"But I heard that every battle between you and Han Sui resulted in more than 10,000 casualties, sometimes even tens of thousands of casualties!"
Even as Ma Teng said, the troops in Guanzhong were not enough for the two of them to waste their money.
"There are also Qiang people here."
This is similar to Liu Zhang's guess. The fight between Ma and Han not only represents the two of them.
"Qiang people? Could it be that they are your lady's tribe?"
It is no secret that Ma Teng is Xian Lingqiang's son-in-law, almost everyone in Liangzhou knows it.
"General Wei, since I married the daughter of the Zhou family, Balazi returned to the tribe in anger. She is no longer my wife."
Liu Zhang was a little confused. The amount of information Ma Teng gave him was very large, and there were many conflicts with the intelligence he had received before.
If the daughter of the leader of Xianling Qiang broke up with Ma Teng, why did Xianling Qiang still help him so much?
"Brother Shoucheng, is it possible that Balazi's status is not high enough to affect your relationship with Xianling Qiang?"
"No, on the contrary, Balazi is deeply loved by his father. Because of her, it almost caused a war between me and Xianling Qiang!"
If Ma Teng had not told Liu Zhang this while a prisoner, the latter must have thought that the former was playing tricks on him.
According to the information Liu Zhang had, Xian Lingqiang had done a lot of work for his horses in recent years, and even killed and injured more than 20,000 people!
"Then why...?"
"General Wei wants to ask why Xian Lingqiang helped me fight Han Suiwei, right?"
Liu Zhang nodded, this was exactly what he wanted to ask.
"Actually, the relationship between the Qiang people is not as harmonious as outsiders see. Wars often occur between them, and in serious cases, they may even lead to genocide."
"Some small tribes rely on large tribes, and large tribes rely on Liangzhou's noble families or warlords. This has been a law for hundreds of years."
"As one of the five major Qiang tribes, the Xianling Qiang has a population of more than 200,000. In time of war, all the people can be soldiers, so there can be more than 50,000 strong men at any time."
"Although this force is powerful, it was not impossible for me to deal with at the time. Moreover, the Zhou family where my wife belongs has a close relationship with Gong Tangqiang."
"The strength of the five major tribes is almost the same. With the support of Gong Tang Qiang, the leader of Xianling Qiang finally chose to settle the matter."
Generally speaking, Ma Teng's rise is inseparable from the Qiang people. After all, although the Zhou family is powerful, they will ultimately have to rely on the power of Gong Tangqiang.
Now the situation analyzed by Liu Zhang and others is almost the same. The two Qiang people who are friendly to Ma Teng are not friendly for no reason, and there are traceable reasons behind them.
"Even so, Xian Lingqiang has no reason to help you like this, right?"
Without the bond of Balazi, there must be a reason why Xian Lingqiang helped Ma Teng regardless of the loss.
This is what Liu Zhang urgently wants to know.
He is about to face the Qiang army. If he can divide and defeat them, he will undoubtedly get twice the result with half the effort.
"Not bad! There are two main reasons."
"The first is because of the Qiang people's own ambitions, and the second is because... Ma Chao."
Ma Teng not only answered Liu Zhang's questions, but also meant that he knew everything, which moved Liu Zhang a little.
"Brother Shoucheng, can you tell us in detail?"
Ma Teng did not refuse and immediately explained the relationship in detail to Liu Zhang.
"Stronger strength also means greater ambition. General Wei should understand this."
Liu Zhang nodded slightly, this was the inevitable result.
With the strength of a prefect of a county, he wanted to be a pastor of a state.
With the strength of a state pastor, he will think about expanding his territory and expanding his power infinitely.
The power has expanded to the extreme, and it is nothing more than the position that everyone in the world aspires to, the emperor!
"The bigger the Qiang people get, the more their ambitions expand, especially among the five major tribes. The chiefs of each of their tribes want to annex the other four major tribes!"
"So they will choose to form alliances with each other and rely on Liangzhou's aristocratic families, warlords, etc., always aiming to unify the Qiang people."
"For hundreds of years, the Qiang people have been fighting endlessly. The Qiang people are not unified. Instead, the conflicts between the Qiang people are getting deeper and deeper!"
Liu Zhang's eyes lit up. If Ma Teng said this, it would be almost impossible for them to unite.
If the conflict is too deep, how can we confront the enemy together? I'm afraid that before the battle with the Yizhou Army, there will be internal strife.
This news is undoubtedly a bright light in the dark night for Liu Zhang!
"Tu Dan, the leader of Xianling Qiang, had great ambitions. When I was at my lowest, when General Wei was familiar with me chopping firewood for a living, he resolutely gave away his daughter to me just by virtue of his status as General Fubo Ma Yuan. Marry me."
"Later on, there was a rift between me and Balazi. On the surface, Tudan complained about his daughter, but in fact, he was using this as a threat to gain more benefits from me."
Liu Zhang nodded in realization, and it made sense now.
Tudan, the head of the Xianling Qiang clan, was only putting pressure on Ma Teng under the guise of protecting his daughter. In fact, he did not dare to really break with Ma Teng.
After all, there are only these warlords in Liangzhou. Losing Ma Teng as an ally will definitely deal a blow to the tribe.
The two parties are like businessmen. As long as there is some negotiation, they can eventually reach an agreement.
“I thought the Qiang people only knew how to fight and kill, but I didn’t expect these Qiang people to have such thoughts!”
Liu Zhang couldn't help but sigh. It seemed that he shouldn't be too careless when dealing with the Qiang people in the future, or he might end up capsizing in the gutter.
"General Wei should know that Xianling Qiang and Gongtang Qiang are friendly to me, and Shaodang Qiang and Han Qiang are friendly to Han Sui. In fact, they all have their own thoughts behind the friendship. And Han Sui and I also took advantage of it. This is what they have been able to do over the years and continue to fight hard.”
"In this way, we can not only look for opportunities to destroy the enemy, but also continuously consume the Qiang people's strength and prevent them from turning into foreigners in the future."
No wonder during the decades of turmoil from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms, the land of Yongliang was tightly controlled by Ma Teng and Han Sui!
The two of them not only harmed each other, but also harmed the Qiang people together.
The Qiang people were driven by ambition, causing constant casualties among their subordinates. The greater the casualties, the easier it was to be driven into confusion, forming a vicious cycle!
If this continues, the Qiang will only become weaker and weaker.
"Brother Shoucheng, what happened to the Ma Chao you were talking about before?"
Ma Chao is what Liu Zhang cares about most at the moment. After all, the person he will face next may be Ma Chao.
"this..."
Ma Teng frowned slightly and his expression became hesitant.
Liu Zhang immediately understood Ma Teng's difficulties. After all, he was his biological son, so how could he help Liu Zhang deal with him.
At this point, Liu Zhang believed that Ma Teng no longer had the ambition to separate and stand on his own, after all, he himself had become a prisoner of his subordinates.
If the safety of Ma Teng's family can be guaranteed, I believe Ma Teng will make the right choice.
"Brother Shoucheng, don't worry, I will definitely not harm Ma Chao's life."
