Helan Xiong sat on the hill with his knees crossed, on his left hand side, is the Helan tribe's nearly a thousand big tents, the Huns were defeated, after the grassland chaos, the Helan clan moved to the vicinity of Curie Pass, and did not suffer much loss, but the number of warriors decreased sharply, and now, they can only barely raise four hundred horses.

What made Helan Xiong even more sad was the sharp decline of the Xiongnu, only a year before and after, a Xiongnu who could easily gather 100,000 iron horsemen had disappeared, and the rest was just naked plundering and killing in order to survive. One tribe after another has disappeared into the long river of history, not only small tribes, but even some large tribes are facing a dilemma. In a battle with the Qin State, the losses of the powerful tribes were even more serious, and they could easily gather most of the ten thousand horsemen, and now they can gather one or two thousand horsemen, even if they are good, such a large number of them, naturally they have lost a lot of respect, although their strength on the grassland is still strong, but they no longer have the dominant strength of the past, so that many small tribes are also targeting them. Under the persecution of survival, some small tribes also went forward to attack them one after another, just to seize some cattle, sheep, and grain.

As the Qin general Li Xin predicted, after destroying the Xiongnu royal court, the grassland lost its restraints, all rules and constraints no longer existed, and the Xiongnu began the most brutal cannibalism, and their strength was further reduced.

Although the Helan Department avoided this life-and-death robbery, Helan Xiong couldn't be happy, some were just sad, disappointed and confused, where is the future of the Helan Ministry?

If he enters the grassland now, he is afraid that in the blink of an eye, there will be nothing left.

He Lanxiong, who felt that he was at the end of the road, borrowed wine all day long to drown his sorrows.

Cocking his neck and pouring a large sip of wine, He Lanxiong turned his head to look in the direction of his right hand. There, is Curie Pass, although it is night, but Curie Pass is still brightly lit, the former wilderness, now has become a large market town, a piece of wilderness has been reclaimed into fertile land, at first some rescued homeless slaves worked here, and then more and more people gathered here, forming one village after another. And near the Curie Pass, on one side is a continuous workshop, Helan Xiongzhi Road, where is the high military production base, arm crossbows, and the repeating crossbows used by the cavalry, as well as those sharp sabers, and the Mo knives used by the infantry, are all produced from there. The two-handed knife used by the Wind Buff Soldiers. After another improvement, the double-sided blade of the two-foot-long blade and the three-foot-long handle are made of refined steel. The total weight reached about thirty catties, and Gao Yuan named it Modao. He Lanxiong had seen the Fufeng soldiers march in formation with this guy, and the power he displayed made him tremble.

And on the other side. It is a row of warehouses, all of which contain all kinds of goods, and those who are close to these warehouses. With the rise of Curie Pass, the shops here are no longer just the merchants of Chima County in Fufeng County, but also many merchants in the entire Liaoxi County have set up branches here.

But now, they have no business to do, the chaos on the grassland, so that all the merchants are discouraged, no one will joke with their lives, now to trade on the grassland, is definitely the end of both people and money.

The severance of this trade route also made Helan Xiong lose the most important source of wealth, and now he is really sitting on a mountain empty, and if it goes on like this, I am afraid that it will not be long before Helan will be poor except for cattle and sheep.

Lying on all fours in the grass, looking up at the starry sky, Helanxiong suddenly howled like a wolf until he was hoarse.

Under the hill, there was the sound of horses' hooves, Helan Xiong turned a deaf ear, not the elders of the clan, or the younger sister who was worried about his current state, ran over to look at him.

The sound of horses' hooves stopped on his left, and footsteps sounded as they walked squarely towards him.

He Lanxiong's closed eyes didn't open, "Don't say anything, I just want to vent!" He said loudly. Ignore me! ”

The footsteps stopped, and after a moment of silence, a slightly magnetic male voice sounded, "Brother Helan is so interested, watching the moon and drinking, and howling loudly, can you allow me to be with Brother Helan as a companion?" ”

He Lanxiong got up with a bone, stared at Gao Yuan, who was bathed in the starlight, and said in a lost voice: "Brother Gao, why did you come here, when did you come?" ”

Gao Yuan smiled, walked to He Lanxiong's side, snatched the wine jug from his hand, raised his head and took a big sip, "I arrived tonight, I didn't alarm many people, I looked at the workshop, dealt with some urgent tasks, and thought about going to you for a drink, I didn't want to come here, but I heard your earth-shattering long whistle." ”

He Lanxiong smiled bitterly, "Brother Gao, I'm at the end of my rope now, I don't know where the road is?" ”

"Why did Brother Helan say this?" Gao Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground, shook the wine jug, but there was not much wine inside, slapped his palm, and Tie Hyun, who was following Gao Yuan, ran up with a cigarette, but he was carrying several wine jugs in his hand.

"Sit down, Brother Helan, this is the wine I scavenged from Lao Wu, it is the first batch of old wine to come out, it was buried under the plum tree at home by Lao Wu, a total of ten jars, I grabbed one jar over, all of them are in these two wine pots, we can't go back if we don't finish drinking today." Gao Yuan smiled and still gave one to He Lanxiong.

"Okay, if you don't drink dry, you won't be finished, and if you don't get drunk, you won't return!" He Lanxiong took the flask and said loudly. "Come, Brother Gao, I respect you, you have finally come to the bitter end, now, you are already the general of Zhengdong, with nearly 10,000 warriors under your command, and the great display of majesty is close at hand, I respect you."

"Thank you." Gao Yuan raised the flask, "No matter where I go, your brother Helan is my best brother, I will never forget the scene two years ago, the two of us struggled to survive, and I can't forget every moment when the two of us fought side by side, life and death." ”

He Lanxiong took a big sip of wine and said with a wry smile: "At the beginning, both of us had nothing, but now, you have become a dignified general of Zhengdong, and I, but I have almost returned to the starting point, with nothing, no, it is worse than that time, at that time, the royal court was still there, although there was a vendetta on the grassland, but after all, there were still rules, but now, look at it, what has become of it?" Everyone is in danger, no one dares to believe whom, the two tribes meet, the most common way to greet is to pull out the knife and fight hard, Brother Gao, the Huns are finished, and I am finished. ”

He poured another big sip of wine, "Brother Gao, you may not know the way, today my sentry came back to tell me that the Wu clan, the strongest tribe of our Xiongnu now, has decided to move north, and they are ready to cross the desert." Originally, I was counting on the Wu clan to stand up and preside over the overall situation, you know, they can still gather five thousand iron horsemen now, as long as they stand up, they should be able to end the chaos. ”

Gao Yuan quietly listened to Helanxiong's words, looked at the heartbroken Helanxiong, and said softly: "Brother Helan, please forgive me, the patriarch of the Wu clan is a far-sighted person, it's not that he can't stand up and call on the Huns to end cannibalism, but he doesn't dare. ”

"What other foresight can a turtle like him have with a shrunken head?" Helan Xiong sneered, "He could have become the new generation of Xiongnu kings, but he gave up. ”

Gao Yuan took a sip of wine and looked at Helan Xiong, "Brother Helan, do you think that the Qin people have spent so much effort, and even lost their general Teng Yi for this, will they tolerate the Xiongnu to produce another person who can gather the strength of the grassland?" Will they tolerate the appearance of a new Hun king? ”

Helan Xiong's body was shocked, and he looked at Gao Yuan, with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

"What the Qin people want is that the Xiongnu will fall into civil strife from then on, which tribe dares to stand up at this time, it will inevitably be hit by them, in fact, in addition to the Qin people, whether it is Zhao or Yan, they will have such a thought, the Wu clan is now the strongest, and it will inevitably become a thorn in the side of the Central Plains country, the head of the Wu clan resolutely decided to cross the desert, it seems dangerous, but it is the only way to protect the whole clan!"

Helan Xiong lowered his head heavily, he was originally a smart person, but at this time, he was awakened by Gao Yuan's words, and he couldn't help but feel even more heartbroken, "Brother Gao, is this the end of our Huns?"

Gao Yuan said carefully: "Brother Helan, please forgive me, the Xiongnu as a nation will always exist, but as a powerful body that can affect the political situation of various countries, it has disappeared. Now, if any country sends troops to the steppe, you will not be an opponent. The reason why no one is doing it now is because the countries are afraid of each other, and there are all kinds of problems within the Central Plains, but once there is a figure or tribe that can call on the Xiongnu tribes, it will inevitably usher in a fatal blow."

Helan Xiong took a long breath, "You said earlier that Dayan would not tolerate this situation, Brother Gao, I want to ask you the truth, the only border with my Xiongnu is Hejian County and Liaoxi County, if this situation really appears, will you send troops to exterminate such an appealing tribe?"

Gao Yuan was silent for a long time, he understood what He Lanxiong meant, "Brother Helan, I will send troops, I, like them, will not tolerate such a thing."

"Even if this person is me?" He Lanxiong asked rhetorically.

"Even if it's you!" Gao Yuan nodded.

He Lanxiong was silent again, just kept pouring wine into his mouth, and after a while, a pot of wine was already trickling down, and Gao Yuan handed over the wine jug in his hand.

"Thank you, thank you, for being honest with me."

"Please forgive me, standing on the standpoint, we always look at problems from different aspects, and the decisions I make can only be in the best interests of Dayan."

"I understand, so, we're still good friends! Because you didn't lie to me." He Lanxiong shook his head, "So, if we Huns want to turn over again, I'm afraid it will be even more difficult. It's a pity that my people have not lived a few days before they are about to fall into misery again." (To be continued......)