The Horse of the Three Kingdoms Treads the World

() It was nearly June, the sun was burning like fire, and there were almost no human traces on the roads of Xiliang.But at such a time, under the protection of Wang Feng and others, Ma Yue rushed to Angu County, which is nearly a hundred miles away from Lintao. The danger has come here.

The purpose of his coming here is to seek soldiers from the Li clan of the Longxi clan.After learning that there might be insiders in Long County, Ma Yue immediately proceeded to the previous plan and asked the seven wealthy families for help.But after a few days, these letters asking for help all fell into the sea like mud cows, and there was no response at all. In desperation, Ma Yue had to rush to talk in person.

In fact, Ma Yue also understood what these wealthy families were worried about.Although the people in Xiliang knew that they possessed a certain amount of armed force, but this was not a public matter after all, and the imperial government could not do anything to them because of this.But once they really exposed their own strength, if the imperial court wanted to trouble them in the future, it would really be to give someone a handle.Therefore, considering their own safety, it was naturally difficult for them to agree to help Dong Zhuo with military strength.

But even knowing that things were difficult, Ma Yue resolutely decided to go and talk to the Li family members, hoping to impress them with his words.Because he believes that as long as one family can be persuaded to send troops, it will be easier for the other six families to nod, and the Li family is the closest to Lintao, so they can achieve their wish more quickly.

In the afternoon of May 23rd, Ma Yue and his party finally came to a Wubao ten miles away from Angu County.This Wubao, which looks to be half the size of a city, is located on the middle of the mountain, and there are guard towers on both sides. It looks like a place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.But Ma Yue didn't have the heart to observe these things, he just urged his horse to come to the gate of the fortress, and explained his identity to the guards there.

This time the Li family's attitude was good, unlike when Ma Yue went to Linjiawu for the first time, he was left hanging outside the fort for a long time before he could enter.Soon, two men with wide robes and long sleeves came out to welcome them.As soon as they met, the two took the initiative to salute: "It turns out that it is Mr. Ma who arrived, and I will welcome you at a distance, please forgive me!"

"You two are really too polite." Ma Yue hurried forward to return the salute, but for some reason, when facing these two polite people, he actually felt that their attitude was a bit hypocritical.

Ma Yue asked the names and identities of the two of them after they were ushered into a spacious living room in the fort and sat down.These two are the leaders of the current generation of the Li family, one is Li Xu and the other is Li Shi, both are the sons of the current head of the Li family.But Li He, who had a relationship with Ma Yue that day, was Li Shi's son.

"So it's the two uncles, the more polite you are when you get off the horse." The busier the horse got up and saluted again.He and Li He are considered to be of the same generation, so there is naturally a difference in generation between him and these two.The two of them didn't even dare to talk, and at the same time, they were also on guard. As the saying goes, if you are courteous, you must ask for something. The more courteous this horse is, it really makes them feel uneasy.

After exchanging a few words, Ma Yue got into the topic: "This time I came to Lijiawu for two major events. The first one is to commend the Li family for their generosity some time ago, sending out [-] hu , to help our officers and soldiers put down the chaos. Now that my lord has given credit to the imperial court and Grand Marshal Zhang, the imperial court’s reward will surely come down within a few days.”

"These are the things that our Li family should do, and they really can't be rewarded by the court!" Li Xu hurriedly said with a laugh: "How can we say that our Li family is also a member of the Han family, seeing the Qiang people rampant in Xiliang, how can we do it? Do your best!"

"Uncle Li's words are very true. My children of the Han family have been rooted in Xiliang for many years. The six counties of Liangzhou are already the land of our Han family. Now there are Qiang people who dare to invade our borders. We children of the Han family should be the guardians of the land." Weiguo is going all out!" Ma Yue hurriedly echoed, but intentionally changed what the other party said to do his part into going all out.

Brother Li Xu can clearly grasp this little trick in his rhetoric, but they can't object, after all, the other party has seized righteousness.So the two had no choice but to answer vaguely, and then the scene cooled down a bit.

Ma Yue smiled bitterly in his heart, knowing that the other party could not cooperate with him to bring out the topic he most wanted to talk about, so he could only say in a more direct way: "The second thing is to ask your family for help again."

"Does Mr. Ma still want us to provide food and grass? I'm afraid it will be very difficult. Although our Li family is considered to have a small amount of money, the food reserves are limited after all. The former has provided all the food that can be found to the government. , if we take out the remaining food, the people in my dock will suffer from hunger, and I hope Mr. Ma and your lord can understand our difficulties." Li Shi immediately put on a embarrassed look and said.

Ma Yue secretly sighed in his heart, trying to avoid the important and ignore the important, but he said: "I am not here for food, but to ask your family for soldiers!" Up to now, I can only clarify the words thoroughly.

"Ask for soldiers?" Li Shi and Li Xu looked at each other: "A few days ago, our family received a letter asking for soldiers. Is this really sent by Mr. Ma?"

"Exactly. Now that Long County is under siege and the entire Longxi County is in danger, although my lord has the intention of serving the country, he suffers from being weak and unable to contend with the Qiang thieves. That's why he thought of asking for troops from various families." Ma The more he nodded, he admitted.

"This... I just thought it was some ignorant liar who deceived us, but I didn't expect it to be true." Li Xu said incredulously: "Although my Li family has a certain amount of wealth, there are also some people in the local area. Fame, but how can there be any soldiers? Mr. Ma's behavior is really desperate!"

"That's right. My Li family has always made a living from farming and trading. Even if there are some people in Wubao, they are ordinary merchants and farmers. How can we send soldiers to help the court? We really can't fulfill Mr. Ma's request!" Li Shi also said.

Ma Yuezao guessed that they would use such words to make a decision, and said: "This statement has confused me. As far as I know, every family in Xiliang has no less than [-] elites available. How could the Li family say that?" No one can use it?" After saying this, he only glanced at the brothers of the Li family, wanting to see how they would behave.

But the expressions of Li Shi and Li Shi were very flat, and they didn't mean to be surprised at all: "Where did you get the news, Mr. Ma, it is really unacceptable. If my Li family really has so many people, the government will allow us Is this here? Our Li family is a dutiful family, and they are all registered in the government register. The population of the whole dock is less than [-] people, so where are the [-] strong men?"

"That's right. Mr. Ma, don't scare me with such a thing. If the court believes it to be true, will there be a way for our Li family to survive? Of course, we can also understand that Mr. Ma is eager to put down the chaos, so we believe it." I don’t take those words of Taoism to heart, but our Lijiawu really only has 1000 people, and most of them are old and weak women and children, if you don’t believe me, you can go to various places in the dock to check.”

Ma Yue was speechless for a moment, he didn't expect them to push so cleanly, completely denying that they had pawns in their hands.In this way, it would be too much for him to ask them to send troops to help him, and it is impossible for him to really investigate the entire Lijiawu, because firstly, this would be a direct embarrassment for them, and secondly, he would probably find nothing. People have already been hidden.Thinking of this, Ma Yue couldn't help showing a helpless expression on his face, he didn't know what to do for a while.

He can't threaten with words like he asked Qijia for food last time.In this way, even if he succeeded in borrowing soldiers, would they really dare to use these people?If people who don't really come to help get mixed into the army, it is likely to have the opposite effect, which is too much for the loss.Moreover, the Li family's concerns are not unreasonable. Compared with their own survival, Ma Yue's previous threats are nothing.

Seeing Ma Yue's helpless look, the Li family brothers looked at each other and showed complacency.They were indeed controlled by this young man last time, and they paid a big price, but this time, they finally found the place back.

However, in order not to make the relationship too tense, Li Shi said again: "If Mr. Ma is really short of manpower, we can still contribute. There are more than 400 strong men in my castle, and I can lend you this time." three hundred……"

Hearing this, Ma Yue smiled wryly. What he originally wanted was 3000 people, but the other party was only willing to give [-]. This is really too...

Just when Ma Yue was still thinking about how to continue to persuade the other party, a sudden cough came in from outside.As soon as the Li family brothers heard the movement, they immediately got up from their seats and looked towards the door respectfully.After a while, a trembling old man came over with the support of two young men.

"I've met my father! Father, you haven't been in good health for a long time. Why did you come here suddenly today?" The two brothers of the Li family asked in surprise.The old man who came suddenly was Li You, the Patriarch of the Li family, but it was agreed today that his father would not come to meddle in this matter, why did he come?

"Young master is the staff member under Dong Zhongying's tent, Ma... what is his name?" The old man looked Ma Yue up and down with a pair of cloudy eyes.

"Boy Ma Yue, I've met Mr. Li!" Ma Yue didn't dare to take it too seriously, but also bowed like a ceremonial way.

"Oh, Mr. Ma is really extraordinary in appearance. Compared with my descendants, he is much more promising. He has already served the country at a young age." Li You coughed twice, and then said : "Why are you here?"

Ma Yue repeated what he had just said, and then waited quietly for Mrs. Li's response.He vaguely guessed that the appearance of this old man was definitely a turning point for things, otherwise he wouldn't have come out at all.

"How many soldiers do you want?" Taigong Li asked after smiling.

"Three thousand, as long as three thousand is enough."

Grandpa Li thought for a while, then nodded: "Okay! Our Li family will give it to you, but I have a condition."