The cold wind roared wildly on the coast of Liaozhou. The door of a felt tent in the Sui army camp was open. Snowflakes fell from the door curtain and overhead, and the flames in the fire pit flickered. Yang Ji, the king of Wei, was sitting alone by the fire pit. He picked up a piece of wet cloth and wrapped it around the handle of the lid of the cauldron that was simmering by the fire pit. When he opened it, a burst of meaty aroma hit his nostrils. As he watched the soup gradually drying up, he used bamboo slices. The shovel he made shoveled a shovel of snow from the bucket and poured it into the cauldron. He did this several times, and when he saw that the melted snow water was only as much as two fingers away from the top of the cauldron, he closed the lid again. Then he turned the cauldron and simmered it on the other side by the fire.
What is simmering in the cauldron is the tiger tube bone, which is the bone that connects the thigh to the body. It has two large ends and a hole in the middle. It is rich in bone marrow and collagen. It is the best material for making soup, and it is undoubtedly the best medicinal material for generals.
After finishing this cauldron, Yang Ji added snow to the other three cauldrons in the other corners of the fire pit. And above the fire pit, there is a big cauldron hanging, which is boiling a cauldron of water.
It's not that Yang Ji likes to cook, but it's more difficult to collect firewood in winter. In order to save hard-won firewood, people often simmer soup or cook rice while making a fire.
Anyway, it was idle time, so Yang Ji read and handled official duties in the tent while taking care of the five big cauldrons. There was no water to add, and the same was true for ice and snow.
After adding ice and snow to the five large cauldrons respectively, Yang Ji saw that only one section of the bamboo used as firewood was burned and could no longer burn. He quickly picked up a piece of bamboo. The soldiers who collected firewood prevented the bamboo from exploding. They were all smashed, but that was all.
When Yang Ji knelt down and picked it up, the end facing him was smoking so hard that he burst into tears. He closed his eyes and stuffed the bamboo into the fire pit.
Liu Rumei walked into the tent and saw her husband's embarrassment, and she almost died laughing.
"What's so funny?" Yang Ji tried his best to open his red eyes, glanced at Liu Rumei, and used tongs to put the red-hot oak tree fire seeds one by one into another large cauldron, and then put the lid on Once it is covered, the fire inside will go out without oxygen and then turn into charcoal.
The ghost weather in Liaozhou is really scary, and the temperature is terrifyingly low. He has an excellent physique, and it doesn't matter whether there is a charcoal fire at night, but Liu Rumei is a woman, and her physique is far inferior to that of a man. When he goes to bed at night, he must prepare something for his wife. charcoal fire. There are so many hard materials in the fire pit that can withstand the fire. It would be a waste if we let them burn to ashes.
Yang Ji dusted off the dust in his hands, sat back on the horse, and then wiped the remaining dust on his trouser legs.
Liu Rumei was speechless: "Master, you are already in your twenties, why are you wiping your pants like a child?"
"As long as the heart is not old, no matter how old you are, you are still a boy." Yang Ji glanced at Liu Rumei and said meaningfully: "Besides, I was still chewing milk last night, why can't I act like a child?"
As soon as these words came out, Liu Ru's face turned red. She put aside the topic, sat next to Yang Ji, and said, "You really don't care about the chiefs of the Xi tribe?"
"The conditions have been set, and it depends on how they choose." Yang Ji paused and said with gleaming eyes: "If they don't understand, then I will simply ask the saint to step down from my position as Liangzhou Shepherd and change it to Youzhou Mu, when the time comes, let’s see who persists to the end.”
Yang Ji's foundation is Liangzhou, and he positioned it very accurately. However, everything in Liangzhou went according to his vision, but he has been the military and political leader of Liangzhou with full power since the end of the second year of Renshou. It has been four years now. If he follows the uncle's rule of changing every three years, He should change his position.
Liangzhou is now on the right track, and it is actually the same whether he is here or not; if he hangs around in Youzhou for a few years, he will not only respond to the court's "replacement every three years" policy, but also be able to work with Yang Lun, the chief manager of Jizhou, and Yang Lun, the chief manager of Qingzhou. Jing and Bingzhou Governor Dugukai joined forces to reform the old territory of Northern Qi, and they could also do something about Goguryeo. Why not?
It would not be a bad idea to work in Youzhou for two or three years and then return to Liangzhou to check and accept the results.
As for the half-dead Tuyuhun, he had nothing to worry about.
——After all, there are so many heroes here, there is no reason to fail.
The conditions he proposed to Xi Zhong, the chief of the Xi tribe, were that the Xi tribe must surrender to the Sui Dynasty and accept the rectification of the Sui Dynasty. Then, the Sui Dynasty would establish five states, Or five counties, and then they will be unified under the management of Youzhou. The five departments usually get along with each other on an equal footing and do not interfere in each other's internal affairs.
This is the policy of controlling barbarians with barbarians. As long as the Xi tribe accepts the conditions of the Sui Dynasty, their unified situation will be broken, and the other four tribes except the Ahui tribe will be annexed by the Ahui tribe. The danger is that if the Xi tribe surrenders to the Sui Dynasty, then the status and autonomy of the four major tribes will not be reduced, but will be guaranteed, avoiding the danger of being swallowed up by the Ahui tribe.
The four chiefs were not fools, and Yang Ji did not believe that they could not see the benefits of surrendering to the Sui Dynasty.
If the Xi people don't know what to do, then he doesn't mind letting the second prince of the Turks, Ashina Qilifushu, come again.
. . . . . .
In another large tent, Xi Zhong, the chief of the Xi tribe, casually picked up dried cow and sheep dung and threw it into the fire pond. He watched the flames devouring the dung, looking dazed and motionless, letting the snowflakes falling from the tent door fall on him. on the body.
Looking at the first four chiefs with different expressions, one chief said carelessly: "Great chief, I think Yang Ji wants something from us now. We don't have to agree to it. This will make it easier to negotiate terms with the Sui Dynasty."
The speaker was none other than the chief of Dujibu, Dujibian. His territory borders Chifeng County, Liaozhou, and he has a close relationship with the Khitan.
Xi Zhong ignored him and said to a thin old man: "Chief Chuhe, the Sui Dynasty clearly wants to annex our Xi clan. What do you think about this?"
Chief Chuhe's name was Chuheluo. He said in a hoarse voice: "For hundreds of years, although there have been many armies passing through the border, the only armies stationed in the Xi people's land are Rouran and Turk, while Qi, Zhou, and Sui We have never entered the country before, and their attitude towards us is very friendly. Now, even the Turks have surrendered to the Sui Dynasty. Not long ago, they helped the Sui Dynasty destroy the Khitans. I am very worried that once we do not agree to King Wei, the Sui Dynasty will treat the Khitans like Like, destroy them."
"Speaking of which, since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, we have invaded the south with the Turks, Khitans, and Goguryeo. If the Sui Dynasty wants to settle the general account, the Sui Dynasty will control us like it controls the Eastern Turks at best, or treat us like it treats the Khitans. To retaliate and wash out the Xi tribe with blood, after all, the Sui Dynasty is the master of the world, and we are far from its rivals, so I think it is better to agree to King Wei's request."
"What Chief Waihe said makes no sense." Du Ji said: "If the Sui Dynasty wanted to bloodbath our Xi clan, there would be no need to discuss anything with us. They could just come in. And we Xi people have been living since the Han Dynasty. Here, the Central Plains Dynasty did not control us, but we surrendered and paid tribute one after another. I think the Sui Dynasty had no ill intentions, and this violent King Wei made all the decisions without authorization; we only need to enter the court and say a few good words to the Sui Emperor. , all problems are not problems. As for King Wei, don’t worry about it. "
Hearing this, Chu and Luo just sneered.
Dujibu and Chuhebu have been in the same family since three generations ago, and Duji is a large independent tribe, but in its heart, Dujibu has long belonged to Ahuibu; this Dujibu belongs to Ahuibu. Jibian is Xi Zhong's nephew and son-in-law. He is known as the chief, but in fact he is a puppet of Xi Zhong. The real decision-makers are his mother and wife. And he has no power at all in the tribe.
When he says this now, he is undoubtedly speaking on behalf of his uncle and father-in-law. As for the Khitan invasion of Yingzhou in the south, there are shadows of the two of them. If Xi Zhong and Du Jibian, who endured humiliation and heavy burdens, knew nothing about it, he would not believe it at all.
For him and Luo, there was no psychological pressure to surrender to the Sui Dynasty and to serve the Sui Dynasty. At the beginning, Qimin Khan was just a bereaved dog, but with the help of the Sui Dynasty, he suddenly became the leader of the grassland. Great Turkic Khan.
The Xi people do not have a Turkic background and cannot achieve the great achievements of the Eastern Turks, but at least they are happier than living in the cracks.
More importantly, the Xi clan of the Ahui tribe was very ambitious and always wanted to annex the four tribes and establish a highly centralized country. Chu Heluo didn't know what happened after the Ahui clan unified the Xi clan, but he knew that in the process of unification, His descendants will be wiped out by the Xi family.
In the past, the Chuhe tribe was weak and had to swallow its humiliation and pay a large amount of taxes to the Ahui tribe, thereby achieving the purpose of self-preservation and long-term survival. But now, Yang Ji has the intention of regaining the "lost ground", and also said that he would give five The ministries delineated the territory and allowed the five ministries to coexist equally and not be subordinate to each other. In this way, as long as he is loyal to the Sui Dynasty, his tribe and descendants can continue to multiply without worrying about being annexed by the Ahui tribe.
Chu and Luo had no reason to object to such a good thing.
What's more, Yang Ji's attitude has been made clear. If the Xi clan does not surrender, they will perish. And the Xi people were caught in the middle of the Sui Dynasty, and the Eastern Turks and the Xi people who bordered them did not dare to support the Xi people; they had no other choice except surrender.
Therefore, in Chu Heluo's view, it is better to surrender than to perish!
"There is nothing wrong with ridiculing people's land and their rule." Chu and Luo saw that everyone was looking at them and made a clear statement: "Now, we have been surrounded by the Sui Dynasty, and the north exit is the Eastern Turks and the Min people. , and they are the subjects of the Sui Dynasty, and they do not have the guts to support us in fighting the Sui Dynasty. So I think the consequence of being an enemy of the Sui Dynasty is destruction."
When Duji saw that the chief did not speak, he immediately glared at Chu and Luo, patted the table and said: "Yang Ji just said a few threatening words, and you were scared, so you just planned to lie down at the feet of the Sui emperor and act like a hunting dog." ! You are not worthy of being a mocking chief."
"In fact, the Central Plains Dynasty has never taken us seriously. Instead of invading us, they have been invaded by us one after another." Speaking of this, Chu Heluo looked at the chiefs of the Aoshu tribe, Mutuor and Yuan Qizhe. The chief of the tribe, He Bike, continued: "In the past, we ridiculed the people and had no choice but to harmonize the tribe, so we followed everyone south. After all, we have nothing. In order to survive, everyone has no choice but to go to the Central Plains to rob! But now, King Wei's answer is very clear, as long as we surrender to the Sui Dynasty, we will be the people of the Sui Dynasty."
"The supplies we need can be exchanged or bought from other people in an upright way, and the benefits obtained are far more than robbery. Since we can get it without fighting, what's wrong with it? ?”
Chu Heluo's majestic momentum burst out in an instant, which shocked the leaders. The old Chu Heluo was now like an angry wolf king. He looked around and said word by word: "I don't want Chu Heluo to be angry." The people of the tribe have become tools for some people to invade the Central Plains, and I don’t want to die in a war that is impossible to win. Similarly, I don’t want the people of the Chuhe tribe to be impoverished and continue to live a life where a broken pot is regarded as a family heirloom. day. I hope that my people, like the people of the Sui Dynasty, can wear fine clothes, eat delicious food, speak fluent Chinese, and like the Han people, can go to Yongzhou, Yuzhou, and Jiangnan to serve as officials."
"I don't care what you think, anyway, I think the best way out for the Chuhe Department is to surrender to the Sui Dynasty. Even if you don't become an official in the Sui Dynasty, it is still better than now, and it is still better than being slaughtered."
"I agree with Chief Chuhe!" Mutor said in a deep voice: "According to what King Wei said before, we are doing everything as usual and each department is governed in its own way. We have not lost anything at all. On the contrary, we can still communicate with the people of the Sui Dynasty. No, we can get everything we want through trade. And King Wei also said that when he deploys our troops, he will pay them according to the standards of the Sui army. With such favorable conditions, our Austrian Ministry of Defense has no reason to refuse. What's more, if the Sui army deals with us like it dealt with the Khitans, we will surely perish. In this case, why should we oppose it?"
Mutor is the chief of the Aoshu tribe. Although his relationship with the Chuhe tribe is not very good, the words of Chu and Luo speak to his heart.
He is not afraid of foreign enemies, what he is afraid of is the cold arrows from A Huibu, and for hundreds of years, A Huibu has been doing this. In the past, he dared to get angry but did not dare to speak out, but now that he has big legs, he is no longer afraid of Xi Zhong .
He also knew the style of the Sui Dynasty and Yang Ji's character. If he surrendered to the Sui Dynasty on behalf of the Aoshu tribe and Ahuibu dared to offend, then the Sui Dynasty would definitely attack Ahuibu.
"I agree!" He Bike, the chief of the Yuanqi tribe, also stood up and responded. There are five tribes in the Xi tribe. The Ahui tribe and the Duji tribe are stronger than the three tribes combined. However, the three tribes are doing their own thing. Their predecessors I also thought about forming an alliance to deal with A Huibu, but the three tribes themselves were full of contradictions, and A Huibu didn't treat them too badly, so they failed. The so-called alliance intimidated and provoked A Huibu. Due to the estrangement, it was even harder to organize.
Therefore, they could only let the Ahui tribe devour them step by step, but now that the powerful Sui Dynasty was in charge, they dared to make decisions according to their own wishes.
"Humph, what the Sui Dynasty can give us, the Turks and Goguryeo can also give us, why should we be threatened by Yang Ji?" Duji Biansha said unhappily.
"Eastern Turks? Goguryeo?" Chu and Luo heard this and didn't even bother to defend themselves.
Instead, Hebiko sneered: "The Eastern Turks used a dog from the Sui Dynasty. It would bite anyone the Sui Dynasty asked it to bite. As for Goguryeo, although it was strong, its national power, military strength, and territory were less than 10% of the Sui Dynasty. If such a small country disobeys, it will be destroyed by the Sui Dynasty sooner or later. If we follow them, we will also be destroyed sooner or later."
"The key point is that King Wei has now laid out the conditions. If we dare not obey, I am afraid that the first one to be wiped out will be our Xi clan. Therefore, we still have to rely on ourselves."
Everyone started arguing, but among the five people present, three were in favor of surrendering to the Sui Dynasty. Under the circumstances of the performance of the chief Xi Zhong, only one Dujibian fought alone. As the debate deepened, Duji Bian is also beyond argument.
Because what the three of them said was reasonable.
In the end, one party had nothing to say and the other party was too lazy to argue.
Suddenly, the problem came to the chief Xi Zhong again.
"What does the chief think?" Chu Heluo asked.
When Xi Zhong heard this, he couldn't help but glanced at Chu and Luo coldly, and said to himself that all three of you have decided to surrender, what can I think? Of course I am not afraid of the three of you alone, but if you add a Sui Dynasty and an Eastern Turk, how can we support it?
"The intention of King Wei is very obvious." Xi Zhong said slowly: "Now the Goguryeo army is massing in Liaodong. Once a war breaks out, King Wei will inevitably counterattack, but his troops are inferior to others, his logistics is inferior to others, and there are still hundreds of thousands The people needed shelter, so he lost at the beginning of the war.”
Xi Zhong sighed and said: "The reason why he forced us to surrender is only one reason. The other reason is that he hopes that our Xi people will get troops and supplies in our hands. But the problem is that even if King Wei is defeated, Goguryeo is no match for the Sui Dynasty. If we don't cooperate, I'm afraid the Sui Dynasty will deal with us first, and then settle the accounts with Goguryeo. This is also the helplessness of a small country."
Dujibian suddenly became anxious and said loudly: "Great Chief, but he wants us to send 30,000 fine cavalry, and we have to support them ourselves. How can we support them?"
Xi Zhong waved his hand, "Listen to what I have to say!"
The tent suddenly became quiet, and Xi Zhong said: "I have estimated that it is not difficult for us to have 30,000 fine cavalry; the key is food. If our soldiers stay in Liaodong until the ice and snow melt, they will consume at least 60 Ten thousand sheep. In fact, these 600,000 sheep are much less than what we paid tribute to the Sui Dynasty and the Turks in previous years. Once we join the Sui Dynasty, then we will not pay sheep taxes to the Turks. If we We have made great contributions, and even the Sui Dynasty should not pay us any favors. Maybe we can also get some benefits from Goguryeo and Sumo Mohe. And afterwards, the Sui Dynasty will also reward us. What do you think of this?"
After surrendering to the Sui Dynasty, he was naturally the one whose interests suffered. This not only interrupted their dream of unifying the Xi clan and establishing the Xi country, but also caused the other four tribes with a high degree of autonomy to drift away from him. We are strangers.
In the future, they would not have to pay taxes to him, but would pay them directly to the Sui Dynasty, which further weakened his financial resources.
But after all, he couldn't change anything.
Everyone was moved. When the Eastern Turkic Army collaborated with the Sui Dynasty to attack the Khitan, they returned with a full load. If they had become Sui Dynasty people, the benefits they would get would be much greater.
Seeing everyone's excited expressions, Xi Zhong sighed and said, "Then it's settled."
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