Chapter 314 Spending Money to Pave the Way

At Yulin Pass, Liu Bao, wearing an arrow coat, was riding a horse in front, drawing his bow left and right and aiming at a fleeing yellow sheep from a distance.

As Liu Bao released his arrows, they whistled through the air.

The knights riding on both wings of Liu Bao didn't even look at the direction. They turned around and fired at the sound of arrows breaking through the air.

In the blink of an eye, the yellow sheep was hit by more than ten arrows, many of which were thrown into the body a foot deep.

The yellow goat was immediately knocked down by the impact of the arrow. After falling over, its four hooves were still flapping, but it was useless.

"Uu~!"

Liu Bao reined in his horse and put his painted bow into the harness. Several guard leaders came forward and said, "Congratulations, Great Chanyu!"

"It was just a fluke, not worth boasting about."

Liu Bao waved his hand modestly and signaled the archers to return to the ranks.

These archers filed in and formed a circle around the gazelle. After they recovered the arrows they had shot, they retreated into the ranks of the watching knights.

Then another group of more than 20 elite cavalrymen came out. In the distance, a yellow sheep was driven out of the pen. A dozen knights waved whips to scare the yellow sheep away.

Liu Bao accelerated his horse, took out his painted bow, and picked up a whistling arrow. This time, the cavalrymen who came out were also distributed in a line on the left and right.

This tactic of concentrated firepower and targeted killing is not new, and is also the Huns' daily hunting tactic.

The Huns were generally short in stature, and if their horses were inferior, their vision would become a shortcoming when they were riding and fighting.

If there is a tall leader riding an equally tall warhorse, use whistling arrows for guidance.

Then the surrounding cavalry do not need to observe, just follow your instinct and shoot arrows to attack.

Liu Bao finished today's training after shooting fifteen yellow sheep in a row. When he returned to the camp, Liu Bao took out the document sent by Black Bear, but he felt that the silk book was heavy, which made him very uncomfortable.

Several nobles also came up, and one of them asked, "The Great Chanyu and the Great Sima are coming, but what do you need us to do?"

Liu Bao held the silk book and replied, "The Grand Marshal has issued a routine notice, so don't be surprised. As for the reception, the General Du Liao and the father and son of the Protector of the Qiang are there, so why do we need to wait?"

Liu Bao then said, "Hurry back to the camp. I need to draft a reply. The Central Plains has undergone a major change. The Hetao tribes may rebel. I need to warn the Grand Marshal to be vigilant."

In Yan'an, Black Bear climbed up a stone tower and looked down at the surroundings from the second-floor window at the top of the tower.

There was no joy on his face for accepting the stone tower, only dissatisfaction with the Hetao tribes.

The Han and Hu peoples of the Hetao region live together as a mixed community. Over the years, they have come to value strength and value taking what they have and then settling down.

For example, at this moment, the Hetao tribes realized that their attention would be distracted by the battle for hegemony in the Central Plains, so they denied the conditions of the previous negotiation.

The content of the previous negotiations was the demarcation of grasslands. Those willing to engage in farming would be assigned to border counties, while the other nomads would be organized into 37 thousand-household units, each of which would have one grassland each in spring and autumn.

Now, the Hetao people want fifty-three thousand-household units, and the size of the grassland in each thousand-household unit remains unchanged in spring and autumn.

In other words, the Hetao people wanted to seize the pastures reserved for the Xiongnu, namely the Wuyuan and Yunzhong areas.

Black bears don't like this kind of change.

While enjoying the scenery, Ma Chao drove his horse up the mountain path to the foot of the tower. When he jumped off the horse, he threw the whip to his personal soldiers in mid-air.

As soon as he landed, Ma Chao bowed to the historian Wen Gong who was guarding the tower and said, "I have been ordered to see the Grand Marshal. Please pass on the message."

Tai Shi Wen Gong stepped aside to open the door and gestured with his arms.

Looking at the wide open doorway, Ma Chao raised his eyebrows, thinking that there was only Black Bear in the tower.

Restraining his thoughts from spreading, Ma Chao saluted Tai Shi Wen Gong again before taking off his sword and handing it over to his personal guard before entering.

Going up the circular wooden ladder, when I reached the second high level, I saw a warrior standing behind the black bear, more than eight feet tall, wearing a golden helmet and golden armor. Taking into account the increase in armor, this man was bloated, almost eight feet in waist and eight feet in height.

The weapons were even more peculiar, a pair of double gold and silver hooks, one gilded and the other silver-gilded, placed crosswise behind the opponent's waist.

In addition, the other party was carrying a wooden box on his back. Ma Chao took a look and barely recognized that it was a mechanical wooden box that could slide down a short spear by pulling a rope.

Dian Wei looks down from a high position, also wearing a golden bronze mask.

Their eyes met, and Ma Chao felt that he had a clear conscience and lacked the necessary respect for this new guard.

Or climb up the last circle of wooden stairs: "I, Ma Chao, the commander of the Qiang Guard, pay my respects to the Grand Marshal."

"You are also aware of the conditions of the Hetao people. Do you think this is a spur-of-the-moment blackmail, or did the Xianbei people get involved?"

The black bear motioned Ma Chao to come closer and look at the scenery outside the window. There were strong gusts of wind, and in the distance, there were forests on the mountain ridges, including some primitive pine forests.

Ma Chao was already immune to such scenery. Thinking about the two possibilities raised by Black Bear, he said, "From my point of view, perhaps both are possible."

"I think so too. All tribes will hold a grand gathering in June, and the Xianbei people are no exception. When the leaders of each tribe gather together, they will be able to come up with ideas. Now it depends on how many people the Xianbei people dare to send out and what the position of the Hetao people is."

After Black Bear finished speaking, Ma Chao's eyes lit up: "Is the Grand Marshal going to attack the Xianbei?"

Then Ma Chao said solemnly: "So far, our army has no conflicts with the Xianbei. If we rashly mobilize the troops, the various Xianbei tribes will unite and it will be detrimental to the unification of the Hetao area."

Ma Chao then said, "I heard that the Xianbei tribes have an agreement to ban the transport of horses. Why don't you send an envoy with a large sum of money to persuade them? When the Xianbei withdraw their troops, the Hetao people will have nothing to say. What you lose from the Xianbei, you can gain a thousand times more from the Hetao."

"That's a good idea."

Black Bear looked back at Ma Chao, then looked out the window: "We can attack Hetao, but we can't involve Xianbei, at least not before October this year."

Ma Chao understood in his heart that he was just spending money to delay the Xianbei people, who would eventually give up.

The Xianbei were led by Tan Shihuai alone, but at the critical moment of the tribal system reform, Tan Shihuai died in his prime.

Therefore, they could only copy the three-tribe system of the Xiongnu, and each tribe within it was quite free.

If you offer money to bribe the tribal leader who commands the troops, the other party will be happy to accept the money.

Not to mention taking money to withdraw the troops, the Xianbei people were also capable of taking money to launch a counterattack.

The money received does not belong to the tribal leader, but is the collective property of the tribe; so if the leaders of other tribes want to hold them accountable, they are basically becoming enemies with the entire tribe that received the money.

Therefore, Ma Chao did not find it strange that Black Bear had confidence in this regard. This was really something that would be effective if you just spent money.

But you can't overestimate the validity period of this money, the Xianbei people also have flexible ways of dealing with things.

But the two sides of the border counties have dealt with each other frequently, and they also have a solution, which is to pay the money in installments and never pay it off all at once!
After a pause, Black Bear continued, "If the reorganization of the Hetao tribes goes smoothly this time, the Qiang people in the three counties should also be reorganized. The Qiang people are good at herding sheep. I have seen that the sheep will not even let go of the grass roots when they eat grass. This is not in accordance with the will of heaven and will cause trouble sooner or later."

Ma Chao lowered his body slightly and asked: "Grand Marshal, do you mean to reorganize the Qiang people in the three counties and let them herd cattle and horses and assist in farming?"

"Well, it is not advisable to expand farmland without order. Now we have decided how many Qiang people this place can support, and in the future we can only support that many Qiang people."

Black Bear talked about his plan, and Ma Chao looked as if it was no problem.

It is not difficult to control population growth, but the difficult part is to ensure control while the population expands.

As for the Qiang people, as long as the military service becomes more intensive, the birth rate will drop and the death rate will naturally increase.

For Ma Chao, this was really a small thing that could be done easily.

As for the future, in twenty or thirty years, it will be time for the Qiang people in the three counties to integrate into the local community.

(End of this chapter)