Chapter 48 The Qiang in Longyou

Chapter 48 The Qiang in Longyou

Originally, Longyou was the homeland of the Qiang people, and the Han people gradually opened up the five counties of Longyou. Even though the Han people have lived here for hundreds of years, the Qiang people still occupy a high proportion here.

Among them, the Qiang in Longyou include Dong Qiang, Xianling Qiang, Shaodang Qiang and Shenlang Qiang. The Qiang people of various tribes have a large population, and most of them are brave and good at fighting, but they do not accept education.

At the beginning, Ma Chao had the support of the Qiang people in Longyou, and each Qiang tribe supported him with tens of thousands of horses to counterattack Longyou. From this aspect, it can be seen that the Qiang people are not weak in the local area.

"Are you from the Dong Qiang tribe? And those who attacked the county were from the Xianling Qiang tribe?" Ma Su narrowed his eyes and asked after hearing the explanation.

"Aren't you all allies?"

"That's right, although we are all Qiang from Longyou, we are actually not from the same clan." Shu Ji, the leader of Dong Qiang, nodded and said very sincerely.

"Like the Southern Qiang over in Yinping, we have been engaged in farming for many years. Therefore, we, the Dong Qiang, have admired the imperial court for many years and do not want to start another war."

"But the Xianling Qiang and Shaodang Qiang are different. They are still nomadic and plundering, and they fight with local county soldiers all year round."

"Before, the puppet Wei Dynasty often sent state soldiers to suppress the Qiang, but because the large number of Qiang people lived in the mountains, it was difficult to pursue them. On the contrary, we, the Eastern Qiang, live in the foothills..."

"So the soldiers of the puppet Wei often use your people in exchange for military exploits?" Ma Di asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shu Ji smiled bitterly and nodded honestly.

"Because of this, we have a deadly feud with the Xianling Qiang people."

This is why Shu Ji was frightened when he heard that Xianling Qiang planned to enter the city to plunder, and came to help.

The Shu Han officials had only arrived not long ago. If they were killed by the Xianling Qiang people, the Shu people's revenge would be even more cruel. Xianling Qiang tribes often move around and are not very afraid of encirclement and suppression by the Shu army.

But the Dong Qiang people have been farming for many years, and they can't escape in the face of the Shu army's encirclement and suppression.

So no matter what, you have to become familiar with Shu Han, so as not to hurt yourself accidentally.

"I see, the situation in Longyou is quite complicated." Ma Di touched his chin, pondered for a long time and suddenly asked.

"Except for the Eastern Qiang, how strong are the population of the other Qiang?"

"There are many strong Qiang people. If they unite, they will be extremely powerful. Among them, the Shaodang Qiang have the largest number, with tens of thousands of strong people. Every time they go south, they are mighty."

The Longxi officials on the side replied that they were very familiar with the Longxi Qiang people.

"The Xianling Qiang are the most capable among them. They have been at war with county soldiers all year round, which gave previous state and county chiefs a lot of headaches."

But this time we surrounded and annihilated a large number of them, with more than 2,000 prisoners taken prisoner. The Xianling Qiang, who had experienced such heavy losses and lost their leader, were now very weak and would probably not be a threat for a long time. "

"As for the Shenlang Qiang who are farther away, they generally rarely go out to rob the mountains, and their presence is not high. The main threat is still the Shaodang Qiang and the remnants of the Xianling Qiang."

Ma Su nodded slightly and had a general understanding of Longxi.

The Han people do not have a numerical advantage here, they can only control this place because they defend the city. The Qiang people have been nomadic and plundering here all year round. At the same time, some Qiang people surrendered to the Han and became Han people.

The two sides form a relationship of confrontation and coexistence between you and me.

Because of its remote location, the central government pays very little attention to this area. Since Xia Houyuan defeated Ma Chao and carried out a large-scale suppression of the Qiang in Longxi, no large army has entered Longxi for nearly 20 years.

Of course, Longxi has not experienced major natural disasters in recent years, and the local Qiang people can barely get by. Therefore, there has been no large-scale unrest, and even looting was limited to Longxi County and did not affect other counties.

But things are different now. This is no longer the borderland of Cao Wei, but the advance base of Shu Han in the north.

In the future, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses will be stationed here all year round, and Zhuge Liang will also use his farming skills here to strengthen local farming. Afterwards, whether the Shu Han can continue the Northern Expedition to Guanzhong and return to the old capital all depends on whether Longyou can support the Shu army's Northern Expedition.

In this case, Shuhan will definitely not let Longyou have any hidden dangers. Therefore, the hidden danger of Longyou Qiang must be eliminated, at least not to affect local farming.

"Since the Prime Minister asked me to be the governor of Longxi, I naturally have to make some achievements." Ma Su nodded lightly, and after just thinking for a while, he had already figured out the next step...to govern Longxi.

He suddenly raised his head and looked at Shu Ji, the leader of Dong Qiang, put his hand on his shoulder and said seriously.

"Chief Shuji, your help this time was very timely, saving Longxi County from a war. The emperor and the people of Han Dynasty will remember the friendship and help of Dong Qiang to us."

"It's all what we should do. As long as there is no war between the Dong Qiang and the Han court, we will be satisfied." Shu Ji answered with his hand. He really didn't care about the reward, as long as they let the Dong Qiang live a good life.

As for the reward, it is of little use to them. On the contrary, if the reward is too large, the Dong Qiang people may be targeted.

Well... as the saying goes in the book, a common man is not guilty, but he is guilty of having a jade in his possession.

"The Dongqiang people have lived in the foothills of Longxi for generations. Where the cultivated land is barren, it would be difficult to feed the Dongqiang people." Ma Su raised his eyebrows and said with a slight smile.

"Don't you want the Dongqiang people to come to the plains to farm and live in the same houses as us? Don't you want the Dongqiang people to live in caves all their lives, enduring cold and hunger?"

"If you are willing, I can draw a piece of farmland in Longxi County for the Eastern Qiang people and the Han people to cultivate together. Then you will not be able to distinguish between Qiang people and Han people, you will all be the people of the Han people!"

Ma Su did not intend to let the Dong Qiang stay at the foothills. He hoped to move them to the plains and eventually become subjects of the Shu Han.

This is not difficult in theory. After all, not many people are willing to continue to freeze in the mountains as long as they can go out to farm and have enough to eat.

And if Dongqiang does not come out and stays in that place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is hard to say what problems will occur in the future.

Shu Ji was pro-Han, but what about his descendants? Where is his future heir?

Therefore, the best way is to move their population out and accept the jurisdiction of the imperial court.

In this way, even if there are any more homeless gangsters in that place, they won't have much impact on the government.

Ma Su's proposal made Shu Ji feel stunned for a while, and then his first reaction was to refuse.

I am the leader of the Qiang tribe. How can I be the leader if I bring the tribesmen under the jurisdiction of the Han court?

But Ma Di's next words made him shut up.

"Of course, your Majesty is kind. A loyal and patriotic leader like you will definitely be conquered. By then you will also become a member of the court, and your status may even be above mine." Ma Di said in a persuasive way.

It was Ma Su's idea to move his people to the jurisdiction of the imperial court and recruit their leaders to serve as high officials in the imperial court.

The temptation to be a high-ranking official of the Han people is still very great for a leader who is just a tribal alliance.

"Immediately... I'm afraid there isn't that much cultivated land in Longxi to accept us, right?" Shu Ji looked a little struggling, and after hesitating for a long time, he said cautiously.

"Don't worry about this. After I finish dealing with a few people, the cultivated land in Longxi County will definitely be enough!" Ma Su said with a smile.

"After I finish dealing with those rebels, we will discuss how to deal with the Qiang people in Longyou."