Hearing Yang Fu's words, Cao Rui nodded slightly: "Even if these two things happened, I still want to keep Prince Yongqiu and General Wei. These two things, in the final analysis, are still one thing, that is, the affairs of the royal family." "Mr. Yang, I have heard that you have made outstanding achievements in Liang Province. I hired you mainly for Liang Province's affairs." Cao Rui said, "But I don't know about Mr. Yang's other talents." "How should we treat the royal family of Wei? Does Yang Qing have any suggestions?" Cao Rui looked at Yang Fu, a scholar from Liang Province who was in his fifties and looked as majestic as a military general. Yang Fu was silent for a moment, then he clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, may I ask why you want to use the royal family?" Yang Fu, who had a serious expression, did not seem to have any intention of talking nonsense, and Cao Rui also answered seriously: "Of course, I will use the royal family to protect me and the world of Wei." Yang Fu continued, "As Your Majesty knows, during the Ma Chao Rebellion in Liang Province, seven of my clan brothers died. I would like to tell Your Majesty about the origins of these seven people." Cao Rui nodded slightly. Yang Fu said: "Among these seven people, two are my brothers, four are my cousins, and only one is my cousin. This cousin is someone I have had a close relationship with since childhood, and is not one of those clan relatives who I don't interact with often." "I am from the Yang family of Tianshui, and there are more than a hundred relatives of my generation. But when I planned to defend the city and fight to the death with Ma Chao's army, only a dozen people followed me. The others were either unwilling or fled quickly, and I was unable to stop them."
Yang Fu paused and explained, "I am not going to mention the old things to Your Majesty, I just want to tell Your Majesty that when it comes to a critical moment, only the close relatives can be relied on, and the distant relatives are basically no different from passers-by." Cao Rui sighed slightly: "I understand everything that Yang Qing said just now. But close relatives are in danger of seizing power, while distant relatives are safer. This is common sense." Yang Fu said solemnly: "Your Majesty, even if we take a step back, if the imperial power is really in danger, what difference can there be between distant relatives and powerful officials of different surnames?" "Take the time of Emperors Huan and Ling for example. When the world was in turmoil, the princes of various places were either trapped in their fiefdoms and did nothing, or simply sat back and enjoyed themselves. If the princes with the surname Liu did nothing, how could we expect other members of the royal family to do anything?" Cao Rui nodded, showing a bit of embarrassment: "You are right, but there are too many right things in the world, and it is not so easy to actually do them." "Please go ahead, Yang Qing. I heard everything you said just now." "I'll take my leave." Yang Fu bowed and walked out of the study. …… But at this time, in Liangzhou, thousands of miles away, the scene was completely different. On the western frontier of the Wei Dynasty, twenty miles outside Linqiang City, a Qiang cavalry unit of about a thousand men were resting in a valley. Surrounded by the cavalry, a few nobles in the middle were whispering about something. "Hetang, do you really want to listen to Captain Lu who is stationed in Linqiang City?" asked the older Qiang Hao at the side. Hetang, who was about 30 years old and had a burly appearance, responded, "Once at the beginning of this year, and once five years ago, both times the Han people won. Our Shaodang tribe has long lost its former glory, and the Dangjian and Qiedong tribes have repeatedly attacked our limited pastures." "If we don't think of some way to deal with it, I'm afraid we won't know whether the Shao Dang tribe will still exist next year!" He Tang's younger brother He Mo squeezed over and asked in a low voice: "Brother, if you go to Captain Lu, will Captain Lu accept you?" "Why not? It was Captain Lu who sent people from Linqiang City to various tribes to recruit 800 volunteers. I didn't force myself to get close to them." He Tang smiled slyly: "Besides, I have a gift for Captain Lu." "You still have gifts?" The older Qiang Hao asked in confusion. "There's no food left. Where did you get the gifts? Why don't you take them out and exchange them for food?" "You can exchange it for food. You can exchange it for merit." He Tang pounded his chest and said, "Captain Lu will definitely like this gift!" He Mo asked anxiously, "Brother, are you telling me riddles? It really makes me anxious to death."
"Hahaha, He Mo, you will never guess." He Tang laughed and said, "My people captured Qu Ying, who beat the Han people in the mountains yesterday!" "Qu Ying?" The older Qiang Hao was quite surprised: "Hasn't he been hiding in the Dangjian tribe? How could you catch him?" "Perhaps he escaped on his own, or perhaps the Dangjian tribe didn't dare to keep him any longer. In any case, he is now in my cavalry." "That's good, that's good." The older Qiang Hao no longer objected and said, "Take all the 400 people you lead with you! Remember to bring back more food." "Got it!" He Tang said decisively. After discussing with a few people, He Tang led his 400 cavalrymen slowly out of the valley and headed towards Linqiang City. At this time in Linqiang City, Xiahou Ba and Lu Pan had already left, leaving only 200 Wuwei soldiers led by Lu Xun and 2,000 foreign troops led by Hao Zhao to guard the city. Four hundred cavalrymen galloped on the open plain, making quite a noise. When a soldier on the watchtower of Linqiang City saw the cavalry, he immediately reported it to Du Bo. Du Bo did not dare to be careless and quickly reported the matter to Lu Xun, the captain of the Qiang Guard. Lu Xun smiled and said, "Bo Dao, just now you and I were talking about the Qiang people, and now the Qiang people are here, there should be three or four hundred cavalrymen." Hao Zhao also smiled and said, "Yes, Brother Boyan is very good at predicting things. If we can draw 800 volunteers from the Qiang tribes around Linqiang and Xidu counties and use them properly, we should no longer have to worry about this place." "It's not that I am as good as a god, it's the court that says so." Lu Xun said lightly, but he did not say that this was the inspiration given to him by His Majesty the Emperor. The so-called "using Qiang to control Qiang" means using Qiang people to check and balance Qiang people, recruiting and using Qiang people, right? In this case, Duke Zhen of Wei in Luoyang should keep two hundred Han people out of the one thousand subordinates he promised himself, and the rest should be Qiang volunteers. It won’t affect the overall situation. Four hundred Qiang riders arrived at the foot of Linqiang City. To the surprise of the soldiers on the city wall, there was almost no commotion. After a while, a Qiang man dressed as a leader got off his horse and knelt on one knee a few dozen steps outside the city gate. "Who is outside the city?" The Du Bo on duty on the city wall shouted loudly. "I'm Hetang from Shao's unit. I heard that Captain Lu was recruiting volunteers, so I came here to apply!" Hetang answered in a hoarse voice. "Wait outside the city, I will go and ask Captain Lu for instructions." After Du Bo finished speaking, he immediately sent someone to report the matter to Lu Xun, and He Tang also stood up from the ground. Less than a quarter of an hour later, the city gate slowly opened, and Lu Xun and Hao Zhao, together with the two hundred Wuwei soldiers that Xiahou Ba had left for Lu Xun, lined up out of the west gate of Linqiang City. Two hundred soldiers, all wearing helmets and armor and holding spears, came out of the west gate in a long line and stood in awe behind the two generals. Seeing that the two generals had no intention of letting them come over and that the Wei army was forming a battle formation, the 400 Qiang cavalry brought by He Tang actually wanted to retreat, and their formation gradually became unstable. He Tang turned around and shouted to those around him: "I am here to be a loyal follower, not to rebel! What are you afraid of?" He Tang plucked up his courage and walked forward. Before he was three feet in front of Lu Xun, a man dressed as a scholar came up to him on foot. It was Lu Xun's chief secretary Zhou Duo. Zhou Duo asked calmly, "Which tribe are you from? Why are you bringing the horse team here?" Hetang saw Zhou Duo dressed like a scholar and roughly guessed that he was someone close to Captain Lu, so he bowed and said in the Han Chinese way: "I am Hetang from Shaodang tribe, and I am here to bring the men of my tribe to apply for the volunteer service." After Hetang finished speaking, he did not forget to add: "I am not late, am I?" "It's not too late." Zhou Duo said, "But whether to accept you or not is still up to Captain Lu to decide." After that, Zhou Duo stretched out his right hand and made a "please" gesture: "Come and meet Captain Lu with me." "Thank you, sir." He Tang was a polite man.
Lu Xun was sitting on his horse. When he saw He Tang coming over, he spoke with a little dignity: "Is this your first time meeting me? Remember, I am the newly appointed Protector of the Qiang by the imperial court, and the one beside me is General Hao Zhao." He Tang bowed quickly and said, "I am He Tang from Shao Dangbu, and I am here to greet Captain Lu and General Hao. This is the first time I have heard of Captain Lu, but I have heard of General Hao a long time ago." "Really?" Lu Xun smiled and glanced at Hao Zhao beside him: "General Hao is well-known in Hexi, and his reputation is well-deserved!" Hao Zhao did not dare to act arrogantly in front of Lu Xun, nor was it easy to be polite to Lu Xun in front of the Qiang people, so he asked He Tang with a stern face: "How many cavalrymen did you bring with you to enlist as volunteers? Did you know that volunteers must obey the orders of the court?" "I know, I know everything. I brought 400 cavalry this time." He Tang forced a smile and looked at the two men: "I didn't come empty-handed this time. I also prepared gifts for Captain Lu... and General Hao." "Any more gifts?" Lu Xun asked, "What gifts are you going to give to the court?" He Tang stood up from the ground and pointed at his Qiang cavalry behind him: "I sent Qu Ying to Captain Lu!" "Qu Ying?" Lu Xun and Hao Zhao looked at each other, and after they understood, they were no longer anxious. Lu Xun snorted, "The imperial court has already recovered Linqiang and Xidu counties. Qu Ying, the traitor, is almost as good as dead. He is of no use to us." "The rebellion has been quelled, and the two counties of Linqiang and Xidu have returned. What use is there for this captain to have Qu Ying?" He Tang thought that he would be rewarded with a lot of rewards for his great contribution, but from what Lu Xun said, it seemed that Qu Ying was not very useful. He Tang was anxious: "When I caught Qu Ying yesterday, he told me everything in exchange for a bite of food!" "Qu Ying said that he was also murdered this time! He said that the Wei governor of Hanzhong in the south sent someone to instigate him to do it!" (End of this chapter)