The wind was quite strong today. There is always wind in the Western Region. After the smoke and dust from the explosion were blown away by the wind, everyone was stunned. The city gate part of the city wall had disappeared, leaving only the walls on both sides. .
The rubble from the city gate was flying everywhere, and there... was already a smooth road!
It was too far to see clearly, but with the thunderous sound just now, the entire city wall near the city gate had disappeared... What is this? With this thing in the future, wouldn't it mean that there would be no city walls that could withstand our own attacks?
"What kind of weapon is this?" Li Daozong and An Xinggui ran directly to the craftsman's side.
"This is an explosive made from gunpowder." The craftsman did not hide it. The other party was a senior general of the Tang Dynasty. He still had the right to know this. Of course he had the right to know, but it was not clear whether he had the right to use this craftsman. .
"Can we provide this in the future?" Li Daozong and An Xinggui looked at each other with eager eyes. This power... is too strong.
"I'm afraid it's not possible at the moment. This time it's just to test its actual combat effect." The craftsman shook his head. The gunpowder was indeed brought for a test. After all, they didn't have a real city wall for them to test, and they had accumulated it themselves. The shooting range wall is too fragile, and it is not a complete wall.
It would be too extravagant to build a whole city wall, so this time it was brought to the battlefield to test it and deter the enemy.
These gunpowders were made after careful improvement based on some improved methods submitted by His Highness. The difficulty of making them is not low, mainly due to the high risk, but these things always need to be studied.
"His Royal Highness Guo Jue is right, this is art, and explosions are art!" The craftsman was very excited. "In the future, the city wall will be of no use to us in the Tang Dynasty, or sooner or later, the city wall will always be eliminated. ."
Li Daozong and An Xinggui looked at each other. The city wall was eliminated? Wasn't the city easily invaded by the enemy? But considering the power of this thing, it seems that there is really no need for the city wall to exist.
"Can this thing be thrown with a trebuchet?" Li Daozong thought for a while and asked.
"Yes, but it is more difficult to control." The craftsman answered simply.
Li Daozong and An Xinggui's eyes lit up instantly. The attack just now was indeed more dangerous, but in fact it was not difficult to transport a carriage to the opponent's door during a siege.
Without the use of animal power, it can be pushed directly by manpower. It is blocked by a large shield. Compared with casualties such as siege ladders, the casualties caused by transporting a carriage close are too small.
"Two generals, I will leave Gaochang City to you. Our testing is basically over, and some of the weapons can be transferred to you for use." The craftsman answered simply.
Accepting the surrender of Gaochang City, Li Daozong and his companions' entrance ceremony was very simple. It was too much and they had no choice. The explosion shattered all the hearts of Gaochang people who wanted to resist, even those who had other ideas in their hearts. It was completely gone. They had no idea what kind of methods the Tang Dynasty had used.
When Li Daozong and An Xinggui led their troops into the city, Ju Zhisheng of Gaochang and all the nobles of Gaochang knelt there and surrendered, and they were followed by all the people and soldiers in Gaochang City.
By the way, Li Daozong and the others entered the city through the bombed city gate. When they got closer, Li Daozong discovered that a big hole had been made in the entire city gate, and the entire city tower and wall had been thrown away by the huge force. In the part of the city close to the city gate, some houses were directly destroyed by the shock wave of the explosion.
Fortunately, these residents were very smart. They knew that any location close to the city wall would not be safe in the event of a battle, and they all ran to the center of the city. Therefore, although the house collapsed, no civilians were injured.
"On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, I accept your surrender! From today on, Gaochang will become the Gaochang County of the Tang Dynasty. The Ju Wentai family and all other Gaochang nobles will enter Chang'an to plead guilty. The Ju Wentai family will never return to Gaochang. As As compensation, His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty has issued an order allowing you to keep all your property." Li Daozong said calmly.
"In addition, all your land, real estate, etc. in Gaochang will be purchased by the Central Bank of the Tang Dynasty at the local market price in Gaochang." Li Daozong announced how to deal with these Gaochang royal families and nobles.
All the nobles and royal family of Gaochang breathed a sigh of relief. No one died. Although they were going to Chang'an to plead guilty, since Li Shimin allowed them to keep their property, it meant that when they went to Chang'an, they would probably be picked up by Gao Gao and put down gently. . They all know what's going on.
Gaochang... was destroyed.
But no one felt too uncomfortable. A day ago when they thought about this possible outcome, they found it a bit difficult to accept, but now they are all happy. This is how it should be after a defeat, isn't it?
"Ju Zhisheng, with the order of the King of Gaochang, you now order all cities in Gaochang to surrender. Those who refuse to surrender will no longer be merciful in the Tang Dynasty." Li Daozong said.
"Yes!" Ju Zhisheng agreed immediately and began to write relevant letters of credence, edict of surrender, etc.
After he finished writing, Li Daozong ordered the army of the Tang Dynasty to quickly take over all the cities in Gaochang along with some temporary envoys from Gaochang.
No one objected. Even Gaochang City, the city with the most fortified walls and deep ditches, didn't last a day. How could small cities like them persist? No one is stupid.
What's more... Gaochang is the gathering place for Han people in the entire Western Region. To put it bluntly, the people here are immigrants from the Central Plains, and they actually don't have a strong sense of belonging to the Gaochang royal family.
Datang is coming, which is of course a good thing! This means that they will not be robbed by Turks in the future.
After all the cities in Gaochang surrendered, Li Daozong immediately made temporary appointments to all the cities in Gaochang. It must be said that the intelligence from the Intelligence Department was too accurate. Who in these cities had certain talents but had failed before? The Intelligence Department actually knew it.
Then a deputy notice was quickly posted in all cities, counties, and towns in Gaochang, and spread throughout Gaochang and the Western Regions as quickly as possible.
All the people in Gaochang who saw the notice were immediately relieved and even a little happy.
Because the Datang government stated that all people in Gaochang will be reformed in accordance with the system of the Tang Dynasty. Each household in Gaochang will be allocated an average of 100 acres of land. Because the land near Gaochang is relatively barren, each household will have 50 acres of Yongye land! And the entire Gaochang area is tax-free for three years.
Even if taxes are collected in the future, the tax revenue of Datang Gaochang will only be less than half of that of Ju Gaochang.
It can be said that as soon as a series of policies were launched, the public sentiment in Gaochang was no longer on Ju's side.
