Chapter 1262: King dies and the country is destroyed

Chapter 1262: King dies and the country is destroyed

Different from Gao Yan's despair and passivity, the Wei army did not stop after winning the great victory outside the city, but continued to pursue the Qi army and the Turkic troops outside the city.

Hundreds of thousands of people participated in this battle. Despite the soldiers who died on the battlefield on several sides, most of the other soldiers were still stranded on the battlefield. Only a small number of Northern Qi soldiers withdrew to the city in time.

In order to weaken as much of the Qi Army's subsequent defense forces as possible, the Wei Army would of course take advantage of the fact that these Qi Army troops had not yet been effectively pacified and reorganized to launch a large-scale pursuit. Therefore, all the troops of the Wei army worked tirelessly to pursue around the cities of Jinyang. Whenever they found traces of the Qi army, they would either kill them or surrender.

As for the Turkic rebel army, it is much simpler, basically letting it go. At this time, news of the execution of Turkic Khan Wuzun also spread, which intensified the panic and fear of the Turkic people. Although this is not the first time that a Khan has been killed by the Wei army, these Turkic soldiers cannot get used to it, and the panic and anxiety are inevitable.

Now, some of the Turkic soldiers outside Jinyang City have already chosen to join the Wei army, some are led by their respective leaders and are fleeing north while the Wei army is chasing the Qi army, and some are wandering around like ghosts. Wandering around the outskirts of Jinyang city.

The little Khan was excited and active when taking pictures. He first ran all the way to the King of Tang to kowtow and ask for instructions. After getting the permission of the King of Tang, he took up the banner of the Little Khan of the south and started to fight on the battlefield. He gathered together those Turkic soldiers to prepare manpower for him to take over the Turkic Khan's court.

Li Tai did not personally participate in the subsequent pursuit and cleanup on the battlefield. Because Jinyang County is small and the city walls are relatively low, he temporarily went to the new city on the east bank of Fen River where the Turkic army had occupied before to take a rest.

As time entered into the evening, various troops on the battlefield also completed their missions one after another and went directly to the city on the east bank of the Fen River to gather and rest. Li Tai personally stood in front of the city gate to welcome the returning troops from all walks of life. Looking at the exhausted but joyful expressions of the soldiers, he waved and smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, everyone!"

At this moment, the sound of hard work relieved the fatigue, and the soldiers all raised their chests and shouted in response: "Serve the Lord to kill the enemy, how dare you quit your work!"

This Fendong city is not small in size, and can accommodate tens of thousands of people living and moving in it. Outside the city, there are many camps built by the Turks yesterday that have not yet been sorted out, which are enough for the Wei army officers and soldiers to rest here.

While cattle and sheep were being killed and prepared for meals inside and outside the city, Li Tai and other leading generals returned to the military mansion in the city to summarize the results of the battle. In this battle, Yu Wengui first led more than 80,000 troops, including Yinshan Chengbang, to fight south. After deducting the 5,000 troops led by Li Xian who was returning to Xingling in Sizhou, the rest of the troops came south.

This group of troops also undertook the most intense and arduous combat missions. From yesterday to today, there were several fierce battles, and the number of casualties among the soldiers reached more than 20,000. If follow-up reinforcements had not arrived in time and allowed the Qi army and the Turkic army to continue attacking together, they might not be able to survive today and would have fled along the Western Mountains due to heavy casualties.

Speaking of this, Yu Wengui couldn't help but have lingering fears. The battle was so brutal, but he was not mainly responsible. Although going south to Jinyang was a bit risky, it was the best choice that could be made at that time.

No matter whether you choose to stay stationary in Sizhou or retreat to Xingling, you will be besieged by the Qi army and the Turkic army. It should be noted that there is a Qi army from Youzhou in Lingqiu that is retreating to the north, and it will also cause the rest of the Qi army to retreat. The difficulty of rescue by passers-by has greatly increased.

Yang Zhong was originally supposed to be the commander-in-chief of the Northern Route Army, but instead chose to launch the attack from the Xishan Great Wall. This was also a more appropriate choice when the troops led by the King of Tang entered Hebei and failed to arrive in Jinyang in time to rendezvous. Although Yang Zhong did not know the whereabouts of the King of Tang when he made this choice, there was no doubt that after breaking the Xishan Great Wall This increased the tactical options available to the Wei army, and promptly contacted Han Guo and other troops to rush to the battlefield.

There were nearly 20,000 Wei troops entering the Jinyang area from the Xishan Great Wall, and more than 20,000 Lishihu tribesmen. They also performed very well when chasing the Qi army in the second half of the battle. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the Xishan Division and Brigade, which had fought hard for a long time, to break through the tens of thousands of Qi army's battle formations.

As for the troops on the east route, Pi Jinghe and Li Tai led two routes of fine cavalry with a total of 15,000 troops, as well as thousands of Turkic troops who were captured along the way.

Adding up these groups of men and horses, the Wei army invested 1,300,000 to 40,000 men in the battle outside Jinyang City in the two days from yesterday to today!

Of course, the results of the battle were also very brilliant. Putting aside the additions of the Turkic Wuzun Khan and the Turkic soldiers, the Wei army captured nearly 20% of the Qi army during the pursuit and suppression after the main battle alone. Thirty thousand people! If you add in the killings and chasing and escaping on the battlefield, according to normal proportions, the combat effectiveness of the Qi army should be wiped out at least 50,000 troops!

As for the harvest obtained from the Turks, except for the head of Wu Zun Khan and a suit of golden armor, the rest is really difficult to estimate. Because the Turks do not have a relatively standardized combat organization at all, if you only rely on detailed statistics one by one, you may not get a result after counting for three or four days.

Although the victory after a battle is glorious, the rest should not be careless. At present, the Wei army has only temporarily occupied Fendong New City and Jinyang County on the opposite bank, while several important cities in Jinyang are still under the control of the Qi army. Moreover, a large city group like Jinyang has a military and civilian population of at least hundreds of thousands. Even if all the people cannot be soldiers, the manpower that can be used is very terrifying.

In another time and space, Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Yong, almost died while attacking Jinyang. Although Li Tai had already scored twice, he did not dare to be careless and seriously discussed the next siege plan with the generals. .

The current Jinyang city architecture is mainly divided into five major areas: Jinyang Luocheng, Bingzhou City, Jinyang Palace and other palace and garden buildings, Jinyang Nancheng and Jinci Temple. These cities are connected to each other, but their defenses are relatively independent. Moreover, the situation of each city is also different. Which one to attack first and which one to attack later will have different effects.

Through the interrogation of a group of prisoners of war, it can be learned that Jinyang Luocheng has the largest concentration of armored soldiers, and the majority of sergeants are gathered here. Bingzhou City has gathered the largest number of people. In addition to the original city customs, it is also because most of the surrounding people gathered in Jinyang Jianbi Qingye have been resettled in Bingzhou City. Therefore, Bingzhou City is currently overcrowded and overcrowded. Product flow is complex.

Needless to say, Jinyang Palace is the residence of Lord Qi, and it is also defended by tens of thousands of elite imperial guards. Jinyang Nancheng is where Jinyang nobles live together, and there are many official workshops and official slave camps around Jinci Temple. These are similar to the situation when Li Tai came to Jinyang in his early years, and there is no change.

In the ensuing discussion, the generals were more inclined to attack Bingzhou City first. Because the situation in Bingzhou City is chaotic, and because too many civilians have gathered, there must be not many troops stationed there. Once attacked, more variables will arise.

However, after some consideration, Li Tai decided to target Jinyang Palace. He also had his own opinion on this: "Shoot men first, shoot horses, and capture thieves first, capture the king! Nowadays, most of Qi's territory has been occupied, and Jinyang has already It is difficult to support a single tree. The leader of Qi, Gao Yan, is not a man who can win the favor of the people, and he has no talent to stand firm and defeat the people. If he attacks them now, if the cities can be saved, he can cross the city to attack and rescue them. If the cities cannot be saved, the people will sit and watch. The monarch is in danger and his country is destroyed!"

He wanted to test the cohesion of Northern Qi by attacking Jinyang Palace. Of course, it would not be impossible to attack other places, but it would not be so directional for Gao Yan, the leader of Qi.

The leader of Qi, Gao Yan, was neither as cruel as his brother Gao Yang, nor as ridiculous as his brother Gao Zhan. He was generally considered a humane person among the emperors of the Northern Qi Dynasty.

However, Gao Yan's own character seems to have great flaws. Putting aside his moral character, this person's work is too trivial. This is of course not what Li Tai feels. As an enemy, he naturally does not have such a detailed perception of Gao Yan. Instead, Gao Yan's cousin Shedi Xian'an commented that Gao Yan is not like an emperor but more like a petty official.

Li Tai's own feeling is that Gao Yan's role in the Northern Qi military was probably similar to that of Yu Wenhu in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Generally speaking, it was relatively negative.

Take this attack on Northern Qi as an example. Generals such as Duan Shao and Hu Luguang were all wandering in vain on the inside. They had no outstanding performance in the battle. This was obviously a big restriction.

Just like Brother Sa Bao in history, although he completed the transition of power from the Western Wei Dynasty to the Northern Zhou Dynasty and maintained the stability of the Northern Zhou Dynasty regime, his military performance can be summarized in one sentence, that is, it is better not to have this product!

Therefore, Li Tai felt that if he didn't want to go one city after another and fight with the Qi army between several cities in Jinyang, he still had to put pressure on Qi Zhu Gaoyan repeatedly.

The first day after arriving in Jinyang ended like this. Originally, Li Tai personally arranged and arranged the night watch, but he slept peacefully until dawn. It is unknown that the Northern Qi generals did not have the courage and plan to launch a night attack. , or the military strength in the city is not enough to launch such a military operation again. In short, the Wei army has completely established a foothold under Jinyang City.

The next day, Li Tai was not in a hurry to order an attack. While he sent people into Jinyang County and built various siege equipment, he also made some psychological tricks according to his own combat habits.

However, since the target this time is the emperor of Northern Qi, it is obviously not appropriate to persuade him to surrender. After all, Li Tai himself has not yet reached a position that can induce Gao Yan.

In the morning, the infantry army led by He Ruodun from the rear arrived in Jinyang one after another. Also arriving with them was Duan Shao's coffin.

Li Tai had Duan Shao's coffin transported to the Jinyang Palace, and the organizers shouted inside: "I tell you, Lord Qi, that the person buried here is Duan Shao, king of the plains of your country. Duan Shao fought with my lord, King Tang, at Jingxing and was defeated. My lord, In pity for his talent, he committed suicide because he was not recruited. The Lord of Qi is fortunate to have this Zhongliang. Now, if the Lord of Qi wants to beg for Zhongliang's body, he will need to bring hundreds of officials and slaves to exchange it!"

When the officers and soldiers of Jinyang Palace learned that the coffin outside the palace was actually King Duan Shao of Pingyuan, they were filled with sadness and fear. After hearing the conditions offered by the Wei army, they couldn't help but talk. One after another.

On the one hand, they felt that what Wei Jun did was simply an insult to Duan Shao, and he even equated lowly official slaves with Duan Shao. On the other hand, they were worried that Wei Jun might use this to make more demanding demands, or to destroy and humiliate Duan Shao's body.

No matter what they felt, they reported the situation to the emperor as soon as possible. After learning about this, Qi Lord Gao Yan felt similar to the other imperial guards, but he was also annoyed because the Wei army used words like "begging" in their words.

He wanted to exchange Duan Shao's body back, which seemed to mean that he had to bow to the Wei army. This was something Gao Yan was absolutely unwilling to do. Now that he had lost most of his territory, he was even more unwilling to give up his dignity.

After some hesitation, he ordered the imperial guard general Zhao Daode to negotiate outside the palace on his behalf, and proposed that more official slaves could be exchanged for other captured generals. On the one hand, it showed his compassion for his subjects, and on the other hand, it was also a declaration to the Wei army that this was a negotiation and not a begging.

However, Gao Yan's inner drama did not receive the attention of the Wei army. They just followed the order of the King of Tang and exchanged Duan Shao's body for a hundred male and female palace slaves from the Jinyang Palace. As for other transactions, they were out of the question.

"Brother Xiaoxian, why did you abandon me!"

When Duan Shao's body was transported to Jinyang Palace, Gao Yan rushed forward and asked the staff to open the coffin. When he saw Duan Shao's body lying inside, he couldn't help crying and crying loudly.

After a while, Gao Yan barely stopped crying. Seeing that the coffin used by the Wei army to bury Duan Shao was quite simple, he ordered the palace servants to quickly make the Dongyuan secret weapon and summoned the civil and military officials of Jinyang to pay tribute to Duan Shao. He wanted to use his remaining power to add some mourning honor to Duan Shao.

But when the imperial guards asked several times, only a dozen people came to the palace. Gao Yan's sadness was immediately replaced by anger. Yesterday, there were still hundreds of officials who entered the palace to pay homage, but as the situation reversed, the number of officials who were still willing to enter the palace to pay homage was sharply reduced.

Gao Yan felt his heart burn for a moment, and his eyes swept over everyone. When he saw Wang Xi, Lu Yao and other confidants were still present, he felt a little comforted. Before, the nobles of Jinyang competed for advancement, and Gao Yan was somewhat alienated and cold to these old people in the palace. Now these people still stick with him, which at least proves that he is not a failure to the point of being deserted by everyone.

"Mr. Wang, please, please write a eulogy for King Pingyuan!"

Gao Yan waved his hand and called Wang Xi to come closer. Seeing that Wang Xi's appearance was also a little haggard and old, his eyes suddenly became hot again, and he choked and said: "I wish I could still be in the old mansion, steal the book pavilion, and discuss human affairs with scholars and others!"

"Your Majesty..."

After hearing this, Wang Xi couldn't help but feel a sore nose and tears.

Not to mention the sentimental moments of deep affection between the monarch and his subjects in Jinyang Palace, the hundreds of Jinyang Palace slaves who were exchanged were led away and soon led back. Unlike before, these people were replaced with simple and shabby slave clothes, and were dressed in brocade clothes, and they all became bright and beautiful.

Among them, a middle-aged palace slave walked to the front of Jinyang Palace under the protection of the Wei army, pointed at the imperial guards guarding the palace gate and shouted: "I am now the Jinyang Palace South Gate Supervisor appointed by the King of Tang, and you soldiers, why don't you surrender and return to justice in order to save your lives!"

The imperial guards saw this villain's success and arrogance, and they were ashamed and angry for a while. Some people couldn't help but draw their bows and shoot, and others also cursed. But no matter how angry they were on the outside, they had a faint envy in their hearts.

The liberation of slaves and the granting of official titles was an old trick used by Hou Jing when he attacked Jiankang. Apart from the class color and progressiveness, there was also a special background, that is, the Southern Liang used iron coins at that time, so the official minting and other places gathered tens of thousands of official slaves to cast coins all year round.

Now Li Tai picked up his wisdom and announced to the people of Jinyang that the world has changed here, and all the grace, prestige and honors are from me, and the Qi master in the Jinyang Palace is out of date.

Later generations have many lucky theories about the Northern Zhou's destruction of Qi. Regardless of whether this statement is accurate enough, one thing is certain that the Northern Zhou did a good job in the united front work after the war. Most of the noble officials of the Northern Qi were appeased and retained, allowing them to smoothly join the rule of the Northern Zhou. At the same time, after the demolition of the overly luxurious palace buildings such as Jinyang Palace and Yedu Santai, various building materials were distributed to the people to benefit the common people.

Therefore, although there were some rebellion after the fall of Northern Qi, the society was able to quickly restore stability without causing too much trouble. Of course, this was also related to the clownish performance of the Northern Qi nobles. From top to bottom, there was rarely any news of the death of the country. The entire Northern Qi ruling class was filled with a sense of corruption and shamelessness, and their feelings for this regime were not as strong as those of the Qi fans in later generations.

Li Tai hoped that the Northern Qi would resist more strongly in the future, so that more stubborn elements could be eliminated directly through war. He really didn't want to accept too many of the remaining personnel problems of the Northern Qi.

If they were to be killed after the war, no matter what the purpose was, it would give the Northern Qi survivors a feeling of rampant torture and brutal rule. The common identity of the remnants of the fallen country would make them feel emotionally connected and sympathetic with the Northern Qi nobles, but they ignored the fact that if the Northern Qi did not perish, would they be worthy of sharing the same breath and fate with the masters?

However, in terms of judging the situation, these Jinyang nobles obviously had something. As more than 100,000 Western Wei troops gathered outside the city, although several major urban areas of Jinyang City had not yet fallen, an atmosphere of depression, despair and national destruction had spread over the entire city, and there was no proactive attack against the Wei army.

Next, the Wei army began to take the lead in attacking Jinyang Palace based on Jinyang County.

Since Jinyang Palace is not a traditional military city, the palace walls and lanes are closely distributed inside, so the attack is different from ordinary cities. Jinyang Palace seems to be heavily guarded, but it is supported by imperial rules. If these do not exist, it would be easier to attack simply by military means. This is one of the reasons why Li Tai first chose to attack Jinyang Palace.

Although Jinyang Palace is surrounded by high walls, it does not have facilities such as urns, horse faces, and city walls like ordinary cities. The soldiers of the Qi army could only line up for defense within the palace walls. Once these long and narrow lanes were defended, the Wei army did not even need to launch a direct attack at all. They could shoot arrows at a fixed angle outside the palace wall to turn the garrisoned Qi army sergeants into hedgehogs.

As for the various turrets distributed within the palace walls, they could only cover an area around them. It was acceptable to conduct inspections and surveillance on the palace maids and eunuchs, but their effectiveness in blocking the enemy was very limited.

Therefore, as the Wei army launched an attack on Jinyang Palace, the palace defense of Jinyang Palace suddenly became precarious. Apart from the battle to attack Jinyang Palace, Li Tai did not launch attacks on other cities. However, he gathered 50,000 elite troops on the east bank of Fen River. His intention was very clear, which city dared to reinforce Jinyang Palace? Then attack that city while it's weak!

Compared with the attacks launched by the Wei army soldiers from different directions, the attack method of Heyang Cannon was even more amazing. In the past, some people here in Jinyang may have only heard of its name but not seen its form, but today, as long as you have the courage to go out, you can see those thunderous cannons and rocks smashing into Jinyang Palace like thunder.

Li Tai doesn't plan to stay in Jinyang in the coming year, so he naturally doesn't have much pity for the gorgeous and magnificent palace buildings in Jinyang Palace. And he was planning to dismantle these palace materials and distribute them to the people of Jinyang, so the Heyang cannons also aimed at those magnificent buildings.

With several roars in succession, all the colored tiles and beams were destroyed, and another cannon stone fell directly into the hall, hitting the empress dowager's coffin. Although it had been weakened by the buffering of the roof of the hall, when the cannon stone fell down At that moment, a dent was made on the surface of the coffin, and one corner of the coffin lid was lifted up.

"The dog thief deserves to be killed! I will never be at odds with the thief..."

When Emperor Gao Yan learned that the Empress Dowager's mourning hall had been bombarded by the Wei army's Heyang artillery, he was extremely angry. After ordering the Empress Dowager's coffin to be moved to a hidden place, he was even more furious, wearing armor and holding a knife, and wanted to go out and kill him personally. He attacked the enemy and ordered the Forbidden Army soldiers who were stationed in various places to gather together to attack and kill outside the palace.

The Qi army had been suppressed in Jinyang Palace before, but this time the fierce counterattack caught the Wei army off guard. A formation outside the palace gate was scattered, and two Heyang cannons were snatched by the Qi army.

However, before the Qi army had time to dismantle and destroy the Heyang cannon, the Wei army from other places swarmed in and directly engulfed these Qi army soldiers who dared to leave the palace and charge. Killing thousands of enemies in one battle, the Qi army was able to retreat in embarrassment. But soon after, the Wei army pursued them all the way to the front hall where the ministers of Jinyang Palace were waiting for the imperial edict, and the situation initially stabilized.

As the Wei army invaded Jinyang Palace, emergency beacons soon rose in the palace, and the soldiers and civilians in the surrounding cities had different reactions after seeing this. The first to receive reinforcements was Bingzhou City, which was excluded from Li Tai's primary target from the beginning. Many disciples poured into Jinyang Palace along the lanes between the cities. In addition to the fully armed armored soldiers, there were also There were thousands of civilians who were temporarily recruited.

The response from other cities was lagging behind, especially Luocheng and Nancheng in Jinyang, which Li Tai was more concerned about. There was almost no sign of manpower dispatch. So Li Tai ordered people to strengthen the offensive against Jinyang Palace and continue to exert pressure.

As for Bingzhou City, it is basically certain that the defense force is very empty at the moment, and it should be relatively easy to attack. But now Bingzhou City is full of people but there are no important personnel. Even if it is attacked, it will only cause the people to flee, adding to the chaos of the situation and only increasing casualties.

It's not that there are no troops in Jinyang Luocheng to reinforce Jinyang Palace, it's just that the number is too small and cannot be observed from the outside.

Hu Luguang led hundreds of elite soldiers to leave Jinyang Luocheng and entered the palace through the alley. After seeing the master of Qi performing, he grabbed the ground with his head, shed tears, and said in a sad voice: "I have suffered a defeat. It is a crime worthy of death for betraying your majesty's trust. I am not greedy for life and fear of death, but I can't put my king in a dangerous situation. Therefore, I beg your Majesty to allow me to escort you to break out of the encirclement. There are still tens of thousands of troops in Lingqiu in the north of Sizhou. It coincides with the new death of the Turkic Wu Zun Khan. If your Majesty goes to join the troops and travel to Hunting Monan, there is still something to be done!"

Hu Luguang has always been the person with the strongest fighting spirit, but in the current situation, even he has lost the confidence to continue fighting with the Wei army. He only suggested that the emperor abandon Jinyang and flee to Monan, taking advantage of the current power vacuum in the north and south of the desert to develop. power.

However, after Gao Yan heard this, he just shook his head and said in a solemn voice: "This country was not inherited from my father. Wen Xuan founded the country. I am not his heir. Therefore, I rose up to seize it. I hope to promote good governance and make my family and country prosperous! I seize this country." How can I give up my country for the sake of helplessness? The situation is like this, it’s fate! I don’t have the ability to rejuvenate the country, but I can’t lose the righteousness of the country, so I will die now!”

He rejected Hu Luguang's suggestion to escape, then looked at him and said: "The king is a brave and famous general, but it is a pity that he betrays himself secretly. I am not a hero of heroes. The king is still willing to come to see you. I am very relieved to know that the king I will definitely not bow down to the Wei State and wander around without a name to collect and care for the people who died. Today, I am passing on the throne of King Boling. I ask Wang Gong to become the new king and wait for the time to break through. The whole industry will not be destroyed by me, so that I can save a little dignity! "

"His Majesty……"

After hearing this, Hu Luguang couldn't help but burst into tears and cried to the ground. After Gao Yan's repeated urging, he accepted the imperial edict and said goodbye to Gao Yan again.

After Hu Luguang left, Gao Yan looked at Wang Xi and others who were hesitant to speak, with a bit of a smile on his face and said: "You are wondering why I passed the throne to Prince Boling instead of entrusting the heir? Hu Lu Mingyue?" Although he is loyal and good, he is also a tiger and wolf, unruly and difficult to tame. It will be difficult to get there. It will be difficult for the young master and the strong ministers to be harmonious. The bright moon can discuss the war. Such things are beyond his ability. He may be able to do it for a while, but in the long run he may be Killing the master, or risking self-inflicted harm, I can’t bear for my son to take this risk.”

While speaking, he placed another edict in Wang Xi's hand and said: "After the destruction of Jinyang Palace, please ask the bachelor to surrender to the king of Tang Dynasty with this form of surrender. Since Li Boshan wants to encompass the world and unify the world, he must not be narrow-minded. I can’t bear to have a young child. I hope my son can live!”

After Wang Xi heard this, he could only hold the surrender watch with trembling hands and obey his orders.

In the next two days, the Wei army continued to attack Jinyang Palace. Although the other cities also received reinforcements, there was no overwhelming situation. Especially in Jinyang Nancheng, there are often just hundreds of disciples noisily rushing in for reinforcements, but there is no unified organization. Regarding the matter of King Qin rescuing the driver, Jinyang nobles had already left it to their own devices and thrift.

Finally, on the fifth day when the Wei army launched the siege, the Wei army soldiers were still eating in the camp at dawn, when suddenly thick smoke billowed from the direction of Jinyang Palace. After seeing this scene, the soldiers from all the camps gathered together and headed towards Jinyang Palace.

In the main hall, Qi Zhu Gaoyan picked up the jade seal of the state on the case, pressed it heavily on the edict of sinners that he had written, then put the jade seal of the state into the seal box and wrapped it in a brocade bag, and walked until he was just awakened In front of his son, who was still a little sleepy, Gao Baibai hung the brocade bag containing the jade seal on his son's neck, and then pushed his son out of the hall: "Go ahead, don't keep Bachelor Wang waiting for a long time."

"Aye! I want Aye..."

Although Gao Baibai didn't know what was going to happen next, he saw his father's miserable face and felt a loud sense of foreboding in his heart. He cried and refused to leave, but he was picked up by the Forbidden Army general Zhao Daode and carried outside the palace.

After waving goodbye to his son, Gao Yan came to the apse where the flames were already very strong. He glanced around at the Forbidden Army soldiers who were still standing there and sighed: "I have no virtue to protect you when you are a king and a minister. All of you are loyal to me. This is the end of it. I will bear the consequences of this heinous crime. Please go out and tell the King of Tang that the sinners have already been punished, so don’t abuse our people!"

After saying this, Gao Yan jumped straight into the raging hall, and his body was quickly engulfed by the flames. When the remaining soldiers of the Forbidden Army saw this scene, they all burst into tears and bid farewell to their king outside the palace.

In the front hall of Jinyang Palace, the crying Gao Baibai came here and temporarily stopped crying. He looked at Wang Xi who had been waiting here and asked: "Scholar Wang, where are we going? Why doesn't Aye want to go with us?"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I will go out to meet the King of Tang Dynasty and beg for my life. Your Majesty, Your Majesty will find his own place to go..."

Wang Xi bent down and picked up the child, placed him on the bullock cart and sat down in a straight posture. Then he loosened Gao Baibai's hair and let it fall down to cover the childish face. He put a linen garment on the child's thin face. on the body, and then all of them, with their hair and bare feet, followed behind the bullock cart and slowly walked towards the outside of Jinyang Palace.

"The power of the King of Tang is irresistible. A certain group of sinners came out to meet the King of Tang in the name of His Highness the Crown Prince of our country, and offered their surrender! The King of Tang is unparalleled in his benevolence and righteousness. Si Tian holds the talisman and prays to the King of Tang to accept his surrender and grant him life!"

When they came not far from the Wei army's battle formation, Wang Xi and others bowed down one after another. He held the surrender watch in both hands, walked several feet on his knees, and stepped forward to offer the watch to surrender.