The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 257 Capture alive
Did they march southward to attack, or did they retreat?

No! Lu Dongzan quickly gave up the idea of ​​retreating. The battle outside Songzhou City had just ended, and it was impossible for the army to retreat before receiving the military report.

They had already planned it, real or fake.

The sense of crisis made Lu Dongzan feel cold all over. He hurriedly said, "Run!"

The night enveloped the land, and Lu Dongzan led the remaining 3,000 Tibetans towards the west of Qinghai.

Under the starry sky, some Tibetans would look back every few breaths, fearing that the Tang army would catch up with them.

Lu Dongzan was frightened and a little annoyed. Is autumn coming soon? Why is the moon so bright today?

Holding the reins, Lu Dongzan gave instructions to the remaining two Rubens.

On the other side of Qinghai in the north, Li Zhen was leading 5,000 soldiers and horses along Qinghai Lake, heading west.

After passing a patch of water and grass, I suddenly heard the neighing of war horses ahead.

Immediately there was a shout, "There's an ambush!"

Li Zhen pulled the horse's reins and made it change direction and move away from the water and grass, where there were Tibetans lying in ambush.

Surprised, Li Zhen still cursed: "You are so good, Lu Dongzan!"

Under the starry night, Li Zhen had no time to care about so many ambushes. If he missed this opportunity, he didn't know when he would have such a good chance to capture Lu Dongzan and Songtsen Gampo again.

He could only lead his men to avoid every dense grassy area.

The war horses' hooves trampled across the wetlands and crossed a river.

On the other side, Lu Dongzan dispersed the rest of his troops, and now there were only 500 people left by his side, riding their horses under the moonlight.

After losing the battle of Songzhou, Tubo could not go to war again for at least ten years. Lu Dongzan could only plan for the future as much as possible and leave more Rubens and brave warriors for the future of Tubo.

Suddenly, the sound of an arrow breaking through the air was heard, and an arrow came whistling towards us.

The warhorse neighed, ran a few more steps, and then fell down.

Lu Dongzan fell to the ground and rolled over. The remaining Tubo people surrounded Lu Dongzan and protected him.

The Tang army arrived, and under the bright moonlight, the entire grassland was bright.

Lu Dongzan smiled disappointedly. He looked at the bright moon in the night sky and suddenly realized that he had not looked at the moon like this for a long time. The moon in Tubo was so beautiful.

The Tang army was very close, and a few arrows whizzed past, causing the Tibetan warriors around them to fall one after another.

Lu Dongzan looked at the bright moon, and heard the sound of fighting.

The Tang army slaughtered his people, but Lu Dongzan slowly closed his eyes.

Gradually...the sound of chopping and killing stopped.

Li Zhen was riding on horseback, holding a knife in his hand.

Lu Dongzan slowly opened his eyes and saw a tall Tang general in front of him, holding a sharp Da Mo knife.

With his back to the moonlight, it was impossible to see the expression of this Tang general.

"You are Lu Dongzan, whom I have met in Chang'an City."

Hearing this, Lu Dongzan lowered his head. Immediately, several Tang soldiers came forward and pushed him to the ground. Then his hands and feet were tied with ropes.

"Tell General Niu that a certain family has already captured Lu Dongzan."

"Here."

"Draft a military report to your majesty and the crown prince, and tell them to send Li Zhen, the commander of the Hedao Zhechongfu, to capture Lu Dongzan alive."

"Here."

When he heard the words "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince", Lu Dongzan's eyes lit up slightly, and then he was pushed by the Tang army behind him, and he stumbled and fell to the ground.

In the next few days, Liu Lan was guarding Songzhou City. There was a boy about fifteen years old huddled in a corner, shivering with a stick in his hand.

Some soldiers passed by without even looking at him.

Liu Landuo took a look at the boy. This child was Prince Qi Li You, who was demoted to Songzhou by His Majesty.

In the battle of Songzhou, he was the only one who curled up and dared not face the enemy, and he is still holding the same stick.

A fast horse arrived in Songzhou from Guanzhong.

Outside Songzhou City, there is a tavern. It is rare to open a tavern in Chang'an during wartime.

Yin Hongzhi rushed all the way to Songzhou just to confirm whether the Prince of Qi was still alive and to secretly take him away. As for His Majesty, the Prince of Qi is his child after all, and it will not be too difficult to investigate later.

The waiter at the tavern saw the customer coming and walked up to him with a smile and said, "Few people come to Songzhou at this time."

Yin Hongzhi took a sip of his drink, let out a long sigh and said, "Songzhou has been defended?"

The servant said again: "It is held. General Niu Jinda and General Liang Jianfang defeated the 50,000-strong Tibetan army."

Yin Hongzhi's expression eased a little. His Majesty must be happy about the great victory in Songzhou, and he might even spare the King of Qi for this reason.

The servant whispered, "Judging from his attire and his manner of speaking, he must be an official from Chang'an."

Yin Hongzhi waved his hand slightly and didn't say much.

The servant went to the backyard again and brought back hot meat buns in a short while.

"I didn't expect there are steamed buns in Songzhou." Yin Hongzhi ate with big mouthfuls and said, "I haven't eaten steamed buns for a long time."

But the servant closed the door of the tavern and took out a dagger from behind.

Seeing this, Yin Hongzhi wanted to stand up, but he found a big hand on his shoulder without him knowing when, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stand up.

The servant changed his accent. He spoke in a strange voice without a beard, "Your Majesty, I have said that without your order, no one can take the King of Qi away from Songzhou, not even if you are his uncle."

He is a eunuch!
Yin Hongzhi finally reacted.

The servant sat down at Yin Hongzhi's table holding a dagger and said, "In fact, even if you enter Songzhou City, you can't take the King of Qi away. Do you really think that His Majesty is not on guard?"

Yin Hongzhi's forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat. He listened to his own breathing and watched the eunuch holding a dagger getting closer and closer.

His movements were not fast, but his dagger was getting closer and closer.

The burly man behind him was pressing on his shoulders, so he couldn't move at all.

"I will report this to your majesty. You have been making mistakes time and again. No matter how you are taught, you still don't learn. You are not saving the King of Qi, but harming him."

After saying that, the eunuch suddenly stabbed his dagger into Yin Hongzhi's body. Yin Hongzhi felt the coldness in his abdomen, and then he could feel his blood flowing out.

Slowly, Yin Hongzhi also stopped breathing.

The eunuch said with some disgust: "Carry him out."

The sturdy man nodded and carried the body out of the tavern.

Half an hour later, the tavern returned to its original state, with only the horses outside the store chewing hay.

In the south of Qinghai, Songtsen Gampo was defeated and Lu Dongzan was captured alive.

After capturing several Tibetan rebel soldiers and questioning them, they learned that Songtsen Gampo had gone south to Lhasa.

Niu Jinda simply led his men to train soldiers and raise horses in Qinghai Lake, and sent troops from time to time to wipe out the Tibetan forces.

At this point, the entire Qinghai, from east to west, from north to south, was taken over by the Tang people.

By the Doma River, Pei Xingjian was washing his warhorse.

The Tibetans were defeated, but the Tang people still left behind innocent herdsmen, because these herdsmen were not only unarmed, but also offered sheep and horses to the Tang army. They could also become guides for the Tang army to go deep into Tibet in the future.

At night, while sitting by the campfire and drinking with some Tibetan herdsmen, Pei Xingjian saw Wang Xuance approaching him and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Shou Yue, do you think there must be something wrong every time I come to see you?"

Pei Xingjian took the dried meat offered by the herdsmen, looked at a few Tibetans dancing around the fire, and gave half of the dried meat to Wang Xuance.

While chewing the jerky, Wang Xuance said, "I heard that the beef jerky near the snow-capped mountains of Tubo tastes better."

Pei Xingjian chewed the dried meat with great effort and said, "There is no difference."

The firelight shone on everyone's faces. Enjoying the tranquility after the war, Wang Xuance said, "We will go back with General Liang Jianfang tomorrow morning."

"Going back now?"

"Why? You don't want to go back to Chang'an?"

"Brother Xue is still in the Western Regions. I will go to the Hexi Corridor with you, but we will not return to Chang'an yet. We will stay in the Hexi Corridor for a while."

As if expected, Wang Xuance said with an uncharacteristic smile: "You really still want to sweep across Tianshan."

"You do not want it?"

Wang Xuance yawned, lay down on the spot, picked up the cloak and covered himself casually, saying, "I'm going to sleep."

Pei Xingjian was eating the dried meat by himself.

In August of the twelfth year of Zhenguan, urgent reports were delivered to Chang'an City.

Li Chengqian sat by the Taiye Lake, reading the military newspaper with his father.

Yuchi Gong and Zhangsun Wuji were also looking at the military reports sent by various generals.

Li Shimin said, "I didn't expect that it was Li Zhen who captured Lu Dongzan alive."

Changsun Wuji glanced at the prince beside him, and then picked up a banana. It was very quiet in the pavilion, so quiet that he could see the sound of the banana peel cracking.

Li Ji was standing outside the water pavilion. When he heard that it was his own son who had captured Lu Dongzan alive, he felt a headache for a moment. Now he was standing outside the water pavilion, bowing as if to apologize, sweat pouring down his face.

Su Dingfang was also standing aside. He did not expect Wang Xuance and Pei Xingjian to be these two bastards.

They actually went to fight with the Tibetans, even though they were originally going to deliver food and fodder.

Yuchi Gong also remained silent, holding a roll of military newspaper high in both hands, facing His Majesty and the Crown Prince, blocking his own vision.

Li Chengqian put down the military newspaper and peeled an orange and said, "This is great news."

Li Zhi and Li Shen were swimming in the water, and before they knew it, the two younger brothers were swimming with a group of ducks.

Even the little deer by the pond looked at the two brothers with a look of disdain in their eyes.

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "Mao Gong, I remember that when I appointed Li Zhen as the commander of Jiaohedao Zhechongfu, I wanted him to guard the Hexi Corridor."

Li Ji replied loudly: "Yes."

Li Shimin asked again, "Jingde?"

Yuchi Gong quickly put down the military newspaper in his hand, stood up and said, "I am here."

"I remember that you recommended Liang Jianfang to me, and I asked him to guard Fuxi City. Is that right or not?"

Yuchi Gong saluted and said, "Yes."

Changsun Wuji remained silent and turned his head to look at the shimmering Taiye Lake.

Li Chengqian said: "Father, we have captured Lu Dongzan alive. This is a great achievement."

"Why did these people go to Songzhou to fight?"

"Father has misunderstood."

"What did I misunderstand?"

Li Chengqian whispered, "When Tubo attacked Songzhou, they also sent people to investigate Fushi City. If Tubo suddenly turned to attack Fushi City, it would endanger the Hexi Corridor. They went to Qinghai, which was also the territory of Tuyuhun in the past, to guard Fushi City."

Li Shimin came to his senses and said, "You mean they destroyed the 50,000-strong Tibetan army, beheaded more than 10,000 people, and captured Lu Dongzan alive."

"It's my duty, Father, don't worry about it."

Li Shimin sighed: "I know this battle is difficult."

Li Chengqian said: "Even if we win this battle, we still need to enforce strict military discipline."

Looking at Su Dingfang and Li Ji standing outside, Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "What are you two still doing here? Are you asking me for credit?"

Li Ji quickly said, "I dare not."

Su Dingfang said: "I will take my leave now."

Originally they came to apologize, but were sent back by the emperor with a question: "Are you here to ask for credit?"

After sitting here for a while, Li Shimin left with Changsun Wuji and Yuchi Gong.

This great victory should be worth celebrating. My father and the soldiers should have a lot to say and a lot of joy to share.

As for why his father seemed unhappy, Li Chengqian pretended not to see his father's ugly face.

When the wind blew, the military newspapers on the table were blown away, and the sheets of paper swayed in the wind. After the wind stopped, the papers returned to their positions safely.

Lu Dongzan was finally captured. This battle was like a miracle. The Qinghai area seemed to have become the main battlefield of the Tang army. They made detours, went around the rear, and intercepted the enemy, always anticipating the enemy first.

When it comes to military strategy, Tubo is still not strong enough.

Li Chengqian was a little confused as to why such a Tibetan country could leave such a significant mark in the history of the Tang Dynasty.

Some matters in the army still need to be handled by my father, and in the army, my father still has the final say.

You can't just rely on me as a good omen.

Lu Dongzan has been captured and will be escorted to Chang'an City in two months. He feels relieved.

Songtsen Gampo, no matter how talented and ambitious he was, how much ability would he still have after losing Lu Dongzan?

Li Chengqian lay in the water pavilion, closed his eyes, and planned to have a good nap.

In my dream, I returned to the first time I met Lu Dongzan, which was at the beginning of the eighth year of Zhenguan.

As the prince, I gave him a bar of soap.

When Lu Dongzan took the soap, he saluted respectfully. At that time, he saluted respectfully to every Tang general.

In his dream, he suddenly said something to Lu Dongzan, Tubo was defeated, Songzhou was saved, and even you were captured alive.

After saying this, Li Chengqian woke up from a trance and saw a deer lying beside him, sleeping with its eyes closed.

Li Chengqian stretched his waist and moved his arms. When he walked out of the water pavilion, the little deer was still sleeping.

By the Taiye Lake, Mingda was still holding the pen awkwardly, frowning and writing on the paper very seriously.

Dongyang would correct her pen-holding posture from time to time. This little sister could never learn to write well, and every time she wrote, her Taoist robe would be stained with ink.

As a last resort, every time Mingda practiced calligraphy, Dongyang would roll up her sleeves and put an apron on her so that she could practice calligraphy with peace of mind.

She wrote the word "Mingda" and said happily, "Brother, I can write now."

(End of this chapter)