Li Kuan looked at this scene with relief.
It’s beautiful, really beautiful….
In the early days of starting a business, people were always so sincere and beautiful.
Just like when he saved the first batch of people of the Tang Dynasty.
As for whether it will deteriorate in the mid-term, and how his men will change, he doesn't know, and he doesn't want to know.
He just enjoys the moment.
After his death, no matter what kind of flood it is.
"It's a pity that I can only save you for the time being, and I can only save you."
Li Kuan sighed.
This time the Turks ravaged Youzhou and went straight to Chang'an City. He didn't know how many Han children were kidnapped on the way. He only knew that he could not save them.
One of the White Tiger Camp and the White Robe Army died, and there was no replacement. He first protected the safety of the two armies before he could continue to kill the enemy and save people.
The safety of the two armies is higher than anything else.
As for how much suffering the people of Youzhou who are still trapped in Turks will suffer and how many people will die, he is powerless...
Manpower has its limits.
"Father, have you ever seen what you did?"
Li Kuan laughed at himself.
If Li Shimin had not launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident, the generals of the Youzhou Jiancheng faction would not have opened the door to welcome the thieves, and nothing would have happened next.
Unfortunately, Admiral Tiance launched.
Moreover, Admiral Tiance also has a reason to launch it. If he doesn't launch the Xuanwu Gate Change, he will die!
Everything is just a matter of stance.
It’s just that the consequences and price of the Xuanwu Gate Incident are too heavy...
in history.
Li Shimin deliberately concealed the loss of Youzhou after Jieli Khan broke through. He could see the people crying, absolutely.
But he also had reasons to hide it. If he didn't hide it, the shocking casualties in Youzhou would spread to the Tang Dynasty, and it would be difficult for him to secure his throne.
Again, everything is a matter of stance...
And people will always only choose what is beneficial to themselves.
"Your Highness!"
Just when Li Kuan was thinking a lot, Du Ruyan came over with a leg of lamb full of meat.
She smiled and said: "Your Highness, I brought this to you. You have been tired for so long, it's time to eat."
Li Kuan nodded: "Yan'er, I'm interested."
He took the leg of lamb and began to bite it. While chewing, he asked: "Listen to Bai Hu, you have a lot to say to me this afternoon."
Hearing this, Du Ruyan froze when she saw the smile on the face of His Highness eating the leg of lamb she brought.
Become helpless.
"I, I, I, I didn't."
Li Kuan smiled and said: "You didn't say it on the surface, but Bai Hu could tell that you had a lot to say in your heart. What did you want to say? I'm right in front of you now, but there's no harm in saying it."
Du Ruyan blushed, lowered her head and fiddled with her skirt: "Your Highness, I...I..."
I want to speak from my heart.
There are still many things I want to say, such as how well has His Highness eaten these days? Dress warmly? She wanted to ask about food, clothing, housing, transportation, and everything about goosebumps. She wanted to ask about everything and wanted to say...
but!
He hesitated to speak.
In front of this man, timidity eventually became her lingering character.
"Yeah! I remembered something, and I have to deliver mutton to some children. Your Highness, I'm leaving now and will come back later!"
Du Ruyan finally chose to change the topic, and left quickly after speaking, not daring to stay any longer.
Li Kuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled helplessly: "This idiot."
He shook his head.
After all, Du Ruyan was still too afraid of him.
It's obvious that he has lowered his authority and doesn't even call himself "my king", trying to be as close to the image of his neighbor as possible.
But she was still afraid.
No way!
There was nothing Li Kuan could do.
Shake your head and don't think about it anymore.
He gnawed on his leg of lamb with peace of mind and enjoyed the hard-won peaceful night since leaving Datang.
Not long after.
General Baihu came over.
"Your Highness!"
He surrendered.
Li Kuan nodded and motioned for him to sit down.
After he sat down, he asked why he came.
"Tell me what's going on."
General Baihu thought for a while and said: "Your Highness, what should our army do next? Although the Turks are not chasing us, it is not good to stay in the wilderness like this. After all, winter is coming, and there is a high probability that the Turks will not chase us. Because of this reason.”
"Winter is a nightmare for the Turks, and it is also a nightmare for us. We have no warm clothes, and the soldiers can carry them, but there are many old, weak, women and children in the team. If we don't find shelter, we may die this winter. ,A lot of people…."
"And after winter, there can be no peace."
"After winter, the Turks no longer have any worries and can directly join forces with the Liang Kingdom to destroy our army. The Tang Dynasty cannot rely on it, and the water far away in the east of the Yangtze River cannot save the fire nearby. At this time, our army will be unable to support itself."
Li Kuan smiled and said: "Yes, so the next step for our army is to find a place to live that can accommodate tens of thousands of people, and to find things to keep out the cold."
"White Tiger, do you have any good ideas about shelter?"
General Baihu touched his chin and frowned: "No, when I led people to plunder cattle and sheep, we passed by a county town. The walls of the county town were not high, but the gate was closed tightly, and no one was allowed to pass or get out. Our cavalry could not attack at all. city."
"In addition, if our army attacks the city, it is unrealistic to adopt a siege instead of an attack. The Liang State has always been called a Turkic granary. They must have a lot of grain stored in the city. They can spend this winter behind closed doors. There will be no problem. .”
"Looking at our army, time cannot be delayed at all..."
"It seems that there is no solution."
Li Kuan still smiled and said: "Bai Hu, this matter seems to be unsolvable, but in fact there is still a way to deal with it."
General Baihu's eyes were frivolous: "Oh? Your Highness means..."
Li Kuan continued: "If you don't go to the county seat of Liang State, I will take the people to the town. If the town doesn't let you go, I will go to the villages in dozens of groups! You can always stay!"
"As for leading people and troops to occupy the Liang Kingdom, it would be impossible for the Liang Kingdom to send troops to destroy us. They don't have the ability!"
When Liang Guo first founded the country, he was still very powerful, and even the Tang Dynasty regarded him as a powerful enemy.
Liang Shidu was also very satisfied with his ambition. He led his army to conquer the Tang Dynasty several times, but all ended in disastrous defeats.
This also let the Tang Dynasty know that the Liang Kingdom was not a continuation of the Sui Dynasty, but a group of incompetent people who were kings in Zhanshan, so they sent troops to capture the Liang Kingdom many times.
The Liang Kingdom's territory shrank smaller and smaller, and gradually became the territory of the Tang Dynasty. Finally, they had to rely on the Turks to survive. With the help of the Turks, they were able to escape being destroyed by the Tang Dynasty.
Although they escaped, there are only some areas left in the Liang Kingdom, and there are not many defenders in these areas. They have been defeated in every battle. The people of the Liang Kingdom do not believe in their monarch. Over the years, Liang Kingdom generals have often fled to the Tang Dynasty. Surrender to the Tang Dynasty.
How much deterrence and combat effectiveness can an army without faith and incompetent generals have?
Li Kuan even believed that if he gathered all the troops of Liang State together and his white-robed army, the White Tiger Camp, could fight them head-on, they would be able to win!
Only by relying on the Turks and the tall city walls could they breathe.
At present, the Turks, as their people, have to cope with the coming winter, and there is a high probability that they will not send troops to the Liang Kingdom. Historically, the Tang Dynasty seized the opportunity of winter to attack the Liang Kingdom. The Turks were reluctant to send massive cavalry reinforcements because of winter, which led to The Liang Kingdom was destroyed.
So even if they send troops for reinforcements at the moment, there won't be many. They have more important things to do in the Turkic grasslands.
Therefore, the plan to convert dozens of people into villages in Liang is completely feasible.
Even if the Liang Kingdom sent troops to exterminate them, Li Kuan was confident that these people would never return.
"Your Highness, you are right, but this thing to keep out the cold..."
The problem of shelter was solved, but General White Tiger began to worry about things to keep out the cold again.
There are not many people in the entire country of Liang. They are scattered in major towns and even fewer in major counties. There is enough space for them to live, but the clothes are more or less not enough.
Li Kuan smiled and said: "I will have a clever plan for this matter when the time comes, so there is no need to worry."
At present, whether it is the Liang Kingdom or the Turks, most of the heating materials are charcoal. Charcoal is expensive and not easy to obtain. Cold-proof clothing cannot withstand the cold that penetrates the soul, which leads to people often freezing to death.
And Li Kuan thought of something that was more resistant to the ruthless cold than cold-weather clothing. It was burned with fire like charcoal. It was only about 70% as effective as charcoal, but the raw materials were easy to obtain and could even be mass-produced. That was, in later generations, Briquettes!
This thing is easy to make and the materials are available everywhere.
now.
Hearing that His Highness had an idea, General Baihu didn't ask any more questions.
There are so many secrets in this man, and he can always feel surprises from this man. He has a desire to explore, but there is no need, because he will never be able to explore.
The only thing that is certain is that as long as this man has a way and his own ideas about this matter, then this matter will be resolved satisfactorily, without exception.
This man is always like this, always makes them feel at ease...
"Okay, Your Highness, it seems that the two most difficult problems for our army have been solved. Then I will lead the army to raid the nearby villages and towns of Liang Kingdom in a moment, slaughter them all, and then lead our army and civilians to settle in."
General Baihu concluded.
Li Kuan nodded and continued: "Add one to the action route you are about to start."
General Baihu raised his hand and said, "Your Highness, please speak frankly!"
Li Kuan thought for a while and said: "There is a way to survive the winter, but it is rare to face the Turkic army in the spring. Our army has caused devastating damage to the Turks. When spring comes, they will definitely lead their army to take revenge."
"Our army in the Tang Dynasty cannot go back and can only stay in the Turks, Liang Kingdom, and Goguryeo. It would be better if we only have cavalry. The world is so big that if there are horses, they are all at home."
"But we still have children, the elderly, the disabled, etc. They cannot walk too far, and our army cannot outpace the Turkic cavalry on the grassland with them."
"Therefore, we need to find a heavy city as our army's base camp before the arrival of spring. We can use the heavy city to house the people and also use the heavy city walls to resist foreign enemies."
General Baihu's eyes flickered: "Then, Your Highness, do you have an idea?"
Li Kuan nodded and laughed loudly: "Hahahaha! I must have an idea before I let you, Bai Hu, make one more trip."
"Send someone to Yanyun City and ask him to tell Sishe the secret method. Let Sishe contact Yang Zhengfa in Yanyun City and tell him that our army can help him ascend to a higher throne and bring the so-called emperor Yang Zhengdao to the throne. Pull it down and let him take its place!”
Divorce!
This was King Chu's idea.
It takes time for alienation to take effect, so before winter came, he planned things that would only be implemented in spring.
General Baihu's eyes flashed: "Your Highness, can this be successful? Yang Zhengfa and Yang Zhengdao are kin, and they are ants in the same boat. Can he agree?"
Li Kuan smiled and said: "Haha, people's hearts are unpredictable, but interests can always enslave people's hearts. If our army has the strength to give those who surrender to the Yang family what they want, he will naturally become an obedient slave."
"Yang Zhengfa will, he will. That time I and Yan'er were escorted to Yanyun City by the Turks. I was lucky enough to see him a few times. I saw the ambition in his eyes!"
"He is most likely to be incited to rebel. Even if it doesn't work, there are so many members of the Yang family. One by one, there will always be someone who agrees. After all, we have the strength to help those who surrender really reach a higher position."
"As for the so-called family affection, the cold lips and the teeth, the grasshopper on a rope, etc., it is never as important as the benefits. There are too many examples in history where people betrayed the so-called family affection, love, and friendship for profit."
"In the final analysis, everyone is born alone."
"Like isolated islands of ice floating in the ocean of destiny."
"The encounter between people is like the collision of ice floes and isolated islands. As long as there is a collision, it will inevitably have an impact."
"Sometimes, floating ice islands stick to each other. What keeps them stuck together is the name of [interest], [family affection], [friendship], [love] and [hate]."
"In this, profit is the most important thing that maintains two floating ice islands, or even many floating ice islands."
"Baihu, you go and do it. I believe that there will be someone who begs us to overthrow the emperor of Yanyun City, Yang Zhengdao, and be ordered by God to live long and prosperous. With these eight characters, many heroes at home and abroad in ancient and modern times could not resist the temptation. Not to mention the mere incompetent clan members of the Yang family."
General Baihu was convinced.
Be convinced and take it orally.
Difficult situations were resolved one after another with effective measures.
He knew that the man in front of him could always find a way to resolve difficult situations.
This man, this man, he is omnipotent...
….…….….….….
After General Baihu took the order, he led his army to leave.
Not long after he left, Chen Qingzhi also returned home with many cattle and sheep.
He is an experienced plunderer.
When this group encountered small villages and towns, they plundered all the wealth including cattle, sheep, and horses.
When I encounter the county town, I walk around far away.
When he saw that the cattle and sheep brought back by General Baihu had not yet been finished, Chen Qingzhi brought back another batch...
At this moment, Captain Yang, who was responsible for being the spokesman for the people of Youzhou, and even the people of Youzhou finally understood why so many Turks came to the border of Datang every year to burn, kill and loot.
This food and wealth came...too fast.
Production needs to be measured in months, or even years.
But it only takes a few days to plunder, even as powerful as White Tiger General Chen Qingzhi and others, who can rob others of months of savings in a few hours.
The cattle and sheep brought back were tied to trees to prevent them from escaping.
After that, the people gradually fell asleep.
They slept soundly this night.
There is food to eat when they wake up, and there is a guardian angel to watch over them when they sleep. Although they are in the wild, they are content.
The next day.
After working for most of the night, General Baihu finally finished handling the matter. When he came back, he didn't want to rest for the first time, but went to find King Chu with dark circles under his eyes.
"Your Highness, Your Highness!"
"Hahahaha, I, Pei Xingjian, will take care of all the things you arranged for you!!"
A long way away, Li Kuan, who was still reading "Sun Tzu's Art of War", closed the book.
He brought this book from Chang'an City and has always carried it with him.
There were not many entertainment projects in ancient times. Making humans at night was the most fun sport. Other than that, it was horribly boring most of the time.
Reading was Li Kuan's way of relieving his boredom.
"Bai Hu, tell me about your victory."
Li Kuan looked directly at the excited General White Tiger in front of him.
General Baihu laughed and said: "Hahaha, Your Highness! I led the army to capture a town. Thousands of enemies there were slaughtered. We can lead the people to settle in."
"In addition, I have already sent someone to notify Sishe. He already knows about this."
Li Kuan nodded: "In that case, let's start migrating. Go, this king has found a home for everyone, a temporary home."
That afternoon.
The army and the people of Youzhou, who had rested for less than a day in Taihang Mountain, set off again to one of the small towns in Yan'an County of Liang State.
The town is large enough to accommodate all of them. It is similar to an ordinary city, except that there are fewer supplies and no city walls.
Even so, everyone here was cheering.
They, they….
They, these poor abandoned children, wandered like duckweeds for a long time, and finally found a new home...
After the carnival, everyone began to tidy up the town, the army arranged houses, cleaned up the corpses of Liang's enemies, etc...
The whole town was busy.
….….….….….….
Yanyun City.
"What!!!"
Empress Xiao was still enjoying afternoon tea peacefully, but when she heard the spies' words, she was so shocked that she didn't even know that the teacup fell to the ground and broke.
"What did you just say, that the King of Chu took action against Fushui Town under the jurisdiction of Yan'an County?"
Hearing the name King Chu again...
Her heart was trembling, hesitant, scared...
This is the God of Killing!
With the body of a proton, he can stand like a terrifying man in the back garden under the garrison of hundreds of thousands of cavalry in the Turkic grasslands!
The news from Princess Yicheng yesterday said that the King of Chu and his people were in the Taihang Mountains and might go to Liang State next. She was still lucky, maybe the King of Chu would return to the Tang Dynasty.
But at the moment, the fluke ultimately cannot become a reality.
That terrifying god of death still lives in the Liang Kingdom...
Fear!
Not only that, Queen Xiao's heart was beating violently at this time.
Why is this man here, why, why...
Can't he go somewhere else?
Her heart was trembling.
"Yes, Queen."
"Not only Fushui Town, but also several villages near Yan'an were looted. According to speculation, King Chu, he is preparing to spend the winter in our Liang Kingdom!"
The spies reported truthfully.
boom!
As soon as these words came out, Queen Xiao was trembling so much that she could hardly stand.
"Does General Liang, the commander of Liang Division who controls Wancheng, know about this matter?"
Today, the Liang State has two major cities, Yanyun City and Tongwan City, of which Tongwan City is the capital of the Liang State.
Although the emperor of the Liang Kingdom was still Yang Zhengdao, grandson of Yang Guang, that was only in name. The real person in power was Liang Shidu, who ruled Wancheng.
"I understand. General Liang believes that it is time to send troops to seek justice for the people of Liang State. However, after being persuaded by Shangshu Lu Jilan, he does not intend to send troops and continues to garrison Tongwan City."
"What did Lu Jilan say?"
"Returning to the Empress, Lu Ji read Shangshu and said that even though the Turks gathered the cavalry from all over the country, they could not destroy the King of Chu. They even suffered heavy losses while the King of Chu's army suffered minimal losses. The Liang Kingdom could not even compete with one of the eighteen grassland tribes, so what's the point? Compete with the king of Chu who can play with the eighteen tribes of the grassland."
Queen Xiao was silent.
indeed.
Lu Jilan said it right.
Although the people of Liang State were overthrown and slaughtered, it was a very shameful thing and they needed to save their face.
but!
They are weak, too weak, too weak! !
Weakness is the original sin.
Even my own dignity cannot be protected...
"General Liang did the right thing."
Queen Xiao nodded.
Although this matter is infuriating, who makes the King of Chu powerful?
However, no matter how powerful the King of Chu was, he could not attack Yanyun City, Tongwan City, or the counties under Liang Guo.
The reason.
Very simple and easy to understand, it is a tall city wall! !
Unless the King of Chu's cavalry can fly, they won't be able to break in within two years.
"By the way, Queen, General Liang also ordered people to prevent this news from reaching the ears of the people and the army in Tongwan City. Look at our Yanyun City..."
The spy hesitated to speak.
Queen Xiao took a deep breath: "This must be Lu Jilan's idea, let's do it in Yanyun City!"
"This matter is indeed too shocking, and it is not something that the people and the army should know."
I know... I must be in trouble...
In her heart, Queen Xiao added a sentence to herself.
"clear!"
The spies were ordered to leave.
After he left, Queen Xiao, whose charm was still there, stood up and looked out at the vast sky: "King Chu, King Chu, why are you so terrifying?"
"They have all fallen into the hands of the Turks, but they can still... escape."
King Chu's terrible record made Queen Xiao's body tremble uncontrollably even if she mentioned the name King Chu.
She really couldn't figure it out.
How did the lonely King of Chu escape from hundreds of thousands of Turkic cavalry? Such a person is too terrifying and terrifying.
"You are Li Shimin's son. If you were the child of the late Emperor [Yang Guang], that would be... great."
Queen Xiao's beautiful eyes flashed: "If you had been there, how could the Sui Dynasty have perished?"
.
….…….……….
Floating water town.
After several days of settling, the King of Chu's army and more than 10,000 people finally established a foothold here.
The army went out to plunder food and drink, while the people were arranged by the King of Chu to build Floating Water Town. The nature of infrastructure was firmly embedded in the soul of every Han Chinese, so no one resisted such an order, and the people would not resist their own king. Even the future Emperor.
In addition to those who built Fushui Town, the King of Chu also sent a group of people to collect stone nephrite, which is the raw material for making briquettes. There are many, many, and they can be found everywhere in the mountains around Fushui Town.
As long as the stone is broken into pieces, briquettes can be made into briquettes through some simple steps.
Briquettes, whose overall shape is similar to honeycombs, are extremely easy to burn. The smoke may be a bit thicker, but as long as ventilation is provided, it will not affect anything.
It's enough to survive the entire cold winter.
Of course, in large quantities!
So he has already sent people to make large quantities of briquettes.
(End of chapter)
