Chapter 61: The Misty Water

The principle of equivalent exchange not only works in shopping malls, but also between countries. However, after being mixed with political and military factors, the transaction situation will become complicated and even cannot be carried out.

If possible, Zhang Mai hopes to exchange Talas for a road to Shule, or to exchange Talas for military support from Saman or Arslan. Unfortunately, this idea is extremely difficult to achieve in operation.

Talas is very far away from Bukhara and Balashaguon. The time of the messenger's return and return, coupled with various delays and obstacles in the middle, is enough for the Tang army and Satuk to fight to the death for a few rounds first.

Even if the news spreads, if Saman or Balashaguen first gives military support and then give up Talas after the war, can Neser II and Arslan believe in such a group of "Tang Kou" that suddenly emerged? On the other hand, if Neser II and Arslan demand that the city be delivered first and then military support be given, can Zhang Mai trust them? What if the other party takes the city and turns against each other, then the Tang army will continue to sleep in the desert?

On the Western Regions platform, our boss Zhang has not yet established enough prestige, and territorial transactions are not as simple as "paying money with one hand and delivering goods with the other hand". The product Talas is in the hands of Zhang Mai. Even if he wants to sell it at a low price, there may not be anyone who can take over.

Therefore, Li Bin judged that once Zhang Mai and Satuk went to war, Arslan would not stand by and watch, and he would probably take action, "But it was not our two families who took action when they were fighting, but when the two sides were about to win or lose, or when Satuk was exhausted after conquering Talas. At that time, Satuk might be in a dilemma. He either withstand Arslan's attack alone or had to accept Saman's terms... However, those have nothing to do with our Tang army, because by that time, we have become a pile of dead bones and watched from the walls under the underworld.

Zhang Mai heard it with a stern sound, remembered Zheng Wei's judgment, and said, "Is it really impossible to fight for Saman?"

Li Bin shook his head: "The Tang army and Saman have no foundation for cooperation. Even if we allow Talas to be handed over to Saman afterwards, even if the envoys we sent are powerful, the covenant we get is absolutely unreliable. Can you feel at ease if you get a covenant that will be torn at any time? Then you have to be on guard against both sides."

Zhang Mai said: "Do you think we have no way to live?"

"Yes!" Li Bin said: "Although our Tang army is winning streak, we are actually walking on the edge of the cliff. If we step a wrong step, we will never be able to recover. If we want to gain a glimmer of life, we will not be able to change our sons with Satuk."

"Switch?"

"Yes, use Talas to exchange for Shule - only there can the Tang army find real allies. If they can back to the Pamirs and obtain support from Khotan, then not to mention Satuk, even if the Tianfang Cult countries join forces to fight together, the Tang army will have the power to fight!"

Zhang Mai heard it even more strangely. For Talas to exchange Shule, these are two cities, not radishes and vegetables in the vegetable market. Li Bin's statement is too incredible. Besides, how could Satuk agree to do such a money-lossing deal with Tang Jun?

"As for Arslan and Neser II," Li Bin said: "We must at least draw with Satuk before we are qualified to negotiate business with them. All plans in this regard must be made on our battlefield before they can be carried out. Otherwise, no matter how many or good the strategies are, they will be the moon in the water and the flowers in the mirror. No matter what we say, they will not be treated seriously."

It was dawn, and Zhang Mai stopped Liu An and Zheng Wei, and did not allow them to travel. He ordered Guo Shiyong and An Shoujing to set out eastward to reinforce Yang Yi. He followed Li Bin's suggestion and planted the Uighur flag on the top of the city again, asking Xue Suding to send people to Baishui City to inform Saman, lying: "A few days ago, Talas was attacked by bandits, and the bandits spread rumors, claiming that General Sekan was killed in the desert, and the residents fled in panic. Many crossed the border and fled to Baishui City. Now General Sekan has returned and has cleared out all bandits nearby. The local area has been appeased, and Baishui City has also asked the Baishui City to send the fugitives back."

The Tang army has been hitting the city these days. Before the battle ended and the army entered the city, there were many soldiers and civilians in Talas. There were only two directions of escape, one was to go east to Kulan City, and the other was to go west to Baishui City. Although Kuba, where the jihadists were located in the south, was heard of Satuk's order, there were hundreds of miles between them. Not only were the roads difficult to walk along the way, but there were also many thieves, and scattered refugees did not dare to take this dangerous path easily.

Since the road to the east was blocked, most of the fugitives crossed the border and fled to Baishui City. The guards of Baishui City heard from them that Talas was captured by a group of "Tang Knights" who came out of nowhere. Even Sekan died in the desert. They were originally skeptical and ready to move. When they received a notice from Xue Suding, the guards Abkhazi said: "Sometimes, the fugitives from Talas said that, but now Kasudin said so, which one is true and which one is false?"

Leis of Baishui City said: "What Tang Kou, I have never heard of it before. Although we don't know exactly how many troops Talas have, even if there are not ten thousand, there are eight thousand. Sekan is another old general who can fight well. If he is defeated by the people sent by Arslan, it is possible. But if he is annihilated by a group of robbers and even the city of Talas is lost, I don't believe it. In my opinion, it is probably because of the Uighurs that oppressed the people in the territory too much. The untouched people in the city colluded with a group of robbers outside, and led Sekan out first, followed the rebellion and rebellion, and walked and rumored that Sekan was annihilated in the desert, which made people panic and fled everywhere. This group of rebels seized Talas. But how can such a person last long? Sekan's army would collapse immediately as soon as it returned, so there was the announcement from Kasudin today."

Sekan's tyranny is well-known, and this Leyce's analysis is reasonable. Abkhazia did not believe that the heavy Uighurs' border would be killed so easily by a group of bandits, so he asked the generals: "What do you think should you deal with this matter?"

Leis of Baishui City said: "No matter he is, can we send it back to the escaped people?"

Another general named Bekar said, "If Sekan was annihilated and Talas was captured, although it is unlikely that it is true. I think this matter must be clear. Anyway, it is useless for us to keep those fugitives. Why not just take this reason and lead a army and escort a few fugitives to Talas to explore the truth and reality. If nothing happened there, I will come back. If something happened there, I will act according to the opportunity."

Abkhazi said: "Okay, that's it." Bekar ordered two thousand soldiers and escorted more than a dozen fugitives to Talas.

When Zhang Mai heard the news, he urgently ordered Xue Suding to lead three thousand people to the border. When Bekar saw that his troops were in order and did not dare to approach. Both sides were separated from the two arrows, Bekar let the escaped people come over. Xue Suding frowned and said, "These are just a few people?"

There are not a thousand people who have escaped to Baishui City these days, at least a few hundred. The Samans did not really return it, but as if they were just like that, Bekar smiled and said, "There are only these few." He said, "Gasuddin, you have made it through. You can actually command so many troops. It's really rare."

Although Xue Suding was talented, he had the disadvantage of "Li Guang's difficulty in seizing him", and was quite famous in this area, so the generals of Baishui City had also heard of him, and then replied with a smile: "This is all Bograhan knows and uses it well, but the personnel changes within our Uighurs are not to worry about you."

Bekar said twice, and stopped saying anything, leading his troops back and reported to Abkhazia. Xue Suding also led his troops back to Talas.

Zhang Mai breathed a sigh of relief, and Li Bin said, "Although the trick cannot be hidden for a long time, we will only need this or two months. When Bekar goes back like this, he will not come back in the short term. The envoy can find dozens of ignorant people from the residents of Talas and deceive them with tricks. He said that the Tang Kou seized Talas again and killed Baitash, and then he will come to Baishui City and kill him into the river. He created seven or eight kinds of contradictory rumors, and then rushed to Baishui City and asked them to go there to talk nonsense. After hearing this, Abkhazia thought carefully and would inevitably expose these rumors. If there are any rumors about our Tang army in the future, he would not believe it. In this way, we can ensure that our Western Front is temporarily safe, and our army can do our best to defeat Satuk first."

Zheng Wei praised: "A good strategy. I will send Zheng Hao to lead a few friends to sneak to Baishui City to do smuggling business. The merchants and officials there will come to inquire when they see the smuggling merchants here, but we asked Zheng Hao to say that this place will be in chaos first and then peace. When the merchants and officials heard Zheng Hao's words and Xue Suding's notice secretly, they will believe Zheng Hao and no longer believe the fugitives."

Zhang Mai followed the plan one by one. After dealing with the matter here, he still left the second Zhechong Mansion and Zhaowu Army to stay in Talas, and led the first Zhechong Mansion to the east.

Before leaving, he said goodbye to Guo Shidao, and Guo Shidao said: "When Liu An and Xue Suding help me deal with each other, it is not easy to do so. However, there is a special envoy in the east."

Zhang Mai said: "Our military strength is not as good as Satuk after all. If we fight hard in the field, we are afraid that it will be difficult to win. It depends on whether we can take over the lead in occupying Melki."

Longxiang camp took the lead and arrived at Jab Ersi within three days. Zhang Mai asked if Nair Shahi's house had been intercepted. Shi Hui reported: "When I arrived, his house was empty. I heard that he had gone to Melki and returned to Shule."
Chapter completed!