Chapter 287 It’s time to regain lost ground

Chapter 287 It’s time to regain lost ground

"The Prime Minister really trusts me and gives me so much work..." After Ma Di compiled all the information in Liangzhou, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have a lot of work to do.

Needless to say, Xiqiang. Although this group of men and horses are all strong and strong, the old and weak are still hiding in the mountains and forests. Ma Su probably would have to spend a lot of effort to catch them all.

The Protectorate of the Western Regions also needs Ma Su to be responsible for it, which also involves whether the Shu Han regime's Western Region trade routes can be opened up again. Among them, Liangzhou, the most critical trade route, was also an important task for Ma Su.

Of course, these are not the most important issues. The most important issue is actually the farming issue in Liangzhou.

After discussing with Li Mu, Ma Su found that there was not much arable land in Liangzhou that could be cultivated. Ma Di boasted to Zhuge Liang that Haikou would have a population of more than 100,000, which would be very troublesome.

You must know that this was after Sima Yi had been farming in Liangzhou for several years and had built many water conservancy projects for Ma Su in advance. But even so, there are not many places suitable for farming in Liangzhou.

In response, Ma Su immediately began to think about how to deal with this matter.

"Plowing land, plowing land... Where can I go to cultivate the land for farming..." Ma Di touched his chin and started walking around thinking about where to go.

"The Shaodang Qiang and Shenlang Qiang should have a population of tens of thousands, with a strong population of 20,000, but these are not the best quality farming people. And Liangzhou is extremely short of Han people..." Ma Su opened the map and pondered the location of Liangzhou. stand up.

Just when Ma Su was unable to do anything, Ma Su glanced at the large area of ​​​​Qiang and Hu people's territory to the east of Liangzhou...

"Fuck! How could I forget this place!" Ma Su's eyes suddenly widened, and a bold idea suddenly appeared in his mind.

"The Hetao Plain! How could I have forgotten the Hetao Plain! This great plain with lush water and grass and a mild climate is the best farming area!"

The Hetao Plain is the Yunzhong counties established during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. During the Qin Dynasty, this was the birthplace of the Huns and the favorite grassland of the Hu people.

Because the Yellow River suddenly changed its course to the north after passing through Longyou, and then headed eastward until it reached the foothills of Yinshan Mountain, a large plain with a very mild climate and environment was formed on this land.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he devoted all his efforts to the northern expedition and fought a war of attrition for several years before driving away the Huns. The Hetao Plain was subsequently incorporated into the territory of the Western Han Dynasty, and the four counties of Yunzhong, Wuyuan and Shuofang in the North were established. Over the next hundred years, it became one of the few grain-producing areas in Bingzhou.

Although this area fell again in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and became the territory of the Qiang and Hu people. However, there are still a large number of Han people living here, and they also retain the habit of farming.

Now on the Hetao Plain, in addition to the nomadic Hu tribes, there are also a group of Hu-hua Han people farming. The entire Qiang-Hu alliance is actually a situation where farming and nomadic life coexist.

In Ma Su's view, these barbaric Han people are the best farming population. The Hetao Plain, with its abundant water and grass and fertile land, could also support the Han Dynasty's farming business.

And the most important thing is that the Hetao Plain is located between Liangzhou and Bingzhou. Before this area was occupied by the Hu people, Liangzhou and Bingzhou could pass directly.

In other words, as long as the barbarians are driven away, the Han army can even attack Bingzhou. At that time, even if Sima Yi took care of the iron barrel made in Guanzhong, it would be of no use, and the Han army would directly take a detour to Hebei.

Originally, Ma Su didn't really want to fight the Qiang and Hu people in the east. Ma Su always felt that it was a thankless effort for a group of barbarians who were not good at fighting, could only trace the human body in archery, and were extremely fast.

But if their territory is useful to the Shu Han, then this matter has to be discussed separately.

The Wuyuan counties in Yunzhong in the north have been the territory of the Han Dynasty since ancient times. They were illegally occupied by you barbarians. Is it time to return them now?

Don’t forget, my current military position, Ma Su, is General Zhengbei, right?

Ma Su explained his somewhat crazy plan to his team one by one, and the team members had different expressions.

"If others say so, I'm afraid it will be difficult, but if you think so, it doesn't seem to be that difficult..." Shu Ji thought for a moment and said.

"The envoy is really Huo Qubing when he is still alive. I am willing to follow the envoy to seal the wolf as a surrogate!" Jiang Wei naturally agreed with both hands and feet. This guy felt that he had met his boss and confidant since he followed Ma Su.

Anyone who disobeys will be killed, regardless of the overall situation.

"It doesn't take much. We only need to recover Beidi County, and we can cultivate thousands of acres of fertile land on the north bank of the Yellow River, which is enough for the army to station in the fields." Without saying a word, Li Mu took out the Longyou Paper and started doing crazy calculations. Soon, the great talent in the field under Ma Su made a judgment.

"If the general can still regain Shuofang County, he should be able to cultivate more fertile fields."

"Shuofang should be hard to say. It's too close to Mobei and not suitable for farming." Chen Zhi shook his head and expressed this.

A group of Ma Su's team members started discussing, and no one tried to dissuade Ma Su from taking such a risk. This made Ma Su feel a little boring, as if he lacked a sense of standing up to everyone's opinions.

But there is nothing that can be done. In the past few years, Ma Su has used his own abilities to prove too many impossibilities to his subordinates. Even Chen Zhi, after witnessing Ma Su causing trouble in Guanzhong, no longer dared to question Ma Su's decision.

No matter how awesome you are, are you ready to conquer Beiniu? Since he has such calculations, he must have his own ideas.

"In that case, it's settled." Since no one objected, Ma Di nodded and made his decision.

"A few days later, Shu Ji will go with me to Xiping County to appease the Western Qiang tribes. Chen Zhi will go to Dunhuang with my order to negotiate with the countries in the Western Regions and prepare the prototype of the Western Regions Protectorate."

"When the matter of the Western Qiang is settled, I will personally lead the army to the east to bring those Qiang and Hu people... those lost Han people back to the territory of the Han Dynasty!"

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After determining the future development direction with his team, he immediately started taking action without any hesitation.

Chen Zhi and Jiang Wei took Ma Su's order to Dunhuang to receive all the officials from the Changshi Mansion of the Western Regions where Cao Wei was going. Li Mu went to Jincheng County to prepare for the next step of farming.

Ma Su took Shu Ji and led thousands of cavalry to Xiping County.

A few months ago, Ma Di defeated tens of thousands of Xiqiang coalition forces here, packed and captured almost all of the Xiqiang troops. The elders and chiefs of the two major Qiang tribes of Shaodang Shenlang and others were all captured by Ma Su.

Nowadays, basically only the old, weak, women and children are left in the Xiqiang tribes. What Ma Su needed was to demolish all the Qiang people and move them to Jincheng County, Xiping, where they would live in mixed farming with Han people.

After Ma Su arrived in Xiping County, he immediately found the tribal leaders who were detained here and prepared to persuade them to surrender in order to capture the Xiqiang at the minimum cost.