The sun sets in the west, and a red afterglow illuminates the entire sky.

Under the city of Ji County.

The battle was in full swing, and the strong smell of blood filled the entire city of Ji City, and the aura of killing drifted in more than ten miles, which made people shudder.

Inside and outside the east gate of Jicheng, the scene where corpses were everywhere has disappeared. Only this dark red soil records the previous tragic battle situation.

In the wilderness outside the city, the originally green artemisia disappeared completely, replaced by a red and red land. The moat was blocked in the waist. At this moment, thousands of soldiers were demolishing the wood piled up in the river, and hundreds of soldiers were also salvaging the broken arms and corpses of war horses along the river.

Ji County County Magistrate's Office.

In the lobby, Li Li sat upright in the main seat, and Li Zhi, the commander of the Jinqi Guard, stood behind the left, motionless, as if he was a wood carving.

On both sides of the hall, the first military advisor Jia Xu sat on the left, and on the right were Ma Chao and Ma Yunluo.

There were only three people sitting in the hall, but there were more than ten women, children, young and old standing in the middle of the lobby. Among them, Ma Teng stood in the front, and behind him were Ma Dai, Ma Tie and Ma Xiu. The remaining women, children, young and old were Ma Teng's family.

"Lord, the war damage situation between the two armies has been calculated. Please check it out." In the hall, Jia Xu took the book sent by his personal soldiers, stood up and walked to the hall to report respectfully.

"Yes." Li Li nodded slightly after hearing this, put down the Hanyang County money and grain book in his hand, then raised his head to look at Ma Teng, who was standing under the hall without expression, and said to Jia Xu in harmony: "You just say it, I believe General Ma wants to know too."

"No." Jia Xu nodded and responded. He immediately said: "In this battle, our army's infantry suffered more than 4,300 people. More than 1,000 cavalrymen were killed, and more than 3,800 wounded soldiers were mostly infantrymen, with nearly 1,000 soldiers losing a total of nearly 10,000 soldiers. Fortunately, most of the soldiers and horses were damaged in this period, and less than 2,000 infantry and cavalry were damaged by the main battle camp. The whole army was very motivated and had roughly not lost their strength. After the war, more than 21,800 cavalrymen of the Ma family army were captured. The county government soldiers had 20,000 soldiers, and almost none of the Ma family army escaped from General Ma Teng, and all of them were captured."

Li Li nodded slightly and said in a deep voice: "Wenhe, count the list of fallen soldiers in detail, register all the fallen soldiers, and then send the book to Chang'an. He ordered the Shangshu Li Xuan to handle the pension of fallen soldiers."

"This,,,,,,,,," Jia Xu showed a look of embarrassment on his face, and then said respectfully: "Report to the lord, our army has killed more than 4,000 soldiers in this battle. After the war, the pension required a large amount of money and grain expenditure. I'm afraid that it will be difficult for Li Shangshu to raise so much money and grain in the short term. Please think twice."

Li Li frowned slightly when he heard this and pondered: "The pension for the fallen soldiers cannot be delayed. It must be paid to their parents, wives and children at full ratings. There is no need to discuss this matter. As for the issue of money and food, I wonder how the soldiers under General Ma Teng's army suffered losses in this battle?"

After hearing this, Jia Xu looked at Li Li in surprise, and then looked at Ma Teng with a indifferent expression. He said respectfully: "In this battle, General Ma Teng's cavalry lost more than 3,500 people. A thousand-person personal soldiers were all killed, and the soldiers guarding the city lost more than 3,400 people, and the soldiers in the county government lost more than 2,300 people, totaling more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry."

After saying this, Jia Xu kept silent and stood in the hall, waiting for Li Li's instructions.

"Oh, there are no wounded soldiers in the city?" Li Li picked up the Battle Report Zhu Jian and looked through it slowly, asking casually.

Although Li Li did not say which side of the wounded soldiers they were, Jia Xu knew how to answer. He only heard him say in a deep voice: "Reported to the lord, after the city gate was captured by our army, General Ma Teng led his troops to resist stubbornly, which not only caused huge casualties to our army, but also caused heavy casualties to the soldiers in the city. After the war, Ma Teng's army had more than 6,000 wounded soldiers, most of which were the Ma family army's cavalry. However, most of these wounded soldiers were seriously injured and could not be treated. Therefore,,,,,,,,,”

"Huh?" Li Li pondered unhappily, immediately looked up at Jia Xu, and said in a deep voice: "I will order that all the injured Jicheng soldiers are not allowed to kill without authorization and send them to Chang'an for treatment as soon as possible. No matter who he is or how much credit he has, they will be severely punished!"

"No, my subordinates will accept the order." Jia Xu responded respectfully. Then he quickly walked out of the lobby and hurriedly called his personal soldiers to send orders. Otherwise, if it was a little later, the wounded soldiers of the Ma family army might be killed or buried alive.

Once the enemy's wounded soldiers are seriously injured, they will often not be treated after being defeated. Instead, they will be killed directly by the winning side, as the number of enemies killed, and use this to earn military merits.

This is a tradition of war, which is equivalent to an unwritten rule. In the future, it would be the unspoken rules of war.

Watching Jia Xu leave, Li Li's expression gradually became colder. He stared at Ma Teng and said in a deep voice: "After a battle, we both armies died and injured a total of 30,000 soldiers. I wonder what General Ma thinks about this record and are you satisfied?"

"Hmph!" Ma Teng turned his head, avoided Li Li's gaze, and snorted coldly with a faint face.

Li Li seemed to be disrespectful to Ma Teng's rudeness, and said in a deep voice: "You know you can't do it, but you don't do it. You are just a wise man, you are a reckless man, you are ignorant and short-sighted. Li is very disdainful of this. But you, General Ma, resisted stubbornly until you became a prisoner, and still did not repent and acted independently. The soldiers of the two armies fought bloody battles because of your Ma Shoucheng's will, and 30,000 soldiers were killed and injured. You can ignore this, but Li cannot ignore it. Nowadays, Gu Nian Meng Qi and Yunluo plead with mercy, and Ma Dai and Ma Tie are willing to serve under the general, so we can not kill you. However,,,,,,,,,,, confiscate all the property of the Ma family, as the pension for the fallen soldiers of our army and the treatment of the wounded soldiers of the two armies. From today on, Ma Teng and his wives and concubines have been demoted to commoners, went to Wuwei County to settle down, enjoy the treatment of commoners, but they will not leave Guzang City for the rest of their lives. If they flee from Guzang City without authorization, they will be killed without mercy!"

After hearing this, Ma Teng trembled slightly, looked up at the beams of the lobby, and was stunned.

More than a dozen wives, concubines, widowed sisters-in-law, brothers and sisters-in-law, Ma Dai, Ma Tie, Ma Xiu and others leaned over and knelt down. Even Ma Chao and Ma Yunluo immediately stood up and knelt in the hall, thanking Li Li for not killing him.

After a while, the expression on Ma Teng's face gradually calmed down. He stood in the hall and looked directly at Li Li, and asked indifferently: "You won't kill me this time. It's not just for Meng Qi and Yunluo, but I don't look like you Li Wenchang's character?"

"Hahaha!" Li Li looked at Ma Teng without any hesitation, smiled heartily, and said, "General Ma fought for half his life, and was sophisticated and calm. How can the world be hidden from your eyes! You used to deliberately get rid of Li, but you simply strangled Li and eliminated the future troubles before the general situation was achieved, so as not to cause the disaster today. Unfortunately, you overestimated yourself, underestimated and despised Li, and mistakenly regarded Liangzhou as your own territory, and could not tolerate others' intervention. However, I wonder if General Ma had ever thought that you could not even deal with Han Sui for so many years, so how could you hope to achieve great fame and fortune?

To this day, Mr. Li might as well tell you bluntly. When I first arrived in Liangzhou, I wanted to join forces with you to eliminate Han Sui and his eight tribes, and then gain a foothold in Liangzhou and seek development. Unexpectedly, before I arrived in Wuwei County, I was attacked and robbed by Meng Qi. In the battle of Maple Leaf Canyon, my troops lost more than half of them. They were defeated like defeat, almost making me defeated and returned in vain. However, that battle made me highly motivated and determined to occupy Wuwei in the shortest time and pacify Liangzhou. Those who have ambitions achieved success. I, Li Lifu, had a great destiny and great fortune. Then I fought one after another, and became stronger and stronger. In the end, I occupied half of the western part of Liangzhou in just half a year and became the most powerful vassal force in Liangzhou.

In the first half of this year, I will spend more than half a year to pacify Chang'an, take charge of the Xiliang army, and dominate the two prefectures of Xiliang. This time, even if you, Ma Shoucheng, are willing to surrender, I will not accept it. The whole story, I believe General Ma will understand it after a little thought. We Xiliang people have always respected the strong, and in addition, it will be useless to say that the lotus is so irrelevant. What can ultimately impress everyone depends on whose fists are harder!

If Mr. Li wants to pacify Liangzhou, he must choose an opponent with strong enough strength and long-standing reputation, defeat him with dignity, and use this to shock the officials and people of Liangzhou counties. Only in this way can he truly pacify the entire Liangzhou and intimidate the surrounding foreign races and barbarians who dare not rob Xiliang. Originally, Han Sui is more suitable than you, but unfortunately he is now ill and huddled in Jincheng and dare not come out. Therefore, General Ma is both a misfortune and a great blessing. You are the best opponent selected by Mr. Li.

Now that Li's plan to expedition to Liangzhou in the west has been initially realized, there is no need to kill more, so there is no need to make things difficult for General Ma. After I recover Jincheng, I believe that in my lifetime, no one in the counties and counties in Liangzhou would dare to surrender and rebel again, causing trouble to Xiliang. Of course, there are other reasons why I did not kill you. First, Meng Qi and Yunluo have already joined my command, and performed well, loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness. I was very moved by this. Second, I have been through wars in Xiliang, and you, Ma Teng, have also made contributions to Liangzhou over the years. At least your existence greatly shocked the surrounding barbarians and did not dare to rob the hinterland of Liangzhou. Third, you still have 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers under your command. In order not to let all these soldiers be in danger, spareing your life is enough to stabilize the hearts of tens of thousands of soldiers. Why not do such a good thing about both worlds!"

After hearing Li Li's words, the Ma family members in the lobby bowed their heads and said nothing. Some were angry, some were ashamed, and some were ashamed, and some were secretly reflecting on themselves.

But Ma Teng closed his eyes and didn't know what to think. After a long time, he bowed to Li Li solemnly and sighed: "Ma had misread you before, underestimated your ability and strength, and even underestimated your mind and demeanor. Looking at Xiliang and even the whole world, you, Li Wenchang, are the most suitable person to take charge of Xiliang, and there is no second choice. Ma has been entrenched in Xiliang for many years and has never been convinced for fifty years. Today, Ma is willing to give up the disadvantage, admire your mind and demeanor, and amazed your foresight. Xiliang is delivered to you, and I, Ma Teng, will be assured that even if I die, I will have no regrets!"

Speaking of this, Ma Teng suddenly turned around and said sternly to Ma Chao, Ma Yunluo, Ma Dai and others: "You must remember that you will do your best to be loyal to General Li Li until death. If anyone has a different intention, he will not be worthy of being my son and nephew of Ma, and even more so as to be a descendant of the Ma family!"

"No, my child (nephew) follows his father (uncle)'s teachings!" Ma Chao and others knelt down and bowed.

Li Li looked at Ma Teng's speech to the Ma family's nephews with a calm expression. A gleam flashed in his eyes and nodded with a slight admiration. It was not until this moment that he truly realized Ma Teng's calmness, wisdom and good intentions.

After Ma Teng was defeated and captured, he was then escorted to the lobby. He always acted very tough, ignored Li Li and left him alone for life and death. He had a rather unyielding character. However, when Li Li really spared his life and announced in public that he would not kill him, his attitude immediately turned 360 degrees. Not only did his cold expression change, he no longer pretended to be reserved, but he also acted extremely excited. He asked Li Li about the reason for not killing him, but actually wanted to find a way to recover his pitiful face.

Then, when Li Li told the whole story with emotion, Ma Teng seemed to suddenly become a person. Not only did his emotions and speech change suddenly, but he also praised Li Li seriously.

This move was a sharp turnaround and a dramatic change.

Ma Teng's words seemed to be a strong praise of Li Li, but in fact they wanted to seek a bright road for the younger generations of the Ma family. He asked Ma Chao and others to swear allegiance to Li Li to death, but in fact he wanted to win the trust of Li Li, so that Li Li could use Ma Chao, Ma Dai and others with confidence. Of course, Ma Teng's words may be his true words and heartfelt words, but it was quite meaningful to say them in front of Li Li, and it could kill two birds with one stone.

Li Li could see through Ma Teng's true intentions, but this was something he was happy to see. At this moment, Ma Teng took advantage of the defeat and captured, and was willing to demote himself and vote for Li Li's preferences. He had a long-term vision and was exactly what Li Li wanted.

Ma Teng suddenly changed drastically, and was willing to give in and surrender, which could not blind Li Li's eyes.

However, in Li Li's opinion, Ma Teng's series of abnormal actions were indeed a manifestation of Ma Teng's judgment of the situation and great enlightenment. Although his poor acting skills were able to see through at a glance, they just showed his attitude and sincerity to completely surrender to Li Li. Not being artificial, not concealed, not hypocritical, but instead made people believe in his surrender.

In an instant, Li Li's perception of Ma Teng changed drastically, but instead became a fond of him. He also felt very close to Ma Chao, Ma Yunluo, Ma Dai and others, and he felt that they were all trustworthy people.

At the same time, Ma Teng willingly surrendered and the loyalty of the Ma family members meant that Li Li had won the hardest hard bone in this Western Expedition. Most of Liangzhou had been taken into account by Li Li, and the general trend of completely regaining Liangzhou was already established. Jincheng Han Sui was just alone, struggling to dyingly, and pacifying the two states of Xiliang was just around the corner. ————— (To be continued)

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Chapter completed!