The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 443 Chapter 442 West Wind (9)

Gai Shun no longer doubted Ma Chao's identity. Who else could have such a capable person besides Ma Chao?
Ma Chao personally helped Gai Shun to his feet. The two of them knew each other, and they were gentlemen, and Gai Shun admired Ma Chao very much.

Afterwards, Gai Shun personally welcomed Ma Chao and others into the city, and set up a banquet for Ma Chao and others.

After drinking for three rounds, Ma Chao asked Gai Shun about the Dunhuang Sox family news. When Gai Shun heard Ma Chao's sudden question, he hurriedly asked, "Is General Ma looking for Dunhuang Suo family for something?"

"I'm just a warrior, and I'm not proficient in the way of governing the country. I've heard about the reputation of Dunhuang Suoshi for a long time. Suoshi is a wise man for generations, and he is also the leader of Liangzhou's gentry. That's why I came to Dunhuang not far away. I would like to ask Sox to help me restore peace to Liangzhou." Ma Chao said very sincerely.

After Gai Shun heard this, he picked up the bowl of wine in front of him, drank it down, then sneered, and said, "General Ma, I advise you, it's better not to go to Dunhuang, Suo's reputation is nothing, so don't forget to see him!"

After hearing this, Ma Chao hurriedly asked, "How do you say that?"

"Sox is no longer the same as it used to be. Today, the Sog has become a pawn of the Xianbei people. Dunhuang has been occupied by the Xianbei, and Sog is the prefect of Dunhuang appointed by the Xianbei." Gai Shunyue He became more and more angry, and finally reached the point of gnashing his teeth. It seems that Gaishun and Suo Shi had some unpleasant pasts.

Ma Chao frowned immediately after hearing this. He never expected that the Dunhuang Suoshi, whom he had worked so hard to find, had become a minion of the Xianbei people.

Seeing Ma Chao's solemn and gloomy expression, Yang Fu interrupted and asked, "Lord Gai, may I ask when did the Xianbei people occupy Dunhuang?"

"Just last year, the Xianbei invaded Dunhuang and Jiuquan on a large scale, looted a lot of property and people, and killed many people, making these two places deserted for hundreds of miles. They were not captured. They all fled. At that time, I led my troops to fight hard, causing heavy losses to the Xianbei people. Seeing that they could not capture this place in a short time, the Xianbei people turned to other places. Anyway, this small fortress is not enough for the Xianbei people to fortify Between the teeth. It was about that time when Dunhuang was captured by the Xianbei people. In order to protect themselves, Suoshi reached an agreement with the Xianbei people. The Xianbei people appointed Suoshi as the prefect of Dunhuang and left a small force. Some of them have already been withdrawn." Gai Shun said angrily.

Yang Fu then asked: "Then, did the Xianbei who occupied Dunhuang ever launch an attack on their surroundings?"

"Last year, the Xianbei people almost plundered all the population. Except for my place and Dunhuang City, there are no other places. Even if the Xianbei people want to attack, there is no place to attack. However, because they are afraid of me, they don't want to attack me." Dare to attack here." Gai Shun said proudly.

Yang Fu didn't ask anymore, he had already got the answer he wanted.

Ma Chao didn't speak any more, but drank the wine to himself, feeling extremely melancholy in his heart, absolutely never expecting such a result.

That night, the banquet ended unhappily. Ma Chao slept in the guest room, and just as he lay down, he heard someone knocking on the door outside, and asked angrily, "Who is it?"

"My lord, it's me, Yang Fu."

Ma Chao jumped off the bed, walked straight to the door, opened the door, and said to Yang Fu: "It's so late, why are you still awake?"

Yang Fu said: "My lord can't sleep, how can I sleep?"

"Are you looking for me for something?" Seeing Yang Fu's hesitant expression, Ma Chao asked.

Yang Fu nodded and said, "I do have something to discuss with the lord."

"It's very late, what's the matter, let's talk about it tomorrow."

Ma Chao said that he was about to close the door, but he didn't want Yang Fu to block the door, and said to Ma Chao, "If you talk about it tomorrow, it will be too late!"

Seeing that Yang Fu was so stubborn, Ma Chao let Yang Fu in, yawned, and said, "Let's make a long story short!"

Yang Fu entered the room, closed the door, and said to Ma Chao, "My lord was not very happy at the banquet today. Did Gai Shun talk about Suoshi's defection to the enemy?"

"You observe very carefully, yes, it is caused by this." Ma Chao admitted.

"Actually, my lord doesn't have to be so angry. In my opinion, although Suoshi surrendered to the enemy, it may not be what Gai Shun said. There must be other reasons."

"Aside from being greedy for life and fear of death, what other reasons could there be?" Ma Chao said.

Yang Fu said with a smile: "My lord just listened to one-sided words, so how can we conclude that Soxhlet really joined the enemy? In my opinion, there must be another reason for Soxhlet's surrender, and the reason is also very simple. That is to take this opportunity to preserve our Han people as much as possible, otherwise, with the Xianbei army, if you really want to capture this place, it is simply a piece of cake, why would you stay here alone and not attack?"

After hearing what Yang Fu said, Ma Chao suddenly became enlightened, and hurriedly asked: "So, Sox's not really surrendering to the enemy, but a stopgap measure to feign surrender?"

"At least that's what I think. The Dunhuang Suo family is a loyal family, officials from generation to generation. During the reign of Emperor Ling, some of the Suo family would rather die than obey the Qiang people. In the end, they were cut to pieces by the cruel five horses. The Suo family didn't even bat an eyelid." Let's see. And the Suo family all attach great importance to loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness, so how could they commit treason and surrender to the enemy?" Yang Fu said.

Ma Chao frowned, he didn't know what to do.

Yang Fudao: "My lord, you can relax. The subordinates use the head of the item as a guarantee. Suoshi is definitely not what Gai Shun said. We will set off for Dunhuang tomorrow morning, and then the lord can find out. .”

Ma Chao nodded, and Yang Fu left immediately. After Yang Fu left, Ma Chao was a little relieved, and Ma Chao was even more curious about what kind of family the Sox family was.

Early the next morning, Ma Chao bid farewell to Gaishun with his entourage and headed for Dunhuang.

Gai Shun tried hard to persuade Ma Chao not to die, but Ma Chao insisted on going his own way and decided to go to Dunhuang.In desperation, Gai Shun didn't stop him anymore. After sending Ma Chao out of the city, he sent him another ten miles before returning to Guangzhi County.

Ma Chao and the others continued to move westward. On the way, the Qiang Hu Zaqi encountered relatively fewer people. When they were about to approach Dunhuang, they seldom met a single person along the way, let alone a human being. There are almost no birds or animals.

The quieter it is, the more frightening it is.But Ma Chao is a person who is not afraid of the sky and the earth. He just keeps going forward. He believes that there must be a way for the car to reach the mountain. If there is any trouble, he can't hide it. He can only go to the front Meet this trouble, and try to solve it.

But what disappointed Ma Chao was that he stopped and stopped along the way without encountering any troubles. In the evening of that day, everyone could vaguely see a lonely city standing on the ground——Dunhuang.

After arriving in Dunhuang, Ma Chao and others finally arrived in Dunhuang after going through untold hardships. What they saw and heard along the way made Ma Chao more knowledgeable and matured his mind.

Compared with Guangzhi County, Dunhuang City is much larger, and Dunhuang City has a unique charm of Northwest City.

Dunhuang City is surrounded by a sea of ​​sand. Dunhuang City is like a flat boat. It is located in this sea of ​​sand. Small boats are in danger of capsizing at any time.However, when the wind and sand pass, Dunhuang City will still stand on this land as before, showing its majesty and indomitableness to the world with its high posture.

Dunhuang City is an important city on the Silk Road. The Han army built two passes on the west side of Dunhuang. One is called Yumen Pass and the other is called Yang Pass. Dunhuang is like a throat, blocking traffic from east to west. The traffic arteries also made him an extremely important place in the eyes of foreigners.

Therefore, the Xianbei talents captured Dunhuang at all costs.

Today, over Dunhuang City, a big banner with a wolf's head is floating, and flags are fluttering in the hunting wind, showing the world the affiliation of this city.

In addition, there are hundreds of rangers wandering around Dunhuang City every day. These are the military forces left by the Xianbei to protect Dunhuang City. After finally occupying this place, they will never give up Dunhuang easily.

However, the Xianbei people are very wise. They selected a person from the local people to serve as the prefect of Dunhuang, let the local people govern the local people, and did not attack the passing merchants, but there is a premise that all the passing merchants passing by Those in Dunhuang must pay taxes.

Taxation has also become an important source of income for the Xianbei people. They found that doing so is far faster than they get money by plundering, and they can willingly collect money from others.

Ma Chao and the others removed all their weapons this time, only keeping the equipment of a few people, and the rest all disguised as merchants, preparing to approach Dunhuang City.

Dunhuang City under the control of the Xianbei people is very heavily guarded. Twenty miles away, it is full of scouts from the Xianbei people. Within ten miles, cavalry teams formed by hundreds of people can be seen everywhere. effect.

It is reported that there are about 3000 Xianbei cavalry left near Dunhuang City alone.This number is extremely terrifying for any caravan.Because these people can disintegrate a caravan in an instant.

There are not many people in Ma Chao, only more than 20 people, and the disguise is very good, so even if he passed under the eyes of the Xianbei people, it did not arouse any suspicion.

At the foot of Dunhuang City, the gates of Dunhuang City were opened. Even though there were hundreds of Xianbei cavalry outside, the atmosphere in Dunhuang City was extremely active. All kinds of people gather here, as if this is a paradise on earth.

(End of this chapter)