Zhang Yan is already fifty-one years old this year, and Bai Congxin is about eight years older than Zhang Yan, and will turn sixty in more than a month.
Time has ruthlessly left an indelible mark on the face of this Yuancong faction general.
Since ancient times, famous generals are like beautiful women, and they are not allowed to grow old in the world.
In the first half of his life, Bai Congxin followed Zhang Zhan on his expeditions in the north and south. He was approaching the age of hearing, and he was still fighting for his descendants thousands of miles away.
Although his head is white, his ambition is still there, and he can be called an old man, but this word is somewhat sad.
Therefore, when he received a letter from Zhang Xianyu, the king of Anguo, asking him to go to Tianmen Pass for a while, Bai Congxin was still very sad.
Although Zhang Xianyu said it very politely, calling him uncle and using the words "nephew respectfully invite", this could not change the embarrassing dilemma that Zhang Xianyu would become the leader of the kings in the Hezhong area and Zheng Fan would be trapped in a "cage" again.
For a time, Bai Congxin began to wonder whether he was right or wrong in insisting on returning to Anxi and Hezhong to found the country.
Is it true that the Bai family's country, which our ancestors have always longed for, is not as good as being a famous minister and general in the Central Plains?
In the city of Xinzheng, Bai Congxin did not leave after receiving the letter. He wanted to wait and see what regulations Lu Sanlang had.
After the eldest son Bai Xuanyi and the second son Bai Xuanqi came to urge him for the third time, Bai Congxin slowly moved and couldn't help but explain to his two sons:
"It's not that my father didn't want to go immediately, but that Zheng Fan has frequently invaded and occupied the land of Saman Persia and Jin Fan in recent years. Although they only occupied three or four small cities in total, with a population of only ten or twenty thousand, it still Sin.”
It seems that Bai Congxin is not an old fool. He also knows that what he did is a sin, so he is very worried.
"The saint must have understood these little tricks. Zheng Fan took on the important task of pacifying the rebels Li and Guo in the early stage, and captured Shiguo City, which provided an opportunity for the imperial court to intervene in the river. But now he is trapped in a small area and cannot move. .
A little presumptuous, but actually asking for a reward from the saint. Therefore, for so many years, no one has been impeached, but everything has been fine.
But now that King An Chijie has arrived with the emperor's orders, he really has no idea in his heart! "
Bai Xuanyi nodded empathetically. The one he was most familiar with was King Chu Zhang Xiancun. The two were good buddies, but Zhang Xianyu and Bai Xuanyi were not very familiar with each other, so he was also very uneasy.
"King An seems to be here to lead the Xia in Hezhong, but he has nothing to rely on except the emperor's orders. If he wants to establish his authority, we, Zheng Fan, are probably the most suitable ones."
The father and son suddenly fell into silence, but not long after, they heard bursts of cheers coming from outside. The sound was so loud that they could hear it clearly even in the palace.
Bai Congxin hurriedly asked someone to inquire. After a while, the guard came running in from the outside with a look of ecstasy and reported.
"Your Majesty, outside is the messenger from Dinghai City. He said that half a month ago, the King of Shu led an army of 30,000 tigers and wolves, five hundred miles northwest of Dinghai City, to defeat the bandit Hu with a small number.
In this battle, the formation killed more than 30,000 people, captured tens of thousands, and captured hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep. The leader of the thieves, Danuximi, was beheaded, and the northwest of Dinghai Kingdom was brought to peace! "
San Bai in the room immediately stood up. After a while, Bai Congxin murmured:
"A dragon gives birth to a dragon, and a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix! At that time, the saint was also at this age. He led us under Polu State with two thousand infantry and cavalry against Saktu's 20,000 fine cavalry.
At that time, we all thought that we were going to die in the yellow sand sky. Only the sage firmly believed that the others were just chickens and dogs, and so it turned out.
Now that the king of Shu has not yet weakened his crown, he can march a hundred miles a day with thirty thousand troops and defeat a hundred thousand barbarians. Isn't this Zhang's luck? Is the Fruit of Destiny in China? "
Bai Congxin's words caused everyone to fall into silence again, but suddenly the second son Bai Xuanqi stood up suddenly and exclaimed with some fear:
"The King of Shu defeated the thief Hu, and relieved the danger of a wild fire in the Dinghai Principality. He came from Dinghai City with the momentum of victory. The King of Song can also leave Talos, and they all pass through me, Zheng Fan. Father, we have to Go to Tianmen and close it immediately."
Bai Xuanyi shook his head, "Don't be alarmed, second brother. The King of Shu has won a great victory and has established his power. The Bai family has no worries."
Bai Congxin nodded, "We are indeed going to Tianmen Pass."
Then he shook his head and said, "It's not because of the soldiers of King Shu and King Song, but because King Shu can only serve as a deputy. King An is really as rumored. He was carefully cultivated by a saint to solve the problems in our river." Xia is the one in trouble."
In fact, it's not just Bai Congxin who thinks so. Well, it should be said that even Bai Congxin has such concerns, and others are even more timid.
After receiving the letter from Zhang Xianyu, no one set out, but after receiving the news of the success of Zhang Xianyu, King of Shu, almost everyone set out immediately.
. . . .
Tianmen Pass is located at the mouth of the Ningyuan Basin, which is the historical Khujand of the Fergana Basin. It is the kind of gate that can immediately turn the entire basin into a world-famous pass that makes people unable to eat.
Zhang Xianyu's choice to meet Bai Congxin and others here also has profound meaning.
Ningyuan, which is easy to defend, difficult to attack and rich, is the concrete representative of the Central Plains imperial court in the river.
It can not only be a solid backing behind the Hezhong Xia, but also a fortress that prevents them from being dissatisfied.
Although they still have Xiao Jiujiu in their hearts, after all, it is a gathering of the kings of the summers in the river, and the scene is still very grand, not to mention that Zhang Xianyu is an angel who upholds integrity.
The soldiers below did not think as much as the people above, so they really regarded this as a rare big party. Yellow-headed servants in the river waited on them, and delicious food and fine wines from various vassals were brought up like a flowing stream.
The top Bodhisattvas trained by Guo Ting'er in the city of Anxi (Bukhara) sang and danced, shuttled like flowers and butterflies, causing bursts of laughter.
The climax of the banquet was the 20,000 Kimak-Khazar-Oghuz-Kinchak prisoners presented by Zhang Xiantai.
Although this group of people have weird names, they are basically the survivors of the former Turkic Khanate. Among them, the leader of the Khazar tribe is still a descendant of the Turkic Ashina clan.
Since the Xia king and his people were wanted, the defeated prisoners were the best trophies. After Zhang Xiantai presented them, Zhang Xianyu kept two thousand people for himself, and the rest were given to the Xia kings present in the name of his father, Zhang Xuan.
However, only Lu Zhen and Lu Sanlang were not given.
This is not because Zhang Xianyu doesn't want to see Lu Sanlang, but rather because Lu Sanlang made his own choice.
Seeing the surprised eyes turning to him, Lu Sanlang bowed his head and then said with a smile:
"Gentlemen, a certain family has been invited by the King of Shu and has written to the saint, requesting that the Dinghai Principality be moved westward again. Now that the Kimak, Ogus and other tribes are like bereaved dogs, it is a great opportunity to make contributions.
If the saint allows it, a certain Lu Sanlang is willing to establish a principality between the Yashui (Ural River) and the Antilla River (Volga River). In the future, there will be as many captives as you want, haha. "
Everyone's faces showed expressions of disbelief at first, but after a while, they all showed expressions of surprise.
Those who can sit here, whether it is Hu Guang who manages the territory for his son-in-law, Bai Congxin, the king of Zheng, Li Congde, the king of Jin, and Guo Ting'er, all know something about the things in the west.
Both Yashui and Antilla are on the north bank of the West Sea. The climate between the two rivers is suitable and not dry at all. After continuous development by the Huns and Turks, they have become quite suitable for farming.
It is about 3,500 to 4,000 miles from Shiguocheng. If you are traveling in a hurry, it is indeed very far, but if you move to the feudal lord, it is not that far away.
In particular, this road used to be basically flat roads, without high mountains and deep valleys like those in Nanzhong and Qianzhong. Lu Sanlang's Dinghai Grand Duchy also had a strong nomadic nature.
They could first send tens of thousands of horsemen to conquer the local people, and then slowly move their families over several years to occupy the rich cultivated land and fertile pastures.
Lu Sanlang made this decision not on a whim.
The foundation of the Dinghai Grand Duchy is the more than 4,000 households of herdsmen from the original Xizubu people, plus the Central Plains soldiers recruited by Lu Sanlang in several battles, and the bottom layer is the defeated Ogus people.
Just like this, hundreds of thousands of people are placed around Lei Zhuhai. There are a large number of enemies on the west and north sides. The Ogus people below are always making troubles. Rather than being exhausted like now, it is better to hold on to them.
Lu Sanlang had already thought about it. He wanted to follow the king of Shu, Zhang Xiantai, to continue westward. After the king of Shu established a large country in Yashui (Ural River) and Antilla (Volga River), he would go under Zhang Xiantai's command. As the largest vassal, he was not even prepared to take over the Grand Duchy of Dinghai.
Thinking of this, Lu Sanlang glanced at Bai Congxin. Prince Zheng, the only one who was not a descendant of a saint, was in such a miserable state as a general of the Yuan Cong faction, let alone him.
After all, who can be closer than his own son?
Without the strong support of Zhang Shengren, a good father behind him, it is okay for the others to become vassals to the Xia monarchs and Yi people, but it is too difficult to become independent masters.
When Zhang Xianyu heard what Lu Sanlang said, he couldn't help but look at Zhang Xiantai and sighed in his heart.
Among the two beauties sent to the palace by the heroes of Hebei, it was the ignorant Fu who gave birth to an heir before the Gao who had become a wife earlier.
After Hedong was pacified, the martial arts men from the two places with the same origin quickly moved closer, and they all regarded Zhang Xiantai as their darling. Coupled with his father's favor, the tenth brother developed a character that was not only good at fighting, but also very independent.
Zhang Xiantai had always been one of the best in his studies at Longtao Academy, so he was not very happy with his father arranging for him to conquer Tocharo.
It is true that Tochara is a good place. The northwest can threaten the river, the southwest can control Persia, and the east can go to Tianzhu. Living on the top of the mountain, you can come down from the mountain and beat anyone who doesn't like it.
However, Zhang Xiantai was not happy. He was not willing to go through the mountains and ravines in Tochara. His ideal was to ride on a tall horse and lead a hundred thousand lions, all the way to the west, to whip the barbarians in the far west.
Let one castle after another, one barbarian king after another tremble under his riding crop, even have to line up to kiss his own shoes, that is what a man should do!
"Tenth brother has already made a choice after reading this. If you want to imitate Attila, the last king of the Huns, and become the whip of God to whip the Suyi people in the far west, then my brother will submit a letter with you."
As soon as Zhang Xianyu heard Lu Sanlang say the term Antila River, he knew Zhang Xiantai's ambition, because his father told them a story when they were in Longtao Academy.
It is said that after the Northern Huns who were completely defeated by Dou Gu and Dou Xian fled westward, their descendants mixed with local barbarians along the West Sea, forming a new Huns tribe mixed with a certain amount of Northern Huns aristocratic blood.
Antillah Khan from this tribe eventually conquered dozens of Suyi tribes and kingdoms in the far west, and even once made the entire Qin Dynasty surrender under his iron heel. He was called the whip of God by the Suyi people.
This is the most popular story in Longtao Academy and the most popular story among students. There is even a drama about Antilla Khan's Western Expedition in Longtao Academy.
And the person who can play Antilla Khan in the drama must be the best student in Longtao Academy.
The students ignored Zhang Yan and did not clearly confirm that the new Huns in the West Sea and the Northern Huns were directly related. What they completely substituted was that the Huns who were beaten by the Han Dynasty could become Su Yi in the far west. The whip of God.
The Antira River (Volga River) is where Antira Khan grew up. In ancient Huns or Turkic languages, its literal translation is the land of his father, which can be translated as his hometown or the land of his ancestors.
After explaining this joke to everyone, Zhang Xianyu smiled and said to Zhang Xiantai: "My brother Juro has the ambition of Kunpeng, and he should be the whip of God for the new generation!"
Zhang Xiantai stood up, raised his hands, and said with great courage: "The so-called whip of God is just a remnant of the Xiongnu. How can it match the might of our Zhou and Han armies? Those plain barbarians have no knowledge, how can they know where the true God is!
I heard that the Qin Dynasty that Antilla attacked in the past was still there, and that Constantinople was the most prosperous and majestic city in the far west. I really wanted to see it. "
Well, this is not an easy task. You must know that the Byzantine emperor who just ascended the throne at this time is the famous cuckold king, the top boiling goat, and the Saracen white god of death who made pure love warriors fall to the ground. Military strategist Nikephoros II.
Even the subsequent John I and Vasily II the Butcher of Bulgaria were both famous military strategist emperors.
The new generation of famous royal generals like Huo Qubing in the Great Zhou Dynasty met the three generations of Byzantine military strategists and emperors. It was really a battle between dragons and tigers.
Of course, everyone present, even the time traveler Zhang Yan, was not very clear about these things, so the betting at the banquet continued.
Even Lu Sanlang could feel that if he wasn't Zhang Shengren's biological son, he wouldn't be able to obtain a lot of resources. How could Bai Congxin not know that?
After a brief glance, he suddenly discovered that Lu Sanlang's Dinghai Grand Duchy was gone, and Zheng Fan's problem of being blocked from all sides was solved in one fell swoop.
Although it was difficult to go west, it was better than the hero being useless, so Bai Congxin clapped his hands and laughed.
"How can the King of Shu be such a hero without a warrior to follow him? The fourth son Xuande and the fifth son Xuanzhao of a certain family are skilled in bows and horses. They are willing to accompany the king on his western expedition with a hundred knights, a hundred hussars, and three hundred horse archers."
Lao Bai can still do business, but there are too many masters among Zheng Fan now. The hundreds of thousands of Han soldiers and grassland warriors he recruited can only be supported by less than 500,000 local people. The burden is too heavy.
As long as Zhang Xianta was willing to go west, he would be happy to let go of his burden. He could also provide money and food, buy part of the territory of the Dinghai Grand Duchy from Lu Sanlang, and then go north to conquer the Kimak people.
Therefore, he wanted to make a big bet on Shu King Zhang Xiantai, let the emperor see his thoughts, and then agree to him annexing part of the territory of the Dinghai Grand Duchy.
After speaking, Bai Congxin glanced at Lu Sanlang and raised his white jade wine glass to him.
Lu Sanlang and Bai Congxin have been hanging out together for more than ten years. Of course, he understood what Bai Congxin meant instantly. He immediately smiled and shouted at Bai Congxin as if he was joking:
"Prince Zheng, I heard that your fourth mother-in-law is so charming that she is a beauty rarely seen in Zheng Fan, and the King of Shu is a new generation of heroes. Why don't you act against your father-in-law?"
Bai Congxin's fourth daughter was born to a Sogdian Liangyuan of his. Although she was extremely beautiful, Bai herself was a Tocharian, and it would be a bit embarrassing if her mother was a Sogdian.
Generally speaking, this kind of beautiful daughter who has no Han blood at all is born for the current use, to be married off as a concubine or to win over talents by marrying down.
Therefore, Bai Congxin doesn't care whether Siniang Bai becomes the concubine, because if she really wants to ask for it, it would not be a marriage, but an insult.
When Bai Congxin heard what Lu Sanlang said, he smiled and said nothing while stroking his beard. His eldest son Bai Xuanyi immediately smiled and shook his head next to him.
"My little sister was born in a borderland and doesn't know etiquette. How can she be worthy of His Highness the King of Shu?"
However, after saying this, the Bai family and his son still looked at Zhang Xiantai. The so-called being born in a borderland and not knowing etiquette was obviously just self-effacing.
Zhang Xiantai thought quickly in her mind. If she could marry Bai Congxin's daughter, Ningyuan's supplies could be transported to Lei Zhuhai (Aral Sea) through poisonous water.
After arriving at Lei Zhuhai, the closest place to the West Sea (Caspian Sea) was less than a thousand miles away.
But this is not the decisive factor. The decisive factor is the ancient Uzboy River.
This is the ruins of an ancient river that has dried up long ago and now only the river channel remains.
Thousands of years ago, the Wuhu River (Amu Darya River) once flowed into the Caspian Sea instead of the Aral Sea.
Even after it flowed into the Aral Sea, the Aral Sea was intermittently poured back into the Caspian Sea through the Uzboy River because of the excessive water volume.
This is the biggest secret Zhang Xian gave to Zhang Xianyu, and it is also the ultimate killer in the future.
When Zhang Zhou's forces established a foothold on the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, they only needed to dig a canal of dozens of kilometers to re-introduce the Amu Darya River into the Caspian Sea.
In this way, Zhang Zhou's forces can quickly enter the Caspian Sea coast, and even establish a Caspian Sea fleet to easily control places such as the Caucasus Mountains and northern Iran. This will save thousands of kilometers of material transportation consumption.
By that time, even Byzantium, Syria, and Egypt will face the threat of the Han army.
So now let Bai Congxin and Zhang Xiantai form a son-in-law, control the north shore of the Caspian Sea, and first defeat the barbarians on the north shore of the West Sea (Caspian Sea) to establish a stable base.
Then establish a stronghold southward through the West Sea to provide sufficient supplies for Dashi and Daxia. It is simply not perfect.
Zhang Xiantai had been paying attention to Zhang Xianyu's movements. After the brother he admired nodded slightly, Zhang Xiantai immediately came out and bowed to Bai Congxin, saying loudly:
"When a young boy comes here for the first time, he will be very frightened to be loved by his uncle. If he can be accompanied by his four mothers, he should be treated as a good companion."
Both the Bai family and his son were overjoyed. Now, with the permission of the emperor, Zhang Zhou's outer vassal queen's harem is equipped with the prince's configuration, and there are two Liangdi and six Liangyuan below the principal concubine.
Within the vassal state, a good wife had the same status as a royal concubine, so the Bai family and his son were extremely satisfied.
Seeing Bai Congxin place his bet, everyone else followed suit and bowed a little.
Zhang Xianyu's eyes flashed. He seemed to know how to solve the problem in the river. He immediately stopped everyone's meaningless bets and immediately dismissed all the servants, leaving only the vassals above the king and male present.
A huge map was hung in front of all the kings of the Xia Dynasty in the river. At this moment, Zhang Xianyu felt as if his father Zhang Xian was possessed by him. He pointed to the location of the ancient path of the Uzboy River and said:
"If this river can be restored, then our money, food, weapons, baggage, and even troops and horses can be transported to the north of Persia near the West Sea at the expense of the polar regions.
If we can capture Rai (Tehran) again and make it our support in Persia, then the world is vast and we can go anywhere.
Gentlemen, if you just eat a lot, this is a big country with a population of 30 million people. Just one bite will be full of oil, let alone the Great Qin. "
The place Zhang Xianyu refers to is Sari and other places on the coast of the Caspian Sea in later generations. From here to Rai (Tehran), there are only three hundred miles left.
And if land transportation starts from Xinzheng City, the straight-line transportation without taking into account the terrain will be 3,300 miles.
"Enough, enough!" Bai Congxin murmured: "Don't mention eating Da Shi and Da Qin, even if you only eat half of it, our descendants will all be kings."
He was indeed a model father. At this time, what Bai Congxin was thinking about was his descendants.
As soon as he finished speaking, Guo Ting'er looked at a certain place on the map, and her eyes began to shine.
