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Chapter 827: Letter from the State (Part )
The worst did not happen.

The Tatars and Gaoche tribes were not on good terms with the Rouran and there were wars from time to time. Now that the Rouran Khan had fallen into the hands of the Daliang court and became a hostage, they were too busy watching the fun to do anything. They had no intention of sending troops at all.

The Rouran tribe did resist stubbornly, but after the army entered the grassland, they were attacked by the tribes one after another. They were all destroyed by General Zuo's troops.

He killed as he went, and at least a dozen tribal cavalrymen were killed.

The blood of the Rouran barbarians soaked the grassland. The vast grassland was finally shocked by this iron-blooded strategy and fell into complete silence.

The grassland is so vast that if the Rouran tribe deliberately hides, it is basically impossible for the Daliang army to find their traces. This is also the first time in the two hundred years since the founding of the Daliang Dynasty that the army has truly penetrated into the grassland.

Fortunately, with Rouran Khan Fu Mingdun as a hostage, the Rouran barbarians could not ignore the life of the Khan. Fu Mingdun's sons also dared not to save their father.

More than a month after entering the grassland, Fu Mingdun's children and grandchildren finally showed up.

The leader was Fu Mingdun's youngest son Shi Luohou.

The inheritance rules of the grassland tribes were different from those of the Daliang Dynasty. The Daliang Dynasty emphasized that the eldest son would be the heir, and the eldest son would be the heir. Jiang Shaohua inherited the throne as a princess because the emperor died and the princess was killed, and Prince Ping was an ignorant child who could not bear the heavy responsibility. The ministers reluctantly recommended Jiang Shaohua as the emperor.

In the grassland tribe, the eldest son gets the family property while the youngest son takes care of the stove. Shi Luohou is 26 years old this year. He is the youngest son that Fu Mingdun loves the most and has the most elite soldiers under his command. If Fu Mingdun dies in Daliang, Shi Luohou will inherit the position of the Khan of Rouran, recuperate for a few years, and when his troops are strong, he will lead his troops to invade Daliang to avenge his father.

Now, his father had become a hostage and all the slaves had to be exchanged for him. This was a great humiliation in the Rouran tribe.

Some of Shi Luohou's brothers agreed, some opposed. There was also an ambitious one who directly proposed to take advantage of the fact that the Daliang army was alone and deep in the enemy's territory to destroy the Daliang army.

Shi Luohou ruthlessly expelled his rude brother and asked everyone to hand over their slaves. Then he personally led the slaves to welcome the army and bring back his father.

To show his sincerity, Shi Luohou brought only 10,000 cavalrymen. The people of Daliang he brought were as numerous as weeds on the grassland.

When these ragged, skinny and dull-eyed slaves appeared before the army, even General Zuo, whose heart was as hard as a rock, felt as if a sharp blade had pierced his chest, and his eyes were sore and painful.

How many people are there?

It’s simply impossible to count them.

Everywhere he looked, he saw people from Daliang who had been captured and made slaves.

General Zuo took a deep breath and dismounted his horse.

Liu Hengchang went to the prison van and opened the door. The ropes on Fu Mingdun's feet were cut, but the chains on his wrists still rattled.

Liu Hengchang drew out his long sword and pressed it against Fu Mingdun's back. As long as Fu Mingdun made any unusual movements, or the Rouran barbarians on the opposite side made any unusual movements, the long sword would pierce Fu Mingdun's heart without hesitation.

Shi Luohou raised his hand, signaling everyone behind him not to move rashly. Then, Shi Luohou also got off his horse alone.

There was a military tent between the two armies.

The left general entered the tent first, and Liu Hengchang followed with Fu Mingdun. Shi Luohou also entered the tent in full view of everyone.

"Father Khan!"

When Shi Luohou saw Fu Mingdun's miserable state, his eyes immediately turned red: "My son is incompetent and has caused my father the Khan to suffer such a great humiliation. In the future, my son will definitely avenge my father the Khan."

There were only four people in the military tent. In front of the two Daliang generals, Shi Luohou knelt down, his eyes red, tears streaming down his face, and screaming.

Fu Mingdun had a piece of rag stuffed in his mouth and couldn't utter a word. He just whimpered twice.

General Zuo had been in the frontier army for many years and was fluent in the Rouran language. He sneered and said, "Your father, the Khan, killed countless Daliang soldiers and civilians. We Daliang and the Rouran are the ones with deep blood feuds."

"The emperor of Daliang has compassion for the people and ordered us to deliver the letter." Liu Hengchang actually spoke fluent Rouran language: "The Khan has been sent, you come to receive the emperor's letter." "After receiving the letter, Daliang and Rouran will not invade each other for five years."

General Zuo glanced at Liu Hengchang. This Liu Hengchang could even speak Rouran language fluently. I wonder how much effort he put in behind the scenes.

My own father is still under the other party's knife.

Shi Luohou had no choice but to lower his head and accept the letter.

General Zuo said in a deep voice: "You and your son will wait in the military tent for half a day. I will lead the people of Daliang to leave. You can leave when it gets dark."

After that, he said to Liu Hengchang: "General Liu, you stay in the military tent. Wait until the army and the people have withdrawn, then lead the troops to catch up with us."

This was all discussed before.

Liu Hengchang nodded decisively.

The number of Daliang civilians brought by Rouran was so huge that it was impossible to count them. A rough estimate showed that there were at least hundreds of thousands of them.

This was also Shi Luohou's conspiracy.

First, it shows his filial piety to his father Khan.

Secondly, if you want people from Daliang, I will give them to you. But with so many people, do you have the ability to get out of the grassland?

……

General Zuo was well prepared for this.

Of the 70,000 troops, 10,000 elite soldiers were left for Liu Hengchang. Of the remaining 60,000, 50,000 remained motionless, and another 10,000 soldiers were dispersed and all scattered among the people. One soldier was responsible for controlling more than ten people. In order to ensure a smooth march, these soldiers held their weapons and looked murderous.

The people who had been slaves for several years or more than ten years were so frightened by the gleaming weapons that even their cries became much quieter.

The army led the way, with cavalry all around them. The common people were driven forward in a daze.

If you look down from above, it looks like a pack of hounds chasing a flock of sheep, very slowly.

But at least it's moving.

General Zuo rode forward, and his trusted generals whispered nervously: "General, we are leaving like this. We will leave General Liu behind to guard the rear. If anything happens, we will not be able to explain to the emperor if General Liu gets hurt."

General Zuo said calmly: "General Liu volunteered to be the last one to leave. Besides, no one else can hold the line except him."

To be a famous general, you must have courage and determination.

To take a step back, if something happened to Liu Hengchang, he would not be able to escape with such a large number of people, and there would definitely be a fierce battle.

The grassland is a battlefield everywhere. Until the last moment, who can guarantee that they can escape unscathed?

It was not until dark that the army had traveled more than ten miles.

For the cavalry, it would only take half an hour to catch up.

The horse's hooves shook and the ground trembled.

The guards came to report in a hurry: "General, there are cavalry approaching quickly. It is not clear whether it is General Liu and his men."

No one knew whether General Zuo was worried or not. Anyway, he looked calm: "Send someone to check, and report back immediately if there is any news."