"Everyone, please stand. I didn't say you. I was talking about those who don't keep their place. They thought they had a powerful ally in the Western Regions, but they didn't realize that the people of the Arab Empire were not fools. How could they sacrifice everything in vain? By then, these fools won't even know how they died."
Compared to the pale-faced scholar in the past, Xiao Shougui can now be said to be decisive and ruthless. There are at least thirty kings and princes who died in his hands, not to mention other armies in the Western Regions. Of course, all of this is to maintain the majesty of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions.
Even with such a large number of casualties, there are still nine countries whose people refuse to come despite receiving the imperial edict, which means that they have openly rebelled against the Tang Dynasty.
After hearing Xiao Shougui's words, these people also felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief, although they had been describing how powerful the Arab Empire was and how powerful the country's armored soldiers and cavalry were, with more than one million soldiers.
But those are all legends told by others. We have never seen it. We have all seen how powerful the Tang Dynasty's army is. If the two sides really meet, we really don't know what will happen. Therefore, before we are completely sure, it is better to follow the Tang Dynasty honestly. The Arab Empire cannot destroy us, but the Tang Dynasty can.
"Who among you knows what's going on in Samarkand?"
Xiao Shougui came to the front of the sand table. Although the Protectorate had always lacked a Protector-General, everything inside was complete. No one from the Western Regions dared to come here to cause trouble. This represented the authority of the Tang Dynasty. If you were not tough enough, you'd better be honest.
"And report to the Protector General that a caravan has arrived from the west. They have learned that King Milan of Samarqand has been captured by the Arab army. This place should now belong to the Arab Empire."
Although Xiao Shougui had already emphasized that that country was the Arab Empire, the countries in the Western Regions still had their own customs and they still called those people Arabs.
It's just a name, and Xiao Shougui doesn't have the time to care about it.
"If I'm not mistaken, they must have countless spies in the countries of the Western Regions, and there should be people from them in the cities of your countries as well, right?"
Xiao Shougui swept his sharp eyes over them, and the king made these people look a little unnatural. Even though they came to the Protectorate, we couldn't dig out their hearts to see what they were thinking.
These guys are actually fence-sitters. Many of them want to wait and see for a while, so they vote on both sides. Now they have come to the Protectorate. When Samar convened a meeting some time ago, some people also went there. Don't think that the Tang Dynasty knows nothing.
"Reporting to the Protector General, we have a total of seventy-five spies in Shule. Twelve of them were killed, and four escaped. All of them have been captured and brought here. They are all currently in the Protector General's prison, at the Protector General's disposal."
A king from the Western Regions stood up. This man was the King of Shule.
This person had visited the Tang Dynasty when he was young and had great admiration for its culture. He was also an activist in all the countries in the Western Regions, no matter what they did. Therefore, he certainly had no connection with the Arab Empire. His country also had the largest number of Tang Dynasty troops stationed there.
Now that someone is leading the way, if the others don't take any action, then the Protector-General might be dissatisfied. However, they really didn't make any preparations before they came, but of course it's not too late to prepare now.
"What should you do?"
Xiao Shougui said with a forced smile, "The King of Shule has set an example for you. If you still don't know what to do, I'm afraid we will have to change the king. The countries in the Western Regions have been in turmoil recently, and the kings have been replaced one after another. It depends on whether you can get things done."
"I will immediately send a pigeon to order the domestic troops to take action..."
"I will also immediately..."
Although the people present realized it later, they could still see what Xiao Shougui meant. If they didn't take any action, this Lord Duhu would have a very treacherous hand.
When this Protector General first came to the Western Regions with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he looked like a pale-faced scholar who was even afraid of blood. But what has he become now? He wants to kill people at the slightest disagreement.
"Why don't you do it now?"
Following Xiao Shougui's stern rebuke, these people hurried out. They had to hurry up and not let the spies in the country escape. If they couldn't hand them over in time, they would be in trouble. The Western Regions Protectorate never kept idle people.
When he was in Chang'an City, Cheng Chumo had seen Xiao Shougui before. He always thought that this guy was cheerful. But after arriving in the Western Regions, he found that this person was completely different. No wonder Li Xiang wanted to hand over the affairs of the Western Regions to Xiao Shougui instead of the Cheng brothers.
"All the intelligence has been gathered. What do you think, General Cheng?"
Looking at the various reports on the table, whether true or false, they all revealed a truth, that is, the army of the Arab Empire had arrived in Samarkand.
"It's not clear how many troops they have brought yet. These guys are talking nonsense, but I think it should be tens of thousands of people. The army we have in the Western Regions should be enough to deal with them. But we should still inform His Highness."
Cheng Chumo hesitated for a moment. Now he had entered the Tiance General's Mansion, which gave him one more identity than other generals in the country. He could mobilize the armies of all the countries in the Western Regions, but it was hard to say who was a human and who was a ghost.
Take the group of people who just arrived for example. They are supposed to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty. After all, they were transferred here with just one order. But if you say that they have no ulterior motives, I guess no one present will believe it. If you really have no ulterior motives, you should do the same as the King of Shule and kill all the spies in the country and then bring them to the Tang Dynasty. This would be considered a token of your loyalty.
"These are several countries near Congling. They are also the closest to Samarkand, but none of them came to this meeting."
Xiao Shougui frowned and said that the westernmost countries in the Western Regions had not sent anyone. Before coming, even if the king did not come, he had to at least send someone of importance. In recent years, the alliance has been held once a year.
"Take them down first?"
Cheng Chumo hesitated and said that there were not many troops that could be mobilized now because the Western Regions were too vast.
