Traveling through the Gaowu Tang Dynasty, Li Kuan and Li Shimin became the second sons of the Prince

His Royal Highness the King of Chu's first stop when entering the Western Regions was Gaochang.

Although His Royal Highness the King of Chu only led an army of 60,000 people, each of them was equipped with one man and three cavalry, and the baggage and provisions were enough to prepare for two months.

So when he led his army to the outside of Gaochang City, the momentum... how should I put it, was not much worse than when Jieli led an army of more than 100,000 people southward and assembled by the Weishui River, the grand scene with banners flying to the sky.

Of course, the level of arrogance of our King of Chu far exceeds that of Jieli Khan.

This can be seen from the fact that the King of Gaochang and his son came out of the city early to greet him.

Upon seeing this, Li Kuan glanced at the crossbowmen at the top of Gaochang City, then smiled faintly, and led Jiang Sheng, Su Dingfang, Qibi Heli, and Zhi Shen Si Li to meet him.

As for Li Jing and other veteran generals, they all remained silent. They could not hide their desire to conquer when they looked at Gaochang in front of them.

At this time, King Qu Wentai of Gaochang, who was trembling in front of the city gate, did not expect that just two years ago he sent away a monk from the Tang Dynasty who went west to seek Buddhist scriptures. Two years later, the Tang Dynasty, which had risen strongly after just one battle, would actually have a monk. On the same day, tens of thousands of troops came here in person, which inevitably made him a little frightened.

After all, my own Gaochang Kingdom has only three to four thousand troops in total, while the opponent has tens of thousands...

Of course, the most important thing is that the commander-in-chief of this army-the King of Chu of the Tang Dynasty last year gave him a letter that was more like a letter of war than a letter of credence. The entire letter was intended to be with him. Ana's "sweet interaction" "Three Character Classic" once made the anxious and angry Qu Wentai wish that the other party would die on the grassland.

It's a pity that this matter failed to make him wish in the end, and when the King of Chu of the Tang Dynasty, who had conquered the entire Eastern Turkestan, came to Gaochang, Qu Wentai, who had just received "His Majesty Li Er's personal letter of credence" again, even just After a cursory glance, he read the familiar words and sentences in the certificate of credence and understood that it was still the handwriting of the King of Chu. Before he even had time to get angry, he had to personally take his son Qu Zhisheng out of the city to greet him early as a sign of gratitude. humble.

"You colluded with the traitor Mohe Duo and murdered our most loyal ally in the Tang Dynasty - the leader of the Western Turks, King Qu Wentai of Gaochang who was the Tongyehu Khan?" His Highness the King of Chu came up and was satisfied. Qu Wentai felt the oppression of his own death and the destruction of his country.

"His Royal Highness the King of Chu!" Qu Wentai almost slid forward and knelt down in front of Li Kuan's horse: "How dare the little king do such a treasonous act?!"

"..." Qibi Heli and Zhi Shisili, who followed His Majesty the King of Chu to the city, looked at each other after hearing the words, with sadness in their eyes: Once upon a time, it was impossible even for their great Khan to come. One sentence made the King of Gaochang put aside his dignity and kneel down to beg for a living.

"Oh, Qu Wentai, how can you be considered treasonous?" Upon hearing this, His Highness the King of Chu immediately explained to him in a considerate manner.

"Xiao Wang, thank you for your understanding..." Seeing that the other person was so easy to talk to, Qu Wentai was about to stand up and continue to say something, but the person's next sentence made him feel drunk.

"You just think that the Tang Dynasty is weak and can be bullied!" When Li Kuan said this, his eyes were fixed on the fat king with a red neck in front of him: "We have an old saying in the Central Plains that he who knows the current affairs is a hero, but you , My friend, why do you think that idiot Mohe Duo can serve as the next Khan of the Western Turks after killing his nephew Tong Yehu Khan, but the Tang Dynasty turned a blind eye to this?" (Note 1)

"Your Highness..." Qu Wentai felt that he was being involved. He was stunned for a long time before he murmured: "This matter has nothing to do with us..."

"It has nothing to do with you?" Li Kuan suddenly smiled: "When the Western Turks were under the rule of Tong Yehu Khan, the kings of all the countries in the Western Regions were all Jielifa (the official name of the Turks) and needed to pay taxes to them on a regular basis. According to what we in the Central Plains say, you are all the princes and kings of the Western Regions. Why, now that Tong Yehu has died, you princes and kings are so indifferent?" (Note 2)

"..." If Qu Wentai hadn't suffered from the fact that the other party was someone he couldn't afford to offend, he would have said something back to him: What else?

Do you think I am willing to give up my good title of king and serve as an official for the Khan of Western Turks? Huan Jielifa... this thing is a third-class official title under the Turkic Khan!

"Okay, let's get up." Originally, Li Kuan only intended to scare the other party, and by the way, he used the other party's words to announce the purpose of the Tang army's coming here to the countries in the Western Regions: "Fengtian Jingnan." It is difficult for these barbarians to understand, but "Revenge for allies" is much simpler and clearer: "I only heard what Ashina Helu shouted when he escaped: King Gaochang, as the most loyal watchdog of their Western Turk Khanate, as long as I If you dare to pursue me to the Western Region, you must make me look good. This is what I..."

"..." Qu Wentai suddenly felt that it was somewhat insulting that the King of Chu of the Tang Dynasty used such simple and crude methods to sow discord against him.

But... Qu Wentai looked at the tens of thousands of troops behind the other party.

That's all... In that case, please allow me to change into a comfortable position to accept your insult...

"That's unreasonable! Ashina Helu is just going too far!" Qu Wentai suddenly stood up from the ground, the fat on his face trembling due to the fierce tone of his words: "I want to tell you In the entire Western Region, from today on, the Gaochang Kingdom will be at odds with the Western Turkic traitor Mohe Duo! I will send people to follow the army of His Highness the King of Chu to do my best to clear out the bandits for you!"

Get on the road!

His Highness the King of Chu suddenly discovered that the barbarians in the Western Regions were much more aware of current affairs than the barbarians on the grasslands!

Thinking about it, there are not only Turks in the Western Regions. Although they are strong enough, ethnic groups such as the Uighurs, Tubos, Shule, and Persians are also active in this vast land, so this has also caused Everyone consciously sticks together, but at the same time they are suspicious and defensive, ultimately forming a special living situation of mutual restraint and interdependence.

This delicate balance has been broken after the Tong Yehu Khan of the Western Turks was killed by Mohe Duo.

Of course, if Mohedu finally reintegrates the Western Turks, then this balance will reappear, allowing the entire Western Region to end its turmoil again and return to a stable state.

But it is a pity that at this critical moment, our King of Chu Man entered the game with his army!

"Qu Wentai, talking nonsense is useless, I want to see your actions." When Li Kuan said this, he suddenly raised his head and glanced at the top of Gaochang City, and then said: "Go back and raise the flag of the Tang Dynasty to me. Go up, from today on, your Gaochang Kingdom will be protected by the Tang Dynasty, well, you have no objection to this kind of good thing, right?"

His Highness the King of Chu asked extremely sincerely, but Qu Wentai couldn't help but feel a pain in his heart when he heard the words, but his face still smiled like an old chrysanthemum in full bloom in autumn: "Your Highness has this intention, Qu Wentai I can’t ask for it… I can’t ask for it…”