When he came to the king's tent in the Tuyuhun camp, Murong Xuan greeted him outside the tent, with very thorough etiquette, but his attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, and he still had the demeanor of a king. Xue Chongxun found that even when he bent down and bowed, he didn't feel the feeling of being breathless, and he admired this young man's bearing very much. A person who is less than twenty years old has such precipitation, obviously he has been trained in turmoil and crisis since childhood, and when Xue Chongxun and Murong Xuan meet, they often have the illusion that he is a middle-aged man rather than a teenager.

The tone of the royal tent is low and bleak, and it looks a little old, but it is neatly arranged, and some animal bones hanging on the front are some years old, and the nomads always like to hang up the hunting things as decorations. In fact, the Central Plains government can also faintly find such traces, the yamen was originally called the "tooth" door, and now the state and county government will also use animal claw patterns as decoration.

"King Jin, please take a seat." Murong Xuan gave in to Xue Chongxun.

Xue Chongxun said: "We are both kings, and we should be on an equal footing, and tonight I only treat you as an old friend, how about sitting together and chatting?" ”

So the two sat down together in front of a case, only to see a game of chess on the wooden table, the Western Regions chess of the wooden man and Trojan horse. Xue Chongxun said: "King Khan likes to play chess very much? ”

"It's interesting, by the way, I remember that King Jin didn't know how to play this kind of chess." Murong Xuan smiled, his face was very pale, and he was relatively thin, at first glance he didn't look like many nomads, and the clothes on his face were also light gray robes.

There were several fires burning in the tent, and it was warm, so Xue Chongxun took off his fur coat, and the Tuyuhun attendant next to him stepped forward to pick it up.

At this time, Murong Xuan couldn't help but glance at Xue Chongxun a few more times, because he was wearing a bright and clear iron armor. Now that the army is on the march, Xue Chongxun is almost unarmed, and it takes a bit of effort to put on the armor. The jet-black hundred refining armor, each piece of armor is a hundred refining steel, Xue Chongxun has fully practiced its solidity, although it is a little broken and repaired from the battlefield, and it is almost as good as new.

Murong Xuan didn't ask Xue Chongxun if he had anything serious to do when they met at night, but said indifferently: "Is King Jin interested in chess, the rules are not difficult, or I will teach you chess methods." ”

Xue Chongxun looked down at the chessboard and said with interest: "Okay." ”

So the two talked about playing chess with a joke. After a while, the attendant brought the brewed tea, Xue Chongxun opened the teacup, and suddenly a smell of tea wafted out, and he couldn't help but turn his head to see that the tea in the teacup was clear and the tea of the Han people was no different, and he said strangely at the moment: "Most people in the northwest like to put tea leaves in cow and goat milk to boil into milk tea and drink, and they don't want King Khan to make tea with water." ”

Murong Xuan said with a smile: "Boil the snow on the snow mountain into water, which is comparable to the best spring water." Tea is a Hanmin thing, only this kind of drinking can reflect its fragrance and artistic conception, what does King Jin think? ”

Xue Chongxun laughed, laughed and pondered in his heart for a while, then took the opportunity to probe: "King Khan loves the things of the Central Plains, but he is very speculative with me. However, the Xianbei people will inevitably have hostility in their hearts, and there is a long way to go to strengthen the trust between the two ethnic groups......"

Murong Xuan's expression darkened, and he didn't say much, he spoke Chinese very fluently, and even the tone words revealed in his tone were in Chinese, and they were quite charming.

"I wonder what the King of Jin has of his impression of the nomads on the grassland?" Murong Xuan asked, and seeing that Xue Chongxun did not answer silently, he said, "Since ancient times, the nomadic iron cavalry outside the Central Plains has attacked and harassed many times, and the Han people may not have much affection or even hate them like tigers and wolves......

Xue Chongxun suddenly felt a little touched, so he chanted a verse of poetry, "Kankan is sandal, the river is dry, and the river is clear and rippling." If you don't have crops, you won't be able to harvest 300 grains? Don't hunt or hunt, Hu Zhanerting has a county? He is a gentleman, not a vegetarian! Kankan is wide, the side of the river is clear, and the river is clear and true......"

At this time, Murong Xuan looked directly at Xue Chongxun and said, "The people's livelihood and suffering are the same all over the world. The suffering of the grassland is still better than the Central Plains, the way of heaven is not good, or the wind and snow in winter are too big, the bitter cold is too much, the people, horses, cattle and sheep are frozen to death, we can not survive the winter, there are human disasters when natural disasters, mutual attack and plunder into the Central Plains of Kou occur frequently, no matter the victory or defeat, pay the price of a large number of clansmen to die before there are enough rations for the winter; Or in the event of an epidemic, it is not uncommon for people to feed on people and kill each other. It is also common for the grassland to rise up next door, and it is common for flesh and blood to kill each other or even exterminate the clan. ”

Murong Xuan sighed and said, "What the King of Jin said is extremely true, there have always been nobles in the royal city who think that it is not wise for us to obey the Tang Dynasty, but I think what I did was not wrong...... The Han Emperor is in the center of the world for thousands of years, this is the will of heaven, the will of heaven can not be violated, our clan is willing to be in harmony with the Tang Dynasty long-term plan, those who are tempted by the small profits in front of them are not enough to be together. I also hope that when Tuyuhun is difficult and unsustainable, Datang can open the border to rescue or exchange grain for horses or borrow grain to survive the pass, so as to ensure that my Xianbei people will not suffer from hunger, cold, and slaughter......"

Murong Xuan's eyes were very bright, and his sincerity could not make people doubt the slightest, Xue Chongxun breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Then the Khan King may subdue those who are disgruntled, so as not to destroy the overall situation at a critical time?" ”

"King Jin can rest assured." Murong Xuan smiled confidently and said, "It's not a matter of one or two generations for my Murong clan to be revered as Khan. ”

Xue Chongxun also smiled, picked up the teacup and said: "Early tomorrow morning, I will lead the main cavalry force to attack the Tubo camp, and the rear baggage grain and grass will rely on the 100,000 iron cavalry of the King of Khan and Yang Siqiao's 40,000 Tang Army to hold the position, replace the wine with tea, and I am willing to join hands with the coalition forces to help each other and achieve a great cause!" This sentence is the purpose of Xue Chongxun's visit tonight.

Murong preached: "The world is like chess...... I will give back with the words of King Jin, and I will wait for you to win. The mandate of heaven may not be violated, and fate may not be of one's own will, but people can still act independently, and only those who change a qiē can create their own merits. ”

……

On the fifth watch of the next day, Xue Chongxun had gathered about 68,000 elite infantry cavalry, prepared lightly with cavalry as the main force, and said goodbye to Murong Xuan and Yang Siqiao. With the white oriental canopy as the background, columns of Han knights carrying long weapons walked through the sight; The sky was just bright, and Xue Chongxun couldn't see their faces clearly, but the shape of the Tang Dynasty armor and the Chinese characters in the windward banner were so kind! In the far northwest border, in the uninhabited wilderness, a large number of Han athletes gathered here, and the tall figure is like the backbone of the people.

Xue Chongxun hugged his fists on the horse and said goodbye to the Khan king's generals who stayed behind, and when he looked at Murong Xuan, he couldn't help but say: "What the Khan King said last night is the same for all ethnic groups, and I agree with it. But none of us can prevent this qiē attack and slaughter, so my idea is very simple: I, Xue Chongxun, grew up eating corn cultivated by the Han people, and I was, is, and will be, and all the sons and daughters of the society here who serve and die without regard for their lives, so we can't pity the enemies of the Tang Dynasty! ”

He said that without looking back, he led his generals to ride their horses, and shouted in the iron armor of the columns: "Defeat the dogs and iron horses in one fell swoop, and fight for the rise and fall of the country!" ”

The army shouted long live, and Xue Chongxun shouted loudly: "Xue and the soldiers and brothers are fighting side by side...... Let's go! ”

In the faint morning light, the two rows of trumpeters in front of the camp held the huge horns of human height, puffed up their cheeks and played a desolate and vigorous trumpet, the music was so monotonous and unchanged, but the repetition of one after another seemed to continue to rise into the sky, echoing in the vast land.

"Knock, knock, knock......" The sound of the trumpet was followed by the sound of drums, from slow to fast, a strong man howled in a torn voice, and Xue Chongxun didn't hear the words in the song. The army marched far and south in a mighty way, and all around was full of horses.

On the way, Zhang Wulang and other generals asked Xue Chongxun: "How to arrange the battle in this battle?" ”

Xue Chongxun said: "How else can so many people set up a formation? After catching up with the Tibetan soldiers, when the enemy meets the battle, a decisive battle will be held in front of it, divided into left, middle and right armies, attacking in turn, whoever is strong wins. ”

The generals thought so, and Xue Chongxun ordered the generals of all departments to strictly enforce military law: if the attacking troops did not receive the military order to retreat, the generals above the rank of captain of the whole army would be beheaded; Those who retreat without authorization will be beheaded on the spot; The horses and property of the plundered Tubo army do not need to be handed over and divided according to merit.

More than 60,000 troops rode lightly, traveled more than 100 miles a day, walked for two days, and the next day the front army encountered the sporadic scouts of Tubo, all of which were scattered with killing, until they caught up with the main force of Tubo.

The Tibetan army had withdrawn from Wuhai City and crossed a tributary of the Yellow River to the south. Naturally, they could not outrun the light troops of the Tang army with a large amount of baggage, so they were forced to open up on the open plain on the south bank of the river to meet them.

The main force of the Tang army crossed Wuhai City, divided its troops into the city to search and found that there was nothing to rob, only a part of the seriously wounded soldiers and the old and weak in Tubo, so the Tang army slaughtered them all. Then he set fire to the city, burned all the houses in the city that could be burned, and Wuhai City turned into a ruined and dead city in a blink of an eye.

The tributary of the Yellow River to the south of the city is narrow and shallow, and it has become a thick iceman without any obstacles. Xue Chongxun ordered to repair the river bank for one night, and the next morning the whole army crossed the river and set up in front of the Tubo camp, and the two armies faced each other in the north and south.

Xue Chongxun led his troops to ride his horse to a high place to observe the enemy's formation, and there was a sea of people in front of him, and the black oppressive men and horses seemed to grow a big inland lake in the white vast earth, and there were mountains blocking part of it and could not view it all...... Xue Chongxun had never seen how many 500,000 people were put together, and he didn't know how many people there were in the opposite camp, anyway, there were a lot of people. The Tang army's side is also very spectacular, and after the formation is opened, I see people all over the mountains.

Seeing that the Tubo army did not take the lead in launching an attack, Xue Chongxun looked back at his generals and said: "It is estimated that the Dog Rong soldiers have already sent troops and horses north to attack the rear camp of our army a day or two ago, and I only hope that Murong Xuan and Yang Siqiao will live up to my trust." ”G