A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1175 Snowstorm
"Bring Ashina Buzhen up here."

In front of Gongyue City,

Twenty thousand Han and Hu infantry and cavalry lined up outside the city.

The wind was bitingly cold and it was still snowing.

The military flags are fluttering,

Wu Huaiyu was wearing a helmet and armor, a fur coat over the golden armor bestowed by the emperor, and he shouted loudly,
The Anxi soldiers brought Ashina Buzhen up.

This former Beiting Yehu, later the deputy governor of the Little Khan, even declared himself Khan for a few days after conquering Beiting.

Now he was tied up and pushed under the banner.

Bu Zhen was in a very bad state at this time. He was wearing a tattered sheepskin robe, which made his face black and blue from the cold, and his nose was even running.

There was no trace of rebellion on his face.
"Keep your head up!"

Wu Huaiyu looked down at Bu Zhen.

Ashina Buzhen raised his head and looked at the majestic Prime Minister Wu, with regret flashing in his eyes.

"Bu Zhen, I have treated you well, haven't I? It was me who recommended you to the Saint as the Little Khan of Beiting and the Deputy Protector of Kunling Protectorate. The Saint also conferred upon you the title of Duke and the rank of General.
But how do you repay the saints, how do you repay your true self?
You repay kindness with enmity and betray the Tang Dynasty!"

Bu Zhen was forced to kneel in the snow, shivering with cold, but he was still trying to defend himself, "I didn't betray the Tang Dynasty, I just have a grudge against Mishe, and Mishe is incompetent and unpopular, so I want to replace him.

After I replace Mishe, I will continue to lead the Beiting Wudulu tribe and others and continue to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty."

Wu Huaiyu shook his head,
"You raided the west of Mount Dianhe, killed more than ten of Mishe's nephews and nephews, and seriously injured Mishe. You said it was a personal vendetta, and I can barely believe you.

But you colluded with the Asiji tribe to raise an army, and you also led troops to besiege Gongyue City. Do you think I will still believe you?"

"Gongyue City is not Mishe's territory. This is the military town of our Great Tang Anxi Army. The flag of our Great Tang is flying on the city. If you dare to attack Gongyue City, it would be a direct betrayal and an attack on the Great Tang!"

"I didn't really attack Gongyue City. I just wanted General An to hand over Mishe."

No matter how Ren Buzhen defended himself, it was of no use.

Wu Huaiyu brought him up here not to listen to his explanation,
"Ashina Buzhen, you betrayed the court and the saint, you deserve to be killed!"

"I now pronounce the sentence to be to behead you and send your head to the tribes in the Western Regions."

"Come here, take him out and behead him, and sacrifice his blood to the flag!"

When Wu Huaiyu really shouted "Kill",
The wind is stronger, the snow is heavier,

Bu Zhen suddenly collapsed to the ground. After being captured, he had thought about his own fate. He had optimistically believed that since Duolu Khan, Helu, Qu Zhisheng and others were still able to be granted official positions and titles in Chang'an after their rebellion, his fate should not be too bad.

If he could go to Chang'an and be a leisurely general of the Twelve Guards and continue to retain his title of Duke, the rest of his life should be pretty good.

He never expected that Wu Huaiyu wanted to kill him.

Not only did he not expect it, but the Turkic Chuo and Shijin in iron armor and brocade robes under the military flag did not expect it, and even Mishe, the Khan of Beiting who had not yet recovered from his injuries, did not expect it.

"cut!"

Gave an order,
An Anxi soldier raised his sword high and chopped it down fiercely.
Ashina Bu Zhenren's head was separated,
The head fell off, and the warm blood splattered, landing on the white snow, so eye-catching.

Until the guard picked up his head, put it on a tray, and brought it to Wu Huaiyu,
Everyone has not yet recovered from the shock.

Since Wu Huaiyu's Western Expedition, more than one Turkic nobles have been killed, but so far, Bu Zhen is undoubtedly the highest-ranking one.

Among the leaders who were killed before, the four most honorable ones were Yuzhishijin, Chishishijin, Yanmianshijin and Zhuxiequeshijin, all of whom were leaders of a tribe.

But they are also leaders of Turkic tribes.
Duolu Khan, Helu Yehu, the Prince of Gaochang, and Zhenzhu Yehu were all sent to Chang'an after they were defeated, captured, or surrendered. They were still given official positions and titles, and their lives were pretty good. At least their lives and their wives and daughters were saved.

Even after the surrender of Luchuo, Quchuo, Dumanteqin, Shepishijin, Chumishijin and others, they were still in charge of their tribes.

Everyone also felt that if Bu Zhen was captured, his fate would probably be to be sent to Chang'an and never be able to return to the Western Regions.

But unexpectedly, Wu Huaiyu chopped the man to pieces as he said.

Bu Zhen is the fifth-generation grandson of Midianshi Khan. In the Western Regions, that is the most noble bloodline. Before the Tang army entered the Western Regions, he was also a dignified Yehu.

Such a big shot could be chopped off at will.

Blood sacrifice.

Wu Huaiyu glanced at the head, his eyes wide open with anger, and he died with his eyes open.

"Pass my order, set off!"

Twenty thousand infantry and cavalry, braving the wind and snow,
All the way west.

Heavy snow fell, the north wind howled,

The snow on the ground was two feet thick, making marching extremely difficult.

Even An Lushan suggested that they should wait until the weather cleared after the snow before marching.

But Wu Huaiyu was resolute.

"When Asiji Queshijin and Nishushijin saw that I accepted their gifts, they must have thought that it was too cold and snowy for our Tang army to move forward, and since they accepted the gifts, they would not send out troops again.

At this moment, they will surely relax their vigilance, disband their troops, and return to their tribes. This is a good opportunity for us to launch a surprise attack and defeat the enemy. We should capture the thieves and their leaders, and defeat them one by one. If we don't seize such a good opportunity, do we have to wait until next autumn when the horses are fat and strong, and then we can attack them again?"

"Everyone, now is the time to create an unprecedented achievement!"

The army continued to march westward, advancing through the vast snowfields towards the Suiye River Valley where the two Asiqie tribes were located.

Although the wind was strong and the snow was heavy, the march was difficult,

But with the firm will of Commander Wu Huaiyu,

The entire army also burst out with a rare spirit, that is, the belief in victory and an invincible will.

The soldiers of the Anxi Army had absolute trust in their commander, Wu Huaiyu.
This commander is invincible and is an undefeated legend. If you follow him, there is no battle that cannot be won. What does a little snowstorm matter?
Many officers who had followed Wu Huaiyu in battle would tell others about Wu Huaiyu's experiences in battle.

For example, when Wu Xiang was a rookie, he led the logistics hospital battalion in his first battle in Longyou and actually defeated a group of Turkic cavalry.

When Prime Minister Wu attacked Liang Shidu in Shuofang, all the troops withdrew and Prime Minister Wu stayed behind to cover the rear. However, he, who was the rear guard, ended up destroying Liang Shidu alone.

For example, the battle in which Wu Xiang, Duke Weiguo, Duke Yingguo and others destroyed the Eastern Turks was even more exciting. And the battle in which Wu Xiang blocked Jie Li at Yehuling outside Youyan Pass was even more of a classic.

In short, Wu Xiang had fought all kinds of battles, many of which were against him, but he won in the end, and won beautifully. Just like when he led 16,000 cavalrymen to attack Yugu She for 7,000 miles,
Although the weather was bad this time,

But everyone's confidence has increased.

Because they had followed Prime Minister Wu in the Western Regions and had fought more than a dozen battles, big and small, without losing a single one.

Even the Western Turkic tribes' foreign cavalrymen were inexplicably full of confidence. They had all been defeated by the Tang army led by Wu Xiang.

Now my identity has changed.

They followed Wu Xiang to fight and immediately gained confidence.

Although the snow is strong and the weather is cold, it cannot freeze the burning heart.

Following the military minister not only helps you win battles, but also gives you generous rewards.

Before setting off, Prime Minister Wu laid out two camels of silver, a total of 600 kilograms of silver, and distributed them as rewards.

The battle hasn't even started yet, but the reward has already been collected.

All soldiers, whether Han or Hu, have a share.

Five silver coins per person,
Five silver coins have quite good purchasing power in the Western Regions.

In Xizhou, after the death of a long-distance horse used for post, it was required to be skinned and handed over according to regulations, and the horse meat was sold directly at two silver coins per piece. Although this horse meat was the price for a dead horse, two silver coins were still quite valuable to buy the meat of a whole horse.

Normally, one penny could buy two dou of barley. However, this year, the price of grain in the Western Region has risen sharply, but one penny can still buy one dou to seven liters of barley.

For two silver coins, you can also buy a normal leg of mutton.

This reward money is
Five silver coins per person were enough to buy the meat of two half-dead horses, or two and a half legs of good mutton.

Normally, you can buy a stone of highland barley.

No matter whether it is the children of the Fanhu tribe or the soldiers of the Anxi Tang army, holding five silver coins in one's pocket still makes people feel motivated.

Besides, everyone knows that these five coins are just the starting reward.
According to the previous battle rewards, there will be more rewards after winning the battle.
Although the spoils had to be handed over to the public, the Tang army had its own set of rules for rewarding captured spoils, and the rewards for the military ministers who led the troops were particularly generous.

Many Hu children had fought with the Tang army before and had received rewards, some more than once, so everyone was vying to come again this time.

Even though they were braving wind and snow, they were still very active.

In this cold winter, my parents, wives and children can only take shelter in the winter pasture. Life is quite difficult. In the past, when everyone was poor, they would rob other tribes. In times of disaster, they even ignored the differences between tribes.

There are also great risks in looting other tribes. Unless they encounter a major disaster and have no other choice but to survive, the herders are actually not willing to loot.

Now, following Prime Minister Wu to fight, we win easily every time and the rewards are generous. Who wouldn't want to do that?

They are now braving the wind and snow, and their hearts are not filled with worry or fear, but with enthusiasm and anticipation.

Many days later,
Wu Huaiyu led 20,000 Han and Hu infantry and cavalry and finally arrived at the Dajijinya tent of the Asijieque tribe in the north of Suiye River.

Everything happened as Wu Huaiyu expected.
When Que Shijin received the report from the messenger that Wu Huaiyu had accepted the valuable gift he had sent, although he had said some words of reprimand and asked him to go to Gongyue City to explain it in person, he was sure that Wu Huaiyu would not pursue the matter any further.

At least we won't send troops to Suiye during this snowy time.

So he dismissed the remaining 10,000 cavalrymen.
His yamen consisted only of his personal guards and directly affiliated tribesmen.

When the Tang army arrived,
He also took his son Duman Teqin and more than a hundred people to hunt in the snow.

Que Jijin drew his bow and aimed at a deer.

Just as he was preparing to release his arrow,
Suddenly, the rapid sound of horse hooves scared the deer away, and the deer jumped and ran away.
Que Shijin frowned, put down his bow and arrow, and glared at the person who came.

"Da Ji Jin,"

"Tang Cavalry, Tang Cavalry is attacking!"

Que Jijin was surprised, "What did you say?"

"Tang cavalry, a large number of Tang cavalry, overwhelming, they have surrounded our tent,"

Que Jijin's tent was set up in a winter pasture, in a sheltered ravine.

The herders call the winter pasture the winter nest. They will choose river valleys and ravines that are sheltered from the wind and face the sun. Such places are sheltered from the wind and warm. The herders will also deliberately leave the grass here for the winter. The cattle and sheep can survive the winter here. When the ice and snow melt the next year, they will move to the spring pasture.

Although such winter pastures are sheltered from the wind, they are also relatively closed, and usually there is only one mountain pass for entry and exit.

Now the Tang army suddenly came in the snow and wind.

The exit of their winter den was blocked in an instant.

This is really a mess.

"How is it possible? How could the Tang people send troops at this time? How could we not notice it?"

Duman was also stunned, but he could only remind his father, "We all underestimated Wu Huaiyu's ruthlessness. We didn't expect him to take so much gold and silver and dare to attack in such a snowy day. We miscalculated. Father, hurry up and leave. We can't go back to the winter den."

They went out hunting, but were unexpectedly blocked and surrounded.

"Hurry up and find Nishujijin. We have to gather the warriors of the tribe and fight them!" Duman said anxiously.

Que Jijin looked towards the direction of the tent.
There's no going back there.

In the distance, a group of cavalry were approaching.

"Oh no, it's Tang Qi, they are following us, hurry up."

Que Shijin could no longer care about anything else, and had to take the hundreds of people around him and flee hastily into the vast snowfield.

The Tang army quickly captured Que Jijin's winter home.

There aren't many people here.

All members of Que Jijin's family were captured, except Que Jijin and his eldest son Duman Teqin.

"That old dog Que Jijin and Duman Teqin were out hunting before we attacked. When they saw that the situation was not good, they just abandoned their homes and ran away. Judging from the direction they were heading, they must have fled to the Nishu tribe."

When Wu Huaiyu heard the news, he felt a little regretful. It just happened that he was out hunting.
"It's so cold, why don't you stay in the tent and spend the winter there? You have to go out hunting. Isn't this causing trouble for us?" Wu Huaiyu cursed. "Leave some people here to deal with the aftermath, and the whole army will continue the pursuit. Even if they run to the sky, we must catch them back!"

"Originally, the next target was Ni Shujijin. Now it's much easier. We can just catch them both at once."

(End of this chapter)