After the Zhengdan Dynasty Meeting, it soon came to the fourth day of the first lunar month.

As a rule, on this day, the emperor would shoot a bow with the ministers of civil and military affairs and the nobles of the clan in the West Inner Garden. Of course, His Majesty the Emperor is sitting on the warm couch and smiling to watch the ministers test the bow and arrow, as for His Majesty's archery, of course, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince shows filial piety and shoots on behalf of his father, and by the way, he compares the archery skills of a number of military ministers.

The weather was a little cloudy on the fourth day of the first day of this year, and when the three or four hundred civil and military officials who shot the bow, the nobles of the clan and the envoys specially given to them entered the West Inner Garden, it began to rain sleet in the sky. So His Majesty the Emperor passed on the decree to the inner servant, and the bow was changed to a garden club, and the ministers played at will in the West Garden, and gave food at noon. A group of civil and military officials, clan dignitaries and more than a dozen envoys gathered in circles to have fun. The emperor went to the greenhouse hall surrounded by dozens of civil officials and nobles, talking about literature, thoughts, calligraphy and painting, etc., and was very interested. Pei Chang, Yao Lancheng and other prime ministers of the political hall and Xu Zhitong and other privy council scholars followed Li Yuzhen to speak from the warm pavilion on the upper floor of the greenhouse hall from Zuo Dengge Road.

After the palace people served tea, Jing'an General Meng Keyi said solemnly:

"Your Highness, I received information in the morning: on December 30, 250,000 troops of the 10th Army of the Great Eclipse were transferred from the central province and marched in three groups to the province of Bach. It is expected to enter the province of Asia and America through the province of Bach, from the west coast of the Riga Sea, transported by the Great Food Fleet, cross the sea into Central-continent, and Chen Bing I Anxi Protectorate Frontier. ”

The Riga Sea is long and narrow from north to south, ends in the majestic Ugal Mountains in the north, flows six thousand miles into the Atlantic Ocean in the south, and is the boundary sea between the Great West Continent and the Central Continent, especially the South Great West Continent and the Central Continent are completely separated by this sea, and the Great Food Army must cross this sea if it wants to enter the Central Continent. There are also two directions for crossing the sea: one is to enter the Persian province from the Persian Gulf at the southernmost tip of the Riga Sea, through the Cuman steppes where the Turkic Khanate's court is located, and then go north through the Great Uz Desert, and reach the southwest border of the Anxi Protectorate; The second is to cross the sea from the northern part of the Riga Sea, enter the narrow Khazar Plateau, and then cross the Aral Sea from the eastward plateau, and reach the western border of the Anxi Protectorate.

Li Yuzhen's eyes swept over the ministers, and asked with a little carelessness, "What do you think?" ”

The chancellors and the Privy Council officers groaned.

The direction in which the Great Eclipse chooses to enter Anxi Province indicates whether it will jointly send troops with the Turkic Khanate.

In the past, when the Great Food and the Tang Dynasty went to war, they all chose the route of Persia, the Cuman steppe, and the Uzi Desert, and it was not difficult for the Great Food Army to cross the desert, because the Great Food started from the desert tribe, and the central and southern parts of the Great Food Peninsula were deserts, and the Great Food Army was very accustomed to desert operations. And to take the northern route of troops, you have to cross the Aral Sea, which means fighting the Anxi navy of the Tang Dynasty. Datang's maritime power dominates the world, and Dashi has never had an advantage in naval battles with Datang. Therefore, this is also an important reason why the Great Eclipse and the Turkic Khan Court maintained a long "honeymoon period", because of the Cuman steppe, which is the passage for sending troops.

Before the Turks, the Cuman steppes were the territory of the Cumans and were influenced by Persian power. And after the re-emergence of the Turks, they became the overlords of this steppe. The Persian province sent troops several times, but they were all wiped out because the Turkic cavalry came and went freely in the steppe, and the Cuman steppe was the Khazar Plateau in the west and the Uz Desert in the north, so the nomadic cavalry was easy to avoid, and the central army dispatched by Dashi did not hit the Turks hard, and as soon as the central army went, the Turkic cavalry came out again and attacked the northern provinces of Persia.

The Turks have a sense of compatibility between fish and water in this land, because this is the birthplace of Turkic tribes in the first place.

"Speaking of which, the Turks are also miserable......," Pei Chang said before speaking.

All the ministers are hehe.

How can the Turks not be miserable?

First of all, the Persian Empire was strong and expanded everywhere, and the Turks were forced to move eastward, struggling for decades, and finally fought a huge territory in the Mobei steppe, and established the Central Plains history books called "East. The Turkic Khan's court", as a result, it didn't take long for the Xianbei Empire to become stronger, and the Turkic Khan's court had to shrink its head, and submitted to the Northern Wei Empire of the Xianbei people, and when the Northern Wei Dynasty was divided, the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties also rose from strong to weak, and the Turks could finally come out again to show off their might, and as a result, the Tang Dynasty followed up, and the Turks were beaten back to Mobei by Emperor Taizong, and then were driven out of the Mobei grassland by Oghuz and Yan Zhou, who moved north to establish the country, and the north and the east could not be mixed, so they had to move back to the Western Regions and establish the Western Turkic Khan. Dominate the kingdoms of the Western Regions. Then during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, the Tang Dynasty became more powerful, and directly sent troops to destroy the countries in the Western Regions, and successively established Hexi Dao and Anxi Protectorate, and the Anxi Protectorate expanded westward to the birthplace of the Turks - the Aral Sea. The Turks fled miserably, bypassing the Aral Sea south into the Khazar Plateau, a barren place where there were no birds, and the Turks survived by fishing on the eastern shore of the Riga Sea, and the nomads were almost forced to become a fishing and hunting people.

But the Turkic people are still very strong, recuperating for fifty or sixty years and recovering their vitality, and still maintaining the fierceness of the nomads, so they marched south to the Khazar Plateau, crossed the edge of the Uzi Desert, entered the Cuman steppe, defeated the Cumans on the steppe, and the encirclement and suppression of the Persian army, and finally became the master of this steppe.

Li Yuzhen remembered Gaozong's layout of the Turks written in the Emperor's book: "...... If the land of Persia were ruled by the Great Eclipse for a hundred years, the whole of Persia would become a servant of Allah. The Turks are a very good knife, which should be chased away without being extinguished, and kept for great food. ”

Of course, Pei Chang has not seen Gaozong's emperor, but as the prime minister of the empire, it is most important to have a view of the overall situation, through the analysis of the situation in the west over the past two hundred years, and the connection between cause and effect, Pei Chang can also gain insight into the layout of Emperor Gaozong's back then-back then, when the Anxi Protectorate could annihilate the Western Turkic Khanate in one fell swoop, but why would he let go of tens of thousands of Western Turks? From the re-emergence of the Turks, the control of the Cuman steppe, and the continuous raids on Persia, it can be understood that Emperor Gaozong's intentions were intended.

The Turks had great ambitions, they were not willing to be just "nomadic", they always had a desire for land, and if they could not advance to the east and north, they would inevitably expand south to Persia.

Pei Chang's exclamation made everyone think back to the history of the Turks, so he took advantage of the situation and analyzed: "The strategy of the Turkic Khanate is to unite with Persia to restore the country. The army formed a Turko-Persian Empire. If they recover the whole territory of Persia, plus the Cuman steppes, the combined territory is almost four million square miles, this will meet the basic conditions for becoming an empire, as for whether it can be recognized by our four empires, it is a means of diplomatic mediation.

"However, the strategic plan of the Turkic Khan's court was disturbed by our Tang Dynasty, and Persia was restored. The army was worried about being annexed by the Turkic Khanate, and it was already inseparable from the Turkic Khanate. The Turks could not establish a united empire, nor could they get the southern provinces of Persia and open up the Atlantic Ocean - unless they could annex Persia and restore it. The power of the army. But there is our Anzang Protectorate adjacent to the southeastern part of Persia, and Persia is restored. The army can get the military support of our Tang Dynasty, and if necessary, it will directly send troops, and the Turks will not be able to swallow up Persia and restore the country. The army can only turn back and reconcile with the big food. ”

Xu Zhitong, Luo Jincheng, Li Huaigu and other Privy Council scholars all nodded slightly.

Shang Shu Ling Yao Lancheng said cautiously: "The Turkic Khanate now occupies two and a half provinces of Persia, can Amaya IX swallow it?" If, out of the consideration of uniting against our Tang Dynasty, Amaia IX temporarily tolerated the occupation of the Turks, there would inevitably be a gap with the Turks, and it would be impossible for the joint troops to cooperate seamlessly. Unless, the Turkic Khanate's court withdrew from the Persian occupation - which should be less likely - or, to give an acceptable explanation to the Great Eclipse: agree to unite with the Great Eclipse army and wipe out the Persian state. Army? Or is it something else......" he pondered, slowly suggesting a possibility, "for example, the merger of the Turkic Khan's court into the Great Eclipse?" Forming a Turkic province? ”

Pei Chang stroked his long beard, and his dark gaze swept over the Privy Council scholars.

Luo Jincheng and other Privy Council scholars all looked at Hu Guogong Xu Zhitong, the most senior Privy Council scholar who had served as the Metropolitan Protector of Anxi for ten years, had fought wars with Dashi and the Turks, and compared with everyone here, he knew the most about the actions of the Turks.

Li Yuzhen also looked over and asked, "Yao Xiang's last hypothesis, how likely does Xu Gong think?" ”

The comprehensive reports of the various countries compiled by the Jing'an Division, including the report of the Turkic Khanate, have detailed analyses from national characteristics to military characteristics, but these are all things on paper, and Li Yuzhen still wants to hear the opinions of the former protector of Anxi.

Xu Zhitong pondered for a while before speaking.

***

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, it is also snowing on this sacred mountain. Not only the sacred mountain, but also most of the places in Oghuz are snowing, not a light sleet, but a goose-feather like large snow flakes, suddenly like a sudden sand rushing wildly, and a sudden like a jade dragon pillar sky, falling all over the sky, until the early morning of the sixth day of the first month. There is a snow line below 1,000 zhang of the 1,000-zhang mountain mountain, and the forest appears above 1,000 zhang, and the snow is covered with snow, and countless branches are crushed by the snow, and the grass and shrubs are no longer visible in the deep snow-covered forest, and all of them are pressed under the snow, but in the spring and summer of the following year, the grass will be new after the snow melts...... Life and death are immortal, and one year old is one withered glory.

Xiao Yan walked alone in the snow, these days after she practiced martial arts, she would wander in the snowy mountains and forests without purpose, without light body skills, just walking in the snow step by step. The snow fell to her knees with every step, making her feel like she was perfectly in tune with the snowy forest. Life is real in this ordinary experience, not ethereal.

Her way is righteousness, cultivating the true self, and her state of mind should be free from dirt and dirt, but life should be ordinary and real, ordinary and real like ordinary people, there are joys and sorrows, love and hate, gains and losses......

"Squeak! Creak! Step by step.

A gray-haired squirrel suddenly squeaked away from the treetops in front of her with a pine cone. She flicked the wind, and the pine cone fell from between its claws onto the snow and landed in front of her. The squirrel's jet-black eyes could see that it was reluctant to drop food, but Xiao Yan exuded a murderous aura, which made it feel extremely dangerous, and without half a moment's hesitation, it flew out.

In such a snowy day, the next pine cone is difficult to find, but it is more important to save your life in front of you.

It's a heartfelt trade-off, and there's no need to hesitate at all.

Xiao Yan smiled suddenly, thoughtful in his dark and clear eyes.

She flicked the wind, and the pine cone flew out, and landed in front of the squirrel leaping out, and the squirrel stretched out its claws and quickly pounced, grabbed the pine cone, and landed on the branch and disappeared.

……

On the seventh day of the first month, Murong Jue was still in retreat to consolidate the innate realm.

Xiao Yan is also still walking in the snow-capped mountains and forests, and sometimes finds a snow-lotus flower on the snowy peak, and will look at it for a long time.

Sometimes she would return to the lake to paint, and she would put down her pen for a moment, ponder for a moment, and walk around the lake for a while, muttering words that she didn't know about.

When she was wandering in the snow, she met the young god and asked very seriously and confusedly, "What is ruthlessness?" ”

Shao Shensi glanced at him coldly, and said coldly: "Affectionate and ruthless, interesting?" ”

Xiao Yan stood for a long time before he understood.

Being ruthless is not a love for the Lesser God Division, but a state, a "thing".

It is like seeing a bush of flowers on the side of the road, the joy in the heart is affectionate, and the indifferent is ruthless, but the affectionate will not be sad because of the withering of life, the ruthless will not be destroyed because of the eyesore, and the ruthless will exist naturally like the landscape.

This is already a debunked feeling.

Therefore, there is no matter whether you are affectionate or ruthless.

But Xiao Yan can't solve it......

In the evening, she said to Shen Qingyi:

I miss Qingqing, and I can't haunt each other every day.

……

Xiao Yan went to the Star Hall of the Temple to watch the stars, and asked the wise high priest, "What is ruthlessness?" ”

The wrinkled smile on the high priest's face unfolded, and each wrinkle seemed to be engraved with wisdom, telling her, "Love the world." ”

Xiao Yan understood that the love of the high priest is fraternity, and the extensive love is ruthless to the living individual.

Her way of life is also a kind of ruthless love, which is the love that the sun shines on the earth, the rain and dew moisten all things, and the love that is benevolent and thin.

But she also has a kind of love.

To the affection, to the depth, to the subtlety.

The branches of the trees wrote a line on the snow, and remained in this silent snow forest for a long, long time, until a herd of horned deer foraged for food and stepped through the snow, turning into jade shavings, and only the deep snow earth recorded its affection.

……

To joy, to sorrow, to love.

……