On November 25, 272, Wen Yang led his cavalry to escort the wounded soldiers on the northern front since the beginning of the war to the winter camp in Tuoba Xianbei.

Along the way, the whole army was dejected, as if it had lost the battle.

There's nothing to say, but Uncle Meng brought the recruits who had just been recruited last year, and as a result, he played such an exchange ratio, which caused his side to lose the fighter plane that went deep behind the enemy. He was sent to escort the wounded soldiers, as if he should have done so.

"Honorable General Pingbei, welcome to the Tuoba people's home. I have ordered the sons to prepare warm tents and mare's milk for the general and your soldiers. Please take a good rest. ”

"Well, there's the Boss of the Labor Micro. Well, has our army's medical team arrived? ”

"The subordinate Mu is colorful, General Qiqi Pingbei, our army's military medical team has been in the camp for half a month, and the relevant nursing camp has been settled."

"Oh, it's a wooden military doctor, well, we transported more than 1,300 wounded soldiers on this trip. It's hard work. ”

"Don't dare, it's all the responsibility of subordinates."

The military doctors went to hand over the wounded on their own, and Wen Yang turned sideways: "Leader Liwei, I heard that Linglang Desert Khan is back?" Where are the others now? Can you please meet Ben general? ”

Is it finally here? Hearing Wen Yang say this, Tuoba Liwei's heart actually had a sense of relaxation inexplicably.

Desert Khan returned to the tribe at the end of October. To be honest, Tuoba Liwei, who was already dying, did not have much joy in his heart about the return of this eldest son, and some, he was just anxious.

As a generation of heroes, Tuoba Liwei has been in charge of Tuoba Xianbei for decades, he connected the Wei and Jin dynasties in the south, worshipped again and again, and took the initiative to submit protons. After Ji Han entered Guanzhong, he actively corresponded with Guan Yi, took the initiative to send troops to help Guan Yi exterminate the beggar army, and then joined Guan Yi's wool for grain plan.

In this way, the Tuoba Department has been richly rewarded. In particular, the trade routes of Bingzhou and Tongguan were blocked, and after the trade routes of Ji Han moved north, the Tuoba Department at the midpoint of this trade route undertook the escort work, which was full of money.

As a result, the Tuoba tribe, which had become rich, vigorously absorbed the small tribes in the vicinity, and the population had increased steadily in recent years. The larger the population, the more warriors there will be, and the more warriors there are, the more opportunities there will be for survival and development on the grassland. Not to mention anything else, in recent years, in the competition with the nearby Yuwen Ministry, the Tuoba Department has basically gained the upper hand.

Development has always been a double-edged sword. The affluence of the tribe has led to the doves in the tribe becoming more and more powerful. In the eyes of these people, they can make money and buy things by doing business and collecting tolls. So why bother risking the anger of the Han people to go south to rob? And in recent years, the tribe's flock has grown, while the number of cattle and horses has decreased. The Horde's mobility is actually plummeting.

Similarly, nomadic production requires a lot of space and the destruction of grasslands increases as sheep grow. The Tuoba tribe had to spread out its tribe in several different pastures - there was no single pasture nearby that could support the entire Tuoba tribe. Such a pattern led to Tuoba Liwei having to split the tribe - the current Tuoba Department has been split into three parts, except for the old camp under his personal control, which has a population of 70,000 or 80,000. There were also two branches, each under the control of his two sons, each with a population of fifty or sixty thousand.

The already mature Tuoba Liwei knew very well that when he died, his two sons would definitely fight for the sole rule of the clan. This is the iron law of survival on the grassland for thousands of years, and it is not subject to human will. All he could do was to consciously tilt more resources towards the son he was optimistic about, so that after his death, the battle for the "throne" could end quickly, so that the clan would suffer the least damage.

However, it is good to die, and now, his eldest son, Desert Khan, has been released back by the Jin Kingdom.

As a steppe hero, Tuoba Liwei (according to the age in the history books, this guy lived at least a hundred years old) had more than 20 sons in his long life. Among the surviving children, the eldest is in his fifties, and the youngest son is less than twenty years old. Therefore, this eldest son, although he was forced by the situation to be sent to Luoyang to be a proton in his early years, do you want to say how much guilt or reluctance Tuoba Liwei has in his heart? That's probably not the case.

But, after all, this guy is currently the oldest son. And he returned to the tribe as a representative of the Jin Kingdom! His arrival has led to the tacit understanding and balance of power that has gradually formed within the tribe over the years, and there is a possibility of being broken.

Maybe it's because as a proton, I've lived in Luoyang for too long. The eldest son behaved very high-profile after returning to the clan. It's only been less than a month since I came back, and I've already organized three gatherings of the upper echelons of the tribe. At these gatherings, Tuoba Desert Khan quoted scriptures and refuted all the reckless men on the grassland in terms of eloquence, and said nothing about it, that is, in the martial arts such as archery and technical strikes, the ability shown by the eldest son also made the younger generation of the tribe at the gathering impressed.

The people on the grassland have relatively simple thinking. Patriarchy or anything is nonsense, and the status of the eldest son of Desert Khan does not mean anything. However, when this eldest son showed the characteristics of both civil and military, it was natural that many middle and high-level leaders would begin to move closer to Desert Khan: if you want to survive on the grassland, whether the leader is good or not is too important.

In short, the balance that Tuobali had painstakingly maintained was rapidly being disrupted. The son of the two divisions, who had been fighting endlessly, is quickly abandoning his previous suspicions and actively drawing closer.

Therefore, Wen Yang asked to meet Desert Khan, and Tuoba Liwei agreed very cheerfully: Lao Tzu can see that even if the Jin Kingdom is not destroyed this time, it is destined to suffer a great loss of strength. The people who talk about it in the future on the grassland must be big men. So, leave everything to Dahan to judge.

……

"The savages of Northern Xinjiang, Tuoba Desert Khan, meet General Pingbei of the Great Han Dynasty."

The curtain of the tent was lifted, and a beautiful man with slightly gray hair, but with a comfortable eyebrow, a high nose, a bright eye, a ruddy complexion, and a tall and muscular figure walked in.

When he saw Tuoba Desert Khan for the first time, Wen Yang was also slightly taken aback, but he quickly reacted: "Hehehe, Desert Khan, you have lived in Han for many years, and you are famous in Luoyang. In the past, when Wen Yu was in Luoyang, although he had not met, he had heard of his name for a long time, how can a person like you be called a savage? It's too humble. ”

"Don't dare, barbarian, where is there any talent."

"Okay, okay, you and Liu Yuanhai are the same, you have been in Handi for a long time, and it is more troublesome to talk than those bachelors. You don't know who Ben was when he was in Luoyang. I won't say anything about these crepe words. Ben will ask you in the future, what does Emperor Jin want you to do when he lets you come back? ”

"Lobby my father Khan, rebel against the Han and return to Jin, and cut off the grain road of the Han Dynasty."

"Oh? But I've seen that you've been back for almost a month, and you haven't made any effort in this direction. ”

"The Mandate of Heaven is in Han, and I don't want to use my mantis arm as a car."

"Hahahaha~~ Oh, desert sweat, desert sweat, haven't you learned loyalty, filial piety and righteousness in Luoyang for many years? Why did he take Sima Yan's Yulu in Luoyang, and when he returned to the tribe, he changed his hexagram? ”

"I am a barbarian, and I don't have to learn from the Han people to be loyal to the country. Besides, in the past hundred years, the Han and Wei dynasties and the Wei and Jin dynasties have been Chan twice. I have not heard of all the Han people committing suicide to be loyal to the Han Dynasty, nor have I heard of the Wei people being loyal to Cao Wei. ”

"Humph! Sure enough, he has sharp teeth. Ben will not argue with you about this, but will ask you a question, what do you want? ”

"First, survival. Second, seek the throne of Khan. ”

"Tell me a little bit more."

"I have two brothers, one is called Xilu and the other is Luguan. One for each. All of them are determined to inherit the throne of their father Khan. When I returned, my two brothers regarded me as an enemy, and they both wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible. If the second brother does not die, I will not live. Second, after getting rid of the second brother, I should inherit the throne of my father Khan. Ensure that the Tuoba Department continues to serve the Han Dynasty. ”

"Humph! In recent years, both Tuoba Xilu and Tuoba Luguan have continuously sent envoys to make friends with our Han Dynasty, and Xilu grazing in the Hetao has made great contributions to maintaining the stability of many tribes in the Hetao. And the Lu officials are also conscientious in maintaining the business of my Han in the north of Youzhou, why should I get rid of them who cooperate happily to support you who don't know anything at all? ”

"It is precisely because they are too familiar with the Han that no matter who they are in power in the future, they will take it for granted, and they will not be grateful to the Han. And the contemptible people are different, the contemptible people have a shallow foundation in the tribe, and after taking the throne, they have no choice but to firmly attach themselves to the Han. ”

"Well, what you're saying doesn't make sense, so? What do you want to do? ”

"When the contemptible man came back from Luoyang, he brought three hundred Jin Cao. These people are good at assassination. The contemptible people will ask them to take action on the grounds that they can only control the tribe by assassinating their two younger brothers, and that they can only help the Great Jin after controlling the tribe. After these people are successful, can General Wen punish these three hundred advances for me? In this way, all the charges for assassinating the nobles of the tribe fell on the Jin people, and I myself had no possibility of rebelling against the Han and returning to the Jin. can only serve the Han wholeheartedly. Isn't it beautiful to do that? ”