Chapter 208 Zhuge Liang: I just don't like people with the surname Cao

Jiang Si has been concentrating on practicing sword skills recently. After she has mastered the skill, she will naturally try to take revenge.

However, she was completely unprepared to lead a group of people to restore their country.

She knew very well that she did not have that ability. She had been following Li Changan as a guard for the past two months, and she knew how difficult it was to lead a large group of people.

Even if everyone is loyal to Li Changan, there are still countless problems that need to be solved.

Li Changan directly rejected Cao Changqing without giving her a chance to answer.

Before Cao Changqing came, Jiang Si had already promised Li Changan to serve as a guard for five years in exchange for ownership of the Dragon Sparrow Sword.

Li Changan said slowly, "Master Cao, Xiao Si cannot go with you."

When Jiang Si heard Li Changan calling her Xiao Si, her heart trembled. Li Changan had called her Xiao Si a long time ago.

Cao Changqing was puzzled and asked, "Your Majesty, Jiang Si is the princess of Western Chu."

Li Changan said, "It was me who saved her from the jaws of death. In the years before I saved her, you did nothing."

"At that time, Xiao Si was alone in a dangerous place, surrounded by enemies. Where were you, the old officials of Western Shu?"

"I rescued her, so Jiang Si belongs to me."

Li Changan spoke slowly, but his tone was unquestionable.

When Jiang Si heard this, she couldn't help but jump in relief. Her face turned red and tears sparkled in her beautiful eyes.

The emotions that had been suppressed in her heart suddenly burst out.

After hearing what Li Changan said, Cao Changqing was stunned, but he was unable to refute.

Li Changan continued, "What are you, Cao Changqing, going to do with the grass-roots army you have gathered?"

"Those people have their own agendas, and I'm afraid you can't suppress them. If you let Xiao Si go back, aren't you just putting her on the fire?"

There was indeed disunity within the Western Chu restoration forces. Cao Guanzi was highly skilled in martial arts, but not good at management.

Cao Changqing couldn't believe that Li Changan even knew about their internal problems.

And what Li Changan said really makes sense.

He frowned, pondered for a long time, and then sighed.

"What the Tang King said makes sense."

"I will come back to bring the princess back after I have reorganized my troops and cleared up the internal situation!"

After he finished speaking, he bowed to Jiang Si and said, "Take care, Princess."

"King Tang is right. It is much safer for you to stay here now than to go back with me."

For some reason, Jiang Si felt relieved.

"Uncle Qizhao, I haven't thought clearly whether to go back with you or not."

"I just escaped from Beiliang not long ago. Please give me some time to think about it."

A trace of disappointment flashed in Cao Changqing's eyes, and then he nodded helplessly and left the military camp.

At least knowing that Jiang Si was safe and sound, Cao Changqing felt much more relieved.

Zhuge Liang and Gu Dazu sent Cao Changqing out of the military camp, leaving only Jiang Si and Li Changan in the central military camp.

When Jiang Si thought of what Li Changan said, "Jiang Si is my person," she felt a little weak.

When in Beiliang, Jiang Si only needed to sweep the tombs regularly and think about escaping alive every day.

But now that Chu Zhen has escaped, and Cao Guanzi has also arrived, she feels even more confused.

In her subconscious, Li Changan was much closer to her than Cao Changqing, because during the past few years in the Beiliang Palace, only Li Changan sent people to contact her.

If it weren't for Li Changan, Jiang Si might have to stay in the Beiliang Palace for the rest of her life, a result she couldn't imagine.

Outside the military camp.

Zhuge Liang looked at Cao Guanzi walking away with a gloomy expression.

Gu Dazu said with emotion, "No matter what, Cao Guanzi's determination to restore the country is still respectable."

"Once we have established a firm foothold in the west, it would be a great help if we could recruit this person."

Zhuge Liang slowly shook his head, as if he disagreed with what Gu Dazu said.

Gu Dazu added, "The military advisor doesn't like him because he is not trying to restore the country for his homeland, but to clear the name of the Queen of Western Chu?"

Cao Changqing restored the country not for his homeland or for the people, and Gu Dazu did not quite agree with him.

Seeing that Zhuge Liang still didn't say anything, Gu Dazu guessed again, "It's really rude of Cao Guanzi to break into the military camp. It's reasonable that the military advisor doesn't like him."

Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang just shook his head helplessly, "It's not that complicated."

"I don't like Cao Changqing, just because... I don't like people with the last name Cao."

Gu Dazu was stunned. What's wrong with having the surname Cao? It's better than having the surname Hong!

A month later.

Li Changan led his troops to the Jianmen Pass. As long as they passed the Jianmen Pass, the journey to Shazhou would be smooth.

At this time, Murong Fuyun, who was at Jiange Pass, truly experienced what it meant to be in a difficult situation.

He could never have imagined that Li Changan would slowly devour all of his 70,000 men.

Li Changan used war to support the war, and not only did his army not lose any men, but it became increasingly powerful.

He originally led 150,000 troops to the battle, but now only 20,000-odd troops are left at Jiange Pass.

There are only more than 30,000 soldiers stationed in the heart of Shanshan. This situation is really too dangerous.

The Gui Han army following far behind outside Jiange Pass was not a threat originally, but now it is hard to say.

Li Changan was in the west and the Gui Han army was in the east. Once the two sides surrounded them, more than 20,000 Shanshan troops were suffocated to death at Jiange Pass.

If Li Changan had patience and waited for the Liyang court's central army to be sent over, the Shanshan army would be doomed to die.

The most hateful thing is that Li Changan actually hung Murong Fuyun’s head on the city wall of Jiange Pass. It was a murderous act that broke his heart!

When the Shan army saw the prince's head, their morale was half gone.

Finally, on a dark and windy night.

Murong Fuyun led more than 20,000 remnant troops and fled the pass overnight!

In order to avoid the Gui Han army that was waiting outside the pass, Murong Fuyun deliberately took a detour to the south.

Finally, the Shanshan tribe's people fled back to the Western Regions via the Waleng tribe.

Li Changan's troops entered Jiange Pass and got a short rest.

Jiange Pass City is solid and reliable, and there is quite a lot of space inside, which is a perfect place for Li Changan to rest.

A few days later, the leader of the Han army outside the city came to the pass to ask for a meeting.

In name, the other party is independent of the Liyang court.

Although they have always been interested in the Central Plains, there has been no news for a long time.

So, Li Changan was not sure what they were going to do now.

If you want to cooperate to deal with the barbarians, then of course you can cooperate.

At that time, Li Changan will enter Shazhou and return to the Han army to provide support behind enemy lines.

It won't take long to destroy the Shanshan tribe and take back Gantai County.

Li Changan is not sure what the Guihan army’s attitude towards him is.

Intelligence shows that old General Zhang Yichao is not in the army.

The leader of the Han army now is Zhang Huaiding, the son of Zhang Yichao, and several of his cousins.

If it was the loyal Zhang Yichao, Li Changan would not have any worries.

But when it comes to the second generation of the Gui Han army, it is hard to say.

Maybe they saw that Li Changan only had 10,000 people and had bad intentions, so we had to be on guard.

So, it is better to handle it with caution.

Even though these people had bad intentions, Li Changan still wanted to persuade them to surrender.

After all, these are Han people from the northwest, and they are the same ethnic group that has persisted in the area occupied by the foreigners for more than ten years.

On the city wall of Guancheng, Li Cunxiao was full of energy and shouted to the people below the Guancheng.

"Please return the Han army to the city, General Zhang can bring his guards to see the king!" Zhang Huaiding's voice came from under the city wall, "We should do this when we meet the King of Tang!"

Afterwards, Zhang Huaiding entered the city gate with two generals.

What Zhang Huaiding did was very risky. If Li Changan was hostile, he could just arrest him directly.

"Zhang Huaiding of the Han army returns to meet the King of Tang!"

Zhang Huaiding was less than thirty years old, with a stocky build and a face full of stubble.

Li Changan said, "General Zhang, there is no need to be so polite. Sit down and talk!"

Zhang Huaiding sat in a chair, looking very tired.

Li Changan got straight to the point, "You, the leader of the Gui Han army, have presented yourself to me and are still paying such a great tribute."

"If my prediction is correct, the Gui Han army must have encountered some difficulties."

Zhang Huaiding sighed and said, "There is nothing to hide from the prince. We have already found out everything about the prince."

"Your Highness dared to fight Xu Xiao and the foreigners. All the foreigners who entered the pass this time were killed by Your Highness."

"Soon after hearing the news that the prince was granted the title of Shazhou, my father decided to bring 20,000 Han troops to join the prince."

Lu Xu said, "Northern Han is long gone, and Northern Liang wants to exclude you for their own selfish interests."

"You and Beimang and Xifan are mortal enemies. Submitting to King Tang is the only correct choice."

Zhang Huaiding said, "My father said the same thing at the time."

"But later, because of a traitor in the group, things changed."

"The traitors kidnapped my father, and a civil war broke out within the Guihan army."

As he spoke of this, Zhang Huaiding's eye sockets gradually turned red.

"After all, we have persisted for more than ten years."

"Some brothers couldn't hold on any longer, and father didn't blame them!"

"But they shouldn't hold my father hostage and seek credit from the barbarians!"

Li Changan said slowly, "The civil war in the Gui Han army reduced 20,000 people to 10,000 people."

"The remaining 10,000 people are all true Han men."

"Where did those traitors take General Zhang?"

Zhang Huaiding said, "Yumen County occupied by the Waleng tribe."

Zhuge Liang said, "If it is Yumen County, it will be returned to the prince immediately."

Zhang Huaiding nodded, "Once the prince arrives, they should withdraw."

"But the Yumen County is still occupied by the barbarians. If they want to evacuate, they will probably take my father with them."

"They kept my father here to force the Gui Han army to surrender!"

Speaking of this, Zhang Huaiding couldn't help but get furious.

Calm Lu Xu continued to analyze, "So your 10,000 people are now seriously short of food and grass."

"You actually dared to secretly follow the Shanshan army, in fact, to see if you can take advantage of the situation to rob them."

"If you can grab some military rations, you can hold out for a while longer!"

Zhang Huaiding said, "What this gentleman said is correct. It's all the fault of those traitorous sons of bitches!"

"They actually destroyed all the food and fodder we had worked so hard to store!"

At this point, Zhang Huaiding knelt on one knee again, "Your Majesty!"

"If the prince can rescue my father, the Gui Han army is willing to unite and submit!"

At this time, Li Changan did not speak.

Lu Xu continued, "General Zhang, this is not right."

"You have nowhere else to go. You can only submit to the prince."

"After that, the prince will give you a chance to survive, and then we can work together to rescue General Zhang!"

Lu Xu's idea was to first recapture these Han troops and then talk about other things.

Zhang Huaiding's intention was to let Li Changan help rescue Zhang Yichao first, and then surrender.

Perhaps it was because both sides did not trust each other, Zhang Huaiding remained silent, obviously still wanting to persevere.

Li Changan said, "Zhang Huaiding, you can't hesitate any longer."

"The barbarians in Anxi County may withdraw at any time, and General Zhang may be taken into the heart of the Western Regions at any time."

"I'm sure that with General Zhang's stubbornness, he would never want to set foot on the land of the Western Regions."

"Besides, you are now out of food and in danger. I have always admired the Gui Han Army, especially General Zhang."

"There is a lonely loyal person in the northwest, which is both admirable and lamentable!"

"As long as you agree to submit, the treatment of food, fodder, and equipment will be the same as that of my army!"

Upon hearing this promise, Lu Xu and Zhuge Liang immediately became anxious.

"Your Majesty, please think twice!"

"The army is the hardest to get back together, let alone the Zhang family's private army!"

"The loyalty of the Guihan Army is always towards the Zhang family!"

Li Changan smiled faintly. According to common sense, this is indeed the case.

But Li Changan has a system, so he only needs to exchange 5,000 elite Tang army templates.

As long as these soldiers agreed to formally submit, Li Changan would allow half of the 10,000 Han troops to merge with the template.

Half of the ten thousand people are loyal to Li Changan, so this army will definitely not cause any trouble.

Maybe one day, the Gui Han army will be able to truly enter the pass and compete for the Central Plains!

Li Changan said, "You don't need to persuade me anymore. I have my own opinion on this matter."

Then, Li Changan spoke sternly to Zhang Huaiding.

"Zhang Huaiding, this opportunity is rare and will never come again!"

"Zhang Yichao, the backbone of the country in the northwest, is trapped in the enemy camp!"

"You join the Han army now, and I will immediately send assassins to rescue General Zhang!"

"If you submit to me, I will definitely lead you to recover the seven counties of Shazhou!"

"Shazhou Prefecture's capital, Dunhuang City, will definitely be taken back. I will give you one last chance!"

Li Changan's words made Zhang Huaiding's eyes well up with tears!
He was more anxious than anyone else because his father had fallen into the hands of the enemy.

Moreover, Li Changan mentioned Dunhuang City, which was the place where the Zhang family started their rebellion and has now been in the hands of the enemy for decades!

There are not many people in this world who can help the Zhang family recover Shazhou.

Xu Xiao, Gu Jiantang, King Yan Chi... and Li Changan!

But will the people in front help them?

Zhang Huaiding gritted his teeth and said, "I, General Zhang Huaiding, will lead 12,000 Han troops to submit to His Majesty the King of Tang!"

The Northwestern man's eyes were filled with tears, and every word he said was sonorous!
Li Changan nodded and said, "Very good!"

"Northern Han has fallen, so stop calling yourself the Return of Han Army!"

"It's not Northern Han or Liyang you want to submit to!"

"This is the righteousness of the Central Plains for thousands of years. From today on, you will be renamed the Guiyi Army!"

[Digest the worldly value of 5000, exchange for 5000 Tang Dynasty Guiyi Army templates! ]

The Tang Guiyi Army was the elite cavalry of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. All of them were eighth-rank warriors, but they were much stronger than the Northern Liang cavalry.

Lu Xu became nervous again when he heard this. This was a conditioned reflex of a counselor, always thinking of the worst first.

The army that has just surrendered may not be reliable, even if it is the iron-willed and loyal Guihan Army in the northwest.

Zhang Huaiding pondered the name of the Guiyi Army and surprisingly found it more catchy than the Guihan Army.

Then Li Changan said, "Let's go, General Zhang, follow me to review the Guiyi Army!"

(End of this chapter)