Stepping into the front yard, four beautiful orchids guarding the door respectfully saluted the returning Superintendent Li.

Two of them were each holding a child.

"rise."

Superintendent Li and his wife walked through the courtyard gate together, and the four Hu Ji quickly followed.

Several people disappeared into the inner courtyard.

——

Compared with the slight chill in Jiuyuan, Tuoba Xianbei, who was far away in Youzhou and had already begun his return trip, felt a bit of chill that penetrated his bones.

After all, there are Yinshan Mountains in Jiuyuan that block the northwest wind on the grassland and provide inexhaustible coal.

A small coal stove, with some charcoal added to it, can make a felt tent or even a room as warm as spring.

It not only warms the body, but also warms the heart.

There is also the woolen material that although it is an unqualified and defective product produced by the woolen spinning workshop, it can still be wrapped around the body to resist the white disaster.

The most important thing is to have sufficient food reserves.

Enough to ensure that no one will starve to death in the coming winter.

For most of the barbarian people on the grassland, what else do they want if they can live such a life?

Far to the north of Youzhou, the Xianbei people, who are still looking for the future of their tribe, are taking a break on their way back north to their tribe.

Almost everyone's faces were filled with excitement, and the smiles on their faces had never disappeared since they left Youzhou.

Under the wise leadership of Suotou Tuoba, various Xianbei tribes drove cattle, horses, sheep and other livestock to trade with the Wei people, and they returned with a full load.

It seems that this winter, many fewer people will die in the clan.

"Lord Tuoba is wise!"

"Lord Tuoba is the master of heroes, and I should be honored as the Great Xianbei!"

…

However, among these congratulations, some people looked worried.

Tuoba Desert Khan, who came from the dusty Changchuan River where Suotou lived, didn't have time to take a breath, so he went to see Tuoba Liwei:

"Sir, didn't we say we were going to Pingcheng? Why did we trade with the Wei people in Baitan instead?"

Two years ago, he was ordered to go to Nanxia to investigate the reality of Nanxia.

He once wandered around the passes in Youzhou and Bingzhou, and even had a conversation with a nobleman of the Han Dynasty in Pingcheng and received his advice.

After the conversation with that noble man, I saw that winter was approaching on the grassland, and there were Dou Suhou, Dou Huiti and others from the Luhui tribe on the way, who had always been unkind to me.

Therefore, Tuoba Desert Khan could not stay for long, so he could only rush back to the tribe and report to his master Tuoba Liwei.

After listening to his report, Tuoba Liwei had already made up his mind to choose between Han and Wei to be friendly with Han.

It was for this purpose that a large number of livestock were driven south this time.

If we do it well, we might even be able to establish trading channels with Han.

Unexpectedly, the adults set out from Changchuan and did not go to the southwest, but instead went to the southeast.

Why is this different from what was promised?

What worries Tuoba Desert Khan even more is that he heard that the tribesmen led by the Lord encountered a war between the Wei army and the pro-Han tribes as soon as they arrived at the Youzhou Pass.

Some people also say that the so-called pro-Han tribes are actually disguised by the Han army.

But no matter what, the Xianbei tribes who obeyed the Lord appeared in a coincidental place at such a coincidental time, and then happened to trade with the Wei people.

It's hard not to think about it.

If Han gets misunderstood, it will be troublesome.

So after hearing the news, Tuoba Desert Khan, who originally stayed in Changchuan, could no longer sit still.

He came in the name of welcoming the Lord, but in fact he was anxious to know the truth of the matter.

"Sir, now that Han is strong and Wei is weak, would it be unconscionable for us not to be close to Han but to be close to Wei? If this offends Han, I'm afraid it will be detrimental to our tribe."

Although Suo Tou brought many tribes attached to them, most of them were centered in Changchuan and lived in the north of the desert, trying not to get close to the southern Xia border areas.

But in the past few years, most of the tribes south of Changchuan have defected to the Han State and have not interacted with the Wei State.

Even under the instigation of the Han State, they repeatedly harassed the frontier fortress of Youzhou of the Wei State.

So some news naturally reached the ears of the Xianbei people in the north of the desert.

Although the current goal of the Han people is Wei State Youzhou, they are focused on heading east and have no intention of heading north deep into the desert.

But once they capture Youzhou, everything from the west to the east, and from Liangzhou to Youzhou, will be under their jurisdiction.

At that time, if the Xianbei tribe in the north of the desert wanted to go south, they would have to contact the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, in the view of Tuoba Desert Khan, it was extremely unwise to offend the Han Kingdom at this time.

"Why did the eldest prince say this?"

Tuoba Liwei didn't speak, but a man in black standing next to Tuoba Liwei spoke:

"It is precisely because letting Han rule the east and west will be detrimental to our great Xianbei, so we must help Wei to prevent it from losing Youzhou!"

The man in black is the deacon holding the head, which is equivalent to the state minister of Southern Xia, or the prime minister.

The Tuoba branch, after moving south from the far north to Monan, has been nomadic in the Shanggu and Yunzhong areas.

Later, he was attacked by Putou, Xianbei in the west, and his tribe was scattered. Tuoba was weak and had no choice but to seek refuge with Dou Bin, the leader of Wuluhui tribe.

Then the two tribes formed an alliance and went to attack Xianbei in the west. Unexpectedly, they were defeated again.

At the critical moment, Tuoba Liwei gave his horse to Dou Bin, and Dou Bin was able to escape.

Dou Bin fled back to his tribe, and after learning about Tuoba Liwei's identity, in order to repay his help, he not only married his daughter to him, but even prepared to give him half of the country as a gift.

If it had been anyone else, I wouldn't have agreed long ago.

However, Tuoba Liwei rejected Dou Bin's move to "divide half of the country" and only wanted to live in Changchuan in the north to find a place for his tribe to settle down.

Of course Dou Bin agreed.

Unexpectedly, this tribe, which initially demanded people for a place to stay, would grow into the largest tribe in Monan more than ten years later, with more than 100,000 string masters.

In the process of Tuoba Liwei's promotion of morality and attracting many tribes to seek refuge, the black-clad deacon of the tribe in front of him made a great contribution.

Even when Tuoba Liwei refused to accept Dou Bin's proposal to "divide half of the country" and moved his clan to Beichuan, it was the result of the tribal deacon's hard persuasion.

It can be said that without the tribal deacons, there would be no Suotou today.

Tuoba Desert Khan couldn't help but be startled when he saw the tribal deacon speaking:

"What does the deacon mean by this?"

He looked at the adult sitting at the main seat who still didn't speak, and then looked at the black-clothed deacon, and he suddenly came to his senses:

That's right, things that have been clearly discussed before, if there is no persuasion from the deacon, why would your Excellency change your mind midway?

But I saw a faint smile on the face of the black-clothed deacon:

"As the saying goes, when two tigers fight, one of them will be injured; it is also said that when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman will gain. In the Southern Xia, the Han and the Wei were fighting. The Han wanted to destroy the Wei and had no time to go north. This is a good opportunity for our great Xianbei to recuperate and grow stronger.

ah."

"Looking at what the Han Dynasty did to the Jiuyuan lands in Liangzhou, all the grassland tribes were either plundered and enslaved or slaughtered. If they could free their hands, I, the great Xianbei, would probably never have peace."

"But Wei is not like that. If he wants to resist the Han, he will not hesitate to give up great benefits to me, the great Xianbei, just to prevent the Han from advancing eastward."

"The Han is strong and the Wei is weak. Isn't it wonderful that we help the Wei and suppress the Han, taking advantage of the situation in the middle?"

After hearing what the black-robed deacon said, Tuoba Desert Khan wanted to refute, but he didn't know where to start.

Looking at the appearance of the adults and the black-clothed deacon, I don’t know if they changed their minds temporarily or if they had already made a decision.

He opened his mouth, but in the end he couldn't ask. He just asked reluctantly:

"The State of Wei gave us great benefits to Xianbei, but we don't know what great benefits it is?"

This time, Tuoba Liwei finally spoke, even impatiently: "Liaodong."

"Liaodong?"

"The Wei people promised us to cede Liaodong to us as compensation for joining forces to fight against the Han."

"What?!" Tuoba Desert Khan was shocked, "But Liaodong, I heard that the Liaodong area is not taking orders from Wei State now."

"I know," Tuoba Li nodded slightly, "so it gives us a reason to unify Xianbei. Only by reunifying Xianbei can we all move south together, and then urge the Wei people to march eastward from Youzhou to help us win

Liaodong."

"What if the Wei people regret it?"

"Haha," the black-clothed deacon chuckled, whether it was a sneer or a sneer, "Then how can the eldest prince be sure that if we help the Han to destroy the Wei, we will not be attacked by the Han?"

"In other words, Western Xianbei, Central Xianbei, especially Ke Bineng's people, all perished at the hands of the Han people. Why should they make exceptions for us?"
Chapter completed!