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Zhangye City is the political and economic center of Hexi, and it is also the location of Ma Chao's Hexi Army. Perhaps the environment has changed people's hearts. When Ma Chao was the governor of Hexi, he had no intention of rebellion. At that time, he was full of gratitude for Liu Jing to trust him, and he was determined to guard the border for the Han Dynasty and guard the source of the Han army's war horses.

He even planned to fight the West when the time was right and rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate. This was his great ambition, but as he enjoyed the power and prestige of the King of Xiliang in Hexi, the ceremonial guards of going out for inspection were huge, even surpassing the King of Han Liu Jing.

The chiefs of various tribes of Qiang and Di worshipped him as the main one, and presented him with countless gold, silver, jewelry and beautiful girls. His life gradually became arrogant and luxurious. He had more than a dozen beautiful concubines from Hexi around him. The large tents he lived in cover several acres of land and were magnificent. He often held grand banquets and led the chiefs out for hunting. He was used to all this.

Ma Chao's mentality gradually began to change. He put aside his ambition to rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate and was no longer satisfied with the position of Hexi Governor. At this time, he still did not betray Liu Jing, but he longed for Liu Jing to make clear promise that he would be the King of Xiliang and that his grandson would be the Lord of Hexi for generations.

But Liu Jing only agreed to grant him the title of Marquis of Zhangye and remained silent about his arrogant and lustful life, but politely refused his request to be named King of Xiliang. It was from then on that, Ma Chao had the ambition to revive Xiliang. He was originally the ruler of Xiliang and was dominant like Sun Quan and Liu Jing. Although Liu Jing politely rejected his request to become King of Xiliang, Liu Jing could not stop his determination to have troops and become independent.

At this moment, the Battle of Hefei broke out. Ma Chao took advantage of the opportunity that the Han army had no time to look west and began to expand his army in large numbers. He recruited 20,000 elite cavalry from various Qiang tribes as his direct army, and also installed ten Qiang people in the Han army to control the military power, but this action was firmly opposed by his brother Ma Dai.

Ma Chao was angry and split up 10,000 Han troops, allowing Ma Dai to lead 6,000 troops to station Dunhuang County, and place 4,000 troops south of Wuwei County, while his direct army controlled the core part of Hexi.

Not only that, in order not to disturb the Han Kingdom, he sent people to the Kushan Kingdom to visit the King Dulin, and purchased 20,000 deputy soldiers and recruited 5,000 troops from the Kushan Kingdom. The forces of the Yuezhi people thus entered the old land of Hexi.

At the same time, in order to increase his wealth, he set up checkpoints in Jiuquan and imposed heavy taxes on merchants. At the same time, he sent people to pretend to be a horse thief, harass and rob merchants along the way, forcing them to spend a lot of money to ask the army for escorts.

All of this was carried out in full swing. As the Han army ended the battle in Hefei, King Liu Jing of Han returned to Chang'an. Ma Chao also realized that there was not much time left, so he began to prepare for the final preparations for the troops.

Of course, Ma Chao was guilty of Liu Jing. He did not want to send troops to Longxi or Guanzhong. Even when Guanzhong was empty, he did not move. He only considered seizing Hexi and independent.

Just a few days ago, Ma Chao received news that the killer he sent failed to assassinate the whistleblower Li in Chang'an, which may mean that Liu Jing knew his plan to raise troops and establish himself.

At the same time, news came from Wuwei County that a large number of Han people left Wuwei County and began to move north to Lingzhou. This is the Han Dynasty preparing for the upcoming war. Ma Chao couldn't help but be worried. If there was no news about his wife and children in Chang'an, would he have been taken hostage by Liu Jing?

Ma Chao's wife is Liu Hu's sister. Ma Chao doesn't care about her life or death, but his two children are very important to him. He had long wanted to bring his wife and children to Zhangye, but his wife refused to agree because he married more than a dozen concubines in Zhangye, which angered his wife.

However, the Han army clearly stipulated that the wives and children of generals who led the army outside must live in Chang'an, including Zhao Yun, Pin, Huang Zhong, Gan Ning and others, all of whom lived in Chang'an. Ma Chao did not dare to be too obvious, so the matter was delayed. It was not until he heard that Liu Jing had returned to Chang'an that he became anxious and sent someone to pick him up, but it was already a little late at this time.

Junyi, Ma Chao paced back and forth with concern. His preparation was not sufficient. Pang De had not made a clear statement yet. Ma Dai was silent. He had not come here. Zhangye City had not been repaired yet. The army was not trained enough and tinder oil could not be refined. He still needed time for all kinds of things, but Changan seemed to have started to take action. The migration of the people in Wuwei County was the best signal.

At this moment, a personal soldier reported outside the door: "You reported to the Duhou, a Chang'an envoy came outside the city, saying that he came to talk to Duhou under the order of the King of Han."

Ma Chao was stunned and asked quickly: "What is the name of the messenger?"

"It's Jingzhao's guard Zhang Ji."

"It's him"

Zhang Ji was originally an important aide under Zhong Yao. He represented Zhong Yao several times on behalf of him to Xiliang, which led to the reconciliation between Ma Teng and Han Sui, and also helped the Xiliang army assist Cao in attacking Yuan. He had a good relationship with the Ma father and was respected by the Ma father. Later, the Han army conquered Guanzhong. He heard that Zhang Ji was transferred to Nanyang, but he did not expect that he surrendered to Liu Jing and was also named Jingzhao Shou.

However, when Zhang arrived, Ma Chao felt that he could talk to him with heart-to-heart. Ma Chao immediately ordered: "Please come quickly and treat him with courtesy."

Not long after, Zhang Ji was led to the military yamen by his personal soldiers. Ma Chao was waiting at the door. He bowed and bowed, "Mr. Zhang, I haven't seen him for many years."

Zhang Ji replied with a smile and said, "General Ma has always been good."

"Trust Zhang Gongfu, Ma Chao is safe, Mr. Zhang asks to go to the yamen to discuss"

"please"

The two of them were humble to each other and walked into the military yamen one after another. They sat down in the meeting hall. Zhang Ji smiled and said, "This time I am here to talk to General Ma. I have a handwritten letter from His Highness, so I will first ask the general to read it."

After saying that, Zhang took out Liu Jing's letter and presented it to Ma Chao. Ma Chao took it with a complicated expression and opened it to look at it. There was not much content in the letter and less than half a page was written. Liu Jing urged him to focus on the overall situation and not do anything that violates the etiquette system. In the letter, he promised that he would be named Hexi Duke and that his grandsons could all inherit the title.

Ma Chao sighed slightly in his heart. It was a bit too late to say this at this time. Even if Ma Chao accepted it, the Qiang Di chiefs would not accept it. Moreover, Liu Jing's final concession was still not what he wanted.

Ma Chao pondered for a moment and said to Zhang Ji: "His Royal Highness of the Han Dynasty said it was very vague in the letter, but I hope to get a clear promise, such as how my power is, what is the relationship with Chang'an, the issue of military ownership, and the tax power in Hexi, etc. These highness did not involve them in the letter, but just said that I was named Hexi Duke. According to the Han system, those who were appointed can establish a country. Does that mean that I can establish a country in Hexi?"

Zhang Ji smiled and said, "Your Highness did not say that you would be appointed as the Duke of Hexi now. Your Highness just promised that you would be appointed as the Duke of the General in the future."

Ma Chao read the letter carefully again. Sure enough, the letter said that he would be named Hexi Duke, and the word "Jian" was added, which would be the future. Ma Chao's face suddenly changed and he said coldly: "When will this mean?"

"Now we are just Han, and the order to promulgate the grace has long been eliminated. The King of Han has no power to enfeoff vassal states. Therefore, if we want to enfeoff the general in Hexi, we must at least wait until the world is unified. After the King of Han ascends the throne and reigns, we can only enfeoff the general and establish the country. In fact, it won't be long. I guess it will only be five years."

Although Ma Chao was not smart enough, he still had this little mind. He immediately guessed that this was the King of Han’s delaying strategy. Once he ascended the throne, he would be the first to deal with himself and would give him a chance to establish a country.

Ma Chao walked a few steps behind his back. He was actually thinking about a plan, which was to act as a separatist and to be a vain. On the surface, he did not, but still believed in Liu Jing as the main one, but in fact he enjoyed military power, financial power and appointment and removal power, which was actually the same as Jiangdong.

At least everyone looks good on the surface. Thinking of this, he turned back and said, "You can talk about the matter of the founding of the country in the future, but let's talk about the present moment. If Your Highness can agree to maintain the status quo, and in addition, I will allow me to recommend the bureaucrats of Hexi counties, I can still serve as the governor of Hexi, and I will not seek to take the lead, and I promise that the army will not take a step forward in Hexi. Mr. Zhang thinks His Highness the King of Han can accept it?"

Zhang Ji was furious. Isn’t this the actual separatist? It seems that Ma Chao is determined to support his troops and become independent. Zhang Ji calmed down and stopped negotiating with Ma Chao, but turned the topic to real issues.

Zhang Ji said slowly: "I will report General Ma's wishes to Your Highness truthfully. In addition, General Ma is still young and is eager to miss his father. Does General Ma want to see them?"

Ma Chao was stunned. He suddenly understood what Zhang Ji meant and immediately said: "Of course I want to see my two sons, I don't know what conditions your highness has."

"Your Highness's conditions are very simple. First, to avoid the hatred of the people of Hexi, all the farmers in Hexi must move to Lingzhou, and the general must not stop them; second, the bureaucrats of all counties in Hexi must return to Beijing to report their duties, and their families must also go together, and the general must not stop them. There are only these two things. If the general can do it, your highness is willing to reunite his father."

Ma Chao did not stop the people from moving to Lingzhou from Hexi. Although he did not want all the officials to leave, he did not care about the importance of the two children. He immediately said: "I can agree to your highness's conditions. I don't know when my child will be sent."

"As long as the two conditions are met, the general can naturally meet with his son. Since the King of Han promised, he will not regret it."

Ma Chao didn't believe Liu Jing's promise very much, but it was not bad to think that he could use this time to complete his final preparations. Ma Chao nodded, "Then we'll make up for it."

.........

A few days later, the Han people moved to Jiuquan County and Zhangye County. The government took back the land of the Han people and asked them to set off within the sky. Although many Han people were unwilling to leave their homes, under the government's orders, the Han people and other farmers in Hexi counties had to pack up their belongings and set off.

There were not many Han people in Zhangye and Jiuquan. They mainly lived in Zhangye and Jiuquan. They had about 10,000 households, including many merchants who came to Hexi to make a living. However, there were many self-cultivating farmers in other ethnic groups who followed the Han people to retreat east, including Qiang, Di, Xiongnu, Wuhuan, Tuyuhun and other ethnic groups. They also gave up their land to retreat east. They all felt the aura of war coming.

There were also officials who also took their families to evacuate Hexi. Ma Chao stood at the top of the city with his sword, looking coldly at the vast crowds and traffic flowing away. His hand couldn't help but tighten the hilt of the sword. One day, he would kill to Lingzhou and drive all these people back.
Chapter completed!