The night was thick, and a group of Qianniu Guards quickly drove out from Taozhou City and rushed towards Chang'an.
Qianniuwei rushed for 600 miles, changing men without changing horses, and finally followed the footsteps of the previous group of postmen and rushed into Chang'an City at dawn on the third day.
In the Zichen Palace, Li Zhi sat on the throne, Empress Wu sat on one side, and Prince Li Xian stood on the other side.
Below, on the left side, standing on the right servant of Shangshu is Dai Zhide, Ling Hao Chujun from Zhongshu, Zhao Renben from Zhongshu, Zhang Wenguan from Zhongshu, Li Yiyan from Zhongshu, Yang Wu from Zhongshu, Laiheng from Huangmen, Gao Zhizhou from Huangmen, Xue Yuanchao, the official admonition, Li Jingxuan, the minister of the Ministry of official affairs, Dou Xuande, the minister of the Ministry of household affairs, Duan Baoxuan, the minister of Dali temple, and others.
On the right side stood Gao Kan, the minister of the military department of the inspection school, Cheng Chubi, the general of Zuo Jinwu, Qin Shandao, the general of Zuo Jinwu, Cheng Wuting, the general of the imperial army, and others.
Even with the transfer of a large number of generals to the west, the Central Committee of the Tang Dynasty still organized extremely gorgeous senior military staff officers.
Li Zhi held the six hundred miles sent from Taohe Road last night in his hand, and then looked at everyone with a calm face and said: "My dear friends, Lun Qinling sent three thousand Tubo elite cavalry to Taozhou, trying to Captured King Li Xian of England, but unfortunately, after the battle, all three thousand fine cavalry died in Taozhou.
The commander of this group of Tibetan cavalry is the fifth brother of the Prime Minister Lun Qinling, Brenzan Ren. They are being hunted down across the Taohe River, and I believe there will be results soon.
Let’s discuss it now, what should be done next? "
"Your Majesty." Zhongshu Ling Hao Chujun stood up, raised his hands to Li Zhi and said: "Your Majesty, after many preparations for this western expedition, we finally gained something in Taozhou. Although the number of three thousand Tubo elite cavalry exceeded expectations, it has already been If everyone dies, there is no need to discuss it any more, just follow the previous agreement."
Li Zhi nodded and looked at the others, who were all silent.
Finally, Li Zhi looked at Empress Wu beside him and said softly: "Queen, what do you think about this matter?"
"Your Majesty, Sanlang took the risk and stood on the city gate. The King of Nanchang, the Duke of Yan, and Heichi Changzhi, after careful planning, annihilated all the three thousand Tubo cavalry who came in surprise. There was no need. Changing the original strategy will affect the overall situation, and today's Taozhou is also a very important starting point."
After a slight pause, Empress Wu continued: "Since this is the starting point, let's follow it up in sequence."
The matter in Taozhou was originally a game, but this kind of game is not limited to Taozhou, but now only Taozhou is successful.
Li Zhi nodded and sighed: "Okay, here's the order to the King of Nanchang, to immediately send the corpses of Taozhou's three thousand cavalry to Lanzhou and hand them over to Lanzhou for disposal; to order Duke Yan to immediately take over all the captive horses and prepare for the march to Taohe River. .”
"I obey the decree." Hao Chujun immediately bowed and agreed.
"Send the order, Marshal of the Lanshan Road March..." Before Li Zhi finished speaking, hurried footsteps sounded from outside: "Taozhou is six hundred miles away, urgent report."
"Pass!" Li Zhi immediately sat up straight. His eyes were on the memorial on the desk. This was also a six-hundred-mile expedited memorial from Taozhou, but this thing was delivered to the palace last night. , it is only three or four hours away from now, and a new memorial is coming immediately, and Li Zhi's eyes are already full of expectation.
Soon, a dusty Qianniu Guard came to the main hall quickly, and without saying a word, he presented the memorial on his back.
Wang Fulai went over to take the memorial in person, and then waved gently. Qian Niuwei immediately bowed and quickly retreated.
The memorial was placed on the imperial desk, and Li Zhi couldn't wait to pick it up and open it.
The moment he saw the memorial, Li Zhi smiled. The font of this memorial was larger than the others. There were regulations on memorials in the imperial court, and only Li Xuan wrote it this way. This was somewhat caring. The emperor has bad eyesight.
Although Li Zhi suffered from eye disease, he was not completely blind.
It's just that there was a shortage of paper in the Tang Dynasty. Officials saved paper and had minimal writing habits. Few people paid attention to the emperor's eyes.
Even if they thought about it, they would not change because of considering the emperor's eyes.
Only officials like Li Xuan, who are members of the clan and also play the role of healers, dare to do this.
With one glance, Li Zhi scanned all the contents on the memorial. He closed his eyes slightly, and Li Zhi pushed the memorial to one side, and Empress Wu picked it up easily.
"The King of Nanchang, the Duke of Yan, and Hei Te Changzhi reported that they had secretly captured Brenzan Blade and conducted a preliminary interrogation. Now Lun Qinling is leading an army to hide in Wuhai, and Tuyuhun is old There are only a small number of Tibetan soldiers guarding Dufuqi City. As long as our army attacks, we can capture Fuqi City immediately." There was no emotion or anger in Li Zhi's voice.
Hao Chujun raised his head, raised his hands and asked, "Your Majesty, there is not enough food and grass in the city?"
"Yes!" Li Zhi nodded solemnly and said, "Zuo Xiang guessed that he would use Qinling's old tricks again and try to use the food road to bring down the army..."
"Your Majesty!" Dai Zhide took a step forward, interrupted Li Zhi, and then asked in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, that matter..."
"The King of Nanchang was cautious and did not ask about Mansong Mangzan's life or death. He has been sent to Lanzhou overnight, handed over to Pei Qing for interrogation, and then sent to Chang'an." Empress Wu put the memorial on the table and turned to look at Li Zhi. He asked softly: "Your Majesty, do you still want to send the Blenzan Blade to Chang'an now that things have happened?"
"If he is the leader of the Tubo Kingdom, I still want him. He is just a subordinate. What do I want?" Li Zhi waved his hand directly and said: "Bring him to Lanzhou for detention, and then send a message about Qinling. Those three thousand Tubo people Let him exchange the corpse of Jingqi with one hundred thousand cattle and sheep, and let him exchange the head of Su Hegui, his brother Brenzan Blade."
Su Hegui, a former Tuyuhun noble, more than ten years ago, due to conflicts with Murong Nuohebo, Su Hegui told Tuyuhun all the secrets and truths of Tuyuhun, and finally allowed Tubo to defeat Tuyuhun in one fell swoop.
Although Murong Nuohebo later led his trusted tribe to settle in the Tang Dynasty, a large number of the old Tuyuhun tribe still stayed in their hometown. The two people who led them were Dayan Mangjiebo and Su Hegui. They still had heavy troops. Every time the Tang Dynasty and Tubo went to war, the two would lead their troops to attack the Tang Dynasty.
What Li Zhi wants is the head of Su Hegui who betrayed Tuyuhun.
At the beginning, Tuyuhun was a subsidiary of the Tang Dynasty. Su Hegui's betrayal of Tuyuhun was tantamount to betraying the Tang Dynasty. Li Zhi's appointment was nominally acceptable.
As for whether Qinling is given or not, it will have a huge impact within Tuyuhun.
It was much easier for Tang Dynasty to penetrate into Tuyuhun than it was for Tubo.
In addition, the corpses of three thousand Tubo cavalry had to be exchanged for one hundred thousand cattle and sheep from Qinling, which meant that the whole thing could not be covered up at all.
Before the war started, Tubo had already been defeated. Three thousand elite cavalry were killed, and Lun Qinling's younger brother was captured. With a little manipulation, the impact would be difficult to control.
The key is that they can also ask about Mansong Manzan's life and death from Brenzan Blade's mouth.
The imperial court's calculations in Taozhou were richly rewarded.
It's even more than that. Taozhou's calculations are just part of the entire war. Li Zhi and others have more far-reaching plans.
…
"Finally, it's about Zhang Yungong." Li Zhi's face turned completely cold.
With a cold gaze, Li Zhi took out a memorial from a pile of memorials on the other side and said, "This is the secret memorial sent by the King of Nanchang four days ago. Zhang Yungong, the governor of Taozhou, conspired to cause civil strife in Taozhou. He secretly sold grain to Tubo and secretly hid a large number of soldiers... Today, everything has been confirmed. Zhang Yungong secretly hid 600 cavalry. After the army started, his whereabouts were secretive. He stood by and watched. He deserves to be punished."
Zhang Yungong thought that Li Xuan didn't have much evidence from him, but he forgot that Li Xuan also had uncles and nephews Yang Jin and Yang Xuan.
Especially since Yang Xuan was Zhang Qiniang's fiance, Zhang Qiniang was Zhang Yungong's daughter, and Zhang Yungong was behind everything she did.
Although no strong evidence has been captured, there are many clues, especially those six hundred cavalry in the end.
Empress Wu patted Li Zhi's wrist, signaling him not to be too excited, and then looked at Duan Baoxuan: "Duan Qing, how should the crime be punished according to the law?"
Duan Baoxuan, the minister of Dali Temple, stepped forward, cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, the Queen of Heaven, Zhang Yungong is suspected of collaborating with the enemy and has a secret conspiracy. He can be put in prison and handed over to the Third Law Department for strict investigation. At the same time, he has 600 cavalry in hand and is sitting back and watching the friendly troops in danger. If you don’t save someone, according to the law, you are guilty of missing the opportunity.”
Zhang Yungong used various means to make the six hundred cavalry seem to have nothing to do with him.
Without a crossbow or armor, and the reward edict Li Zhi had previously announced, it would be difficult to convict him even if the Three Laws Division conducted a rigorous investigation.
But he forgot that it was the emperor who wanted to convict him now.
No one looked at the hands and feet he did. Everyone directly believed that the six hundred cavalrymen were his men.
There was a battle ahead, but he had 600 cavalry hidden and motionless. This was indeed a crime of missing the opportunity.
Duan Baoxuan, Minister of Dali Temple, these matters are within the scope of his responsibilities.
Li Zhi knocked on the table gently, and the hearts of everyone in the hall immediately became tense.
According to the law, the crime of missing an opportunity is negligence of military affairs, delay and delay, and the penalty is to be executed.
But Zhang Yungong was the governor of a state, and the Dunhuang Zhang family behind him should not be underestimated.
"The order is sent to Zhang Yungong, the governor of Taozhou, who committed the crime of missing the opportunity and executed the execution. He ordered the right-leading army General Wei, the deputy marshal of the Taohe Road march, and the marching general Li Jinxing to supervise the execution with a sword and pass the order to the front army." Li Zhi said. After saying this, all the ministers present sternly raised their hands and said: "I will obey the holy edict."
The Dunhuang Zhang family, as well as a group of old aristocratic families, are not without connections in the court. For example, Duan Baoxuan, who was born in the Wuwei Duan family, can also be involved with them, but Duan Baoxuan himself is a member of the emperor, and Wuwei Duan The relationship between the Dugu family and the Dugu family is not close. Now that the emperor is murderous, no one dares to intercede.
"The imperial edict has been issued, let's go and draw up the edict." Empress Wu spoke from the side and said calmly: "Also, when the edict arrives, the execution will be carried out immediately without delay."
"I will obey the order of the Queen of Heaven." Everyone's thoughts became cold at the same time.
As a warning to hundreds, the emperor and the queen wanted to use Zhang Yungong's head to alert the major families in the northwest and the governors of various states.
To avoid any trouble happening again.
This time, I only cut off the head of one person, so it is hard to say who and how many people will be killed next time.
"Deliver the order." Li Zhi spoke again and said softly: "I will serve Lu Yuanfang, the imperial censor, to inspect the governor of Taozhou, handle the government affairs of Taozhou, and deal with the transportation of grain and grass without delay."
"Here." Many courtiers present agreed at the same time.
Lu Yuanfang, serving as the imperial censor, inspecting the crown prince Xima, former Sima of Yangzhou, inspecting the governor of Taozhou, assisting the king of Nanchang in handling the transshipment of grain and grass.
When he was in Yangzhou, although Lu Yuanfang was only the Sima of Yangzhou, the governor of Yangzhou was Shi Dou Xuande, the governor of Yangzhou, and the chief governor was Sima Changyu of the governor's office of Yangzhou.
Lu Yuanfang was actually in charge of all affairs in Yangzhou, so in terms of ability, he was fully qualified to be the governor of Taozhou.
"Pass the decree." Li Zhi thought for a moment and continued: "The King of Nanchang has entered Hezhou and will be in charge of the logistics of Taohe Road."
"According to the order."
"As it is today, please step aside." Li Zhi waved his sleeves.
"Your Majesty, please leave." All the ministers present bowed at the same time.
"The prince stays!" Li Zhi turned to look at Li Xian.
"Here!" Li Xian immediately held his hands in awe.
(End of chapter)
