Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

The Tang army, along with the armies of the Tang servant tribes, swept past.

They swept across the grasslands like a whirlwind, and plowed through the lives of the Xueyantuo people like an iron plow.

The five hundred cavalrymen protecting Li Tai moved slowly. When they reached the place where the fighting had taken place, all they saw were corpses scattered everywhere, along with scimitars and arrows that had not been collected in time.

Looking at the hellish scene before him, Li Tai suddenly felt his blood rush to his head, and he fell headfirst off his horse onto the grass.

"Your Highness, Your Highness!"

"Your Highness, are you alright?"

"I...I'm fine...Ugh!"

After vomiting all the food in his stomach, Li Tai took a few deep breaths and finally felt better.

"Rest...rest for a while. You guys gather up the corpses here and bury them."

"promise!"

After the cleanup, the surroundings finally looked much better, but the smell of blood in the air could still be smelled.

Li Tai held a Hu-style curved sword in his hand, lost in thought.

Previously, living deep within the palace, they had little concept of war.

Now, truly in the midst of war's inferno, Li Tai finally understood the meaning of the phrase "corpses lie scattered in the narrow valley, white bones lie uncollected," which describes...

What kind of scene was it exactly?

"Liu Qingyan, help the orphan up, let's keep going."

"promise!"

……

Even Tang army commander Li Ji did not expect the battle to go so smoothly.

Li Ji was also the commander-in-chief in the last attack on Xueyantuo.

It took quite a bit of effort to defeat them.

Unexpectedly, after a change of Khan, the Xueyantuo became so incompetent.

The Uyghurs charged ahead and killed one wave, followed by another wave of Tang soldiers. Almost all the creatures in Xueyantuo who could wield a scimitar were killed.

Even so, the Xueyantuo were not completely defeated.

The Xueyantuo nobles who survived by sheer luck then installed Yinan's nephew, Duomozhi, as the new Khan and continued to contend with the Tang army.

Upon hearing the news, the Xueyantuo tribes from other regions also rushed to Duomozhi's side to pledge their loyalty.

After the Tang army had fought for a while, they also needed to count the prisoners of war, bury the corpses, and rest.

So the grassland fell silent for the time being.

After resting, Li Ji continued to send out large armies to attack the army of the new Khan, Duomozhi.

Domozhi was no pushover either; he devised a plan—a feigned surrender.

Who was Li Ji? He certainly wouldn't fall for Duomozhi's trick.

After seeing through the feigned surrender, the Tang army launched an offensive, beheading more than 5000 enemy soldiers loyal to Duomozhi and capturing more than 50,000 men and women.

Meanwhile, Dumozhi himself was packed up and sent to Chang'an.

His fate would be decided by Emperor Li Shimin himself.

Dumozhi should be thankful that it was Li Ji who captured him, not Tumidu of the Uyghur tribe.

The final battle against the Xueyantuo was commanded by Li Daozong, the commander of another force.

After fierce fighting, the Tang army under Li Daozong completely annihilated the last 10,000-strong army of Xueyantuo.

This nomadic dynasty, which had dominated the northern grasslands for many years, no longer exists.

The great battle is over, and it's time for the victors to settle their scores.

Riding on its victory, the Tang Empire established the Yanran Protectorate in the northern grasslands, which governed six prefectures and seven tributary states. The leaders of each prefecture and state were appointed by their respective chieftains, who were granted the titles of governor or prefect, and were given black gold fish tallies as tokens of authority.

In addition, sixty-eight relay stations were set up to provide horses and provisions, transmit messages, and safeguard the rule over the various tribes of the grasslands.

It will take time to process these things.

When Crown Prince Li Tai returned to Chang'an, it was already the dead of winter.

His health was weak, and he caught a cold on his way back, which delayed him for some time.

But he still returned to Chang'an before the New Year to meet the emperor.

"Your subject greets Your Majesty."

"It's Qingque! Get up quickly. I heard you were ill. Are you feeling better?"

"Thank you for your concern, Father. I have now fully recovered."

The father and son chatted for a while, and then began to talk about the recent war in the northern frontier.

As a firsthand witness, Li Tai's observations and memories are more detailed than the figures in the military reports.

"...The fields were littered with bones, and the fighting was brutal. Some nomadic tribes took advantage of the chaos and killed many people who shouldn't have been killed. Our Tang army...it seems that some of our soldiers also engaged in looting."

At this point, Li Tai paused, preparing to observe the emperor's reaction.

Li Shimin said, "Whether Xueyantuo should be killed or not is Xueyantuo's own decision, and we can't be blamed. Qingque, you must remember that the Hu people on the northern grasslands are like weeds in the fields. They need to be weeded every now and then. You must not be soft-hearted."

"Your Majesty understands, but... Your Majesty once said that since ancient times, the Chinese have been valued and the barbarians despised, but I alone love them equally. Your Majesty believes that we should educate and civilize the various tribes of the grasslands in order to win their complete allegiance to the Tang Dynasty."

"Pedantic! That saying was fabricated by Wei Zheng; I never said it!"

"Made up? How could it be made up?"

Li Tai was very surprised.

Suddenly mentioning Wei Zheng, Li Shimin felt a pang of sadness: "Alas... Qingque, you grew up in the deep palace and had little interaction with the Hu people. The Hu people are barbarians, beyond redemption."

"If we could win over the Hu people simply through education, Confucius and Mencius would have already subdued the north for us back in the pre-Qin period. Why did we have to fight them for so many years?"

Upon hearing this, Li Tai was slightly taken aback.

"Take Jieli and Ashina Simo for example. The reason they are as docile as cats is precisely because my Tang army defeated their army. These two had no choice but to do this in order to survive. If they were in the former Sui or Northern Zhou dynasties, with their talents, they could have become the overlords of the grasslands."

"You are the Crown Prince of our Great Tang Dynasty, and there are some things you must understand in your heart. As for what you say, that's another matter."

The emperor's tone carried a subtle warning.

"Your subject will humbly accept your instruction."

"Yes. That captain named Yuwen Fa did a good job in this campaign, and Li Ji also often mentions Su Dingfang."

"I have decided to transfer these two young men to the Eastern Palace, to be under your command. After my death, it will be up to you young men to eliminate the new warlords who emerge on the grasslands."

……

After meeting the emperor, Li Tai left the Taiji Hall but did not rush back to the East Palace. Instead, he took a walk around the palace, digesting his father's teachings in his mind.

Li Shimin's words made the Crown Prince re-examine his views on the border war.

It turns out that the cruelty shown by the Tang soldiers towards the enemy was not without reason.

Severely punishing the arrogant barbarians on the grasslands and maintaining friendly relations in ordinary times are not contradictory; they are simply two means of stabilizing the border.

In military matters, Li Tai felt he was lacking and needed to improve in the future.

Upon returning to the Eastern Palace, the first person Li Tai saw was none other than his chief strategist, Yuan Qi.

Yuan Qi was staring blankly at a beautifully crafted gift box.

Looking up, I saw that it was the Crown Prince who had returned.

"Your subject greets the Crown Prince."

"Old Yuan, what good stuff are you holding in your hand?"

"It's just a gift box, but... what's inside is the real treasure."