Chapter 197 Bloody Slaughter of Jicheng

Li Rudao: "Lord, Liangzhou must be saved."

Dong Zhuo said: "But now the 18th Kanto Alliance Army has a total of more than 300,000 troops approaching Sishui Pass, while our army has only 150,000 troops, which is already at a disadvantage. If we draw troops from Luoyang to reinforce Liangzhou, we are afraid that Luoyang will not be able to defend it. Moreover, the butcher Ma has already captured Longxian, so it is too late to draw reinforcements from Luoyang."

Li Rudao: "Luoyang is more than a thousand miles away from Liangzhou. It is of course too late to draw reinforcements from Luoyang. However, the Sili lieutenant Zhong Yao (after Dong Zhuo entered the capital, in order to win over Zhong Yao, he was gradually promoted from the Huangmen Assistant Minister to the Sili lieutenant) was in Chang'an. His original Sili lieutenant was 8,000, Yang Qiu, Li Kan, Cheng Yi, Zhang Heng, Cheng Yin and other five cavalrymen were also stationed in Maoling, Fufeng. The total strength of several departments was still more than 20,000!"

"Twenty thousand?" Dong Zhuo pondered for a moment, frowned and asked, "I wonder how many troops the Butcher Ma led to attack Liangzhou?"

Li Rudao: "Ma Butcher Kuxi's elite soldiers. His army is well-equipped and well-trained, but his troops are not large. Apart from the army left behind in Hetao, he can draw up to 20,000 troops to attack Liangzhou. Since the rebel Xu Huang has defected to Ma Butcher Ma, the 4,000 Hedong elite soldiers and 6,000 Bingzhou elite soldiers under Xu Huang's command have surrendered together, but even so, Ma Yue's army in Liangzhou will not exceed 30,000 people."

Dong Zhuo frowned and said, "Even if Ma Butcher only has 30,000 elite soldiers in Liangzhou, his strength is more than ours."

Li Rudao: "Although the horse butcher captured Longxian, the ten counties of Liangzhou are still controlled by our army. The three princes of Li Ju, Li Bei and Li Xian (Li Gui's nephew) in the northern county have 5,000 infantry under their command, Zhangye also has 2,000 cavalry of Lord Guo Hao, and Longxi has 8,000 elite cavalry among the eight thousand clans of Prince Huang (the nephew of Dong Zhuo was Dong Sheng, the wrong one should be Dong Huang). The rest of the Anding prefect Huangfu Jian, the Jincheng prefect Yan Wen, and the Hanyang prefect Jiang Jie all have enemies with the Ma family, so it is impossible to surrender to the Ma butcher. Therefore, as long as the reinforcements can arrive in Liangzhou in time, things can still be done."

"And~~" Li Ru said this, his eyes showing a vicious look and said in a voice, "As long as the plan is done properly, the butcher of horses may even be destroyed in Liangzhou in one fell swoop!"

Dong Zhuo said anxiously: "Oh?"

Li Ru said in a dark voice: "The lord can order the emperor to issue an edict to order the chief of the Western Regions Wang Yuan (the father of the fierce general Wang Shuang) to recruit soldiers from Shanshan, Cheshi, Kucha and other thirty-six countries in the Western Regions to obtain at least 40,000 or 50,000 cavalry, and then connect the Hu Hu to the east and advance to the north to calm down, cut off the way for Ma Yue to retreat to Hetao. In this way, the horse butcher becomes a turtle in a jar, and it is difficult to die."

Dong Zhuoxi said: "If Wen Xiu hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have known that the 36 countries in the Western Regions could have recruited such a huge army, hahaha~~"

Li Ru sighed: "This is a last resort. The rescue of the 36 countries in the Western Regions can only be used for a while, but not for a lifetime. This time, the countries in the Western Regions saw the war-torn Liangzhou. The power of the Han Dynasty will be gone in their hearts. From then on, the Western Regions will no longer be under the jurisdiction of China."

Dong Zhuo said: "That's the future, and it's the most important thing to resolve the danger in Liangzhou now."

Li Rudao: "However, these are not the most important. The most important thing is to quickly transfer a cadre to serve as the governor of Liangzhou, coordinate the defense of the ten counties of Liangzhou, coordinate the allocation of food and supplies, and send a general to stabilize the situation in Liangzhou, so that the army of the ten counties of Liangzhou can be unified and clear. Otherwise, if the chaos continues, the counties of Liangzhou may be defeated by the butcher. At that time, even if the lord transfers 100,000 cavalry from the Western Regions, it is probably impossible to recover the defeat."

"Um~~" Dong Zhuo nodded, "I wonder what Wen Xiu has to do with his best ideas?"

Li Rudao: "The Sili County Captain Zhong Yao can be the governor of Liangzhou, and the general of commanding the army must be General Xu Rong!"

Dong Zhuo said: "As Wen Xiu said, I quickly ordered Zhong Yao to lead his army west to Hanyang to stabilize the situation. Yang Qiu, Zhang Heng, Houxuan, Li Kan, Cheng Yin and other five cavalrymen were obeyed in front of Zhong Yao's tent, and there must be no mistakes. Then I sent Zhang Ji to Bingzhou to replace Xu Rong, and rushed to Liangzhou to command all the troops at night!"

Li Ru bowed and said, "Ru will do it now."

Hanyang County is located five hundred miles west of Chang'an.

Hanyang County is a large-capital county among the ten counties of Liangzhou. The total population of Liangzhou is only more than 400,000. There are more than 150,000 people in Hanyang County, accounting for almost one-third of the total population of Liangzhou! There are thirteen cities in Hanyang County, with the county under Jicheng and the prefecture under Long County under Long County.

Jicheng is located in the southwest of Long County, with the two cities being only more than 200 miles apart.

The Hanyang Prefect Jiang Jie was the nephew of Jiang Xu, who was engaged in the clan of Liangzhou. He and Ma Teng rebelled. The rebels broke through Long County. Jiang Xu and Yan Zhong, the other governor, and Geng Bi, all died in the chaos. Later, Dong Zhuo pacified Liangzhou. In order to win over the Jiang family, he appointed Jiang Jie as the Hanyang Prefect and transferred the former Hanyang Prefect Fu Xie to Wuwei as the prefect.

The surname Jiang is a major surname in Hanyang, which is the so-called family.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the power of the aristocratic family was extremely powerful. Almost all officials from the court and all states and counties were born in fixed aristocratic families. It was difficult for poor children to have the opportunity to enter the government! It was not until the Han Dynasty declined and the warlords were separatist, and the power of the aristocratic family suffered a devastating blow!

After that, it was not until Wei, Wu and Shu divided the world, and the Jin and Jin Dynasties that the power of the aristocratic families rose again.

However, in the early years of Jian'an (188), the situation of warlord separatism had not yet taken shape. The power of the gentry clans was at its peak at the Thirteen Prefectures of the Han Dynasty. Just like the Jiang family at this time, it had a significant impact on the situation in Hanyang County and even Liangzhou.

Ma Yue attacked Liangzhou to occupy territory, not to loot, which is very different from the Xianbei people in the north of Mobei. Attacking Xianbei people is actually bloody burning, killing, robbing cattle, horses, and women, and then leaving. But attacking Liangzhou is not the case. After Liangzhou is defeated, people need to be sent to manage it.

Since governance is needed, there is a real issue, that is, who will let governance?

Ma Yue's three thousand old subordinates were brave and good at fighting, and they were unambiguous in killing people. It would be a bit difficult to let them become officials and govern one side. These big-name men who didn't know a single word were a thousand households on the grasslands of Mobei, and hundreds of households could barely do it, so they could come to Liangzhou to be the prefect and county magistrate. The red tape and documents in the officialdom alone could force them to commit suicide.

In addition to the three thousand old subordinates, who else can Ma Yue let govern Liangzhou?

In the past two years, Guan Ning has indeed trained many poor children in Hetao, and made these young men with no political experience serve as the prefectural governor. Although it is difficult to be competent in the county magistrate, it is more than enough to be a small county magistrate. However, the question is, can Ma Yue freely arrange disciples from Guanning to be county magistrates in Liangzhou?

Of course not!

The exclusion sentiment of the Han people in the Han Dynasty can be said to be quite serious. "If it is not my race, it must be different" was a general consciousness at that time. Similarly, the gentry and family members in each state and county also had quite serious exclusion sentiment.

In official history, if Liu Bei had not married Mi Zhu and Mi Fang's sister and had become in-laws with the Mi family, he would never have been recognized by the local clans of Xuzhou, and he would have never been able to hold the position of Xuzhou as the governor of Xuzhou! Although Lu Bu occupied Xuzhou with his force, he was soon destroyed by Cao Cao because he did not handle the relationship with the local clans.

For example, if Liu Biao of Jingzhou had not married Cai Mao's sister and had become a relationship with the Cai family of the Jingxiang clan, he would never have been able to hold the position of governor of Jingzhou with his white clothes.

In other words, if Ma Yue does not appease the gentry families in the counties of Liangzhou and cannot balance the interests of the major families well, even if he can conquer Liangzhou, he will not be able to defend it! Unless Ma Yue can also take bloody blows against Liangzhou like the Xianbei people in Mobei, uproot the power of the major gentry families.

But in this way, Ma Yue will arouse public anger like Dong Zhuo and become the public enemy of all the aristocratic families in the world!

Will Ma Yue do this?

Late at night, Longxian.

Ma Yue's temporary residence.

Under the dark sheep oil light, Jia Xu said to Ma Yue with a serious expression: "Lord, the Hei Niu who was sent to Jicheng, the Hei Tiger brothers are back."

"Oh?" Ma Yue said, "What do you say about Jiang Jie?"

Jia Xu sighed and said, "The bodies of the two brothers Hei Niu and Hei Tiger are back, but their heads are left in Jicheng. This is Jiang Jie's reply to the lord."

"What!?" Ma Yue's eyes suddenly showed a horrifying murderous intent and said sternly, "It would be fine if he didn't sacrifice the city, but he actually dared to kill the personal soldiers who had followed this general for many years. It's really worth the death!"

Jia Xu sighed and said, "Xu just learned that this Jiang Jiu was the nephew of Jiang Xu who was engaged in Liangzhou. Jiang Xu was killed by General Ma Teng, so Jiang Jiu refused to sacrifice his city and even killed Hei Niu. The Hei Tiger brothers were to vent their personal anger."

"Damn it!" Ma Yue clenched his fists hard, raised his head and said sternly, "Where is Dian Wei?"

"exist!"

There was a loud shout like thunder outside the hall.

Amid the heavy footsteps, Dian Wei's iron tower-like body had already entered with a loud voice, saying, "What are the lord's instructions?"

"Blow the trumpet and assemble the army!" Ma Yue collapsed from his teeth, "I will raise an army overnight, slaughter Jicheng, and avenge the Hei Niu and Hei Tiger brothers!"

"Lord, no." Jia Xu's face changed drastically and he persuaded anxiously, "Don't act irritating."

"Wenhe doesn't need to be said too much." Ma Yue said sternly, "Hei Niu, the Hei Tiger brothers have followed me for many years. They have been through many fierce battles and fierce battles. I didn't expect that I would die in Jicheng today. If I don't take revenge, how can I face the three thousand old subordinates? How can I face the undead who died on the battlefield? What's more, what face can I have in the world?"

Jia Xu said: "But whether Jiang Jie surrenders or not depends on the overall situation of Hanyang, Liangzhou, and the reputation of the lord. You must be careful~~"

"Kill people to pay for their lives, and pay for their debts, this has been like this in ancient times!" Ma Yue glared at Jia Xu fiercely and said sternly, "All the soldiers of this general are good. As long as I give orders, they dare to break through the sea of ​​swords and fires, they will not frown in the water and fires. Now that they lose their lives, how can I sit back and ignore them? In short, the black bull and the black tiger brothers cannot die in vain, their blood cannot flow in vain. The blood debt must be paid with blood, that's that simple!"

Jia Xu said: "Does the lord want to be enemies with the aristocratic families in the world?"

Ma Yue said: "If Jiang Jie kills him, he will be an enemy of the gentry clans in the world. So what if the general will kill all the gentry clans in the world?"

"What? This..."

Jia Xu lost his voice in a stern voice and couldn't say a word for a long time.

Ma Yue ignored Jia Xu, and swung his cloak hard and turned around and left quickly. In a short while, a continuous sound of horns sounded at the head of Longxian City. In an instant, the originally calm Longxian City began to noise. Before he could rest, soldiers who had time to rest drove out of the barracks and began to assemble outside the city.

Jia Xu came to the city with a little desolate feeling. Seeing the soldiers in neatly armored to the outside of the city, he couldn't help but shook his head and sighed! Jia Xu claimed that he had insight into human nature and had never seen anyone before, but this time he had to admit that he had seen it. Jia Xu really didn't expect that Ma Yue would hide such a bloody side behind the coldness and cruelty and bloodthirsty.

Ma Yue's bloodiness was once in Hulao Pass, and he inspired all the soldiers of the eight hundred bandits in Changshe. The idea of ​​never giving up was deeply rooted in the hearts of the eight hundred bandits. From then on, the eight hundred bandits have transformed from a group of cruel and bloodthirsty tiger and wolf men to an elite army that cannot be dragged down and cannot be defeated.

From the perspective of a soldier, having a master general like Ma Yue is a blessing for every soldier. Ma Yue treats his soldiers like brothers. As long as Ma Yue has a bite, he will never starve any soldier. If a soldier has no food to eat, Ma Yue will definitely be hungry.

In order to make the soldiers survive on the battlefield as much as possible, Ma Yue can be said to have done all the equipment to improve the army. If he can equip iron armor, he will never wear leather armor. If he can ride a horse, he will never let the soldiers walk. Even if the size of the army is reduced to only half, he will never let the soldiers go to the battlefield with wooden guns and knives.

As long as he has been a soldier of Ma Yue, as long as he has followed Ma Yue to fight, whether it is a veteran of the Yellow Turbans, a surrendered official army, or a refugee recruited after arriving in Youzhou, or even a Wuhuan people, no one is not infected by Ma Yue's blood, and everyone is willing to go through fire and water for him!

In the simple minds of these soldiers, there is only one thought, and it is worth it to work hard for a general like Ma Yue!

Jia Xu was also infected by Ma Yue's blood, but in addition to being Ma Yue's subordinate and Ma Yue's military advisor, he must always keep a clear mind as a military advisor. Jia Xu knew very well that the blood of the commander could indeed inspire the soldiers to die and gain the recognition of the soldiers. This is Ma Yue's advantage, but also Ma Yue's shortcomings.

Because at this time, Ma Yue's bloodiness will bring a disaster!

The consequences of the bloody baptism of Ji City were extremely serious. Ma Yue was once a bandit. Although this status was despised by many gentry families, now things have changed. Ma Yue has become the governor of Liangzhou by the late emperor and the son-in-law of the Han Dynasty. His status and reputation have changed greatly. It is not difficult to win the support of some gentry members who have a wait-and-see attitude.

But if Jicheng is destroyed, the situation will be completely different. This group of gentry who is waiting and watching will completely turn to the opposite of Ma Yue and will completely collude with Dong Zhuo's core forces such as Dong Huang, Li Ju, Guo Hao. In this way, Ma Yue's desire to rely on the local forces in Liangzhou to govern Liangzhou will be shattered, and there is only one way left, that is, to use iron-fisted means to uproot the gentry forces in Liangzhou.

After uprooting the gentry forces in Liangzhou, Ma Yue's reputation will spread all over the world and eventually become the target of fear for all the gentry families in the world. In the future, Ma Yue's military will be fiercely resisted by these gentry families, and it will be impossible to gain their support!

At that time, almost all the talents in the world came from the aristocratic family. Losing the support of the aristocratic family means losing the qualification to compete in the Central Plains.

As Ma Yue's military advisor, Jia Xu certainly does not allow such a situation to happen!

The bloody purge of Jicheng is inevitable. Jia Xu is very clear about Ma Yue's character. Ma Yue is usually open-minded and very good at adopting the remarks of his subordinates, but once he makes a decision, it is not something that anyone can change! Therefore, the only thing Jia Xu can do now and think about is how to weaken or even eliminate the negative impact of Ma Yue's bloody purge of Jicheng.

At the west gate of Long County, Ma Yue was wearing heavy armor and stood proudly on the top of the city. Dian Wei stood by Ma Yue’s side with a burning mutton fat torch in his hand. The red light shone on the side of Ma Yue’s face. The concave and convex shadows highlighted Ma Yue’s ferocious expression. A pair of black eyes were more like the eyes of the wolf king under the moon, revealing a cold and stern look.
Chapter completed!