Niu Jinda was feeling rather depressed. He had finally managed to get here by taking a shortcut, and his soldiers had hoped to achieve great things on the battlefield, but now what was going on? Everyone was ready, but the city gates were thrown wide open, and everyone from the local officials down came out to surrender.
"I say, Old Cow, don't look so miserable. How far have we come yet? We want to conquer all of Goguryeo and the peninsula. The other two countries haven't suffered much damage. When we fight them, it will definitely be a tough battle. When that happens, I'll send you in first."
Li Xiang was very considerate of Niu Jinda. He was fully prepared, including his troops, and was about to charge forward. If you surrendered directly, wouldn't all our preparations be in vain?
"Thank you, Your Highness. I, Old Niu, don't know how to do the rest. I'm going to patrol the river with my men."
Niu Jinda was in a bad mood and went out on patrol with his 1,500 soldiers. Li Xiang followed him. Everyone else was happy today, but he was the only one who was holding a grudge. Now the enemy surrendered voluntarily, so the credit had nothing to do with him and could only be attributed to Li Xiang, because he was not the commander-in-chief.
"Your Highness, what should we do with these hundreds of thousands of people?"
Looking at the people coming out of the city continuously, Su Dingfang was at a loss. Although he had robbed many Goguryeo people in the past, compared with the number of people in front of him, it was probably not even a fraction of them. The tens of thousands of soldiers were naturally easy to deal with, but the rest were ordinary people.
If Li Shimin were here, he would most likely let them continue to live here to show his prestige as the Heavenly Khan. However, letting these people continue to stay here will not benefit us in any way, as they have rebellious intentions in their hearts.
"Register them all and send people to transport them back. These people are our spoils of war. If anyone is short of workers, they can buy them directly from the court."
Li Xiang snorted coldly. Forget about hoping to do something that would earn him fame. The main reason was that he didn't need that fame. The most important thing was to get the actual benefits. If no one wanted these tens of thousands of people, Li Xiangyuan would just send them all to his own farm.
Li Xiang's farm had expanded tremendously. Hiring people to cultivate the land would have cost him a fortune. These people were free labor, so why not? He could simply pay the court a small sum.
"I obey your command!"
No matter what Li Xiang wanted to do with these people, Su Dingfang could not let them stay. There were many young and strong men here. According to Su Dingfang's idea, they should all be killed. Anyway, many of us have died here, so let's pay it forward.
However, Li Xiang's method took economic benefits into consideration more. Anyway, Li Xiang knew who you guys were. He would naturally not treat you well after taking you back. There are countless jobs waiting for you to do. Sleep six or seven hours a day and spend the rest of the time working. As for food and drink, treat them the same as animals to prevent you from rebelling after eating too much.
If tens of thousands of people were to be transported back in batches, it would be too difficult to manage. So Li Xiang gave Su Dingfang a plan to transport 6,000 people back each time. After this batch set off, it would take at least three or four days before the next batch could set off. This was also to prevent them from colluding to rebel on the way.
Liaodong has a vast area and a sparse population. If they rebel here, they may not be caught. As long as they reach the interior, there is nothing to be afraid of. There are many Tang Dynasty people there, and these people have words carved on their faces. No matter where they run to, they will not be able to survive in society unless they live in the deep mountains and forests. Li Xiang can only admire these ruthless people.
When the two men had discussed this matter, a group of officials came over from a distance. These people were most of the Goguryeo officials in Jiangbei. They had originally planned to cross the river in the next two days, but in order to force them to give up defending, Goguryeo burned all the boats on the Taedong River.
Of course, there is another reason for doing this, which is that they are afraid that Li Xiang and his men will cross the river by boat. In this era without various mechanical equipment, it is already quite difficult to build a bridge of dozens of meters. As for the river surface that stretches for hundreds of meters, they can only rely on boats.
There are no boats on the river now, and Goguryeo also believes that they have a chance of survival, but they still have to reach an agreement with Li Xiang. If Li Xiang insists on crossing the river, the Tang Dynasty navy is not weak either.
The last time Li Shimin came to fight, he ordered the Dengzhou navy to help. This time, because Li Xiang's attack speed was too fast, the Dengzhou navy had not yet left the port, and Li Xiang had already taken a large amount of land in Jiangbei.
"Li Xiang, how could you disregard the reputation of the Tang Dynasty and brazenly launch an attack..."
Li Renxi may not have understood the current situation, and when he saw Li Xiang, he was about to curse. When he said this, many Goguryeo officials present applauded. They thought that this old man brought honor to Goguryeo.
"This old man is really looking for death. I'm going to chop him up."
Su Dingfang was about to take out the knife, but Li Xiang stopped him. If you chop him down now, he will be a hero in the hearts of the Goguryeo people. Li Xiang has plenty of ways to deal with such a so-called hero. Let's see if you have the ability and whether you are tough enough. Being a hero these days is not just a matter of a moment.
"Come here! Put a 40-jin stone on this old man's back and make him walk along the riverbank. Don't allow him to drink water or eat. If he stops, whip him. If he insults Goguryeo, give him water."
After Li Xiang finished speaking, everyone around him shuddered. There are many people who want to be heroes, but some are real heroes and some are fake heroes. Su Dingfang calculated in his mind that if he were in the old man's position, he would probably not be able to hold on in the end. After all, a knife cut down only takes a moment, but if he kept working without food and water, then the result would be hard to predict.
"And those people over there, weren't they cursing so hard just now? Go over and tell them to either curse Goguryeo to the heavens or go over and carry the stones with this old man..."
As soon as Li Xiang finished speaking, the Goguryeo officials not far away shut their mouths one after another, and some even covered their mouths with their hands, fearing that any character would slip out...
