One stick of incense lasts two quarters of an hour, and Changsheng's voice was intended to remind the rebels in the city that half of the time limit for one stick of incense had passed, thus putting greater psychological pressure on them.
After Chang Sheng spoke out, the rebels in the city responded quickly, saying that their family members were all in Fengxiang and Longyou. If they surrendered to the city, their family members would definitely be implicated by him.
After the rebels shouted, Batulu looked around anxiously. Seeing that no one had the intention to speak, he could only persuade him personally, "Lao Wu, what they said makes sense. If they surrender, the other party will definitely not let them go." Parents, wife and children.”
Seeing that Changsheng did not answer, Batulu wanted to speak again, but before he could speak, Li Zhongyong waved his hand to stop him, "Boss, there is no need to say more, the prince has his own plans."
The senior brothers had always addressed each other as elder and younger. Seeing Li Zhongyong calling Changsheng the prince, Batulu knew that what he said would be inappropriate, so he had no choice but to shut up.
After that, the rebels on the city wall kept shouting frequently, first pleading and describing their difficulties and worries. Seeing that Changsheng's attitude never relaxed, they later changed to threats. They just said that if Changsheng pressed too hard and bullied others too much, they would only If you can stick to Qingyang and fight with your own side to the end, both jade and stone will be destroyed.
No matter what the rebels said, Changsheng refused to respond. This was not because he was confident and sure of victory, but because he knew that people's hearts were insufficient and greedy. If his attitude slackened at this time, the rebels would inevitably take advantage of the situation and take the opportunity to delay.
As time went by, the soldiers on both sides became more and more nervous, because our own soldiers had just arrived and neither side was ready for the confrontation.
With half an hour left before the deadline, Changsheng turned to Chen Liqiu and said, "Third senior brother, the army is moving forward and preparing to attack the city."
After hearing Chang Sheng's words, Chen Liqiu immediately raised his arms and ordered the rear troops to move forward and meet up with the forward troops.
Seeing this situation, the rebels in the city became more and more nervous, and then shouted loudly from the city wall, "You can surrender if you want us to surrender, but we have a condition. If any soldiers want to return home after disarming, you must let them go." go."
As soon as these words came out, everyone on the side turned to look at Changsheng. As the saying goes, defeating the enemy with an army is the best outcome. Now the rebels have intended to surrender the city. This last request seems to be Not too much.
While everyone on our side looked at Chang Sheng, Chang Sheng was also looking around. Everyone just thought that he was asking for their opinions. After making eye contact with him, they nodded one after another, indicating that he could accept the rebels' conditions.
Chang Sheng did not express his position, but just shifted his gaze back to the tower in front. The reason why he looked around before was not to solicit other people's opinions, but just to see who agreed with him to accept the rebels' conditions, and the result of looking around was that only Chen Liqiu and Yang Kai did not respond, while everyone else nodded in agreement.
Seeing Changsheng's delay in making a decision, Batulu became a little anxious, but he had been criticized by Li Zhongyong before, and he was worried that he would be criticized again if he talked too much, so he kept winking at the boss nearby, trying to get him to express his opinion.
Miss Bai has been hovering high, and Datou is riding with Shi Xuanming. He naturally knows what Batulu wants him to do. At first, he just pretended not to see it, but Batulu winked at him many times and he kept pretending not to see it. When he arrived, he stabbed him with a stick out of desperation. Datou had no choice but to say, "Your Majesty, if you push him too hard, will they jump over the wall?"
"If we agree to their request, they will think that we are not sure of victory." Changsheng said in a deep voice.
"I agree with what Lao Wu said," Chen Liqiu said casually, "They will not regard our relenting and concession as sincerity. They will only think that we lack confidence and are unwilling to fight them. Once we relent, they will definitely return. Other conditions will be proposed.”
Hearing Chang Sheng and Chen Liqiu's words, everyone in our party suddenly realized.
Time passed slowly, and Changsheng's limited time for burning incense finally ended. Changsheng did not hesitate, and immediately raised his voice and said, "I really can't cry until I see the coffin. Don't blame me for not giving you a chance when you get to the underworld. The time has come, and the whole army is going to attack. Attack the city by force!"
The reason why Changsheng added a few words before ordering the siege was to give the rebels time to make a decision. If he directly ordered the siege, the rebels would be too panicked to think and weigh, and could only passively respond.
After hearing Chang Sheng's order, our own soldiers immediately responded with a bang, and the war drums sounded to urge the army.
Seeing that the Changsheng side was really about to attack, the rebels immediately shouted in panic from the city wall, "We are all citizens of the Tang Dynasty, how can we kill each other? Don't beat the drums, we are willing to surrender!"
Hearing that the rebels were willing to surrender, the soldiers on both sides were relieved. Even the people in the city secretly breathed a sigh of relief, because Chang Sheng had made it very clear before that if the city was attacked by force, the city would be massacred with blood. Not only the soldiers did not want to die, but the ordinary people did not want to die either.
Fearing that the rebels would regret it, Chang Sheng hurriedly jumped up and flew towards the city tower, "You can correct your mistakes after you know them. There is no such thing as a good thing. All soldiers will forget the past, all generals and officers will be promoted to one level, and the people in the city will be exempted from paying taxes for three years!"
After Changsheng was plundered, Datou and the others immediately followed him and plundered towards the city tower with him, while the three of Batulu stayed in place to command their own troops and horses to prevent any changes.
Chang Sheng's words directly caused joy in the city. The soldiers were saved, the generals were promoted, and the people were exempted from taxes and all got their jobs.
Chang Sheng and others landed on the tower, and all the generals immediately knelt down and worshiped, "See you, Your Majesty, Your Majesty is a thousand years old, a thousand years old, a thousand years old."
"No courtesy." Changsheng raised his hand.
The generals stood up uneasily and looked at each other with a look of shame.
Seeing this situation, Changsheng said sternly, "I know that you are loyal and have no intention of rebelling. It's just that your wife, children, and children were kidnapped by traitors and you had no choice but to submit. Don't worry, I will never let traitors harm your family. After you have rested, Immediately send troops south to recapture Fengxiang."
Hearing Chang Sheng's words, all the generals were happy and ashamed. What was happy was that Chang Sheng even considered their families. What was shameful was that the reason why they resisted the imperial court was purely voluntary, and they were not coerced at all, and they also knew Changsheng knew this, and the reason why he said this was just to save their face.
"Open the city gate and welcome the friendly troops." Yu Yi ordered loudly.
Not only was Chang Sheng famous all over the world, but the four big heads were also household names at this time, and everyone knew it. Hearing Yu Yi shouting, the soldiers guarding the city gate immediately worked together to open the heavy copper-clad wooden door.
At this time, Changsheng was talking to several surrendered generals. Yang Kaixin was thinking carefully and issued an order on his behalf, "The prince has an order. In order to avoid leaking the news and harming the families of the generals, no one is allowed to leave the city within three days. The four gates will guard each department." His position will not be changed to defense for the time being."
After Yang Kai spoke, a group of generals immediately responded loudly.
Chang Sheng was very pleased with Yang Kai's approach. Although Yang Kai did not discuss it with him before speaking out, what Yang Kai said was exactly what he thought, and it was even more careful than what he thought. The reason for not letting people out of the city was to block the news. The reason for not changing defense temporarily is to calm the hearts of the surrendered pawns, which shows that they trust them very much and do not treat them as surrendered pawns.
Changsheng was eager to leave. Seeing that the dust had settled, he immediately summoned everyone to discuss matters in his government office.
In addition to Changsheng, there were also four Da Tou people, three Batulus and several brave lieutenants under Chen Liqiu's command, but at this time several of them had already been promoted to generals.
There were more than ten defenders and generals who surrendered in front of the battle. Qingyang was an important border town and had always been heavily guarded.
Changsheng took his seat and asked about the specific situation of Qingyang while quickly writing a memorial. The first item in the memorial was naturally to announce the good news. The successful recovery of Qingyang was a great joy and the emperor should be informed of it as soon as possible.
The second article of the memorial was an apology, because he did not have the power to appoint and promote officials at this time, and promoting all the surrendered generals to one level was an act of overreaching. Although he also held the title of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he did not have the power to exempt local taxes. Therefore, he must apologize to the emperor. Of course, the emperor will definitely not blame him, but the emperor's tolerance for not blaming him is due to his magnanimity. As a subordinate, he killed first and then reported the crime. He went beyond his duties, so he should apologize. As a person, you must put yourself in the right position, and you must not slap your nose in your boss's face just because you are favored by your boss.
The third item is to ask for permission to reorganize and recuperate. After confirming that the food and grass from the Western Regions can be successfully transported, he will send troops south to recapture Fengxiang. This time he brought 18,000 soldiers from Shuzhou and more than 50,000 soldiers from Qingyang. There are 70,000 soldiers in one place. Although the force is less than half of Li Maozhen's, it is still capable of fighting.
The fourth item is that something happened to the food collection in the Western Regions. I want to take away 5,000 cavalry to deal with it. Shuzhou only has less than 2,000 cavalry, but Qingyang has 8,000 cavalry. Taking away 5,000 is a big deal. You must know that the Western Regions are all small countries. Back then, Huo Qubing dared to attack the Huns with 800 cavalry. Now, with 5,000 cavalry, he is almost invincible in the Western Regions.
Since the inns along the way were deserted, Chang Sheng could only hand Yu Yi back to present the memorial after writing it. In order to avoid suspicion, Chang Sheng also specifically told Yu Yi not to enter the palace to meet the saint, but instead handed the memorial to Wu Yusheng of the Ministry of Revenue to forward it on his behalf.
Datou and others wanted to follow him to the Western Regions, so naturally they could not stay in Qingyang. Changsheng immediately appointed Chen Liqiu to command all the troops in Qingyang, while Li Zhongyong was promoted to the governor of Qingyang, in charge of civil affairs.
Changsheng originally wanted to bring more than a thousand cavalry from Shuzhou, and then select some from the surrendered pawns to collect 5,000. However, he changed his mind after seeing the surrendered cavalry. Li Maozhen is very rich, and the cavalry is equipped with They are all good horses, and he knows this kind of horses very well, because the fast arresters in Yushitai are equipped with this kind of horses. They are not only strong and tall, but also fast when running, and have excellent endurance.
Since the Jiang soldiers had already prepared for battle before, the horses were fed with forage, and the cavalry also prepared dry food for a few days. The reason why they prepared dry food was that they were not sure. Previously, Li Maozhen and King Ji marched eastward to the palace, and were defeated. Changsheng killed a man without his armor, and now that they learned that the imperial court was coming to quell the rebellion, they had long been mentally prepared to run away if they couldn't fight.
Changsheng directly ordered the best to be selected, and selected five thousand cavalry. They left the city from the west gate and organized into formation.
Before all the cavalry could leave the city, Yu Yi returned from Chang'an.
Chen Liqiu is good at commanding troops. With him and Batulu Li Zhongyong here, Chang Sheng can leave with peace of mind.
Near noon, Changsheng gave the order to set off. Five thousand cavalrymen shook their reins and urged their horses at the same time. In an instant, the sound of hooves was like thunder, and smoke was billowing...
