Chapter 1223 The Khan of the South

Chapter 1223 The Khan of the South

The protagonist of today's banquet at Shangyang Palace is Shetu, the little Khan of the southern Turkic region who is a hostage in Guanzhong. The reason for holding this banquet is to see off this little Khan.

In the old days, the Northern Wei Dynasty established various military towns in the southern desert, which was not only to guard against and attack the Rouran, but also to control the southern desert. However, with the outbreak of the Six Towns Rebellion, the world fell into chaos. After that, the Xianbei in the Six Towns moved inland one after another, and the southern desert was completely out of control. The Rouran, which was already extremely weak, revived again and was soon replaced by the rising Turkic.

The Western Wei and Northern Qi had been confronting and attacking each other. Originally, the Northern Qi was more prosperous, and it had repeatedly entered and exited the southern desert, and had many battles with the Turkic and other Hu tribes. However, it was not until the early years of Tongzhi, when Li Tai came to power, that the Western Wei Dynasty took the opportunity of the victory in Yinshan to start to manage the southern desert.

After several years, the Western Wei Dynasty had achieved remarkable success in the south of the desert, especially in the Yinshan area centered on the Hetao area. In addition to the smooth development of garrisons, farming, and trade in the Hetao area, many Tiele tribes in the north and south of the Yinshan Mountains also came to submit.

Especially at the beginning of this year, a conflict broke out between the Turkic Khan Wuzun and Moheduo Yehu, who was responsible for the Western Expedition, and even a battle broke out near the Khan's tent of Yu Dujunshan, which made many contradictions within the Turkic people public.

Although Wuzun Khan is still the nominal leader of the Turkic people, his experience of ascending to the throne is not glorious, so that many powerful factions within the Turkic people disdain to recognize this Khan who was supported by the Western Wei Dynasty.

Moheduo Yehu was the younger brother of the Ili Khan Ashina Tumen, and he led his troops to the Western Expedition at the beginning of the establishment of the Turkic Khanate. Compared with the Turkic headquarters, which suffered a great defeat in Yinshan and even had their Khan beheaded, the Western Expedition Army led by Moheduo Yehu made rapid progress, defeated and subdued many forces in the Western Regions, and even surpassed the Turkic headquarters in terms of its own strength.

As a result, Moheduo Yehu naturally wanted to strengthen his voice in the Turkic headquarters, and there were many open and secret struggles between him and Uzun Khan.

Of course, the Western Wei Dynasty was not innocent in this process. Although the influence of the Western Wei Dynasty had not yet spread to the Western Regions, it could also use other means to make the two Turkic tribes look at each other.

As the internal situation of the Turkic people became more and more unstable, the Chile people near Yinshan Mountain moved south to attach themselves to the Western Wei Dynasty. Although the Western Wei Dynasty had garrisons and city-side organizations in the Hetao area, these management experiences of the Han and Xianbei systems could not effectively control the increasing number of Hu tribes that had surrendered.

In addition, Li Tai also wanted to add fuel to the current situation of the Turkic people, so the little Khan Shetu, who had been on the bench in Chang'an for several years, was picked out. Li Tai planned to send him to Yinshan to establish the southern Khanate and form a third force for the Turkic people besides the two east and west parties that were currently confronting each other.

Shetu was only a young man in his early twenties when he entered the country. Now he is nearly thirty years old, and he has become more stable and well-versed in Han etiquette. He stood up and sang and danced at the banquet, and then bowed deeply in front of Li Tai's seat, saying respectfully: "I am a foreign Hu, but I was adopted by the king because of his kindness. I have no merit to repay the king, but I have been frequently rewarded by the king. Now I will be sent to the northern border and will swear to defend the territory for the king to make our country as solid as a rock!"

"It is gratifying that the Khan has such sincerity! I hope you can live up to this oath and make our two countries forever peaceful!"

Li Tai said with a smile as he listened to the emotional statement of the little Khan.

This little Khan Shetu is the Shaboluo Khan in the history of the Turks. After the fall of the Northern Qi, he often joined forces with the remnants of the Northern Qi to plunder the south. Later, due to the internal contradictions of the Turks, the formal split of the East and West Khans occurred during his reign. Because his power declined, Shaboluo Khan had to move his Khan's tent to the south of the desert to rely on the Sui Dynasty.

So no matter what this Shetu said, Li Tai just listened, and the only gain was a little psychological satisfaction. Not to mention that this Shetu is not a real Turkic Khan. When Wuzun Khan expressed his loyalty to him, his words were more sincere, and it did not prevent the old guy from turning around and becoming the father-in-law of Qi Lord Gao Yan. In the final analysis, the relationship with the Turks still depends on fists.

Also present today is Li Tai's concubine Xue Ji. This Turkic princess and the Shetu who is about to travel far away are the real siblings, so she is also present to see him off today. After several years in the country, this woman has also received a lot of Chinese education, and no longer has problems with basic communication like she did at the beginning. Except for her obvious foreign features, her speech and behavior are no different from those of Han women.

Now the woman looked at her brother who was about to leave, and said solemnly: "Brother, you are going north now. The king has given you many gifts. I have nothing else to give you, but some good words. I hope that you will remember the days and months of hospitality in the country over the years, and do not be disrespectful after returning.

Although there are many tribes in Mobei, they are not the real support for my brother and sister. Although the Khan is also a blood relative, he is mean by nature. After our father Khan passed away, many tribesmen abandoned each other, and my brother and sister were sent out of the country one after another. Although we were fortunate to be protected by the king, the Khan's intentions were definitely not pure. I am now respectfully serving the king in the country, begging for honor and favor for my brother. You should also remember not to disappoint the king's honor and favor!"

Now the brother and sister are both living under someone else's roof and relying on others. Shetu can't say that this girl is really an extrovert, but at the same time, he has to admit that what his sister said makes sense.

If we really follow the Han people's inheritance of legitimate heirs, he is the real eldest son of the Turkic Ashina family, but now he is left outside. Not to mention that it is difficult for him to get involved in the power within the Turkic, I am afraid that even the tribes left to him by his parents have been divided up.

Although he entered Wei as a hostage because of the request of the Tang King, Wuzun Khan sent his sister here later, and did not ask the Wei Dynasty to replace the hostages for so many years. It can be seen that Wuzun Khan is not very happy to see that their lineage has a strong presence in the country.

So Shetu knew very well in his heart that whether he could gain a foothold and make a difference in Yinshan this time, it still depends on how much support the Tang King has for him. If he can gain a foothold, he will be the well-deserved Khan of the South. Otherwise, he is just a poor dog who has lost his home!

After a feast, on the second day, Li Tai arranged 3,000 elite soldiers to escort Shetu and his party to Yinshan Mountain to unite the various Hu tribes and the city forces there to form the third separatist force of the Turks.

After dealing with the Turkic affairs, Li Tai began to concentrate on handling the military and political affairs of the Bafu. After the fall, the matter of the palace soldiers' review was put on the desk again. In the past few years, the review was mainly for recuperation, and the scale of the review was not large, so this year the officials discussed whether to expand the scale of the review again.

Li Tai had other plans for this. This year, he did not plan to hold another review, but wanted to carry out other military operations. After two years of recuperation, the national strength of the Western Wei Dynasty has also recovered, especially the reserves of various materials have recovered to a very considerable level, which can support further military operations.

Just like the Northern Qi monarchs and ministers who were eager to take revenge, the Western Wei was also not satisfied with the past achievements. The generals and advisers have made many suggestions in recent years, hoping to destroy the Northern Qi and unify the north.

Because there was a historical route of the Northern Zhou Dynasty to destroy Qi as a reference, Li Tai had a more determined idea about destroying Qi than the mainstream people at that time.

At present, it seems that the Western Wei has invaded and suppressed the Northern Qi in many aspects, but in fact, the core lifeline is only in Jinyang. Especially if you want to fight quickly and win the battle, then conquering Jinyang is the absolute best choice.

However, a quick battle is not the only choice, especially the current situation between the Western Wei and the Northern Qi is not like the Northern Zhou and Northern Qi in history, which are still evenly matched. At present, the Western Wei has shown absolute advantages in all aspects. It can only rely on national strength to push forward. As long as there are no serious tactical mistakes, destroying Qi is a matter of course.

However, as the interaction between Northern Qi and the Turks became closer, the existence of the Turks added many variables to the destruction of Qi. Once the war between the two sides became stalemate and became a stalemate, it would undoubtedly give the Turks the opportunity to reap the benefits. Li Tai chose to play the card of the southern small Khan Shetu, naturally to contain the Turks, but the specific effect could not be guaranteed.

As the saying goes, three years of farming will produce one year of food. The war last year exhausted both sides and urgently needed to rest. It has been three years since the previous peace talks and ceasefire. Both sides have recovered their vitality, so it is naturally time to move.

However, the Western Wei has not yet formed a unified opinion on how to move and where to move. As I said just now, whether it is slow or urgent, each has its supporters, and each has sufficient reasons.

Li Tai naturally does not want to wait any longer, but there must be urgent strategies in case of urgency. The current strength of Northern Qi is still considerable, especially there are many wise people in the upper decision-making level. Don't expect a lottery like Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou destroyed Qi. There are few people in the world who are as brain-dead as Gao Wei, the last ruler of Northern Qi.

So once it rises to the level of a war to destroy the country, it is necessary to consider how to withstand the pressure and damage brought by the dying counterattack of Northern Qi. This is one of the reasons why Li Tai has not yet made a plan.

He needs to eliminate as many of the living forces of Northern Qi as possible and those who are capable of organizing the remnants to continue the struggle, especially to prevent Hebei and other places from falling into long-term chaos and failing to be effectively controlled.

Just when Li Tai was still hesitating about the battle plan, the situation of Huainan being invaded by Northern Qi was reported to the Bafu.