Chapter 30: The Stormy Weather of Yu Guan (9)

  Wuri is the second son of Pianbu Xilie's family, a noble family of Khitan. Since his father died suddenly in March, the Pianbu tribe has been divided into two parts. His older brother Tulie led thousands of herders to occupy Yingzhou, while Wuri himself left with his loyal followers and moved south to graze near the White Wolf River.

  According to the Khitan custom, the new tribal Khan should be jointly elected by the elders of the tribe. However, those qualified elders who were eligible to elect the tribal Khan actually chose that mongrel Tuli! Yes, Tuli is a thoroughbred mongrel! His mother was only a low-ranking slave in the Pin Department, and it is said that she had the filthy blood of the Shiwei and Xianbei peoples in her body. However, just because she had a bit of charm, she was favored by Father Khan, who insisted on giving birth to this guy Tuli.

  Wuli was drinking kumis in his tent, the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became. There were two things that had been entwining around his mind recently. One was the election of the Pin Department's Khan, and the other was the truth or falsehood of the Han people at Yu Pass. As for the second matter, its root actually lay in the first one. If he hadn't failed to smoothly become the Khan of the Pin Department, why would he need to be on tenterhooks here? Had those old guys all gone blind? Couldn't they see that he was the most suitable candidate to take over as the Khan of the tribe? His mother was a noblewoman from the Khitan people with an illustrious surname - Shulü!

  Three months before the Pin Department meeting, Uri's mother predicted the worst possible outcome at the time of the push and took Uri and the loyal population of the Shulü tribe to quietly move south, leaving Yingzhou. The mother's move was timely, causing the tribal meeting that was about to be held to collapse on the spot. As long as the tribal meeting did not take place, Tuli would not be considered a true Khan of Pin Department, and Uri still had hope!

  Yes, Wuli waited for hope. Under the active connection and mediation of his mother and the Die'er tribe's family, his cousin Ake personally promised that as long as Wuli led the tribe southward and completed a task, the Shulu family would unite with the Yelu family to support Wuli's election as the new generation's Pinbo Zhenjin and become the master of the Huoluo Shi Lie family. This task was to explore the reality of Pingzhou, and under permissible conditions, attack Yuanguan, and test out the countermeasures and reactions of the Lulong Army.

  What kind of person is Ah Po? He's a big shot among the Khitan tribes, who dares to disobey his words? Last year, Wu Li followed his father and mother to the Khan's tent on the banks of the Tuqie River, where they attended the tribal alliance meeting for Shi Lu to take office. At that time, he saw the people standing beside this cousin, including Ye Lü's He Lu, Huo Ge, and Ah Baoji, as well as Shu Lü's Ah Ping. Even Shi Lu and Kou Di came over to discuss matters with Ah Po and his group. Although Wu Li was the second son of the Pin Department, he didn't even have the qualifications to stand up front. His mother introduced him to this cousin at that time, and they exchanged a few words, but after that, they never had any further contact. However, it was this little relationship that gave his cousin an opportunity, and Wu Li wanted to seize this opportunity to complete his cousin's entrusted task.

  The mother has helped as much as she can, and the rest is up to Uri's own efforts. Uri thinks he is no worse than his brother Tuli, who only led the tribe to a few small victories in the past two years and plundered some Han people. Uri believes that what his brother can do, he can also do. After he and his mother led the tribe to the White Wolf River, they began to raid the nearby Han people on a large scale. In addition to turning most of them into slaves, they secretly took some strong Han men and beautiful Han women to the Yingzhou camp, giving them to several elderly people who were quite fond of Uri. Two of them even hinted that as long as Uri got the explicit support of the Shulü and Yelü families, they would support him in becoming the Khan at the next tribal meeting.

  Even the things that his brother-in-law, Ah Kuo, had entrusted to him, Wu Li carried out with a stiff upper lip. In Wu Li's impression, although the Pin Department had grown stronger over the years and become half the master of this fertile grassland in Yingzhou, the Tang Dynasty within the pass was not easy to provoke. Wu Li remembered that a few years ago, a large army of the Tang Dynasty emerged from the Yu Pass, bearing the flag of the Lu Long Army, and after circling around the grasslands, all the Khitan tribes immediately became much more obedient. The Pin Department and the neighboring Wuhuan Department retreated northward by a hundred miles, and even the Yelu family respectfully presented 500 fine horses and 5,000 fat sheep, just to obtain the promise that the Lu Long Army would not continue to advance northward. That Lu Long Army was truly magnificent, Wu Li had followed their military formation from afar when they marched, and it seemed that there were many more of them than all the able-bodied men, women, and children in the entire Pin Department, and it was said that this army was only a part of the Lu Long Army, while the Lu Long Army was just one of the military towns on the northeastern border of the Tang Dynasty.

  Even if Wu Li heard his brother Ah Kuo say that the current Tang Dynasty is not the past Tang Dynasty, and this year's Lu Long Army is not the Lu Long Army of previous years, he still felt very difficult. However, the temptation to become a tribal leader made Wu Li put aside all his worries. He suppressed the fear in his heart and led half of his men to arrive at the foot of White Wolf Mountain, continuing to probe the Han people's defenses by plundering their villages. He carefully expanded the scope of the looting, then slowly extended his military power to the vicinity of Yu Guan. In nearly two months of continuous probing, he did not wait for the expected strong counterattack. On the contrary, Yu Guan seemed to have no reaction to all this, as if it had not seen Wu Li leading his men to plunder Han people's villages, rob their wealth, and occupy their fields...

  He plucked up the courage to order his subordinates to drive away the Han people and come under the Yu Guan, then led the brave warriors of the cavalry to attack the Yu Guan city which used to be as solid as an iron lock! Everything seemed so smooth, by right, Wuli was about to complete the task given by his cousin Ake, he was also getting closer and closer to the throne of the tribal chief, but his heart became more and more anxious.

  He sent someone to report the matter to his cousin, Ah Kuo, and then anxiously stayed at the foot of White Wolf Mountain waiting for further news. Firstly, he had to wait for Ah Kuo's next order, secondly, he had to wait for the reaction of the Han people inside the pass. In order to know more clearly about the actions of the Han people inside the pass, he also asked Ke Dan to station outside the pass and report back at any time, and repeatedly reminded Ke Dan to be careful and not to be careless.

  The order from his uncle, Ah Kuo, came back quickly. Ah Kuo gave him high praise for the success of this attack on Yu Guan, and then ordered him to lead his troops to occupy Yu Guan! So Wu Li had been uneasy for several days, occasionally hitting the city gate was okay, but when the Han army of the Tang Dynasty came to ask for justice in the future, it would be no big deal to apologize or throw out a few scapegoats. But if he really led his troops to occupy Yu Guan, could he hold on with just a few thousand soldiers under him? Moreover, among these few thousand soldiers, more than half were old, weak, women and children, and only about a thousand of them could actually fight. If something big happened at that time, who would be the scapegoat thrown out if not Wu Li himself?

  Moreover, what made Wuli worried was that the news brought back by Kedan soon caused a stir inside Yu Guan. A certain number of Lulong troops reoccupied Yu Guan and began to repair the city walls. So Wuli gritted his teeth and ordered Kedan to probe again to see the strength of this Han army. He waited anxiously here, thinking left and right, without getting any clue.

  Just as Wuri was thinking of finding a Han woman slave to vent his lust, Qadan finally returned.

  "How is it? How many people have come to Yu Guan? Thousands? Or... tens of thousands?" Wu Li asked eagerly, and thinking of the words "thousands" and "tens of thousands", he felt a pang of unease.

  Kedan was a personal bodyguard who came with Wuri's mother as part of her dowry. Although he was already over 40 years old, his bravery and martial prowess still made him stand out among the imperial guards. Even the young warriors who had grown up in recent years couldn't compare to Kedan. He had always been loyal and respectful to Wuri's mother, a loyalty and respect that stemmed not only from their difference in status but also from a deep affection he had hidden in his heart for decades. Later, this feeling transferred partly to Wuri, whom he treated like his own child. Wuri, in turn, had a deep respect for Kedan as if he were a close elder relative.

  "There aren't that many people, probably just a few hundred. But to be specific, I'm not sure." Ke Dan thought for a moment before responding: "I led the troops in a fake attack on the city, and they formed up outside the walls. I counted over 90 of them forming up, and there were still 50 or 60 standing on the wall."

  "Is that all the people?" The two of them shone with a fierce light, and shouted loudly: "If it's just this many people, we're not afraid. If it really comes down to one on one, our Khitan people are much more formidable than they are! Uncle Ke Dan, let's attack the Yu Pass again! Can't the Great Tang really be finished, as my cousin said? Haha!"

  "They sent another reinforcement three days ago..."

  "...... Have reinforcements arrived? Ah, this is a problem! How many reinforcements have arrived? With the arrival of reinforcements, it means that there may be more behind... Will they attack us? Hmm, I'd better tell my cousin, let's retreat? But Uncle Dan, what do you think?" Hearing that reinforcements had arrived, Wu Li became even more flustered.

  Ke Dan furrowed his brow, looking at Wu Li with a hint of helplessness, saying: "It's still unclear. For the past few days, I've had people keeping an eye on it, but they can't seem to figure it out. However, judging from the commotion inside, there shouldn't be too many people. I estimate that in total, there won't be more than five hundred."

  "Wu Liang? That's okay... Then what should we do, Uncle Ke?"

  Ke Dan thought for a moment and said, "Young master, let's wait a few more days. If there are new Han troops coming to reinforce, we'll retreat and tell Lord Ah Ke everything that happened here. I think he will understand. If nothing happens, we'll make a fierce attack! After occupying Yu Guan, Lord Ah Ke's task is also completed."

  He scratched his head, pacing back and forth in the tent, muttering to himself: "Fight? Not fight? Fight? Not fight? To fight or not to fight... If I don't fight, will my cousin still support me? If I do fight, what if my cousin lets me continue to advance, even to Pingzhou, what then?"

  "Little lord, if we can really take down Pingzhou, then even without the words of Lord Apo, you will definitely get the support of the elders. Even... even if the elders don't support us, once we occupy Pingzhou, what's a mere minister like Qi Xin? Can't we just establish a new tribe, one that doesn't have any elders telling us what to do and only listens to your words?"

  When he heard this, Wuri's mouth suddenly opened wide, staring blankly at Kedan, his heart pounding rapidly.