Li Shimin pondered for a while, and Li Xiu did not rush to urge him, but he was also a little nervous. Finally, Li Shimin suddenly raised his head and stared at Li Xiu and said, "Your proposals are indeed very tempting, but in comparison, I think the threats you may be subject to in the future will be more serious to me, so I reject your deal!"

"You... don't force me!" Li Xiu was anxious when he heard this. He pointed at Li Shimin and said angrily. In exchange for the lives of Li Chengdao and the others, he gave himself to Li Shimin, but he actually refused, which made him angry.

"Forcing you? I'm just making a choice that is most beneficial to me, not to mention that even if I force you, what can you do? As for the power of gunpowder, I'm sure this kind of gunpowder must require a lot of raw materials, and how many raw materials do you have for gunpowder in your hands?" Li Shimin said bluntly.

"Haha~, then you are wrong. I'm not afraid to tell you that the main raw material of gunpowder is saltpeter, which is the kind of thing that can make ice in summer. This is what I discovered. There is a lot of saltpeter stored in the princess's mansion and my house. During the period of your surround, I have already prepared gunpowder. If you don't believe it, you can try it. Also, don't think you'll eat me if you surround us. Tell you, if I want, you can take Chengdao and others away at any time!" Li Xiu said without giving in at this time.

Princess Pingyang and his family did store a lot of saltpeter, but Li Xiu still lied that he lacked sulfur, so he could only have a small amount of gunpowder, so he is also using the empty city strategy now, but no one knows the formula of gunpowder anyway, so he is not afraid of being exposed by Li Shimin.

"Hahahahaha~, joke, you actually want to take people away. Do you think my 40,000 troops are made of paper?" Li Shimin could not refute Li Xiu's previous words, but he sarcastically said to Li Xiu's last words.

"You are right. Even if you mobilize all the troops of the Tang Dynasty, in my eyes, there are still a bunch of paper people. As long as I want to take people away, no one can stop me!" Li Xiu also took his risk at this time, showing a proud look on his face. Even if he dies, he will show Li Shimin, an ancient barbarian, the power of civilization!

"Is that so? I really want to see how you take people out?" Seeing Li Xiu's arrogant look, Li Shimin was a little uncomfortable for a moment, but then he suddenly smiled. Maybe this is Li Xiu's true face, because he always felt that although Li Xiu was humble on the surface, he had a sense of arrogance in his bones. No matter who he was doing, he finally showed this arrogance.

"What if I can do it?" Li Xiu asked aggressively again, but at this moment, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of a feasible solution again. Although it was a bit risky to do so, under the premise that Li Shimin was determined to execute Li Chengdao and others, at least they had the capital to give it a try.

"If you can do it, maybe I will reconsider the decision just now." Li Shimin said with a smile again, but he still did not give a clear reply, just saying that he would reconsider, but the result of the consideration would be his only words.

"Okay, then that's all. In five days, I will let you see how I took people away. Say goodbye!" Li Xiu turned around and left after saying that, and did not bother Li Shimin anymore. Now he finally understood that if he didn't show the strength to let Li Shimin face it, it would be impossible for him to let Li Chengdao and the others go. As for what Li Shimin said to reconsider his previous decision, he would not believe it at all.

After leaving the Ministry of Agriculture, Li Xiu called Lao Qi and others to fly onto the horse, and then rushed back to the Princess Villa. At this time, Princess Pingyang, Ma Ye and others were also waiting in the hall. When they saw Li Xiu coming in, they immediately stood up and asked, "What's the matter? Did Li Shimin agree to let Chengdao them go?"

"No, but I have a better way. Princess, please gather all the women in the mansion who know how to do needlework!" Li Xiu said excitedly at this time. It is better to ask for help than to ask for others. Although he had not achieved his goal just now, he learned a very important information, that is, the Turks were about to go south. Although he had guessed this before, he was not sure about the date of the Turks' going south, and Li Shimin accidentally helped him a huge favor.

"What?" Seeing that Li Xiu was not successful, but had an excited expression on his face, and he also asked himself to summon all the women who could do needlework. This made Princess Pingyang stunned for a moment, and even wondered if Li Xiu was talking nonsense. Similarly, Ma Ye and others also looked at Li Xiu with suspicion.

However, Li Xiu was too lazy to explain at this time. He walked to the table and grind the ink himself, then picked up the pen and drew it on the paper. The reason why he was confident that he could take Li Chengdao and others to leave the surround at any time was naturally because he thought of a good thing, that is, the hot air balloon that is rare in later generations. It is actually an enlarged Kongming lantern. Moreover, he does not need to make the hot air balloon like in later generations. He just needs to be able to fly people and float out of the circumference.

"Li Xiu, what are you painting?" Princess Pingyang finally realized at this time, walked to Li Xiu and looked at the things he was painting, and then asked again.

"This is called a hot air balloon. Its principle is similar to that of Kongming lanterns, but it is very huge, enough to bring people into the air. The airbags on it need to be made of cloth, so many women who know how to do needlework are needed. In addition, I design the hanging baskets and other things below, and use blacksmiths in the army and carpenters in the mansion." Li Xiu said anxiously. He told Li Shimin before that he had told him to take people away five days later, so time was very tight.

"Bring... to the air? Are you crazy?" Ma Ye also heard Li Xiu's words at this time, and said with an incredible look on his face. Flying in the sky is almost everyone's dream. For example, for Taoism, ascension in the sun is the ultimate dream of all Taoists, and Buddhism also has legends of flying in the sky, but these are all legendary things. He never thought that anyone could really fly.

"Uncle Ma, I don't have time to explain now. I have to make this thing well within five days, and at least five have to be made. Now the princess is responsible for making the airbags on it. I'll go to the craftsman to make other parts, and I'll tell you another good news. The Turks are about to go south!" Li Xiu said excitedly again. This was the first time he wanted to do something so urgently.

"The Turkic people go south? What's the point of this..." Mr. Ma said to himself at this time, but before he finished speaking, he realized that he slapped his thighs excitedly and said, "So that's it. The Turkic people are coming. As long as we hold on for a few more days, I'm afraid the King of Qin will have to sit down and have a good talk with us!"

"It's not just about being passively defended, but we also have to take the initiative to attack, forcing the King of Qin to sit down and talk to us, otherwise he would wait for both sides to suffer, or even destroy the country!" Li Xiu also said fiercely at this time. Although he knew that if the Turks went south and the suffering was still ordinary people, he was forced to do so now, not to mention that this country is already a member of Li Shimin, why should he consider these for him?

"Li Xiu, then what should we do?" Princess Pingyang seemed to understand what Li Xiu meant when she heard this, and asked solemnly. Although she was pregnant now, except for the last time when she felt powerless, she did not have morning sickness like the lady in the clothes, and there was no abnormality in normal times. It is estimated that this is also related to her physique.

Li Xiu immediately explained the shape of the airbag needed by the hot air balloon and the points that need to be paid attention to. Princess Pingyang also understood this very well, and then immediately went out to summon people to make airbags. Li Xiu went to find craftsmen with Ma Ye. Speaking of which, the army was not only soldiers, but also craftsmen, cooks, doctors, etc., for example, the role of craftsmen is mainly to repair weapons and armor, and also to create some siege equipment, etc. These require extremely high skills, so the craftsmen in the army are generally good at level.

In the next few days, Li Xiu almost asked the craftsmen to help him build things day and night. All the craftsmen were divided into three shifts, and the charcoal fire in the blacksmith's furnace was almost never extinguished. The same was true for Princess Pingyang. Not only did she organize all the maids in the mansion, but even the 500 female guards around her mobilized them. These female guards put down their weapons and picked up needles and threads, kept making airbags day and night, and even slept for only two hours a day. This made Li Xiu sigh at the woman's patience.

Five days passed in a blink of an eye. Li Shimin has been busy deploying troops these days. On the one hand, it is to deal with the Turks who may go south at any time. On the other hand, he has deployed heavy troops again around the Women's Detachment Army, so that he can be more confident in destroying the Women's Detachment Army in one fell swoop, especially killing all Li Chengdao's brothers. After all, as long as Li Jiancheng's son is still alive, it will give those old subordinates a hope to oppose him, thus posing a huge threat to him. Therefore, he must ensure that Li Chengdao and others will be eliminated without leaving any.

In fact, the reason why Li Shimin surrounded and did not fight some time ago was that in addition to Gu Nian's siblings and Princess Pingyang's siblings, the most important thing was the instability within the Tang Dynasty, especially the old subordinates of the prince who had been causing trouble. For example, Feng Li and Xue Wanche and others led their troops out of Chang'an after failing to attack Xuanwu Gate. He was worried that these people would contact other old subordinates of the prince to cause trouble, so he restrained a lot of his energy. He had promised Li Xiu before that he would give himself a few days to deploy troops.

The agreed day finally came. Li Shimin, wearing armor, walked out of the commander's tent, and while instructing the army to prepare for attack at any time, he was waiting for Li Xiu to escape with Li Chengdao and the others? (To be continued.)

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Chapter completed!