The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 157: Demanding the princess, Gaochang City, broken!

"Your Majesty, something is wrong!"

The Minister of War rushed into the hall again in a panic, stumbling and almost crawling to the throne, shouting in fear: "Liuzhong City has been breached!"

Upon hearing this, the originally solemn and dignified hall suddenly fell into chaos, and the ministers looked at each other with shock and fear on their faces.

Yue Ersi, who was sitting on the throne, suddenly shook her body. Her originally majestic face turned pale as paper in an instant, and the sword in her hand fell to the ground with a clang.

Not long ago, he had just received the news that the Jinzhou army had arrived in Liuzhong City, and was summoning all the ministers to discuss sending reinforcements to Liuzhong City.

But unexpectedly, Liuzhong City was breached in the blink of an eye?
"What did you say? Liuzhong City...how could it be breached so quickly?"

Yue'ersi's voice trembled and was full of disbelief.

Although Liuzhong is just a small town with a population of less than 20,000, in his opinion, it can at least hold off the Jinzhou Army for a while.

The Minister of War fell to his knees, his forehead pressed against the ground, and he said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, the northern barbarians have driven our Uighur people hostage and tied His Highness Balshu to the foot of the ladder. My soldiers guarding the city are worried about accidentally injuring His Highness~"

Hearing this, Yue Ersi slammed the table angrily: "You are so confused."

There was an uproar in the hall, and the ministers were whispering to each other, with discussions rising one after another.

"These northern barbarians are worse than beasts."

"Using innocent people as shields is extremely malicious."

"It's so abominable, so abominable."

“It is outrageous to both humans and gods.”

These Uighur ministers criticized the Jinzhou Army in unison, as if they were unaware that the Gaochang Army had also used Han civilians as shields in Beshbalik.

But talking nonsense can't solve any problems. Some people said worriedly:
"What should we do? Once Liuzhong City is breached, the enemy army will be able to march straight into our capital."

"Yes, we must find a way to deal with it immediately, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

Yue Ersi took a deep breath, suppressed her inner panic, looked at Wen Ta and asked, "Master Shao Jian, when will the royal court's reinforcements arrive?"

"Well, the journey is long, it will take at least half a month." Wen Ta said with a serious face and a slightly entangled tone.

But in fact, there was no reinforcement at all, they were just deceiving the Uighurs.

"Half a month?"

"Sigh~"

"The Jinzhou Army took less than a day to capture Liuzhong City. Can we hold out for another half a month?" Yue'ersi said worriedly.

Wen Ta said righteously: "Yes!"

"Your Majesty, don't worry. Liuzhong is just a small city, but my Gaochang is different."

"The city walls are high and the defenders are numerous."

"The rebels came from far away, and most of them are cavalry, not good at attacking cities."

"Let alone half a month, even in a month, the rebels will have no chance of conquering Gaochang."

After listening to Wen Ta's words, Yue'ersi felt relieved, but she still felt regretful in her heart.

I was so crazy at that time that I actually agreed to the royal court's request to attack the northern border.

Otherwise, how could these things happen later?

Gaochang’s 10,000-strong army would not be lost in the desert.

"Perhaps, it is not impossible to agree to the Jinzhou Army's request." An idea suddenly popped up in Yue'ersi's mind.

If you think about it carefully, apart from the exorbitant demands for money and property, the other requests are not excessive.

It's completely within Yue'ersi's acceptable range.

As for the war compensation of 100,000 taels of gold, 1 million taels of silver, etc., can we give you a discount if we negotiate properly?
Thinking of this, Yue'ersi's heart became more and more beating.

Hold on for a few days first. If it is really impossible, surrender to the Northern Frontier immediately.

He is still the king, so he should just enjoy his life and not care about the civil strife among the Khitans.

"Pass on my orders. The Hamilite army must return to the capital as soon as possible to support it. At the same time, strengthen the capital's defenses and patrol day and night. Do not slack off in the slightest."

Yue'ersi said loudly.

There were three main cities in Gaochang, namely Gaochang City, Hamili City in the east, which later became Hami City, and Qiuci City in the southwest.

The reason why the troops of Kucha City were not mobilized was mainly because the terrain of Kucha City was mainly mountainous and desert, which was not conducive to the combat of large cavalry corps.

If Gaochang City could no longer be defended and the Jinzhou Army did not agree to seek peace, Yue Ersi would lead her men to Kucha.

On the other hand, there is almost a continuous oasis plain between Hamili and Gaochang City.

Once Gaochang City falls, Hamilli will not be able to hold on at all.

At this moment, a palace soldier hurried in and said, "Your Majesty, the Jinzhou army is already marching towards the capital, and the vanguard is less than ten miles away!"

After hearing this, Yue'ersi's face changed suddenly, and the ministers in the hall stopped talking for a moment. They looked terrified and silent.

"Let's go up to the city wall."

Ten thousand Jinzhou cavalrymen, like a black torrent, galloped across the vast plains.

They were dressed in leather armor, savage and rough, like a group of demons emerging from hell.

Wherever the cavalry went, dust filled the sky and the sound of horse hooves was like thunder, shaking the earth slightly.

More than 20,000 Uighur civilians were driven in front of the team, which stretched for several miles like a twisted long snake.

They staggered, their eyes filled with fear and despair, and there were cries and shouts everywhere.

Some of them were holding their young children tightly in their arms, while the elderly who fell behind due to their old age were killed directly on the road.

The 'last-in-first-out system' formulated by Li Xiao for prisoners of war is still being implemented.

On the city wall, Yue'ersi and the ministers looked at the enemy troops that were surging like a tide in horror.

His legs trembled slightly and his lips lost their color. He grasped the battlements of the city wall tightly, and his knuckles turned white from the force.

The ministers around him all looked pale, and their usual arrogance had long disappeared without a trace.

Some ministers clasped their hands together and muttered something, as if praying for the protection of the gods.

Some of them stood there with empty eyes, as if they were frightened by the horrific scene.

"This...what should we do?" said a minister in a trembling voice, his words full of helplessness.

"How could the Jinzhou army arrive so quickly? This is really going to force us into a desperate situation!" another minister lamented, with tears in his voice.

Yue'ersi's gaze shifted between the enemy troops and the civilians below the city, with mixed feelings in her heart.

He was both angry at the cruel tactics of the Jinzhou army and desperate about the impending crisis facing Gaochang City.

At this moment, he truly realized how stupid his original decision was, but it was too late.

"Where's Wen Ta? Where's the young eunuch?"

Yue'ersi asked, and at this time she found that Wen Ta suddenly disappeared.

One of the ministers said, "When you come out of the palace, you won't see him anymore."

"You didn't run away, did you?"

Yue Ersi's face was filled with anger. She said to her personal guards, "Go and keep an eye on Wen Ta and his group. Don't let them get away."

When the time comes when nothing can be done, he can only apologize to Wen Ta and use his head.

At the same time, Li Xiao, wearing white armor, stood on his warhorse, looking at the Gaochang City in front of him.

It is very tall and big, almost as big as a tiger's ear.

After all, Husiwoerduo was the original capital of the Karakhanid Khanate.

The Karakhanid Khanate and the Gaochang Kingdom were originally one family, and were countries established by the two remnants of the Uighur Khanate who fled to the Western Regions.

Therefore, the city walls of Gaochang are also very tall.

However, Hu Siwoerduo had already been conquered by Li Xiao, let alone Gaochang City?
"Order the entire army to surround Gaochang City."

"Tomorrow morning, prepare to attack the city."

Li Xiao shouted in a deep voice.

Early the next morning, the Jinzhou army began to attack the city, with the Uighur people leading the charge.

Although the defenders' counterattack caused many casualties among the people, it did not cause much damage to the Jinzhou Army itself.

However, with 10,000 Jinzhou troops besieging the city, Gaochang's situation remained precarious.

It was not until the third day that a Gaochang minister escaped from the city in a hanging basket and was captured by the Jinzhou army and brought before Li Xiao.

"Greetings, Grand Commander."

The envoy walked into the tent and immediately bowed and touched his chest in greeting.

He secretly looked at the man in front of him.

He is tall and mighty, exuding a faint aura of evil, with an indifferent face and looks very young.

He was wearing white armor and sitting on a Hu bed. A helmet with a white tassel was placed on the table. He was wiping a strangely shaped knife in his hand.

The envoy immediately understood that this must be Li Xiao, the governor of Jinzhou.

Brother-in-law of Xiao Simo, the King of Northern Frontier.

Therefore, I dared not be negligent in the slightest.

"What does the King of Gaochang ask you to do?" Li Xiao asked in a faint voice.

"I am here for peace between the northern border and my Gaochang Kingdom," the envoy replied.

"Peace?" Li Xiao smiled.

"It's surrender!"

The messenger quickly explained: "It's not surrender, but peace talks."

However, there is no difference between these two words to Li Xiao.

He continued to wipe his cavalry sword with a rag and said with a cold smile, "Surrender is fine, let's negotiate peace."

"You also received the previous letter of persuasion to surrender."

"According to the conditions written above, war reparations and annual tributes will all be doubled."

"Then send Princess Ayi Na here."

"Agree to these conditions, and this governor will immediately withdraw his troops and return to the desert."

Hearing this, the messenger immediately lost his composure.

Yue'ersi sent him to negotiate, hoping to lower the conditions, but she didn't expect Li Xiao to double the price.

"Grand Commander, clearly before~"

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Li Xiao.

"You also said that, that was before, when our Jinzhou army was still in Beshbalik."

Li Xiao threw away the rag, held the cavalry sword in his hand, and slowly walked in front of the messenger.

The cavalry sword swung suddenly and landed steadily on his neck.

The cold blade stung his skin faintly.

The messenger broke out in a cold sweat and his legs began to tremble in panic.

Li Xiao snorted lightly: "But now, my 30,000 Jinzhou cavalry have arrived at the gates of Gaochang City."

"The previous conditions are naturally invalid."

"You want me to withdraw my troops? You have to pay me more!"

Hearing this, the messenger's face turned grim. He endured the pain and mustered up the courage to speak.

"This, this~"

"Grand Commander, there are simply too many treasures. Gaochang cannot afford them."

"And Princess Ayi Na has already been promised to someone."

This Aina was exactly the fiancée of Dahachu Luoduo.

But now Da Hechu Luoduo has turned into a human pig, and she is just a pretty young widow.

No, she's not married yet, still a young girl. There's no need for her to stay with Da He Chu Luo for the rest of her life.

Rather than marrying someone else, it would be better to marry Li Xiao.

Moreover, the Gaochang Kingdom guarded the treasure of the Silk Road, and no one knew how much tolls it had collected over the years.

Will it not be able to come up with the money?
Li Xiao didn't believe it.

"Can't take it out?"

Li Xiao smiled coldly: "Then get out."

"Go back and tell the King of Gaochang that I will personally go to Gaochang City to get it."

"Whether it's gold, silver, treasures, or Princess Ayi Na, they are all mine."

After saying this, he ordered someone to drive the messenger out.

Since he was asking for such an exorbitant price, it meant that Li Xiao had no intention of negotiating.

We have already arrived at the city of Gaochang, guarding a mountain of treasures, and we only take a part of it and leave?

This is not Li Xiao's style.

He wants them all.

Soon after, the personal guard came in to report: "Grand Commander, we found saltpeter."

The Turpan Basin produces a large amount of saltpeter, which Li Xiao knew in later generations.

His purpose of attacking Gaochang was also for sulfur and saltpeter.

Soon, the personal guard placed a bag of samples in front of Li Xiao.

It is a grayish-white stone with a shiny surface. It breaks into pieces with a light pinch and has a slightly salty taste when you lick it.

Li Xiao chuckled and nodded: "Yes, it's saltpeter."

Afterwards, Li Xiao ordered Tietou to escort a group of prisoners of war to mine saltpeter.

He is going to start making gunpowder.

A few days later, the three raw materials of sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal were all prepared.

Li Xiao selected a group of nimble Uighurs and ordered them to mix the three raw materials in proportion.

Leak?

nonexistent.

After producing this batch of gunpowder, Li Xiao will kill all the Uighurs who know about it.

After returning to Jinzhou, a new group of craftsmen will be selected to carry out closed-door gunpowder production, isolated from the outside world.

As the Jinzhou army's siege lasted longer, the morale in Gaochang City became lower and lower.

Yue'ersi's temper became more and more violent, and she would beat and scold the palace maids at any time.

Many of his favored concubines in the past had been beaten to death by him.

This time, Yue'ersi lost her temper in the palace again.

"Why can't Hamili's army be better?"

"What does Akurus want?"

"Do you have your own troops?"

Yue'ersi roared loudly and smashed everything in the palace.

His orders had been issued for many days, but Hamili's army did not move at all.

This made Yue'ersi suspicious.

Especially one of his sons, who was in Hamili at that time.

Will Aarkus crown him?

If that were the case, the situation in Gaochang would be very bad.

Internal and external troubles.

At this moment, a beautiful woman and a young girl walked out of the palace.

It was Yue'ersi's queen and his most beloved daughter Ayi Na.

Yue Ersi was about to lose her temper, but when she saw them, she suppressed her anger.

"Why are you here?"

His tone was still not very good because the queen had a son and a daughter.

The daughter is Aina, and the son is the prince in Hamili.

As for Balshu, he was born to the previous queen.

"Your Majesty has been worried about the war and has lost a lot of weight these days. You should take care of your health." The queen said in a gentle voice.

Then he took a jar from the palace maid.

"A few days ago, a merchant from the Central Plains came to our Gaochang City. This is the tea I bought from him. It's just the right thing to help calm your Majesty."

As he spoke, a cup of clear tea was poured into the cup.

The people of the Western Regions feed on milk and meat. Although they can eat some fruits to relieve the greasiness, their demand for tea is still great.

Unfortunately, the Western Regions are far away from the Central Plains, and the Silk Road is occasionally interrupted, which makes the price of tea in the Western Regions quite expensive.

Even King Yue'ersi can't drink whenever he wants.

At this moment, after drinking a cup of sweet and bitter tea, Yue'ersi's anger slowly subsided.

Only then can you speak to your wife and daughter in a nice tone.

"There's been no news from Hamil, and I'm worried Aarkus might have ulterior motives!"

"And Chibito is in Hamil~"

When the country is in turmoil, some ambitious generals, for the sake of justice, will always first establish a young emperor and take control of the government.

Afterwards, he would look for an opportunity to launch a coup and take power himself.

Although Yue'ersi is not very smart, she is still quite sensitive to such things.

"What should we do?"

"Will Qibito be in danger?" Aina said in fear, very worried about her younger brother.

And then he said worriedly: "Your Majesty, how about we quickly negotiate peace with the Northern Barbarians?"

"We'll give them whatever they want."

Yue'ersi was hesitant to make up her mind, one reason being that Li Xiao's demands were too high.

On the other hand, he was also worried that once Xiao Simo died in the future, the northern border would fall apart and Gaochang would be liquidated by the royal court.

"But the Northern Barbarians don't just want money, they also want Ayi'na." Yue'ersi looked like she loved her daughter so much that she couldn't bear to see her suffer.

Ayi Na stood aside, her originally pretty face now filled with confusion.

He looked at his father's haggard face, and then at the sky outside the window shrouded in the shadow of war.

After a long moment, she took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind. She said in a firm tone, "Father, if my going there can bring peace to Gaochang and save the people from the ravages of war, I am willing to go."

Her voice was clear but with a hint of determination.

It was as if those princesses who had married off to other countries knew it was a pit of fire, but they still went there without hesitation for the safety of their families and country.

When Yue'ersi heard this, her eyes instantly turned red: "Ayi Na, my daughter."

"How could you possibly take such a risk? How could you possibly endure the bitter cold of the Golden State?"

Ayi Na knelt slightly in greeting, tears glistening in her eyes, yet she remained resolute: "Father, Gaochang is in imminent danger. As a member of the royal family, I, your daughter, must share the country's worries."

As a princess of Gaochang, Aina knew from a young age that marriage was her inevitable fate.

When she was engaged to Oga Chuluoduo in the past, although she was reluctant, she was powerless to resist the arrangement of fate and could only accept it silently.

Now, asking her to go to Jinzhou and serve the tiger herself has also put her in a helpless and desperate situation. Even though she feels extremely bitter, she still finds it difficult to refuse.

However, just when the family of three was in a dilemma and unable to make a decision, a loud roar suddenly sounded in the sky.

The sound was like a thunderclap, instantly breaking the solemn and oppressive atmosphere in the palace.

All three of them were startled and subconsciously raised their heads. There was a lot of dust falling from the roof of the palace, and the ground under their feet was shaking slightly.

"What is this sound?"

the queen asked in horror, her voice trembling.

Her hands unconsciously clutched her sleeves, her eyes full of anxiety.

Yue'ersi was also frightened, but she could only stay calm in front of her wife and daughter.

He shouted to the guards: "Let's see, what's going on?"

However, when he looked into the distance, he faintly heard the shouts of the Jinzhou Army outside the city becoming louder.

I suddenly had a bad feeling in my heart.

This thunder may be related to the Jinzhou Army.

Soon, a guard with a pale face staggered into the hall and fell several times.

He shouted, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

"Something bad has happened. The northern barbarians have entered the city."

Upon hearing this, Yue'ersi felt a black screen before her eyes, and her whole body was as if struck by lightning. She instantly turned as pale as paper, and her eyes were full of despair and fear.

"What did you say? How could the northern barbarians enter the city? What are our soldiers doing?" Yue'ersi roared at the top of her lungs.

Gaochang City was majestic and tall. In his mind, it was impossible for an army of 10,000 Jinzhou soldiers, or even an army of 100,000 soldiers, to capture it in just a few days.

This sturdy city wall has always been his support and the security guarantee of the Gaochang Kingdom, but now, all of this has been shattered like a dream.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Yue Ersi roared loudly.

He staggered out of the hall, wanting to see it with his own eyes.

The queen and Ayi Na also looked pale.

"What should we do, mother?" Aina asked with trembling body.

The queen was also very confused at this moment and could not make a decision. She finally decided to leave the city.

At the city gate, Li Xiao was wearing thick cotton armor, a tasseled helmet, and riding steadily on his warhorse.

His eyes were cold and he faced it all calmly, as if the Jinzhou Army was killing nothing more than a group of ants.

During these few days, he ordered people to make a large number of explosive packs and pile them all at the city gate.

With a loud bang, the earth shook and the Gaochang city gate was instantly blown to pieces and collapsed. The dust raised in the sky looked like a huge mushroom cloud.

"Ho ho ho~"

Countless Jinzhou soldiers, dressed in iron and leather armor, roared loudly, rode on strong war horses, and rushed into the city like a surging tide with long spears in their hands.

Dahu led the army in the vanguard. During the more than a year of fighting, his physique had become increasingly sturdy and strong. Now fully armored, he looked like a moving mountain.

"Kill~"

Holding a spear, he rushed towards a group of fleeing Uighur soldiers.

There was no pause at all, he just crashed straight forward.

"Ah~"

"Help~"

At this moment, a Uighur soldier was knocked to the ground by the powerful impact of the warhorse. His bones were broken and he cried and wailed on the ground.

But then, the heavy iron hooves of the warhorse stepped down, and his chest collapsed instantly.

The other soldiers followed closely behind, and all the Uighur soldiers who fell to the ground were trampled into meat paste.

"Kill toward the palace."

Da Hu pointed his spear forward and roared loudly.

Gaochang City, broken!
(End of this chapter)