At dawn, the sky was dark, and except for some weak lights, there was not much light visible in the palace. After the Northern Expedition completely entered into the aftermath, Emperor Liu once again got out of the highly tense military and political quagmire and left all kinds of affairs to the hands of civil and military officials at home and abroad.
With the intention of having a good rest, I still woke up from my sleep early and woke up with a start. He got up and left the bed, covering Concubine Zhe Xian who was still sleeping with tears in her eyes, to prevent her from catching a cold. She took the thick coat hanging on the hanger and walked out of the bed quietly.
"Official!" Seeing Emperor Liu walking out soberly, the eunuchs and concubines on night duty couldn't help but be startled and saluted in a panic.
Emperor Liu immediately made a gesture of silence. As soon as he slept, he felt much better. The negative emotions accumulated in his heart also dissipated a lot in the process of comforting the queen and his wife.
After walking out of the palace gate and standing on the flat corridor, the increasingly cold winter wind kept getting into the gaps in his robes, making Emperor Liu shiver. He subconsciously tightened his robes, and his whole body became more awake.
The winter morning in Youzhou was dim and shrouded in a thick mist. Emperor Liu quietly looked at the morning view of Youzhou Palace for a while, and his mood became more peaceful.
Due to the advice of the imperial doctor, Emperor Liu did not dare to blow the cold wind for too long, especially this early cold, and he would soon be unable to bear the cold and return to the palace. There was no man on the couch, and the woman soon woke up.
Seeing Lady Zhe dressed under the care of the palace maid, Emperor Liu couldn't help but asked: "Why don't you sleep more?"
"The officials are all up, how can I fall in love with the couch!" Lady Zhe replied softly, her face still looked a little haggard, but she was much more energetic.
"Go get ready and wait for the officials to wash up!" Lady Zhe ordered after fastening her belt.
As lights and candles were added, the bedroom became brighter, and Madam Zhe personally attended to Emperor Liu's early morning cleaning as usual. There was no trace of anxiety or sadness on her face. Of course, it was very difficult. Maybe it was just covered up by her.
The rhythm of the Youzhou Palace is not much different from that of the Imperial Palace in Beijing. When Emperor Liu, the master, gets up and starts a new day, the entire palace wakes up quickly.
He had breakfast with Lady Zhe, chewed the cake in his mouth, drank the hot porridge in one gulp, put down the bowl and chopsticks, took the silk handkerchief handed by the maid, wiped his mouth and said to Lady Zhe, "I'll go back to the front hall first. Now! You don’t need to be idle in the palace. Go to the queen’s place to discuss Liu Yun’s marriage. He is also old. This boy has always had a lazy temperament. Choose a good man who can control him. match!"
When the fifth son Liu Yun's marriage was mentioned, Lady Zhe was a little surprised, but a smile finally appeared on her face. Before she knew it, she had to start thinking about the marriage of her second son.
Emperor Liu obviously wanted to distract Lady Zhe's attention. Before leaving, he paused for a moment and solemnly left a message: "Liu Fang, you will definitely come back!"
"Go and summon Li Chongju!" On the way to the front hall, Emperor Liu waved his robe sleeves and ordered Yantuo coldly.
Perhaps because of his preparation, Li Chongju entered the palace very quickly, and within two-quarters of an hour, he had already bowed down to serve the emperor. Emperor Liu did not deliberately keep a cold face like before. He looked at him and asked in a calm and gentle tone: "Is there anything further?"
In this state, Emperor Liu showed no emotion or anger, which often frightened the courtiers who were familiar with him. The same was true for Li Chongju, but he was prepared for this visit, so he was not too panicked.
"Your Majesty, I have previously selected a general who was close to the Lord of Liao among the prisoners of the Liao Kingdom. After treatment, the man regained consciousness. After interrogation, it was confirmed again that Yang and Wang's armies were not destroyed.
According to various information gathered by my subordinates during this period, I can confirm that the Yang Ye and Wang Yansheng armies are fleeing to the west. They are likely to be trapped in the northwest of the desert and flee to the east of Jinshan Mountain! "
"Jinshan!" Emperor Liu had a rough impression of the Liao Kingdom. He thought for a moment and said, "Doesn't that mean he went to the north of the Western Regions?"
"Exactly!" Li Chongju nodded and said: "After the analysis of the ministers and others, after the expeditionary army was defeated in Wugushan, faced with the pursuit of the Liao army, the northwest of the Liao Desert cannot be left. The pursuers are to the east, and the remnants of the northwest of the desert are to the north. , there is the Gobi desert to the south, the only way to survive is to the west!"
"What's the situation east of Jinshan? Are there any powerful tribes there?" Emperor Liu immediately asked, obviously still more worried about their situation and safety.
Li Chongju said: "Your Majesty, the active tribe east of Jinshan is the Nianbage tribe. It is a tribe mainly descended from the Uighurs. It once submitted to the deceased Gaochang Uighurs and later submitted to the Khitan!"
"Then their situation is still worrying!" Emperor Liu frowned.
Li Chongju said: "Your Majesty, the Nianba Ge Tribe is loosely organized, and the Liao Kingdom also implemented a restraint policy on them, so their rule is not strong. When the Liao Army advanced into the Western Regions, they recruited their tribesmen as servants and suffered heavy casualties in the bloody battles in the Western Regions. As a result, he became increasingly alienated from the Liao court.
Due to the long distance, the Liao Kingdom's rule over the northwestern part of the desert was actually under the jurisdiction of the Northwest Road Recruitment Division, which was the place where the expeditionary army attacked. The Liao Kingdom's rule over the Nianbage tribe east of Jinshan was very weak. Nowadays, the Han's prestige has spread far and wide, and its troops have spread all over the country. The Liao Kingdom has suffered successive defeats and its power is no longer strong. Those tribes that were already alienated may no longer dare to help the Khitan to become enemies of the Han.
The strength of these tribes is not very strong. Therefore, if the defeated army retreats to the west, there is indeed a possibility of turning the corner. It has been more than two months since Wugushan was defeated. For such a long time, if there was really a loss, news would have come out long ago.
Based on this, I boldly guess that we may encounter some difficulties, but the expeditionary force is in Jinshan! "
After listening to Li Chongju's words, Emperor Liu kept nodding his head and thinking for a while. The anger on his face seemed to be more active, and he said to Li Chongju: "In that case, let's continue to search in this direction!"
"I have given an order to follow up on this clue!" Li Chongju said: "However, if the defeated army is really in the Jinshan area, and if you want to establish contact, it is best to start from the Western Regions!"
"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Emperor Liu raised his brows and his thoughts suddenly diverged, saying: "When the Liao army conquered the Western Regions, they walked through golden mountains and crossed quicksands, right?"
"Exactly!"
"This is getting further and further away!" Emperor Liu sighed. You know, as far as Emperor Liu is currently located, the straight-line distance from Youzhou to Jinshan is four thousand miles. Such a long distance would take a lot of time just to travel, let alone not all the way. On a smooth road, deserts, plateaus, mountains, rivers, and various tribes are all obstacles.
"I originally planned to put aside the matter in the Western Region and talk about it later, but now it seems that we have to start as soon as possible!" Emperor Liu said.
Prior to this, situation reports from the Western Regions had arrived at Emperor Liu's desk several times. Guo Jin and Lu Duoxun had both expressed their hope that the imperial court would relax restrictions and provide more support to annihilate the remnants of the Liao army and defeat the underworld. Khan's army to determine the Western Region. But because that was not the focus, they were all rejected.
Emperor Liu thought about it and said to Li Chongju: "In this case, you first send people to Jinshan to get in touch with the tribes there. I want more precise information!"
"yes!"
"It is already the depth of winter. Even if they are really in Jinshan, it will be difficult to provide assistance in a short time!" Emperor Liu's eyes were a little blurred and he murmured: "I don't know what their situation is. I hope they are fine!"
