Vol 2 Chapter 2523: Destroy the Tang Dynasty (Part 2)

Chapter 2523 Destroy the Tang Dynasty (Part 2)

Chapter 2519: Destroy the Tang Dynasty (Part 2)

In the Battle of Longxi, the Qin army sent 60,000 troops and marched in three directions, all of which achieved great victories.

After the war, statistics showed that the total casualties of the Qin army were less than 1,000, but they killed 13,000 enemies and captured 27,000 prisoners.

 Although many of them were new recruits, this was still a great victory.

After occupying the three counties in Longxi, Da Qin's sphere of influence in Liangzhou also changed from one and a half counties before the Guanzhong War to the current six counties.

The six counties of Liangzhou in the Qin Dynasty are: Beidi County, Anding County, Wuwei County, Longxi County, Hanyang County and Wudu County.

As for the Sui State's sphere of influence in Liangzhou, it was reduced to six counties, namely: Jincheng County, Zhangye County, Jiuquan County, Dunhuang County, Zhangye Shu Kingdom, and Juyan County.

In addition to these six counties, the Sui State had four more counties in the Qiang region. It also established three new counties in the Western Regions, and had already captured one county in the Qiang region from the Tang Dynasty.

At present, the Sui Kingdom has a total of fourteen counties. Compared with the previous territory, the scope of the territory has been greatly expanded. However, the total population has dropped to 1.8 million, and the overall strength has become weaker.

The reason why such a situation occurred in the Sui Kingdom was naturally because the military power and stability ceded to the Qin Dynasty were the most densely populated and richest areas in the Sui Kingdom.

On the other hand, the five counties of the Qiang region and the newly established three counties of the Western Regions are barren lands with vast territory and popular people.

 After years of governance and development in the Sui State, although these territories have gradually become richer, there is still a certain gap compared to eastern Liangzhou.

You should know that most of the essence of Liangzhou is concentrated in the east. The farther east, the richer and more populous it becomes, while the further to the west, the poorer it becomes and the smaller the population is.

The six counties in Liangzhou now occupied by Da Qin are naturally not worth mentioning compared to the Central Plains, but in Liangzhou they are all densely populated and fertile lands.

Beidi County and Anding County in Liangzhou, after Da Qin's governance, development and vigorous immigration, these two counties alone have a population of 1.3 million.

 The new Wuwei County has a population of 150,000.

  The total population of the three counties in Longxi is also 300,000.

In other words, the total population of the six counties of Liangzhou in Da Qin alone has reached 1.75 million, which is equivalent to the total population of the fourteen counties of the Sui Dynasty.

On the surface, Da Qin's power in Liangzhou was already equal to that of Sui State. One can imagine how much pressure Yang Guang was under.

 It is no wonder that Yang Guang would form an alliance with Tubo, which he looked down upon. After all, the gap between Qin and Sui was too big. Sui alone was not even qualified to compete with Qin.

Li Jing, who was in charge of Wuwei and in control of the overall situation, immediately ordered the three armies to station themselves on the spot to stabilize the situation in Longxi after receiving the news that the three counties in Longxi had been occupied.

At the same time, Li Jing mobilized 10,000 troops from each of the three counties, totaling 30,000 troops. Wu Qi led them to Yangping Pass to support Li Cunxiao.

 During the time when the Qin army attacked Longxi, Liu Yu had completely solved the problem in Hanzhong.

Shi Jingtang rebelled first, and after surrendering to Shu, he was made a Marquis by Liu Yu.

 Later, Li Siyuan surrendered and was granted the title of King of Longxi by Liu Yu.

It would be difficult for anyone with a discerning eye to see that Li Tang's situation was over. After all, even Li Siyuan's clan had surrendered. This also caused the morale of the remaining Tang troops to fall to the bottom, and they no longer had the heart to resist.

At this time, news came out that Li Keyong, who had been captured alive, surrendered and was made a prince by Liu Yu.

 Li Keyong would surrender, naturally he was stimulated by the news that Li Siyuan was crowned king.

Li Keyong also had his own ambitions. His ambitions were aroused when he saw that Li Siyuan was crowned king after surrendering and still retained his right to independence.

Li Tang is doomed, and he is not the first clan to surrender. While he still has some influence in the Tang army, it is best to quickly strive for a higher treatment.

 So Li Keyong surrendered to Liu Yu.

As soon as the news came out, Li Keyong's old troops surrendered to Shu one after another, and Liu Yu also gave them the treatment of Bunhou and let Li Keyong command these troops.

 Li Siyuan and Li Keyong successively surrendered, which became the last straw that broke Li Tang's back.

Within a few days, the three counties of Hanzhong, Shangyong, and Xincheng, and all major cities except Xinzheng, all surrendered to Shu.

 Liu Yu occupied all the territory except Xinzheng with almost no effort.

 As for why Xinzheng did not surrender? Naturally, it was because of Li Xiaogong's presence.

Li Xiaogong originally wanted to use the Qin army to attack Yangping Pass to force Liu Yu to negotiate peace with him, but he did not expect that Li Siyuan was tempted by the throne and turned directly to Liu Yu.

 Li Keyong, who was captured later, also surrendered.

Now Li Tang only has the city of Nanzheng left in Hanzhong. Regardless of whether Li Xiaogong can persist, even if he continues, there is not much meaning.

Li Xiaogong knew very well that countless people in Nanzheng City were waiting for him to make a decision. If he would rather die than surrender, civil war would break out immediately.

I don’t know how many people are waiting to use his head to exchange wealth with Liu Yu.

Although Li Xiaogong was sure of quelling the civil strife, once the civil war started and the Shu army launched an siege, Nanzheng City would definitely not be able to defend it.

No matter how dissatisfied Li Xiaogong was with Liu Yu, he knew that surrendering at this time in exchange for better treatment was the most rational choice.

 But Li Xiaogong was really unwilling to surrender like this, so he delayed it deliberately, hoping to force Liu Yu to give Li Zhi and Li Siyuan the same surrender treatment. It would be better if he could also reserve several county fiefdoms for Li Tang.

Liu Yu naturally knew what Li Xiaogong was thinking, but he obviously would not agree.

 He could accept Li Siyuan because Li Siyuan had this value. What value does Li Zhi have? The city of Nanzheng, which was bound to fall, was obviously not worthy of Liu Yu's title of King of Tang.

Therefore, Liu Yu was not in a hurry. Even if the Qin army had arrived at Yangping Pass and could launch a fierce attack at any time, he deliberately wasted his time with Li Xiaogong. After all, whoever was anxious at this time would be passive.

Li Xiaogong still wanted to continue the consumption, but the eldest grandson Wugu Li Zhi and his son did not dare to continue the consumption, so the mother and son begged Li Xiaogong to surrender.

All Li Xiaogong's persistence was for Li Zhi's mother and son. Now that neither mother nor son want to persist anymore, what's the point of him continuing to persist? So he sent envoys out of the city to discuss surrender with Liu Yu.

 Liu Yu agreed to make Li Zhi a marquis, with a household of 10,000 households, and a salary second only to Li Siyuan.

Seeing this, Li Xiaogong did not persist. The next day, he ordered people to open the city gate, personally handed over the household registration list, and surrendered to Liu Yu's Shu Kingdom.

 Since then, the Tang Kingdom has been destroyed and officially withdrawn from the fight for hegemony in the world.

Before the beginning of the Troubled Times, the total population of Hanzhong was only 260,000, and there were only nine cities.

 However, under Li Shimin's many years of governance and development, Hanzhong has now changed from one county to three counties, the number of cities has increased to 20, and the total population has reached 700,000.

  The population of ten counties in Hanzhong County is 450,000, the population of six counties of Shangyong County is 150,000, and the population of four counties of Xincheng County is 100,000.

  After two years of governance by Liu Yu, the Kingdom of Shu also ushered in great governance. Now, with the addition of 200,000 to 300,000 newborns, the total population of the Kingdom of Shu has approached 6.3 million.

If the three counties of Hanzhong are included, the total population of Shu has approached 7 million, and its overall strength is second only to Da Qin.

Occupying Hanzhong can not only complete the square line, but also expand the power. The only drawback is that it officially borders Daqin. No wonder Liu Yu can't resist this piece of fat.

But for Shu, the next step is the real test, because it is about to face the Qin Dynasty, which has a total population of nearly 39 million.

  Before Ying Hao cultivated, he increased the total population of Qin to 32 million through population summons.

  Daqin has always adhered to the policy of encouraging childbirth, and natural childbirth has produced an increase of nearly 3 million newborns in the past two years.

At the same time, Da Qin purchased slaves through sea trade to operate Luzon Island, conquered and occupied Yingzhou, completely occupied Guanzhong, seized three counties in Longxi, and forced Sui to cede Wuwei County. These measures also increased the population of Da Qin by more than three million.

The total population of Daqin has now reached 39 million, and it will soon reach the 40 million mark.

It should be noted that before the beginning of the troubled times, the total population of the Han Dynasty was only more than 55 million, not counting the hidden household registrations of aristocratic families, and it could reach 65 million if included.

With the promotion of new grain varieties and the increase in grain production, various countries have implemented policies to encourage childbirth, which has also greatly increased the fertility rate of the population.

In the past two years, the world as a whole has been in a peaceful stage. Countries have worked hard to cultivate their internal strength, concentrate on development, and increase their population through various methods such as encouraging births internally and plundering externally.

 After two years of cultivation and development, the total population of the world has increased from 58 million to 68 million.

 In two years, the world's population has increased by ten million, which is more than the total population of the Han Dynasty in its heyday before the beginning of the troubled times.

I have to say that all countries are not idle. They all want to shorten the distance between them and Da Qin, but they did not expect that the gap will widen instead.

 Out of the 10 million new people, Qin alone accounted for nearly 6 million, while the combined total of all countries only accounted for 4 million.

If things continue like this, even if Great Qin does not expand, it will still only become stronger and stronger.

Perhaps it was because he felt pressure that Liu Yu swallowed Hanzhong at all costs, but did not give up any opportunity to expand his strength.

 After occupying Hanzhong, the only expansion direction of Shu was Qin.

Going south to attack the Southern Barbarians, regardless of whether they win or not, even if they win, it will not increase much national strength, and it will do more harm than good to Shu.

Every time he thought about this, Liu Yu was extremely worried. After all, the speed of internal development was too slow, and the direction of external expansion was lost. How could Shu shorten the gap with Qin?

Thinking of this problem, Liu Yu felt that the wine in the cup was no longer fragrant. He suddenly looked down at the eldest grandson Wugao below. He could not help but think of taking her as his concubine and Li Zhi as his adopted son.

Why was Liu Yu able to stabilize the interior of Shu so quickly? Wasn't it because he married Lu Zhi and recognized Liu Ying as his son that he completely conquered Liu Ji's civil and military ambitions.

 So Liu Yu prepared to repeat his old tricks, marry his eldest grandson Wugao, and recognize Li Zhi as his adopted son, in order to appease the surrendered civil and military ministers of Li and Tang Dynasties.

Liu Yu did not put forward his idea in public, but found an opportunity to talk to Changsun Wugao alone. Naturally, he was rejected by Changsun Wugao.

Changsun Wugu is not Lu Fei. She does not have such a strong desire for power. Her husband’s body is still cold, so she cannot accept a second marriage.

 Liu Yu was rejected by Changsun Wugou, but he did not force him. He admired Buddhism and looked down upon female sex.

He wanted to marry his eldest grandson Wugou just to appease the general, not because he wanted to marry his eldest grandson Wugou.

Since Changsun Wugou is not willing, he will naturally not forcefully marry a woman, otherwise, if word spreads, it will damage his reputation.

After Liu Yu stabilized many matters in Nanzheng, he prepared to go to Yangpingguan in person to take charge. However, he did not want to receive the news of Li Xiaogong's suicide before leaving.

Li Xiaogong was still alive just to atone for his sins. Now that the Tang Dynasty was not only dead, but also surrendered by him personally, so he had long lost the motivation to live, so he committed suicide by hanging himself.

Liu Yu was originally planning to reuse Li Xiaogong. After all, what king wouldn’t love such a loyal minister? Moreover, using Li Xiaogong to rebel against Qin and having Li Xiaogong and Li Maozhen kill each other would also disgust Ying Hao.

Unexpectedly, Li Xiaogong had already committed suicide before his idea was implemented.

Since everyone was dead, it was too late to do anything. Liu Yu could only give Li Xiaogong a grand burial and posthumously named him Marquis of Nanzheng.

Soon afterwards, Liu Yu led his army to Yangping Pass, and Zhang Ren, Liu Er, Kong Peng, Xing Tian and other generals had also arrived at Yangping Pass ahead of him.

Liu Yu had just arrived at Yangping Pass, but unexpectedly he received the news that Han Xin had captured four counties in Xincheng County, and the Qin army on the eastern front was directly targeting Shangyong County.

 (End of this chapter)