Xu You grew up and was shocked: "You said... you can save us? How?"
Inas also looked very worried: "Princess, what do you want to do? Don't do whatever you want."
Li Jiangyao, on the other hand, immediately guessed what the other party was thinking: "You mean, exchange?"
Hesijia smiled and nodded, giving him a thumbs up: "Sure enough!"
"The question is, is this good?" Li Jiangyao frowned.
"I'm afraid I don't have a choice." He Sijia glanced at Xu Youchang secretly, and still said to Li Jiangyao: "I have been in Metasequoia for a long time, so I naturally know the process of the gradual development and growth of the Zhenjiang Army. To be honest, The troops you lead are all elite soldiers, a hundred times stronger than the Western Xinjiang coalition. However, compared with the Turks, the Metasequoia troops and horses can only be regarded as the level of our second-rate army. Only 30,000 to 40,000 Blood Guard cavalry can suppress You guys, if other troops are transferred one after another, how long can Metasequoia survive as an isolated city?!"
Li Jiangyao looked at her quietly and said nothing.
Hesijia continued: "General, you are one of the bravest and most skilled soldiers I have ever seen, and also the most cunning one. You should know very well that the Turkic army is invincible and can only be outmaneuvered. .So please take my advice before there are more casualties."
Li Jiangyao thought for a while and asked: "How sure are you? Will they agree? This is war after all..."
Hesijia nodded firmly: "I will definitely agree. You are right, this is war, but my father Khan, and those princes, marshals, and generals, no one will treat a small Metasequoia City Take it to heart. Their goal is a broader world, and you are just a pebble on the journey. Whether you crush it, kick it away, or step over it depends on whether there is something more worthy of their care. As a person, I A Turkic princess is far more important than ten metasequoias!"
At this time, Xu Youchang and Yinas finally understood what she meant, and they were so surprised that they couldn't open their mouths from ear to ear.
Li Jiangyao nodded silently, with obvious gratitude in his eyes. He looked at Xu Youchang who was standing next to him again, and then, as if he had made a lot of determination, he said loudly: "I announce that from now on, Hesijia, Princess Yingyang of the Turkic Empire, will officially become a prisoner of war of our army! Come on! people!"
"Presumptuous! What do you want to do?!" Yinas took a step forward and protected Hesijia behind her. Xu Youchang also looked confused and froze on the spot not knowing what to do, while Xia Lian held her hands tightly. He pursed his lips and stared blankly at Li Jiangyao, his eyes full of tears.
Hesijia stretched out her hand to hold Yinas and said softly: "Sister, please help me, help me save my friend, okay?"
Yinas couldn't help being stunned when she heard the words. After hesitating for a moment, she finally sighed softly and slowly lowered her arm: "Li Jiangyao, I beg you to treat the princess with royal courtesy and not to hurt her, otherwise I will never hurt her." I won’t let you go!”
Li Jiangyao said calmly: "Don't worry, except for Princess Hesijia's temporary loss of freedom, everything else will remain unchanged. Xia Lian, starting today, you can move to the princess's place to accompany her."
With tears in her eyes, Xia Lian agreed softly.
Inasi raised her eyebrows: "That's not necessary! I will protect the princess."
"No, you have other important responsibilities." Li Jiangyao said, "I need you to find Yun Qianxue and tell him that we have hostages in our hands and require negotiation."
Yinas sneered and said: "You want me to be your messenger? Dreaming! I will not leave the princess even half a step before she returns to Turks safely!"
Li Jiangyao stared at Yinas quietly for a long time before speaking: "You know what? You are not working as a messenger for me, but you are saving your compatriots. If there is no peace negotiation, we will fight to the end until the last drop is shed. Until it bleeds. And in that case, you will also have to pay a huge price, including her."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed at Hesijia.
-
Since the day Yinas left Metasequoia City, the Turkic Blood Guard cavalry regiment outside the city has never stepped out of the camp gate, and has not even sent out a reconnaissance patrol cavalry, maintaining restraint and sincerity to the maximum extent.
The offensive and defensive sides lived in peace for nearly half a month.
Until the fourteenth day, the rumble of horse hooves suddenly came from the distant horizon, and the whole earth was shaken.
Li Jiangyao and others ran up to the top of the city and looked far into the distance. They saw a constantly surging earth-yellow ocean rushing towards the isolated island of Metasequoia.
In less than half an hour, the Turkic Golden Clan’s First Army, Fourth Army, Ninth Army, and Polar Army, plus the previous Blood Guard Cavalry Army, a total of 200,000 main troops, surrounded Metasequoia City on four sides. The water is blocked.
Looking at the murderous Turkic cavalry galloping back and forth under the city, Li Jiangyao asked Hesijia who was standing next to him: "That Ashina Zhijin Khan is your biological father, right?"
Hesijia rolled her eyes at him angrily: "Can that be wrong?"
"But I see their attitude..." Li Jiangyao said depressedly: "It doesn't look like they are here to negotiate, but they look like they are here to massacre the city. Was I too impatient that day and didn't make it clear to Yinas? Or that crazy person What nonsense did the woman go back to talk about?"
Hesijia chuckled: "General Li, you are really good at pretending to be stupid. In fact, you have understood it a long time ago, right? Father Khan deliberately sent an army to put pressure on you, which just shows that he has agreed to negotiate."
In the evening, the Turkic army, which had been struggling all day, finally stopped. At the same time, they sent envoys to inform Metasequoia City that the Great Khan had agreed to negotiate.
There are three negotiators from the Turkic side: Prince Tanli, the second prince of the Turks, General Yun Qianxue of the Blood Guard, and Duke Druhan, the commander of the Polar Legion.
The other party sent such a heavyweight negotiator as soon as they came up, which greatly exceeded Li Jiangyao's expectations. What surprised everyone even more was that the Turkic negotiators actually gave up their geographical advantage and offered to go to the city for negotiations.
According to common sense, in order to ensure the safety of the representatives of both parties in the negotiation and at the same time prevent either party from being coerced by the other party due to environmental conditions, the negotiation location is usually chosen in an intermediate area that neither party has actual control over.
But the Turks obviously have no such considerations. He went directly to the city to talk without worrying about the safety of the three big shots. His courage and confidence alone made people admire him with admiration.
Li Jiangyao ordered the door to be opened to welcome guests, and met the Turkic representatives in the inner hall of the city guard's mansion. Xu Youchang and Xie Tanzhi accompanied him, also three to three.
Before the two sides met, Hesijia specially reminded Li Jiangyao: "Be careful of my second brother. Among the entire royal family, he is the person I fear the most."
When everyone sat face to face, Li Jiangyao realized that Hesijia's words were not without purpose.
Prince Tanli was similar in age to Li Jiangyuan, and his thin face seemed to have a trace of unhealthy color, perhaps caused by excessive indulgence in wine and sex. However, despite his slightly morbid appearance, his eyes sometimes shone brightly, with a faint sparkle of agility.
What is even more surprising is that Tanli actually speaks in Shengtang dialect with a clear accent, and even has a vague imperial accent. If you close your eyes and just listen to him speak, no one will think of the Turkic royal family.
Tanli was calm and relaxed. After briefly introducing himself, he introduced Yun Qianxue and Duke Druhan to Li Jiangyao and the others.
Yun Qianxue has a good foundation. Although she was seriously injured before, she is almost healed now. It's a pity that his handsome face now has a slanting scar, which looks a little scary. Li Jiangyao felt a little apologetic in his heart, and was about to say a few words to ease the situation. Unexpectedly, Yun Qianxue spoke first, expressing his admiration for Li Jiangyao's martial arts skills. The contest that night taught him a lot about martial arts. A lot. In a few simple words, Yun Qianxue spoke very sincerely, which immediately diluted the embarrassment between both parties.
The Arctic Duke Druhan is a typical Turkic warrior. He is tall and powerful, with a big beard and looks majestic. His attitude towards Li Jiangyao and others was relatively indifferent. He only nodded and said hello.
Li Jiangyao gave a few words of welcome, and then introduced Xu Youchang and Xie Tanzhi to the other party respectively. After the guests and hosts were seated safely, Tanli smiled and said: "General Li, I am very happy to meet you. I have heard before that there is a Metasequoia City in Western Xinjiang that is famous for its trade routes and is a must for east-west trade. The land can be called a pearl in the ghost desert, and the reputation of Metasequoia General Li Jiangyao is even more impressive. We are destined to meet each other today, and it is really good, hahaha."
"I made His Highness laugh. I am just a vulgar warrior with no reputation at all. It is really humiliating to hear it in your ears." Li Jiangyao chuckled and said, "On the contrary, His Highness is very charming and famous in the East and West continents. , I admire you very much.”
"Oh, you're welcome, but the general's bravery in the Western Frontier is impressive."
"I don't dare to take it. I don't dare to take it. No matter what, I can't compare with Your Highness, your civility, military prowess and your reputation all over the world."
Xu Youchang, Xie Tanzhi, and Yun Qianxue listened calmly, while Duke Druhan could not help but frown slightly.
After a lot of back-and-forth compliments, Tanli seemed to suddenly remember something, patted his forehead and said with a smile, "Look, I was so happy that I was so busy talking that I actually forgot an important thing."
Li Jiangyao was very interested: "Oh? I wonder what your highness is talking about?"
Tanli replied with a smile: "General Li, the two of us met very late. We chatted very well, but we forgot that there is one less person here."
"One person is missing? Your Highness, you mean Princess Hesijia?"
Tanli slapped his thigh: "That's right! The reason why we are destined to get together is because of her. At this moment, how can we miss Hesijia? General, you are as confused as me. Hurry up and call her here, we brother and sister haven't seen each other for a long time."
Li Jiangyao understood his intention and smiled calmly: "Your Highness, do you know what Li did before joining the army?"
Tanli was slightly startled: "That's not very clear. I dare to ask the general..."
"Being a bandit and kidnapping meat tickets." Li Jiangyao said calmly: "It's not very honorable to talk about it. I'll make everyone laugh."
Prince Tanley smiled knowingly and clapped his hands cheerfully: "I understand, I understand, there are rules in the industry, ask the price first, and then take inventory, right?"
The next second, his expression suddenly became serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Then, please tell me your conditions."
Li Jiangyao knew that the other party deliberately changed his mood and rhythm during negotiations in order to test his own truth and carry out various disturbances, so he was not easily fooled. He solemnly asked: "Your Highness, I need to make one thing clear first. Do you have full authority?" Do you represent the Great Khan of the Turkic Empire? Or are you just responsible for passing on the message, and the final decision needs to be made by your father Khan?"
"To be honest, before setting off, my father had drawn a few bottom lines for me," Tanli said calmly, giving Li Jiangyao an ambiguous answer: "As long as it is within the scope of authorization, I can directly make the decision. .”
This sentence seems to say everything, but also seems to say nothing. The key issue is that of course Tanley will not disclose what the Turks' bottom line is and what the scope of authorization includes. Therefore, the Suppression Army still has not been able to figure out the other party.
However, Li Jiangyao remained calm and said with a smile: "Okay, that's easy. Our demands are not too high. The Turks withdraw from the territory of the Xinjiang Army and return Daban, Pai, Homnitz and Ik In the fourth city of Lu, the armies of both sides ceased fighting for one year."
Prince Tanli laughed when he heard this and said: "General Li, you must have heard it, I speak Shengtang dialect quite well. That's because when I was young, my father Khan sent me to travel and study in the imperial capital. But he The old man doesn’t know. In fact, I didn’t go to school at all. Do you know what I did in those few years?”
Li Jiangyao heard that the other party was imitating him and said with a smile: "Please enlighten me, Your Highness."
"Be a businessman and do business." Tanli chuckled: "So, you'd better save money on asking for high prices and paying back the money."
