1223. The City of Ice

After the departure of the Gyeonggi army, Li Pojun also ordered Li Zhen and other shadow leaders to go to the northwest with the army.

The direction of the mountains, the depth of the rivers and the degree of freezing, the topography and the enemy's movements, etc., are all important factors that cannot be ignored.

The bitter cold wind could not stop the enthusiasm of the Tang army to make meritorious contributions, and the Gyeonggi army vigorously drove to the northwest, and the northwest land was ordered by the imperial court, and it was quickly assembled.

With such a big move by the Tang Dynasty, Tuyuhun reacted even if he was confused, not to mention that the movement of the surrounding Tang troops was not concealed at all, and Lanzhou, Liangzhou, Minzhou and other border lines had already put on a posture of war.

In this regard, Tuyuhun is also surging with undercurrents up and down, and the waves and clouds are treacherous.

On the vast plateau, there is goose feather snow, the snow on the ground has reached the ankles, and the plateau in the first month is not the slightest bit of life, only cold wind and ice and snow.

In the northeastern part of the vast plateau, there is a pearl on the plateau, which is the largest inland lake in China, Xihai (i.e., Qinghai Lake).

In the west of the West Sea, south of the Laiji River, there is a plateau snow city, this ice and snow city was originally made of rammed earth masonry, but at this time it is covered by ice and snow, just like the snow ice city, dazzling and solid.

I saw that this ice city was divided into two cities, the whole city was not large, the outer city had low walls, made of gravel and mud and sand, and then frozen by ice and snow, but it was strong enough, with low and simple houses in the walls, and tents scattered one after another, all over the mountains.

The inner city is only sixty or seventy zhang wide from east to west, north and south, and it is even a little narrow in the eyes of the people of the Central Plains, but it is more than enough to accommodate the nobles of this country. It occupies a high area, sits on the top of the slope, and is two or three zhang high, which is enough to show the nobility and status of the people in the city.

As soon as the city gate opened, it was facing the urn city, and the defense system of the urn city was the same as that of the Central Plains city.

I really didn't guess wrong, the northwest land, Han and Hu live together, there are many Han people distributed here, since the Wei and Jin dynasties, wars are frequent, many Han people fled to the grassland and even the snowy plateau, among which there are many craftsmen, to build such a small city is not a problem.

Entered a central axis avenue in the urn city, about one or two zhang wide, slightly narrow, can accommodate several people and horses together, left and right are small courtyards and houses of several zhang long and wide.

Such a small and sturdy city is the royal city of Tuyuhun - Fu Qi City.

In the city, there are low houses or small courtyards everywhere, but only at the end of the central axis avenue, there is a rather gorgeous house, covering a large area, occupying the entire northern part of the inner city, the roof is covered with exquisite tiles, on the wall, inlaid with gold and jade, it is not extravagant, although there is no cornice, the palace attic, but in this vast plateau, it is undoubtedly a first-class mansion, this is the Tuyuhun Palace, the residence of the Murong family.

At this time, in the main hall of the palace, the rows of braziers on the left and right were dyed with raging flames, and the whole hall was full of heat, not at all like the cold wind howling outside, the wind and snow fluttering.

Several women in the hall writhed vigorously, and the princes and ministers of Tuyuhun sat in a row on the left and right, in front of them were roasted golden beef and mutton, and the gold and silver wine vessels were filled with the plundered Han wine.

"Khan, since you have torn your face, you have to be distressed, Tang Dog will kill as many people as he comes, let those Han dogs see, our snowy plateau is not just here if you want to, you can come, I'm afraid you won't be able to go back haha..."

The first person on the left, wearing a long skirt hat with small sleeves and small hips, opened his yellow teeth and big mouth, biting the leg of mutton, and said with a smile, very arrogant.

And the person on the top, almost decorated, but the brim of the hat is inlaid with gold jewelry and jade, very gorgeous, about fifty years old, hair has been gray, thick eyebrows, big beard and deep sunken eyes, this person is Tuyuhun Khan Murong Fuyun, sitting on the throne, awe-inspiring.

To be able to sit under the Khan, so close, dare to speak so roughly, the identity of the person who spoke before is not simple, that person is Tuyuhun's second most powerful person after the Khan-Tianzhu King.

Just like the prince of the Central Plains Dynasty and the little khan of the Turkic Khan, King Tianzhu is the most powerful king of Tuyuhun, only the Khan, who is in charge of a large number of armies, with slaves and a population all over the mountains.

The contemporary King of Tianzhu is a ruthless character, he is brave and good at fighting, sweeping away many small tribes around him who do not submit, and even forcing the tribal countries such as Gaochang and Dangxiang in the Western Regions to submit, and the forces directly chase after the Khan Murong Fuyun.

Looking at the rampant and uninhibited appearance of the Tianzhu King, there was no khan like him in his eyes, Fu Yun's eyes also flashed fiercely, although there was a smile on his face, but his eyes were open, full of cold light, no matter where he was, I am afraid that the first leader does not want the second in command to be too strong and powerful.

In fact, this time it was not Murong Fuyun who tore his face with Datang willingly, although Fu Yun was arrogant, but it was also when he was young, now Fu Yun is more than half a hundred years old, he has been through wind, frost, rain and snow, and the tempering of the years has also made his temper somewhat restrained.

Although he was pressed on the ground by Yuwenshu and others, he was almost killed and wiped out, but after several years of forbearance, he finally saw the opportunity to beat the Sui Dynasty and the end of the Sui Dynasty, Xihai and other four counties fled back to the Central Plains in panic, and re-established Tuyuhun to restore the country.

The main thing is this Tianzhu King, who is in the prime of life, ambitious, and wants to reproduce the glory of the Xianbei people in the Wuhu period, but he is more than brave, shallow in his eyes, and even more daring, without his permission, he actually gathered troops to plunder the two states of Lianglan, and even instigated the reduction of tribute, and directly fought with the Tang Dynasty.

finally took advantage of the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty to restore the country, he really didn't want to toss anymore, in case he was destroyed again...... I can't imagine.

It's just that the Tianzhu King is still shouting about the high cold of the plateau, the Han people are weak, and they will definitely collapse if they can't withstand the bad weather, Fu Yun frowned when he heard it, and the lord of a country who can endure for several years and take the opportunity to restore the country is definitely not a mediocre talent, although he occupies the right time and place, but before the battle is fought, the Tianzhu King is fluttering, and Fu Yun faintly feels bad.

The first person in the right column, wearing a thin sleeve curtain hat, does not have the common roughness of Xianbei people, but has a mustache and thin eyes, and looks quite Sven, but there is a bit of viciousness between this Sven.

This person is Murong Xiaoyun, the prime minister of Tuyuhun, who is a rare smart person among Tuyuhun, with a lot of wisdom, Fu Yun can restore the country, and this person's assistance is indispensable.

Seeing Fu Yun's complexion, Murong Xiaoyun also knew in his heart, for the Khan and the King of Tianzhu secretly competed, the minister of the country Murong Xiaoyun just didn't know, didn't see or hear, this is the way of the Han people and the mud.

Although he is a close confidant of the Khan, the Khan is indeed strong, but the power of the Tianzhu King is not small, and the leaders of the tribes on the grassland change frequently, maybe the Tianzhu King will become a Khan that day, so he will not follow the Khan one by one, anyway, he is the minister of state, and the tribal power is the third in Tuyuhun, and both sides have to win him over.

"The words of the King of Tianzhu are very reasonable, I Tuguhun is blessed by the Buddha and can withstand this cold wind and ice, but the Han people are accustomed to the pleasant climate of the Central Plains, and they must be vulnerable to coming to my snowy region suddenly."

Hearing the words of Murong Xiaoyun, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, supported him, King Tianzhu's face was overjoyed, and he was about to speak, but Murong Xiaoyun preemptively said before Khan Fu Yun frowned: "But...... What the Khan said should not be ignored, although the Tuyuhun warriors are strong, but after all, the number is small, and they cannot withstand the tens of millions of people in the Central Plains, so I think we should also go to seek the assistance of the Di and Tubo people to strengthen our forces, so that we can resist the fierce Tang army."

Murong Xiaoyun is worthy of being the prime minister of Tuyuhun State, not only does he not offend both sides between his words, but also points out the top priority, that is, to attract the surrounding tribes to borrow troops to jointly resist the Tang army.

After listening to Murong Xiaoyun's words, Fu Yun and King Tianzhu were both stunned, and then the Khan nodded in agreement, looked at Xiaoyun and said with a smile: "The prime minister is worthy of being the plotter of my Murong family, and this is a great good."

It's just that his eyes flashed, as if he had a deep meaning, although Murong Xiaoyun's words were not offended, and in the end he supported his opinion, but Murong Fuyun was still not very satisfied, and vaguely pointed out: You are a member of my Murong family!

Although the King of Tianzhu was reluctant to find help from the Di and Tubo people, and was able to confront the Tang army with his own bravery and strength, in the end, Fu Yun made a decision, asked for help, and borrowed troops!

The Khan is a Khan after all, and he has already made a decision, and the King of Tianzhu cannot object.

Although the Di people are quite powerful, they are affiliated tribes in front of Tuyuhun, and they can send a small pawn to go forward, but Tubo is a strong country after all, and it is better than Tuyuhun, especially after the same year ago, the land area has increased dramatically, and there are hundreds of thousands of warriors, which is really powerful.

If a powerful country sends an envoy to borrow troops, this envoy cannot be an ordinary person, after a little thought, Murong Xiaoyun took the initiative to say: "Khan, I am willing to go to Tibet, meet Songtsan Gampo, and I will definitely borrow strong troops."

"Oh? What do you want to do? For Murong Xiaoyun, an old fox and a stuffy gourd who was willing to do it, Khan was taken aback.

"Yes, Khan listens to me. Since the unification of Tibet, the national strength has become stronger and stronger, although Songtsen Gampo is young, but it is also somewhat similar to the Khan, the same resourcefulness, the same ambition.

I guess that sooner or later, the Tibetan people will break with the Tang State, so we and the Tibetan people actually have a common enemy, that is, the Tang State, Songtsen Gampo will not fail to think of this, even if he did not think that the Tibetan minister is still a wise person, he will definitely agree.

Moreover, the identity of the envoy should not be too low, which is not enough to show the Khan's sincerity to the Tibetan Zanpu, I went as the minister of state, and gave the Tibetan face enough, and the Tibetan people will definitely help us." Murong Xiaoyun's eyes were shining, and he said quite confidently.

And the old Khan Fu Yun was also comforted by Murong Xiaoyun's few words of praise, and after thinking about it for a while, he nodded in agreement.

Murong Xiaoyun was secretly happy in his heart when he saw this, the Tang army was fierce, and it was the best not to face it directly, Tubo was in the southwest, and the Tang army came from the east, so it was just right to avoid it, if it wasn't for my Murong Xiaoyun's cowardice, it was really the opponent who was too fierce.