Whether he could induce or force the main force of the Xiongnu to change the plan of the western expedition, Li Zuoche, who was not very sure, could only say that it depended on the luck of the Yue Clan, but what Li Zuoche did not know was that the real luck was actually himself and the 6,000 Han cavalry who ventured into the grassland.

Because, just when Li Zuoche made the decision to withdraw his troops, the main force of the Xiongnu Zuoxian Wang's troops assembled in the area of Yundu Mountain had already followed the order of the current Xiongnu Shan Yu Maodun to move south, and the momentum was fierce towards the Han cavalry who were alone in the grassland, and the Han cavalry as long as it withdrew a little late, it was possible to be completely surrounded by the Hun cavalry.

Like Li Zuoche's analysis, Mao Dun massed the Xiongnu army near his Shan Yu Wangting, the purpose was indeed to launch a westward expedition, find his enemy Yueshi State to take revenge and settle accounts, and by the way, to solve the hidden danger of Yueshi's country, the Xiongnu western front, so as to free up his hands to deal with the Han army with all his might.

But unlike what Li Zuoche expected, the reason why Mao Dun ordered King Zuo Xian to lead the army south to clean up the Han cavalry was not that the Han cavalry really hurt the Xiongnu army, let alone the Han cavalry that angered Mao Dun - in order to stabilize the Donghu tribe, the enemy of the Xiongnu on the eastern front, Mao Dun could even give his queen to the chieftain of the Donghu tribe, of course, it was impossible to act impulsively because several small Xiongnu tribes were disabled by the Han army. It was because it was rare for Mao Dun to be a little light on the enemy, and he looked down on the Han cavalry at all, so the consequences appeared.

The specific situation is like this, in fact, it didn't take long for the Han cavalry to cripple three small Xiongnu tribes near Chahannao, Mao Dun had already received the news, but the eloquent Mao Dun didn't think it was moving at all, and he didn't plan to give up his plan to go west for the sake of thousands of Han cavalry, and once thought that the Han cavalry would soon retreat on its own, and then after the Han cavalry continued to venture north, and hit several Xiongnu tribes, Mao Dun realized that the northern expedition of the Han cavalry was not an ordinary border conflict, If they don't take any action, then after the main force of the Xiongnu advances westward, the remaining tribes of the Xiongnu are likely to suffer a big loss.

However, even so, because he knew that the Han army was not very strong, Mao Dun still did not take the Han army too seriously, coupled with the contempt for the combat effectiveness of the Central Plains cavalry, Mao Dun only thought about it a little, and made the decision to let the Xiongnu Zuo Xian Wang lead the army south to counterattack, intending to let Zuo Xian Wang first kill the Han cavalry with few troops, and then turn back to chase the main force to join the Western Expedition, and he led the main force of the headquarters and the army of the Right Xian King to continue to launch the Western Expedition according to the original plan. did not change the plan to destroy the Yue clan because the Han army went north.

Of course, Mao Dun's decision was cheap in vain, Li Zuoche, who took it when he saw it, had retreated decisively and timely with the Han cavalry, and quickly withdrew to Yanmen and immediately cleared the wilderness, fully preparing to meet the Xiongnu's counterattack, so when the Xiongnu Zuoxian King followed the Han cavalry to the territory of Yanmen County, the border Han army was not only fully prepared, but the pressure was far less than imagined, even if there was no need to ask Xiang Kang and Han Ting for help, it was also sure to deal with the army of the Xiongnu Zuoxian King alone, which took a big advantage, Don't worry about not being able to stop the crazy counterattack of the Huns.

During this period, the Xiongnu Zuoxian King, who was carried away by anger, also made a mistake, because all the heavy losses of the Han cavalry in the northern expedition to the grassland were the Xiongnu tribes to which Zuoxian King belonged, and the thunderous Xiongnu Zuoxian King not only did not immediately retreat because the Han army was fully prepared, but on the contrary, he also took the Xiongnu cavalry under his command to directly pursue the Han army's northern Xinjiang town under the city of Mayi, and rushed out some rudimentary siege weapons to storm the city of Mayi, and the result is needless to say, The soldiers of the Han army, who had been trained in the Chu and Han wars, relied on strong fortifications, of course, to defend the city of Mayi very easily, not only did not let the Xiongnu army take any advantage, but on the contrary, they also used the defense of the city to cause a lot of losses to the Xiongnu army, completely ending the history of the Han army in northern Xinjiang in front of the Xiongnu army in the face of repeated defeats.

In the end, under the repeated urging of the Maodun envoy, the Xiongnu Zuoxian King, who lacked the skills to attack the fortification, had no choice but to give up the siege, and angrily led the army to turn around and chase the main force of the Xiongnu, ready to spread his anger on the poor Yueshi country. However, after King Zuoxian of the Xiongnu finally arrived in the area of Qilian Mountain, not only did he not see the shadow of the people of the Banyue clan, but on the contrary, he received two loud slaps as soon as they met, and roared: "Why are you only here now?" Do you know how much time we've wasted waiting for you? Bad for me! ”

Then I still listened to the introduction of other Xiongnu generals, the Xiongnu Zuoxian King knew that he really broke the big thing of Mao Dun this time, in order to wait for his army to catch up with the main force, the main force of the Xiongnu was forced to be stationed in the area of Jun Ji Mountain for seven or eight days, and the Yueshi country that received the news took the opportunity to migrate westward in a big way, and avoided the crisis of the country's demise, even if Mao Dun found that the situation was not good, he quickly led the army to the west immediately without waiting for the army of Zuo Xianwang, and only caught up with the palace army of the Yue Kingdom to be annihilated, The established strategic plan of annihilating the Yue Clan in one fell swoop was not achieved, and the hidden dangers of the Xiongnu's western front continued to exist.

After figuring out these circumstances, of course, King Zuo Xian could only quickly ask Mao Dun for guilt, but fortunately, Mao Dun knew that this matter also had a lot to do with his lack of decisiveness in decision-making, and did not hold King Zuo Xian too responsible, but just deprived King Zuo Xian of some grasslands and tribes, and then asked King Zuo Xian about the specific process of the battle with the Han army, and understood the current situation of the Han army.

It is also time to have something, when introducing the current specific situation of the Han army to Mao Dun, Zuo Xianwang focused on mentioning the new equipment of the Han cavalry to kill the enemy and ride the war saber, and the eloquent Mao Dun also attached great importance to this, and immediately repeatedly asked about the specific details of the Han army's saber, but it is a pity that Zuo Xianwang also knew the existence of the Han army's saber through the defeated soldiers under his command, and did not know much about the saber, just introduced that the Han army's saber was made of iron, which was more conducive to chopping than the bronze straight knife used by the Hun cavalry. It is also far sharper and tougher than the bronze knives of the Hun cavalry, and can also hold a rope in one hand and wield a knife in the other, all riding on horses to fight.

This is enough, after learning that all the cavalry of the Han army in the Northern Expedition to the grassland can fight on horseback, Mao Dun immediately frowned, and said to himself: "Trouble, if the cavalry of the Central Plains people is all equipped with this kind of iron sword, and they can charge and fight directly without dismounting, then when we fight with the Central Plains cavalry in the future, not only will the cavalry not have any advantage, but on the contrary, it may also suffer." In addition, the kind of armor that the Central Plains cavalry can't wear through with arrows may also pose a big threat to us. ”

"King Zuo Xian, did you get the kind of knife you said? And the new armor of the Central Plains cavalry? The Xiongnu Right Xian King next to him hurriedly asked.

"Nope." King Zuo Xian shook his head and said, "Although some of the Central Plains cavalry under my command also killed some Central Plains cavalry, the other Central Plains cavalry took away all the armor and weapons, so I have only heard of that kind of sword and that kind of armor, and I haven't seen it with my own eyes." ”

Of course, King Youxian was extremely disappointed when he heard this, but Mao Dun refused to give up, and just said after a little calculation: "Send someone to contact Yan Guo, tell those Yan people who secretly sold us pig iron, and tell them to get us some new iron knives and new armor of the Central Plains cavalry no matter what they think, if possible, it is best to get us a few craftsmen who can make these things, as long as they can do it, give them anything." ”

Traitors and traitors have in every dynasty and every generation, in the spring, when the Xiongnu smuggling merchants brought Mao Dun's request to the Yan country, and told the Yan generals and officials who had secretly smuggled prohibited items to the grassland, because of the greed for huge profits, there was really a cavalry general of the Yan country who managed to get two Han army sabers and sold them to the Hun merchants at a high price - this is also a helpless thing, the Han cavalry has been fully equipped with sabers when fighting with the Western Chu army, and the number lost in the war is not a few, There are some sabers that have fallen into the hands of the Yan army, which focuses on cavalry, and there is certainly nothing unusual about it.

Fortunately, luck was on the side of the Han court at this moment, when the Hun merchant returned to the grassland with a saber, he happened to be inspected by the officers under the command of the Shanggu County Supervisor Yushi, and immediately reported to the Han Dynasty directly under the Shanggu County Supervisor Yushi, Shanggu County's Supervisor Yushi also attached great importance to this matter, in addition to immediately reporting this matter to Zang Di, he immediately wrote to the Han Court and reported this matter directly to the Han court.

Chain reaction also appeared, before that, Xiang Kang was originally extremely dissatisfied with the Yan State officials and generals secretly smuggling contraband to the grassland, and now the Yan army generals even dared to smuggle sabers to the Huns, Xiang Kang of course couldn't bear it, in addition to issuing an edict to severely reprimand His Majesty Zang Tu, and forced Zang Tu to execute the parties, as well as strengthening the management and blockade of contraband, so that similar situations would not occur again.

After receiving Xiang Kang's edict, although the irrefutable Zang Di obeyed Xiang Kang's order, he beheaded the Yan army general who stole the saber in public on the same day, and honestly ordered to strengthen the management and blockade of the border, but behind no one's back, Zang Di was still very dissatisfied with Xiang Kang, and roared: "Little shaft, the hand is getting longer and longer, and even the domestic affairs of my Yan country have to be managed!" Just for the sake of two sabers, what kind of bullshit edict is going to be issued to reprimand this king! ”

Fortunately, strictly speaking, this matter is not very big, Zang Di is just dissatisfied with Xiang Kang's meddling in his domestic affairs, and he has not had any dissent because of this matter. After some time, he received news that the palace of Zhao rebuilt by the Han court for Zhao Xie had been completed, and Zhao Xie was about to return to Handan from Julu's capital.

When Zang Di made this decision, Zhang Sheng, the doctor of Yan Guo, who he trusted very much, happened to be present, and seeing that there were no other outsiders next to Zang Di's guards, Zhang Sheng hesitated, but still said to Zang Di: "Dare to ask the king, I don't know about the matter of King Zhao's return to Handan, what does the king think?" ”

"What do you think?" Zang Di was asked, and said suspiciously: "This is the matter of Zhao State, how do you need to look at it?" ”

Zhang Sheng paid attention to Zang Di's expression, and saw that Zang Di's expression was dazed, not as if he was fake, so he sighed and said: "The king is really a benevolent gentleman, such a dangerous code, I can't imagine that the king has not noticed it at all." ”

"A dangerous code? What do you mean? Zang Di heard that there was something in Zhang Sheng's words, but Zhang Sheng refused to answer, just looked at Zang Di's left and right, Zang Di understood, and immediately waved his hand to let the guards temporarily withdraw from the door, and then said to Zhang Sheng: "Say, what do you want to say?" ”

"The king forgives the sins and forgives the ministers for speaking out." Zhang Sheng lowered his voice and said in a low voice: "The emperor asked King Zhao to restore the capital of Handan, and he was preparing to attack you or King Zhao." Your Majesty dares to assert that when King Zhao moves the capital back to Handan, within a year and a half, the emperor will definitely take action to get rid of one of you and King Zhao, and then concentrate the strength of the whole country to get rid of the remaining one. ”

Zang Di's eyes widened in surprise, Zhang Sheng saw Zang Di's thoughts, and said with a smile: "King, don't think that your subordinates are alarmist, please think about it carefully, for no reason, why did our emperor who advocated thrift build a lot of construction, pay money and grain to rebuild the palace of Handan for King Zhao, and let King Zhao move the capital back to Handan?" ”

"The capital of Zhao was originally Handan, and the emperor asked King Zhao to restore the capital to Handan, what's so strange?" Zang Di asked suspiciously.

Zhang Sheng shook his head with a smile and said: "King, you are really benevolent, it is true that the original capital of Zhao was in Handan, but when did King Zhao ask for the return of the capital to Handan?" King Zhao didn't mention this matter, why would His Majesty our Emperor be so enthusiastic and offer to let King Zhao restore the capital to Handan? ”

"Then why did the emperor do this?" Zang Di asked again hurriedly.

"Of course, it's to separate King Zhao from you." Zhang Sheng smiled and said: "Julu County, where King Zhao is now the national capital, not only directly borders Guangyang County, where the capital of our Yan Kingdom is located, but also has a galloping road, and the transportation connection is extremely convenient. But after King Zhao restored the capital of Handan, is the transportation between you and King Zhao so convenient? If there is any accident, can you still send troops to help the other party immediately? ”

Zang Di's face began to turn a little pale, and Zhang Sheng said again: "Yan Shao, the county guard of Hengshan County, is the person personally appointed by Uncle Zhou, the imperial court lieutenant, King Zhao has no courage to remove him, and when there is an accident, Yan Shao will definitely not stand on King Zhao's side." King Zhao reverted to Julu, even if the Julu County Guard could use his people, our very clever Emperor His Majesty could station an army in Julu as long as he found an excuse casually, and even through various means, he could indirectly influence the candidates for the Julu County Guard, completely cutting off the direct contact between the King and King Zhao. Then if His Majesty the Emperor wants to do something to you or King Zhao again, wouldn't he be able to worry about you and King Zhao joining forces to resist? ”

Zang Di was speechless, his face was cloudy, and he subconsciously remembered Yingbu's fate - at that time, Zang Di was already suspecting that Xiang Kang was preparing to eradicate the king with a different surname. So after grinding his teeth and thinking carefully for a long time, Zang Di simply asked directly: "If this is the case, how should this king deal with it?" ”

"The best way for the king should be to let King Zhao also know about His Majesty the Emperor's intentions." Zhang Sheng said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty doesn't know if King Zhao has also seen His Majesty's intentions, but even if King Zhao has already seen the emperor's intentions, we should find out his next plan as soon as possible, if he is also afraid that the emperor will cook him to death, he will definitely not refuse to join forces with us, Yan and Zhao have formed an alliance, even if the emperor has any moves, we will not have any power to fight back." ”

Zang Di nodded slowly, and after thinking about it for a while, Zang Di made up his mind and said, "Yan'er, the prince of Yan Kingdom, was sealed by the emperor for me. This time, King Zhao returned to Handan, it is up to you to congratulate King Zhao on behalf of this king, be careful, don't leak the rumors, and let people get the handle. ”

Zhang Sheng immediately sang a promise, swearing a poisonous oath not to leak the news, Zang Di nodded, and said in his heart: "If that little vertical man really wants to hide the bow, even if Zhao Guo joins forces with the widow, I'm afraid it will be difficult to defeat him, the best way is not to get another strong reinforcement?" ”