The grasslands of March are destined to be enveloped in a joyful atmosphere. Nowruz, which has been passed down for thousands of years, is one of the most important festivals of the Turkic people, equivalent to the Spring Festival in the Central Plains.

On this day, every Turkic family will light a pile of pine and cypress branches in front of their houses, and use the fireworks of pine and cypress branches to pray to the gods that their livestock will grow fat and strong without disease and disaster. So on this day, they no longer slaughtered livestock, but cooked Nowruz rice with grain like the people of the Central Plains and ate it. In fact, it is porridge, which they call "Chong Ke Que", which translates to Chinese as "hearty porridge".

Just as the Turks also sent envoys to Beijing with cattle and sheep during the Spring Festival to pay New Year's greetings to the emperor of the Central Plains, the Tang Dynasty also sent envoys to the grassland with a lot of grain that could cook rich porridge to congratulate the Turkic Khan Gulu on the festival.

Gu Lulu and his masterminds Yuanzhen, Ye Hu and other important ministers came to Nanya Heisha in advance, solemnly received the Tang envoy in the tooth tent, and invited the Tang envoy to attend their grand celebration together, and did not disperse until late at night.

Then, Gu Lulu, Yuan Zhen, and Du Xilu started another party, which was far more important than the Nowruz celebration.

"Abodagan, this is the personal gift that the Tang envoy gave you?" Gu Lulu pointed to a cloth bag box on the kraft felt table, "Can I open it and take a look?" ”

Yuan Zhen smiled, "Khan, please." ”

The Turks are far from having so many rituals in the Central Plains, and Gu Lulu personally stepped forward to open the box, slightly surprised, it was actually filled with a human head.

"What does the Tang Dynasty mean?" Du Xiluo was suddenly angry, "Such an auspicious Nowruz Festival, they actually used human heads as a congratulatory gift?!" ”

"Ye Hu is a little restless, don't be impatient." Yuan Zhen said, "Khan still remembers, whose head is this?" ”

Gu Lulu picked up the human head that had not rotted half of it after being treated with medicine and spices, looked at it carefully, and said lightly: "Li Xiantong." ”

"Khan has good eyesight and good memory. I still remember such a little-known little person like Li Xiantong. Yuan Zhen smiled, "If the minister is not mistaken, the khan has only met him once in total, right?" ”

Gu Lulu quietly put down his head, "Abodagan, what is the purpose of the Tang Dynasty's move?" ”

"Back to the Khan, the minister talked to the Tang envoy in private. He told the minister about the origin of the human head, and there was some other important information. This information may be related to the human head, but it is far more important than the human head itself. Yuan Zhen said, "Which one does the Khan want to hear from his ministers first?" ”

Gu Lulu sat down very calmly, took out his silver knife from his boots and cut off a piece of roast meat, put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly, "Which one is interesting, let's talk about which one first." ”

"I listen to Khan!" He also sat down and cut meat with a knife to eat, and while gobbling it up, he muttered, "If you don't kill animals and don't eat meat on Nowruz's Day, it's uncomfortable to stay up all day!" ”

"Khan, in fact, the meaning of the Tang Dynasty sending this head is very simple, they don't want to go to war again." Yuan Zhen said.

Duxi's movements paused slightly, and he continued to cut the meat, "Is there a relationship between the two?" ”

"Yes." Yuan Zhen said, "Li Xiantong's whole was killed because he went to the palace to assassinate the emperor and the empress dowager of the Tang Dynasty during the Shangyuan Festival in the Central Plains. ”

"Oh?!" This time, the movements of Gu Lu and Du Xi stopped at the same time, and they let out a surprise together.

"Of course, he failed." Yuan Zhen smiled and said, "Lost at the hands of one, our old friend." ”

"Xue Shao?"

"Yes."

Gu Lulu put down the knife, wiped his hands with a linen cloth, and said seriously: "Tell me in detail." ”

"Yes."

So Yuan Zhen told Li Xiantong the whole story of the assassination, in front of Gu Lu and Du Xilu, and said it as if he was there.

"Apodagan, did Li Xiantong follow your instructions before going to assassinate?" Gu Lulu asked.

"You can say yes, you can say no." Yuan Zhen replied.

"What's the explanation?"

Yuan Zhen said: "After Li Xiantong fled to the grassland last time, he thought about returning to the Central Plains every day to avenge his blood hatred, and he came to beg me every day to help him fulfill this wish. This annoyed me, so I gave him a few riding slaves and sent him back to the Central Plains. At the temporary time, Li Xiantong took the initiative to promise me that he would definitely make great achievements and come back. I asked him how he made meritorious service, and he said, killing any one or more of the emperor, the queen mother, and Xue Shao in the Central Plains, is it considered meritorious service? ”

"This is a lost dog with ambition, violence, and hatred, and whether he can do great things or not, our khanate should not accept him." ”

"That's what the Khan said, and that's what the minister thought at the time." Yuan Zhen smiled slightly and said, "If he succeeds, it may be of little benefit to us, but it will inevitably arouse the hatred of the whole country of the Tang Dynasty, and it will be tantamount to setting ourselves on fire to our khanate." In fact, Li Xiantong launched the Tianjin Bridge Line to assassinate Xue Shao last time, saying that it was to serve us to eliminate a strong enemy, but in fact, he was more to vent his personal anger. There can be no real victory by relying on such a despicable assassination plot. From then on, I didn't want to use Fairy Tong anymore. But he couldn't get rid of him for a while—and now he could finally settle down. ”

Du Xiluo interjected on the side, "This person named Li Xiantong was still in the Imperial Forest Army before, and his family was all important ministers of the Tang Dynasty, maybe it was still a little useful." With some information he sent, we won a few good battles. But his ambition and appetite are too great, and he actually wants to join forces with our Turks to conquer and annex states and occupy the whole of Hebei. And then he also wanted a piece of land to be king. As a result, he met Xue Shao in Bingzhou, and he almost lost and almost killed his family. Since then, Li Xiantong has been useless except to cause trouble. It's good to be dead now, clean to be dead! ”

"Li Xiantong's ambition is too big, the city government is too deep, and his heart is too poisonous, after all, he is cocooning himself." Yuan Zhen smiled and said, "This time he took the initiative to return to the Central Plains to make meritorious contributions, but in fact, he also realized that I no longer valued him and didn't want to use him anymore." Then he wanted to make a special contribution so that he could have a foothold in the future. ”

"Li Xiantong killed his grandfather, betrayed his father, and then betrayed his mother country." Du Xilu said very disdainfully, "If you don't want such a scum Tang Dynasty, will we want it in the Turkic Khanate?" ”

"You're right. This man is good when he dies, and he is pure when he dies. "However, will the Tang Dynasty be angry with our Turks because of this assassination case and send troops to conquer it?" ”

"Khan, the minister just said that the intention of the Tang Dynasty to send this human head is not to start a war." Yuan Zhen said, "This is what the Tang envoy told his ministers - this Li Xiantong assassinated the Middle Palace because of a personal vendetta, but he falsely claimed to be a Turkic assassin. His aim was to sow discord in this way so that the two countries could resume the war. His heart is as vicious as a demon in hell. Even if he died, he could let out a crazy laugh when he could see countless people die in the war between the two countries in the eighteen layers of hell. ”

"That's a good statement." Gu Lulu smiled, "So, although the Tang Dynasty knows all the truth, it doesn't want to start a war at all?" ”

"Yes." Yuan Zhen said, "If the two countries really want to go to war again, they must need a good excuse, otherwise they will be unknown." Now that there is such a big and such a good excuse there, it is enough to see that they are afraid of war, not only do they turn a blind eye but also take the initiative to cover it up. ”

"That's just right, hit!" "The more they don't want to fight, the better time we start a war!" ”

"Not necessarily. We can't underestimate the woman who ruled the Tang Dynasty. She's not stupid enough to beat herself up, so we can take advantage of it. Gu Lulu poured a bucket of cold water on his head, "You sit down first and put away your knife." Let's listen to the mastermind first. ”

He picked up the knife and used it, sat down obediently, and wiped the blade with the corner of his clothes.

Yuan Zhen said: "The second thing that the minister wants to say is related to this human head but far more important than this human head itself, that is, Xue Shao is back in charge of the army. Moreover, it was accepted that the Purple Gold Fish Fu commanded all the soldiers and horses in the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and also led the Imperial Forest Army. ”

With a "dang" sound, the knife in his hand fell to the ground. He hurriedly picked it up, and explained with a strange face, "There was oil on my hands, and it slipped off." ”

"You don't have to hide it." Gu Lulu took a deep breath, "Hearing this news, my heart is also a little nervous. ”

Yuan Zhen's expression also became much more serious, "Khan, this is indeed not good news for us Turks. ”

"yes!" Gu Lulu nodded slowly with a deep expression, "That scene, I still remember it vividly. Pei Gong pointed at Xue Shao in front of me and said to me - this person is the nightmare of all you Turks in the next few decades. ”

"This guy is a nightmare indeed." "The last time I went to the Tang Dynasty was a complete success, I ended up fighting him at the banquet in the Lin De Palace. Hey, it's bad luck to think about. There are dozens of stunning beauties, they were forcibly kept by Xue Shao, and none of them were brought to the grassland! ”

"There's no need to talk about this kind of thing." Gu Lulu reprimanded lightly, and then said to Yuan Zhen, "It seems that the Empress Dowager Wu of the Tang Dynasty was afraid that our Turks would start a war now, so she moved Xue Shao out of the town to scare us. What shall we do, say, my mastermind Apodgan? ”

"Do nothing." Yuan Zhen replied decisively.

"What do you mean?"

Yuan Zhen replied: "Khan, we have been fighting with the Tang Dynasty for several years, and the Tang Dynasty has suffered heavy losses and cannot afford to consume it, and our grassland people also need to recuperate. What's more, now some tribes with the surname Tiele have become a little restless under the instigation of the Tang Dynasty and want to break away from our Khanate and join the Tang Dynasty. In particular, the Xi and Khitan in the east are growing day by day, and if left unchecked, they will surely become the most direct threat to the khanate in the future. Therefore, we might as well buy Empress Dowager Wu's face and make a favor and continue to maintain the current friendly relationship with them. We can also free up our hands and take care of the internal affairs. ”

"It makes sense." Gu Lulu nodded in approval, "No matter what the purpose of Empress Dowager Wu is for letting Xue Shao return to the military, Xue Shao is still not to be underestimated. If he planned the military of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty would inevitably take very strict precautions, and it would be difficult for us to have a good opportunity. Instead of this, it is better to coax the Empress Dowager Wu with good words, and ask for some rewards and benefits every once in a while. Perhaps, we can also use the power of the Tang Dynasty to help us deal with the Xi and Khitan? ”

Yuan Zhen laughed, "Khan is wise! ”