Li Qian sent Aodaochong out of the door and returned to the hall. He couldn't help but take out the box of gold sand and opened it. He saw the brilliant golden light and couldn't help but smile.
Ao Daochong led the guards back to the palace, immediately summoned Li Tianhao, and said to him: "I have an important matter for you to handle. This matter is related to the survival of our Great Xia. You must be careful!" Li Tianhao thought that Aodaochong wanted to send him to negotiate with the Tubo people. He thought that there was nothing to fear even if he was broken into pieces for the sake of Daxia. He bowed and said: "If your Majesty has any mission, just ask, I will go through fire and water without hesitation! No!" If you succeed, you will become a benevolent person!”
Ao Daochong couldn't help but be moved after hearing what he said about his heroism. He walked up to Li Tianhao, patted him on the shoulder, and said with emotion: "If the civil and military ministers of Daxia were like you, why would we in Daxia be like this?" !" Li Tianhao couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Odaochong said: "I want you to be an envoy to Tianjing New City on behalf of Daxia!..."
Li Tianhao was very surprised and asked: "As an envoy to Tianjing Xincheng? Isn't it as an envoy to the Tubo military camp?" Aodaochong smiled and shook his head, looking very unpredictable, and said: "What are you doing as an envoy to the Tubo military camp? The Tibetan people are now We have too much time to take care of ourselves, what we have to do is to stabilize Yanyun and buy enough time for our Great Xia to be reborn!"
Li Tianhao didn't quite understand. Ao Daochong smiled and said: "You may not know that the Snow Mountain Fortress was breached by the Yanyun Army not long ago." Li Tianhao was overjoyed when he suddenly heard the news and asked anxiously: "The Snow Mountain Fortress was breached by the Yanyun Army?! "Odaochong nodded and said: "Not only was the snow mountain fortress defeated, but the Tubo people lost 500,000 dans of grain and grass and many soldiers and horses! Humph, the Tubo people had their food and grass robbed, and faced the threat of Yan Yun's army. Why are you here to scare us? How can I, Odaochong, be so easily fooled?" Li Tianhao thought: "If you put it this way, the Tibetan people's ultimatum is just a false threat!" He looked up at Odaochong and said, "Let's Ignore them!"
Aodaochong nodded and said: "The most important thing now is to stabilize Yanyun. The Yanyun army can mobilize their troops with the food and grass they seized from the Snow Mountain Fortress. The war between Yanyun and Tubo is inevitable. ! I estimate that Yanyun will win in the end, so for the safety of our Daxia, someone must go to Tianjing New City to try to stabilize Yanyun, so that the King of Yan will think that we are surrendering, and then not use troops against us. As long as it takes a while, the food and grass that Yan Yun seized from the Tubo people will be exhausted. Even if Yan Yun discovers the truth by then, it won't matter. If Yan Yun wants to use troops against our Daxia, he will have to wait until at least the beginning of next spring! At that time, our preparations were sufficient. Even if the Yanyun army invades, after all, we have to wait for the hard work, and we are not afraid of him! Then there will be a decisive battle to see who will win!"
O Daochong spoke so boldly that Li Tianhao couldn't help but feel excited. He nodded, looked at O Daochong, and said with admiration: "Your Majesty, I have no plans left, I admire you!"
Odaochong smiled, and then solemnly warned: "You have to remember that we must try our best to make the other party believe in us! For this reason, you can say anything and do anything. In addition, in order to gain trust, To King Yan, I will select ten royal beauties and give them to you to present to King Yan.”
Li Tianhao frowned, sighed, and said helplessly: "For the sake of Daxia, we have no choice but to sacrifice like this!" O Daochong patted Li Tianhao on the shoulder and said: "If you don't have any questions, go down and prepare. Tonight I will send someone to inform you at some time." Li Tianhao bowed his promise and retreated.
Ao Daochong thought for a while, called a close guard, and ordered: "Go and invite Brother Wei Mingxiu, Li Dingkun, Li Fenglong and other generals to me immediately. I have important matters to discuss with them!" The guard agreed and ran. Go down.
…
After Songhe issued the ultimatum, he anxiously waited for Xixia's response. However, to their surprise, the Xixia people responded by arresting the envoy he sent, but releasing Yan Yun's envoy. Song He was so angry that he was about to attack the city, but was stopped by Duosang: "General, don't be impulsive! Now Yan Yun's army is watching. If our army attacks the city, Yan Yun's army will have great chances. It may attack the flank of our army, and then our army will be attacked from both sides, which will be very bad!"
Songhe was shocked, calmed down, and after a moment of silence, he ordered: "Command all armies to stop attacking and withdraw to the snow mountain fortress immediately!" At this moment, a veteran herald rushed in and knelt down and said: "General, Yanyun's cavalry came to attack the Snow Mountain Fortress not long ago." Songhe was startled and asked urgently: "How is the situation?" The herald said: "General Busang followed the instructions of the general. With tight defense, the Yanyun army has no chance to take advantage of it and has been repelled by our army!" Songhe and others breathed a sigh of relief. Songhe said to the messenger: "Go back and tell Busang that he did a good job and I will be there. Ask him for merit in front of His Majesty. Tell him to continue to guard and guard hard and not to be negligent!" The herald promised and ran down.
Songhe was worried that Yan Yun's army would cut off his retreat, so he hurriedly said to the generals: "Send orders to all armies to break camp overnight and return to the snow mountain fortress!" All the generals agreed in unison. After the generals left, Songhe hesitated for a moment, called a soldier, and ordered: "You, rush back to the Holy Capital immediately, report the situation here to His Majesty, and ask Your Majesty to mobilize the national army to come for support! "Then a command arrow was handed over to him. The soldier took the command arrow, bowed to Songhe, and hurried away.
Songhe looked at the night outside the big tent with his hands behind his back, a fierce look on his face, and murmured: "After all, the number of soldiers and horses that can be mobilized by half a million dans of grain and grass is limited. I don't believe that we, Tibet, can fight back with the strength of the whole country." No match for your few soldiers and horses!"
…
Yang Peng was discussing the current situation in Xixia with Ye Qi Guanyin and Yang Qi in the hall. Fan Long and Yang Gui hurried in, cupping their fists and saying, "King Yan!" Several people turned to look at the two of them. Yang Peng saw that Yang Gui was back. Then we knew that he led his army to attack the snow mountain fortress again without success. Yang Gui looked ashamed and said: "I finally failed to capture the Snow Mountain Fortress!" Then he knelt down on one knee and apologized: "Please punish me, King Yan!"
Yang Peng stood up, walked to Yang Gui, and patted his shoulder: "Get up." Although Yang Gui wanted to apologize, Yang Gui's words contained an irresistible majesty, so Yang Gui stood up involuntarily. stand up.
Yang Peng looked at the blue sky outside the hall with his hands behind his back, and said calmly: "This raid was originally a fluke." He turned around, glanced at Yang Gui, and said with a smile: "The Snow Mountain Fortress was attacked by us once. Any general who is not too bad will quickly send troops to strengthen the defense. It is reasonable that you failed to capture the Snow Mountain Fortress. There is no need to blame yourself." Yang Gui responded: "Yes."
Yang Peng and Yedi Guanyin exchanged a look and said, "Now just wait for General Yang to lead his army! As soon as the army arrives, we can launch an attack on Xiliang Mansion!" All the generals showed eagerness, Yang Gui said worriedly: "I'm afraid that the Tubo people will come to cause trouble if they are unwilling to do so!" Yang Peng nodded and said, "We must be on guard against this!" After a pause, he continued: "And I'm worried that the Tubo people will Bring all the troops from across the country to fight me! Haha, if we join them, they will probably become angry from shame!"
…
There was a commotion in the main hall of the Tubo Palace. Everyone was yelling angrily, calling Yan Yun despicable and shameless, and Yang Peng for being unfaithful. The mess was even worse than a vegetable market.
The shouting and cursing gradually subsided, and the Tubo Emperor said with great anger: "Yan Yun is teasing us like this. If we stop here, who will take us Tubo seriously in the future!" All the civil and military officials started shouting again, shouting for beating and killing. It can be said that the crowd is excited! After a while, it became quiet. The Tubo Emperor couldn't help but regret when he thought of Zambala's advice. However, regrets were of no use now. The resourceful Prime Minister Zambala who was proficient in Chinese culture had long since turned into loess.
The Tubo Emperor said: "If Yanyun wants to annex Xixia, don't even think about it. I will never let them succeed! The land west of Xiliang Mansion belongs to our great Tubo!" All the ministers agreed.
The Tubo Emperor issued an order: "Invite all the armies from all over the country to gather in Qingtang and obey Song He's order to fight to the death with Yanyun's army and seize Xixia!" All the ministers agreed in unison.
After the discussion was over, the emperor went to the Potala Palace under the escort of the guards, hoping to receive the guidance and blessing of the living Buddha. Tubo is a Buddhist country, and its monarchs, ministers and people are all devout Buddhists. Their deep faith in Buddhism is reflected in all aspects. As far as the Tubo Emperor is concerned, he will seek the guidance and blessing of the Living Buddha for any major decision. Only in this way, the Tubo Emperor And only then will the subjects and people feel confident. The current Tubo emperor is named Dezan, and he is a devout believer in Buddhism and Living Buddhas.
…
Yang Peng received a report from Yang Qi, saying that scouts found a Xixia team appearing in the wilderness dozens of miles north of Zhuoluo City. Judging from the composition of the team and their costumes, they should be a mission.
Yang Peng felt a little strange and murmured: "What do the Xixia people mean by sending a mission at this time?" Ye Qi Guanyin asked: "Did they discover our intention and want to sue for peace?" Yang Peng nodded. He nodded and said: "It's possible!" Then he felt that it was not good for him to meet the Xixia delegation here, so he said to Yang Qi: "Yang Qi, go receive them and find out their intentions. Don't say that Guanyin and I are here. "Yang Qi clasped her fists and promised.
Soon after, the Xixia mission arrived outside the north gate of Zhuoluo City. Li Tianhao sent an accompanying officer to present his credentials to indicate the identity of his mission. The credential was quickly transferred to Yang Peng. Yang Peng opened the credential and looked at it. He saw that the imperial seal of the Xixia Emperor was stamped on the credential. The other party was indeed a mission sent by Xixia. After thinking for a moment, he said to Yang Qi: "Just follow what we agreed before!" Then he handed the credentials back to Yang Qi.
Yang Qi responded and ran down.
Li Tianhao and his party were waiting outside the city. Suddenly they saw the city gate open. A Yanyun officer led a group of Yanyun troops and ran out of the city gate. He shouted: "The general has an order to send the Xixia envoy to meet at the camp!" Li Tianhao He raised his voice and said, "Thank you, general!" Then he led his entourage and drove many carriages to the city gate. The city gate then closed. Li Tianhao followed the Yanyun officer to the camp hall and saw an extraordinary and heroic general sitting on top. Knowing that he must be the commander of the Yanyun Army here, he bowed slightly, performed a chest salute, and said: " Xixia envoy Li Tianhao has met the general!"
Yang Qi looked him up and down and said calmly: "Your Majesty, you don't have to be polite." At the same time, on the back of the screen behind Yang Qi, two people were sitting, Yang Peng and Yeli Guanyin, who were listening to the conversation in the hall. .
Li Tianhao said: "On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of our country, I would like to send an envoy to Tianjing New City to meet with King Yan. I also ask the general to make it convenient for you!"
Yang Qi said: "It's easy to say that your envoy is the envoy of Xixia. Naturally, I will not make it difficult for you. I just don't know why your envoy is here?" Li Tianhao said: "This envoy is here to represent the Regent and His Majesty the Emperor of our country. Discuss with King Yan about the annexation!" As soon as these words came out, not only Yang Qi in the hall was surprised, but also Yang Peng and Ye Qi Guanyin behind the screen. They originally thought that the other party was here to seek peace. , but I didn’t expect that the other party actually came to surrender. It was like a big piece of pie suddenly fell from the sky.
Yang Qi said: "Did I hear it correctly? Your envoy said that Xixia intends to surrender to me, Yanyun?"
Li Tianhao sighed and said: "Now that Yan Yun is at the peak of the sky, King Yan is an unparalleled hero. It is destiny. If our party, the Xiang clan, wants to survive, we can only obey the will of God. How can we go against the will of heaven!" Ye Qi Guanyin looked at it! He glanced at Yang Peng and smiled softly. Yang Peng couldn't help but smile, and stretched out his hand to hold Ye Qi Guanyin's delicate hand.
Yang Qi said: "If Xixia really understands the destiny and the whole family comes to vote, King Yan will definitely be very happy, and he will never treat you party members badly. Under Yanyun's rule, everyone will be treated equally! But if Xixia wants to play any tricks, Humph, you should be very clear that with Yan Yun's current strength, it is very easy to destroy Xixia, and any tricks are useless!"
Li Tianhao nodded and said: "What the general said is absolutely true! General, don't worry, our party members are not fools, we know what to do!" Then he asked curiously: "The general talks very well, I don't know how to call him?" Yang Qi said: "This general Yang Qi is directly under the command of General Yang of the Volcano Army."
Li Tianhao had heard of Yang Qi's name a long time ago and knew that he used to be the most important general under the Yang family's army, but now he is a general that King Yan valued highly. He said in surprise: "I didn't expect, I didn't expect that General Yang would be here!" When he said this, he was filled with surprise and uncertainty, and his face couldn't help but show it.
Yang Qi said: "I was ordered to raid the Snow Mountain Fortress. If I hadn't raided the Snow Mountain Fortress, the Tibetan army would not have been able to retreat so easily!" After hearing this, Li Tianhao thought of what Wodaochong said before, and the doubts in his heart disappeared immediately. , smiled and saluted: "I would like to thank the general for the hundreds of thousands of Xixia people! If the general had not led his army to raid the snow mountain fortress, I don't know how many people would have died at the hands of the Tubo people!"
Yang Qi said: "Your Majesty, you don't have to be polite. Do you plan to stay here for one night, or will you set off immediately?"
Li Tianhao was worried about the long night and dreamy dreams, so he said: "I want to leave for Tianjing New City immediately!" Yang Qi nodded and said: "Okay, I will send a team of sergeants to escort you and your party to Tianjing New City!" "Thank you, general! Yang Qi turned to the officer standing aside and said, "Take your envoy down to rest!" The officer clasped his fists in agreement. Yang Qi said to Li Tianhao: "Your Majesty, take a rest first. I'm ready and I'll send someone to inform your Majesty!" Li Tianhao bowed and said, "Thank you, General!" Then he followed the officer down.
Yang Peng and Ye Qi Guanyin came out from behind the screen. Yang Qi cupped her fists towards the two of them and said, "King Yan, empress."
Yang Peng asked Yang Qi: "What do you think?" Yang Qi thought for a while, clasped his fists and said: "The general believes that it is natural for the Xixia people to surrender." Yang Peng walked to a chair and sat down, and said to Yang Qi: "You continue "Say." Yang Qi responded and continued; "Xixia lost its most fertile land, and the military and civilians, as well as many years of reserves, suffered heavy losses! Not to mention resisting our Yanyun, even resisting Tubo would have been very difficult, if our army hadn't taken action , I believe Xixia will be annexed by Tubo soon!..."
Yang Peng smiled bitterly and said: "I really overestimated Xixia before. I thought that although their strength was greatly damaged, it would not be a big problem to resist Tibet for a year and a half. By then our army would have enough food and grass, and we would take the opportunity to reap the benefits. But I didn't expect that Xixia would be on the verge of extinction in such a short period of time. It was completely different from our previous estimates. My plan of competing with the snipe and the clam for the fisherman's profit was really self-defeating!" Ye Qi Guanyin said: "Man is not as good as heaven. After all, even though the strategy has been set, things often don’t develop according to your expectations!”
Yang Peng nodded, looked at Yang Qi, and said, "Do you think Xixia is at the end of its rope, but I, Yanyun, are at the height of their power, so Xixia has no choice but to surrender to us?" Yang Qi cupped her fists and said, "King Yan Mingjian, this is what I think!"
Yang Peng looked at Ye Qi Guanyin, who said angrily: "Can you stop being so suspicious! With Xixia's current situation, other than surrendering to Yan Yun, is there any other way out? Unless they want to do something for Xi Xia Martyrdom and living and dying with Xixia is very admirable, but I don't believe that there are many people who have such courage!"
Yang Peng smiled and nodded, and said: "You are right, but we must be fully prepared." He said to Yang Qi: "The guards and horses lead the mission from the southern front, and do not fight with Yang Yanzhao's army. We met." Yang Qi promised with her fists clasped. Yang Peng thought for a while and walked behind the desk. Ye Qi Guanyin understood. He immediately walked to the desk and spread a blank piece of letter paper in front of Chen Xiao. He then poured a little water into the inkstone and rubbed the ink. Yang Peng Then sit in your seat and think.
Yang Peng has almost finished thinking about it, and Yang Peng's ink has been sharpened. Yang Peng picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and started writing quickly on the letter paper. The speed was very fast, but it was very sonorous and powerful. This was definitely Yang Peng's characteristic, which no one could imitate.
Yang Peng finished writing the letter, dried the ink, folded it, took an envelope, put it in, handed it to Yang Qi, and ordered: "Send a herald and deliver it to Han Bing as quickly as possible!" Yang Qi clasped her fists in agreement, stepped forward, took the letter with both hands, turned around and ran away.
…
Although Ao Daochong was sure that Yanyun would fall into the trap, the news about Li Tianhao had not been sent back yet, but he did not dare to be careless. Therefore, the gates of Xiliang Mansion were still very tightly guarded, and Ao Daochong had to go there every morning and evening. Four gates patrol together. The atmosphere in the city is no longer as tense as before, but everyone is still worried. There are only a few pedestrians on the streets, and the few pedestrians I see occasionally seem to be in a hurry.
In the large tent of the Tie Yaozi Army's military camp, Brother Wei Mingxiu and several other generals came to the big tent at the invitation of Tie Yaozi General Li Dingkun. After the two parties exchanged a few pleasantries, the host and guest sat down. Meat and wine were placed in front of everyone. Li Dingkun withdrew his soldiers, frowned and said to the generals: "To be honest with you brothers, I have been feeling very anxious in my heart! Although the regent said that he would not surrender to Yan Yun, it is hard to say whether this is true or not. !”
When the generals heard what he said, they couldn't help but look at each other. Some were disapproving, while others showed concern. Li Fenglong said: "The general is overly worried! Why would the regent deceive us on such a matter?" Several generals nodded in agreement.
Li Dingkun snorted coldly and said: "Of course he had a reason to lie to us! Everyone knows that we Xixia warriors are unwilling to surrender and become slaves of the subjugated country. At worst, dying in battle is worthy of our ancestors! But those civil servants The nobles are different. They think differently from us. They only care about whether they can continue to live their good life. They have no integrity at all. The regent is also a civil servant, so is he different from them? I don't think there is much difference!"
The generals couldn't help but frown, and those who originally believed in Ao Daochong couldn't help but be shaken. Brother Wei Mingxiu frowned and said: "But if we don't agree, he has just reached an agreement with Yan Yun, what can he do?" Li Fenglong agreed: "Yes! This is unreasonable. The regent is so resourceful, how could he do it? Such a useless thing happened? I believe in the regent!" Seeing what Li Dingkun wanted to say, Brother Xiu immediately stopped him and said, "The general is loyal to the country, and we admire him very much! But I don't I have a word of advice, please don’t take offense, General! What the General just said cannot be said to be completely unreasonable, but it is just a guess without any evidence. Such words can only shake the morale of the army and will not do any good. Please, General General, don’t say anything anymore!”
Li Dingkun snorted coldly and said: "The regent has entrusted the general with important responsibilities. It is not surprising that the general speaks like this!" Brother Weimingxiu shook his head and said: "I am doing it for Daxia, not for the regent. This heart can be learned from the sun! Everyone must have seen what I, Brother Weimingxiu, have done all along. There is no need to defend my brother Weimingxiu's intentions!" The generals have always known his loyalty, and seeing his righteousness, they couldn't help but I feel that he does it just for Daxia and has no selfish motives at all.
Brother Wei Mingxiu said to Li Dingkun: "The general doesn't believe in the regent, which is helpless! But I want to ask the general to put the overall situation first and not to stir up disputes. Otherwise, if there is civil strife, our Daxia will really be in doom." At that time, what will the general look like when he goes to meet the ancestors?"
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
