Since the pre-Qin period, Turks have been a powerful threat to the Central Plains.

After all, they are nomadic people, and the three most significant characteristics of nomadic people are: they focus on animal husbandry and do not engage in agricultural production; they live from grass to grass and have no fixed residence; they are good at riding and shooting, and almost everyone is an elite cavalry and

Every household has many war horses!

Especially the last point of being 'good at riding and shooting', once tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of nomads are gathered together, they will be a very terrifying force!

On the open plains, most of the time, in frontal confrontation situations, the army of the Central Plains farming civilization, which is dominated by infantry, is almost completely different from that group of nomadic troops who are fierce, come and go like the wind, and can ride and shoot.

opponent.

Otherwise, Qin, Zhao and Yan during the Warring States Period would not have built the Great Wall on the ridges of the mountains to defend against the Huns in the north, and Qin Shihuang would not continue to build it after unifying the world.

, in one fell swoop, the original Great Walls of the three kingdoms of Qin, Zhao, and Yan were connected into one.

Of course, now in the chaos of the late Sui Dynasty, although the nomadic people in the north are no longer Xiongnu, but called "Turks", "Turks" and "Xiongnu" are of the same origin, and they are just a different species of Xiongnu.

It's just that the concept of "Turk" gradually appeared after the formation of the Turkic Empire, which is probably equivalent to the change of dynasties in the Central Plains?

But no matter how it changes, and no matter whether it is called "Hongnu" or "Turk", in this era, nomadic people will always be a serious problem for farming people!

Because, as mentioned above, nomadic people have two distinctive characteristics, that is: they mainly focus on animal husbandry and do not engage in agricultural production; they live from grass to grass and have no fixed residence.

Those two distinctive characteristics make the nomads extremely vulnerable in the face of natural disasters. They cannot be compared with the farming people in the Central Plains. They live in pursuit of water and grass, have no fixed residence, and their main source of food is

It is a way of life that relies on cattle and sheep grazing on the grassland. Once the livestock industry is severely damaged by natural disasters, they will soon be unsustainable.

then!

Once they encounter natural disasters such as snowstorms or droughts, they do not have the habit of storing large amounts of food like the farming people in the south, and their cattle and sheep cannot store wheat and rice for several years. In order to survive, they have to invade the south.

They launched invasions, burnings, killings, and lootings again and again, directly passing their survival crisis on to their farming neighbors in the south, and snatching away a large amount of food, livestock, and even women that they depended on for survival.

then……

Less than a month after the Spring Festival, when the weather gradually became warmer, and the impact of the snowstorm had not yet fully appeared, the Turks couldn't wait to gather more than ten or two hundred thousand riders and marched south from Yulin.

With the speed of the cavalry and the laissez-faire of Li Clan, they marched through Daizhou, Taiyuan Prefecture and Jinzhou into Hexi and approached Luoyang!

Due to an agreement with the Turks, when the Turkic cavalry complied with the agreement and did not take the initiative to attack the city under the jurisdiction of Li Clan, Li Clan naturally let them go, allowing the Turkic army to attack in an instant as if there was no warning.

They crossed thousands of miles of fertile fields on the Hedong Road and arrived less than 300 miles north of Wang Shichong's Luoyang. While bringing a devastating blow to Wang Shichong's former army, it also frightened Wang Shichong to quickly shrink his troops and hide in Luoyang City, planning to go to Luoyang City.

Defend the city to the death?

However, the Turkic cavalry who invaded did not stop their march south because of Wang Shichong's show of cowardice.

They crossed the Yellow River all the way south and began to penetrate into the Central Plains, attacking every town and village they found. Countless people lost their lives in their attacks, and their homes were destroyed to pieces, with weak or no defenses.

After the city was also captured by the Turkic cavalry, most of the people in the city were massacred.

The sight of corpses strewn across the fields and refugees forced to flee southward in panic in the freezing cold weather is truly horrific!

Since the Turks had just arrived and had no intention of leaving in a short time, they almost didn't want any prisoners and just focused on burning, killing, looting and destroying. Wherever they went, villages were reduced to ruins and towns were reduced to ruins.

The terrifying breath of death began to permeate every corner they passed.

This Turkic cavalry invasion brought endless misery and disaster. The heroes of the Central Plains, such as Li Mi, Dou Jiande and Du Fuwei, finally knew that the warnings they had received before were really more than just warnings.

, the Turks are really determined to invade the Central Plains this time, and they are coming fiercely. It is said that there are at least 200,000 people, and they are all cavalry?

As a result, various princes in the Central Plains rebelled against the king, especially Li Mi and Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande. They had to begin to hurriedly mobilize troops, evacuate the people and consolidate city defense strongholds. They panicked and used every method they could think of all day long.

to meet the harsh challenges that are coming.

And the kind of measures that only wake up when death is imminent are of no use. There is no doubt that if there are no accidents, more tragic catastrophes will definitely continue.

Late at night…..

Mengjin, a ferry crossing of the Yellow River, belongs to Henan County.

The Yellow River, which is thousands of miles long, passes through the canyons between Shaanxi and Shanxi. After passing through Sanmenxia, ​​it finally becomes gentle in Luoyang, and the flow speed decreases. Together with Luoshui, it forms the land of Heluo, and Luoyang is located in this world-famous city.

In a perfect location.

But at the same time, the slowdown of the river water also made the Yellow River suitable for boat crossing. Otherwise, there would not be the Hangu Pass that only one man can pass but ten thousand people cannot open it.

Therefore, Mengjin became the most important place to guard the Luoyang Yellow River Ferry.

But at this moment, this important place has fallen!

In this place, which is only about a hundred miles away from Luoyang, the Turkic army of more than 200,000 people is stationed majestically on the vast plain in front of the valley south of Mengjinguan Ferry. It stretches for several miles and

The darkness was so dense that it made people shudder.

At this time, the villages near and far in Mengjin had long since become deserted. Except for the puffs of black smoke, there was no longer any living presence.

Obviously, those villagers had either fled to Luoyang or somewhere further south, or they had died tragically under the iron hoofs and butcher knives of the Turks.

At present, in Mengjin, except for the Turks' cavalry, no one dares to approach this place, not even Wang Shichong's people.

because……

Wang Shichong did not dare to send spies out of the city at all. He had completely retreated to Luoyang. He had already sealed the city gates and wanted to defend Luoyang and wait for the Turks to retreat or to trick others.

However, Wang Shichong did not dare to send people, but it did not mean that others did not dare to come!

Isn’t this?

Tonight, in this dangerous and chilling place, one of the "Eight Masters of the Demon Sect" is also the number one among the "Eight Masters of the Demon Sect". He is known as the "Evil King" and is both the "Huajian Sect" and "The Demon Sect".

The leader of the two "Butian Dao", he once became an official under the pseudonym Pei Ju, and went to the Western Regions to divide the Turks. He toyed with the Turks without using a single soldier, and helped the Sui Dynasty resolve the threat from the north, but Shi Zhixuan

Came here.

"..."

However, if someone were here, it would not be difficult to find that the face of "Evil King" Shi Zhixuan at this moment is a little too dark, and he even looks sinister, and he wants to choose someone to devour?

Come to think of it!

At that time, the Turks were originally just a slave tribe under the rule of Rouran. However, during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Western Wei Dynasty, the Turks and the Western Wei Dynasty began to form an alliance and began to compete for grassland hegemony. In the following decades,

The Turks swept across the grasslands, destroyed countless countries, and established an unprecedentedly powerful super grassland empire.

Later, the strength of the Turks put serious pressure on the Central Plains dynasties, especially the Central Plains, which was still in the period of the division of the north and the south and the Five Husties and chaos in China, so that those Central Plains dynasties at that time had to compete to pay tribute to the Turks to show their goodwill.

It is a great shame and humiliation to avoid being attacked from both sides!

The predecessor of the Sui Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, was also bullied by the Turks. Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty even did not hesitate to marry the daughter of the Turkic Muzhan Khan as his queen, and let his own first wife, the Dou family, retreat to the side room. This shows the degree of humiliation and helplessness he had.

.

It was also from that time on that the concessions of the Central Plains dynasty began to intensify the arrogance of the Turks, so much so that by the time of Tuobo Khan, they had reached the point where they dared to openly declare that the Han people in the south were their Turks.

Son, if you want money, food and women, just ask and get them, that's an exaggeration!

But in this regard, the Central Plains Dynasty had no choice. In order to accumulate strength, they had to choose to endure and give in.

It was not until the Northern Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Northern Qi Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty replaced the Northern Zhou Dynasty that Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, believed that he had a stable north and the national power of the Sui Dynasty grew stronger, so he dared to take the initiative to cut off the supply of goods to the Turks for the first time.

At that time, the Turks, who were accustomed to enjoying the sacrifices, were of course furious, and immediately invaded south with all their strength, completely breaking through the Great Wall defense line without any effort. Although the Sui army tried its best to resist, they were still killed on the plains.

Defeat and retreat.

At that time, the Turks were thousands of miles away and were invincible. Until the Sui Dynasty general Da Xi Changru led two thousand Sui army dead soldiers and one hundred thousand Turks army to fight to the death in Zhou Jie. They fought bloody for three days and nights with amazing combat effectiveness and willpower, and almost the entire army

Only after they were destroyed and the general was seriously injured, and more than ten thousand Turks were killed, could the Turks be frightened back.

But even if the Turks retreated, their powerful fighting power still taught the Sui Dynasty a hard lesson!

Therefore, Shi Zhixuan, who became an official under the pseudonym Pei Ju, began to secretly manage the Western Regions in order to completely eliminate the threat of the Turks.

He just had a blank understanding of the Turks, did not bring a single soldier, and just adopted the policy of divide and rule. In just a few years, he instigated the separation of the Turks from the east to the west, and allowed the Turks to split into the two great khanates of the east and west.

The civil war continued to attack each other, but each could not do anything to the other, stabilizing the situation in one fell swoop.

As a result, the Sui State was able to start to play both sides at that time, and even forced Qimin Khan of the Eastern Turks to adopt a policy of superficial submission to the Sui Dynasty, making the former "Laozi" his "son".

Although that is only a superficial phenomenon, it must be said that Shi Zhixuan's strategy did initially establish the Sui Dynasty's hegemony in the Western Regions and eliminated the threat of the Turks in one fell swoop. It can be said to be a blessing for future generations.

Great merit!

besides……

Shi Zhixuan also used his talent in painting as a descendant of the Huajian School and wrote a "Pictures of the Western Regions" with both pictures and texts, which covers the mountains, rivers, geography, customs and customs of the forty-four countries in the Western Regions, in order to provide the future Central Plains dynasty with suitable opportunities.

At this time, outstanding generals like Huo Qubing and Wei Qing of the Han Dynasty could provide reference when they conquered the Western Regions.

But no idea...

Shi Zhixuan never expected that his many years of efforts to divide the Turks would come to nothing today?

Then Li Clan...

He actually sent Wuyuan and Yulin to the Turks, and then personally facilitated the Turks' invasion of the Central Plains?

"..."

Looking at the densely packed tents on the plain at the end of his sight in the distance, Shi Zhixuan couldn't help clenching his fists slightly, and for the first time he had the desire to assassinate Li Yuan to vent his hatred.

After all, the results of his hard work for so many years were finally destroyed by such a group of ambitious people. How could he not be angry, hateful, resentful, and want to kill them quickly?!

"!
To be continued...