Although it is winter, the sun is still warm, Fu Yun stands on the tower of Fu Qi City, looking east, the frozen jade Qinghai Lake, like a beautiful and colorful painting, has been extended to the foot of the majestic Sun Moon Mountain, the mountains and grasslands are covered in silver, shining in the sun. Fu Yun asked Murong Qiang beside him, "Are you ready?" ”

Murong Qiang leaned over and said: "Back to the Great Khan, the minister has chosen two hundred Qinghai horses as stallions, and the Qimin Khan will definitely be satisfied." ”

As early as ancient times, Qinghai Lake was an important production area for horses, cattle, sheep and other livestock, and the Qin horses during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period came from Qinghai Lake; After the establishment of the Tuhun Valley, it continued to mate and improve with Wusun horses and sweat horses, and Qinghai Cheng has developed into a unique horse, which is not only famous for its good galloping, but also known for its ability to fight habitually. Not only did the Great Sui need Qinghai Cong, but even the Eastern and Western Turks and Xue Yantuo also sought to buy through various channels, and even stole or robbed; Therefore, in the law of Tuguhun, only murderers and horse thieves are punished by death, and the rest of the sins can be atonement by means of levies.

Qimin Khan and Fu Yun both intermarried with the Great Sui, one married Princess Yicheng, and the other married Princess Guanghua, and the two had long been in contact, but it was not until this year that Fu Yun made up his mind and agreed to send the horse to Saibei, that is, the news from Yulin City was too terrible, and as the identity of Qimin Khan, he had to compromise and personally toast to Emperor Yang Guang of Sui. Fu Yun weighed it in his heart for a month, and found that his strength was really not enough to compare with the Qimin Khan, so he challenged the Great Sui alone and agreed to the Eastern Turkic alliance of the Qimin Khan.

As for the Western Turks of Luo Khan in the mud, Fu Yun did not consider it at all, not that Luo Khan's strength in the mud was not enough, but because of geographical factors, if the Western Turks in close proximity wanted to rise, they would first have to destroy Tuyuhun and Xue Yantuo. The plain of the royal city of Tuyuhun is surrounded by four mountain ranges: Datong Mountain, Riyue Mountain, Qinghai Nanshan and Rubber Mountain, connecting Xiping and Jincheng in the east, reaching Yizhou in the south and Shanshan in the west; From the four mountains down to the shores of Qinghai Lake, there are vast and flat grasslands for thousands of miles, as well as fertile fields where barley, millet, beans and other crops can be grown, all of which are urgently needed by the Western Turks.

Even if the Western Turks controlled the Western Regions, they could not maintain the replenishment of food and supplies, so they could only turn west and compete with Persia for the plains further west. As a result, the Western Turks' control over the countries of the Western Regions was even weaker, and Gaochang and other countries were all secretly at odds with the Great Sui and the Eastern Turks. Just like Fu Yun, he is not connected with the Eastern Turks, just to deal with the Great Sui, and he is also willing to bow down to the Qimin Khan.

What Fu Yun is worried about is this, both himself and the Qimin Khan may be beaten by Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty; It's really going to get to that point, Fu Yun understands that he can only retreat to the plateau and wait for the opportunity. As long as you enter the Hengduan Mountain, Kunlun Mountain or Qilian Mountain, with the assistance of the Xiqiang ethnic groups, you will definitely be able to repel the invading Sui army and gain time to survive and repair.

Murong Qiang didn't hear Fu Yun's praise, he felt a little strange in his heart, and when he looked up and saw that Fu Yun was pondering, Murong Qiang didn't dare to disturb and waited quietly aside. It wasn't until Fu Yun came back to his senses that Murong Qiang said, "I heard that the Eight Kingdoms of Zhaowu sent five bloody horses to Luo Khan in the mud, and it is estimated that they have reached an agreement. King, do you want to go see that old guy in Datou? ”

"Of course I want to go." Fu Yun said without hesitation: "Let's go now." ”

Datou was the son of Murdianmi, the Khan of the Western Turks, and initially submitted to the Eastern Turks. After the death of the Eastern Turk Tabo Khan, the country was in turmoil, Datou and the Eastern Turk Sha Bo Luo Khan joined forces to invade the Sui Dynasty in China, and withdrew the troops without authorization halfway, resulting in the defeat of the Sui army, Da Tou took the opportunity to unite with the Apo Khan in the west of the Eastern Turks and others to oppose the Sha Bo Khan, and no longer obeyed the orders of the Eastern Turks, which was the beginning of the formal division of the Eastern and Western Turks.

Later, Datou and the Eastern Turk Dulan Khan, against the Sui Dynasty alliance with the Sui Dynasty Dyingan Khan, the eighteenth year of the emperor was defeated by the Sui Dynasty reinforcements, Dulan was killed by the Sui Dynasty army, Dye Gan was established by the Sui Dynasty as the Qimin Khan, Datou then called himself Bujia Khan, marched into the Eastern Turks, and became the co-lord of the entire Turk for a while. In the first year of Renshou, Emperor Wen of Sui sent Yang Su and others to attack Datou's subordinates with the assistance of Qimin. In the third year of Renshou, the Datou army was defeated, and the Datou Khan fled into Tuyuhun and lived in the city of Fuqiu.

The eighty-year-old Datou Khan was in good spirits, and with a bald head, he smiled and invited Fu Yun and Murong Qiang to the living room to sit down, and asked the house slave to bring three glasses of wine; Fu Yun talked about the current situation in the entire Central Plains, Saibei, and Western Regions, and asked humbly: "Senior, in your opinion, how will the situation evolve in the future?" ”

Datou Khan looked at the wisps of sunlight in the corner of the wall, tasted the mellow wine, and said after a while: "You and the three of Mud Luo and Qimin will definitely be able to defeat Yang Guang, the question is whether the three of you can join forces." As long as any one is missing, even if the one less is watching from the side, the remaining two can't beat Yang Guang; If you are ready to go head-to-head, then I can only say that it is better to be like this, at the very least, you can buy time, and live one more year is a year. ”

Fu Yun pondered for a while and said, "Can you tell me, what kind of person is the Khan of Qimin?" ”

"Villain." Datou Khan simply said neatly: "For the sake of one person's selfish interests, he does not hesitate to sell the interests of the entire Turkic, such a person is not a villain." If it weren't for him, the Turks would not have been divided into two parts, East and West, and would have lost the ability to challenge the Central Plains. ”

Murong Qiang said disappreciatively: "The Khan's words are serious, not to mention that there is a possibility of recombination between the east and the west, the first part of the Khan of Guangqimin, if it develops over time, once the west descends to Xue Yantuo and the east Union Goguryeo succeeds, it will be able to compete with the Great Sui." ”

Datou Khan said disdainfully: "What's the use of that? At best, during the civil strife of the Sui Dynasty, he invaded Bingzhou, Yanshan and other places, and if you imagine Liu Yuan and Shi Le, leading the army into the Central Plains, there is no chance at all. If you lose both sides with the Great Sui, the Great Sui's recovery ability is much faster than that of the Eastern Turks; And whether the Western Turks, Xue Yantuo, and you will take advantage of the void or not, it is difficult to say. ”

The survival of the strong on the grassland, the success or defeat of the king is just a matter of a battle, and the Datou Khan is not dizzy, so he sees the situation very clearly. Fu Yun was a little embarrassed and said: "The seniors are serious, Fu Yun still knows the priorities, and he will not do what the relatives and enemies are happy about." ”

Datou Khan laughed, drank the wine in the glass and said: "Little Lao'er is already old, and after so many years in Tuguhun, he no longer sees himself as a Turk. ”

Although Tuyuhun is also called Khan, but the degree of Sinicization of Tuyuhun is far more than that of the Turks, centralized power, there are kings, public titles and servants, Shangshu, generals, Lang and other official positions, not only there are imperial palaces in the city, the prince's uniform style is slightly the same as the Han nationality, and the use of Chinese language. Fu Yun once proclaimed himself the king of Tuhun, and he liked to hear others call him king, Datou Khan had dealt with Fu Yun for many years, so he naturally knew this.

Fu Yun was really happy in his heart, and he also drank the wine in the cup and said, "I have made up my mind, take a gamble." ”