Li Zhu immediately realized that he had been used by the Loulan commander. The enemy had lured the Abbasid army back to distract them from their pursuit, thus giving them enough time to escape back to Loulan...
Even knowing this was a ploy by the Loulan commander to sacrifice his own troops to save himself, they had no choice but to annihilate the Abbasid Caliphate army first...
With such a large force following behind them, they simply couldn't march in peace...
Watching Guo Wei slaughter everyone, Li Zhu suddenly had a feeling that the fighting power of these Western Region soldiers was too weak.
They're still attacking Xiliang like this? Are they kidding me?
When Harik was brought before Li Zhu, Guo Wei was covered in blood, but his face was full of excitement; clearly, he hadn't felt this good in a long time...
Fighting alongside Li Zhu was almost always a crushing victory; sometimes, they didn't even need to lift a finger. But this time, he really had his fill, even capturing the commander-in-chief of the Abbasid Caliphate army alive…
"Your Highness, this man claimed to be Harik, the commander-in-chief of the Abbasid Caliphate, and I have captured him..."
Guo Wei said respectfully to Li Zhu!
"Hmm, not bad, keep it up..."
Li Zhu didn't know how to encourage the other party. After all, a powerful person like him had indeed been holding back for too long. It seemed that it was time to send them out and let them develop on their own...
"Are you the commander-in-chief of the Abbasid Caliphate?"
Li Zhu looked at the other person and asked calmly!
"snort!"
The other party simply responded with a cold snort, displaying an attitude of absolute refusal...
"Oh ho, pretty tough, huh? Take him out and chop him up..."
Li Zhu waved his hand and said calmly!
Upon hearing Li Zhu's order, soldiers immediately lifted Harik and carried him outside...
Seeing that it wasn't a joke, Harik immediately shouted in panic.
"etc…"
Li Zhu waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to release him, and then asked in a calm tone...
What are you trying to say?
"You didn't ask me anything, so why are you trying to kill me?"
Harik asked, somewhat finding it hard to believe!
"Given your defiant attitude, you're unlikely to say anything, so I'm not going to bother asking. Just take you out and behead you..."
The last sentence was spoken to the soldier next to him…
Harik really wanted to say, "You old bastard, you didn't even use torture to get me to talk. There's always a process to get someone to talk. How can you just push someone out and behead them without asking them anything?"
Harik struggled and roared.
"I'll tell you... I'll tell you everything..."
"I don't want to ask anymore, just take him out and behead him..."
Li Zhu waved his hand, seemingly uninterested, which immediately panicked Harik, who shouted loudly.
"It was the Heavenly Alliance that sent people to join forces with our Abbasid Caliphate and Loulan, intending to seize the territory of Western Liang, and then march south into the Central Plains to seize control of the Central Plains..."
Upon hearing the other party's words, Li Zhu finally became interested. After all, he wasn't particularly interested in listening to the words of a general from a small country...
"etc…"
Li Zhu finally managed to stop the two of them, which gave Harik a sigh of relief, realizing he had brought up a topic that the other party was interested in…
"You're saying your Abbasid Caliphate has been misled by the Heavenly Alliance?"
Harik quickly and cautiously replied
"That's right. The Heavenly Alliance sent people to have us join forces with Loulan, saying that once we can take over Xiliang, they will have people in the Central Plains to help us from within and without, allowing us to quickly take control of the Central Plains..."
Hearing Harik's words, Li Zhu frowned. This Heavenly Alliance was still up to no good, always wanting to retake control of the Central Plains...
The Zhou emperors have been overthrown for who knows how many years, yet they still want to restore the Zhou dynasty's legitimacy. This clearly shows they don't care about the lives of the people...
If such a person were to rule the Central Plains, it's unimaginable what kind of miserable lives the people there would lead...
That's all?
Li Zhu felt that this little trick was far too trivial for the Heavenly Dao Alliance and couldn't possibly cause any significant trouble...
"The Heavenly Alliance has connections with far more powerful forces than we imagined, but due to poor communication, it's unclear whether the attacks in other areas have been successful..."
Harik's words struck Li Zhu like a thunderbolt...
He now has only one thought in mind: that the world will descend into chaos…
He now understood why his adoptive father insisted on sending him to Xiliang; the other side had foreseen everything. The chaos in the Central Plains was unstoppable, and the only way to break the deadlock was to start from the outside…
This also sent a chill down his spine, because he realized how terrifying his adoptive father was, that he could plan so far ahead...
"I'm giving you a choice: either I kill you and all your soldiers now, or you take the rest of you to attack Loulan, where there's a good chance you'll survive..."
After Li Zhu finished speaking, he looked at Harik. This was also a kind of psychological suggestion. From the moment Li Zhu made this choice, he knew what the other party would choose!
"I've chosen to attack Loulan..."
As expected, Harik chose the latter, and Li Zhu didn't waste any words, releasing him directly...
"Your Highness, aren't you afraid that Harik might rebel?"
"Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"
Li Zhu looked at Guo Wei and said with a smile, which made Guo Wei pause for a moment, then a smile appeared on his lips. He was actually looking forward to Harik rebelling, so that they could take advantage of the situation and attack in one fell swoop...
Luoyang!
The imperial court was in complete chaos. It was initially thought that only the north was in such disarray, since the south was mountainous and watery, providing natural barriers that would make it difficult to attack…
However, what frightens the court officials now is that enemies are everywhere—east, west, south, and north. The north is relatively the safest place, because Jin and Youzhou have been pacified by Li Zhu, the Liao Kingdom has been severely defeated, and the Jie people have established a foothold in Goguryeo and are gradually encroaching on Goguryeo's territory. It is believed that before long, Goguryeo will become the Jie people's stronghold...
Apart from the north, the coastal areas had become the domain of Japanese pirates, and were constantly harassed...
The Baiyue, Annam, Dali, and Tubo surrounding the Central Plains all launched military campaigns against it, as if they had planned it in advance. War also broke out within the Central Plains, plunging the people into dire straits in an instant...
The court was eerily quiet, for they had no troops left to send, and the entire New Tang Dynasty was now surrounded by enemies on all sides…
The Prince of Jin and the Prince of Youzhou, two of the Eight Pillars of State, are both dead…
Of the remaining six Pillar Kings, only one, the Prince of Dingnan, was from the north. The other five were all from the south: the Prince of Shu in Sichuan, the Prince of Chenping who guarded Chenping, the Prince of Wuping who guarded Wuping, the Prince of Southern Tang who shared the same lineage as the emperor of the new Tang Dynasty, and the Prince of Min who had contact with the Baiyue people…
These Pillar-State officials were all powerful regional governors. Once they were granted the title of King, they had no desire to return to the Central Plains. They would only act as local emperors in their own fiefdoms. It is a big question mark how loyal they were to the New Tang Dynasty. The Prince of Jin and the Prince of Youzhou are the best examples.
Just as the civil and military officials remained silent, the appearance of one person shook the court...
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