Chapter 1268 Liu Yan Arrives

The sky gradually brightened, and Yuyang County gradually quieted down. The Tang army fired a total of five rounds of 150,000 gunpowder arrows, and the entire Yuyang County was covered with flames.

The top of the city was crowded with soldiers fleeing for their lives. Although they escaped the flames, they could not escape the attack of the Tang army's oil bombs and the more terrible smoke.

Countless soldiers tried to jump out of the city to escape, but either fell to death or were shot by the Tang army.

At five o'clock in the morning, Yuyang County was quiet inside and outside.

It was not until noon that the fire stopped and the smoke gradually dissipated, and then a team of 500 soldiers covered their mouths and noses with wet cloth to enter the city to check the situation.

Not long after, more than 500 soldiers actually brought out more than 300 people, basically women and children, and there were actually more than a dozen people including Wang Shoucheng and his wife and maids. There was a large pond in his mansion. When they were in danger, they squatted in the pond to escape.

More than 300 women and children survived because they were unable to escape and could only save themselves on the spot, either by hiding in a well or a pond, using the little air on the surface to avoid being suffocated by the thick smoke.

More than 300 people were led into a large tent, and the Tang army arranged for them to have a meal and rest.

Wang Shoucheng had been holding his son in his arms, and the father and son were trembling with fear. At this time, a soldier came over and said, "General Guo, please come over!"

Wang Shoucheng handed his son to his wife, gave a few instructions, and then followed the soldiers to a large tent with trembling hands.

There was a body on the grass next to the tent, covered with oilcloth. The body was Zhu Ci, who was suffocated by the thick smoke and was found by Tang soldiers near the city gate.

Guo Ziyi and several generals were checking the body.

Wang Shoucheng knelt down and kowtowed, "I, Wang Shoucheng, come to confess my crime!"

Guo Ziyi glanced at him and said, "Since God wants to spare your life, we will not kill you again."

Wang Shoucheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and kowtowed, "Thank you, old general, for not killing me!"

Guo Ziyi pointed at the corpse and said, "I heard that Zhu Ci has a substitute. Come and see if this person is the real person or a substitute?"

Wang Shoucheng hurriedly stepped forward to take a look, then checked behind the left ear of the corpse, nodded and said, "It's him!"

"Are you sure?"

"I dare not deceive the old general. First, the fake Zhu Ci only looks like him in body shape, but not in appearance. He usually puts on makeup. He can deceive ordinary people, but not us.

Second, there is a tuft of black hair behind Zhu Ci's left ear, but the substitute does not have it, so this person is indeed Zhu Ci. In addition, Zhu Ci's little finger on his right hand is missing a part. This is because he lost a bet when he was young and cut off his finger with a sword. So we can tell at a glance."

Guo Ziyi identified them one by one, and indeed the characteristics matched. It seems that this is Zhu Ci.

Wang Shoucheng said again: "There is one more thing that the old general may not know."

"What is it?"

"Reporting to the old general, we have dug a large underground vault under Cangcheng. A lot of wealth is hidden in the underground vault. It is also part of what An Lushan and Shi Siming took back from the Central Plains."

"Very good!"

Guo Ziyi asked again: "Are Wang Zuyou and Fu Yuangui in the city?"

Wang Shoucheng shook his head, "They went to Pingzhou for negotiations and never came back."

"Where are their families?"

"Wang Zuyou is single, his wife died early, and he has a son in Yangzhou. Fu Yuangui's family is in Fanyang County, Youzhou, and there is no There are followers to Jizhou. "

Guo Ziyi smiled and said: "I will give you another chance to be pardoned. You are the chief historian of Zhu Ci. Do you know the situation of the families of the generals under An Lushan and Shi Siming?"

Wang Shoucheng nodded, "Zhu Ci has always wanted to find an opportunity to seize their property, but he didn't have time to do it. Their detailed situation is recorded, but these materials are in the Yanwang Palace in Youzhou. If it is not burned by the Huihe people, then it can be found! "

Guo Ziyi was overjoyed. This was what the regent asked him to do. They didn't find any information in this regard. The officials who knew about it went to Yuyang County. It was good that Wang Shoucheng knew about it.

Guo Ziyi immediately sent soldiers to send Wang Shoucheng and his family back to Youzhou City in a carriage.

He then ordered the soldiers to clean up the battlefield. Sure enough, a huge underground warehouse was found in the burned warehouse city. More than two thousand large wooden boxes were dragged out from it. They were all gold, silver and precious jewelry. These were the wealth that An Lushan and Shi Siming had taken back to Youzhou.

It was also the most abundant spoils of war obtained by the Tang army in occupying Youzhou this time.

Liu Yan led more than 80 officials to Youzhou and officially took over the states of Youyan. Two months ago, Liu Yan led his team to Shandong to take over the states of Shandong and deal with more than 100,000 Goguryeo people in Laizhou, dispersing them all to the states of the Central Plains.

After settling the Goguryeo people, Liu Yan immediately led more than 100 additional officials to the north to take over Hebei Road.

Now, the takeover of Hebei Road is still ongoing, and Liu Yan once again led more than 80 officials to the north to take over the states of Youyan.

Li Ye met Liu Yan in the temporary palace of the regent, which was the palace of the Prince of Yan. Li Ye was waiting for Liu Yan to arrive.

"Your Highness, I am here to see you!" Liu Yan bowed.

Seeing Liu Yan become darker and thinner, Li Ye felt a little distressed, so he said: "Minister Liu, you don't have to work so hard, you can let your subordinates do it, you don't have to do everything yourself!"

"Reporting to Your Highness, I actually just drafted the outline, and my subordinates did the specific work. The main reason was that I had no experience at the beginning, it was a mess, and it was very tiring. Now I have more experience and I am not so tired. Everything can be done step by step."

Li Ye nodded, and introduced Zhang Guangsheng, the governor of Youzhou, whom he appointed, to Liu Yan. In the future, Zhang Guangsheng will become Liu Yan's right-hand man in handling the affairs of Youyan states.

Everyone sat down and Li Ye asked with a smile: "How is the situation in Shandong and Hebei?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, the states in Shandong have been dealt with, and state and county officials have been appointed and formally integrated into the imperial court. Hundreds of thousands of Goguryeo people have also been dispersed to states and counties in the Central Plains. This time the dismantling has been very thorough, and it is basically impossible to rebuild it. Gathered."

"Where's Hebei Road?" Li Ye asked with a smile again.

"The clean-up in Hebei Province is still in progress, but the outline has been finalized, and the details are now being implemented, led by Wang Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

Liu Yan probably reported some important situations in Hebei Province, and then Li Ye introduced him to the situation in Youzhou.

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "I just got the news that the rebels in Yuyang have been wiped out and Zhu Si is dead. In addition, Goguryeo in Pingzhou was suppressed before. It can be said that the war in the Tang Dynasty is basically over. Some sporadic finishing touches, of course, the siege of Feihuxing is also the top priority. "

Liu Yan quickly asked: "What is the current situation of the Uighur Army?"

"The Uighur army has broken through seven times so far, and all of them have been repulsed. The Uighurs have died in excess of 30,000 people, and we have also suffered thousands of casualties. However, the death of more than 30,000 people in battle is a tragedy for the Uighurs, but it also has certain benefits! "

"Why?" Liu Yan was puzzled.

Li Ye smiled lightly and said: "They have more food per capita. The soldiers died in battle, leaving more than 30,000 war horses to become food. They seem to have a lot of tea cakes. There are plenty of water and firewood in Feihuxing, so we need to do it as soon as possible." It is unrealistic to eliminate them, we can only wear them down slowly.”

"Will they surrender and survive?"

Li Ye shook his head, "Liu Shangshu doesn't understand the Turks or Uighurs yet. They are not afraid of death, but they value reputation. Reputation is much more important than life. They would rather die than surrender, especially Khan Dengli. If he surrenders, he will die if he goes back, so I never thought that they would surrender. There is only one way for them to survive. People from the grassland negotiate, transfer enough benefits to us, and then redeem them at a high price. go."

"Will they?"

Li Ye still shook his head, "This involves the internal power struggle in Huihe. Frankly speaking, I don't know either."

……….

Li Ye then handed over the power of government affairs to Liu Yan, and he led 10,000 cavalry to Feihuxing, Yizhou to personally observe the siege.