Chapter 467

Among the Western Qiang tribes, the most powerful were the earliest ones.

These included the Shaodang Qiang, the County Magistrate Qiang, as well as the Fengyang Qiang and the Laojie Qiang.

Besides these, there were also a few Western Qiang tribes in Longxi Commandery, such as the Baima Qiang, though these tribes had not participated in the war.

At this moment, the many leaders sitting in the camp were feasting heartily.

On the tables in front of them were large amounts of beef, mutton, and wine.

Having eaten his fill, the old king of the Shaodang Qiang wiped his mouth and looked at Beigong Boyu beside him.

"This Yunwu is like a tough bone to chew; why must we attack it? With this time, we could have plundered several county towns."

"For the past two days, the men below have been complaining, saying that too many people are dying in the siege."

The words of the old king of the Shaodang Qiang received the agreement of everyone in the tent.

Beigong Boyu set down the bowl of mare's milk wine in his hand and looked at the old king of the Shaodang Qiang beside him.

"Plundering is not our primary goal!"

Beigong Boyu turned his gaze to the many leaders, including the old king of the Shaodang Qiang, and said, "Have you not yet seen the warning from the past?"

"If we remain under the rule of the Han Dynasty, they will continue to use all sorts of methods to enslave us."

"Increasing our taxes and squeezing our living space!"

"Have you all forgotten the words of Chen Yi before?"

"They can increase our taxes by twenty percent this year, and they can increase them by another twenty percent next year!"

"Without grain, without cattle and sheep, how will your children and your descendants survive?"

Beigong Boyu's voice was not loud.

But it rang in everyone's ears.

"If you want to avoid being enslaved, you must be your own masters!"

As he spoke, Beigong Boyu stood up and pointed to the map of Jincheng Commandery behind him, saying, "Now we only need to capture Yunwu."

"Jincheng in front and Poqiang behind have already been captured by us."

"As long as we connect Jincheng Commandery into one piece and use it as a foundation—half defending the cities and half striking out in all directions—no one will be able to stop us."

"We will be able to advance to attack and retreat to defend."

"Occupying the entire Liangzhou—this is our ultimate goal."

"Not like in the past, where we just plundered a bit and called it quits."

"Fine, fine, fine." The old king of the Shaodang Qiang stood up and faced the crowd, saying, "Send out the bravest warriors from your tribes and capture this city in front of us as quickly as possible."

Hearing the words of the old king of the Shaodang Qiang, Beigong Boyu finally took a deep breath and relaxed his mood.

Following the order of the old king of the Shaodang Qiang, the various tribes began to organize a new round of attacks.

Yunwu County.

Compared to the Western Qiang camp outside the city, Yunwu County was deathly silent at this moment.

The morale of the soldiers on the walls was low.

Wounded soldiers leaned against the battlements, wailing powerlessly, and the bodies of the fallen soldiers had not yet been cleared from the walkways on the walls.

Looking inside the city.

Even though it was already broad daylight, every household in the city kept their doors tightly shut.

Dozens of wooden stakes were driven into the ground inside the east gate.

Some corpses were still hanging on them.

Looking closer, one could see that those corpses were not Han people, but Qiang people.

There were not a few Qiang people living in Han cities.

After all, the number of Qiang people in Liangzhou far exceeded that of the Han, and after a hundred years of living together, a large portion of the Qiang had become accustomed to the Han way of life and had moved into Han cities to live.

But at the same time, these Qiang people living in the cities were also a huge hidden danger.

During the Yongchu era, Qiang people were strictly forbidden from entering Han commanderies and counties.

This was to guard against the Qiang people living in the cities suddenly rebelling when war broke out.

But as time went on, such things were ultimately difficult to avoid.

And these dozens of corpses nailed under the city gate were killed after being discovered trying to open the city gates.

When the war drums of the Qiang tribes sounded outside the city, a team of troops in the city also began to mobilize.

An old man, about fifty years old and showing his age, dressed in a set of armor, rode on a horse, leading a team of soldiers toward the city walls.

A large banner with the character "Tian" was carried by the attendant behind him.

The old general rode on his horse, holding a large spear, his eyes slightly clouded.

More than a hundred soldiers followed behind the old general.

When the old general led his team to the city walls, the soldiers, whose eyes had been filled with fear, became slightly more composed.

"General Tian."

"Old General Tian."

"Old General Tian."

Several military commanders and platoon leaders came to the old general's side.

The old general nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on the Western Qiang camp assembling outside the city, his expression grave.

The old general's surname was Tian, hailing from the Tian clan of Jincheng, and his name was Tian Yan.

In the sixth year of Xiping, Liu Hong sent tens of thousands of troops in three routes to conquer the Xianbei leader Tanshihuai.

The three great generals leading the troops at that time were the Colonel Protecting the Wuhuan, Xia Yu; the Zhonglang General of the Xiongnu, Zang Min; and the third was Tian Yan, who was then serving as the Zhonglang General for Breaking the Xianbei.

However, in a great battle, the Great Han was defeated.

Eight or nine out of every ten of the tens of thousands of troops died in battle.

Later, Xia Yu, Zang Min, and Tian Yan were each found guilty.

They were demoted to commoners.

Since then, Tian Yan had returned to his hometown and shut himself away.

After returning to his hometown, Tian Yan changed his past personality and began to accumulate virtue and do good deeds.

He dismissed a large number of slaves in his household and set up porridge stalls to save people whenever natural or man-made disasters occurred.

The people of Yunwu County all said that Tian Yan was doing this to atone for his sins and seek peace of mind.

To pray for the souls of those soldiers who died in the battle against the Xianbei.

But the real reason was known only to Tian Yan himself.

Tian Yan, having climbed onto the city wall, scanned the wall and then frowned, asking, "Where is the County Magistrate Zhao Ang?"

Several military commanders and platoon leaders shook their heads, indicating they had not seen him.

Tian Yan let out a cold snort, slammed his large spear onto the ground of the wall, and said coldly, "Hmph, as a county magistrate, to be so greedy for life and afraid of death in the face of a national crisis."

"Someone, go to the county government office and bring Zhao Ang here. If he doesn't come, even if you have to tie him up, bring him here!"

"Yes!"

Several family generals behind Tian Yan immediately took the order and headed down from the city wall.

At this moment.

The Western Qiang army outside the city had finished assembling, with over ten thousand troops gathered from three sides, ready to attack the city at any time.

And the more than two thousand Han soldiers on the walls were also prepared to meet the battle at any time.

But the gates of the county government office remained tightly shut.

Zhao Ang, who had just taken office in Yunwu as the County Magistrate, was currently locking himself in the county government office, pacing back and forth in the main hall.

Just as he was pacing back and forth in the hall wearing his official robes.

A minor official suddenly ran in from outside.

"My lord, my lord, there is a young woman outside who claims to be your fiancée and says she wants to see you," the minor official said.

Zhao Ang, who had been pacing the hall with his hands behind his back, stopped in his tracks upon hearing this.

Then he waved his hand impatiently and said, "Let her in."

The minor official agreed and turned to walk outside.

After a short while, a tall young girl, wearing leather armor and holding a short spear in her hand, walked into the county government hall.

"Why are you here?" Zhao Ang asked with a deep frown upon seeing the girl. ===== CHAPTER 469 =====