A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1174 Doomed

"Zhu'er, I heard that Bu Zhen wanted to give you a ton of gold, but you refused it?"

"Ashinabu is really a traitor. I dare not take his ten thousand taels of gold. Father, I failed you this time. I failed to send troops to the Western Khanate of Mount Heshan to quell this rebellion in the first place."

"You were able to defend Gongyue City and stabilize the situation first. You performed very well. It can even be said that you performed better than I expected. As a general guarding a place, you have to consider things comprehensively. If you act rashly and send troops when Bu Zhen rebels, I will be disappointed."

"Foster father, Bu Zhen has been captured, and the Beiting Khanate west of the Dianhe Mountain has been taken down by our Gongyue Army, the Yuzhi Army, and the Turks. The Asijie Army has retreated and sent an envoy to apologize. Should we withdraw our troops next?"

"Bu Zhen was captured and Beiting was recovered, but the matter is not over yet. Although Asijie retreated, this is their second rebellion. I let them go last time, but not long after, they rebelled again. Some things can never happen again."

"Are we going to go to war with the Asiji tribe? Asiji is the strongest of the West Wing Five Crossbill Tribes, or even the strongest of the Ten Surnames. This time they have also brought in the three kingdoms of Shule and Zhujubo."

"I am fighting against the strong tribes. No matter how strong Asijie is, how strong is he compared to Yugushe during our previous Western Expedition? Asijie has become a cancer that affects the stability and unity of the Western Regions. He must be eliminated."

Bow Moon City,
It is already light snowing, fifteen days after the beginning of winter. According to the climate of the Yellow River Basin in the Central Plains, the sky and the earth are filled with shades, which means rain when it is warm and snow when it is cold. When we say light snow, it means that the cold is not deep and the snow is not heavy.

But north of the Tianshan Mountains in the Western Regions, the northern country is already covered with ice for thousands of miles and is extremely cold.

Due to the continuous snowfall and low temperatures, rime appeared in the Yili River Valley. The light and white rime attached to the trees.

Like jade trees and silver flowers,

It sparkles silver under the sunlight. Standing on the Gongyue City Tower and looking out, the sky and the earth are covered in silver. The entire river valley and grassland look like ice sculptures and jade, extremely beautiful.

However, the tribal herdsmen on the grasslands had no intention of appreciating this heavy snow. The grasslands were most afraid of the cold winter and heavy snow.
Although herders will move to winter pastures before the cold winter, they will also cut some grass in advance, and even slaughter some rams, some old sheep, and some too small sheep before winter, and try to keep ewes and some strong lambs, so that they can survive the long winter.

But if there is a heavy snowstorm or extreme cold, livestock will still freeze to death.

For herders who rely on grazing, livestock are everything to them. If the livestock freeze to death, their property will be gone too.

The Anxi soldiers who came to the Western Regions from the Central Plains were not in a mood to appreciate the snow and rime because it was too cold. Although the imperial court and the Anxi Protectorate had prepared quilts and cotton-padded jackets for the soldiers,

These clothes and blankets stuffed with thick cotton can effectively resist the cold, and together with sheepskin vests, they can make the soldiers' lives much better.

But the winds and snow in the Western Regions were strong, and being on duty, guarding beacons, and patrolling was still unbearable. The wind would cut your face like a knife.

Although everyone applies sheep oil on their face and hands every day, their skin is still inevitably cracked by frostbite.

The weather is getting colder,

Only suitable for winter.

A heavy snowfall cooled down the war in the Western Region.

When the Asiji coalition heard that Bu Zhen had been captured and Beiting had been lost, they retreated to the grasslands of the Suiye River Valley south of Jieshan. The Tushi and Shiqi did not pursue them further, but continued to defend the Jieshan line.

Wu Huaiyu led his army to station in Gongyue City.

Asijie Queshijin and Nishushijin sent envoys to apologize to Wu Huaiyu. They said that the Asijie tribe was deceived by Bu Zhen and they raised an army to help the Tang Dynasty quell the rebellion.
This is a lie known to everyone.

But many people, especially the Chuo and Shijin of the Turkic tribes, thought that this was a way out. Asiqi found a reason, bowed his head and apologized, and even made amends.
Then Wu Huaiyu would take advantage of the situation and make a small matter out of a big one.

After all, Asijie and his two tribes had more than 100,000 troops and this time they also brought in the three kingdoms of Shule. The rest of the Nushipi tribe in the west wing must also hope to calm down so as to avoid being affected.

Some people even think that if a war really breaks out, the Tang army may not win.

It was cold and snowy at the time, and the Tang army had only about 10,000 troops. If they were to go on an expedition to Suiye, the outcome of the battle would be unpredictable.

"It was cold and snowy, and Asijie decided that we would not attack again. He even thought that as long as they gave in, I would accept it.

They were confident that they had more than 100,000 men and a strong army, so they thought I would be tolerant and compromise.

"Father, do you really want to attack Asiqie? But it's cold and snowy right now, so it's difficult to send troops."

“It is difficult to send troops, but it does not mean that we cannot send troops.”

Wu Huaiyu had already made up his mind. The conditions at the moment were indeed not convenient for sending troops, but one could not use ordinary ideas when deploying troops. Sending troops at this moment would be difficult, but it would still be possible to catch the enemy off guard.

It was snowing heavily and Asijie had already retreated. It was impossible for his army to stay together all the time. They must have returned to their tribes and returned to the winter pastures to avoid the cold and spend the winter. This meant that there would not be many soldiers and horses in Asijie Jijin's tent.

To catch a thief, you must first catch the leader, replicating the battle in which Yu Gu was captured.

As long as the Khanate of Asijet and the two Jiqins were breached and the two Jiqins were captured, then the Asijet and the two tribes would be useless even if they had many more people, let alone hundreds of thousands.

When fighting a war, you can never follow the enemy's rhythm, but must always take the initiative.

What does it mean to be proactive?

Now Asijie thinks that the weather is cold and the earth is cold, and if he surrenders and apologizes, the Tang Dynasty will stop fighting. But how can Wu Huaiyu do as he wishes?

An Lushan thought about it.

"Son, there is one thing I don't understand. Aye has been very lenient to the Gongyue tribe, the Chishi tribe, the Yanmian tribe, and even to the Chumukun, Shepi, Chumi, and Huluwu tribes. Even the Asijie tribe had secretly communicated with Helu before, but Aye didn't investigate further.
Why don't you let the Asikya tribe go now?"

Wu Huaiyu grabbed a handful of snow from the battlement, made it into a snowball, and threw it far away.
"When we captured Gongyue City, we didn't kill them all in the end, but appeased them. This was also to facilitate our control of the Western Regions. We had just arrived and had not yet established a firm foothold. If we were too harsh, it would arouse the common hatred of the Turkic tribes and they would fight together.

So all we need is for the Gongyue tribe to surrender."

"But now it's different,"

The Asiqie and Asiqie tribes had already posed a serious threat to the Tang Dynasty's rule in the Western Regions. They had rebelled time and again, and had done nothing to conceal their rebellious intentions.

They must be severely punished and must not be tolerated, otherwise it will only breed trouble and even send a bad signal.
The Tang Dynasty could not control the situation of the Turkic tribes. "Aye, do you think that if we send troops now, we can really defeat the two tribes of Asiqie? The enemy is numerous and we are few, and it is cold and snowy. We have to go deep into the enemy territory, which is quite risky." An Lushan reminded seriously.

"War is not without risks, but as long as we are fully prepared, it is okay to take risks."

The Western Turkic West Wing Wunushibi has been passed down to the present day. Now the two tribes of Asiqie occupy two of the Wunushibi tribes.

The other three tribes were the Geshuque tribe, the Geshuchuban tribe, and the Basai cadres.

The two tribes of Geshu were also divided into two by the Geshu tribe.

But the Wunushibi tribe is still the strongest among the Asijie tribe. Even if it is only the Asijieque tribe, it is still the strongest among the ten clans.

There is still a great risk in sending troops at this time.

But Wu Huaiyu was very confident.

If they really wanted to fight the Asiqie tribe in a fair duel and gather a large army to fight on the grassland, Wu Huaiyu didn't want to fight. In such a battle, the Turks would obviously have the advantage in numbers.
Fighting away from home in the Western Regions, especially in the territory of Asiqie,
It would be best if we could take the initiative and not let them gather their forces for a head-on confrontation.

The characteristics of the Turkic nomadic tribes meant that even if there were more than 100,000 people, they were usually very scattered, scattered over hundreds or thousands of miles, because the pastures could not support too many cattle and sheep at once, so they had to be spread out relatively far apart.

They live among the grass, without cities.
Therefore, proactively attacking can often help you defeat the enemy one by one. Of course, if the enemy reacts quickly and gathers troops quickly, you may also be surrounded.

But Wu Huaiyu was confident that with the elite troops of the Tang army, Asijie did not have the ability to surround the Tang army.

The cold wind howls,

Mu Xue went down to the gate one after another, and the red flag remained frozen in the wind.

The red flags of the Tang army on Gongyue City were all frozen and could not be blown away by the wind.

Wu Huaiyu summoned the envoy of the Asikāya tribe.
"Who is coming?"

An Lushan stood in front of Wu Huaiyu Steps and shouted at the envoy who came in, like a bolt from the blue, shocking the envoy so much that he almost fell down.

"I am Ashina Wushibo, the envoy of Quejijin of the Asijieque tribe of the West Wing Wunushibi tribe. I have come to pay my respects to the Grand Protector Wu Pingzhang on the orders of the Great Quejijin."

As he spoke, he took out a gift list.

One camel of gold, two camels of silver, three camels of Se Se, one hundred horses, and Bu Zhen's daughter.

Wu Huaiyu glanced at him, then looked up at the messenger coldly.

The messenger hurriedly added, "That camel of gold weighs a full three hundred kilograms, and the two camels of silver weigh a total of six hundred kilograms. Bu Zhen's daughter was originally sent to Que Shi Jin by Bu Zhen, with the intention of forming a marriage alliance with Que Shi Jin. Now Que Shi Jin has sent her to Wu Ping Zhang."

"Does Que Shijin think that a few camels of yellow and white things can calm the anger of the Tang Dynasty?"

"Please calm down, Wu Pingzhang. We, Que Jijin, were also deceived by Ashina Bu Zhen. He said that he had received a secret order from Wu Pingzhang and asked us to help send troops to suppress the rebellious Mishe. We never thought that it was Bu Zhen who was plotting a rebellion. We were also deceived."

Wu Huaiyu was silent for a long time.

I closed the gift list.
"Lushan, these things?"

"Minister Wu, I have counted the things and they are exactly as written on the gift list."

"Give it back to them, and tell Que Jijin that I must give an explanation for this matter."

The envoy Ashina Wushibo quickly pleaded again, saying that it was all a misunderstanding and that they had been deceived. They were now willing to apologize and ask for forgiveness from Prime Minister Wu.

At this time, Quechu, Luchu, Banchu and other Chuos in the East Wing also pleaded for the Asikya tribe.

Lian Xingxiwang Khan Mishe also stood up to speak for Asijie, saying that it was all a misunderstanding.

"Since everyone is willing to plead for Asijie, I will trust you once again. Go back and tell Que Shijin and Ni Shushijin to come to Gongyue City in person. I want to talk to them in person."

The messenger expressed his gratitude.
That day, he left behind the gifts including gold, silver, and BMW and left in a hurry.

"Can Asijie really believe that we will let them go?" An Lushan asked.
"Since I accepted such a large gift from him, he will naturally think that we will not send troops."

"Que Jijin is really generous. How come the Khans and kings in the Western Regions are so rich that they spend gold, silver and silver everywhere?

The gift sent by the two tribes of Asiji this time included one camel of gold, two camels of silver, three camels of Sese, and three hundred BMWs, which amounted to 4,800 taels of gold, nearly 10,000 taels of silver, and three camels of Sese gems, which were very valuable, worth nearly 100,000 strings of cash.

"Take the camel's worth of gold and send it to Chang'an as a tribute to the emperor."

"Take the three camels to Gaochang City in Xizhou and sell them. The proceeds will go to the Great Protectorate as military expenses."

"The two camels of silver will be used as rewards and relief for the soldiers on this expedition."

"Pass the order down, gather the troops, and march out tomorrow."

Wu Huaiyu requested to gather 20,000 troops, including the 8,000 he brought from Gaochang, the children of the Fanhu tribes who followed him along the way, the soldiers of Gongyue Town, and the troops of the Yuzhi Tribe and the Tuqishi Tribe.

Gongyue Town allocated one thousand people.

Twenty thousand troops will follow the return footsteps of the Asijijite envoy and march towards Suiye.

It was freezing cold, and my breath turned into ice.
Wu Huaiyu's military order made the Turkic tribal leaders feel a bone-chilling chill.

The Asikya tribe cannot escape this disaster!
(End of this chapter)