Mianyang is the place where Liu Bei first established himself as King of Hanzhong.

For this reason, even though Mianyang is not the county seat of Hanzhong County, its status in Hanzhong County is no lower than that of Nanzheng.

After Liu Bei led the army back to Chengdu, he asked Ma Chao to lead the army to guard Mianyang.

After the Battle of Xiangfan in the Han and Wei Dynasties, Ma Chao, who had made great contributions, received many rewards from Liu Bei, but Liu Bei still did not let Ma Chao move to the town.

Of course, he is said to be leading the defense, but given the sensitivity of Ma Chao's identity, he will not have too many troops under his command.

Even counting the foreign troops and horses under Ma Chao, he currently only has three thousand troops at his disposal.

With three thousand soldiers and horses, they were located in Mianyang, the heart of Hanzhong, surrounded by many powerful counties. No matter how capable Ma Chao was, it would be difficult for him to make any waves.

All these arrangements are Liu Bei's precautions against Ma Chao.

Liu Bei's precautions against Ma Chao were not only known to the world, but also to Ma Chao himself.

It is impossible to say that Ma Chao didn't mind Liu Bei's precautions at all.

But Ma Chao didn't have too many complaints in his heart because of Liu Bei's caution against him.

After all, apart from Liu Bei's restrictions on Ma Chao's military power, Liu Bei never treated Ma Chao poorly in other aspects.

Even when Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor and honored generals, the rewards Zhang Fei received were lower than those of Ma Chao.

Considering Ma Chao's notorious reputation in the world, Liu Bei's treatment of him can be regarded as the most benevolent and righteous act.

Otherwise, let Cao Cao or Sun Quan try to be Ma Chao's lord, they will definitely kill Ma Chao in minutes.

Precisely because Ma Chao knew that Liu Bei was wary of him, after leading his army back to Mianyang, he returned to his old behavior - cautious.

Even though there was a major purge in Mianyang not long ago, Ma Chao was able to turn a deaf ear to the big changes happening around him.

He didn't even send an envoy to inquire about Mi Yang.

This shows how cautious he is.

It's a pity that the tree wants to be quiet but the wind doesn't stop. Maybe Ma Chao plans to spend the rest of his life in Mianyang.

But how could Mi Yang, who inherited Liu Bei's spirit of "never waste a grain of grain," turn a blind eye to this mighty general in his county?

Therefore, after temporarily settling all the important military and political affairs in Liangzhou, Mi Yang immediately came to the outside of Mianyang County again and asked his close minister Fa Miao to deliver a greeting card to Ma Chao.

When Ma Chao, who was in the military camp, received the invitation from Mi Yang, he fell into deep thought.

Fortunately, Mi Yang did not bring too many troops this time, otherwise Ma Chao might have suspected that Mi Yang had an ulterior motive.

It's not that Ma Chao has a villain's heart to judge a gentleman, but because of his identity as Mi Yang, his sudden visit really made Ma Chao feel suspicious.

Everyone knew that Liu Bei had doubts about Ma Chao, so in the past few Han officials would take the initiative to visit Ma Chao.

In order to show off their loyalty, some Han officials even publicly scolded Ma Chao many times.

Ma Chao knew Mi Yang's current status in the Han Dynasty. He was called a foreign relative, but he was actually a clan relative.

For a die-hard Liu Bei confidant like Mi Yang, how could his sudden visit not make Ma Chao suspicious?

Because of doubts in his heart, when facing Mi Yang's first visit, Ma Chao asked Ma Dai to be his envoy and went to see Mi Yang in person to express to him that he was ill and could not receive guests.

But Ma Chao's first polite refusal did not deter Mi Yang.

He directly asked Ma Dai to bring back the message: "Wait until you recover."

These four short words revealed Mi Yang's determination to see Ma Chao.

After Ma Chao understood Mi Yang's determination, he could only sigh a few times and agreed to Mi Yang's visit.

Ma Chao didn't want to have too many entanglements with Mi Yang, but he also didn't want to offend Mi Yang rashly.

After all, anyone with a discerning eye among the Han Dynasty can see that Mi Yang's status among the Han Dynasty in the future is likely to reach the level of Guan Yu.

After Mi Yang learned that Ma Chao agreed to meet, he originally wanted to go to Ma Chao's military camp to meet him, but unfortunately, his idea was severely discouraged by Fa Miao and other officials.

Compared to Mi Yang, Fa Miao and others were full of suspicion towards Ma Chao.

Fa Miao and others did not agree with Mi Yang's meeting with Ma Chao. They believed that meeting an unkind and unjust person like Ma Chao was inherently dangerous.

Now Mi Yang wants to sneak into Ma Chao's military camp to meet him. How can this make Fa Miao and others not feel crazy?

"How can we trust the rebellious son who betrayed his father and the traitor who killed the king?"

Fa Miao's sonorous and powerful advice made Mi Yang unable to say anything good for Ma Chao.

And this sentence of Fa Miao also represents the current people's understanding of Ma Chao.

Even from a rational analysis, Ma Chao is unlikely to be detrimental to Mi Yang.

But based on what Ma Chao has done in the past, he is no longer trusted by the world. How can we talk about rational analysis?

Mi Yang also knew that Fa Miao was doing it for his own good, so he changed his mind and asked someone to send a message to Ma Chao asking him to come and meet him in his military camp.

However, Ma Chao understood Mi Yang's request, so on the second day after exchanging anger, Ma Chao came to Mi Yang's camp alone.

Not only did Ma Chao come here without any personal guards, he also did not wear armor or carry any weapons.

His actions were not self-certification, but actually self-protection.

Even though he has a higher military position than Mi Yang, if he misunderstands Mi Yang, it would be easy for Mi Yang to directly order him to be taken down and punished.

As long as Mi Yang reported his intention to rebel afterwards.

After all, who in the world would believe that Mi Yang, who always puts integrity first, would wrongfully accuse him, a notorious traitor?

From the day he betrayed Ma Teng, he was sentenced to death in the hearts of the world.

When Ma Chao, who was wearing regular clothes, entered Mi Yang's camp, Mi Yang immediately invited Ma Chao to his main tent.

Corresponding seats have been arranged in the main tent, and various delicacies and wines are also ready on the seats.

Under the leadership of the sergeant, Mi Yang soon met Ma Chao.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The moment she saw Ma Chao, Mi Yang couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

What appeared in front of Mi Yang was no longer the hunky and dashing Jin Machao he had seen at the beginning of the year, but an old man with half a head of white hair and a slightly stooped body.

In just one year, Ma Chao has already become like this!

Although he was surprised, Mi Yang's face showed no abnormality.

Mi Yang knew the reason why Ma Chao had aged so much in less than a year.

Just a heart attack.

If Mi Yang remembers correctly, it was probably during this time in history that Ma Chao began to suffer from serious illness and passed away.

Now it is not easy for Ma Chao to still appear in front of him in good condition.

It may be that participating in the previous Xiangfan War relieved some of Ma Chao's depression.

Mi Yang calmly stood up to welcome Ma Chao's arrival, and then asked Ma Chao to take a seat.

Facing Mi Yang's salute, Ma Chao seemed a little flattered. He had not received such treatment for a long time.

Seeing that Mi Yang was so respectful to him, Ma Chao didn't care much and took the opportunity to sit down below Mi Yang.

But just after Ma Chao sat down, his keen senses instantly noticed that several vigilant eyes were focused on him for a long time.

Ma Chao looked towards those eyes and saw several generals holding sharp blades, staring closely at him.

Those eyes are both alert and wary.

However, Ma Chao had long been accustomed to these looks, so he just pretended not to see them.

But Ma Chao still unconsciously became cautious.

Mi Yang saw Ma Chao's restraint, and he also saw how wary his subordinates were about Ma Chao.

To be honest, Mi Yang has no trust in Ma Chao. He is also wary of Ma Chao, but he will not show his wariness as obviously as his subordinates.

After all, he had something to ask Ma Chao for later.

Mi Yang took the lead in raising the wine glass in his hand to toast Ma Chao, trying to ease the atmosphere at the banquet.

Facing Mi Yang's toast, Ma Chao also raised his glass in return.

After going back and forth, the atmosphere in the banquet may still be tense overall, but the atmosphere between Mi Yang and Ma Chao is still harmonious.

But Ma Chao is not a fool. Of course he knows that Mi Yang specifically wants to meet him, not just to drink with him.

Therefore, while talking with Mi Yang, Ma Chao always had a lot of caution in his heart.

After Mi Yang chatted with Ma Chao for a while, he saw that Ma Chao was not as nervous as when he first sat down, so he put down the wine glass in his hand and said to Ma Chao:

"Every time I come to Mianyang, I will make a special trip to see the high platform built when His Majesty became king.

I was in Jingzhou at that time, and I don’t know what a grand scene it was when Your Majesty became king. I wonder if General Hussar can describe it in detail for me?"

Hearing Mi Yang ask about this matter, Ma Chao's thoughts were suddenly brought back to the grand ceremony that day.

On the surface, Liu Bei's king-making ceremony was an act of elevating his own status.

But in fact, it was a grand celebration ceremony specially held after he won the Battle of Hanzhong.

After decades of displacement and decades of repeated defeats, Liu Bei finally defeated the 100,000 elite Wei army led by Cao Cao himself in Hanzhong, the land of Longxing, the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang.
To be continued...