Tibet.

Chapter 1259 Seizing the Weakness
When Dengli Khan heard that Yi County had been attacked and his logistic sheep and supplies had been looted, he was so angry that he almost fainted on the spot.

He read Li Ye's letter again, in which Li Ye advised him to return to the grassland as soon as possible, otherwise Youzhou would be his burial place.

Dengli Khan tore the letter to pieces in anger and shouted, "Go and find Zhu Ci for me!"

Zhu Ci was on the verge of collapse these days. Since the great defeat three days ago, he had lost 15,000 men, in addition to the 10,000 men lost on the first day.

He lost 25,000 soldiers in the two battles. He only brought 30,000 soldiers in total, and now he only had 5,000 soldiers left.

Zhu Ci was like a dog with three broken legs, living in constant fear. Without legs, no one wanted to help him hunt, let alone guard the house.

The Uighur Khan is very likely to attack himself.

At this time, a personal soldier came to report, "Khan invites the lord to discuss matters!"

Zhu Ci's heart sank. What happened now?
He didn't want to go, but had to go, so he had to bite the bullet and go to the Uighur king's tent.

As soon as they met, Dengli Khan threw a map in his face and said, "Didn't you say that the area south of the Yishui River is all mountainous and not worth crossing? Now the Tang army is crossing the Yishui River and attacking Yi County. Do you know that?"

Zhu Ci was so frightened that he trembled all over, took a step back and said: "The Yishui cavalry can't cross the river, but the infantry can!"

"Then why don't your troops cross the Yishui River and rush to the south to support me?"

Zhu Ci was suddenly speechless. How could he take the initiative to become a stepping stone for the Uighurs?

Zhu Ci stood there for a while before saying, "I'm not very familiar with that place."

Dengli Khan gnashed his teeth in hatred and said, "It's fine if you say you're not familiar with it, but Yi County has been captured and all the sheep and food have been taken away. I have no food now. What do you think I should do?"

"what!"

Zhu Ci was stunned. Not only did the Uighur army run out of food, but he himself had run out of food as well.

"I'll go and think of a way to see if I can transport another 100,000 dan of military rations to help out!"

"Humph! I'll give you three days. If the military rations don't arrive, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

When Zhu Ci returned to the military camp, he immediately wrote a letter to his chief of staff and military advisor Wang Shoucheng, ordering him to immediately transfer the food supplies from Youzhou to Yuyang County in Jizhou.

That night, Zhu Ci led the last 5,000 troops to retreat to Jizhou under the cover of darkness.

Without food, the Uighur army would undoubtedly be defeated. At this moment, Zhu Ci was ready to surrender to the Khitans.

The next day, Dengli Khan heard that Zhu Ci had withdrawn his troops overnight, and he was immediately furious.

At this time, the Uighur army of 120,000 had lost nearly 30,000 soldiers, but could not even cross the Juma River, and even their logistics sheep were looted by the Tang army.

The chief generals of each tribe were extremely dissatisfied and came together to find Dengli Khan. He had originally promised to bring everyone here to make a fortune, but now, not only had they suffered heavy casualties, but in the end, they had even lost their original capital.

Dengli Khan was forced into a corner. He pounded his fist on the table and gritted his teeth, saying, "Let's go to Youzhou City and rob it completely!"

Youzhou has been in chaos. Since yesterday, several important pieces of news have spread throughout Youzhou City. The Uighur army was defeated at the Juma River and was preparing to plunder Youzhou City and retreat back to the grassland.

When the news came out, the people of Youzhou city were terrified. Everyone knew that the Uighurs were not just asking for money, they wanted to plunder all the wealth and women.

His wife and daughter at home were even more panicked. They packed up their money and valuables and fled out of the city.

On that day, a huge crowd of people fled to Youzhou City, but the city gates were not opened the next day. Tens of thousands of people crowded at the city gates, crying and begging, but the soldiers refused to open the gates.

Intelligence chief Wang Baofu was anxious because he had arranged for his men to spread the news, giving the people a chance to escape.

Now the defenders refused to open the city gates, which made him anxious. He immediately found Fu Yuangui, the military officer of the Cangcao.

Fu Yuangui was also packing his things, preparing to escape with his wife and children.

"General Manager Wang, it's useless to look for the generals. They have no power. The power to open the city lies with the military advisor Wang Shoucheng. He is the military and political commander, and the order to open the city is in his hands."

Wang Baofu pondered for a moment and said, "What are his weaknesses? For example, what do he like?" Fu Yuangui thought for a moment and said, "I don't know what he likes, but I know he has a fatal weakness, which is his youngest son, Wang Hui, who is only five years old. His eldest son died of illness, and he had a son in his middle age. He treasures this son very much."

"Is his youngest son in Youzhou City?"

"Yes! In his house."

Wang Baofu's eyes rolled and he had an idea.

Wang Shoucheng's mansion was right next to the Jiedushi's, and it was an official residence covering an area of ​​five acres. In the morning, Wang Shoucheng was in his official room, and there were only maids, old women and a group of other women at home.

In the morning, a peddler selling gold and silver jewelry came to the door of Wang Shoucheng's mansion and sold more than a hundred pieces of gold and silver jewelry at half price.

This kind of good thing was unheard of, and all the women in Wang Shoucheng's family came to see the jewelry.

They found that they were genuine gold and silver jewelry, only half the price. The women were delighted and picked out their favorite jewelry.

When he was halfway through selling the jewelry, several police officers suddenly rushed over and grabbed the peddler. The police officers said viciously: "How dare you sell stolen goods from the Dragon and Phoenix Jewelry Shop? You must be in cahoots with the thieves. Take them away!"

When the women heard that they were stolen goods, they were so scared that they dared not buy them again and returned them one after another. Fortunately, they had not yet paid for them.

The peddler was arrested, and the women were whispering, "No wonder it's so cheap, it turned out to be stolen goods!"

"Oh! I originally wanted to use up some of the copper coins and exchange them for gold and silver so that they are easier to carry, but now there is no hope."

At this time, a maid ran over in a panic, "Madam, the young master has been kidnapped."

The lady was Wang Shoucheng’s concubine. His wife had died of illness long ago, and the concubine gave birth to a son for him five years ago, so she was promoted to be his legal wife.

When the lady heard that her son had been kidnapped, she felt dizzy and fainted.

The maids hurriedly woke her up, and she burst into tears, "My son!"

"Madam, please stop crying. Go and report to the master immediately. The child should still be in the city."

This sentence reminded the lady. She struggled to get up, took her maid, and ran to the government office next door to find her husband.

Wang Shoucheng was about fifty years old. He was Zhu Ci's military advisor and chief of staff. The reason why he enjoyed Zhu Ci's absolute trust was that he was the staff of Zhu Ci's father, Zhu Huaigui, the governor of Jizhou. He had assisted two generations and was of course deeply trusted.

Wang Shoucheng has been very busy these past two days. He has just arranged for 3,000 people to escort 100,000 shi of grain and a large amount of property to be transported to Yuyang County, Jizhou.

There are only two thousand people in the city. Since yesterday, there have been rumors in the city that the Uighurs are coming to kill us, and the people in the entire city have gone crazy.

Wang Shoucheng didn't know where this news came from. He thought it was complete nonsense. If there was any danger, Zhu Ci would definitely inform him.

However, Zhu Ci asked him to transport grain and property to Yuyang County, which made him feel a little worried.

At this time, the soldier said at the door: "The lady is here!"

Wang Shoucheng was startled. Why did his wife come to his official residence? She never came here before. He suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

Wang Shoucheng stood up and went out to greet him. When his wife saw her husband, she burst into tears. Wang Shoucheng stamped his feet anxiously, "Stop crying, tell me what happened?"

The maid said beside her: "The young master was just taken away by someone!"

Wang Shoucheng felt as if he had been hit by a heavy blow and took several steps back.

He suddenly went crazy and grabbed his wife's collar and yelled, "Stop crying, what happened to my son?"

Wang Shoucheng had a son in his middle age. His son was the apple of his eye and the apple of his eye. He held him in his mouth for fear that he would melt, and held him in his hands for fear that he would fall. His son was actually taken away by someone. He was going crazy.

The wife cried and told the story in a disjointed manner about what had just happened.

Wang Shoucheng was stunned for a moment.

(End of this chapter)