The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 134: Isn’t it desirable to have such a beautiful country?

After the war, the grasslands of the Seven Rivers Basin were filled with a strong smell of blood and burnt food.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the ruins, dyeing the scorched earth dark red.

Almost all the felt tents of the Basai cadre tribe collapsed, leaving only a few charred wooden stakes standing alone, like silent tombstones.

Thick smoke billowed from the burning tent and drifted away in the wind, filling the air with the pungent smell of burning and blood.

The surrendered men knelt on the ground like dogs, their hands tightly tied with rough hemp ropes, their heads lowered, their faces full of fear and humiliation.

Their eyes were empty, as if they had not yet woken up from the nightmare of war.

It was as if he was still in fear of the white-armored devil.

The fate of women is even more tragic.

They were roughly dragged into the tent which had not yet completely collapsed. Their screams of terror came one after another, but were quickly drowned out by the men's hideous grins.

A young woman struggled desperately, but a soldier tied her hands with a lasso and dragged her deeper into the tent.

Her cries were heartbreaking: "Let me go, please, let me go!"

"My husband is watching over there!"

However, the soldier could not understand what she was saying at all. As they could not communicate in the same language, the only responses she received were sneers and the sound of tearing coming from inside the tent.

Li Xiao rode his warhorse and walked slowly through the ruined tribe.

His white armor had long been stained dark red by blood, and the knife and arrow marks on the armor silently told of the brutality of the battle.

The grass under my feet was also soaked with blood, and every step left dark red mud.

Facing this devastated tribe, his heart was like a stagnant pool, without any ripples.

He saw an old herdsman kneeling on the charred grass, his hands clasped together, his head looking up at the sky, muttering incomprehensible prayers, but was kicked to the ground by a soldier.

He saw a little girl huddled beside a collapsed tent, holding a dead lamb tightly in her arms, her eyes full of fear and confusion.

He saw a young woman being dragged into the tent. Her cries were heart-wrenching, but were quickly drowned out by the soldiers' hideous laughter.

These scenes seemed to have nothing to do with him.

There was only one cold word in his heart: "This is war, this is the fate of the weak."

The red clouds were as red as blood, and his figure was stretched out in the sunset, as if it had merged with the scorched earth, appearing a little lonely.

In the distance, Li Dashan was leading his soldiers to count the spoils of war. Gold, silver, copper coins, dinars, furs, and grain were piled up into small hills.

In the distance, a large number of cattle and sheep were slowly being gathered.

Seeing Li Xiao coming, Li Dashan stepped forward to ask for instructions.

"Commander-in-Chief, what shall we do with the prisoners?"

Li Xiao retracted his thoughts and said coldly: "Take away the useful ones and dispose of the useless ones."

This tribe called Basaigan was on Xiao Simo's list of tribes that must be destroyed.

He was also worried that the tribe would escape before the army arrived, so he specifically asked Li Xiao to lead people to eliminate them in advance.

Their fate has long been determined.

Li Dashan nodded and left. Soon, a few short screams were heard in the distance, and then silence returned.

Li Xiao didn't look back. He knew that was the sound of the execution of the wounded, old, weak, and prisoners of war who could not be taken away.

This is what war is like, the value of life is simplified to "useful" or "useless".

The weak don’t even have the right to choose.

As the screams disappeared, Li Xiao rode his horse towards the edge of the tribe, where there was a grassland that had not yet been affected by the war.

Facing the blood-stained sky, he walked to a hill and stopped, suddenly feeling an indescribable emotion in his heart.
In later generations, due to excessive development and destruction by human activities, most of the land in the Seven Rivers Basin has become a barren desert and is no longer suitable for human survival.

However, in this day and age, this land of 400,000 square kilometers, nourished by seven major rivers, is one of the most fertile paradises on the planet.

The fertile soil breeds endless vitality, and the abundant water and grass make it look like a natural pasture.

The Seven Rivers Valley in the twilight is breathtakingly beautiful.

The setting sun dyed the long river into molten gold. The winding river carried the flowing clouds and rushed towards the sky, interweaving with the lonely smoke on the horizon, just like the wild cursive calligraphy written by the sky.

Herds of wild horses galloped among the gilded grass waves, startling egrets that flew like snowflakes.

However, this beautiful scene formed a sharp contrast with the ruins of war behind Li Xiao. He stood between the two, as if he had become the dividing line between heaven and hell.

The cold wind whistled, lifting Li Xiao's dark red robe, making a rustling sound.

He stared into the distance and suddenly said calmly, "Where is that sea at the end of the sky?"

Behind him, Dahu, Erhu and Wei Xuan stood side by side, silent.

A few dozen feet further back, Tietou and other personal guards followed quietly, and no one dared to disturb them.

Dahu and Erhu looked at each other, their eyes full of confusion.

Although they were brave and good at fighting, they knew little about this strange land, let alone the mysterious sea on the horizon.

Wei Xuan frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "That should be Yi Bohai, which the locals call Kashgarhai."

He paused, his gaze cast into the distance: "During the Han Dynasty, the Protector General of the Western Regions, Chen Tang, led an expedition to Kangju and killed Zhizhi Chanyu. This is where it was."

"And they left a stone inscription here: 'Anyone who openly offends the mighty Han will be punished, even though he is far away.'"

"I just don't know if the stone carving is still there."

Among the three, only Wei Xuan had some talent and had read some history books.

Although it was their first time to the Qihe Grassland, when Wei Xuan looked at the endless sea in the horizon, he immediately thought of the legendary Yi Bo Sea.

That area was once incorporated into the Chinese territory by the Western Regions Protectorate of the Han Dynasty.

Da Hu and Er Hu looked at each other in surprise. It was the first time they knew about such a legend.

That charming ancestor had already made an expedition here during the Han Dynasty?
Left behind such a heroic oath.

Upon hearing this, Li Xiao nodded slightly, with a faint smile on his lips.

He looked out at the sea at the horizon, with a thousand thoughts in his mind.

That sea was the Lake Balkhash in later generations, and was called the Yi Bo Sea during the Han and Tang Dynasties.

It is not only a geographical boundary, but also a witness to history.

Witnessed the glory and humiliation of China.

"Then what about beyond the sea at the end of the world?"

"What place is it again?"

Li Xiao's voice sounded faintly, as if he was talking to himself, or as if he was asking questions to the heaven and earth.

With his back to the three people, he looked into the distance at the endless vast land, as if he had already seen the place beyond the Yi Bo Sea.

There, it seemed as if there was a sun and moon battle flag calling for Li Xiao's cavalry.

Dahu and Erhu fell silent again, and their eyes turned to Wei Xuan at the same time.

Wei Xuan shook his head slightly, a look of slight discouragement and hope for the distant future, and sighed in a low voice: "I have never been to such a far place."

Li Xiao turned his head slightly and looked at the three young faces behind him.

His gaze was deep and firm, and his voice seemed to penetrate the heavens, the earth, and the future.

"None of us have ever been there."

"But we still have a long life ahead of us."

"One day, sooner or later, I will lead you across the sea at the end of the world, heading west, and fighting to the ends of the earth."

As he spoke, Li Xiao slowly turned around and looked back at the distant land.

As if muttering to himself: "Go and have a look~"

“The scenery at the end of the sky!”

The cold wind was still howling, blowing their robes, but it could not blow away the blood in their hearts.

Dahu, Erhu and Wei Xuan stood quietly behind Li Xiao, their robes rustling in the wind, their eyes following Li Xiao's back and looking into the distance.

The Yi Bo Sea on the horizon shone with golden waves in the setting sun, as if calling them, calling this iron cavalry to conquer the farther world.

The cold wind still blows, the sun gradually sets, and the cavalry on the grassland gradually moves away.
Their backs were stretched out in the setting sun, as if they had merged into one with the vast land.

The Yi Bo Sea on the horizon was still calm, reflecting the afterglow of the setting sun, as if waiting for their arrival.

Li Xiao's gaze had already crossed the sea and reached the distant world.

"This beautiful land makes people yearn for it, doesn't it?"

……

This night is destined to be a restless one for the selection cadres.

After the victory, the Jinzhou Army slaughtered cattle and sheep and ate all the food that the Basaigan herdsmen usually didn't want to eat.

Unfortunately, military regulations prohibited drinking during the war, which made many soldiers regretful.

Therefore, he could only fill the emptiness in his heart with women who were selected as cadres.

After eating and drinking, the laughter of the Jinzhou men and the shouts of the women being fucked could be heard again on the grassland.

Under this starry sky, it spread far away.

The moon was high in the sky. Li Xiao listened to Li Dashan and others report their respective casualties, summarize the gains of the battle, and discuss tomorrow's actions.

He returned to his own tent.

On the way back, I saw a man tied up with chains.

His hair was disheveled, his eyes were ferocious, and he had a serious wound on his chest, apparently stabbed through by a hook-and-sickle spear.

But even so, he still looked at Li Xiao fiercely.

"Who is he?"

Li Xiao stopped and suddenly asked.

Hutu, who was following behind him, immediately bowed and said, "Master, this is Jijin and Tiar from the Basai cadre tribe."

"You gave me instructions to keep an eye on him and not let him die for the time being."

Li Xiao suddenly realized that it was this guy.

Then he lowered his head, looked down at him condescendingly and said, "I heard you are very brave?"

"You even dare to offend Master Xiao."

"To be honest, I admire your courage, but I kind of despise your stupidity."

Then, he smiled coldly and shook his head.

"We Han people have a saying: Don't bully the young and poor."

"There's also a saying that goes, to eliminate evil, you must remove its roots."

"It's a pity, barbarians are barbarians. You don't understand these principles."

After saying that, Li Xiao stopped paying attention to this guy and prepared to take him to a place tomorrow.

After that, this guy is useless. It is enough to offer his head to Xiao Simo.

He walked into his tent and took off the cotton armor he had been wearing all day.

The originally grayish-white cotton armor had completely turned blood red after the baptism of this war.

Even if you clean it later, it will be difficult to completely clean the blood stains.

It will still leave a dark red mark on it, becoming Li Xiao's medal of honor in the battle.

While taking off his cotton armor, he glanced at the two women huddled in the corner.

He frowned slightly and asked, "What are the identities of these two women?"

Hutu, who had been waiting outside the tent for instructions, said quickly, "Master, the older one is Hedun, who is being selected as a cadre."

In Turkic, Hedun means queen, princess, and legal wife. Here it means the mistress of the Basaigan tribe and the legal wife of Tiyar.

"The younger one is Tiare's daughter."

Hearing this, Li Xiao nodded slightly.

He was said to be old, but in reality he was only about twenty years old, and was certainly not Tiar's first Hedun.

As for the younger one, about sixteen or seventeen years old, she is Tiar's daughter.

Because of their status, both of them take good care of themselves on a daily basis.

In terms of appearance, she is definitely no match for beauties like Xiao Yanyan and Princess Shulu.

But compared with ordinary people, it is considered to be above average.

After all, we are in the midst of a war, and Li Xiao is not that picky.

As for the ordinary soldiers outside, they wouldn't care about a woman who was even slightly pretty, let alone one who was ugly.

The reason is that what they need is not just a woman, but a way to vent the suppressed emotions in their hearts.

The battlefield is a melting pot of life and death, and the sense of crisis of killing and being killed always makes them nervous. After experiencing so many wars, Li Xiao has gradually adapted to this kind of life.

After taking off his armor, he strode towards the two women.

"No no no~"

"Go away, don't come over here."

When Li Xiao came in just now, his cotton armor was covered in blood and the original color could no longer be seen.

In the eyes of the two women, he was a complete devil.

Faced with Li Xiao's cold eyes, both of them were very panicked and kept backing away.

However, when Li Xiao was less than one meter away from the two women, the two women, who were originally as frightened as little white rabbits, suddenly jumped up at the same time.

Tiar's daughter wanted to go forward and hug Li Xiao, but Tiar's Hedun was even more ruthless.

A dagger hidden from somewhere actually escaped the body search of Li Xiao's personal guards.

At this time, she had already held it in her hand, staring at Li Xiao with vicious eyes, and suddenly stabbed at him.

"go to hell!"

"demon!"

Thinking of her child's tragic death, the woman's eyes were filled with tears.

He has already disregarded life and death, and the only thing he wants to do now is to drag the demon in front of him to death together.

Judging from the attitude of the surrounding soldiers towards him, you can tell that this person must be a high-ranking official in the Dongdu Army.

Very high status.

To die together with him would be considered as revenge for one's own child.

But unfortunately, after traveling through time, Li Xiao's physique seemed to have been strengthened, and after experiencing so many wars, his reaction speed also increased a lot.

Although the two women's movements were sudden, their speed seemed too slow to Li Xiao.

He raised his foot and kicked the young girl hard.

At the same time, he reached out and easily grasped the other woman's wrist.

Just apply a little force and you can hear the sound of bones rubbing against each other.

"Ahhh~"

With the woman's scream, the dagger in her hand fell to the ground.

Then, Li Xiao raised his other hand and slapped the woman in the face.

"Crack~"

The woman was knocked out and fainted on the ground, her cheeks instantly becoming red and swollen.

An assassination attempt was easily averted by Li Xiao.

At this time, Hutu and others outside the tent also heard the noise and hurried in to check.

"Master~"

"Captain~"

The guards in white armor drew their swords, looking murderous.

Li Xiao simply glanced at them and shouted in a low voice, "Get out."

Then he added, "Who searched these two barbarian women? Go and receive fifty lashes."

Seeing the situation inside the tent, the guards didn't know what was going on and realized that they were in trouble.

They all bowed their heads: "As you command."

Everyone slowly retreated.

Then, Tietou received the order.

He Dun, who was selected as a cadre, cannot stay.

After losing her child, all that was left in her heart was hatred.

Although this kind of woman may not necessarily cause much trouble, she is a hidden danger after all.

Li Xiao always keeps in mind the principle of cutting the grass at its roots.

Any risk must be nipped in the bud.

……

About 40 miles southeast of Basai Ganzuo, there is a nomadic tribe called Duoluochubanbu.

Shijin's name was Dorotarhan.

Late at night, Talhan, who was already fast asleep, was woken up by his guards.

"Shijin, the Basai cadres were killed by the Dongdu army."

Talhan was woken up in the middle of the night and was already a little angry, but when he heard these words, it was as if a bucket of cold water was poured on him.

Cold from head to toe.

"What did you say?"

"The selection cadres were eliminated?"

"When? Who did it?"

The wind is cool on the grassland at night.

The wind blew the round robe draped over Tarhan's body, revealing his muscular chest.

The cold wind was biting, but it was far less than the chill in Talhan's heart.

He had realized something.

Sure enough, the next second I heard the guard say:
"Dongdu Army!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Talhan took a deep breath, and a trace of fear and dread flashed across his face.

I even felt a little relieved.

He secretly clenched his fists, then asked nervously, "Hasn't the tribe of the selected cadres decided to migrate to the vicinity of the royal court?"

"Why did this misfortune happen again?"

"And didn't Xiao Simo's army just leave Yinshan? Why are they moving so fast?"

Faced with these problems, the guards have no idea.

So he said, "Several herders from the Basaigan tribe have escaped and have just come to our tribe for help. They are now in the main tent."

Hearing this, Talhan no longer hesitated and hurriedly walked towards his tent with his guards.

The starry sky on the grassland is very bright, and there is a certain visibility even at night. What's more, there are several guards holding torches and standing on both sides outside the tent.

Among them, there were several herdsmen from the Basai cadre tribe, squatting on the ground, looking frightened.

"Tell me, what's going on?"

"How many people from the Dongdu Army have arrived?"

"Did Xiao Simo come here in person?"

As soon as Talhan arrived, he asked several questions in succession.

Several herdsmen looked at each other in bewilderment, and one even seemed to be frightened silly.

He kept muttering "White devil, white devil~".

It seemed as if that group of cavalrymen in white armor, brave and invincible, had become his lingering nightmare.

"White Devil?"

"What is that?" Talhan wondered.

At this time, a herdsman replied tremblingly: "It's a group of cavalry wearing white armor."

"They were very scary."

"It's very fast and invulnerable, just like a devil."

"Many of our relatives died at their hands."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

As if recalling the horrific scene, several herdsmen began to cry softly.

"Cavalry wearing white armor?" Talhan frowned.

He said in a heavy tone, "How many of them are there?"

"A lot, a lot, several thousand people~"

"No, tens of thousands of people."

"They are like snowballs rolling down a mountain, one after another, with no end in sight."

Listening to the conversation between these herdsmen, Talhan's frown deepened.

These people were obviously frightened and started talking nonsense.

You can't hear a word of truth from his mouth.

The only useful information was that a cavalry wearing white armor appeared in the Dongdu army.

The number is unknown, but it is very significant.

"We must send a message to the royal court as soon as possible." Talhan said secretly in his heart.

Let his confidant set out early tomorrow morning to deliver the message to the royal court.

Then, after the herdsmen had these selected cadres settled down, they returned to their tents.

At this time, there was a woman lying in the tent.

She has an outstanding appearance, her skin is as white as snow, and her eyes are particularly moving, with a hint of light blue, like a deep lake.

He looked lazy, hiding his naked body in the fur blanket, with only one pale arm exposed outside.

Seeing Tarhan walking into the tent with a sad face, she asked in her charming voice, "Shijin, what happened?"

Talhan sat down beside the bed, looking worried. He said in a heavy voice, "The cadres from the selection process were eliminated."

"It was done by the Dongdu Army."

Hearing this, the woman was also instantly surprised.

"what?"

"How come the Dongdu Army arrived so quickly?"

Then, as if she had thought of something, she slowly relaxed, lay down on the bed, and laughed, "It has nothing to do with us."

"Haven't we already 'taken refuge' with King Xiao?"

"My 'head' has now been sent to the Eastern Capital."

"Cuckoo~"

As she was talking, the woman suddenly laughed.

"It's a pity that King Xiao seems to look down on you."

"Otherwise, you would have been the consort of the Xiao family by now."

"When King Xiao ascends the throne in the future, you will also be able to rise to prominence."

Hearing the woman's teasing, Talhan looked very unhappy.

But the woman was of extraordinary status and so beautiful that he couldn't stop himself.

So, even though he was unhappy, he couldn't bear to scold the woman.

He just shook his head slightly, his eyes firm as he said, "My loyalty to Your Majesty is evident to all."

"I will never betray Your Majesty."

"Even if Xiao Simo is really willing to marry the Princess of Chu to me, I will definitely tie her up and send her to the royal court immediately."

Hearing this, the woman giggled again: "Well, now it's just the two of us here, no need to be so cautious."

"Nothing."

"Xiao Simo's army has arrived at Qihe. I'm afraid I won't be able to show up during this period of time."

Then he looked at Talhan and said, "You should pay more attention to it when the time comes."

"It would be best if, at the critical moment of the war, we could mobilize the other tribes of the Seven Rivers and strike a fatal blow to the Dongdu Army from behind."

"In this way, great success can be achieved."

"When the time comes, His Majesty Jurghan will definitely make use of you."

"Maybe you'll even be appointed as the governor of the Eastern Capital."

(End of this chapter)