In the study room on the east side of Houya, there are brightly lit candles.
Li Xuan, wearing white silk underwear, stood alone in front of the desk and opened the map of the entire Datang Prefecture and County. His eyes fell directly on the point of Tongren County.
Press your finger on it and then slide it gently.
Colleagues, Pengzhou, Lizhou, Hongzhou, Wuzhou, Hangzhou and Yangzhou are connected all the way.
Colleagues went all the way over mountains and ridges and went south to Pengzhou.
Pengzhou travels eastward, along the Yangtze River, to Shannan Road, and then to Lizhou on the south bank of the Yangtze River and the west bank of Dongting.
Lizhou then goes down the Yangtze River and reaches Jiangzhou. Going south from Jiangzhou is Hongzhou.
Hongzhou goes southeast to Wuzhou and Hangzhou, then goes out to the sea and goes north to Yangzhou.
A whole line completely connected the entire Tang Dynasty.
Pengzhou, the territory of King Peng; Lizhou, the place where King Peng once led the governor, Li Xuan had arranged it early, and now it is out of sight; Hongzhou, Wuzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, where Li Xuan now operates, are connected. All of Li Xuan's powers were connected.
Li Xuan's expression was indifferent, but Yu Ze didn't know that Empress Wu and the Emperor placed him among their colleagues, which was exactly what Li Xuan wanted.
To the west is the land of Tubo and to the east is Hezhou. Except for the central Longwu River Valley, there are endless mountains and cliffs to the east and west.
Among them, as long as there is enough food and grass, he can raise enough private soldiers.
Yu Ze is very smart. After having been with Li Xuan for so many years, he can guess a little bit of his thoughts, but more importantly, he still thinks that he is protecting himself.
Although Li Xuan is now highly trusted by the emperor, the emperor's suspicion is also obvious.
Not to mention, it is not uncommon for royal families to be sentenced to death, exiled, or demoted in recent years.
Especially the emperor's health was really worrying.
Yu Ze had personally experienced the turmoil when Li Hong was crown prince. Now that Li Xian was here, if Li Xian hadn't suddenly had a child, the conflict between him and Empress Wu would have broken out long ago.
Now it is just the interlude of the storm.
When the emperor dies, a new emperor ascends the throne.
Those bloody storms during the Yonghui years will come immediately, and it is heart-stopping to think about it.
Therefore, Yu Ze fully agreed with the preparations made by Li Xuan, but he did not expect that Li Xuan, who seemed to be forced to work with his colleagues, also had his own ideas in his heart.
Li Xuan's eyes moved from his colleagues to Jianzha, and even to Lanzhou and Shanzhou in the north, and sighed softly: "What a pity."
Li Xuan could do something with the terrain of Tongren, but compared to Lanzhou, Tongren was still too remote.
Li Xuan suddenly laughed at himself, how could the emperor hand over a place like Lanzhou to him? Even if the emperor was willing, Empress Wu would not be willing.
After withdrawing his thoughts, Li Xuan's eyes fell on the direction of Wuhai in the west, on Qinling.
Li Xuan pondered and pondered. In the short term, the real core of the war between Tang Dynasty and Tubo was not in Fuqi City, but in Wuhai.
By capturing Wuhai, they can completely block the Tibetan people's ambition to spy on the old Tuyuhun land.
The Tang Dynasty could manage all the wars with Tubo in Wuhai while managing the old land of Tuyuhun.
However, the Wuhai Sea is dangerous and far away, and transportation of grain and grass is a big problem.
In this case, Tongde is very important.
Now that Heiji Changzhi is guarding Zeku, Tongde in the west will be calmer. But if Heiji Changzhi moves forward and advances towards Tongde, then Tibet will inevitably mobilize its army to assemble Tongde, and there will be a conflict between the two sides. A big battle is inevitable.
If Tongde cannot get through, Hei Te Changzhi will be forced here.
This is the eastern route, and there is also the middle route. If you want to capture Fuqi City and cross the Wuhai Sea, you must pass through Dafeichuan.
Even without talking about Qinling, it is not easy to capture Dafeichuan, but it is not the most dangerous.
The most dangerous thing is that the Tubo people are likely to abandon Dafeichuan and use Wuhai as the place for the final decisive battle.
Wuhai is not only dangerous, but the key is that the terrain is extremely high. If Datang wants to attack Wuhai, in addition to the terrain, altitude sickness is the biggest opponent.
Back then, Xue Rengui was so powerful that he successfully conquered Wuhai, but after conquering Wuhai, plateau miasma followed.
It was precisely because the soldiers fell ill one after another in Wuhai that Xue Rengui had to abandon Wuhai and retreat to Dafeichuan. Unfortunately, Guo Daifeng had been defeated and his food and grass had been destroyed.
In the last battle, the Tang Dynasty was almost completely wiped out.
Wuhai, Dafeichuan, Fuqi City, one trap after another, led the Tang Army general's heart directly to death.
Therefore, in this war, before altitude sickness is completely resolved, Wuhai must not be plotted.
You can't even spy on Dafeichuan. People's hearts are like this. Once you get Dafeichuan, you will definitely spy on Wuhai.
Li Xuan has never seen Qin Ling's fighting skills, but there is no doubt that he is a master at playing with people's hearts.
Not to mention anything else, Fuqi City alone, with hundreds of thousands of Tuyuhun people who were short of food and clothing, was enough to put Datang into a dilemma.
The only better thing is that all this made Li Xuan have a great influence on the war.
Heijia Changzhi captured Zeku, Li Jinxing captured Guide, and Li Xuan captured Tongren. The Tibetan army on the eastern front was definitely contained.
In addition, Li Xuan's improvement of food routes and treatment of plateau miasma are all changing the situation little by little.
In the future, Li Xuan's focus will definitely be on conspiring with Heiji Changzhi to seize Tongde. In the next few years, Li Xuan will inevitably have to fight with Lun Qinling on the eastern front.
But after all, the eastern front is just a partial division, and the real center of gravity is still in the center, in Fuqi City.
If looking south to the Black Sea fails, then the solution is to allow the main force to turn their attention to the Yangtang area to the west after taking Fuqi City, which is the future Qaidam Basin.
But what to do.
Li Xuan's eyes moved upward and landed in Luo Zuo's direction.
After the death of Mangsong Mangzan, the people of Tubo were in turmoil. Even if the Lunqin Mausoleum was kept secret and no funeral was announced, it would still have to be returned to Luochang, which would take at least several months.
If he refuses to go back, that's just right. Unrest among the nobles will only lead to Tubo's early demise.
Once he returns, Datang can safely manage the area around Qinghai Lake within a few months and seek long-term benefits.
Li Xuan's fingers returned to the Riyue Mountain Pass, which was the core of the northwest battle.
Shaking her head, Li Xuan's eyes flashed with worry.
Even if Qin Ling had various plans in mind, the general of the Tang Dynasty must be qualified to let him implement these strategies.
In this way, a collision battle is inevitable after all.
With a sigh, Li Xuan slowly put away the map, then picked up a piece of letter paper and began to write a letter: My wife is as she was before, and my husband is in peace...
…
In Wuhai, inside the Chinese army's tent, an exquisite black coffin was placed in the center of the tent.
Lun Qinling sat behind the table with a stern expression, looking coldly at the Tang army envoy beside the coffin.
Fourteen broad-shouldered generals on both sides looked at the Tang envoy with cold eyes.
"Luan Qing offered wine to Shanzhou in the Tang Dynasty and met the Prime Minister!"
Wearing a dark green official robe, Luan Qing, the Shanzhou sacrificial wine man, bowed his hands, bowed slightly, and said: "Wu Xiza, the Protector of Qingdong in your country, was defeated in Kuozhou, surrounded by mountains and forests, and went to his death. He committed suicide calmly. The King of Nanchang was deeply moved, so he sent people to collect his body, put him in a coffin, and sent someone to Lanzhou, ordering us to return him to Tibet."
After Luan Qing finished speaking, the eyes of the Tubo generals around him were full of anger. Some clenched their fists, and some put their hands on the handles of their swords. The atmosphere in the tent was suddenly filled with chills.
Luan Qing did not panic at all, then took out a letter from his sleeve, handed it over, and said at the same time: "These are Wu Duhu's last words. The King of Nanchang has specially requested that no one can read them privately. We will abide by them." , now we will send them back to your country together."
In an instant, everyone in the tent focused on this letter.
There was a soft sound on the table, and Lun Qinling focused all the eyes on himself, and then motioned to the attendant beside him to take the letter.
After taking the letter, Lun Qinling glanced at the edges around the letter, then raised it again and looked at the light, unable to see through.
Lun Qinling said with surprise and admiration: "For many years, the style of a gentleman has still prevailed in the Tang Dynasty, and people do not behave like villains. I am deeply impressed by this. Come, give the envoy ten boxes of jewelry and send them back to Shanzhou."
"Follow the order!" A military general with a beard stood out from the left, walked up to Luan Qing, cupped his hands and said, "Envoy please!"
Luan Qing bowed slightly again and then exited the tent.
At this time, the atmosphere in the big tent suddenly became cold.
Everyone's eyes couldn't help but fall on the last general on the right, the Protector of Qingnan, Bulu Dazha Gonglu.
He saw Dazha Gonglu clenching his fists and staring at the black coffin with blood-red eyes.
After a moment, Dazha Gonglu withdrew his gaze, looked up at Lun Qinling, and pursed his lips tightly.
Finally, he looked at the letter in Lun Qinling's hand, bowed slightly, and asked: "Prime Minister, is this letter really written by my elder brother? Is it true that no one has opened it and read it?"
"No." Lun Qinling didn't read it himself, and directly sent the letter to Daza Gonglu, and then said: "The truth is certain. The Tang Dynasty people have never opened it. This is a secret message unique to our clan. It has never been destroyed. As for the content inside, it was written by Usiza to Zamp, so I won’t read the truth here. You can take it back and deal with it yourself.”
Lun Qinling knew clearly that this letter was written to Mangsong Mangzan on the surface, but in fact it was written to Princess Meulu.
"There is also a coffin, Dazha Gonglu, please send it back to Luozhe personally. If you commit suicide after defeat, you will be worthy of the Lu family tradition." Lun Qinling couldn't help but sigh.
No one would blame him if he committed suicide in battle and died for his country, but if he was defeated and captured and surrendered to the enemy, it would be shameful.
Dazha Gonglu bowed slightly, turned around and was about to leave, when his footsteps suddenly stopped, turned back to look at Lun Qinling, bowed again and said: "I dare to ask, Prime Minister, did he really commit suicide?"
Lun Qinling knew what Dazha Gonglu was asking, and it was a bit rash to ask in the big tent now, but Lun Qinling finally nodded and said: "That's true. Wuxi Zha failed to ambush, but was surrounded by others, and finally committed suicide for his country." , this is the news coming from Lanzhou. After you return to Luoche, you can ask the clan elders to check. If there are any discrepancies, I will personally lead an army to kill my colleagues and take the head of the King of Nanchang."
"That's not necessary. Dazag Gonglu will do it himself." Dazag Gonglu bowed again and said, "Well, thank you very much, Prime Minister."
Seeing Dazha Gonglu turn and leave, Lun Qinling took a deep breath and said: "Send an order to attack the mouth of Nile Lake for three days. After three days, withdraw the army and secure the west of Nile Lake; send an order to Nanshan Canyon and wait for three days." , the soldiers withdrew to thank the gentlemen of the Tang Dynasty for their virtues."
Lun Qinling's eyes revealed a deep light.
The real war has just begun.
(End of chapter)
