Shibi Khan's southern expedition left many sequelae.
The Turks had a mistress, and Shekui Khan's Eastern Expedition were actually the consequences of these sequelae, but the nobles in the royal court did not care about these. They still played many tricks inside and outside the royal court, competing for power and wealth.
Because of the loss of the Western Region, the nobles became less wealthy, so many people were clamoring to march into the Western Region, under the banner of bringing the Eastern and Western Turks back into the same family.
But Tuli Khan didn't have much interest in the Western Regions. He was trying his best to start a war with Goguryeo. Taking advantage of the Gao family's weakness, he tore some fat from them, such as Liaodong City.
The East and West Khans are all making their own plans, as if no one cares about the future of the Turks.
Jieli Khan Ashina Qiuluo led his troops to the south. When Ashina Mudan set off from the royal court, he did not get much news about the Western Khan.
Originally, she was still worried that Jieli Khan would lead his people to attack Chang'an in the spring. Then when she came to the Sui Dynasty, wouldn't she be throwing herself into a trap? If she was not careful, someone would take the sacrificial flag, well, no matter it was the Turks
Both Chinese and Sui people have this habit of taking the blood of their enemies to boost the morale of their warriors.
Of course, this possibility is not high. In the Year of the Weasel last year, Ashina Qiuluo did not choose to fight against the whip of the gods. So this spring, his troops will become much weaker, and they will not provoke him.
A powerful enemy.
In fact, what she was more afraid of was that Li Ding'an would lead people to surround the Western Khan in spring and try to kill him. In that case, even if the Khan restrained him, the Turks would not tolerate this humiliation and would definitely go to war.
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That would do no good to anyone. Regardless of whether the Whip of the God would be broken or not, there would be a series of turbulence in the royal court, and everyone, including the Khan and her, would be put in danger.
Internal strife among the Turks has always been bloody. Only God knows who will fall in the brutal battle.
Fortunately, the gods did not fall asleep, and the worst case did not happen.
When she arrived at Mayi, the royal court's messenger caught up with her and told her that the Khan of the West had led his men back north.
Hearing this news, Ashina Mudan was not only relieved, but also felt ashamed for Ashina Qiuluo. Jieli Khan who once defeated Shekui Khan did not dare to fight the enemy now.
Yet?
The weakness of Western Khan and the strength of Ashina Dawen are in sharp contrast. Fundamentally speaking, this is not to blame Ashina Qiuluo, who lost control of the Western Regions, and the impact on the Western tribes has continued.
The strength of the eastern tribes is only relatively speaking. The weakness of Goguryeo and the repeated rebellions of the Khitan, Mohe and other eastern tribes are also testing the talents of Tuli Khan.
A few years ago, Ashina Duowen led his troops to defeat Shiwei's southward tribe, which greatly increased Tuli Khan's confidence and ambition. More and more people in the royal court spoke for him, and he even wanted to
Goguryeo used its troops to take Liaodong into its hands.
If possible, he might also want to be the King of Goguryeo... As one of the four tribes directly under the royal court, he prostrate himself in front of the Khan and loyally supported the Khan's ascension to the throne. In less than ten years, he became the King of Goguryeo.
Now that they have become like this, the faces of the Turkic nobles are truly indescribable.
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Every family has its own scriptures that are difficult to recite. Ashina Qiuluo's strategy of going alone made Li Po think that the Turks had settled down domestically and that they needed to use troops to show their power externally.
But in fact, the internal struggle of the Turks has entered a new stage. The control of the Turkic Khans over the younger Khans has weakened to a certain extent. If you are not careful, the Turks may be torn apart like they did back then.
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In the Liangyi Palace, Li Po felt more and more at ease. After repeated tests and proposals such as mutual trading, it seemed that the Turks had no intention of becoming his enemy, nor did they fully support Dou Jiande.
So why did the Turks behave like this? After several southern expeditions, they could not see any gains, so they lost interest in the south?
Or is it that they are not ready to launch a war?
These speculations need more and more detailed information to support, but there is no doubt that the Turks, who are mainly nomadic people, will never learn humility and win-win cooperation. They are naturally complementary to the Chinese farming people, but they are naturally complementary to the Chinese farming people.
And naturally hostile.
The grassland peoples have always been very aggressive and will never make friends with you for no reason. Most of them want to turn you into their slaves and help them make weapons and herd cattle and sheep, just like they did back then.
The same things we did for Rouran people.
Li Po no longer makes random guesses, nor does he ask Ashina Mudan, because that will only bring humiliation to himself, and he won't get the truth, so why bother? The same Ashina Mudan will not ask him when he is facing it.
What dilemmas.
When smart people talk, they always know the boundaries of the conversation tacitly...
It's just that Ashina Peony drank the wine from the Central Plains cup by cup. Perhaps this was one of her favorite things when she came to the south, especially the wine stored in the palace. The taste was even more different, so she got a little drunk and couldn't speak.
There is no sense of boundaries.
"I heard that the Supreme Being has an heir?"
Her speech was still clear, but her eyes were blurry. But Li Xiuning could pretend to be drunk to "deceive" Li Po, but Ashina Peony couldn't, because even if she was drunk, neither Li Po nor Tang Jian would think that what she said was true.
Drunk talk.
If the envoy of the Turkic Khanate is a drunkard who loves to drink, then the joke will be big, but if you really think so, maybe you will become the biggest joke.
There was no need for the emperor to answer these words. Tang Jian raised his glass again and said: "His Royal Highness is still young and it is not suitable to meet with outsiders. If you really want to... Now the Supreme Being is also looking for talented people to teach His Highness to enlighten him in reading. I think
The messenger is magnanimous, knowledgeable, and sharp in his words. He is truly a rare talent.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could stay here and serve as the prince's mentor, and at the same time enhance the good relationship between the two countries? It will no doubt be a good story for future generations to talk about."
Tang Jian was not qualified in foreign exchanges, but when foreign envoys openly talked about the emperor's heirs in front of the emperor, they would stop them anyway.
The ministers should be cautious when talking about the prince, let alone an outsider. There was obviously an offensive meaning in it, so Tang Jian began to speak rudely.
Of course, his attitude was determined by the emperor's posture. If Li Po was nice and polite throughout the whole process, then as a minister, he would have to be more flattering, and vice versa.
Ashina Peony seemed really drunk and had no reaction to what Tang Jian said. She just smiled and said: "Khans have always liked children. Ever since he went north with Qimin Khan, he only has a few daughters now... Alas, in my whole life, I have only had a few daughters." What a pity...
There are also people who want to give children to the Khan... But there is an old saying in our grasslands, wolves will not raise the children of cattle and sheep, and eagles will not let birds occupy their nests..."
Over there, Tang Jian was already furious. He slapped the table and stood up, then pointed his halberd and said, "How dare you...this is not the place where you can speak arrogantly..."
Over there, Li Po smiled and pressed his hand, asking the "furious" Tang Jian to sit down, but said quietly: "I heard that Ashina Qiuluo's wife is of high status and her beauty is spread all over the grassland. I don't know if it's true." Fake……
And Turli Khan’s eldest son is said to be quite strong, so why not come and lead the horse for me, as a whip of the gods, I think it won’t be an insult to him, right?”
Ashina Peony placed the wine glass heavily on the table, as if each were begging for each other's treasures, both of them were heartbroken. Obviously, their respective wishes could not be achieved without force.
But before she could speak, Li Po continued: "Okay, let's stop joking. Ashina Qiuluo can't abandon his wife, and Ashina Dawen can't let his son protect me. 's safety.
Then how could my son go to the royal court to meet the Khan? Because Khan likes children? My child is still very young and cannot withstand the cold wind of the grassland. Let us assume that if something happens to him, Both his mother and I will be very sad. In this case, perhaps countless Turkic people will lose their children in the future.
I think Khan is so benevolent that he will not allow such a thing to happen, right?"
Ashina Mudan, who was drunk, suddenly woke up and muttered in her heart, those who lost their children may not necessarily be Turks.
She raised her glass with both hands and gave a distant salute. A smile appeared on her face again, "You are the only person who can refuse Khan's proposals so many times, and your refusal is always so reasonable. I respect you for that." One cup for you."
Li Poxin said, you should add another sentence, I have rejected the Turkic Khan many times, but we are the only one who can still live so well, there is no other semicolon.
These words sounded like they had continuations, so they should not be taken lightly, and the previous proposal had already made him a little annoyed. Sending protons to foreign countries was undoubtedly a great humiliation for a king.
If he agrees, it is almost equivalent to surrendering to the Turks. Judging from the current situation, the consequences may not be very serious. Maybe some people will applaud him, but in the long run, it will definitely do more harm than good.
The Turks will definitely push for more. If you send them protons today, tomorrow they may ask you to send troops to obey their orders. And will you pay them every year or not?
So this is not an issue that can be compromised or discussed at all. Both parties are relatively calm because they still have some room to spare and don't want to fall out with each other at this time.
Obviously Ashina Peony was also prepared to be rejected. After drinking a glass of wine, he continued: "We can treat what we said before as joking, but Khan is really empty at his knees. You should understand what that means, so Khan hopes that you and Jialan The princess's first son can be sent to the royal court..."