"The back of the mountain is very big." Li Keyong said.
Gai Yu was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood.
Zhou Dewei looked at Li Keyong with approval, deeply convinced.
Li Keyong also glanced at Zhou Dewei with approval. He was very good, and his years of teaching and training were in vain. Even if Zhou Dewei did not agree with his decision to cooperate with the Khitan, he would resolutely implement it. This is the person who can be entrusted with important tasks.
"Yang Yue only swept away the tribes north of Xinyi Gui. He didn't even finish the sweep. Many escaped." Li Keyong said: "There are many tribes in Tan, Ji, Ying, Ping, even within Youzhou.
There are many Huzhous, if the Khitans are attracted, who will they follow?"
This is a very real problem. In the border areas, where Tibetan and Han people are mixed, the people's sentiments are complicated. The Tibetan people do not necessarily tend to the Tibetan people, and the Han people do not necessarily tend to the Han people. Many Khitans served as soldiers for the Han Jiedushi, and then went to fight against the Khitans
The Khitans also had Han soldiers under their command, and they slaughtered the Han people without mercy. If the Khitans were lured here, who knows what would happen to the place where Han and Tibetan people mingled behind the mountains? Would they be attracted to the Khitans? It's hard to say.
The mountain back area north of Yanshan is an integral part of Youzhou Town. If it is lost, it will be completely passive defense instead of active and active defense. The difference between this is huge.
The most important thing for defense is to rely on Yanshan. To defend the Great Wall, you must have a stronghold in the north, a military town, and people. Use offense instead of defense and actively defend. Only in this way can you have a chance of winning. This is also the strategy of Youzhou Jiedu envoys in the past dynasties.
How could Gai Yu not understand what Li Keyong said? But in his opinion, Shao Shude was in a desperate situation and it was best to unite all the forces that could be united. Even Zhu Quanzhong could win over or even rescue him.
The fundamental difference in Li Keyong's philosophy. If we dig deeper, it is actually a difference in goals.
What is Li Keyong's goal? I'm afraid he himself doesn't know it clearly. He is doing things completely based on instinct.
Ambition? Competing for the world? He couldn't explain clearly. Maybe he had thought about it before, but he didn't seem to have thought about it. The whole process of fighting for hegemony seemed to be passively following others.
But Gai Yu was different. He had a clear goal, which was to capture Hebei. With Hedong and Hebei in hand, the situation would be completely different.
The King of Jin has gotten much better in recent years with the help of "groups of sages", but it is not enough. He is still paying the price for the neglect in the early years. Can Shao Shude and Zhu Quanzhong's conditions in their early years be compared with those of the King of Jin? No. But they did it one after another.
Something very dazzling happened, and even Yang Xingmi's expansion momentum was very strong. I have to say that this is a huge regret.
If you miss the opportunity, sometimes it is difficult to go back and catch up. The most important thing is that you cannot continue to make mistakes.
"Commander, if you want to defeat Shao Shude, you can't do it without paying a price." Gai Yu said.
Zhou Dewei remained silent. He had his own ideas, but he would only wait for Li Keyong to make a decision.
"Yang Wu, why don't you speak?" Li Keyong asked suddenly.
"Commander." Zhou Dewei saluted and said, "We might as well wait and see if the Khitan will fight with the Xia people first."
"You might as well speak more clearly." Li Keyong said.
"Come back to the commander-in-chief. King Xi fled to Zhuxi. The impact was too bad. If Hendejin Khan doesn't come up with some means, he may not be elected next time." Zhou Dewei said.
The Khitan Yaonian tribe alliance originated during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty.
In the 22nd year of Kaiyuan, the Khitan Khan Ketu wanted to unite with the Xi people and defect to the Turks, which violated the interests of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the imperial court ordered the governor of Songmo, Li Guozhe, to cause rebellion and killed Ketu.
Li Guozhe was soon killed by Ketu Yu Khan's remnant party Nirli.
In the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan, Nieli was defeated by the Tang Dynasty. He left for Mobei, collected the remaining people, and re-established a tribal alliance, namely the Yaonan tribe alliance.
Nieli is Abaoji’s ancestor.
For some reasons, he did not call himself Khan, but instead supported Direnzuli as Khan, that is, Zuwu Khan, and he served as Yili Jin, exclusively in charge of military power.
Inheriting the old custom of the He Clan Alliance, the Haranen Clan Alliance also adopted an electoral system for Khan and Yili Jin, with terms of three years. However, in the past 100 years, the terms of office have often exceeded three years and can be re-elected.
The Khitan is known as the eight tribes, but it can actually be subdivided. For example, the Yelv clan is divided into three tribes. If you really count, there are actually twenty tribes. The Dila tribe has been the strongest from the beginning, and now the gap with the other tribes is
Bigger.
Since the election, the Khans have been from the Yaonan clan, for a total of nine terms, because the Dera tribe supports them.
The Eight Departments of Yili Jin have also been held by Nirvana descendants, and they have held more than ten positions so far.
Hendejin Khan, like King Xi Quzhu, does not belong to any of the eight tribes. If counted as twenty tribes, their family can barely be regarded as one, but it has the smallest population and the weakest strength. Although it is a khan
.
In the second year of Zhonghe (882), Bala Khan passed away. After a ceremony of burning firewood to offer sacrifices to heaven, Hende Jin Khan was elected. It has been five terms so far. Before the end of this year, another election will be held.
This is what Zhou Dewei said, which shows that he has done some research on Khitan and knows it very well.
"Yelushulu supports Hende Jin, so he can be chosen. What a big deal." Gai Yu said.
"But the main benefit of annexing the Xi tribe is that the Diela tribe gets it. Yelusala once conquered the six tribes of Xi, and gained 7,000 households. They settled in Qinghe River, Raole, and became the Diela slave tribe." Zhou Dewei said: "Go to the wilderness in Huaihui.
The Yelv family won't give up if they fight like that. I'll just sit back and watch. When they're almost done fighting, wouldn't it be nice to come out and clean up the mess?"
Gai Yu shook his head and said: "What General Zhou said is wrong. I bet that the Yelv family will not do anything to King Xi Quzhu, at least not now."
Zhou Dewei thought about it seriously and said, "It's possible, but we might as well wait, what if a fight breaks out?"
Gai Yu insisted: "We can't wait. Zhu Quanzhong is in danger, and Zhu Jin, Zhu Wei, Wang Shifan, and Luo Hongxin are not the best..."
"That's enough!" Li Keyong became furious when he heard the word "Zhu Quanzhong" and said angrily: "What do you have to do with a shameless person like Zhu Quanzhong? This thief doesn't keep his word and has no shame. I have never seen him before.
Such a shameless person. Even if he knelt before me and recognized me as his father, I would not send troops to save him."
Gai Yu smiled bitterly, and Zhou Dewei also smiled bitterly.
"Then let's wait a moment." Li Keyong decided in one sentence: "The army is marching south and has been fighting fiercely with Cangjing and Zhenji for many days. It's time to take a rest and recharge."
****
The morning fog was all over the river, making it hazy.
The chimney stretches out the smoke of birds and cooks, full of the pleasant breath of life.
A woman wearing a purple skirt gently pulled up her hair and handed a bucket of mare's milk to the slave.
After finishing all this work, the woman took care of the horse's hair with her own hands.
She carefully tied her mane into a short braid, hung it on her forehead, and tied her ponytail into a knot. The wind on the grassland was strong, and the environment here was very different from that in the west. There were many trees and streams, which were suitable for grazing and farming.
There are thorns and shrubs. If the hair is not taken care of properly, it will easily get stuck by the thorns and hinder the horse's vision and movement.
"What a beautiful horse!" the woman said with a smile, stroking the horse's neck.
The mare snorted and licked the woman gently.
"Xilulu!" A high-pitched hoot sounded not far away.
The mare and the woman looked at each other at the same time, only to see a divine black war horse standing upright and neighing.
"Husband." The woman smiled and waved.
The young man with fair hair jumped off the horse and pulled over the war horse that was still losing its temper.
"What a tall and splendid horse. It's not a Khitan horse or a Turkic horse. Where did it come from?" the woman asked.
"This is Qinghai Cong." The man with fair hair said: "General Qinghai Cong is not that tall. I heard that Shao Shude, the king of Xia in the Tang Dynasty, took power twenty years ago and continued to improve war horses, which has made a lot of money. This is a Tang Army war horse.
It lost its owner during the fight, was snatched away, and found its way into my hands. Rumor has it that it is a war horse used by Tang Dynasty Army Armor Riders, a tall and powerful horse."
The black horse calmed down a little and looked at the mare beside him.
"What a good horse." The woman said happily.
"I'll give it to you if you like it," the fair-haired man said with a smile.
"My husband needs good horses when he goes into battle." The woman shook her head and said.
"I don't like this horse." The fair-haired man laughed, held the woman in his arms, and said, "It eats fine food. It doesn't even smell ordinary grass. It only eats alfalfa and also eats millet. Who can raise it?"
This kind of uncle is better than our Khitan horse, with its pear nose and cleft ears, its shape is docile, and it can gallop through the trees."
Cleft nose and cleft ears are a characteristic of Khitan horses, which means that the horse's nostrils are split at both ends and there is a gap at the tip of the horse's ears. There is a local saying that if the nose is not cracked, the Qi will be strong and rush to the lungs; if the ears are not missing, the wind will not beat.
Hearing the sound. It probably means that if the nose is open, it will not hurt the lungs. If the ears are notch, you can hear the subtle sounds in the wind, such as the sound of an arrow breaking through the air. Whether it makes sense depends on your own understanding.
Another characteristic of Khitan horses is that their necks are relatively thin and they can gallop between trees. This is a product of the natural environment selection in the Northeast. After all, there are many deep mountains and old forests here, which are completely different from the endless flat grasslands in the west.
"Then I'll accept it." The woman happily took the reins of the horse and wanted to get on the horse to try, but when she saw the shoulder height of fourteen palms, she suddenly hesitated.
"If you like Yue Liduo, just ride on her." The fair-haired man picked up his wife and placed her on the saddle.
The woman giggled and pinched the horse's belly skillfully. The black horse looked away from the mare and jumped out like lightning.
"Abaoji, Yue Liduo is getting more and more beautiful." Another man with fair hair came over and said with a smile.
Abaoji glanced at the visitor with disgust and asked calmly: "Brother Hua, aren't you going to go on this expedition?"
"With the great Tarma Gongshali here, why do you need me to show off your humiliation?" Brother Yeluhua said with a smile: "The guards and the people in the army call you 'Azhu Shali', so you must be able to win the battle, right?"
Azhushali means "father, grandfather" in Khitan language, which shows the love and trust that the guards and soldiers have for Abaoji.
"Then what are you doing in the tribe?" Abaoji raised his voice and asked, his tone no longer very friendly.
Brother Yelu Hua was a little afraid of Abaoji, but he still stiffened his neck and replied: "Of course I will smelt armored soldiers and harvest grain and grass together with my grandfather. Abaoji, you want to go on war, can you do it without these things?"
Yelu Hua Ge is the son of Yelu Shilu.
Because of King Xi's defection, Shi Lu had just resigned from the post of Yi Li Jin of the Eight Tribes, and was temporarily replaced by his uncle Yǎn (yǎn) Guzhi.
Shi Lu is actually a talent.
During the period of Bala Khan, Shi Lu served as Yu Yue and took charge of military and state affairs. He "built buildings, built cities, taught people to practice mulberry and hemp, and learned to organize organizations. He had the ambition of a vast territory and a wide range of people."
In other words, Yelu Shilu taught the Khitan people how to build cities, grow mulberry, hemp, and grain, which improved their organization.
Sala, the late brother of Shi Lu and the father of Abaoji, was also very capable. "He was kind to the people and loved things. He began to set up iron smelting and taught the people to make drums."
It was also due to the efforts of these two brothers that the Khitan's eight tribes of cattle and sheep were wild, and there were many war horses. At the same time, they also produced food, built cities, had a stable source of weapons, and the civil and military organization was also greatly improved. This may be their
The main reason for conquering surrounding tribes one by one.
The Khitan's strength is far stronger than that of ordinary grassland tribes. With the same strength, the Khitan cavalry can easily defeat the six tribes of Xi, Shiwei, Tatar and other tribesmen.
The system of two men per household, three horses per man, and the integration of military and civilians is the guarantee of their strong combat effectiveness.
"Stop doing ugly things." Abaoji said coldly and went to find his wife Yue Liduo.
Brother Yelu Hua was stunned for a moment, his body trembling slightly.
I really hope Abaoji died in Yingping!
Yes, Abaoji is going to Yingping to see if there is any chance. The main purpose is to attack Pingzhou to open a gap into Youzhou. Yingzhou or Xingyingzhou is inside, it doesn't matter whether we attack or not.
It's better to fight with the Xia people and Jin people, so as not to show off to me again when you come back.