Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty

Since ancient times, heroes have been born as teenagers.At the end of the hour, there was a sound of drums and horns, and Emperor Wu walked down the Danchi platform vigorously, and came among the soldiers. He patted this shoulder, touched the head of that, and said loudly: "My warriors, go to the west... ..." In the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, and military flags were flying in the square in front of the palace.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended to the general platform with a serious face, and the soldiers lined up neatly waiting for the order. After a burst of drum music, Emperor Wu said loudly: "My warriors, the Huns have come to invade us again. Our borders are in frequent emergency. Our Han Dynasty is not easy to bully. We must give them some color. Today I hope that my warriors will live up to everyone's expectations and fulfill my will."

Wei Qing, Li Guang, Gongsun Ao, Gongsun He, Su Jian, Zhao Xin and other generals rode tall horses in the front row and raised their arms and shouted: "Observe the imperial decree and are willing to go to the front." The soldiers standing behind also raised their hands and shouted: "I am willing to go to the front line and annihilate the Huns!" Emperor Wu was very happy to hear this, and announced: "General Wei Qing is out!" After hearing this, Wei Qing immediately came out of the queue and bowed his head to listen respectfully. "I ordered you to lead the army to go out."

Emperor Wu said: "Generals Li Guang, Gongsun Ao, Gongsun He, Li Ju, Su Jian, and Zhao Xin listen to the order." Six generals came out and knelt down to listen. "Let your six generals go out with the general." "The end will obey the order." As soon as Emperor Wu had finished the announcement, Huo Qubing hurried forward, bowed down with a plop, and said loudly, "Your Majesty, the pawn Qubing is willing to go out with uncle." Emperor Wu saw that he was just eighteen years old and still looked childish, so he smiled and said: "Okay, it's good to exercise with your uncle."

"No, Your Majesty, you have to lead your troops to get sick." "Are you going to lead the army? No, you are too young. How can you be a general at the age of seventeen or eighteen?" Emperor Wu said with a smile. "Your Majesty, let me lead the troops." Emperor Wu looked at this guard whom he loved very much and was always by his side, and said with a smile, "But you haven't mastered the art of war yet." "Your Majesty, the art of war is not necessarily written in books. Qu Bing thinks that the art of war needs to be flexibly applied on the battlefield."

"Ha..." Emperor Wu laughed again, "If you use it flexibly on the battlefield, I will approve you and make you Captain Yao, and let you lead 800 cavalry to compete with your uncle on the battlefield." "Thank you, Lord Long En, the general will obey the order at the end." Wei Qing looked at the young aspiring nephew and smiled. When the hour was almost over, there was another sound of drums and horns. Emperor Wu walked down the steps vigorously and came to the soldiers. He patted one on the shoulder, stroked the other's head, and said loudly: "My warriors, go to the west."

Wei Qing led the army to the north and marched all the way. After more than ten days, they arrived in Dingxiang (northwest of Inner Mongolia and Linger), and set up camp, ready to attack. In the general's tent, Wei Qing arranged for Li Guang, Gongsun Ao, Gongsun He, Su Jian, Zhao Xin, Li Ju and other generals to attack, but Huo Qubing was not arranged. Huo Qubing asked anxiously: "Why didn't uncle arrange for Qubing to go to the front line?" Wei Qing said with a serious face: "This is the general's tent, without your uncle." Huo Qubing was in a hurry, so he hurriedly asked: "General, Qubing has already asked the emperor's permission before going out for the expedition. Qubing must go to the front line, and he doesn't want to stay here."

"You are too young and the enemy is extremely vicious. How can I send you to the tiger's mouth. Before leaving, the emperor has entrusted me to take care of you. You should listen carefully." "No, General, Qu Bing is determined to go to the front line, no matter how vicious the enemy is, Qu Bing will not be afraid." The old general Li Guang said pitifully: "Since Qu Bing is ambitious, let him go for it. On weekdays, I saw that he is very brave in training soldiers, so let him try it!" Gongsun Ao also said: "The old general is right, let him try."

Then Wei Qing said: "Okay, I will give you 800 elite soldiers, but you must be more careful." "Don't worry, General." Huo Qubing led 800 cavalry to gallop deep into the grassland like flying arrows, trying to find the main force of the Huns to fight.It was hundreds of miles away from the camp that day, and no enemy was found along the way, surrounded by vast grasslands. The subordinates asked: "General, do you still want to go?" Huo Qubing replied: "If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch tiger cubs?" So the troops continued to go deep into the hinterland of the grassland, and galloped northward like flying.After dark, finally found the tent of the Huns.Huo Qubing ordered to attack quickly while the enemy was sleeping, so eight hundred warriors rushed straight into the tent of the Huns.

It turned out that these tents were the royal tents of the Huns, in which Shanyu's grandfather, uncle and royal relatives lived.At this time they were sleeping, even though their number of troops was several times larger than that led by Huo Qubing, the Han army descended like heavenly soldiers, killing them so dizzy... When they found out that there were not many Huo Qubing troops and were about to concentrate on the counterattack, Huo Qubing gave another order to retreat quickly. After turning back, he thought there was a large group of ambushes ahead, and was afraid of Zhong Huo Qubing's trick to lure the enemy, so he ordered to retreat.In this way, Huo Qubingcha skillfully escaped from the enemy's pursuit.

Huo Qubing returned to the camp victoriously, and brought back Shanyu's grandfather, uncle and other royal relatives who were captured by them. This time, Huo Qubing's troops also wiped out more than 3,000 Huns. Wei Qing's class teacher returned to Chang'an. Emperor Wu was very happy, and he was promoted to the palace to reward Huo Qubing. Emperor Wu said: "Huo Qubing listens to the order." Huo Qubing went out, and Emperor Wu said: "Lieutenant Huo Qubing did not disappoint me. This time he took the initiative to ask for an expedition and beheaded more than 3,000 enemy soldiers, including his prime minister. He captured Shanyu's grandfather, uncle, and uncle alive. He was brave and resourceful on the battlefield." , Let the enemy be frightened by the news, and increase the prestige of our Han army, and I will be named the champion."

"Thank you Lord Ron." Emperor Wu said again: "Su Jian comes out." Su Jian is Su Wu's father, he hurriedly went out and knelt down. This time, he and Zhao Xin went deep alone and went deep into the grassland to meet the main force of the Huns. After a fierce battle, they were finally surrounded by the enemy because they were outnumbered.Zhao Xin led 900 Qingqi and surrendered to the enemy army, while Su Jian fled back alone, thinking, the defeated general will be resigned to fate. Unexpectedly, Emperor Wu said: "Su Jian's entire army was annihilated, and he should have been executed. I think you fought alone and did not surrender to the enemy. I will spare you the death penalty and demote you to become a commoner." Su Jian hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed: "The guilty general Su Jian thanked the Lord for his kindness." Wei Qing knew that although he had driven the Xiongnu away further, he had already lost his army and lost his generals. It would be good if the emperor didn't punish him. He didn't expect any rewards, so he only hoped that the emperor would not mention himself. Wei Qing looked ashamed, and hurriedly comforted him: "General Wei Qing led his troops to the west several times, took the lead and killed the enemy bravely, and this time he dealt a fatal blow to the Huns. It is hard to be precious. Sima Qian—" "The minister is here." Sima Qian hurriedly went out to listen to the order. "You historian, write their heroic deeds into the history books." "Follow the order." "Okay, let's go." Wei Qing breathed a sigh of relief, he watched Emperor Wu leave gratefully, thinking, Emperor Wu really loves generals like sons, and he can only repay him by killing the enemy next time. On the grassland, a funeral is being held. Shan Yu, a military official of the Huns, died of illness.The Huns from far and near came to the funeral. The domineering Yi Zhixie, the younger brother of the military minister Shan Yu, led an army of 100,000 to the funeral. He rode on a tall horse, and the wise kings on the left and right stood on both sides. The crown prince Yu Shan Fu's coffin stood beside the coffin, and the military official Yanshi and the prince's relatives knelt beside the coffin. When the crown prince saw his uncle coming, he stepped forward to salute: "Uncle is here." "Hmph, I heard that you are going to ascend the coffin today. Don't dream about it. I should inherit the position of Shan Yu." "I am the crown prince, so of course Shan Yu should inherit from me." Yi Zhi listened obliquely, and drew out her sword with a bang, and the guards behind the prince also drew out their swords, both of them glared at each other. When the army minister Shanyu's Yan family saw it, he cried and said, "Yizhixie, you are forcing the palace. Shanyu's body is not cold yet, so you treat the prince like this. You don't kneel down to Shanyu's coffin, but you come to blame the prince. You are going too far." The people in Yizhixie put down their swords after hearing this, and the guards behind the prince also put down their swords. Yi Zhixie had no choice but to get off the horse, knelt down in front of the coffin of the military official Shanyu, and paid several respects. "Funeral." The drums sounded, and both the prince and Yi Zhixie followed Zao Zao's coffin and walked towards the cemetery... When Yizhixie returned to his place of residence, he set up a Shanyu and declared his independence.Taking advantage of Prince Yu Shan's unpreparedness, Yi Zhixie brought a large team to Shan Yu's court to surround Yu Shan.Yu Dan woke up in a night dream, and immediately mounted his horse to fight. In the bloody battle, Yu Dan died and injured countless horses. Because he was outnumbered, his sons and confidant generals were all killed in the breakout, and his own feet were cut off. Under the guard of the soldiers, he broke out of the siege and fled south. Yi Zhixie sent men and horses to pursue him relentlessly, and as soon as he was about to catch up, the two rescue teams suddenly killed Yu Shan and escorted Yu Shan, so they fled to the Great Wall. Prince Yu Shan asked on the stretcher, "How many of us are left?" "Back to the prince, there are only 8,000 people in total." Yu Dan asked again, "Where are my sons?" "died." "Where's my horse?" "It has fallen." Yu Dan shed tears... "Prince, where should we go?" Yu Dan asked the guards to help him sit up. He looked at the north with nostalgia, and said sadly: "The northern grassland is our homeland. Now we have to go to the Han Dynasty and fight back to our hometown one day." "It has to be like this." Emperor Wu was inspecting the Great Wall. He glanced ahead, turned to Wei Qing and said, "I have decided to send you to support Yu Dan in defeating Yi Zhixie." "The end will obey the order." "Report." "Your Majesty, the Xiongnu were defeated in a single battle in civil strife, and they were seriously injured. They have led their troops to surrender." Emperor Wu was shocked and overjoyed when he heard this. He was surprised that Yu Dan was defeated, and happy that Yu Dan came to surrender. Outside the Great Wall, on the gate of the city, Emperor Wu saw the Huns carrying Yu Dan to surrender. Emperor Wu went outside the city gate to comfort Yu Shan. When Yu Dan saw Emperor Wu, he couldn't speak anymore, he struggled and said "I beg... I beg Yizhixie..." and died. Emperor Wu announced that he would be buried in Prince Shan and accepted his eight thousand cavalry. Emperor Wu was very sorry for Shan's death. He sighed: "My plan to aid the Southern Huns to attack the Northern Huns has failed. From now on, Yizhixie will be our biggest enemy. We must rely on ourselves to defeat the Northern Huns." Emperor Wu convened the ministers of the inner court and military generals to discuss countermeasures against the Northern Huns Yizhixie. Emperor Wu said: "Now Yizhixie is still very powerful. If we want to defeat him, we must clear the obstacles to get through the Western Regions and form an alliance with the countries in the west. Only by attacking together can we completely restrain the Xiongnu." Wei Qing said: "Your majesty is wise, now that the southern Huns have failed at Yudan, the emperor's original plan to use the southern Huns to attack the northern Huns is no longer possible. Now the emperor has seized things to attack together, and the general will wholeheartedly support him, and is willing to lead his troops to Longxi again. .” Emperor Wu said: "General Wei is too tired, I decided to let Huo Qubing go this time." Huo Qubing jumped up happily when he heard this, and kowtowed: "Qubing obeys the order." Huo Qubing, who was named General Hussars, led tens of thousands of troops to Longxi.After leaving the Great Wall, the soldiers and horses led by Gongsun Ao lost their way in Yanzhi Mountain and failed to rendezvous with Huo Qubing as scheduled, so they had to return. Later, he was redeemed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty as a commoner.Although Huo Qubing fell into a situation of being alone and helpless, he was not afraid. He led his cavalry deep into thousands of miles and captured King Tu, the chieftain of the Huns in Qilian Mountains. King Tu drove out of Qilian Mountains and made great contributions to the safety of the Hexi Corridor.Huo Qubing's reputation was also greatly shaken in Hexi. There are folk songs to prove: (That is to say, when Huo Qubing came, the Xiongnu lost Qilian Mountain, and the animals could no longer live; without the red stone Yanzhi Mountain, the women had no rouge to wipe their faces.) The Xiongnu Shanyu Yizhixie was furious and wanted to kill King Hunxie and King Xiutu. The two kings had no choice but to secretly agree to surrender to the Han Dynasty. On the way, King Xiutu repented and refused to surrender, so King Hunxie killed him and led 40,000 Hun soldiers to surrender to the Han Dynasty. The Qilian Mountains were victorious, and the Huns in Jiuquan, Wuwei, Zhangye, and Dunhuang in the Hexi Corridor were all wiped out. Since then, the Hexi Corridor has belonged to the territory of the Han Dynasty.Emperor Wu was overjoyed and greeted Huo Qubing triumphantly at the city gate. Almost to Chang'an, the young Huo Qubing was riding on a horse, and he saw the banners flying at the gate of the city from a distance, and the crowds were covered in darkness.Flying riders came to pick them up, and the emperor led his ministers to welcome him at the gate of the city.Huo Qubing hurriedly got off his horse and trotted over. "The last general kowtows to the emperor, long live the emperor, long live the emperor!" "Aiqing is free from courtesy!" Emperor Wu helped Huo Qubing up with both hands. All the soldiers kowtowed to Emperor Wu together: "Long live the emperor, long live, long live!" "Free of courtesy." "My soldiers, you have made great contributions to the court, and I want to reward you." The soldiers shouted again: "Long live the emperor, long live, long live!" Emperor Wu's face was flushed with excitement, and he patted Huo Qubing's shoulder happily and said, "You have made great contributions to the stability of the Western Regions, and you are the real hardworking horses." Huo Qubing pointed to King Hunxie behind him and said to Emperor Wu: "Your Majesty, King Hunxie of the Huns brought 40,000 horses to surrender to our Han Dynasty." King Hunxie hastily kowtowed to Emperor Wu, and Emperor Wu supported him with both hands. King Hunxie gave Huo Qubing a thumbs up and praised: "Your Majesty, your soldiers are amazing." Emperor Wu laughed happily.Emperor Wu said: "King Hunxie, I welcome you to surrender. The Han Dynasty welcomes the Xiongnu to return to the Han Dynasty. From now on, the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu will live in harmony." "Long live the emperor, long live, long live!" The soldiers cheered after hearing this. Emperor Wu said loudly: "Not only do I want the Han people to live in harmony with the Huns on the grasslands, but I also want to open up the Western Regions, and I want to exchange envoys with countries in the Western Regions to exchange business and make the Western Regions a road for merchants." As soon as Emperor Wu's words fell, the surrounding soldiers and subjects broke out in a loud voice: "Long live the emperor, long live, long live!" When the drums sounded, Emperor Wu happily took Huo Qubing's hand and boarded the dragon chariot. Emperor Wu and the generals were warmly welcomed by the people in Chang'an City. Emperor Wu specially held a celebration banquet for Huo Qubing. Emperor Wu made an exception and arranged Huo Qubing to eat at the same table beside him. Songs and dances were performed at the celebration party. Li Yannian was the director of the Yuefu. He led the court band to accompany him.Li Yannian also organized a Huangmen advocacy band, which played even more extraordinary.The scene was very lively. Especially when the Xiongnu in the Hexi Corridor was afraid of Huo Qubing's lament "Destroy my Qilian Mountains, so that my six animals will not live; Losing my Yanzhi Mountains will make my women colorless", Emperor Wu stood up and announced that "Hexi Corridor will belong to my Han territory from now on." , All the ministers shouted to Emperor Wu: "Long live the emperor, long live, long live!!" Emperor Wu said happily: "Everyone loves you. Since ancient times, heroes have been born in youth, and Huo Qubing is my young hero in a big man." All the ministers toasted to Huo Qubing one after another, and Huo Qubing raised his glass to thank everyone with a happy face.