Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 505 Surrender
Xue Bai had always heard that the Uighur cavalry was very powerful. After all, Li Heng offered a huge reward when he borrowed troops from the Uighurs.

The soldiers who deserved to be rewarded with gold, silk, and children from Chang'an and Luoyang must be elite soldiers, skilled in archery and horse riding, and even if they were defeated, they could probably escape from the battlefield with the help of their horse's speed. Xue Bai was mentally prepared for the possibility of not being able to capture Ye Hu alive.

But to his surprise, when the Huihe were defeated and Pugu Huai'en sounded the horn, a group of cavalry rushed towards Yehu's flag like sharp arrows...

"Report! King Yong, we have fulfilled our mission and have defeated the Huihe!"

Here, not long after the soldiers of the Anxi Army reported to Xue Bai in a loud and high-pitched voice, messengers under Wang Nandi's command came running over and shouted excitedly from afar.

"Report——"

"Prince Yong, General Wang has captured the Uighur Yehu alive!"

Xue Bai was praising Feng Changqing and Li Siye, especially praising Li Siye's bravery, and still using idioms like "invincible". Wang Nande's messenger had already ridden his horse up to him, with a burning gaze, and once again reported loudly.

"Report to Prince Yong, General Wang has captured the Uighur Yehu alive!"

"it is good!"

Xue Bai was busy dealing with it, and turned around to praise Wang Nandai.

He could clearly feel that Wang Nan was unwilling to accept Li Siye's bravery and wanted to challenge him. One was an old subordinate, and the other was a new one, both were rare and powerful generals.

After a while, Wang Nanyi came back staggeringly with a spear slung across his shoulder and Ye Hu at his side. There was no smug look on his face, he was still so cold and calm, as if taking the head of an enemy general in the midst of thousands of troops was a very common thing for him.

"Good!" Someone in the army cheered, "General Wang, pick the Tubo prince first, then capture the Huihe prince!"

"General Wang will make sure that the foreign invaders will be wiped out!"

Listening to these boasts, Wang Nandi unconsciously turned his head to glance at Li Siye's flag in the distance, and then went to meet Xue Bai.

First, the captives were offered, and a soldier pulled Yehu's horse away.

Xue Bai saw that the warhorse was extremely tall, with a back that was almost as tall as a person, and it was extremely majestic. Although he liked it, he gave it to Wang Nandai as a trophy, which was the best way to make the best use of it.

Afterwards, Xue Bai said that he thought the Uighurs were excellent riders and was worried that the Tang army would not be able to catch them.

Wang Nandai said proudly: "When the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Turks, the Huihe were just a small tribe that depended on the Turks. How could we lose to the Huihe in riding and shooting?"

Xue Bai then realized that this was a deviation between him and Wang Nandi. At this moment, in Wang Nandi's mind, the men of the Tang Dynasty pacified the four directions with riding and shooting, so how could they be willing to be inferior to others?
The pride of the Tang Dynasty men has not faded, and their heroic spirit remains.

……

The night gradually darkened as we chased down the defeated soldiers and cleaned up the battlefield.

A blazing bonfire was lit in the camp, and cheers could be heard everywhere. In between the cheers, a faint sob could be heard in the wind. It was unclear whether it was the wind blowing over the rocks, the wounded soldiers crying, or the ghosts of the Mid-Autumn Festival coming out to move around.

Ye Hu was tied under a tree. Apart from two people guarding him, no one came to take care of him for a long time. Gradually, he became hungry and felt uncomfortable.

When the wind blew, an insect fell on his face. He raised his head, forced an expression, and stretched out his tongue as far as he could. He finally rolled the still wriggling insect into his mouth and bit it open. It was bitter, but it was still plump.

He was not a man who could not endure hardship. There were often snowstorms on the grassland, and he had even eaten the big lice on the horses' butts.

Finally, he saw Xue Bai walking towards him, so he asked loudly: "Aren't you afraid of provoking a war between the Huihe and the Tang Dynasty?"

This attitude makes it seem as if Xue Bai was the one who did something wrong.

Xue Bai didn't tolerate him and slapped him in the face.

"Pooh."

Ye Hu felt pain and spat out the insect juice in his mouth. Xue Bai dodged and fell to the ground.

"The Huihe people dared to collude with the rebels. Your grandfather must give an explanation to the saint." Xue Bai said in a condescending tone.

This is completely the attitude towards treating subjects. Just by listening to the tone, one can feel that Xue Bai represents the orthodoxy of Li Cong, and that the Tang Dynasty is still powerful enough to make the Uighurs subjects.

Yehu couldn't help but feel nervous, thinking that perhaps after this battle, Li Cong would immediately put down the rebellions from all sides and restore a powerful central government of the Tang Dynasty.

He then felt a little guilty and said, "We were also deceived by Prince Zhong. We didn't know he was a traitor to the Tang Dynasty."

Only at this moment, when he was convinced and frightened by killing, did Li Heng's promise of gold, silk, and children to the Uighurs come to an end. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain it, as if the Tang Dynasty could do nothing without the Uighur soldiers.

Xue Bai was still not satisfied and slapped him again.

"If all those who joined the rebellion were to be dismissed with the excuse that they were deceived, where would the laws of the country be?"

Ye Hu was furious, but he was captured. He could only swallow his anger and said, "I came to the king's defense because I am loyal to the Tang Dynasty!"

"You are loyal to the Tang Dynasty now, so how can you not remember when you robbed my people?"

Ye Hu had never learned how to be a minister, so he was not very good at speaking. He still talked back and said, "I thought it was a reward!"

"reward?"

Xue Bai slapped him again.

Ye Hu's cheeks were red from the beating, and he was so angry that he simply lowered his head and said nothing. The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. He believed in the strong, and there was nothing to say since he lost the battle.

"Do you know why I won?" Xue Bai asked.

"I don't know."

"I have a counselor, Li Mi." Xue Bai said, "He made plans for me."

Ye Hu was stunned for a moment, thinking, isn't Li Mi Li Heng's adviser? Did he betray him so soon?

Xue Bai asked, "You have a younger brother named Yidijian?"

"Yes."

"He was going to send someone to kill you on your way back to Huihe, did you know that?"

Ye Hu was shocked and asked, "Really? How did you know?!"

Xue Bai didn't know, he just heard from Li Mi that Ye Hu and his brothers had a bad relationship. Ye Hu himself told Li Chu about this, and Li Chu told Li Mi.

When Xue Bai learned about this, he decided to capture Yehu alive and release him to let the Huihe brothers fight each other. Otherwise, if the Huihe took advantage of the civil strife in the Tang Dynasty to become stronger, they would definitely have the intention of spying on the border.

He was afraid that the fight between the brothers was not intense enough, so he deliberately added fuel to the fire and sowed discord between them.

This was an open conspiracy. Even though Ye Hu saw through Xue Bai's thoughts, he had no way to resist.

"I have my own news." Xue Bai said, "You have been leading the troops outside for so long, Yi Dijian must have made preparations in secret while you were away. Do you think you can deal with him if I let you go back?"

Ye Hu was overjoyed and looked at Xue Bai with shining eyes. He wanted to nod, but shook his head.

He wanted to answer it eagerly, but found that the question was not easy to answer. So he racked his brains to think of an answer that would satisfy Xue Bai.

"Yong... Prince Yong, I can't let Yidijian take my position. I am loyal to the Tang Dynasty!"

The last dignity of the defeated was also thrown away at this moment. Yehu was busy defending his life and interests and didn't care about these at all.

"I have admired the Tang Dynasty since I was young and learned poetry, books and etiquette. Look at me, Prince Yong. I am very refined and elegant."

Ye Hu tried hard to put on a gentle expression, completely forgetting that there were still insect residues at the corners of his mouth.

"Yidijian is different. He is barbaric and rude, and does not submit to the Tang Dynasty. If he were to become the Khan of the Huihe, he would definitely violate the border."

These earnest words finally convinced Xue Bai.

"That makes sense." Xue Bai asked, "If I am sure of your loyalty, I will let you go back."

"I am loyal. I am very loyal."

Yehu anxiously expressed his loyalty and soon promised to gather the defeated soldiers for Xue Bai and serve him to quell the rebellion.

After this battle, most of the Huihe soldiers fled back to the grasslands, but there were perhaps hundreds or thousands of them, and with the captives, they would have formed a formidable fighting force.

Yehu longed to return to the grassland with his troops by serving Xue Bai.

Of course, it is possible that Xue Bai would not return the troops to him after using him...

~~
The next night, the army held a celebration banquet.

When Xue Bai finished his military duties, he saw a man standing there. He was about to ask him to sit down, but he discovered that it was Li Siye who was sitting, and he was taller than an ordinary person standing.

Li Siye didn't say much during the entire celebration banquet. He just sat there and ate a whole roasted lamb, and the bones that had been gnawed clean piled up like a small mountain in front of him.

At military banquets, discussion of the current world situation is inevitable.

Feng Changqing, in particular, was very concerned about the movements of the rebels in Fan Yang. The reason why he chose to defect to Li Cong was that he hoped to settle down as soon as possible.

"An Qingxu is still holding on in Xiangzhou," Xue Bai replied. "He was in a very bad state after fleeing Luoyang, and those who pursued him were Zhang Xun, Wang Sili, Li Sheng and other famous generals. Later, Li Guangbi also went to Hebei, and even Guo Ziyi is now in Hedong."

At this point, he asked, "Do you know why so many famous generals could not defeat An Qingxu, and even made him gather tens of thousands of people again? Is it because An Qingxu is a man of great talent and extraordinary ability?"

Everyone looked at Xue Bai, and Li Siye also put down the lamb leg in his hand and sucked the oil on his hands.

"Food and grass?" a general replied.

"We stopped on our own." Xue Bai said, "It's ridiculous, but it was on the eve of the annihilation of An Qingxu. The emperor issued an order, which not only cut off the food supply, but also made the armies on guard against each other. For example, the saint originally asked Lianghuai to supply Yongqiu with food and grass so that Zhang Xun could cross the Yellow River to pursue An Qingxu. But now, Zhang Xun has no food to leave Yongqiu, and he has to guard against Helan Jinming attacking him from Ningling. How can he defeat the bandits?"

Feng Changqing remained silent.

Xue Bai added: "The sage sent Li Guangbi to take charge of the situation, and Li Heng sent Guo Ziyi to go there. With two famous generals by his side, An Qingxu is still safe and sound in Xiangzhou. Two tigers are fighting, and a child is clapping his hands in the background."

Feng Changqing said: "Now that we have defeated Prince Zhong, we might as well resolve the civil strife as soon as possible so that the imperial court can issue orders from one source."

"According to the envoy's wishes?"

"How about sending someone to persuade Prince Zhong and Prince Guangping to surrender?"

"Recruit Guo Ziyi, and Li Heng will abdicate and return to the Ten Kings' Residence to recuperate." Xue Bai didn't waste any words and directly put forward the conditions.

He was not afraid of continuing to fight with Li Heng, but hoped to pacify Guo Ziyi as soon as possible. Otherwise, who knows what kind of results Guo Ziyi will achieve on the eastern front, what if he captures Chang'an?
When Feng Changqing heard this condition, he shook his head slightly, thinking it was too harsh.

This is equivalent to asking Li Heng to give up the throne now, accept imprisonment, and put his fate in the hands of others.

Of course Xue Bai also knew that he couldn't just keep it as rigid as it was and that he still had to modify it.

"This is what the Saint said before I left Chang'an. The Saint is kind and values ​​brotherhood the most. What he wants is for Li Heng to admit his sins and change for the better. As long as Li Heng is willing to admit his sins and surrender, he will still be the Saint's brother."

When he put forward the conditions, his attitude was very tough, but as he spoke, although the conditions did not change at all, his tone became more tolerant and gentle.

"They are close brothers, what knot can't be untied? For the sake of the Tang Dynasty, is it difficult to let Li Heng recognize that his elder brother's throne is his due? Don't forget that when he and the emperor fled, it was the saint who guarded Chang'an with all his strength. Looking back, the saint wanted to forgive him. The saint's original words were, 'As the eldest son, I guarded the family door. I just want my grandfather and brother to come back. Is it so difficult?!'"

Hearing Li Cong's words, Feng Changqing immediately realized the bitterness of this emperor and his eyes became red.

"Your Majesty... is kind."

"Your Majesty is so kind." Xue Bai raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Jingzhou, questioning: "How did Li Heng treat the saint?!"

Although Feng Changqing had not yet met the emperor, he had already imagined a benevolent and wise ruler. He did not want to disappoint Li Cong, and hoped that the situation would not become more turbulent, so he nodded vigorously and said, "Then please ask Prince Yong to ask for an order to pardon Prince Zhong, and I will also send people to persuade Prince Zhong to plead guilty and abdicate, so that the Tang Dynasty can return to a peaceful and prosperous state."

"Good, let's restore peace and prosperity to the Tang Dynasty."

The generals then breathed a sigh of relief. Li Siye had just been listening to the discussion between Xue Bai and Feng Changqing, and now he picked up the knife again to cut the roasted lamb.

This was the second lamb being roasted in front of him, and he still didn't look full.

Wang Nandi kept looking at him and seemed to want to say something several times, but when he saw that Li Siye was busy eating, he fell silent again.

Instead, Xue Bai came over and chatted with Li Siye for a few words, informing him of the rewards for this great victory. Xue Bai never delegated this matter to others, he always did it himself.

Li Siye thanked him and reacted calmly to the appointment. As for the reward, he just glanced at it to show his respect and said, "I will stay in the military camp and have no use for these money, houses and fields. Please take them back and use them to help the people in Guanzhong."

Xue Bai looked over and found that although Li Siye looked huge and rough, his eyes were very clear and he indeed did not value money and property.

"it is good."

Li Siye could feel that Xue Bai understood him, so he said, "Thank you, King Yong."

"Is there anything else General Lee would like?"

"I like to raise horses." Li Siye said, "Ye Hu's mount is a good horse from Dayuan, and it's a stallion. I want to use it for breeding."

After saying that, he turned his head and looked in the direction of Wang Nande, and said: "Today I will fight on foot, otherwise I will definitely be able to capture Ye Hu."

This matter made Xue Bai a little embarrassed. He couldn't take Wang Nan's horse back.

"Bring the horses here." Wang Nandai had already ordered his personal soldiers over there.

Xue Bai no longer felt embarrassed.

However, Wang Nandai was probably unconvinced and said, "It's not that I haven't killed more than 20 people in a row on the battlefield before."

Li Siye laughed loudly, picked up a wine jar and threw it to Wang Nande, saying, "Thank you for the horse, General Wang."

"Your knife also opened my eyes."

"Hahaha!"

The relationship between these military generals is still simple.

After all, people like Gao Xianzhi who often have bad relationships with their comrades are a minority.

Amidst the laughter, Feng Changqing also raised his wine and toasted an unknown general with scars all over his face sitting in the corner. Then he laughed and felt a lot more relieved.

"Let's pacify this situation as soon as possible and return to Anxi as soon as possible," he said to himself.

~~
Xue Bai came out of the tent, feeling a little tipsy.

"My dear." Fan Lao stepped forward and said, "The senior adviser wants to see you."

"Did he find Shen?"

"Found it." Fan Lao seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Xue Bai understood, nodded to indicate that he understood, and said: "Ye Hu, he is also Li Chu's sworn brother."

Fan Lao was very loyal, so he pinched his little finger and said sarcastically, "Their loyalty."

After a while, the senior consultant came over, with all kinds of complicated emotions written on his face.

"Prince Yong, I, your humble general..."

After waiting for a while, Xue Bai saw that he did not continue to speak, and said: "If you follow my suggestion, when you return to Chang'an, I will reward you for your military achievements and let your mother find a suitable wife for you."

"I beg the King of Yong to let me take Madam Shen away." Gao Shen said, "Please ask the court to take back all the rewards I have given you... just this one thing..."

"You all know how to save money for the court."

"Yes." Senior advisor was ashamed.

Xue Bai couldn't help but curse: "You have no ambition at all."

"Yes."

"Many years later you may regret that you could have become a hero or a famous general, but you delayed your career because of a woman."

"I may regret it in the future...but I don't regret it."

Over the years, Xue Bai has only been concerned about who can become famous generals and how they become famous generals, but now he finds that most people are actually not that motivated.

Everyone has different pursuits. What they want is not fame and success.

“That’s good.”

Xue Bai suddenly thought of Du Wulang. He must have thought that while he was fighting on this bloody battlefield, Du Wulang was still sleeping soundly in Chang'an.

"If you want to take Shen away, don't stay in the army anymore and live in hiding."

"Thank you, King Yong!" Gao Can was overjoyed.

"Really don't want to make progress?"

"I don't want to fight anymore. It's enough for me to defend Chang'an once and not let down my years as an imperial guard." Gao Can said, "In fact, every time I see blood on my body and my arms are broken and my fingers are still moving, I am going crazy. I just want to stay with Madam Shen and don't want to go through the battlefield anymore."

Xue Bai had nothing to say about this, and asked, "Is she willing to go with you?"

"Yes." Gao Can's eyes showed distress. After thinking for a while, he whispered, "She is a very good woman, but Li Chu doesn't know how to cherish her."

Xue Bai was still thinking about a few things, such as Shen Zhenzhu's son and the fact that he was about to send someone to persuade Li Chu to surrender.

Finally, he thought that Li Chu didn't care about Shen Zhenzhu at all, so this matter didn't affect him. As for whether Shen Zhenzhu's son might be taken away by Gao Can in the future? It didn't matter.

"Go ahead and don't let anyone know."

"Thank you, King Yong!"

Gao Chanbai fell to the ground, kowtowed, and his figure gradually disappeared into the night, heading towards his own life.

~~
Outside Jingzhou City, a few remaining cavalrymen returned to the camp.

Pugu Huai'en was a very tenacious man. After this great defeat, he was still ready to regroup and fight again. At worst, he would retreat to Lingwu. It would not be easy for Xue Bai to destroy him.

In Jingzhou City, Li Chu felt very discouraged and cried in Dugu Qin's arms.

He did not think this was cowardly, but rather the spirit of the Wei and Jin Dynasties and his true nature.

"I lost the battle, but am I still the omnipotent Li Lang in your heart?"

"My dear, you never need to be omnipotent." Dugu Qin said, "My dear, you are the best."

The two were still talking sweetly when Cheng Yuanzhen rushed to the door and whispered, "Your Highness, the Saint is angry."

"Blame me for the defeat?"

"It was Xue Ni who sent an envoy."

Li Chu had no choice but to gather his spirits and go over. When he arrived, he saw that the person sent by Xue Bai was Wei Shaoyou.

Wei Shaoyou was originally the Shuofang Water and Land Transport Envoy, and had contributed to the enthronement of Li Heng. Later, he was defeated and captured along with Fang Guan at the Xianyang Bridge. Because his family servant had saved Xue Bai, he surrendered.

"Traitor, how dare you come here?"

"Prince Guangping calmed down."

To Li Chu's surprise, Wei Shaoyou's attitude was not tough. He did not seem to be here to surrender, but rather to be taking the opportunity to sneak back.

Of course, the last person who came back, Pugu Yin, had been hacked to death by Pugu Huai'en. Wei Shaoyou was also very scared and spoke in a soft tone, as if he was doing his best for Li Chu.

"What did Xue Bai send you to do?"

"Prince Yong hopes that Prince Zhong and Prince Guangping can turn back from their mistakes..."

After Wei Shaoyou told Li Chu about Xue Bai's conditions, Li Chu became furious and understood why Li Heng almost wanted to kill Wei Shaoyou.

"How can this be? The traitor wants to usurp our Great Tang Empire, and yet he wants me to surrender?!"

Wei Shaoyou said, "I came here to consider the interests of Prince Guangping. Without mentioning the stability of the Tang Dynasty, I only want to ask one question: if we want to continue the war, where will the money and food come from?"

Li Chu said: "It was transported from Shujun and Jianghuai!"

"I am the transport commissioner of Shuofang. No one knows better than me. Now that Fengxiang has been lost, the roads in Guanzhong are blocked. Even if Shujun and Jianghuai can transport grain, how can they do that?"

"Guo Ziyi should have taken over Hedong, and he would have recovered Chang'an without even having to transport grain."

Wei Shaoyou asked: "Does Prince Guangping know why we were defeated this time?"

"Why?"

"It's okay to tell Prince Guangping." Wei Shaoyou said, "With Mr. Li's advice, how can Prince Yong not win?"

Li Chu was surprised and asked, "Who?"

"Li Mi, Li Changyuan."

"Impossible." Li Chu, who had always been able to endure, changed his expression at this moment and said, "Sir, you won't betray me."

"Forgive me for speaking frankly, but Mr. Li is loyal to the Tang Dynasty, not to..."

"We are the orthodox ones. Sir, there is no way you can support a rebel." Li Chu interrupted directly: "Don't think I don't know that you are trying to sow discord. Xue Bai wants to subdue Sir, but he can't do it."

"What Prince Yong has been doing is to make up for the mistakes made by Prince Zhong and Prince Guangping. How can Mr. Li not understand this?"

"We uphold the legitimacy of the Tang Dynasty, how could we make mistakes?" Li Chu sneered.

This kind of thing was clear in their hearts, but they couldn't admit it, so Wei Shaoyou refused to say more and replied, "The reason why Feng Changqing surrendered was because of Mr. Li's intervention."

Li Chu's eyes changed, and he wanted to refute, but he really couldn't think of any other reason. Feng Changqing couldn't have chosen to join the rebellion just for the sake of the stability of the Tang Dynasty, right?
So, did Li Mi really become Xue Bai's adviser?
This incident inexplicably cast a shadow on his heart.

Wei Shaoyou lowered his voice and said, "I am really considering Prince Guangping and surrendering for the sake of the overall situation. My reputation is certainly not low, which is enough to ensure that you can enjoy a peaceful life in Chang'an. Isn't it better than eating sand in the north?"

Then he added: "This is exactly the result of Li Mi and Feng Changqing persuading Prince Yong for you out of personal friendship."

Li Chu didn't believe it and even wanted to kill Wei Shaoyou, but he could see something from the negotiations with him.

Wei Shaoyou added: "If you surrender now, you are still the prince and grandson of the emperor. It will be too late when all the soldiers around you betray and run away."

Li Chu keenly noticed that Wei Shaoyou's words were very certain, as if Xue Bai was going to recruit one of his generals to surrender. No, this was another attempt to sow discord.

But what if?
(End of this chapter)