Tibet

At the third watch, Li Jing, who had just fallen asleep, was awakened by a knock on the door. He quickly pushed the concubine beside him and asked her to quickly get dressed for him.

"What's going on?" Li Jing asked.

The soldier outside the door said urgently: "There is a commotion in the military camp. General Wu Xiu asks the young master to go there quickly!"

Li Jing was startled and stood up quickly. His concubine dressed him and put on his shoes. Then he opened the door and asked, "Is there a mutiny?"

"It doesn't seem like a mutiny, just a riot!"

Li Jing felt uneasy, so he put on his armor, got on his horse, and ran towards the military camp under the protection of a hundred soldiers.

Soon I arrived at the military camp, and saw the lights in the military camp brightly lit. The atmosphere in the entire military camp was very strange, with an uneasy mood surging. The grass was filled with soldiers in twos and threes, and they were all talking in low voices. What?

When Li Jing came to the Chinese army, he saw that the Chinese army's tent was full of middle- and low-level generals. There were only 30,000 troops left in Yidu, all of them Han from Qingzhou and Zizhou, the most elite 30,000 Donghu cavalry and 20,000 Goguryeo. They were all handed over to Li Na and taken to Licheng County.

Therefore, only local children were left in Yidu County. Li Ye's public notice frightened the soldiers. If they did not surrender, once the city was broken, all the soldiers and their families would be deprived of official slaves and sent to Lingnan to open up wasteland.

This was what the regent said. With such words, all the soldiers could not sit still and forced the palace to surrender.

As soon as Li Jing appeared, someone shouted: "The eldest son is here!"

Everyone gathered around and said, "My lord, the city cannot be defended anymore. Surrender as soon as possible to keep everyone and their families safe!"

"Young Master, surrender!"

Li Jing was kind-hearted and good-tempered. He quickly held up his hands and said, "Generals, I don't know what happened. Let me talk to General Wu Xiu!"

At this time, someone shouted sternly: "You all get out of the way and don't surround the eldest son!"

It was Wu Xiu, the deputy general, and Li Zhengji, the commander-in-chief, and now Li Jing.

The generals had no choice but to get out of the way. Li Jing was fat and sweaty from being surrounded. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly walked into the tent.

"General Wu, what happened?"

"Master, look at this!"

Wu Xiu handed a piece of paper to Li Jing. Li Jing was stunned for a moment when he saw the signature, "Is it a letter written by Li Ye?"

"Probably, no one dares to pretend to be Li Ye and write this letter."

"So everyone is scared?"

Wu Xiu nodded, "No one wants to go mining, let alone go to Lingnan to open up wasteland, and the whole family is not an official slave!"

Wu Xiu sighed, "Don't talk about soldiers, they are afraid even if they hold low positions!"

Li Jing was silent for a moment and said: "If I surrender, how will the court treat my father?"

"Can the prince still wake up?" Wu Xiu specifically asked Chen Fang, who probably knew about Li Zhengji's condition.

Li Jing shook his head, "My breath is weak, it seems like I won't be able to survive until dawn."

Wu Xiu suddenly understood that Li Jing was actually worried about himself. Wu Xiu thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness can send someone to negotiate. If the young master has any requirements, you can mention them directly to the other party."

Wu Xiu whispered again: "I am worried that there will be no explanation after dawn. The soldiers will become anxious, and I am afraid there will be a mutiny. They may even chop off our heads as their promotion steps!"

Li Jing noticed a sharp look flashing in Wu Xiu's eyes, and he felt frightened in his heart. This Wu Xiu was talking about himself! This man used the heads of their father and son as his promotion.

"All right!"

Li Jing knew that his life would be in danger if he didn't agree, so he agreed decisively, "There is no need to negotiate anymore, just pass my order and Kaicheng surrenders!"

Wu Xiu gave Li Jing a meaningful look, walked out and announced loudly, and the military camp suddenly burst into cheers.

At the fifth watch, Yidu City opened the south gate and surrendered to the Tang army outside the city. Nan Jiyun led an army of 30,000 to accept the surrender outside the south city.

Li Jing was wearing white clothes and walking at the front with a white flag, followed by more than a hundred generals and 30,000 troops. All of them did not wear armor. Instead, they held armor and weapons in their hands and placed them in advance beside the city gate. Inside the drawn white circle.

Then he went to sit down and rest in an open space a mile away.

Li Jing walked up to Nan Jiyun, held up his seal, and said, "The criminal Li Jing surrenders unconditionally to the imperial court and is willing to accept all the imperial court's punishment!"

"Where's your father?"

Li Jing burst into tears and choked with sobs: "My father passed away half an hour ago."

Nan Jiyun was startled, "Why?"

"My father heard about the disastrous defeat in Licheng County, and Li Na led his army to flee north. His old illness relapsed, and he continued to vomit blood. He has been unconscious. He breathed his last half an hour ago and is now in the morgue at the palace!"

Nan Jiyun nodded, "Okay! Mr. Li, please express your condolences. Mr. Li is a generous man and treats the people well. I believe the regent will not embarrass Mr. Li. Mr. Li can pack his bags and go to Chang'an after handling his father's funeral affairs."

"Thank you, General!"

At daybreak, 80,000 Tang troops captured Yidu City without bloodshed. Nan Jiyun immediately ordered an autopsy to confirm that the deceased was indeed Li Zhengji. Then he handed the body back to Li Jing and asked him to bury his father as an ordinary citizen.

According to Li Ye's prior order, all those who surrendered and were willing to join the Tang army could select strong soldiers to join the army, and all the remaining soldiers were sent back to their hometowns.

Guo Ziyi's side was handled in the same way, but the 15,000 Goguryeo soldiers who surrendered needed special treatment. This involved Li Zheng having introduced tens of thousands of Goguryeo households and currently settling them in Laizhou and Dengzhou, but the court would never allow such Many Goguryeo people gathered in two states.

This requires the court to arrange and deal with it.

Guo Ziyi's military report was sent to Chang'an in an expedited manner of 800 miles.

Chang'an, the annual imperial examination is coming again. Except for Hebei, scholars from all over the world are rushing to Chang'an.

Last year, many Hebei scholars came to Chang'an for the imperial examination, but this year the war was tense and all the vassal states closed their borders, so the Hebei scholars had to miss this year's imperial examination.

But there is a way. As long as you find a way to get to the Yellow River, many farmers will take the risk of sending scholars across the Yellow River for the sake of money.

After all, the Yellow River is too long, and the patrol team is mainly concentrated in Weizhou, so the probability of success is still very high. Even if they are caught, the soldiers dare not kill the scholars who go to participate in the imperial examination, but send them back to their hometowns and order the government to keep a close watch on them.

In the Anranju Restaurant in Xuanyangfang, Chang'an, three young scholars were drinking together. All three of them were surnamed Cui. One was Cui Baolin and the other was Cui Hua. They were from the Cui family of Qinghe, Beizhou, but they were not the legitimate sons of the main house, but the concubine sons of the side house. The other was Lu Shi, from the Lu family of Weizhou, and was probably the ancestor of Lu Junyi of the Northern Song Dynasty.

All three of them were surnamed Gao, but they were not wealthy families. Their family backgrounds were very ordinary. They met when they were crossing the Yellow River secretly. The three of them spent one tael of money each and asked farmers to send them across the Yellow River on an ice sled.

They were lucky. This year, the court arranged free food and accommodation for Hebei candidates. They all lived in the Yingbin Hotel, three people in one room, and the three of them just happened to live together.

All three of them had decided not to return to Hebei. For insurance, they would participate in the Mingjing exam, which had a large number of admissions. Even if they failed the Mingjing exam, they would still participate in the Imperial College exam.

The Imperial College enrolled 1,500 students. It was similar to the normal schools of later generations. After studying at the Imperial College for three years, students would be assigned to official schools in various states and counties as assistant teachers. After five years of being assistant teachers, they would be promoted to professors, which means they were ninth-rank officials, so they still had a chance to become officials.

“I heard that this restaurant belongs to the regent?” Cui Baolin looked at the restaurant and smiled.

"How is it possible?"

"Really, I just asked the shopkeeper, this restaurant belongs to the Li family, that is, the former prime minister Li Linfu, isn't the regent the grandson of Li Linfu?"

Cui Hua shook his head, "You are really confused, this is the Li family's industry, it has nothing to do with the regent, what is the identity of the regent, will he share the industry with the clan members?"

Cui Baolin smiled, "You are right, I am confused, a glass of wine!"

Cui Baolin picked up the wine glass and drank it all, and when he looked up, he saw Lu Shi listening to something, "Brother Lu, what are you daydreaming about?"

"Shh——"

Lu Shi whispered: "Listen, what are you shouting outside?"

Many people heard the shouting, and the restaurant became quiet. Someone opened the window, and only heard a soldier shouting, "Good news! Good news from Qizhou! Ziqing Jiedu was wiped out, Li Zheng is dead, and the first vassal town has perished!"

The restaurant was suddenly full of jubilation.