After sleeping in a tent on the snow all night, even the wooden boards under the felt blanket were soaked with moisture. Fortunately, there was a stove in the tent and the bed was still dry.
It was not yet completely bright, and Duo Siman was sleeping soundly, clinging to Li Xia to keep warm, but she felt that he was getting up in her sleep.
As soon as the quilt was lifted a little, a cool feeling came through. "Hmm? Your Majesty."
"Did I wake you up? Go back to sleep."
Without opening her eyes, Duo Siman hugged Li Xia's arm and asked, "The Queen and Concubine Zhang are calling your name, can I call you too?" "Then go ahead."
"Li Lixia."
Then she called out softly, with a strong Western accent, which made people feel like eating a raisin. "Hmm."
"Wow, I'm so brave. Do you know? Eji announced the news of my pregnancy, and everyone respected me. Just now I had a dream. In the dream, our child took many, many people on the ship, and we wanted to
Go to the place you told me about"
In recent days, Duosiman has indeed gained the respect of thousands of households in the Chagatai Khanate. A pregnant concubine who can accompany the Tang emperor on an expedition has a much higher status than the original unmarried princess.
Investigating the root cause, the Chagatai Khanate is experiencing a new struggle for the throne.
After Muba was hit by an arrow in the sand and died, Ulughunai has not announced the matter to the Khanate until now. Instead, he led his army to the east and separated the leaders of the army from their tribesmen. The idea was to use Li Xia to consolidate her.
that power.
After all, Muba Cisha was just a puppet originally, and the power was originally in her hands. What she needs now is to announce a new puppet when her prestige is at its highest.
More importantly to her, Kublai Khan must not be allowed to interfere with the throne of the Chagatai Khanate.
The leaders of the Western Regions would inevitably have to guess who would be the most likely to rule the Western Regions after Ulughunai. Duo Siman finally finished telling her dream, hugged Li Xia and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Li Xia said: "I'm thinking about how to control the 50,000 soldiers and horses in this team that don't belong to me yet."
"I, Eji, should be able to obey your command. Shu Zhenbo, what about the 20,000 people in Tritsa? Humph, they ate our food and grass and lived in our tents."
"They can't command those 20,000 people." Li Xia said: "When the Yuan army was defeated, they could still retain a complete organizational structure. In fact, half of them fled and half of them were recruited from elsewhere. If
We can go back safely and we have broken up and reorganized."
After he finished speaking, Duo Siman fell asleep again.
Li Xia walked out of the warm tent alone, and was faced with a gust of cold wind, which gave him goosebumps all over his body.
It was still dark, and there was light from the bonfire lit outside in the camp. In the distance, the soldiers on night watch had already eaten the morning meal, were handing over the defense with the soldiers on duty, and were preparing to sleep for two hours before setting off.
Those were soldiers and horses from the Western Regions. Although they belonged to Uluru Hunai, they had fought several battles under the command of Li Xia, and they seemed to have strict military discipline.
"Your Majesty, your injury hasn't healed yet, so I'm afraid you shouldn't practice any more." Huo Xiaolian stepped forward to remind him. To be able to say this, he obviously knew Li Xia very well.
"Don't worry, I just walked around briefly to recover."
In a tent not far away, Yang Ben staggered out after hearing the noise.
He had just woken up, his eyes could not open very well, and his face was as wrinkled as a chrysanthemum. He bowed and walked slowly behind Li Xia.
"I will recover with Your Majesty."
Li Xia moved his muscles as he walked and said, "Yang Qing has been in a coma for several days. I'm afraid she doesn't know where we are." "I really don't know."
"I don't know either, but I estimate that if we walk for another two or three days, we should be able to see Helan Mountain."
Huo Xiaolian added: "On such a windy and snowy day with no sun or stars, if our compass hadn't been accurate, even those guides might not have been able to find the way."
"There are advantages and disadvantages." Yang Ben muttered: "In the wind and snow, we can't find the way, and the Yuan army can't find the way. It's a fighting opportunity for us."
"You are becoming more and more like a famous general." "Your Majesty is full of compliments."
After walking for a while, in front of us was Shu Zhenbo and Tolica's camp. Most of them were Mongolians and Semu people. Their armor and weapons had been taken away. There was also a circle of soldiers and horses from the Western Regions outside the camp.
Li Xia stopped and looked at it for a long time, thinking about the same question he asked when he got up in the morning. He suddenly asked: "Yang Ben, you are from Sichuan, do you hate the Mongols?"
"hatred."
"But from now on, I want you to make it clear who you should hate. The ones you have a grudge against are the Mongolian troops led by Kuo Duan who entered the Sichuan-Sichuan massacre during the Wokuotai period, not everyone on the grassland.
Herdsmen, they also endured the exploitation of the Mongolian nobles just like you. Can you understand?"
"I dare not deceive Your Majesty. I don't quite understand." "Temujin attacked the Jin Kingdom and destroyed Xixia. Do you hate him?"
"Everything happened because of him. Of course I hate him, but he is not the most hateful thing."
"Is it because of him? The country is weak, and it can be bullied by the Jin people, and it can be bullied by the Meng people. As long as the Zhao family has always been that virtuous, without Temujin, it would still be the same if it was Yinmujin. We killed him
Liangzhou massacred Kuoduan's family, what happened after that? How can we stop being bullied in the future? This is the problem that our generation has to solve. You should know from reading history books that this is not a sweeping attack on the nomadic people.
It can be avoided by removing acupuncture points. What is the solution? Even Kublai Khan knew that only fusion and unification can fundamentally solve the disease."
When Li Xia said this, he coughed due to the cold wind.
In the camp opposite, some soldiers stood up and looked towards them in fear. "Your Majesty, are you going back?"
"No, only after you understand this point will you know how to fight the battle ahead. What I am saying today is not because my sword is blunt. Ogedai has massacred the city many times. You can dig out his grave and tear him apart.
The bones of Kublai Khan are willing to put down the old Mongolian laws and learn some Chinese systems in order to unify the world. My ambitions cannot be lower than his. I can accommodate all the people he can accommodate, whether they are Mongolians or Semu people. And
Do better than him. Integration, tolerance, and unity, this is what I want to rule the world." "I understand."
"You are the commander-in-chief of the army. Once you understand it, let the whole army understand it. Also, let the army's propaganda officer not only tell our soldiers, but also go over there and say it." Li Xia raised his finger and pointed, "Let's
Soldiers who can understand my ambition will have better food. Don’t think it’s inconvenient to travel like this. If you wait until your injuries are healed and you get to the field before arranging these things, maybe you won’t be able to wait.”
These are a lot of things to say, even a bit verbose.
However, the extreme emotions in Yang Ben's heart were relieved a little more, and he became more rational as a general. He took one more step on the road to becoming a famous general.
After taking a look around Shubozhen's camp, the three of them walked back and suddenly heard Uluru Hunai scolding two generals from the tent over there.
"I saw the ashes of the fire. You didn't report it at night. You waited until now. Is it because it would be more convenient for me to collect the body during the day?"
Uluru Hunai's voice was not loud, just a calm rhetorical question, but his anger could make people feel scared from the bottom of their hearts. The two generals immediately panicked.
"Ketun. We and I."
"Ketun. We are afraid that the fire was just left by a passing business trip. If we reported it without investigating it clearly, we would offend Ketun like last time."
"You want to say that I'm too irritable, don't you?" Uluru Khunai asked again. "Don't dare!"
"I don't mean this, villain! Please calm down your anger."
When Li Xia walked over, he saw that one of the two generals was a Mongolian and the other was a Uyghur. They were so frightened that they were kneeling on the ground trembling.
Uluru Hunai had no intention of calming down, and asked: "Tell me, what kind of business traveler would set out from Helan Mountain to the northwest to trade at this time, and what would they sell?"
"Little man." "Answer me."
"The villain doesn't know"
"You have this brain hanging around your neck but not using it. What do you want to do with it?"
Faced with these questions one after another, the two generals who couldn't answer them were so frightened in the snow that they were sweating profusely.
Li Xia had already stepped forward and asked: "Your scouting horse has found the location of Helan Mountain? Let's go into the tent and talk in detail. If you don't tell me first, why bother training here?"
"I'll train my people!" Ulukhunai scolded directly, "If you had such a stupid Tanma, wouldn't you be angry?!" After that, she turned around and entered the tent.
"His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Ke Dun has sent someone to inform you." A maid beside her quickly explained for fear that Li Xia would be angry, and then turned around and chased after her.
Li Xia was not in a hurry to leave, and said to the two generals: "Get up, how long have you been exploring?" The two looked at each other and did not dare to get up, but after hesitating for a while, they still got up.
"His Majesty the Emperor of Tang Dynasty, we have explored three hundred miles away." "The one who returned to camp last night? He is a very good horseman."
Li Xia praised him, but when he saw that the two men still lowered their heads, looking concerned, he said: "You guys are not so difficult to serve. In the future, when you encounter something while marching or fighting, you should take the initiative to analyze it instead of being passive.
Just obey orders."
"Your Majesty, Emperor Tang, we don't understand what this means."
"Let's put it this way, for example, you regard this camp as your cattle and sheep. You want to protect your cattle and sheep from wild beasts. Do things with this attitude, rather than just fearing your rights.
Angry."
"Well, the villain seems to understand, but he doesn't seem to understand."
"Don't worry, go to my camp and ask the Xuanfu officer when you are free. I will reward you for your protection in the future." The two generals couldn't help but laugh.
"Your Majesty, the villain's name is Dalengtai, and he has defeated Hedan with you!" "The villain's name is Akemu, and he has also defeated Hedan!"
"I know." Li Xia raised his hand and pointed at Akmu and said, "You are the one who was promoted to Deputy Qianhu after the battle in Loulan Ancient City." Akmu was pleasantly surprised.
Dalengtai pointed to his nose repeatedly, wanting to speak.
"The military situation is urgent. Let's discuss it. Tell me about the situation you discovered."
"Yes! Because we had Tang Jun's compass and map, we ran southeast and reached the foot of a mountain. Dalengtai said that there was a piece of snow that had been swept away and the footprints were swept away. We followed the traces
Walking into the mountains, I really found traces of someone having been stationed there.”
"Where is that?" "Togel Mountain."
"Akmu, you stupid Uighur! "Togel" means "mountain". If you ask any hunter, he will tell you that it is Togel. It is called Hatut Togel, Mount Hattu.