Dozens of eagles circled and soared over the vast west-facing mountains, emitting crisp calls. The dark mountains stretched like giant dragons across the border between Sui Dynasty and Tuyuhun. The mountains near Taozhou were densely forested.

The long and narrow forest stretches for thousands of miles.

In this wild wilderness, there are few people, but the Qiang people only live in some places that are suitable for human survival, and most places are almost uninhabited.

The Qiang people live in the mountains and forests, living with poisonous insects and ferocious beasts. Although they are not civilized, they are good at many things, such as taming animals, refining antidote drugs, weaving rattan armor, searching for mineral deposits, etc. If the Sui Dynasty could tame them

These people can definitely contribute to the development of the Sui Dynasty. However, it is a pity that these simple men and mountain people have always been the chief's profit tools, and they have always been used by the chief as a weapon to negotiate with the court.

They live in a closed environment, and their understanding of the Sui Dynasty is only through the chiefs, large and small. Their impression of the Han people is that "the Han people are very treacherous." As for how treacherous they are, they can't say.

After entrusting the chief to trade the tiger skins with the Han people, all they got back was pitiful grain and salt. They had no idea that 70% to 80% of the value of the goods had been embezzled by the chief they trusted. As long as the chief said "Han people"

"Treacherous", they believed it, and then they continued to say "the Han people are treacherous".

If anyone with a smarter mind dares to question the chief and offend the chief's authority, he will die a tragic death, and everyone thinks that this person's death was reasonable and he deserved this end.

Therefore, to this day, their way of life and living habits have not changed much. They are still dominated by chiefs, they still say that the Han people are treacherous, and they still say that the Han people's court cannot be trusted. Therefore, when Tuoba Ningcong, Fei Tinglong, etc.

When the big and small chiefs said they wanted to fight, everyone followed without hesitation.

In an open space dug out deep in the jungle, cow dung, horse dung and mosquito-repellent herbs are constantly burning, using smoke and the smell of smoke to drive away snakes, rats, mosquitoes and flies. Although the smell is not good, at least it makes the environment clean.

A lot.

In a huge wooden building next to it, leaders such as Tuoba Ningcong and Fei Tinglong were sitting there quietly. The atmosphere in the tent was a bit dull, listening to the Sui army arriving in large numbers by the men who came from the stockade to ask for help.

After explaining the situation, Tuoba Ningcong silently waved his hand and asked him to retreat.

Tuoba Ningcong looked at the vast sky with a dazed look on his face, thinking about something motionlessly.

Although both he and Fei Tinglong successfully escaped from Weizhou, the more than 20,000 warriors they brought with them became meritorious deeds of the Sui army, and these meritorious deeds included his five sons and three

Son-in-law, the descendants of the Tuoba family are even more numerous.

These people have always been the backbone of his control over Xiang Qiang, but now, everyone has paid the price with their lives because of his ambition.

Do you regret it?

He had long regretted it in his heart, but now it was too late to say anything.

More than 20,000 young men died in battle, and the Sui army's large-scale invasion not only caused mourning for Xiang Qiang, and made people's hearts shake, but it also shook his authority. Everyone now blames these chiefs for this tragic defeat.

Their actions and abilities are filled with complaints, resentment, and unbelief.

Of course, the disaster of Dangxiang Qiang was indeed caused by Tuoba Ningcong, Fei Tinglong and other leaders in order to satisfy their own selfish desires. Now that they have returned from a disastrous defeat, they will naturally have to bear all the consequences of the disastrous defeat.

.

If it were normal times, they could use the authority of the chief to suppress these dissatisfied voices with harsh means. However, this tragic defeat caused the death of more than half of the families of the entire race. Their sons, husbands, and fathers have already died.

There were grievances, and if they dared to suppress them, the families of these deceased relatives would definitely jump out to oppose them. They did not dare to face the grievances formed by half of the tribe.

Tuoba Ningcong breathed a long sigh of relief, put his hands on his knees, looked at the somewhat depressed chiefs, and said sadly: "The 'four-class people' policy implemented by Yang Ji in Liangzhou is to solve the problem of those of us."

The forces outside the imperial court. Compared with other Qiang tribes, Sogdian tribes, and Hu tribes, our party Xiang Qiang has a larger population and greater strength, so it has become Yang Ji’s first choice enemy. If we lose, those small tribes will

Naturally, they did not dare to disobey his orders, so they had to obediently follow his policies and dispersed to various states and counties. If things go on like this, everyone will become people of the Sui Dynasty and gradually forget what kind of people they are, while the Qiang, Sogdian, and Hu

Humans and other races will no longer exist. It is this crisis that makes us chiefs prefer to be the knives of the Sui people and go to Weizhou to ambush Yang Ji. As long as he dies, the "fourth-class people" policy will no longer exist.

That was settled. However, Yang Ji was very cunning and used a fire attack to cause us to be defeated and returned."

"Shuai Qu is right. We ambushed Yang Ji for the sake of the future of Dang Xiang Qiang." Fei Tinglong took over and said in a deep voice: "Our decision represents the voice of all Dang Xiang Qiang people.

and appeal, but Yang Ji was so cunning that we suffered a disastrous defeat."

The singing and singing of the two in-laws made the chief and the chief look much better. The strong sense of mission for Party Xiang Qiang's future not only made the guilt in their hearts a little weaker, but also seemed to make them taller.

Get up. One or two people involuntarily puffed up their chests, which made the sluggishness just now a lot less.

As if Tuoba Ningcong didn't see the changes in everyone, he still said in a calm tone: "Now, Yang Ji has transferred a large number of troops to Taoyuan County. The purpose is naturally to deal with us. It seems that he does not care about his territory and his son.

The people are not willing to accept all the possessions. Please tell us what good ideas you have and what should we do now?"

"Let me tell you!" Fei Tinglong narrowed his eyes slightly and said to the chiefs: "We are not afraid of war, but we are afraid that Yang Ji will fight with us. Because he has the backing of the imperial court and can obtain a steady stream of soldiers.

There is an endless supply of food. But we live in harsh mountains and cannot withstand endless consumption. If we continue to confront Yang Ji, we will collapse without a fight."

Gu Duozhi said: "The worst thing is that our soldiers are all laborers in the village. If the war lasts too long and is delayed for too long, it will seriously affect farming and grazing, and our people will not be able to live.

, then the morale of the army will inevitably be weakened. Yang Ji is now pressing forward step by step, and we have no way to retreat."

A chief named Yeli Zhan next to him hesitated for a moment and said hesitantly: "Many Qiang villages living in Hezhou and Lanzhou, because they accepted the arrangements from the government, every household has land, and the government also sent people to teach them

How to farm, their children also learn Han culture with the children of the Sui people. Isn't this the goal we pursue from generation to generation? If we ask for peace with Yang Ji and join the Sui Dynasty, we can naturally live such a good life.

."

"Yes! In fact, there is absolutely no need for us to fight this war." Another chief named Xiang Liyuan was moved when he heard this, and he echoed: "As long as we become Sui people, Yang Ji will have no excuse to treat us

Let’s do it. There is absolutely no need for us to fight such a hopeless battle, let alone risk the lives of our entire clan for an impossible ambition.”

Gu Duozhi glared at the two of them fiercely: "Yang Ji's army has invaded and vowed to wipe us out. What's the point of talking about it now?"

Ye Lizhan said coldly: "We can't win even if we fight, and we can't use up enough energy. Then tell me, what should we do now? Do you have to let the whole clan die before you are willing to do it?"

Ye Lizhan glanced at Tuoba Ningcong and said insinuatingly to Gu Duozhi: "When we were first attached to the inner country, the emperor not only accepted us, but also asked the government to divide the fields and land, teach us to learn Han culture, and teach us how to learn Chinese culture.

Farming, the imperial court has never treated us badly at all. But you, Guduozhi, have been complaining. Not only did you not accept the favor of the imperial court, you also provoked the imperial court and attacked Ningzhou. After the defeat, the imperial court just moved us to Taozhou and

You are not sorry for us at all. But what about now? How can we repay this kindness? How did more than 20,000 warriors die? It was your "Gu Du Zhi" inflated ambition, and it was your "Gu Du Zhi" arrogant ignorance.

."

"So what?" Gu Duozhi stood up angrily and sneered: "Our party, Xiang Qiang, has a mortal enemy with the Sui Dynasty! In the past, tens of thousands of tribesmen were killed under Huizhou City, and hundreds of thousands of cattle were killed.

The sheep were robbed! Have you forgotten that? Now you tell me to 'seek peace', but you have to surrender to the Sui Dynasty who massacred our people, and become the Sui Dynasty's dog!" He shouted angrily with red eyes: "

You are not worthy of being a party member at all!"

"Everything must be done in order. If we hadn't violated the taboo first, how could the government kill our warriors or rob us of our animals? Everything we are doing now is our own fault." Ye Lizhan pounded his knees with his fists, coldly.

He said coldly: "In the past, we didn't have to fight with the imperial court, and we could trade fairly with the Sui people without bloodshed and sacrifice. We could exchange goods for what we needed in an upright and upright manner. It was your arrogant and ignorant ambitions that made so many warriors die in vain and turned the bright future into reality.

It’s all in vain.”

Ye Lizhan has always given people the impression of a good old man, but the majestic anger that burst out at this moment shocked the chiefs, and it gradually became apparent that the old Ye Lizhan was like a crazy wolf.

Now that he had pierced this layer of window paper, he was no longer too lazy to hide it. His eyes passed over the bones, stared at Tuoba Ningcong, and said word by word: "You have no ability to let everyone live a better life."

Good day, otherwise, everyone would not have allowed Tuoba Chici to rush to Hezhou; if the emperor had not asked you to manage everyone, how could we have obeyed your orders? As the commander of Dangxiang Qiang, you have repeatedly

It leads everyone to a dead end.”

He puffed up his cheeks and gritted his teeth and said: "I can't control other people, but I will never allow you to lead the Yeli clan to destruction. Nor will the people of the Yeli clan do this again, using a broken pot and a broken knife as a

The days of family heirlooms are over. We have to go back to the past. We have to have food and housing just like the Sui people. I, the Yeli clan, are no longer responsible for these party members. What do you want to do now? You can play with those idiots yourself.

Go."

At this point in the situation, anyone with a little bit of knowledge knows that Shunchang is going to perish. If you resist stubbornly, everyone will have to be buried with the immoral and incompetent Tuoba Ningcong. So at this time of life and death, Ye Lizhan, who can't bear it anymore, doesn't want to endure it anymore.

After venting the anger in his chest, he stood up and left without hesitation.

Xiang Liyuan thought for a while, then got up and left; after that, several more chiefs left one after another.

Tuoba Ningcong did not stop Yeli Zhan from going to Liyuan and the others, but his face was as dark as water at this moment, and he looked at everyone's backs with cold eyes.

When there were only a few confidants left in the hall, Tuoba Ningcong slowly stood up and said in a deep voice: "When Yang Ji treats the enemy, he always treats the enemy as either friends or enemies. How does he treat the ministries in the Great Lakes Region?

What? Is it the massacre of men, women, old and young? How is the Turkic captives treated? It is the endless enslavement of captives day and night. The Turkic captives are now building official roads for the Sui Dynasty, and a large number of captives are dying every day.

die."

When everyone heard this, their hearts trembled.

Tuoba Ningcong slowly said to the crowd: "Yang Ji wants people from our party to annihilate us, and we simply cannot satisfy his appetite. Ye Lizhan and Quang Liyuan thought that by begging for surrender now, they would be able to return to the peace of the past.

Getting along with each other is simply a big joke. The only way to survive is to hurt him and scare him, so that he will never dare to treat us as lambs that can be slaughtered at will! In this battle, we have made progress

There is no retreat, we must fight.”

Fei Tinglong suddenly stood up and shouted in a deep voice: "Everyone immediately cut down trees, strengthened the camp, made rolling logs and other defensive equipment, and ordered the old man and his daughter to collect poison, temper arrowheads, and cut bamboo arrows. We can only win this battle.

No defeat allowed!"

"As ordered!" Gu Duozhi and others put their hands on their chests, bowed and said in unison: "There is no retreat, no victory, no defeat!"

The magnificent momentum in the hall made the soldiers patrolling in the distance faintly audible. They stopped and looked over. The horses tied outside seemed to have sensed the tragic atmosphere in the voices of the chiefs, and they all raised their heads and neighed.

.

Gu Duozhi and others left the hall one after another and rushed back to their bases with enthusiasm, arranging the tribesmen to seize the time to build fortifications.

There were only two people left in the hall, Tuoba Ningcong and Fei Tinglong.

Tuoba Ningcong's angry look just now disappeared, and he became very calm and calm. After waiting silently for a while, he whispered: "If this battle fails, our negotiation capital with the imperial court will no longer exist.

We can gamble with our own lives, but the survival of the entire clan cannot be gambled with!"

"I understand!" Fei Tinglong said in a deep voice with a calm look on his face that was inconsistent with his roughness: "From the day we became chiefs, we are no longer people who only live for ourselves and our families. If we abide by

If we can’t live there, we have no choice but to move our entire clan and go to Tuyuhun or Tuobachi.”
To be continued...