Time is very fast, Yuan Ba stayed in the grassland for five years, in addition to the daily training of the military camp, Yuan Ba also practiced the lance method given by Yuwen Chengdu in his spare time, at this time he has grown into a fifteen-year-old young general, in the Tianwu Dynasty, this age can already start a family.

Four years ago, Datou Khan took advantage of the death of Dulan Khan and the opportunity of the Western Turkic chaos, unified the grassland, and proclaimed himself Bujia Khan, the Tianwu Dynasty once again divided the army into two roads, with Yang Ye, the king of Jin, as the commander of the Western Route Army, Yang Su as the deputy commander, and Yang Liang, the king of Han, as the commander of the Eastern Route Army, and Shi Wansui as the deputy commander, and again sent 200,000 troops to attack the Western Turks, defeating the Western Turkic Army. In that battle, Yang Yuanba captured the golden wolf's banner of Bujia Khan for the second time, and was named Yitong by Yang Ye, becoming the youngest general of the Tianwu Dynasty.

In the following years, Yang Yuanba led his subordinates to engage in dozens of battles with the Western Turks, large and small, and he was promoted to a partial general.

Yang Yuanba also broke through the stagnation period in the continuous war trials, and entered a new stage of development, with rapid growth of bones and meridians, the most obvious is that the height has grown to six feet three, according to the standards of later generations, that is, one meter eight seven, broad shoulders, slender limbs, high nose bridge, perennial life in the grassland makes the original fair face appear a little dark, much more mature than before, especially the eyes are like water, blazing, direct to the heart, giving people an unpredictable feeling, plus most of the time, he is silent, giving people a sense of atmosphere and calmness。

Thanks to the continuous improvement of strength in actual combat, at this time his archery skills are no less than Zhang Xutuo, not only superb archery, lance is even more perfect, his sky-breaking lance is invincible in the grassland army, even Yu Juluo's knife was defeated under his lance last year.

The breeze is blowing, and it is the spring season of March, Yuan Ba remembered that he had been away from Beijing for a long time, and he would inevitably miss his relatives at home, and he didn't know how his aunt and Niuniu were doing.

At this time, the place where Yuanba is located is called Fengzhou, which is now in the territory of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, belongs to Wuyuan County, is an important border town in ancient times, and is the place where the soldiers of all dynasties must fight, at the same time, it is also backed by the Yellow River, the river network in the territory is dense, the forest is luxuriant, the land is extremely fertile, since ancient times, there is the reputation of the border in the south of the Yangtze River, since the defeat of the Western Turks, the Tianwu Dynasty moved nearly 10,000 families of soldiers and civilians to reclaim the border here, multiply. At this time, the governor of Fengzhou was Yujuluo, and in the early years, he wrote to Emperor Yang Xiong and invited 5,000 elite soldiers to guard Fengzhou. At the same time, he built Dali City, three fortified cities, as the external defense line of Fengzhou City to rely on, and Yuanba was one of the Dali City lords.

Dali City is built close to an abrupt granite mountain, this mountain is about 100 meters high, the shape is quite like the Turkic dome, so the locals call it Qionglong Mountain, this stone mountain is steep and smooth all around, difficult to climb, as if the work of nature, natural easy to defend and difficult to attack the terrain.

Dali City is built with ashlar stones, strong and abnormal, the city wall is three zhang high, it is half-moon shaped, the circumference is about ten miles, it can accommodate tens of thousands of people, at present in addition to a thousand garrisons, there are more than 700 Han people who migrated from Lingzhou, they and the soldiers together, in the past few years in the plain outside the city to reclaim hundreds of hectares of land.

It was Changsun Sheng's suggestion to build a castle here, and to build three castles in the north of the Hetao area, you can not only settle the fields, but also recruit Central Plains farmers to cultivate here to solve the problem of military rations, and when the Western Turks invaded, they could hide in the castle for defense.

In addition, the Tianwu army built twenty beacon towers on the cliffs by the Yellow River, so that when the Western Turkic army arrived, the city of Dali could get the news from a hundred miles away.

"Boss, Chief Fish invites you to Xuanwu Hall. A call interrupted Yuan Ba's thoughts.

The scouts who followed Yuanba at the beginning have been promoted with him in recent years, Yang Sien, Liu Jian, Fat Fish, and Ma Spoon, these four people were promoted to brigade commanders, Wei Chi Xuan and Kang Ba served as civilian officials, Wei Chi Xuan served as Cang Cao, in charge of logistics, and Kang Ba was Ji Gong Lang, responsible for the military Chinese case.

Yang Yuanba walked to the front of the Xuanwu Hall, which is the command center of Dali City, which is made of bluestone, and is named Xuanwu Hall because of its appearance like a turtle shell.

Yang Yuanqing walked into the lobby, only to see three people in the lobby, one is Yu Juluo, the other is Changsun Sheng, behind Changsun Sheng, there is also a young general, about fourteen or fifteen years old, handsome, handsome, eyebrows and eyes, slightly shorter than Yang Yuanba half a head, wearing a thin silver armor, next to a gold-backed scimitar, he is obviously not a soldier, the armor and big knife on his body are not customized by the army, seeing Yang Yuanba come in, the young general looked at Yang Yuanba curiously.

Yang Yuanba saw that his knife was made of stainless steel, weighing about forty or fifty catties, and it was the same as Yujuluo's weapon, it was also a golden-backed tiger scimitar, he couldn't help but pause, who is this person?

Yang Yuanba walked into the lobby quickly, knelt down on one knee and saluted Yu Juluo, "The last general Yang Yuanba, see the fish manager!"

Yu Juluo is not only Yang Yuanba's top boss, but also half of his master, these years, they have fought together in the border fortress, forming a deep relationship, he nodded and said: "General Yang, General Changsun can bring you good news." ”

Eldest Sun Sheng smiled, "The imperial court has approved your request to expand Dali City into Dali County. ”

Yang Yuanba was overjoyed, this is actually his request, since the beginning of the previous year, the continuous drought in Yanzhou, many people fled to Fengzhou to make a living, the population of Dali City has soared from more than 300 households to more than 700 households, so that the management of the city is difficult, he suggested that Yujuluo simply apply to the imperial court for Dali City as a county, so that the city can be expanded, but also let the imperial court send county officials to manage, Yujuluo submitted a formal application to the imperial court in October last year, but did not expect to be approved after nearly half a year.

He asked anxiously: "I want to build the city wall to a height of five zhang, is it feasible?"

This is also what Yang Yuanba is concerned about, the Turks have learned to build siege equipment, and the three-zhang high city wall is a little difficult, so he wants to repair it to five zhang, but the city wall of the capital is only three zhang high, and he is worried that the imperial court will not allow it.

Changsun Sheng sighed and said: "Military facilities are different from civilian cities, don't consider the problem of encroachment, we must adapt measures to local conditions, this saint also said a few years ago, the city should be built tall and strong, the capital city is three zhang high, we should have no problem repairing five zhang, this does not need to be reported to the imperial court." ”

Yu Juluo was still a little worried, he couldn't help frowning, "If you are promoted to the county seat, it will be different, I am worried about the impeachment of those officials in the imperial court." ”

"Don't worry about this, didn't the prince personally promise it last time? Anyway, the crown prince will ascend the throne sooner or later, and no one dares to impeach him for what he promised in his golden mouth. ”

Yu Juluo nodded, the prince did have instructions four years ago, it should not be a big problem, so he put down the matter, he remembered some news he heard recently, saying that after the death of Queen Dugu, the saint had no restraints, and began to indulge in wine, especially like women, and did not know moderation, in just two or three years, the body collapsed, he asked in a low voice: "I heard that the situation of the saint is not very good?"

Changsun Sheng shook his head, "It's very bad, there have been warlocks who have advised the Holy Lord not to go to Renshou Palace, but the Holy Lord didn't listen, I heard that I was already sick when I came." ”

Changsun Sheng sighed, and said with a forced smile: "Forget it, don't talk about this, Yuanba, I'll introduce you to you, this is Li Jing's apprentice, he wants to come to Biansai to travel, Li Jing will stuff him to me, this time I will bring him by the way, his surname is Su, Minglie, a native of Shiping County, Yongzhou, he seems to be one year younger than you, and he will also be a rare fierce general in the future." ”

Yang Yuanba immediately nodded to him and smiled: "It turned out to be Brother Su Xian, who was actually interested in traveling to Biansai at a young age, and he was very ambitious!"

This person is Su Dingfang, a famous general in the history of the Sui and Tang dynasties, who has made great achievements in his life, conquering the Western Turks, Pingcongling, Yibaije, and Goguryeo, "destroying the Three Kingdoms before and after, and capturing their masters".

He was originally the son of Su Yong, a wealthy family in Yongzhou, and he studied martial arts with Li Jing for nearly ten years since he was a child, and at this time he had also broken through the stagnation period and became a young brave warrior. Seeing that Yang Yuanba was not much older than himself, but he looked old-fashioned and praised himself for his ambition, he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, but he was a partial general, and he had been in the army for five years, far from being comparable to himself, so he had to hold his fists and say: "Su Lie first came to Biansai, and asked General Yang for more advice!"

"Well, I won't disappoint Brother Su Xian. ”

Yang Yuanba smiled slightly, and asked Changsun Sheng again, "General Changsun came to Fengzhou this time, it's not as simple as rewarding the army!"

Eldest Sun Sheng smiled and said: "I am on order to send a Turkic envoy this time to visit Princess Yicheng, I want you to accompany me, no problem!"

"There is no problem with humiliation. ”

Yang Yuanba glanced at Yu Juluo, and Yu Juluo smiled and said, "Since General Changsun has a request, then you will escort General Changsun to go." ”

"The last general obeys the order, I don't know when the eldest grandson general will set off?"

Eldest Sun Sheng smiled slightly, "Let's go now!"

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Four years ago, after the Tianwu army defeated Bujia Khan, he immediately supported the Turki Khan to replace the Dulan Khan, became the Great Turkic Khan of the East, and canonized him as the Khan of Qimin, because Princess Anyi died in the chaos in the nineteenth year of the founding of the Yuan Dynasty, this time Yang Xiong chose the daughter of the clan, named Princess Yicheng, and married the Khan of Qimin as his wife.

This time, Changsun Sheng was ordered by Yang Xiong to visit Princess Yicheng in the Turks, and at the same time to appease the Turks.

The team consisted of a total of 500 people, in addition to Yang Yuanba led 300 cavalry to escort, there was also a 100-person camel team, which was a camel team rented by Changsun Sheng in Lingzhou, and 500 camels were full of gifts from the emperor to the Qimin Khan.

They walked in the Mobei grassland of the Great Lake Basin area, the Great Lake Basin is located between Yudujin Mountain and Jinshan, composed of three basins, Ubusu, Kobdo and Zabhan, between which there are dozens of lakes large and small, Yudujin Mountain and Jinshan are like the two arms of a giant to hold dozens of lakes in their arms.

"General Changsun, the Turkic tent should be on the bank of the Egen River, east of Dujin Mountain, why are we going west?"

Yang Yuanba and Changsun Sheng walked at the front of the team, and he said to Changsun Sheng with a smile: "It's easy to meet the Western Turks here, and I knew that I was going this way, so I would bring a little more people." ”

"I only got the news before I set off, the Qimin Khan is hunting in the spring, and the camp is set up in the Zabhan River. ”

Changsun Sheng glanced back, and whispered to Yang Yuan: "Now the situation in the Turks is a bit complicated, Princess Yicheng sent someone to send a letter to the capital, saying that the Qimin Khan and the Western Turks have private contacts, and the Holy Lord is worried that the grassland will change, so he sent me to investigate the situation." ”

Yang Yuanba frowned, "That Qimin Khan came from the spring hunting west of Dujin Mountain, could it be that he has another deep meaning?"

Changsun Sheng nodded, "I also suspect that this is the case, but there is no evidence, and we are not good to bring too many troops, so as not to make Qimin Khan suspicious, I think, at least on the surface, everyone will still be harmonious." ”