The Three Kingdoms become stronger when they get treasures

Chapter 441 Liangzhou and Wudu

Zhang Wu seized Hanzhong for two purposes. The first was to ensure the safety of Yizhou, and the second was to conquer Liangzhou.

In 121 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened up four prefectures in Hexi, namely Wuwei, Jiuquan, Zhangye and Dunhuang.In 106 BC, the world was divided into thirteen prefectures, and Wuwei County belonged to the Liangzhou Governor's Department. Since then, the name of Liangzhou has been named, which means "it is located in the west, and it is always cold and cool".

Wudu County, which borders Hanzhong, has now become a very critical place. After Xiahou Dun lost Yangping Pass, he stationed troops here to resist the expansion of the Chu army.

Wudu County is located in the West Qinling Mountains. It was established in the early Western Han Dynasty. At that time, it was included with the Sichuan Basin as the northernmost county of Yizhou.During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wudu County belonged to Liangzhou and became the southernmost county of Liangzhou.

Although Wudu County has long been part of the administrative region of the Han Dynasty, the main people living here are many ethnic minorities. Among them, the largest and most powerful are the "Di" tribe, which is closely related to the Qiang tribe.

The Di and Qiang ethnic groups were originally of the same origin, but diverged due to their different living environments. Those who lived in the dry Loess Plateau were called "Qiang", while those who entered the mountainous areas of the Yangtze River Basin were called "Di".Due to the geographical connection and blood relationship between the two ethnic groups, after the formation of ethnic differences, they will also infiltrate each other at the intersection.

In order to control these Di tribes, the Western Han Dynasty initially set up thirteen Daos, including seven Daos in Wudu County.The most powerful tribe among the Di people living here is the Baima Di.In other words, Wudu County was established on the land of Baimadi.

Today, the Qiang people still exist in the sequence of 56 ethnic groups in China. Although the Di people have not become one of the 56 flowers, most researchers believe that they are now distributed in the eastern part of the Minshan Mountains and the western end of the Qinling Mountains. ", the descendants of the Di people.

Being in such a very important position, the people of the Di tribe also had the opportunity to show their faces several times in the Three Kingdoms.For example, Jia Xu was caught by the Di people and almost died. When Cao Cao conquered Zhang Lu, he was blocked by the Di people in the West Qinling Mountains.

What's even more amazing is that in the fifth year after the three families returned to Jin (285 A.D.), a Di man named Fu Hong was born, and more than half a century later established the former Qin Empire that ruled northern China. Fu Jian, the former king of Qin during the war, is his descendant.

Therefore, if you have a good relationship with the Di people, it will be easy to take Wudu County.

At this time, the importance of Ma Chao is highlighted. Whether Liu Bei recruited Ma Chao in history or Zhang Wu recruited Ma Chao now, the most important thing is Ma Chao's prestige in Liangzhou and among the Qiang and Di people.

With Ma Chao, it is equivalent to having a key to open Liangzhou, and it is equivalent to owning a "Xiliang iron cavalry" that shocks the world.

There is an original record in "Three Kingdoms": "The First Lord sent people to welcome Chao, and Chao led his troops to the bottom of the city. The city was frightened, and Zhang immediately inspected the city. He appointed Chao as the Pingxi General, the governor of Linju, and the former capital Tinghou."

This shows how deterrent the Xiliang Iron Cavalry is, and that Liu Bei values ​​Ma Chao not only himself, but also the Xiliang Iron Cavalry under Ma Chao's command.

In fact, in the Three Kingdoms, there are two Xiliang iron cavalry, one is the army of Liangzhou warlord Dong Zhuo, this is the Liangzhou government army, after Dong Zhuo died, he was led by the general Li Jue, and most of them died in civil strife later, and some were killed. Zhang Xiu took it away and finally belonged to Cao Cao.Another Xiliang iron cavalry was the troops of Ma Teng and Han Sui. This was the Liangzhou uprising army. Later Ma Chao succeeded the leader of the Xiliang army.

Xiliang iron cavalry is fierce and fierce in combat, especially suitable for long-distance and sustained raids in the Gobi desert. This is also related to the characteristics of Liangzhou people and the characteristics of Dawan horses.When Qin Shihuang got it, he wiped out the six kingdoms, and when Tang Taizong got it, he looked down on the world.Relying on the mighty Xiliang iron cavalry, Ma Chao fought against Cao Cao in six battles against the Weishui River, killing Cao Cao, cutting off his beard and abandoning his robe, and fled in embarrassment, which shows the formidable combat effectiveness of the Xiliang iron cavalry.

Historically, after Liu Bei captured Hanzhong, he deployed Ma Chao in the northern region to defend against Cao Wei's army on the one hand and deter the Western Qiang on the other.As long as Ma Chao is there, the Shu Han can import war horses from the Xiqiang area.However, due to their limited financial resources, the Shu Han could only support a few thousand cavalry, and these thousands of people were the elite troops of the Shu Han.

This Xiliang iron cavalry is one of the three elites of the Shu Kingdom, and the other two are the Baiyu soldiers and the Wudang flying army. Unfortunately, Ma Chao died early. After Ma Chao's death, this cavalry was led by Ma Dai.

With the death of Ma Chao, the relationship between Shu Han and Xi Qiang also began to decline.During the fierce battle between Shu Han and Cao Wei, Xiqiang sometimes helped Shu Han, and then fell to Cao Wei. In short, whoever offered the highest price would help.With the depletion of cavalry and no horses to supplement, there were basically no cavalry in the late Shu Han Dynasty.

Now Zhang Wu also arranged for Ma Chao to guard Yangping Pass, and at the same time provided him with a lot of money to befriend the Di people in Wudu County.

In fact, as long as Hanzhong is occupied, and then with the help of Ma Chao, taking Wu is a matter of course, because the connection between Wudu and Yongzhou is not convenient.Historically, after Liu Bei captured Hanzhong, he blocked the connection between Wudu and Yongzhou, so Cao Cao voluntarily gave up Wudu County and moved the population of Wudu to Xiaohuaili, Youfufeng, and Wudu County was occupied by the Shu Han.

Ma Chao is also very satisfied with Zhang Wu's arrangement. There are two reasons for this.

The first reason is that Ma Chao will have military power in the future. Zhang Wu has made it clear that two cavalry units will be formed in the future, and one of the heavy cavalry will be led by Ma Chao and Pound.As a general, who doesn't want to command an army, especially someone like Ma Chao who has commanded thousands of troops before, of course he is not reconciled to soy sauce.

The second reason is that Ma Chao sees the hope of revenge, and the first goal is right in front of him.Ma Chao has two bitter enemies, one is Yang Fu and the other is Cao Cao.Cao Cao was thousands of miles away, but Yang Fu was in Wudu, not far from him, in Xiabian City.

When Ma Chao was defeated in Liangzhou, all he wanted was revenge. For this reason, he did not hesitate to take refuge in Zhang Lu, whom he had always looked down upon.But when Ma Chao was manipulated by those aristocratic families accustomed to playing politics, when Ma Chao was framed and Zhang Lu suspected him, Ma Chao once had deep doubts about whether he could take revenge in this life.

Later, Ma Chao took refuge in Zhang Wu, and only then did he realize that there are such admirable heroes in the world. It turns out that fighting is not only based on personal bravery, nor the number of people, but also brains.

If there is one person in this world who can help him avenge his revenge, it is the current lord Zhang Wu. Especially after the Chu army won the victory in Huainan and Hanzhong, Ma Chao is full of confidence in himself, and he believes that in the near future he will be able to help him. His dead wife and children took revenge.

No, I can go back to my hometown immediately, to the place where I used to gallop.

In Ma Chao's eyes, Wudu County is already in his pocket, Yang Fu, just wash your neck and wait for my sword!
(End of this chapter)