By November, the entire Makuhoku had become a world of ice and snow.

Under the Khotanyan Mountain (now Hangai Mountain), the snow is as deep as three feet, and people and horses cannot walk.

But......

In this cold season when the north wind is howling, on the vast land, dozens of men in brown clothes, driving dozens of dogs, riding a primitive wooden vehicle, against the wind and snow, all the way forward.

"Ou off!" Finally, the person who opened the way in front of him shouted loudly: "Zhao Xincheng has arrived!" ”

"Stop!" In the crowd, a noble man wearing a wolf skin jacket and a thick felt hat raised his hand, and the dog he was pulling immediately stopped his running limbs very obediently, gathered together, and made a roaring sound towards his masters.

Someone took out a lot of dried food from the leather bag he was carrying and threw it to the dogs.

The hungry dogs immediately gobbled it up.

The aristocratic man stepped out of the vehicle and climbed up a small mound covered with snow nearby, and looked far away.

In the distance, a fortress built of rammed earth stands impressively in the south of the foothills, rigidly guarding the traffic leading to the distant mountain gorge.

"Zhao Xincheng!" The aristocratic man whispered a few words, full of emotion: "I'm back!" ”

In the grassland and Gobi between Junji Mountain and Juyan Sea, after ten years of cruising.

The descendants of the Xiongnu since the second king finally returned to this fortress built by their ancestors with blood and wisdom.

The first city of the Xiongnu Empire, and at the same time the pearl of the Xiongnu Shan Yu - Zhao Xincheng.

Staring at the fortress, the nobleman gently bent his knees, kowtowed to the fortress, and silently recited in his heart: "The inheritance of the ancestors has unfortunately fallen into the hands of others...... Sooner or later, I'm going to take it back! ”

But now, he didn't dare to have the slightest thought.

Because, now the owner of this city is the king of Yu Jing of the Huns, the younger brother of Shan Yu!

That's it!

The people of the Twin Clan have never known how to manage the city, and the Qin City in various places is handed over to the Han Dynasty to be managed, and the so-called Twin Clan City Lord is just a name.

But......

Now assisting King Jing, it is the king of Zhao Xincheng who sits in Zhao Xincheng...... Li Ling!

Just thinking about that man, the nobleman felt trembling all over his body and his scalp tingling.

That's a man like a god.

Poetry, books, rituals and music are all-encompassing.

Han Feizi, Shang Junshu, Guanzi, corpses and even Huainanzi all recite backwards.

What's more, he is still familiar with bow horses, and he is the most famous warrior and the most powerful condor archer in the Huns, and he is also overshadowed in front of the edge of the right school king.

Every Xiongnu nobleman knew that the second (princess) of the twin clan was extremely unruly and domineering, and compared with the princess of the Liu family in Chang'an, the Han Dynasty in the south, it was not much better.

And the younger sister of the first single and marquis, Jiankun is second, and he is the best among many second.

Even if you are alone in the time, you have no choice but to let it go.

However......

Since marrying that man, this second rank has become more and more virtuous and gentle, and even began to learn the matter of female red embroidery in the dome, and sewed a wide robe for the king of the right school.

Thinking of these things, his expression gradually calmed down, he lowered his body, tightened his collar, and waved his hand to order: "Warriors, follow me into the city!" ”

………………………………

Zhao Xincheng is a very simple fortress.

At least that's how it looks like in Li Ling.

The simple rammed earth city wall, built by the plate construction method, rises layer by layer, but is only three zhang high.

Around the city wall, the arrow towers and watchtowers set up are almost all wooden, at most a little earth and stone are stuffed in the wood, and it may be possible to defend against stray arrows, but if you are facing a siege force with a tunnel camp.

These arrow towers and watchtowers can't hold even an hour.

The only good news is that since Huo Qu's illness, no one can threaten this fortress located at the southern foot of Khotanyan Mountain, let alone capture this city, repeating the legend of sealing the wolf in Xu Mountain.

"Young master!"

"Young master!"

In the midst of emotion, from a distance, Li Ling heard the voice of his old servant.

"What's the matter with Shao Gong?" Li Ling turned around and asked softly.

Although it has been six years since the Xiongnu were surrendered, Li Ling was still accustomed to speaking in the dialect of Longyou's hometown in private, and although the Huns wanted to change, they gave up after a few attempts.

"Zhao Qian is back!" The old servant stepped forward and replied respectfully.

"Which Zhao Qian?" Li Ling asked softly.

"Zhao Xin's eldest grandson!"

"Oh......" Li Ling muttered a few words softly, "Didn't he go to Outuo?" Why come back? ”

"There is a letter from Chang'an, handed over to Zhao Qian!" The old servant stepped forward, looked at his little master's expression, and lowered his head: "Don't you want to see the young master?" ”

"Chang'an?" Li Ling was slightly stunned, paced forward, and repeated as if he couldn't believe his ears: "Chang'an?!" ”

After a long time, he smiled bitterly and said, "Chang'an, who still remembers Li Shaoqing!" ”

"Even if someone remembers, it should be the traitor Li Ling......"

Regarding his identity, Li Ling has always been entangled.

He's Hanchen!

Since he was a child, he was deeply influenced by his grandfather Li Guang, and he was determined to make meritorious contributions, glorify his ancestors, and wash away the shame of his ancestors and fathers.

However, creation makes people, and the world is impermanent.

Now, it has been sent to the left and distributed as a whip.

even married the Xiongnu and became a Xiongnu minister.

Changan......

I've only seen it in my dreams.

"I heard that it was Ren Lizheng's letter...... the old servant said in a low voice.

"Ren Lizheng?" Li Lingleng paused for a moment, a little distracted, but quickly reacted: "Ren Gongzi wrote to me?" I'm afraid it was instigated by Huo Zimeng! ”

At the beginning, Ren Lizheng, he, as well as Huo Guang, Jin Riyan, and Zhang Anshi, the five of them traveled to Longxi together and had a very happy conversation.

Unfortunately, that was fifteen years ago.

Now, except for him and Ren Lizheng, the other three are already powerful and noble.

But except for Huo Guang, the relationship between the other two and himself is not very close.

Therefore, Li Ling could immediately judge who instructed Ren Lizheng to write the letter.

After thinking about it, Li Ling waved his hand and said, "That's it, go and ask Zhao Qian to come and see me!" ”

"No!"

…………………………………………

A moment later, a noble man wearing a wolfskin jacket and covered in ice and snow marks was brought to Li Ling.

"Ou off Zhao Qian, greet Tu Hao!" The man pounced, knelt down in front of Li Ling, put his forehead on the ground, bowed again, and said: "May the gods always bless you, so that your path (the Huns call the weapon the path) as sharp as ever!" ”

Li Ling looked at this man with his eyes down, and after a long time, he asked leisurely: "Zhao Outuo came to find this king, what is the matter?" ”

"Send the letter!" Zhao Qian lowered his head, and he didn't dare to gasp.

The name of the man, the shadow of the tree!

Li Ling, the king of the right school, is a man like a demon god in the entire Huns.

The battle of Junji Mountain made the Huns up and down deeply aware of this man's strength and resourcefulness.

80,000 to 5,000, and he was almost killed.

Many of the Xiongnu nobles who fought once suspected that they did not understand war and did not know how to use soldiers.

If it weren't for the exhaustion of ammunition and food, plus the betrayal of traitors.

This right school king may have grown into a nightmare for the Huns now.

It is precisely because of this that his status in the Xiongnu is very special, almost the third person under the single Yu and Mu clan, below the two, above the ten thousand people, and he can decide his life and death with a word.

Even at the beginning, he had just surrendered and his position was unstable.

can also carry a knife to kill the general Li Xu who caused his clan to be wiped out by the Han Dynasty.

And the entire Huns can only watch him take revenge.

Li Ling laughed hesitantly, laughing so much that Zhao Qian felt creepy, and his scalp was numb, so he could only quickly lower his head and stick to the ground.

Zhao Qian knew very well that as long as Li Ling wanted to, he would definitely be dead or alive.

"What about faith?" Li Ling suddenly asked.

"Here!" Zhao Qian hurriedly took out a sealed bamboo tube from his arms and presented it to Li Ling.

Li Ling took it, first looked at the sealing mud on the outside of the bamboo tube, and after confirming that it had not been untied, he raised his hand, pulled out the sealing mud, and poured out the sealed letter from the bamboo tube.

To Li Ling's surprise, the letter was not written in cloth, but on a special medium that had never been heard of.

"What is this?" He looked at the thin, white flake, and his brow furrowed slightly.

"Hui Tu Luxury, this is the latest creation of the Han Dynasty, it is said to be called Shizhong Paper ......," Zhao Qian replied with his head down.

"Paper?" Li Ling didn't understand very well.

"It is said that it was made by Zhang Zizhong in the Han Dynasty, so it is called the paper ...... in the waiter" Zhao Qian lay on the ground and reported in a low voice.

"Zhang Zizhong!" Li Ling's voice couldn't help but raise a decibel level.

Two months ago, he had received news from Chang'an that his brother, Li Yu, who was closest to him by blood in this world, had died.

It is rumored that Li Yu's death is inseparable from a Han servant named Zhang Zizhong.

After learning of the death, Li Ling also cried, sacrificed Li Yu's soul in this Zhao Xin City, and wrote a eulogy.

But that's it.

The relationship between Li Yu and him can only go so far.

However, after that, a steady stream of news from Chang'an let Li Ling know about the person named 'Zhang Zizhong'.

Even, as far as Li Ling knew, even Shan Yu Hulugu also listed this person as the focus of the Xiongnu.

Because, there is a legend that the Han servant was 'courageous and daring', and the Han Empress Wei Zifu even gave him Huo Quai's sword.

More importantly, it is said that this person wrote a military book called "On War", which is widely circulated among the various departments of the Han Biansai.

Therefore, it is difficult not to pay attention to it!

For the Xiongnu, what they were most afraid of was that the Han Dynasty would produce another god of war like Huo Quai.

"Yes!" Zhao Qian was so frightened that he didn't even dare to raise his head, so he could only bow: "The villain knows that this is the case!" ”

"Zhang Zizhong......" Li Ling rubbed the letter in his hand, but his eyes looked south, crossed the mountains and the Gobi Desert, and the big river city, as if he saw the scene on the Xuanshu Hall in the towering Chang'an City.

He felt that his eyes seemed to be directed towards a pair of young, sharp and aggressive eyes.

"Politics not only causes war, but also dominates war, so the nature of politics determines the nature of war......" He seemed to see the master of those eyes, and talked eloquently in the court of the Han Dynasty: "And the nature of the Han-Hun War is the Battle of Yixia!" ”

"It's the righteous battle of the king's uprightness, and the righteous battle of Di Buchen!"

"It's Zhou Gong who punishes Cai!"

"It's Tang Wu who puts Xia Ji!"

"It's Emperor Yu!"

"Those who plotted for the Huns, betrayed their ancestors and abandoned their ancestors, should be punished by the Spring and Autumn Period and rejected by all generations!"

How many times have I dreamed back at midnight, and the nightmare in the nightmare is intertwined with reality.

For more than six years, almost 4,000 days, he was haunted by reality and ideals all the time, not a second of peace, not a quarter of an hour without feeling heartache.

He can't forget the mountains and rivers of Longyou, and he can't forget the glory of his father.

What I can't forget is my mother's earnest teachings.

"Your name is Ling, and the tomb is from Fu!"

"Li Ling! Have you forgotten the shame and the lesson of your fathers? ”

I can't forget the figure of Cheng'an waiting for Han Yannian in Junji Mountain.

"Shaoqing! Take the first step in prolonging the year, if you can break through, today next year, please Shaoqing sprinkle wine for me! No, you and I are with you on the Huangquan Road! So, dragging the arrow wounds and hundreds of wounded soldiers, he rushed to the Hun cavalry that came like a tide, and fell down the valley with them in his arms.

It seemed that he was still thinking about the resolute voices of Han Yannian and those comrades.

Li Ling finally couldn't help it, wow, spit out a mouthful of blood foam, the whole person immediately crumbled, the old servant beside him hurriedly stepped forward, helped him up, and said bitterly: "Young master!" Take care! ”

looked at Zhao Qian again and reprimanded: "Go quickly, don't appear here again, otherwise, you will be killed!" ”

"Shao Gong!" Li Ling took a deep breath, calmed his heart, and said, "It's none of his business!" ”

Where did Zhao Qian dare to stay?

He knew that if those Jiankun Juji knew that their husbands would vomit blood because of his little Outuo Xiaojun.

He won't be able to get out of this stronghold!

hurriedly bowed again, and said: "Tu Hao, please take care of your body, the villain retires!" ”

Li Ling watched Zhao Qian's figure go away, leaned on the wooden railing, and suddenly sighed: "I don't know if my children and grandchildren will also fall into the same fate as Zhao Qian the next day?" ”

"How so?" The old servant hurriedly comforted: "Young master, your wife is the sister of the Xiongnu Shan Yu, and you have been awarded the title of the king of the right school, and you actually lead the Jiankun Kingdom, even if the Xiongnu perished, your descendants should be the king of a country......

"Hehe......" Li Ling sneered: "Zhao Xin was also the lord of a country back then, and he also married Shan Yu's sister......

"And now?"

The Zhao Xin City at the foot is still called Zhao Xin City.

But Zhao Xin's descendants are no longer here.

Most of them followed Edan Yu to death under Luntai City.

The last remaining bloodline, which should have been inherited from the grandson of the second king, was reduced to the little king of Outuo.

What is Outuo?

In the context of the Xiongnu, Outuo means border and reconnaissance.

In short, he was a scout of the Xiongnu, and a scout who was placed between the most dangerous Junji Mountain and Juyanze to monitor the movements of the Han army.

Shan Yuting did this, in fact, he wished he was going to die!

Zhao Xin's descendants are still like this, what about his Li Ling's descendants?