Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 412 Urgency
The Turks are indeed ambitious!
As a tribe in the northern border, they were able to know what happened in Luoyang, and even threatened Gao Guiyi by asking the Luoyang court to marry the princess. This shows that the Turkic leader in front of them had great ambitions.

You should know that when Luoyang changed, Gao Guiyi only learned about the news that the young emperor had moved to Guanzhong and Erzhu Rong had established a new emperor from a top-secret official letter from the Government Affairs Hall before he went on his mission. The Turks actually knew about it as well.

All this shows that the Turkic leader was also closely following the situation in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

What kind of grassland tribal leader needs to pay attention to the situation in the Northern Wei Dynasty?
Ashina Tuwu must have big plans!
Gao Guiyi wanted to return to Wuyuan City immediately to report to the county magistrate Dugu Xin and ask him to send troops to wipe out the Turks!
However, as a diplomat, Gao Guiyi still controlled his emotions and said to Ashina Tuwu:
"This is a major matter that a small official like me cannot make the decision on. Chief Ashina, please wait for Guiyi to return to Wuyuan before reporting to the emperor for a decision."

Ashina Tuwu immediately said:
"Don't worry, Your Excellency. I understand this. Ashina Tumen, you can accompany Your Excellency to go around these few days. Your marriage still depends on Your Excellency!"

Ashina Tuwu also spoke in fluent Luoyang dialect:

"As you command, Father Khan!"

Ashina Tuwu said:

"What father Khan! If the Great Wei is willing to marry the princess, Grandpa will have the Khanship! We need you to help Grandpa win the Khanship of our Turkic tribe!"

The Turks present burst into laughter, and Ashina Tuwu said:
"Your Excellency, look at my son. He once studied in Luoyang and is a first-class hero in our tribe. He will not humiliate the princess of your Great Wei!"

Gao Guiyi once again wrote down the name of Ashina Tumen. This young tribal heir was indeed brave and capable. The Turks had produced wise rulers for two consecutive generations, while the Rouran now had a young ruler. The prestige of the King of Gaoche plummeted after being beaten up by Su Ze. If this continued for a few more years, the Turks might indeed replace the two tribes and rise up.

Ashina Tuwu also asked the girls to offer fine wine, and after the banquet he presented jewels and silk.

Gao Guiyi was not actually drunk. After Ashina Tuwu left, he took out the property that Ashina Tuwu had given him. This does not mean that Gao Guiyi was greedy for money. He was just taking the property that Su Dingyu had recorded.

"This is colored glass from the Western Regions. It is produced in the far west and is fragile, so it is very precious. I saw it once when I went to the Western Regions with my father. Even the ruler of Gaochang treated it as a treasure and would not show it to others easily."

Su Dingyu said as he recorded:
"Envoy Gao, how could the Turks have such a treasure?"

"Tomorrow, keep an eye out to see if there are any merchants from the Western Regions. If the Turks can communicate with the Western Regions, then their rise will be faster than the Duke expected."

Su Dingyu nodded, and Gao Guiyi took out another batch of brocade.

"This brocade is obviously of the Southern Dynasty style and was very popular in Luoyang. Ashina Tuwu can speak the elegant Luoyang dialect and said that his son had studied in Luoyang. This should not be a lie. The Turks should have a caravan in Luoyang."

Gao Guiyi took out many treasures again. He had traveled all over the country with his father and was knowledgeable. He could basically tell the origins of the treasures. The more he looked, the more solemn his expression became.

The Turks went west to the Western Regions and south to Luoyang, and had exchanges with many tribes on the grassland. It turned out that they had great ambitions.

After registering the property, Gao Guiyi asked Su Dingyu to put it away.

The next day, accompanied by Ashina Tumen, the son of the Turkic leader, he toured around the Turkic royal tent.

Gao Guiyi had just received the gift and pretended to be very enthusiastic. Ashina Tumen despised him in his heart, but also pretended to be enthusiastic.

He did study in Luoyang, but the Turks were just a small, unknown tribe at the time and were not qualified to live in the Siyi Hall. He was also not qualified to study in the Imperial Academy. He just used his connections in Luoyang and learned some Chinese.

However, Ashina Tumen had also seen the corruption and greed in the Northern Wei court, and he soon regarded Gao Guiyi as one of the officials in Luoyang, and felt more confident about his proposal to marry the princess.

"This place was originally a place for us Turks to graze our horses. Last year, we began to collect some refugees from Woye Town. My father Khan allowed them to farm here. This is to prepare for the spring plowing."

Gao Guiyi saw that the condition of these farmers was not very good, but at least they all had clothes to wear, which was much better than the people of the Six Garrisons during the Six Garrisons Rebellion.

The grassland is not completely unsuitable for farming. The foot of the Jinshan Mountain is indeed a treasure land. The Jinshan Mountain not only produces minerals, but also blocks the cold wind from the north. There is also a stream flowing down the mountain.

The soil in the riverside area was acceptable, and the Turks probably thought it was a waste to use such land to grow grass, so they gathered some of the remnants of the Six Garrisons to farm.

However, although these farmers still use wooden plows, which are agricultural tools from ancient times in the Central Plains, they have been replaced by iron ones in the Central Plains.

It seems that although the Turks produced iron, as forging slaves of the Rouran, they still had to hand over a large portion of it, and the iron they intercepted could only be used to make weapons.

Gao Guiyi followed Ashina Tumen to a grassland, where Turkic women were picking wild vegetables, while men were harnessing farm tools to their horses and using them to turn the soil.

"This is also the Han Chinese way. They say that if you turn the soil in the spring, the grass will grow more luxuriantly in the summer."

Ashina Tumen looked at Gao Guiyi with greedy eyes and asked tentatively:

"I heard that when Rouran Khan married the princess of Wei, she brought hundreds of books as a dowry? And hundreds of craftsmen?" Gao Guiyi deliberately whetted Ashina Tumen's appetite and said:
"Back then, the Rouran Khan lived in Luoyang for three years in order to marry my Great Wei princess. Do you want to go to Yongle City as well, young leader?"

Ashina Tumen said quickly:
"That won't do. Can you think of a solution, Your Excellency?"

After saying this, Ashina Tumen's close followers immediately stuffed gold and silver into his pockets.

Gao Guiyi pretended to be greedy, shook the gold and silver in his hand, and then said with satisfaction:
"Everything depends on human effort. My father works in the government affairs hall of Su County and is in charge of confidential matters. I will write to my father after I return to Wuyuan City this time."

Hearing this, Ashina Tumen was even more delighted, and asked his followers to present more gold and silver. After a day of fun with Gao Guiyi, he was about to kowtow and become sworn brothers with him.

The other members of the delegation were also busy. The members of the delegation sent by Su Ze to Wuyuan City basically had entries on language talent, and they also collected a lot of information.

After Su Dingyu summarized the information, he reported to Gao Guiyi:

"Ashina Tuwu had two capable sons, Ashina Tumen and Ashina Shidianmi. Ashina Tumen was brave and resourceful, so he was the most important. The second son, Ashina Shidianmi, looked very much like his mother, so he was the most favored by Ashina Tuwu."

Gao Guiyi nodded. It has always been a custom on the grassland to love young children.

On the one hand, it is human nature to pamper younger sons. On the other hand, it is the competition between fathers and sons on the grassland. When the eldest son reaches adulthood, he may threaten his father's position. Therefore, nomadic peoples often let the eldest son take part of the tribe to separate and form a separate tribe after he reaches adulthood, and the final family business is handed over to the youngest son.

However, Ashina Tuwu was only in his thirties, when his prestige was at its highest, and Ashina Tumen and Ashina Shidianmi were just adults, so the issue of succession had not yet arisen.

"Have you ever had contact with that Ashina Shidianmi?"

"No, I heard that he was sent west to deal with Turkic affairs."

Gao Guiyi smiled and said:

"It seems that this Ashina Shidianmi may not be on the same page with his father and brother. They kept him in Jinshan because they were afraid that he might do something bad. If they were not on the same page, then it would be easy to deal with."

Gao Guiyi stayed in the Turkic tribe for a few more days and learned a lot of information before leading the delegation back to Wuyuan City.
-
In Wuyuan City, Dugu Xin, accompanied by Wang Sizheng, was inspecting the newly built Wuyuan city wall.

Su Tong (the craftsman who built Tongwan City), who was in charge of building the city, was dressed in craftsman's clothes. He held an awl in his hand and knocked on the city wall with it. If the awl pierced the wall, he would call the craftsmen in charge of that section, scold them, and then order them to redo the work.

Even Dugu Xin and Wei Xiaokuan felt that Su Tong was a bit too harsh.

Su Tong carefully checked every section of the city wall, and finally said to Dugu Xin after making sure everything was correct:
"Dugu County Magistrate, Wuyuan City has been built."

"Doctor Su has worked hard and made great contributions. This prefect will ask the county lord for your credit!"

Su Tong said:
"The county governor doesn't need to ask for credit for me. Just conquer more territory and build a city for me!"

Dugu Xin and Wei Xiaokuan were both a little overwhelmed; this was the first time they had heard such a request.

Dugu Xin could only say:
"The northern border is vast, and there is a lot of place where Doctor Su did things."

Returning to the newly built prefectural governor's mansion, Dugu Xin said to Wei Xiaokuan:
“Has all the food been stored?”

"I personally supervised the storage of grain. This is the third batch of grain delivered this month. County Governor, are we going to fight a war?"

Dugu Xin nodded and said:
"I heard that Erzhu Rong in Luoyang has already returned to Jinyang and is just waiting for Su Jie to come back from his mission to Pingcheng. If Xianyu Ahu understands, it will be fine. If he doesn't, the Duke will raise an army to attack."

Wei Xiaokuan asked in confusion:

"Why are you so anxious? This is not unlike the Duke's character. Since entering Guanzhong, the Duke has always been cautious and cautious, making plans before taking action. Why is he so anxious when facing Erzhu Rong?"

Dugu Xin once passed by Xiurongchuan. He said to Wei Xiaokuan:
"The Duke of the County attaches great importance to Erzhu Rong. He wants to take Hengzhou and Youzhou as chess pieces to compete with Erzhu Rong for the dragon."

There was no other way. Guanzhong was too far away from Hebei. Su Ze could only go around in such a big circle before he could participate in the fight for Hebei.

Otherwise, if Erzhu Rong was really allowed to annex Ge Rong, the disadvantage of competing with Guanzhong for supremacy in the entire Central Plains would be too great.

As expected, just after the two men finished their discussion, they received news from Yongle City. Su Zelian was unwilling to wait for the envoys to return and was preparing to attack Hengzhou after the spring.

(End of this chapter)