Huoshu Huizang and Dusong Mangpoje could understand some of these things, but they could not understand the vast majority.
However, when the two top generals of the Ouzan Empire looked at the runes and symbols on the ground and the madman in the cell, they did not look down on him at all. Instead, their eyes were filled with respect. That was because the madman in front of them had another identity.
Ouzan, the Prime Minister of the Ngari Royal Family, Dalun Ruozan!
Ever since the defeat, Dalun Ruozan had been imprisoned in the depths of this prison. Other than Imperial Great Generals like Huoshu Huizang and Dusong Mangpoje, no one else had ever been able to touch him.
Dusong Mangpoje and Dalun Ruozan belonged to different Royal Lineages and rarely interacted with each other. All he knew was that Dusong Mangpoje was skilled in strategy and intelligence. When he had first met Huoshu Huizang underground, Dusong Mangpoje had not dared to believe that this disheveled prisoner who was babbling madly and behaving strangely was that refined and elegant Prime Minister of Ngari.
Dusong Mangpoje had come brimming with anticipation, but he had returned disappointed. He had been deeply disappointed by Huoshu Huizang's plan to defeat Wang Chong and the Tang Dynasty. Only when the Battle of Talas broke out more than a month ago did Dusong Mangpoje realize that he had been gravely mistaken.
"How long has the Prime Minister been in this state?"
Dusong Mangpoje summoned a jailer and asked.
"General, it's been more than two hours, and he can't hear anything. The food is still there, and he hasn't touched it."
The jailer bowed and replied.
Dusong Mangpoje turned his head and saw several plates of cold food by the door.
"Got it. You can go now."
Dusong Mangpoje waved his hand to dismiss the jailer.
After the jailer left, the prison became quiet again. All that was left was the sound of Dalun Ruozan's fingers moving on the ground. Dusong Mangpoje and Huoshu Huizang stood motionless outside the prison, silently watching. No one disturbed him.
"Perhaps if we want to defeat that young Protector-General of the Tang Dynasty, stop the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions, and change the balance of power between Ouzan and the Tang Dynasty, we can only rely on him."
As this thought flitted through Dusong Mangpoje's mind, he subconsciously turned to the right side of Dalun Ruozan. There was an extremely complicated map there, as well as some indecipherable characters.
Talas!
Dusong Mangpoje immediately recognized the city at the center of the map.
A stranger might have believed that Dalun Ruozan was analyzing the situation at Talas, but Dusong Mangpoje knew that this map had appeared a month before the Battle of Talas. Alas, the characters around this map were the long-lost Bon language of the Ouzan Plateau. Other than Dalun Ruozan, there were probably only a few people in the Ouzan Empire who could recognize these ancient characters.
Dusong Mangpoje was also unable to recognize them.
"Dalun Ruozan was defeated in the southwest and has been imprisoned for several months now. He was cut off from the outside world. Who could have imagined that, even before the Battle of Talas broke out, he had already predicted the war between Arabia and the Tang Dynasty, even deducing the location of the final battle? Alas, Dalun Ruozan was imprisoned by the Tsenpo. Otherwise, with his abilities, everything might have been different at the battle of the triangular gap, and Dayan Mangpoje wouldn't have needed to die. "
A hint of sorrow appeared in Dusong Mangpoje's eyes as he thought of Dayan Mangpoje. This was probably an eternal pain in his heart.
Time slowly passed, and after some time, Dalun Ruozan's body suddenly trembled. Dusong Mangpoje and Huoshu Huizang trembled, immediately knowing that Dalun Ruozan was about to awaken.
"You've come."
Dalun Ruozan said without raising his head.
"Prime Minister, everything is as you expected. That youngest son of the Wang Clan has defeated Fomonlința and taken the position of Qixi Protector-General. In addition, Anxi Protector-General Gao Xianzhi has been surrounded by the Arabs. Right now, that youth of the Tang Dynasty is preparing to march on Talas with all his might. "
Huoshu Huizang said from outside the prison.
"Prime Minister, are you really not going to come out?"
"It's not time yet …"
Dalun Ruozan's voice resounded through the prison. He raised his head and combed through his disheveled hair, revealing a face that was somewhat pale from not seeing the sun. Although his face was haggard, his eyes were still bright and brimming with wisdom and vigor.
Although he looked extremely disheveled, lacking that refined and handsome air of the past, Huoshu Huicang knew that this was still the Ngari Great Minister in his memories who could devise strategies and determine victory from a thousand li away.
"Now is not the time for me to go out. Our opponent's intuition is far sharper than we imagined. The slightest movement will make him feel strange, allowing him to see through our plans and make all our efforts go to waste."
Dalun Ruozan only raised his head for a moment before lowering it back down, his eyes still fixed on the area in front of him. He lightly swept the dust off the ground with his right sleeve, his movements still calm and elegant.
"In addition, don't call him a young man. His abilities can no longer be measured by age. If all of you only look at his age, then in the end, only defeat awaits you. "
"Yes! Prime Minister! "
Huoshu Huizang lowered his head and deferentially said.
Only those who knew the will in Dalun Ruozan's heart could know what he was doing. It was precisely for this reason that Huoshu Huizang felt even more respect for him. Just as Huoshu Huicang had said, Dalun Ruozan had interacted with Wang Chong before and had even forced him into a desperate situation. If there was one person in the entire Ü-Tsang Empire who could defeat Wang Chong, it was the Great Minister of the Empire, who often accompanied the Tsenpo in the royal capital and never ventured far from him. Dalun Ruozan was probably the only person who could defeat Wang Chong.
"Dusong Mangpoje, you've already come here several times. Are you still thinking about the battle of the triangular gap and Dayan Mangpoje's death?"
Dalun Ruozan's head was lowered, his fingers still drawing on the ground as he spoke.
"Yes!"
Dusong Mangpoje's expression dimmed, a hint of pain in his eyes, but he did not deny it.
"There is no need to worry about the gains and losses of the past. The time is not right. Even if you and I were there, in the end, we would still have lost, and the result would not have changed."
Dalun Ruozan indifferently said.
"But he's just a teenager. Is there really no way to defeat him?"
Dusong Mangpoje said.
"Haven't you already tried?"
Dalun Ruozan indifferently said, his voice echoing through the ground.
Dusong Mangpoje instantly fell silent.
"You've tried, we've also tried, and you've seen the result. It seems like a coincidence, but it is inevitable. Do not look down on him. He has never been a person, nor can you treat him as one. He's good at borrowing power. He can use all conditions to weave a huge net with himself as the core. Weren't the two people who injured you hired by him? "
Dalun Ruozan nonchalantly said. Although he was imprisoned, he gave off the feeling that he could see everything and see through everything.
Dusong Mangpoje's expression grew gloomier and gloomier.
He was unwilling to admit it, but his intuition told him that Dalun Ruozan was correct.
"The war of the southwest, the battle of Longxi, and the battle of the triangular gap — in these three wars, we have already lost the right to challenge the Tang Dynasty. This was something that could not be changed no matter what. As for the Western Turks, with the death of the Black Wolf Yabgu and Agudu Lan, the Western Turks are no longer a threat. In the more than one thousand years of campaigning with the Central Plains, the Turks have never won. The Tang Dynasty is the strongest dynasty of the Central Plains. In the Western Regions, we can no longer defeat it. "
Dalun Ruozan's voice was distant and distant, his eyes seeming to see through everything.
"Right now, our only chance … is here!"
Dusong Mangpoje and Huoshu Huizang followed Dalun Ruozan's demonic finger to the map of Talas on the floor of the prison.
"… In the entire world, the only people who have not fought with the Tang Dynasty are the Arabs. That will be our only chance, and also our last chance! This is the conclusion I reached after several months of research in the prison. If not even the Arabs can stop them, then in the future, the entire Western Regions will fall into the hands of the Tang people, and no one will be able to shake the position of the Tang people in the Western Regions! "
The prison was quiet. Neither Huoshu Huizang nor Dusong Mangpoje spoke. The two of them were so immersed in Dalun Ruozan's words that they could not speak. No one knew what sort of journey Dalun Ruozan had gone through in the last few months.
Even Huoshu Huizang, who had accompanied Dalun Ruozan in the Ngari Royal Lineage, had been given a fright when he first saw Dalun Ruozan. His eyes and demeanor were completely different from what he remembered. It was like he had become a completely different person. But even so, Huoshu Huizang knew that he was still Dalun Ruozan.
But the Dalun Ruozan in the prison had been washed clean of his past glory. He was even wiser and more terrifying than before.
The deaths of more than two hundred thousand soldiers of the Ngari Royal Lineage and the desolate steppe of the Ngari Royal Lineage had created the current Dalun Ruozan. That youth in Qixi had no idea that although he had won in the southwest, he had also created an even more terrifying opponent for himself.
"Understood."
After some time, Dusong Mangpoje's voice echoed through the ground, and he finally lowered his head in deference. This was his respect for Dalun Ruozan, his submission to Dalun Ruozan.
"Prime Minister, be at ease. In the future, I will do my best to cooperate with Prime Minister's actions. But I have one last problem … soldiers! "
Dusong Mangpoje stopped here. The problem was that even if the three of them wanted to wash away their humiliation, defeat the Tang Dynasty, and restore the prestige of the Ouzan Empire, they would not be able to accomplish anything with just the three of them and no soldiers. After all, this was a war, not an individual battle between experts.
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