The strong wind in Hechuan howled at night, sweeping away the scorching heat of the day. The whining sound of the blown trees was like a wolf howling sadly on the top of the mountain. A fierce strong wind swept into Chief Yeli's Mansion, and the flames in the lampposts were dying. Chief Yelizhan lit two spare torches and inserted them into the lampposts, and the hall suddenly lit up.
The firelight illuminated the hall, and also illuminated the faces of Ye Lizhan, Chief Xiang Liyuan of the Quli clan, and Po Chaoqi, the chief of the Pochao clan.
"Chief Yeli, why did you come to me in the middle of the night?" The speaker was a burly man with curly long hair that made him look like a lion in the night, exuding the look of a wild beast. breath.
This is Pochao's chief weapon. After his father died of illness last year, he inherited the chief's position. Compared with Yeli Zhan and Quli Yuan, he looks very young in his early thirties.
Ye Lizhan raised his eyelids and asked instead of answering: "Chief Pochao, do you think our party can defeat the imperial court?"
"It's impossible!" Po Chaoqi shook his head and added: "Even if the ten parties add up, they are no match for the imperial court."
"In other words, Tuoba Qushi is seeking death by becoming an enemy of the imperial court, right?" Ye Lizhan looked at Po Chaoqi with burning eyes.
Po Chaoqi didn't understand what he meant, but he still said honestly based on his own judgment: "There is a huge gap in strength between the two sides, and there is no comparison at all. Qu Shuai is clearly seeking death when he goes against the imperial court."
"If he wants to die, let him die." With a clear voice, a handsome young Han man opened the side door. Guarded by several Han and Qiang warriors, he stood out like a star. Yue generally walked into the hall.
"Han?" Po Chaoqi stood up immediately, with no concealment of hostility in his eyes. He saw Black Qiang Chief Yang Lie, Snow Mountain Qiang Chief Su Cang, and White Water Qiang Chief Bai Xiong file out, and immediately put on his waistband. The knife was drawn out.
"Are the Qiang Han really that important?" The young man walked into the hall, saluted Ye Lizhan and Quang Liyuan, then smiled at Po Chaoqi and said: "Chief Po Chao, my name is Liangzhou Li Cao Wei Yunqi, and I serve the King of Wei. I have been ordered to come here to pay you a visit.”
The person who came was none other than Wei Yunqi. During the day, he had already convinced Yang Lie, Su Cang, and Bai Xiong, and then met with Ye Lizhan. Then, taking advantage of the power of the Sui Dynasty and the rebellion of the party members, he recruited Ye Lizhan, who was unwilling to fight to the end, to surrender; After Ye Lizhan was surrendered by him, he also persuaded the sympathizer Go Liyuan, which also made the anti-Tuoba Ningcong forces grow like a snowball. If the Po Chao Weapon is surrendered again tonight, both the second and third forces of the party will be out of Tuoba Ningcong's control, causing Tuoba Ningcong to lose half of his strength in one day.
"The Han people are despicable and cunning. They killed many of our warriors in Weizhou." Po Chaoqi looked at Wei Yunqi and said coldly.
"Chief Pochao, you need to understand it clearly. First you ambush King Wei, then the Battle of Weizhou happened, and then your warriors died in Weizhou." Wei Yunqi went straight to find a seat and sat down, smiling at him Po Chaoqi said: "If you are not despicable and cunning about your night attack on the main camp of Zhan County, what is it? You are all despicable and cunning in attacking King Wei. Why should King Wei be merciful to his enemy?"
Po Chaoqi said angrily: "Isn't this all caused by you classifying us as second-class people?"
"Who can blame this?" Wei Yunqi narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "The 'four-class people' policy implemented in Liangzhou is very clear: Anyone who lives in the Sui Dynasty and Liangzhou must If you want to become a first-class person in the Great Sui Dynasty, you must first abide by the laws of the Great Sui Dynasty, learn Han Chinese etiquette, learn to speak Chinese, wear Han Chinese clothes, and write Han Chinese characters. If you can't even meet this most basic requirement, what's the point? Claiming to be a citizen of the Sui Dynasty? Why should I, the people of the Sui Dynasty, accept you?"
Wei Yunqi glanced at the several chiefs, and said to Po Chaoqi with some meaning: "We, the Sui Dynasty, pity you foreign Qiang people, so we allow you to thrive in the land of the Sui Dynasty. In name, we are the Sui Dynasty." In fact, even the government cannot easily enter here; moreover, all the taxes and other taxes produced by the Sui Dynasty land belong to you, and the appointment and dismissal of officials are completely independent, and even the army is not controlled by the court. You have never regarded yourselves as As a member of the Great Sui Dynasty, you are constantly antagonizing the imperial court and attacking cities and territories. Why should you be allowed to be treated as one of your own by the Great Sui Dynasty? In my opinion, the status of 'second-class people' given to you by King Wei has already been I think so highly of you that it is more appropriate to regard you as fourth-class people and enemies.”
These words were spoken by Yang Ji to Liangzhou civil and military officials when he was implementing the "four-class people" policy.
From Yang Ji's point of view, the Sui Dynasty had gone to the extreme in Chineseizing foreign ethnic groups. The imperial court established gathering places for various ethnic groups in various places and allowed them to accept Wanghua. This would indeed make them grateful in a short period of time. But this kind of gratitude cannot be passed down from generation to generation. Even if this generation is willing, as long as they retain their own writing, language, clothing, customs, and beliefs, they will always be incompatible with the Sui Dynasty. Once they gain strength, , or the imperial court declines, it will definitely become an endless trouble.
Wei Yunqi and other knowledgeable people deeply agree with Yang Ji's theory. Moreover, there are many examples of raising tigers, such as the Southern Huns during the Han Dynasty. They were able to survive because of the protection of the Han Dynasty, but the Han Dynasty After the decline of the dynasty, the Southern Xiongnu took the opportunity to rebel and plunder, killing thousands of miles of Guanzhong.
And this party went even further. They were a group of remnant soldiers who failed in internal fighting. If the Great Sui Dynasty had not allowed them to join in, they would have died at the hands of their enemies. However, they were not only ungrateful, but also When their own strength was insufficient, they attacked Huizhou. The imperial court later drove them to Taozhou. Instead of learning their lesson, they continued to do this.
If they are allowed to grow stronger, what will happen in the future?
Therefore, when Wei Yunqi and others combined theory and examples, they were full of malice towards this alien race in a country within a country.
After hearing these words, the chiefs felt extremely embarrassed and were speechless. But Po Chaoqi said angrily: "Do you think I dare not kill you?"
"If you have the ability, just come." Wei Yunqi said happily: "There are tens of thousands of people from the Pochao family buried with them. My life, Wei Yunqi, is so worth it."
Po Chaoqi was heartbroken when he heard this, but he could not lose even if he lost the battle. He insisted: "Do you think the imperial court will massacre tens of thousands of people just for you? You think too highly of yourself."
"The imperial court may not, but King Wei will." Wei Yunqi stood up to slap the case, and said with full of fighting spirit: "If you are willing, come and kill me. I don't know who will die."
In an instant, Wei Yunqi's demeanor changed drastically, as if he was standing there with an unsheathed sword, looking stern and full of evil aura.
Even Zhu Can also looked at him sideways and thought with admiration: "I thought this scholar was pretending to be a stickman, but it seems he has some real ability. It's just that I, Old Zhu, shouldn't say this. What? How can a civil servant be more powerful than me, Lao Zhu?"
In fact, the reason why Wei Yunqi was so arrogant was because he was an envoy, and he represented the Sui Dynasty and Liangzhou at this time. How could he lose the dignity of the Sui Dynasty in front of a small and powerful weapon? Secondly, he has confidence in his own ability. His biggest dream is to become a famous general like Wei Xiaokuan, so he has been working hard in this direction since he was a child. If Po Chaoqi really fights with him at all costs, , he was 70% to 80% sure of killing this guy on the spot.
What made him extremely depressed was that he was obviously very good at fighting, but he became a civil servant, and he was still a courtier who relied on talking. However, thinking that Yang Shanhui, who was more powerful than him and knew more about military affairs, had also become a prosecutor and principal history, I felt a little bit in my heart.
"I won't argue with a madman." Po Chaoqi ignored Wei Yunqi and asked Yeli Zhan in a deep voice: "Chief Yeli, what do you mean by bringing Sui Dynasty officials into the hall?"
Ye Lizhan stared at Po Chaoqi and said in a deep voice: "As you said before, we have no chance of winning, but Tuoba Ningcong is stubborn and prepared to continue fighting this meaningless battle. If this continues, Party Xiang will More than 100,000 people will be buried with his ambition, so the four of us unanimously decided to surrender to the imperial court for the sake of our people and ourselves."
Po Chaoqi was silent after hearing this. He was silent for a long time, frowned at Wei Yunqi and asked: "As far as I know, the imperial court separated the various Qiang tribes, right?"
"Yes!" Wei Yunqian nodded: "The imperial court does not allow the existence of a state within a state, so not only other tribes have to disperse and settle, but Dangxiang is no exception. Your tribe will no longer be subject to further restrictions if they settle in a livable place in the future. There are no threats from poisonous insects and fierce beasts. As long as you restrain yourself according to the laws of the imperial court, you can enjoy all the treatment equal to that of the Han people. Isn't this kind of life the life you have been looking forward to for generations?"
Po Chaoqi said coldly: "What if I don't agree?"
"Then just wait for King Wei to come and kill you!" Wei Yunqi said calmly: "Even if you are lucky enough to escape the court's encirclement and suppression, there are not many people left in your army. What's the point of being a surviving chief? ?”
Po Chaoqi said coldly: "If I don't hide in the mountains, what can I do?"
"As far as I know, Chief Pochao is brave enough for all men. If he surrenders to the court, he can also join the army and seek official positions based on merit and ability. And besides surrendering, does Chief Pochao have any other choice?" Wei Yun Qi had said this for the fourth time, but in order to win the supreme weapon, he still said it tirelessly.
"Quchao Chief! According to Wei Licao, we didn't lose anything. Instead, we escaped the responsibility of ambushing King Wei and allowed our people to live a good life." Ye Li said with a smile: "And Wei Li Li Cao also said that in the near future, the Sui Dynasty will go to war with Tuyuhun. If we can seize this opportunity, we may not be unable to become generals in the future."
"That's right!" Wei Yunqi said solemnly: "Liangzhou is at the time of employment, and there are vacancies in civil and military positions. In addition to joining the army, you can also join politics."
This is not because Wei Yunqi lied to them, but that these chiefs may not be as good as the reserve officials of the imperial court in terms of literature and culture, but they all have experience in managing a ministry, and this experience is not comparable to that of the reserve officials. All of them are A man of practical ability is more than enough to be a county magistrate.
"That being the case, our department is also willing to surrender to the imperial court." Po Chaoqi was not a fool. When Ye Lizhan made his position clear, he knew that the other party was fully prepared. If he did not agree, he would never see the sun tomorrow.
What's more, not only did Tuoba Ningcong have no kindness towards him, but when his father died of illness, he tried every means to annex the power of the Pochao family. Why should he die for such an immoral and incompetent person?
"Chichao is so quick to talk!" Wei Yunqi smiled slightly and said to the chiefs: "In addition to lobbying everyone, I also hope that you can mobilize a thousand warriors to be used by the Liangzhou Governor's Office. If you have any military exploits in the future, Promotions can also be made, but these people must be the strongest warriors."
"Thank you Wei Licao." The chiefs were overjoyed when they heard this. Although there were many Qiang generals in the imperial army in the past, they would be automatically dismissed after the war. Almost no one was officially appointed, and no one became a general. , even the general of Tuoba Ningcong has just a false position.
Ye Lizhan frowned and said: "Wei Licao, please forgive me. Each of our ministries can afford these thousand soldiers, but most of our warriors are now facing off against the imperial army on the front line. If a war breaks out, I am afraid that both sides will There is damage. Can we not fight this battle?"
"This is exactly what I want to say." Wei Yunqi said: "I came to visit you just to avoid the outbreak of war and avoid unnecessary casualties."
Yelizhan's eyes lit up and he asked urgently: "Then what should we do?"
"Capture the thief first! Capture the king first!" Wei Yunqi said: "As long as Tuoba Ningcong, Fei Tinglong and others are killed, the party soldiers gathered at the front will be defeated without a fight, and there will be no need to fight."
"It makes sense, but what should we do?"
"Just listen to my arrangements." Wei Yunqi's face showed excitement.
. . . . . . . . .
"See Qu Shuai." In the dead of night, a Black Qiang warrior sneaked around the vigil warriors and arrived at Tuoba Ningcong's mansion.
"Do you know the identities of those who entered the stronghold today?" Tuoba Ningcong raised his head slightly, the cold night wind floated his hair on his forehead, and his wolf-like eyes exuded coldness in the flickering firelight. of light.
"All I know is that they are the envoys sent by the imperial court." The Black Qiang warrior looked at Tuoba Ningcong with a little fear. The murderous aura emanating from him made him feel like he wanted to run away.
"Messenger of the imperial court?" Tuoba Ning's wolf-like eyes suddenly burst out with cold murderous intent: "Yang Lie dared to liaise with the Sui Dynasty imperial court. He really deserves to be killed!"
The Qiang warrior felt that it suddenly became difficult to breathe. He looked at the channel standing up slowly in front of him with fear. The next moment, he felt a pain in his stomach.
"Q-Q handsome!" The Qiang warrior looked at the dagger that stabbed into his chest in disbelief, his face twisted in pain.
"I hate traitors the most. You are no longer useful." Tuoba Ningcong looked coldly at the Qiang man who was gradually losing strength and his eyes were starting to blur. He snorted coldly, pulled out the dagger, and let the blood splash on the on myself.
The lifeless corpse slid softly to the ground. Tuoba Ningcong slowly took a few steps back, his eyes still cold.
"You shouldn't kill him." Fei Tinglong said with some helplessness: "After all, he is working for us. If you kill him, who will dare to be loyal to us in the future?"
Tuoba Ningcong did not answer Fei Tinglong, but said coldly: "Black Qiang, Snow Mountain Qiang, and Baishui Qiang have always been of the same spirit. Since Yang Lie betrayed us, Su Cang and Bai Xiong must be no exception. If They and the Sui army should cooperate with each other internally and externally, and Hechuan is in danger."
"That's right." Fei Tinglong nodded and said, "Our troops are all on the front line now. If Yang Ji sends another army from the upper reaches tomorrow, we will die without a burial place."
"So we must get rid of these traitors tonight."
"What does Qu Shuai want to do?"
"There are not many warriors left in the Black Qiang village." Tuoba Ningcong said coldly: "Immediately gather the remaining elite soldiers and follow me to kill the Sui envoys and force Yang Lie and others to join us. advance and retreat."
"Shuai Qu's method is very good!" Fei Tinglong was overjoyed when he heard this.
"The Han Dynasty envoy Ban Chao used this method to kill the Huns' envoys, and finally forced the countries in the Western Regions to join the Han Dynasty in dealing with the Huns. As long as we kill the Sui Dynasty's envoys, we can still solve our internal worries, so go and prepare!"
"Here!"
