On the third day after the night of the camp, a fast horse rushed into the capital city of Gaochang, and the pedestrians and horses avoided it along the way, and even the guards did not come forward to stop them, because they knew that this was the messenger who delivered the war report.

"What! Fifteen thousand troops were robbed and more than half of them were lost! After reading the battle report, Lu Wentai, the king of Gaochang, suddenly threw the battle report on the ground and roared angrily, "Zhang Lan, that fool, it's not a pity to die!" Come! ”

The two bronze-armored guards entered the hall and saluted when they heard the sound, and Lu Wentai said loudly: "Lingjiang General Zhang Lan, ignorant and incompetent, has no way to lead the troops, resulting in the loss of 10,000 elites in my Gaochang, this king issued a decree to seize Zhang Lan's title and title, confiscate his mansion, and all the people of the Zhang family will be confiscated into slavery!" ”

"Yes!" The two bronze-armored guards were ordered to withdraw from the hall and carry out Lu Wentai's order.

The Gaochang monarch is seriously centralized, almost the king's word, at this moment Lu Wentai is so angry, none of the ministers in the palace dare to speak easily, so as not to be affected by his anger.

Lu Wentai paced back and forth anxiously in the hall for a long time, suddenly turned around and glanced at the ministers, and asked loudly: "This king doesn't believe it, with the power of my Gaochang country, I can't take the small Tingzhou!" Which general is willing to take command and conquer Tingzhou! ”

The crown prince Lu Zhisheng in the rear suddenly stepped forward and said: "Father, the son of the minister requests to personally lead the troops to conquer Tingzhou, and within ten days, Tingzhou will definitely be captured!" Dedicated to the Father! ”

If someone else asks for war, Lu Wentai probably agreed immediately, but now it is his son who is asking for war, and he is also the prince, how can he let him be in danger, frowned, and said: "Outsmart you have never commanded soldiers and horses, you can't go on an expedition, is it possible that there is no real man in my Gaochang Kingdom except for the prince!" ”

A group of ministers were so humiliated by this sentence that their faces were red, and two generals wanted to come forward to ask for battle, at this time, Gaochang Prime Minister Cha Ke Suier came out and asked: "Your Majesty, the minister has something to say." ”

Seeing that he was the prime minister he trusted the most, Lu Wentai's face suddenly softened a little, and he spread his hands and said, "Speak!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Chaksuier raised his head and said slowly, "Your Majesty, Lingjiang General Zhang Lan is incompetent, and he has buried nearly 10,000 elites in my Gaochang, and now I only have 25,000 troops left in Gaochang. ”

Lu Wentai was not very happy when he heard this, and frowned: "Then according to your meaning, you are going to give up attacking Tingzhou?" ”

"Not really." Chaksui said, "Your Majesty, we are short of troops, so we can ask the Western Turks for help, the Western Turks have strong troops, and it is easy to capture Tingzhou." ”

Lu Wentai still frowned and said: "If the Western Turks are asked to capture Tingzhou, then Tingzhou will not be owned by the Western Turks, and what benefits can this king get!" ”

Chaksuir said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the territory of the Western Turks is very extensive, and the transportation between them and Tingzhou is inconvenient, so Tingzhou is dispensable for the Western Turks. ”

Lu Wentai's eyes lit up when he heard this, and found that this trick was really feasible, which was equivalent to spending money to buy thugs, they Gaochang had been operating on the Silk Road for many years, and the most important thing was money, his big hall, the ground was paved with gold floor tiles, and many decorations in the hall were also made of gold, he had money, so he was capricious.

"Well, it's a clever plan!" Lu Wentai clapped his hands violently and laughed, pointed at Chaksuir, and said, "Then the king will send you an envoy to the Western Turks, and ask them to send troops to help attack Tingzhou, you first withdraw 10,000 taels of gold from the treasury, bring it to Yibi Lu Khan, and when this king gets Tingzhou, send another 20,000 taels of gold." ”

"Your Honor."

Ten days later, Chaksuir brought 10,000 taels of gold to meet the Western Turk Yipilu Khan, who asked Chaksuir to spend two days first, and then summoned the civil and military ministers to discuss the matter of sending troops.

The Western Turks have long been watching the Tang Dynasty for a long time, but the Tang Dynasty is too prosperous, the Western Turks are in the process of development, and they dare not easily provoke the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty may be able to ignore the small Gaochang, but if it encounters the Western Turks, then even if it consumes huge financial resources, it will also pour troops to attack, so over the years, Gaochang has often cut meat on the Tang Dynasty, and the Western Turks are very stable.

When Yibi Lulu said the intention of the Gaochang envoy, the ministers had different opinions, which can be roughly divided into two factions: radical and conservative, the radicals are belligerent, and naturally ask for troops to attack Tingzhou, while the conservatives do not agree to send troops, the reason is very simple, for the sake of 30,000 taels of gold and offend the Tang Dynasty, it is not worth it, money is a good thing, but there must be a life to spend, if it really angers the Tang Dynasty, then the Western Turks are also dangerous, the Tang Dynasty can send troops to expedition Tuyuhun, and naturally can also send troops to attack them, the road is a little farther, spend more manpower, material and financial resources, Datang is very rich, as long as you are ruthless, there is nothing you can't do.

In the council hall, there was actually a woman, wearing silver armor and white criticism, with a beautiful appearance, phoenix eyebrows raised, at first glance, she was a heroic female general, very conspicuous among everyone, she was actually the woman in white who met Li Hao at the Longmen Inn, the one that Li Hao called Xiaodi.

Most of the generals present were militants and basically radicals, but she opposed sending troops and stood on the side of conservatives, which made many generals unhappy.

Yibi Lulu was also more curious about the silver-armored female general standing on the side of the conservatives, and asked her by name: "Dili Larna, you are usually brave and extraordinary, and you take the initiative to ask for help whenever there is a war, why don't you support sending troops to Tingzhou this time?" ”

No one knows Dili Laerna's thoughts, in fact, he doesn't want Li Hao to die, because she knows that Li Hao is the assassin of Tingzhou, Li Hao once had a life-saving grace to her, she is very open-minded, how can she not repay the life-saving grace, so she tried her best to oppose sending troops to Tingzhou.

In the face of Yibi Lulu's question, Dililarna replied: "Great Khan, our Western Turks have become stronger and stronger in recent years, and their national strength has taken off, which is an important opportunity for a strong country, and it is not appropriate to start a war lightly. ”

"Hmph, when did General Larna become so timid and scared?" There was a blue-eyed eagle-hooked general who snorted coldly, "It's just to grow the morale of others and destroy your own prestige, my Western Turks have been strong in strength in recent years, spanning thousands of miles, which country is our opponent, don't you even have the courage to take a small city on the border of the Tang Dynasty!" ”

Dililarna said coldly: "General Erbiduo, you have never been to the Tang Dynasty in your life, nor have you fought with the Tang people, you don't know how strong the Tang Dynasty is, and now you dare to speak out here, don't you feel ashamed?" ”

"Stinky girl! What did you say! Epidot glared and shouted, as if he was about to fight.

Dililarna didn't let it go, she also stared at him, and said coldly: "I am General Ning Yuan, who was personally appointed by the Great Khan!" How dare you insult again! ”

Seeing this, Yibi Lulu hurriedly mediated, waved his hand and said: "Don't quarrel between the two generals, if you have something to say, Erbiduo, you are indeed excessive, General Dililarna is a heroine among women, and the three words of stinky girl, don't say it again in the future." ”

"Yes, Great Khan." Epiduo replied with a bowed his head in disgrief, and secretly glanced at Dililarna, and whispered disdainfully, "Women should go home and pick up their children, and run out to fight, they are more fierce than men, no wonder no one dares to marry." The voice was so low that no one heard.

After another moment, the result was still not discussed, Yibi Lulu decided to vote by a show of hands, the Western Turks had few civil officials and many military generals, and finally the radicals won, and Yi Bilu immediately announced that he would send 20,000 troops to attack Tingzhou.

Dililarna didn't expect this to be the result, and she was a little unwilling, so she stubbornly came out again, and said, "Great Khan, the last general has something to say." ”

Ebilu spread his hands and said, "General Larna, please speak." ”

Dililarna said: "The last general thinks that it is very inappropriate to send troops, so it is better to borrow troops instead. ”

"Borrowed soldiers?" Yibi Lulu was stunned for a moment when he heard this, frowned and thought about it, then understood what she meant, and asked, "General Larna means that we will lend troops to Gaochang and let them attack Tingzhou by themselves, success or failure has nothing to do with us, and if the Tang Dynasty wants to pursue it, it will not be able to pull us Western Turks, right." ”

"The Great Khan is wise." Tilarna hugged her fists and said, "That's what the last general means. ”

"Hmm." Obirulu nodded and groaned, "Larna has a point, what do you think?" ”

The generals naturally objected, if that was the case, they would have no chance to make meritorious contributions, but the civil officials agreed one after another, because this method was more compromised, it would not anger the Tang Dynasty, and it would not give those generals the opportunity to make meritorious contributions.

Yibi Lulu thought for a moment, waved his hand to quiet everyone, and said slowly: "Ben Khan thinks that Dililarna's method is quite safe, so let's do it, who is willing to send soldiers and horses to Gaochang?" ”

One sentence asked, but no one came up to take the task for a long time, Yibi Lu was so embarrassed, after all, this is a chore, and there is no war to be gained, so naturally no one wants to be the wronged leader.

"Doesn't anyone want to go?" Yi Bi Lu was unhappy, frowning and glancing at the ministers.

At this time, Epiduo suddenly said: "Great Khan, since the method of borrowing troops was proposed by Dililarna, the last general thinks that it is most appropriate to send her to send troops. ”

Hearing this, Yibi Lulu nodded, feeling that he had a point, and besides, he urgently needed someone to take the task down now, otherwise he would be too embarrassed, so he said, "Dililarna, you won't disappoint Ben Khan, right?" ”

Of course, Dili Larna didn't want to go, wouldn't going be tantamount to helping Gao Chang harm Li Hao, so she was embarrassed: "Great Khan, the general has been busy training troops recently, and it is already a critical juncture, and he has no time to withdraw." ”

Yibi Lulu waved his hand and said: "The training is not in a hurry, Ben Khan will temporarily hand over the affairs of the training to your father, you go back to clean up, and tomorrow you will take 50,000 horses to Gaochang." ”

"Fifty thousand?" Dili Larna was shocked when she heard this, and hurriedly said, "Great Khan, why do you need 50,000 soldiers and horses to attack a small Tingzhou?" ”

The rest of the people were also confused in their hearts, when they said just now that they were going to send troops to attack Tingzhou, they said that they were 20,000 soldiers and horses, how could it become 50,000 now.

Yibi Lulu suddenly smiled mysteriously and said: "Before you set off tomorrow, when you see the envoy of Gaochang Chaksuier, you will relay to him the words of this king, send a soldier, they need to give an additional two taels of silver, if they lose a soldier, they must give an additional tael of gold, hehe, send 50,000 soldiers and horses, then they will give an extra 100,000 taels of silver." ”

When everyone heard this, they suddenly realized that he wanted to make money, which was really good.

Dililarna frowned and asked, "Great Khan, what if Chaksuir doesn't agree?" ”

Yibi Lulu raised his eyebrows and said: "Then let's stop, let them go to the Tingzhou by themselves, Ben Khan is too lazy to bother." ”