Firmament

Even if the water is sugar-free, it is sweet.

- Hmong proverb

Ali broke up with his good friend Abbas in River State and continued to follow Hohba's army in all directions, without stopping for a moment. His busy schedule left him no longer in mind to worry about his future.

This summer, the climate in the Great Northwest was particularly abnormal. Rain is scarce, clear skies, and hot weather. Under the scorching sun, the loess turned into a dry and cracked scorched earth, and wisps of green smoke rose from it.

Hohba Ri grew up in the northern grasslands since childhood, adapted to the cool weather, and was afraid of the scorching heat of summer. His body was consumed by the marches and battles of his adult years, and he was no longer young.

The years are just and selfless. The laws of nature are callous. They treat everyone equally, whether it's heroes or ordinary people.

Hohba Ri is no exception. He often felt dizzy and tight, and his energy was gradually running out. However, in front of many generals, he resolutely refused to submit to his old age, and in addition to long marches and command battles, he also stubbornly participated in dangerous hunting activities.

Badr is worried about Hohba's health. He carefully guarded the safety of the general, and also searched for reliable doctors in the civilian sector to regulate his body. In desperation, Hohe Bari scoffed at medicine and did not accept treatment at all. Badr had no choice but to arrange for Ali and other chefs to adopt traditional methods, using precious deer blood, deer antler velvet and other ingredients to prepare a nourishing diet to supplement Huhe Bari's nutrition.

Perhaps it was the tonic of deer blood, deer antler velvet and other supplements that temporarily played a role in boosting the spirits. Hohba's health gradually improved. Much to the excitement of the loyal Badr.

One day, Hohba Ri suddenly became interested and decided to hunt in the nearby forest. Ignoring the dissuasion of Badr and his generals, he flew on his special red horse and rushed towards the wooded hills.

Badr hurriedly led the guards and chased after him. They followed Huhe Bari with full attention, carefully escorting him.

Halfway through the journey, Hohe Bari suddenly felt dizzy and dark. In a trance, he fell headlong from his horse, fell heavily on the hard ground, and passed out instantly.

Badr was taken aback by this, and panicked, and hurriedly jumped off his horse, and hurriedly carried Huhe Bari back to the camp.

Hohwa Bari quickly came to his senses. Although his body seemed to be fine, his mind and spirit were much worse than before. He only eats a few bites of food a day, and the amount of food is far less than it used to be.

When the army reached the eastern part of Longyuan, Hohba's condition suddenly deteriorated sharply, and he died soon after. Before his death, he explained two things to the generals: one was to resolutely eliminate the Baigao Daxia Kingdom, even if the Tang Wus announced their surrender, they would be decisively killed, and the other was to resolutely eliminate the sworn enemy of the Grassland Country, Nu Zhiguo, through Tongguan in the Eastern Kingdom.

Badr knelt beside the body of Hohbaari, tears streaming down his face, crying silently, and the degree of grief even exceeded that of Hohbari's own children. In Badr's view, General Hohba Ri was not only a commander and leader with good command and outstanding military achievements, but also a stern, kind and generous father. He did not know where the army, which had lost General Hohe Bari, would go in the future.

Ali saw the opportunity and quietly asked Badr: "The general has died, is the war over?

Badr put his index finger to his lips majestically, signaling for Ali not to speak casually.

This army, which had experienced the baptism of blood and war in the Khorezm Empire, was now as light as a dragonfly against the white high Xia Kingdom, which was already at the end of its rope. They soon surrounded Zhongxing Mansion, the "isolated island" of the White Gao Great Xia Kingdom.

Badr insisted on personally leading an army to storm Zhongxing Mansion, kill all the Tang Vultures in the city, and use the blood of the Tang Vultures to pay tribute to Huhe Bari and avenge the great and wise general.

A general named Chahan strongly opposed the siege of the city by force, and strongly persuaded the Tang Wu people who defended the city to surrender. In order to prevent the soldiers from shedding blood and sacrifice again, and to avoid the tragic destruction of the rich Zhongxing Mansion, he took the initiative to enter the city to meet the Tang Wu soldiers and civilians who swore to defend the city, and persuaded them to go out of the city to surrender.

Huhe Bari thought about it for a long time and finally adopted Chahan's suggestion.

The

Tang Wu soldiers and civilians in Zhongxing Mansion knew very well that if they continued to fight, it would be a dead end. Inspired by Chahan's instigation, they agreed to surrender.

Not every military commander has the same compassionate heart as Chahan. In the eyes of the vast majority of soldiers, their lives are born for war, and their sacred duty is to defeat the enemy and sacrifice their lives for the country.

Badr was ordered to lead his army into Chung Hing Province.

Limited to the surrender conditions negotiated between General Chahan and the Tang Wuren, he could not immediately break his promise to kill the surrendered Tang Wuren, so he ordered the soldiers to destroy the city, destroying most of the exquisite buildings in the city, and sweeping away the splendid civilization created by the Tang Wuren, so that the historical relics of the Gaobai Daxia Kingdom that have been handed down to later generations are as few as stars.

Badr also sent soldiers to the east of the city, dug three feet into the ground and destroyed the tombs of the kings of the Baigao Daxia Kingdom, vented his incomparable hatred for the Tang Wu people, and comforted the general Hohe Bari who vowed to level the Tang Wu country.

Ali witnessed the destruction of Chung Hing Province with his own eyes.

The sight reminded him of the devastating blow to the Khorezm Empire a few years earlier. He questioned the commonplace wars: why do human beings plunder and kill each other, and can't everyone live in harmony and under the same sky like neighbors?

Badr did not forget Hohe Bari's dying instructions, broke his promise, and killed all the Tang Wu people to ensure that there would be no more Tang Wu people in this world.

According to private legend, before Badr's army entered Zhongxingfu, a Tang Wu nobleman and his family members secretly fled the country, went into exile in the southwest direction where their ancestors lived, and finally fled into the deep mountains and old forests in the western part of Shudi.

Badr guarded Huhe Bari for a long time, and soon understood and learned the general's political tactics and military thoughts: although the Baigao Xia Kingdom was destroyed, the historical mission of the grassland army was far from being completed. The Nüzhi Kingdom in the southeast, the Eastern Kingdom in the south, and the partially fleeing Khorezm army are all in the heart of the steppe country, and they are all enemies that must be eliminated without the slightest hesitation.

Badr has always been a sworn friend of Hohba Ri and Baolig.

Grateful for Badr's loyalty to him, Boreg decided to keep him by his side and cultivate him for his later use. Soon after, he promoted Badr to the rank of general in the army, helping him to develop a new career.

Ali also remained under Bolig because of Badr, and continued to serve Bolig and Badr. This year, Ali was 25 years old. He grew from an ignorant teenager to a handsome and upright young man. After 9 years of hard training, he not only broadened his horizons and increased his knowledge, but also became much more calm and mature in his personality.

Once, Ali met a group of Khorezm captives and struck up an intimate conversation with them. When he learned that the soldier Rashid was from Samarkand, he eagerly inquired about his parents and home.

Rashid used to live in the city of Samarkand, not too far from Ali's house, so he knew better what was going on in Ali's house.

He hesitated for a long time, then told Ali in a hesitant manner: "Your Ada and Grandma fought with the soldiers who broke into the house and were unfortunately killed. Your eldest brother and second brother have already died on the battlefield. The third brother, Musa, fled to the west with King Zalandin. "

When Ali heard the bad news, his heart ached so much that he couldn't breathe, and Venus appeared in his eyes. His eyes were dark, and his body shook and he was about to fall to the ground. He hurriedly hugged the poplar tree beside him and pressed his face tightly against the cold trunk. Tears of grief flowed down like a downpour.

Rashid kindly comforted Ali and said, "Don't be too sad. This is what happens to every family in Samarkand. They are all poor orphans in the East. As long as we cheer up and live the days ahead, it is the best memory of our deceased loved ones. "

I don't know how many nights Ali woke up crying. He almost lost the confidence and courage to continue living. In order to return to Samarkand as soon as possible, even if it is to add a pinch of loess to the burial of Ada and Grandma (Khorezm language, grave), it can be regarded as repaying the parenting grace of his parents. He learned from the pain and chose to survive the humiliation.

Badr learned of the changes in Ali's family, and in order to win Ali's heart, he rewarded him with a lonely Mongol woman, Sauron, as his wife.

Sauron's family was killed by the enemy in the fighting. She went out to herd sheep and narrowly escaped the disaster. In order to avenge the death of her loved ones, she resolutely ran to Badr and insisted on joining the battle.

Badr told her, "There are hordes of warriors of the steppe country! Our army does not need women in skirts." "

Sauron demanded solemnly, "Then let me do the service work." "

Badr was speechless and left Sauron in the kitchen to work as a helper.

For this ordinary-looking steppe country woman Sauron, Ali didn't want to accept her at first. First, because the tragic time of the death of his relatives lingered in his mind, which made him extremely painful and unable to help himself, and second, all these disasters were caused by the people of the grassland country, how could he marry a woman from the grassland country?

Deep down, Sauron was reluctant to let a Salta captive become his husband. However, she saw that Ali was handsome, kind, and a man to rely on, and that he also had the important mission of supervising the chef himself. She was a smart and clever woman, and after thinking about it for a few days, she agreed to the family business.

For several years, Ali has struggled with loneliness and loneliness. In order to find a little comfort and warmth in his heart, he married Sauron against his will.

They received special permission from Badr to move out of the cook's collective yurt, own a small tent on their own, and set up a simple little family.

Ali and Sauron devoted themselves to making tea and cooking for Bolig and Badr, taking care of the housework, and following them on their journey through the vast land of the East.

Sometimes, the serious-looking Badr occasionally made a joke.

Once, he quipped to Ali, "Ali, I married Alima, a woman from Sarta, as my wife, and it seems that I owe you a debt of affection." Now, you have married Sauron, a girl from the Prairie Country, will none of us owe anyone a debt in the future?"

Ali smiled innocently, not knowing what to say to Badr. He felt that Badr still had a little human touch at this time.

A large number of Tanma Red Army from the Khorezm Empire have been in the company of the Steppe State officers and soldiers for many years. Many skilled craftsmen also worked under the control of the nobility of the steppe country. They live with the people of the steppe country day and night, and they need to communicate in words. Gradually, they learned the steppe language, and mixed many of the words of the steppe language with the Khorezm language. Over time, the language they used was neither the standard Khorezm nor the orthodox steppe language, but a new language. The Mongols still refer to the Khorezm people as the Sartars, according to their own custom. Hence the name of this new language, Sartha.