Chapter 119 Blackmailing Each Other
Ma Chao returned to the camp and took off his armor, revealing his brocade clothes covered with mud and sand.

After taking off layer by layer, I rinsed them again before putting on new clothes.

Ma Dai and many officers and soldiers gathered around Ma Chao out of curiosity, waiting for an explanation. Ma Chao was also wondering why he was not dead.

If he were given another chance to charge, he might not be able to perform so bravely.

Soon, his two broken spears were picked up.

Ma Chao observed the fracture, frowned and recalled, then grabbed the spear and stabbed and swung: "I know, Taishi Wengong's Fang Tian Ji cut a crack, and when I was fighting him to the death, the crack broke."

Ma Dai also came up to observe, and when he closed the broken spear, he saw clear marks of the slash, and was terrified: "If it weren't for this, one of my brother and him would have died today."

At this time, a personal soldier came forward holding an unopened arrow letter and said, "Sir, this arrow letter fired by the Tiger Tooth Army was fired by the associates of Grand Historian Wen Gong."

"What partner? In my opinion, it should be General Baiequ and General Huya themselves."

Ma Chao said as he took the arrow book, untied the knot, shook out the silk book and read it, then handed it to Ma Dai and asked them to pass it around: "This man invited me to a banquet tonight, what do you think?"

Everyone looked at each other in amazement.

How could Ma Chao have the resources to support so many elite cavalry?

These and the troops under his command were all formed temporarily, under the righteous call of the Inspector of the Imperial Guards and with the help of Ma Chao's personal network accumulation.

Except for a small number of Ma Chao's personal followers, most of them were children of powerful families in Guanzhong, and at the very least they were from wealthy and good families.

Seeing that Ma Chao intended to attend the banquet, nearly half of the people felt uneasy.

There were also some who had other ideas, saying in public: "Things can happen in Hedong at any time, and we should also respond."

"Yes, it's better to know more about the enemy than to be at a loss."

Someone immediately responded. As long as you are not stupid, you will know that once something happens in Hedong, only a very small number of Hedong people will resist stubbornly, and most people will remain neutral and wait and see.

It is similar in Guanzhong. The vast majority of people are ordinary people. The purpose of life is to live a better life, and they don’t want to be part of the minority.

If something changes in Hedong, negotiation to resolve the issue will become the mainstream.

Now Guanzhong urgently needs a leader who can be recognized by the majority of people after Zhong Yao, so that he can represent Guanzhong in negotiations with Hebei.

Obviously, Ma Teng and his son are very suitable for doing this now.

Their ancestral home is Maoling, Fufeng, which is a huge advantage that Han Sui cannot match in his life. It can make Ma Teng and his son more easily trusted by the people of Guanzhong.

Therefore, only a very small number of people around Ma Chao did not want him to attend the banquet, but they were unwilling to easily reveal their true attitudes, so for a moment, no one spoke up to object.

On the other side, the black bear returned to the Bailuyuan camp.

He also washed up before starting to look through the official documents.

Chen Zhen had guessed wrong before. The new Shangluo County was not located in Shang, but in Shangluo.

It is true that Shang County is the northern end of the Danshui Canal, but Black Bear wants to extend the canal node and find a way to manage the river so that the canal can extend another hundred miles to the north.

A water transport distance of one hundred miles can save a huge amount of manpower in the long run.

Shang County will become part of the defense system to the south of Wuguan. There is no need to rush to establish the Wuguan Commandery and the County Commandery of the southern part of Shang County.

It will be established when the time is right in the future.

Placing the county government of Shangluo in the north can also ensure that the grain transport materials can be stored in a location close to the north, which is conducive to transportation in winter.

He looked through Sima Zhi's official documents and saw that Sima Zhi needed assistance from the Zhonglei Camp.

Zhang Ding's Zhonglei Camp has been filled with young and strong people selected from the group of Cai's relocated households.

The combat intensity of the Zhonglei Battalion is actually not very high. Now that it is moving with the army, it is mainly focused on training.

In his letter, Sima Zhi planned to completely destroy the powerful people in Shangluo by inspecting the land, collecting taxes, and sheltering illegal criminals.

Wait until these powerful people finish the autumn harvest, and then take action.

It takes one autumn to complete the cleanup and redistribute the land before spring plowing.

In fact, there are only a few real tyrants in a region, and many other tyrants are often pseudo-tyrants formed by clans. For prefectures and counties, there are real and fake tyrants, but for the people, tyrants are just tyrants.

The real powerful people are those who form a strong family, have clans and fellow villagers attached to them, have few and tyrannical decision-makers within the family, and are very aggressive towards the outside world. The false powerful people are those who form clans and gather together, and they either resist the real powerful people or resist the government and bandits.

As long as we carefully identify and eliminate the real powerful people, the fake powerful people will also collapse.

This is also the reason why Liu Biao was able to quickly win over the clans by killing so many commanders, because most of them were fake commanders, who were just leaders elected by the clan and could be elected again after their death.

Just like Lantian Commander Liu Xiong, before meeting him, I always felt that he was very powerful and amazing as he dominated the Lantian Valley.

After getting to know him gradually, I realized that it was because the brothers from various valleys in Lantian gave him face that he was able to become the Lantian Commander; if everyone did not give him face, he would be a senior Xiaotun commander.

Many people cannot withstand deconstruction, including the current military commander Ma Chao; his father, General Ma Teng, is similar.

There is no need for further verification. Just let Ma Teng bring his troops over to see if he can force one of his troops to fight to the death.

Now Black Bear is confident that he can make the 3,000 Qingzhou soldiers fight to the death, and he will not waver until one-fifth of them are killed; does Ma Teng have such an army of 3,000 people under his command?
If Ma Teng didn't have it, it would be even less likely for Ma Chao to have it.

If Ma Chao did not have the identity of a military commander, he would be nothing.

Now with Zhong Yao's official endorsement, and the confidence of Ma Teng's eldest son, and Ma Chao's personal bravery, all parties in Guanzhong have successively sent troops and added forces, allowing Ma Chao to gather seven or eight thousand people.

This is a very unstable army. It is the common interests that allow this army to maintain its shape temporarily.

If the common interests collapse, many people will evacuate, return to their hometowns, and wait and see how the situation changes.

Whether Ma Teng and Ma Chao, father and son, can control Guanzhong in the future depends on whether Ma Chao can gather the temporary 7,000 to 8,000 troops under his command.

As night fell, north of Bailuyuan, on the bank of the Bashui River.

Black Bear lit a bonfire and waited for Ma Chao to come to the banquet.

He didn't have to wait long before Ma Chao arrived with a dozen of his trusted knights.

Out of caution, Ma Chao first divided his troops to scout the surrounding area before approaching with six knights.

Near the campfire, Taishi Wengong was seen standing with his halberd on his waist, with two guards holding halberds on each side of him. There was also a simple cart and two horses nearby.

Near the campfire, there were animal skins spread on the ground and two tables. The black bear was sitting in front of one of the tables. On the tables were two plates of fruit, wild apricots and peaches, all collected from Bailuyuan.

When they met tonight, Black Bear was not arrogant and wore a gilded Ming Guang armor. Ma Chao did the same and put on a Ming Guang basin-collar armor. He rode closer and asked, "Is General Huya here?"

"It's me. You and I have seen each other during the day."

Black Bear looked up at Ma Chao, whose half body was illuminated by the firelight. Ma Chao also dismounted, walked closer, went to the table that belonged to him, and nailed his lance diagonally into the ground with his backhand before sitting down.

Seeing that there was no wine on the table, he turned his head and shouted behind him: "Bring some wine! Bring more!"

Immediately, his personal soldiers came quickly with two wine bags in each hand. Ma Chao picked up a wine bag at random and threw it to Black Bear.

Four or five steps away, the black bear grabbed the wine bag, which held about three liters, and asked, "What do you want, father and son?"

Ma Chao pulled out the cork and took a sip of the wine which was obviously mixed with glutinous rice grains. Black Bear also took a sip, which was more like fermented glutinous rice wine and rice paste.

The taste is sweet, and there is no extra peculiar smell, so I drank a few more sips. This liquid bread is quite filling.

Ma Chao gulped down most of the drink before stopping: "What does the general want? If I'm not mistaken, the general doesn't want Hedong to fall into the hands of the Yuan family, right?"

"That's right. The Yuan family is powerful. If he gets Hedong, he will have the people in Guanzhong represented by their surnames. How can there be room for you and me to dominate?"

Black Bear admitted it, and Ma Chao also said: "There are more than 30,000 registered households in Hedong. If we include those who are hiding and in exile, there are 50,000 households. That's 30,000 soldiers, which is beyond the ability of my father and I to resist."

Ma Chao continued to drink, and when he was half full, he said, "Cao Cao appointed my father as the General of the Northern Expedition and established a government, but this was just a temporary measure. Not to mention the Bingzhou troops led by Yuan Tan and Qian Zhao, the troops of Wuhuan and Southern Xiongnu alone are quite difficult to deal with. In addition, there are 30,000 people in Hedong, so this battle will be difficult to fight."

Establishing a government is an important right to participate in politics, and the government has three most important powers.

The first is to select scholars and select them as officials. Being born in a government office is the main channel for scholars to enter the officialdom. The second is the right to participate in politics. The third is the power of the officials of the East Cao of the government office to recommend the two thousand stone officials in the counties and states.

Now Cao Cao's Sikong Mansion is the same as Li Jue and Guo Si's in the past. At that time, there were six dukedoms in Guanzhong, but the Shangshu Tai gave priority to listening to Li Jue's recommendation, followed by Guo Si, and finally the three dukes.

It is the same now. Only Cao Cao’s Sikong Mansion has the power to effectively recommend county and state officials.

Therefore, Ma Teng's Zhengbei Shogunate, like Liu Biao's Zhennan Shogunate, could only recruit scholars as officials, but did not have the other two more important powers.

Even if you propose it to the Shangshutai, the Shangshutai will consider your proposal invalid after sufficient consideration.

A fake mansion is not worth Ma Teng and his son's life.

Unable to deal with the Yuan family head-on, a Tiger Tooth General appeared from behind.

Under such circumstances, Ma Teng and his son were even more reluctant to fight a meaningless war.

They, father and son, had not yet established a firm foothold in Guanzhong, and their subordinates were mainly veteran soldiers from Liangzhou. If they were emptied out, it would be difficult to replenish them from Guanzhong. If they withdrew from Guanzhong, their old brother Han Sui could be waiting for them in Longyou.

Sometimes it's like this, the enemy really only looks strong.

After deconstructing Ma Chao and his son, they are now just a pile of parts.

But Black Bear also wanted to deconstruct Yuan Tan and Qian Zhao... Unfortunately, no matter how much he deconstructed them, any basic unit of the opponent would have an advantage over him in terms of military strength.

The most special thing is that the battlefield that determined the fate of Guanzhong was located in Hedong, not Guanzhong.

Therefore, if we really want to wrestle with the Yuan family, we have to go to Hedong to fight.

Win or lose, there is no good outcome.

The reason why Ma Chao is so easy to talk to now is because Yuan’s army is approaching.

The other party's enthusiasm for attending the banquet may be a lobbying attempt.

After thinking for a while, Black Bear asked, "If I don't move, when will you march to Hedong?"

"It's hard to say. Before you came, the Sili Xiaowei was negotiating with Wang Zhenbei. Wang Zhenbei agreed. It was Hedong who was worried that our Guanzhong soldiers would plunder the local area and disturb the people."

Ma Chao said calmly, "The people of Hedong want to stay out of the fight, and we don't want to fight either. The one who really wants us to fight is Zhong Yao. It's the same in Guanzhong now. Many generals are rising up to prevent Cao Cao from enslaving us, not to establish a kingdom."

"King's foundation?"

The black bear looked at Ma Chao, and Ma Chao just smiled shyly.

Ma Chao continued, "My father is discussing with Yuan Shikai. What we want is a peaceful Guanzhong. Whoever starts a war first will surely be attacked by all."

"Are you warning me?"

Black Bear asked back, and seeing that Ma Chao did not say anything, he said: "My people are only tens of thousands of households, and I want the land of Weinan. In the future, I will guard Tongguan, and I will deal with the enemy from Guandong."

Ma Chao raised his hand and pointed to the west: "With Chang'an as the boundary, everything from Longshouyuan to the southeast is yours. You cannot attack Xinfeng before the dispute with Hebei is settled. Once the ownership of Hedong is negotiated, I will help you to take Xinfeng. After the war, my father will recommend someone you trust as Jingzhao Yin."

Fearing that Black Bear might misunderstand, Ma Chao immediately said, "The abandonment of Chang'an is of great significance. Whoever enters Chang'an will be attacked by all parties."

This is to remove one's own claws.

Black Bear smiled and said, "If I can't capture Xinfeng, how can I stay in Guanzhong? This is a battle for my survival, and I have to fight. I am not afraid of being besieged by a large group of people, and I don't care who controls Hedong."

He stood up and looked at Ma Chao: "If Yuan Tan dares to come, I will chop off his head. He knows my ability. I am in Weinan, and he dare not invade. It depends on whether you can defend Weibei. If you can't, I will attack you too!"

"Haha, General, don't be angry!"

Ma Chao stood up and pointed to Xinfeng. "Then General, take it yourself. After you take Xinfeng, if you march westward, don't blame me and my son for joining forces with Yuan Tan."

Ma Teng's base camp Huaili was very close to Chang'an, making him the closest to Chang'an among the Guanzhong generals. Most of the other generals were stationed in Weibei.

There are mostly forests and gardens in Weinan during the Han Dynasty. Even though there has been no emperor in Guanzhong for almost two hundred years, the forest and garden area is still a forbidden area with a sparse population.

Black Bear was not frightened by Ma Chao: "After taking Xinfeng, I will also take Tongguan. Then I will sit back and wait and see what happens in Hedong. You and your son can give it a try and see whether the Bingzhou soldiers will join hands with me to attack the bandit leader in Guanzhong or join forces with you after they enter Guanzhong!"

Seeing Ma Chao furious, Lu Bu behind the black bear took a step forward and turned his head slightly to look at Ma Chao.

Ma Chao remained calm and patiently advised: "Don't move Tongguan. If there is any change in Tongguan, the people of Hongnong will expel Zhong Yao. The people of Hongnong will not sit idly by and watch foreign troops invade. They would rather bear the blame and take the initiative to welcome the governor of Hebei."

"If Zhong Yao leaves, you and I will become food for the Bingzhou soldiers."

Ma Chao suggested: "General, you may contact Zhong Yao, and we will work together to stabilize Hedong first. After we have negotiated with Yuan, we will hold the pass to the death."

"I'm afraid Zhong Yao will look down on me and refuse to talk to me on an equal footing."

Black Bear suggested: "I will attack Xinfeng in three days. If I can take it and have a place to stay, I will talk to Zhong Yao. Please also tell Zhong Yao to prevent him from escaping without permission."

Xinfeng is a rare fortified city on the south bank of the Wei River.

Ma Chao thought about it, and then gave in: "Good."

(End of this chapter)