Chapter 2322 Entering the City
General Li generously asked the soldiers to carry the boxes to Bai Shan's tent immediately, obviously wanting him to pick up anything he liked before leaving.
He is worthy of being General Guo’s trusted general, and they are very similar in this respect.
Obviously, he also felt that this mission was very dangerous. Since there was danger, he naturally had to give something to appease people.
Bai Shan didn't touch these things, but he still opened them to let Bai Erlang and the others broaden their horizons.
Bai Erlang opened a box of pearls and exclaimed, "Although Kucha is small, it is also very rich."
Bai Shan nodded. These things were specially selected, but they were not the best. The best ones were naturally kept to whet people's appetite.
Bai Shan closed the box and said to Bai Erlang, "Manbao and I will go in, and I'll leave the outside to you."
Bai Erlang patted his chest and said, "Don't worry. If the army arrives, I will immediately urge them to enter the city to rescue you. If General Ashina doesn't go, I will throw a tantrum in front of the army. As for Liu Huan, I will have him write a letter to Minister Liu to make it a little more difficult to prepare the next batch of food and fodder."
Bai Shan was at a loss for words. "General Ashina isn't that kind of person. I asked you to stay because I was worried that if the army was delayed in arriving, someone in the barracks might actually think of surrendering to the enemy."
Bai Jilang: "...not really."
Bai Shan reached out and patted his shoulder.
Bai Erlang suddenly felt his shoulders were heavy. What should he do? He also wanted to go into the city. At least there were tall people to hold up the sky if it fell.
Daji and General Nie followed them in. What General Li didn't expect was that Bai Shan not only asked Jin Kuian to follow, but also asked Erge to follow.
Aside from the two of them, the rest were brave warriors in the army, personally selected by General Li and General Meng. They said, "They are absolutely loyal and righteous men."
Bai Shan finally breathed a sigh of relief. Except for Jin Kuian and Erge, he could rely on everyone else.
However, Bai Shan did not show this disbelief. Instead, he showed great trust in Jin Kuian and Erge, especially Jin Kuian. He said to the soldiers, "Fighting matters are subject to General Jin's orders."
Jin Kuian is only a general flag in the army now. It is because of his bravery in battle that General Guo thinks it is a pity to let him be a soldier, so he promoted him as an exception.
It was also clearly stated during the promotion that Jin Kuian had to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence.
Everyone was privately saying that he might be promoted to lieutenant general this year. Only General Li and his confidants knew that General Guo only planned to let Jin Kuian serve as the general flag bearer and make meritorious contributions.
But the soldiers and the masses didn't know, even Jin Kuian himself didn't know, so Bai Shan kept calling him General Jin. He agreed, and the soldiers followed suit.
It's just a title anyway. Bai Shandu is not a soldier yet. Even if he is called the wrong name, the general cannot be held responsible when he recovers.
The two boxes of gold, silver, and jewelry were carried to the cart and tied up. Manbao changed her clothes and mounted the horse with Bai Shan. She turned to Zhou Liru and said, "Everyone's injuries have stabilized in the past few days. You just need to treat them according to the prescription. If you don't understand, ask the military doctor."
Zhou Liru agreed.
Manbao left with Baishan.
Twenty people, eighteen horses and a carriage passed through three checkpoints and arrived at the foot of the royal city. The royal city opened a small door to let them in.
Bai Erlang watched them go in from a distance, then rode his horse back. He asked General Meng, "We need to boost morale when we go back, right?"
General Meng said, "Bai Shan said there's no rush today, we can boost morale tomorrow."
He said, "Otherwise, after a long time, the soldiers will think too much and it will arouse their homesickness. It would be bad if the mourning soldiers turned into mourning in their hearts."
Bai Erlang gripped the reins tightly and asked, "Will the army arrive tomorrow?"
General Meng said: "If there are no accidents."
Bai Erlang temporarily suppressed his anxious heart.
Someone had been waiting in the royal city since early morning. As soon as Bai Shan and his companions came in, they were surrounded by people, with swords and guns pointed at them, as if they were ready to be attacked at any time.
Bai Shan smiled slightly, turned around and clapped his hands, and the two coachmen on the carriage opened the two boxes on the carriage and showed the Kucha people the gifts they brought.
Not to mention the soldiers surrounding them, even the officials who came to receive them were dazzled by the gold, silver and jewelry inside.
Bai Shan smiled and asked, "I wonder if the king is satisfied with our sincerity?"
The official saw the Turkic soldiers in the crowd with green eyes, and his face changed. He quickly asked Bai Shan and the others to close the box. He said sideways with a bad look on his face: "Messenger, please go in, but you must take off your swords."
Bai Shan said, "Don't worry, it's the three of us who will be meeting the king. We will not be carrying weapons. As for my guards, I'm afraid they can't take off their swords."
The official frowned.
Bai Shan pointed at them and said with a smile, "There are only twenty of us, and the three of us are powerless. This is in the royal city, so what are the king and the others worried about?"
The official then looked carefully at Bai Shan and Zhou Man and Erge beside him.
Except for Erge, the two of them did not seem to be people with high fighting power, especially Zhou Man, who was actually a girl.
The official frowned and asked, "Who is she? Your envoy is actually a woman?"
Bai Shan sighed and said, "This is the imperial physician of my dynasty. He was ordered to come to the Western Regions to seek a prescription for medicine, but he was drafted into the army. Now he can't go back even if he wants to."
He explained, "The general is seriously injured and in urgent need of medicine to save his life. She was ordered to come and ask for medicine. Moreover, although we surrender, our general also has something to ask for."
The official was slightly surprised, as this was beyond his expectation, so he did not dwell on the issue of weapons. The main reason was that the Turks were watching from afar with a covetous look, so they did not want to say too much.
So the officials took them to the palace.
Of course, only the three of them and the two large boxes were allowed to enter. The rest of the people were left at the gate of the royal city, taken care of by Jin Kuian and General Nie.
The official left the three men in the side hall and went to report to the king first.
The King of Kucha was surprised and asked, "Ask for medicine?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, have you forgotten? That day, Guo Xiao was hit by a stray arrow. We thought he was dead, but no news came out. Their morale stabilized, and on the third day, an envoy came to ask for peace."
The king suddenly understood, "No wonder Guo Xiao asked for peace. It turned out to be to save his life."
The officials nodded repeatedly.
"What are the identities of those three messengers?"
"I don't know who the leader is, but he looks like a civil servant. This kind of thing really requires their intervention. I guess he used to be a clerk in the army. One is a royal physician, and the other one looks like a Turk. He should be a vassal general."
"Then be careful." The emperor of the Central Plains was not picky about who he employed. No matter how many people he defeated, he would recruit and use all those who surrendered. Therefore, he had many vassal generals under his command. Those vassal generals were all very powerful. Some were famous like Ashina, and of course there were also unknown ones.
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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