The last three kingdoms

Chapter 710 Malan Qiang and Lu Shuihu

When the Battle of the Weishui was at a stalemate, Liu Yin had already wiped out the remnants of the barbarians in Fengyi County, but Liu Yin was not in a hurry to return to Chang'an. On the north bank of the Weihe River, if Qi Wannian returns to Chang'an at this time, he will definitely be threatened by the enemy, give up the battle of the Weishui River, and most likely flee westward, joining forces with Malan Qiang and Lu Shuihu, causing disasters in Longxi.

Therefore, Liu Yin decided not to move Qi Wannian for the time being, but went directly westward into Xinping County and Anding County to eliminate Malanqiang and Lu Shuihu.

Mount Malan is a peak in the south-central part of Ziwuling in the Qiaoshan Mountain Range. It is surrounded by a Malan River at the foot of the mountain. It is the natural dividing line between Beidi County and Xinping County. The Qiang people living here are called Malan Qiang.

There are many tribes of the Qiang nationality. The Shaodang Qiang where Yao Yikang is located, and the Xianling Qiang are called the Xi Qiang. The Qingyi Qiang and Baima Qiang in the territory of Shu are called the Southwest Qiang. The Qiang tribe is called the Northwest Qiang, among which the most powerful is the Malan Qiang.

The Qiang people are a very large ethnic minority. During the heyday of the Western Han Dynasty, the population of the Qiang people was as high as 1000 to [-] million, accounting for a quarter of the total population of the Western Han Dynasty. The geographical distribution was so wide that it almost covered the entire Northwest and Southwest Territories.

Fortunately, although the Qiang people are an ancient nation, they appeared as early as the time when Yu Dayu controlled the floods, but the Qiang people have never been a single nation, and their languages, clothing, living habits, and religious beliefs are all different. The tribes are constantly attacking and killing each other, and the situation is the same as fire and water. Therefore, although the Qiang people of various tribes have also had some talented tribal leaders, they have not been able to unify the Qiang people scattered in various places. This undoubtedly caused the Han people to divide them. Governance provided opportunities, otherwise such a large ethnic group would really unite to rebel, which would be a severe test for any Han regime.

The Malan Qiang is the most powerful branch of the Qiang in the Northwest, but being squeezed out by the Han regime and the Hu in the North, their living space has been shrinking. The Northwest Qiang who used to be known as the No. Behind the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Di people, they became a weak tribe.

But the leader of Malan Qiang, Ma Gelong, was not willing to sink like this. The Hu rebellion in the Northland undoubtedly gave him a chance. Ma Gelong responded immediately, launched a rebellion in Xinping County, and captured the city , Wanton looting, extremely active performance.

The territory of Xinping County is small, and after the Maglong incident, he was not willing to occupy such a small area. However, to the east of Malan Qiang was the powerful Qi Wannian tribe of the Di people. The current strength of Malan Qiang was not enough to compete with Qi Wannian resisted, so Ma Gelong set his expansion target at Lu Shuihu in the west.

Like the Qiang people, the Lushuihu is also an ancient tribal group in the north of Longbei. The Lushuihu is an ethnic minority that has been active in the Northwest since the Han Dynasty. It has absorbed the tribes of Jie, Diqiang and even Han, so it has the characteristics of both Caucasian and yellow races. Its core components are considered to be derived from Lu Fang in the Shang Dynasty.

Anding County is the birthplace of Lushui Hu. In the territory, Lushui flows southeast into the Jinghe River. It has been a mixed area of ​​Qiang and Rong since ancient times.The name of Lu Shui originated from Lu Fang of Xirong in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. Lu Fang was a tribal country centered on Kongtong Mountain in Pingliang, Gansu Province, so it was called Lu Shui Hu.

Lu Shuihu lived in An Ding for generations. Like Malan Qiang, he lived a life of half farming and half herding. Compared with the rough and unrestrained Xiongnu and Xianbei, they followed the rules. For a long time, they have been canonized by the Han court. And rule, it seems, belongs to already tamed peoples.

However, the blood of the ancient Hu people is flowing in these Hu people. Temporary submission does not mean that they have no ambitions. Peng Hu, who is now the king of Hushuihu, is an ambitious person like Ma Gelong. Dreaming that one day they can reproduce the glory of their ancestors, found a country and build a country, and no longer depend on others.

If it was just Malan Qiang or Lu Shuihu, they might not dare to rebel, because they knew very well that once they raised the flag to rebel, they would be bloody suppressed by the Han government. With their current strength, they were not enough to compete with the Han government.

However, the Hu people's rebellion that rose from Bingzhou swept the entire north like a hurricane, and spread from Bingzhou to Yongliang. Not only the Huns, but also the Xianbei and Di people also joined the ranks of the rebellion. The current situation is in full swing, like a prairie fire, and soon burns through many states and counties in the north.

Peng Hu couldn't hold back either. He thought that the Hu people's rebellion was the general trend. If he didn't take any action at this moment, Lu Shuihu might lose his chance. So he also rose up and raised the rebellion in Anding County. flag, and launched an attack on Linjing, the county seat of Anding County.

Although there is no clear delineation of boundaries, each Hu tribe seems to have its own sphere of influence. For example, Hao San’s Xiongnu tribe is active in Fengyi County, Qi Wannian’s Di tribe is in Beidi County, and Malanqiang’s He Lu Shuihu's sphere of influence is limited to Xinping County and Anding County.

However, this division of spheres of influence is only based on the original area of ​​activity of each Hu, without any covenants and agreements, and does not have any binding force.Obviously, due to the different sizes of the counties, the amount of land occupied by each Hu is not balanced. Beidi County is relatively small. Qi Wannian did not attack the neighboring Xiongnu and Malan Qiang, but chose to fight against the Han. Capture Weinan.

Ma Gelong, the leader of the Malan Qiang, is obviously not as fierce as Qi Wannian, and he dared to openly challenge the Han government. Xinping County is not large. In order to expand the territory of the Malan Qiang, Ma Gelong set his sights on Lushui, the neighbor to the west. Hu.

Frankly speaking, Ma Lanqiang and Lu Shuihu are almost the same in terms of population and military strength, and the comparison of strength is also indistinguishable. One occupies the small Xinping County, and the other occupies the sparsely populated Anding County. The vast territory occupied by Shuihu is salivating.

After the incident, Ma Gelong did not have the courage to openly provoke the Han government and attack the Weinan area like Qi Wannian, but he chose to attack the neighboring Lushuihu.

Faced with Malan Qiang's sudden attack, Peng Hu was of course unwilling to back down. The two sides fought fiercely in Xizhou, not giving up an inch of ground, and the fight was inextricable.

Cranes and clams competed, and fishermen benefited. Of course, Liu Yin would not let go of this opportunity, and immediately raised troops from Fengyi County, crossed Beidi County, and attacked Xinping.

(End of this chapter)