Luoyang, the sacred capital, Ziwei City, Xing'an Palace.
In a small hall to the north, the forty-three-year-old Yelu Abli could no longer bear the image of a little lolita in Zhang Shengren's mind.
However, her figure was still as petite as ever, so petite that compared to the strong man kneeling in front of her, she was like a pet puppy standing next to a polar bear.
However, their auras were completely reversed.
Yelu Abli's eyes were so angry that he hit the strong man's shoulder with a whip without mercy. The strong man couldn't help but twitch in pain.
"Zhang Liulang, you are so majestic! When you grow up, you will no longer take your mother seriously. The throne of the Lord of Lelang, which you worked so hard and with so much effort, was pushed out by you like this!
You have to know that it is not a shabby title that even discounts food and housing. It is a vassal state with 110,000 households and 690,000 people in one province, four prefectures, and 17 counties.
In addition to Yan Fan, Chu Fan, and An Fan, it was a vassal state that was larger and richer than Zheng Fan, Jin Fan, and Song Dynasty, and it was also close to China.
How many people have their mouths watering when they look at it, how dare you treat it like a dirty shoe? "
It turned out that the person who was whipped by Yelu Abli was none other than his son, Zhang Xianjiong, the sixth son of the emperor.
What made Yelu Abli so angry was that Zhang Xianjiong actually refused to go to Lelang to join the vassal state, and instead wanted to go to the west for the expedition.
Although Zhang Xianjiong was about to turn twenty, seeing his mother so angry, he still put on a silly smile on his big, fleshy face.
"Don't be angry, mother. Although I won't go to Lelang, I still have Brother Shiba. Your Excellency has agreed to leave the position of king of the vassal country in Lelang Province to Brother Shiba."
Hearing this, Yelu Abli almost fainted from anger, and immediately whipped him again.
Not only her, but Xiao Sage, who was in her forties but still as beautiful as a peony, was also furious.
There is no other reason for this, because the Eighteenth Lang mentioned by Zhang Xianjiong, Zhang Xianxu, the second son born to Yelu Abli, is only nine years old now.
With the mortality rate in this era, nine-year-old children still have a certain risk of death, even princes are no exception. For example, Prince Yong'an, who died four years ago and was mourned by his posthumous title, was already thirteen years old when he died.
For Lelang, the Khitan civil and military officials headed by Yelu Abli invested a lot of manpower and material resources. The gold and silver treasures Yelu Abli gave to King Murong Nobunaga of Yan alone exceeded one million yuan.
Now that Zhang Xianjiong refuses to go and join the feudal clan, if something unexpected happens to Zhang Xianxu, the 18th Prince, all the initial investment will be in vain.
Because Yelu Abli gave birth to two sons and three daughters in total. Now that he is older, the saint's body is not as good as before, and there are as many as thirty-six people waiting for Cheng Enze's concubines in the harem. Yelu Abli is basically impossible. Pregnant again.
As for Xiao Sage, although the sister-in-law of Yelu Abuli was unparalleled in beauty and blessed by the aura of the trophy queen of the enemy country, she was always favored.
But Xiao Sage is not a good childbearer. So far, he has only one son, who is younger than Zhang Xianxu. This is the twenty-first son of the emperor, Zhang Xianji, who is only six years old this year. He has been thin since he was a child and likes to get sick.
Therefore, Yelu Abli was completely speechless about his son Zhang Xianjiong's blind operation.
In their situation, even if Zhang Xianjiong wanted to march westward, the throne of the vassal king set up in Lelang Province should be left undecided.
Because in this case, seeing that Yelu Abli had made such great efforts for the development of Lelang over the years, Zhang Zhi would definitely seek Yelu Abli's opinion when selecting the vassal king.
So even if something goes wrong with Zhang Xiansu, Zhang Xianji can still be pushed forward. Even if it doesn't work, he can do like Guo Wan'er and find a prince whose mother's background is not very deep or even his biological mother is no longer there to succeed him. At least he won't lose everything.
But Zhang Xianjiong's operation was equivalent to using Yelu Abli's only right of choice. If Zhang Xianxu really had a problem, it would be difficult for Yelu Abli to intervene in the selection of the next king.
When Zhang Xianjiong heard his mother's analysis, he immediately felt that he had done something wrong and fell silent for a moment.
This is because the problems caused by different identities are not on the same channel at all. From the perspective of Yelu Abli, who is a mother, the probability of a child dying is not impossible, and it is not small.
But Zhang Xianjiong never considered the death of his younger brother at all. It is difficult for young people to empathize with life and death as middle-aged and elderly people do.
However, even if he did something wrong, Zhang Xianjiong would not change his mind.
"My child knows that my mother is doing it for my own good, but since I was five years old, my child has been studying at Longtao Academy from Forbidden Palace Primary School.
During the fifteen years, no matter whether it was cold or hot, regardless of age, I studied diligently under the supervision of my father and teachers.
Riding, shooting, spears, swords, astronomy, geography, and even Turkic and Persian languages all have to be learned.
Now that they have graduated, all the classmates are going to the vast world to show what they have learned, but I can only go to Lelang to join the feudal clan. I am really unwilling to do so! "
The more Yelu Abli listened, the angrier she became. She pointed her halberd at Zhang Xianjiong and cursed: "I, Yelu Abli, am so smart all my life, how could I give birth to such a stupid son like you!
Those of your classmates and comrades traveled thousands of miles westward without hesitation, do you think they were going to show off what they had learned? That's just because they are not the eldest sons in the family. If they don't go to the Western Expedition, they will have to wait for death.
They went to the Western Expedition just to get a frontier fiefdom that you have at your fingertips now, even far inferior to yours. Why are you so stupid? "
It shouldn't be done at all. Yelu Abli should not say that he went to the Western Expedition not to show what he had learned, because this was very difficult to accept for Zhang Xianjiong, who had been encouraged by Zhang Gao since he was a child and regarded the Western Expedition of Xia Jun and Yi people as his lifelong wish.
"Mother, the Western Expedition and the Xia Lord and the Yimin were determined by my father's foresight. It was the mission given by God and the nation to our sons and ministers." Zhang Xianjiong raised his head stubbornly and looked at Yelu Abli.
"My mother has never been to Longtao Academy, or even had contact with her son's classmates and comrades, so she doesn't know that the reason why they are willing to march westward is not to establish a vassal state in the wilderness, but to establish a vassal state in the wilderness. Expand the living space for future generations.
They are the heroes of our clan, and they are heroes who will surely shine in the annals of history thousands of years from now! "
Yelu Abli felt as if a big duck egg was suddenly stuffed in his throat. He was choked and rolled his eyes. Moreover, he did not dare to refute, because Zhang Xianjiong's words were the most politically correct words of the Zhang Zhou Dynasty at present.
Seeing that his mother was blocked by him, Zhang Xianjiong became even more excited. He suddenly stood up, took two steps back and forth and shouted:
"I, Zhang Xianjiong, am the son of the Buddha of the Supreme Heaven. I am the son of the Emperor of the Central Plains and the Wolf King of Khitan. I was born to go west and make all the tribes in the far west submit to the Peach Blossom Stone Khan of the Great Zhou Dynasty. I am the Supreme Heaven. Arrange it for their wolf master!”
Yelu Abli looked at Zhang Xianjiong in disbelief. The more he looked at him, the more he looked at him, his domineering, confident, stubborn and persevering expression looked very much like his grandfather Yelu Aboli, whom he had only met a few times but had a very deep impression on him. .
After a while, Yelu Abli, who was extremely shocked and slightly panicked, stood up. He took a few steps back and slowly turned his back. His body couldn't help but start to tremble.
At this moment, Yelu Abli finally discovered that the son she relied on to realize her political ambitions was not an existence she could control at all.
"What a wolf master! I heard that Zhang Julang of the Fu family also refused to go to Tocharo to join the vassal state. He called himself the Tiger of Youyan and wanted to be the Antira Khan who would punish the people of Great Qin.
I didn’t expect that our Yelu family would also raise a Khitan wolf. You are really brothers. I can’t control you anymore! "
Looking at his mother Yelu Abli's retreating back, Zhang Xianjiong breathed a sigh of relief.
He knew his mother's thoughts and thought that after he went to Lelang to become a feudal lord, he could live the life of a regent queen like his brother Yan Wang Murong Nobunaga's mother Cao Guifei.
But this is not the life Zhang Xianjiong wants, and his father will not let his mother, who is only 40 years old, go to Pyongyang.
Maybe when Shibaro grows up in eight years, his father will fulfill his mother's little idea, and that will be a good thing for everyone.
. . . .
In Ci'an Hall, there was another scene on the side of Queen Cao Yanxi and the fourth son of the emperor Zhang Xianjing.
Zhang Xianjing, who just turned 20 this year, kept fiddling with the sword on his body. One moment he was walking around the room in a majestic manner, and the other moment he was touching the steel and cloth-covered armor in front of him, his excitement was palpable.
Queen Cao Yanxi was writing letters at her desk, and letters were constantly being sorted and filed by the maids around her, and then delivered to various secret places that had never appeared in Cao Yanxi's sight before.
The people who received the letter in this secret place were not famous ministers or generals, nor wealthy businessmen, but a large number of grassroots warriors like Chen Laochong of Pingxibao in Helong, Guanzhong, Ningxia and other regions.
Most of these warriors have received great favor from the Cao family, and some of them are descendants of the Cao family and have scattered around. The Cao family has been working hard to manage this force so that they are relatively loyal to the Cao family to a certain extent.
Forget about absolute loyalty, you must know that the person sitting on the throne now is not only an emperor, but also the Great Emperor of Middle-earth, the Khan of the Grassland, the Shah Shah of the Far West, and even the supreme Buddha in the world.
In front of such an emperor, everyone else is just a follower of his followers.
Cao Yanxi can now use his past grace to let his subordinates select the most elite warriors to protect Zhang Xianjing on his journey westward, but for the others, I am afraid they will be reported as soon as the letter is sent.
After writing more than sixty letters by hand, Cao Yanxi looked up at Zhang Xianjing, who was still excited, smiled lovingly, and did not let anyone disturb him.
This Xianjing is not easy!
Although everyone in the court knew that he was the prince, he was never officially recognized.
The duke of Dunhuang - the prince of Guiyi - the king of Liang - the prince, in this four-step process, Zhang Xianjing couldn't walk until he reached the duke of Dunhuang.
There is the assessment from his father, Zhang Shengren, the emperor of all ages. In the middle, there are the expectations of his mother, Queen Cao Yanxi, and his followers who have all the chips on him. At the bottom, there are at least thirty brothers looking at him eagerly.
This caused Zhang Xianjing to strictly maintain the demeanor that a prince, a prince of the country, should have, most of the time.
Only when he came to his mother, Cao Yanxi, did Zhang Xianjing have a moment to reveal the extravagant side of his character.
"My son, do you know why your father mobilized the army at this time and ordered you to be the commander to conquer the West?" Cao Yanxi waited until Zhang Xianjing's excitement subsided, then asked slowly.
Zhang Xian nodded and said, "I know that the Great Cannibal was a great country in the world that could keep pace with the Tang Dynasty in the past. It was also the farthest point that China could control the barbarians. Only by conquering the city of Baghdad and destroying the black people Only by eating a lot can your father's martial arts reach its limit."
Cao Yanxi also nodded, "This is only the first reason. Do I still know the remaining meanings?"
Zhang Xianjing thought for a while and then said: "If there is more, I can only think of one thing, that is, the second brother Anguo, King Yu, led the fifth and tenth brothers to the west this time. They won three battles and three, and defeated all the Xia kings in the river. After the chaos, he regained the entire Khorasan and Persia, which was a great achievement.
But in this case, all the credit lies with the second brother. West of Anxi, the imperial court has weak control. If the imperial court does not send troops, Persia may not be able to defend it. Secondly, the people west of Anxi will only know the second emperor brother. But I don't know the court. "
"My son is indeed smart, but there are two things you haven't seen." Cao Yanxi pulled Zhang Xianjing to sit down and continued to explain to him:
"Thirdly, your title is no longer the Duke of Dunhuang. The big problem is that among the older princes, you are the only one who has no military merit.
You see, your brother Nobunaga is an invincible commander in the world. He captured the four provinces of Lelang, Korea, Asahi, and Penglai on behalf of the imperial court.
Your brother Zhang Xiancun, the great king of Chu, stabilized Yunnan and sent troops to help recover Jinghai Haijun. In ten years, he also expanded the territory to the south for two thousand miles and established 121 vassals, large and small.
Recently, he also submitted a letter saying that the 30,000 troops of the Chu vassal have been prepared and can be dispatched to occupy Eastern Tianzhu at any time.
Your second brother Xian Yu, your fifth brother Xian Xi, and your tenth brother Xian Tai are all famous for their military exploits.
In addition, your father is the most famous emperor of Ma. If my son does not have military merit, how will he be able to secure the throne in the future and become Emperor Taizong of the Ancestral Temple of Zhou Dynasty?
Fourth, your father said that the three capitals of Fengming, Tiger Roar, and Crane Wu in Hanshan are the artifacts that will rule the country in the future. Apart from you and your father, who is qualified to command these artifacts? "
The three capitals of Fengming, Tiger Roaring, and Crane Dancing mentioned by Cao Yanxi are the newly established capitals of Hanshan.
All personnel are equipped with a large number of 5,000-jin, 3,000-jin, and 2,000-jin Shenwei General heavy artillery, hundreds of pounds of Wuwei General fast artillery with artillery carts, and a large number of nine-section artillery, tiger crouching artillery and large lifting guns. Wait for heavy muskets.
Even among these three capitals, the heavy-armored cavalry's horse guns were replaced with three-eyed guns, and the hand crossbows were also replaced with hand guns.
Although the old four capitals were also equipped with firearms, they basically only had heavy artillery and a certain number of rapid-fire cannons. The popularity of firearms was far less than that of the new three capitals. That's why Zhang Yancai said that a hundred years later, the firearms of the new three capitals would be the artifacts of Dingguo.
Zhang Xianjing's heart seemed to be opened at once. He knew what this battle meant. As long as he didn't make any mistakes, he could perfectly capture Baghdad and capture the black-clad caliph to the capital of God. position, then it's stable.
"In this case, who do you think the child can rely on?" Zhang Xianjing is still very capable. He knows that although he has also entered Longtao Academy, he is not as good as his brothers who are full of tendons and full of military strategies.
Grandfather Cao's family also started out as civil servants. The tradition of military commanders had long been abolished by grandfather Cao Yuanzhong. He had no actual battlefield experience at all, so letting him control the Western Expedition army would be harming him. That's why I asked this question. .
The smile on Cao Yanxi's face became even bigger. Under this temptation, Zhang Xianjing did not lose his mind and fantasize about leading the army to defeat the powerful enemy in person, so he can be regarded as a qualified politician.
"Don't worry, your father has already made arrangements!"
. . . .
Zhang Yan has indeed made arrangements. The straight-line distance from Luoyang, the sacred capital, to Baghdad is 12,000 miles, and the actual distance is more than 17,000 miles.
The army had to march sixty miles every day for nine and a half months without stopping. How could he entrust such an important expedition to a young boy like Zhang Xianjing?
Fortunately, Zhang Xianyu had already severely damaged the Bouvesi dynasty's army at Jiasan Fort and gathered an army of more than 50,000, so the imperial army did not need to dispatch too many troops this time, only about 35,000.
After more than ten days of deployment, Zhang Xian took the stage to pay homage to the general in the southern suburbs of Luoyang, the sacred capital, and announced the establishment of a full-power camp to conquer Dashi, with Zhang Xianjing as the commander-in-chief.
The adopted son, the famous general Dai Guogong Yang Jiye, deployed for the capital.
The adopted son Raolehou Yeluxiu and the adopted son Shunyi Hou Selzhu (K) were deployed.
Grand nephew Zhang Deqing, Duke of Xiguan County, served as the vanguard horse, infantry and horse envoy, and the emperor's sixth son Zhang Xianjiong and seventh son Zhang Xianxian served as deputy generals.
Generals Dang Jin and Tian Chongjin served as the left and right military envoys of the Chinese army, and Lu Duoxun, the minister of the Ministry of War, served as the marching commander.
Twenty thousand cavalry were mobilized from the old four capitals and the new three capitals of Hanshan, three thousand cavalry each from Yulinwei on the left and Hanhai and Wuwei towns, and three thousand fine cavalry from ten thousand households in the upper and lower Khitans were recruited to form a large army.
At the same time, Zhang Yan also forced the government to start apportioning all the ministers, military generals, and wealthy merchant families. They must pay for the titles of the Persian headquarters and Khorasan, and provide two or more nephews with their own weapons, war horses, and troops. levy.
The mobilization order was also issued to the grassroots level. The seven provinces of Helong, Guanzhong, Ningxia, Hedong, Hebei, Henan, and Andong were ready to recruit 2,000 households each, for a total of 14,000 households. A total of 90,000 Han warriors were moved to the Persian headquarters and Hezhong.
While more than 100,000 people from the grassland households of 120,000 households had already been dispatched to the river, they once again dispatched more than 60,000 people from 10,000 households to accompany the expedition.
It is also necessary to dispatch 9,000 soldiers from three prefectures on the plateau, and 50,000 soldiers and their family members to accompany the expedition.
Although these people did not need to be in place immediately, Zhang Yan only gave him three months to prepare.
After his prestige reached the current level, Zhang Hao was so direct and rough in doing things. He discovered that it was too much to wait for the guys below to take the initiative to share the worries. It was better to give orders directly.
After arranging the expedition, Zhang Xian specially called Zhang Xianjing over, and the father and son had a good drink.
In fact, in addition to the two things Zhang Xianjing guessed and the two things Cao Yanxi said, Zhang Gao actually had another important reason for letting Zhang Xianjing supervise the army.
That is to let him go to Hezhong, Khorasan, Persia and even Dashi to see it.
If the prince of the Zhangzhou Dynasty did not understand these places at all and did not broaden his horizons, how could he have maintained this unprecedented empire for several decades more and let the Xia monarchs and Yi people completely take root in the hearts of the people there.
The father and son were very drunk, and they also said a lot of heart-to-heart words.
While Zhang Xianjing was tearfully talking about how he was under pressure from the Duke of Dunhuang, Duke Qi Zhang Qinan ran in crying.
It turned out that Li Yu, the Prince Consort and Duke of Jiangning County, had gone crazy for some reason and insisted on going with the army to have a feast, saying that he wanted to see what it would be like to have a country destroyed and a family destroyed.
Tiger has been suffering from some minor health problems recently. After going to the hospital for a checkup, he found that his blood sugar was high two hours after a meal, his blood pressure was also high, his heart rate was too fast, and he had a lot of problems. He took a lot of medicine. Updates have been a little slow in the past two days. Alas, I have to eat less and exercise more from now on.
(End of chapter)
