The Tubo soldiers were frightened by being killed by Yan Yunzhan. Suddenly they saw Zhandui defeated and fled. They felt inexplicable horror. All their fighting spirit disappeared immediately. They gave up the fight and ran for their lives. In an instant, the mountains and fields were filled with wolves. Rushing to the Tubo Tu, the Yanyun war cavalry chased and killed them, killing the Tibetan cavalry with corpses all over the field.
Zhan Dui, who was seriously injured, ran for his life. After an unknown amount of time, the Yan Yun warrior who was chasing behind him had disappeared. Zhan Dui's shock had just subsided and he couldn't help but slow down a bit. Then he thought of Hanon and said angrily: "That guy must have watched me being defeated by Yan Yun's army on purpose! I will definitely go to the general and file a complaint against him. He must be beheaded!"
A man and a horse ran for a while in the wilderness, and then met dozens of cavalry who had escaped. The two parties joined together and continued running north. Soon after, the rumble of horse hooves was heard, chasing after them from behind. Zhan Dui and others thought that Yan Yun's pursuers were coming, and their expressions changed. Without thinking about it, they hurriedly urged their horses to run towards the north. As they ran, they turned around and looked back, but they found that the person coming behind them was not the terrifying Yan Yun. Army, but one's own cavalry, numerous in number, tens of thousands. Zhan Dui thought of Hanon, and he was filled with anger. He immediately reined in his horse and stopped in front of him. The other cavalry also stopped.
After a while, the large group of Tibetan warriors retreated. When Zhan Dui saw that Hanon was among them, he immediately asked angrily: "Hanon, our army was ambushed, why didn't you lead your army to support us? Do you want the Han people to kill me?" Right? Humph, it’s a pity that I don’t die that easily! When I get to the general, I must report the truth, and it will be you or me who will die when I see it!”
Hanon said anxiously: "Brother Zhandui, you have misunderstood! As soon as I found out that something was wrong, I wanted to lead my army to support you. But at this moment, the cavalry of the Yanyun Brigade suddenly came from one side and our army was caught off guard and was rushed. There was a big chaos. Although our army fought back bravely, it was no match for the mighty Yanyun War Cavalry. The army was defeated and escaped! Fortunately, the Yanyun War Cavalry did not pursue them! I was originally worried about Brother Zhandui, but I didn’t expect Brother Zhandui is out of danger!" At this point, Hanon looked happy.
Zhan Dui saw that Hanon's helmet had disappeared, and there was a knife mark on his armor. Many of the soldiers behind him were injured. It was obvious that they had just experienced a fierce battle, and the original anger in his heart could not help but subside. Said: "In this case, I won't blame you!" Then there was a burst of pain from the wound, and he couldn't help but groaned, and reached out to cover the wound. At this time, the blood from the wound was gurgling out. The situation Very serious. Hanon quickly said to an officer beside him: "Get the medicine quickly and treat Brother Zhandui's injuries!"
The officer responded, immediately dismounted, took out an oval copper pot from the leather bag hanging on the saddle, and ran to Zhan Dui. At this time, Zhan Dui had already been helped off the horse and sat on the ground by two soldiers around him. The two soldiers quickly took off Zhan Dui's armor and clothes, exposing the wound. The officer quickly opened the copper pot, poured a light yellow powder on Zhan Dui's wound, and then tore it from Zhan Dui's clothes. The next strip of cloth was used to bandage Zhan Du's wound. The blood seeping out of the wound instantly dyed the cloth red, and the blood stains on the cloth slowly spread to the surroundings, but gradually the spreading trend stopped, and there was no more blood gushing out of the wound, that kind of The yellow powder reacted with the blood and water to produce a gel-like object that sealed the wound.
Zhan Dui took a breath and said with lingering fear: "I almost didn't save my life!" He looked up at Hanon and said, "I met a Yanyun warrior," his brows furrowed, and there was fear in his eyes. , continued: "This man is tall, majestic, and very fierce. With just three moves, just three moves, I almost died in his hands!"
Hanon had fought many times with the Yanyun Army, and he had already known the power of Yanyun's warriors. He was not surprised when he heard Zhandui's words, and thought to himself: "According to the intelligence, the commander of this Yanyun Army is Yang Qi and Yang Gui, I saw Yang Qi just now but not Yang Gui. The Yanyun warriors that Zhan Dui brothers encountered were probably Yang Gui!" Zhan Dui except this time and the ones he had heard before in the big tent. Apart from this name, I had never heard of this name before. He looked confused and said, "Yang Gui?"
Hanon explained: "Yang Qi, like Yang Gui, was originally a general in the so-called Yang family army of the Song Dynasty. Later, their generals followed Yang Yanzhao and defected to Yan Yun. Then Yang Peng, the king of Yan, organized them into the direct army. , the salary is very high, which shows that these generals of the Yang family army are not inferior to those of Yanyun's direct lineage generals. Previously, the Yanyun army attacked Xixia from the north and the south, and the southern army was mainly Yang Yanzhao's army, fighting fiercely with the Xixia army He has made great achievements in many battles, and his performance is not inferior to that of the direct troops of the Yanyun Army attacking Xixia from the north!"
Zhan Dui nodded, helped a soldier beside him to stand up, walked to the saddle, and wanted to get on the horse, but he was worried that the wound would burst and he did not dare to use force.
Seeing this, Hanon quickly ordered the officers around him: "You guys lift brother Zhan Dui onto the horse!" The officers agreed, got off their horses, ran over, carefully lifted Zhan Dui, and put him on the saddle. . Zhan Dui held the reins with his right hand and took a deep breath. He turned to look at Hanon and said very remorsefully: "This defeat is all my fault. I blame me for not listening to you! Hey, I didn't expect Yan Yun's army to be so fierce, and Yan Yun's general is even more unstoppable. ! Hey, even if our 30,000 cavalry compete fairly with their 10,000 or 20,000 cavalry, I’m afraid we won’t be able to defeat them!” Hanon nodded with deep sympathy and said to Zhan Dui: “Our army has suffered a new defeat and suffered heavy losses. Here, It's not advisable to stay for a long time. We have to go back quickly to inform the situation and ask the general to make a decision." Zhan Dui nodded.
Yang Gui led his warriors back to a small hill next to the basin. At this time, Yang Qi was standing on the hill looking into the distance. The woods in the basin were still burning, and the fire light reflected the entire basin red. The entire basin looked like a huge furnace; in the distance, soldiers were cleaning the battlefield, and groups of Tibetan prisoners were being escorted over.
Yang Gui's war horse stopped halfway up the mountain. Yang Gui rode up to Yang Qi alone, reined in the horse, and asked angrily: "Auntie, why did you order to stop the pursuit?" It turned out that Yang Gui was leading his men to fight. Riding in pursuit of the North, he was ready to kill, but he suddenly received an order from Yang Qi, ordering him to immediately stop the pursuit and retreat. Yang Gui was annoyed, but he did not dare to disobey the military order. He immediately led his army to retreat, but he could not help but Questioned Yang Qi.
Yang Qi smiled and said: "The enemies are all cavalry, and chasing them is just a waste of effort!" Yang Gui said angrily: "We can always kill more!"
Yang Qi smiled and said: "If we chase and defeat the enemy, what will happen to the food and grass here?" Yang Gui said, "The enemies have run away, what will happen?" Yang Qi said seriously: "On the battlefield How can we take any chances! Our main task is to ensure that these 500,000 tons of grain and grass are safely sent back, not to fight with the enemy! Even if we completely wipe out this enemy group, if there is a mistake in the grain and grass, it will be more trouble than merit. I won't be able to explain it to King Yan!" Yang Gui's anger completely calmed down and he muttered in a low voice: "What you said seems to make sense!"
Yang Qi smiled and said: "Okay, let's not make trouble and escort the food and grass on the road quickly!" Yang Gui clasped his fists in agreement and prepared to leave. Yang Qi shouted: "Wait a minute!" Yang Gui stopped, looked at Yang Qi in confusion, and asked: "What are you doing?" Yang Qi smiled and said: "I will personally escort the grain and grass, and your task is to lead the five thousand men under my command. The cavalry is following me on guard." Yang Gui smiled and said: "The Tubo people have been beaten to the point of losing their souls, how dare they come?" Yang Qi said: "In short, you can't go wrong with being cautious."
Yang Gui nodded and said: "I understand." Then he turned his horse's head and ran towards the army under his command. He ran in front of the cavalry and shouted: "Follow me!" Then he led five thousand soldiers He rode down the hillside and went to the north to be on guard. Yang Qi led the army to push out the grain and grass cart hidden in the woods outside the basin, and headed to Zhuoluo City to protect the grain and grass.
…
The atmosphere in the Tubo tent was very solemn. Zhandui and Hanon were kneeling on the ground, their heads lowered, with a look of shame on their faces. General Song Hyuk was pacing back and forth, looking very annoyed. Duosang said: "General, we failed to destroy the food and grass. It seems we can only retreat into the snow-capped mountains!"
Song He stopped, glanced at Zhan Dui and Hanon, frowned and thought for a while, shook his head and said: "No, no, no, it's not that we have no chance at all, there is still a chance, as long as Odaochong surrenders to us within three days , victory still belongs to us!" Duosang felt that what Song He said was reasonable. As long as the Xixia people surrendered in the past two days, the two sides would have more than 200,000 troops combined, and their own army would be able to receive food and grass supplies from the Xixia people. At the same time, the country mobilized a large army for reinforcements. Even if the Yanyun Army mobilized one or two hundred thousand soldiers and horses, it would be difficult to shake its position.
Songhe said angrily from Zhandui and Hanon: "What are you still doing kneeling down? Get up!" The two stood up. Songhe said to Duosang: "Immediately send someone to urge Aodaochong and tell him that if he doesn't surrender before sunset tomorrow, I will attack the city! This is an ultimatum and there is no price to negotiate!" Duosang nodded. , said: "More pressure should be exerted!"
…
In the main hall of the Xiliang Mansion, the regent O Daochong read the ultimatum just sent by the Tibetan people, frowned, and paced back and forth in the main hall. Xixia's civil and military officials all looked at Odaochong, with anxious expressions on their faces. Finally, General Li Dingkun couldn't help but asked: "Your Majesty, what did the Tubo people say?" Odaochong stopped and glanced around. Everyone glanced at each other and sneered: "The Tubo people have given us an ultimatum. If we don't surrender before sunset tomorrow, they will attack!"
There was an immediate commotion in the main hall, with the civil servants talking to each other worriedly, and the generals shouting angrily. The noise in the hall gradually quieted down, and the new Prime Minister Shanli frowned and said, "It seems it's time to make a decision!" He glanced at Aodaochong and said, "If we don't accept the Tubo ultimatum, will we Can you withstand it?"
O Daochong asked Shan Li, "What do you mean, Prime Minister?" Shan Li sighed and said, "It is God's will that we have reached this point in Great Xia. We are exhausted. How can we ordinary people resist the destiny of heaven?" Many ministers agreed. Get up, looking at the appearance of these people, they seem to be eager to surrender immediately.
Li Dingkun was furious and cursed: "As an important minister of Great Xia, when the country is in crisis, you don't want to serve, but you want to surrender! I, Li Dingkun, will never agree!" Brother Weimingxiu also shouted: "The country In times of crisis, our ministers should die in retribution, how can we say such rebellious words without a king or a father!"
The two generals spoke together, and the hall suddenly became silent. Although many people disagreed, no one dared to touch Li Dingkun and Brother Weimingxiu. What's more, what they said was indeed upright and they wanted to refute it. But it's very unreasonable.
O Daochong glanced at Li Dingkun and Brother Wei Mingxiu and said, "What the two generals said is absolutely true, but if destiny is no longer on our side, why should we go against heaven?" Shan Li and others saw O Daochong After saying this, they were very surprised and all agreed.
Li Dingkun's expression changed and he asked, "Does the king want to surrender?"
O Daochong shook his head and said: "This matter cannot be decided by me, it should be decided by your Majesty!" Li Dingkun said secretly: "The emperor is just a baby, what do you know? You are the regent, handling military and national affairs on behalf of your majesty. This important matter is natural It's up to you to decide, but you blame it on His Majesty. What do you mean? 'When I thought of this, I couldn't help but frowned. I couldn't understand, so I simply stopped thinking about it and shouted loudly to Odao: "No matter what the king says or what you do, I, Li Dingkun, and the five thousand Iron Harriers will never surrender!" He snorted and turned around. There was a commotion in the main hall. Many people scolded Li Dingkun for being too rude, but many people remained silent.
Ao Daochong waited for everyone to calm down and said: "This matter is of great importance and cannot be decided in a hurry. I have to think about it carefully. Everyone, please go down first." Everyone looked at each other and felt that the matter was already very urgent. , the other party’s ultimatum deadline is before sunset tomorrow, how can I have time to think about it carefully? Shanli said to Odao: "Your Majesty, time is extremely tight now. I'm afraid, I don't have time to think about it carefully!" Many civil servants agreed.
Odaochong said: "I know what I know, so you don't have to worry. In short, I will come up with a proper plan before sunset tomorrow. Okay, it's useless for you to stay here, go down and rest." Everyone listened to him Saying this, I felt very anxious, but I had no choice but to bow to him and retreat.
As soon as everyone left, the confident and unpredictable look on Ao Daochong's face disappeared and was replaced by deep worry. Although he acted very calm and composed just now, he was actually very restless and undecided. He originally wanted to wait for a change, but looking at the current situation, it seemed that this intention could not be realized at all. The pressure on the Tubo people was increasing. , However, Yanyun did not send troops to deal with the Tubo people as he hoped, and the attempt to compete with the snipe and the clam for the fishermen's profit seems to have failed.
Aodaochong paced back and forth in annoyance, and suddenly cursed: "Useless Yanyun people! Do we have to watch Tubo annex us before we are willing to do it?" He continued to pace back and forth, trying his best to think of a solution. Countermeasures, but the irritability made my mind confused like paste, and I couldn't think of anything at all. Finally he stopped, looked outside the hall, and murmured: "Is the only way to surrender to Tibet?" He couldn't help but frown, feeling very unwilling.
At this moment, I saw a person rushing in outside the hall. It turned out to be Ye Lirong, a close aide of Aodaochong. Ye Lirong rushed to Ao Daochong, his face full of excitement, he did not bother to salute, and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, good news, good news!" Ao Daochong's heart moved and he asked hurriedly: "Is it Yan?" The Yun people have sent troops?" Ye Lirong nodded vigorously and said: "Our scouts found out that not long ago, the Yanyun war cavalry suddenly attacked and attacked the Tubo people's snow mountain fortress. The Tubo people not only lost 500,000 tons of grain and grass. , and even lost nearly 20,000 battle cavalry!”
Aodaochong was overjoyed and clapped his hands and said: "Great! Great!" Then he paced back and forth excitedly and said angrily: "Damn, the Tubo people didn't have time to think about themselves but they came to scare me! I almost fell into their trap. The evil is done!" Ye Lirong said excitedly: "As soon as the Yanyun Army sends troops, a war between the Yanyun Army and the Tubo people is inevitable. They will fight like snipes and clams, and we fishermen will benefit, and the crisis will be resolved!" Aodaochong nodded solemnly, then frowned, and asked Ye Lirong: "Is the news you said true?" Ye Lirong said: "This is completely certain!"
Odaochong thought: "The situation has changed now. We don't need to pretend to be friendly to the Tubo people!" Then he said to Ye Lirong: "Take people to arrest the Tibetan envoy immediately!" Ye Li said Rong responded and ran down.
Aodaochong thought for a while, called the captain of the soldiers and asked him to assemble the team. After a while, Aodaochong rushed to a closely guarded courtyard in the city with his personal guards. All the guards suddenly saw Odao rushing towards him, and they all bowed down and saluted. Ao Daochong led everyone into the courtyard and went straight into the hall, where he saw the Yanyun envoy Li Qian who was under house arrest standing in the hall. Li Qian suddenly saw Aodaochong coming in with many soldiers. He was shocked and thought they were coming to kill him, so he tried to calm down.
Ao Daochong suddenly bowed to Li Qian and said extremely apologetically: "I really offended your envoy before, please forgive me!" Li Qian was very surprised to see Ao Daochong being so humble, but his nervousness dissipated. The young master said calmly: "Your Majesty, you don't have to be polite. But I wonder if Your Majesty came suddenly today. What advice do you have?" His voice was trembling.
Odaochong said: "I don't dare to give you advice. I am here mainly to apologize to your envoy." Li Qian smiled and said, "It's easy to talk," he stretched out his hand and said, "Your Majesty, please sit down."
Odaochong bowed and said, "Thank you." Then he said to his guards, "Wait for me outside." The guards agreed and exited the hall. Li Qian and Ao Daochong walked to a coffee table on the right and sat down. Ao Daochong said apologetically: "I had no choice but to offend the envoy before! The envoy may not know that the Tubo people used force to force me and the envoy Yan Yun has severed diplomatic relations. I have no choice but to offend your envoy. Please forgive me for your kindness! I apologize to your envoy again!" He bowed to Li Qian. Although Li Qian felt that the other party's attitude changed too quickly, he was sure that the other party's attitude had indeed changed, and he couldn't help but feel reassured.
Ao Daochong took out a small mahogany box from his arms, put it on the coffee table, pushed it in front of Li Qian, and said with a smile: "This is a little bit of my heart, please accept it!" Li Qian reached out and opened the box. , and his eyes were filled with golden light. It turned out that the box was filled with gold sand. Although the box was not big, the gold was heavy. A box so full contained at least one hundred taels of gold, which was ten thousand taels of silver. This was definitely A huge sum of money! Li Qian's eyes lit up, he quickly closed the box, put it in his arms, and said with a smile on his face: "Your Majesty is so polite, I thank you very much!" Odao rushed to see him accepting the gift, smiled secretly, and said: "I'm afraid this A little trifle cannot make up for the king’s previous mistakes!”
Li Qian smiled and said: "Why did your Majesty say this? Previously, Your Majesty was just involuntarily and had no choice. I will never blame him, and I will never report this matter to King Yan." O Daochong said gratefully : "Thank you so much!" After a pause, he said: "I have thought about it carefully. King Yan is an unparalleled hero and is invincible in the world. It is his destiny! Our Dangxiang clan has reached this stage and wants to revive. Obviously it’s no longer possible, so why not take refuge in Yan Yun!”
Li Qian was overjoyed and said: "If your Majesty can raise the entire Dangxiang clan to defect to King Yan, King Yan will definitely not treat you badly. The high-level officials will be generously paid, that's for sure! Like us, you don't have any merit, but after you defect to King Yan, But he was given a high position in the Xingqing Mansion. With your identity and merits, King Yan will definitely use him more!" Odao Chong said: "This depends on your envoy's kind words!" Li Qian said with a smile: "Of course, Your Majesty. Don't worry!" After a pause, he asked: "But I don't know how your Majesty plans to defect to King Yan? What I mean is that your Majesty will immediately send someone to express his intention to General Yue Fei, and agree on the time and method of surrender, and then both parties will follow the agreed time and ways to do it.”
But Ao Daochong frowned and said: "Well, this may not be safe. My king's idea is to first send an envoy to Tianjing New City to contact King Yan and negotiate relevant matters, and then I will surrender to King Yan! Your envoy What do you think?"
Li Qian smiled and said: "Your Majesty is really cautious!" He then nodded and said: "That's good." When Odao rushed to see Li Qian agreed, he was secretly happy and stood up quickly and said: "Since your envoy also agrees, Then this is what I will do! I also ask your envoy to send one person to go to Tianjing New City to meet King Yan with my envoy!" Li Qian stood up and said: "I will send someone to go with the king's envoy. !”
A strange light flashed in O Daochong's eyes, but Li Qian didn't notice it. Ao Daochong smiled and said: "After the event is completed, I will give you a big gift for your envoy!" Li Qian couldn't help but feel very happy when he thought of the box of gold sand. He cupped his fists and smiled and said, "Thank you so much, your Majesty!" Ao Daochong said Holding Li Qian's hand, he said affectionately: "Brothers, why do you say these unreasonable words? What belongs to me belongs to your noble envoy!"
Li Qian couldn't help but feel a little moved and a little proud. After all, Ao Daochong, who used to be aloof and aloof, is now getting close to him as his brother-in-law. Ao Daochong said goodbye to Li Qian and left the courtyard immediately. Once outside the courtyard, he ordered all the guards who were guarding Li Qian to be withdrawn, and ordered his confidants to dispatch a team of maids to serve Li Qian.
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
