Zhang Yan thought about it for a long time, but he never thought of a good solution, so he asked Dong Zhao to come over.

Dong Zhao went to Liangzhou and was familiar with the situation there, so Zhang Yan wanted to ask Dong Zhao's opinion.

Half an hour later, Dong Zhao was summoned to the Yanwang Mansion, and after a salute, Zhang Yan took Ma Chao's recital to Dong Zhao and asked Dong Zhao to pay attention.

After Dong Zhao hurriedly finished browsing Ma Chao's recital, he pondered for a while, and then said: "His Royal Highness King Yan, Liangzhou is an inseparable part of the Han Dynasty, if Liangzhou continues to be so chaotic, it will inevitably affect the entire Han Dynasty. Now Ma Teng is a guard in Beijing, Ma Teng's two sons are also in the capital, and King Yan has just enshrined Ma Chao as the general of Liangzhou Muhe Zhenxi, and Ma Chao also said that he accepted this edict, so that Ma Chao is equivalent to a courtier who guards Liangzhou for my Han Town. Now that the courtiers are in trouble, how can my Han court not send troops to the rescue? ”

Zhang Yan said: "You mean, let me send troops into Liangzhou?" ”

Dong Zhao nodded and said, "Although Ma Chao eradicated Han Sui's forces and subdued Han Sui's troops, compared with the Xianbei people, it is still a big difference. Ma Chao is a Shenweitian general in the eyes of the Qiang people, and the Qiang people are very afraid of Ma Chao and dare not be an enemy of Ma Chao, but the Xianbei people are not Qiang people, and they are not afraid of Ma Chao. If His Royal Highness King Yan wants to reopen the Silk Road, he must give Liangzhou stability and security. In addition, Ma Chao has accepted the edict of the Son of Heaven, that is, the minister of the Son of Heaven, if His Royal Highness does not send troops to Liangzhou, I am afraid that it will make Ma Chao cold. ”

Zhang Yan agreed with Dong Zhao's words, and Liangzhou must restore order and stability. And it was necessary to send troops to Liangzhou. Otherwise. Ma Chao will think that he looks down on Ma Chao.

However, now that the main army has been dispatched, it is impossible to draw it at all, so what should he do.

After thinking about it, Zhang Yan finally got along, Ma Chao himself is a very powerful figure, since he has returned to the imperial court, then he is equivalent to Zhang Yan's subordinate. Then he doesn't have to send elite soldiers to Liangzhou.

As a result, Zhang Yan made a bold decision to personally lead an army of 50,000 militiamen to Liangzhou to open the main communication route to the Western Regions and ensure the safety of caravans on the Silk Road.

After making up his mind, Zhang Yan summoned Chen Qun, Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, Xu Sheng and others to the Yanwang Mansion, and told them that they were going to Liangzhou, hoping that they could stay in the capital and take good care of the rear.

Although Chen Qun and Zhang Zhao were opposed, Zhang Yan insisted on going his own way. insisted on personally leading the army to Liangzhou and opening up the Silk Road in person.

Chen Qun and Zhang Zhao were helpless. I had no choice but to give up.

Zhang Yan drew up a list of some officials who went with him, including Wei Wei Ma Teng, and Ma Teng's two sons, Ma Tie and Ma Xiu. In addition, there are still three people, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu, and only Xu Chu is the accompanying general.

Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu are all working in the Puyang Tiangong Bureau, and they are still working tirelessly to forge, improve, and test new weapons with craftsmen, but they have made more than 30 rifles in a row, all of which have been eliminated because they are unqualified. Just when the relationship between the three of them and the craftsman was very low, Zhang Yan's order came, asking Zhuge Liang, Pang De, and Xu Shu to temporarily put down their work and go to Pengcheng.

Zhang Yan has always been very concerned about the affairs of the Tiangong Bureau, and when he learned that the whole of the Tiangong Bureau was distressed by the unsuccessful development of new weapons, he ordered the Tiangong Bureau to take a two-month holiday to let these people rest for a while.

The people up and down the Tiangong Bureau are like a long drought and a rainstorm, and no one is unhappy. So, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu left Puyang without any worries, first went to Pengcheng to meet Zhang Yan, and then set off from Pengcheng all the way to the west.

Zhang Yan used these days to mobilize 50,000 militiamen, all of whom gathered around Pengcheng, and issued them armor, weapons, and newly equipped militiamen, all of whom had a new feeling and directly became a regular army.

In addition, Chen Qun was dispatching grain and grass, and a special grain transportation team would transport it to Yongzhou first, and as for the transportation from Yongzhou to Liangzhou, it would all be handed over to Yongzhou Mu Zhong Xuan.

After a few days of preparation, Zhang Yan's army was assembled, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu also arrived in Pengcheng.

Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu had an indescribable feeling, I don't know if it was joy or what, anyway, I felt that the opportunity for them to show their talents had come.

On April 20, the sun was particularly dazzling on this day, and the weather suddenly became hot, 50,000 troops gathered outside Pengcheng, and they were all waiting for it, Zhang Yan asked Ma Teng to lead 10,000 people as the vanguard, and the rest of the army was all led by Zhang Yan himself, following Ma Teng.

Because the grain and grass have been transported away in advance, it is estimated that it will soon arrive in Yongzhou, so these 50,000 people are traveling lightly, only with dry food and water, enough for three days, after three days the grain and grass are used up, and the counties along the way will provide dry food and water, so there is no need to worry about the lack of grain and grass.

After the army set out, it went westward in a mighty way, because there was no baggage, so the soldiers marched faster, from Pengcheng to Yongzhou, it took only fifteen days to arrive.

After arriving in Yongzhou, Yongzhou Mu Zhong Xuan had already prepared a qiē, and personally led the civil and military officials to meet Zhang Yan, and insisted that Zhang Yan enter Chang'an City to rest, but Zhang Yan refused.

Zhong Xuan then handed over all the grain and grass baggage that was transported over to Zhang Yan, Zhang Yan asked Xu Chu to lead the army to receive, and continued to command the army to advance westward, passing by Chencang, Niu Jin saw that Zhang Yan was not leading the main army, but an army composed of militia, and immediately had some worries, so he took the initiative to ask for half of his soldiers and horses to be transferred, and followed Zhang Yan into Liangzhou.

This move was also approved by Zhong Xuan, and 5,000 soldiers led by Niu Jin followed Zhang Yan to Liangzhou. Zhang Yan couldn't resist it, so he had to agree to Zhong Xuan and Niu Jin's requests.

In this way, the number of the great army reached fifty-five thousand.

The Han army went all the way to the west, heading towards Liangzhou, and Ma Chao in Liangzhou. As early as more than half a month ago, I had learned that Zhang Yan was going to personally lead a large army to Liangzhou. So. Ma Chao led a guard of honor of 300 people to the junction of Liangzhou and Yongzhou, and patiently waited for Zhang Yan's arrival.

A few days later, Ma Chao finally waited for Zhang Yan's army on the shore of Weishui, and when he learned that the person leading the team in front was his father, he could no longer suppress the joy in his heart, and galloped wildly, running directly in front of his father. Meet Ma Teng.

After Ma Teng, Ma Chao's father and son exchanged pleasantries, Ma Teng ordered the army to stop advancing, and he took Ma Chao to meet Zhang Yan, the king of Yan.

Zhang Yan was on the march, four or five miles away from Ma Teng's front army, and when he learned that Ma Teng had brought Ma Chao to meet him, Zhang Yan ordered the army to temporarily stop advancing, and he set up a tent for a temporary meeting on the side of the road.

Ma Teng took Ma Chao to Zhang Yan's face, Zhang Yan looked at Ma Chao from afar, and he saw Ma Chao's long talent, and he was very proud. is mighty, and I like it a little.

Zhang Yan looked at Ma Chao at the same time. Ma Chao was also looking at Zhang Yan, what he never expected was that Zhang Yan was such a young person, in terms of age, he was only a few years older than him, and now Zhang Yan has become the regent of the Yan King, and he is still just a small Liangzhou pastor, this kind of gap in his heart suddenly made him feel very uncomfortable.

Ma Chao is a person who does not admit defeat, his own conditions are very good, his military force is very high, and his reputation is very great, but it is a pity that this is only limited to Liangzhou, compared with Zhang Yan, who is famous all over the world, it is a big difference.

It was this huge gap in his heart that made Ma Chao realize how big the gap between himself and Zhang Yan was, and he secretly swore in his heart that when Zhang Yan was his age, he must be the same as Zhang Yan, and he would also be a king.

After Zhang Yan was crowned king with a different surname, many overlords of the separatist side were ready to move, including Liu Biao in Jingzhou, Sun Ce in Jiangdong, Gongsun Kang in Liaodong, Liu Zhang in Yizhou, and Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, which one did not want to be king?

But these people also hide this ambition in their hearts, because Zhang Yan's throne was personally enshrined by the Son of Heaven today, no matter what it was forced or what, anyway, Zhang Yan's throne was rightfully enthroned by the Son of Heaven. If all of them claim to be kings without permission, they will be guilty of treason.

Therefore, even though many of these people were strong enough to be kings, they were limited by the politics of that era, and they still endured it.

Ma Chao is different, he has lived in Liangzhou for a long time, and has read some books, but he disdains the kind of red tape in the Central Plains, in his life dictionary, he is a king and a king, why can't he be on an equal footing with the rest of the kings in the world?

However, the current Ma Chao also understands very well that his power has just been born, and it is not enough to be the king, but the king has already planted the germ in his heart, and he is about to move in this direction on the road in the future.

"Xiaguan Ma Chao, knock on His Royal Highness King Yan!" Ma Chao came to Zhang Yan, knelt directly on the ground, and bowed respectfully to Zhang Yan. Even though he was a hundred unwilling, he still knelt down.

Zhang Yan was very fond of Ma Chao, and had a feeling of familiarity at first sight, and hurriedly said: "General Ma, please get up quickly, take a seat!" ”

As soon as the words fell, the soldiers brought a few stools, one for Ma Teng, one for Ma Chao, and the other three for Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu.

Ma Chao thanked him, then sat on the stool, his sharp eyes quickly glanced around, when he saw Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Xu Shu three literati dressed people, he secretly thought: "Not only is King Yan so young, why is even the entourage he brought so young?" ”

Looking at the people around Zhang Yan again, almost everyone was between twenty and thirty years old, and they were all strong and strong, and their military appearance was very neat. There is not a single old or weak person in the whole army.

At this time, a rough-looking man walked over from the side, this person was wearing iron armor, wearing an iron helmet, a pair of tiger eyes were blazing, the dragon and the tiger had already arrived at Zhang Yan's side, without saying a word, he stood directly beside Zhang Yan, the kind of momentum that looked at the world, but Ma Chao saw it for the first time.

Zhang Yan noticed that Ma Chao's eyes were paying attention to Xu Chu who was standing beside him, so he hurriedly said: "General Ma, this king is here to introduce you, this one standing next to this king is Xu Chu, one of the five tiger generals of the imperial court, the tiger general Xu Chu, this time I came to Liangzhou, this king has to rely on the two of you a lot, you can be closer and closer!" ”

The reputation of the five tiger generals is extremely loud, the tiger martyr general Tai Shici, the tiger wing general Xu Huang, the tiger tooth general Zhang Liao, the tiger Wei general Zhao Yun and the tiger general Xu Chu, together form the five tiger generals, all of them have a product of official residence, great military achievements, and they are all strong martial arts, in addition, Zhang Yan's account also has Gan Ning, Zhang He, Gao Shun, Zang Ba, Zhou Tai, Gao Lan, Jiang Qin, Xu Sheng, Niu Jin, Li Dian, Lu Meng and other brave and good generals, all of whom are more powerful figures under Zhang Yan's account.

Ma Chao has long heard of the Five Tiger Generals, but he has always thought that these people are all vain people.

When Ma Chao heard that the person standing next to Zhang Yan was Xu Chu, one of the five tiger generals, he immediately became interested, hugged his fists and asked: "I have heard the prestige of the five tiger generals for a long time, and Ma has itchy skills for a while, I don't know if General Xu can learn from Ma Qiē?" (To be continued......)