Chapter 87 Northwest

  Li Jue was eliminated, and the court's communication route with Liangzhou was no longer blocked. Although Guo Si had not been removed yet, he could only withdraw his troops to avoid being attacked on both sides, so this road naturally gave way.

  During this period, neither the imperial court's forbidden army nor the Liangzhou soldiers launched any large-scale attacks on Guo Si. Instead, they continued to march and occupy the areas originally occupied by Li Jue, clearing out bandits and local bullies who had taken advantage of the chaos, issuing proclamations to pacify the people, and settling old scores with Li Jue - Li Jue's family members and relatives were all arrested and prepared to be sent back to Chang'an, where they would be dealt with after Liu Xuan returned.

  Although Liu Xuan had already spoken out to kill Li Jue's nine tribes, the actual implementation was not that simple. At least it would have to be done in a formal court meeting, let alone killing nine tribes... This was too harsh, and no one knew what kind of reaction the officials in the court would have.

  Liu Xuan would not mind these things, he had already spoken out, where would he still care about what those people think, at present he was more concerned with the movements on Ma Teng's side.

  "General Zhang, the vanguard, has already made contact with Ma Teng's army. Although Liangzhou's army is somewhat wary of the Imperial Army, they are generally still quite friendly, and with Ma Teng personally coming to greet them, it seems that Ma Chao is indeed a loyal minister."

  Liu Xuan gathered all the civil and military officials who could be called, in the big account to discuss Ma Teng's affairs. At this time, Liangzhou was basically the territory of Ma Teng and Han Sui, and this time they also sent troops together. Now that Ma Teng has made contact with the imperial court army, there is no movement on Han Sui's side.

  One is that Han Jue wants to confront Guo Si's large army, and the other is that Han Jue's military horse station is slightly far away. It is estimated that Liu Xuan wants to see Han Jue, but he has to wait until this battle is over.

  "I don't know if Han chose that place on purpose."

  If it was intentional, then it would prove that Han Sui still had a rebellious heart - at least wanting to take control of the army and dominate the local area as a regional warlord. In that case, Liu Xuan could not tolerate such people existing, but if it wasn't, then it would be much easier to handle, besides, Han Sui was also a talented person, and Liu Xuan didn't mind promoting and using him.

  "I also hope that Han Jue will not choose a dead end path."

  Although he felt that the imperial court had already shown a lot of strength, sometimes people would be blinded by their own ambition.

  "Never mind, don't think about it."

  Looking back, it's still about Ma Teng's affairs. The commander of the lower school was busy taking over Li Jue's territory during this period, and the other was busy inquiring about Ma Teng's military situation.

  As for Ma Teng's situation, the imperial court has already had enough understanding. The most crucial reason is that there are people from the imperial court in Ma Teng's army. Liu Ye is still a guest at Ma Teng's place. At first, both sides were blocked by Li Jue and couldn't contact each other. Now that the obstacle is gone, Liu Ye can send detailed information about Ma Teng's situation to Liu Xuan's hands.

  Guo Jia took out a stack of letters and presented them directly to the emperor: "According to Zi Yang's letter, Ma Teng led three thousand troops from Liangzhou and borrowed over ten thousand Qiang cavalry, totaling forty thousand troops, launching a fierce attack on Li Jue's rear."

  "At first, they won battle after battle, forcing Li Jue to yield the defensive line and ask Guo Si to defend his rear. This barely held off the enemy; otherwise, our imperial army would not have arrived yet, and Li Jue would already have been defeated by Ma Teng." Guo Jia added: "Of course, this was also because Li Jue did not take Ma Teng seriously at first and only focused on defending against Your Majesty's main force."

  Liu Xuan didn't quite understand the last sentence, but Ma Teng's initial ferocity surprised him: "Who is the vanguard of Ma Teng's account?"

  He didn't go to translate those letters, he knew that the group of literary and military people below had already translated those letters rotten, especially Guo Jia and Xun Yu, who were estimated to have memorized the content above long ago, even if they wanted them to write it out silently in reverse order, it would be effortless.

  Indeed, as soon as he asked, Zhong Yu said: "Ma Teng made a certain officer from the county his vanguard because of his outstanding military achievements and specially petitioned to promote him to Colonel." Then, after a brief pause, he mentioned the name: "This person's surname is Pang, first name De, courtesy name Lingming."

  Liu Xuan heard this name and his eyelid twitched slightly: "It's really him!"

  Actually, at the beginning, when Ma Teng's army launched a fierce attack, he suspected that there was a good general in Ma Teng's army who served as the vanguard. At first, he guessed it was Ma Chao, but after calculating Ma Chao's age this year, he was only 15 or 16 years old. Even if he was exceptionally brave, he wouldn't be serving as the vanguard general in such an important battle, would he?

  It is more likely that he would follow Ma Teng to command the central army, then seize an opportunity to make a good show of himself, and after gaining fame, lead an independent army. Apart from Ma Chao, those outstanding young men in the Ma family were even younger at this time, so it was impossible for them. Therefore, thinking about it repeatedly, the most likely candidate is Pang De from the northwest Ma family army.

  "Since there are merits, it is only right to reward them. Li Jue has been defeated several times in a row, and granting him the title of Colonel is not excessive!" At present, what Liu Xuan lacks least is official position, especially the rank of general - those numerous miscellaneous generals who open their mouths to ask for titles can be granted immediately, it's better to grant them all.

  Everyone had no objection to this, Ma Teng expressed his loyalty to the imperial court, and the emperor should have made some gestures. Not to mention that he asked for a lieutenant colonel for a meritorious general under his command, even if Ma Teng really wanted a general title, it is likely that the emperor would seriously consider it and probably agree.

  "Zi Yangxin said that the bandits in the northwest, Li and Guo, are not worth worrying about. However, the Qiang and Di tribes are a major threat. If they cannot be properly handled, the northwest will never have peace."

  Liu Ye ran to the northwest, but he didn't just do nothing. He stared at Ma Teng and helped him come up with strategies to attack Li Jue and Guo Si. He also seriously investigated the local conditions, geography, and customs of the northwest. In the end, he discovered that the Qiang and Di tribes were becoming increasingly powerful in this generation. With Ma Teng as a buffer in between, there was no major problem for now, but what would happen if the Ma family wasn't around?

  What's more, even if the Ma family continues to garrison the northwest, the imperial court cannot be at ease - such a strategic location requires how much military expenses every year? And these military expenses are equivalent to helping the Ma family cultivate their private soldiers and horses, which will eventually become a great disaster.

  When that happens, the Ma family will dominate one side, externally they can form alliances with other tribes, internally they can look down on the Central Plains, and they will have the appearance of being about to achieve a great feat. Therefore, Liu Ye is very worried about the situation in the northwest, and he has already pointed this out to Liu Xuan early on, wanting the emperor to make plans ahead of time, lest things become irretrievable before taking action.

  Liu Xuan also hesitated for a moment after looking at Liu Ye's handwriting.

  "The situation in the northwest had been anticipated, and I also considered the issue of ethnic minorities, but I did not expect the situation to be worse than my initial guess."

  The northwest not only has Qiang and Di, but also Xiongnu in the north. These alien tribes all covet the richness of the Central Plains, whether it is grain, wealth, iron tools, or even women, they are things that they want to get very much.

  At the same time, the northwest is also a passage for these alien tribes to connect with the Central Plains. If the alien tribes see that the imperial court cannot withstand them, not only will the northwest suffer, but the entire Central Plains will also be affected by a great disaster.

  He rubbed his eyebrows and Liu Xuan had already begun to plan what to do after Guo Si and Li Jue were eliminated and the court truly ruled the northwest.

  After some thought, I finally found that the most suitable method is still to pull one faction and hit another - it seems that the Qiang and Di have old grievances with the Xiongnu, I wonder if they can be used?

  What's more important is that Ma's family existence has become a bridge connecting the imperial court and the Qiang ethnic group, which must be well utilized.

  In this case, the Ma family will become a very important role in the next period of time, not only can't move its status, but also can't change the situation that it governs the northwest.

  "Have Ma Teng bring a sealed letter, it's as if I want to see him and have a face-to-face conversation with him!"

  With a general plan in mind, Liu Xuan directly gave the order, and the people below immediately understood that Liu Xuan was going to have a good talk with Ma Teng. This conversation would affect the situation in the northwest for at least a decade or two, and it was very likely to trigger another war - if Ma Teng couldn't come to an agreement with the emperor, or if he was dissatisfied with some of the emperor's actions, it was highly possible that he would raise the army of Xiliang again.

  Of course, no one present thought that the imperial court could not defeat the Western Liang army. It's just that this war has not ended yet. If another war breaks out, what will happen to the imperial court?

  At the same time, when the imperial court is competing with several northwestern vassals, what will happen to Guandong again? More importantly, one after another of the vassals rebelled, which was a huge blow to the prestige of the imperial court. Therefore, if it can be resolved peacefully, it's better to resolve it peacefully.

  It wasn't long after the edict was sent out that a reply came from Ma Teng, who indicated that once he had finished handling the military affairs in his hands, he would immediately take his son to see the Emperor.

  What's noteworthy is not that he came immediately after handing over military affairs, but rather the phrase "with his own son".

  Ma Teng, as a vassal in actuality, was willing to bring his son along, which was almost tantamount to showing his loyalty - if he had any intention of rebelling, he would either not come or leave his son behind with some instructions and then come alone.

  Now he has brought his own son with him... Is Ma Teng still willing to offer his son as a hostage?

  At the time when everyone was guessing, a letter from Liu Ye solved Liu Xuan's doubts. It turned out that Ma Teng really wanted to send Ma Chao here as a hostage.

  But as for the root cause, Liu Xuan couldn't help but laugh and cry - it turned out that when Liu Ye was practicing, he was accidentally bumped into by Ma Chao. As a result, he also wanted to learn, and after learning that only in the emperor's presence could he receive the imperial transmission of the magical technique, Ma Chao told his father that he wanted to go to Chang'an.

  Of course, Ma Chao is not a fool either. He knows what it means for him to enter Chang'an. He is quite bold and directly says: "If the son goes to Chang'an, Your Majesty can also rest assured that his father will guard Xiliang."

  Ma Teng was also speechless for a moment, and after a long silence, he nodded in agreement. He had originally planned to enter the capital himself and let Han Shui cultivate his own son, waiting for his son to grow up before taking over the affairs of Liangzhou, but unexpectedly, his son took the initiative to enter the capital.

  It was because of this that Ma Teng brought Ma Chao to see the Emperor, but he didn't expect that as soon as they entered the Emperor's camp, someone suddenly rushed out from behind him and charged at the Emperor. At the same time, he shouted: "I want to see what's so formidable about the little brat that old man of Southern China has been talking about!"

  How come it's getting later and later?