Liang Xiao weighed it repeatedly, and it was best to make a very helpless and even humiliating choice.

Except for the Dawan delegation and the accompanying merchants, all the others were repatriated. He knew that it would be shameless to do so, but the emissary group was not an ordinary caravan, and if there was any accident, the damage could be greater than the loss of face. Especially like the Cheshi prince Che Yi, he is the only son, if he is killed or captured by the Huns, the Cheshi king will definitely turn against him.

He couldn't afford to take that risk.

Liang Xiao wrote a letter and asked Che Yi to bring it to Dongfang Shuo. The situation in the Hexi Corridor is far less than expected, and it is more difficult for them to gain a foothold in the Western Regions, so please be mentally prepared.

After streamlining, Liang Xiao only had more than 200 people left, and 500 or 600 camels and horses. He consulted with March and asked March to send cavalry to protect him and provide him with food.

March agreed. However, he made a suggestion that in order to avoid a head-on encounter with the Huns, it was better to go south of the Qilian Mountains instead. There is also a road in the south of Qilian Mountain to reach Longyou, although it is difficult to walk, but the local Qiang people are scattered, and they have a good relationship with Xiaoyue, so they are relatively safer. Moreover, many tribes participated in the raid on Hexi last year, and they all had a good impression of Liang Xiao.

After listening to March's explanation, Liang Xiao guessed what road he was talking about. In the history of the Silk Road, in addition to the Hexi Road and the Grassland Road, there was also a Qinghai Road. Once the Hexi Corridor was occupied by foreign races, the Qinghai Road became the main route of the Silk Road. When the Hexi Corridor was unblocked, the status of Qinghai Road declined and became an auxiliary road.

However, the Western Regions have not yet been opened, the Silk Road is still in its embryonic stage, and the Qinghai Road is only an ancient road between the Qiang tribes. Far less famous than later generations. So many Han merchants behind him didn't know Qinghai Dao. is proof of this.

Liang Xiao accepted March's suggestion. Follow the Shule River to the south and cross the Qilian Mountains.

As he crossed the pass, he reined in his mount and glanced back at the oasis in the distance, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his eyes were cold.

——

In mid-October, Chang'an.

In the front hall of Weiyang Palace, the Son of Heaven sits on the throne. The generous speech, the high spirit, and the loud voice resounded through the hall and echoed in the ears of every minister.

The ministers led by Prime Minister Wu'an Hou Tianwei held their breath and listened to the hadith.

The Son of Heaven was in a good mood, his eyes became brighter and brighter, and his voice became more and more high-pitched, revealing an indescribable excitement.

In May, the elderly Empress Dowager Dou finally died and collapsed in Changle Palace. The funeral has not yet been completed. The Son of Heaven issued an edict to dismiss Prime Minister Xu Chang and the imperial historian Zhuang Qingzhai, and appointed Wu'an Hou Tianwei as Prime Minister. not only appointed Han Anguo, a great farmer, as the imperial historian, but also opened the curtain of revolution and innovation.

It seems that in order to confirm the arrival of a new era, the Huns, who had been harassing northern Xinjiang, also stopped, and sent envoys to Chang'an to ask for peace.

At this moment, the Son of Heaven gathered his ministers and was discussing whether to accede to the request of the Huns. Before that, the scene naturally had to be spoken, expressing his hope of doing benevolence and righteousness and soothing the good hope of the people, and just as he was excited, a chuckle suddenly came from the silent courtiers.

The Son of Heaven's face sank, closed his mouth, and his majestic gaze swept over the ministers, and finally landed on the face of the lord Du Wei Jidi.

The ministers were surprised, and they couldn't help but turn their gaze to Ji Di.

Ji Di lowered his eyes, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, as if he was smiling but not smiling, disapproving the gaze of the Son of Heaven and the ministers.

The Son of Heaven hesitated. He knew that Ji Di had not been in a good mood lately. The imperial court reformed the system, recruited a large number of Confucian scholars and scribes, and reiterated the idea of advocating Confucianism, but Ji Di was a believer in the way of Huang Lao and had quite objections to this policy. He is straightforward, even in the face of the Son of Heaven, Ji Di does not give face. At this time, Ji Di put on this expression, I'm afraid there won't be anything nice to say.

However, if you open one eye and close one eye, and pretend not to see, it doesn't seem appropriate.

"Ji Qing, I want to touch the world with benevolence and righteousness, Ji Qing smiled and said nothing, I don't know what it means? For or against? ”

Ji Di stepped out of the queue unhurriedly, bowed his hand, and gave a salute. "Your Majesty sharpens his sword Huo Huo, and he wants to conquer the Huns, so why talk about benevolence and righteousness. If anyone believes, won't Your Majesty be self-defeating? ”

The Son of Heaven suddenly changed color. Although he was mentally prepared, he was still unprepared. Ji Di actually said in front of so many ministers that he had different hearts and mouths, and the brilliant words in front of him were all lies to cover people's ears. He had the heart to scold him, but he opened his mouth a few times, but he had to keep his mouth shut.

The reason is simple, he really thinks so. If he reprimanded Ji Di and insisted that he really wanted to do benevolence and righteousness, then the courtiers really thought that he agreed to make peace, wouldn't they be lifting a stone and shooting themselves in the foot.

The Son of Heaven didn't know what to do for a while, his face was blue and red for a while, and his original eloquence disappeared. He was stunned for a moment, then stood up and walked away, leaving the courtiers looking at each other.

Prime Minister Tian Wei came over and said haha. "Ji Jun, why do you bother, above the court, how can you ignore the courtesy of the monarch and the ministers......"

Ji Di flicked his sleeves and faced Tian Wei sideways. "The Son of Heaven placed the ministers of the ministers to assist him, just to make up for Kuang Bi's mistakes and make up for the omissions. If you have a pretence, how can a minister pretend to be deaf and dumb? Could it be that looking at Your Majesty's duplicity, I want to cover my ears and steal the bell, and follow your sycophants? ”

Tian Wei froze, and just as he was about to say more, Ji Di had already left. Tian Wei was furious: "This Ji Di is really a fool, unreasonable." ”

Courtier, you look at me, I look at you, speechless.

——

The Son of Heaven returned to the greenhouse hall, and after a while of the wind blowing, his emotions slowly calmed down. He thought about it, and regretted it a little, because he was angry and actually delayed the business.

"Please invite the Prime Minister and the Imperial Doctor."

It didn't take long for Tian Wei and Han Anguo to arrive one after another and salute the Son of Heaven. Tian Wei still looked angry, but Han Anguo's face was calm, and he couldn't see any expression. The Son of Heaven glanced at them, especially when he saw that Tian Wei's anger had not subsided, and he couldn't help laughing.

"Still angry about what happened to Ji Di?"

"It's too much." Tian Wei said angrily: "The monarch and the ministers, above the court, such rudeness, how can a minister do." ”

The Son of Heaven waved his hand. "Alright, that's it, don't worry about it. Please come. I want to discuss the matter of getting along. Han Gong. You have had a lot of contact with the Huns on the edge of the town this time. In your opinion. Do you want to refuse their affiliation as a punishment? ”

Han Anguo's white eyebrows trembled slightly, and he glanced at Tian Wei inadvertently. Tian Wei preemptively said: "Your Majesty, harmony is a national policy, and the Empress Dowager has always pursued a policy of harmony when she was alive. It is precisely because of this that Li Guang, who fought without authorization, was demoted to a concubine. Now the Huns have taken the initiative to ask for peace, and it is the time for His Majesty to be benevolent and righteous. If you refuse, wouldn't it show the fault of the Empress Dowager. Violation of filial piety? ”

The Son of Heaven looked at Han Anguo intently. Han Anguo was helpless, so he had to say: "Your Majesty, the Huns live in pursuit of water and grass, and their whereabouts are uncertain like birds and beasts. If our army takes the initiative to attack and travels thousands of miles, it may not be able to find the main force of the Huns, and then it will either return in vain, costing the people and money, or reluctantly going deeper, and there is a risk of annihilation of the whole army. The risk is too great. In the opinion of the minister, it is better to be friendly. The border is peaceful, and the court can be peaceful. ”

The corners of the Son of Heaven's eyes fell, he looked at Tian Wei, then at Han Anguo, said nothing, turned around and entered the inner hall.

Tian Wei and Han Anguo were embarrassed, glanced at each other, shook their heads, and turned to leave.

Listening to the footsteps disappearing outside the temple, the face of the Son of Heaven was clouded. Huo Yunzhi walked in, staring at the Son of Heaven with a pair of big black eyes, sympathetically. The Son of Heaven called Huo Quai, touched his head, and sighed.

"Go sick when you're young, grow up quickly. These old people are old and old, and they can't count on it. ”

"Your Majesty, why don't you replace Han Anguo with Li Guang?" King Wuqiu Shou walked in and said in a low voice: "Although Han Anguo is a famous general, when it comes to being familiar with the Huns, he is not as good as Li Guang. Li Guang is now idle, His Majesty has an edict, how can he not happily obey his fate. ”

The Son of Heaven thought for a moment. "Although Han Anguo is old, he is stable after all. Li Guang is good at fighting, but he can't tell the difference. Compared with the two, it is better to Han Anguo, at least it will not be wrong. ”

King Wuqiu Shou was puzzled, but he didn't dare to ask again. Li Guang was not rewarded for his merits, but was dismissed as a concubine, this matter has become a mystery, even a close minister like him can't figure out what the Son of Heaven is thinking. Listening to the tone of the Son of Heaven, it seems that Li Guang has made some big mistake.

"You go to Daxing Temple to see if there is any news from the Western Regions." The Son of Heaven sighed. "I don't know how the war is going in the Western Regions."

King Wuqiu Shou answered, turned and left. The Son of Heaven raised his hand and rubbed his brows, a little headache. Han Anguo actually didn't support him, which surprised him very much. However, compared with Tian Wei's opinion, Han Anguo is a veteran with actual combat experience after all, and the problem he said is also a real problem, if it cannot be solved, there is indeed not much chance of winning the war against the Xiongnu.

Can you only be friendly and continue to be bullied by the Huns? The Son of Heaven sneered, clenched his fist, and smashed it on the case.

——

Liang Xiao galloped on his horse, rushed left and right, and the powerful bow in his hand roared sharply, shooting out one sharp arrow after another.

At the sound of strings, the Huns fell off their horses one after another.

The mercenaries and the young Greek knights followed, slaughtering mercilessly, and everywhere they went, the Huns scattered like flies, and gathered in the distance, staring closely at Liang Xiao and the envoys and caravans behind Liang Xiao.

The two sides have been fighting for more than an hour.

Under the protection of Ma Qi, Liang Xiao traveled all the way east along the Qinghai Road, and was warmly received by the Qiang and Xiaoyue people along the way. When he crossed the Yellow River and entered the territory of Longxi, thinking that he was really safe, he encountered more than a dozen groups of Huns in a row. At first, it was just a scout of more than ten people, but later the number of people increased, and gradually more than a hundred cavalry appeared.

Now biting him is a Hun cavalry of nearly two hundred people. Fortunately, although they were numerous, they came from a long gallop, the horsepower was insufficient, and the strength of Liang Xiao and others was underestimated.

Despite this, it was difficult for Liang Xiao, who was dragged down by the envoys and merchant groups, to get rid of the Huns, so he could only fight with them patiently and accumulate advantages little by little.

He is very angry, this is already in the territory of the Han Dynasty, how can there be so many Huns? What does this Taishou surnamed Gongsun do for food?

Just as Liang Xiao was guessing, the sound of war drums and horses' hooves sounded in the distance. On the horizon, a black line was rapidly approaching, and a fiery red battle flag fluttered in the wind.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Huns turned their horses and left, and walked away in an instant.

After a short time, a knight rode a horse in front of Liang Xiao and shouted: "Sun He, the servant of the prince, greetings, who is coming?" ”——

(To be continued.) )