The wind was not strong and the snow was falling.

Ashina Simo stood at the head of the city with his helmet and armor, not afraid of the goose-feathered snow falling on the armor, bringing a bone-chilling cold.

He looked far away, the southern mountain beams were covered with heavy snow, like a monster lurking on the earth, through the wind and snow, faintly, the undulating Great Wall meandered on the mountain ridge, the weather is myriad.

Looking north, the withered fields are flat.

This flat and fertile land, in summer, will grow fertile grasslands, abundant rivers, herds of cattle and sheep, here is the last breeding place of the Eastern Turks, the industrious and brave Turks called it - Baidaochuan.

And the city at the foot of Ashnasmo, Dingxiang City, is the last territory of the Eastern Turks.

This was the price he led more than 100,000 Turks to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, swore allegiance to the Tang Emperor, and promised to clear the northern frontier for the Tang Dynasty and build another Great Wall with the flesh and blood of the clansmen. Once upon a time, Ashina Simo naively thought that by exchanging blood and sacrifice for the support of the Tang Dynasty, the clansmen would be able to reproduce in this fertile land forever, and no longer be free from the evil of killing each other among the Hu people, and no longer be free from the suffering of migrating from water to grass, and the children and grandchildren of the generations would be at ease, and perhaps in the near future, the descendants who spoke Chinese and wrote Chinese characters could also become a real Han people, and they could migrate to Guanzhong, where the mountains and rivers were magnificent, and the warm and rich Jiangnan, to be a real Tang people.

Now, however, it seems that everything is about to fall apart.

As far as the eye can see from the north, a huge military fortress stands there, and the continuous felt tents can be seen clearly even in the heavy snow.

There, there are 200,000 Xue Yantuo's iron horsemen waiting for him, and maybe at that moment, he will charge at Dingxiang City!

Of course, 200,000 was just Xue Yantuo's self-proclaim, and Ashnasimo believed that it was just a figure they boasted about. Yinan Khan "won 200,000 soldiers, and set up his two sons as the north and south to rule separately", and when Xue Yantuo was at its strongest, he was only 200,000 iron cavalry, how could he all go south and not leave a single soldier in the country?

What's more, it was Yi Nan's second son Dadu She, who led the army south this time, and his eldest son Bazhuo was the successor of the Khan's throne, and at the moment he was guarding the Khan's tooth tent in Yu Du Jun Mountain, and the army under his account was the real elite of Xue Yantuo.

Therefore, Ashina Simo dared to assert that the number of soldiers under his command would definitely not exceed 50,000 when he set up a large southward expedition.

However, it was only 50,000, a number that would not even be caught in the eyelids at the height of the Eastern Turks, but now it is very likely to bring disaster to his people.

Since the death of Jieli Khan, the Eastern Turks have been pursued and encircled by the Tang Dynasty, and the internal rebellion and division have been divided, and the great khanate, which once dominated the steppe, has long been disintegrated. The clansmen who followed him to surrender to the Tang Dynasty added up to only more than 100,000 people, including many old and weak women and children, and the vast majority of the young and strong died in the battles for Baidaochuan in these years, and there were only 20,000 people who could fight, and they were far from recovering to the scale when they were strong.

It is precisely because of this that Datang will rest assured that this fertile land will be handed over to them to multiply......

It used to be the homeland of the Turks, but now it relies on the Tang Dynasty to settle here.

Facing the wind and snow, Ashina Simo sighed, and the hot air turned into white mist and dissipated in front of his eyes.

He has long been tired of the difficult and difficult life on the grassland, and the sheng songs, swallows, dances, bells and bells in Chang'an have worn out the strongest physique that was once the descendant of the Ashina family, and also eroded the ambition of the great khan who once aspired to become the ancestors of his ancestors.

His only wish is to lead his people to live in peace in this fertile land......

"Great Khan, there is an old man who braved the snow to come to the city, saying that he was an old man in front of the tent of Jieli Khan, and asked to see him."

An adjutant general came quickly and said loudly.

"Ashina" is the most noble surname on the steppe, and has been a Turkic khan for generations, meaning "noble wolf", symbolizing the highest ruling power of the Turks. Ashinasmo's father, Du Liu, is the younger brother of Jieli Khan, when Jieli Khan was in power, he was very fond of Ashinasmo, and he was given the title of "Jiabi Special Service", and the owner inherited the rights of the Turkic Khan. However, because he looked like a Hu man and not a Turk, his uncle Chuluo Khan suspected that he was not of the blood of the Ashina family, so his status was very high, but he had never been able to hold the power and set up a tooth tent.

After the surrender of the Tang Dynasty, His Majesty Li Er trusted it very much, and named him the general of the Right Wuhou and the governor of Huazhou, and later he was named the Khan of Yimi Ni and Lili, commanded the Turks, ordered him to cross the Yellow River, settled in Baidaochuan, and built a city in Dingxiang, which was the screen of the Tang Dynasty for generations, and guarded the frontier for the Tang Dynasty for a long time.

Therefore, the Turkic people all call him "khan".

"The old man in front of the tent of Jieli Khan?" Ashina Simo raised his eyebrows, and his cheeks, who had been raised by Chang'an's comfortable life, trembled, and asked in amazement.

Jieli Khan has been dead for nearly ten years, and the tigers and wolves under the former tent have long been scattered, scattered all over the grassland, and have long had no contact with each other.

Ashina Simo was a little undecided, and he didn't know whether to see it or not.

As a subordinate, always thinking about words and deeds is the top priority, who knew that an inadvertent move would arouse the suspicion of the Tang Emperor? Although the Tang Emperor was broad-minded and had no doubts about employing people, he couldn't stand the imperial historians of the Manchu Dynasty, and it was not easy to be targeted by them......

But when Xue Yantuo came to the city with a large number of southern invaders, someone claiming to be an "old man" came to ask for a meeting, who knows if there would be any confidential matters?

It's not right to see it......

The soldier replied: "The man refused to say his life, only his surname was Zhao." ”

"Surname Zhao?"

Ashina Simo looked suspicious, his mind turned, and his heart jumped, and he hurriedly said: "Follow me to meet as soon as possible!" ”

The meteor strode along the city wall towards the west gate.

*****

The snow fell in front of the city gates, and the snowflakes swirled and fell, and the snow on the ground was knee-high.

The moat, which draws water from the Shili River for irrigation, has long been frozen, and the river is covered with heavy snow, making it impossible to distinguish the river embankment.

An old horse, standing more than ten feet in front of the city gate, snorted from time to time, spewed white gas from his nostrils, and his four hooves scraped the snow that had lost half of the horse's legs.

A figure wrapped tightly in fur sat on horseback......

Ashnasimo came to the city gate tower, condescendingly, lying on the mouth of the saucer and shouting, "Who is coming?" ”

Immediately, the figure heard the sound, raised his head, and did not answer, but just kicked the horse's belly lightly, the old horse flicked his tail, walked forward slowly, and stopped when he reached the place three feet below the city. ”

Even if Ashina Simo didn't look at this face, but this familiar voice also let him know who it was, and he was shocked, and said in a lost voice: "You are not dead yet?" ”

Immediately, the old man laughed and said: "The Khan's great hatred is not satisfied, how dare he go to Huangquan?" ”

Ashina Simo waved his hand again and again, and ordered the soldiers around him: "Hurry, open the city gate quickly!" ”

After that, he himself came down from the city.

A soldier put down the drawbridge and opened the city gate, Ashina Simo hurried out of the city, came to the old man, and said respectfully: "I haven't heard from Mr. for several years, and I thought you were already dead. ”

With that, he pulled the reins with his own hands and walked into the city.

The Turkic soldiers at the gate of the city were so shocked that they couldn't speak, who is this old man? Actually let our crazy and grumpy Khan personally lead the horse and fall down......

Ashina Simo took the reins of the horse respectfully, walked through the long snow-covered street, and arrived at the general's mansion in the city.

The door of the mansion opened, and the old man in his own mansion came out to greet Ashina Simo, and when he saw that his master was actually holding the reins for others, he immediately stood there stunned and at a loss. When he saw the old man's face clearly, the old slave was shocked, fell to the ground, and shouted loudly: "The old slave has seen Mr!" ”

Ashina Simo smiled, personally helped the old man get off the horse, and said with a smile: "Look, even if you haven't heard from you for ten years, even an old Turkic dog still remembers your appearance." If you hadn't disappeared back then, Jieli Khan would not have been defeated in Yinshan and the Khanate would have been wiped out......"