Tibet

Before the Tang army could attack, the queen of the city, Alian, sent people out of the city to negotiate. The negotiating minister was lowered from the top of the city with baskets and ropes. She waved and slowly approached the Tang army.

Several scouts rode up and brought the minister to the army. The minister turned out to be a woman, about fifty years old, and she looked like a high-ranking female official.

The soldiers brought her to the commander Bai Xiaode. Bai Xiaode shouted and asked: "Who are you?"

The female minister bowed and saluted, and said in fluent Chinese: "My name is Baglan. I am Aijin of the Shi Kingdom, that is, the prime minister. I came to negotiate with the Tang army on the order of King Alan."

Bai Xiaode turned around and smiled at Li Chenghua: "The supervisor, let's talk to her! If the negotiation is successful, I will withdraw the troops. If the negotiation is not successful, we will continue to fight!"

Li Chenghua took the female prime minister to the big tent at the back. Baglan was also surprised that the Tang Jun who was negotiating with her was also a woman and not bad looking.

Li Chenghua asked her to sit down and ordered the soldiers to serve tea. She smiled slightly and said: "Don't be surprised, I am the only female high-ranking official in the Tang army!"

Baglan suddenly thought of something and asked tentatively: "Are you the inner guard Li Dutong?"

Li Chenghua nodded, "That's me. You should know that I have been to Samarkand!"

"I heard, can General Li fully represent the Tang Army?"

"I am the commander-in-chief of the Tang Army. I can not only represent the Tang Army, but also the Emperor!"

Li Chenghua took out the emperor's gold medal. This gold medal was not for her to serve as a supervisor, but to inspect Anxi and Hezhong on behalf of the emperor.

Baglan said quickly: "There is a saying in your country that a teacher has a reputation. The Shi Kingdom has not offended the Tang Dynasty, nor has it harmed the interests of the Tang Dynasty. How can the Tang Dynasty army suddenly attack the Shi Kingdom?"

Li Chenghua asked calmly: "Will Shi Guo and the Saint be related?"

"How do you say this?"

"The army of the Saintess Society invaded Suiye and killed the soldiers and people in Suiye. The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was furious and sent a special army to conquer. Queen Bukhanna was supported by the Saintess Society, so Bukhanna perished."

Baglan shook his head quickly, "The Stone Kingdom actually has little to do with the Saint Sisters. Although we have a female king in power, it is not the same thing as Bukhan. Because our king is young, the queen's grandmother Alian is in charge. Eight years ago "Alian deposed the young king and became the king himself. He has nothing to do with the Saints. We are kings, not queens. Please make this clear, General Li."

Li Chenghua sneered and said: "I went to the Great Guangming Temple in Samarkand. Shi Guo, Ba Khanna and Xiao Shi Guo are the three major protector kingdoms of the Saints. I also saw the statue of your queen A Lian. In addition, in According to the legal documents of the Saints' Society, Shi Guo is a loyal vassal state of the Saints' Society, and various evidences show that Shi Guo is a member of the Saints' Society."

Baglan sighed and said: "Under the pressure of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the Shiguo army only had two thousand troops left. In order to protect ourselves, we had to surrender to all the forces that bullied us, including the Saintess Society. They sent We recruited 20,000 troops to protect Shi Guo and Ba Khanna, but this army tried to enter Tuozhi City several times. We dared not let them enter the city, so we could only give them 200,000 taels of silver every year to seek peace."

Li Chenghua shook his head, "When the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty ascended the throne, we sent invitations to the chambers of commerce of various Sogdian countries in Chang'an half a year in advance, including Shi Guo. Don't say that you didn't receive the invitations. You also sent people to Samar. Han discussed whether to send envoys to Chang'an for pilgrimage, but in the end no envoys from the Shi Kingdom came to perform pilgrimage, let alone your queen. In the eight years since she took office, she has never been to the Tang Dynasty once, but as far as I know, she has gone twice Baghdad Hajj Caliphate.”

Baglan was speechless and said after a while: "Chang'an is too far away. Although we did not go to Chang'an for pilgrimage, we still respect the Tang Dynasty in our hearts."

Li Chenghua still shook his head, "What's the point of talking about this now?

"Okay! Please give General Li some conditions! How can we let us go?"

Li Chenghua said lightly: "The only way to let the Shi Kingdom go is to be like the Nanzhao Kingdom. I guess you don't know the situation of the Nanzhao Kingdom. I will tell you frankly. First, the Shi Kingdom disbands its army, and the Shi Kingdom is led by the Tang Army." Secondly, the Shi Kingdom is loyal to the Tang Dynasty, and the heir to the throne will go to Chang'an; thirdly, the silver and silver mines in the Shi Kingdom will be owned by the Tang Dynasty, and then we will not interfere in the internal affairs of the Shi Kingdom, and the people of the Shi Kingdom will still be ruled by the Queen. We don’t care about the land.”

Baglan let out a long sigh, "In the final analysis, the Tang army came here for the silver from the Shi Kingdom."

Li Chenghua smiled lightly and said: "It is very dangerous for a child to run on the street holding gold and silver. Even if the Tang army does not come now, within half a year, you will be devoured and the country will be destroyed."

"Does the Tang Dynasty want to take away all our silver mines?"

"Not necessarily. We will give you the resources to feed the people. If the land can support the people, you will have no silver mines. If the land cannot support the people, then leave some silver mines. Of course, there is another plan!"

"What's the other plan?"

"If Shi Guo is responsible for supporting our 10,000 garrison, the Tang Dynasty can leave Shi Guo 30% of silver."

Baglan nodded, "Okay! I completely understand the conditions of the Tang Dynasty. I will report to the Queen!"

Li Chenghua said lightly: "Use darkness as the boundary. We will not attack before dark. After dark, if we do not see the city gate open and the army surrender, the Tang army will not give Shi Guo another chance."

Baghlan lowered his head and said: "If we are unfortunately defeated, please don't massacre our people!"

Li Chenghua nodded, "I promise you, the Tang army will never massacre the people of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty."

This was about to destroy the country. Baglan's face turned pale and he had to stand up and say goodbye. Li Chenghua took her to the front of the battle. Baglan went to the city wall under the escort of two Tang Army cavalry.

Bai Xiaode looked at her back and asked with a smile, "How do you say that?"

Li Chenghua said slowly: "I proposed the model of the Nanzhao Kingdom, and then used darkness as the boundary. If the army does not surrender after dark, the general can attack with all his strength. Those who resist the army will be killed without mercy, but after the city is broken, the people should not be harmed."

Bai Xiaode nodded, "General, please rest assured, I will strictly enforce it!"

Baglan sat on the wooden basket, and the rope pulled the wooden basket up to the top of the city. Soldiers helped her down. Queen Alan was already waiting for her.

"Baghlan, how are you?" Alan asked nervously.

Baglan's face turned pale and he said: "Her Royal Highness, let's go back to the palace and talk about it!"

Alan nodded and returned to the palace with several important ministers.

There were five people sitting in the palace meeting hall. In addition to the Queen and Prime Minister Baghlan, there were also General Sado, Deputy Prime Minister Guo Aman, and the heir to the throne Princess Qianquan. Princess Qianquan was Alan's granddaughter, only seventeen years old. She was extremely beautiful, so she should go to Samarkand to become a saint, but Queen Alian was reluctant, so she kept her granddaughter with her at the cost of one hundred thousand taels of silver per year.

Deputy Prime Minister Aman is also a woman. Except for the sixty-year-old general Sado, the other four are women. To a certain extent, Shiguo is a country of girls, with women in power.

After everyone listened to Baghlan's narration, Deputy Prime Minister Guo Aman said angrily: "This is the behavior of banditry. He took a fancy to the silver of the Shi Kingdom and sent an army to rob it. This is the same as the millions of crude silver that were robbed from us in Talos. What difference does it make if he robs us of another million taels of silver!"

Queen Alan said calmly: "The governor of Hezhong who stole our money back then is the same person as the current Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, so I know his purpose very well. The key is whether we can hold Tuozhi City if we don't accept the other party's conditions. Sado General, tell me!"

Just as General Sado was about to speak, a thunderous explosion suddenly came from outside the city.

Everyone was shocked, and a guard rushed over and said: "The Tang army launched a long-range attack and used a firearm to attack our city wall!"

Queen Alan looked at Baghlan with sharp eyes, "Didn't you say that the Tang army would not attack before dark?"

Baglan was at a loss and said: "Li Chenghua clearly promised it, but I don't know what happened?"

At this time, Princess Qianquan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said: "I think Li Dutong had good intentions and was afraid that we would make the wrong choice."

Princess Qianquan stood up and said: "Grandma, let's go to the holy platform and take a look and we will know!"