Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4804: Conquering the Post Station
The mountain pass across the Ela Mountains is very narrow and rugged, with only a winding road in the middle for horse-drawn carriages. Both sides are full of broken cliffs, rocks and trees. It was fine when the caravan was passing slowly, but it was difficult to march at full speed now.

The mountain road, where only three or four horses could ride side by side, stretched the team of two thousand people very long. If the war horses were not careful, they would step on the stones and potholes on the side of the road and get injured. However, Lun Qinling, who was always calm, did not care about these at the moment. He kept ordering the entire army to speed up, leaving the injured soldiers behind and letting them follow slowly.

He had passed through this mountain pass more than once to enter and exit Tibet, so he had an accurate estimate of the travel time. However, perhaps because of the recent heavy rain or some other reason, the gravel on the hillsides and cliffs rolled down. Although a caravan had probably cleaned up the road before, it was still difficult to travel.

The time that was originally enough to cross the mountain pass was now only half the time, which made Lun Qinling very worried.

The time agreed upon with his third brother has arrived, but he has not arrived yet. His third brother can only face the defenders of Luyi alone. Although Lebujie is brave but not wise, it will be troublesome if he suddenly has an idea and decides to lead the troops to fight against his third brother.

Lun Qinling became anxious and angry when he thought that Bolun Zanren might have been surrounded and annihilated by the elite cavalry led by Lebujie.

As they advanced, they kept encountering enemy scouts. The news of Nuanquanyi being breached would surely reach Naluyi. Lebujie had already known all of his whereabouts. Once Lebujie defeated Bolun Zanren first and then organized his troops to defend Naluyi, he would be trapped in this mountain pass. Then, his two thousand men would be unable to escape even if they had wings...

As time went on, the situation became increasingly unfavorable, but fortunately, the scouts he sent out never found any signs of the enemy blocking the mountain pass. This meant that even if Lebujie really took the initiative to attack, the battle could not be ended at this moment.

If we were faster, we might be able to take advantage of the fact that Lebujie was away with his troops and launch a surprise attack on Naluyi, and then meet up with my third brother in the wild to annihilate Lebujie...

The frequency of enemy scouts appearing ahead was getting higher and higher, but only bad news was coming, which slowly calmed Lun Qinling's anxious mood. In fact, having come to this point, no matter how worried or afraid it was, it would be of no use. The worst case scenario was just a fight to the death.

Finally, before it got completely dark, Lun Qinling, who was leading the way, drove out of the mountain pass. The view in front of him suddenly opened up. The vast Dafei River was faintly visible in the night. The expected enemy blocking the mountain pass never appeared.

This means that Lebujie can either defend Naluyi and fight to the death, or attack Bolun Zanren but the battle has not yet ended. Either possibility is the best for Lun Qinling at the moment.

"Assaulters, get ready, bring your thunder bombs, and follow me to break through that Luyi!"

The Tang people's thunder bombs are not only useful in field battles to blow up a large area, but they are also a magical weapon for breaking through cities. No matter how solid the city wall is, it can be blown down by adjusting the amount of thunder bombs used. Lun Qinling plans to continue with the strategy of capturing Nuanquan Station. He first sends assaulters to blow down the wall of Nalu Station and rush in. After capturing Nalu Station, he will make a long-term plan for the next response.

The two thousand soldiers were extremely excited and full of fighting spirit. They had sneaked through Chencang and rushed hundreds of miles along the way. The great victory at Nuanquanyi made the morale of the whole army unprecedentedly high. They finally experienced the joy of the Tang army's invincibility in the world.

Two thousand men and horses rushed out of the mountain pass like a torrent, heading straight for the Nalu Posthouse halfway up the mountain. When they arrived outside the posthouse, a few assaulters were about to step forward and detonate thunder bombs under the wall when they saw the gate of the Nalu Posthouse slowly open, and a number of soldiers filed out and knelt on the ground...

Lun Qinling blinked. Is this... opening the city and surrendering?
After all, it is an important town on the northeastern border of Tubo. Shouldn’t they put up any resistance?

Lun Qinling had both joy and sorrow. Since Naluyi opened the city and surrendered under his attack, it meant that Lebujie was not in the post station. Otherwise, with his strength of thousands of soldiers, there was no reason for him to surrender without a fight. This also meant that Lebujie really took the initiative to go out of the city to attack Bolun Zanren... But I wonder if my third brother can stop him?
But at this moment, he had no time to worry about anything else. He led his soldiers to rush into the post station like a whirlwind, disarmed all the defenders and drove them out of the city. Then he captured several staff members and interrogated them. Only then did he know the whole story...

Lebujie, who was in high spirits and confident of victory, was killed by Bolunzan in the battle formation. The entire army was defeated, some surrendered and some fled, and the whole army collapsed in an instant. Some defeated soldiers returned to Naluyi to inform about the battle situation. The staff and soldiers who stayed behind were horrified and wanted to escape, but suddenly found that there was no way to escape.

Nalu Post runs from north to south. If you flee south, you can cross the Dafei River. Bolun Zanren, who defeated Lebujie, is preparing his army to come, but the road is blocked. If you flee north through the mountain pass, you can return to Tubo, but Lun Qinling is leading his army through the mountain pass...

They had no choice but to decide to surrender. They would surrender the city to whichever of the two brothers came first.

Lun Qinling was overjoyed. Although he had always known about his younger brother's bravery, Lebujie was not a kitten or a puppy. He was brave but not wise, and yet he was pushed by his brother Chisang Yangton to the position of guarding Naluyi, which was enough to show that his "bravery" was not high at all. Now that he was killed by Bolun Zan in front of the battlefield, it could greatly boost the morale of the Gar family, and at the same time it could shock the city of Luoshui, giving those tribes who were originally at odds with the Zamp an additional choice.

The strategic deterrence of killing Lebujie in battle was even greater than the consecutive capture of Nalu Station and Nuanquan Station.

At that moment, Lun Qinling commanded the troops to take over Naluyi. The captives were gathered together to strengthen the walls, gates, and dredge the drainage facilities, while the merchants and travelers were expelled.

Several groups of merchants experienced great ups and downs in one day, lamenting the ups and downs of life. When they saw that they were being expelled, they all nominated one person to represent everyone to find Lun Qinling, hoping to get back their confiscated goods and property.

The leader smiled and greeted Lun Qinling respectfully: "We dare not delay the general's military affairs here, so we will leave now. We just hope that the confiscated goods can be returned. We are all small families and cannot afford such a huge loss."

What traveling merchants fear most these days is encountering war and banditry. Under normal circumstances, they may not make a ton of money, but they can earn more than they lose and always be able to survive. However, once they encounter war and bandits, they will easily lose everything and they really cannot withstand it.

Lun Qinling looked puzzled and said, "Your goods were confiscated by Lebujie. If you want to get them back, go find Lebujie yourself. Why are you asking me for them?"

Merchant: “…”

Do you want me to go down to find Lebujie?

What's more, if I dared to ask Lebujie for it, I would not let him confiscate it in the beginning. Besides, Lebujie doesn't give face to us Tang people, so you can't refuse to give it to me, Qinling, right?

Your Gar family is now under the protection of the Tang Dynasty...

The merchant took his time, straightened his clothes, and bowed: "I am Lu Rensheng from Fanyang, nice to meet you, General."

Lun Qinling was stunned for a moment: "Are you from Tang?"

"Replacement guaranteed."

"Lu Clan of Fanyang?"

"Thank you very much."

Lun Qinling stared at the merchant who claimed to be from the Fanyang Lu family, and a swear word almost came out of his mouth.

You said that you were a descendant of the Lu family of Fanyang, so you should have just announced your identity early on. Why did you have to go on for so long and say a lot of nonsense?
The Fanyang Lu family and the Fang family are in-laws. Fang Jun's mother was from the Fanyang Lu family. Given the Gar family's dependence on and fear of Fang Jun, it is absolutely impossible for him to confiscate the property of the Fanyang Lu family.

As for confirming his identity to avoid being deceived, he didn't even think about it. He didn't have the time, so he would rather be deceived than take the risk. Otherwise, if he was really a member of the Fanyang Lu family, he would have offended Fang Jun to death.

We are still allies. My relative’s property was confiscated by you on your territory. How can you, the second young master of the Gar family, have the nerve to do that?
Lun Qinling forced a smile and waved his hand: "Duke Yue and I have a deep friendship. Wouldn't it be better if you revealed your identity earlier? Take all your goods with you, don't go to Luoshui City, and return to the Tang Dynasty as soon as possible. When you go to Chang'an, tell Duke Yue that 'one day without seeing you feels like three autumns', and I hope to meet you again and get drunk together in the future!"

"Don't worry, General. I will definitely convey this message."

"Let's go quickly."

"Thank you!"

The merchant turned around and took his servants to pick out his goods and load them onto the truck. Other merchants gathered around.

Someone was dissatisfied: "We nominated you to negotiate with Lun Qinling, but in the end your goods were returned, but we still confiscated them?"

The merchant clasped his fists and said apologetically, "Everyone, it's not that I am selfish and only care about myself. The truth is that the reason why the goods were returned was not because I negotiated it, but because I took advantage of the prestige of the Duke of Yue and Lun Qinling gave me face. I really can't do anything to ask for the goods to be returned to you."

"Hiss, Duke Yue is so majestic, you just mentioned it, Lun Qinling gave him face?"

"Fang Erlang's mighty power not only spreads throughout the Tang Dynasty, but also intimidates foreign nations. How powerful!"

"What a pity, we don't have any good relatives..."

The merchant surnamed Fan didn't care about the envy and jealousy of the others. He clasped his fists and said, "I am very lucky to have the goods back this time and fulfill the mission of the master. I can't go to Luoshui City. I will go back home to report to the master. I bid you farewell. We will meet again in the future."

"Brother Fan, take care on your journey."

"Have a good trip."

Seeing the merchant named Fan and his followers driving the carriage out of Nalu Post Station and heading south across the Dayue River and straight to the Sun and Moon Mountain and the Tang Dynasty border, the remaining merchants looked at each other in bewilderment.

Soon, they were all expelled by Lun Qinling. Not only were all their goods confiscated, but they were not even given a single copper coin. They were only given some moldy Hu pancakes and sent away. These people had no choice but to hurry up and chase after the merchant surnamed Fan. If they had not had the help of the merchant surnamed Fan on their way back to the Tang Dynasty, they would have starved to death...