Twenty meters away from the tent, Xueyantuo Khan had already heard the coughing inside. The person inside was Xueyantuo's prime minister. He didn't know how many people had died from the cold in one winter. If it wasn't a matter of life and death, Xueyantuo Khan would not have come here.
"Prime Minister, are you feeling better?"
Seeing the old prime minister Xueyantuo Khan lying on the bed was a bit embarrassing. The old prime minister had worried a lot about the entire Xueyantuo, and now at the end, he had to keep him busy.
"Khan, you'd better leave quickly. I'm already very sick. If you stay here for too long, there's a good chance that the disease will pass away. Someone in this tent is already sick."
Although the old prime minister was not satisfied with the Khan in front of him, the man in front of him was the king of the entire Xueyantuo after all. If he died of illness, especially at this time, the people of the Tang Dynasty would be happy.
When the old prime minister said this, Xueyantuo Khan was really nervous. He himself was very afraid of death. Whenever someone around him caught a cold, he wanted to bury that person alive immediately. But at this moment, he received a series of reports that the Tang army had indeed set out. That bastard Zuo Daduwei was their vanguard. They had avoided all the dangerous places along the way, and they would be at their doorstep in less than half a month.
Moreover, according to the information from the spies, Li Xiang was still winning people's hearts along the way. After this great disaster, the people on the Xueyantuo grassland had been divided. Li Xiang only needed to give them a little benefit to make these people feel valued. They were like ants in front of the Xueyantuo Khan. As long as Li Xiang was a little bit nice to them, these people would immediately surrender to the Tang Dynasty.
According to the information they had gathered, over thirty tribes had already declared their allegiance to the Tang Dynasty, representing one-third of the tribes. If a conflict arose, Xueyantuo Khan's men wouldn't trust all of them. After all, many of them came from these thirty tribes, and their maternal families had already betrayed them. Would they still follow the Khan and continue the war? Even if they dared to follow, would Xueyantuo Khan trust them?
If these people collude with their tribe and stab them in the back during the war, Xueyantuo Khan would not be able to win, and even saving his own life would be a luxury. Now he dared not trust anyone. The old prime minister was a veteran of three dynasties, so he wanted to hear the old prime minister's opinion. Therefore, even if the old prime minister caught a cold, he himself was in danger of being infected, so he had to listen here obediently.
"Old Prime Minister, what are you talking about? You and I have been king and subject for a long time. Since my father's time, you have brought great changes to Xueyantuo. Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, Old Prime Minister, you must take good care of your health so that you can find a way out for us Xueyantuo. And Gemupai and the others..."
As Xueyantuo Khan spoke, he pointed to several young men next to him, who were the sons and grandsons of the old prime minister.
The old prime minister was already at the end of his life and was unwilling to give any more advice. But now he thought of his sons and grandsons. If he did nothing before his death, according to the Khan's way of doing things, his sons and grandsons would suffer.
"Great Khan, tell me about the situation in the Tang Dynasty."
In just a few words, the old prime minister coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. Anyone could see that the old prime minister could not hold on any longer and needed a good rest. However, Xueyantuo Khan did not have time to let him rest and immediately asked his subordinates to report some situations.
The old prime minister's family members clenched their fists. They wanted to rebel right now, but all their military power had been taken away from them. They also knew that the old prime minister was holding on, and if they didn't give the Khan some advice, they would have no good life in the future.
After listening to the reports from his men, the old prime minister had the door of the tent opened to let in some fresh air. Although the temperature dropped a lot, the old prime minister's mind became much clearer. This should be his last time to give advice to Xueyantuo.
"We have no way out. Continuing north is impossible. So we can only go south or west. If we go south, we won't have the strength to defeat the Tang Dynasty. So we can only go west."
The old prime minister had no other choice. Xueyantuo Khan had never considered going west before. At least there was still grassland under his feet. If he went west, there would be a vast Gobi desert, where it would be impossible to survive. We can still graze here, but what can we do over there?
There are indeed oases in the Gobi Desert, but there are more than a dozen countries scattered across the Western Regions. Are they all friendly? The Western Regions themselves have a lot of territory, but not many places where people can survive. City-states have been established one after another in the oases. Those people will fight you to the death to protect their livelihoods. If you go there, I will have to fight all the way there.
"Prime Minister, I know that going west is the only way out. However, there are more than a dozen countries to our west. Although each one is not strong, if our Xueyantuo army goes there, it will easily arouse their resentment. Once they unite, we will not be able to seize the territory, and there is a high possibility that our entire army will be destroyed."
Xueyantuo Khan said anxiously that he had discovered that the old prime minister's vitality was slowly fading. If he did not have a good idea before the old prime minister died, he really didn't know what to do with his men. Is the West so good?
"Going west might lead to annihilation, but going south will definitely lead to annihilation. There's a difference here. We've reached a dead end, and we can only fight for a glimmer of hope."
The old prime minister grabbed Xueyantuo Khan's hand and squeezed it hard, but he didn't have much strength left at this moment. After saying these words, he fainted. The people around him were shocked and hurriedly gave him a few mouthfuls of ginseng soup. However, after he woke up, he could not speak and it seemed that he could not hold on for a few more days.
Xueyantuo Khan bid farewell to the old prime minister and came to his tent in a daze. He drank half a pound of liquor on the way.
Western Regions?
Xueyantuo Khan repeated these two words in his mouth. Did he really have to go there to make a living?