Chapter 415: Ma Chao Conquers the Qiang
Ma Chao went south to Chang'an with Liao Hua's instructions and fought with Zhao Yun.
In Zhao Yun's hands, the army lasted for more than thirty rounds, and his performance was so good that Tian Ze couldn't help but nod his head repeatedly.
It turns out that not only Sun Bofu, but Meng Qi has also grown to this level!
You know, Ma Chao's strength is enough to rank among the best in the world, as he was able to hold out against Zhao Yun for thirty rounds.
Not to mention anything else, I'm afraid even the current Ma Teng couldn't beat his son.
Moreover, his arrogant temperament, which is quite similar to Lu Bu, is undoubtedly the best choice to conquer the Qiang people.
The Qiang people worship the strong, and they worship the arrogant strong even more.
Dong Zhuo's cruelty and Gongsun Zan's contempt not only did not make them feel any dissatisfaction, but instead made them admire him even more, which was quite like a case of mental illness.
Ma Chao's arrogance makes him undoubtedly the most suitable person to replace Gongsun Zan.
Not only is he an outstanding martial artist.
In terms of leading troops, Gongsun Zan was able to lead the cavalry to defeat the Qiang people, and Ma Chao could do the same, and even do better.
Ma Chao may not be able to defeat the White Horse Volunteers, but he can achieve results and achieve styles that the White Horse Volunteers cannot.
One of them is like an assassin who comes and goes like the wind and strikes deadly, while the other is more like a berserker who rushes forward with unparalleled force.
Although the former is strong, it cannot stimulate the Qiang people's adrenaline like the latter.
When he learned about his mission, Ma Chao was extremely excited.
Although he had never been to Xiliang, as his mother was a Qiang, he had heard many stories about Xiliang when he was young. Being able to "return home in glory" and in this way undoubtedly scratched his itch.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Chao will definitely help you defeat those Qiang people."
Looking at the confident Ma Chao, Tian Ze smiled slightly.
The little kid who once walked unsteadily has grown up so quickly!
"Good! Gongsun Zan is worshipped by the Qiang people and is honored as the Divine and Mighty General. I hope you can take this title as soon as possible."
Although he had a very good relationship with Gongsun Zan, Tian Ze would never allow any traces of Gongsun Zan to remain under his rule.
After this period of rest, Gongsun Zan's army was almost in order and could be sent to the Western Regions.
However, many Han and Qiang people in Xiliang still admired Gongsun Zan extremely. The charm of the White Horse General was indeed beyond Tian Ze's imagination.
If all the people loyal to Gongsun Zan were taken to the Western Regions, half of Xiliang would probably be gone.
This is something Tian Ze absolutely cannot accept.
After all, things are different now than before. Without enough refugees to be resettled, Xiliang is already vast and sparsely populated. If this continues, it will be difficult to develop even in the next ten years.
As a springboard for future westward attacks, not to mention managing Xiliang like Sili and Jizhou, at least it should not lag behind and should be able to provide sufficient logistical support and food for the army.
Population is essential.
The population space reserved by Tian Ze for Gongsun Zan was within 500,000.
After all, after training and streamlining, there are only about 50,000 soldiers left under Gongsun Zan, and this number is enough.
Moreover, the Western Regions where he was about to go was extremely rich and had a large population, so Gongsun Zan was fully capable of supporting these soldiers.
Tian Ze hoped that Ma Chao would conquer the Qiang people as soon as possible in order to retain as many "fanatic fans" of Gongsun Zan as possible.
Ma Chao was naturally aware of the mission and expectations he shouldered. Cheng Yu and Ma Teng had repeatedly reminded him that whether he could determine the core position of the army depended on this operation.
Although Tian Ze has already decided on Lu Xun as the core of the next generation of the army, Lu Xun is an "outsider" after all. Cheng Yu and Ma Teng, as veterans under Tian Ze, naturally hope that "their own people" can also occupy a place.
In fact, not only the military generals, but also the civil officials have similar ideas.
Even though they highly recognized the abilities of Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, Xu Shu and others, it was impossible for them to not have any ideas in their minds.
The world that he fought so hard to build was eventually handed over to "outsiders".
It would be fine if the younger generations were all incompetent, but as long as there is talent, they will do their best to cultivate it.
Tian Ze was also aware of this factional struggle, but did not stop it.
It would be absolutely abnormal if there were no factional disputes within a regime. The key is to control it within a benign range.
The emergence of the nobility and the new generation was only a matter of time.
Tian Ze is not Zhu Yuanzhang, and he would not do such a thing as slaughtering meritorious officials. Even if these meritorious officials will be divided into different fiefdoms in the future, the Central Plains is the orthodox after all, and some of them will not want to leave.
Although he knew that the noble faction posed a hidden danger, he had been supporting the emerging faction to prevent class stratification.
But at the same time, he also took into account the interests of the nobles and left a position for them.
After all, Guan Yu and others have fought for him for many years and made numerous contributions. His son is both capable and virtuous, so how can he not use him?
Tian Ze has been controlling the scale of this. Although it is quite conflicted, it is all he can do.
With Tian Ze's permission, Ma Chao led his newly allocated 10,000 cavalrymen and headed westward towards the gathering place of the Qiang people.
Along the way, the sky was filled with yellow sand, and the dust raised by the horses' hooves covered the sky and the sun, but Ma Chao's heart was full of lofty ambitions.
These 10,000 cavalrymen were all elite troops carefully selected by Tian Ze, most of whom came from Ma Teng's army.
As the son of Ma Teng and with solid achievements as a foundation, Ma Chao quickly conquered the entire army with his extraordinary charm and martial arts.
That gun skill challenged all the generals in the army, and no one could last more than ten moves against him.
With his brutal methods and unique temperament, Ma Chao's image of bravery and invincibility was quickly firmly established in the hearts of the soldiers.
The moment Ma Chao's cavalry entered Qiang territory, the news spread to all tribes like wildfire.
Most of these were information released deliberately by Tian Ze.
The Qiang people who knew Ma Chao's purpose gathered around the leaders of their respective tribes, ready to fight against this arrogant boy who wanted to challenge all the tribes.
Although they were somewhat wary, the majority of Ma Chao's blood was Qiang, so the Qiang people still had a certain degree of goodwill and trust towards him.
This is an extremely valuable and good start.
Ma Chao did not conceal his whereabouts at all along the way. Although he did not make a big fuss, he was neither humble nor arrogant.
Knowing the habits of the Qiang people, he did not attack them one by one, but went straight into the heart of the Qiang territory, found a grassland, set up a flag, and directly challenged all the Qiang tribes.
Such an arrogant act instantly angered all the Qiang people.
All the major tribes sent their best generals and soldiers to teach this young boy a profound lesson.
Then, it was Ma Chao's turn to perform.
Ma Chao's talent is called "Showing Prestige". The more confident his side is, the stronger it will be as long as it does not fall into a slump. Every time it eliminates an enemy, it will become stronger.
This talent is undoubtedly a dimensionality-reduction attack against the scattered Qiang people.
(End of this chapter)
