Chapter 34: Going to Luoyang

"Report!" The messenger rushed straight into the central army's tent.

"Tell me!" Pang De stood up.

"The envoys who returned to Luoyang were robbed in Dongyuan Mountain a hundred miles away. The finances were robbed. More than half of the Yulin Army guarding were killed or injured. The lord recruited two generals to discuss countermeasures." The messenger briefly and quickly explained the situation in detail.

Ma Chao frowned and said, "Prepare the horse!"

"Meng Qi, it seems that the horse thieves in Dongyuan have become more and more bold recently and dare to openly rob the army." Pang De stepped onto the war horse and rode with Ma Chao together, quickly expressed his dissatisfaction.

"It's time to deal with them." Ma Chao nodded and replied, and began to think about this.

"Father."

"Master!"

When Ma Teng saw Ma Chao and Pang De coming in the lobby, he hurriedly said, "I believe you have already understood the matter. The envoy is a guard of the emperor. As soon as I left Tianshui, a chaos broke out. If this matter was spread to Luoyang, we would not be able to handle the work. Therefore, this group of horse thieves must be wiped out."

"Father, I think it's not difficult to destroy these horse thieves." Ma Chao was thinking about a strategy to defeat the enemy along the way, and he was already confident at this time.

"Meng Qi, do you have a plan to defeat the enemy?" Ma Teng hurriedly asked when he heard his words.

"Yes, since this group of horse thieves like to rob past merchants, why don't we use the tricks and send an army to disguise themselves as a caravan. If the horse thieves appear, they can be caught off guard." Ma Chao immediately told his plan.

When the generals present heard this, they nodded in agreement. Ma Teng also smiled and said, "This plan is very good, so you will arrange it to be responsible for the expedition."

"Father, let General Jiang Yin take charge of this matter. The child wants to lead General Pang De and guard the imperial envoy to Luoyang." Ma Chao refused and expressed his intention to leave.

"Meng Qi, why did you suddenly want to go to Luoyang? Besides, if there are enemies coming to attack, what should you do if you go?" Ma Teng didn't expect Ma Chao to propose his intention to go to Luoyang, so he was very surprised.

Ma Chao was not worried about this, so he said: "Father, in a short time, there will be no major incident in Liangzhou, and my father can relax my worries. Now, we only have the three counties of Tianshui, Longxi and Wudu. After the previous rebellion, the two counties of Longxi Wudu can be said to have withered people's livelihood and everything is in destruction. We need to rest and recuperate before we can recover. Therefore, I think our current policy is to stick to development."

"The Han Sui tribe in Jincheng occupied the four counties of Wuwei, Dunhuang, Zhangye and Jiuquan. Although it is our great trouble, Han Sui was originally a famous person. However, he led his army to excavate the imperial tombs, which was a big deal in the world and could hardly have room for development. Now the imperial court sent a large army to conquer. Although it may not be able to eliminate Han Sui, it can also damage his vitality. In a short period of time, he will be unable to take care of us, so this also relieves our temporary crisis and gives us time to recuperate."

"The child also wants to take this opportunity to escort the envoy back to Beijing and go to Zhongyuan to see him. When the child returns, he will listen to his father's teachings."

Ma Chao's words were obviously the best direction for Liangzhou in the future. Therefore, after listening to it, the generals of Liangzhou here also expressed their agreement.

"The words of the lord, the major general, are actually the most beneficial development plan for Liangzhou at present, and I deeply agree with it." Kong Xin, as the master of Liangzhou, is naturally familiar with political affairs, and he also knows that resting and recuperation is the best way to develop people's livelihood.

Pang De knew the situation in Longxi well, and he knew the manpower and financial resources needed to launch a war. Therefore, he had had many long talks with Ma Chao about the future development plan of Liangzhou, and he also deeply agreed with the strategy of cultivating and resting.

"The last general agrees with what the major general said." Pang De then echoed.

For a moment, the generals in the lobby agreed. Ma Teng understood the current situation in the three counties under his jurisdiction. He knew even more clearly about the consumption required to send troops to fight. It was rare that all the generals agreed. With the reasonable analysis of Ma Chao, Ma Teng thought it was feasible and said: "As long as the enemy does not invade our territory, our army will adopt a strategy of rest and recuperation as Meng Qi said to restore our internal governance of the people."

Before the meeting ended, Ma Teng said: "Jiang Yin, immediately lead a thousand soldiers and follow Meng Qi's plan to go to Dongyuan to fight against the thieves."

"Abide by the order!" Jiang Yin stepped forward and took the order and left.

Three days later, Ma Chao bid farewell to his family again and led the general Pang De, leading three hundred cavalry to escort the envoys, and embarked on the way to Luoyang.

My family who had been used to Ma Chao's away was not too sad this time, and when Ma Chao was relieved even more, the girl Qiang Yan was not too sad when she heard that she was going out. Instead, she took the initiative to stay and take good care of Ma's mother and her brother and sister-in-law at home.

Qiang Yan's behavior was not because she was not attached to Ma Chao, but because the customs of the Qiang tribe made her get used to the days when men were running around outside and women were guarding at home.

The envoys originally had two or three hundred people, but after the attack of the horse thief, less than thirty people survived. If they hadn't heard that Ma Chao led the team to escort him this time, they would not have moved forward without hesitation.

A group of more than 300 cavalry, a total of 500 war horses. Under Ma Chao's urging, they traveled day and night. In a few days, they entered Yongzhou. When the troops arrived in Fufeng County, the large group of people were resting at the post station. Ma Chao suddenly heard the military officers at the post station discussing something. After listening carefully, they heard them mention the words Dong Zhuo.

"Did you just said Dong Zhuo?" Ma Chao's eyebrows and eyes were leaping when he heard the name Dong Zhuo.

The military officer saw Ma Chao asking, hurriedly saluted and replied: "Report to the general, the subordinates were talking about General Dong. A few days ago, General Dong led his army back from Liangzhou. When he passed by this city, he forcibly plundered the treasury in the county and then led his army northward."

After listening to the military officer's words, Ma Chao seemed to remember some things in his vague historical memory, but the specifics were not very clear. Ma Chao, who was puzzled, vaguely realized that Dong Zhuo's actions must have some connection with the affairs in the court, but he did not remember what was specific.
Chapter completed!