"I thank you Guang and bow to Your Highness."
"Master, please get back on your feet quickly. The weather in Luoyi is too hot. I can't bear it, so I'm disheveled. I hope you'll forgive me," Li Bing said calmly, "If you don't mind, master, you can Take off your clothes and let the air cool down. There are not so many rules here in this palace."
Xie Guang responded with a smile: "Haha, speaking of it, Luoyi is indeed not as cool as the imperial capital. However, thanks to His Highness's grace, I am an experienced military veteran and have long been used to it, no matter how hot or cold it is. In front of Your Highness, no matter how cold it is, Dare to be rude."
Li Bing smiled indifferently: "Then please help yourself, Master. Who is this?"
Seeing Li Bing's inquiry, Xie Guang quickly introduced Lao Jianhua next to him: "Reporting to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, his name is Lao Jianhua. He is an old friend of the minister. He previously worked for the Nilin Division in Beiya. Lao Jianhua has just arrived from the west. When I came back from Xiangui Mo, I heard that His Highness was concerned about the war in the northwest, so I came here with my ministers to have an audience."
Hearing this, Li Bing couldn't help but wonder: "Oh? Beiya Nilin Division? This is very interesting. Lao Aiqing, since you are from Western Xinjiang, please tell me about the situation there."
Lao Jianhua first bowed respectfully and saluted, and then said calmly: "I obey the order. Your Highness, the current situation in Guimo in Western Xinjiang can be described as 'extremely bad'. Renewal." After the Yuewan War, there were no military officials of our Holy Tang Dynasty anywhere in Western Xinjiang. They were either captured or killed, or they fled and hid in the countryside. With the support of the Turks, the countries in Western Xinjiang re-established the Western Xinjiang Alliance , and elected King Alik Jiang of the Loulan Kingdom as the leader of the alliance. As far as I know, the Turks and the Persian Empire in the west have sent special envoys to visit Alik Jiang, which is equivalent to officially recognizing the dominance of the Western Xinjiang Alliance there. It can be said that, The Ghost Desert in Western Xinjiang is no longer within the sphere of influence of our Holy Tang."
Hearing what he said, Li Bing couldn't help but fall into silence. After thinking for a long time, he continued to ask: "The leader of the Western Xinjiang Alliance? Then I ask you, who is calling the shots in the Ghost Desert of Xijiang now? Whose orders are you listening to? Are you listening to the so-called leader? ? Or did you listen to the Turkic Khan Ashina Zhijin? Or some governor or general sent by the Great Khan? "
Lao Jianhua didn't expect that Li Bing's questions would be so sharp at such a young age, so he quickly and cautiously replied: "Your Highness, you don't know something. According to what Wei Chen learned over there, the reason why the Turks have The reason for sending troops to participate in the war is that the Western Xinjiang Alliance paid a high price to invite them as helpers and reinforcements to counter our Shengtang army. From the perspective of the Turks themselves, they do not seem to have the idea of seizing the dominance of Western Xinjiang."
"The price is high? What price is so high? Is it worth sending the Prince of the Temple and an army of 100,000 troops from the Turks?" Li Bingxi smiled and said, "Isn't it a mountain of gold and silver and a peerless beauty?"
"This...Wei Chen is unknown."
Li Bing nodded and showed a smile that said, "You don't even know": "You said that the Turks have no intention of getting involved in the ghost desert of Western Xinjiang, so let's not worry about it for the time being. Tell me about the strength of the Western Xinjiang rebels. How about it? What elite forces are there in the Turks? How do the people of Guimo in Western Xinjiang view the fiasco at Crescent Bay? Do they expect Shengtang to send troops as soon as possible?"
Lao Jianhua replied: "Western Xinjiang has been completely separated from the control of Shengtang. Among them, there are three strongest countries, namely Loulan, Shule and Chechi. The total number of soldiers and horses in the three countries is about six to seven million, plus In other vassal states, there are nearly a million people with armor. The Turkic side is commanded by Prince Roniya of the Temple. There are 100,000 elite cavalry stationed in the north and south camps respectively to monitor and guard against our Zijin Pass and Shengyuguan, and Changchun Pass. The sword corps started a confrontation."
He paused briefly and continued to introduce: "The Battle of Crescent Bay was a tragic defeat that had never happened to our Holy Tang Dynasty in the past 800 years. 120,000 elite soldiers were destroyed in one blow, which shocked the world. And this defeat not only It ended our hundreds of years of rule over Western Xinjiang, and also completely shook the Western Xinjiang people’s understanding of the Holy Tang. To be honest with Your Highness, the people there are not all devoted to the Holy Tang as the imperial court has always preached. On the contrary, They have their own language, their own writing, their own civilization and beliefs. They are not the people of the Holy Tang Dynasty in the true sense. When they lose the suppression of the Zhenjiang Protectorate, those people will only think that they have lost their shackles. , and will not miss the master who once ruled them.”
Lao Jianhua's tone was slightly cold, and the content he said was even colder and cruel. Li Bingjian frowned and didn't say anything for a long time. He believes that what Lao Jianhua said may not be entirely true, but he also believes that much of what Lao Jianhua said is not far from reality.
Xijiang is the Xijiang of Shengtang and also the Xijiang people of Xijiang. Among the nobles, civilians, soldiers, slaves, traders and pawns, men, women, old and children there, as long as there are people who love Shengtang, there must also be people who hate Shengtang. Some people will shed tears when they see Crescent Bay's tragic defeat, so there must be others who will celebrate because of Crescent Bay.
The so-called public sentiment cannot be generalized.
In other words, popular support is sometimes just a rhetoric needed by the rulers. The most important thing is to quickly take back Xijiang, so that we can have a chance to win back the people's hearts again!
Therefore, what makes Li Bing even more worried is the hundreds of thousands of rebels and 100,000 Turkic elites.
He thought for a moment and then asked: "Since Lao Aiqing comes from the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang and is here with the Imperial Tutor today, he must have read my imperial edict for the Western Expedition. What does Aiqing think?"
Lao Jianhua thought to himself: I was just waiting for you to ask that. He replied calmly: "As for the imperial edict for the Western Expedition, it depends on whether His Highness treats the ministers as ordinary officials of the imperial court, or as one of his own."
"Oh? What's the difference between the two?"
"If Wei Chen is regarded as an ordinary official of the imperial court, then Wei Chen will say that His Highness's Western Expedition edict is wise, decisive and to the point, and should be promulgated and implemented immediately." Lao Jianhua paused for a moment, then continued: "If His Highness is If you treat Wei Chen as one of your own, then Wei Chen will say, this is absolutely not allowed!"
Li Bing looked calm and said quietly: "The two answers are completely opposite. I would like to hear the details."
Lao Jianhua clasped his hands and said loudly: "Your Highness is aware of this. Previously, Taifu Xie put pressure on the future and lives of the whole family, young and old, and led his soldiers to help His Highness ascend the throne, almost causing the imperial capital to bleed. What was it for? What was it for? It is to defend the Holy Religion Covenant, to inherit the legacy of Taifu Nian and Commander He, to support His Highness to ascend the throne of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, and to make our Holy Tang Dynasty permanent. It is also because of the brave determination of Taifu Xie and other loyal ministers His perseverance made the emperor temporarily give up the plan of establishing another crown prince, and instead ordered his highness to supervise the country and govern the country. In this way, the status of his highness the prince has become more stable, and the foundation of Shengtang's society has become more stable."
Li Bing did not expect that the other party suddenly mentioned these things. Although he felt a little unhappy in his heart, there was a look of approval on his face: "It is true. Taifu Xie and the soldiers have worked hard and made great achievements, and I will keep them in mind. However, these are not the same as What does the matter in Western Xinjiang have to do with it?"
"Your Highness, the relationship between this is self-evident." Lao Jianhua responded calmly; "The reason why we can uphold the right path is finally moved by God's blessing and stabilized the crown prince's position. In addition to the daring loyalty of the ministers, and more importantly, There are 60,000 soldiers of the Black Armor Legion who are loyal to His Highness, and there are 100,000 soldiers with long swords and iron armor. Without the support of these powerful forces behind you, how can it be possible to deter those treacherous villains who covet the throne?"
After hearing this, Li Bing did not say a word, but motioned to Lao Jianhua with his eyes to continue speaking.
Lao Jianhua looked resolute and talked eloquently: "The ghost desert in Western Xinjiang is thousands of miles away, and the imperial capital Luoyi is just around the corner. On one side is the barbaric and desolate foreign land where barbarians and barbarians are infested, and on the other side is the rich civilization that carries the country's honor. The hub is here. Isn’t it obvious where we should put and use our most important power? If we follow His Highness’s edict, let the elite troops of the Black Armor Legion and the Long Sword Legion , and the soldiers from the twenty-eight states go to fight to the death with the Western Xinjiang Alliance and fight with the Turkic cavalry, it will inevitably trigger a protracted national war, and sooner or later the most loyal guards around you will be sent to the battlefield. At that time, again Who will protect your safety, Your Highness?"
Facing Lao Jianhua's slightly questioning words, Li Bing's face was as dark as water, and he stared at the table without saying a word.
Lao Jianhua knew that the other party was already a little shaken, so he went a step further: "Your Highness, without the army by our side, I am afraid that all it takes is a few treacherous ministers to instigate and deceive the emperor, issue an holy edict, and send a small group of forbidden army tiger and leopard cavalry, we can easily He easily destroyed the covenant of the Holy Cult and made countless loyal ministers' hard work go to waste. In view of this, how to deal with the Ghost Desert in Western Border, humble ministers, please think twice."
Lao Jianhua finished all the words in one breath, gave a solemn salute, and then lowered his head, waiting for Li Bing's response. Xie Guang stood aside silently, just looking at the top of the hall, lost in thought.
After a long time, Li Bing suddenly asked: "Lao Aiqing, what is your current official position? Are you still in Beiya Nilin Division?"
"Your Highness," Lao Jianhua replied calmly: "Wei Chen has never left Nilin Division."
Li Bing nodded slightly and said thoughtfully: "We all know in our hearts that Beiya has always been a private soldier of the royal family and is only loyal to the emperor. Especially Nilinsi, who swears loyalty to the death and will never waver. Lao Aiqing, you Coming from Nilin Division, can I trust you?"
Lao Jianhua looked solemn, bowed his hands, and said softly: "Your Highness, when Wei Chen first joined the Nilin Division, he was probably a few years younger than you are now. According to the ancestral rules, Wei Chen had cast a poisonous curse back then. , swore allegiance to the emperor to the death, shattered to pieces, and unswervingly determined. However... the emperor at that time was not your majesty today, but your father."
