The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 821: The Sword Pointed at Goguryeo (Part )
Everyone was very enthusiastic about Li Yan's arrival and greeted him one after another. After a round of greetings, Li Yan came to the right side of Jie Li Khan's seat and bowed to Shi Luodie opposite him.

Then he sat down and looked at Jie Li.

It is said that people grow up slowly when they are growing up, but fall off a cliff when they get old. It is indeed true.

It's only been half a year since we last met, and Jie Li seems to have aged a lot.

The once tall and mighty hero is now in his twilight years. His hair and beard have turned gray, his face is covered with wrinkles, his body has become thinner and is beginning to hunch slightly. He exudes an air of decadence and old age.

The figure wearing an eagle-feather helmet, dressed in white armor, as proud as a wolf king, leading hundreds of thousands of cavalry under his command, showing off his power on the banks of the Wei River, holding a horsewhip, and loudly asking Li Shimin who would dominate the rise and fall of the world is no longer seen.

Li Yan looked at the overlord in front of him who had been rampant on the grassland for more than ten years. He was so high-spirited and arrogant back then. With his own strength, he had twisted the grassland into a rope and made the entire Tang Dynasty tremble with fear, with the possibility of collapse at any time.

Now I cannot escape the ruthless ravages of time and am heading towards the end of my life like the setting sun.

Ever since Li Yan came to Jie Li, perhaps because of the life-saving grace, Jie Li treated him very well. Not only did he boldly promote and reuse him, he also taught him carefully and often had heart-to-heart talks with him. Over the years, the two of them had almost become friends regardless of age difference.

Li Yan is well-informed and has a broad vision. He knows that the opposition between the grassland and the Central Plains is a natural law. Many times, the disasters and destruction of the Central Plains dynasties, as well as the changes of dynasties, are not caused by external enemies, but by their own reasons.

If a dynasty was so powerful that it had no rivals in the world, perhaps that would also be a disaster.

Therefore, Li Yan was not affected by his background or position, and he had a unilateral and deep hatred for the grassland people.

During the five years on the grassland, Li Yan maintained a peaceful state of mind. He made friends when he should, eliminated dissidents when he should, and climbed up when he should. It was as if he had traveled to another world and experienced another life.

Jie Li showed extraordinary enthusiasm for Li Yan's arrival and took Li Yan aside to chat with him for a while.

During this period of time, basically all the core members of the Turkic Khanate had arrived, and they were just waiting for the Right Wise King's forces, which were the farthest away.

After everyone was seated, Jie Li looked at the talented people under his command and said happily: "Once the wise kings have arrived, this Khan feels at ease."

"I invited you all here this time, on the one hand, to hold the Qiumuda Festival and make everyone happy, and on the other hand, because we have all been resting for half a year, and winter is approaching, which is the time for my grassland tribe to deploy troops on a large scale."

"Since we lost the war with the Tang Dynasty five years ago, many rebels within our ranks took the opportunity to rebel, causing us considerable trouble. Although after five years of suppressing the rebellion, most of the eastern grasslands have been re-incorporated into the Khanate."

"But in the western part of the desert, there are still people like Ashina Yun, Yi Nan, and Biheli who are helping the tyrant to commit atrocities."

When Jie Li said this, he paused for a moment and glanced at the expressions of everyone in the tent.

Of course, the main thing is to see Li Yan's attitude. The current Turkic Khanate is no longer the one where Jie Li's words are law. In addition, after the defeat in the battle with the Tang Dynasty five years ago, the vast grassland was shattered and Jie Li himself was almost captured.

Since then, Jie Li has learned his lesson and restrained himself a lot.

He is no longer as overbearing as before, and he knows that nothing can be accomplished against the will of the people, and a battle cannot be won without the support of everyone.

Therefore, whenever we face any major event, we always listen to everyone's opinions.

The Turkic upper class is now composed of two powers. On the one hand, Jie Li, as the Great Khan, occupies a high position of justice.
On the other side is Li Yan, the Right Wise King, who has made outstanding military achievements and has a high prestige after five years of restoring the old country. He has many students and old friends and is a powerful faction.

The experience of these five years had already told Jie Li a fact: any initiative supported by Li Yan could basically be implemented smoothly, and any war approved by Li Yan would never fail.

Therefore, Jie Li also hopes to get Li Yan’s support for the next plan.

Seeing that Li Yan's expression remained unchanged and he was still listening attentively, Jie Li felt relieved. He then glanced at the remaining bastards with dignity and said solemnly, "So, I plan to continue to use troops this winter."

"But we have two enemies now. One is the Ashina Yun tribe in the south, and the other is the Biheli tribe in the east. Everyone, please speak freely. Which direction should we attack? Please express your opinions."

As soon as Jie Li finished speaking, everyone fell silent and looked at Li Yan, who was the most capable and adept at fighting, waiting for his opinion.

After all, this is different from the past. Previous wars were all about wiping out weak tribes within the country, but this time, whether going west or south, you have to face a huge empire. To the south is the Tang Dynasty's Mo Nan Grand Marshal's Office, and behind it are the local Hebei Province and Hedong Province.

Generally speaking, Bi Heli is now also a subject of the Tang Dynasty. Once such a national war breaks out, it will not be over in a short time.

Seeing that no one spoke, Jie Li looked directly at Li Yan and asked gently: "Right Wise King, if this war really starts, you will be needed to lead the charge, so I want to hear your opinion. I believe everyone has the same opinion, so you can speak first." Li Yan bowed and expressed his respect for Jie Li first.

In this regard, Li Yan, who came from a good family, was always very careful. Unlike the local natives, when they were happy, they forgot about the hierarchy and even dared to call the Khan brothers and spoke without restraint.

However, Li Yan never forgets his identity as Jie Li Khan. This is why Li Yan is so powerful and prestigious in the Turkic Empire, and Jie Li does not doubt him.

Li Yan's actions even inspired other people to respect Jie Li very much.

Li Yan was able to do this not entirely out of a desire to avoid Jie Li's suspicion, but more out of a deliberate effort to maintain Jie Li's status as Khan.

Since they have acknowledged Jie Li's identity as the Great Khan, they can no longer ignore him. Doing so will only weaken his prestige, breed internal discord, lead to people's disunity, and seriously damage the overall strength of the Turks.

Of course, the protection of Jie Li is for the purpose of protecting this interest group itself, and it does not prevent his intention to replace it at any time. After all, if he quickly gets the internal affairs in order, he still needs to use the Turks to do big things.

"Khan, if we march south, our main target will be the Ashina Yun tribe, and if we march west, our main enemy will be the Biheli tribe."

"These two tribes are not difficult to deal with. Relying on the Khan's prestige, we can raise an army of justice to fight against the rebels. Once the army arrives, we will be able to wipe them out like a plow through a field."

Li Yan's words instantly excited Jie Li and the leaders of various tribes in the tent. This was the invincible Right Wise King. Five years of experience told them that as long as the Right Wise King wanted to attack a tribe, there would be no tribe that he could not conquer.

Seeing that everyone was in high spirits, Li Yan changed the subject: "However, these two are not a concern, but the Tang Dynasty behind them is not so easy to deal with."

"Five years ago, in the Battle of Dingxiang, the Khan personally led 300,000 cavalrymen southward, but was defeated by Li Shimin. Today, our Turkic people only have half of the territory they had in their heyday. And Li Shimin has the help of three powerful grassland tribes."

"As one side gains, the other loses, and the difference in strength between the two sides becomes even greater!"

"Moreover, we are now bordered by the Tang Dynasty to the west and south. Whether we fight the Ashina Yun tribe or the Bibi tribe, the Tang Dynasty will definitely send troops. At that time, we will be caught in a situation where we are attacked from both sides, and it is very likely that we will not even be able to keep our current territory."

As soon as Li Yan finished speaking, the scene that was just boiling with excitement suddenly became quiet. Even Jie Li frowned and became worried. Facing the Tang Dynasty, he was still looking at it with inertial thinking, thinking that he was the only one who would invade.

The Tang Dynasty can only passively defend itself. When will it be its turn to invade us?

After Li Yan's words, Jie Li finally realized that things were different now and the Tang Empire in the south was no longer a target that he could attack at any time.

If you really want to start a rebellion, it is useless to bring a small number of soldiers. If you bring all the troops, your own troops will be easily taken away.

The Tang Dynasty today is no longer the force that could only defend itself. The Ashina Yun tribe, Xueyantuo tribe, and the Xibi tribe are all grassland tribes that can attack the Turkic Khanate from the south or west at any time.

Even the Right Wise King, who had always been the most brave and warlike, felt that starting a war was not beneficial. Jie Li was also in a dilemma for a while. However, Jie Li's biggest wish now was no longer to conquer the Tang Dynasty, but to reunite the entire Yuan Dynasty and leave it to his descendants.

If they stopped unifying because of the fear of the Tang Dynasty, Jie Li would not be willing to accept it: "Then according to what you said, can we not move now?"

"That's not the case. In fact, there is another place we can fight. Moreover, if we win, our Turkic strength will more than double what it is now."

Seeing that everyone was frowning, Li Yan proposed a plan that he had been preparing for a long time, and finally revealed his true intention of sacrificing himself to sneak into the Turkic Empire: "Khan forgot that there are several small countries in the south, one of which once dragged down the former Sui Dynasty."

Jie Li was stunned for a moment, then blurted out, "You mean, Goguryeo?"

"Yes, that's it!"

Li Yan showed a fox-like smile on his face: "Although this place is small, it has squeezed in three countries."

"Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje were all true agricultural nations with large populations and numerous cities. They also borrowed some culture and resources from the Central Plains."

"It's just a small place, but the total population is more than two million, one-tenth of the Tang Dynasty, and comparable to the current population of the New Turkic Khanate."

"The most important thing is that Goguryeo is a bridgehead to the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty now has the Biheli and Yinan tribes in the west and the Ashina Yun tribe in the south. No matter which direction we attack, we cannot get past these tribes."

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(End of this chapter)