A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

To commemorate his ascension to the throne, Xia Jie named the city Beishou City and designated it as his capital.

At this time, the city, which had only recently been established as the capital, was surrounded by a large army led by Li Ji and Changsun Wuji.

This city of Beishou appears to be sturdy, but it has been controlled by Changsun Wuji, who harbors ulterior motives, for so many years. It looks intact on the surface, but in reality, it is already riddled with holes.

No matter how high, thick, or sturdy a city wall is, if it is targeted by people with ulterior motives for years, it is no different from a wall made of paper.

Secret passages, shoddy construction, hidden doors, traitors...

With the assistance of Changsun Wuji, Li Ji conquered this city, which was considered one of the best in the entire Great Xia Dynasty, in less than a week.

The new Xia capital established by Xia Jie fell into the hands of the Tang army, and his clan, harem, high-ranking officials, court ministers, princes and princesses were all captured.

Even though Xia Jie's relentless attack broke through the pass, they were still in an awkward situation.

Moving forward, you'll find the capital city heavily guarded by the Tang Dynasty; moving backward, you'll find Beishou City, heavily guarded by Li Ji and his troops.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, no matter which way they go, they will be caught in a pincer movement.

"Continue the hunt in the north!"

Xia Jie roared, deciding to implement a base-exchange tactic with the Tang Dynasty. Before Li Ji and his men could head north and before the Tang army could establish a firm foothold in Yangcheng, he would use his position as the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty to drive the Tang army out of Yangcheng and seize the capital.

Compared to Beishou City, Yangcheng is the imperial capital recognized by the people and soldiers of the Great Xia Dynasty.

The political significance of the two is completely different.

If he can recapture Yangcheng, it will be worth it even if he loses Beishoucheng.

Xia Jie continued to lead his troops north, leaving behind 30 troops at this pass to defend against Changsun Wuji, who would eventually advance north.

Yangcheng, the capital of the Great Xia Dynasty for hundreds of years, once again became the battlefield for the struggle between the two sides and the key to determining the fate of the world.

Xia Jie wants to wage a fierce battle against Li Jing in this imperial city, with the victor determining the ownership of the city.

However, Li Jing had already anticipated his actions and naturally wouldn't let him have his way.

Li Jing set up an ambush directly on Xia Jie's advance route, imitating the way King Zhongwu destroyed the Xiongnu. He set up a total of nine ambush points on Xia Jie's advance route.

Each ambush was conducted in a completely different way, whether it was located in the Gobi Desert, hidden underground, or set as a trap, and so on.

When Xia Jie arrived in Yangcheng, his troops were already exhausted, more than half of their provisions had been lost, and almost all of their siege equipment had been burned. They could only manage to set up camp and rebuild their siege equipment outside the city.

Li Jing wouldn't give him that chance. Taking advantage of Xia Jie's unstable foothold, he abandoned the fortified city and led his troops out to launch a night attack.

After enduring numerous ambushes, the Xia army finally reached the outskirts of Yangcheng and could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

They didn't think Li Jing would abandon a well-fortified city to go out and fight them, as the losses in open field battles would be far greater than those with a fortified city.

Therefore, they were caught off guard and were almost completely overrun by Li Jing. The soldiers fled in panic, the entire camp was in chaos, flames soared into the sky, armor was discarded, and countless soldiers killed each other.

Even after Li Jing and his men retreated back into the city, the mutiny that had already started in the military camp did not subside; instead, it intensified.

As dawn broke, the commotion gradually subsided, becoming clearly visible throughout the camp.

Xia Jie, his face dark, ordered his men to calculate the losses, and the result made his heart bleed. After being ambushed multiple times on the way, his troops had lost at least two or three hundred thousand men.

Yesterday's riots resulted in even greater losses, with no fewer than 20 soldiers fleeing.

Not to mention those who died or were seriously wounded in the ensuing chaos, all of whom left him with less than 70 soldiers capable of fighting.

They don't even outnumber the city's garrison; how can he possibly fight them?!

Our troop strength is inferior to others.

Elite, elite is not as good as others.

The geographical advantage is not as good as others.

Morale is lower than others.

He was only slightly better in terms of command, but his generals and strategists were not as good as the others.

Gan!

Being an emperor is so difficult for him; his subordinates are all incompetent fools who are completely useless.

Are we going to withdraw our troops?

But will the Tang army give them a chance?

Putting myself in his shoes, if it were him, he certainly wouldn't give him that chance.

What should we do then?

Xia Jie racked his brains but couldn't come up with a solution. In desperation, he had to call over his advisors again to brainstorm ideas.

"I am willing to go to the Tang Dynasty as an envoy and use my persuasive tongue to convince the Tang emperor to issue an edict ordering Li Jing to withdraw his troops."

Another brilliant strategist stepped forward; the previous one was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and this one is the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

There's always a phoenix chick by the side of Zhuge Liang, right?!

It would take him five, six, seven, or eight years to travel to the Tang Dynasty, persuade the Tang emperor, and then have him issue an edict to the emperor.

Not much, not even a little bit.

That's enough to make the grass on his grave grow three feet high.

"Drag him away and chop him up!"

Xia Jie said without even blinking.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent! With a great battle imminent, how can you indiscriminately kill meritorious officials?"

Big Smart Number 2 kept shouting as it was being dragged away.

"My esteemed ministers, does anyone have a plan?"

Xia Jie asked.

"I am willing to go on a mission to Li Jing, but the Tang Dynasty currently holds the advantage. If we wish to persuade them, we will likely have to pay a heavy price."

"What price are you asking for? I'll accept anything as long as it makes the Tang army withdraw."

Xia Jie quickly said.

"The Tang Dynasty has always referred to itself as the Divine Empire and the legitimate successor of China. However, the Xia Dynasty's self-establishment of its imperial throne is a blatant challenge to the Tang Dynasty's legitimacy. This is why, throughout history, only the Tang Dynasty has launched large-scale military campaigns against the Xia Dynasty."

"It is all for the purpose of destroying the Great Xia and upholding the legitimacy of the Great Tang."

"Therefore, as long as the title of Great Xia is not abolished, Great Tang will not withdraw its troops."

The Minister of Rites, the superior of Big Smart No. 1 and Big Smart No. 2, knelt on the ground, trembling.

This is asking an emperor to relinquish his imperial title; what an immense insult!

It is absolutely no less than the hatred of killing one's father, slaughtering one's son, and stealing one's wife.

"You scoundrel! You actually dared to ask me to abdicate!"

"Tell me, are you a spy sent by the Tang Dynasty?!"

Xia Jie strode up to the Minister of Rites, spitting directly onto his face.

"Your Majesty, I am utterly loyal and have no other intentions."

"However, this is currently the only way to possibly persuade the Tang Dynasty."

"I am even a little worried that, even so, they are still unwilling to withdraw their troops."

"Who would willingly spit out meat that's already in their mouth?!"

"Has Your Majesty forgotten how this land along the Ganges originally came to be?"

"It's about granting fiefdoms; don't Li Jing and the others want to be granted land and made kings?!"

The Minister of Rites spoke in a trembling voice, but his words struck a chord with Xia Jie.

Who can refuse the achievement of granting land, establishing ancestral temples, and so on?

"Go, I agree."