On this day, Liu Hong led his army to a village.
Judging from the size of the village, there are probably more than 500 households. However, most of the houses have collapsed, and the remaining houses are dilapidated. There is not a single living creature in the livestock pens.
Seeing this, Liu Hong couldn't help but frown.
Although most of the villages they encountered along the way were deserted, those villages were all near the border of the Han Dynasty, and the herdsmen had all moved to live within the Han territory.
However, this place has already penetrated more than 200 miles into the Qiang territory, and these Qiang people are all Shaodang Qiang, a tribe directly under the Ma Yi, and are fundamentally different from those Qiang people who have been conquered.
The plight of the Qiang people here was indeed somewhat unexpected for Liu Hong.
"Send someone to check on the village!"
"Here you go!"
Upon hearing Liu Hong's order, a squad of Imperial Guards entered the village.
Before long, the remaining hundred or so Qiang people in the village were brought to Liu Hong's side. However, these Qiang people were either elderly or very young children.
Liu Hong turned to look at Yang Yan behind him: "Go ask what happened!"
"yes!"
Yang Yan agreed, then walked up to the group of Qiang people and asked in fluent Qiang language:
"What happened here? Judging from the state of the village, it looks like it's been looted?"
An old man stepped forward and replied, "General, we were indeed robbed; all our livestock were taken!"
Yang Yan: "Oh? Who did it?"
“It’s our powerful man. Not long ago, he sent troops here, saying that the Han army was about to attack and that we should offer up all our cattle, sheep and valuables to provide them with provisions. Even the young men in the village have been conscripted!”
The old man's face was full of sorrow when he spoke of the village's plight.
For so many years, these people have been loyal to Ma Yi, and their annual taxes have never been reduced. Many young people are proud to be soldiers under Ma Yi's command. But now, they are being treated like this, which is really hard for them to accept.
Afterwards, Yang Yan asked a few more questions and then returned to Liu Hong's side.
After listening to Yang Yan's retelling, Liu Hong turned to look at Huangfu Song beside him: "It seems that Ma Yi is really at his wit's end. In order to resist our army, he has even turned on his own people!"
However, even a cornered beast will fight to the death. This Ma Yi's frenzied actions will likely cause our army considerable trouble!
Huangfu Song said solemnly, "Your Majesty, I have a plan that may be able to undermine the morale of Ma Yi's army!"
"Tell me about it!"
"Your Majesty, Ma Yi's biggest mistake was taking away the able-bodied men from the village and leaving behind the old and weak. We could have taken the old and weak with us and let them go ahead."
When the time comes, Ma Yi's soldiers will surely hesitate to fight with all their might when they see their parents and children..."
Upon hearing this, Liu Hong's brow twitched. He hadn't expected Huangfu Song to come up with such a method.
"Your Majesty, this was merely a spur-of-the-moment idea. Even without this method, our army can easily defeat the Ma Yi..."
Noticing the emperor's strange gaze, Huangfu Song panicked and quickly explained.
Liu Hong waved his hand: "Hey~, I said before we set off that all military command is up to you, my dear minister. You decide what to do, I won't interfere!"
In the past, the Qiang people often used Han people as human shields to attack the borders of the Han Dynasty. Now that Huangfu Song has come up with this method, it is just using their own methods against them, which Liu Hong can understand.
Sure enough, Huangfu Song breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what the emperor said.
Then, Huangfu Song beckoned to Yang Yan and instructed him, "Take some food and give it to the Qiang people. Also, tell them that Ma Yi is cruel and ruthless and wants to use their sons' lives to maintain his power and status."
Our army has come here only to kill Ma Yi, and we do not want to implicate the innocent. If they do not want their sons to die, then they should come with our army to persuade the young people in their village to surrender.
Reassure them that our army will guarantee their safety and will not use them as human shields!
Upon hearing Huangfu Song's words, Liu Hong nodded in satisfaction.
"Here you go!"
Yang Yan agreed, and then led his soldiers to take out food and begin to persuade the Qiang people to surrender, as Huangfu Song had instructed.
Since Yang Yan himself was of Qiang origin and had suffered oppression and hardship since childhood, he quickly became friends with these Qiang people.
After learning about the treatment they received from the Han Dynasty from Yang Yan, the Qiang people couldn't help but feel a sense of longing in their eyes.
Having also eaten food from the Han army, these Qiang people immediately agreed to help the Han army by persuading the families of the conscripted men to surrender.
During the subsequent march, Huangfu Song ordered all the elderly, weak, women and children he encountered to be gathered together and marched with them.
March 17th, early morning.
Five days had passed since the expedition began, and Liu Hong's army had finally arrived at its first destination, Huangyuan City.
Huangyuan City was originally Ma Yi's stronghold. After learning that the Han army was preparing to send a large army to conquer it, Ma Yi fled the city with his men.
At this time, Huangyuan City, like the villages we had encountered before, had all its livestock and property taken away by Ma Yi, leaving only some old, weak, women and children.
After ordering his men to tidy up the city, Liu Hong and his entourage arrived at the palace that originally belonged to Ma Yi.
"It seems that this Ma Yi is quite an ambitious person. Is he planning to establish a regime?"
Looking at the palace buildings full of Han Dynasty characteristics, and the central hall, Liu Hong couldn't help but smile and say.
Huangfu Song also said with a smile, "Your Majesty, it seems so. It's a pity that Ma Yi has ambition but no ability."
Of course, what's even more tragic is that with His Majesty on the throne, no matter how great his ambition, it's all just a dream!
Liu Hong glanced at him and said, "When did you become so good at flattering, like those civil officials?"
"Your Majesty, every word I have said comes from the bottom of my heart, and there is absolutely no flattery involved!" Huangfu Song replied earnestly.
"Alright, let's hurry up and start the battle plan. We should try to end the war within a month, and then the army can march south and take over the Tibetan areas in the southwest as well. In this way, the court can devote all its energy to the southeastern seas and Central Asia!"
"Understood, sir!"
After Huangfu Song agreed, he immediately sent someone to summon all the generals in the army and began the next step of the deployment.
First, Huangfu Song dispatched Yang Yan, Yu Jin, and Xu Huang, leading 30,000 cavalrymen to escort more than 10,000 Qiang people, both old and weak, straight to the Qiang people's activity area northwest of Huangyuan.
The remaining troops were stationed in Huangyuan City, awaiting news from Zhao Yun's side.
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