Tibet.

Chapter 1261: The Trap
Three huge material warehouses were excavated, and the 90,000 Uighur soldiers cheered loudly.

There were 2 million strings of copper coins alone, more than 1 million pieces of cloth, and more than 500,000 pieces of silk.

There are also countless porcelain, tea cakes, and salt, which are the grassland people’s favorite.

There were still about 50,000 shi of grain that the Fanyang army could not transport.

As for tents, gongs and drums, flags, and timber, the Uighur army looked down upon them.

Although Dengli Khan was also interested in pig iron and copper ingots, they really could not get them.

Dengli Khan immediately ordered that copper coins, cloth, silk, porcelain, salt and tea cakes be distributed equally to each soldier. The soldiers could decide on other supplies themselves, and each person should bring 15 days of dry food.

Every soldier returned with a full load, and almost every soldier had to carry a weight of 180 kilograms, mainly because the money was too heavy. Each person was given more than 20 strings of money, and each string of money weighed 6.4 jin, which is more than 100 kilograms.

That night, the Uighurs lit a bonfire and ate up 200,000 lamb legs and 20,000 barrels of wine in the warehouse to celebrate the bountiful harvest.

At noon the next day, 90,000 troops set out in a mighty manner. Before completely leaving the territory of the Tang Dynasty, Dengli Khan needed a guide. Wang Baofu claimed to be from Huairong County, Guizhou, so he was taken along.

On the same night that the Uighur army left, a 3,000-strong Tang army vanguard entered Youzhou City.

Two days later, 90,000 Uighur troops arrived at Juyong Pass. Juyong Pass has two passes, north and south, with a long canyon in the middle. It is also known as the most powerful pass in the world. The two passes are tall and solid, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

When the soldiers guarding the Nankou Pass saw the arrival of the Uighur army, they immediately gave up their battle and fled. The Uighur army captured Nankou without bloodshed.

At this time, the old general Gu Du stepped forward and whispered: "Khan, I think there may be a trick!"

"Where's the trick?"

"Khan, there are canyons for more than ten miles inside Juyong Pass. If the enemy ambushes on both sides and drops kerosene to burn us, or drops trees to burn, won't our entire army be destroyed? Moreover, Zhu Ci is extremely cunning. He knew that Yizhou could go south, but he didn't tell us. He has ulterior motives. I think we should be on guard."

Dengli Khan nodded, thinking it made sense. He immediately ordered the scout cavalry to go in and explore the way and observe the movements on both sides of the valley.

Hundreds of scout cavalry galloped into the Juyongguan Valley.

Dengli Khan ordered someone to call Wang Baofu and asked, "Besides Juyong Pass, are there any other roads through Yanshan?"

"Reporting to the Khan, Juyong Pass is the most convenient. The other route is Feihu Pass, which is longer, more than a hundred miles, and there is a county town inside."

"Where does Feihu Pass lead to?"

"Leading to Yunzhou!"

Dengli Khan frowned, "It leads to Yunzhou. If we had known earlier, we would have come directly from Feihu Pass instead of taking a big detour and coming from Juyong Pass."

"Khan, you don't know that Feihu Pass is not suitable for large carts. There is a section of the road about two miles long that is very narrow and can only be passed by led horses. Therefore, merchants would rather take the long detour through Juyong Pass, and not many people go through Feihu Pass."

Dengli Khan asked again: "Where is Feihu Pass? Is there any pass there?"

"Feihu Pass is in the north of Yizhou. There used to be a Zijing Pass, but it was later abandoned. There is no pass now!"

When Dengli Khan heard that Feihu Pass was in Yizhou, he stopped asking questions.

At this time, the old general Guduo also said slowly: "When I followed the old Khan to the south, I also heard that there are only three passes from Youzhou to the grassland. One is Yuguan in the east, one is Juyongguan, and the other is Zijingguan in the west. Zijingguan should be Feihu Road."

Khan Denli nodded, "Let's see the results of the Rangers first!"

An hour later, the centurion of the patrol cavalry came running over and reported: "Report to the Khan, we found that there are indeed a large number of ambushes on the high ground on both sides of the canyon. There is also kerosene sprinkled in the canyon. You can't enter the pass!"

Dengli Khan gasped, Zhu Ci was really cruel and ruthless.

Dengli Khan then called the main forces to discuss countermeasures. Everyone opposed going through Juyong Pass. As long as the southern and northern passes were closed at the same time, the Fanyang army would be blocked in the canyon and would be at the mercy of others. However, everyone agreed to go through Feihu Pass. Dengli Khan was a little hesitant. He was a little afraid of Yizhou, but he had no choice. He could either force his way through Juyong Pass or go through Feihu Pass. Juyong Pass would definitely cause heavy losses, but Feihu Pass would be a safe retreat.

Dengli Khan once again called Wang Baofu to ask, "Are you familiar with Feihu Pass?"

Wang Baofu nodded and said, "I have been the county magistrate of Yi County for eight years and I am very familiar with Feihu Pass."

"Okay! You lead the way for us. As long as we can get out of Feihu Pass, I will reward you with 10,000 strings of cash. I will never break my promise!"

"Thank you, Khan. I am willing to be your guide!"

Dengli immediately issued an order and the army turned and headed southwest.

At this time, the Uighur army received news that an army of 200,000 led by Regent Li Ye was heading towards Youzhou.

When they were barefoot, the Uighur army would certainly march south in a large number, eager to wipe out the Tang army in one battle.

But now, everyone of them has made a lot of money and has completely lost the will to fight. They wish they could fly back to the grassland immediately.

In the evening of the next day, the army arrived at the entrance of Feihu Pass. After the scout cavalry explored for more than 20 miles and confirmed that there were no suspicious signs, the 90,000-strong Uighur army, led by Dengli Khan and with Wang Baofu as their guide, rushed into Feihu Pass without hesitation.

At the same time when the Uighur army entered Feihu Pass, Li Ye also led his army to Youzhou City. At this time, the people hiding outside the city also began to return home one after another.

Li Ye entered Youzhou City under the escort of 3,000 cavalrymen. Youzhou City was also called Ji County. It was the most important town in northern Hebei. The city walls were tall and wide, and the roads in the city were neat, but the population was not large.

Li Ye also knew that although Youzhou City was the rebel stronghold of the Anshi Rebellion, the people of Youzhou City suffered greatly due to repeated internal strife among the rebels, especially the war between Shi Siming's two sons, and tens of thousands of people died.

The current population is less than 100,000, but if we take a good rest for 20 to 30 years, the population should be able to recover to more than 300,000.

There aren't many pedestrians on the street, and it seems rather deserted. After all, it was a deserted city before, and only about 30% of the people have returned now.

At this time, there was a slight commotion ahead. Li Ye leaned over and saw that it seemed that a group of old people were blocking their way.

"What's going on ahead?" Li Ye asked.

Soon a personal soldier came to report, "Your Highness, it's a group of elderly people asking for help."

"Bring them up!"

Soon, a group of old people were brought up and knelt in front of Li Ye. The personal soldiers stared at each of them vigilantly.

"I am the Regent Prince Li Ye. What do you want, gentlemen?"

An old man in the lead said, "Your Majesty, we found that all the food and property in our home were gone after we returned to the city. They must have been searched by the Huihe people. Now we can't buy food even if we want to. Many families are running out of food. Everyone has been digging wild vegetables outside the city these two days. It will take a month for the wheat to mature. Please, Your Majesty, save us!"

Li Ye frowned and asked, "The Tang army had 3,000 troops enter the city before, didn't they provide relief porridge?"

"There is relief porridge, but there is not enough porridge and there are too many people. It is not enough!"

Li Ye nodded, "I understand. We will distribute porridge on a large scale today. Don't worry. We will also sell grain at a low price. Rich families can buy grain directly."

Everyone was extremely grateful and kowtowed one after another. Li Ye asked his personal soldiers to help them up, and then he tried to comfort them with kind words and advised everyone to go back and wait.

In the afternoon, the Tang army expanded the number of porridge relief sheds from two to twenty, and took out 20,000 shi of seized wheat, selling it at 40 wen per dou, with each person limited to buying one dou.

The food shortage problem that had caused people panic in the past two days was quickly alleviated.

As the Tang army took control of Youzhou, a large number of Youzhou's fleeing people began to return home, shops in the city opened one after another, and the streets and alleys began to become bustling.

(End of this chapter)