Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 671 The Biggest Trouble

Outside the west gate of Luoyang City, a large group of cavalry were marching quickly.

The three young men, Ma Dai, Ma Xiu and Ma Tie, were all excited and whispering to each other, as if they had endless things to say.

"Luoyang City, this is Luoyang City, it is indeed magnificent and spectacular."

"It is said that Luoyang is the prosperous place of the Han Dynasty, a hundred times better than the bitter cold land of Xiliang. Now, just by looking at the towering city walls and the huge caravans that we see from time to time on the road, we can guess what it is. I am so excited just thinking about it."

"After arriving in Luoyang, I wonder if I can see the emperor? It is said that my father only met the current emperor once, who was a general at the time, outside Hulao Pass."

They were chatting fine before, but when Ma Tie suddenly mentioned Ma Teng, the mood of several people instantly dropped.

Pang De patted Ma Tie on the head: "You have such a big mouth..."

After taking the photo, his eyes drifted towards Ma Chao in front of him. When a few people looked over, they saw Ma Chao lowering his head, looking absent-minded, and obviously feeling sad.

"Ta Tata..."

A scout ran over quickly and came in front of Zhao Yun.

"General Zhao, your majesty has sent the Inspector General Cui Jun to meet you outside the city gate."

Zhao Yun was delighted: "Oh? It turned out to be Military Advisor Cui who came out to greet us personally."

He turned to Ma Chao and the others and said, "It seems that you all have great honor. Military Advisor Cui has been with Your Majesty for more than ten years and has a high status. There are only a handful of people who can be welcomed by him in person."

Pang De and others were also very excited, but Ma Chao still looked uninterested. Seeing this, Pang De secretly poked him from behind.

"Mengqi, we are about to enter the city, you can't be like this, it will be bad if His Majesty blames you."

Only then did Ma Chao wake up from his emotions.

The group soon arrived in front of the city gate, and sure enough, Cui Jun was waiting there with a team of ceremonial guards.

"You all have come from afar, and your Majesty wanted to go and greet you personally, but due to the busy state affairs, I sent you here instead. I hope you will not mind."

Seeing that Ma Chao was silent, Pang De had no choice but to step forward and return the greeting: "Captain Cui, you are so polite. Your Majesty, we are deeply grateful for your kindness."

Cui Jun looked at Ma Chao and saw that he looked gloomy and a little angry, so he walked over.

Pang De quickly poked Ma Chao again.

Cui Jun said, "This must be General Ma Teng's eldest son, Ma Chao. Your Majesty already knows everything about your father. Han Sui openly rebelled against the court, joined the treacherous officials of Yizhou, and killed General Ma with despicable means. This is not only Meng Qi's personal vendetta, but also the hatred of the court and the country. Your Majesty will send troops to attack him sooner or later. Meng Qi should cheer up, otherwise how can Your Majesty trust you to be the vanguard general?"

Ma Chao had been listless all the way, but Cui Jun's few words instantly cheered him up.

His eyes were filled with gratitude as he looked at Cui Jun.

"Thank you Captain Cui for your advice!"

Cui Jun nodded with a smile: "The boy is teachable. Let's go. His Majesty has been waiting in the palace for a long time. Let's go in quickly."

The group came to the palace and paid their respects to Liu He.

Liu He looked at Ma Chao and the other four and found that they were all very brave and heroic, which made him very satisfied.

"Back then, I met Shoucheng outside Hulao Pass. At that time, I pretended to be friendly with the thief Dong and secretly crossed Hangu Pass. Only Liu Xuande, Tao Gongzu, Kong Wenju and your father accompanied me. Your father was loyal to the court, and the world can testify to that. I didn't expect that he would be killed by Han Sui. It was really my fault."

After saying this, he sighed and bowed his head in silence.

Ma Chao and his companions were moved by his words, and feelings of sadness welled up in their hearts.

Ma Chao knelt down and kowtowed, begging: "Your Majesty, I beg you to send troops today to wipe out Han Sui! Ma Chao is willing to be a vanguard and charge into battle for Your Majesty. I will not return until I get the head of Han the thief!" "Your Majesty, please send troops to fight the thief!" Ma Dai and others also knelt down in unison.

"What are you all doing? Please stand up quickly." Liu He sat upright on the throne and stretched out his hand to support.

Ma Chao and his men knelt down and could not get up: "Your Majesty, please send troops!"

Liu He shook his head: "Han Sui is a traitor to the country. How can I not punish him? But now is not the right time. First, you are all injured. You have to wait until you recover before you can fight again. Second, the national treasury does not have enough food. If we want to fight again, we have to wait until the summer harvest this year to have enough food. Therefore, there is no rush for this matter."

"This..." Ma Chao and others also hesitated.

Cui Jun walked forward and helped them up personally.

"As the saying goes, sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood. Han Sui is just a rat. It would only take a snap of a finger to destroy him. Why rush?"

At this time, Liu He said: "Ma Chao, Pang De, come forward and listen to the order."

Hearing this, the two of them hurriedly took a step forward.

"General Ma Teng, the pacification general of the West, was a pillar of the country and had made many contributions. Now he has been killed by the rebels. I am extremely saddened. I have specially granted his eldest son, Ma Chao, the title of Marquis of Langshui Pavilion, and appointed him as the commander of the Wolf Cavalry. When we conquer Xiliang in the future, I will order you to be the vanguard."

Ma Chao accepted the order respectfully: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Pang De, you have protected the young master. Your loyalty and righteousness are commendable. I will promote you to the rank of Mighty Commandant."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Liu He nodded and said, "As for Ma Dai and the other two, they are still young, so they will not be given titles for the time being. But I can promise you that when we go west in the future, you three can be allowed to follow me in the battles. If you have made merit and return to the court, you will definitely be rewarded."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!"

After several people thanked him, Liu He waved his hand and said, "I have prepared a place for you to stay in the city. You can go down and rest first. The imperial physician will treat your injuries later."

After Ma Chao and his companions saluted, they bowed and withdrew.

As soon as they left, Liu He's face immediately turned cold.

"Han Sui is so bold that he thinks I can do nothing to him just because he is far away in the border of Xiliang. He even dares to rebel against the court and kill ministers. Humph, if I don't kill him, won't the dignity of the court be destroyed?"

Cui Jun said: "I agree with your majesty. Among the princes of the world, the rest are either submissive or frightened by your majesty's majesty and dare not act rashly. Only Liu Yan of Yizhou and Han Sui of Xiliang are openly opposing the court and should be killed."

"What Zhou Ping said is very true. Han Sui is now attached to Liu Yan. If we can kill him, we can deter the other princes who are willing to surrender to the pseudo court of Yizhou. Moreover, Yizhou is surrounded by mountains on all sides. If we want to attack Chengdu, there are only three routes to choose from. One can go south from Liangzhou and go to Qishan. Or go to Shangyong in Jingzhou and go west to Hanzhong. Or go up the river from Jiangling and take Ba County. Now Liu Biao of Jingzhou has submitted a letter to pledge his loyalty. Although he may not be sincere, it is not convenient to attack him. The only way is to capture Liangzhou and then go south to take Yizhou. Therefore, Han Sui must be destroyed."

"Well, Gongda's words are even more insightful. I wonder what good ideas the three of you have for sending troops to Xiliang?"

Liu He asked.

"Your Majesty..." Xun Yu stood up, "I think that Han Sui is nothing to be afraid of. Even if he annexed Ma Teng's people, he only had more than 100,000 soldiers under his command. Moreover, Ma Teng's people had just surrendered and their morale was unstable. However, Han Sui has been in close contact with many tribes in the Western Qiang for many years. If he unites with the Qiang soldiers, his strength will be greatly increased. I am afraid it will be difficult to win this battle. Moreover, since he has sworn to surrender to Liu Yan, in order to win over the other princes who are still hesitating, Liu Yan will probably send troops out of Sichuan to help. In this way, this minor problem has become a serious problem."

Liu He nodded slightly. "Well, Wen Ruo is right. The total number of soldiers and horses in Yizhou is less than 100,000, and only 20,000 to 30,000 can go out of Sichuan to assist Han Sui. The Western Qiang tribe is a bit troublesome. In the early years, Dong Zhuo and now Han Sui have had some dealings with many Qiang tribes. They have exchanged salt, iron, grain and other things with the Qiang tribes for war horses and strong men to join the army. Although the Qiang people are barbaric and uncivilized, they are mostly brave and spread out in all directions. They are familiar with the terrain and must be guarded against."

"Your Majesty's lesson."

Xun Yu said: "The Western Qiang are not like the Xiongnu and Xianbei. Although the latter are also tribes, they still have a leader to lead the tribes. Although they are relatively cohesive and therefore powerful, they can be pacified with just one victory. The Western Qiang has more than a hundred tribes, each of which is independent. The tribes are either hostile or united, and there is no unified leader. As a result, although their strength is not strong, it is extremely difficult to annihilate them because they are too scattered."

"In the past, when Emperor Xiaoxuan was in power, he had repeatedly attacked the Xianrong Qiang tribe, almost wiping them out. However, their descendants migrated to various places, and when Wang Mang was in power and the Central Plains had no time to take care of other things, they took advantage of the situation and rose up again. Later, they were defeated by General Fubo Ma Yuan. However, within a few decades, their tribes merged into other Qiang tribes, and then revived. Since the time of Emperor An of this dynasty, for nearly a hundred years, they have repeatedly invaded the border."

"In addition to the Xianling Qiang, there are also many other tribes such as the Shaodang Qiang, the Fa Qiang, the Zhong Qiang, the Lao Qiang, and the Shendi Qiang. They have all resisted our Central Plains Dynasty and were attacked. However, although they were defeated repeatedly by us, they were ultimately difficult to annihilate. Now the Western Qiang tribes are scattered in the Liangzhou area, in the mountains north of Yizhou, and some have fled to the Western Regions or hidden in the northern desert. Even the leaders of the major tribes may not know how many tribes and how many people there are in the Qiang people."

"That's why, apart from Han Sui himself, no one knows how many tribes he has allied with, and how many troops he can mobilize to help him if he makes a desperate move. The unknown is the most troublesome thing."

(End of this chapter)