Hearing about Duan Cheng's deeds, Chen Xu couldn't help but feel a little excited. From Duan Cheng's iron-blooded treatment of the Qiang people, he seemed to see the figure of the Ming Dynasty emperor.

Perhaps in the impression of many people, the Ming Dynasty was a dynasty where brocade clothes and guards were rampant, and the emperor was mediocre. However, only by understanding that era will you understand the style of the Ming Dynasty.

It is different from the Western Han Dynasty's affiliation with the Xiongnu, and it is also different from the Eastern Han Dynasty's treatment of the Qiang people's appeasement.

No matter how mediocre and cowardly the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were, they all adhered to the ancestral teachings: no harmony, no compensation, no land, no tribute; The Son of Heaven guards the country, and the king dies.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, she was the only dynasty that did not sign any unequal treaties with other countries and nations; It is also the only dynasty that never submits to any power.

Even if it was a delaying tactic, even if it was a temporary submission, there was never one in the Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Chongzhen was martyred as the Son of Heaven; The orthodox emperor will never beg for mercy when he is captured; Longwu died on the battlefield; Shaowu was captured and committed suicide by hunger strike......

The emperor of the Ming Dynasty, although he failed to change the fact of destroying the country, retained his own style. Thinking of this, Chen Xu's eyes were actually a little moist.

Jia Xu saw that Wen Zhao was a little out of shape, and called softly: "Lord, lord......"

Wen Zhao was shocked, wiped the tears from his eyes without a trace, and said with a smile: "What did Wen He call me for?" ”

Jia Xu said: "Do you know the lord, why did I tell you about Duan Gong's deeds?" ”

Wen Zhao pondered for a long time and said, "Could it be that Wen He thinks that Duan Gong's policy towards the Qiang people can completely quell the Qiang trouble?" ”

Speaking of this, Chen Xu was a little unconvinced. If he could really stop killing by killing, Duan Cheng might have pacified the Qiang trouble a long time ago, and it would not be that after he died, the Qiang people would become more and more rampant.

Moreover, it costs a lot of money to fight a war. Soldiers are impermanent, water is impermanent, and no one dares to pat their chests and guarantee that they will always crush them in the process of fighting with the Qiang people.

Although Chen Xu heard what Duan Cheng had done, his heart was surging. But as a prince, he had to consider a lot of issues.

Jia Xu did not rush to answer Chen Xu's question, but continued to tell Duan Cheng's deeds.

Famous generals of the same era as Duan Cheng, as well as Huangfu Gui and Zhang Huan, the three of them became 'Liangzhou Sanming'.

At the beginning, the three of them all came to prominence in Liangzhou, in the war to quell the Qiang rebellion, and they all had some sympathy for each other.

However, Huangfu Gui and Zhang Huan advocated education and pacification of the Qiang people, but Duan Cheng believed that the chaos should be stopped by killing and the rebellion should be countered by violence.

The ideas of Huangfu Gui and Zhang Huan were agreed by many Confucian scholars; Duan Cheng's actions were criticized by the scholars.

In the later stage, there were disagreements because of the handling of the chaos. And Huangfu Gui thought that Duan Cheng's treatment of the Qiang people was too bloody, so his relationship with Duan Cheng gradually became estranged.

Later, Huangfu Gui won over Zhang Huan, making Zhang Huan completely fall on Huangfu Gui's side.

The two believed that the Qiang people could not be brutally killed. They still firmly believe that only by using the policies of pacification, internal relocation, and recruitment can they slowly influence the Qiang people and completely quell the Qiang troubles.

Huangfu Gui and Zhang Huan also repeatedly obstructed the Qiang rebellion in the process of quelling the Qiang rebellion after Duan Cheng.

The Eastern Qiang tribe was the first to zero Qiang, and since the defeat of the Western General Ma Xian, the imperial court could not be requisitioned, so he harassed Sanfu several times. Duliao general Huangfu Gui and Zhonglang general Zhang Huan repeatedly surrendered, and the Qiang people both surrendered and rebelled.

Emperor Huan issued an edict to Duan Cheng to ask how to completely pacify the Qiang trouble.

Duan Cheng believes that the ambition of the wolf is not easy to settle with kindness. When the Qiang people are cornered, although they surrender, after the Han army is withdrawn, the Qiang people will riot again. To deal with such a person, only by coercing with a spear and putting a white blade on the neck, the Qiang people will be afraid.

The Qiang people are not strong in combat, bullying the weak and fearing the hard. If you use 5,000 cavalry, 10,000 infantry, and 3,000 vehicles, it will take two or three years to completely defeat the recalcitrant Qiang people and deter those tribes who have surrendered. In this way, the plague can be completely pacified.

In this way, although it will cost a lot of money. However, since the Qiang trouble, the border of Liangzhou has been unstable, and the money and food spent before and after the imperial court are incalculable. Today, if we can spend more time to completely quell the Qiang trouble, it is better than a non-stop counterinsurgency.

Emperor Huan listened to Duan Cheng's advice and let him act according to his words.

In the spring of the first year of Jianning, Duan Cheng had more than 10,000 soldiers, 15 days of rations, from Pengyang to Gaoping, and the first zero kinds of battles in Fengyi Mountain, beheaded more than 8,000 levels, and obtained 280,000 cattle, horses and sheep.

At that time, Empress Dowager Dou was in power, affirmed Duan Cheng's strategy and praised his merits.

Not only that, she also appointed Duan Cheng as the general of the Qiang Break, and ordered the Central Tibetan Government to allocate money and property, increase military spending, and completely exterminate the Qiang people.

Subsequently, Duan Cheng repeatedly went to Saiwai and broke the Qiang people.

Later, Zhang Huan wrote: "Although Dongqiang has been broken, the rest is not easy to eliminate, Duan Cheng has a frivolous and resolute temperament, and the minister is worried that he will lose the battle and it will be difficult to ensure victory." You should use your grace to recruit the Qiang people, so that you will not regret it. ”

The Son of Heaven listened to Zhang Huan's suggestion and issued an edict for Duan Cheng to stop marching into the army, and the imperial court would send an envoy to recruit the Qiang people.

Duan Cheng wrote again, insisting on completely exterminating the Qiang people. And finally said: The minister always acts under the edict, but the army is outside, and cannot be commanded by the internal court. The minister hopes to be exactly as this sentence says: let the minister be responsible, respond to the situation, and do not lose expediency.

This sentence is said in disguise: the general will be outside, and the king's order will not be affected.

In the face of the change in the court's attitude towards the Qiang people, Duan Cheng chose not to listen to the edict and still exterminated the Qiang people.

In the following year, the imperial court sent an envoy Feng Chan to persuade Hanyang Sanqiang to surrender, but Sanqiang was afraid of Duan Cheng's soldiers and agreed to surrender.

Duan Cheng believes that now is the time for spring sowing, and the people are working in the fields. Although the Qiang people have surrendered temporarily, the state has no food to feed them, and the Qiang captives must have become thieves again. Therefore, he wanted to disobey the edict of the Son of Heaven and take advantage of the situation to march into the army to exterminate the Qiang people.

In the summer of that year, Duan Cheng went down to the village at a position forty or fifty miles away from Fanting Mountain, where the Qiang people were stationed. He himself returned to his tent and dragged the envoys sent by the imperial court.

On the other hand, he sent his generals Tian Yan and Xia Yu to lead 5,000 troops to attack Fanting Mountain, where the Qiang people were stationed.

Tian Yan and Xia Yu followed Duan Cheng to attack the Qiang people many times, and both of them were brave and good at fighting, and they made great contributions. It can be said that without the two of them, Duan Cheng's record would not have been so brilliant.

Many of Duan Cheng's subordinates were from Huangzhong Yicong, and they all followed Duan Cheng to fight in the south and north for a long time.

The besieged Qiang people were already preparing to surrender to the Han family, but when they suddenly saw the Han army attacking, they immediately became furious, and said sharply to the Qiang people in the Han army: "Where are Tian Yan and Xia Yu?" Which side does Huang Zhongyi stand on? Do you want to fight us to the death? ”

When the Han people in the army heard the words of the Qiang people, they were afraid that Huang Zhongyi would rebel from the Qiang. Tian Yan inspired the soldiers, led everyone to fight desperately, defeated the Qiang people, and the Qiang people were defeated and fled.

Later, Duan Cheng sent people to build a fence of wood, 20 steps wide and 40 miles long, to block the Qiang people. dispatched Tian Yan and Xia Yu to lead 7,000 people to the vicinity of the Qiang people; He also sent Sima Zhang Kai to lead 3,000 men to Dongshan to raid the Qiang people.

In this battle, Duan Cheng killed 19,000 people under the commander of the Qiang people, and obtained countless cattle, horses, mules, donkeys, felt, and tents. At this point, Dongqiang was all pacified except for the Qiang people who were recruited.

"However, those Qiang people who were recruited by the imperial court eventually became a disaster."

Speaking of this, Jia Xu sighed faintly. After that, the Qiang people rebelled again, completely because of Huangfu Gui, Zhang Huan, and the Qiang people who had surrendered before were not completely killed by Duan Cheng. When they saw an opportunity, they rebelled again.

Later, Duan Cheng returned to the court with a full body of meritorious deeds, and although he received unparalleled glory, he got more infamy.

Huangfu Gui, Zhang Huan, and some scholars in the court constantly accused Duan Cheng, saying that he was cruel, murderous, and cold-blooded.

Even, because the thieves excavated Feng Guiren's tomb, Duan Cheng was framed and implicated. As a last resort, he could only take refuge in the eunuchs who had framed him before.

On the one hand, Duan Cheng used the power of eunuchs to suppress those scholars who excluded him; On the other hand, the eunuchs used Duan Cheng to suppress the forces that opposed them.

In the process of fighting each other, Tian Yan and Xia Yu, who were relying on Duan Cheng's arms, were also framed. If it weren't for the eunuch Wang Fu maneuvering around, maybe these two fierce generals who made great contributions in Liangzhou would have died unjustly in the capital.

In order to atone for their crimes, the two bribed the eunuch Wang Fu and asked him to persuade Emperor Ling of Han to wage war against Xianbei. This is why the later three-way army went to Saiwai, but was wiped out by the Xianbei Khan Tanshihuai in the first battle.

This battle has become a stain on the lives of the two. It was precisely because of this battle that there were later Tang Chen, Zhao Huang, and horse thieves.

The defeat of the two also made Duan Cheng feel tremendous pressure.

Duan Cheng, who had just taken over the post of Taiwei of Qiao Xuan, impeached himself under the pretext of Tengu Eclipse Day, handed over the seal of Taiwei, and was sent to Tingwei for trial.

At this moment, the lieutenant Yang Qiu killed the eunuch Wang Fu, implicated Duan Cheng, and sent him to prison. Disheartened, Duan Cheng committed suicide, and his family was exiled to the border.

Later, Lu Qiang, a regular servant, went up and sued Duan Cheng for his exploits, and Emperor Ling issued an edict to return Duan Cheng's wife and children to the county.

Duan Cheng, a famous general of the first generation, fought more than 180 times against the Qiang people in order to pacify the Qiang troubles in the imperial court, and killed nearly 40,000 Qiang people. More than 427,500 cattle, horses, sheep, mules, donkeys, and camels were obtained, and the war cost 4.4 billion, but only more than 400 soldiers were killed in the battle.

Such a peerless general, who put down the rebellion in Xiqiang for the country, paid too much, too much.

But he didn't want to, because of his iron-blooded methods, he was squeezed out by the scholars, and finally defected to the eunuchs for self-protection, and he was burdened with inexhaustible stains.

Even his generals were implicated and had to take risks and rashly march into Xianbei.

After telling all this, Jia Xu looked at Chen Xu with blazing eyes and said, "Hearing about General Duan's deeds, does the lord know how to completely calm down the Qiang trouble?" Are you still willing to completely quell the trouble? ”

Wen Zhao was slightly stunned, and after a little thought, he knew what Jia Xu meant.