Chapter 52 Bighead Fish

Regarding Balashaguen, news suddenly came very frequently in March, as if a hand was pushing it behind her back. First, Liu An got the news that a group of fur merchants were collecting goods along the Rehai coast and noticed that a group of people came from the east and hurried towards Balashaguen. These herders were not like herders, merchants were not like merchants, and tribes were not like tribes. The number was only dozens of people and was dressed brightly and gorgeously. Among the fur merchants, an experienced old man saw that there was a middle-aged man wearing a strange falcon-headed wolf bone ring among the group.

"That's the noble man of the Uighurs in Lingdong." said the old man.

A young man among the fur merchants asked the old man for advice, and the old man said, "That ring leaked his identity! It can only be worn by the direct descendants of the eldest sect of the Nine surnames. The falcon of this ring has three feathers, so it should be the one who is the Sijie tribe. That clan should be in Beiting now."

The speaker was unintentional, and the listener was intentional. One of the fur merchants thought about it for a while and actually went to Balashaguen to sell the news.

Balashaguen has an "intelligence acquisition point", which is a system established by Liu An and Li Bin. There are such sites in Shazhou, Khotan, Samarkand, Talas, and Bukhara. In Samarkand, Talas, Shazhou, and Khotan, these envoys have naturally become the location of this intelligence acquisition point. In Bukhara, Balashaguen and other places, there are also some mobile intelligence acquisition points in Bukhara, Balashaguen and other places where there are two spies in charge at each site. The Sima Office, the Sima Office of the Great Protector of Anxi and a group of merchants established a non-specialized

The contact with this group of merchants are all from Anxi, and their family members and industrial entities must be in Anxi. Their main identity is still to do business. The Sima Office will not give them additional fees. However, if they go abroad and hear any news from the outside world, they can use the special method taught by the Sima Office to find the intelligence acquisition point. Once the information is considered valuable, they will receive various types of rewards, which may be money, or privileges in some aspects - not mining in a certain mine, etc. At present, several merchants have made a fortune because of this!

The fur merchant occasionally heard the news and sold it to the intelligence acquisition point when he arrived at Balashaguen. He himself did not know what the information would bring to Anxi, nor did he know what the information would bring to him. He just like buying Mark Six lottery, he would sell it casually, and then wait to see if he could win the prize.

However, Anxi's spy leader in Balashaguen attached great importance to this news. While feeding back the news as soon as possible, he secretly contacted Anxi's friends in Balashaguen, in order to obtain a more in-depth and accurate answer.

Anxi's friends in Balashaguon, in addition to some business giants, also have a secret. The big family that has always been with Zhang Mai - the Asina family, which has gradually been marginalized in the past two years but still has mixed forces among all the classes in Lingxi!

The parents of the Asina family, Korensu was once the prime minister of Arslan. His eldest son Kachar was once a general who was highly praised by the enemy Zhang Mai and had a great influence in the Uighur army in Lingxi. At this time, although both father and son were already idle at home, their ears and ears were still spread all over Balashaguon, and even the Khan's golden tent were their people.

That day, Anxi invited the butler of the Ashina family to dinner at the head of spies in Balashaguen. This was the first time that the two sides met. After hearing about the purpose of the other party, the butler of the Ashina family was silent and left before the meal was finished. Three days later, he took the initiative to invite Anxi to dinner at the head of spies in Balashaguen. He said nothing during the meal, but the dishes he invited were very strange.

"The dish that Asuna's family invited us was a big-headed fish without a head."

"What does this mean?" Guo Bian, who has begun to get involved in military affairs, interjected.

If there is no context, this puzzle is really hard to guess, but in the current context, Liu An suddenly guessed it: "The fish has no head and no tail, because the head and tail are cut off!"

Guo Luo's face also darkened: "It should be so. The Ashin family didn't dare to say it too clearly, so the seriousness of this matter can be imagined."

Guo Bian shouted: "Brother, are you saying that our Anxi will be attacked from beginning to end?"

At present, Anxi is indeed like a big-headed fish, with its head and tail far apart. Due to inconvenience in transportation, they can only fight each other in many cases!

In this case, being attacked from beginning to end means that Viaga and Arslan may have reached a joint venture.

"What should we do?" Guo Bian said: "Are we going to ask Yutian for help?"

Guo Bian's words show that his overall situation is quite strong. Once he is attacked from beginning to end, when Arslan launches an attack, the three eastern towns will inevitably be under unprecedented pressure. At that time, the two sides will find it difficult to help each other. The only one who can get assistance is Khotan.

"No, I can't turn to Yutian." Guo Luo said that he understood quite well what the situation in the east is now. Due to the delay in the message, Guo Luo didn't know that Zhang Mai had completely offended the Uighurs in Ganzhou in Dunhuang, but this did not prevent him from judging that once Zhang Mai entered Shazhou, the entire situation in the east would become confusing. He inferred that Zhang Mai should be using all the power that can be used to enhance his advantage in the east.

"Now, we cannot have the idea of ​​relying on the East, and we even have to try our best to leave our strength to the East."

"But, do we have to rely on our own Ningyuan's own strength to fight Arslan alone?"

Ningyuan is just one town in Anxi, and it is too difficult to take over the 100,000 troops of the Western Uighurs in Lingxi with the power of a town. What's more, once the military moves, once Ningyuan is at a disadvantage, the reactions of Bukhara and Talas will become unpredictable.

This is a chain situation. If you have a wrong move, you may be completely distracted!

"The most important thing at the moment is to stabilize Satuk and Nesser II!" Guo Luo said: "If it were only Arslan, it would be possible to use the terrain of Yihei Mountain to drag them down."

Liu An understood what Guo Luo meant, that was to strive for the neutrality of Satuk and Nesser II. The movements of these two factions would become the key to Ning Yuan's life and death.

"I understand." Liu An said: "I will go to Bukhara, Satuk and send He Chunshan. I will definitely fight for the two families at least not to fight against us."

After the meeting ended, Guo Bian saw that Guo Luo was still in a heavy mood and asked, "Brother, are you worried that Uncle Liu and the others will not succeed?"

Guo Luo shook his head and said, "Although we need to rely on negotiations to ensure the Western Front this time, negotiations themselves are not the key."

"oh?"

"Brother Bian, you have to remember one thing-" Guo Luo said: "All the promises of the nation to the nation are unreliable! We must have a sword and horse in hand to truly ensure our safety. Even though Liu An and He Chunshan successfully won the neutrality between Neser II and Satuk, if the situation is not good, they will still be able to launch an attack on us. So although the negotiations must be carried out, the real key lies in the victory or defeat of our army."

"So big brother, can you win?"

Guo Luo did not answer. He knew that this battle was not easy to fight, and although it was not impossible to fight, there were many internal and external reasons that interfered with him that he could not use his whole body and mind to fight Arslan.

That night he was strolling under the moonlight and thought of many things. He deduced that the news he had already spread from the East that Zhang Mai's plan in Dunhuang should be in a critical period. At this time, if something happened to the Western Front and unfavorable news came out, it might cause the entire chess game to be disrupted.

As for the moment, the Anxi army seems to have not been in crisis yet. Even if Arslan and Viga take action together, Anxi may not be able to withstand it!

"But things won't be just that."

Just like Cao Yijin, Guo Luo could also see a few steps away. Since Satuk and Naiser II would become an important factor in the duel between him and Arslan, then, Ganzhou Huihe and Guiyi Army can also become the key to the duel between Zhang Mai and Viaga. Guo Luo could not deal with Arslan at the same time, Satuk and Naiser II, just as Zhang Mai in the East could not deal with Via Ga, Cao Yijin and Yao Luoge. Di Yin, if things really hit that point, the collapse of the Anxi Protectorate may be in a blink of an eye.

Guo Luo had already thought of this before he knew that Zhang Mai had already cut off Jing Qiong, and it was obvious that his vision was rarely matched by him in the Anxi army.

But it was also true that his psychological pressure became even greater.

The competition between countries, a strong and unfavorable news may trigger a terrible chain reaction.

Although Anxi's political policy swept away internal decadence and uprooted many old families, allowing internal development to be unprecedentedly smooth, it also established too many powerful enemies. Before Zhang Mai entered Dunhuang, Guo Luo had a premonition that the Guiyi Army might turn from a friend to an enemy. From a diplomatic perspective, this was definitely a failure, but from a longer-term perspective, this was a political adventure of Zhang Mai.

Guo Luo understood the purpose of Zhang Mai's adventure this time, and in fact he also agreed with Zhang Mai's proposal, but Zhang Mai's actions will put great pressure on the people around him, especially his strong arms!

Think about it three years ago, Guo Luo was just a young leader in a remote small town, but now he has become a military and political leader who wants to compete with the three major power departments at the same time! Although the external enemy is strong, this unprecedented pressure is also an enemy that is not inferior to the joint efforts of the three major kings.

You can't lose, you can't lose, you can't lose.

Among the generals of the Anxi Tang Army, Shi Ba is the most enjoyable person. This young man only cares about charges in wars. Although he sometimes thinks about it recently, he always considers victory or defeat on a local battlefield. Once the war is over, he can put everything aside, return to the back and drink and eat meat, hug his beautiful wife who most meets the aesthetic standards of the Tang Dynasty, holds his two newly born sons, and enjoy the joy of family carefree.

Compared with Shiba, Yang Yi has a better overall view. He will consider strategy and even political strategy. His strong aggressiveness is extremely similar to Zhang Mai. Sometimes, he will lose his place because of this homogeneity, but sometimes, Yang Yi can replace Zhang Mai to stand alone.

However, the pressure on Yang Yi's shoulders was not as great as Guo Luo. Guo Luo had something on his shoulders that Yang Yi didn't have—

responsibility!

What Yang Yi thought of was victory, victory, victory!

But what Guo Luo thought was more comprehensive. Guo Luo felt that he would bear great responsibility for his life and death, Anxi's welfare, and even what Anxi would develop in the future.

He is the son of his former Protectorate. He has subtly accepted the idea that he is the "Young Master Anxi" since he was a child. The Protectorate of Anxi is not only a career, but even a life. Although the Protectorate's crown has now fallen on Zhang Mai's head, that sense of responsibility still exists, even stronger than Zhang Mai.

It is precisely because of such a strong sense of responsibility that Guo Luo has the power of warmth that others do not have, making him more responsible than anyone else among the Anxi generals! But because of the suppression of responsibility, his thinking and actions sometimes seem not as flexible as Yang Yi.

Anxi's development is at a critical point!

Beside us are our friends and relatives

If you lose, it will collapse all over, but if you win—

Then we will have a true invincibility!

Before he knew it, he lay down in the bench in the pavilion and fell asleep unknowingly. In his sleep, a nightmare attacked. Guo Luo seemed to fly to the sky under the guidance of the nightmare demon. He saw fires one after another at a high place - first from Yihei, but Yihei had not yet fallen, the fortress soared into the sky was broken by Satuk's iron hooves. At the same time, Kuba was also besieged. Guo Luo flew to the east and saw the Tsuyun Pass in an emergency. Then he followed the three towns in the east and there were also stars and fires!

Is it a rebellion? Or is it that all the countries are already launching a siege on Anxi?

The fat Anxi transformed into a long-shaped big-headed fish. The tail and head were cut off respectively, and blood kept spewing out. Every drop of blood was the life of an old Anxi family...

"Ah--" Guo Luo woke up in shock. A beautiful young woman was rubbing the sweat on his forehead and asked nervously if she had a nightmare. Now Yang Qing is not in Ningyuan. This beautiful young woman is Guo Luo's concubine and He Qiushan's daughter.

Well, it is indeed a nightmare. The scene in the dream is the ending that Guo Luo is most afraid of.

Guo Luo was gasping, gasping...

He knew that what he dreamed of was not an illusion, but one of the futures Anxi might face!

If Jing Qiong was replaced, he might have been overwhelmed by this pressure.

But Guo Luo endured it instead.

"It's past, it's past..." The beautiful and gentle He hugged her husband to comfort her: "It's past..."

Guo Luo's heart slowly calmed down. Yes, what happened in his dream was the worst.

Then just get through it and it’s OK!

"Get paper and pen!"

"ah?"

"Get paper and pen!"

He took the paper and pen, and Guo Luo wrote a letter under the moonlight. He did not write in detail about the various uncertainties that happened here, because he did not want the Dongfang comrades to worry. The letters he wrote to Zhang Mai, Yang Yi, Zheng Wei and others were only two sentences:
Chapter completed!