Chapter 4: Ma Teng's Ambition

  The 4th watch of the second night

  ——

  Engaging in this kind of business without any capital, if done with some insurance, would be a highly profitable venture with minimal losses.

  The Jincheng County is adjacent to the Western Qiang in the west, Han Yang in the east, Wu Wei in the north, and Long Xi in the south. The geographical location is roughly like this. Among them, the largest force in Longxi County is the Dong Zhuo family. Does Han Shui have the courage to go and loot on a large scale? Jincheng itself is a place where Qiang and Han people live together. If he wants to wage war with the Western Qiang tribe on a large scale, his own strength is not enough, let alone the Qiang tribe is even poorer than him. The land is poor and barren, with no wealth or grain. Otherwise, they would not come to invade Xiliang from time to time. If you want to go on an expedition, it's just a waste of your own money and food. As for Wu Wei in the north, it is the territory of Ma Teng. Although Han Shui and Ma Teng have had repeated conflicts between them, they have always been relatively restrained. Moreover, Wu Wei and Jincheng are equally poor. Unless they are starving in winter, a large-scale war is unlikely to break out.

  So, they could only flee eastward.

  Then, although Han Yang was the first county of Liangzhou, it was much more prosperous than Jincheng and Wuwei. However, a simple Han Yang was not the primary target for slaughter in the past. Han Xi often bypassed the Longcheng where the governor of Liangzhou was located with Ma Teng, joined forces to advance eastward, and plundered outside Chang'an City. The so-called "raid on the three auxiliary" refers to the harassment of Zuo Fengyi, You Fufeng, and Jingzhao Yin three counties.

  It is said that my grandfather, Ma Sui, was a man of the Right Fufeng, and as a result, every time they invaded the East, the Right Fufeng was always the first to be affected. Ma Teng and Han Sui were not lenient in their actions, and whenever they raided, they would return with full loads. This kind of thing had happened many times in the past decade, and the imperial court had also issued proclamations and sent troops to eliminate the bandits several times. However, the results were always mixed, with both sides having victories and defeats. When Ma Teng and Han Sui were at a disadvantage, they would submit a petition to surrender, and the imperial court, lacking sufficient military strength, could only agree to withdraw its troops. Recently, the imperial court had become even more unable to control them, and Han Sui had been actively recruiting young men, leading to increasingly frequent invasions. The imperial court was no longer able to launch eastern campaigns. After Dong Zhuo entered the capital, Ma Teng and Han Sui nominally belonged to his faction, and their harassment decreased slightly in intensity and scale. When they were short of food and supplies, they would attack each other, while Dong Zhuo concentrated on consolidating his position at court. As long as others did not invade the area around Luoyang, he would turn a blind eye, let alone Ma Teng and Han Sui, who often showed their respects to him, especially during festivals and holidays when they would give some gifts to Li Ru and other trusted officials.

  Then, with Dong Zhuo's secret edict in hand, Ma Teng led his sons and nephews, commanding 25,000 troops, marching triumphantly through more than a dozen counties of You Fufeng, receiving hospitality and warm welcomes everywhere they went, making us feel deeply grateful.

  After leaving Hanyang, the army marched southeast through Qinxian, Yuzhen, Yongxian, Gufu, Wugong, Huairi (the seat of Youfufu Prefecture), Maoling, Pingling and other places, and arrived at the junction of the three auxiliary cities. To the east was Chang'an City.

  This ancient capital of two dynasties has not yet reached its peak, but it is already enough to make the generals who have never seen the world stare in amazement. Just a glimpse from ten miles away makes Old Master sigh repeatedly: "Juzhang, Yunwu, Longcheng, compared to Chang'an, are no better than doghouses and cowsheds!"

  No one has objections.

  "We're going to get it." Ma Teng's voice wasn't loud, but I'd already heard.

  "I wish it goes smoothly." I muttered to myself, making a silent prayer. Then I turned my head back and asked, "How many troops are stationed in Chang'an? Who is the commander?"

  The official intelligence documents, of course, can only be handled by the eldest brother of the Pang family now. His younger brother would not have any interest in such meticulous and uninteresting work. For the time being, it seems that only Pang Rou can do the job.

  "Chang'an was garrisoned by Dong Zhuo's younger brother Dong Min, along with generals Niu Fu, Li Meng and Li Su."

  "There's no need to be afraid." Of course, I wouldn't worry about these second-rate generals. In terms of level, Ma Teng and Pang De are already enough to instantly kill the aforementioned four mediocre ones.

  "It is reported that Niu Fu led his troops to support Luoyang three days ago, so the defending army in the city should have decreased by more than half, with about 20,000 to 30,000 remaining. However, even so, a strong attack would still be impossible." This news made me breathe a sigh of relief again.

  Who said we are going to launch a strong attack? Facing the solid and impregnable Chang'an City, more than half of our troops are cavalry units, and we don't even have decent siege engines. Are we supposed to use horse heads to crash open the city gates?!

  The old man asked in a low voice: "What about the troops stationed nearby?"

  "In Huaiyin there are 20,000 government soldiers, and in Zheng County to the east, Zhang Ji has over 10,000 cavalry."

  Zhang Ji? I sneered: What's the big deal?

  "Oh? Zhang Ji?" The old man slightly furrowed his brow, then relaxed, "I remember he should be from Zu Li."

  "Uncle's words are right, Zhang Ji is indeed a descendant of the Zhang family, a big clan in Zuili. That year... Ah." Pang Rou seemed to want to say something, but stopped again.

  "That year... we wanted to recruit Zhang Ji's nephew, Zhang Xiu, but he scolded us severely." As soon as I mentioned Zhang Ji, I remembered the trouble from a few years ago and continued from where Pang Ru had left off, "Now that Zhang Xiu has defected to Zhang Ji, I wonder what reaction those two brothers will have after we occupy Chang'an?"

  The old man suddenly laughed and said: "I heard that Zhang Ji is a rough guy, but his wife is extremely beautiful?"

  I was stunned: Wasn't he referring to the legendary Zou Shi? In ancient times, women generally had a very low status and were basically unrelated to history, not even leaving behind their surname. The fact that her surname is still known must be related to Old Cao's romantic affairs.

  A shocking and thrilling battle in Wan City was one of the few major setbacks in Cao's life: Zhang Yi, who had originally surrendered, was dissatisfied with Cao's attitude for various reasons. When Cao was drunk and full, he pulled Zhōu Shì, the widow of Zhang Ji, Zhang Yi's uncle, to serve him in bed. Zhang Yi took up arms and launched a surprise attack on Cao, killing Cao's eldest son Cao Ang and his nephew Cao Anmin, as well as Dian Wei, who was evaluated by Cao himself as "the evil come from ancient times". Cao fled in disarray, rarely seen in his life - probably only comparable to the three laughs at Huarongdao and cutting off his hair and clothes by the Wei River.

  This counterattack brought fame to four people: Firstly, Zhang Xiu, the decision-maker, "can be humbled but not insulted", with dignity; Secondly, Jia Xu, a strategist, with deep and subtle plans, revealing his extraordinary talent for the first time, with wisdom; Thirdly, Bao Zhong, loyal and brave, willing to die for his lord, with loyalty and bravery; Fourthly, Zou Shi, a beautiful young widow, who provoked Cao Cao's question "Is there a courtesan in this city?", leading to her nephews' plan to invite the beauty to seduce Cao Cao, making him indulge in pleasure for a night, only to be defeated by the enemy's sudden attack, and his army was annihilated, Zou Shi's name became famous throughout the land, but after this battle, there was no more news about her.

  Does the old man also have this meaning?

  "Uncle... " Pang Rou obviously felt that Old Horse's sentimental words were extremely abrupt and had nothing to do with the tactical direction they were discussing, making it difficult for her to accept.

  "This side Pang Er on horseback with both fists together, has said in a low voice: 'Willing to take Zhang's family, offer to uncle!'"

  The old thief just smiled and waved his hand with a pretentious air of profundity.

  I silently exclaimed in my heart: This spring has really come early, it should still be more than a month before the new year, but this wild cat has already started meowing loudly.

  Although I was slightly stunned by the intense conversation between these two people and couldn't speak, I quickly adjusted my thinking, made an effort to learn about open lifestyles, and strived to keep up with the times, advancing with science and technology, so as not to be eliminated by this crazy society...

  By the way, it's also true that Comrade Ma Teng's two old wives have been dead for many years, and the grass and flowers on their graves have grown several batches. The great revenge has been avenged, and Lao Ye is still in his prime, everyone around him is not good enough, grabbing an old wife to continue the family line is nothing big - as the eldest son with an open mind, I can fully understand. As for Zou's family, her poor original partner Zhang Ji is still alive and well at this time, so we would be sorry, find an opportunity to destroy him and his young nephew together, cut the grass and eliminate the roots without leaving any survivors.

  I didn't have any other thoughts about the middle-aged man's longing for his father, what surprised me was actually Pang De's "positive response" - this guy... how could he be like that?