Tibet.

Chapter 1269: Heading North to Report
In the afternoon, Liu Yan, accompanied by Zhang Guangsheng, arrived at the Goguryeo camp outside the southern city of Youzhou.

According to the consensus reached between Li Ye and the Council of State Affairs, the Goguryeo people in Youzhou would be dispersed and resettled in various states in Hebei and Hedong.

If they are allowed to stay in areas where Han people live, the Goguryeo marks will be erased from their household registration, and they will be exactly the same as Han people. After living like this for two or three generations, they will be completely assimilated.

The Tang army had extensive experience in resettling refugees. The camp covered thousands of acres and consisted of more than 20,000 large tents divided into ten areas, each with a well and public toilets.

The Tang army paid special attention to preventing the spread of diseases, so as soon as they entered the camp, they smelled a strong smell of quicklime.

Teams of patrolling soldiers could be seen everywhere in the camp. The Tang army had very strict rules in the camp. Fighting, littering, splashing dirty water, and urinating or defecating around the tents were all prohibited. Once discovered, the soldiers would be scolded at the very least and whipped at the worst.

Under such strict and disciplined management, the entire camp was orderly, clean and tidy, which impressed Liu Yan very much.

Zhang Guangsheng smiled and said, "We are only responsible for the main camp, which is actually very simple. The really difficult part is the resettlement. Just thinking about it makes me feel overwhelmed."

Liu Yan smiled slightly. "Fortunately, I have had experience in Shandong and know what to do. The difficulty is much lower. Besides, the Goguryeo people here can speak Chinese, which makes it much easier. The prefectures and counties will not be so resistant."

“Was there conflict between the state and the county before?”

Liu Yan nodded. "The prefectures and counties are actually the hardest nut to crack. We invited the governors or chief secretaries of all the prefectures in the Central Plains to Licheng County and had everyone sit together to negotiate. Because those Goguryeo people don't speak Chinese, they will definitely have conflicts with the people around them, and the government will have to send people to supervise them, which will inevitably add a lot of trouble to the local government."

"So they all refuse to accept it?" Zhang Guangsheng asked.

Liu Yan smiled slightly and said, "It seems that you, the governor, are not cunning enough! Who dares not accept the arrangements made by the court?"

Zhang Guangsheng was startled, then immediately understood, "Are they bargaining?"

Liu Yan smiled bitterly and said, "The most troublesome thing is the bargaining. I have to persuade them one by one to accept it. Basically, it won't work without benefits."

"So we still have to negotiate with each family this time?"

Liu Yan showed a sly smile on his face, "Not necessarily. I plan to talk about Hebei first, and then consider Hedong. There is an extreme shortage of people in various parts of Hebei, and no one is cultivating the official fields. Maybe I can settle them without any effort."

Zhang Guangsheng gave a thumbs up and said, "To judge the situation, we still have to look to Prime Minister Liu!"

"That's good flattery. I accept it."

The two looked at each other and laughed together.

The Uighur army had been trapped in Feihu Pass for ten days. From the initial panic, the Uighur soldiers gradually became numb and basically calmed down.

But Dengli Khan became more and more anxious day by day. He was not worried about not having enough food. He now had enough food to last for two days, five thousand strong mules to last for a month, and he had thirty thousand extra war horses to eat.

What he is worried about now is the situation on the grassland. Once the Uighurs find out that he is trapped in the Tang Dynasty, his brothers will most likely start fighting for the position of Khan.

There are also those noble elders who were already dissatisfied with him. Once they learned of his situation, they would definitely immediately nominate a new Khan.

So he was extremely worried during this period and wished he could fly back.

But Dengli Khan also knew that the people on the grassland would find out sooner or later, so it would be better for him to preserve his strength and go back to fight for the Khanship again.

Early that morning, Dengli Khan ordered his guards, "Go and find Gutu!"

The personal soldier agreed and rushed to inform. Gutu had previously led 20,000 troops to break out, but was defeated in three battles and lost more than 10,000 people. After his defeat, Dengli Khan removed him from his post as the Right Killing General.

Dengli Khan then sent several generals to break out, but suffered even greater losses. They had fought seven battles and lost seven, with a loss of 33,000 soldiers. He now had more than 56,000 men, and Dengli Khan was a little afraid to fight anymore.

He thought for a long time and decided to send the veteran Guduo back to the grassland, as he was needed to lend a hand at this critical moment.

Soon, the old general Gu Du hurried over, put his hand on his heart and saluted, "Khan!"

Dengli Khan said slowly: "I think Li Ye is still in Youzhou. Please go out as my envoy and have a talk with Li Ye."

"Is the Khan going to surrender?" "Impossible!"

Dengli Khan flatly denied it. "The Huihe warriors would rather die in battle than surrender. To negotiate with him, I need to send someone to send a letter to the Huihe, and then the two sides will negotiate to resolve this crisis without surrendering. In short, I am willing to pay the ransom and ask him to let us go back to the grassland."

This is also the rule on the grassland. If one party refuses to surrender but is willing to pay a ransom, then they can be released. This is called a dignified release.

This was the solution that Dengli Khan came up with, which was to let the grassland pay the ransom to redeem them.

In fact, this is the only way. The key is for both parties to negotiate and reach an agreement on the ransom.

Gu Du nodded and said, "I will go find the other party's regent right now. If the other party agrees, I will go back to the grassland and find someone to negotiate."

Dengli Khan sighed, "Okay, you have to hurry up and can't delay it too long!"

"I understand the humble position!"

Guduo bowed and left in a hurry.

After walking for a day, the commander of the Wanfu army, Guduo, led a dozen of his men to the first checkpoint deployed by the Tang army in the east, which was more than fifty miles away from the entrance of Feihu Pass.

He saw from afar that the Tang army had pointed their crossbows at them, so he stopped immediately and sent one of his men who could speak Chinese with a white flag to explain the situation.

His men raised white flags and walked over. He explained the situation to the guards and came back soon, saying, "The enemy asked us to put down our weapons, take off our armor and outer clothes and walk over. After we were searched, they escorted us to Yizhou."

Guduo had no choice but to put down his weapons and take off his armor and outer clothes. The weather was hot at the time, and after taking off his outer clothes, they were only wearing underwear with their upper bodies naked.

This was exactly the effect the Tang army wanted, to ensure that they did not hide any weapons privately. After being searched, he put on his outer coat and was escorted to Yizhou by a hundred Tang cavalrymen.

At this time, Li Ye was in Yizhou. The entrance to Feihu Pass in Yizhou was defended by 30,000 troops led by General Lei Wanchun. It was like an iron wall. Not only was the terrain dangerous and the troops were numerous, but there were also kerosene and firearms. It was impossible for the Uighur soldiers to break through.

Li Ye was inspecting a defense point accompanied by Lei Wanchun and Chief Clerk Wei Feng. At this time, a cavalryman came galloping over, dismounted and reported: "Your Highness, the Uighur Khan sent a captain of 10,000 men to negotiate, and he is ready to meet Your Highness in Youzhou."

What a coincidence! Li Ye pondered for a moment and said, "Take him to the camp at the entrance of the valley. I'll meet him there!"

In the camp, Gu Du bowed to Li Ye and said, "Greetings, Regent!"

Li Ye saw that he was a veteran with white hair and beard, so he waved his hand and said, "Please sit down!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Gu Du could speak fluent Chinese. He sat down and bowed, saying, "The Khan was tempted by the huge profits offered by Zhu Ci and others. He was confused for a moment and led his army south to help the vassal states. Unexpectedly, he was imprisoned. I beg you to come back."

Before he could finish, Li Ye waved his hand and said, "If he wants to be free, as long as he agrees to my three conditions, I can set him free, but I will only allow him to return to the grassland, no one else!"

Guduo was silent. He knew Dengli Khan. If he abandoned tens of thousands of soldiers and returned to his country alone, Dengli Khan would really do it to protect his own Khan. But Guduo would not allow Dengli Khan to do so.

After a moment of silence, he said, "I have been ordered to return to the grassland to report the news, asking the Huihe and Tang to negotiate peace and use a plan acceptable to both sides to allow tens of thousands of soldiers to return to the grassland safely."

Li Ye smiled and asked, "You still have 50,000 troops now!"

"To be precise, we still have 56,000 men, more than 30,000 unowned war horses, and 5,000 mules. We also have enough food to last for two or three days, and 10,000 dan of tea cakes. We should be able to last for half a year."

Li Ye nodded, "Okay! I agree that you should go north to report the news. If the Huihe army comes to rescue us, I would be more than happy to do so!"

Gu Du laughed bitterly and said, "If we had known earlier how powerful the Tang army's firearms were, we would never have dared to go south!"

After personally experiencing the powerful firearms of the Tang army, he knew that the nomadic cavalry of the grassland could no longer move south.

Li Ye immediately sent people to escort Guduo and his party out of Juyongguan and allowed them to return to the grassland to report the news.

(End of this chapter)