Eight hundred and twenty-four years of St. Tang, Chinese New Year's Eve.

The "Metasequoia Peace Proposal," which was criticized by later generations and received mixed reviews from historians, was finally finalized under the secret consultation between the representatives of Zhenjiang and the Turkic side.

At this point, the Shengtang Zhenjiang Army, which had adhered to the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang for nearly three years and defeated the alliance several times, removed all the imperial names and renamed it "Metasequoia Military Mansion" to the outside world.

Li Jiangyao, the commander of the military government, was canonized as a baron of Metasequoia by the Turkic Empire, and ruled over a hundred miles of territory, side by side with the kings of Loulan, Chechi and other countries.

The Turkic army also immediately ceased hostilities against Metasequoia, and except for the Blood Guard Iron Cavalry Corps, which remained in place, the rest of the troops and horses retreated one after another, marching in the direction of the Liangguan camp.

Metasequoia City, which is in danger, has finally returned to a peaceful and peaceful state.

For such a "betrayal" and "surrender" move, Li Jiangyao's heart is more uncomfortable than anyone else, but he has no choice. The rapid fall of Homnitz and other towns made him very aware of two things: first, the Turks were pouring into their nests and marching eastward, with an unprecedented scale of troops, and there was no room for maneuver in the western frontier; Second, although the soldiers and horses in Zhenjiang are fledgling, fundamentally speaking, they are still a lone army hanging outside the territory, and it is difficult to form a lasting resistance without response and reinforcements.

Especially after the battle with Yun Qianxue, Li Jiangyao deeply realized the horror of the Turkic iron cavalry, and if he fought hard, there was only a dead end in Metasequoia City.

And the Turkic princess Hesijia, she can only be used as a bargaining chip in a short period of time, and exchange some conditions with the other party, once the enemy loses patience, it is likely that as Tanley said, the princess does not want it, and kills everyone to bury her with her.

In addition, there is another important reason, which is also the key point for Li Jiangyao's decision to make peace for the time being, that is, the next move of the Turks.

He and Xie Tanzhi and Xu Youda reached a unanimous judgment, Ashina is ambitious, and its ambition is by no means the ghost desert of Western Xinjiang, but the Holy Tang Dynasty that goes further east, otherwise there is no need to gather more than 500,000 main forces and come here thousands of miles.

Because of this, the three of them all believed that at this time, they should keep the precious fire, not for themselves, but for the sake of Shengtang. Once the main Turkic army advances eastward, no matter how Shengtang responds, whether the battlefield of the big war is at two levels or farther away, the position of Metasequoia will be located in the rear of the Turks, and at a critical moment, they can completely stab the enemy from behind!

In this strategic sense, even if you are saddled with the infamy of "surrender", it is worth it.

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The second day of the Lunar New Year is the day when the people of the Saint Tang Dynasty return to their parents' homes to pay New Year's greetings.

Li Jiangyao, the newly promoted Baron of Turkic Metasequoia, also escorted Princess Hesijia back to her "maiden home" as agreed today.

Along the way, Li Jiangyao rode his horse alone, while Xu Youchang accompanied He Sijia, and the two walked side by side. After walking for a long time, Xu Youchang and He Sijia didn't speak, only the sound of horses' hooves kicking back and forth, which did not echo in their ears and hearts.

Seeing that he was about to arrive at the camp of the Blood Guard Iron Cavalry, He Sijia suddenly stopped and asked softly, "You...... Is there nothing to say to me? ”

Xu Youchang was slightly stunned and hesitated: "I...... I don't know what to say, I ......"

Li Jiangyao, who was walking in front, also silently grabbed the reins at this time, stopped with his back to them, He Sijia looked at his back, and said softly: "You know, in fact, I don't want to go." ”

"I understand everything," Xu Youchang couldn't bear to look at her, and looked away: "You are saving us." ”

"No, you don't understand," He Sijia turned around and faced Xu Youchang: "I'm going here, I'm afraid I'll never be able to come back, I'm ...... I'm getting married. ”

Xu Youchang felt that his heart was like a knife, he was silent for a moment, and then slowly turned around, facing his beloved girl, and said with tears in his eyes: "What Yun Qianxue can give you, I can't give it, I ...... Not worthy of you. ”

He Sijia stared at Xu Youchang's angular face with a pair of beautiful eyes, suddenly smiled sadly, and said softly: "You have given me what I want most, which Yunjun will never give." Thank you, thank you...... Forget about me. ”

With that, Hesjia turned around and jumped on the horse prepared for her, and galloped forward, taking advantage of the tears that had not yet burst out of her eyes. After Li Jiangyao waited for her to pass by, he looked back at his good brother who was still in place and was slightly distracted, and a sad look flashed in his eyes.

With a light sigh, he waved his hand and motioned for the team to continue in the direction of the Turkic camp.

In the distance, they saw a large number of people standing outside the Blood Guard Iron Cavalry Camp, led by Hesijia's second brother Prince Tanley, the Blood Guard General Yun Qianxue, Duke Druhan, and Inas who went to report the news.

He Sijia sighed secretly in her heart, adjusted her mood slightly, jumped off the horse, and waved to everyone with a smile.

Yun Qianxue rushed out of the crowd, ran in front of her in three steps and two steps, opened her arms, and hugged He Sijia tightly into her arms.

He Sijia wanted to refuse, but there were all eager eyes around him, and it was really hard to save Yun Jun's face, so he had to hug him half-pushing.

Li Jiangyao saw it in his eyes, secretly felt sorry for Xu Youchang, and just when he didn't know how to react, fortunately, Prince Tanli came close and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, the princess has returned smoothly, congratulations." ”

Li Jiangyao bowed his hand to him slightly: "Your Royal Highness the Prince, this is the result that everyone wants to see, and it is indeed worth being happy." ”

Tanley nodded: "Your Excellency, the matter here has been taken care of, and we are ready to go." Is there anything else you need over there? The two of us are destined, and I treat you as my own, so if you have something, just open your mouth, you're welcome. ”

Li Jiangyao knew that the second prince intended to entrap him, and replied with a smile: "It's not that I want to trouble Your Highness, it's just ......" He glanced at the army that was packing up the camp not far away, and said in a low voice: "Do you really want to go to the east?" ”

Frank smiled neatly: "What's wrong?" ”

Li Jiangyao also smiled: "Your Highness has lived in the imperial capital for a short time before, so he should know Shengtang better than others." Do you think that a Turkic army of 550,000 can conquer the East? ”

Tanli turned his head to look at the Turkic generals not far away, and also whispered: "I think that under normal circumstances, it will be difficult to double the number of troops. ”

Li Jiangyao was slightly stunned, he was not surprised by the other party's rational answer, but noticed the unusual point in Tanley's statement. Immediately after, a name that was both familiar and unfamiliar suddenly appeared in his mind - Xie Guang!

"Your Highness said that it is difficult to do it under normal circumstances, could it be ......" Li Jiangyao said tentatively: "Could it be that there may be an abnormal situation in Shengtang?" You don't mean civil strife, do you? ”

A hint of fear flashed in Tanley's eyes, and he immediately smiled: "Your Excellency Baron is really a smart person, and he instantly grasped the fault in my words. Your Excellency is so powerful, I am starting to worry a little, shouldn't I leave you behind us? ”

Li Jiangyao didn't expect the other party to react very quickly, and hurriedly scolded himself for not being able to hold his breath just now, and at the same time pretended to be indifferent, and spread his hands: "Your Highness is laughing." We have been repaired by your army repeatedly, and we have not only lost a large amount of territory, but also lost our troops and lost a huge loss of strength. If it weren't for the princess as a hostage, he would have died a long time ago. If you stay in the western Xinjiang now, you will inevitably be attacked by other countries to seek revenge, how can you threaten the Turks? ”

"Hahaha, don't mind, I was joking." Tanli waved his hand: "Don't worry, I will greet the Alikjiang and them, and don't allow the Western Frontier Alliance to come to trouble Metasequoia City." is still the same sentence, we are destined, I treat you as your own person. ”

Li Jiangyao knew that the other party was definitely not easy to fool, and the so-called "greeting" was most likely not to strictly order the Western Xinjiang Alliance not to trouble him, on the contrary, he had to often come to disturb Metasequoia to prevent Li Jiangyao and them from growing again.

However, the master often sees through it without saying it, Li Jiangyao immediately put on the posture of "his own person", thanked Prince Tanli again and again, and said that he would follow the second prince in the future, and everything would be based on Tanli's head.

The day after Hestya returned to the camp, the huge legions outside the city began to withdraw, and the haze of war that condensed over Metasequoia City finally gradually dissipated.

The people came out of the trembling atmosphere and started their normal lives again with smiles on their faces. Restaurants and restaurants are back in business, caravans come and go to do business, people pick up the work they have thrown away again, and rush to their own days.

All this made Li Jiangyao feel gratified.

However, compared to the civilian population, the army's reaction was somewhat subtle.

I don't know when it started, the officers and soldiers of the Saint Tang Department vaguely looked at their commander with a strange gaze.

More and more people were secretly talking behind their backs, and more and more noises reached Li Jiangyao's ears.

Surrender, betrayal, traitor, greedy for life and fear of death......

Some people even wrapped strips of cloth with "Baron Metasequoia" in feces and threw them directly into the castle guard's mansion.

The commanders of many units came to report that their subordinates were about to move, that they were about to run out of bullets, and that a mutiny in the bombing camp could occur at any time.

Faced with this situation, Xu Youchang took the initiative to take over the post of military judge left by Lin Feng, and personally led the white-robed army law enforcement team to inspect the battalions and severely suppress all kinds of restless voices. Yudra and Samar also deployed the secret agents of the Intelligence Department with all their might, entering different levels of the army to search for those who secretly talked about the commander-in-chief. Situ Wushou was even more nervous, keeping an eye on the guards every day, urging them to strengthen the vigilance of the city guard.

In this regard, Li Jiangyao did not say anything about it.

He locked himself in the study, meditated the map all day long, and never stepped out of the door for several days, causing Xia Lian to run over every hour or two to have a look, for fear that Li Jiangyao would find a short sight because he couldn't think about it.