At the third watch, Li Jing, who had just fallen asleep, was awakened by a knock on the door. He quickly pushed the concubine beside him and asked her to quickly dress for him.
"What's going on?" Li Jing asked.
The soldier outside the door said urgently: "There is a commotion in the military camp. General Wu Xiu asks the young master to go there quickly!"
Li Jing was startled and stood up quickly. His concubine dressed him and put on his shoes. Then he opened the door and asked, "Is there a mutiny?"
"It doesn't seem like a mutiny, just a riot!"
Li Jing felt uneasy, so he put on his armor, got on his horse, and ran towards the military camp under the protection of a hundred soldiers.
Soon I arrived at the military camp, and saw the lights in the military camp brightly lit. The atmosphere in the entire military camp was very strange, and there was an uneasy mood. The grass was filled with soldiers in twos and threes, and they were all talking in low voices. What?
When Li Jing came to the Chinese army, he saw that the Chinese army's tent was full of middle and low-level generals. There were only 30,000 troops left in Yidu, all of them Han from Qingzhou and Zizhou, the most elite 30,000 Donghu cavalry and 20,000 Goguryeo.
They were all handed over to Li Na and taken to Licheng County.
Therefore, only locals were left in Yidu County. Li Ye's public announcement frightened the soldiers. If they did not surrender, once the city was destroyed, all the soldiers and their families would be deprived of official slaves and sent to Lingnan to open up wasteland.
These were the words of the regent. With such words, all the soldiers could not sit still and pressed the palace one after another, demanding surrender.
As soon as Li Jing appeared, someone shouted: "The eldest son is here!"
Everyone gathered around and said, "My lord, the city cannot be defended anymore. Surrender as soon as possible to keep everyone and their families safe!"
"Young Master, surrender!"
Li Jing was kind-hearted and good-tempered. He quickly held up his hands and said, "Generals, I don't know what happened. Let me talk to General Wu Xiu!"
At this time, someone shouted sternly: "You all get out of the way and don't surround the eldest son!"
It was the deputy general Wu Xiu, the commander-in-chief was Li Zhengji, and now it is Li Jing.
The generals had no choice but to get out of the way. Li Jing was fat and sweaty as he was surrounded. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly walked into the tent.
"General Wu, what happened?"
"Master, look at this!"
Wu Xiu handed a piece of paper to Li Jing. Li Jing was stunned for a moment when he saw the signature, "Is it a letter written by Li Ye?"
"Probably, no one dares to pretend to be Li Ye and write this letter."
"So everyone is scared?"
Wu Xiu nodded, "Even if you go mining, no one wants to go, let alone go to Lingnan to open up wasteland, and the whole family is not an official slave!"
Wu Xiu sighed, "Don't talk about the soldiers, they are afraid even if they hold low positions!"
Li Jing was silent for a moment and said: "If I surrender, how will the court treat my father?"
"Can the prince still wake up?" Wu Xiu specifically asked Chen Fang, who probably knew about Li Zhengji's condition.
Li Jing shook his head, "My breath is weak, it looks like I won't be able to survive until dawn."
Wu Xiu suddenly understood that Li Jing was actually worried about himself. Wu Xiu thought for a while and said, "Your Highness can send someone to negotiate. If the young master has any requirements, you can mention them directly to the other party."
Wu Xiu whispered again: "I am worried that there will be no explanation after dawn, and the soldiers will become anxious. I am afraid there will be a mutiny, and they may even chop off our heads as their promotion steps!"
Li Jing noticed a sharp look flashing in Wu Xiu's eyes, and he felt frightened in his heart. This Wu Xiu was talking about himself! This man used the heads of their father and son as his promotion step.
"All right!"
Li Jing knew that his life would be in danger if he didn't agree, so he decisively agreed, "There is no need to negotiate anymore, just pass my order and Kaicheng surrenders!"
Wu Xiu gave Li Jing a meaningful look, walked out and announced loudly, and the military camp suddenly burst into cheers.
At the fifth watch, Yidu City opened the south gate and surrendered to the Tang army outside the city. Nan Jiyun led an army of 30,000 to accept the surrender outside the south city.
Li Jing was wearing white clothes and walking at the front with a white flag, followed by more than a hundred generals and 30,000 troops. All of them did not wear armor. Instead, they held armor and weapons in their hands and placed them on a pre-set table next to the city gate.
Inside the drawn white circle.
Then he went to sit in an open space a mile away and rest.
Li Jing walked up to Nan Jiyun, held up his seal, and said, "The criminal Li Jing surrenders unconditionally to the imperial court and is willing to accept all the imperial court's punishment!"
"Where is your father?"
Li Jing burst into tears and choked with sobs: "My father passed away half an hour ago."
Nan Jiyun was startled, "Why?"
"My father heard about the disastrous defeat in Licheng County, and Li Na led his army to flee north. His old illness relapsed, and he continued to vomit blood. He has been unconscious. He breathed his last half an hour ago and is now in the mortuary palace!"
Nan Jiyun nodded, "Okay! Mr. Li, please express your condolences. Mr. Li is a generous man and treats the people well. I believe that the regent will not embarrass Mr. Li. After the young master has taken care of his father's funeral, he can pack up and go to Chang'an."
"Thank you, General!"
At daybreak, 80,000 Tang soldiers captured Yidu City without bloodshed. Nan Jiyun immediately ordered an autopsy to confirm that the deceased was indeed Li Zhengji. Then he handed the body back to Li Jing and asked him to bury his father as an ordinary citizen.
According to Li Ye's prior order, all those who surrendered and were willing to join the Tang army could select strong soldiers to join the army, and all the remaining soldiers were sent back to their hometowns.
Guo Ziyi's side was handled in the same way, but the 15,000 Goguryeo soldiers who surrendered needed special treatment. This involved Li Zheng having introduced tens of thousands of Goguryeo households and currently settling them in Laizhou and Dengzhou, but the court would never allow such
Many Goguryeo people gathered in two states.
This requires the court to arrange and deal with it.
Guo Ziyi's military report was sent to Chang'an in an expedited manner of 800 miles.
In Chang'an, the annual imperial examination is coming again. Except for Hebei, scholars from all over the world are coming to Chang'an in an endless stream.
Last year, many scholars from Hebei came to Chang'an for the imperial examination, but this year the war was tense and all the vassals and towns had closed their borders. The scholars from Hebei had no choice but to miss this year's imperial examination.
But it is not impossible. As long as we find ways to get to the Yellow River, many farmers will take the risk of sending scholars across the Yellow River for the sake of money.
After all, the coast of the Yellow River is too long, and the patrols are mainly concentrated on the Weizhou line, so the probability of success is still very high, and even if they are caught, the soldiers will not dare to kill the scholars who participated in the imperial examination, but will send them back to their place of origin, and order
The government strictly monitors the situation.
In the Anranju Restaurant in Xuanyangfang, Chang'an, three young scholars were gathering together to drink. All three of them were named Cui, one was named Cui Baolin, and the other was named Cui Hua. These two were from the Cui family in Qinghe, Beizhou.
But he was not the legitimate son of the main house, but the concubine of the side house. The other person was Lu Shi, who came from the Lu family in Weizhou and was probably the ancestor of Lu Junyi in the Northern Song Dynasty.
The three of them all had the surname Gao, but they were not from wealthy families, and their family backgrounds were all average. They met when they were crossing the Yellow River illegally. Each of the three people spent a lot of money to ask farmers to send them across the Yellow River on ice sleds.
They were lucky. This year, the imperial court arranged free board and lodging for Hebei candidates. They all lived in the Guest House, three to a room, and the three of them happened to live together.
The three of them have decided not to return to Hebei. To be on the safe side, they will take the Ming Jing Ke, which has a large number of admissions. Even if they fail to pass the Ming Jing Ke, they will still take the Taixue exam.
Taixue admitted 1,500 people. It was similar to the normal school of later generations. After three years of studying in Taixue, they would be assigned to official schools in various states and counties as teaching assistants. After five years of teaching assistantships, they were promoted to professors, which is the ninth rank official.
, so there is still a chance to become an official.
"I heard that this restaurant belongs to the Prince Regent?" Cui Baolin looked at the restaurant and smiled.
"How can it be?"
"Really, I just asked the shopkeeper that this restaurant belongs to the Li family, the former Prime Minister Li Linfu. Isn't the regent the grandson of Li Linfu?"
Cui Hua shook his head, "You are really confused. This is the property of the Li family and has nothing to do with the regent. Who is the regent? Will he share the property with the clan members?"
Cui Baolin smiled and said, "You're right, I'm confused and I'll have to drink a glass of wine as a penalty!"
Cui Baolin picked up the wine glass and drank it all. When he looked up, he saw Lu Shi pricking his ears to listen to something, "Brother Lu, what are you thinking about?"
"Shh-"
Lu Shi whispered: "Listen, what is shouting outside?"
Many people heard the shouting, and the restaurant became quiet. Some people opened the windows, and only heard soldiers shouting, "Good news! Good news from Qizhou! Ziqing Jiedu has been wiped out, Li Zheng is dead, the first feudal town