"How many times have I told Gaochang not to move? Are you deaf?"
There were too many things that required Ashina Qiuluo to make decisions, and his temper was obviously much more grumpy.
The person who came to report to him was well prepared. He was a descendant from the northwest of the former Sui Dynasty. His surname was Zhang. He was of mixed Qiang and Han descent. He used to be just a secretary in Lingzhou. After following his general to defect to the Turks, he gradually became more important. Now he is
A Tutun under the rule of the Western Turkic Khan.
The official position is not small. Compared with the bureaucracy of the Central Plains, the Turkic Tutuns are equivalent to local governors. However, due to the nature of the tribal alliance, they do not have as much power as the Central Plains governors.
More often than not, they acted as tax collectors, collecting offerings from various grassland ministries under their rule every year, and then transporting them to the Turkic royal court. They also announced and executed the orders issued at ordinary times.
They did not have much administrative and military power. The official position of Tutun was a local official position established according to the bureaucratic system of the Sui Dynasty after Ashina Yang Huan came to the throne, in order to be able to slightly manage the loose Turkic tribes.
Many Turkic official positions were learned from the Central Plains dynasty in the south. This is nothing new.
The reason why the Turks were stronger than the Huns and Rourans was because they loved learning and established some bureaucratic systems that could maintain the authority of the royal court.
Then the powerful Turks appeared, allowing the people in the south to enjoy the prosperity of the Rong and Di, which was unprecedented in ancient times.
…………
Zhang Tutun is now the bastard of the Western Khan. Being able to come and go freely in Ashina Qiuluo's tent naturally means that he has gained Ashina Qiuluo's trust.
No different from those who had taken refuge with foreigners in the past, Zhang Tutun was "loyal" to the Khan and spared no effort in making suggestions for Ashina Qiuluo.
It’s just for the sake of glory and wealth.
At this time, he stroked his chest and bowed, "Gaochang has been one of the small countries in the Western Regions since ancient times, but it is located in a strategic location. If there were no Gaochang, then small countries such as Qiuci, Yanqi, and Shiluo would also be unstable.
We Turkic people have an old saying that when the wind and snow come, what we need to do is to find a hill instead of running around. Unfortunately, Gaochang has found such a hill now, and the surrounding tribes will definitely look at it.
to their actions.
When everyone thinks that the hill is tall enough, they will all gather there.
If we keep letting it go and not dispersing them, I think King Khan should know the result. More and more people will see this, and they will also think of the Holy Khan and the powerful Sui Dynasty.
After all, the grand event of Yang Guangxi’s inspection tour to Zhangye didn’t pass too long, right?”
…………
Ashina Qiuluo remained silent, his eyes looked outside the account, shining with a faint light under the firelight.
He actually didn't want to talk to people about the future of the Western Region at this time, because he hadn't captured Tong Yehu yet, and the war was far from over. At this time, he couldn't sit down leisurely and think about how to reward the meritorious people and how to govern.
Good Western Region.
He estimates that by this fall or next spring, the situation will become clearer, and he believes that what will appear in front of the king of the Western Region and the various tribes at that time will be a new master that is so powerful that it will be invincible.
…………
After a long time, Ashina Qiuluo's voice came to mind in the tent, "Everything will be successful if it is forewarned, and it will be ruined if it is not forewarned..."
The weird Chinese accent is still a famous saying in the Book of Rites. Zhang Tutun buried his face in the darkness in embarrassment. Turks who don’t like reading... Even the Western Khan said in front of any scholar in the south.
This will make people feel ridiculous.
Zhang Tutun was about to brag a few words, but Ashina Qiuluo didn't give him the chance, "What you southerners said makes sense.
Khan made an alliance with the Tang Dynasty last year, and how much preparation he made for the Western Expedition. No one knows better than me. The current victory was destined a year ago, or even two years ago..."
Having said this, Ashina Qura sighed. That woman was both his nominal mother and his nominal grandmother.
She has been on the throne for almost twenty years, and she has managed the Turks very well. Many people say that she is much wiser than her father, Shibi Khan, and can be compared with Qimin Khan.
These rumors reached his ears, which naturally made him very angry, but he knew what it meant, which meant that Khan had taken control of the power of the Turks, and more and more people began to flatter her.
And although he was very reluctant to admit it, after so many years, he knew very well that the two southern expeditions launched by his father Shibi Khan had brought a very bad result to the Turks.
Two consecutive failed wars have weakened the increasingly powerful Turkic national power. The Turkic tribes, which shed countless blood but did not receive corresponding rewards, are no longer so obedient.
To make matters worse, after his father's death, he did not designate a clear heir, and the East and West Khans competed for the throne, giving her the opportunity.
It was a real mess. Under the watchful eyes of the gods, the Turks killed each other and allowed a woman to ascend to the throne of the Turks...
And the guy whose hands were stained with the blood of the Turks later became the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Is there anything more ridiculous than this? Was it the arrangement of the gods, or was the gods asleep?
But even if he no longer wants to admit it, in fact, both the North and the South have barely recovered under the governance of these two people.
After the war in the south was put down, the Tang State in the south quickly became stronger. The Whip of the God...if he was born in the Turks, he must be the darling of the God and a well-deserved hero among the Turks.
He can make countless Turkic warriors follow him willingly, including him, Ashina Qura.
It is a pity that that damn guy paved his way to the throne of emperor with the blood of countless Turks, and will surely be the most terrifying enemy of the Turks in the future.
Khan was also very wise and put the bad situation behind his father and uncles back together, but she was too deeply involved with the Southerners, and she was still a woman...
She led the Turks out of the quagmire, but she lacked the determination to make the Turks truly strong, allowing the Tang State to put down the civil strife and now be able to bargain with the Turks.
…………
The scene of him falling from the top of Mayi City appeared before Ashina Qiuluo's eyes again. The southerners on the top of the city no longer had any mature men, old people, women, children... but all of them looked ferocious. They had gone crazy.
Already...
The Turkic warriors rushed to the top of the city, and even though they wielded their machetes and cut the southerners into pieces of flesh, they were still squeezed, held, and torn down the city.
It was the first time for the young man to see such a crazy and tenacious enemy. The moment he fell from the top of the city, he admitted that he was filled with fear.
He was seriously injured at the time, but he still didn't quite understand what the scene he saw meant, and why the southerners guarding the city turned into such a frightening appearance.
Later, when he chatted with some southerners, he vaguely understood what those southerners who were not afraid of death were thinking at that time. Southerners cared about their families.
The bad reputation of the Turks massacre in Yanmen spread, and the people of Mayi no longer had any luck. For the sake of their homes, their relatives and friends, they turned into terrible devils and took the Turks with them.
Fell into a nightmare.
The Turks lack such emotions. They have no place to call home. They have the courage to take up swords and arrows to protect their families, but there is no place where they can fight to the death.
In fact, it was the Battle of Mayi that made Ashina Qiulu unable to let go. When Shegui Khan led the army, he finally found an outlet to vent his anger.
He led the Western tribes to fight to the death with the army of Shegui Khan, and finally defeated the enemy. He wanted to unite the Western tribes and let them regard the grasslands where they grazed as their home.
It's just that many years have passed, and the tribes under his rule are still the same. The cruel war does not seem to have changed the way of life of the Turks, nor can it change their inherent ideas.
When he led more than 30,000 warriors southward, he made the same decision based on the fear deeply rooted in his heart...
…………
The distracted Ashina Qiuluo finally restrained his scattered thoughts and smiled to himself. Over the years, he has always been hostile to the newly born Tang Kingdom. This is no longer a secret in the royal court.
In fact, every time he thought about it, he felt that there was no need. He should have gone with the Khan to meet the Emperor of Tang Dynasty, instead of sitting in the royal court and listening to those boring rumors.
He rubbed his head tiredly, and his thoughts finally returned to the present. The Tutun counselor who had been beside him was right, a Gaochang was nothing, and could be handed over to the Tang State in exchange for their help...or maybe
It's said to be friendly.
But Gaochang is part of the Western Regions after all. With this precedent, how could other small countries not see it? When more and more small countries want to ask for asylum from the Tang State, what should he do as the master of the Western Regions?
…………
"Then tell me, how should I deal with this matter?"
This is what Zhang Tutun wanted. In military terms, he was more like one of the heralds, and he was not the only counselor beside the Khan of the West.
If he wanted to own a territory of his own after the Western Khan pacified the Western Regions, or even simply become the king of a small country in the Western Regions, he would have to take a risk.
"King Khan has always cared about the fact that Khan had an agreement with the Tang State and was unwilling to do anything that would break the agreement. As your eagle dogs, we know your intentions.
But now Gaochang is leaderless. If civil strife breaks out, how can we, as allies of the Tang State, just ignore it?
Even if the Tang people come later, is it not up to you, the Khan, to decide whether the Khan wants to give them a favor or to make Gaochang refuse to accept the protection of the Tang?
What can the Tang people say then?
and……"
Zhang Tutun gave it a try and wanted to see Ashina Qiuluo's reaction. If his advice was given at his feet, everything he said after that would be in vain.
Ashina Qura turned his head and felt a little interested, "If you have something to say, speak quickly. Wise words will always be rewarded generously, right?"
Zhang Tutun breathed a sigh of relief, and his heart seemed to be on fire...