On March 17, the sixth year of Jianxing in the Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang bid farewell to the officials and civilians of Longyou and led the Northern Expedition Army to set off for Shu. Before leaving, he made careful arrangements for both political affairs and defense in Longyou.

In order to prevent the Wei army from counterattacking, Zhuge Liang left Wu Yi to lead the army to Anding, and ordered 4,000 troops from Liao Hua's troops to station Guangwei, Wei Yan led 5,000 troops from the front army to guard Shangji and Jicheng, and ordered Chen Shi to lead 3,000 surrendered troops under the command of Gao Gang, the commander of Gao Gang, to Nan'an, and the remaining 4,000 left troops were still stationed in Qishan.

The Han army who stayed in the four counties of Longyou and Anding County in this way, as well as the surrendered counties, had no less than 20,000 generals such as Wei Yan, Wu Yi, and Liao Hua, which were enough to resist the Wei army attacking from Guanzhong or Liangzhou.

However, according to Zhuge Liang and others' estimates, the Wei army should not take the initiative to invade in the near future. Even if the Wei army inexplicably attacked, the more than 20,000 Han troops occupying dangerous passes were enough to persist until the arrival of reinforcements in Hanzhong, so Zhuge Liang was quite at ease with Longyou's defense.

As for civil affairs, since the official appointment of Yang Qing and other Longyou officials had not yet been completed, the political affairs of several counties were temporarily held by generals from various places except Longxi County, such as Wu Yi's appointment of Anding County, Liao Hua's appointment of Guangwei Military, Wei Yan's appointment of Tianshui County, and Chen Shi's appointment of Nan'an County.

Longxi County was naturally appointed by You Chu Office, and as for Nan'an County, the new county magistrate Su Jing assisted Chen Shi in the handling.

As the first official of the Longyou Wei Dynasty to surrender to the Han Dynasty during the Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang naturally wanted to set him as an example, so he promoted him before returning to the court to inspire the Longyou scholars to become officials.

Therefore, the soldiers who returned to Hanzhong with Zhuge Liang this time included 5,000 front troops, Gao Xiang's 5,000 left troops, Yang Qing's 6,000 rear troops, and more than 15,000 middle troops, totaling 31,000 large troops.

The reason why the troops of each army increased was because of the addition of surrendered troops. After Ma Su's efforts over half a month, the Han army had surrendered a total of eight or nine thousand Wei soldiers, which greatly supplemented some troops.

Of course, the chief generals of each army also fought fiercely for the distribution of these surrendered troops. Because Yang Qing's rear army made the greatest contribution and suffered the most losses, they were chosen by Zhuge Liang.

Yang Qing was not polite, and selected 3,000 soldiers who were skilled in shooting from the surrendered soldiers to join the rear army. When the war was over, the rear army could only digest at most 3,000 surrendered soldiers.

As for the officials accompanying him, in addition to the old people such as Yang Qing, there were also Jiang Wei, Liang Xu, Yin Shang and others. These Longxi scholars who served will go to Chengdu to pay homage to the emperor to enhance their sense of belonging to the Han Dynasty.

Later, Zhuge Liang would decide whether they would stay or not based on their talents and actual situations, either keeping them in the court to serve or sending them back to Longyou to serve as an official.

Of course, there were thousands of prisoners who were preparing to be placed in Hanzhong for military service. In these cases, Ma Su had basically handled more than 10,000 prisoners according to the method proposed by Yang Qing on the same day.

Although the Han army only recruited four or five thousand people from the prisoners, they did not waste their manpower for the remaining prisoners. In addition to releasing a few of their only sons back to Cao Wei, most of the prisoners were still dispersed and distributed to various places to serve in military farms.

Thankfully for being spared from death and having hope of regaining freedom, most of the prisoners still honestly accepted the treatment of the Han army. Therefore, the prisoners were all obedient and did not cause any trouble throughout the journey.

When he arrived at Xiabian, Ma Dai and others had already been waiting for ten miles outside the city. After several days of travel, everyone was a little tired, so Zhuge Liang decided to stay in Xiabian and prepare to rest for two days before leaving, and also learn about the situation of the two counties of Yinping, Wudu.

Zhuge Liang asked the army to set up camp outside the city, and he and Yang Qing and others led their personal guards into the city to rest.

"Prime Minister, this is Yang Qianwan, the rich commander of the White Horse Di tribe. You have seen it before." In the Wudu County Governor's Mansion, Ma Dai led a group of Qiang Di commanders to pay homage to Zhuge Liang.

"The villain has met the Prime Minister." Yang Qianwan quickly bowed and bowed.

Zhuge Liang smiled and nodded: "Supervisor Yang Hao doesn't need to be polite. In the past few months, you and General Zhonghua besieged the Wei people and protected the food road. They have worked hard and made great contributions."

"The Prime Minister praised it. My White Horse clan is just doing its best. Now that my Han Dynasty has recovered the counties of Longyou, killed tens of thousands of evil deeds, and made contributions in one fell swoop. The villain is so happy." Yang Qianwan said respectfully.

Zhuge Liang said: "Don't be humble. After I return to Chengdu, I will report to the emperor to ask for merit for you. The emperor will definitely give me a reward."

"Thank you, the Prime Minister. My Baima clan must do my best to be loyal to the Han Dynasty and repay the emperor's kindness." Yang Qianwan leaned over and bowed to worship again.

At this moment, he was extremely satisfied with his original choice. Their tribe was the first to join Ji Han. Now that the Han Dynasty has won the Northern Expedition, they will definitely receive a lot of rewards.

Not to mention Zhuge Liang, even Ma Dai has promised him that in the future, the tribes on the Yinping Earth of Wudu will be headed by their White Horse clan, and their tribes will also be one of the best in the tea and horse market.

"Prime Minister, this is Fu Jian, a noble man from Wudu Dao." Ma Dai pointed at a man in his thirties who was about to finish his head.

"The villain has met the prime minister." Fu Jian responded and said.

Zhuge Liang raised his hand and said, "Master Fu Hao asked to get up. This time, you will be able to recover the two counties of Yinping, Wudu. You will also make a lot of efforts. The emperor will also give you a reward in the future."

"Thank you Prime Minister."

Unlike the Yang family, the Fu family did not stand firmly on Ji Han's side from the beginning. Their family had been able to get along with both sides for a long time, and they bet on both sides. After the Ji Han's Northern Expedition began, the Fu family also strictly adhered to neutrality and did not offend any family.

It was not until Ji Han won the Longyou victory that their family completely surrendered to Ji Han, and sent troops to help Ma Dai recover Wudu and ping the two counties.

Although the Fu family made a lot of efforts in the war to recapture the two counties, they were late to take sides and the benefits they received could not be compared with the Yang family. However, the remedies were finally timely and they could have obtained a share of the pie.

"Prime Minister, this is the Qiang tribe's hero in the Qiang Dao territory..."

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! Then Ma Dai introduced other loyal and Han tribes to Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang all encouraged them with warm words, and all the heroes and generals were convinced and expressed their willingness to serve the Han Dynasty.

After the tribe's heroes retreated, Zhuge Liang asked Ma Dai: "Zhonghua, is the pseudo-Wei Yinping County Magistrate still at the forefront?"

"That's right." Ma Dai replied: "The strong man did not accept Wang Hua, and he was determined to follow the thief, and was unwilling to hand over a group of Wei officials. Our army is attacking his hamlet."

"Hmph, this strong man relied on Cao Cao to compete with the late emperor in the 24th year of Jian'an. He didn't expect that so many years have passed, and this person is still stubborn and follows the pseudo-Wei road to the darkness. Since this is the case, he wiped out this thief and intimidated those unjust people."

"How is the war going now?" Zhuge Liang asked.

Ma Dai bowed and said, "The old nest of Qiangduan is in the deep mountains. The mountains are dangerous and there are many passes. Our army has only broken through the two outer passes in succession, but failed to hurt his roots. It is still in a state of confrontation."

"You can cut off this guy's food route. Once the food is eaten up, his tribe will be in trouble without attacking." At this time, Ma Su, who was standing beside him, interrupted.

Ma Dai shook his head slightly: "Young people often don't know that the Qiang Duan has been operating in Yinping for many years. He has accumulated a large amount of grain and grass in his nest. According to the detailed returns, corn can last for three years. Therefore, even if the peripheral grain channels are cut off, it will not be of much use."

"So that's the case. It seems that there is only one long siege for a long time." Ma Su said slightly unwillingly.

Zhuge Liang waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's okay to be siege for a long time. Wudu Yinping County is now in my hands. If they are forced to do so, they will be isolated and helpless. If they delay, they will be defeated."

After pausing, he gently shook the feather fan and then said to Ma Dai: "The deputy general Ma Zhen can be responsible for attacking the strong end. Zhonghua is now worried about the affairs of Liangzhou."

"Yes, I will understand." Ma Dai responded with his fists.

After giving Ma Dai a face-to-face teaching to recruit Qiang and Hu in Liangzhou, Zhuge Liang led the army to continue his journey. After seven or eight days of march, everyone finally returned to Hanzhong.
Chapter completed!