It is not a good habit to place all your hopes on others, and Li Ke has never had this habit.
On this mission, he planned to bring several groups of soldiers with him, and then there would be troops outside to support him. This was Li Ke's idea.
It is estimated that Li Ke was the only one who led the army on an envoy in ancient times.
Of course, Li Ke's approach was naturally to prevent rebellion within the Western Turks or sneak attacks from other tribes.
However, during this mission, the most important thing for Li Ke was to establish good relations with the Western Turks.
With this relationship, Li Ke was confident enough to defend his territory even if the Khitan rebelled in the north and the Tibet attacked in the south.
On the way to the envoy, Li Ke deliberately took a detour to visit the Shatuo tribe, because during this period, the Shatuo tribe repeatedly violated the borders of the Tang Dynasty.
Although Li Ke knew there was a misunderstanding, the Shatuo tribe seemed to have done it intentionally. Even if Li Ke wrote a letter to inform him, the other party remained unmoved.
This time, Li Ke wanted to see what kind of person the leader of the Shatuo tribe was.
However, Li Ke did not go with great fanfare. Instead, he disguised himself and went as a caravan.
Originally, Li Ke thought that the Shatuo tribe was a nomadic people and would like horses very much, so he specially prepared some good horses.
However, after arriving at the border of Shatuo tribe, Li Ke found that something was wrong with the atmosphere here.
People can be seen hurriedly fleeing everywhere, and those who are still in the tents also have hurried expressions, as if they are facing a formidable enemy.
After seeing this, Li Ke knew what must have happened here.
He first settled down the accompanying soldiers and maids, and then found a local old man to inquire about the situation.
According to the old man, the relationship between the Shatuo tribe and the Turks was originally very good, but for some unknown reason some time ago, the Turks suddenly sent troops to attack the Shatuo tribe.
Although the Shatuo tribe also resisted, they were ultimately weak and the Turks broke through the defense line. They had no choice but to flee south.
Some time ago, I heard that the Turks planned to attack the border of Datang together with the Shatuo tribe.
If the Turks and the Shatuo tribe join forces, they will definitely be a very big threat to the border of Datang.
Li Ke didn't dare to delay, and after a brief tidying up, he rushed towards the Shatuo tribe.
With the arrival of Li Ke, some changes also occurred within the Shatuo Department.
At this time, the leader of the Shatuo tribe was standing outside the tent, and behind him were several nobles from the tribe.
They were looking into the distance nervously, as if waiting for something.
Not long after, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from the distance, and then a dozen cavalry appeared in everyone's sight.
After seeing these cavalry, the face of the leader of the Shatuo tribe suddenly became ugly.
He originally thought that this time the Turks could break through the border of the Tang Dynasty, and then attack the Tang Dynasty with him. At that time, he could take advantage of this opportunity to expand his strength.
But who knew that all this was Li Ke's plan.
He didn't even know that he was being used as a weapon.
It was too late to regret now. He only hoped that this time Li Ke could spare his life for the sake of his surrender.
After thinking of this, he immediately knelt down towards Li Ke.
"The guilty minister bows before the emperor and wishes the emperor long live, long live, long live!"
As his shouts rang out, the people around him immediately knelt down.
Li Ke said: "Everyone, get up."
Everyone responded like a tsunami, and then stood up one by one.
Li Ke took a look at everyone and said, "You should know why I appear here this time."
Everyone nodded after hearing this.
Li Ke continued: "Then what are you going to do?"
After everyone heard this, you looked at me, I looked at you, and finally the leader of the Shatuo tribe said: "The guilty minister is willing to submit to the emperor and serve the emperor."
Li Ke looked at the leader of the Shatuo tribe and said, "It's good that you understand, but before that, I need you to do something."
The leader of the Shatuo tribe immediately said: "Your Majesty, please speak."
For these grassland people, Li Ke was actually the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. After all, the border areas were already under Li Ke's actual control, otherwise he would not have been able to lead troops to attack Chang'an before.
Li Ke said calmly: "Your Shatuo tribe has captured the border of Datang. What are you going to do about this matter?"
After hearing this, the leader of the Shatuo tribe immediately said: "The guilty minister is willing to immediately mobilize all his troops to attack the Turks together with the emperor and serve the emperor."
Li Ke nodded and said: "Okay, you go back immediately to prepare, and then we will set off."
After hearing the words, the leader of the Shatuo tribe immediately responded, then turned and left.
After watching the leader of the Shatuo tribe leave, Li Ke also turned around and left.
At this time, he felt a little excited. He originally thought that it would take a hard battle to conquer these Shatuo people, but he did not expect that it would be so easy.
But that's okay, at least this way you don't have to go through a bloody battle.
At this time, Li Ke had already determined his next action plan, which was to use the Shatuo tribe's men and horses to contain the Turkic men and horses, and then he could withdraw to find the Tubo men and horses.
As long as he can subdue the Tubo troops, he will be able to deal with the Khitan in the north with peace of mind.
After this battle, Datang's national power has also increased significantly. As long as all the nomads can be conquered, then their next plan can be implemented.
But before that, he still needs to do one thing, and that is to establish a good relationship with the Western Turks.
Although he conquered the Shatuo tribe this time, this does not guarantee that the Western Turks will not attack him.
After all, the Western Turks are one of the countries in the Western Regions recognized by the formal Tang Dynasty government. If they attack the Western Turks, their reputation will be affected.
Therefore, the best way is to establish a good relationship with the Western Turks, so that even if there is a Khitan rebellion in the north, he can spare his energy to deal with it.
As for the peace talks this time, in Li Ke's view, the peace talks must also have bargaining chips.
Conquering all the grassland tribes around the Western Turks was Li Ke's bargaining chip for going to the peace talks this time. He told the Western Turks that if he could conquer these tribes, he would naturally be able to conquer the Western Turks as well.
Either be honest and obedient and surrender, or be exterminated!
Don't think that you are just trying to stir up trouble by cooperating with some people within Datang. That is impossible.
The title of crown prince is actually to deter internal betrayers.
