Chapter 16: The Meeting of Iron Gate Pass

Cao Yuanshen's envoy rushed back to the rebel army's garrison and replied to Cao Yuanshen for the mission. At the same time, news came from Tiemen Pass. The Anxi Army indeed withdrew from Tiemen Pass. Zhang Mai once again realized his promise to the Guiyi Army with his actions.

Cao Yuan was quite embarrassed. Since the contact between the two sides, the Anxi Army has always shown great sincerity. The Cao family asked the Anxi Army to stop the troops, the Anxi Army stopped the troops, the Cao family asked the Anxi Army to withdraw from the stronghold, and the Anxi Army withdrew from the stronghold. Although they were allies, the Anxi Army took the initiative to give up its military advantage without making corresponding promises, giving face to this point, which is rare in this era of intrigue.

At this time, Zhang Mai set up a meeting of peace and contention, and Cao Yuanshen would not want to go, but at this time the Guiyi army and the Anxi army had already formed an alliance. Zhang Mai showed goodwill twice. If the Guiyi army continued to respond indifferently, it would be as Shi Ba said, not only without mercy, but even without the minimum politeness. In addition, Zhang Mai limited the time, which made Cao Yuanshen not even have time to contact the rear and discuss.

Almost at the same time, an amazing news came from Gaochang in the northeast: Viaga has returned to Gaochang!

Cao Yuanshen was shocked and asked, "Is Viaga back? Previous years were not at this time."

The marching Sima (equivalent to the chief of staff and military advisor) Yan Yishan said: "It is obvious that the matter between Kucha and Yanqi came back early. However, the Uighurs of Gaochang migrated by a clan, which took a long time. I guess they should only arrive at the forefront at this moment. It will take some time for them to arrive in Gaochang as a whole."

Cao Yuanshen said: "Although this is the case, once the Vijay people arrived in Gaochang and Gaochang, Yanqi's confidence would be greatly increased. But the Anxi Army heard our mediation and retreated westward, and once they advanced and retreated, the situation here must be completely reversed."

Yan Yishan said: "Vika has always been aggressive towards the surrounding countries. When there was no accident in Kucha, he had already supported Gudu to get Wensu back - wasn't he just wanting to have an extra layer of Pingxian in the west? Now that the Anxi army has invaded Yanqi, it is their homeland. Vika will not give up anyway. Then the two families must have a battle of dragons and tigers. Second young master, I think we should not respond to Zhang Mai's Tiemen Pass, stay here to watch the tigers."

Cao Yuanshen is more loyal and honest than his brother Cao Yuande. He was worried that Zhang Mai would be guilty of the crime, and he felt that the Anxi Army had tolerated him twice. He could not say anything if he didn't respond. He said, "Our two families are still allies, and we proposed the mediation proposal. Now the Anxi Army has responded and withdrawn. If the Anxi and Uighur families arrive on the day of mediation, we are lacking as the middle-aged man who initiated the mediation. At that time, what is the face of my Guiyi Army? Where is the prestige? People have respected me, and it is impolite to come but not to go. Even if we are neutral, we should not do it too much."

Yan Yishan said: "But Ling Gong instructed us to try to maintain the balance between the two families. The Anxi Army is so strong that it must try to suppress it so that he will not become too big."

"The situation has changed now." The reason why Cao Yuanshen made the decision just now was not entirely due to face issues, but also out of in-depth thoughts, saying: "Now Viaga has returned to Gaochang, and the situation has undergone subtle changes. Yanqi has great aid behind it, and it is very unlikely that the Anxi army will capture Yanqi. On the contrary, they have not yet established a foothold on Kucha. Viaga brings back the aid. If he defeats the Tang army in Yanqi and takes advantage of the situation to advance westward, he might drive the Tang army back to the Kupiluo Desert - that would allow Gaochang to grow bigger and Anxi to decline, and he would not be able to maintain a balance of power."

Yan Yishan said: "What the second young master means is that we are going to secretly help the Anxi army now?"

Cao Yuanshen nodded and said, "That is, the balance of power is to suppress the strong and support the weak. Now that the situation has changed, our strategy naturally needs to be adjusted accordingly." He handed over the army to deputy general Kang Guanghe, and led 3,000 people to Tiemen Pass, while reporting the latest information to Shazhou.

In Yanqi, there were three factions of leaders in the city at this time:

First, Tongluo, the guard of Viga, stationed in Yanqi, was a powerful faction who held military power.

First, the Kucha Gudu army, or Gudu, after he hid in Yanqi, the old subordinates of the Kucha Uighurs rushed to join him. Now more than 9,000 troops have gathered under his command, and his military strength is not bad. However, he has no territory and the supply is entirely dependent on Tongluo's support, which is equivalent to the lifeblood of his master.

First, Lu Mingde - he was an envoy sent by Viaga, who came from the center and represented Viaga in charge of diplomacy with Anxi. In the Gaochang Uighur system, he was a "instructor minister" and had a good reputation. He was a person who could speak around Viaga. Although he was suppressed by Yochang, it was naturally not easy for those who could be suppressed by the prime minister but could not die. When he passed by Yanqi last time, Tongluo worshipped him like a grandfather. However, due to this decision-making mistake, Gudu lost Kucha, so Lu Mingde also lost his prestige. Tongluo no longer liked him very much, but he still had a certain hidden strength. It was thanks to Gudu being able to enter Yanqi to take refuge successfully. He was considered a bridge between Tongluo and Gudu - although Gudu hated him to the core.

The relationship between the three factions is very subtle. It was under the pressure of the Anxi Army's large-scale attack and survived and was united in the foreign countries.

This time, the Tang army of Anxi took advantage of the power of destroying the country to capture Kucha and surrounded Yanqi. In addition, Shiba's beautiful field battles outside the city really made Tong Luo even dare to go out of the city gate. He was frightened all day long, afraid that Yanqi would follow in Kucha's footsteps.

Until the Guiyi Army arrived to mediate, Tong Luo seemed to have caught a life-saving straw and was respectful to Cao Yuanshen's envoy, but he also felt that Cao Yuanshen was actually just a straw and did not have much expectation for his mediation.

Unexpectedly, the development of the matter was much beyond his expectations. Cao Yuanshen's mediation was issued, and the Anxi Army actually stopped the battle. Seeing this, Tong Luo discussed with the deputy general Puba and decided to test the influence of the Guiyi army on the Anxi Army again. He said that the soldiers and civilians in Yanqi City were panicked and that if they wanted to negotiate peace, they needed to ask the Anxi Army to withdraw from Tiemen Pass. What surprised them again was that the Anxi Army actually agreed and immediately withdrew from Tiemen Pass. At the same time, Zhang Mai also invited the Yanqi army to gather in Tiemen Pass to negotiate.

When Tong Luo wanted to attend the meeting, the news that Vijay Khan returned to Gaochang came.

When the thought of the great aid in the future, the mentality of the Yanqi military and civilians from top to bottom was completely reversed overnight!

"The Khan is back! The Khan is back!"

Viaya did not come back alone, but the main force of the entire Gaochang Uighurs went south early.

Yesterday, I was still worried about whether the Anxi Army would attack the city, and I was worried about what to do if Yanqi couldn't defend it. As soon as I heard that Viga came back, I immediately changed my mind with Roma and discussed with the deputy general Puba and said, "Since the Khan is back, there is nothing scary about the Anxi Army. Yanqi doesn't have to worry."

Puba also said, "Of course, but with the personality of the Khan, I heard that Anxi annexed Kucha would definitely be very angry. Most of the time, they would lead a large army to fight westward. When the time comes, they will come to Yanqi and find that we have lost all the territory in Yanqi except the city, and I am afraid that the anger will burn the general."

When Tong Luo heard this, he was still full of excitement, but was poured with cold water on his head by these two sentences and said in surprise: "That is indeed possible! What should I do?"

Puba said: "For the sake of the present, one is to try to make the close ministers around Khan say a few good words to the general, and the other is to establish some achievements so that Khan knows the general's contribution."

Tong Luo nodded and said, "Not bad."

Puba said again: "If you want to make friends with close ministers, Lu Mingde was an option, but unfortunately this time he made such a big mess. Da Khan has not yet punished him. He is probably far away and has not yet verified the truth. Moreover, Da Khan also has his people around him to help him. But when Da Khan sees Lu Mingde and asks him clearly, he will probably kill him immediately - so Lu Mingde cannot rely on it. But this person is not useless. Prime Minister Yo Chang has long wanted to kill him and his accomplices. As long as we take a break, we can help list all kinds of evidence that is unfavorable to Lu Mingde and hand it over to Prime Minister Yo Chang. Prime Minister Yo Chang will definitely speak for us if he is happy."

Tong Luo Lian said good, and Puba said again: "As for the credit, I think this Tiemen Pass peace talks, I might as well try to use it again. I see that the Anxi Army's recent actions are a bit strange, and I don't know why. It seems that they will agree to whatever the Guiyi Army says. Although we don't know what strange things are between them, we might as well give it a try. If we can use Cao Yuanshen to trick the Anxi Army from Yanqi, we will report the good news to the Khan, saying that the Anxi Army was driven away by us. The Khan saw that we could defend the territory of the Uighurs, and with the kind words of the Prime Minister Chang, there will be rewards. On the way to the Western Expedition, you may also be a vanguard."

Tong Luo was very happy, so he adopted Puba's strategy and sent him to Tiemen Pass to Tiemen Pass to discuss peace on behalf of Yanqi.

He did not promote this matter, but for some reason, Lu Mingde, the five-way connection, knew it. He ran overnight and said that he was an envoy sent by the Khan, and he was in charge of the peace talks with the Anxi army. He must attend the Tiemen Pass meeting this time, and he must take the lead.

Lu Mingde's request is legitimate, and he was not alone in Gaochang. Behind him was a group of Uighurs who converted to Buddhism by the senior Uighurs. This faction also had considerable influence in Yanqi. Although Tong Luo had decided to add harm to Lu Mingde, Lu Mingde was just pushed to the wellhead and had not fallen into the well, so Shi Tou could not take action. After discussing with Puba, he followed him.

After Lu Mingde left, Gu Du came again. He heard that he would negotiate peace with the Anxi army and asked to participate in the matter. After a long time of entanglement, Luo agreed to let Luo Fu go to Tiemen Pass.

Tiemen Pass was not far from Yanqi. After the matter was decided, Tong Luo sent people to Tiemen Pass and ambushed the troops outside the city. He thought that if Zhang Mai really came and was not inadequate to prevent him, he would take him down directly. Then why should he be polite?

It was already September 17th, and at dusk on the 16th, the three thousand soldiers of the Guiyi Army drove to the south of Tiemen Pass and were not close to each other. It was not until dawn the next day that they slowly approached again. Puba sent someone to pick up Cao Yuanshen to meet the city tower. Tiemen Pass was just a small city for garrison. There were almost no ordinary residents in the city. Before the Anxi Army retreated, it had dismantled the portal and various defense facilities, so the place had become an air-ventilated building on all sides.

Cao Yuanshen and Yan Yishan, who came with him, both thought that the reason why Anxi stopped fighting and withdrew his troops was all because of his mediation. If it were not for the Guiyi Army's affection, I was afraid that Yanqi was still surrounded by the Anxi Army and before reaching Tiemen Pass, he would naturally think that Gaochang should be grateful to him.

Unexpectedly, they rushed over excitedly. After going up the city tower, they found that the Uighurs reacted very coldly to them. Although they were not hostile, they never regarded him as their benefactor. It seemed that the retreat of the Anxi army had nothing to do with the mediation of the Guiyi army. Cao Yuanshen felt uncomfortable immediately.

Yan Yishan went up to greet and introduced the main characters of both sides. Yan Yishan also had a unique vision. Seeing that Lu Mingde was unpretentious, the servant was calm and calm, Luo Fu was worried and uneasy. He contacted the information he had received before and thought to himself: "The representative of Gaochang was led by Lu Mingde on the surface, but now he should be the servant who has the actual decision. Luo Fu is a person who lost his country, and it is a decoration here."

After the greetings between the two sides, Cao Yuanshen said: "Before the Anxi Army has not arrived yet, it is better for our two families to make a decision first. If we can reach a consensus, we will save a lot of effort when Zhang Dadu comes later."

Puba asked, "What consensus has been reached?"

Yan Yishan said: "This time, Anxi and Gaochang had a misunderstanding. Zhang Dadu led his troops to advance eastward and surrounded Yanqi. Fortunately, our Guiyi army came forward and retreated temporarily. At this meeting, the victims are your country and Anxi army. We are a peacemaker. We hope that both sides can take peace as the most important thing, take a step back, pacify the war, and let the people of both countries suffer less."

These few sentences sing the song of peace, but in fact they contain the meaning of seeking credit. They put the Guiyi Army in the position of a big brother, pointing out that the Anxi Army's rescue and retreating were all the credits of the Guiyi Army.

But Puba shook his head and said, "Guiyi army came to mediate thousands of miles away. We are grateful for this. However, the Anxi army retreated to the west because we heard that our Khan was scared when we came back. It was not entirely the merit of the second young master Cao."

Yan Yishan was stunned. He didn't expect that the Anxi Army had clearly given Guiyi Army face to retreat, but when he turned around, the Uighurs did not appreciate it at all and did not admit it!

Cao Yuanshen was also stunned. When he looked at Puba carefully, he saw a trace of inadvertent sneer on his lips. It turned out that Cao Yijin had adopted a low attitude of compromising and complacent attitude towards the Uighurs in Ganzhou and Gaochang. Although this foreign policy temporarily kept the peace between Sha and Gua, it also developed the contempt of the Hu people around him for the Han people. Although Puba was deliberately taking advantage of Cao Yuande, Gaochang Huihe had been condescending to the Guiyi Army in Shazhou for many years. Over time, it became a habit. When he saw Cao Yuanshen, he regarded him as a person from a lower-class country and did not take it seriously. Although this expression was not intentionally done, it made Cao Yuanshen more angry than intentionally done!

During this period, the Anxi Army rose in the Western Regions with a high attitude and adopted a big stick policy against the surrounding Hu people. From the Lingxi Uighurs to the Kucha Uighurs to the Saman, all those who fought with the Anxi Army were driven away and fled to the Han people in the Western Regions. Even in the transformation, Zhang Mai was created as a hero who looked up at the Hus of the Western Regions.

Only when he was facing the Guiyi Army, Zhang Mai turned aggressive and turned into obedience to others. Zhang Mai's attitude invisibly raised the self-positioning of the senior leaders of the Guiyi Army: Zhang Mai looked down on the Hu Hu, but was cautious when facing Cao's discussion on Jin. In this comparison, it was obvious that Cao Linggong's status was of course higher.

This time, the Anxi Army stopped fighting and retreated because of the Guiyi Army's two words, which further enhanced the self-evaluation of the Cao family. Therefore, Cao Yuanshen came to Tiemen Pass with a kind-hearted attitude.
Chapter completed!