Of course, Sun Ying knew this information very well, but he hoped to get more information, so he invited the three of them to the woods and asked the soldiers to pour water for them, Sun Ying smiled and asked, "Do you know how many troops Goguryeo has deployed in the Liao River?" ”

The three of them glanced at each other, and Meng Equator, who was the leader, said: "I probably know a little, we have also been observing the movements of their army, the chief initially thought that they wanted to destroy the Yan people, and later realized that they were plotting against Liaodong. ”

"How many troops?" Sun Ying asked directly.

Meng Chi thought for a while, "There are about 40,000 people on the Xincheng side, and there are about 30,000 people in Liaodong City in the south, a total of about 70,000 people. ”

The information provided by Meng Chi was undoubtedly extremely important, although the details were still lacking, but the general direction was clear, Goguryeo was divided into two routes, one to attack Yancheng and the other to attack Liucheng.

Sun Ying pondered for a moment and said, "I want to go and meet your chief, can you take me there?" ”

"Of course you can, then please go back to Liucheng to report the news yourself."

Sun Ying immediately wrote a letter and handed it to a fire chief: "You take ten brothers back to the camp and give this letter to General Pei, you must be careful on the way." ”

The fire chief took the letter and led his men away, while Sun Ying led ninety cavalry to follow the Tatars to the northeast

The range controlled by the Xi nationality is north of Yanshan in Beiping County, west of Liucheng County, and is called Raolezhou by the Central Plains Dynasty, that is, the area of Chengde, Hebei Province in later generations, there are towering mountains and endless plains, and more than a dozen rivers flow through it, so that the forests here are dense, the pastures are abundant, the land is very fertile, and it is an excellent place to inhabit and reproduce.

The Xi people are a branch of the Donghu Xianbei people, and the Khitan are in the same vein, but because of their small population and weak strength, they have been controlled by their strong neighbors for a hundred years and become their vassals, the Xi people are not ambitious, but the Khitan is ambitious, and they have launched wars against Liaodong several times, and the Xi people have also been coerced to send troops, and have repeatedly become the vanguard of bloody and fierce battles, with heavy casualties.

And this time the number of troops sent to attack Liucheng was the largest in ten years of the Xi people, and in the end, nearly 14,000 soldiers died tragically under Liucheng, and the chief Su Zhi finally led only 6,000 people to return to Raole angrily, and ten years of recuperation were ruined.

The tragic death of 14,000 young people in other places plunged the Xi people into a miserable situation, every household cried, and the Xi people began to have great hatred for the Khitan, and at the same time, the chief Su Zhi was afraid in his heart, once the Sui army counterattacked and liquidated, the Xi people would bear the brunt, and the Xi people were afraid that it would be a disaster for the Xi people, so Su Zhi and the leaders of the Xi tribes unanimously decided to send people to Liucheng to apologize, and were willing to use 300,000 sheep as compensation for following the Khitan army to Liucheng.

Their statement of apology has not yet received a response from Zhang Xuan, the king of Qi, but this afternoon, several Sui cavalry came to the Raole grassland, they were led to the Xi king's tent by dozens of Xi warriors, the chief Su Zhi heard the news and walked out of the big tent quickly, he looked at these Sui cavalry from afar puzzled, what did they mean?

The captain of the cavalry at the head stepped forward and saluted: "We have come to meet the chief on the order of General Pei, and this is a personal letter from the general of my family!" ”

The captain presented a letter, whether it was the Khitan or the Xi people or Goguryeo, the ethnic minorities in the Donghu area were greatly influenced by the Central Plains Dynasty, their nobles basically spoke fluent Chinese, and they were also very familiar with the Central Plains script, they did not have their own writing, they all used Chinese to remember things, and Su Zhi and the Sui military captain did not have any communication barriers.

Su Zhi was surprised in his heart, it was actually Pei Xingyan's letter to himself, he took the letter and hurriedly read it, Pei Xingyan said in the letter that he had read the Xi people's letter of apology, and had sent someone to transfer it to His Royal Highness the King of Qi, he himself could understand the suffering of the Xi people being coerced by the Khitan, and was willing to help the Xi people relieve their suffering, but not now, Pei Xingyan made a request at the end, hoping to temporarily garrison troops on the grassland of the Xi people for no more than a month.

Su Zhi pondered for a moment and said to the cavalry captain: "I need to discuss with the ministers and elders, and I will reply to you in the afternoon, and you will rest for a while." ”

He immediately asked the Sui cavalry to be taken down to rest and entertain him, and he immediately asked the five elders to be invited to discuss important matters.

At noon, Su Zhizheng in the Wang Tent discussed Pei Xingyan's garrison requirements with the six elders of the Xi tribe, including Murong, Yuwen, Duan, Tuoba, Qifu, and Bald.

A thin elder said in a hoarse voice: "Although there have been a lot of transit troops in the past hundred years, the army stationed in the land of the Xi people is only the Khitans, and everyone has seen the attitude of the Khitan towards us, I am very worried that once the Sui army enters the grassland, it will control us like the Khitan, and at the worst it will take revenge on us, and the Xi tribes will be bloodied, after all, it is tens of thousands of cavalry, we are far from being opponents, I suggest that it is better to refuse." ”

"The bald elder is unreasonable, if you want to wash our Xi clan in blood, what else do you need to discuss, just kill it directly, and we Xi people have lived in this land for thousands of years, since the two Han Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty has not controlled us, but we took the initiative to surrender and pay tribute, I think the Sui army has no malice, it is just a temporary garrison, and this is just when we want to ease the relationship with the Sui army, how can this opportunity be turned away?"

Everyone talked about it, but there were many people in favor and few opponents, and there was no result after fighting for a long time, everyone looked at Su Zhi together, after all, he was the big chief, and he made the decision in the end.

"How does the Great Chief decide?" An elder asked.

Su Zhi said slowly: "In fact, the intention of the Sui army is also very clear, the Goguryeo people are about to enter Liaodong, and the Sui army's counterattack is inevitable, this time the King of Qi sent 30,000 cavalry into Liaodong, although there is a large area of pasture in the area of Yiwulu Mountain, and the war horses can get pasture, but what about people?" These 30,000 cavalry want to enter our steppe, hiding is one thing, but I think their greater intention is to get supplies from us. ”

There was a sudden uproar in the big tent, and the two elders who disagreed hurriedly said: "30,000 cavalry, how can we afford to support it!" ”

Su Zhi waved his hand, "Everyone, listen to me!" ”

The big tent was quiet again, Su Zhi said: "I estimated, 30,000 cavalry stationed in the grassland for a month, need 5,000 tents, of course the tents will be returned, mainly food, we need to supply 500,000 sheep, before we expressed our willingness to compensate 300,000 sheep, then these 300,000 sheep can be deducted, in fact, there will be another 200,000 sheep, these 500,000 sheep are just the tax sheep to pay tribute to the Khitan, I think there is no need to give the Khitan this year, maybe we can get something from the Khitan, What do you think? ”

Everyone was moved, if you don't have to give sheep to the Khitan, of course, it's good, and it's best not to give them in the future, 500,000 sheep and 100,000 sheepskins bring them heavy pressure every year, and they also understand Su Zhi's hint that once the Sui army retaliates against the Khitan, the Xi people will definitely have a harvest.

An elder said, "Since the Great Chief has already said so, let's vote!" If the majority is in favor, then the Sui army can be promised. ”

There is a bowl in front of each elder, everyone agrees with putting beans in the bowl, and the empty bowl is opposed, and as the big chief, Su Zhi can put three beans, and the two elders who disapprove understand in their hearts that as long as Su Zhi agrees, then the vote will definitely pass, and more importantly, they also want to get a piece of the Khitan pie, since everyone agrees, they will not be this evil person.

After a while, everyone put beans into the bowl, and Su Zhi nodded and said, "Since everyone agrees, then I will give a clear answer to the Sui army!" ”

(To be continued.) )