In fact, no matter what they say, they are just afraid of death. Everyone knows the relationship between Prince Zhennan and the king. It is almost a fight to the death. If you say that you obey the king's orders, that is really nonsense.
If the Tang army had not come, they would not have handed over the territory even if the king himself stood at the gate of the military camp.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that there was definitely something wrong with this imperial edict. No matter how much the king relied on the Tang Dynasty, he could not hand over all the strategic locations under his control to the Tang army. This would be equivalent to putting his lifeblood in someone else's hands. Would the king be so stupid?
But what can they do if they see it? Can we resist it? Just look at the aggressive Tang army outside the barracks and you will know. They are clearly using courtesy first and then force.
Either you get the imperial edict and open the camp gate, and wait until the Tang army takes over here. Then you will be given travel expenses, and if you are willing to work, there will be work for you.
Either you take up your weapons and fight the Tang army to the end, but whether you can save your lives depends on whether smoke is rising from your family's ancestral graves. There is a 90% chance that you will not be able to save your lives. This is the consensus reached by everyone.
Except for the three military camps where fighting took place, the other military camps basically laid down their weapons obediently. The military camp that originally had 3,000 people now had less than 700 people. The remaining people were transferred away by the Prince of Zhennan. Moreover, the remaining 700 people did not have much combat ability. How dare they resist?
So even if they guessed that there was something wrong with the imperial edict in front of them, they pretended that there was nothing wrong with it and honestly handed it over to the Tang army. Then each of them received three strings of money, honestly threw away their armor, and then returned to their hometown. If anyone wanted to investigate, it was impossible for them to go back to their hometown to arrest us.
What's more, according to their estimate, the Tang army will never come out after entering. Whether the Nanzhao court will exist in the future may still be an unknown. Who will hold us accountable?
It took about two days for Li Xiang to receive reports from everyone. A total of sixteen military camps and important strongholds in the Nanzhao Kingdom were now all captured by the Tang army. The three resisting military camps were completely wiped out. A total of more than 1,300 people were killed or wounded, and more than 1,100 were captured.
According to the report from my lieutenant generals, the combat effectiveness of the Nanzhao army is no match for us at all. All we have dispatched are the reorganized armies of the four great chieftains. There is still a gap between their armies and the real Tang army, but even if we put them on the front line, they can easily crush the Nanzhao army.
Li Xiang had known earlier that the combat effectiveness of the Nanzhao army was not very good due to the long period of peace, but he did not expect it to be so bad.
Based on the feedback from various places, Li Xiang quickly made changes and asked Qian Ping and Qin Huaiyu to meet with the king and the King of Zhennan again, tell them the real situation in the country, and ask them to continue to be good puppets.
Originally, Li Xiang wanted to be more tactful and at least let them bring up the matter themselves after a while. However, seeing that the Nanzhao army was so useless and had not undergone actual combat training, there was no need to pretend anymore. When your strength is not good enough, you are not even qualified to protect the country.
Nanzhao Palace
Qin Huaiyu only pulled out a few key people and let them show their faces in front of the King of Nanzhao. Some of these people were clean, and some were still covered in blood. Those with blood were definitely resisting. The reason why they were not killed on the spot was to make the king believe at this moment that we had indeed captured your military camp.
"General Qin, what do you mean?"
The King of Nanzhao guessed it in his heart, but still couldn't believe it. According to him, you are the Celestial Empire, how could you be interested in a remote border country like ours? Now you are doing something like seizing our land. This is really too much. To put it bluntly, I regard you as my father, but you are actually thinking about my son's property.
"Do we even need to explain what we mean? It's best to control the land in our own hands. Your Highness's ambition is not here, but you are on the way to your goal. For the safety of our future army, we have no choice but to capture you."
Qin Huaiyu's words were very explicit. He had tried to cover it up a bit before, but now that the people below have taken action, what is there to cover up? From the moment His Royal Highness the Crown Prince got married until now, hasn't it all been for this moment?
"But, but you..."
The King of Nanzhao didn't know what to say. Although he had known that the Tang Dynasty would have some plans, he didn't expect that they were after your entire country. He thought that the Tang Dynasty only wanted to get some benefits from this land, but now he knows that they want everything. We are not on the same level as them at all.
"I've said it before, they're definitely not after that little bit of good, but you and your brother just wouldn't listen to me. Now look what you've done! This is called inviting a wolf into the house."
The King of Nanzhao collapsed on the ground. An old lady's voice sounded at the door. Qin Huaiyu looked up and saw that this was the Queen Mother of Nanzhao. Perhaps in the entire dynasty system, the Queen Mother was the only one who could see things clearly, but everyone thought that the Queen Mother was incompetent and could not understand the current situation at all. Moreover, they were unwilling to be enemies with the Tang Dynasty. Even though they knew that the Tang Dynasty had some ulterior motives, they were still unwilling to doubt this matter. They covered their heads and only wanted to live a good life. Now this is their end.
"Mother……"
The King of Nanzhao regrets it now, but unfortunately there is no medicine for regret in this world. You and your brother have made this country into this state. The entire country's border defense system is non-existent, and the Tang army was invited by you. It is easy to invite a god but difficult to send him away.
"It's too late to say anything now. Let's talk to the people from the Tang Dynasty and try our best to save our family's lives."
The old lady was really wise. At this time, she knew that it was useless to say anything else. The most important thing was to save the lives of her entire family.
"Please rest assured, our Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a kind-hearted man. As long as the King listens to us, we will not go too far in some matters. We can refer to the royal families of the Western Regions."
Qin Huaiyu also bent down rarely, which was a sign of respect for the old man.
