There used to be a Qiang State south of Hanzhong and north of Ba County. They lived in Qujiang River, backed by Bashan Mountain in the north and connected to Fu and Qian in the south. The Qiang people were naturally brave and good at singing, dancing and fighting.
When Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, was demoted to Hanzhong, he recruited the Ba people from Ba to help him in the war. Seven clans responded and served as the vanguard of the Han Dynasty, charging into battle and being victorious in every battle.
After pacifying Guanzhong, the seven Ba people returned home in glory. Emperor Gaozu conferred titles on them as nobles and granted amnesty to their clansmen, exempting them from paying rent and taxes for generations. The seven Yi kings took turns serving as the King of Ba, with a change every five years.
Another part of the Ba people who did not participate in the war appointed Xiongyi Hou to govern their territory. Most of their taxes were collected by the seven royal families, and only a small amount was paid to the court.
During the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Xiu, a Ba witch and the imperial court commander, was killed. Zhang Lu inherited Zhang Xiu's Five Pecks of Rice Sect and occupied Hanzhong. He became at odds with Liu Zhang and joined forces with the Ba people to rebel and establish himself.
Liu Zhang divided the area north of Ba County into two parts, east and west. The western part was mostly inhabited by Han people, with Pang Yi as the governor of Baxi, while the eastern part was the territory of the Ba people.
Zhang Wei and Yang Ren fled to Bazhong, claiming that Liu Qi had gone back on his word, launched a surprise attack on Hanzhong, imprisoned Zhang Lu, and called on the people of Bazhong to revolt in order to rescue Zhang Lu and avenge him.
Zhang Wei proclaimed himself King of Hanning in Hanchang, and appointed Yang Ren as the Great General Guarding the Nation, Pu Hu, the King of the Seven-Surname Yi, as the Eternal King of Ba, Du Fu, the Marquis of Xiongyi, as the Grand Marshal, and Yuan Yue, the sorcerer, as the Great Wizard Protecting the Nation, and discussed the possibility of sending troops.
At this time, Zhang Lu issued an imperial edict to the territory. Yuan Yue was puzzled and said, "This is a letter written by our master himself, asking us to submit to Liu Qi. Could it be that our master has already surrendered to Liu Qi?"
"Absolutely impossible!" Zhang Wei waved his hands and said, "Master was imprisoned by Liu Qi. They must have tortured my brother and forced him to write this. It seems that they are asking us to surrender, but in fact they hope that we can send troops to rescue him as soon as possible. We are brothers from the same mother. Don't I know my brother's temperament?"
Everyone was skeptical, and then Zhang Lu sent a letter to Zhang Wei alone, advising him to turn back from his wrong path and leave incense for the Zhang family among the people.
Zhang Wei was now the King of Hanning, and was worshipped by everyone. He felt that he was extremely respected, so he was not willing to give up easily and showed the second half of the secret letter to everyone.
Instead, they said that Zhang Lu had sent someone to deliver a secret letter, saying that their master had the help of gods and was immortal, so there was no need to worry about his safety. He asked them to raise an army as soon as possible, recapture Hanzhong, revive the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, and keep the Zhang family's incense burning forever.
Du Fu, the Marquis of Xiongyi, said, "Since Liu Qi has sent an imperial edict to pardon us, even if he forced me to write it, it's clear that he doesn't want to send troops. Why don't we send someone to negotiate first?"
Zhang Wei was furious and said, "Liu Qi is a treacherous villain. He was on good terms with Master and agreed to destroy Liu Zhang together, but he took the opportunity to seize Hanzhong. He went back on his word. How can we trust his words?"
Yuan Yue, the national teacher, sighed, "There is a saying in the Central Plains: Broken bones are still connected by tendons. No matter what, Liu Qi and Liu Zhang are from the same clan. As long as they are around, we will have a hard time."
Yang Ren sneered, "When I was fighting the Jingzhou army in Nanzheng, Wei Yan threatened to settle the old score of attacking and killing Hanzhong governor Su Gu and beheading the Han envoy in front of Master. This is a serious crime of treason and the whole clan should be executed!"
Everyone was shocked when they heard this. Ba Wang Pu Hu said loudly: "Without us Ba people, how could there be the Han Dynasty? Now Liu Bang's grandson is ungrateful and has broken his promise. Since they have forgotten their oath, we don't have to listen to their orders anymore."
After serving as the King of Ba for four years, according to regulations, he would soon be replaced. Now that he has risen up against the Han Dynasty, there is no need to follow the old system and let the Park family become the King of Ba for generations.
Du Fu frowned and said, "Pang Yi is in Baxi. If we attack Hanzhong again, we will be attacked from both sides. Please think twice."
Zhang Wei smiled and said, "Don't worry, Grand Marshal. I will personally guard Hanchang, and General Yang will lead the troops. Pang Yi is nothing to worry about."
Yang Ren said proudly: "With me here, even if Pang Yi had ten times the courage, he would not dare to attack us."
In the past few years, Zhang Lu and Pang Yi had fought many times, with both sides winning and losing. Several victories were won by Yang Ren, and the Ba people also participated in the war, so they naturally knew the situation clearly.
Pu Hu was full of energy and laughed loudly, saying, "In that case, let us fight Liu Qi and attack Hanzhong! We will protect the glory of the Qiang people."
Du Fu frowned and said, "It's almost autumn now, and we're preparing for the winter. All the young men are going to fight..."
Since the seven Ba clans were enthroned as kings, the best land resources have been occupied by those seven tribes. The remaining Ba people live in remote areas deep in the mountains and have to pay taxes every year, making their life miserable.
Pu Hu was very generous and waved his hand: "Now that we share the same hatred and the same enemy, let's exempt this year's taxes!"
"Your Majesty is truly a benevolent ruler!" Zhang Wei praised him for a while, and ordered Pu Hu to lead the Ba people to fight in Micang Mountain. He and Yang Ren stayed behind to guard against Pang Yi's sneak attack.
Du Fu sighed inwardly, a full man does not know the hunger of a hungry man. He thinks that everything will be fine if the taxes are exempted
For tribes other than the Seven Surnames, each household basically has no surplus food, and even fewer weapons and equipment, so their life will be even more difficult if they go out to fight.
After returning to the tribe, he discussed the issue of sending troops with several elders. Although there is a chance to make merit in the war, if you die in battle, the elderly and children in the family will have no one to take care of them. Everyone has their own opinions.
Du Fu was helpless and had to pacify everyone. No one dared to disobey the King of Ba's order, and everyone went to prepare for the military expedition.
As he was sitting in the lobby, a young man came in with an account book in his hand: "My lord, this is the assets reported by each tribe this year..."
"No need!" Du Fu rubbed his brows, waved his hand and sighed: "This year's taxes have been exempted."
"Oh? That's good news!" The young man was delighted. Seeing Du Fu's sad face, he asked in confusion, "Since you don't have to pay taxes, why are you so unhappy?"
Du Fu sighed bitterly, "Liu Qi has occupied Hanzhong, and our master is imprisoned. We are all preparing to raise an army to avenge our master and rescue him—we are about to go to war!"
"We can't do that!" The young man was shocked. "Zhang Wei and Yang Ren are our master's trusted generals. They have fled to Bazhong, which shows that they are no match for Liu Qi. This man is good at using troops, and even Prime Minister Cao is no match for him. If we fight him, wouldn't it be like hitting a rock with an egg?"
"I know that, too." Du Fu smiled bitterly, looking at the bright-eyed young man in front of him, and asked, "Zijun, you grew up in Chengdu, you are well-educated and have seen the world. Given the current situation, what should we do?"
It turned out that the young man was called Wang Ping, with the courtesy name Zijun. Although he was from Dangqu Qiang, his mother, He, was Han. Because his father died while hunting, he grew up in his maternal grandfather's house and only returned to the clan last year.
Seeing that Du Fu was able to read and write, he ordered him to be in charge of the clan's household register. Occasionally, he would offer suggestions, which always worked wonders. Although it was just a casual question, he had some expectations in mind.
Wang Ping replied, "Zhang Wei is unwilling to surrender and is trying to put up a desperate resistance, while the King of Ba does not want to be replaced again and wants to be the King of Ba forever. They each have their own agenda, but they do not care about the safety of their people, which will surely bring disaster."
"Zijun's words make sense!" Du Fu was secretly shocked and asked, "But the King of Ba has issued an order, and we cannot disobey it. What should we do?"
Wang Ping thought for a moment and said solemnly: "Mencius said: If the emperor is not benevolent, he cannot protect the four seas; if the princes are not benevolent, they cannot protect the country. Since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the seven surnames have been high and mighty. If the court is corrupt, arrogant and overbearing, the people will be resentful. The King of Ba is unkind and will destroy himself. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to restore order among the ethnic groups."
"As the saying goes, there is no construction without destruction—" Du Fu took a deep breath, stood up and patted Wang Ping's shoulder heavily: "You will go with me to the battle, and we will act according to the circumstances."