Helping each other with countless me.

Chapter 370: Just Bones in the Tomb
"Ahead is Shuofang City."

Li Zhongren rode his horse to a high ground and looked into the distance as Liu Min pointed.

A city rose from the flat grassland.

Although its grandeur cannot compare with Chang'an, it is still shocking enough in a place like this.

On one side of the city, there is a rushing river.

This is normal. In ancient times, there was no tap water system. In order to maintain the internal operation of the city, cities must be built next to rivers. This is the same all over the world, such as the Yangtze River and Yellow River in China, or the Mesopotamian region in ancient Egypt.

"It's a bit empty."

"Yes."

“There is only one city on the vast grassland.”

Liu Min said.

"So, after several battles with Liang Shidu, we found that it was still a bit difficult to capture this city head-on."

"Because Liang Shidu is indeed a talented person. After he rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, he transformed his power into a Turkic shaman."

"I don't know what means he used."

"Not only has my own strength not decreased, but it has increased a lot."

"This river, under his control, is a natural defensive barrier."

"Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, ice, let him do whatever he wants."

"That's why His Majesty ordered to surround them but not attack them, and cut off all resources from flowing into Shuofang City. Once all the food in the city is eaten up, they will naturally become chaotic."

"I see."

Li Zhongren doesn't know how to fight a war, but that doesn't mean he has no brains. After Liu Min's explanation, he suddenly understood.

"But, that Liang what, wouldn't he know about this?"

"So what if I know."

Liu Min smiled disdainfully.

"Nine out of ten of his strength depends on this river. He has sent some troops to exchange food with the Turks, but as long as they leave a certain range of this river, they will be eaten by us."

"Won't the Turks come to help him?"

"In the beginning, he betrayed the Tang Dynasty and planned to join the Turks. After all, Jie Li Khan was a man of some talent, and he unified the chaotic DTZ. He saw this and planned to surrender."

"Unfortunately, these outsiders can only retreat before the might of our Great Tang."

Li Zhongren didn't know about this before, but after coming to this era, he learned some historical knowledge and roughly understood it.

That's it in a nutshell.

It was not long after the Xuanwu Gate Incident ended, and the Tang Dynasty was at its most empty period in its history.

This man named Jie Li Khan suddenly led 200,000 soldiers and a large group of shamans and attacked the gate of Chang'an directly.

As a result, he was driven away by the Tang Emperor Li Shimin with just a few words.

A covenant was also signed.

This is what is recorded in the official history, but no matter how Li Zhongren looked at it, it seemed like an empty city plan. These barbarians from the grassland were stupid and ran away after being intimidated by Li Shimin, missing the only and most likely chance to break through Chang'an.

Then, this guy named Liang Shidu is in trouble.

The Turks were not willing to help him, so he was isolated.

Barely maintaining it by relying on one's own abilities.

To put it bluntly, no matter how powerful he is, he must abide by the law of conservation of energy and he cannot create food out of thin air.

"Then, Commander-in-Chief Liu, how long do you think it will take before civil unrest breaks out in Shuofang City?"

"It will soon. In half a month at least, or a month at most, this city will surely collapse."

At this point, Liu Min took a deep breath. To be honest, before this, he had complaints about the emperor's order. After all, he had been busy working on this matter for a year or two, but in the end, someone else took advantage of it. But afterwards, he felt relieved. Sometimes, one cannot just look at the immediate benefits.

Establishing a good relationship with this person means that you have someone close to you in Chang'an.

Therefore, he not only wanted to give credit, but also wanted to give a big credit.

For example, seducing the Turks to invade.

Kill two birds with one stone.

Originally, he didn't have such a big appetite because he was worried about playing with fire and getting burned.

The Turks are not very smart. It would be interesting if we really lure them here and he can't eat them.

However, Mr. Li brought such a large pile of detonating talismans. If he used them well, he could imagine the scene -
Shuofang City
The whole city looked dead.

After all, a city of this size does not produce its own resources, and now all resources are unable to come in.

Not to mention the common people, even the landlords did not have much surplus food.

Those big and powerful families all kept their doors tightly closed.

There were hardly any people on the streets.

What kind of business, what kind of buying and selling, where is there anything to consume?

In fact, every night when it falls, there are people who want to leave the city.

Even the soldiers guarding the city turned a blind eye and would secretly send people down using a basket as long as you paid them.

Some smart wealthy people even used this ant moving method to send all their family members out of the city.

It can be said that there is not a glimmer of hope in the entire Shuofang City.

Ordinary people are like that.

This is especially true for those powerful people.

under night.

Li Zhengbao stood on the city wall, looking into the distance, towards the direction of the Tang Dynasty.

His eyes were full of anticipation.

Yes, he had actually rebelled against the Tang Dynasty.

Not only him, but also Xin Liaoer.

The two of them were the General of the Left Yiwei and the General of the Right Wuhou.

He had long been bribed by Tang lobbyists.

After all, they could also see that Liang Shidu's luck had run out. He had refused to be a dog of the Tang Dynasty and had to make trouble for himself. Now, he was only one step away from death.

They even had a plan ready.

In a few days, it will be Liang Shidu's birthday. They plan to launch a rebellion on his birthday and kill Liang Shidu directly.

But just now, people from the Tang Dynasty sent intelligence and the plan was temporarily postponed.

First of all, they have a new plan.

Secondly, when the people on the Tang Dynasty side were reviewing the plan, they found some loopholes. If the plan was really implemented, there was a high possibility that the news would leak out.

This also made Li Zhengbao secretly relieved. He didn't want to face Liang Shidu head-on. This man had mastered the shaman's abilities to perfection.

If the Tang Dynasty had not given him a special talisman, he would never have dared to carry out that plan.

"Draw the snake out of its hole and kill two birds with one stone."

After reading the letter, Li Zhengbao shook his hands, and the letter turned into dust and dissipated between heaven and earth.

"Your Majesty, I am Li Zhengbao."

Yes, Liang Shidu was crazy. He not only rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, but also proclaimed himself emperor.
"What brings you here, my dear?"

"Your Highness, I intend to go to the Turks in person to find the Turkic Khan and act as a lobbyist, hoping that they can provide resources for my Shuofang City."

"Are you confident?"

Liang Shidu sat slumped on the throne, showing no emotion, and just asked calmly, "Your Majesty."

Li Zhengbao recalled the words taught him in the letter and spoke.

"Our Shuofang City is between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks. With us here, the Turks will not directly border the Tang Dynasty. We protect us, and we are like a barrier for them. Especially in recent years, the Tang Dynasty has become more powerful. With the Weishui Alliance, Li Shimin will definitely find a chance to deal with them. Therefore, I believe that as long as we can persuade them with emotion and reason, we will be able to convince the Khan of the Turks to send troops."

"Well, just go and give it a try."

Hearing this, Master Liang pondered for a long time and nodded.

"Yes, your Majesty, I will definitely not let you down."
-
"These barbarians are really simple-minded."

Tang army camp.

Liu Min looked at the letter sent by Li Zhengbao and couldn't help but smile.

It was the same words of his teaching, coupled with some arrangements made by his own army, that really convinced the Turkic Khan.

He planned to tear up the contract again and prepare to go south to help Shuofang City.

Of course, the Khan was not stupid. This time, he only sent 50,000 troops because there was some problem inside DTZ and there was another Khan who was competing with him for power. Therefore, he had to guard against that person and could not send out all troops like he did more than a year ago.

"Fifty thousand Turkic cavalry."

Seeing this, Liu Min couldn't help but licking his lips. Even he was tempted by this credit, but he also knew that this credit had nothing to do with him. Without those detonating talismans, he would definitely not be able to defeat the 50,000-strong Turkic army.

"Mr. Li, now everything is ready, we just need the east wind. I wonder how are the preparations going?"

"anytime."

Li Zhongren made an OK gesture.

The Four Purple Flame Formation was something he bought himself using the reward from Li Shimin, and it could be used here.

The Four Purple Flame Formations + those several tons of detonating talismans are enough to send these Turks to heaven.

At the same time, once the Turks were destroyed, the morale of the army would inevitably collapse.

At that time, the Tang army will be able to march straight in, and with the five thousand sets of plate armor and the spells of the Tang Dynasty's Qigong practitioners, they will definitely be able to destroy Liang Shidu!
"Drip, drip~~"

Crowded

Dark

These are the Turkic cavalry, who are all over the mountains and plains, approaching Shuofang City, bringing with them food and meat.

And, fishy smell.

There is no way around it. This is the characteristic of nomadic people and we can never do without it.

Led by Liang Shidu's men, the army set up camp outside Shuofang City.

They knew that their actions could not be hidden from the Tang Dynasty scouts, and they had no intention of concealing them.

Because they came here on a forced march this time, even if the Tang Dynasty knew about it, it would take time to recruit soldiers.

In fact, their plan was to rest for a night and then join forces with Shuofang City to launch a surprise attack on the border of the Tang Dynasty tomorrow morning.

"You guys, wait here. I'm going to see Liang Shidu."

A bald old man came out, wearing animal skins.

This person is the great shaman of this team and the true leader.

Yes, in the Turks, the power of shamans is sometimes even higher than that of Khan. After all, they possess extraordinary powers.

In particular, shamans are good at communicating with heaven and earth and can interact with nature, so they can know in advance where ambushes and traps are. Coupled with the mobility of the Turkic cavalry, they can truly come and go like the wind.

"Hu~~"

A gust of wind blew and swept the great shaman towards Shuofang City.

Halfway through the flight, he stopped, because in front of him was the territory of Liang Shidu. To be honest, as a shaman, he had no idea how Liang Shidu had the luck to be recognized by the river god.

"Wutori Shaman, long time no see."

Liang Shidu also flew out slowly.

"Long time no see. We are ready. After signing this contract, we can fight together tomorrow."

As he spoke, the great shaman threw out a piece of animal skin with something densely written on it in Turkic. This was a contract blessed by the gods they believed in. Once signed, it must be abided by. The stronger the power, the greater the backlash if the contract is violated.

Liang Shidu was already prepared. When he saw the contract floating over, he waved his hand lightly and the contract hovered in front of him.

I looked at it carefully.

After a long moment, he nodded.

Although he was cursing these Turks in his heart, he knew that from now on he would basically be their dog.

However, if he doesn’t sign, he will still die.

To be honest, he felt a little regretful about why he rebelled in the first place.

Unfortunately, some things, once done, cannot be undone.

In the end, Liang Shidu signed his name on the contract.
"Pass on my order, prepare the whole army, and attack together with the Turks."

After returning to Shuofang City, Liang Shidu immediately issued an order to mobilize the entire army.

Basically, it's a last-ditch effort, or in other words, it's their last stand.

Shuofang City, City Lord’s Mansion.

Underground secret room.

Liang Shidu looked at the ball of water floating in front of him.

This is why he can control the outside water.

Because he controlled the water spirits of Shuoshui.

That is the so-called heart of the river god worshipped by shamans.

Once upon a time, this was the source of his courage to rebel.

If he could completely digest this heart, he would be able to become a strong man in the realm of true person. Even the Tang Dynasty would not dare to treat him badly.

Sadly, several years have passed.

He wouldn't let him digest even a bit of this water essence.

It seems that I can only use secret methods.

Master Liang sighed.

There will be a real shaman here tomorrow. If he tries to control the water spirit remotely, the biggest possibility is that the shaman will take away the water spirit. Therefore, his only choice is to swallow it directly.

The price is that he will never be able to leave Shuofang City again in this life.

Of course, he also knew that if he lost, he would have no chance to leave.

"Gulu!"

Grabbing the water spirit, Master Liang swallowed it in one gulp!
Then, his body suddenly swelled up, swelled up, and swelled up again, as if he had turned into a water man.
"Roar!!!"

After an unknown amount of time, a huge water man rose from the ground and almost covered the entire Shuofang City.

Condescending
"I see."

Seeing this scene, Liu Min nodded.

"Why, Commander Liu, what's wrong with this guy?"

Li Zhongren was somewhat frightened when he saw this huge water man that blocked out the sky and the sun, but when he saw that Liu Min remained calm in the face of danger, he knew that the other party seemed to know what was going on.

"In short, he has taken an evil path and imprisoned himself in this Shuofang City."

"hehe."

Speaking of this, Liu Min couldn't help but smile again.

"I was worried before that he might control the Shuoshui to attack Mr. Li's Four Purple Flame Formation. Now, if we just shift the battlefield a little bit to this side, his ability will basically be useless. Now, he is just a withered bone in a tomb."

(End of this chapter)