HLnovel Chapter 454 Ma Teng's Resurgence! Is he planning to take Pang De to Cao Cao's camp?
Chapter 454 Ma Teng's Resurgence! Is he planning to take Pang De to Cao Cao's camp?
Pound walked out of the tent, looking utterly dejected.
Faced with the questions and expectant looks from his Han soldiers, Pang De could only remain silent.
"How could you do this, my lord?"
"We risked our lives for him, and this is how we end up?"
The Han soldiers in Ma's army completely lost their composure upon confirming that Ma Chao truly intended for them to cover the rear!
When Ma Teng was still alive, although he employed Qiang, Di, and Jie people, he treated them like dogs and never let them take the lion's share.
At most, Han soldiers ate meat, while foreign tribes drank soup.
When it came to Ma Chao, it was completely reversed.
The Han soldiers had become outsiders.
"General, you've rebelled!"
We support you!
The Han soldiers, having reached their limit of patience, urged Pang De to lead them in rebellion against Ma Chao.
Pound sighed softly and said:
"Gentlemen, most of your families are still in Liangzhou."
"Given our lord's character, if he rebels now, will your families have any chance of survival once he returns to Liangzhou?"
Upon hearing this, everyone lowered their heads.
Even if we disregard family factors, the success rate of a rebellion is still very low.
Of the troops Ma Chao brought this time, only 30% were Han soldiers, and many of them had died previously.
Feeling a faint sense of despair, the Han soldiers in Ma's army all missed Ma Teng.
The saying "You only know how to cherish something when you lose it" is absolutely true.
……
As night falls
Pound suddenly heard footsteps outside the tent.
As the moonlight shone through, Pound saw the face of the person outside the tent and froze, somewhat at a loss for what to do.
"Lingming, it's been a few days since we last met, and you don't recognize me anymore?"
The visitor was none other than Ma Teng!
In a way, Ma Chao ended up shooting himself in the foot.
The reason he didn't kill Ma Teng but instead sent him to Han Sui was that he hoped Han Sui would kill Ma Teng.
In this way, he could avoid being accused of patricide and could take action against Han Sui under the pretext of avenging his father at the right time.
This tactic is similar to Sun Quan sending Guan Yu's head to Cao Cao in the hope of diverting the trouble eastward.
Once Liu Bei raises an army to attack Cao Cao.
Sun Quan could also use the pretext of being an ally of Liu Bei to launch his nth attack on Hefei, which he had been longing for!
However, the success rate of this tactic is quite low.
Boss Cao needs no introduction; his intelligence speaks for itself.
Han Sui was no fool either; how could he easily fall into such a small trap?
He secretly kept Ma Teng on the sidelines and sidelined him, so that one day he could keep Ma Chao in check.
Therefore, Ma Chao shot himself in the foot.
Ma Chao wanted to reduce the proportion of Han Chinese in the army because he was afraid that Han Sui might suddenly send Ma Teng back one day.
Within the Ma Clique army, only Han Chinese listened to Ma Teng.
The Qiang, Di, and Jie people were truly Ma Chao's closest and dearest friends and family.
But Han Sui suddenly died.
The fact that Ma Teng was sidelined actually benefited Yan Xing.
Yan Xing dared not trust Ma Chao in the slightest.
Rather than cooperating, Yan Xing was more eager to devour Ma Chao's forces and strengthen his own power!
Therefore, he chose to release Ma Teng when it was late at night and everyone was quiet.
Then, they used a counter-strategy to have Ma Teng win over the Han soldiers of the Ma family army led by Pang De.
Upon seeing Ma Teng, Pang De felt extremely guilty.
Although he did not participate in the coup planned by Ma Chao, he did not leave Ma Chao afterwards, but continued to serve under him.
For those who still retain a sense of morality, morality can sometimes be a burden.
Ma Chao is different; he doesn't have that kind of anxiety at all and is very carefree!
"My lord, I...I..."
Pound had a thousand words on his lips, but he didn't know where to begin.
"Lingming, there's no need for further words."
"I was released by that scoundrel Yan Xing. He hopes to use me to lead you all in overthrowing that rebellious son!"
Pound swallowed hard.
Ma Teng's directness left him somewhat at a loss.
"My lord, do you mean...?"
Meeting Pound's questioning gaze, Ma Teng gave a bitter laugh:
“My unfilial son killed my other two sons, and Yunlu has disappeared without a trace.”
"What use is such a rebellious son to me, Ma Teng?"
"But Yan Xing wasn't a good person either; he conspired with his rebellious son to kill Han Sui."
“I don’t need to follow his instructions.”
A cold glint appeared in Ma Teng's eyes.
He's been in Liangzhou for so many years, he's no pushover.
The reason Ma Teng was forced to usurp power was mainly because his rebellious son was too defiant, which Ma Teng never expected.
However, if he were to regain control of the Han Chinese forces within the Ma Clique army, he could still lead these former troops to play a role.
"Lingming, would you be willing to come with me to join Cao Sikong?"
Ma Teng's leap in thinking caught Pound off guard for a moment.
"My lord, do you truly wish to serve under Minister Cao?"
Pound couldn't help but confirm again, just in case that Ma Teng was only pretending to surrender with him and actually had other plans.
Unfortunately, Ma Chao, Han Sui, and others have such flexible bottom lines and morals that Pang De can no longer keep up with the evolving situation.
He had to make sure that Ma Teng wasn't leading him on a back-and-forth rebellion!
Ma Teng sighed:
"I have long seen through the situation."
"If I were ten years younger, my rebellious son wouldn't have been so disloyal, and I might still have the idea of continuing to rule over a region."
"But now, all I want is to live out the rest of my days."
"After joining Cao Sikong's camp, I hope that Cao Sikong can help me find Yunlu and marry her off to a good husband."
"My greatest wish is that after Yunlu becomes pregnant and gives birth, one of her children can be adopted into the Ma family."
Pound didn't know how to comfort Ma Teng.
This year, Ma Teng is already in his early fifties.
At this age, the difficulty of creating a new account is self-evident.
After all, not everyone is a pervert like Zhong Yao, who could still father a son at the age of seventy-four.
Taking a deep breath, Pound cupped his hands and said:
"My lord! I am willing to obey your orders and go through fire and water without hesitation."
"But the soldiers' families are still in Liangzhou. If they rebel against Ma Chao now, they will surely have no way to survive."
Ma Teng sneered:
"Live?"
"Even if the soldiers were willing to sacrifice themselves for Ma Chao and stay behind to cover the rear, would he be able to ensure the survival of their families?"
"That rebellious son has treated the Qiang, Di, and Jie people as his own people!"
"In his eyes, the families of my Han soldiers are no different from pigs and dogs."
Pound fell silent.
He found that he couldn't refute Ma Teng.
Because what Ma Teng said made perfect sense!
Suddenly, Ma Teng sighed:
"We can only place our hopes on General Xiahou under Cao Sikong."
"I heard from Yan Xing that General Xiahou led his cavalry to occupy Chencang."
"If General Xiahou leads the expedition to Liangzhou and conquers Wuwei, the stronghold of the rebellious son, then there will be no need to worry about the families of the soldiers."
Pound's eyes lit up.
It seems that this is the only reliable method.
Otherwise, with their families in the hands of that butcher Ma Chao, they'd be doomed sooner or later!
Ma Teng patted Pound on the shoulder:
"Lingming, after this matter is over, I will recommend you to Minister Cao."
“You are still young, unlike me.”
Things are unpredictable.
Although Ma Teng did not favor his eldest son Ma Chao as much as Ma Xiu and Ma Tie did, he did not suppress him either.
If Ma Teng really wanted to suppress Ma Chao, he should have found a reason to take away Ma Chao's military power long ago. How could he have left him with the opportunity to rebel?
Ma Teng also regarded his nephew Ma Dai as a confidant, and even gave him the position of commander of the personal guards.
But these two actually colluded to seize power!
To be honest, Ma Teng could understand to some extent the reasons why Ma Chao, this rebellious son, plotted a rebellion.
To this day, Ma Teng still doesn't understand the logic behind Ma Dai's rebellion.
Did Ma Chao drug him? Otherwise, why would he follow him like a shadow?
……