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  The seven cities on the border were simultaneously attacked by 100,000 Turkic soldiers. Although reinforcements were repeatedly sent from the capital, the city was almost breached several times.

  According to a detailed investigation, the so-called 100,000-strong Tujue army actually had only 70,000 soldiers. The other 30,000 were servants and affiliated tribes of the Tujue people, whose combat effectiveness and cohesion were far inferior to those of the Tujue people, and roughly equivalent to the soldiers in Qi and Zhou regions.

  But this still can't be considered good news.

  Yuwen Hu believed in Buddhism and was fond of luxury. He built many Buddhist temples all over the country, with 100,000 monks who occupied a large amount of land but did not engage in production or pay taxes. Moreover, he himself also extensively built magnificent buildings, which severely drained the financial resources of Zhou.

  Moreover, he was not a good ruler and employed the wrong people. Of the soldiers who could be used, there were not even one in ten. When Yuwen Yang looked around, he found that many of the soldiers' weapons were just bamboo sticks, let alone their armor, which they did not have at all.

  With such military strength, how can we compete with the Turks who grew up on horseback?

  It has come to this; we must make a last-ditch effort. If we cannot get through this crisis, I fear there will be danger of the country being subverted.

  Yuwen Yong, wearing armor, rushed into the hall, dusty and windblown.

  As he saw Zhang Guiying approach, he took the towel she handed over and wiped the dust and sweat from his face, saying: "Five days later, on the day of Jiawu, at noon, we will take an oath to go out and conquer."

  Zhang Qi nodded and looked up at his reddened eyes.

  Yuwen Yong dropped the towel, looked up and met her concerned gaze. Unconsciously, he took a step forward, suddenly stretched out his arms, and tightly wrapped Zhang Qi in his embrace.

  This was his first time making such a transgressive move towards her.

  Moreover, he was wearing armor, and the iron rubbed against her delicate skin, causing unbearable pain.

  Zhang Yi didn't dare move, she let him hold her and whispered: "Your Majesty has the power of heaven, you will be safe and sound."

  Yuwen Yong just held her for a while before speaking in a hoarse voice, "This time, it wasn't easy." He looked down at Zhang Qi, saying tiredly, "Ah Qi, I really wanted to kill that old scoundrel."

  As soon as he said this, Zhang Qi quickly stretched out her hand and covered his mouth.

  Seeing her looking uneasy, Yuwen Yong smiled and said in a low voice: "It doesn't matter, no outsider will hear it."

  He slowly let go of Zhang Yi, turned around and said: "The general sent by the state of Qi to provide assistance this time is Gao Changgong. He brought 500,000 troops."

  Yuwen Yong slowly turned his head, looking at Zhang Gui, and said slowly: "His men have already set out."

  Seeing Zhang Qi's expressionless face, Yuwen Yong smiled slightly, raised an eyebrow, and turned around to say: "Are you ready?"

  "Yes."

  The first day of the third month.

  After the oath-taking ceremony, 200,000 soldiers and horses, holding up Yuwen Yang's canopy, set off.

  Sitting in the luxurious carriage, Zhang Gui raised her head to look around. What entered her eyes were the people of the alley sending off the crowd, and the endless horses and carriages ahead that blocked out the sky and earth.

  She turned around.

  This time when she turned her head, she unexpectedly saw a familiar figure beside Yuwen Hu.

  That is Su Wei! It was the last time I saw Su Wei, he said he came back from Tujue, obviously he is a person who is quite familiar with Tujue affairs. This time out of the expedition, Yuwen Hu brought him up, it is reasonable.

  As Zhang Qi looked at Su Wei, Su Wei was also looking at Zhang Qi.

  Four eyes met, and Zhang Qi hastily shifted her gaze.

  As they watched, Yuwen Yue, standing beside the Princess of Xingxing, smiled and said with a snort: "A'xing, your Awu is looking at Concubine Li." Looking up at the pale face of the Princess of Xingxing, Yuwen Yue hummed and continued: "I heard my brothers say that if this Concubine Li hadn't caught the eye of King Lanling of Qi, she would have been just a minor concubine that anyone could play with. They said that women like her need to be fought over by men, especially by husbands like King Lanling who are willing to fight for them, only then do they become valuable. Hmph, now your Awu and even the Emperor treat her like treasure. If it were in the past, who would have remembered her?"

  Upon hearing this, Princess Xīnghuì said softly: "Moon Sister, lower your voice." She glanced around and continued: "There are people listening."

  As soon as she said this, Yuwen Yue hastily closed her mouth. She glanced around and although she didn't see anyone looking over, she still didn't dare to say anything more. After all, the last time because of the matter with Langling Wangfei Zheng Yu, she was locked up by Yuwen Hu for a whole month, and there were still shadows in her heart.

  A force of 200,000 men marched for a whole month before arriving at the border pass.

  At this time, the Turks had been attacking for a long time without success. It is not clear which tribal leader took the lead, but most of the dozens of tribes that were originally pressing against the seven cities on the border suddenly squeezed towards Wuwei City on the border.

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  "We can arrive at Wuwei County by dusk."

  Yuwen Yong, sitting in the same carriage as Zhang Gui, furrowed his brow and said in a low voice: "A force of 500,000 against an enemy of 100,000, with only 10,000 casualties on their side, yet our own army has lost over 100,000 men. And this is despite having the city walls to block them." Gnashing his teeth, Yuwen Yong flung down the military report in his hand, as if he would have liked to trample it underfoot.

  At this time, two small hands patted his back, and Zhang Qi's soft voice came gently, "I heard that among the Turkic army this time, there are also some from the Rouran tribe. The Turks and Rourans have been at odds, can they really work together?"

  Just as she was saying this, suddenly, from outside the carriage came Yuwen Hu's loud laughter. "Princess Li is just a woman, but it turns out that you also know about the Tujue and Rouran tribes? How rare, how rare."

  The laughter stopped, and Yuwen Hu called out: "Your Majesty, Gao Changgong has arrived."

  Gao Zhanggong has arrived?

  Yuwen Yong hastily opened the curtain of his carriage and chuckled, saying: "The King of Lanling of Qi has specially come to assist me; I must meet him."

  Yuwen Hu snorted coldly: "Fifty thousand troops, and yet they are not led by Duan Shao. Are you treating me like a child?" His tone was somewhat indignant.

  Although he didn't like it, after all, he was representing the state of Qi, Yuwen Hu waved his hand and signaled for the army to stop. He led Yuwen Yong forward, saying "It's just a moment before we arrive."

  Yuwen Yong nodded and took Zhang Qi's hand, who was wearing a veil, and said: "Let's go and greet them together."

  When Yuwen Yong led the civil and military officials to welcome the Qi people, the sound of dust, horse whinnies, shouts, and curses from the 200,000-strong army behind him was endless, drowning out the voices of all the ministers.

  Just then, amidst all the commotion, a dull, earth-shaking rumble came through: "Rumble, rumble..."

  This deafening sound was completely different from the cheers of the 200,000 soldiers. It was rhythmic and uniform, as if a giant beast was approaching with the power of heaven and earth. The later it got, the more the ground shook, the more frightening it became.

  Unconsciously, the crowd quieted down. Unconsciously, even the 200,000-strong army that was in a state of turmoil and commotion also stopped moving at the same time, gazing towards the horizon.

  On the horizon, layer upon layer of yellow dust rose into the sky, those layers of dust piled up one after another, like a fierce wind sweeping across, completely blocking out the sky and earth.

  The bright sunlight also dimmed at this moment.

  In the silence, Yuwen Hu's slightly hesitant voice came, "Did Qi Ren really say it was 50,000?"

  A general replied: "Report to the Grand Chancellor. It is indeed 50,000!"

  "Only 50,000 people?" With such momentum, looking at the style of the sandstorm, how can it be just 50,000?

  At this time, Zhang Gui heard Su Wei say in a low voice on one side: "I observe the momentum, and the Turks are not as good. I have long heard that Gao Changgong is skilled at training soldiers, and since he led the army to the present, there has not been a single defeat."

  Yuwen Hu snorted and said, "Just a young whelp." Unlike Yuwen Hu, Zhang Gui heard the low voice of Yuwen Yong beside him say, "I'd love to have him serve me!"

  As they spoke, the rumbling sound grew louder and louder.

  At last, everyone's eyes turned black, and at the end of their field of vision, a dense black team appeared. The team was like a rolling black cloud that covered the sky and earth, rumbling and layer by layer approaching, and in the blink of an eye, it blocked everyone's entire field of vision.

  By now, no one was speaking anymore.

  Everyone was shocked.

  An army of fifty thousand is nothing.

  But they had never seen before, the 50,000-strong army with such momentum, just the sound of the horses' hooves coming in unison was enough to make everyone's heart beat like a drum, and they could hardly stand on their own!

  After a while, Yuwen Yong suddenly shouted: "Good!"

  In a moment of silence, he said loudly: "Taizai, with such brave soldiers to help us, why worry about the country's peace?" He waved his hand and shouted: "Go and welcome them!"

  The order was given, and the dark clouds that had been covering the sky came to a halt.

  In almost the blink of an eye, the 50,000 strong army came rushing over, with momentum like a dragon, causing the 50,000 brave soldiers who had been stirred up into a frenzy to stop abruptly.

  Orders must be obeyed, and this is the effect that a general should achieve. But how many people can really do it? Yuwen's hand was still raised in mid-air, and the floating black mountain seemed to have solidified, stopping abruptly on the spot. For a moment, the person who should have responded had forgotten to answer, and Yuwen's face finally changed again.

  After the black mountain stopped, a black figure emerged from the crowd. He rode his horse and led dozens of generals to gallop in front of Zhou Ren before he could react.

  This knight in black armor with a mask on his face led the troops to Yuwen Yong's canopy, and he dismounted and bowed his fist: "Qi Gao Chang pays homage to Lord Zhou."

  If it was said earlier, in the eyes of the people of Zhou, Langling Wang was just a stunningly handsome man with some rumored military talent from the Gao royal family. Now, however, the three words "Gao Chang Gong" represent a kind of oppression, a powerful force that can crush everything and look down on all things.

  As the ritual ended, the officials of Zhou State seemed to have finally come back to their senses. Yuwen Yong smiled and said: "The Duke's presence is a great honor for me." At this time, Yuwen Hu also burst into laughter, he walked up to Gao Changgong with big strides, patted his shoulders twice and exclaimed repeatedly: "Good kid, good kid!"

  He glanced at Gao Changgong's mask and asked in surprise, "What's the point of wearing this thing?"

  On the ferocious mask, a tall and slender figure smiled faintly, saying: "Shu Wei Er."

  Yuwen Hu burst into another fit of loud laughter as soon as he spoke these words.

  Until then, in Yuwen Hu's series of laughter, the crowd of ministers who were shocked by the 50,000 Black Riders finally woke up. They surrounded Gao Changgong and walked to one side with a smile.

  From start to finish, Gao Changgong never even glanced in Zhang Qi's direction!