Chapter 41 Turks
Although he had made up his mind to run away, since he had joined the most elite army of this era, he naturally had to observe more, think more, and learn more.
Given his official position, he was nothing special in the imperial guards, but he still had the privilege of coming and going freely.
He also visited senior veterans in the name of a newcomer. Although he was turned down many times, he still got a lot of confidential information.
Zhang Xuanning stood on the city wall and looked into the distance.
It was still dark at this time, the stars and the moon illuminated the entire world, the soldiers around were patrolling in an orderly manner, no one disturbed Zhang Xuanning. To outsiders, this Captain Shi was in his thirties, tall, with a yellow face, a cold expression, and deep and ruthless eyes. However, when he stood with a knife in his hand, he had a hint of domineering aura that made his subordinates in awe.
Zhang Xuanning's gaze fell on the top of the hall. This was the emperor's palace.
Tao Ji, who was standing behind him, said respectfully: "General, I am here, you can take a rest."
Zhang Xuanning smiled and said calmly, "I am paid by the court and I am loyal to the court. Since the emperor has appointed me as a captain and I am on duty in turns, I must work hard and never slack off!"
Tao Ji was immediately filled with respect and said with a smile: "General, you are so diligent in state affairs. You will surely become an important general in the future, have your wife and children honored, and be remembered for generations."
Zhang Xuanning snorted coldly and said, "No need to flatter me. Go and inspect again."
"Yes!" Tao Ji responded without hesitation and led the soldiers to patrol again.
Zhang Xuan stared at his figure, but his eyes were empty, and he was thinking about something else. For example, the records of Li Yuan's family background and birthplace in the old history of the Tang Dynasty were quite different, and there were many doubts. For example, his birthplace was recorded as Chengji in Longxi in the New Book of Tang by Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi of the Song Dynasty, while Cefu Yuangui, also compiled by people of the Song Dynasty, and Old Book of Tang by people of the Five Dynasties, recorded him as Didao in Longxi.
As for the claim that his ancestors were descendants of Li Guang, a famous general of the Western Han Dynasty, this may not be true.
Li Yanshou, a man from the Tang Dynasty, wrote "Northern History" in 100 volumes. In the "Preface and Biography" he wrote at the end of the book, he even boasted that "the ancestors of the Li family" came from Emperor Zhuanxu Gaoyang clan. But in fact, they were not satisfied with this. After the Li family established Taoism as the respected religion, they claimed that they were descendants of Laozi, which was even more ridiculous.
It was only natural that Li Tang, after gaining control of the world, whitewashed his family background.
In fact, this proves that the Li family's origins are unknown. If there really is a lineage to be passed down, how could it be so vague given the tradition of valuing family background at that time? The eight generations of ancestors would have been written down clearly and clearly.
Because of the ambiguity, it means that he was most likely a Hu person. Of course, this is only what Zhang Xuanning thinks. He doesn't care about other people's opinions. However, Li Yuan's mother was Dugu, who was definitely a Hu woman. Li Yuan's wife, Dou, was also a Xianbei woman. Li Shimin's wife, Empress Zhangsun, was also a Hu woman. This can be verified in history. The maternal line of his ancestors for three generations was all Hu people, which actually explains the situation.
In other words, even if Li Yuan's grandfather Li Hu was a pure Han Chinese (which is actually impossible, as pure Han Chinese could never enter the core leadership of the Hu people), Li Shimin actually only had 1/4 Han Chinese ancestry and 3/4 Hu Chinese ancestry, while Gaozong had only 1/8 or even lower Han Chinese ancestry.
Moreover, to look at a person's background, we actually have to look at the political camp and the nature of the group he belongs to. The Li family is undoubtedly the core figure of the Shuhu group (Turks are called Shenghu, and semi-civilized Hu people are called Shuhu), and therefore received the support of the Guanlong military group. Li Yuan said that he "inherited the blessings of seven generations and the prosperity of five generations; thus, he obtained the land, relatives and friends, and his family was called the royal family", which is a clear portrayal of being a member of the northern Shuhu group.
The blood in his body immediately boiled when he thought of defeating the Hu Yi group. Zhang Xuanning was not a god. He had been confused when he came to this world. He also knew that Li Shimin would be wise and powerful in the future, but "the Hu Yi with a king is worse than the Chinese without a king." Since Li Shimin was a Hu Yi, he naturally felt that he had done something righteous and could attack him without any guilt.
In fact, he doesn't need any reason, but it seems that many people need a righteous reason.
"Return China to us, restore our dignity and honor, we cannot allow the barbarians to take over the world!"
This slogan could be used for propaganda in the future battle against the Li clan, and it could also rally the people. One must know that this was not long after the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China, and the Han people actually hated the barbarians very much. This slogan was extremely powerful.
According to historical facts, it was very popular, at least in the south.
After deciding on another national policy, he sneered and stared into the distance. In the darkness before dawn, there were guards patrolling from time to time, lighting torches, and there was an indescribable feeling of impending storm!
Just when he wanted to look away, suddenly, several riders appeared from the end of his sight and ran towards here desperately. Zhang Xuanning was frightened and hurriedly raised his hand to give orders to gather his men, but he already knew in his heart that the Turks were coming.
It didn't take long for these riders to rush to the city, followed by a long shout from the cavalry above: "The Turkic army, countless in number, is coming to attack."
There was an uproar at the edge of the city, but no one dared to believe such a serious matter, so someone went down to interrogate them. At this time, Zhang Xuanning ordered without hesitation: "Tao Ji!"
"Here!" Tao Ji responded immediately.
"Go and report to the palace immediately, and tell them that the Turkic army has more than tens of thousands of people and has attacked the city. Ask the emperor to make a quick decision." Zhang Xuanning said with a sneer.
"General, should we wait until we verify it first?" Tao Ji responded but did not go immediately. He asked hesitantly.
"Go quickly. I will take on any responsibilities."
"Yes!" Seeing this, the hesitant Tao Ji was helpless . He led a few people, got down the city wall, mounted their horses, and rushed straight to the palace.
"This is to give you some bargaining chips, to leave some impression in front of His Majesty, and maybe you can have a glimmer of hope in the future. Well, it's a pity that you are so stupid that you even need me to give you more advice." Zhang Xuan stared at his receding figure, thinking in his heart.
But this thought flashed through his mind, and he summoned his subordinates, who had already changed their uniforms. He led a hundred cavalrymen out of the defense zone gate, lined up neatly, and waited.
Not long after, a huge sound of horse hooves came from afar. Everyone's face changed immediately. Even those who were still questioning knew that there was no need to do so, and each team hurriedly adjusted their formation.
What came into view was a team of cavalry, numbering about 200, which should be the vanguard Turkic scouts, and chasing them was another team of their own cavalry, probably only a dozen or so. The Turkic cavalry seemed to be demonstrating intentionally and did not kill them all, but surrounded and chased them like a cat playing with a mouse. Then, when they were outside the city and in full view of everyone, they shouted loudly and hacked a lagging Sui cavalry to the ground. The Sui cavalry fell down and was immediately turned into meat paste by the hundreds of cavalrymen who rode forward on purpose.
The terrified Sui cavalry rode their horses desperately and swarmed towards the moat.
Zhang Xuanning sneered, bit his lip, looked at his cavalry on both sides, and shouted: "The Turks eat your flesh, now we must kill these barbarian dogs! Follow me!"
Suddenly, hundreds of cavalrymen shouted and followed Zhang Xuanning forward. After charging for a while, they saw several long arrows whistling towards them, aiming directly at Zhang Xuanning. Zhang Xuanning raised his sword and slashed horizontally, and several arrows flew out.
Not far away, two hundred Turkic cavalrymen rushed over frantically. They had never seen such arrogant Sui cavalrymen that one hundred of them actually charged at two hundred cavalrymen. They originally drove the Sui cavalry under the wall to show their power to the Sui, but now they were trying to defeat them out of anger, which was very bad.
At this moment, both teams are determined to fight to the death!
As the horses charged, Zhang Xuanning's murderous aura continued to gather, and his mind continued to climb. Just before he rushed to the Turkic cavalry, powerful evil energy boiled out, and with a "boom", he rushed straight up again.
"Kill!" He suddenly encountered a cavalryman and swung his long sword. The sword that could break the army flashed with yellow light, and the leather armor of the enemy rider was pierced through like a piece of paper. Blood splattered and he fell to the ground immediately.
The sound of hooves rang out to the sky, and the Turkic cavalry behind rushed forward without caring about life or death, which made people feel chilled.
The true energy on the long sword was surging, combined with the evil spirit, the two Turkic soldiers were slightly blocked and immediately vomited blood, their bodies were thrown backwards, the sword flashed again, and blood splattered everywhere.
The yellow light on Zhang Xuanning's broken saber flickered. Relying on the double armor on his body, he risked his life to win by being stabbed. He rode his horse straight forward and killed more than ten people in a row. None of them could match him with his sword. He killed to the point of being in high spirits. The spirit of killing everything and being the only one in the world in his saber was unprecedentedly condensed, and the mysteries that were usually difficult to understand all emerged one by one.
"Bang!" Suddenly, a knife hit him with a powerful recoil that made his arm numb. It was the first time since his charge that someone could block his long knife, but the opponent also shook all over and almost vomited blood.
Zhang Xuanning rushed forward without stopping his horse at all, and slashed with his sword. Although the sword seemed simple, it changed in subtle and unbelievable ways with the opponent's movements. No matter how the opponent changed, the two swords would still meet.
"Boom!" The true qi exploded, and Zhang Xuanning spit out blood, while the opponent showed an expression of disbelief, and rolled backwards, spurting blood along the way. Zhang Xuanning knew that he was a good player, and the true qi stimulated the horse crazily, stimulating the horse's potential, and the horse's speed suddenly accelerated.
Zhang Xuanning rushed forward without returning, slashing with his sword. The man was cut in half mid-air before he even hit the ground, with blood and internal organs exposed in the air.
Seeing this, the surrounding Turkic cavalry were shocked, then they shouted something wildly and rushed over like a dark cloud. However, only a few of them could reach Zhang Xuanning. More than ten cavalrymen fell back and died. The blows from the Ba Dao must have hit their vital parts.
"Puff!" Another cavalryman was thrown backwards with his sword. In mid-air, the evil energy had already imploded. Blood oozed from the man's eyes, ears, mouth and nose. He bumped into someone behind him, and both of them vomited blood.
Suddenly, the scene in front of me became empty, and I had actually broken through the enemy's formation.
Seeing the scattered Turks and the littered road with corpses, forty riders had fallen, while only about ten of their own riders had been killed. This was the effect of the extremely sharp tip of the knife.
Even so, he was stabbed several times, the outer armor was cut open, and cracks appeared on the soft armor inside.
"Kill, kill them with me." Zhang Xuanning pulled the reins hard, and his true energy penetrated the horse's legs. The warhorse let out a sad cry, turned around and charged again, and the cavalry behind also turned a corner and followed the main general to sprint.
This sprint was not as fast as the first one, but it took into account the cavalry behind in order to achieve maximum lethality. Po Jun turned into a sword light, focusing on the front, and was invincible.
It was this crazy experience again. The opponent's swords and guns, like the most violent wind and rain, condensed Zhang Xuanning's world into a small dot. There was only blood and killing before his eyes.
The sword skills were displayed to the fullest, the evil spirit was boiling, and the blood was everywhere. In the environment where there was nothing but life and death, everything else, whether it was emotion or hegemony, was extremely far away at this moment, and only the sword in his hand remained.
The sounds of trumpets, shouts and screams almost blended into one.
In the fight, whether unloading or sticking, whether empty or real, heavy or light, the originally boiling evil spirit seemed to be more and more integrated into this constantly turning into Ochi's swordsmanship, and seemed to bring out the most vivid feeling. The more he killed, the more refreshing it was, pushing it to the infinite end.
Zhang Xuanning's heart was filled with murderous intent, but his mind was as calm as ice. His sword turned into a long rainbow, and another Turkic cavalryman didn't even have time to block, and died, falling off his horse.
At this moment, Zhang Xuanning felt severe pain and three more knife marks appeared on his body. He took a deep breath and the knife light increased suddenly. Two people fell off the horses immediately. In this situation, the people who fell down had no chance of survival at all, because the horses' hooves behind them were enough to crush everything.
Zhang Xuanning moved again and looked around. He saw corpses everywhere. He rushed between two enemy riders. The two riders fell down at the same time with blood splattering. It was another successful piercing. Behind him, hundreds of Turkic knights had fallen.
When the Turkic cavalry saw him kill dozens of people in an instant, like a crushing force, they were finally frightened and their momentum weakened. After a while, they shouted and the remaining cavalry hurriedly ran back.
In the distance, more than ten columns of thick smoke rose into the sky, covering an area of more than ten miles. This was a warning message for the nearby area.
It was at this time that the Sui soldiers watching on the city wall cheered loudly. A hundred cavalrymen charged at two hundred cavalrymen, and in a few breaths they killed more than a hundred cavalrymen. Only twenty cavalrymen were lost on their side, which could be called a great victory.
"Long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long, long live the emperor!" Seeing that the morale was high, Zhang Xuanning used up all his internal strength and shouted loudly.
"Long live our emperor, long live our emperor, long, long live our emperor!"
"Long live our emperor, long live our emperor, long, long live our emperor!"
The Sui soldiers on the city also shouted loudly, and after that, even the Sui soldiers inside the city shouted along. For a moment, the shouts of "Long live the Sui Dynasty" echoed for dozens of miles and reached the sky, and morale suddenly boosted.
At this time, Emperor Yang of Sui was in the "Wen Zheng Pavilion", which was the main hall between four small buildings in the southeast, northwest, northeast and southwest. It was extremely spacious and could accommodate hundreds of people to hold court. It was grand in scale, luxurious and magnificent, and inadvertently showed a light and elegant color, which showed the builder's intention.
But at this moment, the dozen or so people who were temporarily gathered in the hall looked at each other, hardly speaking. Everyone had a solemn expression and didn't even dare to breathe.
Emperor Sui Yang's face was as cold as water, and he sneered, "Why? How could tens of thousands of Turkic troops suddenly come here? There was no news beforehand? What on earth did the court employ you for? How come the soldiers and guards along the way showed no signs of stopping us?"
When this question was asked, all the important officials lowered their heads and had nothing to say.
Emperor Yang of Sui stared at the important officials around him and glanced at them slowly. The hall was so quiet that even a pin drop could be heard.
At this moment, the voice of "Long live the emperor" rose into the sky. Emperor Yang of Sui also heard it and asked, "Why is there such a voice?"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and a guard responded. Not long after, he came back and said, "Two hundred Turkic cavalrymen attacked the city gate and chased dozens of our scouts. The brave commander Shi Wuji led a hundred cavalrymen to fight. In a moment, he killed the enemy general and more than 40 enemy cavalrymen. After the victory, he shouted "Long live the enemy", and the soldiers responded."
After hearing this news, Emperor Yang of Sui was not only unhappy, but also furious: "Humph, a mere Guoyi Duwei Shi Wuji dares to go to war, what are you waiting for?"
The important minister, who had breathed a sigh of relief, fell into silence again. Emperor Yang of Sui felt murderous intent and anger rising in his heart and he almost felt dizzy. This kind of silence was the most terrifying, representing something that was truly horrifying.
After a pause, he finally suppressed his anger and uttered a sentence through his teeth: "Guoyi Duwei Shi Wuji has made great contributions and is promoted to the rank of Zhengliu Zhechong Duwei. Do you have any opinions?"
Originally, such a small achievement as killing forty people was not worth promotion. Moreover, in just half a year, Shi Wuji was promoted from the ninth-rank team leader to the sixth-rank captain. This speed was too fast. Under normal circumstances, there must be important officials who would oppose it in order to avoid disrupting the court system.
But at this time, everyone was silent, and only said: "The emperor is wise."
Just these few words made Emperor Yang of Sui feel a deep chill He looked at his important ministers one by one, and this chill was difficult to suppress.
Are you colluding with both internal and external forces to put me to death?
