Chapter 975 You Can Surrender This is an extremely ordinary town. For these troubled times, the dilapidation of the town seems so natural. If there is any place in Gangbuk Province and Gyeonggi Province that has not been destroyed, it is only what is inside the high walls of Chang'an City. The emperors of the Sui Dynasty all worked hard for the same dream to build an unparalleled city wall in the world. They firmly believe that as long as this ring of city walls exists, Baili Chang'an will not be breached from the outside. As long as the Yang family still controls Chang'an City, the world will ultimately belong to the Yang family. But none of them had ever thought that the city of Chang'an would be broken open not from outside the city but from within. The dominance of the Yang family was shaken not because of outsiders, but because of their own members. Relatively speaking, this dilapidated town appears to have a more reasonable existence than Chang'an City. The Black Flag Army¡¯s hundreds of thousands of troops, plus no less than 50,000 surrendered troops, camped and rested around the town. After crossing the Yangtze River and marching forward at an unstoppable pace, the soldiers' fatigue came not from the battle but from the rapid march. There is an official road running east-west to the north of this town. According to the Dao rule of the Sui Dynasty, the north of this official road belongs to Gyeonggi Road. Gyeonggi-do is very big. If Chang'an City is the heart of the Sui Dynasty, then Gyeonggi Province is the left chest of the Sui Dynasty. Now this half of the chest has been riddled with holes by the rebellion, and the solemnity it once had is nowhere to be found. Someone once said that the strength of a family depends on how many properties it owns in Gyeonggi Province. Not all wealthy families are willing to live in Chang'an City. It is considered good if one person from a family serves as a representative in the court. If there are several people working in the court at the same time, then this is undoubtedly a super big family. ¡°For those whose families have officials in the court, in order to provide support, the greatest convenience is for the family to purchase real estate in Gyeonggi Province, and there will be a group of people dedicated to backing them up. It is absolutely not an exaggeration to say that seven out of ten big families in the entire Sui Dynasty had real estate in Gyeonggi Province. Moreover, you simply don¡¯t know whether dignitaries live in the large courtyard with green bricks and red tiles in a small town. These people may not all live in big cities, nor may they all live in big houses. Gangbuk-do, which is adjacent to Gyeonggi-do, is like a heavy armor on the outside of the chest. However, this armor did not play the expected role. When the war broke out, Luo Yao cut the armor into pieces with a brutal knife, leaving half of Gyeonggi Province's chest exposed to the blade. If it weren¡¯t for the war, the name of this small town might never appear in the history books. If Fang Jie hadn't been here, the name of this small town would have been destined not to be spread even if there was a war. Of course, the indigenous people in the town certainly don't want their place to be famous because of the war. Of course, they won't object to anything that happens in the town now, because they are already dead. This place has been raided more than once. Luo Yao¡¯s team, later Shengtu¡¯s team, the court¡¯s team, plus Wang Yiqu¡¯s Gao Kaitai¡¯s team, plus countless bandits composed of deserters. This small town has a particularly interesting name, called Yihe Town. It is said that there were originally two small neighboring villages, and they often fought over the canals for watering crops. During the previous dynasty of the Great Zheng Kingdom, the construction of canals was not as developed as it is now. Whoever controls the canals can ensure the defense of crops. For this reason, people from the two villages would fight each other every once in a while. Many people died. Those who died were all middle-aged men, so there were particularly many widows in these two villages. There are too many widows, and there are too many right and wrongs. "It's a bit far Later, the village chiefs of the two villages decided that continuing the fight was not an option. They were fighting for water channels for crops and food, but the people who ate the food died. Is it worth it? So the two people sat down to discuss and decided that the canal would be used by the people of the two villages in turn on odd and even days. That day there were loud gongs and drums, and firecrackers were blasting in the village. Everyone was wearing red and colorful clothes. I don¡¯t know how many people were drunk, and I don¡¯t know how many widows had their doors quietly opened Later, the two villages grew bigger and bigger. , the houses built gradually became one piece. The people of the two villages discussed it and simply merged the two villages into one place, which was called Yihe Town. Those who thought of these two words at the time would never have imagined that this town would usher in a disaster many, many years later, nor would they have thought In Yihe Town, two big shots sat face to face, and one of them proposed a peace proposal. . ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ Gao Kaitai once met Fang Jie. Not in Chang'an City, but in the northwest. At that time, there was great chaos in the northwest, and the Mongolian Yuan DynastyWhen riding into the country, you might find a corpse wherever you dig in the land in the northwest. Emperor Tianyou of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Yi, led his troops to quell the rebellion. In a bloody battle in the northwest, Fang Jie led his troops thousands of miles to rescue them. It was at that time that Gao Kaitai first met the young man who had already become famous in Chang'an City. Master Fang. See you again after many years. Now Mr. Xiaofang has become the Duke of the country. I heard that Her Royal Highness the Princess of the Sui Dynasty is already preparing for Fang Jie¡¯s kingship ceremony. Gao Kaitai couldn't help but sigh, people's fate is really unpredictable. Even if he didn't underestimate Fang Jie at the beginning, he only thought that this young man would be like him in the future and become a general. Or, he could be with the old scholars in Chang'an City and become the youngest bachelor in the empire. Things in the world change unpredictably. Today¡¯s young man¡¯s face no longer looks as tender as before, and the depth in his eyes actually carries a touch of vicissitudes of life. This is a sign of true maturity, age is not. "The Duke of Zhen Guo has such a good demeanor." Gao Kaitai cleared his throat and brought his thoughts back to reality from the northwest: "When I first met Duke Zhen Guo in Northwest a long time ago, I told people that in the future, the Duke of Zhen Guo will The future of the Duke is limitless. I am stupid, but I was right about this. At that time, the demeanor of the Duke was impressive. " Such polite words are not even nutritious. Fang Jie smiled: "General, you're welcome. I said goodbye to the general in the northwest. I didn't expect to meet again. It's been several years." He called Gao Kaitai the general, not Gao Kaitai. King Yu. Wang Yiqu became king in Gyeonggi Province and called himself King of Thailand. Gao Kaitai calls himself King Yu. The two words Tai and Yu have good meanings. However, no matter how auspicious the name is, it cannot affect the current situation. After so many years of ups and downs in officialdom, Gao Kaitai naturally understood the meaning of Fang Jie's title, so he smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly, but didn't care much. Now that the situation is like this, he is at a disadvantage. Even if the battle has not yet begun and the outcome is uncertain, he knows in his heart that he has a slight chance of winning. How powerful the Black Flag Army is now is a matter on the table. Whether you are a sighted person or a blind person, you can see it clearly. "Yesit was a time when the country was in crisis, and I couldn't get close to the Duke of Zhen. I said goodbye at that time, and I didn't expect that we would see each other again in the future. I just didn't expect that we would be in such a situation when we met again. Gao Kaitai sighed for a while, glanced at Fang Jie and said, "Why don't you see Her Royal Highness?" Fang Jie said, "Your Highness is resting in the camp after a long journey. If the general wants to see His Highness, I can send someone to ask." "No, no, no." Gao Kaitai shook his head: "I'm not in a hurry to see His Highness. There are some things that are more important now." He said this without any restraint, and he didn't care much about the eldest princess's attitude. In fact, these people now think differently. Seeing solutions is far more practical than knowing how to grow a princess. Their superficial respect for the eldest princess is ridiculous. Without the powerful military power of the Black Flag Army, what respect would they have for a subjugated princess. "I have always believed that if we can sit down and talk about some things, there is no need to decide the winner on the battlefield. The people you and I are leading are all veterans of hundreds of battles, and it would be heartbreaking if anyone dies." Gao Kaitai took a sip of tea, smiled and said: "The Duke of Zhen is willing to sit down and talk with me. Naturally, he cares about the lives of his subordinates. Therefore, since this is possible, I will simply speak more directly." He waved, and a close entourage came over with a map. . Gao Kaitai took the map, laid it flat on the table and pointed: "The Zhenguo Lord now has a strong military force, I feel ashamed. This is the truth and I don't need to be pretentious. I can't conquer Chang'an City, so give it to the Zhenguo It's not impossible for you to come and fight. However, you have to explain something in advance" Gao Kaitai pointed at the map and said: "Gyeonggi Road is so big that our troops can avoid it. I broke up the siege of Chang'an City and gave the capital to Duke Zhen. However, I still have hundreds of thousands of brothers watching over me, and I can't let them down too much. If I want to raise troops, I need this kind of land. The same principle applies to crops. If you have 10,000 kilograms of grain seeds and no land, it will be useless even if they are left rotten. " Fang Jie nodded: "That's reasonable, go on. " Hearing what Fang Jie said, Gao Kaitai thought it was okay. When he had the opportunity to go further, he drew a circle on the map with his hand: "Not only Gyeonggi Province, but also Jiangbei Province, I can give up. Those who betrayed the master before are now working under Zhenguo Gong, and I can not pursue them. . As for the troops under their command, treat them as gifts from me to the country that will soon be conquered.??A congratulatory gift from the king. "But" Gao Kaitai glanced at Fang Jie's face. Seeing that there was no change in Fang Jie's expression, he continued: "I have to think about my brothers, so east of Gyeonggi Road, Shuncheng Road, Tai'an Road, this It¡¯s not too much to give both to me. If Duke Zhen Guo nods, I will go back and order the troops to leave Gyeonggi Province now. " "What a great place. Fang Jie nodded: "Shuncheng Road and Tai'an Road, these two roads have never experienced war, and they are the most prosperous and prosperous places east of Gyeonggi Road. They are the best for raising troops." The general has a good eye, and this place is impeccable. " He glanced at Gao Kaitai: "But what should I do if I want such a good place? " Gao Kaitai's face changed. After being silent for a long time, he gritted his teeth: "Northwest! The exhausted northwest may not recover in ten years. I only want the northwest, is this feasible? " Fang Jie nodded again: "This is really not too much to ask. I also know very well how poor the northwest is. The general is willing to lead troops back to the northwest. This is already a huge concession, and I am very moved. Butwhat do I want to do with such a dilapidated place? " Gao Kaitai's face suddenly turned pale. He stood up suddenly and pointed at the map and said, "You must give me a place in Jiangbei! " Fang Jie picked up the map and folded it slowly and carefully: "I won't give you any of the places on this map. There is no place outside the map for you. You said you have hundreds of thousands of horses to raise and need space. Don't be embarrassed, I can raise them for you. As for you, if you want a place to retire, I wouldn't be stingy. " The corners of Gao Kaitai's mouth trembled a few times, and his fists could no longer be clenched. " Duke Zhen Guo is going to start a war anyway? " He asked through gritted teeth. "No" Fang Jie smiled: "You can also surrender. "