Chapter 454: There is no turning back

Ke Chaqin, who arrived in Taiyuan with the Tang envoys, came on behalf of Ashina Duoduo, this rough-looking Turkic man was actually a miser, and the miser was naturally greedy for money. And the biggest characteristic of misers is not only the reluctance to dig into their own pockets, but also includes stuffing other people's things into their own pockets. The most fundamental reason why Ashina Duoduo sent him to negotiate with Li Yuan on his behalf was that Li Xian had a comment on Ke Chaqin when he was on the grassland.

Ke Chaqin, the king of the Turks.

It is enough to have this one-sentence comment, Ashina Duoduo has always been a little admired and jealous of Li Xian's ability to look at people. Sending Ke Chaqin here, Ashina Duoduo didn't expect him to force Li Yuan to accept the few conditions he had set, but he knew that Ke Chaqin would definitely take advantage as much as possible.

Ke Chaqin and Li Yuan talked for a day, and finally finalized some of the details. Except for Li Yuan's insistence that the number of Turkic wolves riding into the pass should not exceed 5,000, the others responded generously. Even Ke Chaqin's condition that the wolf rode would not fight until it was absolutely necessary, and he was only responsible for supporting and responding, escorting grain and grass and escorting the spoils of war, and he didn't seem to care at all about Ke Chaqin's unhappiness behind this condition.

In fact, the Turks did not go to war, which was exactly what Li Yuan wanted.

He didn't want his collusion with the Turks to be known to everyone, it wasn't a glorious thing after all. Although the Great Sui court was erosive and Yang Guang was confused, he had always been tough on foreign people. Exterminating Tuguhun, attacking the Turks in the north, and conquering Goguryeo, Yang Guang was never ambiguous in his attitude towards foreign tribes. Even when Yang Guang was surrounded in Yanmen, he never thought of admitting defeat and surrendering. Although most of the Great Sui border army no longer respects Yang Guang's will, the pride in their bones still does not allow them to grovel to the Turks.

If it weren't for the fear of Taiyuan being lost, Li Yuan would never have done anything to be a vassal to Shibi Khan. If this matter was publicized too enthusiastically before the army reached Chang'an, Li Yuan knew how much impact it would have on his reputation. Ke Chaqin proposed that the wolf cavalry was only responsible for escorting grain, grass supplies and booty, among which Li Jiajun's losses were very big Li Yuan knew clearly, but compared to cherishing his own reputation, these losses were nothing.

This is a thing that can't contain fire in paper, and sooner or later everyone in the world will know about it. How long can it be hidden, this is what Li Yuan thinks at this time. As long as you take the world and beat the Turks a few more times, your reputation can be saved.

What he wants is only the attitude of the Turks, not the direct dispatch of troops by the Turks to help him.

Ashina Duoduo proposed to send 20,000 wolves to ride into the pass in the early stage Li Yuan refused to accept it, even an idiot can think of how much of a storm 20,000 wolves will set off when they ride into the pass, if these wolf riders can't be restrained, it will bring a disaster to the Central Plains, Li Yuan wants to turn his family into a country, how can he take this risk of being hated by the people of the world? In case someone used this as an excuse to target him, Li Yuan was speechless.

Ke Chaqin didn't insist too much on this matter, and the number of people finally settled made Li Yuan feel a lot more at ease. The Turkic wolf cavalry that accompanied the Li family's army on the southern expedition was only two thousand cavalry brought by Ke Chaqin.

Two thousand people, not much wind and waves.

After roughly finalizing it, Li Yuan immediately ordered to go on an expedition. At the same time, he sent someone to order Liu Hongji's vanguard army to advance, and then told Chen Yinshou to assist Li Yuanji to defend Taiyuan.

At the beginning of March, Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang Dynasty, played the banner of eliminating traitors on the side of the Qing Dynasty and supporting the Great Sui, and officially took the first step in the struggle for world domination with an army of 30,000.

In the early days, the Li army's strength was like a bamboo, and the Sui army encountered along the way to the south basically had no heart of resistance, and most of them were defeated at the slightest contact, and even more, they took the initiative to open the city gate and surrender before the battle. Since the beginning of March, in just half a month, Liu Hongji and Li Shimin's 5,000 vanguard troops have conquered five or six cities one after another, most of the defenders have surrendered, and the rebels from all walks of life have also come to surrender, and this month alone, Li Yuan's strength has increased from 30,000 to nearly 80,000.

This made Li Yuan overjoyed, he himself didn't expect it to be so smooth.

He was happy, and Ke Chaqin was even more happy.

Every time Liu Hongji's vanguard army conquered a city, Ke Chaqin would immediately take two thousand wolf riders into the city like flies that smelled the smell, and looted the contents of the granaries in the city's treasury. Fortunately, before coming, Ashina Duoduo strictly ordered him not to rob the people, but only to rob the things of the county treasury of Dasui County, so although the wolf rider robbed fiercely, he did not do anything to kill the people.

It's just that in this way, the generals in Li Yuan's army are as disgusting as eating dead flies.

When the Turks were attacking the city, they did not make any effort when they were fighting, but when they entered the city to grab the spoils of war, they gave twelve points of strength, and since the day of the army, the property, grain and grass obtained from the cities conquered along the way were all robbed by Kechaqin, and he divided the two thousand wolf horsemen into two teams, one thousand people to grab things, and one thousand people to carry things. Of course, the looted materials were not sent to Taiyuan without a grain of grain or copper coins, but were continuously sent to Guanwai.

Outside Yanmen Pass, Ashina Duoduo sent Ti Lige to station the wolf riders with two 10,000 people here, and then sent back to the tribe in a steady stream of things that Ke Chaqin had sent.

Every day, the Turks would happily carry the looted things back, and the wolf knights were elated every day as if they were marrying their wives. They shouted rough songs on the grassland at the top of their throats, ignoring the hostile gazes of the soldiers and generals of the Li family's army.

And nearly half a month after the Turks entered the customs, the news about Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang Guogong's collusion with the Turks, still spread irrepressibly. In just half a month, the news swept through Hexi like a wind, crossed the Taihang Mountains and spread to Hebei, and then crossed the Yellow River and crossed the Yangtze River.

Li Yuan never imagined that the speed of this news would spread beyond imagination!

……

……

It took only half a month for the Turks to build a transport line connecting inside and outside the Guan, which is not a miracle, but it can be regarded as an absolute efficiency. Since the first batch of supplies were brought back to the tribe, almost every day, many scarce things in the grassland were brought back, such as Shu brocade, tea, and ironware, which was the most scarce in the grassland.

Ashina Duoduo watched another batch of goods shipped back, and the smile on the corner of his mouth couldn't help but be a little proud.

Watching the herdsmen happily unload the supplies, Ashina Duoduo thought to himself, Li Xian, if it weren't for your insatiable greed and preferring to lack, I wouldn't have thought of this way. But you can't blame me, I'm just helping you move. Haven't you always liked to do this kind of thing when you move good things from someone else's house back to your own home? I'm sorry to do that, I'll move back a little more for you. As for whether you still have what it takes to move back, who knows.

"By the rules"

Ashina Duoduo commanded: "Divide all the things into two equal parts, and send one to the camp of the Khitans." ”

Thinking that Li Xian would have opened her mouth in surprise if she knew that she had done such a cunning thing, the smugness on the corner of her mouth became even stronger. In the eyes of the grassland people, the saint Ashina Duoduo is desireless, a messenger sent to the grassland by Changshengtian, and she is here to protect the grassland. But it is clear that the steppe people prefer the current saint who can bring benefits. In Li Xian's eyes, Ashina Duoduo is also desireless, if he knows that he has inadvertently changed Ashina Duoduo's attitude to life, he doesn't know whether he should be happy or annoyed.

"Su Su!"

Ashina Duoduo screamed, and one of the wolf rider leaders immediately ran over quickly.

"Dear saint, what do you command?"

Su Wei, who was in charge of escorting the supplies back, was still immersed in pride and joy, this fifty-year-old herdsman smiled very distinctively, perhaps because the wind on the grassland was too strong, the sun was too strong, and the fifty-year-old had a dark face and was full of wrinkles, so when he grinned, his whole face looked like a chrysanthemum, but the color was not very pleasing.

"Did I ever do what I asked Ke Chaqin to do?"

"Back to the Holy Maiden, don't worry, we have been spreading the news that Li Yuan has declared himself a vassal to our Turks along the way, and we have also sent people to the counties of Hebei to spread the news. I found that the people of the Central Plains like to do this kind of thing to discuss right and wrong, especially when it comes to bad news about a famous person, and they all talk about it. I'm sure the news will blow faster than the most violent north winds. When our first batch of goods came back, I was afraid that the news had already spread to the south of the Great Sui River. ”

"Relish"

Ashina Duoduo smiled and said, "You use this word well. ”

"It's not wrong, is it?"

Su Su smiled embarrassedly.

"No, it's appropriate."

Ashina Duoduo smiled and said, "It's not just you who are spreading the news, Youzhou Luo Yi is only afraid that he will work harder than you." He and Li Yuan are not right, he said bad things about Li Yuan in front of Yang Guang, the emperor of the Great Sui, and Li Yuan also said bad things about him in front of you Yang Guang. It seems that Yang Guang has no favoritism and ignores it. But in fact, if it weren't for Luo Yi's previous successive reports of Li Yuan's attempts to rebel, how could Yang Yu, the little generation king in Chang'an City, kill Li Yuan's family in such a hurry? Anyway, Li Yuan has been offended deeply enough, and Luo Yicai doesn't care about offending more. ”

Maybe it's because of happiness, Ashina Duoduo has a lot to say today. This made Su Wei a little flattered, the holy woman had never said so much to him.

"Don't worry, if Li Yuan can't beat Chang'an, the news can spread all over the Great Sui, and of course, it can also reach the royal court."

"yes"

Ashina Duoduo's expression stiffened when he heard this, and then he smiled with relief: "I just don't know what my dear father will be to react when he hears this news?" ”

……

……

"Something is wrong!"

The eldest grandson Shunde frowned and said: "The lord strictly decrees that no one is allowed to spread the news of the alliance with the Turks, even if this is an uncontrollable matter, it will never make such a big fuss in less than a month!" ”

"I was negligent."

Li Yuan sighed and said: "This matter was a bit hasty at the beginning, at that time I only thought about stabilizing Taiyuan, I didn't take into account that people are terrible and fierce like a tiger, now although we are quite smooth in the war, but the more difficult it will be." This matter must be calmed down somehow, or it will ......"

"Otherwise, when it hits Chang'an, Yang Yu, who is defending the city, only needs to say that Tang Gong led the Turks to attack the capital of the Great Sui, and the people of Chang'an will immediately pick up the hoe and sickle and fight with us!"

"Do you want to slaughter that Kechaqin?"

Liu Wenjing asked tentatively.

"No!"

Pei Lin hurriedly said: "Now that the news has spread, it will be useless to kill Ke Chaqin again, and it will also anger the Turks, if the Turks are attracted to attack Taiyuan, the gains will outweigh the losses." ”

"Alas......"

Liu Wenjing sighed heavily.

"Leave him alone!"

Li Yuan slapped the table heavily, stood up and said: "Send someone to tell Hongji and Shimin, don't attack every city, the whole army will speed up and take Chang'an, and the counties along the way will be left behind, and I will let Jiancheng lead the troops to clean up the situation in the back." The only way to do this is to take Chang'an as soon as possible, and then send the Turks back, if Chang'an is taken, there is no need to be afraid of any gossip. ”

"Yes!"

The crowd stood up and clenched their fists.

A day later, Li Yuan's military order arrived in the vanguard army camp. Liu Hongji and Li Shimin frowned in unison when they heard that Tang Gong was going to give up attacking the counties along the way.

"That's not a good thing!"

Liu Hongji was surprised: "When the first expedition to Goguryeo, the emperor came up with a so-called clever plan, Yuwenshu took 300,000 elite soldiers to attack Pyongyang City for a long time, and went deep into the enemy territory with partial divisions, it was because he let go of most of the cities along the way, and when the army withdrew, the retreat would be blocked by the Goguryeo people, and there was a fiasco of 300,000 soldiers buried in other places!" ”

He has an excellent relationship with Li Shimin, so he is not afraid to say anything.

"Father is afraid that he will have to do this."

Li Shimin thought about it in a good direction and said: "Besides, isn't there still a big brother palace, the city we left behind, the big brother will fight down one by one, Brother Hongji don't have to worry too much." ”

"That's just as well!"

Liu Hongji said: "The prince is cautious in his use of troops, and he has personally experienced the battle of Liaodong, so he will not fail to think of this section." ”

"Actually......"

Li Shimin sighed and said, "Father's style of playing without thinking about retreat is not wrong!" Since the day the army started, where is there any way out for our Li family? I can only keep rushing forward, and there is no turning back......"