Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 97: All the people in the world are the king’s subjects!
The defense line was more than ten miles long, the defenders were dispersed, and the Wei army concentrated its breakthroughs at several points with high mobility, which indeed led to a slightly slow transportation of defensive materials such as battering rams and rolling logs.

But to describe it as a close call seems a bit of a stretch.

Looking towards the nearby plateau wall, the few people Liu Chan had just knocked down were almost the ones who climbed the fastest and highest.

Before he could turn around to move the third rolling log, Li Feng had already brought nearly a hundred strong laborers to this section of the defense line.

A stone weighing twenty or thirty pounds, with the help of gravity, is enough to cause huge damage to the climbing Wei army.

Stones and logs rained down like rain. After twenty or thirty people were thrown down the mountain one after another, the Wei army on the slope saw that they could not break through from here, and finally could only flee down the slope.

The same is true everywhere else.

Soon, there was no one left on the plateau.

Left at the foot of the plateau were hundreds of rolled logs, thousands of stones, and a hundred or so corpses, or people who were about to become corpses.

"This is truly a natural barrier." Zhou Tai sighed helplessly as he looked at the densely packed and battle-ready defenders on the edge of the plateau.

Although this plateau looks only 20 to 30 feet high, and there are many places with gentle slopes that can be climbed, the climbing speed is too slow.

In particular, the grass and trees on the slopes had been burned and cleared away by the Shu army, leaving no place to hold on to, so they could only use weapons as support poles.

The soil on the plateau is quite loose, and in many places local landslides were caused directly by the digging of weapons, causing the climbers to lose their balance and fall backwards, rolling down the slope.

But this is still not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is that the defenders on the plateau organized and dispatched troops so quickly and responded so calmly that it does not look like the defense is empty.

He had to admit that he had underestimated the fake emperor.

At first, he thought that the pseudo-emperor was ambitious and was anxious to go down to the plateau to reward the troops. Later, he thought that the defenders on the plateau would not expect that he would dare to come to seize the plateau with only 2,000 cavalry, and would be unable to cope with it.

It turned out he was wrong.

But it doesn’t matter if I’m wrong. I won’t be willing to give it up if I don’t give it a try.

Looking towards the entrance of the Xie Valley, the Shu army infantry coming from there to Wuzhangyuan were still four or five miles away from the battlefield.

But their formation was neat, and drums sounded from time to time, which showed that they were reorganizing their formation, meaning that they did not disperse and come to the rescue because of the sudden battle at Wuzhangyuan.

Such a steady trend shattered Zhou Tai's last hope of saving his reputation.

He began to give orders, ordering everyone to mount their horses and form a battle line to support the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and the Miscellaneous Hu Cavalry who were fighting with the Qiang Cavalry of Shu.

When nearly half of the Wei cavalry waded across the river, the Qiang King, who had been keeping a distance from the Wei cavalry, began to lead the Qiang cavalry to chase them.

The Qiang cavalry's horsepower was obviously maintained much better than that of the Wei cavalry. Relying on their faster speed, they shot and killed thirty or forty cavalry with minimal losses before all the Wei cavalry went down the river.

When the Wei army, whether actively or passively, was left behind by more than a hundred miscellaneous Hu cavalrymen, they also waded across the river. However, because of their slow crossing speed, forty or fifty of them were shot and killed by the pursuing Qiang cavalrymen.

The war was quickly over. It started suddenly and ended suddenly.

The Wei cavalry sped away, and the Wei infantry, who had not participated in the battle further away, did not even have time to engage with the Han infantry before they received the signal to retreat.

Seeing that it was still early and the soldiers were in high spirits, Deng Zhi organized his troops to cross the river and clear the battlefield in an orderly manner.

Wuzhangyuan.

The blood-red setting sun dyed the ochre-colored plateau red.

The shadow of the huge plateau was stretched out very long, and the figures of people standing on the edge of the plateau were also magnified and elongated, projected on the Guanzhong Plain, looking like towering giants.

The Wei people completely disappeared from sight.

Only then did Liu Chan, under the protection of Zhao Guang and a group of Longxiang Lang, lead the thousand Qiang cavalry who were left on the plateau today to the foot of the plateau.

Most of the Wei people who fell off the cliff were dead, and those who were still breathing were all beheaded by the Qiang cavalry at the foot of the mountain.

A total of nearly three hundred ownerless war horses were seized from the plateau.

About one-third of them were fat and strong, with shoulder heights of over six feet. It was obvious that their original owners were elite soldiers.

Although Qiang King Yang Tiao had only been with the Han Dynasty for a short time, he knew that the emperor had said that all captured items must be turned over to the public and then redistributed.

In addition, the reason why these war horses were captured was not just the credit of the Qiang people, so when they saw the emperor coming down the plateau, they immediately went forward to greet him.

"Your Majesty, I, Yang Tiao, have seized a total of 289 war horses, including 30 wounded or dead horses. Please arrange for military officers to receive them."

The King of Qiang walked up to Liu Chan, leading a slightly tall and thin warhorse, and greeted him respectfully, without any of the unruly attitude of a barbarian.

Liu Chan slowly shifted his gaze and turned his head.

Under the shadow of Wuzhangyuan, auxiliary soldiers and servants were carrying stretchers to take the wounded or dead Qiang warriors back to the camp.

He turned back to look at the Qiang King and said solemnly, "Qiang King, today is the first time that the Anding Qiang warriors have fought bravely for the Han Dynasty, and none of our soldiers left on the plateau have been killed or injured. These war horses will all be distributed to the meritorious warriors and the families of the fallen or injured warriors."

The Qiang King hesitated for a moment, but without pretending to be coy, he bowed to the emperor and said, "I thank Your Majesty on behalf of my son An Ding!"

It is impossible for the Qiang brave men under his command to be like him, all of them brainless loyalists of the Han Dynasty. Most of them go out to fight for money, fame and fortune, or rewards for spoils of war. What else could they do for?

Not everyone is educated and knows what is righteousness and long-term interests.

According to the common practice of warfare at that time, these two hundred-plus war horses and armor and weapons would belong to whoever captured them first.

It is nothing more than presenting 30% to Your Majesty, keeping 30% of the willow branches for myself, and giving the remaining 40% to the Qiang warriors.

Therefore, in order to understand the Han emperor's system that captured goods must be returned to the public first, the Qiang King had to persuade the Qiang warriors with his personal prestige and promises of benefits.

But now, the young emperor was so generous that he directly gave all the spoils to them as rewards.

Yang Tiao turned around and shouted:
"Brothers! His Majesty said that all these war horses are given to us! May Your Majesty be victorious!"

"Your Majesty is victorious!"

"Your Majesty is victorious!"

Nearly two thousand Qiang warriors shouted at the same time, their voices were so loud that they shook the sky and the earth, and even the dust in the air seemed to resonate.

Upon hearing this, all the soldiers and servants on Wuzhangyuan curiously stuck their heads out to see what was happening below.

Zhao Guang, the Dragon Rider and the hundred Tiger Riders who were guarding the emperor, had also mixed in with the Qiang warriors, shouting loudly together, and the atmosphere was very lively.

Excluding the surprise attack on the Xiongnu that was almost bloodless, today was the first proper cooperation between the Anding Qiang people and the Han army.

Liu Chan went down to the plateau to reward the soldiers and provide them with relief. Naturally, this was to deepen the emotional connection that had just been born with the Qiang people on the battlefield of blood and fire, to give them the honor of the Han Dynasty, and to let them know that their fate was connected with the fate of the Han Dynasty.

When the cheers died down, the Qiang warriors began to rush towards the warhorses. Yang Tiao looked at the emperor, patted the slightly anxious black warhorse and said:
"Your Majesty, I am quite knowledgeable in the art of horse judging.

"The face of this horse's head is like a crouching turtle, and its height is like a rabbit. This is the appearance of a BMW.

"The white mark on the forehead forms the character '王', which is the image of seven stars penetrating the brain as described in the 'Bo Le Tu', indicating that the person is extremely intelligent and knows people well.

"Add to that the eyes, which are like hanging bells, and the corners of which are the color of crab shells. Bole Tu calls them 'blue pupils,' and they can see a hundred paces at night without their pupils dilating."

As he spoke, Yang Tiao suddenly half-knelt down, pointed at the black horse with white hooves and said:
"Your Majesty, look, eight faint blood threads can be seen in the white fur of its hooves. These are the sweat blood vessels.

"The Horse Classics say it can stand for long periods on ice and snow without being affected by the cold, and can gallop a thousand miles without burning its hooves. It is truly a rare and divine horse.

"The Wei invaders did not know that the beast had the ability to travel a thousand miles, and they fed it, which caused it to become emaciated and unable to show its abilities, leading to its humiliation at the hands of a villain.

"With only half a year of fine feeding and nourishment, it will become a first-rate divine horse in the world. While it may not be able to travel a thousand miles a day, four or five hundred miles is certainly no problem. I present it to Your Majesty."

Liu Chan was stunned by what he heard, and could only nod repeatedly as he looked at the tall, skinny horse being led by Yang Tiao. He saw that the horse was fully equipped with a collar, breastplate, body armor, and rump armor, but it was still leather, not iron, indicating that the cavalry brought by Sima Yi had not yet developed into fully armored cavalry.

He really didn't understand what horse judging was, and even thought that the so-called horse judging technique might be a scam.

But the Qiang King has been with horses for half his life, so perhaps he really has some unique experience?
Otherwise, why would he be so confident?

With this thought in mind, Liu Chan took the reins from Yang Tiao.

This tall but thin black warhorse with four white hooves does have a faint "king" pattern on its forehead and a hint of blue at the corners of its eyes.

But the white-hoofed crow did not seem to be intimidated by the "kingly spirit" of the Han emperor, and was still a little anxious after he took over the reins.

There wasn't much kindness in his eyes, and he even took small steps warily.

This was not the first time Liu Chan rode a horse. In fact, due to Adou's years of practice and muscle memory, he could be said to be an excellent horseman, so he did not take it too seriously.

He didn't think that this warhorse, which had been ridden by some unknown Wei man, could be too wild, so he just tightened the reins slightly.

However, the horse began to move, as if trying to break free.

Seeing this, Liu Chan tightened the reins.

The two snow-white front hooves of the white-hoofed crow stood straight up, and it stood up, looking restless, as if it wanted to kick Liu Chan.

Yang Tiao was so frightened that he rushed forward and tried to hold the horse down.

Liu Chan, who was still wearing his armor, just moved aside swiftly without any fear, indicating that he did not need Yang Tiao to deal with him.

Almost at the moment when the horse's two front hooves touched the ground, Liu Chan jumped onto the horse without any hesitation, and the armor plates rustled.

The black horse seemed to be pressed down a little, and it immediately snorted several times, its long mane stood up, and its hind legs kicked several times.

When he saw that kicking his hind legs alone was not enough to throw Liu Chan off his back, he began to use his front legs, jumping back and forth anxiously.

Only then did Liu Chan finally realize that the slightly skinny black horse was indeed unusually powerful, almost catching up with the sturdy white horse he had been riding.

The horse's back was shaking wildly, and soon it began to emit a very wild smell of sweat. Liu Chan became more and more excited, so he used all his strength to tightly hold the horse's belly and leaned over its back.

The black warhorse raised its head and neighed loudly. The high-pitched and loud neigh instantly attracted the attention of all the Qiang warriors.

When they saw that it was the Emperor of the Han Dynasty who was training a horse, and that the horse he was training was the Bai Ti Wu Shi, the same horse that had just knocked down more than a dozen warriors and was finally identified by their Qiang King as a thousand-mile horse, they all shouted excitedly.

At this moment, the white-hoofed horse raised its hoof and neighed loudly, its mane standing upside down, and the next moment it sprinted towards a deserted place, accelerating very quickly, and ran more than a mile away in a moment.

Seeing that it was getting faster and faster, it kept tilting left and right on purpose, trying hard to throw the person on its back off.

He leaped from a great height into the water, creating a huge splash of water, but still couldn't shake off the man on horseback.

Go ashore again, go into the water again, and go ashore again.

He began to run towards a field covered with weeds, thorns and trees.

It deliberately carried the person on its back and crashed into a tree, but the person on its back either bent down or hid in its belly to dodge quickly.

The Qiang King Yang Tiao led nearly two thousand Qiang cavalrymen on horseback and followed the emperor. The Qiang cavalrymen were so excited that they shouted "Ula Ula" in strange voices.

When the white-hoofed crow finally stopped, Liu Chan stroked the horse's head, dismounted, and put his hand on the horse's face.

The white-hoofed crow lowered its neck, and a hot white mist came out of its nostrils. It pounced on his palm, and after a moment it stuck out its tongue.

The tongue, as rough as sandpaper and wrapped in heat, scraped Liu Chan's palms, which were cracked and bleeding from holding the reins too tightly.

Liu Chan's whole body was hot, his chest was heaving, and the adrenaline quickly faded, and he began to feel a slight pain on the inside of his thighs and the palm of his hand that was being licked by the horse.

He hissed softly, but the beast immediately let out a series of muffled gurgling sounds from its throat, and the strength of its licking actually eased a lot.

Liu Chan couldn't help but look at it, but saw that its eyes finally became kind.

He cursed inwardly, this beast had just been ridden by some Wei man, and now he had already forgotten his previous master.

"Your Majesty is mighty!"

"Your Majesty is mighty!"

Nearly two thousand Qiang cavalry and one hundred Tiger cavalry surrounded the Han emperor in silver armor and red robes, raising their unstrung bows again and again and roaring passionately.

The people on horseback have always admired strength. When the Xiongnu were strong, they were called Xiongnu. When the Xianbei were strong, they were called Xianbei. When the Turks were strong, they were called Turks. When the Khitans were strong, they were called Khitans.

So when the Han Dynasty became powerful, they also competed to have the surname Liu or Yang.

Although the Qiang people are not a nomadic people on the grasslands, they have long settled down to graze and farm. However, this just shows that they have the strongest desire for sinicization and the deepest degree of sinicization.

Their rule of survival is to learn from the strong and rely on the strong.

The calls remain.

For a moment, the smell of soil, grass, men's sweat, warriors' blood, and the fishy and salty smell brought by the evaporation of war horses' sweat and saliva, all kinds of smells mixed together.

The air was full of wild power.

Surrounded in the middle, Liu Chan looked around and it was hard not to feel a sense of heroism and grandeur.

After a moment, he jumped on his horse, raised his arms and shouted:

"All under heaven belongs to the king!

"All the people in the land are the king's subjects!

"Since I have come to rule the world, as long as I rule, those among the Qiang in the west and the Yi in the east, the barbarians in the south and the Di in the north who have submitted to my rule will all be treated as equals to the sons of the Han family!
"There are fields to farm, grazing to herd, cloth to weave, and official positions to hold!"

After Liu Chan finished speaking, he imitated the Qiang King's previous oath at Wei Bin, biting his index finger and wiping his forehead with blood.

Then he squeezed the horse's belly and whipped it.

The horse raised its hooves and galloped freely in the circle formed by two thousand Qiang and tiger cavalrymen carrying the Han emperor in silver armor and red robes.

The red robe flutters.

The circle formed by nearly two thousand Qiang cavalry was too large and the voices were too noisy, so they probably couldn't hear what the Han emperor was saying.

They only saw the young emperor galloping on his horse, his silver armor bleeding in the sunset.

The fact that the Emperor of the Han Dynasty swore an oath by biting his finger and wearing his forehead in accordance with the Qiang people's etiquette made them even more excited.

So, while looking at the young emperor riding his horse, they bit their index fingers one by one and wiped their foreheads with blood. Finally, led by the King of Qiang, they raised their arms and shouted again.

"Your Majesty is mighty!"

"Your Majesty is mighty!"

As Liu Chan listened to the loud cheers, he felt even more heroic and grand.

He cursed in his heart, damn it, if the burden of these two capitals and thirteen states was not on his shoulders, he really wanted to take these two thousand cavalry and charge directly at the defeated Cao bandits.

Across the wilderness, enthusiastic and loud cheers continued until sunset and moonrise, when the Emperor of the Han Dynasty finally returned to Wuzhangyuan with more than 2,000 cavalrymen.

(End of this chapter)