In July, Yunzhong Grassland has begun to enter the late autumn season, the grass and trees are withered and yellow, and the cattle and sheep are fattening.`
If it were in previous years, it would have been a good time for the Turks to use their troops. They would have attacked some feuding tribes in the north, or they would have been harassed by the other party.
Of course, most tribes will keep an eye on their harvest and prepare to start sending offerings to the main Turks.
The territory of the Turks is very vast, so every autumn, the Turkic Khanate will send out envoys to inspect various tribes, not only bringing greetings from the Khan, but also testing the loyalty of some large tribes.
Every few years, the Turkic Khanate will hold grand events such as alliance meetings, hunting, and sacrifices to show the power of the main tribe and the prestige of the Turkic Khan.
But this year, both Monan and Mobei are very quiet.
The Turkic tribes in Mobei are constantly migrating, but this does not mean that they have given up on the pastures and mountains that they have guarded for generations. The most powerful Turkic tribes are all sending their troops to the north with all their strength, killing those who have been peeping at the Turks.
The guys who came to the grassland were far away.
In the far east, due to the weakness of the Sui Dynasty and Goguryeo, many Mohe and Khitan tribes expressed their surrender to the Turkic Khan.
This is obviously a good time to reap the benefits.
In fact, in the twelfth year of the Great Cause, the strength of the Turks was growing at a very rapid rate. They had already overwhelmed the Western Turks. Their territory, whether in the east, west or north, was rapidly expanding.
of expansion.
An unprecedented steppe empire is stretching its body.
But the problems encountered by the Turks are also obvious. The territory is too vast, and the time it takes for the Turkic Khan's Khan Order to reach the border is unbearable.
Moreover, this year the tribe surrendered and gave gifts to the Khan. However, when the envoy from the Khan went there, they could not find the tribe at all, or they had already changed their gifts.
Therefore, Shibi Khan finally decided to enfeoff some minor khans and give them certain powers. Let them shepherd sheep for the main Turks.
In fact, the Turks were slipping into the abyss of feudalism.
Above the little khan, there are two khans, the east and west, and above these two noble khans is the great khan, who acts like the vassal states. Moreover, the power of the two khans, the east and west, is also constantly increasing.
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This situation brings about the dispersion of power and the negative consequences of mutual confrontation and confrontation.
But there is no way. The empire on the northern grasslands has insurmountable congenital diseases. A powerful and wise khan can lead them to glory, but he may also lead them to the abyss.
This is very different from the stable governance structure of the Central Plains Empire.
But no matter what, there is no doubt that the Turkic Khanate is in a golden age today.
Many tribes on the grassland surrendered under one flag. The Turkic nobles looked around and suddenly found that there were no opponents, which obviously made them feel temporarily confused.
But at this time, in order to survive, the Heng'an Town Army extended its claws to this ever-larger empire.
With one paw, he grabbed a piece of fat meat.
The sound of horse hooves made the ground tremble slightly, and the shouts of death tore through the autumn tranquility of the grassland.
Tribal warriors kept falling, and the Chiliu'an tribe was on the verge of destruction.
The enemy suddenly appeared near the tribe and rushed towards the tribe in two directions. As they had a stable marriage relationship with the Turkic royal court, they were not powerful, but they were well respected.
So they came to get such a lush pasture to graze their sheep in the Yunzhong Grassland, close to the Turkic Khan's tent.
But this has obviously become a source of disaster.
They were too close to Dingxiang County and too close to the Great Wall, so they became the first target of attack by Heng'an Town.
The wealthy and lazy Chiliu'an tribe, both men and women, were famous in the Turkic Khanate for their beauty, but they lacked a reputation for bravery, and their status in the royal court had not always been high.
This is a tribe that relies on marriage to maintain its status. It is not uncommon among Turks, but few can be so successful.
When enemies like wolves and tigers swarmed in, the resistance of the Chiliu'an Department almost collapsed at the first touch.
The nobles chose to escape one after another instead of leading the tribe's warriors to resist the enemy's attack. The direction of their escape was naturally to the west, and they plunged head-on into the trap they had been waiting for.
The war ended much faster than expected. The early morning raid was over in less than an hour.
A large group of cavalry surrounded the entire tribe and drove out the herds of cattle and sheep. The men, women, and children who put down their weapons trembled in front of the swords and guns. The brave people were all killed in the battle, and the remaining people were waiting for their final fate.
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By noon that day, all the prisoners had their hands and feet tied, thrown on their horses, and driven southward along with the sheep.
The four thousand cavalry gradually gathered together, and under the leadership of the scouts, attacked the remaining small tribes.
This was a perfect robbery. The vast grassland made such a robbery look easy. Since ancient times, the Hu and Han Empires in the north and south have actually been playing this game.
It's just that with the passage of time, the Hu people gradually gained the upper hand due to their living habits.
Li Po led his troops to carefully wander around the edge of Dingxiang County until a message came from the east. The army was retreating south, and there was no movement in Dingxiang County.
But Li Po knew that he should be more cautious with such actions in the future. Although the Turks are not very bright, there are so many people, there are always some smart people, and they will react quickly.
As for whether the Turks can guess who the enemy is, haha, this question is unnecessary.
How could you possibly cover up the traces of the cattle and sheep? They all went south, so who else could be left?
There were no surprises this time, and we didn't encounter any strange things like the Golden Wolf Banner, Fu Lion, or Turkic Princess. In four days, the four thousand cavalry had withdrawn to the Great Wall.
Hitting the target with one blow, advancing and retreating like the wind, Li Po was very satisfied with his masterpiece.
This year's actions have come to an end. Next year, he will send people to Yunzhong Grassland to look for opportunities. Of course, if the Turks react too violently, for example, in a rage, more than ten or two hundred thousand people will come and kill them.
, then the two talked about it.
After crossing the Great Wall, the army camped, and Li Po began to order people to count the casualties and see how much was harvested.
Sixteen people died and twenty-six were injured.
Li Po was greatly surprised by the wealth of the Chiliu'an tribe. The fat and strong cattle and sheep were not comparable to the cattle and sheep that lost weight last winter.
With these cattle and sheep, Yunnei will be able to achieve a virtuous cycle in terms of grain and grass next year.
According to the calculations of Yunnei officials, the population of Yunnei City should be maintained at 30,000 to 40,000 next year, which is about enough, and the rest will have to go out to shepherd sheep.
Yunnei, or the northern frontier of Jin, has unique conditions that allow the people living here to live a life of fishing, hunting, and nomadic life like the grassland tribes without farming.
Of course, these are not surprises.
What surprised Li Po was that he actually got a lot of corn back.
Of course, if you think about it, you can actually figure out that these corns were naturally not grown by Turks. Where did they come from? It must have come from Mayi, Yanmen, and Loufan counties in the Sui Dynasty.
He found the captives and asked about them, and Li Po was also happy. Last year, the Turks went south in large numbers, and they divided this little corn when they came back.
Because the Chiliu'an Department was relatively close to Wang Ting, they distributed some more. Afterwards, each department carefully counted the casualties and complained one after another, but the distribution was not enough to fill the gap between teeth.
The Turks were injured more seriously than imagined.
During the battle in late autumn, countless cattle and sheep were eaten. When they returned to the grassland, another batch froze to death. Fortunately, they could still be preserved for their own consumption, so it was not a waste.
But cattle and sheep run back and forth and lose weight quickly. In winter, many of them can't stand it any longer.
This reaction was almost chain-like, and some small and medium-sized tribes immediately couldn't bear it, so they got some more corn. Wang Ting made up for their losses, and the Chiliu'an Department took the opportunity to get some more.
People on the grasslands were not used to eating corn, so most of it was used to feed slaves.
Over the past year, not much has been consumed, and because they were not stored well, some of them have become moldy.
Just when they were thinking about exchanging corn for other tribes, or feeding it directly to war horses, cattle and sheep, Li Po led his troops into their tribe, and the corn piled up like a hill became the spoils of war for the Sui army.
The generals and soldiers did not even count how much corn there was. After returning to Yunnei, Wang Qing led his people to count it, and then told Li Po that there were more than 200 dan, which was not much. The soldiers of Heng'an Town opened it to eat.
, I can eat it for two or three days.
Li Po didn't feel discouraged at all. He could eat for three days. It was three days. Food was not too much now.
Of course, when they entered the Great Wall to count the loot, Yuchi and Bu Qun had already told Li Po that there was still a lot of corn in the Chiliu'an tribe, but... they couldn't bring it back. This made Li Po regret a little.
When taking people to the grassland for reconnaissance, you should go into this tribe and have a look.
When sending out troops, it would be better to prepare some carriages and the like to bring back all the food?
In addition, there is a lot of gold and silver in the Chiliu'an tribe, and the nobles' families are very rich.
It's a pity that these things can only be stored in the warehouse of Heng'an Town, and they can't be used now. In troubled times, everything is fake, and only food is the most precious.
What surprised Li Po was that Chi Liu'an Zhuo, the leader of the Chi Liu'an tribe, actually treasured a crown that was obtained from the Western Regions and was worn by an unlucky king...