Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"Your Majesty... the Great Tang Dynasty has not accepted our surrender!"

"I, we, sob sob sob..."

At the foot of the city wall of Gaochang, the ministers of Gaochang, who had been full of anticipation, suddenly knelt down with a thud and cried out as the two envoys who had gone out to surrender returned.

Everyone couldn't believe it.

"Why? How is that possible?! How could the Tang Dynasty refuse our surrender? Back then, Jieli and Tuli were both sent to Chang'an, so why won't they accept our surrender?!"

"What exactly did you say to the Tang Dynasty? Did you offend them?"

"Damn it! Damn it all! You two useless piece of trash, you've ruined us!"

Before the two men could say anything, the Gaochang ministers, their hopes dashed, were filled with rage and fury as they rushed forward to kill them on the spot.

Qu Wentai took several deep breaths before he finally managed to temporarily suppress the anger in his heart.

Watching the two men being beaten and rolling on the ground by the crowd.

Only then did he speak up and reprimand.

"Alright! You don't want to die, but do you think they do?! Stop it, all of you!"

After the crowd dispersed, Qu Wentai, seeing the two men with disheveled hair and blood on their noses and mouths, had no intention of comforting them and gritted his teeth.

"Tell me everything that happened to you in the Tang army's tent, in its entirety and in detail!"

Hear the words.

Without any hesitation or deception, the two immediately recounted everything that had happened during their trip to the Tang army camp.

When they heard the other side say that there were even thugs who were actively provoking them and trying to create trouble.

The veins on Qu Wentai's forehead twitched involuntarily.

These damned Tang people see our Gaochang Kingdom as an easy military achievement!

"Alright! I won't listen to that! What did the Emperor Emeritus of the Tang Dynasty say? Why didn't he agree to our surrender?"

Upon hearing this, the two envoys from Gaochang sounded as if they were about to cry.

“He said that if we wanted to surrender, we could only surrender unconditionally, hand over all our property and wealth, and... we might be reduced to slavery.”

Suddenly.

The faces of everyone present paled slightly.

"This is outrageous! This is absolutely outrageous! People from the Central Plains have always been known for their leniency. We have already surrendered, so why are you still humiliating us like this?"

"Not only did they take away our property, but they wouldn't even let us move to Taiyuan or Chang'an to live a peaceful life. Instead, they want to exterminate us!"

"Waaaaah, Heaven is going to destroy my Gaochang!"

On the city wall, rubble and dust littered the ground, while the former nobles of Gaochang Kingdom continued to wail.

Finished!

Even Qu Wentai felt utterly hopeless at this moment.

His hand holding the sword trembled uncontrollably.

Should we make him a slave?

He'd rather die!

Just as he was beginning to make a decision, someone suddenly seemed to have thought of something.

They grabbed one of the messengers.

"If the Supreme Emperor of Tang, as the commander-in-chief, does not agree to our surrender, then what about Li Jing, as the deputy commander-in-chief? Does he want the Tang army to risk casualties to storm into our capital?"

However, the envoy was taken aback and remained stunned for a moment.

"This...we did not see Li Jing in the main tent."

Suddenly, as if they had just realized something, their faces turned pale.

"Not only Li Jing, but also Qu Tutong, Duan Zhixuan, and those Turkic generals who were previously in the army have not been seen!"

The scene fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone turned to look at the two of them in a daze, then exchanged a glance.

Immediately afterwards, a terrifying guess surfaced in everyone's mind.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

Qu Wentai's body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground, his face pale.

His body trembled, and he couldn't stop muttering angry curses.

"Despicable, despicable Tang people, damned Tang people, treacherous... No wonder they kept delaying their attack, now I understand, now I understand..."

He took a deep breath and, with the help of the person beside him, managed to stand up.

He was quickly helped up the city wall, which was already teetering on the verge of collapse.

Looking into the distance, they wanted to get a clear view of the situation inside the Tang army camp.

however.

After all, he was not a commander, so how could he deduce the true situation within the Tang army camp from the wisps of smoke and the indistinct arrangement of the military camp?

"We should leave the city and launch a counterattack! We should leave the city and launch a counterattack!"

He looked like he had suddenly grasped at a lifeline, his expression bordering on madness.

Suddenly, he grabbed one of the last remaining generals of the Qu clan.

How many soldiers do we have left to fight? How many men do we have left?

"The Tang army will never expect that we will launch a counterattack. I only need to lead a troop to launch a surprise attack outside the city, and I will surely be able to severely damage the Tang army!"

How many of us are left? Tell us now!

The general he was pulling had a sorrowful expression on his face.

"Your Majesty, we...we have no soldiers left..."

"Wha, what?"

Qu Wentai was taken aback. Only then did he suddenly realize that, at some point, many soldiers who should have remained around the battlefield, either cleaning up or preparing for the next major battle, had disappeared.

They all disappeared.

Only the sounds of crying could be faintly heard from the wounded soldiers' camp amidst the gusts of cold wind.

Qu Wentai: "..."

The next day.

Just as the Tang army camp was filled with food and drink, and the soldiers were still marveling at how delicious the mutton soup was and how succulent the mutton was,

The artillery battalion had already received orders and began preparing for today's artillery mission early on.

Li Yuan, all dressed and beaming, emerged from the main tent early in the morning.

Then he brought Pei Ji to the artillery camp.

Just as he was thinking about how many cannons the artillery battalion should fire today...

Suddenly, Fang Yi'ai, who was standing to the side, frowned as if he had seen something.

He picked up the monocular telescope hanging from his waist.

"General, why don't you take a look... It seems the King of Gaochang has come out of the city to surrender."

Li Yuan was taken aback: "What?!"

Qu Wentai, with his chest bare, braving the cold wind, holding a white jade in his mouth, and carrying the sword of the King of Gaochang, led by his concubines and children, as well as a group of Gaochang ministers dressed in mourning clothes, respectfully walked to the front of the Tang army formation.

The moment he knelt down and surrendered.

Li Yuan's cheerful expression, which had been up all morning, instantly turned cold.

"You're surrendering already? I haven't accepted a single one of your previous surrenders!"

Qu Wentai held a piece of white jade in his mouth. This was a method that the ministers had come up with after discussing it all night, imitating the surrender of the Zhou king in the Central Plains, who was bound in the face and held a jade in his mouth.

A minister beside him prostrated himself on the ground.

"The might of the Great Tang is invincible, and His Majesty the Retired Emperor's imperial might is awe-inspiring. Our small country dares not harbor any disloyal thoughts any longer!"

"We humbly beg Your Majesty the Retired Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty to accept our surrender!"

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes: "I have made it clear that if you are defeated, you will become slaves!"

Everyone trembled, and some of the concubines and female relatives of ministers lowered their heads and wept.

"The victor is king, the loser is villain... This is all Gaochang's fault, we have only ourselves to blame!"

A look of disdain involuntarily appeared in Li Yuan's eyes.

"Tsk..."

Last night's sweet dream was abruptly cut short this morning by those guys from Gaochang Kingdom.

This caused Li Yuan considerable distress.

Looking at these figures kneeling on the ground, shivering in the cold wind, I really had the urge to order them all to be reduced to slaves.

"Your Majesty... if they hadn't come out of the city, it would have been fine, but... they're already kneeling before us. If we were to use lethal force, I'm afraid it would be difficult to explain to His Highness the Crown Prince."

Pei Ji was also caught off guard by these guys.

Especially since the other side has even come up with the Central Plains-style binding and jade-carrying technique.

If we were to strike again, it would actually be more difficult to handle.

Seeing this, Li Yuan had no choice but to wave his hand dismissively and order his men to remove the sword of the King of Gaochang from the other party's possession.

"Hmph! First, have them locked up for me... then the army marches into the city!"

Li Yuan gave the order with displeasure.

Just then, a fast horse suddenly came from the rear of the camp.

"Deputy Commander Li Jing reports a victory!"

When the Tang Dynasty's star-and-moon banner was planted atop the crumbling city walls of Gaochang, the Tang army had officially taken control of the city for only three days.

Outside the capital, a large and imposing army was heading from the northwest.

"Reporting to the Commander, we have successfully completed our mission... The allied reinforcements from the Western Regions have been completely annihilated by us, and those remaining are prisoners of war!"

Li Jing calmly reported the situation without showing any sadness or joy, while the generals who had accompanied him into battle, such as Qu Tutong and Duan Zhixuan, were all beaming with delight.

at last.

It has been a month since we set out to conquer Gaochang.

With the capital of Gaochang about to fall, they still hadn't earned a single military achievement.

The reinforcements from the Western Regions are like a long-awaited rain after a drought for them.

It not only quenched my thirst, but also filled me up completely.

"Hahaha! That's awesome! That's fucking awesome!"

Duke Fan of the State, Duan Zhixuan, laughed heartily and drank heartily throughout the banquet at the palace of the King of Gaochang.

However, the retired Emperor Li Yuan, who was sitting in the head seat at this moment, looked displeased. He suddenly looked at Qu Wentai, the Prince of Gaochang, who was sitting at the very end of the room, and narrowed his eyes.

"I have heard... that the King of Gaochang is skilled in dancing?"

Qu Wentai: "..."

In less than a month, the Tang Dynasty conquered the Kingdom of Gaochang!

They also annihilated a 70,000-strong cavalry army sent to Gaochang by various kingdoms in the Western Regions!

The news spread rapidly throughout the Western Regions and surrounding areas, like a chilly spring breeze across the grasslands.

however.

Just a few days after this news spread, the Western Turkic Khaganate sent an envoy to the capital of Gaochang, which was occupied by the Tang Dynasty.

"Your Majesty the Tang Emperor! Our Great Khan has said that your act of occupying our Western Turkic vassal state of Gaochang under the pretext of avenging Tongyabgu Khan is unjust!"

"We urge your country to immediately withdraw from the entire territory of Gaochang and pay compensation to Gaochang!"