The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 593 Decisive Betrayal
"Mr. Yang!"

At this moment in Yongzhou, Ma Long led the generals out to meet Yang Zong.

At this moment, Ma Long has completely inherited Deng Ai's legion, and Deng Ai's legion has become Ma Long's legion.

Ma Long's way of commanding the army was completely different from Deng Ai's. Relying on his past military achievements, he quickly gained the respect of his soldiers.

At this moment, Yang Zong stepped down from the carriage, still holding the Emperor's Festival in his hand. Ma Long hurriedly led everyone to pay their respects to him.

Yang Zong looked at the people in front of him, and his gaze finally fell on Ma Long.

"General Ma, please stand up."

Yang Zong smiled and helped Ma Long up. Ma Long was a little surprised because he was not that familiar with this Mr. Yang.

Yang Zong was very natural, as if he had seen an old friend.

"His Majesty is always thinking about you. Why don't you write him a letter in reply?"

Yang Zong did not behave as arrogantly as usual. He was particularly close to Ma Long, holding his hand and talking about things in the palace.

The generals around looked at each other in confusion.

There was something wrong with the look he gave Ma Long.

Ma Long has a big disadvantage, and that is his background.

It can even be said that in the entire Wei Dynasty, he was probably the only general with a bad background.

Wang Ji, Yang Hu, Hu Zun, Guanqiu Jian, even Deng Ai, Zhuge Dan, in short, if you look over and over again at the generals of the entire Wei Dynasty, you will not find many who were born into commoner families.

Even Ma Long could not be said to be of common origin. He came from a wealthy family, but such an origin was not impressive enough in front of the children of these big families.

Shi Bao, who also came from a wealthy family, was a head taller than him, after all, he had more qualifications.

When Yang Zong finished speaking, several generals who looked down on Ma Long in their hearts also put away their arrogance.

No matter how big a family is, it is not bigger than having the emperor's support.

I thought this guy just happened to have made military achievements, but I didn't expect that he was so close to Your Majesty?
Yang Zong smiled and asked, "How are you here? Your Majesty has heard that Yongliang's generals are very brave and arrogant, and you are very concerned about this matter. How are you? Have you, your brave general, suffered any harm?"

Ma Long smiled and looked at the generals around him. He said seriously, "Let Lord Yang know that these generals are all brave and skilled warriors. They obey orders and never violate them. They work diligently. I will personally write to Your Majesty to commend them for their achievements."

Many generals laughed and saluted hurriedly, "No, it's all thanks to the general!"

Only then did Ma Long ask everyone to guard outside the door, and he took Yang Zong's hand intimately and walked into the tent.

The two of them obviously had something private to discuss.

The generals were standing not far away, looking at each other for a few seconds in silence.

After entering the tent, the smiles on Yang Zong and Ma Long's faces disappeared at the same time. Ma Long quickly let go of his hand and saluted Yang Zong very seriously.

"Thank you, Mr. Yang."

Yang Zong shook his head and asked calmly, "How is the situation here?"

"Everything is fine."

"Gather your men and follow me. I'm here for something very important."

Ma Long quickly said, "What do you need me to do?"

"Search the house and arrest the traitors."

Yang Zong's words were very simple and clear, and Ma Long did not ask any more questions. Yang Zong was sent by the emperor, so it didn't matter who the traitor was. Whoever the emperor said was a traitor was a traitor!

Soon, Yang Zong and Ma Long walked out of this place again. Ma Long did not dare to delay for a moment, and hurriedly summoned his elite cavalry, and named several generals to lead the troops to follow him.

Yang Zong got in the car, and the group left in a mighty manner.

From the time Yang Zong arrived here until now, Yang Zong has not contacted Zhuge Xu and others.

They headed straight for their first stop, which was Xiping.

Ma Long's army could move freely in and out of Yongliang and other places. As long as Ma Long was there, even the governor could not interfere in his affairs.

When they arrived in Xiping in a mighty procession, they saw someone blocking the road.

Ma Long was furious and was about to ride forward, but Yang Zong stopped him.

Yang Zong narrowed his eyes and looked at the man in official uniform in front of him. There were several minor officials following him.

The man stepped forward and saluted, "But is Yang Gong here in person?"

Yang Zong asked, "Who are you?"

"Xiping County Magistrate Yuan Xian pays his respects to Lord Yang!"

Yang Zong uttered an "oh," "Why are you blocking this road? Do you know what I'm holding in my hand? Do you know what crime this is?"

Yang Zong is now holding the imperial seal, so he can stop Ma Long and Yang Zong, but blocking the emperor's imperial seal is a serious crime.

Even if Ma Long just went up and hacked him to death, it wouldn't be unfair!
Yuan Xian bowed again and said, "I plead guilty, but before you punish me, Lord Yang, please allow me to state my reasons."

"You say it."

Yuan Xian took a deep breath and spoke with a tearful voice, "Lord Yang, there are people under my rule who are openly violating the law, but I can do nothing about them."

Yang Zong asked knowingly, "Oh? Who is it?"

"I really don't dare to say it!" "Just say it!"

"It's the Guo family, the great Xiping clan! They're also the relatives of the current Queen Mother!"

Yang Zong looked a little surprised. He scolded, "How dare you! How dare you, a member of the Queen Mother's family, do something that goes against the law? Are you framing me?"

When Yuan Xian heard Yang Zong's question, he knew he had made the right decision.

After Yuan Xian found that he could not communicate with Guo Feng, he decided to risk his life to intercept Yang Zong who was investigating the matter. It didn't matter what the cost, the important thing was not to let his clan suffer with this idiot.

And looking at Yang Zong's posture, the emperor is holding the imperial seal and leading the highest local military generals plus thousands of elite soldiers. You still say that you are not here to attack the big clan?

If they were closer, they could have fought a war with the State of Wu on this scale.

Yuan Xian quickly spoke up, "I dare not speak nonsense, Lord Yang. I have evidence here. The Guo family captured those exiled Qiang and Hu people and made them their own slaves, which is against the law."

Yang Zong frowned and said nothing.

Yuan Xian quickly handed him a pile of documents and said, "Here are the details of those people and where they live. I can take you there now."

Yang Zong didn't move at all.

Didn't even reach out to take the evidence.

"How dare you, Mr. Yuan, talk nonsense? What do the powerful Guo family and the Queen Mother's relatives need these Hu slaves for? It's clearly you who are talking nonsense!!"

Yang Zong scolded and ordered his men to go forward and arrest the man.

Yuan Xian was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

He quickly said, "Lord Yang, what I said is true. The Guo family used these barbarians to take the public land distributed by the temple and took it for themselves!"

Yang Zong's reaction just now seemed to indicate that he felt the crime was not comprehensive enough.

Yuan Xian quickly attacked with another blow.

Yang Zong was very angry. He sneered and asked, "Does the Guo family lack such money and farmland?!"

At this moment, Yuan Xian was a little confused.

What on earth are you here for?
Aren’t you here to deal with the Guo family?

Just now you felt that the crime was not serious enough, why now?
Looking at the bewildered Yuan Xian, Yang Zong narrowed his eyes and said, "I came here because I heard that someone was gathering the Hu soldiers and attempting to rebel."

Yuan Xian suddenly began to tremble.

He now knew why. This wasn't to punish the Guo family, this was to destroy them!
What about annexing public land? What he wants is evidence of Guo family's rebellion!

Could the empress dowager's relatives also be involved in the rebellion?

Yuan Xian was suddenly a little panicked at this moment, but he was also glad for his behavior today.

Based on Yang Zong's idea, if he really waited for himself to verify it, he would probably be labeled as an accomplice of the rebel!

Yuan Xian remembered the old man's face and immediately stopped hesitating.

"Mr. Yang! I don't know the specifics, but I do know that the Guo family recruited a large number of Hu cavalry, purchased a large amount of ironware, and even bought war horses at a low price."

Yuan Xian was not talking nonsense. After these Hu people were relocated, the property they left behind became a hot commodity and everyone was scrambling to get it.

The most precious of these were their war horses.

In Liangzhou, livestock are not that precious, but war horses are precious everywhere, even in Liangzhou.

The purpose of purchasing ironware was to provide the Hu people with agricultural tools and other things.

But when you look at these actions together, it is undoubtedly a rebellion.

Yuan Xian said seriously: "I have some evidence!"

Yang Zong nodded in satisfaction. "As a county magistrate, you are very courageous for pointing out the Queen Mother's relatives. I heard that the previous Han Dynasty had a strong magistrate. I think you are almost as good as him!"

Hearing Yang Zong's praise, Yuan Xian thanked him again and again, but he felt extremely bitter in his heart.

What kind of strong order is this? This will seriously offend the Empress Dowager and her family.

However, I had reminded them before, but they didn't appreciate it, so don't blame me.

It is better to offend the Queen Mother than to be executed directly.

It would be fine if I was just arrested and questioned, but such a thing could easily involve my clan, which would be more trouble than gain.

Yang Zong immediately ordered Yuan Xian to take him to obtain physical evidence, and at the same time asked Ma Long to prepare to attack the rebels.

It can be seen that Yuan Xian had indeed prepared a lot of things. When Ma Long surrounded the county town inside and outside, Yang Zong also obtained a lot of evidence from him.

Afterwards, Yuan Xian led the generals under Ma Long to the gathering place of those Hu people, and captured all the evidence!

It was only at this time that the Guo family discovered something unusual in the city.

Everyone in the upper and lower levels was in a panic. Guo Feng hurriedly sent someone to find County Magistrate Yuan to ask him about the matter.

But the people he sent out never returned.

Just as Guo Feng was angrily cursing the county magistrate, someone finally came to visit him.

The person who came to visit was the County Magistrate Yuan whom he wanted to find. Unfortunately, Yuan Xian did not come alone. He was accompanied by Yang Zong, General Anxi Ma Long and his four thousand elite cavalry.

(End of this chapter)