CHAPTER 1075: CHAPTER 1031: THE CAUSE OF THE CONFLICT

Ma Chao’s words silenced all the Qiang Clan chiefs. They acknowledged Ma Chao’s position as the King of Qiang and admitted his strength. Ma Chao’s straightforward manner, devoid of any rhetorical art, was very much in line with the personality of the Qiang People.

There have been numerous times when the Qiang Clan wished to become part of the Han Dynasty as citizens, but how many times have they been disappointed? In the end, they could only choose to resist, even when knowing they were bound to lose. Without a fight, they’d have nothing; with a fight, at least there was a slim chance of survival.

"King, you have never led our clan, you don’t know our past efforts. We also hope for food and drink, as long as we pay taxes on time, the country protects us, but we’ve been disappointed for too long," the Grand Elder said bitterly, bowing.

Once the Grand Elder spoke, all the Qiang People chiefs began to speak. The king’s tent, which originally seemed to be Ma Chao’s one-man show, instantly filled with voices of rebuke. Have the Qiang People really never thought of joining the Han Dynasty? What a joke. Being the most powerful and wealthy nation of the time, it would be odd if the Qiang People, a race without serious ethnic prejudice and share the same origin, hadn’t considered it!

But the reality was that when the Qiang People wanted to join, the Han Dynasty didn’t want to let them in when they had the capacity. As the strongest empire, they didn’t just let you join whenever—either you show your achievements, or prove your abilities, otherwise go play with mud.

Indeed, some Qiang People had joined the Han Dynasty before, but they couldn’t endure being treated differently. The exorbitant taxes left the Qiang People struggling in misery, and they could only rise up in revolt. Subsequently, after being subdued by the Han Dynasty and pacified, when the batch of officials left, the new officials began the exploitation again, leading the Qiang People to continue resisting, and this cycle repeated endlessly...

This was the reason for the Qiang People’s continuous rebellion. Without resistance, there’s no way to live; with resistance, there’s still no way to live, but at least, on the brink of death, they could vent their grievances. Why not resist? If death awaited both ways, what was there to fear?

In such circumstances, the Han Dynasty had essentially alternated between subduing and pacifying the Qiang People. The Han Dynasty struggled with the Qiang People’s incessant revolts, each time knocking them down while also worrying about their next uprising, resulting in heavy oppression. With these circumstances prevailing for long, the Qiang People could only resist, leading to a cycle of back-and-forth.

The more the Qiang People rebelled, the harsher the suppression following pacification by the Han Dynasty, and the harder the Qiang People lived. The harder they lived, the more they rebelled, forming a vicious cycle. The Han Dynasty increasingly feared the Qiang People, and the Qiang People increasingly distrusted the Han Dynasty. After defeat, they faced incessant exploitation, forming a deadlock!

It could be said that before Dong Zhuo, including the Three Brights of Liangzhou, the Han Dynasty, cornered by the Qiang People, had adopted iron-fisted policies, namely massacres. Duan Ying appeared to clear the map directly, eliminating Qiang People wherever he went!

Though Huangfu Gui and Zhang Huan might have been slightly better, they couldn’t avoid their pacifications also being discriminatory, failing to treat everyone equally. Ultimately, force was used to solve all issues.

For the Han Dynasty, this was indeed one way to handle issues, but this method couldn’t obviously resolve the recurring issues with the Qiang Clan. Even though Duan Ying could kill, he couldn’t possibly wipe out three million Qiang People. This arguably increased the animosity between the Qiang Clan and the Han Dynasty, almost making them sworn enemies!

Though the Three Brights of Liangzhou were strong, none of them were Bai Qi, meant to solve the issue of the Qiang Clan with a population of three million. In the era of cold weapons, exterminating three million was genuinely difficult.

For the Qiang People, either way, death awaited. No need to consider much; since both paths led to death, they might as well live for the day, as tomorrow’s death was tomorrow’s problem.

Conversely, the Han Dynasty needed to ponder other matters. Just killing couldn’t solve the problem, but when the Han Dynasty realized this, it was already too late for talks between the Qiang Clan and the Han Dynasty. Even if the Han Dynasty wanted to negotiate, the Qiang Clan had lost faith.

From there, the Qiang Clan completely turned into nomadic people, learning from the Xianbei to seize opportunities and grab whatever they could. Negotiations with the Han Dynasty were abandoned as trust dropped below the baseline, leaving nothing to discuss.

At that state, perhaps the only entity the Qiang People could trust was the Ma Clan. But during the era of the Three Brights of Liangzhou, the Ma Clan was already in decline due to nurturing outlaws for their own gain, having lost qualification as intermediaries between the Qiang and Han Dynasty.

Subsequently came Dong Zhuo’s era, where Dong Zhuo, during his time in Liangzhou, was brave and fair and treated Qiang-Han equally in governance. Though he constructed a pyramid structure within the military, the Qiang People recognized and accepted the martial prowess of the Han, approving of these practices.

Furthermore, at that time, Dong Zhuo was exceedingly clear-headed, knowing his foundation laid among the troops, and never withheld any provisions, naturally allowing the Qiang and Hu to eat under his command.

Compelled to follow Dong Zhuo after being struck down, they discovered Dong Zhuo didn’t exploit them deliberately, instead providing them sustenance. Thus, the Qiang People were willing to follow Dong Zhuo, gradually building trust.

Although Li Jue and others frequently issued dire warnings that they’d be ruthless if the Qiang People encroached on Xiliang territory, the Qiang People didn’t rebel because these men fed them well. Though the laws were stringent, as long as they complied, no one specifically gave them trouble.

It could be said that the harsh laws crafted by Li Ru unexpectedly served as the foundation for maintaining relations, clearly delineating what actions would lead to being eliminated and what would warrant martial intervention.

A very straightforward law indeed, stringent in its severity. But given its clarity, along with guaranteed food supplies, the Qiang People decisively chose to follow Dong Zhuo. After all, rebellion was a dead end; under Dong Zhuo, though it was tougher, regardless of Dong Zhuo’s fierceness, at that time, his reward and punishment system was balanced and fair!

There’s no need to elaborate further; Dong Zhuo died, Li Jue had provisions but didn’t supply them to the Qiang People, so the Qiang People naturally retreated. According to the laws set by Li Ru, as Xiliang Soldiers had food, the Qiang People serving them shouldn’t lack it. Failing to do so would break the laws, and under such circumstances, the Qiang People had the right to use military force...

Simply put, Li Ru’s decree allowed the Qiang People to use force when facing massive injustice, although the law didn’t say Xiliang Soldiers couldn’t resist, and upon the first occurrence of the Qiang People using force, Li Jue naturally fought back.

Evidently, from the start, Li Ru had set a trap for the Qiang People, allowing them to use force, yet similarly employing his own. Ultimately, everything relied on fists proving right. The law was merely a peace-time charade to trick them; when crisis hit, force resolved all issues!

The Qiang People were battered and bloodied, forced to retreat. Naturally, once such matters arose, they decisively occupied a portion of Han territory in Xiliang and waited anew.

It could be said that now, apart from complex feelings towards the Xiliang Army, the Qiang People fundamentally hold a distrustful attitude towards the Han Court people. They can come, but in terms of an alliance, the Qiang People definitely wouldn’t trust them. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)

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