Tibet.

Chapter 1397: Stone Country Choice
Tuozhi City is backed by a mountain, and the royal palace is located halfway up the mountain. There is a natural stone platform on the mountain rock above the palace. Eight years ago, King Alian ordered craftsmen to dig a passage in the mountain leading directly to the stone platform above. The craftsmen then flattened the stone platform and installed railings around it. This stone platform that can accommodate hundreds of people is called the Holy Platform.

The group went up to the altar and looked down the mountain. The scene before them stunned everyone.

Two miles outside Tuozhi City, the Tang army had built ten gun emplacements, on which ten general cannons were placed, with their muzzles pointed at the solid city walls.

This time, explosive bombs were used. The soldiers had loaded gunpowder and lit the fuse at the muzzle of the gun. At the same time, they lit the fuse at the bottom. The two fuses were burning at the same time. Only ten consecutive explosions were heard, and ten explosive bombs were shot out, all of which burned in the air dragging the fuses.

Ten exploding iron eggs instantly penetrated the city wall, followed by a series of explosions inside the city wall, blowing bricks and dust into the air. Ten shocking damages appeared on the city wall, and one part of the wall even collapsed.

The effect was very good. Ten cannons continued to fire, and the city walls were like flowers blooming. Exploding iron mines kept exploding inside the walls, and large pieces of sand and gravel on the city walls slid down. A section of the city wall about several feet long had collapsed. The soldiers on the city walls were terrified and fled desperately to the city.

This was indeed the decision made by Li Chenghua. She thought over and over again that Shiguo should be a vassal state of Dashi. Once Shiguo was destroyed, Dashi would have a reason to send troops, just like the Tang Dynasty sent troops to Bohai Kingdom.

More importantly, the Shi Kingdom was a Sogdian Kingdom. The demise of the Shi Kingdom would have a significant impact on other Sogdian Kingdoms. The Sogdian Kingdoms would definitely unite against the Tang Dynasty.

So Li Chenghua considered over and over again that Shiguo should still use the Nanzhao model. Bactria was different. Bactria was not the Sogdian Kingdom. The merger of Bactria and Suiye would not affect the Sogdian countries at all.

Li Chenghua decided to use artillery as a demonstration to let the Queen of Shi see the power of the artillery with her own eyes.

King A Lian on the altar was terrified. She didn't know that the Tang army only carried ten cannons. She was worried that the Tang Dynasty would take out hundreds of such firearms and destroy all the houses in the city several miles away without having to worry about counterattacks from the city walls.

A Lian glanced at General Saduo, then at Deputy Prime Minister Aman, both of whom lowered their heads. She then looked at Baglan and her granddaughter Princess Qianquan, and both of them nodded to her.

A-Lian said slowly: "If I accept the conditions of the Tang army, will anyone object?"

There was silence on the altar. A Lian nodded and said to Baglan, "Baglan, go out of the city and negotiate with them again. Ask them to write down the conditions and have both parties sign as proof. Then I will order the city gates to be opened and let the army leave the city to surrender!"

The explosions outside the city stopped and there was silence under Tuozhi City. Baglan went down the city again and came to the Tang army position to negotiate with Li Chenghua again. The two sides quickly reached an agreement. Li Chenghua and Baglan signed on behalf of the Tang Dynasty and the Shi Kingdom.

In the afternoon, the city gates opened and teams of Shiguo troops came out of the city to surrender.

There are too few young and strong men in Shiguo, and they generally have only two occupations: miners and soldiers.

So the Shi Kingdom’s army was indeed not large. Excluding the one thousand palace guards, there were only seven thousand people left. However, the surrendered army also included eight hundred palace guards.

Only two hundred female guards were left in the palace.

These are the details of the negotiation, and only women negotiating with each other will consider these issues. The Tang army is stationed in Tuozhi City, and the royal palace can only retain no more than 500 female guards.

The Tang army accepted the surrender of the Shi Kingdom army. According to the agreement, the Shi Kingdom designated a general to take over the Tang army, and Li Chenghua led an army of 10,000 into the city.

The king and prime minister of Shi Kingdom were both women. They were afraid of dealing with male generals of the enemy army. So Bai Xiaode and Li Chenghua divided the work. Bai Xiaode was responsible for receiving prisoners of war, and Li Chenghua was responsible for taking over the city.

The Tang army quickly took over the warehouses, city walls and gates, and Li Chenghua led a thousand troops to the palace.

A Lian stepped forward and saluted, "I am the Queen of the Stone Kingdom, welcome General Li!"

Li Chenghua smiled and said, "We will be a family from now on. I hope we can get along well!"

A Lian introduced her granddaughter to Li Chenghua. Li Chenghua's eyes lit up. The blonde and blue-eyed Princess Qianquan in front of her really amazed her.

Li Chenghua once worked as a county lieutenant in Suiye for three years, responsible for the public security of Suiye. Various races converged in Suiye, and she saw too many of them. The Sogdians had high noses and blue eyes, and many of them had blond hair.

There were also merchants from the Arab Empire, the Khazars, and the Western Byzantine Empire. They brought many women with blonde hair and blue eyes, so many that Li Chenghua was numb to them. But these women all had one thing in common: although their skin was very white, it was of poor quality, with large and dry pores and a strong body odor.

But the Princess Qianquan in front of him was not only beautiful and had a great figure, but also had extremely delicate and fair skin, just like the skin of the Han people.

This was the first time Li Chenghua had seen a beauty that combined the best features of both Eastern and Western beauties.

Such a beauty is a rare treasure in the world. Li Chenghua immediately decided to bring this woman back to Chang'an and present her to his lord.

Li Chenghua happily took Princess Qianquan's hand and went to the palace.

The two sides sat down in the meeting hall, and King Alian said worriedly, "Can we wait a few days in the palace?"

According to the agreement, the Temple of the Holy Maiden built with silver behind the palace would be demolished, and private belongings inside the palace would not be touched, but the gold and silver in the palace treasury belonged to the Tang Dynasty, with the exception of jewelry.

Li Chenghua nodded and said, "The palace can be kept for two days, or you can even count and send them out by yourselves, and our army will not enter the palace, but the Saint Temple behind it must be demolished."

Princess Qianquan said quickly: "The Saint Maiden Temple is not our property, it is the property of the Saint Maiden Association."

Li Chenghua smiled and said, "Then there's even less need to worry."

King Alian sighed and said, "When the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty first came to the Stone Kingdom, he was only sixteen or seventeen years old. At that time, he was not even the governor of Hezhong. I never thought that he would be the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty now."

Li Chenghua also smiled and said, “A few years ago, our emperor also mentioned King Alian in a private conversation.”

King Alian was stunned, "No way! I don't have any personal connection with him."

Li Chenghua smiled and said, "It's about the Caliph's jewel. Does the king have any impression?"

King Alian recalled: "When I was a princess in Bukhara, I secretly entered my brother King Murdo's room and saw the legendary Caliph's Gem, but that was at least fifty years ago. Does it have anything to do with the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty?"

Li Chenghua said calmly, "But you later told your husband the secret that the Caliph's jewel was in Bukhanna, and the news spread to the Arabs. The Arabs sent envoys to Bukhanna many times to ask for the jewel. King Modo of Bukhanna knew that he could not keep the jewel, so he gave the Caliph's jewel to the Tang general who was defending Bukhanna at the time, who is now the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Chenghua was worthy of being a woman. She made several twists and turns and implicitly warned King Alian not to betray again and not to have any secret collusion with the Arabs.

King Alian's face turned red, she understood Li Chenghua's warning.

She forced a smile and said, "We all hope that the commander of the Tang army stationed in Shiguo will be General Li."

Li Chenghua hesitated for a moment and smiled, "It's possible that I will become the Tang Emperor's representative in Hezhong."

Before Li Chenghua set out, the emperor told her that Guo Xin would serve as the chief officer of the Anxi Military Governor's Office, but the emperor did not mention who would be in charge of Hezhong. However, Li Chenghua vaguely guessed that the emperor wanted to hand Hezhong over to her.

Therefore, the emperor was very supportive of his mission to Samarkand.

King Alian and Baglan were overjoyed. With the gentle Li Chenghua in charge of Hezhong, the Shi Kingdom would not suffer from cruel exploitation.

At this time, Li Chenghua glanced at Princess Qianquan next to him, and said to King Alian with a smile: "I want to talk to the king in private!"

(End of this chapter)