The terrified Dunhuang rebels faced the impact of thousands of cavalry and had no way to escape. They knelt on the ground one after another, holding their spears or swords in their hands.

Although Qin Yong was full of desire to kill the enemy, the Zhou army had extremely strict military rules. If the enemy had to kill again after surrender, both soldiers and the main general would be severely punished. This military rule was not well implemented in dealing with Wang Renze's army. However, since Wang Shichong was destroyed, Zhang Xuan strengthened this military rule in order to minimize the losses of the Guanlong population in the war, killing the Tang army that had surrendered, and the main general was demoted to third level and deprived of title. In other words, if Qin used the massive killing to massacre all the surrendered Dunhuang rebels today, he would be directly demoted to a lieutenant, and the hard-earned county duke would not be deprived.

Seeing that most of the soldiers had surrendered, Qin Yong ordered: "Stop the attack!"

The Zhou cavalry stopped attacking one after another. At this time, only the rebel general led more than a hundred people to surrender and was surrounded by hundreds of cavalry. As the Zhou army stopped the attack, the rebel general then realized that his soldiers had surrendered. He couldn't help but sigh, "Don't resist anymore, surrender!"

More than a hundred rebels jumped off their war horses, put their weapons on the ground, raised their hands to surrender, Qin Yong rushed over and shouted loudly, "Where has Shatuo been?"

He just looked around but didn't notice the Shatu people. He was a little anxious. This was an important task for him.

The rebel general said coldly: "They never take off their armor and sleep. They evacuate at any time. When the alarm bell rings, they will immediately escape. You are one step late!"

Qin Yong shouted, "First Battalion follows me to chase him!"

Although there were two thousand soldiers led by Ding Kewu on the other side, Qin Yong still felt a little uneasy. These Shatu people were too cunning. If they broke through and escaped, they would have no face to see the main general. He immediately led 500 cavalry to rush to the north of the grassland.

When Qin Yong ran out of the exit, he saw the ground full of Shatuo people's corpses and wounded soldiers. The bodies were covered with arrows, and they were obviously shot to death by arrows. Ding Kewu was escorting several Shatuo soldiers to identify them among the dead bodies.

"General Ding, what's the situation?" Qin Yong rushed forward and asked anxiously.

Ding Kewu pointed to the corpse on the ground and said, "The general also saw that these Shatu people refused to surrender and were determined to break through. Beizhi could only order arrows to be shot."

"What about Zhu Xiehan?"

"I was looking for the body. I heard that he was wearing makeup like a soldier. He had not found his job for the time being, but one thing is certain that no one escaped."

As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier shouted not far away: "I found it, here!"

Qin Yong quickly urged the horse to run up, but saw several soldiers moving away a few piles of corpses. A man appeared below, and he was hit by two arrows on his back, facing the ground, without knowing whether he was alive or not.

A Shatuo prisoner pointed to his helmet and said a few words. The soldier said to Qin Yong: "He said that the helmet worn by Zhu Xiehan is unique and can be recognized at a glance."

"Turn him over and take a look, beware of being attacked by him!"

Several soldiers turned the man over and saw that he had a big beard on his face, looking at least thirty years old, but from his temperament, he could tell that this man was not an ordinary soldier.

A soldier touched his breath, "The general is not dead yet, he seems to have just fainted."

Qin Yong immediately ordered: "Bandrn his wounds and don't let him die!"

Qin Yong asked dozens of prisoners of war to come forward to identify it, and everyone recognized it. This person was Zhu Xiehan. Qin Yong suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. He finally completed the task assigned by the main general.

The next morning, Qin Yong led 5,000 cavalry of Zhou troops to escort nearly 2,000 prisoners of war back to Dunhuang City. Li Jing also came out of the city to check on prisoners of war surrounded by hundreds of soldiers. Qin Yong stepped forward and knelt on one knee, "I have completed the task, I will hand over the order!"

"How are the casualties of brothers?"

"Your Mai reported to the General, injured thirty-five brothers, and unfortunately three of them died."

Li Jing was quite satisfied with this record. He looked at the prisoners of war and asked again: "Has Zhu Xiehan caught it?"

Qin waved his hand and said, "Bring it!"

Several soldiers brought a temporary large prison van, and saw a Hu man sitting in the prison van as big as a house, with a big beard and a cold look.

Li Jing turned around and asked Jiu Zhongwu, "Is it him?"

Jiu Zhongwu nodded, "It's this person!"

Li Jing smiled and said, "The army rests for one day and heads to Yiwu County tomorrow!"

Yiwu County is today's Hami area in Xinjiang. It is close to the Hexi Corridor and has a vast area. To the north is the rolling Zheluoman Mountain, with endless grasslands and forests distributed at the foot of the mountain.

Yiwu County is vast and sparsely populated, mainly nomadic peoples such as Turks and Tiel, and there are more than 10,000 Han people. They mainly live in Yiwu County, and there are large areas of farmland distributed around the county town.

Ten years ago, Yang Guang established an official in Yiwu County and officially included Yiwu County in the territory of the Sui Dynasty. However, in fact, the official only governs the only county in Yiwu County, and does not interfere with the nomadic people living in the territory. Both sides are in peace.

Moreover, the developed commerce in the county also gives nomadic people the opportunity to trade. Every summer and autumn, a large number of herders come to Yiwu County to sell sheepskin, medicinal materials, dried cheese, fur and other materials, and at the same time buy various daily necessities, which effectively promotes the commercial prosperity of Yiwu County.

In addition, the Sui army had 3,000 troops stationed in Yiwu County, which were stationed in Yiwu County and two guards in Rouyuan and Yiwu. Three thousand troops protected the security of Yiwu County.

But at the end of Daye, the army was transferred back to the Central Plains, and Yiwu County gradually became marginalized. Although the Yiwu County government still exists, it is already in danger.

There are two main reasons why the government of Yiwu County did not disappear like Qiemo and Shanshan. One is that the tent of the Western Turks is located in Suoye, which is too far away from Yiwu County, so the interest in governing here has been significantly reduced. Moreover, the internal strife in the Western Turks is relatively serious, which greatly reduces their ability to expand.

Another important reason is that the Shatu people moved north. The Shatu people were a branch of the Turks. They originally lived in the Hexi Corridor, and the grasslands were relatively narrow. In order to compete for the pasture, the Shatu people often had conflicts with other ethnic groups in the Hexi Corridor. As the Sui army moved inward, the Shatu people seized the opportunity and migrated to Yiwu County in large numbers, driving away several small Tiel tribes that originally lived here.

The Shatu people were loyal to the Western Turks in time, and they were recognized by the Western Turkic court, so they agreed to live at the foot of the Zheluoman Mountain. However, in order to protect the interests of the Hexi Corridor, the Shatu people also secretly reached an agreement with the Yiwu government to maintain the status quo and not interfere with each other, so the Yiwu County government retained it.

The prefect of Yiwu County was named Wang Shougong, a native of Wuwei County, Hexi Province. He was about fifty years old. He was the second prefect of Yiwu County and had been in Yiwu County for ten years. Although Wang Shougong was appointed by the Sui Dynasty, after the fall of the Sui Dynasty, he surrendered to Li Gui, King of Xiliang.

When the Tang Dynasty destroyed Li Gui and seized the Hexi Corridor, the counties of the Hexi Corridor turned to loyal to the Tang Dynasty, and Wang Shougong was no exception. However, there was no news that he sent envoys to Chang'an several times. In addition, the Tang Dynasty moved eastward and Yiwu County was far away. Under the oppression of the Northern Sui Army, the Tang Dynasty did not take care of the counties in the Western Regions for the time being. Yiwu County lived alone outside the Hexi Corridor like a forgotten child.

However, Wang Shougong also received some news that the Tang Dynasty was not the most powerful force in the Central Plains. The Northern Sui Dynasty seemed to be stronger, so his mentality changed. He no longer rushes to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty, but waits patiently for the development of the situation in the Central Plains.

That morning, a Sogdian caravan composed of hundreds of camels arrived in Yiwu County. The east gate of Yiwu County suddenly became lively. Many inns and restaurants sent their friends to recruit business. There were more than a dozen Han people in the team. They said goodbye to the leader and went straight into the city.

These dozen Han people were the envoys sent by Li Jing and his entourage. The envoy was named Jin Wensheng. He was a military member under Li Jing's tent. He was very young, only twenty-four or twenty-five years old. He was originally a student of Zhongdu. Every year, the army recruited a group of civilian officers among the Tai students. Jin Wensheng was recruited into the army three years ago. This was also a way to enter the government, which flocked to Tai students. However, the recruitment conditions for the army were very strict. Only dozens of people were recruited every year, which was even more difficult than passing the imperial examination. Therefore, all the Tai students recruited were among the best in the Tai School.

Jin Wensheng came to the front of the county yamen, which was also a county yamen. Since Yiwu County currently has only one county, the prefect Wang Shougong also served as the magistrate of Yiwu County. There were two yamen runners standing at the county yamen. As soon as Jin Wensheng walked up the steps, the yamen runners stopped him, "What's wrong with sir?"

When the yamen runners saw that Jin Wensheng's more than a dozen subordinates were tall, burly, strong and powerful, they dared not be rude, but they were very polite.

Jin Wensheng took out a post to the yamen runner and smiled and said, "Give this post to your prefect, I'll wait here for a while."

"Please wait sir, I'll report now!"

The yamen runners did not dare to neglect, so they took the post and rushed into the county yamen.
Chapter completed!