Chapter 323: The Oriole Behind

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, you must not!" Li Xin bowed to Tuobawen.

He then turned to Tuoba Hao, "Your Majesty, this matter should be considered carefully. We must not continue to fight a war of attrition with Great Song. If all the Xiliang troops are buried in Jinzhou, Xiliang will be in danger."

"Nonsense! Are you saying, General Tuoba, that the 150,000 Xiliang soldiers died in vain? And Jinzhou, which had already been brought under Xiliang's control—are you going to let Great Song take it back now?" A general said sternly, "Your Majesty, can you swallow this insult?"

Tuobawen glanced at Li Xin and sneered, "Father, I believe we should not lightly trust the Prime Minister's words. He seems to be acting for our Xiliang in every way, but who knows what thoughts he harbors in his heart?"

Li Xin was startled upon hearing this, his expression changing drastically, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, what do you mean by this?"

Tuobawen had long been dissatisfied with his father for promoting a Song Person to be the Prime Minister of Xiliang.

He said, "Can the Prime Minister explain the matter of the Ma Family?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xin was instantly struck speechless.

After the war in Jinzhou broke out, news first reached Xiliang that Ye Renrong had lost Hengshan County.

Although this was a defeat, it did not yet affect the overall situation in Jinzhou.

Therefore, the Xiliang court did not pay much attention to it, merely reprimanding Ye Renrong for his incompetence.

Next came the news of Jili reinforcing Huaicheng.

Unexpectedly, bad news arrived suddenly today.

Jincheng was lost, and Tuoba Wuji, Jili, and Pulache were all killed in battle.

At the same time, there was news brought back by fleeing soldiers.

It said that Yan Wang had colluded with the Ma Family again, and the Ma Family had deceived Xiliang.

Now that the Crown Prince Tuobawen had suddenly brought this up, he naturally had no way to defend himself.

"Your Majesty, there must be a misunderstanding in this matter; perhaps it is a strategy of alienation by that Yan Wang." Li Xin felt bitter in his heart.

"Whether it is or not, who knows? You Song People have always been full of tricks." Tuobawen put Li Xin in a difficult position, looking triumphant.

Many Xiliang generals and officials also revealed expressions of relief.

Like Tuobawen, they had never been willing to be under a Song Person.

Tuoba Hao stared fixedly at Li Xin, and suddenly a sense of disgust rose from his heart.

At this moment, he finally began to mind Li Xin's identity as a Song Person.

It was just that he did not show it, because Li Xin was not the only Song Person in the court.

Seeing his father remain silent, Tuobawen continued, "Father, I also heard another thing. Yan Wang captured our Xiliang soldiers; among them, he gave the Zhuanglinglang travel expenses to return home. As for those who are our Xiliang people, he sent them to Yanzhou to be slaves. Currently, many Zhuanglinglang soldiers have fled back to Xiliang, and when fighting, these Zhuanglinglang are always the first to surrender."

Upon hearing this, a sharp glint suddenly erupted in Tuoba Hao's eyes.

He said, "Notify all prefectures and counties of Xiliang to immediately arrest the Zhuanglinglang soldiers who have fled back. As soon as they are caught, execute them immediately."

"Your Majesty, this is a trick of Yan Wang. Yan Wang treats the Zhuanglinglang well, so they must be grateful. If Your Majesty treats them cruelly, it will only make them yearn for Great Song even more, and may even cause internal chaos in Xiliang!" Li Xin knelt down and shouted loudly.

Tuoba Hao could not listen to a word Li Xin said now.

Now, only the 150,000 dead soldiers and Tuoba Wuji were in his mind.

This deep blood debt made his hatred for Great Song reach an unprecedented level.

He was filled with hatred for everything related to Great Song.

If it were not for the fact that Li Xin had followed him for so many years and done so many things for him,

he would kill him now as a blood sacrifice for the dead Xiliang soldiers.

"Say no more. If treated with leniency, they will surely flee even faster on the battlefield in the future." Tuoba Hao snorted coldly.

Then he looked at Tuobawen, and just as he was about to speak, a eunuch trotted into the great hall.

Because of his panic, the eunuch tripped over the threshold and fell to the ground.

Climbing up, he knelt on the ground and cried out, "Your Majesty, there is urgent military intelligence! The Beidi army has crossed the Yin Mountain and is now heading straight for Tongguan."

"What!" Tuoba Hao stood up directly from his chair, his face ashen.

The entire court of Xiliang officials and generals were also terrified.

Their Xiliang had just been defeated in Jinzhou, and Beidi had already crossed the Yin Mountain.

This was taking advantage of a fire to loot.

"How many troops do they have?" Tuoba Hao asked.

"At least the strength of three Khan Tents." The eunuch's body was trembling.

Li Xin said, "Your Majesty, Beidi wants to take the opportunity to capture Tongguan. Their ultimate goal is still Great Song. We should immediately send an envoy to the Beidi Khan Tent to form an alliance with them, claiming that we are willing to attack Song together. Otherwise, Beidi will surely take the opportunity to destroy Xiliang to resolve their heart-trouble."

Tuoba Hao panicked.

Since the founding of Xiliang, in order to survive in the cracks and expand its territory,

Xiliang had fought with almost every surrounding country.

Therefore, Xiliang's relations with Gaochang, Beidi, and Great Song were all very tense.

Now Great Song had sent Yan Wang to take back Jinzhou, dealing a heavy blow to Xiliang.

Beidi had now crossed the Yin Mountain and openly invaded Xiliang.

Just as Li Xin said, they must harbor the intention of destroying Xiliang.

After all, for these years, there had always been people in Beidi advising to destroy Xiliang, this heart-trouble, before going all out to attack Song in the south.

Tuobawen was suspicious and uncertain.

For the first time, he agreed with Li Xin's proposal.

Having lost 150,000 elite troops, Xiliang had already been severely damaged.

At this moment, facing Beidi and Great Song at the same time, Xiliang was truly not far from destruction.

He said, "Father, I think the Prime Minister is right. At present, we cannot fight with Beidi anymore. We should change the Beidi Khan's mind, even if it means feigning allegiance to Beidi. Once our Xiliang has a chance to catch its breath, it will not be too late to break away from Beidi then."

Tuoba Hao nodded, and he looked at Li Xin, "Prime Minister, this time I will have to trouble you to go on a mission to Beidi."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Li Xin said.

The cold attitude Tuoba Hao had just shown him made his heart turn cold.

Now that this opportunity was before him, he had to seize it to regain Tuoba Hao's trust.

……

Huaicheng.

Chang Wei looked at the Wangfu Army pouring into the city and revealed a smile.

After Yan Wang left, he divided his troops into two routes.

One route was led by Qin Shan, responsible for the passes on the west side of Jinzhou.

It was composed of ten thousand Flintlock Infantry under his command, thirty-six pieces of Artillery, and one thousand Cavalry.

The remaining route was led by him, marching north from Jincheng, heading straight for Tongguan.

Tuoba Wuji's troops had been wiped out, and the cities and passes of Jincheng were left with only scattered garrisons of a few hundred to a thousand men.

Before the reinforcements from Xiliang arrived.

These cities and passes were like undefended territory to them.

However, there was an exception among them, and that was Tongguan.

This pass leading into the territory of Xiliang currently still had thirty thousand Xiliang soldiers stationed there.

The reason this pass did not have heavy troops guarding it like Yanguan was that this pass was an inner pass for Xiliang.

The hundreds of miles of Grassland between the outside of Tongguan and Yin Mountain were also Xiliang territory.

Previously, there were even fewer Xiliang soldiers guarding Tongguan.

Before the troops of Yan Wang entered Jinzhou, Tuoba Wuji had only temporarily dispatched another ten thousand troops to station in Tongguan.

Just as he was thinking about taking Huaicheng and being able to attack Tongguan immediately.

At this moment, a Scout hurried to his side, dismounted, and said, "General, a letter."

Chang Wei looked at the letter in the Scout's hand and discovered the shape of a Flame on the envelope.

This was the same as the letter Yan Wang had received last time.

Tearing open the envelope, he only took one look before he was as anxious as if his eyebrows were on fire, "March to Tongguan immediately! We cannot let those sons of bitches from Beidi occupy Tongguan first!"

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