There is one thing that Xue Shao has been mentally prepared for, that is, the trouble after the war has an end may not be less than before the decisive victory.

Thousands of corpses must be disposed of, and the battlefield must be thoroughly cleaned, otherwise the outbreak of the plague will be a matter of time. In addition, not all of the enemies have been killed or captured, and many have fled in all directions, and the pursuit of them will take a long time, take a lot of manpower and material resources, and be full of dangers.

The big question, of course, is what to do with the captives.

At formal military meetings, there were many generals who advocated that all the prisoners should be killed to pay tribute to the souls of the fallen soldiers. This argument has a large support group in the military. The anger of the soldiers has been accumulating and brewing since the first day of the war, and today, it has finally exploded.

Xue Shao understood the feelings of these soldiers very well. From a personal standpoint, almost no one hates the killers who killed so many of his brothers in Paozawa more than Xue Shao. Xue Shao himself also wanted to kill all these prisoners and give an explanation to all the soldiers who died.

But reason told Xue Shao that he couldn't do this. When everyone is hot-headed by bitter hatred and the honor of a great victory, you must be calm enough. He remembered that when Pei Gong was alive, he often admonished "the soldiers and the people's orders", and now Xue Shao fully realized the profound meaning of this sentence.

There is no difference between the general and the handsome.

After much deliberation, Xue Shao once again held a formal military meeting devoted to the issue of prisoners.

As soon as the meeting began, Li Duozuo, a veteran general who was very important in both the capital and the Shuofang army, put forward a statement: "Young marshal, Li believes that there is no need to discuss this matter repeatedly. It is to be expected that there is a disagreement among the generals on the question of the treatment of the prisoners, and that this disagreement is not easily reconciled. At such times, what we need is for the young marshal to make decisions with military orders. Orders are carried out like a mountain, this is the usual iron-blooded style of the Shuofang army. ”

The congregation will be silent.

Xue Shao nodded to show his appreciation for Li Duozuo, and then said, "General Li, if it were something else, I would definitely say that I would have given the order a long time ago." But this matter is related to the inner feelings of many soldiers. If they can't give them a reasonable explanation, Xue Shao will not be enough to convince the public, and he will indeed be ashamed of the heroic spirit of the Shuofang army in the sky. From a personal standpoint, I don't think that any amount of Turkic killing can compensate for my hatred for them, much less soothe the grief in my heart. I think that most of the Shuofang soldiers are now feeling like this. ”

"That's right!" Many people agreed, including Guo Yuanzhen and Xue Chuyu.

Xue Shao nodded and smiled slightly, and said, "But brothers, the problems that can be solved by killing are actually not problems. You think back to the two Northern Expeditions that Pei Gong presided over when he was alive, plus the last time I rushed to Hebei to fight the Battle of Hebei with General Xue Rengui, we killed so many Turks in the three major battles. But why are wars still going on, contradictions still intensifying, and our own people dying more and more each time? ”

The congregation was silent again.

"There are some questions that the emperor and the prime minister probably think about day and night. But as generals, we might as well think about it once in a while. Xue Shao said, "Because the root of the war actually lies in the court." ”

"I would like to hear the young marshal's high opinion." Li Duozuo took the lead in asking, and the generals agreed.

Xue Shao said: "I just put it simply, in recent years, the contradictions and wars between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, the biggest flashpoint and turning point, is that I beheaded Ashina Funian everywhere. With that knife, the steppe people completely lost their trust in the Tang Dynasty, and turned to support the Turkic rebel leaders. ”

"Yes." Li Duozuo said, "I participated in the two Northern Expeditions presided over by Pei Gong. In fact, we won the two wars quite easily, because most of the grassland people at that time were still yearning for the Tang Dynasty. But since Pei Yan slashed Fu Nian with one sword, everything has changed. The hearts of the grassland people have completely deviated from the Tang Dynasty. If it weren't for that, the Turks wouldn't have taken the opportunity to sit up so quickly. ”

"General Li's words went to the core." Xue Shao said, "The war between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks is actually a struggle for the hearts and minds of the people in the grassland. At this point, we have lost a lot, and we can even say that we have lost to the fine. So what should we do to salvage this unfavorable situation and win this life-and-death battle between countries in the first place? ”

The venue fell silent again, and the generals thought for a while, and Guo Yuanzhen said, "I understand." Turks, we can kill them on the battlefield. For other tribes who are willing to surrender or hesitate, we should do our best. Most of the captives who were captured this time were from the Tongluo tribe. We should think carefully about what we should do with them. Just blindly slashing and killing will only add fuel to the fire, making more and more steppe people hate the Tang Dynasty from the bottom of their hearts, so as to be loyal to the Turkic Khanate. In the long run, this is quite bad for us. ”

"Takami. Agree. Li Duozuo spit out two words categorically.

Niu Ben was happy, "No wonder the young marshal told me that I don't have to be polite in Helan Mountain, just cut and kill." I really didn't ceremoniously kill them all, and only caught one of them and came back alive. ”

The generals laughed together, and Xue Shao said, "Do you know why? ”

"I don't know." Niu Ben smirked and shook his head, "Anyway, you can do whatever you tell me to do, this must be right!" ”

The crowd laughed again.

Xue Shao also smiled and said: "With the situation and personality of Duxilu, after the defeat of Qingyang Mountain in the first battle, he will definitely not be willing to flee to the north. If he goes back like this, he won't be able to face Gu Lulu and Yuan Zhen, and even if he dies, it won't be enough to make an explanation. He will definitely want to turn the tables, so fleeing to Lingzhou to make a comeback is his last hope. And at this time, the soldiers and horses who continue to follow Lu Xilu must be his iron-clad henchmen and clan relatives. These people are our true mortal enemies, and there is no other choice but to destroy them once and for all! ”

"Foresight, admiration!" Li Duozuo sighed sincerely, and even the eyes that looked at Xue Shao changed a little - just like when he followed Pei Xingjian's side back then, with reverence and admiration.

"No wonder." Xue Chuyu, who had always been silent, spoke, "I have always been a little puzzled why the enemy who fled north to Fengzhou would surrender so easily. At that time, although our army occupied the advantage of time and place, the other side's men and horses were four or five times that of mine after all. But they would have surrendered obediently without firing a single arrow from our army. I think this is the truth of what the young marshal said, the enemy who fled north is not a diehard loyalist, and they just want to protect themselves when disaster comes. ”

Xue Shao smiled, "In the battle of Qingyang Mountain, the enemy who fled north was already a frightened bird. When they saw that the pontoon bridge had been burned and cut off, their hopes were dashed. At this moment, if they saw another Megatron Jade Crown General come to challenge, what little confidence they had left would completely collapse. Such an enemy is easy to recruit. ”

"If it's me, I'll kill it anyway!" Niu Ben took it with a grin.

The generals laughed together, and Xue Shao said, "That's why I sent you to Helan Mountain." The errand of going to Fengzhou to intercept the enemy could not be done by anyone except General Yuguan. Because he is the only one who is equipped with such a powerful force. If it were Xue Shao himself, I guess the Tongluo people would have mustered up the courage to fight me first--because they wanted to beat me up in their dreams! ”

The venue was laughing at this time.

After Xue Shao let them laugh for a while, he knocked on the table and said, "Let's get down to business." I have a claim against the captives of the Tongluo tribe. After listening to this, the generals did not have any opinions, but they could just put them forward. We have to come up with the safest solution. ”

"Okay."

Xue Shao said: "My proposition is not to kill anyone. And I will let their chief Shena Si go back, and take with me a thousand horsemen. ”

"Why?" The general asked.

Xue Shao said: "I want Shena Si to take these 1,000 people back to Tongluobu, and move their tents, cattle, sheep and tribal people all across Yinshan and move south to the pastures under the rule of Fengzhou, Lingzhou or Xiazhou to settle down. Just like what Emperor Taizong did after he pacified the Turks. ”

The generals were all shocked, "Is this possible?" ”

"It's really difficult to execute." Xue Shao took a deep breath, "But it's man-made, how do you know if you can't do it if you don't try?" ”

"I think I might want to give it a try." Guo Yuanzhen said thoughtfully: "If this matter is done, it can be used as a precedent." If there is a similar situation in the future, you can refer to it. After three or five times, the strength of the Turkic Khanate will continue to weaken. Of course, more importantly, we can really win back the hearts and minds of some grassland people. That's what makes the difference. ”

"Yes." Xue Shao said, "I remember that after the last time I fought with the evil in Du Jinshan, I let everyone go back. At the time, I simply thought that this way we would win the hearts of many people. In the end, I was wrong. People tend to be very forgetful, especially when driven by profit and the pressure of survival. Conversely, killing alone will not solve the problem. It has also been proven that no matter how many people we kill, we will not be able to kill all the enemies. Because for every time we kill someone, it is possible to erect ten new enemies. ”

"It's not killing, it's not letting go, so what should I do?" The cow is in a hurry.

"With the indoctrination of time, patience and rigidity and softness, let the Tongluo people who moved to the mainland truly become the people of the Tang Dynasty and become our compatriots!" Xue Shao said, "Actually, the most powerful weapon of the Tang Dynasty is neither the Anxi Tiger Division, nor the Dingxiang Army, nor the Shuofang Army, but our great civilization!" ”

"Young marshal......" Li Duozuo hesitated for a moment and said: "I have been working hard for decades on this matter, and now it seems that it has failed. ”

"You reminded me that before us, Emperor Taizong and a group of capable people around him had tried to do so. I think they were right, and even if they failed in the end, it provided us with a lot of useful lessons. Xue Shao said decisively, "I am convinced that in the end we will succeed." Until then, I don't mind failing again, or even a few times, even if it's a good thing to provide experience and lay the foundation for our descendants. ”

The generals were silent, each with their own thoughts.

Xue Shao took a deep breath and said: "Freezing three feet is not a day's cold, without the failure of the predecessors after their efforts, how can the future generations really succeed?" ――I'd like to give it a try. Will you help me, my brethren in robes? ”

Everyone stood up in unison, "Swear to follow the young marshal to the death!" ”