Chapter 673 Trip to the West Market
Inside the house that was being targeted by arrows, more than twenty men with braids and dressed in styles similar to those of the Turkic tribes were gathered around a man with a Han Chinese hairstyle and clothing.
When someone burst in from outside and mumbled something, three or five of the twenty-odd men stood up and started yelling at the people around them.
They were speaking in the language of the Turkic tribes, and what they were saying was simply, "Charge out and fight them!"
At this moment, Shi Le'an, who was outside the house, turned around and nodded to a soldier behind him who understood the Hu language. The soldier stepped forward and shouted loudly to the people inside the house.
The meaning behind this statement is simple: "Lay down your weapons, and those who surrender will not be killed."
Yes, that's right. When Shi Le'an and his men were fighting on the border, they shouted the same phrase. It was extremely important to them.
Moreover, when Shi Le'an was at the border, he truly practiced "disarming without killing," naturally because he did not want to commit unnecessary killings.
You have to understand, war has never been a good thing.
Stopping war with killing is a last resort; for the common people, war means bloodshed, loss of life, and hatred.
Moreover, this policy of not killing those who have been disarmed means that if prisoners of war are later obtained, they can be used to exchange for prisoners of war or other items, such as cattle, horses, and sheep. Isn't that a good thing?
Therefore, when fighting on the border, in the end, Shi Le'an's soldiers would always bring back dozens or even hundreds of prisoners in a row, tied with hemp ropes.
Secondly, it is natural that "being afraid of death" is indeed useful.
This can be considered a military strategy, right? The human heart is the most unpredictable thing. No matter how strict a general is in disciplining his troops, there will always be cowardly soldiers under his command.
If Shi Le'an had someone shout this out, some of those inside might have considered surrendering.
Wouldn't this create a conflict between the two groups: those who would rather die than surrender and those who want to surrender?
That will be Shi Le'an's opportunity; who knows, he might even benefit from the conflict between the two sides.
After calling out three times, Shi Le'an waited outside.
Inside the houses, some people were indeed contemplating surrendering.
The man said in Turkic, "Master, we are just helping that man sell his goods."
"To the Tang people, we'll just say we were cheated. They're about to start trading, so they won't dare do anything to us. They might even try to appease us nicely."
No sooner had the man finished speaking than he was kicked to the ground by an angry-looking man behind him. "Well done, Kurban, you traitor!"
You've been captivated by the fine wines and delicacies of the Tang Dynasty!
I'll beat you to death, you traitor!"
A string of insults poured out of the man's mouth, and the Turkic man who had said he would surrender was not to be outdone. The two ended up fighting right there in the room, knocking over the teapot on the table with a crash, and the tables and chairs were also damaged.
"Enough!"
The man dressed as a Han Chinese, whom the Han Chinese called "master," roared, causing all twenty-odd men present to kneel on one knee, including the two who had been fighting earlier.
"If we surrender, do you really think the Tang people will let us go?"
If I were a Tang person, how could I let go of the foreigners who killed my woman and stole my food?
We have no way out but to fight to the death!
The instant the man finished speaking, an arrow whizzed through the window and landed on the ground.
It turned out that the time allotted for Shi Le'an's call had already passed, and a one-sided massacre had begun.
First, a volley of arrows flew in, then armored soldiers charged in with swords and arrows, engaging the twenty-odd Turkic men inside in battle.
Shi Le'an remained on horseback, not entering, waiting for the mastermind to appear!
A whistle blew, and green smoke rose from behind the house. Seeing the signal, Shi Le'an led a group of soldiers behind him on horseback to pursue in that direction.
A little over fifteen minutes later, the mastermind of this group, whose right arm was pierced by an arrow, was kicked in the knee and forced to kneel in front of Shi Le'an.
Shi Le'an did not speak to the man, but simply had the soldiers lift up the man's face to take a look.
"Tie him up, take him to Dali Temple."
"Yes, General."
Thus, about half an hour later, Di Renjie met the man in the prison. The man, who was dressed as a Han Chinese but was actually a remnant of a Turkic tribe, had his arrow removed, his wounds bandaged, and treated by a physician.
Before Di Renjie met this man, Shi Le'an bowed to Di Renjie outside and said: "Minister Di, I have captured this man. According to what the Emperor said, it is the duty of the Court of Judicial Review to try cases. I dared not delay. As soon as I captured him, I brought him here."
Yes, Emperor Wu did indeed personally appoint Di Renjie of the Dali Temple to handle this major case concerning opium in the court earlier.
What could Di Renjie say? He simply returned the courtesy and thanked him.
What Di Renjie was thinking was probably, "I am a brick; I can be moved wherever I am needed."
Before Di Renjie went to meet the mastermind behind the remnants of the Turkic tribe, he naturally interrogated the seven or eight people who were still alive and had been captured by Shi Le'an's soldiers.
Among the seven or eight Turkic men still alive, there was indeed one: Kurban, who had previously proposed surrendering.
Di Renjie, a man of such shrewdness, managed to get Kurban to speak after just a few seemingly plausible words.
Thus, Di Renjie realized that the Turkic man who was pretending to be a Han Chinese was actually the fourteenth son of the deceased Western Turkic Khan!
This man was named Mark. Although he was the son of the Khan, he had no power while the Khan was alive because his mother was just a slave girl.
Di Renjie stroked his beard as he entered the prison, sat down in front of Mark, and poured him a cup of tea.
"The son of the Khan has traveled a long way to Chang'an, and we have not yet fulfilled our hospitality as hosts. It is our fault."
"Come, Your Highness, would you like to try some tea from our Great Tang Dynasty?"
How Di Renjie managed to extract information from Mark is something only clever people do; we don't know the details.
However, an hour later, when Di Renjie came out of the prison, he immediately wrote a letter and handed it to his adjutant, asking him to deliver it to Shi Le'an by fast horse.
By the time Shi Le'an received the letter, more than 25 minutes had passed.
Upon hearing that the letter was from Di Renjie, Shi Le'an immediately took it and began to read it. He was shocked as he read, and anyone who saw the expression on his face would know that the letter must contain something very important!
"Gather the soldiers! Quickly, follow me to the West Market!"
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