A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1171 The picture appears
Ashina Buzhen, the young Khan of Beiting, stood on his horse, gazing at the Gongyue City in the distance.

Bu Zhen was in his forties, tall and strong. Facing the not-so-big Gongyue City, he could only retreat thirty miles.

A Turkic guard from the Wolf Riders rode over from the direction of Gongyue City.
"Did An Lushan agree?"

"An Lushan rejected the Khan's gift and said that everything would be decided by the Prime Minister Wu. He also told us to stay away from Gongyue City. Otherwise, it would be considered as rebellion."

Bu Zhen's face was gloomy.

He turned to look at the knight standing beside him, "Duman, you said An Lushan is greedy. As long as we give him enough gold, he will hand over Mishe. We have now offered him 10,000 taels of gold plus 3,000 horses, but he still refused. Is it because the gold is not enough, or do you simply not understand An Lushan?"

The young knight was Duman, the son of Quejijin of the Asijie tribe. He had been ordered by Quejijin to go to Khan Futu City to form an alliance with Helu to fight against the Tang Dynasty. Although he saw that the situation was not good and prepared to leave, he still failed to escape and was captured.

However, Wu Huaiyu did not punish Duman and Asijie tribe, and released them after a reprimand. The two Asijie tribesmen apologized to Wu Huaiyu, promised to pay this year's tribute in advance, and also offered some gold, silver, camels and horses as tribute, and promised to send the children of the Asijie tribe leaders to serve as attendants in Xizhou.

Unexpectedly, after the two Ji Jin returned to the grassland of Suiye River Valley, they immediately regretted their decision. They hit it off with Ashina Buzhen and planned and implemented a surprise attack on Beiting.

After Bu Zhen led his troops to raid Beiting, the Asijie tribe also began to recruit tribal warriors. They also led the three kingdoms of Shule, Zhujubo and Hepantuo to rebel against the Tang Dynasty.

Duman was deeply ashamed of being captured by the Tang army in Khanfutu City last time. That capture not only did not make him fear the Tang Dynasty, but instead filled him with anger and wanted to avenge himself.

Queshijin and Nishushijin were unwilling to endure the many unreasonable demands of the Anxi Tang army. Queshijin especially believed that the Tang army would never forgive them for their conspiracy with Helu in rebellion. Not moving them now would only be temporary. When the time was right, the Tang army would definitely attack the Asijie tribe.
Rather than sit back and wait for death, it is better to strike preemptively.

Duman was silent for a while.

Bu Zhen's surprise attack was successful, but it failed because he failed to capture Ni Shu.

If they could capture Mishe and kill him directly, and then declare that Mishe was plotting a rebellion and Buzhen suppressed it, then the Tang Dynasty would have no choice but to accept Buzhen as the successor to the position of the Xingxiwang Khan of Beiting in the face of this fait accompli.
In this way, they will have more time to prepare, and then they can unite the Turkic tribes in the north and south, the east and west, and all the other countries, and it will not be a problem to expel Tang Anxi's army from the Western Regions.

But plans can never keep up with changes.

Bu Zhen failed to capture Mishe, who even fled into Gongyue City. Now An Lushan refused even the ten thousand taels of gold.
"Will Wu Huaiyu really send troops?"

"Given An Lushan's attitude, it's very possible."

The two were silent for a long time.

Bu Zhen asked Duman, "It seems that our plan has failed. The only thing we can do next is to go to war."

Duman asked Bu Zhen, "Before Wu Huaiyu arrives, is the Khan confident that he can capture Gongyue City?"

There are 3,000 Tang troops stationed in Gongyue City. There are large and small Gongyue Cities, as well as several newly built forts. It is not easy for Bu Zhen to capture Gongyue City with his 18,000 men. Even with the previous experience of Khan Futu City, Bu Zhen can be said to have no confidence at all.

"If I attack Gongyue City now, then the people from the Tuqishi and Gongyue tribes who were watching from the sidelines will most likely send out troops,"

If the Turks and the Gongyue tribes take action, they will most likely stand on the side of the Tang people.

Up to now, the Tuqishi and Gongyue tribes have not made any moves and are only gathering their troops. However, this is because Bu Zhen claimed that it was Mishe who conspired to rebel against the Tang Dynasty and he was ordered to quell the rebellion. The Tuqishi and Gongyue tribes were somewhat caught off guard and the situation was unclear, so they did not act rashly.

Or maybe they were watching the reaction of the Tang people.
For a moment, I was not sure whether Bu Zhen really followed Wu Huaiyu's secret order to launch the attack, or whether Bu Zhen's action to seize the Khan would be tacitly approved by the Tang Dynasty afterwards.

But once Bu Zhen attacks Gongyue City, everyone will know that it was him, Bu Zhen, who rebelled against the Tang Dynasty.

According to the alliance between the Tuqishi and Gongyue tribes and the Tang Dynasty, they had to send troops to rescue Gongyue City. They had sworn an oath to heaven by killing a white horse as a token of alliance, and had also engraved the alliance on a stone tablet.

Duman looked at the Moon-shaped city.
Although the city is not big,

But there were Tang flags flying on the city wall, which meant that the Tang army was stationed there.
As long as they attack the city, it would be a formal declaration of war on Tang.

The series of performances of the Tang army after entering the Western Regions had already made many tribes fearful. Duman's experience of being captured also made him afraid of the Tang army, but this fear also made him angry and resentful, and he always wanted to avenge himself.

"Things have come to this, the arrow is on the string and has to be shot. Khan, once the bow is drawn, there is no turning back. Even if the Khan stops now, how could Wu Huaiyu let him go?

We all know the ambitions of the Tang people. They will destroy a country today, a region tomorrow, and sooner or later all the tribes and countries in the Western Regions will be conquered by them one by one.

We can't just sit there and wait for death, let's fight, before Wu Huaiyu arrives, let's take Gongyue City first."

"Can the Asijie tribe make it?" Bu Zhen looked at the young Duman. He could see the anger and resentment in the young man's eyes, but he was more concerned about whether Asijie's cavalry could come. Otherwise, he had no confidence in capturing Gongyue City where Fatty An was stationed.

Ten thousand against three thousand, Bu Zhen didn't stand a chance of winning.

After the three previous battles of attack and defense of Gongyue City, Tiandi City and Khan Futu City, all the foreign tribes in the Western Regions knew that the Tang army was good at attacking cities, even better at defending cities, and they were also good at field battles.

Helu united eight tribes and tens of thousands of people attacked Khan's Futu City, which was guarded by thousands of Tang troops. After only one day of siege, not only did they suffer heavy casualties, but they were also chased and beaten in the end.

Duman shook his head. "We, the Asijie tribe, can't come over in a short time. As soon as we cross the line drawn by Wu Huaiyu, the Turks will definitely intercept us.

Although the two Tuqishi troops are not as strong as our Asijie, their strength is not much worse than ours."

The boundary between the Asiqie tribe and the Turkic tribe used to be the Ili River, but after years of internal strife, the Asiqie tribe, as the leader of the Western Wing's Five Crossbows, suffered repeated losses in the fight with the Turkic people.
The boundary also moved from the Yili River to the Jieshan Mountain between the Yili River and the Suiye River.

The Asijet tribe and the Turgesh tribe have been fighting in this area for a long time. Even if the two Asijet tribes unite now, it will not be easy to break through the Turgesh people in Jieshan in a short time.

This is not the result Bu Zhen wanted.

He frowned and said bluntly, "You know the Tang people are good at defending cities, and they also have very sharp firearms. If my 10,000 men attack Gongyue City by force, we have no chance of winning."

"Ten thousand versus three thousand. Does the Khan underestimate me so much?"

"Not all of my 10,000 troops are elite soldiers. Many of them are mercenaries. The most important thing is that they all thought that I was really ordered by Wu Huaiyu to suppress the rebellious Mishe. Now that I want to attack Gongyue City, those mercenaries will run away immediately. Who knows, they may even turn against us in the middle of a battle.

Among the remaining people, a small number of them are not from my group, and many of them will definitely run away."

The two had a disagreement.

Duman suggested that Buzhen take Gongyue City and kill Mishe before Wu Huaiyu arrived, and then directly declare himself Khan and call on the tribes in the East to rebel against the Tang Dynasty.

However, Bu Zhen did not have the confidence to capture Gongyue City. He wanted to wait for Asijie's army to arrive so that he could attack the city together, which would give him a better chance of success.

Seeing this, Duman bluntly said, "You have to fight for the position of the Khan yourself. It won't fall from the sky. My Asiji tribe is willing to form an alliance with the Khan because we value the Khan's courage and determination. That's why we are willing to help the Khan become the master of Beiting. But if the Khan shrinks back in front of a bow-shaped castle guarded by Fatty An and 3,000 people,
How can we resist the Tang army and seize the position of Khan?
If that is the case, I advise the Khan to go to Gaochang City and kneel before Wu Huaiyu to beg for his life."

Bu Zhen was silent for a long time.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and called the Fuli Wolf Guards, "Pass the order down, everyone gather, have a good meal, and launch an attack on Gongyue City in the afternoon!"

"An Lushan, the commander of Gongyue, accepted a bribe of 10,000 taels of gold from the rebel Mishe, and deliberately protected the rebels and conspired with them to cause chaos.
This Khan has been ordered by the Prime Minister to capture the traitor Mishe. Anyone who dares to protect him will be considered a traitor."

"Pass the order again. Take Gongyue City. The treasures brought by Mishe, the property in Gongyue City, and the ten thousand taels of gold will all be given to the men as rewards."

"The first person to enter the city will be rewarded with 1,000 taels of gold. The one who cuts off Mishe's head will be rewarded with 3,000 taels of gold. The one who captures and kills the rebel general An Lushan will be rewarded with 1,000 taels of gold..."

Bu Zhen had no way to retreat and could only grit his teeth and fight on.

However, in order to prevent his mercenaries from escaping or even defecting, and to prevent those non-direct troops from being shaken, he had no choice but to continue pretending to be following Wu Huaiyu's orders to suppress the rebellion, and for this reason he also accused An Lushan of conspiracy to rebel.

He also offered a generous reward to lure these subordinates.

Duman smiled with satisfaction.

"Han people have an old saying, 'Burning your boats and burning your boats', 'Fighting to the death', 'Putting your life on the line and then surviving', and there is also a saying 'Fortune and honor are to be found in danger!'"

"Helu was afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind, and he didn't dare to fight. That's why he was defeated. Khan should learn from his mistakes and never waver like him."

Bu Zhen gritted his teeth and nodded.

"I will take Gongyue City, but I cannot defend it by myself."

"The Big and Small Gongyue Cities are strategically located and control the Cheling Pass. As long as the Khan defends Gongyue Cities, even if Wu Huaiyu comes in person, he won't be able to get through in a short time.
I, Asiji, have hundreds of thousands of cavalrymen, and together with the three kingdoms of Zhujubo, Shule, we will surely defeat the Turks this time. After we defeat the Turks, we will rush to reinforce the Khan."

"But the previous agreement must be kept." Duman said.

Bu Zhen nodded without hesitation, "Of course, after this is accomplished, I will fully support your father Que Jijin as the Khan of Nanting.

Our southern and northern courts will once again use the Yili River as the boundary, and Qiuci, Shanshan, Qiemo, Tokharistan, Yanqi, Shiguo, Shiguo, Heguo, Muguo, Kangguo, etc. will all belong to your southern court."

Duman raised his palm and spat into it.

Bu Zhen also spat into his palm.
The two of them high-fived three times.
They swore an oath again and agreed to form an offensive and defensive alliance to jointly fight against the Tang Dynasty. After the success, the South and North Courts would coexist with the Yili River as the boundary.

Duman looked at the seemingly not-so-big Gongyue City.

"Khan, I will return to Suiye immediately and tell Quejijin and Nishujijin the latest situation here, and ask them to send troops eastward immediately."

Duman had a bad feeling in his heart. He felt that if he didn't leave quickly, the scene of Khan being captured under Futu City would be repeated.

However, he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart. Would Wu Huaiyu really send troops?

(End of this chapter)