Tibet.

Chapter 1268 Liu Yan Arrives
The sky gradually brightened and Yuyang County gradually quieted down. The Tang army fired a total of five rounds of 150,000 gunpowder arrows, and the entire Yuyang County was covered in flames.

The top of the city was crowded with soldiers fleeing for their lives. Although they escaped the raging fire, they could not escape the Tang army's kerosene bombs and the even more terrifying smoke.

Countless soldiers attempted to jump out of the city to escape, but they either fell to death or were shot by the Tang army.

By the fifth watch, Yuyang County was completely quiet inside and outside.

It was not until noon that the fire stopped and the smoke gradually dissipated. Then a team of 500 soldiers, covering their mouths and noses with wet cloths, entered the city to check the situation.

Soon, more than 500 soldiers brought out more than 300 people, basically all women and children, including Wang Shoucheng, his wife, maids and a dozen others. There was a large pond in his mansion, and when they were in danger, they squatted in the pond and escaped.

More than 300 women and children were able to survive because they were unable to escape and could only save themselves on the spot, either hiding in wells or ponds, using the little air on the surface to avoid being suffocated by the thick smoke.

More than 300 people were led into a large tent, where the Tang army arranged for them to have meals and rest.

Wang Shoucheng had been holding his son in his arms, and both father and son were trembling with fear. At this time, a soldier came over and said, "General Guo, please come over!"

Wang Shoucheng handed his son to his wife, gave her a few instructions, and then tremblingly followed the soldiers to a large tent.

There was a body covered with oilcloth lying on the grass next to the big tent. The body was Zhu Ci. He was suffocated to death by the thick smoke and was found by Tang soldiers near the city gate.

Guo Ziyi and several generals were examining the body.

Wang Shoucheng knelt down and kowtowed, "I, Wang Shoucheng, come to confess my sins!"

Guo Ziyi glanced at him and said, "Since God wants to spare your life, we will not kill you again."

Wang Shoucheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, old general, for not killing me!"

Guo Ziyi pointed at the corpse and said, "I heard that Zhu Ci has a body double. Come and see if this person is the real person or a body double?"

Wang Shoucheng hurried forward to take a look, then checked behind the left ear of the corpse, nodded and said, "It's him!"

"affim?"

"I dare not deceive the old general. First, the fake Zhu Ci is similar in body shape but not in appearance. He usually puts on makeup. He can deceive ordinary people, but he can't fool us.

Secondly, there is a tuft of black hair behind Zhu Ci's left ear, but the double does not have that, so this person is indeed Zhu Ci. Also, there is a missing part of Zhu Ci's right little finger, which is because he lost a bet when he was young and had to chop off his finger with a sword, so you can tell at a glance."

Guo Ziyi identified them one by one and found that the characteristics matched. It seemed that this was Zhu Ci.

Wang Shoucheng added: "There is one more thing that the old general may not know."

"Say, what's going on?"

"Reporting to the old general, we have dug a large underground vault under Cangcheng. A large amount of wealth is hidden in the underground vault, which is part of what An Lushan and Shi Siming looted from the Central Plains."

"very good!"

Guo Ziyi asked again: "Are Wang Zuyou and Fu Yuangui in the city?"

Wang Shoucheng shook his head. "They went to Pingzhou for negotiations and never came back."

"Where are their families?"

"Wang Zuyou is single. His wife died early. He has a son in Yangzhou. Fu Yuangui's family is in Fanyang County, Youzhou, and did not follow him to Jizhou."

Guo Ziyi smiled and said, "I will give you another chance to be pardoned. You are Zhu Ci's chief secretary. Do you know the situation of the families of the generals under An Lushan and Shi Siming?"

Wang Shoucheng nodded and said, "Zhu Ci has always wanted to find an opportunity to seize their property, but he didn't have time to do it. Their detailed information is recorded, but this information is in the Yan Palace in Youzhou. If it has not been burned by the Uighurs, then it can be found!" Guo Ziyi was overjoyed. This was what the Regent had instructed him to do. They did not find any information in this regard, and the officials who knew about it had all gone to Yuyang County. It was good that Wang Shoucheng knew about it.

Guo Ziyi immediately sent soldiers to take Wang Shoucheng and his family back to Youzhou City in a carriage.

He immediately ordered his soldiers to clean up the battlefield, and sure enough, they found a huge underground warehouse in the burned warehouse city. More than two thousand large wooden boxes were dragged out from it, all of which were gold, silver and precious jewels. These were the wealth that An Lushan and Shi Siming had snatched back from Youzhou.

It was also the most abundant spoils obtained by the Tang army during this occupation of Youzhou.

Liu Yan led more than 80 officials to Youzhou and officially took over the Youyan states. Two months ago, Liu Yan led his team to Shandong, took over the Shandong states and dealt with the hundreds of thousands of Goguryeo people in Laizhou, and dispersed them all to various states in the Central Plains.

After settling the Goguryeo people, Liu Yan led more than one hundred additional officials north to take over Hebei Province.

Now, the takeover of Hebei Province is still going on, and Liu Yan once again led more than 80 officials north to take over the states of Youyan.

Li Ye met Liu Yan in the temporary palace of the Regent. The temporary palace of the Regent was the Palace of Prince Yan. Li Ye was waiting for Liu Yan to arrive.

"Your Highness, I am honored to see you!" Liu Yan bowed.

Seeing that Liu Yan had become darker and thinner, Li Ye felt a little distressed, so he said, "Minister Liu, you don't have to work so hard. You can let your subordinates do it instead of doing everything yourself!"

"Your Highness, I only drafted the outline, and all the details were done by my subordinates. It was mainly because I had no experience at the beginning, so it was a mess and very tiring. Now that I have more experience, I am not so tired anymore. Everything can be done step by step."

Li Ye nodded and introduced Zhang Guangsheng, whom he had appointed as the governor of Youzhou, to Liu Yan. Zhang Guangsheng would become Liu Yan's right-hand man and handle the affairs of the various states of Youyan.

Everyone sat down, and Li Ye asked with a smile: "How are the situations in Shandong and Hebei?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, the various states in Shandong have been dealt with, and the officials of the states and counties have been appointed and officially integrated into the court. In addition, hundreds of thousands of Goguryeo people have also been dispersed to various states and counties in the Central Plains. This time they have been dismantled very thoroughly, and it is basically impossible for them to gather again."

"What about Hebei Road?" Li Ye asked with a smile.

"The cleanup of Hebei Province is still ongoing, but the outline has been finalized and the details are now being implemented, led by Wang Jin, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

Liu Yan briefly reported some important situations in Hebei Province, and then Li Ye introduced the situation in Youzhou to him.

Li Ye smiled and said, "I just got the news that the rebels in Yuyang have been completely wiped out, Zhu Ci is dead, and Goguryeo in Pingzhou has been suppressed before. It can be said that the war in the Tang Dynasty is basically over, with only some sporadic finishing touches left. Of course, the siege of Feihu Pass is also a top priority."

Liu Yan quickly asked, "What is the current situation of the Huihe Army?"

"The Huihe army has tried to break out seven times so far, but they were all repelled. More than 30,000 Huihe people were killed, and we also suffered several thousand casualties. However, the death of more than 30,000 people is a tragedy for the Huihe people, but it also has certain benefits!"

"Why?" Liu Yan was puzzled.

Li Ye smiled faintly and said, "They have more food per capita. The soldiers died in battle, leaving behind more than 30,000 war horses as food. They also seem to have a large amount of tea cakes. There is plenty of water and firewood in Feihu Pass, so it is unrealistic to eliminate them as soon as possible. We can only consume them slowly."

"Will they surrender to survive?"

Li Ye shook his head. "Minister Liu doesn't understand the Turks or Huihe people. They are not afraid of death, but they value reputation. Reputation is much more important than life. They would rather die than surrender, especially Dengli Khan. If he surrenders, he will die as well when he returns. So I never thought they would surrender. There is only one way for them to survive. They can negotiate with the grassland people, give us enough benefits, and then redeem them at a high price."

"Will they?"

Li Ye still shook his head. "This involves the power struggle within the Huihe tribe. Frankly speaking, I don't know either."

..........
Li Ye then handed over the government power to Liu Yan, and he led 10,000 cavalry to Feihu Pass in Yizhou to personally observe the siege situation.

(End of this chapter)