As Zhang Qian expected, Yi Hu knew that his debt would become a very huge number in twelve days, but in the end he chose to sign the peace agreement and then left in a hurry with a thousand carefully selected officials and soldiers.

Before he could go far, a desolate cry sounded on the top of the mountain. The Shi State soldiers who had not been taken away by him were more than 3,000, most of them were soldiers at the bottom. They had neither the ability nor the courage to organize their stubbornness. They could only cry out loud while waiting for the massacre of the Tang army.

Although the Shi Kingdom is known as a country, it is actually a surname among the nine surnames of Zhaowu. It is more like a tribe than a country. In the war between tribes, massacring prisoners is the most normal thing. What's more, the Tang army also gave them the opportunity to spend money to redeem their lives. It was because their city lord Yi Hushe who was reluctant to spend so much money to throw them on the hillside! According to the rules, how could they survive?!

However, what happened next was far beyond the expectations of the soldiers of the Shi Kingdom. Instead of raising the butcher's knife to them, the Tang army specially sent more than 40 baskets of Hu cakes up the mountain. Although it was not enough to make each of them full, after each person got a cake, there was still a remaining in the basket.

"Why are you crying? Look at your bear-like appearance. What have you been doing? When Yihu took you to rob the thunder cavalry and give the people, who did you cry?" Tang Jun, who was responsible for distributing Hu cakes, had obvious Western blood. His hair was curled and his eyes were gray. There was also a clear Turkic pronunciation in Sogdian language. "Come here to get the food, one for each person. After eating, I have the strength to go to kowtow to my guards and apologize!"

His voice was very loud, but few people were willing to listen. Most of the soldiers of the Shi Kingdom did not have the courage to come forward to get Hu Bing, for fear that the Tang army would poison the cake and kill them collectively.

However, when more than a dozen soldiers from Shi Kingdom who were extremely desperate, came forward to get the Hu cake with the idea of ​​being a full devil, and started to chew it in cold water, the crying on the hillside immediately began to sniff. Many prisoners suddenly realized that if the Tang army wanted to massacre them, there was no need to waste so much food, and immediately rushed to the willow basket containing the cakes.

"Don't squeeze, don't rob, queue up, line up. Zhang Lu, leader Lu, give me a whip to whip them! If you don't whip, these starving ghosts can trample themselves to death!" The Tongzhi, who was responsible for distributing Hu Bing, was very anxious and immediately opened his voice and shouted.

The Tang army, who was responsible for maintaining order, waved the whip without hesitation and sucked towards the crowd. Soon, the soldiers of Shiguo realized their identity as prisoners and lined up in several long lines uneasily.

The Tang Army interpreter, while commanding his own people to help deliver cakes to the prisoners, he loudly declared: "You have heard it all, my guardian said, you have been deceived, and you don't want to kill you. However, you are burning, killing, looting, and you are seriously guilty, so he can't let you go for nothing!"

The captives led the pancakes in a silence and turned around and dispersed silently. Everyone understood that it was the mercy of the general of the Tang Dynasty. As for being released and returned home, everyone didn't have to think about it.

However, the next sentence of the translation made many people stop immediately and look back in shock.

"You have to work in the Saiye City to atone for your sins. After working for two years, you can get forgiveness and return it home." For fear that the prisoners would not be able to hear it clearly, the translator tried to raise the voice to the highest level and repeat it over and over again.

"Did you understand? My guardian said that he didn't want to kill you. However, he couldn't let you go for nothing! You have to work in the Saiye City to atone for your sins. After working for two years, you can get forgiveness and return it home."

"My guard has said...two years..."

"What? How long? How long does it take? "No prisoner dared to believe his ears, tear his sleeves to each other and repeatedly confirmed.

"How long? How is it possible?"

"Didn't Tangren lie to us again? Yi Hu said that Tangren is best at lying to others!"

"What else can we cheat? If you kill it with one knife, wouldn't it be easier for them to be more troublesome?!"

...

One pair of ears may have misheard. If hundreds of pairs of ears were convinced that they had heard the same thing, all the prisoners, whether they had received the cake or had not received the cake, knew that they were completely safe. They squatted on the ground weakly, burst into tears.

In the Western Regions, it is a kind of "lucky" for the loser to become the slave of the victor! Once they become slaves, they have to go from life to death, and even the next generation is also the slaves of the other party. But today, they suddenly discovered that after they were defeated, they still have hope of going home alive!

Even if the average life span of the people in the Western Regions is short, two years is not long. The Sailye City is only more than ten days away from Talas. When the war sank, their families will have the opportunity to come and meet them at any time.

"Don't make a noise, don't make a noise, don't squeeze!" The general translation obviously hadn't finished speaking. When most of the prisoners understood what they meant, they immediately continued to announce loudly, "My guardian said that he would not want to see you separate from your family. Therefore, if anyone among you can take out twenty hangs of copper coins, ten horses, or equivalents to these two things, he can redeem himself immediately."

Fearing that the prisoner couldn't hear it clearly, he repeated it four times at the top of his throat. It was not until his voice became hoarse that he finally stopped and grabbed the gourd and drank water to moisten his throat.

The captives' eyes lit up at first, and then they began to whisper. Finally, more than 99% of the people sighed and lowered their heads.

The officials, rich and powerful, had already been taken away by Yi Husan in the 1,000 "borrowing" quotas. The prisoners who were abandoned on the mountain at this moment were only Dajian (centurion). How could they immediately take out twenty hangs of money, or ten horses to redeem themselves?

"My garrison also said that you can raise money and go home first. After they ask them to go back, they will notify your family to come and redeem you back." Although Tong Yi's voice was hoarse, he was unwilling to let Zhang Qian down. After drinking a few sips of cold water, he began to preach again. "If you can't afford twenty hang money or ten horses, you can use equivalent cattle and sheep to make up. If you really can't take it out, it doesn't matter. Go to work in Zaoye, and take care of food and accommodation there."

Many prisoners raised their heads and their eyes began to shine. In the Western Regions, those with fur and skin are not worth much. Unless they are peerless foals, ten horses will definitely not be exchanged for ten Tang copper coins. Most of them, although their families are not rich, moved some from east to west and borrowed some from west. The parents and brothers at home can still make up ten horses or equivalent cattle and sheep to redeem them.

However, more than half of the prisoners were still in sight soon. Obviously, they were poor and no one was willing to lend them to them. They could only go to Suye City honestly, do two years of hard work, and think about other things.

"My garrison also said that if you can learn nine hundred Tang Yan within two years, you can go home early." Tongzhi's voice began to smoke, but his face was full of pride, "Or, learn nine hundred Tang Yan, apply to join the Tang Dynasty, and be a Tang Dynasty man. Grandma, you are so cheap. I dare to bet that if you can learn nine hundred Tang Yan, no one wants to go back to live his original life!"

The prisoners seemed to understand but their eyes became much brighter. Tang Yan was not difficult to learn, especially for Sogdians who were born to like doing business, it was extremely simple. Many prisoners could say a few sentences now, but it was not standard enough. If they were willing to spend time learning, nine hundred Tang Yan could learn them in half a year. In that case, all the remaining hard work could be offset, so why don’t everyone do it?

People usually don’t seek death if they have hope in their hearts. Therefore, it took only half a day for more than 3,300 Shi Kingdom soldiers abandoned by Yihu to be identified and dealt with by the Tang army. More than 160 of them were prestigious or had very wealthy families, and they obtained enough redemption fees by gathering members and were released on the spot. The other more than 3,100 prisoners handed over their weapons with hope, and set off on the road to Shattered Leaves under the escort of a Tang army.

Without waiting for the captives to go down the mountain to kowtow to him and thank him, Zhang Qian led the army and continued to go west. Along the way, there were soldiers of the Shi Kingdom who were alone, captured by scouts, or tied up by angry thunder cavalry and shepherds to seek merit and reward. Zhang Qian handed him over to the teaching team and dealt with it according to the previous rules. In this way, before he could arrive at Ashibulai Castle, his name of kindness had already been passed to Talas on the other side of Qianquan Mountain.

Ashibulai Fort is located east of Qianquan Mountain. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, it was originally a fortress dedicated to military purposes. In the past twenty years, the power of the Tang Dynasty has been continuously compressed to the east. The fortress was abandoned by the Tang army and finally fell into the hands of the Tuqi Shihei tribe, becoming the latter's clan city.

After Zhang Qian attacked and killed Soge, he was not willing to arouse the common hatred of the Tuqi Shi tribes, so he did not take back the fort and still gave it to Tuqi Shi Hei's Tutun Yiliqi. Now, Yiliqi threw the fort to Shiguo Shi, and the special forces Yihu lost to him again. This military fortress, of course, naturally returned to the Tang army.

"The scouts have checked it clearly. From then on, the Qianquan Pass is fifty miles east of the main road. Yihu walked in a hurry and did not arrange any troops at the pass." Luo Huaizu hurriedly walked into the temporary headquarters in Ashibulai Fort with a small map that had just been added, and reported with a smile.

"Where is Julan City, I remember not far from Qianquan Mountain Pass, it is Julan City in Shiguo." Zhang Qian was not happy at all, shook his head and asked in a low voice.

"Julan City has mobilized the whole city. Yihu left five hundred confidants and summoned all the herdsmen around him into the city to help him defend the city!" Luo Huaizu smiled and made a look that he could not hide from you. "As you expected, he was about to betray the debt. But the soldiers in the city seemed to have a low fighting spirit. Our scouts were almost at the base of the city wall, and they had not sent anyone to intercept him!"

"Master General, I am willing to take the troops of our troops to take down Julan City for you!" Shi Jin has been very respected recently and is very enthusiastic. He immediately took the initiative to come forward and volunteered.

"Don't hurry, wait for twelve days." Zhang Qian thought about it, smiled and shook his head, "Stop the Shi people turning aside, saying that we are not trustworthy. In addition, Shuofang sent a messenger to contact Qiu to jointly attack the Turkic Khan. The man had already reached the Sailye, so let's wait for him!"

"Yes!" Shi Jin did not dare to question Zhang Qian's decision and bowed down. However, Luo Huaizu widened his eyes in surprise and asked in a low voice: "Zhang Renyuan's messenger? Are you sure that we have finished fighting the Shi Kingdom, and there is still time to follow other units of the Anxi Army to go east and attack the Turks?"

"If it's you and me alone, time may not be enough. When the messenger comes, time should be enough!" An ugly scarred face flashed quickly in front of Zhang Qian's eyes, and he nodded with a smile.

In war, I am actually an outsider, and Luo Huaizu is not much better than me. But the expert is coming soon. With him on the side, the plan to plunder Shiguo to revive Shuye will definitely be twice the result with half the effort!
Chapter completed!