The Turks all gasped and felt their hair stand on end.
This King Reliance of the Tang Empire was too ruthless!
All the Turks had the same thought.
"Brother Jie Li, this Li Xuanlie is indeed extraordinary. No wonder he was able to sweep across the west in three years. Should we temporarily retreat and avoid him?”
Yeon Gaesomun cowered and tried to suggest a retreat.
Jie Li suddenly came to his senses and angrily said," I have lost fifty thousand cavalry and one of my sons, but I have no intention of retreating. You, Goguryeo, have yet to lose a single soldier, and you want to retreat? What do you mean by that?!"”
Yeon Gaesomun was shocked and quickly explained,"Brother Jie Li, you've misunderstood. I just feel that this Li Xuanlie is too difficult to deal with. Now that he's in Youzhou, it'll be even harder for us to take down Youzhou.”
Jie Li calmed down. His brows were locked together, and his angry eyes were mixed with some helplessness.
Youzhou was a strong city. Previously, when Liu Wuzhou was guarding it, they had been unable to take it down even when they surrounded it with 300,000 troops.
Now that it was Li Xuanlie's turn, his ability to mobilize troops was more than ten times that of Liu Wuzhou's. If they wanted to take down Youzhou, it would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
Jie Li fell into a dilemma.
"Khagan, I have a plan. I can take Youzhou without any effort.”
In the silence, a cold voice sounded in his ear.
Jie Li looked, the person who spoke was Yang Zhengdao.
This person was originally the grandson of Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. After the Sui Dynasty was destroyed by the Li family, he fled to the Turks and attached himself to Jie Li.
Jie Li used his identity as a prince of the Sui Dynasty to make Yang Zhengdao the king of the Sui Dynasty and support him as a puppet. He wanted to take revenge for the Sui Dynasty and head south to the Central Plains.
Who knew that Jie Li's wishful thinking was shattered by Li Xuanlie during the battle at Yanmen.
After the establishment of the Great Tang, the people had surrendered and the Sui Dynasty had lost its appeal. This Yang Zhengdao was no longer useful and became an aide under Jie Li.
"You're a Han and have always been cunning.”
Jie Li's eyes lit up as he asked impatiently.
Yang Zhengdao wore a sinister smile on his face and said unhurriedly,"The water source of Youzhou City comes from the Yongding Canal. We only need to throw the rotten corpses into the canal and infect the Tang people in the city.”
This plan caused Jie Li's eyes to flash, he couldn't help but laugh sinisterly.
"Yang Zhengdao, this plan of yours is truly vicious. I find it strange that you, a Han, could use such a vicious plan against your own people.”
Jie Li's words were filled with sarcasm.
Yang Zhengdao, however, was not ashamed at all. He only said coldly,"Back then, it was Li Xuanlie who attacked Yanmen City and forced my imperial grandfather to die. This king has an irreconcilable hatred for this person. As long as I can kill this person, I don't care if the Han people in the world despise me!”
Jie Li suddenly understood and knew Yang Zhengdao's thoughts.
"Alright, if this plan of yours can help me break through Youzhou, then I agree. After I capture Li Xuanlie, I will allow you to kill him personally to avenge Yang Guang!"”
"Many thanks, Khagan." Yang Zhengdao was overjoyed and bowed deeply.
Jie Li ordered to throw thousands of corpses into the Yongding Canal at night to pollute the water source of Youzhou City.
…
Youzhou City, Grand Marshal's Mansion.
The original Youzhou Prefecture had now become the encampment of Li Xuanlie's Grand Marshal of the World.
At this moment, Li Xuanlie was seated on the main seat, receiving the greetings of the officials below.
"This lowly one has been ordered by the governor of Shuozhou to pay his respects to Your Highness. The civil and military officials of Shuozhou are at Your Highness 'disposal.”
"The civil and military officials of Yunzhou follow King Reliance's lead.”
"The soldiers and civilians of Ying Province are willing to go through fire and water for Your Highness!”
…
These officials from the Sixteen Prefectures of the Dark Cloud Prefecture had come to Youzhou under the orders of the provincial governors to express their loyalty to Li Xuanlie.
The original decree of Li Xuanlie to control the sixteen states had been sent to the states one step ahead of time.
However, these sixteen provincial governors were either the followers of the King of Jin or the wings of the King of Qin. On the surface, they received the edict, but in the dark, they were secretly obeying and disobeying.
Li Xuanlie had killed Liu Wuzhou. The might of this thunder spread to the various provinces and immediately shattered their hopes of getting lucky.
As a result, the provincial governors were afraid of Li Xuanlie's tyrannical methods and sent their trusted officials to Youzhou to express their loyalty.
"Go back and tell your superiors that from today onwards, all the provinces must defend the city and protect the people. Whoever dares to abandon the city again will suffer the same fate as Liu Wuzhou!”
Li Xuanlie's stern warning echoed through the hall like thunder.
The officials of the various provinces were all trembling in fear as they agreed.
Li Xuanlie's expression became gentler as he waved his hand."You guys have worked hard all the way here. Each of you will be rewarded with ten thousand strings. After returning to the inn to rest, quickly return to the provinces to report.”
The officials of the various provinces who had been terrified were all pleasantly surprised. They hadn't expected King Reliance to reward them with such vicious methods.
And a generous reward of 10,000!
"Thank you for your grace, King Reliance ~"
The officials hurriedly thanked him and happily retreated. Their hearts that were originally filled with fear were quietly filled with gratitude.
"Using both grace and force, and using a few tricks to convince the various provinces, this Third Prince's power tactics are not inferior to his military strategy."
Luo Yi, who was at the side, nodded secretly and sighed in his heart.
Li Xuanlie's gaze turned to him."Vice Director Luo, you've been guarding Youzhou for a long time, so you should know the Turkic Goguryeo like the back of your hand. Let me ask you, how many people do these two countries have combined?”
Luo Yi came back to his senses and quickly calculated with his fingers.
"Your Highness, although the Turks are powerful, their population is less than a million. As for Goguryeo, although it is weaker than the Turks, it has a population of 3.5 million.”
Li Xuanlie nodded slightly and muttered,"Four million people, excluding women, children, the elderly, the weak, and the young, there are at least a million people. If we transport all of them back, it should be enough to repair the Grand Canal.”
Li Xuanlie muttered to himself. His meaning was to destroy the Turks and Goguryeo!
He also wanted to send the million young captives back to the Great Tang to work as laborers to build the Grand Canal!
"Don't tell me that King Reliance wants to exterminate the Turkic Goguryeo? Isn't his appetite a little too big?”
The more Luo Yi listened, the more frightened he became. He could not help but gasp.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。