"No." No one objected, because objections were invalid and did not require money from the court or going through the court. How could they object to Li Ke and His Majesty's private behavior? Moreover, if private individuals spend money on the state, they should theoretically be happy.
"Well, then Li Ke, when do you think you will set off?" Li Shimin looked at Li Ke and asked.
"This matter should be taken up sooner rather than later." Li Ke thought for a while and said, "I will tell you to make arrangements and we can set off in seven days."
"However, Chang Lin will draft an edict later, instructing Li Ke, King of Qin of the Tang Dynasty, to establish the Protectorate of the Western Regions near Qinghai to oversee all affairs in the Western Regions. Li Ke will temporarily serve as the Protectorate. Before Li Jing leads the army to completely eliminate Tuyuhun, all the people under his command will The army is temporarily under the control of the Western Region Protectorate, and is temporarily called the Xizhou Protectorate to the outside world." Li Shimin said decisively.
"Yes! I accept the order." Li Ke accepted the order directly. The other ministers frowned slightly and didn't say much. They had known about the Western Region Protectorate for a long time. Li Shimin had actually had this idea two or three years ago. The main reason was that the countries in the Western Region were not stable. After the Eastern Turks were wiped out by the Tang Dynasty, the Western Turks were reunified after division, and the Western Regions were The Thirty-Six Kingdoms seem to be independent Thirty-Six Kingdoms, but they are all influenced by the Western Turks behind them.
Because the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions were all built around oases, these small countries themselves are not big, and they have large open areas between them, and there are many small Turkic tribes in these areas, and these small tribes belong to In the Western Turks.
From a national perspective, most of these thirty-six countries belong to China, so it is normal for them to be influenced by the Western Turks.
Before, Li Shimin had the idea of imitating the Han Dynasty's Dufufu, but because Dunhuang Jiuquan and other places now belong to Longyou Road of the Tang Dynasty, setting up a Dufufu did not even have its own territory, so he did not take action for the time being. Now Tuyuhun If it is attacked, it can be regarded as having a bridgehead, and it can temporarily belong to the Western Region Protectorate.
Li Ke didn't have any special expression. Anxi Protector's Palace was the later name. Of course, after conquering the Western Region, he had to be called An. The reason why it was called Xizhou Protector's Palace to the outside world was that he naturally didn't want to reveal the ambitions of the Tang Dynasty.
After all, the Duhufu existed in the Han Dynasty and was an administrative agency used to monitor the small countries on the border. Now, the Western Regions are strictly not under the control of the Tang Dynasty. If you call the Western Regions externally at this time, it is not clear to you. Ambition?
And Xizhou made it clear to the outside world. After all, the Tang Dynasty had already captured Tuyuhun. Tuyuhun was surrounded by Tubo and other countries in the Western Regions. It was not normal to establish a protective palace.
"The purpose of setting off this time is different. After all, we have not defeated Tuyuhun yet, so Fang Xuanling." Li Shimin paused for a moment and then spoke.
"I'm here."
"Help Li Ke write a critical essay against Tuyuhun. Li Ke will read it out when he sets off." Li Shimin said.
"Yes!" Fang Xuanling bent down and said.
"Dad, I will take care of the matter of writing the proclamation myself." Li Ke quickly waved his hand and said. The proclamation is the ancient version of "Don't say what you say is unpredicted." It is a document used to inform, conquer, denounce enemies or rebels, and there are also Some highly militant criticism and condemnation articles.
"You?" Li Shimin looked strange.
"Er Chen is quite confident in this aspect." Li Ke nodded seriously.
"Okay." After thinking about it, Li Shimin didn't refuse. Li Ke wouldn't lie about this kind of thing. He would do it by himself. It doesn't matter if the writing is worse, as long as he expresses his meaning clearly.
"You have arranged your affairs in the past few days. You should leave the renovation work of Chang'an City to a reliable person. The progress can be slower, but don't make mistakes. When you set out in the Western Region, let Su Dingfang take the five steps. Qian Zuowei will travel with you." Li Shimin said directly.
"Dad, we don't need that much. I have 2,000 guards, and I will definitely bring them with them this time. Su Dingfang and the others will be enough to bring a thousand. My idea is to use all the cavalry to rush to the Western Region as quickly as possible." Li Ke opened his mouth and said, May has already passed for nearly ten days now. If Li Ke arrives, it will probably be the end of May. The sunshine and temperature will rise over there in June and July, so the salt pond can be advanced quickly.
If traveling by carriage, at least one month.
"That will be very hard." Li Shimin raised his head and glanced at Li Ke. The whole cavalry was on its way. The speed was very fast, but it was not something that ordinary people could persist. It was nearly two thousand miles away from the Red Sea, and it would take at least ten days.
"If a man doesn't show his ambition, he will lose his eight-foot body in vain." Li Ke said with a smile.
"Okay, just say something grand before you leave, and don't complain all the way." Li Shimin smiled and looked at him, then nodded.
"Then the matter is settled, and the Ministry of Rites will make preparations for the relevant expedition." Li Shimin directly finalized the matter.
Everyone bowed and saluted at the same time, and came out of the palace. Li Ke did not go to anyone else, but just informed Su Dingfang and asked him to choose a thousand elite cavalry. To a certain extent, apart from what Li Ke had to do, the rest of this expedition was just a political show.
There were many envoys from various small countries in the Tang Dynasty. In fact, all the countries were paying attention to the Tuyuhun incident. They all knew that it represented the national policy of the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin was also playing this kind of political show when he asked Li Ke to go to the Western Regions. To put it bluntly, you have to let the small countries around you see clearly and stop looking for trouble.
This is also a way of killing a chicken to scare the monkeys.
In this kind of matter, no one holds back. Even though Changsun Wuji and the others usually cause trouble for Li Ke, Li Shimin has decided to let Li Ke go. Changsun Wuji and the others do not hold back, but assist Li Ke as quickly as possible. All matters concerning the expedition.
The entire Tang Dynasty court took action at an unprecedented speed, and Li Ke also called Tian Meng and others: "Tian Meng, notify Yuelai Trading Company in the Western Regions to gather all the materials in that direction and stockpile them in Longyou. Tao materials can be transported towards the Red Sea."
"yes!"
"Bring all the things I need." Li Ke warned again. Unfortunately, in the space in his mind, except for himself, everything else can only be taken out, not brought in. Yes, it's just him and his clothes can't get in. Otherwise, the amount of supplies he can carry is a terrifying number.
"Understood, please rest assured, Your Highness."
"After I leave, all procedures in Chang'an City will remain as usual. "Datang Weekly" will be published on time according to the plan I made before. During this period, the powerful families should not cause trouble for us. Just stabilize the current situation. OK. By the way, you can give me the information about what I told you before. I want to see it."
"Understood." Tian Meng answered simply. He was very knowledgeable about keeping a low profile. After all, he had been keeping a low profile for more than eight years. If it weren't for His Highness's actions, they wouldn't have been discovered by too many people now.
"Huo Gang!" Li Ke said again.
"exist!"
"How is the guard training going?" Li Ke looked at him and asked.
"The queue training has been completed, and all Mingguang armors, weapons, etc. have been replaced."
"Well, we'll be ready to leave in seven days. Give everyone a day off in turn and let them arrange their own affairs."
"yes!"
