At the Jincheng Prefect's Mansion, Liu Cheng listened to Yan Xing's description of the situation on the march.
There were civilian and military generals sitting on the left and right below.
Wine, meat and food were placed on the small tables in front of each of them.
The man who led the Jincheng garrison to surrender Fu Xing is also on the list.
When Yan Xing was describing what happened during the march, he mentioned an issue that attracted Liu Cheng's attention.
In fact, Liu Cheng also noticed that with the arrival of early winter, the temperature difference between day and night in Liangzhou is very large.
At night, the soldiers almost did not dare to go out because it was too cold.
Both armies froze to death during the march.
Although there were only a dozen people who froze to death, and they were all guarding sentries, this was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous signal.
After Liu Cheng heard Yan Xing's words, he began to think.
At this time, a soldier rushed over and bowed down: "Please report to Master Sikong.
Master Zhang Ji sent a subordinate to report to you that Ma Teng's army has attacked this morning."
He attacked Zu Li and captured the guard Li Kan alive.
General Ma Teng decided to set off with his son Ma Chao, general Pang De and others to visit Jincheng three days later."
Liu Cheng said with joy on his face: "Okay, Ma Teng has indeed lived up to the expectations of the emperor and the court.
You go down to eat some food, rest for one night, and return to Zuli tomorrow to tell Ma Teng that I am waiting for his arrival in Jincheng." " "Yes" the messenger agreed with his fists clasped and retreated.
"Come on, let's drink" Under Liu Cheng's greeting, everyone ate and drank together while enjoying the singing and dancing.
The commotion lasted until late at night.
Early the next morning, Liu Cheng sent someone to find Fu Xing and asked him to come to the prefect's mansion.
Fu Xing rushed over quickly and saw Liu Cheng practicing martial arts.
He was sensible and did not come forward to disturb him.
Instead, he waited quietly at the edge of the garden.
After Liu Cheng finished practicing martial arts, he wiped his sweat with a towel.
When he saw Fu Xing waiting next to him, he waved to him.
Fu Xing immediately stepped forward and bowed, "I pay my respects to Master Sikong."
Liu Cheng walked towards the front hall of the prefect's mansion and said: "This time you have made a contribution to the city.
I will reward you on behalf of the court.
Tell me what you want."
Fu Xing is also a smart man, so he can't directly say what he wants.
He replied: "Back to Lord Sikong, I was a thief before, so I was already guilty.
If the court pardons the villain's crime, it is already a mercy.
How can I, villain?"
Can you have any more demands from the imperial court?"
Liu Cheng waved his hand and said: "These are two different things.
The imperial court pardoned you for many reasons.
The main reason is that you are not bad in nature and were forced to become thieves.
The crime is pardoned, but you have merit and the imperial court cannot turn a blind eye.
Otherwise, whoever will be loyal to the court in the future will be punished and rewarded for merit.
This is the rule.
I will give you three choices: first, money and land; second, title; third, choose one of the three. " Fu Xing cupped his hands and said: "The appreciation from the imperial court and Master Sikong is a gift.
How can a villain choose his own line?
Whatever Master Sikong gives, the villain wants."
Liu Cheng stopped, turned to look at Fu Xing, and said with a smile: "When I rescued Yu Jia at the foot of Beimang Mountain, when Your Majesty and the Queen Mother returned to the palace to reward me, the Queen Mother asked me what reward I wanted.
What do you think Sikong answered?
of" Fu Xing shook his head and said, "I don't know, I don't know."
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Liu Chengdao: "I said I wanted to be an official."
Fu Xing was so shocked that he opened his mouth wide: "Ah, Master Sikong really said that."
"Of course, all the ministers in the court laughed heartily.
They laughed at me, Liu Cheng, who didn't know how to be polite and modest, and even asked for an official position.
This official addiction is too great.
I want to be an official.
I'm crazy.
I asked The emperor and the queen mother are important officials."
Having said this, Liu Cheng asked: "Fu Xing, do you think I am ridiculous?"
Fu Xing said quickly: "I think that those people in the court at that time were people with little knowledge.
Most of them are now like dirt, but Lord Sikong is one person below ten thousand people."
Liu Cheng sighed: "Of course they are all ignorant people, otherwise they would not have allowed Dong Zhuo to come to Beijing, nor would they have fought with each other after Dong Zhuo's actions.
They laughed at me, Liu Cheng, for not knowing how high the sky is and how high he is, but I laughed at them all All corpses I am a vegetarian and do nothing.
Do you know why I asked the emperor and the queen mother for an official position?
The taste of power is intoxicating, but being in power is not my ultimate goal of being an official.
Being in power is just to achieve what I want to do to benefit the people. , Lingtian Necessary means to realize the long-cherished wish of peace.
If you choose to be an official, have you considered why you want to be an official?
If it is for personal gain, I advise you to choose the other two, because the court will vigorously rectify the administration of officials and crack down on corruption, With power People who pursue selfish interests and do nothing will never be tolerated.
As long as I, Liu Cheng, are in this position and as long as I am not dead, the rectification of the officialdom will not stop for a day, because only when the officialdom is clear, the people can return to their hearts and the world can return.
Only then can there be peace.”
"I didn't expect Lord Sikong to have such lofty ambitions.
Your Majesty already holds the position of Sikong, and His Majesty has given you full power to handle state affairs.
I don't have high ambitions, but I am willing to follow in your footsteps."
Liu Cheng was quite impressed by these words.
He looked at Fu Xing, pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, I hope you remember what you just said.
You have to have a bottom line as a human being, and you have to have a bottom line as an official.
Let's do this.
You can be a person first." make"
Fu Xing immediately bowed and said, "Thank you, sir."
"I'm not busy.
Please don't thank me yet.
I have a task here, which will be your first government task when you take office as Jincheng Order.
Now that we have entered autumn and winter, our soldiers are wearing thin clothes and the temperature is cold at night.
People in the army have begun to freeze to death. situation, my lord I'll give you five days.
You can buy me 50,000 hooded long-sleeved sheepskin jackets on the condition that they don't burden the people.
The money needed will be allocated from military expenditures.
However, the military expenditures allocated will definitely not be enough.
The most I can do is give Half, you need to figure out the rest."
This is a neither big nor small problem.
It cannot disturb the people or increase the burden on the people.
The military expenditures allocated are only half.
What to do with the remaining half?
Fu Xing knew that this was a test.
If he failed to do this, his impression on Liu Cheng would be greatly reduced, and his future would be bleak.
Fu Xing decided to agree first no matter what, and said with his hands, "I will do my best to complete the tasks assigned by Lord Sikong."
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Shortly after Fu Xing left, Wang Yue came to see him in a low-key manner.
He reported to Liu Cheng: "My lord, there is news about Han Sui."
"Oh, where is he?"
“In Xiping” Xiping is now the territory of the Qiang people, and there are a large number of Qiang tribes living nearby.
Xiping has become a large market without walls where the Qiang people exchange materials and trade.
In the middle of this market is the place where Huo Qubing died.
The Xiping Pavilion was built.
Liu Cheng was not surprised that Han Sui ran to Xiping.
Han Sui could not go anywhere but hiding there among the Qiang people.
"How many people do Han Sui have under his command?"
Wang Yue replied: "It's less than three thousand, but they brought a lot of grain, grass, supplies and money from Yunwu.
The Qiang people welcomed it, especially the Qiang King Na Buli, who led his army to sneak attack on General Yan Xing before.
The south road of the army grain road was occupied by Gao Shun and Zang Ba After the defeat, he fled back to Xiping with only a few hundred people.
Due to the heavy losses, Nabuli's position among the Qiang people was very unstable.
Han Sui took 3,000 troops and a large amount of money and food there, and Nabuli immediately gained strong power.
With his support, his throne as King Qiang was barely secure."
Liu Cheng walked with his hands behind his back and asked: "How many troops can the Qiang people gather now?"
"Lord, what are we going to do?
If they are attacked by the enemy, the Qiang people can mobilize all the people.
With their current number, they can gather at least 200,000 soldiers and horses.
But if Buli colludes with Han Sui like Na Buli, then Buli will have the most We can only bring out 10,000 to 20,000 people.
Now when the Qiang people in Xiping heard that the imperial court had assembled a large army in Jincheng, they were all frightened and seemed to want to unite to compete with the imperial court."
Liu Cheng narrowed his eyes: "So if I march into Xiping, the Qiang people will unite to fight against the imperial court."
Wang Yue said: "Lord, I think this is inevitable.
The Qiang people have rebelled and surrendered in the past two hundred years.
They are worried that the court will be unfavorable to them.
They will never sit still and wait for death.
In addition, Han Sui is in Xiping, and he will definitely convince the Qiang people."
The tribal chiefs and chiefs united against the imperial court."
Liu Cheng thought for a moment and immediately summoned the generals and officials to discuss the matter.
In the lobby of the Prefect's Mansion, Liu Cheng expressed his decision to conquer the Qiang people in the west, but was immediately discouraged by many people, including the main representative Yan Xingxing.
Liu Cheng asked: "Why did Yanming think it was inappropriate to conquer the Western Qiang?"
Yan Xing stood up and clasped his fists and said: "Brother, I am from Xiliang and I am very familiar with the Qiang people.
The Qiang people are usually scattered in various places, but once they are attacked, they will quickly gather together to fight against the enemy.
The Qiang cavalry is not It is difficult to deal with them.
The key is that they are located on a plateau.
It is difficult for our Han army to adapt.
After entering the territory of the Qiang people, it is difficult to breathe.
There’s nothing you can do about them.”
Liu Chengzou raised his eyebrows and thought of later generations.
Many people did suffer from altitude sickness when entering the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, but the altitude in the surrounding areas of Xiping was not very high.
He asked: "Could it be that the army will lose its combat effectiveness in Xiping?
Back then, Huo Piao Why can Qi build a pavilion and garrison troops in Xiping?"
"Brother, there are only a few Qiang people in Xiping.
Most of the Qiang people are further west.
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For example, during the Wang Mang period around Xihai, the imperial court also established Longqi City to the north of Xihai as the seat of Xihai County.
Going further west from Xiping, The terrain gradually increases” Liu Cheng thought for a while and asked: "Is there no way to overcome dizziness and other problems when entering the plateau?"
At this time, Fu Xing stood up and cupped his hands and said: "My lord, I heard that the Qiang people use several kinds of herbs to decoct them.
After people drink them, the symptoms will be reduced or eliminated."
Liu Cheng's eyes lit up and he said with great joy: "Immediately send someone to find out which herbs they are and what the ratio is":