Tibet

On the vast grassland, a caravan was slowly traveling north along a large river. This was a caravan coming from Shuofang, consisting of nearly a thousand camels and dozens of men.

The leader of the caravan is Xue Deji, a big businessman from the Sijie tribe. He was entrusted by Li Ye to go to the Jiankun tribe.

Hundreds of camels carried 100,000 swords and 100,000 spears. They were all semi-old weapons retired by the Tang army. They should have been put back into the furnace, but Li Ye decided to give them to the Jiankun tribe.

The Jiankun tribe lived in the area of ​​today's Sayan Mountains, which was called Quman Mountain in the Tang Dynasty. This area also had many rivers and abundant water and grass.

The Jiankun people are the ancestors of today's Kyrgyz and Kirgiz people. They are a people as old as the Huns. They are all blond, blue-eyed, and white-skinned. They are white. They always think that they are the descendants of the Han general Li Ling. Li Ling and his His descendants have always been kings of Jiankun.

After the unification of the Central Plains dynasty, the Jiankun tribe first surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, and later to the Tang Dynasty. Both dynasties of the Sui and Tang Dynasties valued the powerful Jiankun tribe very much, gave Jiankun great assistance, and joined forces with it to fight against the Turks.

Li Ye was just continuing the Tang Dynasty's national policy and continuing to support Jiankun. He certainly hoped that the Jiankun tribe would form a huge check on the Uighurs after receiving a steady stream of military assistance from him.

Li Ye also knew that the Uighurs in history were destroyed by Jiankun, but that was a hundred years later.

But Li Ye firmly believed that once the Jiankun tribe received his military assistance, he would definitely put pressure on the Uighurs from the west, forcing the Uighurs not to dare to act rashly.

Xue Deji traveled between the grasslands, Shuofang and Hexi all the year round, and also went to Longyou from time to time. He was very popular. It was Pei Jun who introduced him to Li Ye.

He readily agreed to deliver these weapons to Li Ye. Of course, Li Ye would not treat him badly and gave him a thousand guan for travel expenses.

Xue Deji set out from Liangzhou, Hexi, passed through the Juyan Sea, passed through the Sijie tribe, and crossed the Tangnu Wuliang Mountain. After one and a half months, he had entered the sphere of influence of the Jiankun tribe, but it was far away from the north of Quman Mountain. Khan Teeth Tent will have to go for at least another month.

Xue Deji knew very well that these weapons were the most valuable strategic materials in the grassland. If they were leaked, it would definitely cause a big stir on the grassland and be targeted by countless tribes.

But Xue Deji was experienced and knew how to avoid the armies of various tribes. He chose to walk at the junction of the Sijie, Dubo and Geluolu tribes. This was a remote place for any tribe, and there would be no There is an army.

Xue Deji is actually a former member of the Xue tribe. His tribe was annexed by Sijie, so he is now a big businessman in Sijie. However, he has no sense of belonging to Sijie. Instead, he thinks Sijie is an invader and annexed his homeland. , filling his heart with hatred for Si Jie.

That morning, one of his men galloped over on horseback from a distance and shouted: "Chief, there is an army ahead!"

"What flag is it?" Xue Deji asked loudly.

"It's the Eagle Flag!"

Xue Deji's heart dropped, "It's okay, they are Jiankun's army!"

All tribes in the grasslands have wolves as their totems, and they basically have wolf flags of various colors, but the Jiankun tribe has an eagle flag.

Not long after, a thousand-man cavalry galloped over, and the captain at the head shouted, "Where are you from?"

Xue Deji stepped forward and said: "I am a friend of Arut and a businessman from Sijie, but we came from the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty entrusted me to send a batch of weapons to your Khan!"

Arut is the second-ranking figure in the Jiankun tribe, equivalent to the prime minister. When the commander heard that he was Arut's friend, he did not dare to neglect him. He also heard that it was the Tang army who sent them weapons. He was very happy and said immediately : "Our Khan is at the Yanghe River three hundred miles ahead. I will escort you there!"

Xue Deji was shocked when he heard that Jiankun Khan was in Yanghe. Yanghe was very close to the border of Uighur. What was he going to do?

Generally, Jiankun Khan is located to the north of Quman Mountain, two thousand miles away, and to the west of Jianhe River. But now he is actually in Yanghe, only a few hundred miles away from Uighur. Xue Deji immediately realized that the Jiankun tribe might have some influence on Uighur or Dubo tribe. Attempted.

Three days later, Xue Deji arrived at Yanghe Camp, where the Jiankun tribe gathered 50,000 troops and dozens of tribes, with a total population of more than 200,000. This was almost the movement of the core tribes of the Jiankun tribe, which meant a big war. To break out.

Of course, what Xue Deji didn't know was that the Geluolu people were also dispatching troops and gathering troops.

The targets of the Jiankun and Geluolu tribes are not directly against the Uighurs. The targets of the Jiankun tribe are the Dubo people, and the targets of the Geluolu tribe are the Sijie tribe. These two tribes are the younger brothers of the Uighurs. In the buffer zone of Geluolu, once these two tribes are annexed by Jiankun and Geluolu, Uihe will directly face the threat of two powerful enemies, which Uihe cannot tolerate in any case.

Jiankun Khan Saliman personally came to welcome the arrival of Xue Deji's camel caravan. Xue Deji handed Li Ye's autographed letter to the Khan and asked the men to unload the goods. Inside were bundles of swords and spears, allowing Saliman to They narrowed their eyes with joy. The weapons they used now were all very old, and many of them were used to support them during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty.

Although they did not know the relationship between Qi Wang Li Ye and the imperial court, the things were real and they felt the sincerity of the Tang Dynasty. This batch of weapons came in time and was undoubtedly a timely help to them. Saliman immediately took out thirty As a return gift, Xue Deji asked Xue Deji to bring 10,000 pieces of fine sheepskins to King Qi Li Ye.

Just half a month after the Tang army expelled the Huihe people, Li Ye personally led 20,000 cavalry to Fengzhou and set foot on the fertile and vast Hetao Plain. Li Ye was filled with emotion. Since the Anshi Rebellion, the Central Plains Dynasty had completely lost They held this land for six hundred years and it was not recaptured until the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Highness, if we fight the Uighurs in Fengzhou, will the Geluolu and Jiankun people take the opportunity to attack the Uighurs?"

The person asking the question was Lei Wanchun, who was full of curiosity about the tribes on the grassland.

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "Don't worry about the intelligence speed of the prairie people. They are all wolves. They are always staring at each other. Once the opponent has a loophole, they will quickly pounce on it and tear off a piece of meat. They have been fighting like this for decades, penetrating everywhere and seizing every opportunity!"

At this time, dust was flying in the distance, and a red-bottomed black dragon flag loomed in the dust. This was Tian Wanli leading his army.

Not long after, Tian Wanli rushed forward, clasped his fists on his horse and bowed: "I'm sorry to see you, Your Highness!"

Li Ye nodded and asked, "Is there any news about Huihe?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, there is news about Uighurs. Our scouts in Yinshan discovered about 5,000 Uighur cavalry heading south, and notified us with eagle letters. According to the progress, the enemy is still about 300 miles away from Fengzhou."

Li Ye pondered for a moment, then turned around and asked Lei Wanchun: "If you were the general of the Uighur Army, where would you choose for the first battle?"

Lei Wanchun pondered for a while and said: "I am not familiar with Fengzhou in this humble position, but the principles are the same. First of all, we must stimulate morale, and where we can rob property and women, we must also have sufficient food."

Li Ye smiled and said: "It makes sense. General Tian, ​​have you thought of where it is?"

Tian Wanli blurted out, "Xishou surrenders to the city!"

Xishoujiang City was originally a military city, but it was also a place where the Central Plains dynasty and the tribes of the grassland traded with each other. After more than a hundred years of evolution, it has long become a prosperous commercial city. Many tribes in the grassland will set up a point here to purchase goods from the Central Plains. Items, selling special goods of this tribe.

Similarly, merchants from Hexi, Longyou, and Shuofang also opened shops here, purchasing sheepskins, livestock, and medicinal materials from the grasslands, and selling tea, silk, porcelain, cloth, and various daily necessities. There were even many Sogdian merchants from the West. Also opened and operated a store here.

Although there are interests involved in all aspects, no one will attack it easily in peacetime, but the large amount of wealth stored here also makes many people jealous. Once a war breaks out, this place will inevitably be looted by the army.