The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 411: Wedding (Part )

More than 200 miles outside Gubeikou, Mobei, Bei'an Prefecture.

At the foot of Hengshan Mountain, on the bank of the Wuluan River, a new camp has been set up. In the northwest, there is a ruined earthen wall formed by a rampart, on which there is also a watchtower.

The tents were set up to support the broken city wall. They looked scattered, but in fact the trenches were deep and wide, and the walls were high and strong. However, on the watchtower, the soldiers in leather armor and sun hats stood with bows slung over their shoulders. Their vigilance was no longer that strong. Compared with the retreat from Yinshan, they looked like two groups of people.

Nearly three years ago, there was an internal strife between the Liu family in Hebei and their sons for power. Yelu Abaoji was invited to go south, and Shuliduo stationed his troops here to coordinate the response. Later, he also sent troops into Hebei from here, and fought for supremacy at the Beishui and Xiaoyan rivers, and annihilated the powerful Li Cunxu on the banks of the Gaoliang River.

Two years ago, also here, Shuliduo's isolated army was besieged in Hengshan by tens of thousands of Yelu Lage's army. With strong faith, they held out for more than fifty days, and finally waited until Xiao Yan, who had annihilated all of Hebei, turned north and swept across the entire Mobei with only ten thousand cavalry. They were invincible and victorious in every battle. Hundreds of tribes, large and small, were frightened by the killing, and the seven tribes that were once most dissatisfied with the Mobei royal family had to submit to them.

That year, the high-spirited Xiao Yan, who was only nineteen years old, had already become the Great Khan Xiao who commanded the whole grassland. Shuliduo, who stood beside him, also rightfully became the only empress dowager in the entire Mobei, ruling the grassland alone.

That year, Shulido thought she had everything.

……

"Among the eight tribes, only Diela, Tuju, Chute, Tulubu, and Wuwei came to pay their respects. Pin and Nirvana have already led their troops back to their respective grazing areas. Among the eight tribes, Yishi is the only large tribe that directly turned against Yelulag in Yinshan..."

In the main tent, Shili Qixiang held a book and read it in a low voice, then lowered his head and said, "Among the five tribes that came to pay their respects, only the Yilijin from the Wuwei, Tuju, and Tulubu tribes came. The Yilijin from the Chute tribe died half a year ago, and the candidate from the tribe has not been announced yet. The one who came is a shaman. As for the Diela tribe..."

Yelu Zhiwu sat very upright on the side. The bell on the staff standing beside him rang slightly in the wind, which was very inappropriate.

But even she knew why Shili Qixiang paused when she read the word Diela.

The Eight Tribes of Mobei are actually divided into the Ancient Eight Tribes and the Later Eight Tribes. The chief of each tribe is called Yilijin. In the early days, it was only used as a title for the military chief who was in charge of the military power of the tribe. Later, it gradually became the legitimate title of the leader of the tribe.

The so-called tribes are called tribes, and clans are called tribes.

Each tribe was divided into large and small clans. During the period of the ancient eight tribes, all the leaders were from the Daha clan. However, because they were wavering between the Turks and the Tang Dynasty, they were replaced by the Yaonian clan supported by the Tang Dynasty. The original eight tribes were also broken down into five tribes, which were later rebuilt by the Yaonian clan into eight tribes, which are the so-called later eight tribes.

The Yaonian clan ruled Mobei for nearly a hundred years, and the Khans elected in successive dynasties were all from the Yaonian clan. Until recent decades, the Yelu clan emerged as a rising star. Among them, Yelu Abaoji relied on his military talents to become the leader of the tribe, and directly trampled the long-corrupt Yaonian clan into the quagmire. The position of Khan was also transferred to the Yelu clan.

As for why the Diela tribe was emphasized, it was because Abaoji's Yelu clan and Shulido's Shuli clan were both from the Diela tribe, which was the most powerful tribe among the later eight tribes and its influence was considerable.

Although the Yelu and Shuli have always been the eldest and second oldest brothers in the Diela tribe, the strength of other clans should not be underestimated. Shuliduo has been trying to improve the strength and status of his mother's clan in recent years, but the effect is very limited. This is because other clans in the Diela tribe cannot be easily controlled. Most of the royal court army and even the Orudo palace guards are from the Diela tribe, which is of great importance in Mobei.

As expected, Shili Qixiang's next words were not good news: "The people of the Diela tribe are unsettled. According to the information I have gathered, there are two factions among them. One faction seems to be loyal to Yelu La Ge. When the Queen Mother returned this time, their Yilijin did not come. They only came with Tiyin, who was Yelu Sala who was forgiven by the Queen Mother before..."

Shulido had just finished lunch. She didn't eat much and her appetite was not very good.

This trip to Yinshan was indeed to cooperate with Xiao Yan to achieve his strategic goals, but she stayed there for several months because she had selfish motives. Unexpectedly, she did not get Yinshan. First, she was suddenly attacked by Yelu Lage, and then she was frustrated by Li Cunxu and retreated from Yinshan to Mobei.

The loss caused by Li Cunxu was not great, because Shuliduo had long lost interest in staying in Yinshan. However, Yelu Lage had shaken her foundation.

Among them, there is no need to say much about the Yishi tribe. The strength of this tribe is second only to the Diela tribe. In the early years, it had been a staunch supporter of Yelu La Ge. However, it turned against Yelu La Ge in the battle of Yinshan. Shulido had received intelligence on his way back that most of the clans of the Yishi tribe had moved westward.

As for the Lu and Nirvana factions, they were already undecided about whether to resist or not, so they withdrew without even a word, making their attitude clear.

In addition to the eight major tribes in Mobei, there are countless other tribes of all sizes, distributed in the east, south, west and north. Most of them obey the royal court, but each tribe is more or less involved with the eight major tribes. If the Lu tribe and the Nirvana tribe rebel, it will be very troublesome.

If the Diela tribe splits into two again, the situation will become even more difficult.

In the final analysis, the people below are dissatisfied with the hereditary system and are determined to restore the throne to the Khan election system. Everyone has a hope.

The cups, plates and dishes had been cleared away, leaving a cup of warm tea and several fruit plates on the table.

In the past two years, the status of Bei'an Prefecture has been slightly improved. The originally abandoned city wall was rebuilt by people from Youzhou, and it became a stronghold from Gubeikou to Dading Prefecture. There are many merchants entrenched in it, so these things can be eaten even in the military camp.

Dongxi Shuliduo didn't eat, but took a sip of tea, then picked up a book of Central Plains chess beside him, and read while looking at the chessboard on the table. After a long time, he picked up a chess piece and put it down, and I don't know if he was listening.

Shili Qixiang was waiting quietly below.

Unexpectedly, when the Queen Mother spoke, the first thing she mentioned was not the Diela tribe.

"Yilijin of the Chute tribe has been dead for half a year. Why hasn't a new leader been elected in such a long time?"

Shili Qixiang was stunned at first, then responded quickly. She rummaged through the documents held by the masked maid beside her, found a booklet, took a look, then frowned and said, "Report to the Queen Mother, the cause of death of Yilijin of the Chute tribe... seems a little strange, and it is said that many people in his tribe have died in the past two years. The leaders of several major clans have died without exception in the past few years. Therefore, no one can suppress the various clans for a while, and it is quite chaotic."

Shuliduo said without even looking up: "Then let Tiyin of the Chute tribe take the position."

"Tiyin is also dead..."

"Huh?" Shuliduo raised her head and saw that Shiliqixiang seemed to panic for a moment. She obviously did not expect that such a serious thing would happen to the Chute tribe. These things were originally collected and sorted by her, Shiliqixiang, for the empress dowager. Since she had not reported them to the empress dowager before, it was clearly her dereliction of duty.

Fortunately, it was not impossible to remedy the situation. Shili Qixiang quickly spread the booklet in front of Shuliduo and saw that the time on it was still three months ago. At that time, everyone's attention was focused on the Central Plains and even the war with Li Cunxu. This matter was actually not a big deal. After all, there were various competitive relationships within a tribe. The final winner would eventually have to be recognized by the royal court to sit firmly in the position of Yilijin. But if Yilijin, Tiyin and other high-level officials all had problems, things would be a little strange.

This reminded Shuliduo of the expedition to Yinshan, in which the Chute tribe indeed sent very few troops.

She put down the chess book and thought for a while.

The strength of the Chute tribe was not the best among the eight tribes, and could even be considered the bottom, but its predecessor was the Yuling tribe, which was the strongest among the eight ancient tribes and produced many shamans. After the demise of the Yuling tribe, the Chute tribe inherited the legacy of the Yuling tribe and became one of the eight tribes.

"The shaman of the Chute tribe who came to Bei'an Prefecture this time must have wanted to ask the Queen Mother to allow him to succeed Yilijin..." Shili Qixiang said in a low voice.

"Which clan does the Chute shaman belong to?"

"It's... Bali." Shili Qixiang flipped through the documents and said, "The last four generations of shamans of the Chute tribe are all from the Bali family. The current shaman succeeded his father and is called... Bali Shensu. He is a young man."

"Young man, a shaman, you also want to be Yilijin?" Shuliduo looked calm and continued to pick up the chess manual: "Can you suppress other clans?"

"Does the Queen Mother want to see you?"

"No need. Just ask him what he can contribute to the royal court next year if I let him be the Yilijin of the Chute tribe. If he can suppress the other clans and give me an answer after he returns, I will support him."

The regime in Mobei is essentially just a tribal alliance. In the early days, it used military democracy to implement the "electing a Khan every three years". Even though a royal court has been nominally established and a hereditary system has been implemented, deep down everyone still regards the royal court as just a leader. What they respect is not the so-called royal bloodline, but the flags and drums and the divine tent that symbolize royal power.

Under such circumstances, regardless of the small tribes, they can only serve as obedient dogs of the royal court, while the eight major tribes actually have a certain degree of independence, so Shuliduo will naturally only support those who are close to the royal court to be the Yilijin of the tribe.

Shili Qixiang received the order, walked out quickly and whispered a few words to the servants who were on standby, then walked back in and continued to bow and wait.

It was very strange. Today, the Queen Mother seemed to have no interest in the affairs of the state. She just kept on writing the score, and Shili Qixiang did not dare to ask more questions.

Yelu Zhiwu sat there like a wooden man, the wind chimes on the staff beside him still swaying gently, making pleasant sounds.

Shili Qixiang glanced at Aogu, and suddenly seemed to remember something, and whispered to Shuliduo: "Queen Mother, I saw Yuan Xingqin sending people south before, and it seemed that he was carrying dozens of fine horses and some rare items from Bohai Sea... Now that Khan Xiao is getting married, shouldn't we also send a gift?"

The situation was pressing, and Shili Qixiang had to admit that it was better to take shelter under the big tree of Khan Xiao. People like Li Siyuan and Li Cunxu were completely unreliable. The Jin State itself was almost fighting its own people, so how could it have the spare energy to reach out to the grassland.

Yelu Lage, who was previously looked down upon, gained support from Li Maozhen or someone else, and somehow regained his foothold on the grassland. The royal court was unable to do anything to him for a while. This time he withdrew his troops from Yinshan to Mobei, which might not be without the intention of temporarily avoiding the limelight.

Moreover, Shili Qixiang held the intelligence power around the empress dowager and already knew a piece of news: Yuan Xingqin, who had been stationed in Dading Prefecture not long ago, originally wanted to send troops to rescue Yinshan, but after receiving the order from Youzhou, he suddenly stopped halfway and allowed the empress dowager to be threatened by both Yelu Lage and Li Cunxu in Yinshan without any movement.

This one incident alone was enough to push the Queen Mother to the forefront, and it also made the people below especially complain about Yuan Xingqin. After all, if the two thousand genuine Dingba under his command had joined the Yinshan battlefield, the royal court would not necessarily suffer a great loss at the hands of Li Cunxu, let alone Yelu Lage.

In the end, not only did Wang Ting not gain any advantage in Yinshan, but he also let Yelu Lage show off and gain a lot of benefits.

Of course, everyone only dared to blame Yuan Xingqin. They didn't dare to say a word to Khan Xiao in public, and no one knew what they would curse him behind his back.

The situation was really delicate. Shili Qixiang was sure that Li Siyuan's request to see the Queen Mother was absolutely secret and there was no possibility of it leaking out. But she had already seen Xiao Yan's skills, and she was not sure whether Xiao Dahan, whom she hated but feared to death, had noticed any clues.

Shuliduo always had a straight back, a dignified face, and a calm expression. She just said in a casual tone: "Then give me a gift."

"Then..." Shili Qixiang was embarrassed. The queen mother did not take the initiative to say what she wanted to give, so she could only continue, "Khan Xiao likes war horses. This year, the royal court's horse farm gave birth to about 300 purebred horses, all of which are foals. You can select 150 horses to give to Khan Xiao... In addition, the agate, gold, musk, and deer antlers presented by various tribes are all relatively precious in the Central Plains."

As she spoke, she remembered something and called a maid to ask a few questions in a low voice. After getting the answer, she continued, "During the New Year's Day this year, the Wuwei tribe presented a blood-red mink fur coat as tribute. It is said that it took ten years to make. Maybe it can be presented to the queen of Xiao Dahan. This thing is very beautiful and the queen will probably like it."

Speaking of this sable fur coat, Shuliduo had an impression of it. The strength of the Wuwei tribe was not that strong, perhaps only slightly better than that of the Chute tribe. This item was presented on the New Year's Day specifically to please Shuliduo. She had seen it in person at that time and it was indeed very beautiful and precious. However, she had never worn it and had it sealed up.

Presumably it was based on this that Shili Qixiang thought that this item could be given away.

If it were in the past, she would just give it as a gift. Shuliduo has never valued money. If she could use things to win over the necessary people, she would be more generous.

But when she heard this, she didn't know why she felt very uncomfortable. In her eyes, most people in the world were stupid, and even Abaoji, who helped the Yelu family rise, was considered stupid in her eyes. But even though she was born smart, and even though a priest said she was invaluable in her life when she was a child, now, after all her efforts, she seemed to have gained nothing.

Shuliduo has always felt that the huge material interests, land, huge wealth, and power of his clan are the most important things. He has always believed that compared with those short-sighted fools, his ambitions are comparable to those of the Tang Dynasty and Wu Zhou. But today, he was upset by the sentence "The queen of Khan Xiao should like it", and suddenly he had a feeling that he was very sad.

I had tried so hard to please him, and I even gave my life to him for a promise...

From childhood to adulthood, Shuliduo has never valued so-called family affection and love. Everyone can become a tool for her to achieve her lofty ambitions. Even her husband and children, she will not be reluctant to give them up. No one has ever been regarded by her as something that cannot be given up.

But now, she suddenly had a feeling that someone had suddenly appeared and snatched away something that originally belonged to her.

"Send it..." Shuliduo looked at the chess book in her hand, but felt that all the words on it were extremely blurry. She didn't know whether she had spoken out loud or not.

"Auntie Ao, please stay here. Mother will tell you something."

(End of this chapter)