I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 411: All the noble ministers were killed!

The battle between Gu Shi and Gu Shi a few days later went more smoothly than expected.

It was so smooth that the left general who had been agreed with Liu Ju did not play any role at all. The Han army had just arrived at the gap in Tianshan Mountains in the south and was still more than 200 miles away from the Gushi royal city when the King of Gushi sent an envoy to express his willingness to surrender and negotiate peace with the Han Dynasty.

Liu Ju even doubted it.

In history, when Zhao Po Nu attacked the Kingdom of Gu Shi, did he also experience the same thing, and then he went back happily to Liu Che to claim credit.

After all, there are many records about the gains in the Battle of Loulan in history books, but there is no mention of the gains in the Kingdom of Gushi.

On the contrary, there are brief records of Kailing Hou Chengban's two attacks on Gushi in the second year of Tianhan (99 BC) and the fourth year of Zhenghe (89 BC).

In the second year of Tianhan, the Han Dynasty sent Cheng Wan to attack Gushi. The Right Xian King of the Xiongnu led tens of thousands of cavalry to rescue, and the Han army returned in defeat.

In the fourth year of Zhenghe, the Han Dynasty sent Cheng Wan to lead the soldiers of Loulan and other countries to besiege the royal city of Gushi. Gushi then surrendered. From then on, Gushi was renamed Cheshi and split into the two countries.

The key point is the word "shi jiang", which actually means "the first descent".

If the surrender of Gu Shi in the fourth year of Zhenghe was the first surrender, then what about Zhao Po Nu this time? Pretending to surrender? Fake surrender? Or even not surrendering at all, but just symbolically apologizing to the Han Dynasty and negotiating peace with the Han Dynasty?

"Your Highness, this is the envoy of King Gushi, who claims that King Gushi is willing to apologize to the Han Dynasty for the previous misunderstanding and offer 500 good horses as compensation, asking the Han Dynasty to withdraw its troops and negotiate peace. He is willing to serve the Han Dynasty from now on..."

After Zhao Po Nu saw the envoy from Gu Shi, he immediately brought him to see Liu Ju.

"I don't want peace talks. The Gushi Kingdom is not qualified to negotiate terms with the Han Dynasty. What I want is surrender and submission."

Liu Ju only listened to Zhao Po Nu's description and he could already tell that the envoy from Gu Shi was suspected of using the art of language in his speech.

"Your Highness, 'willing to be used by the Han' means surrender and submission."

The envoy from Gushi spoke Chinese quite well. After he placed his right hand on his chest and bowed, he continued what Liu Ju said.

"From now on, the Gushi Kingdom will no longer embarrass the Han envoys and will provide them with necessary supplies. If the Han needs it, the Gushi Kingdom can also serve as the Han's eyes and ears in the Western Regions to monitor the Xiongnu's every move."

This guy was really playing language arts with him.

Liu Ju was different from Liu Che. What he wanted was the surrender and submission of Loulan, Yanqi, Shanguo and Yuli. Even because the geographical and strategic significance of Gushi Kingdom was higher, the Han Dynasty had to establish farmlands and station troops in Gushi Kingdom to completely cut off one of the Huns' hands first, instead of allowing Gushi Kingdom to continue to sit on the fence!
"Haha, you are robbing and killing the Han envoys, not making things difficult for them."

Seeing that this guy was deliberately confusing concepts, Liu Ju sneered and corrected him.

"My king is willing to give another 500 horses to compensate the Han envoy for his losses and ask for forgiveness from the Han people."

The envoy of the master did not refute, but bowed again and said submissively.

"That's a thousand horses..."

Liu Ju smiled noncommittally, then asked irrelevantly,
"By the way, where is your General Zuo now?"

"In reply to your Highness, General Zuo has been executed by our king for plotting a rebellion, and his head has been hung on the gate of the royal city as a warning to others."

Upon hearing this, the Gushi envoy finally raised his head, with a hint of neither arrogance nor servility in his eyes, and a hint of protest in his calm tone.

"..."

Zhao Po Nu, who was standing by, changed color slightly when he heard this.

It seems that General Zuo, who had been secretly colluding with the Han, finally failed. This Master Gu was not a good person either, and his methods were extremely ruthless.

"This man actually intended to rebel, he really should be killed."

Liu Ju seemed to have expected this, and did not react to the Gu Shi envoy's unreasonable protest. He just nodded and continued,

"Although the Han are strong, they are not warlike. It is not impossible for the Gushi Wang to negotiate peace. However, the envoys of the Han are all priceless treasures. A thousand horses are not enough. At least three thousand horses must be delivered here in three days."

"If Gu Shi Wang can do this, then peace will be made and the Han army will withdraw."

"If Master Gu cannot do it, then we will fight. The Han Dynasty will destroy Master Gu's country and his people."

"Eh?"

Zhao Po Nu was stunned again when he heard this.

The agreed surrender turned into peace talks. When did His Highness become so easy to talk to?
Could it be that because of General Zuo's failure, the Gushi Kingdom had no choice but to attack by force, and His Highness loved his soldiers like his own sons and did not want to increase casualties, so he finally chose to compromise?
"Your Highness, we still need a long time to prepare a thousand horses. It is impossible to deliver them all within three days." The envoy of Gu Shi looked embarrassed and bargained with Liu Ju.
"Three thousand horses is more than enough. The Gushi Kingdom is small and financially strapped. We really can't afford it. Could His Royal Highness please give us a discount?"

"Then please go back and tell King Gushi to prepare to welcome the Han cavalry."

Liu Ju's attitude finally became tough again.

The envoy then asked again:
"In this case, I have no choice but to ask His Royal Highness to give us some more time to prepare. Otherwise, it will be difficult to meet His Royal Highness's request."

"How long will it take you?"

Liu Ju asked again without commenting.

The envoy of the master said quickly:
"About half a month, half a month should be about the same."

"Okay, I will wait for you for half a month, and then go back and tell your Gushi King that if the three thousand horses are not delivered in half a month, the Han cavalry will definitely destroy Gushi King City."

Liu Ju finally stopped talking nonsense and nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I will go back and tell my king to prepare horses for the peace talks."

The envoy of the master also bowed again, turned around and left the military tent.

After the master's messenger left.

Zhao Po Nu still felt that Liu Ju's decision was inappropriate, and finally couldn't help but speak:
"Your Highness..."

Before he could finish his words, Liu Ju raised his hand to interrupt him and said in a firm tone:
"General Zhao, the peace talks with Gushi are fake, but they are stalling for time. It seems that the Xiongnu have decided to come to support us, and the reinforcements will arrive within half a month."

"Why do you say that, Your Highness?"

Although Zhao Po Nu felt that something was wrong, he did not think too deeply about it and could not help feeling a little confused.

"Do you know what giving out 3,000 horses means to a small country with only a thousand households and a population of just over 10,000? How can an envoy decide on his own?"

Liu Ju only mentioned it briefly and then continued,

"General Zhao, your vassal cavalry has many Xiongnu surrendered soldiers, and you have also lived in the Xiongnu for many years. You are quite proficient in the Xiongnu's habits and language, right?"

"Yes, I wonder why Your Highness asks about this matter?"

Zhao Po Nu was still thinking about the issue of three thousand horses, but when he heard this, he quickly came to his senses and agreed.

Liu Ju came to the table and unfolded the map, saying solemnly:

"Your vassal cavalry, my Jianzhang cavalry, and the Northern Army will gather three thousand soldiers for you. All of them will be dressed in leather armor and disguised as Xiongnu cavalry. Raise the Xiongnu Right Xian King's flag, avoid Gushi King City, and march three hundred miles northeast to the Yanran Mountains."

"After arriving at the place, we will immediately send a few Xiongnu people to Gushi King City disguised as messengers to report the news, and then return and march south in the name of Xiongnu reinforcements, heading straight to Gushi King City."

"After sneaking into the city, immediately denounce the Gushi royal family for colluding with the Han, and use this as an excuse to not only slaughter the Gushi royal family, but also all the nobles and ministers, and let the soldiers plunder the palace and government offices. There is no need to be cautious, the worse the impact, the better."

After hearing this, Zhao Po Nu finally understood what Liu Ju meant. Liu Ju was so nice to the envoy of Gushi, it was obvious that he was trying to take advantage of the enemy's strategy in order to capture Gushi.

"This... then what?"

Zhao Po Nu couldn't help but ask again, now even the noble ministers are going to suffer.

"Then I will lead the Han army to arrive in time, take over the Gushi Royal City, and make three agreements with the people of Gushi to restore order and protect the people."

Liu Ju grinned.

"What about the general and his soldiers?"

Zhao Po Nu just felt a little confused. Aren’t we also Han troops?

Liu Ju smiled and said:

"The Han army and the Xiongnu are irreconcilable. You were outnumbered and naturally had no choice but to flee the city when you saw the Han army. However, the Han army was large in number and you were surrounded by them without being careful. You had no choice but to change back into the armor and flags of the Han army. From then on, this Xiongnu reinforcement was completely wiped out by the Han army."

(End of this chapter)