Chapter 217: King Qin chases north
In fact, Li Jiancheng was not too concerned about the alliance with the Western Turks. His health had been very poor in the past two years, and the Sogdians and Princess Yicheng had both informed him of this in secret letters.

As long as they can repel Shibi's invasion, the Dong Turks will most likely be involved in the dispute for the position of Khan.

Tongyehu annexed Tiele in the north, resisted Persia in the west, and connected with Kapisa in the south. He dominated the Western Regions and controlled an important channel of the Silk Road. He was an extremely valuable marriage partner.

The Western Regions were also something Li Jiancheng must obtain, so he used marriage alliances in advance to win over a group of Western Turkic nobles who were close to the Tang Dynasty, and planned to declare his rule to the Western Turks after the princess gave birth to a child.

After Li Jiancheng nodded, the Western Turkic envoys immediately presented the prepared gold belt with thousands of nails and precious stones and hundreds of carts of treasures from the Western Regions, and promised that next year, they would send 5,000 horses as a betrothal gift to marry the princess.

Li Jiancheng rewarded him with thousands of brocade robes and tens of thousands of pieces of colorful silk, and asked him to take them back to Tongyehu Khan.

Then he went out of the palace to see his sister, Princess Gaomi. The princess had heard about this and led the servants to welcome her brother into the palace.

The princess was graceful and beautiful. She frowned and offered tea. Li Jiancheng took it and asked, "Do you have any complaints?"

Li shook her head and said, "Born into a wealthy family, I have never had to work hard to make a living. I have never served to dig the Yongji Canal, nor have I fought in battles like my father, uncle, and brothers. Yet, I am a princess. Now a widow can marry the ruler of a country. How dare I complain? I am just afraid of leaving my hometown and marrying far away."

Li Jiancheng nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will arrange everything for you and let you live as comfortably in the Western Turkic court as in Chang'an.

Moreover, Tongyehu moved the royal court to Qianquan, a place with snow-capped mountains to the south and flat land on three sides. The soil is fertile and the trees are lush. In late spring, there are all kinds of flowers, and there are herds of deer with many bells and horns. It is named after the thousands of springs and pools. It is a precious land..."

Listening to her brother's gentle narration, the princess relaxed a lot. She really had no complaints. Her two younger brothers were still fighting against the Dong Turks in the northern border. Compared with them, the grievances she suffered for the family were nothing.

Besides, even if he was not the Khan of Western Turkestan, she would eventually marry a noble relative or a trusted general of the emperor's brother. What big difference would it make?

Being the mother of a country is always better than being a general or a noble lady.

Seeing that his sister had almost accepted it, Li Jiancheng began to tell her about the situation of Western Turkestan and the countries in the Western Regions. Li listened carefully. She knew that her parents' home was her support, but when she was in a foreign land, she had to rely on herself more often to ensure that she enjoyed the status and rights she deserved.

"Your offspring will be the master of that rich land, and I will make him king."

...............

In the northern border, Li Shimin led his troops to break through the siege and finally arrived to rescue the city of Mayi at the critical moment when it was about to be captured.

Li Mi and Qin Shubao, who were left in Loufan by Li Shimin, were waiting for the imperial decree. Soon they replaced the Protector of Bingzhou, Li Yuanji, the Prince of Qi, and led the troops.

Li Mi and Qin Shubao led their troops to attack the Turks. After a few days of fierce fighting, the Turks began to withdraw. They could not capture the county city, and the road to the south was blocked. There was no benefit in continuing, and the Turks' retreat was expected.

Of course, what is even more unexpected is that a few months later, before winter, the Turks would most likely invade again. Although they did not capture Mayi, they had looted a lot of food and property.

Li Mi and others led their troops to Mayi County to meet up with the King of Qin, and now they could return to the capital.

But the King of Qin ordered the pursuit of the Turks. Li Mi and others tried to dissuade him but failed, so they had to follow. The Turks were dragging along the wealth they had obtained and had no time to defend themselves, because in their eyes, withdrawing troops was tantamount to letting the people of the Central Plains off the hook.

Whoever was in charge in the Central Plains would just hide in the city most of the time, and would never dare to actively pursue them. So the King of Qin defeated them. His Qin Shubao, Shan Xiongxin, and Xue Wanche were all valiant and invincible cavalry generals. The Turkic generals could not resist them at all and could only let them divide the army at will.

The King of Qin continued to pursue the enemy northwards, traveling more than 200 miles in one day and night, fighting dozens of battles and winning every battle. He did not take prisoners and did not pursue the remaining soldiers, but just kept chasing the Turkic army.

Even before entering the Turkic territory, the King of Qin was still fighting and pursuing. Li Mi, the Duke of Yangdu, jumped off his horse and grabbed the reins of the King of Qin's horse, admonishing him: "Your Highness has defeated the bandits and chased them north to this point, which is enough. But you have penetrated so deep into the country, and you don't care about your life. If Your Majesty knew, wouldn't you blame us for not being able to dissuade you?

Moreover, the soldiers are hungry and tired, and the food they carry is insufficient. There is no guide in front and no reinforcements behind. It is dangerous for an isolated army to go deep into the barren land! "

Li Shimin looked at his generals, then drew his sword and pointed it to the north: "The Turks are retreating in defeat, and their hearts are divided. As the saying goes, success is hard to achieve but easy to fail, and opportunities are hard to get but easy to lose. I will take advantage of this situation to conquer them!

If you think ahead and behind, and make preparations, you can't attack again. I am loyal to my country, why would I care about my own life? "

Shan Xiongxin and Qin Shubao were both very excited: "We are willing to follow Your Highness to drive the Turks north. We will repay Your Majesty's kindness with our lives!"

The morale of the Tang army was greatly boosted. Li Mi quietly walked to the end of the army and began to arrange logistics. More importantly, he left road signs so that the army could return to the Tang Dynasty regardless of victory or defeat.

Li Shimin then led his troops forward and once again caught up with the slack Turkic army. He fought eight battles in one day and defeated them all, capturing and killing tens of thousands of people.

The King of Qin did not eat for two days, and did not take off his armor for three days. At night he killed sheep and horses and shared the food with his soldiers. At dawn he continued to pursue the Turkic army for three days until the Turkic army collapsed and disappeared without a trace. Only then did he lead his troops back.

However, the soldiers were exhausted from the pursuit and were attacked halfway by Shibi Khan himself. The King of Qin led the troops and was shot by an arrow during the fierce battle and fell off his horse. His horse was hit by a rain of arrows and fell to the ground and died after neighing.

"Save the King of Qin!"

Qin Shubao and Shan Xiongxin rushed straight towards Shibi Khan regardless of their own lives, forcing the Turkic central army to withdraw its guard. Xue Wanche rode his horse, bent down and picked up the King of Qin. Li Mi calmly took over the military power and began to issue orders.

As the saying goes, an army in despair will win. Li Mi tried his best to squeeze out the last bit of strength of this army, and finally defeated the Turks and got the opportunity to withdraw.

Qin Shubao and Shan Xiongxin were also dragged back by the personal guards at all costs. Blood was gushing out from their bodies. It was unknown whether they could survive, not to mention that there was no time to rescue them.

Shibi Khan's troops were still chasing behind, and Li Mi had already decided to leave half of the troops behind to cover the retreat, but suddenly scouts of the Tang army appeared in front of him. It turned out that after His Majesty learned that the King of Qin was being chased north, he immediately ordered the troops of Shuofang and Yanmen to enter the grassland to support the withdrawal.

However, the grassland was too large and there was no clear guidance, so the two sides were not able to meet until they were close to the border. Li Mi, who had tens of thousands of fresh troops, immediately ordered his men to escort the King of Qin and the two generals back to the border for treatment.

He ordered the reinforcements from Shuofang and Yanmen to deploy for battle. Soon Shibi Khan came after them, but when he saw that they had tens of thousands more people, he did not attack.

Li Mi led Xue Wanche forward and scolded Shi Bi for violating the Yulin Alliance and daring to invade the emperor's territory, and he would surely be punished by heaven!

...............

(End of this chapter)