Great Master of the Tang Dynasty

69 Chapter 70
After sending back the artillery and gunpowder, Zuo Ming told Li Daoyan and others about his incorporation into the Dangxiang clan.

Originally, Zuo Ming brought back the cannon carriage and gunpowder, and everyone was quite shocked, but when they heard that he had incorporated the Dangxiang clan without making a sound, everyone no longer knew what to say.

Only Fan Xing had the quickest reaction, and at that time suggested that he should leave the camp immediately and go north.

In fact, Fan Xing did not mention it, but Li Daoyan wanted to do the same.Because he has already been charged with a whole body of crimes, if he wants to protect himself, he can only earn enough military merits.

He didn't want to get to Tuyuhun with great difficulty, but the battle over there had already come to an end, so he didn't dare to delay for a moment.

Without the harassment of party members, the Chishui Army reached Yehu Gorge easily.

When the enemy met, they were extremely jealous.Although it is already known that the party members are not threatening now, Li Daoyan still maintains considerable vigilance, and the Xirong Army also maintains a considerable distance from the Chishui Army.

After opening the Yehu Gorge, the Xirong Army and Chishui Army rushed all the way to Niuxindui.

Today's Niuxin Mountain is like hell, and the withered and yellow earth is like a bloodbath.And when they arrived, Li Daliang, Hou Junji and Gao Zengsheng had already cooperated with Li Jing and Li Daozong.

Regarding the late arrival of the Chishui Army, Li Jing had received the military report, so he naturally knew what was going on.However, he just reprimanded Li Daoyan, and did not hold him accountable on the spot.

Because almost everyone knew that after this battle, Li Daoyan would not end well.

For such a person who is almost dying, too much care will only lead to inferiority.If Li Daoyan was reprimanded, of course Zuo Ming must be praised.

Zuo Ming was able to bring him [-] Xirong cavalry, which can be said to have just solved his urgent need.

The war has been fought until now, although with the help of artillery, the journey has been smooth, but this is just an illusion.

The Tuyuhun people were afraid of artillery, and they didn't know that this was a war aimed at destroying the country, so they chose to retreat temporarily.

And once there is no way to retreat, they will inevitably launch the most violent counterattack.

With the presence of artillery, he would not be afraid of facing Li Jing head-on. What he was most afraid of was that Tuyuhun would take advantage of the cavalry and fight with him, delaying the time for the decisive battle.In that case, Tubo will definitely intervene in order to protect itself.

With these cavalry, none of this is a problem.Because he already has the ability to conduct large-scale pursuit battles.

After praising Zuo Ming, the coalition forces immediately marched towards Kushan. With an army of 25 and a hundred cannons, along the road it can be said that gods block and kill gods, and Buddhas block and kill Buddhas. Tuyuhun's resistance is simply vulnerable to such overwhelming strength.

When the allied forces marched to Mandu Mountain, they had captured more than 30 Tuyuhun people and more than [-] miscellaneous animals.

With so many spoils of war, they definitely couldn't be carried with the army. At that time, Li Daoyan and Hou Junji proposed to kill the more than [-] Tuyuhun prisoners, but Zuo Ming immediately denied it.

The reason for Zuo Ming is also very good, "What Your Majesty wants is a fertile Tuyuhun, not a piece of scorched earth full of corpses!"

For this reason, both Li Tai and the prince agreed very much.Especially Prince Li Chengqian, who was originally the successor of the Tang Empire, and Tuyuhun was merged into the territory of the Tang Dynasty, so he naturally became his subject. He didn't want the whole Tuyuhun to become a dead zone after this battle. What is he going to do?

However, since they couldn't be killed, Li Daoyan and Hou Junji had to ask again, how to deal with these people?
Zuo Ming also has a plan for this, but his plan has certain risks.His approach is very simple, and can be summed up in eight words: return the cattle to the sheep, seal the land to redeem the body!

The meaning is to return all the cattle and sheep to the captives of Tuyuhun, and then designate an area for them to live in, so that they can use double the cattle and sheep to redeem themselves.

If you do this, a group of diehards will definitely take the opportunity to escape, but that's okay!What Zuo Ming needed was only those peace-loving Tuyuhun people. As for those militants, who missed this opportunity to integrate into the Tang Dynasty, what awaited them would be death!

Once this approach was put forward, it was strongly opposed by Li Daoyan, Hou Junji, Li Daliang and even Li Daozong. They felt that this approach was too benevolent for women and would easily cause future troubles.

However, Prince Li Chengqian was present, so they obviously did not have the right to make decisions.

This attack on Tuyuhun can be said to be an exam for Li Chengqian. Li Shimin gave him enough rights, so when he decided to act according to Zuo Ming's approach, everyone else kept their mouths shut.

Li Chengqian really made Zuo Ming an exception, and his policy of integrating the people was even more thorough than Zuo Ming.Zuo Ming only gave those herders one chance to choose, but Li Chengqian gave them three times.

At that time, Li Chengqian was standing on the high martial arts stage, and when he said something to the Tuyuhun people below, even Zuo Ming was deeply moved when he heard it.

At that time he said this:

"Tuyuhun has been a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty since ancient times, but now the Murong clan's ambitions and forcible rebellion should be punished, but their faults should not be borne by you! You are from Tuyuhun, but you are also from my Tang Dynasty! As for the people of my Tang Dynasty, I, Mrs. Li, have always been tolerant!

The prince will send your cattle and sheep back to you in a while, and the land behind you will be cultivated and domesticated by you. Afterwards, the prince will build a town market on the Dafei River, There to buy your cattle, sheep and horses and provide you with some special products from Guanzhong and even Jinling and Guangdong at low prices.

The prince will provide you with everything that you did not have before. Of course, the prince will definitely not give you these things for no reason.I can tell you very bluntly that I just want to buy you off!

As for whether you are willing to be bribed by me, that is up to you!I can give you three chances to choose. In the next war, the prince will release the captives three more times. After the three times, the Tuyuhun people who are still fighting in the corner west of Dafeichuan and Jishi Mountains will be regarded as my own. enemy!
These people will either die or become slaves, there is absolutely no third way to go!
You may think that this palace is stupid!I caught you and let you go again, but I want to tell you that if I can catch you once, I can catch you twice, or even a hundred times!You have seen my Great Tang's divine thunder, but I tell you, that is just the tip of my Great Tang's iceberg!

This battle of Tuyuhun is just the beginning. From now on, any country that refuses to accept my Great Tang's teachings will be crushed under my Great Tang's cavalry!

now, go!Bring back your cattle and sheep, and then choose whether to be a slave who doesn't have enough food, clothing, warmth, or any dignity, or a Tang man who has no worries about food and clothing, and lives and works in peace and contentment! "

When he said these words, Li Chengqian's face was full of absolute confidence. Suddenly, everyone saw the second Li Shimin.

Li Jing was very excited, because Li Chengqian's sentence "I can catch you once, I can catch you twice, or even a hundred times" is the greatest trust in him as the marching officer.Otherwise, he would never dare to say such big words.

Zuo Ming appreciated Li Chengqian's method of coercion and temptation.

If it was any other time, it would definitely be a bit stupid to do so, but now that they are in an absolute advantage, almost crushing situation, it would be harmless to do so.

If he succeeds, he will win the hearts of the people in Qinghai. If he loses, he will just kill them again!

However, what happened afterwards was really unexpected for Zuo Ming and Li Chengqian.

First of all, in the first ten days, according to reports from the spies, 3 people fled to the northwest of Dafeichuan.

For this reason, Li Daoyan and others made a collective attack, mocking Zuo Ming fiercely, saying that he gave the prince a bad idea.

At this time, the prince was also under a lot of pressure. Thirty thousand captives were not a small number. He was already thinking about how to explain to Li Shimin afterwards.

These people are not as careful as Zuo Ming, so they didn't find anything wrong with it.

Those [-] captives did leave, but their cattle and sheep were handed over to their close ones.

That is to say, even though the people left, there were no less cattle and sheep!
Noticing this, Zuo Ming also had a rough guess about the actions of those Tuyuhun herdsmen, so when he was ridiculed and criticized by everyone, Zuo Ming smiled confidently, and then cupped his hands at Li Jing.

"Wei Gong, this battle is coming to an end. As the saying goes, it is easy to attack a city but difficult to defend it. It is time to prepare defensive measures to prevent Tubo from attacking."

Hearing this, not only Li Jing was stunned, but also Prince Li Chengqian and Li Tai were also stunned.

And Li Daoyan laughed jokingly, and taunted him directly, "General Zuo, didn't you wake up? Although our army is victorious, the main force of Tuyuhun is still there, and it is still early before the final battle. Why is it coming to an end?" Is it? This general really doesn’t understand.”

"If you can't figure it out, think again. Since the overall situation has been decided, and the war is not Zuo Ming's command, let the prince command the Xirong Army! But in exchange, His Royal Highness, the Dafeichuan market can be handed over to Zuo certain!"

For Li Daoyan, Zuo Ming naturally wouldn't have a good face, and he had no obligation to teach him.So after finishing speaking on his own, Zuo Ming left the big tent without waiting for everyone's reaction.

"This person is really rude! How dare he leave before the pre-tent meeting is over! Marshal, this officer proposes that this person be taken down and dealt with by military law, so as to make an example to others!"

Li Daoyan became furious after being slapped by Zuo Ming.

However, after hearing this, Li Tai smiled coldly, "Military punishment? Okay! Then let's deal with some people according to the military system first! Delayed military planes, and lost more than 1 yuan for personal gain." The soldiers and the loss of gunpowder and cannon carts are three crimes concurrently, but I don’t know whether to be sentenced to beheading or torn carts!”

(End of this chapter)