A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1206: Bloodshed at the Border, General Dies
"Clifford, are you crazy?"

Lu Chengqing was tied up and pushed in front of Qiuci Tutun Qulichu. He was no longer drunk. He hoped that all this was just a dream, a nightmare after being drunk.

But the tip of his tongue was bitten and bleeding.
This is not a dream.

He watched with his own eyes Xue Guwu Ren, the Duke of Shuofang, the Sima of Anxi, the Right General of Wuhou, the Shangzhuguo, and the Defender of Qiuci, die in front of him, shot to death by a volley of arrows from the Turks.

Qu Lichu was wearing a sable fur coat and had a wolf-head knife hanging from his waist.

He sat in the Bohuan City Lord's Mansion, looking at Lu Chengqing with cold and ruthless eyes.

"I'm crazy, and it's you who made me crazy," Qu Li said bitterly.

"Have you never thought about the consequences of doing this? Didn't Tutun see what happened to Ashina Helu, Ashina Buzhen, and the two great Jijin of Ashina Jie after they surrendered and then rebelled again?" Lu Chengqing was tied up tightly and could be killed by the rebels at any time.
He could only think of ways to save himself, and the only thing he could rely on was his mouth and his identity as the emperor's envoy.

"Bobu Khan was extremely submissive to the Tang Dynasty, but what was the outcome? The Kucha Dynasty paid tribute to the emperor, welcomed the Tang army into the Western Regions, and sent troops to assist, but what was the result?
Just because he refused to agree to Wu Huaiyu's unreasonable request, he was killed suddenly! "

Qu Lichu loudly questioned Lu Chengqing, "Wu Huaiyu is abusive and murderous, and he abuses his power to do good things. Those who obey him will prosper, and those who disobey him will perish. He killed Bobu Khan yesterday, and the King of Kucha today. He will kill us tomorrow."

"With just one word from him, he wants me to submit, be registered as a citizen, pay taxes and serve in the army. If I don't agree, he wants us to move far north. Why?"

Qu Lichu shouted angrily, "Why?"

"Qu Lichu, this will not end well for you. It is time to change your ways."

"Look back, why should I look back? Since I dared to kill Xue Gu and Wu Ren, and dared to arrest you, I must have thought about it long ago."

He sneered a few times.

"Everyone says Wu Huaiyu is a god of war, invincible. I admit that he is indeed quite capable. But he is also very arrogant now. He disbanded all the troops in Dashi City. Now he is leading a thousand soldiers in Dashi City.
You said that if I launch a surprise attack at this time, how can Wu Huaiyu and his thousand men fight me?
To be honest, I had already made up my mind and made arrangements before leaving Dashi City. I killed Xue Gu and Wu Ren tonight just to sacrifice him.

I will go back now and kill Wu Huaiyu by surprise, knocking him off his feet. I will capture him alive and then behead him by the Hulu River."

Lu Chengqing was shocked. He never expected Qu Lichu to be so insidious and had long been planning a rebellion. However, he did not start the rebellion in Dashi City, but pretended to return to the east first, and only rebelled halfway.

He could think of the reasons why he did this. First, to paralyze Wu Huaiyu, and second, to wait for the other troops to disband and go away.

Wu Huaiyu is now waiting for him in Dashi City with just one thousand soldiers.

However, Qulichu had 8,000 soldiers from Qiuci and Yanqi.

"Even if the Prime Minister only has a thousand soldiers, Dashicheng is built on Yanzi Mountain and is very strong. You can't attack it with your thousands of people. Reinforcements will arrive at any time."

"Qu Lichu, turn back quickly."

Qu Lichu sneered, "I admit that Wu Huaiyu is very capable, but he is doomed this time. Do you really think I only have a few thousand men? When I was in Dashi City, I had already sent people back to Qiuci and Yanqi to mobilize troops.

Besides, you don't think I don't have a backup plan for Dashicheng, do you? "

Lu Chengqing was shocked.
Dashicheng originally belonged to Qiuci, although there were only 100 Qiuci soldiers stationed there before. Although Dashicheng was not big, it was located at an important node of Atakado after all. It was a city. In addition to soldiers, there were also craftsmen, merchants, and monks in the city.
It is also a small town with one or two thousand people.

Although the Qiuci soldiers had been replaced long ago, the craftsmen, merchants and common people there were still there. Wu Huaiyu had already planned to build a new city on the banks of the Hulu River below the Dashi Castle, where the craftsmen, merchants, common people, markets and schools would all be located, and Dashi Castle would only be used for garrisoning troops in the future.

But the new city has not yet been built. In Dashi City, there are not only Anxi soldiers, but also many merchants, craftsmen, etc.

"You want to attack Dashicheng from both inside and outside?"

"Hahaha, you're right. No matter how capable Wu Huaiyu is, how can he defend?"

Lu Chengqing's heart hit the bottom and he felt a chill in his spine.

He had begun to worry about Wu Huaiyu. After all, he thought that if he were Wu Huaiyu, it would be difficult for him to keep his promise.

Wu Huaiyu is the pillar of the Western Regions.
If he falls, the situation in the Western Region will collapse.

"Qu Lichu, don't be blinded by your momentary anger. You need to think clearly. Even if you can really capture Dashi City, can you withstand the wrath of the Tang Dynasty?
Not to mention those far away, the several adopted sons of Wu Xiang in the Western Regions are also extremely brave and brave. Now each of them leads elite troops to guard one side. If they hear the news, they will definitely come to avenge Wu Xiang.
Qu Lichu, can you resist it?
Yuwen Chengdu, An Lushan, Shi Shouxin, Pang Yanzhang, Li Keyong, all of them are brave generals who have fought hundreds of battles and are brave enough to defeat ten thousand enemies. Each of them has five thousand elite soldiers under his command. Can you resist them?"

"Qu Lichu, don't forget that Wu Huaiyu still has his teacher Li Jing, his adoptive father Qin Qiong, and his senior brother Su Lie in the Central Plains. If any of them leads an army to attack us, can you defeat them, Qu Lichu?"

Qu Lichu only sneered,

"Wu Huaiyu has been doing evil things in the Western Regions, and has the power over life and death. The people of the Western Regions have suffered from him for a long time and are full of resentment, but no one has taken the lead in resisting him yet.

Now, as long as I hold up Wu Huaiyu's head and raise my arms,
Then all the Turkic tribes and the southern countries will respond in unison.
As long as we all unite, the Tang army in the Western Regions will be overwhelmed by us and can only flee with their tails between their legs."

"You won't succeed. In just one year, how many khans, yehus, shiqins, and kings in the Western Regions who rebelled against the Tang Dynasty were defeated?

Stop it now."

Qu Lichu was too lazy to listen to his nonsense. "Send someone to keep a close eye on this man. I want him to see me capture Dashicheng and chop off Wu Huaiyu's head. Then I will have him take Wu Huaiyu's headless body back to Chang'an and report to their emperor."

Lu Chengqing was taken back to his previous residence. The bodies of Xue Gu, Wu Ren and his personal soldiers were no longer at the door, but the blood stains on the ground had not dried yet and emitted a pungent smell of blood.

The yard was surrounded by three layers of Turkic soldiers inside and outside.

He was tied up and pushed into the house.

Inside the room were officials from the Ministry of War. They all looked very miserable, tied up with cowhide ropes, their clothes in disarray, and their faces terrified.

Seeing him being pushed in, everyone quickly gathered around.

The door was left open by the Turks and was not allowed to be closed. The cold night wind blew in. Many people had not put on their clothes properly in a hurry and were shivering with cold but could do nothing about it.

"Mr. Lu,"

"Minister Lu,"

"what happened?"

"Where is General Xue Gu?"

Everyone was talking at once, all in a state of shock.

Lu Chengqing had his hands tied behind his back, so he could only sit down behind the door in the leeward area. He sighed, "The Tutun Qulichu of Kucha rebelled. It happened suddenly. I was drinking and talking with General Xue Gu at the time. The Turkic soldiers broke in. General Xue Gu went out to stop them, but was shot to death by arrows. His personal soldiers were also killed."

Everyone exclaimed, and then there was deathly silence.

The death of Xue Guwu Ren was beyond everyone's expectation, but Xue Guwu Ren, the governor of Kucha, was accompanied by only a team of personal soldiers. Although the other Kucha soldiers were under his control, in fact, when Qulichu rebelled, the Kucha soldiers and Yanqi soldiers all followed him in rebellion.

Although Xue Gu and Wu Ren are brave generals, no matter how good they are at fighting, what is the use of them?

"Duke Fanyang, what should we do now?"

"Will those Turks not try to kill us?"

Lu Chengqing was extremely confused and in a very bad mood at the moment. Compared with their situation, he was more worried about the safety of Wu Huaiyu, his father-in-law and brother-in-law.

"Qu Lichu is going to launch a surprise attack. He wants to return to Dashi City and attack and kill Wu Xiang." He said in a low voice.

From Bohuan City, go northwest across the Bohuan River, pass the Zhong River, pass Xiaoshi City, and then you will reach Dashi City. This journey is 200 miles.

If Qu Lichuo rode fast and marched day and night, he could reach the foot of Dashi City in one day and one night.

Even if it's slower, two days at most will be enough.

The most terrifying thing is that Qu Lichu has an insider in Dashi City, which is impossible to guard against.

"Prince Wu is known as the God of War. He is a master at using troops and has never been defeated. This Qu Lichu rebelled and wanted to launch a surprise attack on Prime Minister Wu. He is courting his own death," said an official from the Ministry of War excitedly. He was very confident in Wu Huaiyu and hoped that Wu Huaiyu would be fine.

Wu Huaiyu also served as the Minister of War. He was very good to the officials in the ministry, and everyone really liked this old boss.

"Minister Lu, is there any way to inform Prime Minister Wu?" asked a Deputy Director.

Lu Chengqing looked at everyone.

No one in their team was killed, but they were all tied up and locked up here. Now they can't even get out of the door, so how can they tip off anyone?

Xue Gu and Wu Ren were brave indeed, and they had a team of Anxi soldiers under their command as their personal guards, but now they are probably all in danger.

Now we can only pray that Wu Huaiyu is truly invincible.

After enduring the cold in the middle of the night,

In the early morning, Lu Chengqing and his companions' hands were tied to the point of numbness. A Turkic centurion came in and threw a cloth bag of Hu pancakes on the ground.
"Eat quickly and get on your way after eating."

The Kucha people nearby translated the centurion's words. Some officials were so frightened when they heard the word "set off" that they sat down on the ground.

"Untie the ropes for us. Even if we die, we'd rather die with a full stomach," the head of the Ministry of War shouted. Although he was a small civil servant, he was particularly heroic at this moment.

After listening to the translation of the Kucha people, the centurion shouted in dissatisfaction, "What are you yelling about? I told you to finish your bread and leave for Dashicheng. What's the point of dying? It's not time for you to die yet."

Finally, no one released them.
However, the way of tying the hands was changed. Instead of tying them behind the back, they were tied in front so that it would not affect the hands from holding food.

While eating the cake, Lu Chengqing seemed to be trying to get close to the Kucha translator. He used high positions, generous salaries, gold and gems as bait, but the Kucha man seemed to hate the Tang people very much.

"You have murdered our king. Don't even think that we, the people of Kucha, will help you again. You Tang thieves, you Han dogs, bah!"

It's still light

Lu Chengqing and his men were helped onto horses and forced to follow the rebels and turn around to fight their way back to Dashi City, 200 miles away!
(End of this chapter)