"I never expected Brother to have predicted it so accurately."
Li Jing wore a look of deep emotion, though there was some regret in it as well. After all, if they had continued fighting after spring began, then in another five or six months, the Turks truly would have been beaten into extinction, their remaining resistance driven all the way to the Western Regions.
Yet it was precisely because they understood this that the Turks, already divided in their loyalties, split apart and began fighting among themselves. They killed their leader and requested surrender. So long as the fighting stopped and their wealth and status were guaranteed, anything could be discussed.
Wang Yan saw Li Jing's regret and smiled. "Yaoshi, there is no need to sigh. The Turks are merely grasshoppers after autumn. Now that Dulan is dead, the wolves have no leader. They refuse to submit to one another, each harboring his own schemes. They are no longer capable of becoming a real threat.
"Now that they have taken the initiative to surrender, fighting means death, while peace merely means dying more slowly. Naturally, they want to die more slowly and seek a chance to escape their predicament. Yet whether there is war or peace now rests entirely with our Sui Dynasty. They will agree to any conditions.
"So long as our Sui Dynasty truly governs the grasslands, within a few years, those tribal chiefs and khagans will crumble apart. From then on, our Central Plains will no longer suffer from wolves on the northern frontier."
Li Jing nodded, understanding Wang Yan's meaning.
He also knew the conduct of Sui Dynasty officials very well. At present, people from the Central Plains were migrating here to blend with the population, officials were governing the region, and a great army stood