Zhuge Liang and Ma Teng's long conversation benefited him a lot, not only to reflect his position from Ma Teng's words, but also to unexpectedly obtain a lot of information about the Qiang people.

Then, Zhuge Liang and Ma Teng left here together, and after returning to the city, Zhuge Liang went straight to see Zhang Yan and made a clear statement to Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan learned that the Qiang people had such a complicated problem, and directly dismissed the plan to pretend to be Xianbei people to attack the Qiang people. In addition, he also officially handed over the responsibility of pretending to be a Qiang person and attacking the Xianbei people to Ma Teng, Ma Chao and his son.

Before that, however, the location of the Xianbei people must be discovered. Zhang Yan sent scouts to inquire about the news of the Xianbei people first.

For the Xianbei people, Zhang Yan had fought with them, and knew that although the Xianbei people were powerful and criss-crossed, they also had many tribes and were not united. If it is divided according to the region, it can basically be divided into eastern Xianbei, central Xianbei and western Xianbei.

Eastern Xianbei had been defeated by Zhang Yan last year, the leader Kebineng and his subordinate elites had been wiped out, and a small part of the people in Eastern Xianbei had been captured, and most of them were forced to move west.

Bu Dugen, the leader of Xianbei in the middle of the country, was driven to the west by Ke Bineng because he was defeated by Ke Bineng, and as for where Bu Dugen moved to the west, Zhang Yan did not conduct a detailed investigation at that time. But when Kebi can be defeated by him, his subordinates will move westward, and it is very likely that they will cling to Budugen, who has already moved west.

In the vast grasslands, deserts, and Gobi outside the Saiwai, in addition to the central Xianbei of Budugen, there are also Xianbei in the west, where they all live, and which part of the Xianbei people who occupy Dunhuang. It must be investigated. Knowing one's own situation and that of the enemy. In order to win all battles.

In addition to sending a large number of scouts, Zhang Yan also specially sent Jinyi guards to Bingzhou, and asked Tai Shici, Gao Shun, Xu Huang and others who stayed in Bingzhou to send an elite cavalry to Liangzhou as support.

After the arrangement was completed, Zhang Yan stayed quietly in Shangtai County, waiting for news.

At the same time, Ma Chao rushed to Xiangwu County with twenty followers to meet with the leaders of the Qiang tribes and explore the wind first. Then invite them to join the ranks of the Xianbei people.

Three days later, Ma Chaoshun's return brought good news, he successfully persuaded the chieftains of Burning Dangqiang and Xian Lingqiang, and in addition, the remaining ten or so small Qiang tribes were also willing to follow him in the battle.

Ma Chao directly presented this good news to Zhang Yan, who praised Ma Chao deeply, and asked Ma Chao to prepare to pretend to be a Qiang person to attack the Xianbei people.

After Ma Chao heard this, he immediately said, "His Royal Highness King Yan." The Qiang people still use pretence? All I have to do is inform the chiefs of the Qiang tribes, and they will come with me with a large army. Wouldn't it be easier for me to lead and kill directly to the Xianbei people's station? ”

Zhang Yan asked, "Are you sure that the Qiang people will not escape from the battle?" ”

"The Qiang people are known for their courage and ruthlessness, although they have no hatred with the Xianbei people, but in recent years, the Xianbei people have become stronger and stronger, and last year there were many people in Liangzhou who came to occupy a lot of their water, fertilizer and grassy pastures, which made them very aggrieved, and they all wanted to fight with the Xianbei people. It's a pity that there are a large number of Xianbei, and they are too scattered, this time I went to see them, and as soon as they said that they wanted to expel the Xianbei people, they all expressed their strong support. Ma Chao said.

After hearing this, Zhang Yan was pleasantly surprised, and immediately said: "If the Qiang people have such an attitude, then we will not be able to defeat the Xianbei people." Meng Qi, if you really start a war with the Xianbei people, according to your estimates, how many troops will the Qiang people send? ”

Ma Chao said: "According to my speculation, there are about 20,000, and all of them are cavalry. ”

"Only 20,000 people?" Zhang Yan originally thought that Ma Chao would say 100,000 or 200,000, but it turned out to be only 20,000, and he was slightly disappointed.

Ma Chao said: "His Royal Highness King Yan, 20,000 cavalry is already a lot. If His Royal Highness King Yan knew the current situation of the Qiang people, it should be understandable. Nowadays, in Longxi and Jincheng, the first Lingqiang, burning Dangqiang and other Qiang species are not as good as before. Now in the entire Qiang tribes, the most powerful is Zhong Cunqiang, Zhong Cunqiang because of its remote location, and there is no grudge with the imperial court, so it can flourish and develop, after decades of development, the rest of the Qiang forces have become more or less weak, and Zhong Cunqiang has gradually developed and grown with a steady attitude, and its power has surpassed the first zero Qiang, burned Qiang and other Qiang species in one fell swoop, becoming the largest Qiang species at present. But Zhong Cunqiang has a deep grudge against Burning Dangqiang and Xian Lingqiang, so Burning Dangqiang, Xian Lingqiang and other Qiang species have to be on guard against Zhong Cunqiang, and if they send all their troops, they are worried that Zhong Cunqiang will sneak attack them. ”

"I see. In this case, there is nothing more to say about the king, and there are no less than 20,000 cavalry. In this case, you should contact them again in the next two days, and confirm the forces sent by the tribes, and then report to the king, and as soon as the scouts sent by the king return, the king will immediately begin to arrange the conquest. ”

"Whoa!"

After Ma Chao left the mansion, he sent his henchmen to the tribes of the Qiang people to determine how many troops the chiefs of each tribe would send.

After a few days, Ma Chao's henchmen came back, and he showed Ma Chao the strength of each chieftain to send, and Ma Chao made some calculations, and the result was only 13,000 cavalry, less than 20,000.

However, Ma Chao did not feel disappointed, because 20,000 people were what he expected, and these 13,000 cavalry were still sent by various chiefs in his face, and if they were replaced by others, not a single soldier would be sent.

Ma Chao reported the final number of people to Zhang Yan, Zhang Yan didn't say anything, so he asked Ma Chao to gather all the thirteen thousand Qiang cavalry, and agreed with them that as long as they didn't violate the law and discipline, they could do whatever they wanted, and after they set out on the expedition, they must obey the command of Yiqiē.

After Ma Chao left, he sent people to the Qiang tribe again, and began to ask the Qiang tribes to send troops to gather in Shangtai County.

At the same time, the tiger general Xu Chu and Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Xu Shu and others stepped up the training of soldiers outside the city.

After a few more days, the scouts returned one after another and told Zhang Yan what they had heard.

Xianbei people have two major gathering places, one is in the area of Helan Mountain in Beidi County, and the other is in the area of Jiluo Mountain.

The Xianbei people, located near Helan Mountain in Beidi County, are the tribe of Xianbei Budugen in central China, with about two or three hundred thousand people, and have occupied Lingzhou, Fuping, Lian County and other places. The Xianbei people in Jiluo Mountain are the tribes of the Xianbei Rilu in the west, with about four or five hundred thousand people, and the Xianbei people who occupy Dunhuang are the soldiers of the Xianbei in the west.

After figuring out the distribution of the Xianbei people's forces and the approximate number of people, Zhang Yan's heart was geneatic. However, the number of Xianbei people is inevitably too much, in the central Xianbei Budugen in the Helan Mountain area, they don't care about them first, last year he just defeated the eastern Xianbei, Budugen is very close to the state, and has taken in a lot of people from the eastern Xianbei, he should know very well how powerful he is, dare not provoke right and wrong, and I have not heard of the Xianbei people in this area.

Therefore, Zhang Yan's current goal is the western Xianbei, the western Xianbei not only occupies Dunhuang, but also threatens the entire western Liangzhou and the Western Regions, if you want to restart the Silk Road, you must clear a qiē obstacle, and the threat of the western Xianbei must be removed.

Moreover, after the Western Xianbei is removed, the entire Western Regions should feel the majesty of the Han army, which is a strategy to knock on the mountain and shake the tiger, and it can also pave the way for dominating the Western Regions in the future.

Although there are as many as four or five hundred thousand Xianbei people, they are not invincible, because Zhang Yan has gunpowder, and after a year's savings, he has made a certain number of thunderbolts, and this time he led the army to the west, and he also brought it.

Moreover, gunpowder is easy to develop, and as long as the material is found, it can be formulated. In fact, in addition to opening the Silk Road, Zhang Yan also had an important purpose, which was to control the sulfur mines in the Western Regions.

In the past year, the main source of gunpowder and sulfur he prepared was to transport it from the Western Regions to Chang'an through a caravan, and then from Chang'an to Puyang for preparation, but these sulfur were purchased with money.

But every time the sulfur is shipped, he has to lose a huge amount of money, so Zhang Yan is very disdainful of this, coupled with the domestic economic recession, the tax can't come up, and the money obtained from selling the official mantle is only a temporary wealth, but it can't last long, so he made a bold decision, first let go of the Sun family in Jiangdong, Liu Biao in Jingzhou, Liu Zhang in Yizhou, etc., no matter what, he must first pacify the northwest, march into the Western Regions, seize sulfur mines, and open up the Silk Road, if it is done well, it will not take five years, Not only will the country's economy take off, but its military will also be strengthened.

At this time, Zhang Yan began to arrange his troops, but he did not give the order to go out, but continued to choose to wait, waiting for news from the state side.

The next day, the general of Hulie, Taishi Ciqin, led 3,000 elite horsemen from Bingzhou, all the way, and finally arrived in Shangtai County.

As soon as Tai Shici's army arrived, Zhang Yan immediately ordered the army to set off, and asked Ma Chao to mobilize elite soldiers and strong generals to meet in Wuwei.

According to Zhang Yan's decision, all the elites of Ma Chao's subordinates participated in the war, and only 25,000 of the 55,000 troops he brought were taken, and the remaining 30,000 were left in Liangzhou for the purpose of ensuring law and order.

Ma Teng, Ma Chao, Ma Tie, Ma Xiu, Ma Gang, Ma Dai, Pang De, Yang Fu, Yang Qiu, Cheng Yi and others, a total of 70,000 people, all went out with the army, and the army of 30,000 militiamen brought by Zhang Yan was all handed over to Xu Shu to be under the command of Xu Shu and responsible for guarding the security of Liangzhou.

And Xu Chu, Tai Shici, Zhuge Liang, and Pang Tong all went out with the army together, and this combined army composed of the Han army, the Ma Jiajun, and the Qiang people, totaling more than 110,000 people, from all different directions, all went towards Wuwei and officially embarked on the road of the westward expedition. (To be continued......)