The terrified Dunhuang rebels, who had no way to flee in the face of the onslaught of thousands of cavalry, fell to their knees in despair and surrendered, falling to their knees one by one, spears or knives raised in both hands. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Although Qin's heart was full of desire to kill the enemy, the military regulations of the Zhou army were extremely strict, if the enemy surrendered and had to kill again, both the soldiers and the main general would be severely punished, this military regulation was not well implemented in dealing with Wang Renze's army, but since the demise of Wang Shichong, Zhang Xuan strengthened this military regulation in order to minimize the loss of the Guanlong population in the war, and killed the Tang army that had surrendered, and the main general would be demoted to three levels and deprived of the title, that is, if Qin used a killing ring today to slaughter the surrendered Dunhuang rebels, Then he will be directly demoted to the rank of lieutenant, and the hard-earned county duke will not be deprived.

Seeing that most of the soldiers had surrendered, Qin Yong shouted: "Stop attacking!" ”

The cavalry of the Zhou army stopped attacking, at this time, only the rebel general with more than 100 people did not surrender, surrounded by hundreds of cavalry, as the Zhou army stopped attacking, the rebel general found that his soldiers had surrendered, he couldn't help but sigh a long sigh, "Don't resist anymore, surrender!" ”

More than 100 rebels jumped off their horses, put their weapons on the ground, raised their hands and surrendered, Qin galloped with his horse, and asked sharply, "Where is Shatuo?" ”

He looked around just now, but he didn't find the Shatuo people, and he was suddenly a little anxious, this was an important task for him.

The rebel commander said coldly: "They never take off their armor and sleep, they can evacuate at any time, as soon as the alarm bell rings, they will flee immediately, you are a step too late!" ”

Qin used great hatred and shouted: "The first battalion will chase after me!" ”

Although there were two thousand soldiers led by Ding Kewu in ambush on the other side, Qin Yong still felt a little uneasy, these Shatuo people were too cunning, in case they broke through and escaped, he would not have the face to see the main general, he immediately led five hundred cavalry to rush to the north of the grassland.

When Qin Yong ran out of the exit, he saw that the corpses and wounded soldiers of the Shatuo people were all over the ground, and the corpses were full of arrows, apparently killed by random arrows, and Ding Kewu was escorting several Shatuo soldiers to identify the dead bodies.

"General Ding, how's the situation?" Qin Yongben stepped forward and asked anxiously.

Ding Kewu pointed to the corpse on the ground and said: "The general also saw it, these Shatuo people refused to surrender alive or dead, and they were bent on breaking through the siege, and they could only order random arrows to shoot them. ”

"What about Zhu Xihan?"

"I am looking for him in the corpse, I heard that he is wearing the same makeup as a soldier, and he has not been found for the time being, but one thing is certain, no one has escaped."

As soon as the words fell, a soldier not far away shouted: "Found it, here!" ”

Qin Yong hurriedly urged the horse to rush up, only to see several soldiers move several corpses piled together, and a person appeared below, with two arrows in his back, facing the ground, dead or alive.

A Shatuo prisoner of war pointed to the helmet and said a few words, and the soldier said to Qin Yong: "He said that the helmet worn by Zhu Xianhan is different and can be recognized at a glance." ”

"Turn him over and beware of being attacked by him!"

Several soldiers turned this person over, and saw that he had a big beard and looked to be in his thirties at most, but from his temperament, it could be seen that this person was not an ordinary soldier.

A soldier touched his snort, "The general is not dead, it seems that he has just fainted." ”

Qin Yong immediately ordered: "Bandage his wounds, don't let him die!" ”

Qin Yong asked dozens of prisoners of war to come forward to identify him, and everyone recognized that this person was Zhu Xihan, Qin Yong immediately breathed a sigh of relief, he finally completed the task assigned by the main general.

........

In the early morning of the next day, Qin Yong led 5,000 cavalry of the Zhou Army to escort nearly 2,000 prisoners of war back to Dunhuang City, and Li Jing also went out of the city to check the prisoners of war surrounded by hundreds of soldiers. ”

"What about the casualties of the brethren?"

"General Qiyu, thirty-five brothers were wounded, and unfortunately three were killed."

Li Jing was quite satisfied with this achievement, looked at the prisoners of war, and asked, "Did Zhu Xihan catch it?" ”

Qin waved his hand, "Bring it up!" ”

Several soldiers brought a makeshift prisoner cart, and saw a bearded man sitting in the room-sized prisoner cart, with a big beard and a cold gaze.

Li Jing turned around and asked Jiu Zhongwu, "Is it him?" ”

Jiu Zhongwu nodded, "It's this person!" ”

Li Jing smiled and said, "The army will rest for a day and go to Yiwu County tomorrow!" ”

........

Yiwu County is the area of today's Hami in Xinjiang, which is close to the Hexi Corridor and has a vast area, with rolling mountains to the north, and endless grasslands and forests at the foot of the mountains.

Yiwu County is vast and sparsely populated, mainly Turkic, Tiele and other nomadic peoples, and there are more than 10,000 Han people, mainly living in Yiwu County, and there are large areas of farmland around the county.

Ten years ago, Yang Guang set up an official government in Yiwu County, officially including Yiwu County into the territory of the Great Sui, but in fact, the government only governs Yiwu County, the only county seat in the county, and does not interfere with the nomads living in the territory, and the two sides are at peace.

Moreover, the developed commerce in the county also gave the nomadic people the opportunity to trade, every summer and autumn, a large number of herdsmen brought sheepskins, medicinal herbs, dried cheese, fur and other materials to Yiwu County to sell, and at the same time bought a variety of daily necessities, which effectively promoted the commercial prosperity of Yiwu County.

In addition, the Sui army still had 3,000 garrisons in Yiwu County that year, stationed in Yiwu County and the two garrison cities of Rouyuan and Yiwu, and 3,000 troops guarded the safety of Yiwu County.

However, at the end of the Great Cause, the army was transferred back to the Central Plains, and the Yiwu County was gradually marginalized, and although the current Yiwu County government still exists, it is already in danger.

There are two main reasons why the Yiwu Prefecture did not disappear like the Momo and Shanshan, one is that the Western Turks' tooth tent is located in Shaye, which is too far away from Yiwu County, so the interest in governing it is significantly reduced, and the Western Turks are more serious in internal strife, which also greatly reduces their ability to expand.

Another important reason is that the Shatuo people moved north, the Shatuo people are a branch of the Turks, originally lived in the Hexi Corridor, the pasture is relatively narrow, in order to compete for pasture, the Shatuo people often clash with other ethnic groups in the Hexi Corridor, and with the internal migration of the Sui army, the Shatuo people seized the opportunity to migrate to Yiwu County in large numbers, driving away several small tribes of Tiele who originally lived here.

The Shatuo people pledged their allegiance to the Western Turks in time, and were also recognized by the Western Turkic royal court, so they agreed to live at the foot of the Zheluo Manshan Mountain, but in order to protect the interests of the Hexi Corridor, the Shatuo people also secretly reached an agreement with the Yiwu government to maintain the status quo and not interfere with each other, and the Yiwu county government was retained.

Yiwu County Taishou is named Wang Shougong, a native of Wuwei County, Hexi, about fifty years old, he is the second Taishou of Yiwu County, and has been in Yiwu County for ten years, although Wang Shougong was appointed by the Sui Dynasty, but after the fall of the Sui Dynasty, he surrendered to Li Liang, the king of Xiliang.

And when the Tang Dynasty destroyed Li Liang and seized the Hexi Corridor, the counties in the Hexi Corridor turned to the Tang Dynasty, and Wang Shougong was no exception, but there was no news from him sending envoys to Chang'an several times, coupled with the Tang Dynasty's strategic eastward shift, Yiwu County was far away, and the Tang Dynasty was under the oppression of the Northern Sui Army, and it could not take care of the counties in the Western Regions for the time being, and Yiwu County was like a forgotten child, living alone outside the Hexi Corridor.

However, Wang Shougong also got some news that the Tang Dynasty was not the most powerful force in the Central Plains, and the Northern Sui seemed to be even stronger, so his mentality changed, and he was no longer in a hurry to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty, but patiently waited for the development of the situation in the Central Plains.

On the morning of that day, a Sogdian caravan composed of hundreds of camels arrived in Yiwu County, and the east gate of Yiwu County was suddenly lively, and many inns and wine shops sent men to solicit business, and there were more than a dozen Han Chinese in the procession, who bid farewell to the leader of the team and went directly into the city.

These more than a dozen Han people are the envoy sent by Li Jing and his entourage, the envoy is called Jin Wensheng, is Li Jing's account to join the army, very young, only twenty-four or five years old, he was originally a student in the middle school, every year the army will recruit a group of civilian officers among the students, Jin Wensheng was recruited into the army three years ago, this is also a way to enter the office, so that the students rush to it, but the conditions for army recruitment are very strict, only dozens of people are recruited every year, even more difficult than the imperial examination, Therefore, all the students recruited are the best in Taixue.

Jin Wensheng came to the front of the county office, which is also the county office, because there is only one county in Yiwu County, so the Taishou Wang Shougong also serves as the commander of Yiwu County, there are two officials standing at the door of the county office, Jin Wensheng just walked up the steps, and the officials stopped him, "What is the matter with Mr." ”

Seeing that Jin Wensheng's dozen subordinates were tall and burly, strong and powerful, they did not dare to be rude, but they were also very polite.

Jin Wensheng took out a post and handed it to the official and said with a smile: "Give this post to you Taishou, I'll wait here for a while." ”

"Please sir, wait, I'll report it!"

The official didn't dare to slack off, so he took the post and rushed into the county office.

(To be continued.) )