I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 707: Su Yao's prestige spreads across the country, and the Hu people look up to him

"I'm coming!"

"The Huns are coming, get ready, everyone, get ready to fight!"

On the top of Dingyang County, County Magistrate Song looked at the advancing army, shouted loudly, was extremely nervous, and cursed his bad luck in his heart.

Magistrate Song was born into a merchant family and had no special abilities. However, compared to Su Yao, the young master of the Lin family from Hongnong, he was luckier as he happened to live in a time when Emperor Ling of Han publicly sold official positions. He bought a position of county magistrate with money in an attempt to change his background.

However, for Song, who was not from a noble or powerful family, his wealth was only enough to buy a county magistrate in a lower-class county.

At first he did not take it seriously, thinking it was just a remote mountainous area. As long as he could become the county magistrate, he would be in charge of the entire county. With his ability to manage finances, wouldn't it be easy for him to make back his investment?
However, reality was slightly different from his imagination.

The inferior county he bought turned out to be his Shangjun border area where the Hu and Qiang peoples lived together!
This is simply unbelievable. Not to mention the complicated local customs and the increasingly severe Qiang rebellion in recent years, he would have to hang his head on his belt to be an official here!
County Magistrate Song kept cursing that he had been deceived, but this was actually the norm.

Naturally, the official positions in those good places have long been monopolized by the aristocratic families, and he cannot buy them even if he has money.

Only people in troublesome places like this who hate dogs would take them out and buy them for ignorant people like them.

Such a model can certainly solve temporary financial concerns, but these people who bought their way to power have occupied the places where capable people are most needed to govern, which in turn worsens the situation on the border.

This is the case with people like County Magistrate Song.

When he took office, he found the situation in the area so bad. In order to leave alive, County Magistrate Song had plundered the people's wealth, persecuted the Hu and Qiang people, and bribed the imperial court in recent years. Not to mention getting further promotion, he wanted to be transferred away from this hellhole.

Originally, he had used his connections with the eunuchs, paid the money, and was promised to be transferred to Guandong in the next term.

As a result, after the eunuchs fell and He Jin came to power, he abolished all practices of buying official positions. The matter of County Magistrate Song was shelved and remained there.

Later, when Dong Zhuo came to power, he knew that Dong Zhuo was also a greedy and lustful person, so he started to plunder him again in an attempt to seek advancement.

Who would have thought that before the foreplay was even over and the money was even raised, the Huns would come knocking on our door?
It's over. It's over.

Am I finally going to die here?
Not willing, not willing.

I spent so much money, but I didn’t even have a single day of good life. I’m going to die at the hands of these barbarians?
County Magistrate Song was filled with despair. He stood on the city wall, looking at the Hun army approaching in the distance, his legs shaking constantly.

However, just when he thought everything was over, an unexpected turn of events occurred.

"County Magistrate Song, don't panic!"

At this moment, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in the ears of County Magistrate Song.

County Magistrate Song turned around suddenly and saw a tall figure in armor standing behind him. It was the county lieutenant of Dingyang County - Li Gan.

"Li County Lieutenant, why are you here?"

County Magistrate Song looked shocked.

He had always had a bad relationship with the county lieutenant, and the two of them often competed for power in the county.

Unexpectedly, County Captain Li would appear on the city wall at this critical moment.

Li Gan naturally knew what Magistrate Song was thinking, but he didn't care. He just laughed and cupped his hands and said:
"Song County Magistrate, the Xiongnu are making a big fuss about their southward advance. As soon as I heard about this, I immediately led my troops to support us and ensure that Dingyang is safe!"

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Song cursed in his heart, knowing that this guy was trying to steal the credit.

However, is this Hun army easy to deal with?

Want to take credit, don't you consider whether you have the life or not?

"I see that the county lieutenant is calm and composed. Do you have any good plan to repel the enemy?"

Li Xianwei laughed:
"Don't worry, Magistrate Song. I have already sent someone to notify the county governor and also sent someone to Chang'an to ask for help."

"As long as we can hold on for a few days, reinforcements will arrive!"

"How many days can we hold out? Lieutenant Li, do you know how many soldiers the Xiongnu have? Can we hold out with such a small number of people?"

County Magistrate Song's face turned pale. He felt that the county lieutenant in front of him was a fool.

The Hun army is said to have a force of 100,000. Our small county has few soldiers and generals. At most, we can't even muster a thousand soldiers. How can we resist?

Even County Magistrate Song had actually considered surrendering to the enemy, but he didn't know the details of these Huns, so he hadn't had time to act.

When County Lieutenant Li saw his cowardly look, he laughed again.

Li Gan is different from Song Xiang who bought an official position. He once served as a county lieutenant in Youzhou and has combat experience:

"Don't panic, magistrate."

"You don't know military skills, but I do."

"The Xiongnu claim to have 100,000 soldiers, but I'm afraid they don't even have 20,000 or 30,000."

"There are many ravines and ditches on our side, so it will be difficult for them to gather together. Not to mention that the Hu cavalry have never had any way to attack the city. We just need to guard the city wall, close the gates, and wait for support from the rear."

Chang'an is not far from here, and Dong Zhuo has just arrived with a large army.

The Huns had traveled a long way on the expedition, and it was impossible for them to bring any siege equipment with them as they passed through the mountains and ravines.

It was actually not difficult for them to defend the city and wait for help.

Unless Dong Zhuo is out of his mind and refuses to send reinforcements.

Otherwise, by the time the Huns had developed suitable siege weapons, reinforcements would have already arrived. This was simply a free gift of military merit.

County Magistrate Li has already begun to imagine himself performing bravely and being rewarded for his great achievements.

Seeing the incompetence of County Magistrate Song, County Lieutenant Li took over the responsibility of city defense. He skillfully ordered the soldiers to prepare weapons such as arrows, rolling logs and stones, and to mobilize more citizens in the city to help defend the city.

This was his successful experience in Youzhou.

The most effective way to deal with nomadic cavalry who lack siege means is to mobilize all the people in the city and use the city walls and all available materials for defense.

Li Gan knew that although the Xiongnu were brave, their siege capabilities were not strong. In the absence of heavy siege equipment, it was difficult for them to pose a substantial threat to the solid city walls.

Therefore, Li Gan decided to take a defensive stance and use the height and solidity of the city walls to resist the Huns' attack.

He ordered the defenders to pile logs, stones and other supplies on the city walls, ready to throw them at the enemies below at any time.

At the same time, he also organized an archery team composed of civilians, and asked them to take turns shooting on the city walls to consume the Huns' manpower.

However, Lieutenant Li did not know that there was an important loophole in his decision.

He relied too much on past experience and did not consider the differences between the two places.

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The next night, the Huns surrounded the city and the cold wind was howling.

When Lieutenant Li had just finished inspecting the city defenses and confirmed that the Huns had no means of attacking the city, he fell asleep peacefully.

In his dream, Lieutenant Li saw himself overpowering Magistrate Song and displaying his prowess.

Those stupid Hun cavalrymen lined up at the foot of the city and were shot to death one by one by the archers he mobilized.

County Lieutenant Li laughed heartily, feeling very proud.

However, just as his beautiful dream reached its climax, a huge riot broke out in Dingyang County.

"Oh no!"

"Li County Lieutenant, please wake up, wake up!"

"There are a lot of people rebelling in the city, and now everything is in chaos!"

Li Xianwei was awakened by the urgent shouting and sat up suddenly, with a bit of warmth from the dream still on his face.
"What? Someone is rebelling? How is this possible?!" County Lieutenant Li widened his eyes in disbelief.

"It's absolutely true!"

The guards rushed in, looking extremely nervous:
"Those mixed Hu people, Qiang people, and many civilians, they were instigated by someone unknown, and suddenly rioted and are attacking our defenders. The situation is out of control. The city gate, the city gate is about to collapse!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xianwei suddenly felt an ominous premonition in his heart.

It was not until then that he finally reacted and realized that the border area of ​​Shangjun could not be compared with Youzhou.

The counties where he stayed in Youzhou were mainly inhabited by Han people, who mobilized the people to unite and resist the Xianbei. Even though there were still a small number of Wuhuan tribes, most of them had grudges against the Xianbei and were loyal servants of the Han Dynasty.

But here in Shangjun, the situation is quite different.

This is the border area between agriculture and animal husbandry. It is a plateau with gullies everywhere. Primitive agricultural production is difficult, and the pastoral area accounts for a much larger proportion than the farming area.

However, due to years of war, the Han people retreated and the Hu people advanced. The proportion of Han people in local counties and prefectures is less than 20%. Even in the county town, the proportion of Han people is less than half.

Those mixed Hu, Xiongnu, and Qiang people can be seen everywhere.

When County Magistrate Li mobilized the people, he inevitably needed to mobilize these people.

Although he had deliberately reduced its size and kept a strict watch on the Huns, these people were immediately instigated by Su Yao's deliberate management.

This time, the person who made the contribution was the first businessman to follow Su Yao, the Fufeng horse dealer - Ma Jia.

When Su Yao left Bingzhou, he was ordered to manage the trade between the Han area and the grassland.

Due to Su Yao's previous active performance, the new Xiongnu king Yufuluo gave him the green light. Not only was his caravan tax-free, but he even had special Xiongnu riders to protect his safety.

As a result, Ma Jia's trade routes expanded very smoothly, and his sphere of influence was no longer limited to a corner.

Dingyang County, as a Han-Xiongnu border where Hu and Han people lived together, was naturally infiltrated by him early on.

Many of the local Hu and Qiang people were even those who were driven here during the great grassland war.

When these people heard that General Su Yao's army was coming, they responded immediately without any hesitation.

Led by the staff of the Ma Jia Trading Company, they launched a massive rebellion that night.

By the time Lieutenant Li realized what was happening and led his men to rush out and reach the city gate, everything was over.

The Xiongnu army led by Zhang Liao and Yu Furuo was swarming in and crushing his feeble resistance in an instant.

Lieutenant Li looked at the surging Hun army, his face as pale as paper, his heart filled with despair and powerlessness.

"It's over, everything is over..." He muttered to himself, his legs felt as heavy as lead and he could hardly move.

The defenders at the city gate had already been defeated by the rebellious Hu and Qiang people and the Xiongnu soldiers. They fled in all directions, some were hacked down in a pool of blood, and some threw down their weapons and surrendered.

County Lieutenant Li just watched everything happen, and then was swallowed up by the torrent without making a sound.

(End of this chapter)