The prairie in April is warm and cold.

At this time, it was the afternoon, and a gust of cold wind blew from the grassland and blew into the golden wolf tent, so that the big tent that was very hot by the charcoal fire also brought a burst of coolness. The cool breeze blew on everyone, making people warm and sleeping.

Although Princess Yicheng has been in the grassland for almost ten years, she has not followed the customs, and she has maintained the costume of Princess Da Sui when she entered the grassland over the years. The hair is raised high, the palace dress with wide sleeves and robes, and the words and deeds of the knowledgeable manners.

It's just that ten years of grassland life have changed her after all, and she is no longer the clan girl who has no worries about food and clothing, and worries about new words all day long. After entering the grassland, she had to remarry her ex-husband's son after her husband's death. And I have to remind myself from time to time that I represent the Great Sui, and I have to think about the interests of the Great Sui everywhere.

Since remarrying Shibi Khan, she has become more and more accustomed to life on the steppe. She no longer stayed in her own tent, she began to slowly participate in the beginning of the meeting, the management of the tent Tucheng. Even now, she has taken the initiative to participate in Turkic affairs.

Just like she walked into this golden wolf tent now, if it wasn't for the request of Shibi Khan in the past, she would never have taken the initiative to come over like this. But the more she participated, the more she understood her mission. It is not that marrying into the grassland completes the mission given to her by the Great Sui, on the contrary, entering the grassland is only the beginning of her.

Last year, the whole grassland suffered a catastrophe. Now the tribes are plundering each other, but this is only an act between small tribes. As far as she knew, several major Turkic tribes were currently discussing a major operation. The Turkic tribes were preparing to conquer Kumoxi, who had just established themselves, and the Tiele tribes were preparing to go to war with the Tiele Khanate, which was a tacit matter. In the event of such a catastrophe, if the imperial court war had not been used to divert this catastrophe, then the entire Eastern Turkic Khanate would have suffered unbearable losses.

While these major tribes were preparing, Princess Yicheng heard bad news that many tribes close to the Great Sui did not plan to go to Tiele in the north, or Khitan and Kumoxi in the east to plunder. Tiele, Khitan, and Kumoxi tribes are also steppe tribes1

Last year, it also suffered a catastrophe. They are now the same as the Turks, they do not have much wealth, cattle and sheep, but now they rob them, and they can't grab anything.

The tribes that were close to the Great Sui had already united in the sī Xia, preparing to form a large army to go south to rob the rich and oily Great Sui for food, money, and women. For the Turks, although they had khanates, there were khans. But many times they are independent, as long as they don't break the rules and provoke public anger, generally no one will interfere with you. If it had been when Qimin Khan had been a few years earlier, he would definitely not have allowed anyone to plunder the Great Sui and destroy the relationship between the two sides.

But now, the Eastern Turks are in charge of Shibi Khan, and Shibi Khan is not dissatisfied with Yang Guang, the emperor of the Sui Dynasty.

Yang Guang not only destroyed the Murwei Division, reversed the Khitan Department and the Mòhé Division, but now secretly made Tiele and Kumo Xi self-reliant. He had killed his military advisor before, all of which made him very unhappy. All the tribal leaders knew that it would not be long before they would go to war with the Great Sui. Now, it's just a matter of stepping on it in advance.

Princess Yicheng was shocked when she learned the news. She knew that if the Turkic cavalry really went south, then with the advantage of the Turkic cavalry, they could run back to the steppe after plundering, and many people on the border would suffer a nightmare.

But such a thing can't be stopped, even if she is Kedun, even Shibi Khan can't stop it. Come to think of it, since it can't be blocked, why not sparse. Anyway, the purpose of the Turks at the moment is only to plunder, to transfer the current Turkic people's plight due to last year's snowstorm to other peoples.

Then why not think of a way to let them target other places instead of hitting the Great Sui?

"Da Qi Jin, now our entire Turkic Khanate is facing such a dilemma, and it is not only the Da Qi Jin clan, which is also the reason why the Khan summoned all the leaders to the tooth tent. Chiefs, why can't you wait to hear the Khan's words and quarrel with each other here, if you have come to the tent? Princess Yicheng said softly.

"Listen to the Great Khan? But the Great Khan himself is the same as us, can the Great Khan divide our cattle and sheep now, and let the Lou people go back? The leaders of the tent burst into laughter, thinking that Kedun was talking nonsense. …,

Princess Yicheng smiled, but she was not annoyed, and after the leaders finished laughing, she continued, "Naturally, it is impossible for the Great Khan to distribute cattle and sheep to you!" After a pause, the princess looked solemn, "However, the Great Khan can take you to take cattle and sheep!" Last year's steppe catastrophe was not only a disaster for our Eastern Turks, but also for the Western Turks in the west, the rebellious and self-reliant Tiele Khanate in the north, and the Kumoxi and Khitan in the east. ”

"The Central Plains in the south have not been affected, is the princess going to take us to the Central Plains to find the Great Sui Emperor to ask for cattle and sheep?" A leader said.

The Qi Jin of the Ah Pao Department shook the pigtails on his head and laughed, "Maybe it's really possible, don't forget that Ke Dun is the princess of Da Sui, and now that the grassland is in trouble, Da Sui's mother's family can't ignore it." I think everyone should simply join forces and go south to find the Great Sui World to ask for food! The princess's face sank, and she said coldly, "Da Sui is indeed rich and rich, and there is a lot of grain and grass, but I am afraid that the leaders have the life to go, but they have no life to return." Don't forget, the Great Sui has swept away one surrounding tribe after another over the years, and it is the time when the soldiers are strong and strong, if you run to the Great Sui at this time, I am afraid that it will give the Great Sui a chance to destroy you. Shibi Khan saw the princess looking towards the Great Sui like this, and he didn't like it, "Why should Kedun destroy his own prestige and grow the ambition of others." Ben Khan was only looking at my father's covenant with the Great Sui, and he had been so friendly to the Great Sui all these years. But the Great Sui is not very friendly to my Turks. first took away the Khitan, and later destroyed the Murwei, and now he secretly supported and plotted against Xue Yantuo and Kumo Xibu, and even killed Ben Khan's military advisors.

The clay man also has a three-point temper, if Kedun doesn't persuade the Great Sui Emperor again, don't blame Ben Khan for not reciting the two alliances at that time! "Why should the Khan be shaken by some trivial matter, especially when the priority is the food at hand. I'm a woman, but I also have an idea that might solve today's problems. Shibi smiled, a little disbelieving, and looked at the princess with a wine glass a little playfully, "What is the best plan for Ke Dun, you might as well talk about it." ”

"In today's situation, we can only solve our current problems through plundering through foreign wars. And if you want to go to war, you have to choose the object. Nowadays, there are only six options to choose from: the Western Turks in the west, the Great Sui in the south, Tiele in the north, and Kumoxi, Khitan, and Murwei in the east. At this time, for the same reason, the Great Sui in the south is undesirable. Our purpose is food, not war, and if we go south to plunder the Great Sui, it will inevitably lead to retaliation from the Great Sui, which is unwise in our current situation. ，…

"And the rest are also steppe peoples, and they are in the same situation as we are now. First of all, the Western Turks in the west can be ruled out, and they have been moving westward under our pressure.

Plundering them, first, is too far, and second, they are too weak now, and they can't plunder much, and it's a drop in the bucket, and it's difficult to solve the problem. ”

"And in addition to these two objects, there are only four choices left: Tiele, Kumoxi, Khitan, and Murowei. First of all, there is no choice for Murwei, as soon as Murwei was destroyed, and now it is the territory of Chen Kefu, a rebel general of the Sui Dynasty, where there are only hundreds of thousands of people, and all of them are in various fortified castles. If you want to take their food, you have to break through the fortress, and the cavalry will attack the fortress, which is a very uneconomical practice. So it can also be ruled out! ”

The leader in the full tent couldn't help but laugh a little contemptuously when he looked at Kedun and talked for a long time, but the rest were Tiele and Kumoxi, whom they had been preparing to fight for a long time.

Even Shibi Khan glanced at Kedun with some disappointment, "Kedun may not know that the Tiele tribes in the north have been preparing to attack the Xue Yantuo tribe in Yinan, and the Turkic tribes in the south are preparing to attack the Kumoxi tribe. Ke Dun analyzed for a long time, but there was nothing new! ”

"No!" The princess shook her head, "Leaders, I have three choices left just now, Tiele, Kumoxi, and Khitan. I choose to be the opposite of everyone, I think we should attack the Khitan! The princess's words made Shibi Khan a little suspicious, "Why?" ”

"There are three reasons, one, Tiele and Kumoxi, one south and one north, to conquer it, we must divide the Turks into two armies and fight on two fronts, which is not conducive to a quick victory, and there is a risk of defeat.

Second, Tiele and Kumoxi are in the same situation as us, even if the looting is successful, they will not loot much material. The third reason is that the Khitan nose was originally a part of our Eastern Turks, but later it switched to the Great Sui, and now it is allied with the rebel general Chen Kefu of the Sui Dynasty. And last year's catastrophe, as far as I know, the Khitans have received a lot of material assistance from their ally Chen Kefu, and if we plunder them, we can grab more supplies. Moreover, the Khitan has just gone through the civil war of the ten tribes before, and the damage to the vitality is not small, and there will not be much internal danger when fighting the Khitan, and their location is exactly in the eastern and central part of our Eastern Turks, and the distance between the Southern Turks and the Northern Tiele Department is equal, we can form a large army to attack together, and the success will be greater, and the battle will be more accelerated! In the princess's heart, another important reason for choosing Khitan is that the Western Turks, Tiele, and Kumoxi are all allies of the Great Sui. However, the Khitan turned her back on the Great Sui and turned against the side of the Great Sui rebel Chen Kefu, if she fought the Khitan this time, it would be equivalent to indirectly helping the Great Sui to weaken the strength of the Liaodong rebels, which can be regarded as what she can do for the Great Sui.

After listening to the princess's explanation, the leaders of the tribes were a little moved.

Shibi Khan was about to speak, but a shì guard walked up to his ear and whispered. After hearing this, Shibi Khan's face was uncertain, and it took a long time before he whispered to Na Shiwei, "Did he really say that he wanted to ally with Ben Khan?" ”

"Yes, his messenger is in the city of Tooth Tent, and we have arranged him in a tent on the edge of the tent." Shì Wei nodded and replied.