After listening to Li Jiangyao's introduction, Xu Youchang and the others couldn't help but worry. Like Daduhu, they were both familiar and unfamiliar with Persia, and the sudden attack of the Persian army on the Turks and even posed a potential threat to the western frontier was quite surprising.

Xu Youchang was worried about He Sijia's safety, but he couldn't show it in front of everyone, so he could only ask: "Did the brother of the Intelligence Department send back any new news?" Where have the Persians already fought? ”

Li Jiangyao glanced at him meaningfully, and responded: "Xie Tanzhi and they are separated from the Turkic battlefield by thousands of mountains and rivers, and we are separated from Metasequoia City by thousands of mountains and rivers. However, I estimate that as the Persians and Semites continue to penetrate deep into the Turkic hinterland, they will also be harassed by the delayed attacks of Yun Qianxue's guerrilla tactics, and their progress will only become slower. ”

Jigriz asked: "Dadu Protector, as you just said, Persia also has bad intentions towards the western frontier, and only relying on the strength of the three armies under the hands of the county lord may not be able to stop those Persian people, how should we deal with it?" ”

"That's why I called you." Li Jiangyao said: "The battle to counter-insurgency in Jiangnan is coming to an end, and the sooner we destroy the remnants of the rebels, the sooner we can withdraw and return to the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang." I believe that as long as there is a Zhenjiang army, borrowing the courage of the Persians, they will not dare to easily attack the idea of western Xinjiang. ”

Xu Youchang frowned: "That's right, but right now, the situation in Shengtang is getting more and more complicated. Li Bing was not destroyed, Cheng Wen jumped out to make trouble again, more than 200,000 imperial troops were blocking the area of Guanzhong, and the road back to the west was afraid that it would not be easy to walk. ”

Li Jiangyao nodded: "That's why I said that the pace of the attack must be accelerated." While the queen's military strength is not yet stable, let's kill Li Jiong, and then show our swords and guns, all the way west, no one can stop it! In addition, the Intelligence Department has just confirmed to me that the traitor Lao Jianhua has indeed left Hangzhou, presumably because he saw that the situation was not good, and the soles of his feet were greased. ”

Xu Youchang was surprised: "Did you really flee to the open sea?" ”

"On the contrary," Li Jiangyao smiled mysteriously: "According to reliable sources, Lao Jianhua is also going west, where do you guess it will be?" ”

Xu Youchang immediately reacted: "Imperial capital? Damn, this guy who is afraid that the world will not be chaotic must have smelled a fishy smell, and Cheng Wen went to find the demon queen and acted in embarrassment! ”

Li Jiangyao sneered: "Let him go for the time being, anyway, with Brother Shen here, Lao Jianhua can't escape." Taking advantage of the fact that the rebels now have no backbone, Li Zhi is sitting in the city again, let's take them down in one fell swoop! ”

"Okay, listen to you." Xu Youchang said excitedly: "What should I do next, please give the order of Dadu Hu!" ”

"Please give the order!" The generals of the battalion responded in unison.

Li Jiangyao stood up and said to everyone: "Li Jiong and Ye Rongcheng have now retreated from Anji to Hangzhou, while Bao Yuchun has retreated from Tongxiang to Haiyan in a hurry, and may flee to Mingzhou by sea with the help of the ship transportation of the thieves, and join his nephew Bao Xinyan. I ordered that the Ninth Army be responsible for monitoring the pursuit of Bao Yuchun, and that the Tenth Army would simultaneously block the sea route from Haiyan to Mingzhou to intercept it. The main force of the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 8th armies went south to besiege the city of Hangzhou, and the commander's battalion of the white-robed army served as the strategic general reserve to reinforce the various departments attacking the city. Three days later, a general attack on Hangzhou was officially launched! ”

The lords will salute and shout at the same time: "Yes!" ”

Li Jiangyao waved his hand and asked everyone to go back to their respective units to convey orders and make preparations, and at the same time specially left Xu Youchang behind.

"Brother, I have an important mission, and I want you to make a trip." Li Jiangyao said very solemnly: "Please disguise yourself, dress lightly, and return to the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang first, what do you think?" ”

Xu Youchang was slightly stunned when he heard this, and asked curiously: "What?" Are you worried that Horia won't be able to control it? ”

Li Jiangyao bowed slightly: "There is a meaning in this regard." The county lord has a quick temper, and sometimes he is not thoughtful, and it is inevitable that he will make mistakes. You are the deputy marshal of Zhenjiang, and with you, the officers and men of the three armies will be very down-to-earth. ”

Xu Youchang looked at the other party and sighed lightly: "I'm afraid it's not just this reason." ”

Hearing him say this, Li Jiangyao smiled knowingly: "Of course, I have one more thing to ask you." When necessary, you may need to lead troops into Turkic territory, Rathanli. In terms of the interests of the western frontier, they could not allow the Persians to be completely wiped out. ”

Xu Youchang's heart was hot. He knew that Li Jiangyao said that it was Ratani, but in fact, he asked him to try to protect He Sijia. This was done not only to ensure that the Turks and Persia were counterbalanced, but also to take care of his mood and feelings. He Sijia's safety is what Xu Youchang is most worried about now.

Xu Youchang pondered for a moment, and finally shook his head: "Jiang Yao, I understand your kindness, and thank you for your understanding." However, now that the brothers are about to have a final showdown with Li Zhi, I can't leave everyone behind. ”

"Look at what you said, without you, we wouldn't be at war?" Li Jiangyao smiled: "Western Xinjiang is our foundation, and there is absolutely no room for error." Even the Turks can't take it away, so why should Persia covet it? If you go back earlier, Lao Xie and the county lord will be much more at ease in their hearts, this truth, I don't need to analyze it for you, right? ”

Seeing that Li Jiangyao had been insisting that he go back first, Xu Youchang couldn't help but ask, "Do you really want me to go back to Western Xinjiang to take the lead?" Do you expect the situation there to be even more critical? ”

Li Jiangyao nodded seriously and replied, "The Persian Emperor gave me an extraordinary feeling this time. At first, I thought he was a harmless little friend of humans and animals, but now it seems that this guy is very unusual in terms of patience, opportunity, and momentum. Ameni had introduced me to this student of his, but I didn't take it to heart, it seems that I was careless. ”

"I can't blame you for this," Xu Youchang said: "At that time, all our energy was focused on the rebel forces and Turks in the western frontier, how could we have the time to pay attention to the Persian emperor who was thousands of miles away?" Then again, if the Persian army were to wipe out the Turks, would we really stop it? Let's not forget that before that, the Turks had always been our mortal enemies, and Persia was precisely our ally. Suddenly turned his face, how to explain to Emmeni and Effantia? ”

Li Jiangyao waved his hand: "Of course, you can't turn enemies into friends and friends into enemies for no reason, and if you do that, the Western Xinjiang and Zhenjiang armies will be nameless and passive." That's another reason why I'm letting you go back in person. I'll give you two principles, and you can make decisions on the fly. ”

Xu Youchang bowed slightly: "You say, I remember." ”

"First, Persia has not clearly invaded the western frontier, and our army cannot start the war lightly and take the lead in attacking its allies." Li Jiangyao instructed: "Second, we do not take the initiative to support and protect the Turks, but if the Turks themselves flee into the territory under the jurisdiction of our army and seek refuge, then the Zhenjiang army has the right to decide whether to accept it or not." ”

Xu Youchang responded: "I understand. Of the two principles you mentioned, the first one is good to say, if people don't offend me, I won't offend others; But the second one, Horia is really not easy to handle, and only if I go back to take this responsibility. ”

Li Jiangyao raised his hand and patted Xu Youchang on the shoulder: "Good brother, I have entrusted Xijiang to you." Of course, it is best to be able to live in peace with the countries of the Western Continent, which is beneficial to the people of both the East and the West. However, if war is really inevitable, then we must show the courage to stop the war and resolutely stop the careerists! ”

"Don't worry, I know what to do." Xu Youchang solemnly agreed: "What you entrust you will not be disappointed!" ”

-

Xu Youchang set off overnight that night, and under the escort of a team of ghost-faced white-robed troops, he headed northwest and quickly returned to the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang.

On the third day after he left, nearly 200,000 Zhenjiang elites divided into four routes, from the east, west, north and south, and surrounded the city of Hangzhou, where Li Zhi was located.

At this time, there were less than 70,000 remnants of rebels left in the city of Hangzhou, and the Jin king Li Jiong had no male soldiers and no strong reinforcements outside.

What's even worse is that Lao Jianhua suddenly escaped from the battle and said goodbye without saying goodbye, completely shattering Li Jiong's spiritual pillar. Overnight, this young "descendant of the royal family" who was full of ambition two or three years ago and vainly tried to seize the world of the Holy Tang Dynasty is now completely at a loss for hysteria.

Li Jiong knew that he was definitely not the opponent of the Zhenjiang Army, and the lonely city of Hangzhou would definitely not be able to hold it. However, he was unwilling to give up completely, and was beaten back to his original form by Li Jiangyao at once, even worse than before.

What is the first king, what is the blood feud, these are actually not important to Li Jiong at all. That was just an excuse for him to follow Lao Jianhua to rejuvenate the army and covet the country. In the final analysis, glory and wealth are his goals, and saving his life is his bottom line.

Looking at the subordinates who were also gloomy and bleak, a thought suddenly sprouted in Li Zhi's heart: Take the initiative to negotiate with Li Jiangyao, can there still be a glimmer of life?

This outrageous idea, Li Zhi thought about it like this: a coup d'état suddenly occurred in the imperial capital, and the queen's family has come to power. Between Cheng Wen and Li Jiangyao, even if it is not life and death, at least water and fire are incompatible. At this time, Li Jiangyao, only by preserving his military strength, did he have the capital to compete with the imperial capital.

And the tens of thousands of Hangzhou defenders in their hands, no matter how bad they are, can also consume a large number of living forces of the Zhenjiang army, making their strength greatly damaged. Such a deal is absolutely unworthy for Li Jiangyao.

Against this backdrop, there is a viable basis for armistice negotiations. The two sides secretly reached a tacit agreement, either they would turn around together to deal with the court and divide the world equally; Either they are at peace with each other and take what they need.

In short, it is better than a fish dying and a broken net, losing both, and finally letting Queen Cheng Wen pick up a big bargain.

The more Li Jiong thought about it, the more he felt that this plan was feasible, so he hurriedly sent an envoy out of the city, holding a white flag to Li Jiangyao's camp, and proposed to hold high-level consultations and armistice peace talks.