Whether the main force of the Huns could induce or force the plan to change the Western Expedition was not very sure Li Zuoche could only say that it depends on the luck of the Yuezhi Kingdom. However, what Li Zuoche didn't know was that what was really lucky was himself and the 6,000 Han cavalry who took the risk of breaking into the grassland.

Because, just when Li Zuoche made the decision to withdraw his troops, the main force of the Xiongnu Zuoxian King gathered in the Yundu Mountain area had already followed the order of the current Xiongnu Shanyu Maodun and marched southwards fiercely towards the Han cavalry who were alone in the grassland. As long as the Han cavalry retreated slightly later, they might be completely surrounded by the Xiongnu cavalry.

Like Li Zuoche analyzed, Maodun gathered the Xiongnu army near his Shanyu royal court, with the purpose of launching a Western Expedition, seeking revenge and settlement of the accounts with his enemy, Yuezhi Kingdom, and by the way, he solved the hidden dangers of the Xiongnu's Western Front, so as to free up his hands to deal with the Han army with all his might.

However, unlike Li Zuoche's expectations, the reason why Maodun ordered Zuo Xianwang to lead his army south to clean up the Han cavalry was not that the Han cavalry really hurt the Huns' army, nor that the Han cavalry angered Maodun. In order to stabilize the Donghu tribe of the eastern front, Maodun could even give his queen to the chief of the Donghu tribe. Of course, it was impossible for Maodun to act impulsively because several small Hun tribes were crippled by the Han army. But because Maodun was rare to underestimate the enemy and looked down on the Han cavalry at all, the consequences were that.

The specific situation is this. In fact, not long after the Han cavalry destroyed three small Xiongnu tribes near Chahannao, Maodun had already received the news. However, Maodun, who was very talented, did not think it was moving at all. He had no intention of giving up his plan for the sake of thousands of Han cavalry. He also thought that the Han cavalry would soon retreat on his own, and then after the Han cavalry continued to venture north and severely damaged several Xiongnu tribes, Maodun realized that the northern expedition of the Han cavalry was not an ordinary border conflict, but a premeditated large-scale counterattack. If he did not take any action, then the main force of the Huns advanced westward, the left-behind tribes in the local Xiongnu tribes would likely suffer a great loss.

However, even so, because he knew that the Han army was not very strong, Maodun still did not take the Han army seriously. In addition, he despised the combat effectiveness of the Central Plains cavalry, Maodun only thought about it for a little while and made the decision to let the Zuo Xianwang lead his army south to fight back, intending to let Zuo Xianwang kill the Han cavalry with a small number of troops first, and then turn back to pursue the main force to join the Western Expedition. He led the main force of the headquarters and the Right King's army to continue to launch the Western Expedition according to the original plan, and did not change the plan to destroy the Yuezhi because the Han army headed north.

Of course, Maodun's decision was in vain. Li Zuoche, who was ready to withdraw when he was about to take it. He had already retreated decisively and timely with the Han cavalry. He quickly retreated to Yanmen and immediately stood firm and cleared the fields, ready to face the counterattack of the Huns. Therefore, when the Zuoxian King of the Huns followed the Han cavalry to Yanmen County, the Han army on the border was not only ready, but the pressure was also far less than expected. Even if he did not have to ask Xiang Kang and the Han court for help, he was sure to deal with the Zuoxian King of the Huns alone, which not only took a lot of advantages, but also did not have to worry about not being able to stop the crazy counterattack of the Huns.

During this period, the Zuo Xianwang, who was blinded by anger, also made a mistake, because the Han cavalry invaded the grasslands in the northern expedition were all the Xiongnu tribes belonging to King Zuo Xianwang. The furious Zuo Xianwang not only did not retreat immediately because the Han army was fully prepared, but also led the Xiongnu cavalry under his command to directly pursue the city of Mayi, the important city of the northern border of the Han army, and built some simple siege weapons to attack the city of Mayi. There is no need to say much about the result. The Han army soldiers who had already experienced the Chu-Han War naturally defended Mayi City with their solid fortifications. Not only did they not allow the Xiongnu army to take any advantage, but on the contrary, they also used the city defense battle to cause considerable losses to the Xiongnu army, completely ending the history of the Han army's repeated defeats in front of the Xiongnu army in the northern border.

Finally, under the repeated urging of Maodun's envoy, the Zuoxian King of the Huns, who was unable to attack the city, had no choice but to give up the attack, and angrily led the army to pursue the main force of the Huns, preparing to exorcise the poor Yuezhi Kingdom. However, after the Zuoxian King of the Huns finally arrived in the Qilian Mountains, he not only did not see the shadow of the Yuezhi people, but also received two loud slaps from Maodun as soon as he met and roared: "Why are you here now? Do you know how much time we have wasted to wait for you? Bad my big deal!"

Then after listening to the introductions of other Xiongnu generals, the Zuo Xianwang of the Huns realized that he had really broken Maodun's major event this time. In order to wait for his army to catch up with the main force, the main force of the Huns was forced to station in the Junjishan area for seven or eight days. The Yuezhi Kingdom, who received the news, took the opportunity to migrate westward in a large scale and escaped the national crisis. Even if Maodun found that the situation was not good, he quickly led the army to advance westward without waiting for the Zuo Xianwang's army to annihilate it. He simply caught up with the palace-behind army of the Yuezhi Kingdom and annihilated it. He could not achieve the established strategic plan to annihilate the Yuezhi Kingdom in one fell swoop, and the hidden dangers on the Xiongnu's western front continued to exist.

After understanding these situations, Zuo Xianwang could only quickly apologize to Maodun. Fortunately, Maodun knew that this matter had a lot to do with his lack of decisive decisions. He did not hold Zuo Xianwang accountable too much. He just deprived Zuo Xianwang of some of the grasslands and tribes of Zuo Xianwang for trouble, and then asked Zuo Xianwang about the specific process of fighting with the Han army and learned about the various current situations of the Han army.

It is also time to come. When introducing the current specific situation of the Han army to Maodun, Zuo Xianwang focused on the newly equipped Han cavalry cavalry and the cavalry war sabre. Maodun attached great importance to this and immediately asked about the specific details of the Han army's cavalry. Unfortunately, Zuo Xianwang also knew the existence of the Han army's cavalry through his defeated soldiers. He didn't know much about the sabre. He just introduced that the Han army's cavalry was made of iron, which was more conducive to chopping than the bronze straight sword used by the Hun cavalry. He was far sharper and tougher than the bronze swords of the Hun cavalry. He could also hold a rope and wave the sword in the other hand, and all rode on horseback.

This is enough. After learning that all the Han cavalry on the Northern Grassland could be fought on horseback, Maodun frowned and said to himself: "It's a problem. If all the cavalry of the Central Plains people are equipped with this kind of iron sword, they can charge directly without dismounting. Then when we fight with the Central Plains cavalry in the future, the cavalry will not only have no advantage, but on the contrary may suffer losses. In addition, the armor of the Central Plains cavalry that cannot be shot through arrows may also pose a significant threat to us."

"Zuo Xianwang, have you got the kind of knife you mentioned? And the new armor of the Central Plains cavalry?" The right Xianwang of the Xiongnu next to him asked quickly.

"No." Zuo Xianwang shook his head and said, "Although my subordinates also killed some Central Plains cavalry, the other Central Plains cavalry took away all the armor and weapons, so I have only heard of that kind of sword and that kind of armor, and I have not seen it with my own eyes."

The King of Youxian was extremely disappointed when he heard this. Maodun refused to give up. He just thought about it and said: "Send someone to contact Yan State and tell the Yan State people who secretly sold us pig iron, and ask them to get us some new iron swords and armor for the Central Plains cavalry, no matter what they think. If possible, it is best to get us a few craftsmen who can make these things. As long as they can do it, they will give them everything."

There are traitors and traitors in every dynasty and generation. In spring, when the Xiongnu smuggling merchants brought Maodun's request to Yan State and told the Yan State generals who had previously secretly smuggled prohibited items to the grassland, because they were greedy for huge profits, a cavalry general of Yan State tried every means to get two Han army sabers and sold them to the Xiongnu merchants at a high price. There was no way out. The Han cavalry had already equipped all the sabers when fighting against the Western Chu army. There were quite a few lost in the war. Some of them were lost to the Yan State army, which focused on cavalry. Of course, there was nothing strange.

Fortunately, luck stood on the side of the Han court at this moment. When the Huns merchants returned to the grassland with their sabers, they were found by the servants under the command of the Shanggu County Censor. They immediately reported to the Shanggu County Censor directly under the Han court. The Shanggu County Censor also attached great importance to this matter. In addition to reporting the matter to Zang Tu immediately, they immediately wrote to the Han court and reported it directly to the Han court.

The chain reaction also appeared. Before this, Xiang Kang was extremely dissatisfied with the secret smuggling of prohibited items on the grassland by the officials and generals of Yan State. Now the Yan army generals dared to smuggle sabers to the Huns. Of course, Xiang Kang could not bear it anymore. In addition to issuing an edict to severely denounce Zang Tu, who was incompetent in the imperial court, he also forced Zang Tu to execute the person involved, and strengthened the management and blockade of prohibited items, so that similar situations were not allowed to occur again.

The already existing cracks between Xiang Kang and Zang Tu have also widened. After receiving Xiang Kang's edict, Zang Tu, who was indisputable, obeyed Xiang Kang's orders and beheaded the Yan general who had sold his sabres in public that day, and also honestly ordered the strengthening of the management and blockade of the border. However, behind the lack of anyone, Zang Tu was still dissatisfied with Xiang Kang and roared: "Little Master, his hand is stretching longer and longer, and he even has to take care of the domestic affairs of our Yan State! Just for the sake of two sabres, he actually issued a bullshit edict to denounce me!"

Fortunately, this matter is not very strict. Zang Tu was just dissatisfied with Xiang Kang's intervention in his domestic affairs and had not yet developed any dissatisfaction with this matter. After a while, he received news that the Zhao Palace rebuilt by the Han court for Zhao Xie had been completed, and Zhao Xie was about to move the capital from Julu to Handan. Zang Tu immediately decided to send his crown prince Zang Yan as an envoy and bring gifts to congratulate Zhao Xie.

When Zang Tu made this decision, Zhang Sheng, the doctor of Yan State who was trusted by him, happened to be present. Seeing that there were Zang Tu's guards next to him, Zhang Sheng hesitated for a moment and said to Zang Tu: "I dare to ask the king, I don't know what the king thinks about King Zhao's regaining the capital of Handan?"

"How do you think?" Zang Tu was stunned when asked, and said in confusion: [Country] "This is a matter of Zhao State, how do I think?"

Zhang Sheng noticed Zang Tu's expression. Seeing that Zang Tu's expression was confused and not as if he was fake, he sighed and said, "The King is such a kind and gentleman. With such a dangerous secret code, I didn't expect that the King would not notice it at all."

"Dangerous code? What do you mean?" Zang Tu heard something in Zhang Sheng's words, but Zhang Sheng refused to answer. He just looked at Zang Tu's side and left. Zang Tu understood and immediately waved his hand to let the guards exit the door temporarily, and then said to Zhang Sheng: "Say it, what do you want to say?"

"Great forgiveness of the crime, forgiveness of the ministers for speaking out." Zhang Sheng lowered his voice and whispered: "The emperor asked the King of Zhao to restore the capital of Handan. He was preparing to attack you or the King of Zhao. My ministers dared to assert that when the King of Zhao moved the capital back to Handan, within a year and a half, the emperor would definitely take action to get rid of you and the King of Zhao, and then concentrate the whole country to get rid of the remaining one."

Zang Tu's eyes widened in surprise. Zhang Sheng saw Zang Tu's thoughts and smiled and said, "King, don't think that his subordinates are exaggerating. Please think carefully. For no reason, why did our emperor who advocated frugality build a large-scale construction, pay and grain to rebuild the King of Handan Palace for King Zhao, and let the King of Zhao move the capital back to Handan?"

"The capital of Zhao was originally Handan. What's so strange about the emperor asking the King of Zhao to restore the capital of Handan?" Zang Tu asked in confusion.

Zhang Sheng smiled and shook his head, saying, "Your Majesty, you are so kind. It is true that the original states of Zhao were all in Handan, but when did the King of Zhao ask for the Restoration of Handan? If the King of Zhao did not mention this matter, why was our Emperor so enthusiastic and proactively proposed to let the King of Zhao restoration of Handan?"

"Why did the emperor do this?" Zang Tu asked again.

"Of course it is to separate you from the King of Zhao from you." Zhang Sheng said with a smile: "Julu County, where the King of Zhao is now located, not only directly borders Guangyang County, where our Yan State is located, but also has a road to connect. The traffic connection is extremely convenient, and the same energy is connected. As long as one country has an accident in Yan and Zhao, the other country can immediately send troops to help. But after the King of Zhao regained the capital of Handan, is the traffic connection between you and the King of Zhao so convenient? If there is any accident, can you send troops to help the other party immediately?"

Zang Tu's face began to turn a little pale, and Zhang Shengze said again: "Yan Yao, the county magistrate of Hengshan County, was appointed by the imperial court's Grand Marshal Zhou, who was appointed by the imperial court. King Zhao did not have the courage to replace him. When an accident occurred, Yan Yao would definitely not stand on the side of King Zhao. King Zhao was regained Julu. Even if the county magistrate of Julu could use his people, our extremely smart emperor, as long as we find an excuse, we can station an army in Julu, and even use various means to indirectly influence the candidates of Julu County, and completely cut off the direct contact between you and King Zhao. Then, if our Emperor Majesty wants to do something to you or King Zhao, wouldn't we have to worry that you and King Zhao will join forces to resist?"

Zang Tu was speechless, his face was unstable, and he subconsciously remembered Ying Bu's fate. At that time, Zang Tu was already suspected that Xiang Kang was preparing to eliminate the king of another surname. So after grinding his teeth and thinking carefully for a long time, Zang Tu simply asked directly: "If this is the case, how should I deal with it?"

"The best way for the king should be to let King Zhao know His Majesty's intention." Zhang Sheng said in a deep voice: "I don't know if King Zhao has also seen His Majesty's intention, but even if King Zhao has seen the emperor's intention, we should also understand his next plan as soon as possible. If he is also afraid that the emperor will die of rabbits and dogs to cook him, he will definitely not refuse to join forces with us. Yan and Zhao have formed an alliance. Even if the emperor makes any moves, we will not have any power to fight back."

Zang Tu nodded slowly, and after a moment of calculation, Zang Tu made up his mind and said, "Yan'er, the crown prince of Yan State, was granted by the emperor for me. This time, the King of Zhao regained the capital of Handan, so you should represent me to congratulate King Zhao. Be careful in doing things, and never let people get the handle."
Chapter completed!