Three Kingdoms

If a person from the Han Dynasty travels to later generations, let’s not talk about whether he knows all kinds of new artifacts. Just talking about place names, it is estimated that there are many places that people in the Han Dynasty will not know where they are. But only from Chang’an Starting from this line all the way to the west, he can see the familiar Tianshui and Longxi at a glance. Going further north, he may hesitate for a while when he reaches Lanzhou, but he can quickly recognize it from the words between the lines on the street. Jincheng.

Then go northwest and enter the Hexi Corridor. What the Han people see is even more familiar and friendly. Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang are all important cities in the eyes of the emperors and soldiers of the Han Dynasty. Their status is comparable to Shenzhen and Xiongan in later generations. It is an important window for economic, cultural and commercial exchanges between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions.

These place names not only highlight the martial arts and military might in the light and shadow of swords, but also echo the sound of camel bells in the lonely smoke of the desert.

Dunhuang, Wuwei, Jiuquan, and Zhangye. The names of the four places combined together are probably the shortest and most vivid description of the history of the Han Dynasty's campaign against the Xiongnu.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was quite talented in this area, and he knew best how to use place names to show the prestige of the Han Dynasty.

So there was Zhangye with "Zhang Guo's Arms", and there was also a Jiuquan to celebrate the victory in the battle.

There is also the "grand and glorious" Dunhuang, the youngest Wuwei among the four counties in Hexi, which was established in the reign of Emperor Xuan after Emperor Wu. The meaning is also very straightforward, showing the martial arts and military power of the Han Dynasty. Wuwei's county governor Gu Zang is translated from Hu language, and it suddenly reminds people of Gusu in the south of the Yangtze River in later generations.

But what is very embarrassing is that in today's big man, this route that should be full of glory and splendor, and even poetic and picturesque, has exposed many problems...

Because of the weak governance of the Han Dynasty and some stupid and helpless practices, neither the Han officials nor even the Han emperor took it seriously in the areas that the Han soldiers finally conquered. To treat, govern, and improve it, on the contrary, it is to forcibly relocate the criminals in the country to these areas.

Even for strategic considerations, ordinary people from the mainland were forcibly relocated here, resulting in the apparent and potential "criminals" in these areas becoming the main source of population in these areas.

So, naturally, rebellion broke out.

In the process of repeatedly losing, regaining, losing again, and regaining again, the big man's outstretched hand was dripping with blood, and many of his original ambitions were also wasted under such circumstances. In addition, the Eastern Han Dynasty set its capital in Luoyang, which further deviated from this area, causing the entire Han Dynasty to shift its focus to the east. There was less and less attention to the west, and some even suggested cutting it off altogether.

My arm was injured. In order to stop bleeding, I just cut it off without saying a word?

Although General Hussar had brought the Western Region back to the territory of the Han Dynasty, this connection line was still weak. This time, the military operation launched by Jia Xu, Zhang Liao and others was aimed at this problem.

Corruption in a region often has the characteristics of a region.

For example, where there are many minerals, there may be more transactions involving mineral rights and money, and where finance is prosperous, there will naturally be more corrupt officials because of finance. And here, in the Hexi Corridor area, most of the corrupt officials are also pointing in the same direction, coming and going. commerce...

After all, the Han Dynasty does not have the convenient means of photography and recording as in later generations, so many things can only be understood through oral narration, so some checkpoints such as "Find out the problem no matter what", "Ten cars" However, taxes and customs charges for twenty vehicles are constantly growing, and many officials' bellies look more and more like pregnant women.

The problem in Linjing is just a small point, but the phenomenon reflected is a line and a surface.

what to do?

Does squeezing a blackhead count as treatment?

Or can it just be treated as a cleansing of the world and clean on the surface?

Obviously, Jia Xu did not want such a superficial result and made such a perfunctory treatment.

Jia Xu was about to operate to remove all the rotten lesions on the Hexi Corridor. The knife used to remove the carrion was Zhang Liao, and the suture thread was Han Guo.

As for Jia Xu himself...

The first cut was smooth. With a relaxed attitude, Zhang Liao captured a Wubao on the outskirts of Wuwei, Zeng's Wubao, and then marched into the depths of Wuwei County.

Although controlling a big city means controlling this area to a certain extent, this is not the case in reality. There are various stubborn forces in the vast land around the city. Only by clearing out these forces can the Hexi Corridor be completely settled...

Of course, this is why these powerful Qiang commanders feel that they have the ability to challenge Jia Xu, Zhang Liao, and even the Hussars generals. During the battles of the Western Qiang Rebellion, the Qiang people would always appear inexplicably and then disappear inexplicably. This had a lot to do with the fact that the Han army did not fully understand the Hexi Corridor and did not thoroughly clean up the area.

Before Jia Xu, some people suggested that we should pay attention to the Hexi Corridor. Some people said that this corridor was of great significance. It could not only ensure a stable connection between the center of the empire and the border, but also allow for commercial exchanges and even the development of the Western Regions.

Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the garrison in the Hexi Corridor and eliminate the regular and irregular horse thieves who always appear in the middle area, but there has been no success.

Those who offer suggestions do not have decision-making power, those who do have decision-making power feel that there is no benefit, and those who have benefits only want to preserve existing interests. As for military operations with disproportionate input and output, haha, it is enough, but it is really meaningless. Therefore, the Hexi Corridor is just like many other Han territories that suddenly disappeared. Some officials did not know, did not understand, intentionally or unintentionally, and they were hidden in the black mist...

Nowadays, ferns can still be seen on the Loess Plateau, so the Hexi Gobi is not as desolate as it was in later generations. It can even be said that it is still a very good livestock area. Therefore, there are also many Qiang people here.

Although it had been a day's journey, the soldiers were still very energetic. They had already set up camp before it was completely dark, and were preparing to cook dinner. Although not every soldier can understand the significance of opening up territory and expanding territory, gaining one's own merits from such actions and then improving the living conditions of oneself and his family is something that every soldier can truly feel.

Every soldier is gearing up, looking forward to following Zhang Liao and fighting another exciting victory. In the minds of these soldiers, there are still many people who think that the horse thieves to be dealt with are really horse thieves...

In this marginal area that had never been carefully depicted on the Han map, the tricolor flag fluttered slowly.

Many people think that the Hexi Corridor has mountains to the southwest and desert to the northeast, so it is a straight road. However, in fact, the desert to the north is not as desolate as it was in later generations. The area covered with yellow sand is also far away due to vegetation. Less than the hereafter.

Just like Loulan, it was a prosperous city in ancient times, but in later generations, it became a wreck in the yellow sand.

North of Wuwei, in the desert, there are many unknown oases in such areas. These oases may also be like Loulan, which lost its original water source due to the diversion of underground rivers during an earthquake, so that Withered and abandoned.

There are good and bad oases, big and small. Among these oases, there is one called Hana, which means purity in the Qiang language, describing the oasis water here as extremely pure.

Of course, only wealthy people can live and enjoy an oasis like this.

Just like Beigong.

Beigong is the descendant of Beigong Boyu. Beigong is the surname and Boyu is the given name, so Beigong Boyu is actually called Beigong Zhang.

The current Beigong is also called Beigong Zhang.

Among the habits of the Qiang people or Hu people, there is a custom of adding the name of their father, grandfather, or tribe to their own name. Therefore, in fact, Beigong's name is very long, so it is still referred to as Beigong. Forget it.

When Han Sui was still called Han Yue, the previous generation Beigong believed Han Yue's lies. Well, maybe Han Yue was telling the truth at that time, but later Han Yue became Han Sui, and the words changed. It was just a lie, so much so that he was killed by Han Sui, which caused a great loss in strength and had to retreat into the desert. But now, after a period of repair, the Beigong tribe has regained some vitality.

And because of this incident, Beigong decided that none of the Han people were good. If you want to believe a Han person's mouth, it is better to believe in a ghost...

Beigong didn't believe Zeng Dahu, but he only listened to it a little bit because of the chain of interests.

Therefore, after the party, Beigong dispatched manpower to investigate the actual situation.

The investigators came back, and a Qiang-headed man who had obtained the information walked into Beigong's tent, with a flattering smile on his face, "Nobleman Beigong..."

Beigong raised his eyes, took a quick look, and asked, "What's the news?" 』

"Reporting to you, noble man..." the Qiang-headed man said, "Our people secretly followed the traces of the Han people on the tricolor flag to check... and now they are back..."

"oh? How many Han people came this time? ” asked Beigong.

"About two to three thousand people..." the Qiang head man said, and then hesitated, "Because the wind has been strong these two days, some of the traces on the ground have been blown away, so it is not easy to calculate clearly... However, it should be about the same. Last time Isn’t that the same number of people in Zengjiawu Fort? 』

Beigong nodded slightly, then thought deeply.

Two to three thousand people is a number that is neither too big nor too small, but seems to be more appropriate.

Although it is said that more people are more powerful, more people will make it cumbersome, and the requirements for the overall march will be higher. Two to three thousand people have a relatively good striking power and full flexibility.

However, do the Han people with the tricolor flag really think that just two to three thousand people can solve all problems?

The Hexi Corridor is rich in oil and water, and no one will give up easily, even if the Cavalry General personally leads the army...

Well, I'll think about it then.

Now it only has a scale of two to three thousand people. If everyone is too scared to play, how can we convince the public in the future?

Although Zeng Dahu is somewhat suspected of taking advantage of Beigong and others, it is also obvious that at this stage, it is unwise to give up his territory. Even if the Han Ling Emperor sent a hundred thousand troops, so what?

There are only three thousand now. Even if we can attack Wubao and the tribe, how many can we defeat?

Beigong felt that at this stage, Zeng Dahu's "worry" was obviously overly nervous and even overreacting. Of course, Beigong did not relax his vigilance just because of this. He still had people notify his tribes to prepare them. There is depth, there are forts, there are enough tribal manpower, and there is enough vigilance, Beigong believes that even if Zhang Liao comes, even if Fei Qian comes...

Well, anyway, even if Fei Qian came, he wouldn't be able to solve the problem in a short time.

As soon as the army comes, the worst possible scenario is to hide in the mountains and retreat into the desert, and then come out after the army has left.

After much deliberation, Beigong didn't think of any flaw in the plan. He believed that victory should be his in the end. Maybe in a few days, when the autumn wind blows and the cold winter approaches, Zhang Liao just can't hold himself back. What's up?

Rather than being patient, Beigong has enough psychological advantages.

This is his territory.

Three thousand people.

hehe.

"Don't panic... don't be anxious. There are people who are more anxious than us anyway, right?" Beigong said with a slight smile, "Continue to monitor, don't act rashly, and see where these Han people with the tricolor flag are going... If anything happens, report it immediately!" 』

Although he is not afraid, there is no need to block the knife for Zeng. Anyway, at this stage, as long as the tricolor flag does not take the initiative to provoke, Beigong does not want to jump out directly...

But on the other side, Zeng Dahu was nervous.

Zeng Dahu’s Wubao was gone, so he had to find another place.

This is a military stronghold. When the Han Dynasty began to conquer the Western Regions, many such military strongholds were built in transit. On the one hand, they could store grain and grass supplies, and on the other hand, they could also guard against the Huns who raided out of the desert. However, Later, after the Huns were defeated, these military strongholds were gradually abandoned and became the nests of horse thieves.

Zeng Dahu, whose original name was Zeng Xiao.

Zeng Xiao's father, Zeng Fu, was originally an official of the Han family, and he was also a good official.

An out-and-out good official.

Strictly speaking, they are not officials, they can only be officials.

When Zeng Fu was sent here, he was diligent and hard-working, running around in the wind and sand almost every day for the stability and unity of the Hexi Corridor and for the common people's farming. Just like the Qiang people.

Back then, Zeng Xiao was once proud of his father, who was an example for him to follow and learn from, until that day...

Yin Hua, the governor of Jincheng, fell ill and died.

When the old governor dies, of course a new one will come.

The so-called seals and ribbons made of gold, the governor of flowing water, isn't it...

The new governor of Jincheng County, Chen Yi, naturally has his own new leadership team, new subordinates, new policies, and new three fires. And the most important thing, of course, the first thing you do when you take office is to take charge of personnel authority, seize money, food and property, and find someone to scare chickens and monkeys.

Therefore, Zeng Fu, who was busy traveling abroad, was caught by the new prefect Chen Yi during an impromptu meeting.

The reason was that Zeng Fu was late.

But the problem is that the meeting itself was held at short notice, and when the notice arrived to Zeng Fu, it was very late, but Chen Yi didn't care about this, and he didn't want to care about it. He just wanted to use Zeng Fu to beat other officials.

Zeng Fu is an honest man. He just tells the truth and tries to explain why he is late in a serious and detailed manner. However, he does not know clearly. The more he explains, the more Chen Yi will think that he is quibbling. Challenging his authority...

The result is simple.

How can the authority of the prefect be blasphemed and provoked?

Therefore, Zeng Fu, who did things honestly, died.

Beaten to death.

He died at the hands of friends who usually said that Zeng Fu was a good person, just because these "good friends" wanted to show their loyalty to the new governor.

Chen Yi was very happy because he felt that his thoughts had been unified and his team had been cleaned up.

Other officials in Jincheng are also very happy. They don't have to work so hard, and they can still make money together by eating and taking cards.

Everyone is happy, except the Zeng family, whose mainstay has collapsed.

As a result, there is an additional horse thief leader here in Xiqiang...

Going forward, Chen Yi's prestige was "established" to a certain extent, and he successfully began his plans to exploit, and then these expropriations were gradually added to ordinary people and the Qiang people. , was eventually deceived into the rebels during the Xiqiang rebellion, stood up, had his head cut off, and smeared his blood on the banner of the rebellion.

Therefore, Zeng Xiao did not believe in the Han Dynasty or its officials, especially the high officials. He just believed in himself and his subordinates who had worked hard over the years.

The walls of the military camp are heavily guarded.

A torch illuminated the wall of the village, and each strong man stood upright on the wall with weapons in hand, watching the dark wilderness around him with vigilance.

Zeng Dahu looked back and saw that most of the strong men in the military camp were resting. The patrol captain noticed Zeng Dahu's gaze and raised his torch slightly in salute.

Zeng Dahu also nodded as a response, and then turned his gaze to the dark night again.

Many people think that Zeng Dahu's lifeblood is Wubao, but that is not the case.

Wubao is just a cover.

Zeng Dahu's real power is these "horse thieves" under his command.

It is because of these horse thieves that Zeng Dahu can straddle the two lines of black and white. Those who want to play white are white, those who want to be black are black, and those who really can't do it will still be gray...

But this time the opponent is the Han hussar general...

Well, just a subordinate of the Cavalry General.

But even the subordinates of the Cavalry General are still difficult to deal with.

Zeng Dahu had also heard of Zhang Liao's name, and Zhang Liao's record also made Zeng Dahu a little worried. But worries were worries, and what should be done should still be done.

Over the years, are there still a few bumbling bugs and rats here in Longyou? Who can guarantee that the Han Hussar, or the subordinates of the Han Hussar, are not a new nest of bugs and rats?

At the beginning, you pretended to be pretentious, and then when the time came, you showed your greedy face?

Just like County Magistrate Zhao of Linjing.

At least County Magistrate Zhao is more particular about it, it's not like there are some things that he doesn't care about at all.

"Tomorrow..." Zeng Dahu looked at the night and whispered, "Let them go on the road tomorrow!" Since you are looking for death...you can't blame us..."