Chapter 806: Shi Luodie, the son of Jie Li

Li Shimin was even more disdainful when he heard this: "Yinan, a tribal leader, actually wants to marry my most beloved daughter. I think he is dreaming. At that time, the crown prince had already promised him health and turned him down, but he was still unwilling to give in and repeatedly reported to the emperor, saying that the crown prince had acquiesced."

"But I know that the prince will never agree to it. He is just stalling."

Fang Xuanling frowned and said, "Perhaps because he lost the crown prince this time, Yi Nan knew that he had committed a grave sin, so he did not mention this matter in the memorial submitted this time. He probably wanted to wait until he found the crown prince, and then use his achievements to threaten the court."

Zhang Sun Wuji said, "Your Majesty, from the news from the Crown Prince, Yi Nan is extremely ambitious. He wants to marry a Tang princess in order to use the Tang flag and influence to gather Jie Li's old followers after Jie Li's defeat and replace Jie Li as the new Great Khan of the grassland."

"Therefore, we must not agree to his request."

"If we must appoint a Khan, I would rather recommend Tuli. After all, Tuli has a relatively weak and kind personality, and he only has one daughter. He is not very interested in ruling the grassland. It is better to push such an easy-to-control person to the top than Yi Nan."

As soon as Changsun Wuji finished speaking, Li Ke and Li Tai became anxious and winked at the ministers on their side.

Now that the crown prince has married Ashina Yun, Natuli will become a peripheral force of the Eastern Palace. If he becomes the Great Khan of the grassland, the position of the Eastern Palace will be even more unbreakable.

Tuli has no son, so all the power in the future will belong to Ashina Yun. All the ministers know this.

"It is certainly not possible for Yi Nan to become the Great Khan, and Tuli is also unacceptable."

Cen Wenben nodded imperceptibly in response to Li Ke's look, and quickly advised: "Your Majesty, the grassland has been threatening our Tang Dynasty for many years. Now that it has been pacified, how can we let it go again?"

"I suggest setting up vassal states in the grasslands and changing the Turkic Khan to a prince."

"Change the old positions of Yehu, Quluchu, Awa, Shilifa, Tutun, Shijin, and Dagan of the grasslands to the corresponding positions of general, governor, governor, and march commander of the Tang Dynasty, and completely bring the grasslands under the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty, solving the threat from the north once and for all."

Wang Gui and Du Chuke's eyes lit up. Cen Wenben was still very experienced!
It did not talk about it from Tuli's perspective. The prince had just made a great contribution, but now he was stranded on the grassland and his life or death was uncertain. If Tuli was directly denied, it would be easy for Li Shimin to think that everyone was afraid of the expansion of the Eastern Palace's power.

However, from the perspective of how the Tang Dynasty ruled the grassland after defeating Jie Li, it has nothing to do with fighting for power.

Even Changsun Wuji couldn't say anything.

After all, being able to use the county system to replace the old method of supporting, dividing and weakening the grassland forces will definitely be more beneficial to the Tang Dynasty.

Changsun Wuji also had no way of putting the private interests of the Eastern Palace above the interests of the entire court.

He also changed the topic quietly. Cen Wenben is really smart.
"Lord Cen's opinion is very good. I second it."

Everyone agreed, "This will not only increase the territory of our Tang Dynasty, but also permanently solve the problem of grasslands. It's a two-pronged approach and is very appropriate."

Even Fang Xuanling and Xiao Yu nodded slightly to show their approval.

After this cross, Li Shimin temporarily put aside the matter of Li Yan's disappearance and began to discuss with his ministers the major policy of how to deal with the grassland after the war.

It was chilly in the spring. In the Hengling area, more than 2,000 miles north of the Yinshan Mountains, the area was surrounded by mountains and was devastated.

The cold air moving south from Siberia still covers the desert.

The north wind was howling, making the dry trees sway from side to side, and the dry grass in the cracks of the rocks fell down in this cold wind that was beyond human control.

The strong wind carried sand and snow particles, hitting people's bodies. The lowest temperature was already unknown how many degrees below zero. Looking around, a thin layer of white snow, like a huge wool blanket, covered the vast wasteland, shining with cold silver light.

In the dim morning light, there was a bonfire in a sheltered valley. A young man in a sheepskin coat was sitting by the fire, peacefully roasting a wild rabbit he had shot.

The hare was roasted until it was sizzling with oil, and the aroma woke up the Turkic boy who was curled up in a tattered felt blanket and sleeping soundly on the other side.

The raging fire dispelled the coldness of the desert.

The Turkic boy was dressed in luxurious clothes. His robe was inlaid with gold and silver threads. He also wore many ornaments and had a hairstyle that only nobles could have.

It was just obvious that he had been in bad circumstances recently. The clothes that once reflected his noble status were now tattered and even torn by sharp weapons. There were dark red bloodstains and a lot of dust on them, making him look very shabby.

The boy opened his eyes, looked at the fragrant hare, lifted the blanket, stood up, rubbed his face, and made himself feel more energetic.

Suddenly a cold wind blew outside, and I shivered again.

"I'm wearing so many thick clothes, and even wrapped myself in the only blanket I have. But the damn wind still blows hard into my body, making me shiver all over." The young man quickly moved closer to the fire, stretched out his hands to keep warm, and said excitedly, "Li Yan, you're amazing. You managed to hunt a hare so early in the morning. I can finally have a full meal today."

"I went out before daybreak and finally found this little food. Can you make do with it, Prince?"

The young man in the sheepskin coat was the missing Li Yan. After spending half a year on the grassland, which was not as comfortable as Chang'an, Li Yan no longer took care of his appearance. His beard was untidy and his hair was messy. The white Shu brocade robe that used to highlight his status was also replaced with a sheepskin coat that is common on the grassland.

The grassland environment is like this. No matter how sophisticated a person is, after living on the grassland for a period of time, he will naturally become a grassland person.

The Turkic boy opposite was Shi Luodie, the only son of the grassland warlord Jie Li.

Ten days ago, Jie Li fled here with his remaining troops and was chased by the Xueyantuo and Bibi tribes.

The Tang Dynasty's cavalry were not well adapted to the harsh environment of the grassland, nor were they familiar with the terrain of the grassland. Their reinforcements were even less than those of the grassland people, so they fell far behind.

The Xueyantuo and Xibi tribes, led by Yinan and Xibi Heli, pursued Jie Li relentlessly. Both Yinan and Xibi Heli were determined to kill Jie Li.

Once Jie Li escapes, he will be able to make a comeback in a few years, based on his appeal. By then, he will be unable to do anything to the Tang Dynasty, but the tribes that once betrayed Jie Li will surely be devoured alive and exterminated by Jie Li.

Yi Nan and Xi Bi Heli had no choice. This time, either Jie Li would die or they would die.

Who could have thought that Jie Li, a centipede, would not die without a blade, and would flee with the last and most elite 5,000 cavalry of the Khan's tent, killing and running all the way, constantly breaking through the blocking forces set up by the Xueyantuo and the Bi tribes.

The last three groups of people were killing madly. Yi Nan and Xi Bi Heli mobilized all the forces they could and launched a final attack on Jie Li, wiping out the last of Jie Li's cavalry.

However, several groups of people were mixed together, running and chasing along the escape route of hundreds of kilometers, stopping from time to time to fight. After several charges and blockades, Li Yan and the Xueyantuo guards who knew his identity were dispersed.

As we all know, in such a chaotic battlefield, the more luxurious and eye-catching the clothes are, the greater the possibility of being besieged. In order not to attract attention and become someone else's hunting target, Li Yan had already changed into ordinary herdsmen's clothes.

Once he left the Xueyantuo people who were "protecting" him and mingled with the large group of people, dressed like this, coupled with his fluent Turkic language and sloppy appearance, no one could figure out Li Yan's true identity.

Originally, Li Yan just thought it was fun and was looking for Yi Nan's central army all the way.

But when Xueyantuo surrounded the last few hundred men of Jie Li in a small valley without attacking, and contacted the Tang army behind to carry out the final disposal of Jie Li and his son, a bold idea suddenly popped up in Li Yan's mind.

It was because of this idea that Li Yan gave up the idea of ​​looking for Yi Nan, and instead made a crazy move at the last moment.

After Jie Li knew that he was surrounded, he used his last remaining guards to launch a death breakout to the north. He used his last bit of strength to break out of the encirclement, and then split the remaining 200-plus guards into two groups.

One of them protected himself all the way to the west, while another group of people protected the prince Shi Luodie all the way to the east.

The father and son broke through separately, going in opposite directions.

It has to be said that Jie Li was quite smart. He knew that if the two of them were together, neither of them could escape, so he used himself to attract the enemy's attention and left his son with the last way to escape.

Of course, even if the Xueyantuo and the Xibi tribes were caught off guard and hurriedly only sent out a small group of troops to pursue Shi Luodie, it was still not something Shi Luodie could handle.

After fleeing for more than thirty miles, more than one hundred guards of Shi Luodie were killed, but only twenty or thirty people were left chasing them.

Among them, Li Yan was mixed in with these people.

At the last moment, Li Yan appeared out of nowhere and killed all the pursuers with his amazing swordsmanship and martial arts.

Then he quickly left the battlefield with Shi Luodie and fled to the east.

After more than ten days of fleeing, and encountering many attempts at capture by stragglers, he finally escaped to the outskirts of the Hengling Mountains and headed straight into the mountains.

Fortunately, Li Yan had his own private space and could always find an excuse to eat, and even took out a blanket. Otherwise, in such a cold winter, even if he could escape the pursuit of the Xueyantuo people, he could not escape the threat of the harsh environment.

Shi Luodie looked around, his usually rebellious face now showing great relief: "Finally we've entered the mountain. I wonder if we can escape the pursuit of Yi Nan and Xi Biheli?"

"These damned slaves have no regard for our past friendship. My father has already fallen into their hands, yet they still won't stop. They want to kill me, the prince, too. When I return to my ancestral land and make a comeback, I will tear these people into pieces to relieve my hatred."

(End of this chapter)

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