Pan Zhanyang was a familiar person, and before Xu Zi could ask questions, he gave an overview of his experiences after the separation. The facts were indeed similar to what Xu Zi had expected. When this man fled to Khitan, the tribe was fighting with the other tribes of the Lin people.
They were entangled in the matter of Suo Touxi being exterminated. After Xu Dayan left with his crown, the Su Chuan tribe lost an important think tank, so it could no longer maintain an aggressive posture. Pan Zhanyang, who was eager to make meritorious deeds, took the opportunity to suggest to the chief of the Khitan Yuling tribe
, giving up part of the compensation that is impossible to obtain, and instead asking the other party to release the surviving descendants of Suotou Xi Guixuan.
With these noble sons in hand, the Khitan tribe will be able to legitimately lay claim to the grasslands near Suotou Water and Yueya Lake in the future. This routine that the Central Plains people abandoned hundreds of years ago is obviously still effective on the grasslands.
The elders of the Khitan tribes briefly discussed and adopted Pan Zhanyang's suggestion. So, after the spring of the next year, Ayun of the Xi tribe and some captives were sent to the village in times of crisis as witnesses of the reconciliation between the Khitan tribe and the Lin tribe.
In the hands of the Khitan people who had never given any help.
"Then you were rewarded for your merits and became the great plum blossom of the Yuling tribe?" Xuzi placed the new wine bowl brought by the soldiers in front of Pan Zhanyang, poured a bowl for him with his own hands, and asked with a smile.
"It's not that easy. I was just a small handyman at first. It was Ah Yun who became the princess of the Khitan people first, and then I had a backer, and I rose up the ranks step by step." Pan Zhanyang dipped his fingers into some wine and sprinkled a few drops here and there as a habit.
, and then drink it all in one gulp.
"Indeed, Mei Lu was a high-ranking official on the grassland!" Seeing that Pan Zhanyang had almost completely transformed into a grassland man, the smile on Xuzi's face relaxed a lot, "It is equivalent to the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs at that time, I guess
You’ve gained a lot of weight these past few years!”
"You fat ass, he's just a housekeeper who helps with arithmetic and accounting. The whole tribe doesn't have as many people as our county in the Central Plains. It's divided into countless small tribes. They draw swords at each other whenever they disagree, and they fight and kill all day long.
From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, the clan leader never paid attention to it." Pan Zhanyang used his strength to lift his felt boots and crossed his legs on the bench.
A pungent smell of sweat immediately filled the whole room, making Xuzi want to run away. "Didn't you just say that there were two hundred thousand people? Why are there suddenly so many fewer people now?" He lowered his head and used his hand.
The smell of alcohol obscured the question as he asked.
"That's the number of people in the entire tribe. There's no way the clan leader can keep his word. If he says it, the tens of thousands of people around him are willing to listen!" Pan Zhanyang shrugged and replied.
He heard the interrogation in Xu Zi's words, but in this time of chaos, no wonder others were suspicious of his whereabouts. "The Khitan is divided into eight major tribes, and each tribe has a khan. There are countless tribes in a large tribe.
, there are a lot of Aijin, special service, and Xiaohan below. The Yuling tribe is said to have 200,000 soldiers. If we really fight against people, it will be very difficult to gather 10,000 soldiers!"
Following his intermittent introduction, Li Xu sketched out the general outline of the Khitan tribes in his mind. The blood of the Khitan people was inherited from Rouran Xianbei. The word Khitan originally meant iron in Rouran dialect. Rouran Xianbei was defeated by
After the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was divided into several tribes. Then, like many grasslands, a certain hero who had been suckled by a wolf was inspired by the Changshengtian and established his own tribe. His descendants later established eight Khitan tribes, named Xiwan
Dan, He Dahe, Fufuyu, Yuling, Piji, Li, Tu Liuyu, Rilian.
After Ayun arrived in Khitan, because she had the blood of Elder Suotou Xi in her body, her identity suddenly changed drastically. Several major tribes competed for employment and quarreled over the "dowry" they might earn in the future. Everyone decided
The dispute was resolved through a martial arts competition. In the end, Yu Ling Yuan, the Great Khan of the Yu Ling Tribe, defeated all the heroes and got the beauty back as he wished.
"That Yu Lingyuan must also be a hero. Ayun married him, so she has a place to live!" After hearing his old friend's bizarre experience, Li Xu felt closer to Pan Zhanyang and said with emotion.
"A hero is a hero, but he made a profit by marrying Ayun. Although he couldn't get the two pastures near Suotou Shui and Crescent Lake for a while, in the past few years, Ayun has helped him run the tribe.
It is getting more and more prosperous! Seeing it, it will soon become the largest Khitan branch, and countless people are drooling with envy!" Pan Zhanyang jumped off the stool, showing off while moving his legs and feet that were numb from sitting.
"If you can't get used to sitting, just sit on the floor!" Xuzi was so dizzy from the smell of his body that she put her nose in the wine bowl and protested. "Don't swing back and forth, and try not to come closer to me.
It’s a hot day, and you’re covering so much skin on your body, aren’t you afraid of getting prickly heat?”
"Hot?" Pan Zhanyang looked at his own clothes awkwardly, then grinned and replied: "I'm used to it. In our place, everyone wears this all year round. If I hadn't seen you, I would have forgotten that I was a
People from the Central Plains.”
After that, he pushed the stool away and sat on the ground with the wine bowl. While drinking, he explained intermittently, "Besides, it is also convenient to wear it like this. Officials from all over the Central Plains never dared to embarrass me when they saw me dressed like this.
.Even the bandits who intercepted the road smiled and put away their knives when they heard that I had traveled thousands of miles to pay tribute to the Sui Dynasty!"
"So, you deceived me all the way from the fortress!" Li Xu also sat cross-legged on the ground and added with a smile for Pan Zhanyang.
"I'm not lying, I did bring the credentials of the Yuling tribe to the Sui Dynasty. The Khitans were bullied severely by the Turks, so they wanted to surrender to the Sui Dynasty in exchange for material support from the Central Plains!" Pan Zhanyang shook his head and answered.
If so, it would be a very good opportunity! Li Xu suddenly sat up straight, and the expression on his face instantly became solemn. He remembered that when he returned from beyond the Great Wall, the Turks had already plotted against the Central Plains. If it were not for the heroes of the Central Plains,
Ashina Choyu's company camp was burned by accident. I am afraid that in the autumn when the first Eastern Expedition failed, the fortress was already at war.
At present, the Central Plains is in chaos and wars are raging, so a foreign aid located on the flank of the Turks is even more important. If this foreign aid is used well, it can effectively delay the invasion of the Turks. It also has the opportunity to greatly weaken the Turks and permanently cut off the border troubles on the northeastern side.
.
The exchanges between countries are definitely not polite and peaceful friendships. Only when they trip each other up, poke knives, grasp each other's sore spots, and let everyone see the potential threat, will they sit down and maintain a short-term relationship.
"Friendship". If you wishfully regard the other person as the kind and honest Mr. Dong Guo, then the final outcome will be to lie on the ground and get beaten, without any room for fighting back.
The Sui Dynasty has already suffered many mistakes. This time, he should not make the same mistakes again.
"Have you gone to Dongdu? How will the emperor answer you?" Thinking of this, he stopped chatting with Pan Zhanyang and asked with a somewhat eager tone.
"When I arrived in the Eastern Capital, the court heard that some barbarians from outside the Great Wall had come to become naturalized. Naturally, they were overjoyed!" Pan Zhanyang's expression was somewhat bitter, and his tone was full of disappointment. "Your Majesty gave generous gifts to the Khitan people who came with me.
The return gift to the Khitan tribes alone was enough to load three large ships. But he did not agree to join forces to deal with the Turks. He said that the Sui Dynasty was a celestial kingdom and would not use intrigues and tricks to deal with its subjects!"
How long has it been? The civil and military officials of the entire dynasty are still dreaming of the heavenly kingdom. Don’t they have their eyes open and can’t see the foreign enemies staring at them? After hearing Pan Zhanyang’s words, Xu Zi pounded the ground anxiously, “You didn’t follow the emperor’s instructions.
Are you saying that the Turks have already strengthened their troops outside the Great Wall? Where is Mr. Pei, doesn’t he know what is good and what is bad?”
In Xu Zi's mind, although Pei Ju, the Huangmen servant, was greedy, he was a very far-sighted man. Back then, this man managed the Western Regions for the Sui Dynasty and expanded the territory thousands of miles. Later, he repeatedly came up with strange strategies to deal with the Turks, and finally made the Turks and the Sui Dynasty
Signed an alliance under the city. Now, his old rival Turks are starting to make moves again. Logically speaking, Master Pei should be aware of it? How come he, like everyone else, sees the God-given opportunity but misses it in vain?
"You said that Mr. Pei is Mr. Pei Ju, right?" Pan Zhanyang sneered in his nostrils and replied, "His surname should not be Pai, but Gain! Half of the gifts we brought to His Majesty the Sui Emperor came in
After meeting the emperor, he took away another 20% of His Majesty’s gifts. Not satisfied with this, he pulled me to ask how much the Khitan’s property was and when he could come to pay tribute to the Sui Dynasty again?!”
"Since he wants your gift, he should help you more? Didn't you bargain with him?" Li Xu's brows wrinkled into a big knot. In the current situation of the Sui Dynasty, I'm afraid he is not greedy.
Officials are very rare. Even His Majesty the Emperor asks for gifts when conferring official positions. If others enrich their own pockets, it can only be regarded as a small mistake. Don't laugh at anyone. It is best to be harmonious. But the premise of all this is to serve the country.
Under such circumstances, if he is greedy for money and still refuses to do his part, his behavior will be intolerable.
"Why not? I promised him that if this was accomplished, he would have a share of every tribute in the future. But before the two parties could finalize the price, the Turkic envoy visited him again. Then, he was no longer willing to help!"
Pan Zhanyang couldn't help but smile bitterly, obviously full of disappointment in the country of his parents.
Because the Turks paid a lot of money, the favored ministers around His Majesty the Emperor sold out the interests of the country. This was the fact he learned. Although it was embarrassing, it could not be concealed.
"These maggots without eyes!" Xuzi was so angry that he clenched his fists and beat the ground. Amid internal and external troubles, the scholar-bureaucrats of the Sui Dynasty, who had passed down the inheritance for hundreds of years and claimed to have noble blood, actually only cared about burial.
They are just trying to make money for their own country! Can't they look up and see that Chu Ge has already retreated from all corners of the country? Are they sure that they will not perish together if the country is bankrupted and corrupted?
No one could give him this answer. "The duty of a general is to protect!" Zhang Xutuo's words instantly rang in his ears, but this time they could not bring him back to his senses. "Then what, and then you are willing to leave empty-handed?"
"Then I will never have the chance to see your Majesty the Emperor!" Pan Zhanyang no longer addressed us in his words, and it was obvious that he had completely despaired of the Sui Dynasty. "Then I will let the others go back to the outside of the Great Wall, and I will look around for news about you.
. Later I heard that you had arrived in Qijun, so I took the water route to Qijun. On the way, I heard that Mr. Zhang was transferred to Xingyang Tongshou, so I eagerly chased after you. Before I waited in Xingyang, I heard that a General Li was coming tonight.
