Pei Xingjian arranged a unified residence for Xue Shao and the people of the Three Knife Brigade, a courtyard not far from the palace of the marching governor, and the treasury used by the yamen to store grain taxes in the past, as soon as it was temporarily rebuilt, it became a military collective dormitory.

As usual, the moon slave took the first step to arrange the sleeping bunk, and when he saw this situation, he was dumbfounded and blushed - how can I sleep peacefully with my son in a big shop like this?

The silly boys of the Three Swords Brigade all laughed secretly, the moon slave was very annoyed, the general shook his majesty, and immediately ordered: "You go and get some firewood immediately, and separate a separate house for my son-in-law!" ”

The silly boys of the Three Swords Brigade were willing to serve General Anda, but they laughed and laughed, which made the moon slave even more ashamed, and picked up a lacquer gun and began to chase them, causing the whole dormitory to jump and the sleeping bunks that had just been set up were overturned.

was having a good time, Xue Shao and Pei Xingjian came together. Everyone immediately stopped, lined up and flashed along the corner.

"It seems that the old man is not thoughtful!" Pei Xingjian, who has always been strict in governing the army, didn't care, and said with a smile, "Chengyu, you move to the courtyard next door to live, there are still a few vacant rooms there." ”

Before Xue Shao could answer, Yue Nu said happily: "Thank you Pei Gong!" ”

"Have I allowed you to speak?" Xue Shao said angrily, "Lawless, and you dare to fight with weapons in the barracks, I think you owe it to you!" ”

"Childe is angry, the moon slave knows that it is wrong...... "The moon slave said sneeringly, although she admitted her mistake, but she didn't feel awkward in her heart. Because she clearly heard it, Childe was making a show in front of Pei Gong to discipline her, and there was a little doting and pampering in his words - this feeling had never been felt before.

"Yuenu is just a little girl, after all, she is not a real Tang Guard, what are you scolding her for?" Pei Xingjian was anxious to exonerate the moon slave, and said with a smile, "Yue slave, go and clean up, I have something to say to your son-in-law." ”

"Yes, Pei Gong." The moon slave walked away with a grin.

"Pei Gong, you will spoil her like this." Xue Shao shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"Girls are squeamish by nature, and they should be used to it." Pei Xingjian said with a smile, "After leaving Chang'an for many days, the old man really misses the little elf ghost of the demon a little." ”

"I also hope to finish the war as soon as possible and return to Chang'an." Xue Shao said.

Pei Xingjian nodded and said, "The veteran soldiers of the division are tired, and the daily consumption is very large. In the previous round, our army won three battles and three victories, and it was a big fight. If you can't conquer it for another month or two, it will decline again and be exhausted. In addition, although our army was victorious, the soldiers were homesick for a long time, and the number of wounded soldiers was gradually increasing, and the logistical supply of the 300,000-strong army had already brought a heavy burden to the people of Hebei's prefectures and counties. Therefore, the sooner this war ends, the sooner it ends, the better. ”

"Does Pei Gong have a strategy?" Xue Shao asked.

Pei Xingjian wrung his eyebrows slightly, and said: "It's still the same method, attack the shield of the other with the spear of the other, and implement the counter-strategy to make the Turks chaotic, and then our army can take advantage of it, and it is best to win without a fight." ”

"Then shouldn't you put Fu Nian back now?" Xue Shao asked again.

Pei Xingjian nodded, and shook his head again, "Fu Nian must be put back, otherwise how can the Turks form a situation of one mountain and two tigers?" However, it cannot be easily put back. We have to negotiate first, and make the Turks pay a more expensive price and exchange Fu Nian back. ”

"Are the Turks willing to negotiate?"

"Yes." Pei Xingjian said, "After the third war, the old man sent a letter of persuasion to the Turkic rebels. Ashdwin Fu sent someone back to the book, saying that he could consider returning to the Tang Dynasty. But they have three conditions. ”

"What are the three conditions?"

Pei Xingjian said: "First, he wants us to release their Funian Khan and the other three captives first; Second, the Tang Dynasty was asked to ensure that all Turks would not be questioned after submission; Third, it is also necessary for the Tang Dynasty to guarantee that after the war, the Turkic people will not be forcibly relocated from the grassland. ”

Xue Shao couldn't help but sneer, "This first condition is quite reasonable; The latter two are national policies that can only be decided after the imperial court has been discussed. Judging from the determination of the Northern Expedition of the Tang Dynasty, it is very likely that the imperial court will not agree. Even if you reluctantly agree, it will take a long time to ask for instructions and make decisions back and forth. This is enough to see that Ashdwin Fu is clearly deliberately making things difficult and delaying time, and he is not sincere in submitting to him. ”

"Of course." Pei Xingjian said, "If Ashdwin Fuken surrenders, then when the old man won the Northern Expedition last time, he should come and surrender." has gathered people to rebel twice, and Datang will definitely not spare Ashdwin Fu. Therefore, if there is one person on the steppe who would rather die than submit, that person must be Ashdwin! ”

"However, after our army won three battles and three victories, especially after Pei Gong issued a letter of persuasion to surrender, the confidence of a large number of people within the grassland rebels must have been shaken, and there must be many people who are willing to surrender." Xue Shao said, "That also means that our counter-plan has room for maneuver and the possibility of success." ”

"Clever." Pei Xingjian nodded approvingly and said, "Those three bloody battles were not fought in vain. After the Third World War, the Turkic rebels suffered numerous casualties, and Ashdwin Fu abandoned the Black Sand and fled in embarrassment, and his subordinates inevitably left Germany, and there must have been differences of opinion within the rebels. Therefore, Ashdwin Fu Cai was very eager for the spiritual leader of the Turks, the pseudo-khan Fu Nian, to return at this time to help him stabilize the morale of the army. ”

Xue Shao's heart suddenly lit up, and he asked, "So, what is Fu Nian's will after the three battles?" ”

Now, Fu Nian has clearly realized that the current Turks are not the opponents of the Tang Dynasty. If they continue to fight, the Turks will only be defeated and collapsed one after another. So he expressed his willingness to return to Datang. Pei Xingjian twisted his brows and said: "Fu Nian is worthy of being a hero on the grassland, he has seen a fact clearly, that is, now neither the Tang Dynasty nor the Turks can completely defeat each other, and they both hope to end this war as soon as possible." Therefore, he was willing to endure humiliation and submit to obedience. It's not that he's really scared and succumbed, but - he wants to preserve his strength for the Turks! ”

"So the Turks ...... After all, it's a big problem! Xue Shao couldn't help but sigh lightly, Datang's fifty-year restraint policy was finally a problem for raising tigers, and it was difficult to eradicate it for a while!

Pei Xingjian's expression was not so relaxed, he nodded, and said, "Chengyu, just you and I are aware of this layer, it is far from enough. If the temple can clearly recognize this fact, it will be a blessing. ”

Xue Shao nodded silently, he understood the meaning of Pei Xingjian's words.

In less than two years, Pei Xingjian presided over two Northern Expeditions, each dispatching 300,000 troops. Just from the scale of this troop, it can be seen that the Tang Dynasty wants to completely solve the Turkic problem once and for all by relying on the use of force in a war.

This also means that there are still many people in the temple of the Tang Dynasty, who are still dreaming of the Spring and Autumn Festival of the "Heavenly Khan", and they think that as long as the Tang Dynasty King comes out, he will definitely be subdued from all over the world.

But that's not the case. During the two Northern Expeditions, the Tang Dynasty dispatched 600,000 troops, spent countless manpower, money and food, and fought its own lack of national strength, but the rebellion of the Turks became more fierce each time. Take this Northern Expedition as an example, the war has been carried out so far, all parts of Hebei have been overwhelmed, the people have been displaced, the men and horses are tired and the wounded soldiers are full of camps, and the army's war-weariness has risen spontaneously - if it were not for this, why would Pei Xingjian, who has always been cautious in the use of troops, be in a hurry to "win quickly"?

The Tang army won three battles and three victories, and on the surface, the balance of victory was completely tilted in favor of the Tang Dynasty. But in fact, there have been some subtle changes in the comparison of the strength of the two sides - that is, although Datang won, it is getting more and more tired; Although the Turks were defeated, their will to rebel is getting stronger and stronger!

When the war is fought to this extent, it is no longer something that can be solved by the "war" itself. This must be done in the court, in the political field, to formulate appropriate national policies to resolve the contradictions between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, and to solve the problem of pacification and subjugation after the war.

But the problem is that now the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Zhi, lives in the deep palace all the year round to recuperate, the monarchy is released to the queen of heaven, the prince is weak and the future is uncertain, coupled with the emperor and queen secretly fighting for power, and the ministers do not know where to go, which makes the political situation of the Tang Dynasty full of unknown undercurrents and hidden crises.

The emperor was unified, and the people were panicked, and the government was chaotic and difficult to decide.

Such a self-caring Tang Dynasty, can it still solve the Turkic border troubles with one heart and one mind like the enterprising Tang Dynasty in the Taizong era?

Thinking of this, Xue Shao's brows tightened, and he shook his head inadvertently.

At this moment, Pei Xingjian said: "Chengyu, the old man is already very old, and time is running out. The Turks are incapable of destroying for a while, and this is already a fact in front of us. Datang's border problems in the future, I'm afraid you will have to work hard. ”

Xue Shao immediately smiled, and smiled wordlessly.

Although the time to enter the official career is still short, Xue Shao has a soul from the 21st century in his body. He can clearly "predict" a future than any far-sighted person at present, that is, the next few decades may be the most special and chaotic era in the history of the Tang Dynasty.

Because a woman is about to subvert a thousand-year-old tradition and come to the forefront of politics and history. She will get rid of the life of the Tang Dynasty, so as to ascend to the top and rule the world and establish a red-makeup dynasty that respects women. This unprecedented and unique era of empress in Chinese history contains too many changes, chaos, turmoil, complexity, unknowns and contradictions, which cannot be exhausted.

Xue Shao just thought about it, and felt that this was a future full of countless unknowns and dangers. If you really face it in the future, can you still guarantee that you will have the spare strength to solve the problems of the Turks?

In such a chaotic political frenzy, it is still a question whether I, Xue Shao, can save my life!

Pei Xingjian saw the smile that flashed slightly on Xue Shao's face, revealing endless helplessness and bitterness. He also smiled bitterly, patted Xue Shao's shoulder gently, and said, "In every era, some people are needed to step forward and shoulder heavy responsibilities. Do you still remember what the old man asked you that day when he gave you the book of war? ”

"Yes." Xue Shao took a deep breath and said, "Pei Gong asked me if I would regret choosing to embark on this road from Rong one day. The student replied at the time that he would not regret it! ”

Pei Xingjian nodded, "Then, you have no choice." ”