The first entry into the grassland brought freshness to everyone, and also let them know that this journey had just begun.

The next morning, after everyone got up, Li Xiang settled everyone must be cautious in the next few days, after all, they have now entered the Turkic range, and they may encounter the Turkic tribes nomadic in the steppe at any time.

After a short pre-departure meeting, the Volunteers reconnaissance company explored the way ahead, and then the group headed deep into the grassland.

The Kachin tribe is a small branch of the Nogai tribe, and since there are only about forty tents in the whole tribe, they are one of the few smallest tribes in the Nogai tribe, so they do not have abundant water and grassland to live in, nor do they have a large number of cattle and sheep. He could only survive on a barren meadow that he had won from the headman.

Fortunately, this year, because the Khan was going to attack the Great Sui, their tribe also sent more than 100 warriors, and the leader made an exception to give them twice as many cattle and sheep as in previous years, and allowed them to migrate to the Langai grassland, which is closer to the Nogai tribe.

Today is the day when I decided to migrate. The old men, women and children of the tribe had already packed their belongings and put them on the ox carts. The remaining men of the tribe opened the way ahead, and the procession of less than two hundred began to move towards their new homeland.

"Grandma, did you think the place we are going to is more beautiful than here?" A five- or six-year-old girl sitting on an ox cart, with her head full of braids, kept talking to her grandmother, looking at the scenery around her. It was the farthest she'd ever been since she was born, excited and happy.

"Beautiful! There are bigger lakes, bluer skies, and falcons and blood-red foals you haven't seen before. The beautiful young woman smiled and told her daughter about a bright future. When your Abba comes back this time, he will definitely bring us back a lot of good things, and when the time comes, he will dress up our beautiful Elaine like Horton. ”

"Grandma, have you seen Horton?" Elaine tilted her little head, her black eyes were like two grapes, and she looked at her grandmother with a bright face.

The young woman nodded and said, "Grandma also saw Hordon when she was a child, and at that time Hordun and Auntie were the same age, and they just came to our steppe, and she was as beautiful as Lake Baikal. The young woman spoke, as if she remembered the scene.

"At that time, it was Qiming Khan who married He Dun, and I followed Qi Jin to watch the ceremony, and the scene was too grand. The whole grassland was boiling, the dowry of the emperor of the Sui Dynasty was not in sight, and the gold and silver were shining in the sun. ”

"Grandma, when I grow up, I want to be a Horton, and I also want to hold the most grand wedding ceremony." Elaine left the best wishes in her little heart.

The young woman touched her face and smiled: "Okay, when the time comes, Grandma will buy the best dowry for Elaine!" ”

"Alert!" The conversation between the mother and daughter was broken by a sudden shout, and the women invariably picked up the whips and sticks around them to protect their children. The men surrounded the whole group in the middle, looking intently into the distance.

"What happened?" Tong Jin rode to the front of the line. A man in his forties rode over.

"Tong Jin, there seems to be a Sui army in front!" He saluted at his horse.

"Nonsense!" If you don't fight in one place, how can a good person find the Sui army in the grassland.

"Tong Jin, it's true, I opened the road with the Duke brothers in front, and I saw that team of people from a distance, it was indeed the dress of the Sui army, and there were quite a few people." The man was a little anxious.

Seeing that he didn't seem to be talking nonsense, Tong Jin waved his hand and called a man with a longbow on his back, "Don't, you go to the front with him to see if there is a Sui army, go and go back quickly." ”

Don't beat your right hand twice on the chest with a fist, whistle, and slap the horse's buttocks, like an arrow, and in an instant it was a few meters away, and the man also ran over.

Not far away was a small hill, don't go under the mountain, turn over and dismount, pat the horse's neck, let go of the reins, tell it to graze by itself, and climb to the top of the mountain. As far as the eye could see, about five hundred meters away, a group of men and horses was heading north. And these people are all dressed up in the Sui Dynasty, holding weapons in their hands, the formation is very neat, there is no head to ear, looking at their mounts should be horses on the grassland, and they are moving very fast.

Don't be out of sight of the leader anymore, there are about 200 people in sight now. He was a little puzzled in his heart, why the army of the Sui Dynasty would appear here, and there were so many people, after thinking about it for a while, he didn't delay, he went down directly, and rode back to report it. The man in the back had just come over, and he turned back again, so he had to follow back again.

Seeing Tong Jin, don't tell what you just saw, Tong Jin frowned and thought for a while, thinking that he should still tell the head the news before he could do it, so he told Don't bring dry food, and chose two good horses to go to the Blue Cover Grassland to inform the head first, and the team of people and horses followed.

Don't choose your horse quickly, just whistle and leap away. Tong Jin also ordered all the personnel to be ready for battle, and then advanced towards the Blue Cover Grassland.

This is the fourth day that Li Xiang and them have entered the grassland, and in these four days, they have continued to advance towards the depths of the grassland, but it is a pity that for so long, they have not encountered any tribes, or even no people. In the vast grassland, only the wind accompanies their footprints.

Everyone has long lost their initial enthusiasm for the grassland, and everywhere they look, it is the same. Li Xiang was also puzzled, it was impossible not to meet a tribe for so long. After studying the map for a long time, I still couldn't find anything wrong.

It was still the statements given by a few experienced veterans that made Li Xiang more convinced. It turns out that since the split of the Eastern and Western Turks, the war on the steppe has not stopped. Moreover, in recent years, there have been frequent skirmishes within the Eastern Turks themselves, not to mention the tense relations with the Sui Dynasty during these days. Therefore, many tribes have migrated from their original habitats to the hinterland of the grassland, so as to avoid the attack of the Sui army, and secondly, they can live together with other tribes, whether it is internal annexation or external invasion, the strength will be greater.

Li Xiang figured out what was going on, and began to think about what to do next. Originally, it was said that they would plunder a few small tribes and change them into Turkic clothes, but who knew that it would be like this, but now it seems that this plan has come to naught.

Moreover, the grain and grass they brought with them were also exhausted, and if they did not replenish it, they would starve to death on the grassland, and they would die of a nest. After thinking about it for a long time, I still looked at the map and called Liu Yang over.

After Liu Yang rode a horse to give Li Xiang a salute, Li Xiang asked, "Did the soldiers you sent out to reconnoiter come back, and did you find anything around?" ”

Liu Yang shook his head and said: "According to the current terrain, this grassland should be a no-man's land specially set aside by the Turks, and there should be no tribes." To see the Turks, I think it would take about two days to walk. ”

Li Xiang really ran out of ideas, no matter how good his idea was, it was impossible for him to conjure up people out of thin air, so he had to nod, continue to look at the map, and calculate where the two-day journey would go.

Just then, a soldier rode over and reported that he had captured a Turkic scout. Li Xiang suddenly came to his senses, no matter what tribe it is now, as long as he can see a Turkic person, at least he can know where there is a tribe. Beckon for the scout to be brought up.

Several generals also knew that the Turkic scouts had been caught, and they were all a little excited, just like onlookers playing monkeys, and they all came to Li Xiang's surroundings. The scout was brought up, his eyes were fierce, and his mouth was just muttering nonsense.

Li Xiang hadn't spoken yet, Cheng Yanjin was also muttering on the side, and his expression was hideous, everyone was stunned at this moment, it turned out that this guy could speak Turkic!

Who knew that Turkic scout, looking at Cheng Yanjin blankly, not knowing what this person was talking about. Li Xiang saw that people didn't understand at all, so he asked: "Biting Jin, where did you just say, how do I feel that people don't understand?" ”

Cheng Biting Jin patted his chest and said: "I said nonsense, I saw him talking and staring at him just now, he must have scolded us, so I also said a few nonsense words to scare him, you see, he is not honest now!" ”

Everyone almost went up and beat him, what kind of person is this?

Li Xiang hurriedly waved his hand and told him to stay away, and then he called two soldiers who knew Hu and asked them to translate.

Li Xiang asked, "Which tribe are you from, why are you following us?" ”

After listening to the translation, the scout said: "You are all Sui people, if you dare to come to our grassland, the god of the grassland will punish you." ”

Li Xiang thought for a while, and asked the interpreter to tell the scouts that they were sent by Shibi Khan to see Princess Yicheng, and they had urgent matters, because they didn't know the way, so they came here, and they had no ill will towards the Turks on the steppe.

After the translator finished speaking, the scout was obviously a little suspicious, but his attitude was much better than just now, and he thought for a long time before asking Li Xiang why the Khan would send the Sui people, and why it was not their Turks.

Li Xiang smiled and said: "Now that our emperor has formed an alliance with your khan, that's why he sent us to pick up Princess Yicheng to meet in Yanmen, and your khan will come to our Dasui to be a guest." ”

Seeing that the scout had begun to waver, Li Xiang said again: "At first glance, you know that you are not the person in charge, and it is not clear to you, go and call the person who can call the shots here, I am the envoy of the Great Sui, and I have important things to say to him." ”

The scout was not stupid, how could he easily expose the current location of his tribe, and said: "You have no certificate, I don't believe you, unless you dare to go with me to see our Jin, then we will naturally know the truth or falsehood." ”

Li Xiang was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "Yes, but I want to settle my team first, and then go with you later, you can wait here for a while." After speaking, he beckoned several generals to the side to speak.

Everyone didn't know what Li Xiang's plans were, so they followed and waited for Li Xiang's instructions.

Li Xiang thought for a moment and said: "Now we have finally caught a scout, which means that there are Turkic tribes around, but if he doesn't say it, it will be really difficult for us to find it, so I decided to take a look for myself, if we can gain their trust, we can know more useful information at that time." ”

Looking at everyone's surprised eyes, Li Xiang smiled and said: "There's no way, we can't keep looking for it aimlessly, besides, we don't have much food, this risk is worth taking." ”

Liu Hongji shook his head and said: "No, Captain, it's too dangerous, if they find out your identity, we won't be able to save you at that time, I think it's better to send scouts to find it again." ”

"Yes, it's too dangerous, if you have to go, I'll go for you!" You Junda also said.

Li Xiang shook his head and said: "It's better for me to be sure, after all, I know more things than all of you, and I'm a child, they won't be suspicious, and the most important thing is that I am sure to make them believe me." ”

"How can you believe it?" Qin Qiong asked puzzled.

Li Xiang smiled mysteriously: "I'm free and clever, but you also have to cooperate with me, from now on, we will divide into two ways." Saying all the way, You Junda said: "The Shenwei Army has become a road by itself, bring all the good horses in the team, and you will be horse thieves on the grassland in the future, quietly follow behind us, as long as you see a small tribe along the way, after we leave, you will beat me hard, but don't be caught, it's best to take a loud name." I have given you only one task, so that the tribes of the steppe will be terrified when they hear your name, can you do it? ”

You Junda was a little stunned, how could he suddenly become a horse thief. Li Xiang saw that he didn't speak, so he said, "If you can't do it, then change to the volunteers to do it." ”

"I can!" You Junda immediately agreed, and now he has some thoughts in his heart to compete with the volunteers