Chapter 538 The winner is king
Below the city of Diezhou.
Qin Lang and his father stood on the bank of the Qiang River, watching the Qiang people line up westward. These Qiang people had been captives in Diezhou for half a month, and now they were finally released.
Xifeng Bulai and other leaders also stood on the bank to see off the clansmen. These leaders, large and small, were appointed officials, and they were also required to go to Luoyang to meet the emperor in person and thank you for your kindness. Each of them also left several nephews. These leaders' children were also favored by the emperor. They will be given the post of Yiwei in Chang'an, stay in Chang'an to guard the emperor, and learn the etiquette system and culture of the Han family in the Central Plains.
With the officers and soldiers of the Tang Army by their side, Xifeng Bulai and others all forced their smiles on their faces, not daring to show any dissatisfaction. In fact, no one is really happy.
The emperor of the Tang Dynasty granted them official positions such as governors, but each of them was bleeding in their hearts.
Xifeng Bulai led 50,000 Qiang to enter the Tang Dynasty on the Baishui River. Although they conquered Fuwen and Wenzhou, they didn't get much benefit, and eventually more than 10,000 people were killed or killed.
Except that Xifeng Bulai dispatched 10,000 people back in batches because of Qin Lang's in-depth party affairs, now less than 28,000 of those 50,000 horses can return.
Even if some of the captives were released later by Datang, they would at least lose nearly 10,000 people this time. This does not include the heavy losses of the Tuoba tribe and his vassals after the defeats, which were nearly 30,000.
But Hosiobu Lai is not in the mood to care about that guy's life and death now. They abandoned themselves at a critical moment, which is too abominable.
The Qiang people who left all walked.
Most of their horses were starved to death due to lack of grass when they broke through the siege. Now that they are leaving, Qin Lang said that he would raise those lean horses for the Qiang brothers, so as not to die on the way. But in fact, who doesn't know how terrifying Qin Sanlang's smiling face is.
He said he would keep it for fattening, but in fact he confiscated it.
All the departing Qiang people each carried some meat, and then each brought a knife and a kettle, nothing more.
Their weapons and equipment, such as spears, iron knives, axes, shields, leather armors, etc., Qin Langquan smiled and said that he would repair them for them, and said that they would return them after repairs.
Who would believe it.
It was obvious that they refused to spit it out again. Those things were taken away by Qin Lang when they surrendered, and they were his spoils of war.
Regarding this matter, Xifeng Bulai actually protested euphemistically, hoping that Qin Lang would return the weapon, saying that it was a long way to go, and worried about being attacked by the Tuoba tribe halfway.
But Qin Lang said that they have no horses now, and carrying these armor-piercing knives is also a burden, so they should stay here for now.
Even the cattle and sheep seized by Qin Lang earlier did not return at all, only some meat was shared.
With this little meat, they can barely return to their hometown.
Even seven parts have different treatment.
For example, the Libu Libu has already belonged to Qin Qiong, so this time Qin Lang didn't say that he would fatten up their horses and repair their equipment, and Liang Mizhen's Dangchang department didn't receive this treatment either, Qin Lang He even picked out some equipment that he said would be repaired by Fei Tingbu, Noribu, etc., and supplied it to Dangchangbu.
Tens of thousands of people have no horses, no cattle and sheep, just a tattered robe, an iron knife, and no bows for them, so they set foot on the road back home.
Xifeng Bulai didn't know whether they would be attacked by the Tuoba tribe when they stepped out of Xiqing Mountain and entered the Dangxiang River Valley, but they had no room for bargaining.
Xifeng Bulai also pleaded with Tang Jian and Zheng Yuanxuan, and even complained to Qin Qiong.
But Qin Lang insisted that there was no room for peace in this matter, and he did not accept other people's intercession.
Tang Jian wanted to sell his old qualifications, but he also hit a wall, so he had to give up. As for Zheng Yuanxuan, because of Zheng Wanyan's incident, neither of them said a word, and they pretended not to see each other when they met.
The team goes away.
Qin Lang and Qin Qiong returned to the mountain city together.
"It's too cruel of you to do this. If they are wiped out by the Tuoba tribe or Tuyuhun, how will you explain this to His Majesty?"
"Grandfather, although these people have surrendered, and His Majesty has decided to surrender, we still have to be careful. If we can reduce their strength, we must reduce a little bit. Besides, after fighting for so long, there are many casualties. Our brothers We can’t do it for nothing, right? I’ve already recorded the captured cattle, sheep, horses, armor and weapons in the military merit book, and if I want to honor the rewards at that time, do I have to cross them out and subtract them?”
"A group of thin horses and hungry sheep, plus some armor-piercing knives, are not worth much!" Qin Qiong smiled.
"It's not worth much, it's also our spoils of war. One counts as one, and everyone has worked hard!"
Qin Qiong could only smile helplessly.
"Do you think the party members will make a comeback again? Will the Tuyuhun people retaliate?"
Qin Lang nodded.
"This is inevitable. Whether it's Dangxiang or Tuyuhun, it can be said that they have suffered huge losses this time. With the character of these people, they will definitely take revenge after suffering a loss, unless the loss makes them unable to fight back. , but this time it will definitely not achieve this effect. So I am sure, their revenge will come soon, maybe they will wait a little longer, the most likely time to invade is to stay for a while, autumn is high and fat , They also took a breath, and a full-scale invasion is about to happen."
Qin Qiong also supports this judgment.
"Hey, there is a problem here, and I don't know when it will be over. Only then did the Eastern Turks be wiped out, and the problem in the north was pacified, and there was another disaster in the west."
"Grandpa, you are wrong. Although the Eastern Turks are destroyed, it is too early to say that the disaster in the north will be over. According to my observation, the imperial court captured Jieli alive last year. The treatment of the Turkic descendants can be said to be a bit procrastinating and weak, and the best time was wrong. The final result of the disposal can only be said to be average. Last year, the Eastern Turkic was only destroyed by the Khan Court, and the Eastern Turkic was not really wiped out. .”
"On the contrary, all the East Turks have been driven to Monan, and many tribes have even moved to the foot of the Great Wall. This is a very dangerous situation. Now the East Turks have no leader, and hundreds of thousands of East Turks are squeezed into the original half. There must be many conflicts and conflicts in the territory that cannot be reached, and chaos may break out at any time."
"But now that the Turks from Mobei have moved to Monan, the Tiele people will inevitably take the opportunity to replace the Turks. Although I also suggest to the prince, let the prince remind the emperor to prevent Xue Yantuo from replacing the Turks to dominate the grassland and let them support Huihe Alliance, but now it seems that the Huihe Alliance can hardly stop the strength of the Xueyantuo people. Xueyantuo's khans and barbarians are young and vigorous, so I am afraid that this emerging Xueyantuo Khanate will soon dissatisfy the Central Plains Tang Dynasty Control it, and then there will be no war again!"
Qin Qiong frowned, "No way?"
"If Grandpa doesn't believe it, just look back. Within five years, either someone from the Eastern Turks in Monan will rebel, or the Tiele people in Mobei will go south to Monan with the intention of dominating the grassland. No matter what it is, everyone Tangdu can only fall back into the northern border war."
"Is there a way to stop it?"
"Now, there is no way to stop all of this. The Eastern Turkic Khan Court was destroyed too suddenly, and when Jieli was defeated, the Eastern Turkic did not suffer any real loss of strength. They were just beheaded and lost It's just the leader. This is actually very dangerous for Datang, because it is impossible for us to really control the hundreds of thousands of East Turks who gathered in Monan. It will be a matter of time before these people make trouble. You can't suppress it, the more you press it, the faster you will reverse it."
"As for the emerging Xue Yantuo people, no one can suppress their rapidly expanding ambitions. In the end, only one battle can truly suppress their arrogance."
By contrast.
In fact, although Tuyuhun is a nuisance, he still does not pose any real threat to Datang, that is, invades from the border, engages in robbery and sabotage, their real strength is limited, they cannot be compared with Datang, and there is no one who can kill them Longyou, the ability to threaten Guanzhong.
Historically, the ones that could really threaten the Tang Dynasty from the northwest were the Turks and Tubo. Early Turks also often invaded from the northwest, but the biggest threat was due north.
That is to say, from the beginning of the middle Tang Dynasty, Tubo rose completely. After Tuyuhun was wiped out and stabilized in Qinghai, it began to compete with the Tang Dynasty.
They competed with Datang for Longyou and Jiannan, and later killed Longyou and occupied Chang'an.
"I can also understand the idea of the court's lords to stop the war now. If you have some energy to do something, now that the court is troubled, it is more beneficial to fight late than early. Bear with it for now. Grandpa is in Songzhou, so you can do more. Prepare, it is estimated that with the autumn wind, Songzhou will be the focus of the party's invasion direction. The Tuyuhun people may invade from the Qiangshui River Valley, or focus on the Hexi direction."
In any case, after this battle, Datang and Tuyuhun have completely torn apart the friendly face that they once formed an alliance as friends.
"Victory is ours in the end!"
Qin Qiong also believes that the victory will eventually belong to Datang, but I am afraid that in the next few years, the border will not be peaceful, and Songzhou will not be peaceful either.
"Grandfather, I think it's better to let the fourth child go back to Chang'an. Songzhou is not peaceful now. After my grandfather's business in Songzhou has been stabilized for a few years, we can talk about it. The fourth child is still young, and he will go to Enlightenment Enrollment in two years. He is old, and conditions in Chang'an are good, so let him study in Chang'an for a few more years, and then come to Songzhou with Grandpa when he grows up."
Qin Qiong didn't agree.
"I will state this matter to His Majesty, I believe His Majesty can understand. Anyway, the fourth child is also a majestic Jinan County Duke. Although he is a false title, he is also a County Duke. Isn't there such a privilege?"
As a vassal, the state of the vassal is the system. Of course, wives, concubines and children must also live in the fief.
(end of this chapter)