"Yu Fu, bring another jar of wine over!"
Qi Ding gave an order, and a burly man swaggered out of the shack and rushed to a large thatched hut not far away.
It was already very late, and the entire mountain camp had fallen into a deep sleep. Only the hut where the Khitan generals held their daily meetings was still ablaze. A bonfire was burning in the center of the hut, and a large pot was placed over it. Water was boiling in the pot, and the rich aroma of meat spread far and wide.
There were more than ten large huts built around the meeting hut. Some were used to store grain, some were used to store clothes, bedding, and other supplies. There was also a hut that was specially used to store captured wine.
The huts were not locked, and there was no need to lock them. Furthermore, there was no one watching over them. The entire camp was sealed off, and no one would dare to steal anything from them.
Yu Fu's head was heavy, and his feet were light. He opened the door of the hut and walked in in the dark.
As soon as he entered, he saw a few rows of wine jars piled high. He didn't need to light a lamp to know where they were. Yu Fu, who was in a drunken stupor, casually touched a jar of wine. He excitedly picked it up, turned around, and walked out.
Yang Fan stood in the dark, and he was secretly shocked and broke out in a cold sweat.
Yu Fu had almost touched him just now, so Yang Fan was quick-witted. He grabbed a jar of wine and handed it over. Fortunately, Yu Fu had just come in through the light, and his eyes were dark. In addition, he drank a little too much, so he thought that he had touched a jar from a pile of wine jars.
Yu Fu walked out of the hut, and with a hook of his foot, he closed the door and ran back into the hut while humming a folk song. Yang Fan secretly sighed. When the sound of his footsteps faded away, he also quietly came out of the hut.
He came tonight to search for tonics in the hut next door. Although he didn't know most of the herbs, he had practiced martial arts since he was a child, and in order to strengthen his muscles and bones, his master had given him many tonics to strengthen his body. He knew all of these herbs.
Half of A 'Nu's illness was depression in her heart, and the other half was her body's haggardness. After knowing that Yang Fan was safe and sound, her heart had been cured without medicine, but the weakness of the body could not be cured by mental strength. Yang Fan saw that she was weak, had no appetite for meat, and couldn't replenish her strength with porridge, so he wanted to get some tonics for her.
With the tonics in hand, Yang Fan thought of using wine to help the medicine spread, so he went into the wine hut and quietly drank a water pouch. Now that he had the things in hand, he was about to leave. Glancing at the hut that was ablaze with flames, he suddenly had a strange feeling, "Are these Khitans just having a normal drinking party tonight?"
Yang Fan had lived here for a long time, and he had never seen them stay up late at night. If it was a celebration, they had already announced the news this afternoon, and the whole camp had celebrated. Could it be that they were still in high spirits?
A hint of doubt rose in Yang Fan's heart, and he subconsciously rushed to the hut.
In the hut, Qi Ding was sitting at the head, with Fei Mo and several generals on his left and right respectively. In front of each of them was a plate of hand-grabbed mutton, wild vegetables, dried fruits, and glutinous rice cake. Fei Mo was holding a piece of fat and juicy mutton and was chewing it with her mouth open. She chewed until her cheeks were greasy and her hands were full of grease.
Yu Fu returned to the hut, broke the mud seal, and removed the cover. He poured a large bowl of wine in front of each chief, leaving only a little wine base. He happily returned to his table, and seeing that there was no more meat on the table, he took the basin to the pot of boiling water and scooped a few more pieces. The mutton was not completely cooked, and when he took a bite, it was bloody, but he ate it with relish.
Qi Ding sat at the head, waiting for an excited general to finish singing. He raised the bowl of wine and took a big gulp, then said loudly, "Everyone, quiet down!"
The hut was in a mess, and only quieted down after a while. Qi Ding said, "Heaven bless the Khitans. Although the Supreme Khan has returned to the temple of the gods, we still have the Great Marshal, and we are still invincible! With this defeat, the Tang army no longer has enough power to fight against us! "
The generals immediately clamored. Qi Ding pressed his hands together and said in a deep voice, "The Great Marshal has sent back an order, ordering us to move our entire tribe from the deep mountains to the 'Eagle's Mouth', four hundred miles northwest of Yingzhou, and build our city there. Everyone, drink to your heart's content today, and start preparing tomorrow. We will depart the day after tomorrow. "
Qi Ding took another gulp of wine and said, "The Great Marshal has not returned yet, and he plans to fight a few more battles. Since we are going to build a city, the wealth we have now is far from enough, and we need to plunder more things."
Yu Fu shouted, "Brother Qi, I thought that the Tang dynasty was very powerful, but I didn't expect them to be so weak. They are really a bunch of useless chickens and dogs. If they are so useless, why should we be afraid of them? Why go to the 'Eagle's Mouth' to build a city? It is a waste of time and energy. Why don't we conquer a big city and occupy it!"
As soon as Yu Fu said this, several chiefs immediately responded. Qi Ding glared at them and said, "Do not underestimate the enemy. If Cao Renshi's army did not underestimate the enemy, how could they be so easily killed by us? Do you know how big the Tang dynasty is? The Tang dynasty still has soldiers and horses, but they are scattered all over the country and can't be drawn out. Based on our current strength, although we have hurt them, we are still far from being able to fight them head-on. Even if the imperial court has lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers, as long as they want to fight, they can still send out troops. But even if we only lose thirty to fifty thousand soldiers, will there still be people left? "
Yu Fu coldly stared at these hot-headed generals and said, "We have stolen a city's worth of rations, and it is almost enough for our entire clan to eat for a whole winter. But to the Tang dynasty, how big of a loss is this? If our rations are destroyed, our entire clan will have to suffer from hunger and cold, and it will be easy for the imperial court to mobilize enough rations to supply hundreds of thousands of soldiers!
In terms of family wealth, they are much richer than us! Even if they are prodigal sons, the family wealth earned by their ancestors is enough for them to squander for a while. But our foundation is too weak, we can't even take a crushing defeat, how can we be careless? "
The generals were silent. Only now did they remember how big the Tang dynasty's family wealth was. Although they had won a few battles, they had only just gained the courage and determination to build their own foundation. They had not even built the city yet, to say that they could completely defeat the Tang dynasty was still a long way off in the indefinite future. They couldn't help but fall silent.
Although Qi Ding didn't want them to be too arrogant, he also didn't want to hurt their morale. Seeing that they were silent, he laughed and encouraged them, "Was the Great Qin powerful in the past? Was the Great Han powerful in the past? Was the Great Sui powerful in the past? No matter how strong an empire, no matter how big the mountains and rivers, they are like grass and trees, there will be a day when they die.
The Tang dynasty is no exception. Today, we are weaker than them, but we can grow stronger step by step, while they are declining step by step under that old woman's torment. Heaven is fair, everyone gives you a chance, it's up to you whether you can grasp it or not! We are a bit weaker now, but we have helpers. When there are too many wolves, even the tiger will have to flee. "
Fei Mo glared and said, "Great Chieftain Qi, are you talking about the Xi people? The Xi Emperor is cunning. In every battle, he will wait to see if we win or lose before making a move. Moreover, the Xi people's military strength is really weak, they can only fight on a small scale to restrain Wu Youyi. Until now, they still haven't sent troops to Hebei to join us in battle. Are we going to rely on them? "
Qi Ding smiled smugly and shook his head, saying, "No, no, no. The Xi people are useless, but what about the Turks?"
He slyly swept his eyes over the crowd and revealed, "The Grand Marshal has already decided to ally with the Turks to deal with the Tang dynasty."
The generals were moved. Their pasture land was adjacent to the Turks and they had often been bullied by the Turks. The reason they had never had any major conflicts with the Turks was mainly because they were also nomads and their standard of living was worse than the Turks. The Turks had no interest in attacking them because there was nothing to fight over.
However, the two tribes would occasionally fight over pastures and water sources. The results of each fight made them very clear that the Turks were much stronger than them. Although the two tribes did not have a good relationship, now that they were facing the enemy of the Tang dynasty together, they were the most desired allies.
Hearing this, the generals were overjoyed and asked, "Is this true?"
Qi Ding said confidently, "Of course. The Grand Marshal has sent a letter, instructing me to lead the entire tribe back to Ying Province to build a city. The messenger is the Grand Marshal's trusted aide. He said that the Grand Marshal is preparing to send someone to the Turks to request an alliance with Moke Khagan. As long as the Turks are willing to ally with us, hahaha … "
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
The generals' courage multiplied and they all raised their wine bowls.
Hiding in the shadows, Yang Fan was secretly shocked, "The imperial court is weak and is already having such a hard time dealing with a small Khitan. If the Khitans and Turks were to ally, the Turks would still have connections with Tubo and the Xi people would be emboldened. When that time comes … luckily, I have already quelled the chaos in the south. Otherwise, the entire empire and the surrounding regions would rise up together. But even if the south is not in chaos, if the Tubo, Turks, Khitans and Xi people were to ally, it would still be an unimaginable disaster! "
Filled with worry, Yang Fan retreated. Luckily, this was the Khitans' lair deep in the mountains and there was no need to worry about spies. Yang Fan, the only surviving captive, had already been completely ignored by them. There was no one guarding the surroundings. Otherwise, with Yang Fan's current state of mind and agility, it would be hard to guarantee that he would not be discovered.
He hated Wu Zetian for killing her children and grandchildren for the sake of personal power. She slaughtered the loyal generals and generals who had gathered together in the past. He hated the Wu Clan for monopolizing power. They had placed so many Wu clansmen who had never led a soldier before into the army and controlled the military. After so many years, the morale of the army and the training of their equipment had all been neglected.
If not for this, how could Cao Renshi become the main general, while Li Duozuo, an experienced general, could only be in charge of the logistics in the rear camp? If not for this, how could Wang Xiaojie fight bravely at the front and the vice marshal escape, causing chaos in the army and even the general to be pushed off the cliff? If not for this, how could Wu Youyi, who led hundreds of thousands of troops to suppress the bandits, not dare to fight the enemy, not even daring to coordinate with Wang Xiaojie and take the initiative to send troops, only hiding in the city?
Yang Fan hated all of this and wanted to overthrow it. He never thought that the world and the millions of people were just a bargaining chip for Wu Meiniang to seize power!
He was powerless to deal with the war between countries. Even if he could persuade the elders of the seven sects and use all the power of the Succession Hall, it was impossible to replace the role of the country. But he was a Tang. Once the Khitans and Turks joined forces, the Xi people and Tubo people would be more arrogant and it was hard to guarantee that no one in the south would take the opportunity to launch an attack. The Tang dynasty was about to become a fat piece of meat for a pack of tigers and wolves to pounce on. How could he sit back and watch this alliance … absolutely not!
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