Five days after the triumph of Chang'an, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan suddenly issued an urgent decree to summon Li Shimin, the king of Qin.

After Li Shimin entered the palace, he learned that it was Tuyuhun who constantly attacked the Tang Kingdom due to border disputes.

Tuyuhun, also known as Tuhun, is a country located in the Qilian Mountains and the upper valleys of the Yellow River, Qinghai, Gannan and northwest Sichuan. This is a branch of the Xianbei Murong Department in Liaodong, Tuyuhun people are good at raising horses, and Qinghai Cheng is a more famous good horse raised by Tuyuhun. Tuyuhun is dominated by Xianbei people and Qiang people, all of whom are horseback people, with strong folk customs, brave and good at fighting, and have been established for more than 300 years.

In the border conflict with Tuyuhun, Tang. The army is defeated more than victorious. The Tang State had just been established, with continuous civil wars, a withering economy, poor livelihoods, poor national strength, and internal and external troubles. They are powerless to deal with the attacks and harassment of neighboring countries, so they can only tolerate them, and most of them adopt the method of peace talks to settle disputes.

During this border attack on Tuyuhun, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan still adopted the method of peace talks in the hope of calming down the dispute. However, this time, Fu Yun, the khan of Tuyuhun, hoped that the Tang State would send a prince to the peace talks to show his sincerity, and let the Qin king Li Shimin go by name, otherwise he would continue to invade the Tang State.

Although Li Yuan and Li Shimin were furious about Tuyuhun's rampant and arrogant, in view of the current situation of the Tang Kingdom, they could only temporarily forbear it and agreed to Tuyuhun's request.

Because Tuyuhun asked not to bring too many people during the peace talks, Li Shimin only led 500 Xuanjia elite cavalry to the Tutang border. The eldest grandson Wuji, Wei Chi Jingde, Qin Qiong, Cheng Yanjin, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and other cronies and generals were transferred to quell the rebellion by Tang Gaozu Li Yuan and Prince Li Jiancheng the day before yesterday due to some rebellions in the Central Plains, Sanjin and other places.

Along the way, Li Shimin and the accompanying guide had a further understanding of Tuyuhun in the chat.

The rise of the Tuyuhun nation and the establishment of the kingdom were caused by a small horse fight. In the Baishan and Heishui areas of Liaoning, Zhangwu and Tieling in the northeast, there is the Murong tribe of the Xianbei tribe. Tuyuhun was the eldest son of the tribal leader Shegui, commanding 1,700 households, and his younger brother Murong Diao, who was only 16 years old, succeeded to the throne of Khan in 284 AD due to his noble status.

Murong Diao can sit on the throne of "Murong Xianbei" Da Shan Yu, because he was born to his father Murong Shegui's wife, and he belongs to the concubine. Murong Shegui's eldest son is called Murong Tuguhun, who was born to a concubine and belongs to the concubine. So although he is an elder brother, he has no choice but to send someone under the fence and suppresses the infinite depression in the bottom of his heart. And for Murong Diao, this brother has always been a hidden danger.

Before Murong Shegui died, he distributed 1,700 herdsmen to Tuyuhun, which was equivalent to the distribution of inheritance. Although the two brothers separated, they still herded sheep and horses on the same prairie. One spring, when the horses are in heat, it may be that several stallions are dueling each other for a mare. As a result, more horses joined the battle, and two horses kicked and bitten, and a group of horses were injured in the confusion.

The Xianbei people love horses, and when they heard that many horses were injured, Murong Diao was furious and sent someone to Tuyuhun and said: Our ancestor has separated us, why don't you let the horses stay away, but let them fight each other?

Tuyuhun was trained, and he was also very angry, saying: They are animals, and it is normal for them to be in estrus in spring, we are human beings, what do we have to do with them? Since you think I'm an eyesore, then I'll leave you for 10,000 miles.

So he led the herdsmen and the herds of horses westward, walking 80 miles a day. After a few days of leaving, Murong Diao regretted it very much, blamed himself deeply, and sent Uncle Tang and his subordinate Yi Nalou to lead 2,000 cavalry to persuade Tu Guhun to come back.

When they caught up, Tuyuhun said, "Try to drive the horse back to the east, and if the horse turns back, I will follow you back."

Berna had 2,000 knights surround the horses, so that they could not discern the direction, and then slowly drove eastward. The horses had walked less than 300 paces when they suddenly howled and wailed with sorrow. Then he broke through the surrounding knights and rushed westward like a tidal wave.

The knights were astonished, chased after them and surrounded the horses, and continued eastward. This was done dozens of times, and each time the herd broke through the "wall" and went farther and farther west.

Exhausted, he had no choice but to give up, knelt on the ground to the east, and said, "Khan, this is not something that people can change."

Tuyuhun waved goodbye to them, traveled all the way west, went south from Yinshan, passed through Hetao South, Dulong Mountain, and finally settled in Bailan Mountain. Based on this, it expanded to the south, north and west, and its territory was roughly in the southern part of Gansu, the northwest of Sichuan and the area of Qinghai.

Murong Tuyuhun himself lived to be 72 years old, and incredibly, left behind 60 sons. The eldest son, Tuyan, succeeded to the throne and reigned for 13 years, leaving 12 sons. After his death, the eldest son Ye Yan succeeded to the throne and made a major reform, saying "goodbye" to his original ancestor completely: he changed his surname to Tuyuhun, and later became the name of the clan and the country.

Since then, "Murong" and "Xianbei" have become a thing of the past, dissipating in the vast Yin Mountain.

In history, there is a famous allusion to the metaphor that unity is strength: "A Jackal Breaks an Arrow", which is a true story from the king of Tuyuhun.

At that time, the king was called A Jackal, and he annexed thousands of miles of territory of the adjacent Di and Qiang ethnic groups, and became a powerful country in the Longxi area. When he was dying, he called his 20 sons to his side and commanded his brother Muliyan, "Take out an arrow and break it."

Mu Liyan took out one and broke it. And the jackal said, Take ten more arrows, and break them together.

Mu Liyan held it in his hand and kept folding. The jackal said, "You know, right?" An arrow is easy to break, and if there are more, it will break continuously. As long as you work together, others will not be able to defeat you, and the society will have a lot to do.

This is the famous allusion that "one arrow is easy to break, ten arrows are difficult to break".

Tuyuhun's biggest specialty is the good horse, a kind called Qinghai skull, also known as the dragon species. Horse.

At that time, there was a lake in Tuguhun with a radius of thousands of miles, and there were hills in the lake. When it freezes in winter, Tuyuhun puts a herd of fine local stallions into the hills, and then puts in mares imported from Persia.

By the spring of the following year, the mares were all "happy". Because both types are selected excellent breeds, in the case of no one to disturb the passion of pregnancy, the birth of the horse grows up to be tall and powerful, hardy and cold-resistant, can travel thousands of miles a day, this is Qinghai Cheng.

There is also a kind of "Shu horse", which is small in size and good at walking in the mountains.

Tuyuhun has two kinds of good horses, which can gallop on the grassland and run on the mountain. Therefore, he has an incomparably powerful cavalry, and the surrounding powers are in endless disputes, and the clouds are extinguished, but Tuyuhun can calmly maneuver between countries.

After listening to the guide's interesting stories and introductions about the country of Tuyuhun, Li Shimin was full of a strong interest in the country of Tuyuhun, and his previous resentment towards Tuyuhun also weakened.

A few days later, Li Shimin and his entourage arrived in Heyuan County of the Tang Kingdom, which was adjacent to Tuyuhun and had the most conflicts. The Khan of Tuyuhun, Fu Yun, demanded peace talks here.

The next day, Fu Yun sent his second son, Dayan Mangbojie, also known as King Murong Zun, to meet Li Shimin.

Li Shimin saw that King Murong Zun had a dark complexion, wearing a long skirt and hat with a big head, small sleeves, a small hakama, a stout figure, and a scimitar with a scabbard inlaid with precious stones on his waist. Although he was very polite on the surface, Li Shimin could feel a kind of arrogance in King Murong Zun's bones.

King Murong Zun invited Li Shimin to negotiate peace in his big tent in Tuyuhun, not far from Heyuan County. In order to show his courage and suppress his arrogance, Li Shimin simply agreed.

King Murong Zun said that since it was a peace negotiation, he couldn't bring too many people and horses, Li Shimin asked five hundred Xuanjia elite horsemen to wait in Heyuan County, and he only brought ten personal soldiers with King Murong Zun to negotiate peace in Tuyuhun.

King Murong Zun's arrogance has really been restrained a lot, and he is also secretly admiring Li Shimin's courage.

It's a vast meadow, but it's already October, and the prairie is full of yellow weeds.

Yihe Big Tent is not very far from Heyuan County in the Tang Kingdom, about 15 miles or so. There were only twenty Tuyuhun warriors standing outside the big tent, and there were not many of them.

King Murong Zun invited Li Shimin into the big tent and asked people to offer milk tea. Ten of Li Shimin's personal soldiers also stood guard outside the tent.

"His Royal Highness the King of Qin, we Tuyuhun people don't like to beat around the bush, let's talk straight to the point."

"Okay, I, Li Shimin, am also a straight person, His Royal Highness the Prince, you first talk about your peace negotiation conditions."

"First, I hope that Tang will not restrict the sale of salt, iron, tea, etc. to our country."

"No problem, I also hope that Tuyuhun will not restrict the sale of horses to our country."

"Second, I hope that there will be no restrictions on Chinese businessmen entering the Tang Kingdom to do business."

"This is no problem, I also hope that Tuyuhun will not restrict our businessmen from entering your country to do business."

"Third, for the sake of long-term peace, I hope that the Tang Kingdom can marry the princess of your country to the princes of our country and marry the Qin and Jin dynasties."

"I'll reply to my father after asking for instructions, but I think my father should agree, I hope that your princess can also marry the princes of our Tang Dynasty, so that the relationship between the two countries will be closer."

"Hehe, there's no problem with this, the princesses of my country should want to go to Datang." King Murong Zun laughed, then took a sip of milk tea, stared at Li Shimin with his eyes, and said slowly: "The last one, I hope that the Tang State will allocate Heyuan County to our country, because in the past, Heyuan County was my Tuguhun territory, and then it was shamelessly occupied by the Sui Dynasty. ”

Li Shimin frowned, and said awe-inspiringly: "Your Royal Highness the Prince, I, Li Shimin, am the prince of the Tang Dynasty and the general of Tiance, and I have the responsibility to defend the land, and I will never cede the land of the Tang Dynasty to other countries, even the most barren land, and I, Li Shimin, will not give up an inch of land." I'm sorry, but I won't agree to the last one, and I don't think my father will either. ”

King Murong Zun's face changed, and he snorted gloomily: "Hmph, your crown prince and King Qi have promised to allocate Heyuan County to us, and the prince is your future emperor, do you want to disobey?" ”

"What!" Li Shimin trembled, "Impossible, you are framing the crown prince and the king of Qi, it is impossible for them to do such a thing to lose power and humiliate the country, I don't believe it!" ”

"Don't you believe it? Okay, you wait a minute, I'll go get the evidence for you. King Murong Zun stood up with a gloomy face, turned around and walked out of the big tent.

"Is there really any evidence? Could it be that the crown prince and the king of Qi really agreed to cede the land to Tuyuhun? Li Shimin's heart was in turmoil, "Impossible, impossible, it is impossible for the eldest brother and the third brother to agree to cede land and humiliate the country." After I go back, I must confirm with them face to face, I believe that they must have been framed by King Murong Zun! ”

Li Shimin's heart was very restless and restless.

A stick of incense time has passed, but still does not see King Murong Zun come back, Li Shimin suddenly has an ominous premonition.

Suddenly, there was a sound of swords colliding outside, and the earth suddenly trembled slightly, Li Shimin's heart tightened, Huo Di stood up and pulled out the Tang knife, his experience told him that this was a large group of cavalry rushing here.

"His Royal Highness King Qin, run!" A bloodied soldier crashed into the tent and fell to the ground. Li Shimin hurriedly stepped forward to help, but found that he had already choked his breath, and there were several blood holes in his back spurting blood.

Li Shimin already understood in his heart that King Murong Zun saw that he had rejected his request to cede Heyuan County, and he was angry and wanted to put himself to death.

"Bastard!" Li Shimin cursed a foul word and killed the big tent with a knife.

I saw that all ten of his own soldiers had been killed, and the twenty warriors of Tuyuhun had basically been killed, and a few wounded were holding long knives or spears, stabbing Li Shimin's own soldiers who had fallen to the ground in battle.

Li Shimin was furious, these pro-soldiers were his elite, loyal to him, and Li Shimin regarded him as a brother.

He roared, held the Tang knife in both hands, and rushed forward, slashing all the wounded Tuyuhun warriors with a few swords, and blood splattered all over his body. He originally wanted to cut a few more knives, but suddenly there was a low sound like thunder, which slowly resounded in his ears, but he saw that a black line suddenly appeared on the grassland, flying dust swept the earth, and a large group of Tuyuhun cavalry rushed here like a tide, with at least four or five thousand people, and he was already less than two hundred meters away, and Li Shimin could even see that the guy leading the team was King Murong Zun.

"Bastard! Is it worth killing me with so many people? Li Shimin took a sip. Hurriedly ran to the big tent, fortunately, his war horse "Chiyan Horse" was still there, and he hurriedly turned over his horse and prepared to run towards Heyuan County.

But it was too late, and King Murong Zun commanded a cavalry of more than 1,000 people to bypass the big tent early and block his way back to Heyuan County.

Li Shimin saw that there was still a gap in the north and had not had time to close it, so he grabbed the horse's belly with his legs and rushed over like a gap in the north.

"Whoosh", "Whoosh", "Whoosh", the feather arrows of the Tuyuhun cavalry began to rain at Li Shimin, Li Shimin was hit by several arrows in his back, fortunately, he had an extra heart when he came, and he wore Mingguang armor in his robe, otherwise he might have pierced his heart with ten thousand arrows.

Li Shimin beat his horse and galloped, and King Murong Zun led the Tuyuhun cavalry to chase after him. Li Shimin's war horse "Chiyan Horse" is jujube red all over his body, not only robust, but also humane, is a divine horse that travels thousands of miles a day, and is also Li Shimin's most beloved war horse.

Chi Yanju had already sensed the nervousness and danger of his master, so he sprinted forward as fast as lightning as fast as lightning, and rushed out of the gap in the north.

As soon as King Murong Zun saw that Li Shimin had escaped from the encirclement, he hurriedly ordered the five hundred elite cavalry with the fastest speed and the highest level of cavalry and archery to chase after him with all his might, shooting arrows while chasing. He found that Li Shimin's war horse was not an ordinary war horse, so he ordered to shoot people instead.

The feathered arrows of the Tuyuhun pursuers rained down on Chiyanju, and Chiyanju's hips and hind legs were hit by many arrows at once, and he trembled all over his body and hissed loudly in pain. But Chi Yanju still ran forward with his master as hard as he could.

Li Shimin saw that Chi Yanju's body was full of arrows and blood, but he still endured the pain and moved forward desperately, he couldn't help but be moved to tears, he was distressed and gratefully gently touched Chi Yanju's neck, Chi Yanju's eyes were red, with bloody tears, panting, and finally fell to the ground after running a few hundred meters with all his strength.

Li Shimin had a premonition that Chi Yanju was about to fall, so his feet had already been withdrawn from the stirrups, and as soon as Chi Yanju fell to the ground, he immediately rolled forward and stood up quickly. The sound of horses' hooves behind him was getting closer and closer, and Li Shimin knew that he would not be able to escape today.

For a warrior and a warrior, when he knows that he cannot escape, he will never continue to flee in a panic, and he is unwilling to die with his back to the enemy, because that is the act of a coward.

The enemy was approaching, and it was too late to shoot arrows, Li Shimin pulled out his Tang knife, turned awe-inspiring to face the vicious enemy, and rushed forward with a loud roar.

Killing one is enough, killing two earns one, and trying to kill a few more Tuyuhun bastards before you die.

Li Shimin inadvertently saw the word "snow" on the handle of the knife, and his heart was sour and warm. The sad thing is that I will never see the girl I love in the future, and the warm thing is that I am accompanied by Xue'er's gift knife when I die, and I will die without regrets.

The clouds in the sky were all leaden gray, so heavy that the sky seemed to fall. Li Shimin's face is not afraid, he is already tall and healthy, at this time, the low-hanging sky, the dim earth, he seems to be the only one left in the heaven and earth, and he is even more majestic.

A Tuyuhun cavalryman who rushed to the front raised a snowy scimitar and slashed at Li Shimin's head, Li Shimin quickly avoided sideways, held the knife in both hands, and roared, and actually cut the Tuyuhun cavalry into two pieces, and blood spattered three feet.

A Tuyuhun cavalryman with a spear in his hand was stunned for a moment, but he was worthy of being a battle-hardened warrior of Tuyuhun, and he did not have the slightest fear, and stabbed Li Shimin with a spear in his hand.

Li Shimin dodged the spear sideways, grabbed the barrel of the gun with his left hand and pulled it violently, and actually pulled the Tuyuhun cavalry off the horse, and before he could stand up, the head of the Tuyuhun soldier was cut off by Li Shimin.

In just an instant, Li Shimin killed two Tuyuhun warriors in a row, and the Tuyuhun cavalry who came behind hesitated slightly, "It's really worthy of being the god of war of the Tang Dynasty, and it really deserves its reputation!" ”

King Murong Zun shouted from behind: "Don't go up one by one, besiege more than a dozen pieces and kill Li Shimin!" ”

The hesitant dozen Tuyuhun soldiers immediately formed a squad and killed Li Shimin together.