Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1072: The War in the West Begins
Northwest, Liangzhou, Wudu County, Xiabian City.

This seemingly small city is the seat of Wudu County and also the northern boundary of the Qinling Mountains that stretch across Sichuan and Shu. To the east, south, and west of Xiabian City are endless mountains. Only the location of the county seat is a plain. Going north, it is flat land.

In recent years, under the leadership of Guan Yu and Cui Jun, the bandit problem in Liangzhou was almost completely quelled, and the Qiang people's scourge that had plagued the Han Dynasty for more than a hundred years was also basically settled. More than 40% of the Qiang tribes had accepted Liu He's enthronement and moved to the cities or towns of the Han Dynasty to accept the Han Dynasty's education, and most of the rest had also joined in trade.

Among the tribes that migrated into the Han area, those who learned Chinese quickly and had skills in farming, weaving, pottery, forging, etc., or those who had not yet learned these skills but had already married Han men, could take the household registration certificates issued by the government to the specially allocated states and counties, receive houses and land, and live the same life as the Han people.

Of course, before all this "good life" happened, that is, during the "education" process, all Qiang people had to perform labor in various places in Liangzhou, building city walls, official roads, and various water conservancy facilities in exchange for daily necessities, until they could obtain household registration and become citizens of the Han Dynasty.

In just a few years, more than 500,000 Qiang people were assigned to Ji, You, Bing, Si, Liang and other places to engage in various jobs. Of course, there were also many strong people who were recruited into the various armies.

Most of the leaders of these tribes were supported by Guan Yu and others. These leaders accepted Liu He's appointment as officials. The trustworthy ones assisted Cui Jun in governing the local areas, and those who were not so reliable would naturally be brought to Luoyang and granted a title. Like Budugen of the Xianbei, they lived out their lives in the capital. Although their power was not as great as before, the comfortable life that they had never dared to imagine before made it difficult for them to feel any dissatisfaction.

After all, most people are greedy for comfort. If he now shows that he is unwilling to live a comfortable life, it just means that he feels that he does not have the conditions for comfort yet.

In addition to the Qiang people, many small Xianbei and Xiongnu tribes also joined. In addition, after the war gradually subsided, a large amount of wasteland and a large amount of construction work attracted no less than one million Han people to come here in search of opportunities to settle down. Many people who had originally entered the mountains to become savages, removed their household registration, and tried to escape the heavy taxes of the former imperial court also went down the mountain.

Therefore, the population of Liangzhou today has nearly doubled compared to the period of Ma Teng and Han Sui.

The Han people were naturally happy to see this happen and did not think there was anything wrong with living in the same city with the Hu people.

After all, their cities, houses, and roads were all built very delicately and solidly by the Qiang people under the command of court craftsmen. A lot of farmland had been reclaimed outside the city, half of which belonged to the cultivators, and the other half was assigned to the court and distributed by the government. To some extent, the Han people could be said to have reaped the benefits.

After the population explosion, the number of troops stationed in Liangzhou also increased accordingly.

Under Liu He's instructions, Guan Yu has never stopped recruiting soldiers in Liang Province in recent years. The Liang Province Legion has grown to 250,000 people, including more than 220,000 armored soldiers. Only about 30,000 newly recruited soldiers within a year have not yet received their own armor.

Among them, 150,000 were deployed in Jiuquan, Dunhuang, Zhangye, Wuwei and Beidi to guard against possible new enemies in the north and to deter the countries in the Western Regions. After all, although the Southern Xiongnu had been destroyed, the Northern Xiongnu were still rampant on the grasslands northwest of the Han Dynasty, making the small countries in the Western Regions terrified.

The remaining 100,000 troops were deployed in Wudu County to guard against Liu Yan in Xichuan.

Since Guan Yu and Cui Jun returned to Luoyang, the general in charge of Liangzhou was General Zhang Liao.

On this day, Zhang Liao was practicing martial arts in the training ground as usual. In his hand, he wielded a hook-and-scythe as if it were his arm, with great flexibility, which was completely different from Guan Yu's vigorous Spring and Autumn swordsmanship.

"Good!" A military general who looked to be about 27 or 28 years old clapped his hands and praised.

"Huh..." Zhang Liao stood still, let out a long breath, and put the sickle back on the weapon rack.

"General, your swordsmanship has become even more perfect. In my Liangzhou army, besides General Guan, you, General Zhang, are the most skilled in martial arts."

As the young general spoke, he handed over a warm, wet towel.

Zhang Liao took the towel and wiped his face, sighing, "Hey, no matter how good I am at swordsmanship, what's the use? Now that the land of Xichui is so peaceful, I'm afraid that the black and yellow sickle given by Your Majesty will soon get rusty."

The young general was also a little dissatisfied when he heard this: "I heard from the imperial envoy that the armies of Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Jian have been fighting with Your Majesty and General Guan for many days outside Hulao Pass. It is such a rare opportunity to make merit, but General Guan chose not to take us with him and only took Zhou Yuan and his men. He is really biased."

Zhang Liao's face darkened. "Shut up. General Guan is a god-like man. How can you slander him? As long as Liu Yan is still alive, it is only natural for us to stay here. Although I also want to kill the enemy and gain merit, the court has an order. As soldiers, how can we harbor resentment and disrupt the morale of the army behind the scenes?"

The general quickly apologized: "I spoke without thinking, please forgive me, General."

Zhang Liao then gave up: "Okay, after dinner, I will show you some sword skills and feel refreshed. Go, prepare some hot water, I want to take a bath." When he was about to turn around and leave, a soldier came running in from outside.

"General Zhang, the scouts have urgent military intelligence to report."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Liao hurried forward and snatched the urgent document from the man's hand.

After looking at it for a few times, he laughed out loud, looking very happy.

"General, what makes you so happy?" The young general was puzzled.

Zhang Liao's eyes widened as he looked into the distance. "Hmph, that old villain Liu Yan has indeed sent out his troops. Two days ago, a large army suddenly appeared in Hanzhong, and the name of their banner was 'Zhang'."

"Zhang Ren, the most famous general in Sichuan?"

"Yes, it must be him." Zhang Liao seemed eager to try: "Back then, this fellow ambushed and killed General Ma Chao, and almost let him succeed. Later, he fought with General Zhang Yong to a near draw. This bastard used this to become famous and powerful. Humph, today, I, Zhang Liao, will get the advantage."

"Somebody come!"

"The end will be here."

"Send the order. In half an hour, we will go to the tent to discuss matters. Tell the soldiers that it is time for us to perform meritorious deeds."

In Hanzhong, in Nanzheng City, Zhang Ren and Yan Yan were on the city wall, looking into the distance. Although it was already night, under the shining of the stars, the outlines of the distant mountains were still vaguely visible.

"General Zhang, I have been waiting in Hanzhong for two days. Why haven't you sent troops to attack Wudu yet?"

Yan Yan stroked his white beard, full of doubts.

Zhang Ren smiled calmly, "Although Xiabian City is small, it has been managed like an iron barrel by Guan Yu and Cui Jun for many years. Moreover, the road to Wudu is difficult and dangerous, and it is easy to be ambushed. Our army has no advantage in manpower, and we have no chance of winning if we take the initiative to attack."

Yan Yan was also a veteran who had spent half his life in the military, and he immediately understood the hidden meaning in his words.

"You mean... to let the enemy attack Hanzhong? But Guan Yu is not in the army now, I'm afraid they will focus on defense and won't attack easily, right?"

Zhang Ren shook his head: "If it was half a month ago, it would be so, but now, it is different."

"Oh? How is it different?"

"In the army under Liu He, military merit has always been the foundation of one's career. Without military merit, even if they are descendants of Liu He, Gao Shun, Guan Yu, etc., it is difficult for them to hold high positions, let alone be recognized by the generals in the army. However, those who have military merit, even if they are from the countryside, refugees, or beggars, can rise to prominence and become famous generals."

Yan Yan nodded slightly: "Yes, I have heard about this a long time ago. The enemy soldiers are all brave and brave, fighting with their lives, and there are many reasons for this."

"Hmph..." Zhang Ren sneered: "Although this can greatly improve the fighting spirit of the soldiers, it also has disadvantages."

"Oh? What do you mean?" Yan Yan asked.

"It's very simple. The soldiers are full of enthusiasm because they want to make achievements. Since they are eager to make achievements, how can they not attack when they see the enemy in front of them? Although Zhang Liao is not a reckless man, he should be able to act calmly in normal times, but now the battle in Luoyang is raging, seeing that everyone else has made great achievements, they can only sit here and do nothing. Hehe, even if Zhang Liao can bear it, I'm afraid that the 100,000 Liangzhou soldiers and horses will not be able to bear it either..."

(End of this chapter)