"

Ma Chao looked down on him. The Han Dynasty was about to be destroyed. What was the point of holding an official position in the Han Dynasty? "My father is already the General of the Northern Expedition. The cold and bitter grassland is not as good as Guanzhong. I will not go to the grassland."

"What a waste!" Luo Yuan said angrily. Seeing Ma Chao blushing, Luo Yuan continued, "You want to lead the army and achieve something. Where else can you achieve more merit than on the grassland? Your cavalry can sweep across the grassland and do what Huo Qubing did. I will help you make it happen. Let the emperor make you Marquis of Guanjun. Your reputation will be higher than Cao Mengde. How can the prime minister of Han compare to you? You will be the General of the Cavalry of the Han Dynasty? Whatever you want to do, everyone in the world will help you. How about the King of Guanzhong?"

Ma Teng was immediately moved: "Is this... this... serious?"

Luo Yuan thought for a moment and said with a smile: "I have a friendship with the emperor, and I also have a friendship with Meng De. If someone helps you, you will have to pay gold. Ten thousand gold may not be enough, but if I do it, two thousand gold is enough."

"What? You still want me to give you gold?"

“Fool, is this gold for me? This is for the emperor. Didn’t you gain anything when you swept across the grassland? If you don’t present the spoils to the emperor, why would the emperor reward you? Two thousand gold is not a lot. Isn’t there enough on the grassland?” Luo Yuan patted Ma Chao’s shoulder and said, “Mengqi, you have to expand your horizons. Only when you have a big horizon can you build a large industry. By then, you will have so many troops under your command! Think about it, think about it carefully, please think about it carefully!”

(End of this chapter)