On this day, Zhu Li and his companions were walking among the bare rocks and eroded rocks when a scout who was responsible for detecting the movements of the Khitans suddenly came on horseback to report that the Khitans several miles away seemed to have suddenly started fighting with another group of people, and the battle was extremely brutal.
Zhu Li was overjoyed when he heard this, but then his face became serious and he asked, "Who are the people fighting against the Khitans? Did you see clearly which direction they came from?"
Upon hearing this, the scout lowered his head and thought for a moment. He stuck out his tongue and licked his cracked lips before continuing, "General, I don't know who the person is, but I can be sure that he is coming from the northwest."
"In the northwest direction, could it be the Uighurs?" Zhu Li frowned upon hearing this.
According to the information Guo Qizuo gave him, the most numerous herdsmen wandering around the Great Gobi Desert are the Uighurs. It can also be said that the area around the Great Gobi Desert is an uncrowned kingdom of the Uighurs.
Zhu Li's guess was heard by the scout, so he quickly explained: "General, those people are definitely not Uighurs. Most of the subordinates are familiar with the appearance of Uighurs, but these people look a little peculiar."
"Special?" Zhu Li raised her head and looked at him in confusion.
The scout did not dare to neglect and continued quickly: "Yes, General, most of these aliens have red hair and green eyes, and some of them have black hair and black eyes. If you ignore their skin color, they are exactly the same as us Tang people."
There are aliens with red hair and green eyes, and among them there are also people with black hair and black eyes. Zhu Li has only heard Guo Qizuo mention one alien race that fits this description, and that is the Gekun people.
The Gekun tribe first appeared in history books during the Qin Dynasty. They were destroyed once by the Huns, and the name Gekun was no longer mentioned.
By the end of the Tang Dynasty, most people in the Central Plains called them the Xiagas or the Kyrgyzs.
When he heard that they were Gekun people, Zhu Li couldn't help but become interested, and waved his hand and said, "Let's go over and take a look."
Since it was Zhu Li's decision, the guards obeyed him without hesitation. They immediately rode their horses towards the place several miles away where the Khitans and the Gekun people were fighting.
As the distance got closer, the battle situation became clearer.
The Khitans wasted two or three months in the Gobi Desert. Their ability in finding water and food might not be as good as Zhu Li and others. They suffered from thirst and hunger. With such a mental state, how could they possibly be a match for the Gekun people? What's more, this was an elite Gekun army with a complete camel caravan.
Thousands of people were killed on the spot by the Gekun people, and thousands more, including Yanmujin and Yuelixin, were captured.
Seeing Zhu Li coming from afar, the two girls looked at him viciously, then lowered their heads, not knowing what they were thinking.
The appearance of Zhu Li and his group also surprised the Gekun people. However, after they looked at them, several Gekun people with black hair and black eyes, along with several Gekun warriors with red hair and green eyes, walked up to them with a puzzled look on their faces.
One of the Gekun people walked straight out of the crowd and headed towards Zhu Li.
Zhu Li dismounted and waved to signal the other guards not to follow him. He also walked towards the Gekun man alone. When he was about three or four steps away, the Gekun man with black hair and black pupils spoke fluent Chinese and bowed, "Excuse me, are you from the Tang army?"
Zhu Li did not dare to neglect it and immediately bowed and said:
Exactly. "
"Ah, hahaha, you are Tang Army, haha, you are indeed Tang Army. We, we are family, family." Upon hearing that Zhu Li is indeed Tang Army, and that the attire of Zhu Li and others is all in the Tang Army style, the visitor no longer has any doubts and laughs happily.
Zhu Li couldn't help but smile. He had heard Guo Qizuo introduce the Gekun tribe, which was one of the few ethnic groups in the north that was extremely close to the Tang court.
This is a semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral nation.
During the Han Dynasty, the country established by Gekun was conquered by the Xiongnu Khan Maodun. When Emperor Wu of Han attacked the Xiongnu from afar, the famous general Li Ling was defeated and surrendered. He was then named the Right King by the Xiongnu and was ordered to manage the Gekun tribe at that time.
Li Ling was a hero. While in the Xiongnu, he missed his homeland. Most of the local Gekun people were influenced by Li Ling and also loyal to the Han Dynasty. Later, the Gekun clan, unable to bear the oppression of the Xiongnu, joined forces with the Dingling clan at that time to resist the rule of the Xiongnu.
At that time, Emperor Wu of Han was in power and was determined to launch a northern expedition. The Han Dynasty eventually defeated the Xiongnu, the Gekun clan, and the descendants of Li Ling, and only then did they get rid of the Xiongnu's rule.
During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, Gekun Chanyu came to the court and claimed to be a descendant of Li Ling. He also acknowledged Emperor Taizong as his relative, which became a beautiful story. In their words, the Tang Dynasty was their brother country. They and the royal family of the Tang Dynasty originated from a common ancestor, Li Ling, so how could they not be friendly and help each other.
So when he heard Zhu Li admit that he was a member of the Tang army, this black-haired and black-eyed Gekun man was so happy.
You may be very unfamiliar with Li Ling, but when it comes to his grandfather Li Guang, you should be familiar with him. Yes, Li Ling is Li Guang’s grandson.
Li Ling surrendered to the Huns and did leave behind many descendants. The clan of Li Mu, the Grand Tutor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, was one of them. Among the Gekun clan, those Gekun people with black hair and black eyes were also descendants of Li Ling.
"Hello, young general of the Tang Dynasty, my name is Li Han. I am the emperor of the Li family of the Tang Dynasty and I have a common ancestor." Li Han was very warm and friendly. As he spoke, he took two steps forward to Zhu Li's side and put his arm around Zhu Li's shoulders.
Li Han had no scruples, so Zhu Li naturally couldn't lose face. Hearing this, he said calmly, "Haha, it turns out to be Brother Li. I am honored to meet you today. I, Zhu Li, am very honored. But the two Khitan women were the bandit leaders that I was chasing, and now they have been captured by you, brother. I don't know what to do."
Zhu Li was so frank because he looked at the person. History has proven that Gekun, and later Xiagas, Brute, etc., no matter how the people in the Central Plains called them, these people were indeed loyal to the Central Plains and had always been very friendly.
Such an ethnic minority that is friendly to the Han people is extremely rare in history. This only shows that Li Ling deserves the reputation of a hero who fought alone. Although he has been dead for so long, his descendants have always carried on his will and dare not forget it.
If the false surrender had not come true, Li Ling might have left a more brilliant mark in history. At least he never forgot his roots. Even many people in later generations could not do that.
"Brother, are you referring to those two Khitan women?" Li Han looked back at Yanmujin and Yuelixin, then turned back and looked at Zhu Li in surprise, asking puzzledly.
Zhu Li did not doubt him and nodded seriously, "That's right, these two are the wives of famous Khitan generals. They led their troops to attack Fengzhou this time, but were defeated by me. I chased them all the way here just to capture them alive."
"born
Capture? Could it be that the young general has taken a fancy to these two?" It's no wonder that Li Han was suspicious. For one thing, both Yanmujin and Yuelixin were rare beauties.
Besides, the two were just leaders of the defeated army, and now they have fled into a desperate place like the Gobi Desert. Any general with a little common sense would never rashly lead his troops into this place. This is not a place for people to stay. If the army enters here, it will be in danger of overthrow at any time.
Zhu Li was stunned when he heard this. How could he come up with the idea of Yanmujin and Yuelixin
In terms of love, he is still worried about the affairs of Yuchi Jin and Wang Yueyao, so how can he have the energy to attract other girls
As the ancients said, marriage is determined by parents' orders and matchmaker's words. In the eyes of outsiders, whether it is Yuchi Jin or Wang Yueyao, they are definitely his women.
But what is the real situation
Zhu Li had never even held the hands of these two people. He was really attracted to Yuchi Jin, but he always regarded Wang Yueyao as a "colleague".
At the end of the year, Zhu Li's parents strictly ordered him to get engaged to Wang Yueyao first, but he did not agree. That was because he knew that although Wang Yueyao was extremely beautiful, loved by everyone and flowers bloomed wherever she went, she did not touch his heart.
What is love? In his understanding, cooking soup with bare hands and talking about the sunset together, this is his simple view of love.
Some people said, since he didn't have Wang Yueyao in his heart, why didn't he refuse his parents' order
What era is this? This is the Tang Dynasty, the era of the feudal dynasty. In this era, if you reject a woman, have you ever thought about how she would feel after doing so
To put it bluntly, if Zhu Li refused, Wang Yueyao would at best become a laughing stock of others, or at worst suffer destruction. With such consequences, would he dare to say no? That would not be a refusal, but murder.
Love is not sleeping in the same bed while thinking of someone else; nor is it being in love with each other but having selfish desires. Love is that as long as you are there, you don’t care about anyone else. The other person is the whole world, the other person is everything. You support each other and share weal and woe.
This is what Zhu Li understands as true love. As for other explanations, is that love? At least Zhu Li doesn't think so.
As for the rumor that he fell in love with Yanmujin and Yuelixin, that was totally untrue. Zhu Li was dazed when he heard Li Han's words. He didn't know why Li Han said that. Which eye did he see that? It was really inexplicable.
However, his stunned state made Li Han give him an ambiguous look. He raised his big hand, patted Zhu Li's shoulder vigorously and said, "Haha, it has been said since ancient times that 'a gentleman loves a beautiful lady'. Brother Zhu Li, don't be embarrassed. I will make the decision for you and give these two Khitan beauties to you, haha."
As the saying goes, no matter how hard you try, you will never find it; when you find it, it is effortless. Zhu Li chased all the way north and braved the Gobi Desert just to capture the two Khitan women, but he never succeeded.
Now, because of a beautiful misunderstanding, Li Han generously offered them to him. If he refused, he would be pretentious and hypocritical.
"Thank you very much, Brother Li." Zhu Li hurriedly bowed to express his gratitude. As for explaining whether he liked the two girls or not, it was not important now. What was important was that he got the two girls.
"You're welcome, you're welcome. It just so happens that these two women are also my captives. Since you like them, how can I not help you?" Li Han waved his hand and said indifferently.