Naturally, the Qin State was not willing to give up areas such as Drinking Sweat City and Wolf Mountain in vain, and they wanted to have a fierce confrontation with the Tang State here.

However, when the Tang gunboats began to cruise on the Yellow River, they had to withdraw all their ideas. Because they knew that Murong Trai would not give them a fighting opportunity.

When the Yellow River is cut off, the army left on the other side will become rootless duckweed, and it can be dragged to death.

This is the end of losing the strategic initiative, and it can only be eaten up by others little by little, and there is no chance to resist. I knew that retreating would die, but I still had to retreat.

By this time, everyone was waiting. Waiting for the real decisive battle between Qin and Tang, if Qin can win, even if it is a draw, it can continue to persevere.

If they lose, the major domestic forces will fall apart and look for their own way out.

In fact, everyone understands the so-called way out, take refuge in the Tang Kingdom.

The reason why he didn't surrender now was because the Tang State was too ruthless with the old nobles. But as long as the Tang Kingdom, like the previous dynasties, adopted a policy of softness towards the old aristocracy, there would be no such thing at all.

Dai Guo and Liang State can surrender directly, and the various forces in Qin State will also raise their banners to rebel to welcome Wang Shi.

It can be said that Fu Jian should be grateful for Tang Guo's liquidation policy in this regard.

Fu Jian himself understood this truth, and after losing all the land on the other side of the Yellow River, he grew much older overnight, and gray hair appeared on his temples.

"Wang Xiang, Zhang Tianxi's ...... over there"

Wang Meng shook his head with a heavy face, and said, "Murong Chui's army has reached the border of Liang State, and Tang State has sent another 20,000 cavalry to him...... Zhang Tianxi, however, put most of his troops in Guangwu City. ”

Guangwu City is an important border town between Liang and Qin, and when facing the Tang army, Zhang Tianxi put heavy troops here to guard against Qin, and his intention is self-evident.

"Is Zhang Tianxi going to surrender, what conditions did Tang Guo have?"

"The Tang Emperor promised to save Zhang Tianxi's life and allow him to keep all his wealth."

"Is it just to save one's life and preserve one's wealth? Hehe...... It seems that he was really scared out of his mind. ”

Wang Meng didn't answer, everyone knows the current situation, Huitian is powerless, if it weren't for the fact that Emperor Tang didn't want to cause unnecessary casualties, he didn't need to pay attention to Zhang Tianxi's conditions, and just hit him directly.

Fu Jian continued: "Emperor Tang is really a person who loves the people like a son, but unfortunately because of his background, he is too hostile to the nobles of the noble clan, otherwise he will ......."

Otherwise, how could there be these latter things, the world would have been unified a long time ago.

Some people may want to say that people in troubled times are not as good as peace dogs, and wouldn't it cause greater harm to the people if it drags on like this?

That's not what I said, keeping these old magnates of the noble clan is a huge hidden danger, and sooner or later there will be a thunderstorm.

Wen Yi said with a smile: "And Fu Jian is not a brutal person, at most, he will squeeze the people when he is helpless, and there will not really be a large-scale starvation to death." ”

"There are so many things in the world that have the best of both worlds, and for the sake of long-term development, we can only suffer for the people."

To put it bluntly, a gentleman can be bullied.

Xie An smiled: "If Fu Jian heard His Majesty's words, he was dumbfounded. ”

Chen Xiu also complimented: "Maybe this is called heroes sympathizing with each other." ”

Wen Yi laughed and said, "Haha...... After that, what heroes don't affect is just the love of the people. By the way, what's the situation on the Liangguo side? ”

Chen Xiu said: "General Murong's army has reached the border of Liangguo, and Zhang Tianxi has also sent an envoy to decide to surrender. But Liang's domestic forces are complicated, and once he announces his surrender, it is likely to fall apart. ”

"Zhang Tianxi is ready to pretend to resist, and use this as an excuse to send powerful generals who may rebel to the border to meet their divisions, and then take them down in one fell swoop."

Wen Yi said: "Sure enough, traitors are always more ruthless to their own people, but we must also prevent him from pretending to do it." ”

Chen Xiu said: "The Privy Council has also sent a message to General Murong to prevent this from happening. ”

Wen Yi nodded and continued: "What about the Western Regions? This is the territory that the ancestors fought down with great difficulty, and the Liang Kingdom has not lost it, but it can't be lost in our hands. ”

Chen Xiu glanced at Liu Meng, meaning to let him answer.

Liu Meng replied: "The 20,000 cavalry commanded by Lu Yan and Xie Xuan will go to the Western Regions after taking the Liang Kingdom. However, it is not advisable to make a big move in the country, they will be stationed in Gaochang County, one is Tuntian, and the other is to find out the current situation in the Western Regions for follow-up. ”

Xie An said: "As long as the Central Plains are unified, the countries of the Western Regions will definitely fall to the wind." ”

Wen Yi said: "What we want is not to turn the Western Regions into vassal states, but even prefectures and counties, and officially incorporate them into the rule of the Tang Dynasty...... Mr. Xie. ”

Xie An hurriedly said: "The minister is here." ”

Wen Yi said: "You already know the long-term plan of the country, the south to the Indochina Peninsula, the north to the Beihai, and the west to Ningyuan (Ferghana Basin) will become the land of the Tang Dynasty." ”

"But there are countless different places where they live...... A descendant of China who has forgotten his identity. To govern the land and first govern people, and to govern people first and first govern hearts. ”

"If you want to successfully complete the governance here, you must first let them return to China ideologically and culturally, and then conquer them by force."

"I want to create Wenhua Pavilion to be responsible for cultural promotion, so I will have you as a scholar of Wenhua Court."

Xie Anxin was overjoyed, got up and said, "Your Majesty." ”

Before, they were all learning the knowledge of Tang Guo and cooperating with Chen Xiu, but now they are finally in charge of a project independently.

……

In July of that year, Zhang Tianxi poured out of his nest to fight against the army of Murong Chui of the Tang State on the border of the Liang State.

On this day, he convened the generals to discuss the matter, but at the beginning he suddenly said: "Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think is the chance of our army winning? ”

Everyone was puzzled, and Zhang Ning, the general of the army, asked, "What does the general mean by this?" ”

Zhang Tianxi said quietly: "Don't think about it, our monarchs and ministers have never talked to each other in the past 20 years, and I want to talk to you about the enemy today." I'm not going to hide it from you, I myself have no confidence in the current war. ”

The people were alarmed, and there was a lot of commotion in the tent. Before the war began, the lord said such damaging words first, which is really unknown.

Ma Rui, the stalwart general, said: "Why does the general have the ambition of others to destroy his prestige, and he can't say that he is afraid of death." ”

"Yes, there's nothing to be afraid of." Quite a few people followed.

Zhang Tianxi praised: "The general is really my Daliang countryman." Then he changed his words and said, "However, courage cannot change the disparity between us and the enemy." ”

"The Tang Kingdom has 30,000 cavalry this time, and the commander is the world's famous general Murong Chui and has the advantage of firearms. And our army is only more than 50,000 people, how can we resist it. ”

"In the past, you could still rely on the fortified city to hold on, but you must have known the power of artillery, and defending the city is to kill yourself. In the field, we have few major generals, so what can we do. ”

Or did General Fenwei Kang Miao see some signs and asked rhetorically: "I don't know what the general's good plan is?" ”

Zhang Tianxi paused for a moment and said: "For the sake of the people to avoid military disasters, I want to return to the Tang Kingdom, I don't know what the generals want?" ”

Surrender? The tent exploded.

Zhang Ning shouted: "The general must not, with the brutality of the Tang people, it will be difficult to save the family if they surrender to us." ”

Ma Rui also said: "I would rather die on the battlefield than suffer this humiliation." ”

Many people have also expressed their stance that they would rather die in battle than surrender.

Kang Miao, and a small number of generals sat there motionless.

Zhang Tianxi was very excited and said loudly: "Okay, it's rare for you to be so united, then I'll invite you generals...... Go to hell. ”

The "......" tent instantly fell silent, and everyone looked at him with a confused face, thinking that they had heard something wrong with their ears.

Zhang Ning said dryly: "The general's words ......"

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Tianxi raised his wine glass and fell to the ground, and a group of soldiers dressed in Liangguo costumes but holding muskets rushed in and pointed their guns at them.

Xie Xuan, who was dressed as an ordinary soldier, came out and said, "A certain Xie Xuan, I have seen all the generals. ”

Xie Xuan? Isn't that Xie Yi's nephew, Empress Tang's own brother, why did he appear here?

It would be foolish if people didn't know what was going on at this point.

Zhang Rui's eyes were full of hatred, and he shouted: "Zhang Tianxi, you betrayed us." ”

Zhang Tianxi did not have the slightest shame, and said: "His Majesty the Tang Emperor should be the lord of the world according to the order, and you don't know the number of days and intend to resist the heavenly army, you really deserve to die." ”

Zhang Rui's eyes were bloodshot, and he pulled out the iron knife on his waist and shouted, "I'll kill you despicable ......"

"Bang! Bang! Two gunshots interrupted him and left him with two more bloody holes.

"Good...... Gun ......" Zhang Rui looked at the bloody hole in his chest, spit out two words and fell to the ground and died.

The rest of the matter is simple, after Zhang Rui's death, the rest of the people were all captured. The monarch ordered surrender, and the Liang army, which had lost its commander, also laid down its weapons.

The Tang army quickly took over the surrender army.

Zhang Tianxi was brought to Murong Chui, very respectful, and said, "I've seen General Murong, this ...... I have been known for my generals for a long time, and today's opinion is indeed well deserved. ”

Murong Chui despised him very much in his heart, but he still needed to be used next, so his attitude was quite polite: "General Zhang is polite, I have been known to you for a long time...... The next thing is to trouble you. ”

Zhang Tianxi said: "It should be, it should be, I will personally lead the army to take over Guzang." ”

Murong said: "No, it's not Guzang, it's Guangwu City." ”

Zhang Tianxi was stunned, but he was not a mediocre talent, and he immediately figured out the reason.

Guangwu City was the gateway to the blockade of the Qin State, where the Liang State placed an army of 40,000 troops. When the news of Zhang Tianxi's surrender passed, these people were likely to surrender to Qin and survive.

Murong Chui was going to take advantage of the fact that Liang Guo didn't know the situation and sent someone over to take over the city. As long as this city falls into the hands of the Tang State, the Qin State will really be trapped and die in the mouth of the Yellow River.

Although the acquisition of Guangwu City is also unable to reverse the overall situation, with one more strategic place in hand, there is more room for maneuver.

But Murong Chui would definitely not give him such a chance.

"General Lu, look ......"

Lu Yan immediately said: "Your Majesty explained before coming that this battle is dominated by General Murong, and you can give orders." ”

Murong said, "Okay, then I'm welcome." Please General Lu take Zhang Tianxi and lead 5,000 cavalry to take Guangwu City day and night, and then take over the general after I take Guzang. ”

"Okay, I'll go."

"General, be careful of the Qin State."

Lu Yan took the cavalry of a brigade of his headquarters and changed into the military uniform of Liangguo, and the bearer Zhang Tianxi and his party marched day and night.

I also encountered some small cities on the way, but Zhang Tianxi's monarchs and ministers were all real, and they didn't show any flaws at all, and they came all the way to Guangwu City.

Guarding Guangwu City is Ma Jian, the general of Long Xiang, a self-proclaimed brave warrior who is actually a greedy person who is afraid of death.

Seeing that Zhang Tianxi, who was supposed to be confronting Tang Guo on the front line, suddenly appeared here, although there were many suspicions, he still opened the city gate.

Guangwu Taishou Xinzhang is a smart person, and smart people often like to protect themselves, so he chose to be silent.

Lu Yanbing took over Guangwu City bloodlessly.

Such a big thing can't be hidden from people at all, and it didn't take long for the whole city to know that the Liang Kingdom had fallen, and then it was inevitable that people would panic.

As for how to take over the city, the Tang army was too experienced, and immediately ordered all troops to stay in the barracks and not go out, otherwise it would be regarded as a rebellion.

He also ordered the generals to surrender to the Tang State to assist in the defense of Guangwu City, and to pardon all previous crimes, otherwise they will all be shot.

The generals were waiting for this order, and they immediately expressed their willingness to cooperate.

At the same time, troops were also sent to patrol, and those who dared to take advantage of the chaos were killed, and the city was quickly settled.

The Qin army on the opposite side also knew that there was unrest here and tried to take advantage of the opportunity to attack the city. Lu Yan intended to deter the Liang army, so he sent 2,000 men to guard the city wall.

Although they did not carry a cannon, they had grenades that were as powerful as muskets.

Half an hour later, the Qin army left more than 3,000 corpses and withdrew, while their own casualties were double. Having seen the power of firearms with his own eyes, Liang Jun can no longer afford to have different hearts.

And Wang Jian, the general of Wuwei outside the city, looked at the city from afar, his face was heavy, he knew that the Qin State was over.

Qin Guo had already guessed that Liang Guo might have to surrender, so he asked him to prepare in advance to see if he could take advantage of the chaos to take Guangwu City and get a window to the west.

He has been staring at Guangwu City these days, just waiting for the turmoil to start.

However, Tang Guo's speed was far beyond his imagination, and he was not given this opportunity at all, and the attack just now was just a desperate struggle under his willingness.

The two sides have been facing each other for so many years, and he knows one thing very well, once the Tang State takes over a certain city, don't think about attacking it.

Again, the power of firearms in positional offensive and defensive battles is too great.

But it was useless to talk about it at this point, so he had to lead his troops to retreat and pass the news of Liangguo's surrender to Fu Jian in Chang'an.

On the other side, Murong Chui led people all the way to Guzang, the capital of Liangguo. At this time, the news of Zhang Tianxi's surrender in front of the battle had already spread, and the magnates in the city had already fled west with coils before the arrival of the Tang army.

The four gates of Guzang City were completely undefended, and Murong Chui easily took over this place.

While pacifying the people, he sent a large army to take over the surrounding cities. There are very few people who choose to defend to the death, and almost all of them fall from the wind.

It only took less than half a month, and most of the Liang Kingdom fell into the hands of the Tang Kingdom.

After that, Murong Chui came to Guangwu City with the main force to replace Lu Yan.

"General Lu, you need to pass through Zhangye, Jiuquan, Dunhuang and other places all the way west, and you still need to trouble you to take this place easily, I will send 10,000 troops to follow you."

Lu Yan said: "It's exactly what I want, if there is nothing else, I'll set off." ”

"General Lu, the mountain is high and the road is long, take care."

"Haha...... Thanks, there will be a date later. ”

"There will be a date later."

In August of that year, Lu Yan and Xie Xuan led 20,000 cavalry to embark on the road to the Western Regions.

Let's say that Murong Chui will send a message to the country after taking Gu Zang.

When the monarchs and ministers of the Tang State got the news, they were all overjoyed, and immediately sent a civil official group to take over the governance.

At the same time, Wen Yi left the northern capital again and went to Luoyang, and the decisive battle with the Qin State was about to begin, and he had to go to meet Fu Jian in person for a while.