Six years of innovation, June.

To the north of Hengshan, a mighty army is crossing the desert.

The Benxi Qiang tribe near the desert was terrified when they looked at the yellow sand that the soldiers and horses stepped on when they marched. For the Benxi Qiang people, the entire tribe is only 20,000 households, and now they are only surviving between the Tuyuhun and Tubo tribes, paying cattle and sheep to the two tribes and paying them annual tributes of cattle and sheep in exchange for the right to survive of the tribe.

For such a weak tribe, in the face of this endless army, there is no intention of resisting.

The Benxiqiang people had already sent messengers to prostrate themselves on the road, offering the most beautiful women of their tribe, the purest water, and half of the tribe's cattle and sheep to welcome the arrival of the army and horses along the way. However, after the army resisted, they did not pay any attention to the tribute of the Benxi Qiang people, but gave the Benxi Qiang people a hundred taels of gold.

The Benxi Qiang people know that they don't look down on their own people's offerings at all.

After crossing the desert, the army camped at the foot of the mountain.

As the general of the Northern Route Army, Wang Junkuo is now a heavy soldier.

Liang Shidu, Zhang Changxun, Yuan Junzhang and other generals of the Zhao army have arrived as vanguards, as well as the men and horses of the Dang Xiangqiang and Jihu departments, plus the main cavalry of the 100,000 rooms and Xi tribes brought by themselves, the 30,000 Turkic iron cavalry of the Turks who have lost their thinking power, and the people and horses of the Qibi He Li, the Mobei Turks of Ashinadur, and the Tiele tribes.

The strength of the army of Zhao Guobei Road alone is close to 200,000 people, which is almost equivalent to the total strength of Li Tang's entire country. This is what Fang Xuanling said to Li Shimin, the point he is most afraid of, this is the crushing of national strength. The country of a thousand times is in front of the country of ten thousand times. There is no possibility of a comeback at all.

"The patriarchs of Ben Xiqiang and Bai Lanqiang are outside, and they have told us a very important news. It is the alliance between Li Tang and Tubo. The lord of Tubo, Langri Songzan, was eloquent and strategic, and there were 50,000 victories in the country. Now send the general Chen Bing to the Heyuan (Note 1) area. ”

In addition, Duan Decao also refused to surrender. In addition, Chai Shao, Yang Shidao, and Yang Gongren also led the Tang army to set up a formation along the west of the river and waited for it. ”

Wang Junkuo listened to the beard on his chin and said: "I thought that I could take Hexi without much effort, but it seems that I still have to toss it, and it is no wonder that His Majesty asked Pontus to lead the army here in advance, since this is the case, it is fine." The Western Turks and Tuyuhun and Gaochang, where are their lords, Khans? ”

Liang Shidu said: "Tugu Hun Khan Fu Yun has arrived!" The lord of Gaochang State, Lu Wentai, is also outside the tent! The Turkic Yehu Khan has not yet arrived. ”

"That's good. Don't see the patriarchs of Ben Xiqiang and Bai Lanqiang, and don't wait for those who are late, let those who are waiting outside the tent come in first! Wang Jun said.

Soon the Tugu Hun Khan Fu Yun and the Gaochang State Lord Lu Wentai all arrived. Fu Yun's surname is Murong, and the Tuyuhun tribe has intermarried with the Great Sui for generations, and its tribe has a city but does not live, and it is always in the dome, and it is animal husbandry with water and grass. In the Western Regions, Tuguhun is a big country, three thousand miles from east to west. More than 1,000 miles from north to south, the domestic officials are like the Sui system, with the titles of king, duke, servant, Shangshu and Langzhong, and general.

And Gaochang is a big country in the Western Regions, and it has always been the center of the Western Regions. Buddhism is worshipped in the country, and the people live together with Han and Hu people, and over time. Han people are Hu, and Hu people are sinicized. Evolved into a unique folklore.

And this Murong Fuyun and Lu Wentai are both well-known figures in the Western Regions. Everyone in the people knows it, and no one knows it. But now, these two people who are the lords of a country, as soon as they enter the big tent, pay homage to the king, and do not dare to claim to be the lord of the country.

Murong Fuyun said first: "I heard that Dadu is protecting the Tang Dynasty, and I will sacrifice 3,000 Qinghai horses to help the military, hoping that Dadu will win the flag!" ”

On the side, Lu Wentai also said: "This king also heard that most of the capital protects the Tang Dynasty, and specially offers 300 quintals of white salt, 300 quintals of red salt, and 300 stacked cloths, and congratulates the success of Dadu to protect the horses!" ”

Murong Fuyun and Lu Wentai speak good Chinese, because they both have a Han wife. Murong Fuyun's wife is Princess Guanghua, and Lu Wentai's wife, Princess Huarong, are both daughters of the Sui Dynasty clan. In order to run the Western Regions, Emperor Sui adopted the policy of harmony and married the princess of the clan to these two, so they were both proficient in Chinese.

Wang Junkuo heard the two of them say this: "Bendu protects you to send these money, food, and war horses, we are very sufficient, and now Tubo Zampu and Li Tang have joined forces and stationed the army in Heyuan, do you say that you want to destroy them for us?" ”

Murong Fuyun and Lu Wentai both showed hesitation when they heard this.

Liang Shidu was very unhappy at the moment and asked, "What about most of the protectors asking you?" Will or will not, hesitate, say or not say? ”

Murong Fuyun bowed his head and said: "Most of the capital protects the life, we naturally have to obey, but the national strength of the Tubo country is strong, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to compete with the strength of the two of us. ”

"Tongye Hu Khan?" Wang Junkuo sneered, "Can the Tongye Hu Khan be compared to the Jieli Khan?" I heard that last year, Chai Shao, the general of the Tang Army, only brought 10,000 horses and horses, and no one could stop him, but in my opinion, it was nothing more than that. ”

Lu Wentai said: "Most of the guards don't know, Chai Shao is a famous general of the Tang Army, but the Western Turks are not so weak, when Chai Shao invaded, the Khan of Tongye Hu was leading the ten tribes and the servant army of the Western Regions, and the allies from the west, together with the allies, were attacking Persia, so they let Chai Shao take advantage of the situation, if it was a real battle, the Khan of Tongye Hu would not be afraid of Chai Shao. ”

Ko Ventai was telling the truth, when the Khan was attacking Persia, the historical Sassanid dynasty. The Sassanid Empire adopted Zoroastrianism as the state religion. Many people in the Western Regions believe in Zoroastrianism, so they are very influential in the Western Regions.

But this caused unhappiness among the Western Turks.

Therefore, it was with the help of the Khan of Tongyehu that Emperor Heraclius, the ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire, won a decisive victory in the Battle of Nineveh, a key battle against the Sassanid Empire. At the time of the Chaishao invasion, the Khan was allied with Emperor Heraclius under the city of Tbilisi.

As a result, after hearing that Chai Shao had hit the country, the Khan hurriedly led his army back from the city of Tbilisi, which was ridiculed by Emperor Heraclius and the generals of the Eastern Roman Empire.

At present, after Murong Fuyun and Lu Wentai proposed to unify Yehu Khan to attack Tubo, Wang Junkuo listened to the reason and said: "It seems that Tongye Hukhan still has some ability, but you don't know it yet!" Tongye Hu Khan has already declared himself a vassal to my Great Zhao! ”

Murong Fuyun and Lu Wentai were surprised when they heard this, the matter of the Western Turkic Khan's submission to the Great Zhao was not a glorious thing in the eyes of the Tongye Hu Khan, so he did not sue these vassal states in the Western Regions.

At the moment, Murong Fuyun and Lu Wentai were all startled when they heard it.

"Hasn't the Western Turkic Khan arrived yet?" Wang Junkuo asked unhappily.

Zhang Changxun, the general outside the tent, said: "Back to Daduhu, Tongyehu Khan has just arrived, he said that he was delayed on the road, and he will ask Dadu Huhu for a while!" ”

Wang Junkuo nodded and said, "Got it!" After speaking, Wang Junkuo glanced at Murong Fuyun and Lu Wentai, and the two of them stopped talking at the moment.

Note 1: The source of the river is the headwaters of the Yellow River. (To be continued......)