Chapter 281 Taking the Son’s Surname
Bazhuo was full of confidence. He had made full preparations for this attack on the Uighurs.

In order to deal with such a large tribe as the Uighurs, the Xueyantuo dispatched a total of 120,000 troops and borrowed 20,000 from the Western Turks to fight together with them.

Ashina Helu is also a cunning man. Although he wants to wait and see, waiting for Bazhuo to make the first move to attract the attention of the Tang Dynasty, he still has to give him some courage.

Lending him some soldiers is not a losing deal at all.

However, Bazhuo underestimated the enemy and acted rashly. Thinking that the Uighurs were vulnerable to a single blow, he led 20,000 cavalrymen in the front and left an army of 120,000 in the rear, hoping to win a quick victory and capture the Uighurs.

Following Bazhuo's order, Xueyantuo began to attack the Uighur camp.

Bazhuo himself stood on the hill, looking at the Xueyantuo army attacking the Uighur camp with a surging emotion. In his mind, he had already begun to imagine the scene of how the vulnerable Uighurs would be completely defeated by their Xueyantuo warriors.

Near, very near.

Seeing the Xueyantuo army rushing closer, Ba Zhuo subconsciously tightened the steel knife in his hand.

Victory is at hand, right in front of us!
However, Ba Zhuo's happiness did not last long. He found that the Xueyantuo cavalry in the front row suddenly fell into the ground as if someone had grabbed their horses' legs.

"There's a trap!"

The Xueyantuo people let out shrill cries, but it was too late. A group of archers suddenly appeared in the Uighur camp, drew their bows and arrows, and opened fire at the Xueyantuo cavalry.

More than 10,000 cavalrymen charged together, and their formation was very dense. Even if you shot an arrow randomly, you would almost certainly hit an unlucky guy.

After two rounds of arrow rain, countless Xueyantuo cavalry were shot like hedgehogs and nailed to the ground.

The lethality of arrows is quite high when dealing with the Xueyantuo cavalry, which are not wearing heavy armor.

It would be fine if the shot doesn't hit the vital points, but if it hits the vital points, the better ones will instantly lose their combat effectiveness, and the unlucky ones will be shot to death directly.

But arrows are different from firearms after all, and there is still a considerable difference in kinetic energy.

Standing on the hill, Bazhuo of course saw the obstruction of the Xueyantuo cavalry. At the same time, he also saw the Uighurs hidden in the Uighur camp.

Ba Zhuo's pupils shrank. At this point, how could he not know that his plan had already been predicted by the Uighurs.

The caltrops hidden in the grass, the chevaux de frise in front of the camp, and the traps in front formed the Xueyantuo people's Wall of Sighs.

Bazhuo could never have imagined how such a meticulous and perfect plan could be predicted in advance by the Uighurs.
Could it be that... the Uighurs have the ability to predict the future?

What he could never have imagined was that the Mr. Huai, whom he admired, was now by the side of the Uighur Khan Tumidu.

Together with the Uighur Khan were the leaders of the Pugu, Khitan, Tongluo, and the Nine Chile Surnames, as well as their elite cavalry.

"Khan." Di Renjie smiled and bowed to Tumidu. Behind him, riding horses and guarding him, were Zhang Sizheng and Hegan Chengji.

It must be said that Di Renjie was indeed a man of status. He himself was only of the first rank, but the two guards behind him were both of the fourth rank.

You know, the Tang Dynasty today is not the last years of Emperor Gaozong or the period of Empress Wu. The fourth rank of these two people is a real position...

"If it weren't for Mr. Di's reminder, we would have been ambushed by the Xueyantuo and then defeated one by one!" Tumidu cursed with gritted teeth, and then bowed to Di Renjie sincerely: "Thank you, sir."

"This Bazhuo has had old grudges against you all. Now that he has declared himself Khan, he wants to divert the conflicts among the tribes, so he attacked the Turks in the south to avenge the shame of the 15th year of Zhenguan. And you all also had some conflicts with the Xueyantuo in the 17th year of Zhenguan. After he defeats the Turks, he will certainly turn his attention to other tribes."

Di Renjie continued with a smile: "Right now, Xueyantuo is still very weak compared to the Tang Dynasty. If he is asked to continue to annex the Turks under the protection of the Tang Dynasty, he will never dare to do so. But if it is for you who are far away from the Tang Dynasty, then Ba Zhuo is not only brave enough, but also very courageous."

"Of course we know that." Tumidu snorted, "This Bazhuo is so cruel and crazy. It seems that it is time for us to teach him a lesson!"

"Father Khan! There are unusual movements among the Xueyantuo people!" Tumidu's son Li Porun came over to remind him.

"Really?" Tumidu snorted, turned around and said to the other leaders: "Everyone, the front army of Xueyantuo has been pinned down and can't move. Now we will unite our forces and attack his central army directly. In this way, Xueyantuo will surely be in chaos!"

"Bazhuo is here with a large army behind him." Di Renjie fanned himself, looking very much like Zhuge Liang: "Since he doesn't have many soldiers and horses around him, he must have underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly. If we take advantage of this good opportunity to attack, we will surely defeat the Xueyantuo people!"

"Okay!" Tumidu shouted, "All troops, assemble and follow me!"

Under Tumidu's command, the coalition cavalry burst into a roar.

Afterwards, the allied cavalry began to charge in the direction of Bazhuo.

Ba Zhuo was still pondering whether he should retreat temporarily and wait for the arrival of the army before attacking the Uighurs. He never expected that he would hear shouts of killing and the rumbling sound of cavalry charging from his side.

He looked in the direction where the sound came from, and suddenly he was frightened.

Shit, these Uighurs... were prepared in advance?
Mr. Huai misled me!

He didn't have time to think about it. Before he could say anything, the guard beside him shouted, "Khan, the enemy army is strong. Leave with us quickly!"

At this moment, Bazhuo's histrionic personality began to break out.

"No, I can't leave! There are so many brothers fighting in the front, how can I abandon them!" he shouted.

"Khan, I'm sorry!" The guards hurriedly pulled his horse and galloped with him at full speed.

When he left, he did not forget to sound the retreat, and he ran in such a panic.

He did run, after all he was the Khan and his horse was good and fast.

But the Xueyantuo cavalry were not so lucky. They were surrounded by the coalition forces and caught in a pincer attack.

Originally, Tumidu wanted to chase after Bazhuo, but was persuaded by Di Renjie.

In Di Renjie's words, if they pursued Ba Zhuo, the reinforcements behind him might arrive, and all their efforts would be in vain.

It would be better to stay where you are, eat up this part of the cavalry first, and cut off one arm of the Xueyantuo.

Tumidu certainly would not object, and he readily accepted Di Renjie's suggestion.

In fact, what Di Renjie said made sense, not only because of the cavalry behind Ba Zhuo, but also because the opponent's horses were too fast.

"Put down your weapons! You won't be killed if you surrender!" Tumidu shouted loudly. He originally wanted to kill the Xueyantuo people who came to deceive and attack the Uighur camp, but he was persuaded by Di Renjie's words.

Di Renjie's original words were that these prisoners of war should be kept for the time being, as His Highness would need them for use.

Upon hearing that it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Li Xiang who needed these prisoners of war, Tumidu, as the only designated fan of the Heavenly Khan, would certainly not refuse and immediately decided to capture them alive.

The Xueyantuo people originally wanted to fight like a trapped beast, but they didn't expect that the cavalry on the periphery would drop their weapons, jump off their horses and raise their hands to surrender.

This surrender posture is so standard, it feels quite like the old Parisian White Flag.

After an inventory, it was found that more than 700 Xueyantuo cavalry were killed, more than 1,000 were seriously injured, and more than 11,200 were captured.

Hearing that there were so many people, Hegan Chengji's face suddenly became cheerful.

"Tumidu Khan, congratulations on your getting rich!" Hegan Chengji said to Tumidu.

This made Tumidu, a monk, completely confused. He asked curiously, "Excuse me, General Hegan, how did I make my fortune? Where did this fortune come from?"

He really didn't lie. After thinking for a long time, I still couldn't figure out how he made money from Tumidu.

Where else can you make money besides the wool business?
"Your Highness understands that you have had a hard time fighting, so he asked me to talk to the leaders. If you can capture a complete prisoner, you can sell him 20 strings of cash per person, no cheating..."

Before Hegan Chengji finished speaking, Tumidu's eyes lit up.

Not only him, but also the Khitans, as well as the Pugu, Tongluo and other tribes, had their eyes sharp.

Of course they know what Kaiyuan Tongbao represents.

What's more, this is not a small amount of money. It's twenty strings of coins per person. For 1,100 people, it's two hundred and twenty thousand strings of coins!
"This... Among them are people we captured!" Khitan leader Daha Kugo said with a stuttering tone: "We also contributed a little, so of course we have a share of this money!"

"There are some for us too!" others also shouted.

Because of the more than 200,000 strings of cash that were burned, everyone started arguing with each other, as everyone wanted to get a piece of the pie.

There is no other way. This is not a small amount of money. Even if it is used to buy some food, salt and clothes for the tribe, there will be enough. Then the remaining money... can't it be used to buy some high-end products?

Just like those glass eagles we saw in Chang'an before, they are very much in line with the aesthetic taste of us grassland men.

The coalition forces were cleaning up the battlefield and preparing to place the prisoners. The leaders quarreled from the hill to the door of the tent, and then quarreled inside the tent, insisting that only one of them would come out.

After arguing for a long time, everyone finally decided that since the Huihe people had contributed the most and used themselves as bait to attract the Xueyantuo people's attack, they should get the lion's share. The Huihe people would get three shares, and the remaining tribes would divide it equally, with each tribe taking one share.

The result of this discussion was quite satisfactory. Even Tumidu didn't say anything and happily agreed to the result.

"In fact, there are more than just these captives. There are 120,000 Xueyantuo people behind them." Dahe Kuge... should it be Li Kuge who was sitting at the top, still fantasizing about the remaining Xueyantuo troops: "Among them, there are not only Xueyantuo troops, even the tribes behind them..."

Having said this, Li Kuge stopped talking.

Speaking of which, his change of surname to Li is quite... hard to describe.

He has a grandson who is only twelve years old this year, but he won the bronze medal in the long jump in the last sports meet.

During the award ceremony, Li Shimin asked him if he had any dreams. The grandson immediately said that he was willing to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty forever.

Li Shimin liked this boy very much, so he personally gave him a name, Li Jinzhong.

Li Xiang also heard about this incident at that time, and his mind was still wandering. Could it be that Li Jinzhong of the Khitan tribe was the same Li Jinzhong who was forced to rebel by Awu and then forcibly changed his name to Li Jinmie?

There was nothing wrong with what he thought, it was indeed that Li Jinzhong.

After learning that his grandson was given the surname Li, Daha Kuoge was very happy, so he decided that he would take his grandson's surname, Li.

So, the name Li Kuge was actually changed by himself.

During this period, a small incident occurred in Khitan. His son Daha Abugu had many complaints about the Tang Dynasty and was dissatisfied with his change of surname. So he abolished Daha Abugu's inheritance rights and announced that after his death, his grandson Li Jinzhong would inherit his position as leader.

At the same time, he exiled Daha Abugu to a large island in the northeast and announced that the Khitan would never welcome him back to the tribe again.

It should be said that this... is a smart man.

Hearing what Li Kugo said, everyone became excited.

Yes, the Tang Dynasty said they wanted prisoners, but they didn't say whether they wanted prisoners of war or any kind of prisoners...

So the question is, are the captured Xueyantuo herdsmen considered prisoners?

Although herders can become soldiers by herding on horseback, it is impossible for all the people in a tribe to become soldiers. So can they still herd livestock?
"Good! Good idea!" Tumidu slapped his thigh and looked at Li Kuge approvingly: "Congratulations... Brother Li's words are quite constructive!"

He originally wanted to call Brother Dahe, but thinking of his respect for the Tang Dynasty, he changed it to Brother Li.

In fact, he also wanted to take his son's surname, and from then on he would be called Li Tumidu instead of Yaoluoge Tumidu, or even Li Midu.

But he still cared about the world's opinion after all, so he wanted to make great contributions to the Tang Dynasty and wait for His Majesty the Khan to personally grant him a surname. This would be an honor, just like his son.

"This is a solution, but here comes the problem." Pugu Jun in the back looked at Tumidu hesitantly, "If we capture so many prisoners, will Your Highness be able to eat them? Will you still buy them at the price of 20 guan per person?"

"This..." Everyone started to murmur when they heard Pugujun's words.

Yes, if we catch too many, will the Tang Dynasty still be able to eat them all?
You know, this is not a small amount, not just a few hundred thousand strings of cash. If one hundred thousand people are captured, that would be two million strings of cash!

Two million strings of cash... Even if the Tang merchant caravan came to buy wool every year, they might not be able to spend twenty thousand strings of cash.

However, what they didn't know was that even Princess Jinyang's private money amounted to 6 million strings of cash, which was enough to buy 300,000 captives.

The suspicious crowd turned their eyes to Hegan Chengji, wanting to see what the general from the Prince's Mansion would say.

(End of this chapter)