Prancing Horse Xiliang

Chapter 348
Chapter 344

Luo Zheng was in Xichuan all winter, and he didn't even return to Guanzhong for the New Year.

Under Xichuan Xinxia, ​​although the power of Dongzhou scholars has been uprooted, the situation has not been completely stabilized. Many state and county governments are undergoing power changes, and the huge benefits left by Dongzhou scholars must be redistributed.

There are many things that are complicated and cannot be straightened out in a short time.

Jia Xu, Fazheng and others are also running around, negotiating specific details with the Xichuan gentry.

Chengdu, Luo Zheng's mansion.

"My lord, Ma Chao is here."

Yan Xing rushed into the inner hall in a hurry, and bowed to Luo Zheng.

"Well, Ma Chao is here?"

Luo Zheng's spirit lifted, and he said in a deep voice: "Bring it up!"

"As ordered!"

Yan Xing quickly took the order, turned around and ran out.

After a short time, several sturdy soldiers brought up the heavily tied Ma Chao.Ma Chao's younger brothers Ma Tie, Ma Xiu, and his younger brother Ma Dai were brought up together. Except for Ma Chao, the rest were pale.

After Chengdu was established a few years ago, Ma Chao originally wanted to lead his army to escape into Xiqiang, and then start later.

As a result, General Li Yan learned that the Xichuan gentry had defected to Luo Zheng, so how could he go to Xiqiang with Ma Chao to be a traitor? Thousands of soldiers and horses are completely in control.

Moreover, Liu Zhang took Li Yan as his deputy, so he was also on guard against Ma Chao.

Unexpectedly, Ma Chao was caught by Li Yan.

Luo Zheng wanted to see Ma Chao a long time ago, and he ordered Li Yan to escort Ma Chao to Chengdu a month ago.

Ma Chao's hair was disheveled, although he was very embarrassed, but his heroic and sturdy spirit remained undiminished.If he hadn't been tied hands and feet, and was tightly restrained by a few fierce soldiers, he might have broken free at that time and violently hurt others.

The two generals Xu Chu and Yan Xing did not dare to be careless, one left and one right stood beside Luo Zheng with a knife, staring at Ma Chao.

Luo Zheng sat behind the case, toasted and drank, very calm and indifferent.

Ma Chao's wolf-like eyes glanced over Xu Chu and Yan Xinger, and fell on Luo Zheng.The big waves wash the sand, and countless heroes have already ended. Even though Ma Chao's heart is higher than the sky, at this moment, he is still short of heroism.

Luo Zheng is also looking at Ma Chao, "Ma Chao, are you willing to surrender?"

Ma Chao said, "I wish to surrender!"

Hearing this, Ma Dai, Ma Xiu, Ma Tie and others were all relieved.

Luo Zheng didn't speak again, held up the wine bottle, stared at Ma Chao for a long time, and then suddenly said: "How can this general see unwillingness and ambition from your eyes, you are very unwilling, and want to be in this troubled world Build a foundation?"

Ma Chao's expression changed drastically, and he bowed his head in silence.

The faces of Ma Dai, Ma Tie, and Ma Xiu also changed, and cold sweat protruded from their foreheads.

Started in troubled times, alone to level the world.

There is no shortage of ambitious people in this world, and Ma Chao also has such ambitions.

Luo Zheng's impression of Ma Chao, because of the memory from later generations, has always thought that Ma Chao is a brave general. It wasn't until he saw something else in Ma Chao's eyes that he realized that he was misled.

This is also an unwilling and ambitious person.

No wonder Ma Chao has been doing nothing after taking refuge in Liu Bei and cannot be reused.

Whoever it is, would not dare to let such a scourge go outside.

Turning some thoughts in his mind, Luo Zheng said with emotion: "There are too many ambitious people in this world, but if you want to lay a foundation in troubled times, ambition is not enough. See how many princes are left in the world now? Do you know why people like Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shu failed? Well, Liu Biao also died, Ma Chao, do you know the reason?"

Ma Chao reluctantly said, "I don't know!"

Luo Zhengdao: "Then let this general tell you, because they don't have the ability to match their ambitions, they have no ambitions, and they don't have the ability to match their ambitions. The final end will be the same as Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shu. The wheels of history are rolling Now, you might as well look at the dynasties and dynasties, how many people can really have the last laugh, and how many ambitious people have turned into dust?"

Ma Chao bowed his head and remained silent, hiding the unwillingness in his eyes.

Luo Zheng said again: "Ma Chao, compared with Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu, and Liu Biao, you are not even as good as them. Your ambition will only bring disaster to your Ma family. If you want to rule the world, you will reincarnate in the next life. Come back again!"

Ma Chao said sadly, "I just want my life!"

Luo Zheng said coldly: "Cutting the grass does not remove the roots, and the spring breeze blows and grows again. Since you are not willing to be under others, then you should be prepared to turn into loess, why do you regret your life? Come on, pull it out and cut it."

"As ordered!"

The two fierce soldiers responded with a roar, and dragged Ma Chao away.

Ma Chao's expression changed drastically, and he shouted: "Forgive me, I will swear allegiance to the death!"

Ma Dai, Ma Xiu, and Ma Tie were so frightened that their faces turned pale and pale.

Luo Zheng didn't even frown, and Ma Chao was quickly dragged out by two executioners.

I heard a few shouts and curses outside, but it stopped abruptly.

The two executioners held Ma Chao's head and came in to return. Luo Zheng glanced at it, and the two executioners immediately retreated.

Yan Xing glanced at Brother Ma Dai who had collapsed on the ground three times, and asked, "My lord, are these three kills or not?"

Luo Zheng glanced and said expressionlessly: "All dragged out and cut."

The blood feud has already been forged, so how can these three scourges be left behind to cause disaster in the future.

To be able to mix to this day, Luo Zheng has long been not a soft-hearted person.

It's just that Ma Chao and Ma Dai have left their famous names in history, but now these people who have left a lot of history have died in their hands one by one. Even people like Zhou Yu have been imprisoned in Chang'an by him. In front of the pig, the feeling must be quite complicated, indescribable.

What's more, it's a kind of popular folk figure, and it depends on the current unrivaled pride.

Xu Chu waved his hand, Ma Dai, Ma Tie, and Ma Xiu brothers were all dragged out by the guards and beheaded.

Just when Luo Zheng entered Sichuan, in the winter of the sixth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao had a stalemate with Liu Bei in Xinye for more than a month. With the arrival of winter, Cao Cao had to retreat to Wancheng.

And Liu Bei took this opportunity to return to Xiangyang under the banner of the Qing emperor.However, Xiangyang was empty of troops, only nearly ten thousand private soldiers from the mighty gentry of Jingzhou. When Liu Bei's army arrived, the Kuai and Huang clans did not want to die, so they all changed their positions.

After Liu Bei's army entered the city, he immediately slaughtered the Cai and Zhang clans.

Because Liu Cong, the second son of Liu Biao, was the son of his wife Cai, who was also the sister of Cai Mao, a powerful Jingzhou tycoon, the Cai and Zhang clans could be said to be Liu Cong's persistent supporters, unlike the Kuai, Huang and other big clans, who could change their positions at any time.

Of course Liu Bei wanted to make his own decisions, but the gentry in Jingzhou would not agree.

After slaughtering the Cai and Zhang families, he supported Liu Qi to succeed the king of Chu, and made an announcement to appease the hearts of the Jingzhou gentry.

After Liu Qi succeeded to the throne, he felt great gratitude to Liu Bei for supporting him, that is, he worshiped Liu Bei as the general of Jingzhou, commanded Jingzhou's soldiers and horses, and took charge of the conquests inside and outside Jingzhou. Liu Bei's expression changed.

In fact, Liu Bei holds the military power in his hand, even if someone wants to object, he dare not object.

As early as when he led his army north to Xinye to meet Cao Jun, Liu Bei cleaned out the [-] troops, and sent all the generals and schools from the Jingzhou clan to charge the battle, and they all died on the battlefield.

If it weren't for this, how could the tyrants of Jingzhou look at him and act like a man, I'm afraid they would have seized the military power long ago.

Although Liu Bei was not good at fighting, he was still proficient at playing this kind of tactics. In addition, he had a very resourceful Xu Shu as his staff, which really allowed him to seize all available opportunities and grasp the power of Jingzhou.

Liu Qi is just an incompetent person with no roots, and he has to rely on his royal family to manage everything.

At this time, Li Jue was almost at the end of his rope.

In the sixth year of Jian'an, in Dahan around Luoyang, there was no harvest of autumn grain. When winter came, the people would starve to death and freeze to death.

Even if Li Jue wanted to collect food and grass, he would have no food to collect, otherwise he would not have sent troops at Liu Biao's invitation.Unexpectedly, Cao Cao and Guo Jia set up an ambush to defeat Li Jue's [-] troops in one fell swoop.

The soldiers couldn't eat enough to feed their families, and soldiers fled almost every day.

In winter, the scale of escape was even more frightening. Almost every day, hundreds of soldiers fled the barracks at night.

Even if the commanders and school officers saw it, they would pretend not to see it.

One winter passed, Li Jue's [-] army was defeated by Cao Cao, and a large number of soldiers fled the barracks, the tens of thousands of troops dropped by more than half, leaving less than [-] soldiers and horses under his command, still struggling to support.

When the weather warms up, the lives of the people around Luoyang will be even more difficult.

They don't even have seeds, how can they cultivate the land, they can only help the young ones to continue fleeing.

The soldiers under Li Jue also continued to flee, some fled to the Central Plains, some fled to Nanyang, and most of them fled to Guanzhong.Because Guanzhong is the closest and also belongs to the Xiliang Army, the Xiliang Army under Luo Zheng's command is having a better life, and some news will naturally spread to Li Jue's army in Luoyang. Psychologically speaking, the Xiliang Rebel Army under Li Jue is still better. Those who are willing to rely on Luo Zheng.

After all, the Kwantung Army and the Xiliang Army have fought fiercely for years, and the hatred forged is not small, and it is not easy to escape to the Central Plains.

Ji County, the official residence of the Hanyang prefect.

"Meet uncle!"

Zhang Xiu entered the inner hall and bowed down to Zhang Jina.

"Ugh!"

Zhang Ji sighed for a long time, looking at his nephew with a dusty face and a scumbag beard, he was half-sufficient and speechless.

Zhang Xiu crawled on the ground, but his uncle did not speak, nor did he get up.

"Jin Rong, get up!"

After a while, Zhang Ji came back to his senses, and hurriedly stepped forward to help Zhang Xiu up.

Zhang Xiu's face was full of wind and frost, and she lost her former heroic appearance, but she became much more mature.

Zhang Ji asked: "How have you been in Li Jue's army these years?"

Zhang Xiu smiled wryly and said, "Li Jue is still alive and doesn't trust my nephew, how could it be better!"

Zhang Ji sighed again and was speechless for a while.

In the first battle of Huayin, Zhang Xiu was defeated by Gao Shun's army. Before he could escape back to Huayin, Gao Shun led his army to besiege the city. Zhang Liao also attacked Anyi by surprise. The city surrendered.

Zhang Xiu didn't know about his uncle's surrender, so he escaped from Hangu Pass and fled to Li Jue's army.

It wasn't until Li Jue's soldiers fled the barracks in large numbers that they couldn't get along anymore, Zhang Xiu found a chance to escape and secretly fled to Liangzhou to meet his uncle Zhang Ji.

Zhang Ji was silent for a while, before he said: "Jinrong should stay at the mansion first, so that he can rest for a while, and wait to write a letter for his uncle to see if he can excuse Jinrong. Luo Zheng is quite tolerant, so I won't embarrass Jinrong Rong."

Zhang Xiu cupped his hands and said, "It's all up to uncle to decide."

In February, the weather has just warmed up.

Yuan Shao couldn't wait to lead an army of [-], broke through Huguan, captured Shangdang prefect Zhang Yang, and entered Bingzhou.Bingzhou is full of tyrants, and there is no unified force. How to resist Yuan Shao's army, all of them will surrender.

After Zhao Yun received the report, fearing that Yuan Shao would take advantage of the situation to cross the river and enter Hetao, he immediately mobilized troops and horses to station in Caisangjin.

Fortunately, although Yuan Shao was full of ambitions, he was not dazzled by the victory. He knew that Luo Zheng was not easy to mess with, and going south to the Central Plains was an established strategy and could not be changed. At this time, abandoning the covenant and turning against Luo Zheng was really a mistake Unwise, he did not take advantage of the situation to make a large-scale invasion of Hetao. After the capture of Jinyang, he quickly managed the government and stabilized the army, and incorporated Bingzhou soldiers and horses.

When the news reached Xuchang, Cao Cao couldn't care less about attacking Jingzhou.

Yuan Shao has pacified Hebei, if he doesn't come this year, he will definitely go south next year at the latest.

If you don't actively prepare for the battle at this time, there will be no attackers to fight Jingzhou.

Because of this, Liu Bei had the opportunity to take a breather, seize the time to win over the Jingzhou gentry, and buy people's hearts.As for Jingnan, I can't take care of it for the time being, and just order Guan Yu to lead an army to guard Baling.

How could Sun Ce miss such a good opportunity to send troops to Jingnan in the early spring, and even went to Guiyang and Lingling counties.

From the first year of Chuping when the feudal lords raised troops against Dong to the seventh year of Jian'an, in just ten years, the pattern of the world has undergone earth-shaking changes. Many prominent princes fell on the wheel of history in the process of continuous mergers. Under the circumstances, some people took advantage of the situation to rise up, and finally stood on the big stage of history, competing with several of the most powerful princes.

For example, Luo Zheng, or Sun Ce, who inherited his father's career.

Although Liu Bei has not yet taken over Jingzhou, after several ups and downs, he has also begun to attract people.

But more people have sadly withdrew from the stage of history, such as Liu Biao, and then Liu Zhang.

With the passage of time, the scale of the war has become larger and larger. From the thousands of soldiers and horses of the various princes in the first year of Chuping, at most no more than [-] soldiers and horses, to the current [-] to [-] soldiers and horses, the scale of the war has continued. The change is huge, and various tactics and strategies are also changing accordingly. Whether it is Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, or Luo Zheng and others, they are all Eight Immortals crossing the sea and showing their magical powers.

All kinds of conspiracies, tricks and military strategies emerge in endlessly.

As for the evolution of various tactics, it is constantly moving forward.

It is no exaggeration to say that war is a catalyst. Although it has caused huge damage to society, it has also played a positive role in promoting it in some aspects, such as weapons and armor. In order to meet the needs of war and improve the combat effectiveness of the army, the princes They are all trying their best to improve the army equipment, and the forging skills have at least reached a big level.

The most prominent one is Luo Zheng's Xiliang Military Group.

With Luo Zheng's spared support, Guanzhong's handicraft production scale and skills are far superior to those of the previous dynasty, and the food has been harvested year after year. There are no hungry people in Guanliang, far from the Central Plains under Cao Cao's rule, where famine is everywhere.

(End of this chapter)