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Chapter 288 Provocation
The horse kicked the three-foot-thick solid ice and plopped on the grassland. More than 20 cavalrymen on the horse were all wearing thick felt shirts.

The leader was a man in his 50s. Although his beard and brows were stained with a little snow powder, he was beaming, excited, and looking anxiously at the direction of his journey.

Of course, this person is Li Chongjiu's father, Li Hu. When he learned that Shi Deyun was pregnant, he was immediately happy and desperate, and decided to rush to Yuyi Town.

Beside Li Hu, there was a person covering his face with a felt shirt, his eyes were clear and sharp, as if he was thinking about something, this person was one of the earliest merchants in Huaihuang Town, Shi Kang from Sogdia.

Shi Kang has a lot of business in Huaihuang Town, mainly engaged in the Kunlun slaves in the Western Regions, buying and selling slaves. He has a mediocre relationship with Li Chongjiu, but a good relationship with Li Hu.Under his intentional fawning, his business has been doing well in Huaihuang Town.

Shi Kang said with a smile, "Is Mr. Li so anxious?"

Li Hu couldn't help laughing.Shi Kang immediately said: "Master Li, I am an outsider, and I should say something that should not be said. Although Li Shijun is still young, at present, there is only Mrs. Shi De as his wife and concubine. To be a general of the Xi family means something unusual."

Li Hu's heart trembled. Although he was born as a bandit, he knew what it meant.Generals of Li Chongjiu's Shi Dexi family, such as Etuo, Yinghefu, Shi Defeng, etc. are all generals with heavy troops. They have always hoped that Li Chongjiu can accept Shi Deyun as the main family, which is called Kedun on the grassland. .

But Li Chongjiu seemed unwilling, and the Han generals did not support this idea.But if Shi Deyun gives birth to a baby boy now, then Shi Deyun will undoubtedly become more important. It is very likely that the generals of Shi Dexi's department will use this to put pressure on Li Chongjiu, hoping to make Shi Deyun the main wife. room, and then her son, more than [-]% will inherit everything from Li Chongjiu in the future.

At that time, all Li Chongjiu's subordinates must be loyal to him.

At that time, whether it was the Han generals under Li Chongjiu's command, or the Hebei gentry who did not support him very much at the moment, they might feel unhappy because of this.They even hope that Li Chongjiu can establish a Han woman as his wife, even if he replaces the northern noble relatives, it is better than the daughter of the Xi clan.

Li Hu thought about it for a while, and he was quite satisfied with Shi Deyun, his daughter-in-law. He was frank and sincere, and he had a heart for Li Chongjiu. What more could he ask for a daughter-in-law like this.

He did not reject Shi Deyun as the main wife. He also asked Li Chongjiu about this, but Li Chongjiu's words were indeed reasonable. Shi Deyun had a simple mind. Such a woman would be placed in Li Chongjiu's harem in the future as the main wife. , must not escape the squeeze of power and position.

Instead of that, it's better to let her be happy beside Li Chongjiu without thinking too much.Thinking of this, Li Hu couldn't help but let out a long sigh.As his father's wish, he just hoped that the Li family could flourish, that's all, but he didn't expect that state affairs and family affairs would be involved, which he didn't want to see.

When Li Hu was meditating on his thoughts, a large group of cavalry suddenly appeared on the grassland in the distance.In the usual winter, it is rare to encounter so many people and horses on the grassland.

The Turkic people, Li Hu couldn't help but tremble in his heart. Although he couldn't be sure, Li Hu didn't dare to take risks, so he ordered his subordinates to retreat in the direction of Huaihuang Town immediately.

After retreating for a while, he took a quick look and realized that the opponent was actually coming towards him. The guard beside Li Hu resolutely put the horn beside the horse to his mouth, and blew it long.The desolate horn sounded through the heavy wind and snow, warning the surroundings, and calling for help.

The wind and snow are getting bigger and bigger, and the snow particles that hit the head and face are so hard that people can hardly open their eyes. In the past, it would be an absolutely annoying wind and snow day, but for Li Hu and the others who are exhausted at the moment, it is the best. cover.

This time, they traveled eastward for more than 20 miles, seeing that they were getting closer to Yuyi Town, but this group of cavalry still rushed into the vicinity of Li Hu.

In Yuyi Town, Li Chongjiu was sitting next to Shi Deyun, holding a Jin version of the ancient book Shan Hai Jing translated into vernacular, and speaking to Shi Deyun, which was flat to listen to.Shi Deyun, Pingping heard stories such as Kuafu chasing the sun, etc., and couldn't help being fascinated.
In the past ten days since Shi Deyun became pregnant, Li Chongjiu had pushed aside all important matters, and he had given himself a vacation to stay with Shi Deyun and Pingping at home.

After talking for a while, although Shi Deyun was still sleepy, she still cheered up and listened carefully.

But at this time, there seemed to be the sound of fast footsteps coming from outside the door. Because Li Chongjiu wanted to accompany his family to get Yun, Huaihuang Town and Yuyi Town were managed by Wen Yanbo, Ji Chuan, and Liu Yi. For me, something must have happened that the three of them couldn't handle.

Afterwards, he stopped in front of the door, probably stopped by his own guards.Soon Li Chongjiu heard a knock on the door.

Li Chongjiu said to the sleepy Shi Deyun at the moment, "I'll talk to you tomorrow, go to sleep early."

Shi Deyun, after listening to Pingping, he was reluctant, and Shi Deyun said: "Don't play tricks tomorrow."

Pingping then nodded in agreement.Li Chongjiu smiled and went out immediately.

Li Chongjiu restrained the gentle smile in the room, and asked expressionlessly: "What's the matter?"
A subordinate wearing sheepskin knelt down beside Li Chongjiu and said, "Report to Khan, Your Excellency, outside Yuyi Town, we were attacked by Turkic people!"
Li Chongjiu focused his eyes and said, "How is he now?"

"Fortunately, Ugunai heard the sound of the horn outside the city, led the army to rescue, and killed the opponent, but caused the lord to be injured by an arrow, but fortunately there was no serious injury, but more than half of the guards were killed or injured."
Li Chongjiu couldn't help being furious when he heard this, but then he paced and said: "In the snowstorm, the road is impassable, the Turkic people suddenly attacked and intercepted, the other party must have detected this matter in advance, and there was a premeditated matter."
Immediately, Li Chongjiu got on his horse and headed out of the city. At this time, Wu Gunai was leading his army back.

Li Chongjiu immediately asked Wu Gunai: "Have you caught any Turkic prisoners?"

Wu Gu Nai shook his head, and then his subordinates said: "Qi Khan, it's not our fault. We killed 35 cavalry of the other party. We could have captured two people alive, but the other party committed suicide."

Li Chongjiu's eyes froze, and he said immediately: "There is something strange about this matter, let Ying Hefu come here immediately."

Under the city tower, corpses were lined up in a row. They were all the people who attacked Li Hu. The corpses were picked up from the snow.

Erto, Inhofer watched over the corpses one by one.Immediately the two came back to report, and Yinghefe said: "Khan, I have seen the corpses of these people. Although they are all dressed as Turks and use machetes, they are all Xiren."

"Really?" Li Chongjiu asked. The Lan Turks of the Ashina clan are of the Serbian race. Although they are closer to the white race, they are very recognizable, but many of the black Turks are local tribes on the grassland. man of.

Li Chongjiu really can't tell the difference, but Ying Hefu and the others can, just like judging Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese now, they all look the same to Europeans and Americans. People from the three countries all look similar, but among them The difference, only we can recognize the difference from the Japanese and Koreans.

Yinghe Fu said immediately: "Yes, Khan, it is indeed Xi people, and one of them will be recognized by our tribe."

"Which one of the five tribes of the Xi clan?"

"It's a warrior from the King's Department of Disgrace."

Li Chongjiu narrowed his eyes after hearing this.

Ever since Chuluo Khan made rumors that he wanted to harm Huaihuang Town, the elders of the Shide Department have been using various relationships with Turks to buy Turkic ministers and generals with a lot of money, asking them to speak well to Chuluo.

Now Li Chongjiu led the army to pacify Zhuo County and returned to the grassland.The Turkic people also have scruples about Li Chongjiu's army that is used to fighting.

Regarding Li Chongjiu, who stands in the east and rises, it is said that there are two opinions among the Turkic people. One is that Li Chongjiu, who is rising day by day, is a serious problem.

One is that although Li Chongjiu is now a tyrant in the grasslands, he is still a Han regime and will not pose a threat to Turkic hegemony like Xue Yantuo, a grassland tribe like Xue Yantuo. His important strategic goal is the Central Plains, not the grasslands.The existence of such a powerful separatist force as Li Chongjiu is definitely a big problem for the Sui Dynasty.

The Turks always believed that the Sui Dynasty, which defeated them in the past, was the most powerful opponent, so they always pursued a strategy of separating the strong and joining the weak.Supported separatist forces such as Liu Wuzhou, Liang Shidu, and Gao Kaidao to fight against the Sui court, and at the same time hoped that the Central Plains would become more chaotic.Li Chongjiu's powerful separatist forces are not only a barrier between the Turks and the Sui Dynasty, but the more Han people split, the more Turks can benefit from the chaos of the Sui Dynasty.

Therefore, under such circumstances, the Turkic determination to use force against Li Chongjiu will never be very strong, otherwise Chuluo Khan would not let the wind out to attack Li Chongjiu, but would lead an army of 30 to the city.

Li Chongjiu speculated that the purpose of dealing with Luo Khan was really to hope that Li Chongjiu could formally surrender to the Turks like Liu Wuzhou and Liang Shidu, so he deliberately declared his troops outside, hoping to achieve the goal of defeating others without fighting.
Now the two sides are coming and going, putting pressure on each other in the open and in the dark, and not communicating in the dark.There is a group of peacemakers on both sides, and they do not want a war between the two.

So seeing that this winter is coming to an end, the war between Li Chongjiu and the Turks has not yet broken out. In the two films, everyone thought that the war would not break out until at least next autumn. At that time, Li Hu was assassinated by the royal family of Hunhe pretending to be a Turk.

Li Chongjiu can also understand that among the five tribes of the Xi tribe, the original Hunhe King tribe was the leader of the alliance among the five tribes, but now that Huaihuang Town and Yuyi Town have appeared, the five tribes of the Xi tribe are now the Shidexi tribe, replacing them. Li Chongjiu's powerful influence, which originally humiliated the status of the King's Department, has become what they are increasingly afraid of.

(End of this chapter)