Chapter 162 The Two Generals’ Choice
Qiao Yan looked forward upon hearing the voice.
What was revealed as the blood-stained bundle was unfolded was indeed Han Sui's head.
If she had not used a telescope to see Han Sui's face clearly under the city yesterday, she might not have been able to confirm this.
There is also a chance that someone will take advantage of you and trick you into the city and capture the thief and the leader.
This kind of thing is not uncommon throughout the history of the Three Kingdoms. Cao Cao was once deceived in this way.
But it is obvious that Han Sui's situation at this time is not that he was deceived, but when the Jincheng can no longer appear to be "impregnable" and is surrounded on both sides, Han Sui is worried about how to find the key to break the deadlock, and his subordinates must also find a way out for themselves as soon as possible.
It is human nature to seek survival.
In the eyes of these people, the governor of Bingzhou did issue two declarations of war to Han Sui, but there was no blood feud between them and her.
Look at Ma Teng’s situation.
Isn't he now participating in Qiao Yan's team attacking Liangzhou? He is currently heading east of Jincheng, from the direction of Kuiyuan Gorge.
In the scene seen by the people watching on the city wall, he was showing off his might after having made a great achievement because he assisted Huangfu Song in capturing Cheng Gongying, Yan Xing and other Han Sui's subordinates. Even if it can't be called showing off, it's still decent.
Ma Chao was also under Qiao Bingzhou's command, and seemed to be highly valued.
What about them?
Could they have chosen to surrender instead of following Han Sui and fighting to the death, only to be labeled as "rebels who were eliminated" in the end?
The people in Liangzhou who followed Han Sui in the uprising were very realistic.
They chose to oppose the court because by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Han central government had already lost control of the border areas and could not provide them with sufficient compensation in the face of natural disasters to allow them to maintain a way to survive.
But Han Sui before could.
And when Han Sui was in danger, they naturally had to consider their own lives first.
Should they wait for Marquis Qiao's butcher knife to fall on their heads when Jincheng has run out of ammunition and food and has no other options, and then recognize a wise leader at that time; or should they take Han Sui's head first while Han Sui still has some strength to fight, so that the army outside the city can occupy Jincheng unscathed and switch sides with the credit?
This doesn't seem to be a difficult choice.
They decisively chose the latter.
What's more, Han Sui's subordinates were a diverse group of people, and capable people were not just Cheng Gongying and Yan Xing, to whom he had appointed important positions.
For example, the one who appears in front of Qiao Yan now.
Even though he just came out of the city to present Han Sui's head, he was not stopped by the gatekeepers, and he did not make any noise in the city before he succeeded. This made Qiao Yan realize that he was definitely not a simple character.
At this moment, he was kneeling in front of Qiao Yan. Judging from his physique and muscles, he seemed to be a skilled military commander.
Qiao Yan's gaze shifted from Han Sui's head to his face.
She also saw a sense of familiarity on this face, which showed a bit of arrogance even though it was asking for surrender.
So she did not ask how they succeeded, nor did she ask why they betrayed Han Sui. She just asked, "What's your name?"
The young cavalryman turned to her and said, "My name is Qu Yan."
Qu Yi's Qu.
Qu Yan.
A descendant of the Qu family of Xiping.
Qu Yi's cousin.
This is not surprising when the name comes out of his mouth.
The location of the Qu family is in Jincheng. According to what Qu Yi said before he went to Liangzhou with her, most of the Xiping Qu family who fled to Liangzhou to avoid disaster lived in Huangzhong. Because they lived in a concentrated area of Qiang people, the clan raised and recruited some private soldiers. This is why Qu Yi had experience in commanding troops before following Han Fu.
And Qu Yan——
After Han Sui occupied Jincheng, in order to ensure peace in the clan, joining Han Sui's army was indeed the way to survive in troubled times, especially in places like Liangzhou.
However, before capturing Han Sui, Qiao Yan could temporarily avoid considering the influence of armed clans like the Xiping Qu clan on the territory. However, now that Han Sui was dead, he had to pay attention to this issue.
What's more, Han Sui died at the hands of Qu Yan.
This young man was only seventeen or eighteen years old, but his features still retained a bit of arrogance and the wildness he acquired in Liangzhou.
In Qiao Yan's judgment after the initial meeting, he was obviously not like Qu Yi, who had already adapted to the current social situation after his experiences in Luoyang and Bingzhou. Instead, he was more like...
"Your Excellency, are you considering how to treat Qu Yan?"
Jia Xu, who was invited by Qiao Yan, saw her standing by the window with a thoughtful look on her face, so he asked.
This should not be the performance of someone who has just solved a big problem in Liangzhou, or even to exaggerate a little, has already taken away the capital of Liangzhou.
Of course, she did not show this hesitation during the day.
After she heard the name of Qu Yan, she immediately used the reason that Qu Yi worked under her to get closer to this great man.
She then signaled Qu Yan to lead the way. After she had gathered the soldiers and generals, she entered the Golden City and took over the city that originally belonged to Han Sui.
In the provincial capital of Jincheng County, she saw Han Sui's body.
His headless body was still lying on the couch, enough to make people know that he was killed in his sleep by his subordinates who were eager to survive.
It was a merciful end for him after all.
When Qiao Yan saw this scene, his expression remained unchanged. Instead, he ordered people to sew Han Sui's head and body together and place them in the hall.
Then he sent people to the east of Jincheng to welcome Huangfu Song's troops into the city.
Now only Han Sui was dead, which did not mean that Han Sui's power in Jincheng County had been completely eliminated. Therefore, Qiao Yan, on the grounds that he needed Qu Yan's continued help, ordered him and Fu Gan to rush to Huangzhong to complete the task of clearing out Han Sui's troops stationed deep in Jincheng.
But it was a good thing to have such a scene in the daytime. There were no outsiders present, so she could show some of her own attitude.
Qiao Yan tapped the window frame with his fingertips and asked, "From what Mr. Wenhe has seen, what kind of existence is the Xiping Qu family? Or, what kind of existence are these families in Liangzhou that are famous for their armed forces?"
Qiao Yan had thought about this issue when he was on his way to Jincheng County after taking Longxi County.
She originally thought that she could consider this matter later, but the appearance of Qu Yan forced her to put it on the agenda.
Leaving aside other powerful families, Qiao Yan still remembered something about the struggle between the Qu family of Xiping and Cao Wei, and she couldn't help but feel alert.
This is somewhat different from having people like Ma Teng and Ma Chao under your command.
The behavior of the Xiping Qu family is actually more like that of the Qiang people than that of the Ma family, who have Qiang ancestry.
This was Qiao Yan’s most intuitive feeling when he met Qu Yan today.
And the same is true in history.
During the Jian'an period, Qu Yan united with various forces in Jiuquan, Zhangye, Wuwei and other places, occupied the counties and prefectures, and then launched a rebellion. Just like when Han Sui killed Beigong Boyu and Bian Zhang, these people attacked and killed each other soon after the rebellion until it was suppressed and Qu Yan surrendered.
However, in the same year, Qu Yan once again contacted local armed forces to raise troops, and even joined forces with the Hu tribes to plunder together. He was eventually lured and killed by Su Ze, the prefect of Jincheng.
During the Huangchu period, Qu Guang, who was also from the Qu clan of Xiping, led his people to kill the governor of Xiping and rebel. Zhang Ji, the governor of Liangzhou at the time, made a decision to divide the Qiang and Hu and recruit them for peace. He successfully had Qu Guang's subordinates kill him and present his head to apologize, just like the situation Han Sui is facing today.
During the Taihe period, just six years after Qu Guang's death, Qu Ying of the Xiping Qu family killed the magistrate of Linqiang County and the mayor of Xidu County and rebelled. He was eventually killed by General Zhenxi Hao Zhao.
Whether the reason for their rebellion was to maintain the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty or simply out of coveting local armed separatist forces, it was not a good thing for Qiao Yan's desire to truly control the territory of Liangzhou.
This also means that she needs to be on guard against them at all times and deploy corresponding armed forces to be on alert.
It would be even better if they were in the same situation as Ma Teng and Ma Chao.
Ma Teng was a rebel who surrendered. Now that Qiao Yan had solved the biggest trouble in Liang Province and was very likely to conquer Dong Zhuo and return the emperor to the capital in the next step, the position of former general conferred on him by Dong Zhuo was not a symbol of honor, but a fatal one.
He must also choose to maintain stability and wealth rather than rapid advancement in his career, in order to avoid having old grievances brought up and ending up with nothing to his benefit.
As for Ma Chao, he was just a lone general, and Qiao Yan was confident that he could still hold the knife.
However, although the Qu family had formed an alliance with Han Sui, it could be explained as self-protection. With Qu Yi in hand, it would not be appropriate for Qiao Yan to make any move to weaken the Qu family. At the same time, the turbulent Liang Province still needed these local armed forces to maintain peace.
But she really should think about how to make them controllable and powerful, or even gradually swallow them up by her, rather than letting them become the source of trouble that recurs at any time.
For this reason, Jia Xu, who had just served as a military advisor for a while during the siege of the city, was conscripted by her and became the person she consulted.
In a sense, aristocratic families are also powerful families, so this question cannot be asked to Xun You.
Not to mention, if Qiao Yan just needed an excuse to eliminate future troubles in order to prepare for the war against Dong Zhuo, there was no need for her to consider such long-term matters.
This kind of thing can only be discussed with a few advisers who know her ambitions.
Since Cheng Yu, Xi Zhicai and others are not in Jincheng County, Jia Xu can only do more work.
Jia Xu stroked his beard, pondered for a while, and then asked, "Are you going to use them or not?"
These two different ways of treatment determined the positioning of the Liangzhou nobles.
"Yes!" Qiao Yan replied firmly.
It is one thing to worry about the Qu family's rebellion, but it is another to use their strength for one's own benefit.
No matter how the repeated rebellions of the Xiping Qu family in Liangzhou happened, if she was afraid to move forward because of the result, then how could she expand her power from Bingzhou to Liangzhou, or even want to seize more resources by relying on Liangzhou's special geographical location.
How could we even think of developing the water conservancy in Bing and Liang states before the long-term drought comes four years later?
Therefore, she must use these powerful families who have private soldiers, courage, and boldness.
This affirmative answer was enough for Jia Xu to judge her attitude.
The strategist, who knew a lot about the Liangzhou nobles, replied: "Since you want to use them, it is in your best interest to use them as money bags and manpower."
This evaluation of "money bag manpower" sounded a bit playful in his steady tone.
Qiao Yan said, "I'd like to hear the details."
Jia Xu replied: "The nobles of Liang Province, including Dong Zhuo, have all made efforts to make friends with the Qiang people, so that when they have conflicts with the surrounding forces, these Qiang people who have never valued their lives can be used by them. But what if you take the Qiang people into your own hands first? The destructive power that their private soldiers can produce is quite limited. In fact, after you arrived in Liang Province, you implemented the policy of killing first and recruiting later very well. This is one of the reasons."
Qiao Yan nodded in agreement with his statement.
To put it more simply, the powerful families like to seek external aid when they fight, but if she can be respected by these mercenary Qiang people as a commander like the Heavenly Khan, the threat from the powerful families will be greatly weakened.
Jia Xu continued, "Secondly, since you want to use them, you have to distinguish them by their ranks. I'm not talking about distinguishing the nobles in Huangzhong and Longxi, but distinguishing people from the same clan by their ranks. For example, Qu Yi and Qu Yan."
Seeing Qiao Yan's eyes move slightly, Jia Xu understood what he meant. He simply said: "On the one hand, let the nobles who want to stand out gather around the person chosen by the prince as much as possible. If there is unrest, they will be wiped out in one fell swoop. On the other hand, the people of Liangzhou are naturally aggressive. If the suppressed ones can stand out by making greater military achievements, they will naturally compete for the position of the number one person."
Who should be promoted and who should be appropriately suppressed is not something Jia Xu should interfere too much in, but it is something that Qiao Yan needs to consider.
But it was probably not his illusion. When he said the words "combative by nature", Qiao Yan cast a meaningful look at him, which clearly contained some ridicule and sarcasm.
Jia Xu, the old fox, coughed lightly, and immediately changed the subject and continued, "Third, most of the nobles in Liangzhou are appointed to other places in the state. This can indeed avoid excessive accumulation of power in the local area, but it also allows many nobles in the state to benefit from each other. For example, the Liang family in Anding and the Zhang family in Dunhuang are related by marriage. If people from Dunhuang govern Hanyang, and people from Hanyang govern the north, this trend will not be stopped. I heard from Yan Cai that Marquis Qiao is interested in the Xigong Salt Lake where the Canlang Qiang are located. It might be helpful to use the nobles in Huangzhong to help."
This sentence really fits Qiao Yan's thoughts.
"Fourth—"
"Han Sui was killed today. Your Excellency sent someone to search his study and found several letters."
When their Bingzhou army arrived at Jincheng, the few letters that Han Sui had not yet completed were indeed in Qiao Yan's hands.
He continued, "I don't need to talk about the one written to Ma Teng. I think you know better than me how to arrange for Ma's father and son. What I want to talk about is the one written to Cheng Yi, Liang Xing and others."
"Now that you have taken down Ma Teng and Han Sui so quickly, I'm sure these people haven't reacted yet. Please kill them all for colluding with Han Sui. This will open the eyes of those who are ready to make a move and think that you only relied on others to break the city."
Among these people, in addition to the Qiang people, there are also powerful families.
For example, one of the letters written by Han Sui was sent to Yang Qiu of the Hanyang Yang family, who had gathered a group of good fighters and was in Long County.
Qiao Yan first took Ayang and then went to Ji County. He happened not to run into them, so now he had to clean up the mess.
This is a legitimate move.
Qiao Yan clapped his hands and praised: "I have benefited a lot from your four remarks."
Establish authority over the Qiang people, use one to suppress two within the noble family, throw people out of the country, and kill several tribes first as a warning.
If these four measures can be accomplished together, she won't have to worry so much about Xiping Qu's family.
On the contrary, the Qu family should be careful about her methods of divisiveness and exploitation.
Jia Xu is worthy of being Jia Xu, and he is also worthy of the reputation of a poisonous scholar in Qiao Yan's impression.
Seeing that Qiao Yan was quite satisfied with the answer, Jia Xu bowed to Qiao Yan and said, "Since your doubts have been resolved, I will take my leave now."
However, just as he was about to leave the room, he suddenly heard Qiao Yan say, "Wait a minute, sir. There is one more thing I would like to ask you to do for me. This is something that only you can do."
As soon as he heard the words "it has to be sir", he had a bad feeling.
This doesn't sound like something like being thrown into a job to clean up the mess!
It might even be more troublesome than stationing her in the Weicheng City and commanding the attack from the north of Kuiyuan Gorge.
Seeing that he immediately showed an inexplicably nervous look, Qiao Yan couldn't help but smile, "Sir, there is no need to be so expressionful. It's just that when you mentioned the letters Han Sui wrote earlier, the ones to Ma Teng and the ones to the Han-Qiang rebels, I suddenly thought that there is another letter that should also play a role."
Another letter?
The last remaining letter was written by Han Sui to Dong Zhuo.
Realizing this, Jia Xu was slightly stunned.
From what he saw, it was impossible that Qiao Yan was just being kind and sending those letters that Han Sui had failed to send out during his lifetime to the right recipients, just like she was "respecting the elders" by preparing a silk cloth for Han Sui to wipe his tears.
The manner in which this letter was delivered must have been extraordinary.
He met Qiao Yan's eyes and saw that they were no longer as calm as before, but now seemed like a rapid torrent lurking beneath the waves.
Even her tone carried a tone that would not allow him to refuse: "I would like to ask Mr. Wenhe to accompany me tomorrow to meet Han Sui's men."
Among Han Sui's subordinates who were brought back from Kuiyuan Gorge, the ordinary soldiers were directly mixed into the Bingzhou army's squadron.
It is the team that is divided based on the number of beheadings.
Anyway, they were just working for Han Sui to make a living and didn't have much status. It wasn't a big deal that they had a new boss.
Even if there were some among them who still had feelings for Han Sui, they would not cause much trouble under the supervision of other soldiers in the team who shared the same accommodation and meals.
However, those who had been entrusted with important tasks by Han Sui before, headed by Cheng Gongying and Yan Xing, along with several captains who had not yet died in the battle of Kuiyuan Gorge, were all imprisoned in the Jincheng prison, waiting for Qiao Yan to make arrangements for them after he had finished dealing with the matters at hand.
In order to prevent anyone in Jincheng, which was once controlled by Han Sui, from rescuing the people, Qiao Yan specially assigned a team to guard the place.
Before she and Jia Xu reached the door, they saw a couple in the distance trying to talk to them.
Seeing that the conversation was fruitless, the two men left dejectedly.
When Qiao Yan and Jia Xu walked up to the guard, they asked about this matter.
One of them replied, "The two claimed to be Yan Xing's parents and wanted to know how the prince planned to treat these prisoners. Naturally, I said that I knew nothing and had to wait for the provincial government to decide."
Qiao Yan paused, turned around and instructed his attendant, "Go and find out what the relationship is between Yan Xing and his parents."
After this little incident, she did not rush down to the dungeon, but first looked through the preserved criminal files of Jincheng County with Jia Xu. When her personal attendant came to report that Yan Xing was still a filial son, a glimmer of understanding flashed in her eyes, and then she signaled Jia Xu to go with her to meet the person.
However, the person they saw first was not Yan Xing, but Cheng Gongying.
Pang De, the chief officer of Ma Teng's general's mansion, unfortunately became the victim of her testing of special crossbows, so Qiao Yan was unable to see his demeanor in battle. It was a bit regrettable to say the least.
However, Han Sui's Chief Clerk Cheng Gongying demonstrated his abilities to gain Han Sui's respect before being captured by Huangfu Song. He was captured only when he was almost too weak to lift his sword.
It’s a pity that such a capable person also has the same quality.
His lord would certainly like this skill, but his lord's opponent probably wouldn't like it.
That's loyalty.
When he heard the footsteps of Qiao Yan and Jia Xu, he turned his head to look in the direction of the sound. Seeing that the person coming was not an ordinary jailer, but Qiao Yan himself, he stood up immediately.
But he stood up not to plead for mercy or to seek freedom, but to ask hurriedly: "May I ask Lord Qiao, where is the body of my general now?"
Cheng Gongying originally thought that he would stay outside Jincheng for a few more days.
However, Han Sui was assassinated overnight, his head was presented to Qiao Yan, and Jincheng changed its owner.
When he was escorted into Jincheng, his heart was filled with confusion, and he had no idea why everything changed so quickly.
But when he clearly realized his current situation, he couldn't help but worry about another thing.
Han Sui is not a Qiang, so he should not be treated the same way Qiao Yan did before, by cremating his opponent’s body!
Under the current rule that the right thing to do is to be buried in peace, Cheng Gongying, as Han Sui's confidant promoted by him, must strive for the treatment of being buried!
What he was even more afraid of was that, because Han Sui and Wang Guo and others besieged Hanyang, which led to Fu Xie's death in battle, Qiao Yan would allow his subordinate Fu Gan to destroy Han Sui's body.
So the first thing he did after seeing her was to ask this question.
The Bingzhou governor who appeared before him was not as arrogant and domineering as he had imagined because he always won a battle. However, during this encounter, he clearly realized that there was a big gap between Han Sui and the other party, just in terms of demeanor and bearing.
It is no wonder that one was the "Left General" who was besieged and killed in Jincheng at the hands of his subordinates, and the other was the Cavalry General who led the Bingzhou army into Liangzhou.
While he was thinking, he suddenly heard Qiao Yan ask, "If I tell you that I have buried Han Sui and have not humiliated him in any way, will you be willing to surrender to me?"
Surrender?
Upon hearing this good news, Cheng Gongying's nerves, which had been tense since he learned of Han Sui's death, finally relaxed.
But even so, he did not hesitate to reply: "Although General Han was not killed by Marquis Qiao himself, he was forced to die by you. I cannot surrender to you."
Qiao Yan raised his eyebrows: "Even if Han Wenyue is not a wise leader, even if I am more suitable than him to temporarily govern Liangzhou, you still come to the conclusion that I cannot be defeated?"
Cheng Gongying hesitated for a long time before answering this question: "People always have to do stupid things."
If he had been given a longer time with Han Sui, and if he had seen that the problems in Liang Province could not be solved by Han Sui's uprising, and if Qiao Yan happened not to be the direct culprit behind Han Sui's death, he might have given a different answer.
But now, he has no intention of changing this answer.
Qiao Yan was not too surprised by the answer he gave.
She didn't need to ask what kind of favor Han Sui had given to Cheng Gongying that made him follow him so wholeheartedly. After all, she was happy to show some respect to a loyal minister.
She said: "Well, I have two choices for you-"
"One is that you die by my spear, thus fulfilling your reputation of loyalty and righteousness. The other is that I have someone send you to Han Sui's tomb, and you commit suicide there. Which one do you choose?"
The former will surely become more famous as Qiao Yan grows, and the name of this loyal general will also be spread. The latter was a reward for Cheng Gongying to confirm Han Sui's burial place.
Cheng Gongying bowed deeply to Qiao Yan and replied, "I choose the latter."
The shadow of the dungeon was cast on his injured face, but it was not difficult to see the gratitude on his face.
After the fall of Jincheng, this was the best outcome for him.
When she was shackled and led out of the prison, Cheng Gongying heard Qiao Yan's voice gradually fade away, and the person walking with her said: "There are always people in this world who are willing to sacrifice their lives for loyalty and kindness. I respect these people, but I don't intend to become such a person."
Another person asked, "So what kind of person does Qiao Hou think he is?"
Qiao Yan replied: "A person who is trying to open up a new path with his own methods and rules."
"Let's go and meet Yan Xing. I want to know, between loyalty and filial piety, which one will he choose?"
Cheng Gongying could no longer hear the following voice.
Seven days later, a piece of news spread in Jincheng.
Yan Xing, an old subordinate of Han Sui, was freed in the name of serving the governor of Bingzhou. However, he suddenly gathered his followers and defected. He took Jia Xu, the fake assistant of the governor of Bingzhou who was responsible for guarding him, as a hostage, and escaped with a batch of mounts and weapons.
Han Sui's old friends who had also chosen to join Bingzhou Mu were in a panic, fearing that Qiao Yan would suspect them because of Yan Xing's actions.
Fortunately, Qiao Yan did not mean to knock everyone down with one blow. He just let them continue to do their jobs and not to think too much about it.
Under the gaze of everyone, she issued the order to pursue, then climbed up the city wall of Jincheng and looked towards the south, seeming a little disappointed.
However, there are continuous mountains in Longyou, so when she looked in that direction, all she could see were mountains in front of her.
But only Qiao Yan knew that she was looking at something else.
For example,
At this moment, Yan Xing, who was riding his horse towards Chang'an, touched his chest as if he had realized something.
Hidden in his clothes was the letter Han Sui wrote to Dong Zhuo, asking him to send troops for assistance.
But now the letter is stained with Han Sui's blood.
This is the token that Yan Xing was going to bring to Dong Zhuo according to Qiao Yan’s plan!
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