Yifang County is a county in the north of Lanzhou, and Yunzhou is next to the north of Lanzhou, and further north of Yunzhou is the prairie, where a group of nomadic people with strong combat effectiveness live, and they are also the mortal enemies of the Tang Dynasty - the Eastern Turks!

Coming out of Yifang County and running all the way for half an hour, Weng and his son-in-law arrived at the boundary of Yunzhou!

Yunzhou is located between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, one of the sixteen states of Yanyun, and has been an important military town on the northern border since ancient times, which can be regarded as a barrier for the Tang Dynasty to face the Turks.

There are not many people here, but there are a lot of soldiers and horses stationed there, and I heard Han Lizheng say that there are at least forty or fifty thousand soldiers stationed in the county seat of Yunzhong County. There is only one county under the jurisdiction of Yunzhou, and that is Yunzhong County. After arriving in Yunzhou, Han Lizheng did not have any intention of stopping, but continued to gallop northward, Li Zexuan said in his heart, could it be that the old man was going to take him to the "national border" of the Tang Dynasty?

After running for more than two quarters of an hour in Yunzhou, Han Lizheng finally stopped at the foot of a mountain.

"Xiao Xuan, this is Bai Mountain!"

Han Lizheng jumped off his horse, pointed to the mountain range in front of him, and said to Li Zexuan: "In the sixth year of Han Gaozu, Han Xin rebelled in the Datong area and colluded with the Xiongnu to attack Taiyuan. Liu Bang personally led an army of 320,000 to meet the Xiongnu, first winning at the copper roller, and then taking advantage of the victory to pursue until the Loufu area. It was a cold winter, heavy snowfall, the climate was very cold, although the Han army was "the twelfth or thirteenth of the fallen fingers", but seeing that the Huns only had old and weak soldiers, they were even more eager to win, Liu Bang ignored the persuasion of the outpost exploration army, and led the leading cavalry troops to chase directly to the vicinity of the white mountain, and the result was the plan of the Huns to lure the troops.

Mao Dunshan Yu led 400,000 iron cavalry to surround the Han army. The Xiongnu besieged Baishan Mountain for seven days and seven nights, and the Han army ran out of food and water, which was very dangerous. The strategist Chen Ping persuaded Liu Bang to make peace with his relatives in order to let Mao Dunshan withdraw his troops, but Liu Bang agreed, and then sent someone to the Turkic camp to relay Liu Bang's policy of reconciliation. At that time, the main army of 320,000 brought by Liu Bang was about to arrive at Baishan Mountain, and if Mao Dunshan did not agree, he would face a double-sided attack!

In the end, the Xiongnu withdrew, and Liu Bang left thousands of corpses in Baishan Mountain to return to the dynasty, but the Han Dynasty also opened the prelude to peace with the Xiongnu, until the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Wei Qing and Huo Quai's northern attack on the Xiongnu was shameful! ”

Han Tianhu was originally from the Han family of the previous dynasty, his grandfather Han Baohu was in the Shangzhu Kingdom, and his official position was prominent, although Han Tianhu was only the son of Han Shige's concubine, and he was not favored in the family, but he was much more knowledgeable than ordinary people, so he could also come to these historical events at his fingertips.

When Li Zexuan heard this, he couldn't help but be silent for a while.

He didn't know about the Battle of Baishan Mountain in the Western Han Dynasty, after all, he was not a history major in his previous life, but he still knew about the Han Dynasty's affinity with the Xiongnu, didn't Zhaojun's exit from the fortress happen at this time?

"At the beginning of Liu Bang's founding of the country, the national strength was not strong, and it was indeed difficult to fight against the Xiongnu, but the peace obtained by women was really despised by the men of my generation!"

After a moment of silence, Li Zexuan spoke.

Han Tianhu nodded violently, and said with some excitement: "Xiao Xuan, what you said is right, the old man thinks so too!" Why should my good woman from the Central Plains be sent to the Turks and let those barbarians abuse her? Back then, we fought with the King of Qin on the border again and again, wasn't it just so that the people could live a stable life? Isn't it for me that Datang won't use women to exchange peace with the Turks? The good sons of the Tang Dynasty should die standing up, instead of kneeling to seek perfection and steal their lives! Therefore, thousands of Tang Dynasty heroes are buried under this white mountain! ”

At this time, the two led the horse around a bend, and in the direction of Han Lizheng's finger, Li Zexuan looked at it and was stunned!

As far as the eye can see, thousands of dirt bags of different sizes, neatly arranged at the foot of the mountain, each dirt bag stands in front of a small wooden sign one foot long, you can vaguely see the words engraved on the wooden card, obviously, this is a cemetery, a thousand people cemetery!

In front of thousands of small earthen bags, there is a big earthen bag, very big, twenty people holding hands is estimated to be unable to surround it, in front of the big earthen bag, there is a tombstone about one zhang high, which is engraved with the words "Tang Dynasty heroes".

Inexplicably, Li Zexuan suddenly wanted to cry.

"This tomb at the front of this is full of soldiers whose bodies are incomplete and unrecognizable, and I don't know the names of each of them at the time, so I have to bury them here together!"

Looking at the super giant tomb in front of him, Han Li was quietly talking.

When Han Tianhu was a teenager, he suffered from the white eyes of the Han family's housewife and was forced to wander the rivers and lakes, and he didn't have much affection for the former Sui. Later, Li Yuan raised troops from Taiyuan, broke through Chang'an with the momentum of wind and thunder, established the Tang Kingdom, and in the following counterinsurgency war, it was like a bamboo, and there was a great tendency to pacify the whole country.

In the war between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, Han Li is experiencing life and death, and his feelings for his comrade-in-arms Pao Ze and the country are also deeper! It is based on this kind of family and country conditions and robes that he voluntarily came to Lanzhou to guard the tombs of these martyrs!

Infected by Han Tianhu, Li Zexuan's mood also became a little sad at this time, especially when he thought of the people buried under this huge tomb, they were born and died for this country, but in the end, he couldn't even put his body together, and he didn't even have a tomb of his own, and his heart was very uncomfortable.

He didn't know that in fact, this was already good, many dynasty soldiers went out to fight, and generally buried their fallen soldiers in a mass grave after the battle, like the one in front of each soldier A grave, a tombstone, is already very "humanitarian", as for those corpses that are not completely put together and buried in a huge tomb, this is also a helpless thing!

Walking to the giant tomb, Li Zexuan took a deep breath, and then bowed to the tombstone very respectfully, and he secretly said in his heart: "You can go with confidence, this Datang, I will guard it for you!" ”

"Xiao Xuan, you come up with me!"

At this time, Han Lizheng sighed, walked towards the mountain, and said to Li Zexuan.

Li Zexuan didn't know why, so he had to follow.

Mt. Hakuhiyama is a group of mountains, including many peaks, the peaks here are not very steep, and the two of them can easily reach the top of the mountain with their horses.

"Xiao Xuan, look over there!"

Coming to the top of the mountain, Han Li was pointing to the north and said to Li Zexuan.

Li Zexuan looked in the direction of Han Lizheng's finger, and saw that on the grassland north of the mountain range, there were flocks of sheep one after another, and near each flock of sheep, there were two people, presumably shepherds who took care of the sheep.

"The Turks are herding sheep here? Aren't they afraid that the soldiers and horses of the court will go over and rob their sheep? ”

Li Zexuan frowned.

These flocks of sheep are basically not far from the border demarcation line between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, and those people dare to herd sheep here, in Li Zexuan's opinion, it is really a bit rampant!

Han Lizheng shook his head and said, "No! They are not Turkic, they are Han! ”

"Han Chinese?"

When Li Zexuan heard this, he couldn't help but be surprised: "Since you are a Han person, why do you go to the grassland to herd sheep?" Aren't they afraid of the raids of the Turks? ”

Han Lizheng closed his eyes in pain, sighed, and replied, "To be precise, they are Han Chinese who were enslaved by the Turks!" Each of them had shackles on their feet and ropes around their necks, and were kept like cattle by the Turks, who then drove them to help with the work! After so many years, they can't escape, and they don't want to escape, if there is an army on our side to rescue them, the Turkic soldiers behind them will shoot them as soon as possible, and then flee! ”

Li Zexuan's eyes widened in shock, listening to Han Lizheng's words crying blood, he couldn't help clenching his teeth, clenching his fists, and his body was involuntarily filled with a thick murderous aura, taking a deep breath, Li Zexuan calmed down the anger in his heart, and then asked:

"Father-in-law, how could the Han people work for the Turks on the steppe? Were they captured by the Turks? ”

Han Lizheng shook his head and said, "Some of them were captured by the Turks from several border states and counties, and most of them were the people of the Central Plains who fled the war in the late Sui Dynasty!" No one knows how many of these people there are, maybe hundreds of thousands, maybe a million! But in either case, most of the Han people in the steppe were controlled by the Turks, either as slaves, cattle and horses, or sent to the Turkic army, and in the event of war, they were often arranged to be at the forefront as human shields! ”

Li Zexuan was shocked: "A million ......? Are there really so many Han Chinese who fled to the Turks? ”

Han Tianhu nodded and said, "Of course!" Now Jieli Khan claims to have millions of people who control the strings, so many people, where do you think they came from? ”

Li Zexuan was speechless for a while, he never expected that among the millions of Turkic string controllers, there were actually many Han people, using Han people to attack Han people, Jieli is really vicious!

In fact, what Han Tianhu said is not an exaggeration at all, the Tang Dynasty, which was founded at the beginning of the country, had a weak national strength, but it encountered the Eastern Turks whose national strength was at its super peak, and this super peak was an unprecedented peak in Turkic history.

It is written in the Book of Sui and Turkic Biography: "At the end of the Sui Dynasty, there were countless Chinese returnees, and they became powerful and prosperous. ”

Midsummer!

In just four words, the strength of the Eastern Turks at that time was vividly displayed!

"Old Tang Book: Turkic Biography I" also wrote: "The first Khan is auspicious, and the Khan of Qimin is also the son." The heir of the Sui Dynasty is in turmoil, and the Chinese are running for it. Its clan is strong, from Khitan and Murowei in the east, to Tuguhun and Gaochang in the west, all of which are subordinate to Yan. More than 100,000 strings, the prosperity of Beidi, there is no more. Looking high at Yin Mountain, there is the ambition of light summer. ”

These are all descriptions of the strong national power of the Turks in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties during the time of the first Bi Khan. In contrast, the "strength" of the Turkic forces during the period of Shabalu Khan is another story.

"The Book of Sui: The Turkic Biography" wrote: "The sand bowl is slightly brave and wins, and the northern Yi is attached to it...... All the people are cowards, and there are 400,000 people who control the strings. ”

400,000 people who control the strings, to 1 million people who control the strings, how long did it take before and after? Thirty years, yes, only thirty years!

In thirty years, the number of troops that can be mobilized by the Eastern Turks has skyrocketed from 400,000 to 1 million! That means that the population base required to mobilize the army will also increase by one and a half times year-on-year!

However, in terms of the harsh living environment of the grasslands alone, it is simply impossible to rely on the natural growth of the population. Moreover, the "400,000 strings" in the era of Shabalu was still a "grand occasion" before the Turkic civil war broke out and was divided into two parts, the east and west. If we take into account the loss of population and army caused by the Turkic civil war, the sudden decline in population and army caused by the division of the Turks into the east and the west, and the loss of the Turkic population and army caused by the Sui Dynasty's several fierce attacks on the Turks, then before the civil strife in the Central Plains, the number of troops when Shibi Khan first became the Turkic Khan would never have exceeded 200,000!

However, after the civil strife in the Central Plains, after countless Han people from the Central Plains who had taken refuge entered the Turkic land, the strength of the Eastern Turks expanded rapidly from less than 200,000 to one million, indicating that at least 800,000 Han people in the Central Plains joined the Eastern Turkic army.

Of course, not all Han Chinese were sent into the army, because the logistics supply of millions of people was astronomical, and the Turks alone would certainly not be able to supply the logistics of such a large army, so more Han people were enslaved by the Turks!

This is the result of countless Han people from the Central Plains pouring into the north of the Great Wall during the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty! The national strength of the Eastern Turks has also become unprecedentedly strong because of this!

"Father-in-law, since there are so many Han people in the Turkic territory, can you find a way to let them unite and fight against Jieli together, at that time, the Tang Dynasty will take advantage of the situation to send troops to join forces inside and outside, even if the Turks have millions of people who control the strings, what can they do?"

After being silent for a long time, Li Zexuan suddenly asked.

"Xiao Xuan, the human heart is a complex thing, it is definitely not as simple as you think!"

Han Lizheng shook his head and said earnestly: "Those people of the Tang Dynasty who were captured by the Turks, many of them may still want to return to the Tang Dynasty, but those Han people who took the initiative to take refuge in the grassland, their hearts may not be on the side of the Tang Dynasty!" Among the million-strong Turkic army, the Turks are only two or three hundred thousand at most, but how can the two or three hundred thousand Turks be able to control the seven or eight hundred thousand Han Chinese? Have you ever thought about this question? ”

Li Zexuan furrowed his brows, and his face became ugly.

Without waiting for him to answer, Han Lizheng said directly with an expressionless face: "Although the Turks have very strict control over the Han people, it is tantamount to wishful thinking to control the seven or eight hundred thousand Han troops just by relying on this!" For so many years, the reason why the Han people on the grassland have not been in turmoil is that some people do not want to return to the Tang Dynasty, they are willing to work for the Turks, and they have forgotten that they are Han in their bones!! ”