Chapter 48

"How many Han troops are there? Didn't the Great Chanyu order him to take a thousand elite troops from the royal court to intercept them? How could they have run to me?" King Xiutu said with a sarcastic expression!

"Zhong Xing said in his letter that there are about a hundred people!" Now that it was not the Xiongnu royal court, the minister did not need to be cautious and directly called Zhong Xing by his name, "I wonder how Commander Yingbi led his troops? He couldn't even capture a hundred Han people!" If he knew that Yingbi had already been killed by Pan Feng, he would probably be even more surprised!

"Yingbi's leadership skills are not bad!" The Yingbi family had considerable influence, so King Xiutu shifted the blame to Zhong Xing, "I think it's all because of that spineless Zhong Xing! If it were just Yingbi leading the troops, those Han people would probably be dead by now!"

What he said was not entirely unreasonable! If those Xiongnu cavalry had not ambushed in the valley as Zhong Xing ordered, but had charged directly on the grassland, Li You and his men might not have won so easily!

"The Great Chanyu does not treat our Xiongnu warriors well! Instead, he trusts such a spineless Han person!" Zhong Xing had successively assisted the Chanyus Laoshang and Junchen, helping them strengthen their control over the Xiongnu tribes, which had somewhat constrained the power of King Xiutu and other peripheral vassal kings! This made him quite dissatisfied with Zhong Xing, so his words were not very polite! He directly cursed in his royal tent.

"Your Majesty, what about this letter?" the minister advised, "Now that Zhong Xing is deeply trusted by the Great Chanyu, if he speaks ill of you to the Great Chanyu, the Great Chanyu might blame you..."

"It's almost winter! The hay for the winter has not even been prepared yet! Who can spare the people to help him with these things?" King Xiutu waved his hand impatiently, "Don't worry about it! The Han people are weak. Even if they cross the river, they won't be able to cross the Great Snow Mountain! They will eventually die in the snowstorm! Why waste the effort?"

"Go and reply to Zhong Xing! Tell him I know! I have already arranged people to block all the passages, so those Han people can't get through!" Despite his unwillingness, King Xiutu still had to do these face-saving things! After saying this, he waved his hand to dismiss the minister and closed his eyes to enjoy himself.

Three days later, Zhong Xing and Xubu Mo met at the site of the tribe that Li You had wiped out! The Xiongnu cavalry behind them were escorting the Qiang people who had fled to other tribes and were found by them.

"You mean those Han people killed your young men and forced you to help them build rafts to cross the river?" Zhong Xing looked around and saw no signs of large-scale tree cutting, so he lashed out with his whip! "Does this look like a place where rafts were built?"

"Noble sir! They dismantled our tents and forced us to peel off whole sheepskins to make airbags, which they placed under the rafts made of thin wood to cross the river! Noble sir, look, there are still traces of the rafts they burned on the other side of the river!" The old Qiang man, whom Li You had spared, pointed to the other side of the river.

Zhong Xing looked closely and indeed saw the traces left by the fire! He immediately knelt down and said, "Do you remember how the rafts were made? I will order people to bring sheep and thin wood from other tribes! If you can help us cross the river, I will spare your life! If not, I will throw you and your children into the river!"

"Yes, noble sir!" The old Qiang man trembled in fear! However, he was not sure if he could make the rafts, as he was only responsible for peeling the sheepskins and making the airbags. He had no idea how to build the rafts! He hoped those who helped tie the rafts still remembered!

The Xiongnu cavalry was divided into three groups. One group stayed to guard the Qiang people, while the other two groups swept south and north to raid the surrounding Qiang tribes! These tribes, which had recently been plundered by the Xiongnu, now faced a catastrophic disaster. Their hard-earned horses and sheep were plundered by the Xiongnu, and the young men were taken to the Yellow River.

Even if these young men could eventually return to their tribes, without the sheep needed for the winter, many people would die of cold and hunger. The misfortune that had recently befallen the Dianliang tribe now befell them.

At this time, the Han envoy led by Li You also faced a severe challenge. Tang Yifu pointed to the towering snow-capped mountain ahead and said, "Envoy, the Western Regions are vast and sparsely populated, with the Xiongnu scattered throughout. As long as we avoid the areas where the Xiongnu graze, we can avoid conflict with them!"

"Therefore, the Xiongnu are not our greatest enemy on this westward journey. The snow mountain, the desert, and the swamps are the most dangerous places! To reach the Great Yuezhi, we must cross this snow mountain!" Tang Yifu said solemnly, "The snow mountain is not only covered in fierce storms and snow, but the mountain paths are also narrow. A single misstep could result in a fall into the abyss, leading to a gruesome death!"

Li You recalled the map from his later life and guessed that this snow mountain might be Wushaoling! This was the inevitable route from Chang'an to the Western Regions! In the future, Huo Qubing's campaign to Longxi and Xuanzang's journey to the West for Buddhist scriptures would also pass through Wushaoling.

"The terrain is treacherous, so we should not carry too much!" Li You made a decisive decision, "We will rest at the foot of the mountain tonight and discard the excess items early tomorrow morning. We will prepare to cross the mountain!"

"Yes!" Everyone accepted the order and continued on their way! As the saying goes, "Looking at a mountain can tire a horse to death." From here, Wushaoling seemed very close, as if it could be reached in one or two hours. However, they walked until nightfall before finally reaching the foot of the mountain!

"Damn! This mountain is really high!" Pan Feng stood at the foot of the mountain, mouth agape, looking up at the snow-covered Wushaoling! Chen Qingzhi instinctively shivered! Growing up in the south, he was more afraid of the cold than others!

"Envoy! Such a high mountain! Can we really cross it?" The highest peak near Chang'an, Zhongnan Mountain, was only about 2,600 meters above sea level, and Huashan was even lower at about 2,100 meters! Compared to Wushaoling, which was over 3,500 meters high, it was no wonder the soldiers were afraid.

Li You took a deep breath. Since the Carthaginian general Hannibal could lead his army to cross the Alps, which were over 3,000 meters high, 78 years ago, there was no reason why they, the Han people, could not cross Wushaoling!

"Ha ha! You have already defeated over a thousand elite troops from the Xiongnu royal court. Are you worried about crossing just a mountain?" He laughed lightly, "Get a good night's sleep and rest up. We will climb the mountain together tomorrow!"

At the same time, under Zhong Xing's coercion, the Qiang people had completed the first sheepskin raft and were preparing to launch it! Zhong Xing stood by the riverbank, quietly watching the first group of people board the raft!

Page AD starts

Page AD ends