Tuyuhun cavalry were indeed spotted on the distant hillside, which should be the enemy's vanguard.
"They are indeed from the Midu tribe."
General Qin Qiong was once ordered to garrison Liangzhou City, so he was very familiar with some of the Tuyuhun tribes.
Seeing that Li Xiang didn't understand, General Qin Qiong explained to him that Tuyuhun was divided into more than one hundred tribes, which usually lived in their respective areas. Some of the tribal leaders commanded in the tribe, while others served in the Tuyuhun royal court.
Take Prime Minister Midu for example. He only used people from his own tribe. It was his own men who went to Liangzhou City for negotiations this time. After all, his own people were the most trusted at this time. When the Khan of Tuyuhun assigned a task, the heads of each tribe would bring their own people to do the task. If it was successful, the Khan would reward them. If it failed, your entire tribe would be punished.
"The Midu tribe is not an ordinary small tribe. In addition to having a prime minister, it also has several Tuyuhun generals. Therefore, this tribe is extremely elite. If there is a ranking, it should be second only to their Wangting tribe."
General Qin Qiong had a very high opinion of the Midu tribe. The first tribe of Tuyuhun was naturally their Wangting tribe. Apart from their Wangting tribe, the Midu tribe could already be ranked at the front. The weapons and equipment of his subordinates were relatively comprehensive, and their combat effectiveness was also very strong.
The tribes that Li Xiang attacked last night had only a few thousand people. To put it bluntly, they were small tribes in the border area and did not have much impact on the entire Tuyuhun. But the Midu tribe was different. The total population of the Midu tribe exceeded 80,000, and nearly half of them were good fighters, so they played an important role in the entire Tuyuhun grassland.
According to the agreement between the two sides, the armies of both sides stopped at a distance of ten miles. Except for their respective commanders and ten guards, the rest of the army was not allowed to move without permission.
"They are quite well-mannered. The people coming here are about the same size as us, but let your people go around behind them and take a look."
General Qin Qiong made a rough estimate and found that the enemy also had two to three thousand people, but he didn't know whether there were any hidden troops behind them.
Li Xiang turned around and waved his command flag. At the end of their team, thirty cavalrymen quickly disappeared into the grassland.
Li Zhi was extremely envious when he saw this scene. He wondered when his subordinates would have such ability.
"Your Highness, there is no need to follow me. Your Highness should stay at the center of the army."
When Li Zhi was about to gallop over, General Qin Qiong immediately stopped him, which made Li Zhi blush. I volunteered to come out of Liangzhou City, but at the last minute, I was not allowed to participate. This is a real political achievement, I can brag about it for a while when I return to Chang'an City, but you actually...
Li Zhi wanted to say something, but unfortunately General Qin Qiong did not give him the opportunity. When Li Zhi raised his head again, the general and Li Xiang had already ridden past on horseback. In addition to these two people, there were twenty guards.
In the center of the two armies, the Tuyuhun people had set up a tent, but in order to allow people on both sides to see clearly, the curtains on all four sides of the tent were raised, so except for the top roof that could block the sun, the soldiers on both sides could see what was happening inside the tent.
"General Qin, I hope you are well."
The person who spoke was Prime Minister Midu of Tuyuhun. He was about fifty years old. Because there was plenty of sunshine here, his whole body was tanned and he looked very strong.
"Greetings, Prime Minister."
General Qin Qiong was once stationed here, and the two had participated in similar meetings before, but it was because of some chamber of commerce matters. Now they did not expect that the two countries would be at war.
"General, you should know why we're meeting again today. According to our battle reports, the Tang army crossed the border last night and attacked several tribes within our territory, resulting in thousands of casualties. I wonder if the General is aware of this?"
Prime Minister Mi Du was a capable man. He came up without saying anything else and directly blamed everything that happened last night on the Tang army.
"I'm not aware of this matter, but the Tang Dynasty has always been strict in military discipline. If the Prime Minister has evidence, I will immediately interrogate the relevant personnel and make sure to give the Prime Minister an explanation."
General Qin Qiong had already told his subordinates that we must not leave any evidence behind, so we are not afraid that the other party may have evidence in their hands.
Just as General Qin Qiong thought, after these words were spoken, Prime Minister Mi Du's face turned pale.
"General, are you saying I'm framing you? Aside from your Tang army, there are no other countries' troops within a 500-mile radius. Would our own people kill our own?"
Prime Minister Midu said very angrily that he had already expected that the Tang army would not admit this, but he did not expect them to deny it so cleanly.
"It's really hard to say. From what I know, there's not much peace between your Tuyuhun tribes. Today you fight me, tomorrow I fight you. Was there some internal conflict last night? If so, it would be best for the Prime Minister to investigate this as soon as he returns. No one from our Great Tang army is involved."
General Qin Qiong spoke righteously, and Li Xiang, who was watching from the side, was secretly shocked. He had only known that the general was an upright person, but he did not expect that he could lie without blushing or breathing heavily. Anyway, he had only killed one person, and this matter had nothing to do with him.
"Then let's not waste our time on this nonsense. You didn't come all the way from Chang'an to see our grasslands, and we didn't gather so many troops just to see the walls of Liangzhou City. Let's be frank and honest. How do you want to resolve this?"
Prime Minister Midu saw that his approach was useless, so he decided to speak directly. There was no point in continuing to beat around the bush, so it would be better to agree on a solution as soon as possible, which would benefit both parties.
"Prime Minister Midu is a man of few words. Since that's the case, I'll be frank. According to the imperial decree of our Emperor, your Crown Prince has assassinated our eldest grandson. The evidence is irrefutable. We demand that your Khan come to the capital to apologize, open the trade route from Liangzhou to Tubo, and allow us to build a new city southwest of Liangzhou..."
General Qin began to put forward his own conditions.
