dognovel Chapter 572 Ma Chao's Grand Goal
Chapter 572 Ma Chao's Grand Goal
Having easily destroyed the Kingdom of Pulei and seized all the resources of the capital, Ma Chao stood on the city wall, gazing into the distance with a smug smile on his face.
He had been stifled under Liu Bei for too long, and now he had finally broken free of his reins and was able to roam freely in the wild. The long-lost freedom made him feel that even the wind blowing in his face was sweet.
The victory in the attack on Pulei swept away the resentment he had accumulated over the years, making him feel good and even making him more agreeable to Ma Su, whom he had previously disliked.
Ma Chao pulled Ma Su to his side, put his arm around his neck, and laughed, "Youchang, I've discovered that you not only have the abilities of Xiao He, but also the skills of Zhang Liang. So tell me, what should we do next?"
As a divine and mighty general, Ma Chao's tactical abilities were flawless, but he was somewhat lacking in strategy. Although he had set a strategy to attack the Western Regions, when he left Yumen Pass and faced countless small kingdoms in the Western Regions, he felt like a tiger trying to eat the sky, looking at a delicious meal but not knowing where to start.
Having no other choice, they consulted Ma Su, who advised them to first subdue Yiwu and destroy Pulei, making an example of them to demonstrate their strength to the Western Regions. Only by striking first and intimidating the enemy could they gain the upper hand in subsequent actions.
Ma Chao followed his advice and easily destroyed the Pulei Kingdom. Then, he ran out of ideas and had to consult Ma Su again.
Ma Su has gradually adapted to his new identity. What can he do if he's not? Why should he roll up his sleeves and fight Ma Chao? Can I even beat him?
Life is like rape; if you can't resist, just lie there and enjoy it.
With this in mind, Ma Su settled into his role as Ma Chao's advisor. Upon hearing this, instead of answering, he asked, "Then we must first clarify the general's goals. Does the general wish to emulate the Marquis of Dingyuan and make contributions to the country, or does he wish to seek independence in the Western Regions?"
Before doing anything, you must first clarify your goal. Only with a clear goal can you formulate a suitable plan. Otherwise, if the goal and the plan contradict each other, wouldn't that be going against the grain?
Although Ma Su's words were somewhat treasonous, Ma Chao was not a loyal and patriotic person either. When talking to such a traitor, you have to get straight to the point and not try to be subtle.
Upon hearing this, Ma Chao blurted out without thinking, "Forget about imitating Marquis Dingyuan. Lu Bu, the traitor who served three masters, once said, 'A true man should not remain subservient to others for long. I want to be my own lord, the kind who is not controlled by anyone.'"
"It's not feasible to establish ourselves in the Western Regions. The Western Regions are too close to the Han Dynasty. If we establish ourselves, the Han army will probably attack again after only a few days of peace. I don't want to deal with either Liu Bei or Cao Cao."
He had been traumatized by Cao Cao and was somewhat wary of Cao Cao.
He would rather deal with Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang than Cao Cao. These two bastards were even more cunning than Cao Cao. There would be no benefit in falling into their hands, so it was better to stay away. If he couldn't afford to offend them, he could at least avoid them.
Ma Chao continued, "I will fight my way to Parthia and then to the Qin Dynasty. Back then, Gan Ying was blocked by the Western Sea and never reached the Qin Dynasty. This time, I will lead my troops to fill the gap that no Han Chinese have ever been to the Qin Dynasty. I will also take a look at the scenery along the way. I've already hidden in the Qin Dynasty. Surely Cao Cao and Liu Bei won't be able to find me then?"
The Western Regions are too close to the Han Dynasty and too far from heaven, making it too insecure. We must go further afield. Otherwise, if the Han Dynasty produces another fool like Emperor Wu of Han, who would launch a distant expedition just for a single Ferghana horse, wouldn't all our efforts have been in vain?
Ma Su pondered, "In that case, our 10,000 troops will not be enough. We need to make some other preparations. First of all, we don't have any women in our army. How will we continue our lineage when we arrive in Qin? We can't have some bastards with those blonde, blue-eyed foreign women who look completely different from us. Wouldn't that be betraying our ancestors? How will we face our ancestors a hundred years from now?"
"Secondly, report to Governor Huang Quan. Since the general does not intend to stay in the Western Regions, please ask Governor Huang Quan to come and take over. This can be considered as fulfilling our loyalty to the Han Dynasty once again. At the same time, ask Governor Huang for some people, weapons and other supplies."
"Finally, there are the Western Regions. We have already destroyed the Pulei Kingdom and deterred the other Western Regions. We can't continue with reckless actions. Otherwise, if the Western Regions unite to confront us, our 10,000 men won't last more than a few days. So we need to change our strategy. First, we should go to the Pulei Kingdom and tell the king that we will fight the Cheshi Kingdom on his behalf, as long as he provides us with troops, provisions, and weapons. If he agrees, we will take the troops and provisions of the Pulei Kingdom. If he doesn't agree, we will destroy the Pulei Kingdom and then negotiate with the Cheshi Kingdom."
The relationship between countries has always been one of befriending distant states and attacking nearby ones. There are rarely no frictions between neighbors. Therefore, Ma Su planned to take advantage of this and use the troops of the Western Regions to fight against the Western Regions, in order to gain control of the troops of all the countries in the Western Regions.
Ma Chao frowned and said, "Then what? If the Pulei Kingdom gives us troops, we can't really lead the Pulei Kingdom's troops to attack the Cheshi Kingdom, can we?"
Ma Su shook his head and said, "Of course not. Our goal is to get food and soldiers, not to help the Western Regions expand their territory. After we arrive at Cheshi, we will tell Cheshi to give us troops and I will help you fight against the former Cheshi Kingdom. We will do this in a similar way and get the troops of each country first."
Ma Chao frowned and said, "That's a good idea, but won't the armies of two opposing countries clash if they get together?"
Ma Su laughed and said, "Then we'll have to see how we arrange things next. You've read General Guan Xing's battle report, haven't you? How did he manage to turn the Wu army into his loyal followers in an instant?"
“This…” Ma Chao fell into recollection and sighed, “He did allocate land to the Wu army, but we didn’t plan to stay in the Western Regions for long, so it’s impossible for us to carry out land reform there.”
Ma Su was speechless. "Can't you use your brain a little? You just copy the answer verbatim. Can't you apply the formula if you change a number?"
Ma Su patiently explained, "No, after General Guan Xing captured the Wu army, the first thing he did was not to distribute land, but to carry out some kind of ideological work, to make the lower-ranking soldiers realize that they were being exploited by the gentry, to make them understand that the reason they were not doing well was because the income they worked hard to earn was being taken away by the gentry, and to make them collectively hate the gentry, thereby achieving the effect of being united against a common enemy."
"What was that saying again? I remember there was a sentence in General Guan Xing's battle report that was particularly apt. What was it again? Oh, I remember now, it was about transforming the national conflicts between the feudal lords into class conflicts between the common people and the powerful elites. Damn Guan Anguo, that's a really good description."
"We can do the same thing. We can spread this idea among the armies and civilians of the Western Regions, incite hatred among the common people against the kings and nobles, and then lure them to our side. In short, we can deceive them."
Ma Chao excitedly patted his shoulder and laughed, "I knew you had the talent of Zhang Liang! Look how well you said it, especially the first point: I will never allow my descendants to be a bunch of bastards, and I will never allow a bunch of blond-haired, blue-eyed yellow-haired people to kneel in the ancestral hall to mourn me a hundred years from now. So I'm going to go and capture women from the Qiang and Xiongnu tribes. I'm leaving Yiwu City to you."
Strictly speaking, once you leave the Jade Gate Pass, you are considered to have left the borders of the Han Dynasty. The people of the Western Regions outside the Jade Gate Pass have obvious differences in skin color compared to the Han people and even the Qiang people, and the differences become more obvious the further west you go.
Ma Chao had also been in contact with caravans from Parthia and Qin, so he knew what the people there looked like. He could have some fun with those women of different ethnicities whose skin color was completely different from their own, but he would rather not have children with them.
It should be understood that the most important thing for the feudal lords of the Han Dynasty was bloodline. Their descendants could be illegitimate but could never be mixed-race.
The thought of his descendants kneeling before his memorial tablet a hundred years from now, none of whom had black hair or black eyes, sent a chill down Ma Chao's spine.
Therefore, he needed to bring in a group of women to help him and his Han-Qiang allied forces pass on their lineage and ensure the purity of their bloodline.
Without hesitation, Ma Chao left Ma Su and Ma Cheng to guard the capital of Pulei, and led 5,000 cavalry back to Yumen Pass to plunder the Qiang people. He also ordered Ma Dai to lead 3,000 cavalry north to plunder the nearby Xiongnu tribes.
The Qiang and Xiongnu peoples were incredibly unlucky to have encountered the brothers Ma Chao and Ma Dai.