Prancing Horse Xiliang

Chapter 70 Extortion

Luo Zheng pulled Xun Yu to sit on the soft couch, and said: "It is dangerous to go to Liangzhou, and Ma Teng and Han Sui occupy Liangzhou. The general must know even if he doesn’t mention Wen Ruo, but I don’t know if Wen Ruo has a good strategy to teach me, how can I gain a firm foothold in Liangzhou?”

Xun Yu said indifferently: "As the general said, Ma Teng and Han Sui are powerful, and they are only superficially attached to the imperial court, but in fact they are obedient to the imperial court's orders. It is really not easy for the general to gain a firm foothold in Liangzhou. However, right now It's still too early. Ma Teng occupies the three counties of Hanyang, Wudu, and Longxi. If he wants to go to Liangzhou, he must pass Ma Teng's territory. Moreover, Ma Teng's army is extremely short of food and grass, and the general has brought a large amount of military rations. Ma Teng will never let the general pass through the border smoothly."

Luo Zhengning said: "This general was worried about this, so he stopped at Chencang."

Xun Yu said: "If the general doesn't want to detour from Anding and Wuwei, he can only enter Liangzhou from Hanyang. However, the detour from Anding to Wuwei to Lingju is no less than two thousand miles away. Most of the food and grass brought by the general will be consumed on the road."

Luo Zheng also thought about this problem a long time ago, nodded and said: "What Wen Ruo said is very true, this general only has [-] shi of military food, and when the army arrives at Lingju, it is estimated that it will be almost enough, so I can only enter from Hanyang Liangzhou."

Xun Yu said: "At present, Ma Teng's attitude is unknown. Why don't you send someone to visit Ma Teng? If you want to enter Liangzhou from Hanyang, you can give him two thousand shi of military rations. Let's see what Ma Teng has to say!"

Luo Zheng pondered for a while, and suddenly said: "How about taking the Northland or An Ding as the foundation?"

Xun Yu smiled indifferently, and said, "The general has this idea for a long time, right?"

Luo Zheng didn't hide anything, and said frankly: "Yes, since the old thief Dong Zhuo is unjust, don't blame the general for being unfaithful. The road to Ling's residence was blocked by Ma Teng and Han Sui. Everyone knows that this general To go to Liangzhou is to jump into the pit of fire. In order to appease Niu Fu and others, the old thief Dong Zhuo still pushes this general into the pit of fire. How can this general do what he wants? Why don't you go to the court and use the road as an excuse , turn the road to the north to take Anding or Beidi, and separate one side."

Xun Yu shook his head and said, "It's absolutely impossible."

Luo Zheng frowned: "Why?"

Xun Yu said: "Since the road is impassable, what if Dong Zhuo calls the general back to Luoyang?"

Luo Zheng is silent, this is indeed a problem.

Xun Yu said again: "If the general refuses to obey the edict, Dong Zhuo only needs to offer Ma Teng and Han Sui high-ranking officials and rich salary, and then donate money and food to lure them with high profits, then Ma Teng and Han Sui will definitely lead their troops to attack. At that time, Dong Zhuo If you send a large army to attack, you will never be overwhelmed."

Luo Zheng said awe-inspiringly: "What Wen Ruo said is very true, this general is taking it for granted."

Xun Yu said: "At present, the general can only follow orders, and first gain a firm foothold in Liangzhou. You can send people to Long County, and frankly say that our army will use the road to go to Lingju. First, let's see what Ma Teng's attitude is, and then wait for the opportunity. and move."

Luo Zheng said: "That's the only way."

Immediately wrote a letter and arranged to send it to Hanyang overnight.

Chencang is more than three hundred miles away from Long County, and it will arrive in two days on a fast horse.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, the primary school sent to Long County to deliver the letter came back with Ma Teng's request.

Ma Teng wanted to borrow [-] shi for military rations, although he said it tactfully, it was no different from asking for it.

After Luo Zheng listened to the military academy's report, his face immediately turned cold, gloomy and scary.

With a wave of his hand, Xiao Xiao immediately went down to rest.

Luo Zheng said in a dark voice: "When our army left Luoyang, we only took [-] shi of military rations, and we saved food and expenses along the way, and now there are only [-] shi of military rations left. Ma Teng opened his mouth and asked for [-] shi of military rations, don't It is said that the general does not have one, and even if there is, it is impossible to give it to him."

Xun Yu said: "It seems that Ma Teng has no intention of letting the general enter Liangzhou at all."

Luo Zheng was a little irritable, got up and took a few steps in the tent, said: "Ma Teng's attitude, this general has long expected. No matter how Ma Teng and Han Sui killed them in Liangzhou, they are absolutely unwilling to let the court It is expected that the general will not be allowed to enter Liangzhou. If you want to enter Liangzhou, you have to provoke Ma Teng and Han Sui to fight again, so that our army will have the opportunity to enter Liangzhou. Enter Liangzhou. Otherwise, even if you enter Liangzhou, you will not be able to go to Lingju."

Xun Yu said: "At present, Han Sui and Ma Teng have just stopped fighting and agreed to join forces. It may not be easy to separate them."

Luo Zheng sighed: "From this point of view, the only way is to go north to Anding, enter Wuwei from Anding, and then turn to Lingju."

Xun Yu pondered for a while, and said: "It's not impossible to take a detour from Wuwei. The general is going out of the town of Xiqiang and bears the emperor's order. You can order An Ding Taishou Huangfu Jianshou and Wuwei Taishou Meng to provide food and grass for the army along the way."

Luo Zheng frowned and said: "An Ding and Wu Wei have suffered from wars, and they are also poor. The people can't eat enough, and they can't even pay the court's taxes. Even if Huangfu Jianshou and Zhang Meng have surplus food, they will not give it to the general... ..."

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, he slapped his thigh and said, "Yes."

Xun Yu smiled and said, "The Qiang and Hu rebellion in Liangzhou has not yet been completely calmed down. General borrowing food from Huangfu Jianshou and Zhang Meng is just an excuse. As long as you enter An Ding, you can use the name of suppressing the rebellion to plunder the Qiang and Hu for the army. Provide fodder."

Luo Zheng laughed and said: "The one who knows me is Wen Ruoye. This general has this intention."

Xun Yu said: "However, this matter is quite taboo. The general must go to the court as soon as possible to explain the reason."

Luo Zheng took it for granted, and immediately wrote a letter in hand, and showed it to Xun Yu, before sending it to Luoyang in an expedited [-] miles.

The next day, the army broke out from the camp, turned north from Chencang, and entered the territory of Anding County.

Since the rebellion of Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou, the Qiang people in the first year of Zhongping, the land of Liangzhou has been constantly fighting. .

Liangzhou had a small population, but after several years of war, the population of each county dropped by more than [-]%.

Since entering Anding County, the army has often seen few people for dozens of miles.

Wherever it passed, countless villages were destroyed, and large fields were barren and overgrown with weeds.

Luo Zheng stood beside the horse road and sighed: "Although Liangzhou is a sturdy place, its population is a fatal flaw. Compared with the Central Plains, it is too far behind. Even if Liangzhou can be unified in the future, it may not be able to advance eastward. "

"This is also impossible."

Xun Yu also rode a horse and wore a thick fur coat. Despite this, he still breathed out in the cold, "However, Liangzhou's geographical advantage is not comparable to that of the Central Plains. The people here are tough , and the Guanshan Road is far away, and there are dangerous places to defend before going out of the Guanzhong. The pre-Qin Dynasty occupied Guanliang and looked at the Central Plains. With enough population, we can leave Liangzhou and enter Guanzhong.”

Luo Zheng shook his head and said: "Although that is the case, but in this way, there is no hope of going east in less than 30 years."

He didn't say what he said later. After 30 years, Cao Cao might have unified the Central Plains long ago.

Even if Liangzhou has enough population by then, I am afraid it will not be able to attack the Central Plains again.

After all, where the population of the Central Plains is, even Liangzhou is a sturdy land, and it is difficult to rule the world.

Cao Aman is not the Six Kingdoms. Facing the unified Central Plains, even if Qin Shihuang is resurrected, he may not be able to advance eastward.

Stopping and walking along the way, the army passed through Boluo Valley, and arrived at Wushi after a few days.

Luo Zheng condemned the envoy to Linjing and asked Anding Taishou Huangfu Jianshou to prepare the necessary food for the army.

After Huangfu Jianshou heard the news, he quickly summoned a group of staff to discuss countermeasures.

Linjing, the official residence of the prefect.

Huangfu Jianshou looked around at the adjutants of the counties, and said in a concentrated voice: "Luo Langzhong wants to go to Lingju to take up the post, but he can't pass Hanyang, and he wants to detour from Anding and Wuwei, and now the envoy is here to ask for food, what do you think?"

As soon as the voice fell, a assistant official said: "My lord, since the first year of Zhongping, Liangzhou has suffered numerous wars, the people have been upside down, and many families have moved out. At present, even the people can't eat enough. How can there be any leftover food for Luo?" sign."

"Exactly!"

All the officials and officials nodded one after another, and they all agreed to provide food and fodder to Luo Zheng's army.

Huangfu Jianshou frowned and said: "However, if no food and grass are given, Luo Zheng is a looter by nature. When he led his army to conquer the Guandong, he would plunder everywhere. how?"

An official said: "Your Excellency, you can rest assured. In the past, we had no choice but to plunder the Kwantung. We wanted to make the Kwantung rebels withdraw from Hulao Pass. Today is different from the past. If he plunders again, what will the Son of Heaven do?" I can forgive him."

Huangfu Jianshou nodded repeatedly, and said: "This is the truth, but how should I reply to Luo Langzhong?"

A staff member said: "He was ordered by the emperor to appease the town of Xiqiang. If he really refused, it would be unbecoming. Why don't you order people to escort dozens of shi of rations to the labor force, and then tell the truth, so I won't be embarrassed."

"That's a very good statement."

Huangfu Jianshou said happily: "Just make up a whole number and give him a hundred stones of military rations!"

"Master is wise."

All the officials and adjutants praised each other and smiled at each other.

Huangfu Jianshou immediately ordered people to summon soldiers and escort the hundred shi rations to Wuzhi.

(End of this chapter)