Yifang County is a county in the north of Lanzhou, and Yunzhou is to the north of Lanzhou. Further north of Yunzhou is the prairie, where a group of nomadic people with strong fighting capabilities live, and are also the ancestors of the Tang Dynasty. The enemy of life and death - the Eastern Turks!
After leaving Yifang County and running for half an hour, Weng and his son-in-law arrived at the border of Yunzhou!
Yunzhou is located between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks. It is one of the sixteen states of Yanyun. It has been an important military town on the northern border since ancient times. It can be regarded as a barrier for the Tang Dynasty against the Turks.
There are not many people here, but there are many soldiers and horses stationed there. According to Han Lizheng, there are at least 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers stationed in Yunzhong County. Yunzhou only has one county under its jurisdiction, and that is Yunzhong County. After arriving in Yunzhou, Han Lizheng had no intention of stopping, but continued to gallop northward. Li Zexuan thought to himself, could his father-in-law want to take him to the "borderline" of Datang?
After running for more than two quarters of an hour in Yunzhou, Han Lizheng finally stopped at the foot of a mountain.
"Xiaoxuan, this is Baishan Mountain!"
Han Lizheng jumped off his horse, pointed to the mountains in front, and said to Li Zexuan: "In the sixth year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, Han Xin rebelled in the Datong area and colluded with the Huns in an attempt to attack Taiyuan. Liu Bang personally led an army of 320,000 to attack the Huns. They won the victory at Tongguan, and later pursued the victory to the Loufan area. It was a cold winter, with heavy snowfall, and the climate was very cold. Although the Han army "died at 12 or 3", they saw that the Xiongnu only had old and weak soldiers, so they were even more victorious. Eager, Liu Bang ignored the persuasion and obstruction of the outpost scouts and led the leading cavalry troops to pursue them near Baishan Mountain. As a result, he fell into the Huns' trick of luring troops.
Maodun Shanyu led 400,000 cavalry and surrounded the Han army. The Xiongnu besieged Baishan Mountain for seven days and seven nights. The Han army was in dire straits with no food or water. Counselor Chen Ping persuaded Liu Bang to make peace in order to allow Maodun Shanyu to withdraw his troops. Liu Bang agreed and sent someone to the Turkic camp to relay Liu Bang's peace plan. At that time, the 320,000 main army brought by Liu Bang was about to arrive at Baishan Mountain. If Maodun Chanyu did not agree, he would face a double-sided attack!
In the end, the Huns withdrew, and Liu Bang left thousands of corpses on Baideng Mountain to return to the dynasty. However, the Han Dynasty also kicked off the marriage alliance with the Huns. It was not until the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when Wei Qing and Huo Qubing attacked the Xiongnu from the north, that there was a snowfall. Shame! "
Han Tianhu was originally from the Han family of the previous dynasty. His grandfather Han Qinhu was in the Shangzhu Kingdom and had a prominent official position. Although Han Tianhu was only the son of Han Shi'e's concubine and was not favored in the family, he was much more knowledgeable than ordinary people. , so he can get these historical events at his fingertips.
When Li Zexuan heard this, he couldn't help but be silent for a while.
He didn't know much about the Battle of Baishan Mountain in the Western Han Dynasty. After all, he was not a history major in his previous life, but he still knew about the peace between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu. Didn't Zhaojun's departure from the fortress happen at this time?
"When Liu Bang founded the country, the country was not strong. It was indeed difficult to fight against the Huns, but the peace gained with women is really despised by men of our generation!"
After a moment of silence, Li Zexuan spoke.
Han Tianhu nodded fiercely and said with some excitement: "Xiaoxuan, you are right, I think so too! Why should I send a good woman from the Central Plains to the Turks and let those barbarians abuse me? Back then, we followed the King of Qin on the border. Isn’t the purpose of fighting so that the people can live a stable life? Isn’t it also so that the Tang Dynasty will not use women to buy peace with the Turks? A good man of the Tang Dynasty should die standing up, instead of kneeling down and begging for compromise and living an ignoble existence. ! So, the bones of thousands of great men of the Tang Dynasty are buried under this Baishan Mountain!"
At this time, the two led the horse around a bend, following the direction Han Li was pointing. Li Zexuan took a closer look and was stunned!
As far as the eye can see, thousands of earthbags of different sizes are neatly arranged at the foot of the mountain. In front of each earthbag is a small wooden sign one foot long. You can vaguely see the words engraved on the wooden sign. Obviously, This is a tomb forest, a tomb forest of thousands of people!
Right in front of the thousands of small earthen bags, there is a big earthen bag. It is so big that twenty people holding hands cannot possibly surround it. In front of the big earthen bag, there is a tombstone about one foot high, with the following words engraved on it: "Heroes of the Tang Dynasty".
Inexplicably, Li Zexuan suddenly felt like crying.
"The tomb at the front is full of soldiers whose bodies were incomplete and whose identities could not be identified. I didn't know the names of each of them at that time, so I had to bury them together here!"
Looking at the super giant tomb in front of him, Han Li was saying quietly.
When Han Tianhu was a boy, he was looked down upon by the mistress of the Han family and was forced to wander the world. He didn't have much affection for the former Sui Dynasty. Later, Li Yuan raised troops from Taiyuan, conquered Chang'an with thunder and wind, and established the Tang Dynasty. In the subsequent counter-insurgency war, it was overwhelming and had a tendency to pacify the whole country. Suddenly, the Turks invaded the border. At that time, Han Tianhu officially joined the army. And step by step, he became Qin Qiong's personal guard!
During the war between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, Han Lizheng experienced life and death, and his feelings for his comrade Pao Ze and this country deepened! It was precisely based on this kind of family, country and love that he voluntarily came to Lanzhou to guard the tombs of these heroes!
Infected by Han Tianhu, Li Zexuan's mood became a little sad at this time, especially when he thought of the people buried under this huge tomb. They lived and died for this country, but in the end they couldn't even put their bodies together and even have a tomb of their own. None, and he felt very uncomfortable.
Little did he know, this was actually a good thing. Soldiers from many dynasties went out to war and usually buried their fallen soldiers in a mass grave directly after the battle. Like this, each soldier has a grave and a tombstone. It's very "humanitarian". As for those incompletely assembled corpses being buried in a giant tomb, there's nothing we can do about it!
Walking to the huge tomb, Li Zexuan took a deep breath, and then bowed to the tombstone with unusual respect. He secretly said in his heart: "You can go without worry, I will protect this Tang Dynasty for you!" "
"Xiaoxuan, come up with me!"
At this time, Han Lizheng sighed, walked towards the mountain, and said to Li Zexuan.
Li Zexuan didn't know why, so he had to follow him.
Baishan Mountain is a group of mountains, including many peaks. The peaks here are not very steep, and the two of them can easily climb to the top of the mountain with their horses.
"Xiaoxuan, look over there!"
When they arrived at the top of the mountain, Han Li was pointing north and said to Li Zexuan.
Li Zexuan looked in the direction that Han Li was pointing, and saw flocks of sheep scattered on the grassland to the north of the mountains. Near each flock, there were two people, who must be shepherds taking care of the sheep.
"The Turks are herding sheep here? Aren't they afraid that the imperial troops will come and snatch their sheep?"
Li Zexuan frowned.
These flocks of sheep are basically not far from the border crossing between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks. Those people who dare to herd sheep here seem a bit arrogant in Li Zexuan's opinion!
Han Lizheng shook his head and said: "No! They are not Turks, they are Han people!"
"Han Chinese?"
When Li Zexuan heard this, he couldn't help but be surprised: "Since they are Han people, why do they herd sheep on the grassland? Aren't they afraid of the plunder of the Turks?"
Han Li closed his eyes in pain, sighed, and replied: "To be precise, they are Han Chinese enslaved by the Turks! Each of them wears shackles on their feet and ropes around their necks. They were enslaved by the Turks." They raise people like livestock, and then drive them to help with work! After so many years, they can't escape, and they don't want to escape. If our army comes to rescue them, the Turkic soldiers behind them will shoot them immediately. Kill and then escape!"
Li Zexuan's eyes widened in shock. After listening to Han Lizheng's words, he couldn't help but clench his teeth and clenched his fists. His whole body was involuntarily filled with murderous aura. He took a deep breath and Li Zexuan forced himself to Ziping suppressed the anger in his heart and asked:
"Father-in-law, how come the Han people are working for the Turks on the grassland? Were they captured by the Turks?"
Han Lizheng shook his head and said: "Some of them were captured by the Turks from several border states and counties. Most of them were people in the Central Plains who escaped from the war in the late Sui Dynasty! No one knows how many of these people there are in total. Maybe There are hundreds of thousands, maybe a million! But in either case, most of the Han people on the grasslands were controlled by the Turks, either as slaves, cattle and horses, or sent to the Turk army , when encountering a war, they are often placed at the front as human shields!”
Li Zexuan was shocked and said: "One million...? Are there really so many Han people who fled to the Turks?"
Han Tianhu nodded and said: "Of course! Now Jieli Khan claims to have millions of people who can control strings. Where do you think so many people come from?"
Li Zexuan was speechless for a while. He never expected that among the millions of Turks who controlled strings, there were actually many Han people. Using Han people to attack Han people, Jie Li was so vicious-hearted!
In fact, what Han Tianhu said is not an exaggeration at all. When the Tang Dynasty was first founded, its national power was weak, but it encountered the East Turks whose national power was at its super peak. This super peak was an unprecedented peak in the history of the Turks.
"Book of Sui: Biography of the Turks" writes: "At the end of the Sui Dynasty, there was chaos and chaos, and countless Chinese people returned, so they became powerful and powerful, and they were in power in the middle Xia Dynasty."
Summer in the mausoleum!
In just four words, the power of the Eastern Turks at that time was vividly displayed!
"Old Book of Tang·Tujue Biography" also writes: "The beginning of the end of the Khan's aggressiveness, Qimin Khan's son. The Sui Dynasty great cause of the successor, when the world is in chaos, the Chinese people rushed to it. His clan is strong, east Starting from Khitan and Shiwei, all the states of Tuyuhun and Gaochang in the west are all subject to Yan. Controlling more than a million strings, the prosperity of Beidi has never been seen before. Looking high at Yinshan, I have the ambition to be light on Xia."
These are all descriptions of the strong national power of the Turks in the late Sui and early Tang Dynasties under Shibi Khan. In contrast, the "power" of Turkic forces during the period of Sabolo Khan was another story.
"Book of Sui: Biography of the Turks" writes: "Shabo's bravery won the crowd, and all the northern barbarians joined him... All the people were bandits, and there were 400,000 people who controlled the strings."
How long did it take from 400,000 people to control the strings to one million people to control the strings? Thirty years, yes, only thirty years!
In thirty years, the number of mobilizable troops in the Eastern Turks has soared from 400,000 to one million! That means that the population base required to mobilize the army will also surge by one and a half times year-on-year!
However, given the harsh living environment of the grasslands, it is simply impossible to rely on natural population growth. Moreover, the "400,000-strong control" in Shabolu's era was still a "grand occasion" before the Turkic civil war broke out and before it was divided into eastern and western parts. If the population and army losses caused by the Turkic civil war are taken into account, and the sudden sharp decrease in the population and army caused by the split of the Turks into the east and west parts is also taken into account, and then the Turkic population and army losses caused by the Sui Dynasty's several violent attacks on the Turks are also taken into account. Taking the losses into account, then, before the civil strife in the Central Plains, the number of troops Shibi Khan had when he first became the Turkic Khan would never have exceeded 200,000!
However, after the civil strife in the Central Plains and countless Central Plains Han people who had taken refuge entered the Turkic territories, the Eastern Turkic troops rapidly expanded from less than 200,000 to one million, which shows that at least 800,000 Central Plains Han people have joined the Eastern Turkic army. The speed of military expansion can definitely be described as "crazy".
Of course, not all Han people were sent into the army, because the logistics supply of millions of string control people is an astronomical figure. The Turks themselves will definitely not be able to provide the logistics for such a huge army. Therefore, more The Han people were enslaved by the Turks!
This was the result of countless Central Plains Han people pouring into the north of the Great Wall during the war years of the late Sui Dynasty! The national power of the Eastern Turks has become unprecedentedly powerful because of this!
"Father-in-law, since there are so many Han people in the Turks, can you think of a way to unite them to fight against Jieli? At that time, the Tang Dynasty will take advantage of the situation and send troops to cooperate inside and outside. What can the Turks do even if there are millions of string control people?"
After a long silence, Li Zexuan suddenly asked.
"Xiao Xuan, the human heart is a complicated thing, and it's definitely not as simple as you think!"
Han Lizheng shook his head and said earnestly: "Those people of the Tang Dynasty who were kidnapped by the Turks, many of them may still want to return to the Tang Dynasty, but those Han people who took the initiative to seek refuge in the grasslands may not have their hearts in the Tang Dynasty. Over here in the Tang Dynasty! Among the millions of Turkic troops, there are only 200,000 to 300,000 Turks at most. But how come the 200,000 to 300,000 Turks can control the 700,000 to 800,000 Han people? Have you ever thought about this question?"
Li Zexuan frowned and his face turned ugly.
Without waiting for his answer, Han Lizheng said expressionlessly: "Although the Turks have very strict control over the Han people, just relying on this to control the Han army of 7 to 8 million people is tantamount to wishful thinking! Over the years, on the grassland, The reason why the Han people did not cause chaos is that some people did not want to return to the Tang Dynasty. They were willing to serve the Turks, and they had forgotten in their bones that they were Han people!!"
