Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 395 Demon Realm (Special thanks to the book friend Bu Aa Cha Cha for his 2 monthly tickets!)

Zhang Yong's heart moved, thinking that he had only 3,000 Longxiang Guards who had entered the territory of Xiajiasi, and now after rescuing the Jianhe tribe, his target had been exposed and trouble would soon come.

Once the Khitan royal court is alarmed, they may soon send a large army to attack.

Now he must either lead his troops back to Zhou territory immediately to ensure safety, or find an ally of sufficient weight in the Khitan territory immediately.

The Afu tribe, the largest tribe among the black-haired people of the Khitan, is undoubtedly a target worth a try.

Li Qingshan said:

"Commander Zhang, after the Chiwu tribe returns, they will definitely report to the royal court. I'm afraid the royal court will soon send a large army to deal with you.

Although Commander Zhang is extremely brave and his men are all elite Dragon Guards, I'm afraid he's outnumbered!"

Zhang Yongdao:
“It will take three days to reach the Afu River. To prevent any changes along the way, this commander has decided to escort Chief Li’s tribe there.

By the way, I would also like to meet Yan Lie, the leader of the Afu tribe. Thank you, Chief Li, for introducing him to me.

If things go wrong, it won’t be too late for this commander to lead his brothers to break through and return home.”

Seeing that Zhang Yong had made up his mind, Li Qingshan agreed immediately. The two groups set off together and headed southwest towards the Afu River.

The land of Khitan is full of river grasslands, but the climate is colder than that of the Great Zhou.

That night, the two groups set up camp together, built a campfire and cooked.

The Khitans were a vast land with few people and abundant wild animals. This time, they met Zhang Yong and other Longxiang Guards, which provided them with abundant food.

With the help of three thousand Dragon Guards, they had hunted down tens of thousands of wild beasts in just half an hour. When the Dragon Guards returned to the camp, they were inevitably amazed and envied by the people of the Jianhe tribe.

Zhang Yong sat by the campfire, eating barbecue and chatting with Li Qingshan.

Zhang Yongdao:
"This commander has one thing that I don't understand, and I would like to consult Chief Li.

It is said that your tribe and the Chiwu tribe are both descendants of the Khitan people. However, for such a trivial matter as marrying off a daughter, the two tribes started a war and killed many people.

Didn't the royal court ask about this? How could the Chiwu tribe be so cruel and bully the weak at will? "

Li Qingshan sighed and said:
"Commander Zhang doesn't know.

The people of our Khitan are tough and their customs have always been that the strong prey on the weak and the winners are the kings and the losers are the bandits.

If a war broke out between two tribes, the victorious tribe only had to hand over a portion of the spoils to the royal court, and the royal court would not ask any questions.

In my territory of Khitan, wars between tribes can be said to occur every month. The people here only care about victory or defeat, regardless of injustice, and have no shame or bottom line! "

Zhang Yong was stunned for a while and sighed:

“No wonder Khitan has such a large territory but a small population!
People within a country are always on guard against each other and fight for life and death at any time. It is truly a "devil's realm"!
No wonder the grasslands, which had been incorporated into the territory of the Khitans for nearly a hundred years, were easily recaptured by Liao Taizu Yelü Abaoji in one battle.

Li Qingshan sighed:
"It is true! In our country, people scheme against each other, kill each other whenever they have the chance, and fight among themselves, and they regard this as "ability" and "maturity".

However, those who want to live in harmony and respect each other are regarded as "naive" and "stupid" who are ignorant of worldly affairs.

My Black Hair Tribe is the descendant of Han General Li Ling. Since ancient times, our ancestors have taught us to be united, love all and not attack.

Unfortunately, our tribe is rare in the Khitan country, and is often looked down upon by the Red Haired Tribe! "

Zhang Yong murmured:
"It is indeed the Demon Realm! The people of the Red-haired Khitan tribe behave like this. They have to live in fear and like beasts. It is their own fault."

Zhang Yong didn't know that the Khitan people had only transformed from a primitive society to a slave society during the Tang Dynasty, and they still retained a lot of barbaric habits. The next morning, everyone continued their journey to the southwest.

After marching for another two days among the grasslands and rivers, there was no trace of the enemy along the way. Zhang Yong and other Longxiang Guards escorted the Jianhe tribe and arrived at the Afu tribe, the largest black-haired tribe on the banks of the Afu River.

After receiving the report, Yan Lie, the leader of the Afu tribe, led his people to meet them 5 miles north of the tribe.

Li Qingshan introduced the purpose of his visit and Zhang Yong and others to Yan Lie in detail.

Yan Lie's eyes flickered and dimmed for a long time before he invited Li Qingshan, Zhang Yong and others to enter the camp of Afu tribe together.

As Zhang Yong looked along, he saw many small castles built in the camp of the Afu tribe, with a population of about 250,000 to 260,000 people.

It would be more accurate to call it a fortress rather than a camp.

The swords, spears and halberds wielded by the warriors were all of high-quality quality, and there were many blacksmith shops scattered everywhere.

There were also wooden fences to keep many cows, sheep, and horses, and a lot of game was hung out to dry on the castle.

Zhang Yong glanced at Yan Lie's cold expression and immediately said:

"Chief Yan, if your royal court sends troops to attack our Longxiang Guard, I will lead the troops to withdraw immediately and will never implicate your Afu tribe."

Yan Lie's expression eased a little. He extended his hand to invite Zhang Yong and Li Qingshan to come into the main tent to discuss matters, and asked the rest of the people to wait in the open space outside the tent.

Everyone in the Longxiong Guard looked at Zhang Yong, expressing their concern for Zhang Yong's safety.

Zhang Yong nodded and responded with a look that said "don't worry".

After entering the main tent and sitting down, Yan Lie winked at the clan guards, and more than ten guards immediately blocked the tent door, and another ten or so guards stood beside Zhang Yong's chair with knives.

Zhang Yong smiled faintly:

"Chief Yan, what do you want to do?"

Yan Lie snorted coldly and said:
"Commander Zhang, I have heard of your reputation! Whenever you appear in a country, something big will happen.

Emperor Zhou sent you to my Khitan this time, is it to plot against my country?!"

Li Qingshan quickly stood up and advised:
"Chief Yan, no! We in the Jianhe tribe are saved from disaster thanks to Commander Zhang.

Besides, the Great Zhou is the ancestral country of our Black-haired Khitan tribe, so we should sit down and slowly discuss the current situation!"

Zhang Yong sneered:
"Our Great Zhou Emperor has unified the country and his power is felt in all directions!
In which country that was incorporated into the territory of our Great Zhou, the people's lives were not improved several times? No one was short of food or clothing anymore?

What's wrong with what Chief Yan said about "something big happening"?

Moreover, this commander has led the Dragon Guards here to save the people of Khitan from falling into the clutches of the traitor Li Jiqian!"

Yan Lie's expression changed several times. What he was worried about was that King Thor would send a large army to attack after receiving the report.

He also saw that Zhang Yong and other members of the Great Zhou Longxiang Guard only had 3,000 men and were unable to fight against the Khitan army. Even if Zhang Yong escaped before the Khitan army arrived, his Afu tribe would still be implicated and would be blamed by Thor.

What he was even more afraid of was that Li Jiqian, who was now the general of the imperial guards, would definitely instigate King Thor to target his largest black-haired Khitan tribe.

Therefore, Yan Lie came up with the idea of ​​capturing Zhang Yong and three thousand others and handing them over to Saul in order to remove suspicion.

(End of this chapter)