Shu Chen

Chapter 171 Leisure
Winter December.

Only in winter will the Xiaolongshan meadow in Longyou fully release its charm.

The deep blue sky cleared after the snow, the gentle and bright sunshine, the green reflection in the vast snow, and the white birch forest on the mountain are like blossoming white flowers, guarding the tranquility of one side.A maroon horse gallops with a rider wearing a cloak like fire, feeling the ease and ease of the vastness of the world.

That is Zhang Yan.

She has been in Longyou for more than a month.

Since she accepted the bet on the swordsmanship competition with her husband, she must come to the Xiaolongshan meadow for three or five days to gallop.

Zheng Pu, who had just been promoted to General Pingbei, had to ride his horse by his side to accompany him.

However, he seemed quite happy.

Occasionally, I also play the flute on my lips, improvising for the beautiful scenery of the meadow.

Perhaps, it is the reason why Longyou is fine now.

Even Prime Minister Zhuge Liang stayed in Hanzhong County to garrison.

The affairs of Longyou are headed by Shi Xianglang, the head of the prime minister, assisted by Yang Yi, Fei Yi and Zhuge Qiao.

From the time when the troops left Longyou in the sixth year of Jianxing, to the failure of the large-scale counterattack against the Wei Dynasty, the first Northern Expedition of the Han Dynasty can be regarded as the real end.

In this regard, the prime minister went back to sit in town, not only to appease Hanzhong, which had already moved [-] to [-] Lishu households, but also to recharge for the next Northern Expedition.

For example, farming and planting grain, recruiting new soldiers to perform martial arts exercises, etc.

There is also a plank road in the valley of the Qinling Mountains to be repaired, so that when they march into Liangzhou in the future, they can send troops to intimidate the Sanfu of Guanzhong, so as to restrain the troops against Wei from rushing to aid Liangzhou.

After Zheng Pu led the army back to Ji County, in addition to daily martial arts exercises, he transported grain and supplies to Didao in Longxi once a month to stock up.

When the big man is not in war, he does not impose corvee to disturb the people.

For daily use by garrisons in various places, they are either sent back by their own soldiers to pick them up, or they are transported by other troops stationed in Ji County.

In the future, when marching to Liangzhou, Siwang Gorge cannot be bypassed, and it is also a precaution to hoard food, fodder and supplies first.

Anyway, the two armies of Xuanwu and Qihou are doing nothing now, so it is right to let the soldiers practice the strict formation.

However, the people transported by the warlord were Zhang Yi and Liu Yin, two other governors.

Zheng Pu has much more leisure time.

Except for occasionally entering the military camp to supervise soldiers to perform martial arts, and going to the prime minister's office to find documents to understand the military situation of the garrisons in various places, they have been "idling" for several months.Today, a small banquet is held at Luomen to invite friends to discuss soldiers and have fun. Tomorrow, I will go hunting with my retinue on horseback.

Naturally, what took the most time was walking around with his wife Zhang Yan to see the scenery of Longyou.

For this, everyone was envious, and also took pleasure in what he did as a joke after dinner.

One is that he did not neglect his duties.

The Xuanwu Army and the Second Army of Sihou under his supervision did not slack off in performing martial arts and so on.

The other is the achievement of Xiao Guan, which is of extraordinary strategic significance.

Although the news that everyone learned was that a major epidemic broke out in the Reversing Wei Army, Zheng Pu took the opportunity to capture Xiaoguan.

But in front of the results, the process is not important.

Conquests by military strategists pay attention to the right time, place, and harmony between people, and they are known as the saying that "people make decisions, and heaven makes things happen".

An earthquake, a heavy rain, or a day of heavy fog may become the decisive factor in the outcome of a war.Zheng Pu was lucky and seized the opportunity, that is his record.

During the military truce, who can ruin a little indulgence?
If Gao Xiang, who was stationed in Daxia County, Longxi County, had the luck to take Siwang Gorge, and when he was on a truce, he asked to rest and return to Shu to reunite with his family for a few months, and the prime minister would not refuse him.

However, Zheng Pu's leisurely days are coming to an end.

He will rush to Hanzhong County to recruit troops and re-form the headquarters.

Because the ginseng wolf in Wangqu Valley breeds Qiang.

At the beginning, Hussar General Li Yan led Ma Dai, Jiang Wei and other troops into Wangqu Valley, intending to suppress the territory and repel the prestige of rebelling against Wei with large troops, forcing Shenlangzhong Qiang to surrender to the big Han.Intended to emulate the story of Shaodang Qiang, the great Han conferred titles on all the powerful and handsome kings, and asked them to regularly pay tribute to cattle, sheep, war horses and send their tribesmen to accompany them.

But when Li Yan sent Jiang Wei to surrender, they refused.

Even if Jiang Wei, who had a friendship with them, analyzed the situation in detail earnestly, claiming that their current situation was like a turtle in an urn, and if they did not submit, they would be pinched and perish by the big man and the Shaodang Qiang, they were unmoved.

There are three reasons.

One is that they don't think that the big man has the ability to kill them.

Perhaps it was because of the Qiang chaos in Emperor Ling's time that made Liangzhou out of control. For decades, Shenlang Qiang got used to being unrestrained, and he was unwilling to submit to the big Han or against the Wei Dynasty.

I also feel that now that the Han and Wei dynasties are fighting, the big Han will not send soldiers to fight them for a long time.

Because their habitat spread from Wangqu Valley to Xiqing Mountain, the source of Taoshui, long ago outside the territory of the Han Dynasty.If the Han Dynasty sent troops to fight, they could withdraw from the Wangqu Valley and avoid the battle due to the steep mountains and rivers, so that the Han Dynasty could not withstand the exhaustion of the long-term war and retreated.

Second, they have allies.

Because the big Han introduced the Shaodang Qiang into the river head, they felt threatened, so they formed an alliance with the Huawai Zhongcun Qiang in Cizhi Hequ.If the big Han insisted on conquering them, he would be fighting the two Qiang tribes at the same time.

At that time, Zhongcun Zhongqiang can help them resist the flanking attack of Shaodang Qiang.

The big men marched in a single line, and there was no army of [-] to [-] to go out, and they couldn't do anything to them.

Even if there is someone who can really dispatch an army of [-] to [-] to attack, they can still hold on to the danger, and the victory or defeat is still between the two.

Again, I feel that the big man is very unfriendly to them.

Since Shaodang Qiang entered Heshou, the big man transferred Jiang Wei, who had a friendship with them, and replaced him with Ma Dai, who was partial to Shaodang Qiang, to take charge of Lintao, and repeatedly worked with Shaodang to squeeze their power. Ranch and Silk Road trade interests.

Before he surrendered, he suppressed him openly and secretly.

If they surrendered, wouldn't they be eaten away by the big man?

Sincerely not desirable!
That's why, after consultations with the leaders of the major tribes of Shenlangzhong and Qiang, they declined Jiang Wei's kind persuasion.

On the contrary, he actually persuaded Jiang Wei back.

It is to let Jiang Wei go back to persuade the prime minister and Li Yan, saying that the big man's crusade against them is not worth the loss.

After all, they have never clashed with the big man.

At the time when Ni Wei is watching, the big man should continue to maintain a peaceful situation with them, so as to avoid "the snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman benefits."

At that time, after Jiang Wei reported back, Li Yan immediately became furious and furious.

It is both public anger and personal hatred.

Public indignation, of course, is that a mere member of the wolf race dares to presumptuously talk to the big man on an equal footing?

Selfish hatred is that he has always thought highly of himself.

What do you mean by "the gains outweigh the losses" in today's crusade?
What is "the snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman wins"?
As the former emperor's Tuogu important minister, who was second only to the prime minister in power and status, he was given the ability to use soldiers with contempt by Shenlang Qiang, thinking that he could not win the war in one battle?
Li Yan, who was furious, did not immediately order Ma Dai and Jiang Wei to lead the army into Wangqu Valley.

"The Lord can't be angry and mobilize the army, and the general can't be angry and go to war." Such a superficial taboo of military strategists, he still has this bit of self-control.

Instead, following the attitude of participating in wolves and planting Qiang, I thought of more.

For the past few years, he has mainly guarded the local area, except for quelling the local rebellion and defeating Gao Ding, the old man of Yue, he has no outstanding achievements.

That's why today's mere Qiang and Hu people dare to take a peek at him.

Then, would other veteran generals in the army also privately question his reputation as a soldier?

More or less, all of them, right?

Especially now that the Northern Expedition is going smoothly, all the generals have made meritorious service.

If he agrees to "living in peace" with Shenlang Qiang, it will really prove that he is incapable of using a soldier, making others laugh at him unscrupulously, and even a mere Qiang Hu can't defeat it!

Therefore, with such thoughts in mind, he stood still first, acting in a hesitant manner to confuse Shen Lang and Qiang; in private, he wrote a book and sent people to Hanzhong, asking Prime Minister Zhuge Liang to send more troops.

Well, his troops and horses, together with Ma Dai and Jiang Wei's troops, are worth [-] cavalry.

Sudden attack can defeat Shenlang Qiang, but it is powerless to pursue and expand the victory to Xiqing Mountain.

The words of the letter are quite indignant.

Said:
"Since I was entrusted by the first emperor, I have used soldiers to guard the country. I have never dared to slack off. I have not led an army for a long time, so that a mere Qiang and Hu despise him. This is my shame! If I don't personally lead the army to defeat it, I will not be able to stand. In the world! Also let the world think that the first emperor has no name for knowing people! I also hope that Kong Ming will increase my army, and I will do everything I wish!"

Speaking of such a thing, and involving the late emperor's name of knowing people, the prime minister will not refuse again.

Anyway, for the sake of peace in the rear of Liangzhou's conquest in the future, Shenlang Qiang will also be exterminated.

Today, Li Yan called for troops indignantly, and he swore "I will never return Loulan if I don't break it", just to make an example for other Qianghu tribes in Liangzhou.

Furthermore, with Li Yan's ability, there is no need to worry about returning home in defeat.

After the prime minister got the book, he thought about it carefully, and then wrote back to agree to Li Yan's request.

It's just that soldiers and horses are not easy to dispatch.

The battle against the attack against the Wei Dynasty has just ended, and all the soldiers and horses are resting.

For example, Wei Yan, Wu Ban, Huo Yi and other cavalry on the front line, each perform their own duties and must not be tampered with.

After thinking about it, the prime minister sent Wu Yi's department who stayed in Hanzhong County and Liao Hua's department who had not yet returned to Yinping County to Wangqugu to obey Li Yan's dispatch.

Zheng Pu's tribe, who had not experienced war and returned to Ji County to be stationed, was inevitably dispatched.

And the prime minister also thought about the military force under Li Yan's previous supervision, which was about [-] people.But now because of the separation of the later general Yuan Wei's department, his son Li Feng's appointment as Jiangzhou governor, and Hu Zhong and others under Zheng Pu's command, it is difficult for his headquarters to even the mere Qianghu tribe.So he thought about transferring some other governors to Li Yan's command, as a way to make up for his loyalty to the country.

This is how Li Yan controlled the Li Yan army under Liu Yin's command and Yang Ji's five hundred cavalry.

It also made Zheng Pu's direct troops less than 500 people, so he had to return to Hanzhong to recruit troops again in the spring of next year.

Zheng Pu had no complaints about this.

Yang Ji was originally Ma Dai's general, but Liu Yin's army was controlled by Wei Yan before.

The prime minister did not mobilize his direct Xuanwu army, so what is there to criticize?

Furthermore, in the transfer order, the prime minister also implicitly disclosed the compensation given to him, which made him elated.

The armored cavalry led by his brother-in-law Zhang Bao will be transferred to his command after it is established!
And promised to send him five hundred pairs of heavy infantry armor!
Limited by financial resources and material resources, the infantry of the Han army were mainly made of leather armor, only more than ten pieces of big-leaf armored iron plates and an iron helmet on the chest and back.

As for the heavily armed heavy armor, there are hundreds of them in the army of veteran generals.

Only the Wei Yan tribe, who has been guarding the front line all year round, has an [-] heavy infantry.

Today, the Prime Minister was able to grant Zheng Pu five hundred sets of armor all at once, which can be regarded as an added favor.

However, it will take several months for these heavy-step armors to be received.

Because the forging materials of the armor were the incomplete armor collected by Zheng Pu after he took back Xiaoguan and set fire to the corpses of the soldiers against Wei.Some need to be returned to the furnace for reforging, and some are repaired and added some bits and pieces.

As for why Zheng Pu didn't rush back to Hanzhong immediately to recruit troops, it was because he cooperated with Li Yan's dispatch.

In order to paralyze Shenlang Qiang, Li Yan is still standing still.

And the letter asked Liu Yin, Wu Yi and others to continue to be stationed in Ji County first, and not to send more troops to look at Qugu to scare the snake.

Because he had already sent Ma Dai to lead Xiliang iron cavalry and Heshou's Shaodang Qiang, and the soldiers went out of Tumen Pass to the habitat of Zhongcun Zhongqiang in Huawai.

Once Ma Dai found an opportunity to attack, he suddenly led the army into Wangqu Valley!

Using the double-line flanking tactics, the two kinds of Qiang, Shenlang and Zhongcun, could not fight together, reducing the pressure of pursuit.And let some powerful men and women lose the courage to fight against the big man, and choose to lead the tribe to surrender.

As for Wu Yi and others, they will serve as the rear army, transporting food, fodder and supplies as backup, and taking prisoners along the way.

It is said that this plan was decided after discussion between Li Yan and Jiang Wei.

Moreover, after making a decision, Jiang Wei is still persevering every day, going into the Wangqu Valley to find those heroes who participated in the wolf breeding and persuading them to surrender!
It is not only for the smooth acceptance of the surrender in the future, but also to cover up the real intention of the big man.

"Soldiers are deceitful. Jiang Boyue has a deep taste for it!"

For this reason, when Li Yan wrote a letter to the prime minister, he specially added a sentence of appreciation.

In the ninth year of Jianxing, 231 AD.

In the first month of spring, Li Yan led the headquarters and Jiang Wei, the school captain of Xinghu Qiang, to enter Wangqu Valley.

After being paralyzed for several months, the defenseless Shenlang Qiang was suddenly attacked, unable to gather his tribe to fight, and was defeated with one touch.More than [-] people were killed before the battle, more than [-] were captured, and tens of thousands of cattle, sheep and horses were counted.

The heroes and commanders of the major tribes fled in a hurry, withdrew from Wangqu Valley completely, and headed west towards the mountains.

Along the way, messengers were sent to Huawai Zhongcunzhong Qiang in Cizhi Hequ to ask for help.

But I heard that Huawai Zhongcunzhong Qiang was also defeated by Ma Dai and Shaodang Qiang's joint army, with heavy casualties and no time to take care of themselves.

As a result, the morale of the various tribes of Shenlangzhong and Qiang was crushed.

Some small tribes were dragged down by the old and weak, women and children, and the retreat was too slow, so they deliberately delayed and sent people to surrender to the pursuing Li Yan's tribe.

Wu Yi, Liao Hua and other ministries who were rushed to surrender, were all sent back to Hanzhong County and registered as Dahan household registration.

Let the Shenlang Qiang with tens of thousands of households and nearly [-] ethnic groups in the past decline greatly.

Li Yan won the first battle, his morale was like a rainbow, and he chased after him.

They plan to meet up with Ma Dai at Xiqing Mountain.

On the other hand, Zheng Pu asked Zhang Ni to lead the Xuanwu army, and he leisurely took his followers and his wife Zhang Yan to Hanzhong County.

(End of this chapter)