Chapter 6656 The Moment of Decision

Chapter 6656 The Moment of Decision
"It's hard to say. Even for us, it's hard to understand the logic behind some of the behaviors of Beigui's high-level officials. The existence of the princess is only one aspect for Beigui. The other aspect is the difference at the social level." Chen Xi thought for a while and explained, because it was difficult for him to explain clearly what was going on.

However, Chen Xi basically handed over the matter in the Tibetan area to Ma Xinde. As for what happened in the middle, Chen Xi didn't care much. It all depended on Ma Xinde's own operations.

"Indeed, if you think about it carefully, some of Beigui's behaviors are indeed a bit extreme. The existence of the princess is more to give them a step, and the difference at the social level is the key to truly induce them to take that step." Fa Zheng nodded, he also agreed with this point.

Although there are many young and strong men in Beigui who truly believe that the purpose of establishing an empire is to fight back and snatch the Han princess, for most normal young and strong men, the existence of the princess allows them to quickly turn to the Han Dynasty when they do not have many choices, and they will not have any psychological pressure.

Life was good in the Han Dynasty, but people had to eat dirt in the Beigui Mountain area. Betrayal sounded bad, which meant it was a century-old wish. At least the latter sounded like a family inheritance. For the sake of this inheritance, they chose to take the not-so-good step in terms of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness. At least there was a step that everyone could believe in.

After all, the Northern Gui who really believed in this and had trained several generations of people in the mountains for this belief had already surrendered. Those who did not surrender at that time but surrendered now with this reason, their attitude is actually self-evident. It's just that the people did not report it and the officials did not investigate, so everyone could get away with it. The Han Dynasty, considering that the Northern Gui were also from East Asia and their ancestors were of the same lineage as them, was too lazy to analyze them one by one.

"So, forget about it, and just see what Masinde can do for us." Chen Xi said calmly, "Anyway, with Masinde's ability, if he still can't control Fu Ward even though he has done it intentionally, then I have to consider whether the other party did it on purpose."

Fu Ward is a big shot, but Fu Ward is facing Masinde, and after Masinde took Fu Ward to Tibet and threatened the Han Dynasty's border, Fu Ward would most likely not suspect Masinde. In this case, if Masinde still can't control himself, then who is the other party playing? It would be very infuriating.

"Send a letter to the Tibetan area, and also send a letter to Zhang Derong and Chen Xiaoqi, asking them to make preparations. Many things will have results in the future." Chen Xi thought for a while and said to Li You. No matter whether Ma Xinde played Fu Ward or Ma Xinde played the Han Dynasty, at this stage, the results have been obtained.

"Okay, leave it to me." Li You nodded to Chen Xi and said.

"Allow a batch of supplies to be allocated to Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang. Have Yang Pu and his men prepare to guard against Fu Ward. Although there is a high probability that he will not take action, it is still a precaution." Chen Xi once again instructed Li You, "Let Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang pretend to do something, which can also satisfy their vanity."

Chen Xi positioned the Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang not as guards of Zangzhou, but as citizens of Zangzhou. The reason why he let them stay in Zangzhou and near the Qiangtang area was because they could adapt to the environment there and stay there continuously, thus consolidating the border of the Han Dynasty and achieving an effect that was almost like immigration to the border. As for letting the Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang fight with the local people in the Tibetan area, Chen Xi had no plan from the beginning. After all, the Tibetan area was so large and there were so few local people these days. If they were to be restrained, they would not even run into each other.

It's just that the leaders of Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang and the people under their rule got too much, so much that they, who used to live in poverty, began to doubt their lives. But people these days are still quite simple and honest. To be more straightforward, even in later times, if you pay the money to raise a group of death warriors, there will be people who will risk their lives for you.

The supplies and logistics that Chen Xi provided to Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang were calculated based on the people of the Central Plains. After all, these two tribes were willing to integrate into the Han Dynasty, and because they had arrived in Tibet early on, they had no hatred towards Liangzhou. When they were still in Liangzhou in the early years, they followed Dou Xian's group to attack the Huns from afar. To be honest, they were indeed meritorious tribes.

Therefore, with the active approach of Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang, Chen Xi also gave them quite a lot of benefits. Except for the problem of building roads in the Tibetan area, which Chen Xi is now worried about, Chen Xi gave them all the benefits he could. Therefore, after a few years, Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang felt that if they didn't do anything serious, it would be a bit difficult to take the subsidies from the state.

This is also the reason why Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang have been clamoring to fight with Fu Ward in recent years.

If we say that in the past, Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang were fighting Fuward as if they were trash like Khotan and Tiele, then I can't beat the Han Dynasty, and I can't beat you trash either. I have the Han Dynasty to pass on my skills, so I will beat you to death. As for the losses, we can hold on with the Han Dynasty's assistance, and we must be worthy of the subsidies that the Han Dynasty gives them every year. Charge, brothers.

Later, Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang knew that Fu Ward was a famous Kushan general and that the regular army under his command was also the main force of Kushan, so they were somewhat timid. However, the Han Dynasty stated that Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang did not need to control Fu Ward, and that they would have their own professionals to lead troops to suppress Fu Ward, and that all kinds of material benefits would be provided.

After two years of receiving the money, Qing Qiang and Fa Qiang felt that the money was too hot to handle. After all, they did everything except raising geese in Tibet, digging some Cordyceps sinensis, and getting some strange wild medicinal herbs. They were doing better and better every year, and it felt like they were being supported by the government subsidies.

So the leaders of the Qing Qiang, Fa Qiang and Di people discussed it and felt that this was not the right way to go. How could they hesitate to move forward because of the danger when the Han Dynasty treated them like this? In addition, there was an epidemic in the middle, and the Han Dynasty sent doctors to treat them, so that these grassland nomads avoided the result of most of them dying as in the past. The Han Dynasty did not confiscate any money, and even gave them some nutritional supplements.

Such welfare made the Qing Qiang, Fa Qiang and Di people completely win over. After the three leaders sat together to discuss, they said that they felt they couldn't get over the Han Dynasty's treatment of them without any response. But the king regarded his subjects as brothers, so what else could they say? Go for it!
Then the Qing Qiang, Fa Qiang and Di people gathered all their young and strong men to sweep the territory of the Xiangxiong Dynasty. As I said before, Fu Ward was very powerful, and the regular army under Fu Ward was also very powerful. The problem was that Fu Ward had a total of only 40,000 people, and some had to be left behind to garrison in Xiangxiong and suppress the local area, so the troops that could be mobilized were extremely limited.

The Qing Qiang, Fa Qiang, and Di people basically fought on their own land. Not to mention the young and strong men, they even brought healthy women with them when they set out. They also had the weapons of the Han Dynasty, so they looked somewhat similar. Then the two sides fought again in the Tibetan area. Fuward mobilized 12,000 troops, and the Qiang people mobilized 70,000 troops.

The result is nothing to say. After discovering the movements of the Qiang people, Fu Ward, who was well prepared, won the victory on the battlefield, but his troops were reduced by more than 3,000. If the wounded were included, the mobile forces that Fu Ward could mobilize dropped directly to more than 6,000.

In short, winning the war was just as miserable as losing the war. If Chen Xi hadn't asked Zhang Ji to severely criticize the leader of the Qiang people, this group of people would probably start a war again and fight a few more battles with Fuward after they had recovered. Losses? They were not afraid of losses. Now they had to show their loyalty to the Han Dynasty.

Although Chen Xi felt that it was totally unnecessary, the Qiang people all wanted to continue this kind of life. After all, after enjoying the wealth of the Han Dynasty, they could not bear to go back to the mountains to eat grass, have no food to eat in the freezing cold, have their entire family killed by a white snow, or have half of their clan killed by an epidemic.

If you don't know or enjoy some things, it's fine. But once you have seen, known and enjoyed them, and want to go back to the past and maintain a life of contentment with poverty, how can you say it? You must have the mentality of a gentleman to start with. If everyone was a gentleman, would there be such a thing in the world?
Most people are just normal people, there is no serious distinction between them.

With this idea in mind, it is understandable what the Qiang people can do, but Chen Xi still asked Zhang Ji and Chen Zhen to stop this group of people from going crazy. It is true that this group of people can destroy Fu Ward regardless of the losses, but the damage to achieve this goal is not worth it in Chen Xi's opinion. After all, with Ma Xinde as an insider, many things are actually unnecessary.

"I think if you continue to send things to the Qiang people in Tibet, they may have to find a way to start a war to thank the Han Dynasty." Li You said unhappily.

"There probably won't be a chance to launch it. If Fuward was really responsible for the incident in Xinzhou, then it's almost time for Masinde and Fuward to confront each other." Chen Xi shook his head and said, "Just wait and see. There should be news soon."

In Zangzhou, Yang Pu and others brought a batch of supplies from Hanzhong with their leaders. When they were on their way to Zangzhou, the group of people were wondering whether they should launch another war against Fuward.

"Did Liuzi discover a base of Xiangxiong?" Yang Pu asked Lin Dai.

"Yes, he said that he went hunting and happened to discover a Zhangzhung tribe. According to his observation, this tribe is a large tribe with about 500 to 800 Kushan troops stationed in it. I was thinking that after we finish pulling in this wave of goods, we will go over there and do some work. If we can't beat 3,000 to 5,000 Kushan elites, how can we beat 500 Kushan elites?" Lin Dai nodded and said. The last time he was chopped by a Kushan soldier, he almost took half his life. But even so, he was still positive about attacking Zhangzhung and killing the Kushan soldiers.

"Speaking of which, we seem to have only killed three or four thousand real Kushan soldiers over the years, right? The rest seem to be servants. We killed them over and over again, but we killed the most the first time." Yang Pu said with some fatigue, "How can we let Fu Ward gather all the Kushan army, and then we can gather all our men and fight them head-on."

"We can't win in a head-on fight. Fuward still has nearly 30,000 people. Even if we arm all the young and strong men in the tribe, there are only a little over 100,000 of them, and that's only counting the boys of 15 or 16 years old. We can't win." Lin Dai sighed and said, if they are prepared, Fuward can really fight, and if they fight in formation then attack, they really can't win.

"Even if we can't win, a fight like this can at least inflict nearly 10,000 casualties on the Kushans. They are different from us. We have no shortage of logistics and medicine. If Fu Ward inflicts nearly 10,000 casualties on them, the Zhangzhung chieftains we have colluded with will be able to cause big trouble." Yang Pu said with a sneer.

"You are quite sinister, kid." Lin Dai scolded with a smile. This is indeed the truth. As long as Fu Ward's power is reduced to a certain extent, Fu Ward will not only face the Qiang people. Now the nobles of Xiangxiong dare not move. On the one hand, it is because Fu Ward's strength is indeed strong enough. On the other hand, the operating framework created by Masinde can indeed allow Xiangxiong to develop smoothly.

But no matter how strong the Kushans are, and no matter whether Zhangzhung can develop smoothly, for the Zhangzhung leaders who have lost a lot of interests, they are still very active if they have plans to interfere with Ward. Therefore, when Yang Pu contacted them privately, they also responded actively.

Of course, Mashind could see this kind of contact clearly. After all, he was in charge of the national operations of Zhangzhung, and he had placed people with abilities suitable for the positions everywhere. Therefore, this kind of contact would naturally be noticed by the strict organization, but Mashind didn't care.

"Although we can't defeat Fu Ward, we can delay him to death. How about we have a big battle this time and organize more manpower?" Yang Pu suggested. In such a war, the Qiang people would definitely suffer heavy losses, but for the future, in order to enjoy this kind of life in the future, Yang Pu felt it necessary to take the risk and fight Fu Ward.

"This still needs to be discussed with the chiefs of each tribe. After all, a chief already died in the last battle, so we still need to be careful." Lin Dai said somewhat cautiously.

If it were back before joining the Han Dynasty, when the chief of the tribe died, everything under his command would be absorbed by other chiefs, and his wife and children would become someone else's wives and children. But after the last war, Zhang Ji counted the losses, paid a lot of compensation to those who died in the battle, and suppressed other chiefs who wanted to annex him.

To be honest, because all the chiefs did not annex the dead guys, no one became stronger by eating others in this round of war, and there were no conflicts among the chiefs. After all, before joining the Han Dynasty, annexing the families and subordinates of the dead after the war was a very effective means of reinforcement, and it could also prevent themselves from being swallowed up.

Of course, the disadvantages are probably that the law of the jungle is too extreme and the moral qualities are too low, but this is an unavoidable situation when living on the grassland. After joining the Han Dynasty, this aspect can be avoided, and it is actually not a bad thing for most tribal leaders.

At least you don't have to worry about dying one day and everything you have becoming someone else's, and you can feel a little more at ease when fighting.

"That's right, but does that mean you agree?" Yang Pu nodded and asked.

"We have medicine and logistics here, and although the Han Dynasty has forbidden us to go to war with Fuward, after we fight with Fuward, regardless of whether we win or lose, the Han Dynasty will reissue us various supplies. In this case, what is there to disagree with?" Lin Dai said calmly.

"Come to think of it, have we ever won?" Yang Pu asked after a moment of silence.

"If you think about it carefully, it seems not. We were beaten by Fu Ward every time. Our losses were actually quite heavy. The number of casualties each time was several times that of Fu Ward. But I don't know why, I always feel that if we continue fighting like this, we will definitely win." Lin Dai touched his chin, thought for a while and said.

"Maybe it's because of the problem of hurting people with this weapon." Zhuzhi, who had been silent all this time but was silently calculating how much supplies they could get this time, spoke one of the rare times.

"But this is not important. Think about it. If Governor Zhang hadn't realized that we had an epidemic and quickly asked Chang'an to send people to treat us, at least half of us would have died, or even several of us would have died." Lin Dai said calmly, "What's the point of selling a life I picked up for free to the Han Dynasty? Besides, there are constant benefits in the process of selling my life."

"And the white snow before." Yang Pu sighed and said, "If the Han Dynasty hadn't allocated a large number of winter cotton clothes, we would have lost a lot of people. I think that with these two waves, the total population of our tribes, which is 500,000 or 600,000, would be at least 300,000 less, right?"

It may sound outrageous, but if you were to live on the grassland in the feudal era, a large-scale plague plus white snow would kill half of the people on the grassland at once, which is a very conservative estimate. In fact, if it were more tragic, there would probably be more deaths.

This is also the reason why the Hu people would move south every time there was a heavy snowfall in the north. To be honest, if they could have a meal, who would be willing to fight to the death with the Han Dynasty? They were not the dog Song Dynasty where they could get gold coins by fighting. If they fought with the Han Dynasty, not to mention gold coins, even their heads would be blown away by the Han Dynasty.

If there is any other choice, who would be willing to fight to the death with such a monster? It is because there is no other way to survive that we have to go south.

So according to Yang Pu's rough calculation, they successfully saved 300,000 more lives in the past two years because of the special medicines and warm materials. Since 300,000 more people survived, it was very reasonable to use half of them to fight for the Han Dynasty. Even if they were all killed and the Han Dynasty did not provide them with continuous support, at least they did not lose anything, right?

In fact, this was the rhetoric used by Yang Pu and others when they mobilized the Qiang people. When the Qiang people touched their cotton-padded clothes and recalled the two times when they fell to the ground with fever due to the epidemic, they thought, Damn it, he has offered his loyalty to the Han Dynasty, Fu Ward is nothing, I'll kill him!

This is roughly the situation, so the cost of mobilizing troops for Yang Pu and others in recent times is very low. Many Qiang people feel that the money given by the Han Dynasty is for their lives, and the money is very reasonable. They should indeed work hard for the Han Dynasty. As for the question of whether the opponent is strong or not, it has nothing to do with whether they work hard or not.

"Then let's mobilize everyone and have a fierce fight with Fu Ward." Lin Dai said to Zhu Zhi, and Zhu Zhi, who was reluctant to talk, nodded, indicating that there was no problem with this matter.

When the Qiang people were preparing to mobilize 120,000 to 150,000 young and strong men to fight a desperate battle with Fu Ward with a four-for-one strategy, Fu Ward was quietly listening to the report from his own soldiers.

As I said, Fu Ward is not a fool. Especially after being beaten by Li Jue, Fu Ward has a clear understanding of whether spies can be bribed. In addition, Tibet is the highest place in the world. After several years of enlightenment, Fu Ward has a deeper understanding of many things.

"The New State's army has already begun to be deployed." Fuward sighed and said, "Even so, we can't go northwest to return to Kushan. The most promising plan at the moment is actually to go south. Unfortunately, the Himalayas and the snow line have moved down, making it difficult for us to pass through there."

"Go and find Masinde. By now he has done everything he can. By the time I realized it, it was too late. You go and notify him to come over." Fu Ward spoke to his personal guard, who was standing there and was about to explain when he was interrupted by Fu Ward.

"Masinde has gone out. I don't know where he has gone, but you must know. Please notify Masinde to come over. My personal soldiers have been gradually gathered by Masinde. I am a very bad general." Fuward said while staring at his personal soldiers, and the personal soldiers knelt down on the spot.

"No need to play with these things. Just go and inform Mashind. I really don't have any other way now. The last manpower I could mobilize has been controlled by Mashind after this incident. I am the only one left. What does Mashind have to be afraid of?" Fuward said calmly. In fact, he has thought it through quite thoroughly now, so he is not angry at all.

Soon, Mashind and Assam appeared in the palace where Fuward was. The three of them looked at each other in silence. Finally, Fuward slowly asked, "Mashind, how much did you sell me for?"

"If you want to return to Kushan, the Himalayas can't stop you." Masinde said calmly, "In fact, I want you to be with me."

"Then what shall we do with the remaining less than 30,000 elite Kushans?" Fuward looked at Masinde coldly and asked, "Are we going to use them as consumables?"

"When I brought them here, I said that they would most likely not be able to return to Kushan." Masinde's eyes were extremely calm. "I have been telling the truth from the beginning. The promise I made to Vasudeva I when I returned to Kusumu City has been fulfilled. I have done my best for Kushan. Although I hate the high-ranking officials of Kushan, I have kept my promises in both the navy and the army."

When Masinde said this, Fuward clearly felt that the restraints from the Kushans on the other party were constantly being cut off.

"Tell me your choice. At this point, you should have figured out everything you need to know." Masinde said softly.

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