Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

"150,000..."

Li Shimin felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the dark mass of Turkic prisoners kneeling throughout the valley.

Killing them is definitely out of the question.

Massacring surrendered soldiers is a crime that will incur divine retribution and leave a deep stain on history.

You can choose not to kill...

With so many people, the amount of food and waste they produce every day is astronomical. If we take them back to Chang'an, where will we put them?

"Chengqian, look..."

Li Shimin subconsciously passed the buck to his son again.

He has now realized that problems he can't solve himself, when thrown to this rebellious son, always yield unexpected surprises.

"Just kill them all."

Li Chengqian munched on a chicken leg, speaking casually.

"puff--"

Li Shimin nearly choked on his own breath. "Nonsense! That's 150,000 people! Not 150,000 chickens!"

Is there a difference?

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes. "In my eyes, they're all just protein."

"Besides, those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts. If you release them today, they'll return to the grasslands tomorrow, recover, and become another pack of hungry wolves howling to raid southwards. Who will fight them then? Won't it be my problem?"

"A short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one; it solves the problem once and for all, saving you the trouble."

These words made Bai Qi, who was standing next to him, nod repeatedly, and his eyes were full of appreciation for the Crown Prince.

Li Shimin, however, was terrified upon hearing this.

How could this unfilial son be even more murderous than him?

"No! Absolutely not!"

Li Shimin flatly refused, saying, "I am a benevolent ruler; how could I commit such a massacre?"

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Li Chengqian threw the chicken bones on the ground. "If you want to recruit them into the army, I advise you to stop dreaming. These people even kill their own people; do you expect them to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty?"

Li Shimin was speechless.

indeed.

This rabble has no basic military discipline; recruiting them would be a disaster.

Just as the father and son were staring at each other, neither able to convince the other.

Li Chengqian suddenly laughed.

"Alright, since you're so 'merciful' as to keep them, Father Emperor."

"Then I will find them some work to do."

He stood up and walked to the makeshift platform.

Below are three god-level armies that have just experienced a major battle, yet still maintain their formidable military bearing and exude a murderous aura.

Li Chengqian took a deep breath, gathered all his energy in his dantian, and his voice, like rolling thunder, resounded throughout the entire Longmen Valley.

"Soldiers!"

"Did you enjoy that 'meal' just now?!"

"Cool--!!!"

Nearly ten thousand soldiers roared in unison, their voices echoing across the fields.

"That was just an appetizer!"

Li Cheng-

Qian drew the Prince's Sword from his waist, its tip pointing directly at the vast, boundless grassland to the north.

"Rescuing you was just something I did on the way!"

"Now, the main course... has only just begun!"

"Jieli is dead, Tongyabhu is dead, but the grasslands remain!"

"There are countless cattle and sheep, an endless supply of mare's milk wine, and those tribes that once humiliated our Han sons!"

"I have a question for you!"

"Do you want it or not?!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

The will to fight was ignited at this moment.

"Then it's up to me!"

Li Chengqian suddenly swung his sword.

"Target—The Turkic Royal Court!"

"From here on, I will not sheath my sword, nor will I accept surrender!"

"Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy!"

"Wherever wolf blood flows, the banner of my Great Tang Dynasty, bearing the sun, moon, and dragon, shall be planted!"

"Set off!"

……

The bugle sounded again.

But this time, it was no longer tragic, but filled with the fervor of aggression and conquest.

The army set off.

Yue Fei led three thousand Beiwei soldiers to take off their previous light armor, which made them easier to move in, and put on a terrifying set of equipment that was wrapped in steel from head to toe.

Men were clad in heavy armor, and horses in iron armor.

Each soldier carried a long-handled broadsword, powerful enough to cut through men and horses. They formed groups of three, linked together to create an impenetrable steel square formation.

Iron Pagoda.

This was Yue Fei's trump card, his ultimate weapon for attacking enemy positions, and the final trump card the Song Dynasty used to fight against the Jurchen cavalry.

Now, in this era, for the first time, it will reveal its ferocious fangs to the world.

"Thump—thump—thump—"

The heavy footsteps, like the drumbeats of death, echoed across the empty grassland.

This steel legion of three thousand men, without riding horses, steadily and resolutely advanced step by step into the heart of the grassland.

They were like a mobile steel fortress, an insurmountable wall of death.

Anything that stands in their way has only one fate—

It was crushed.

……

The news spread like wildfire...

...The raven with its wings, carrying an ominous aura, traveled back to the depths of the grassland.

"Defeat! The Great Khan has been defeated!"

"The 300,000-strong allied army was completely annihilated in the Longmen Valley!"

"The Tang army...the Tang army is attacking!"

The first reaction of the few small tribes that remained near the royal court upon hearing the news was disbelief.

"Impossible! That was an army of 300,000! How could they just disappear like that?"

"The Han people are using sorcery again! It must be!"

"What's the panic! The Tang army are all infantry. Do you think they can outrun us on foot? By the time they get here, they'll be exhausted!"

A tribal chief clamored and even dispatched his own 5,000 cavalrymen to "meet" this ignorant Tang army and seize some credit.

Half an hour later.

A cavalryman, covered in blood, scrambled back, his face contorted with the terror of his worldview collapsing.

"Demon...devil..."

He pointed south, his voice trembling, "That's not a person...that's a wall...a moving mountain of knives!"

"Our curved swords didn't even leave a white mark when they cut into it!"

"Their swords swung down... and men and horses alike... were cleaved in two..."

"Run...run fast!"

however.

His warning came too late.

On the horizon, the black steel wall was already clearly visible.

It is slowly approaching with steady and unstoppable steps.

That suffocating sense of oppression could be felt from miles away, making it hard to breathe.

The tribal chief looked at the wall and felt his legs go weak; a warm liquid flowed down his trouser leg.

"Eternal Heaven..."

He let out a desperate wail.

"What kind of monsters have we provoked?!"