Half a month later.
The new year has passed.
This New Year, for ordinary people in the Tang Dynasty, is the most comfortable New Year since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.
Because in the past year, crops have been harvested all over the country. Because of the prosperity of business and the opening of a large number of workshops in various places, people can work and make money after being busy in farming.
In general, after paying the taxes, the family still has enough food left over.
Furthermore, if there are members of the family who join the army, the court will not only exempt them from taxes, but they will also receive military salary.
If he died in battle, the pension would be enough to feed his family for several years.
However, I heard it said every day in the Tang Dynasty newspapers that there was a war in the northwest, and many people from the same village or hometown joined the army and went to the northwest. On the official road, you could also see many convoys transporting supplies, which never stopped even during the Chinese New Year.
Fear began to rise in their hearts again.
Good times are coming, but those damn aliens on the grassland are coming to ruin their good days again.
But the Datang Daily also said that the King of Qin personally went to the Tang Dynasty to conquer the country on behalf of His Majesty, and he was going to teach the barbarians on the grasslands a lesson.
It is said that they should plant crops well in the spring after the new year. The more food there is, the stronger the country will be, and the more the barbarians will be afraid of the Tang Dynasty.
His Majesty also said in Datang Daily that when the army successfully returns home, to celebrate, this year's agricultural tax will be exempted.
This news almost made the people break their guard. Since ancient times, they have only heard of tax reductions, but never heard of nationwide tax exemptions.
Even if there is, it will only be exempted from taxes in a certain place because of the severe disaster.
This made people all over the world love and support Li Shimin even more.
Li Ke spent the New Year in Liangzhou. At the same time, he summoned the governors of the eighteen prefectures of Longyou and held a meeting. As for the content of the meeting, it was kept secret for the time being.
At the same time, he personally went to the workshop under construction to check. The supervising people of the workshop were all Li Ke's people, and they were all built according to the strictest specifications. Li Ke was very relieved about this. ŴŴŴ.BIQUGE.biz
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Li Ke took his personal guards to Gaochang in the Western Regions.
Along the way, there were either densely packed armies on their way or transport teams like long dragons.
The state capitals also organized civilians and slave armies within their states to help the passing transport teams, firstly by cooking, and secondly by escorting them out of the state.
In the ninth year of Zhenguan, it was the tenth day of the first lunar month.
Li Ke finally arrived in Gaochang, where the atmosphere was extremely tense.
Those who came to greet him were Ma Qiu and the snake beauty.
"My subordinates pay homage to the young master and congratulate him on his canonization of the title of King of Qin."
Ma Qiu and the lamia smiled, bowed and clasped their fists.
"Excuse me for both of you."
Li Ke quickly asked: "What's the situation here? I haven't heard from you for half a month."
Ma Qiu looked at the snake beauty. Sishe was responsible for the intelligence, and Sishe knew everything he knew.
"Young Master, the situation here is still not optimistic..."
Since the Western Turks have been threatening the countries in the Western Regions a few years ago, Chen Bing has been fighting on the border of Gaochang State. After a battle with our army, both sides suffered losses.
Our army originally thought that the Western Turks would retreat in the face of difficulties. Unexpectedly, Qin Qiong on the southern route of the Western Regions was suddenly hit hard. The entire army of more than 20,000 people was wiped out. Qin Qiong's life or death was unknown.
Chai Shao and Li Daliang on the northern front originally wanted to support them immediately. Unexpectedly, the Western Turks and other countries in the Western Regions made a comeback. This time they sent hundreds of thousands of troops and began to show their swords.
As for the Tang Dynasty, they could only avoid the enemy's edge and wait for the arrival of reinforcements, because at that time, Li Jing, the general manager of Longyou's March in Lanzhou, had already led his troops to Gaochang.
At the same time, Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde also led large armies to quickly support Gao Changguo.
The forces of the Western Turks and other countries in the Western Regions saw that the Tang army in Gaochang City was stubborn and refused to fight or surrender, so they decided to defend Gaochang City.
Under the management of the father and son Qu Wentai and Qu Zhisheng, Gaochang City was stronger and more indestructible than other cities in the Central Plains. Most of the Western Turks and other countries in the Western Regions were cavalry and were not good at attacking cities.
In addition, Datang had previously transported countless strategic materials and stored them in Gaochang City. With 50,000 troops, it was more than enough to defend them until reinforcements arrived.
The enemies in the Western Region also know that if they wait any longer and wait for the reinforcements from the Tang Dynasty to arrive, they will have no choice but to retreat, and may even lose the entire Western Region.
If this Tang army is killed and the sphere of influence is extended to the Yumen Pass area, even if reinforcements from the Tang Dynasty arrive, they can only look at the River Styx and sigh.
If you want to attack Gaochang again, it will consume half of the Tang Dynasty's national power.
And they naturally have backup plans.
But all in all, Datang must lose strength in the Western Regions, consume its strength, and fall into the quagmire of the Western Regions war.
If they succeed here, there will be a rebellion within the Tang Dynasty or in the tributary countries. Tubo on the snowy plateau will take the opportunity to annex Tuyuhun, Xue Yantuo will take the opportunity to seize the sphere of influence of the Eastern Turks, and Goguryeo will try to annex Yanyun in the northeast.
Datang will suddenly fall into the land of four wars.
And this is what many forces outside the territory want to see, as well as what the Hidden World Family and the various schools of thought want to see.
They have only one purpose, to let the chosen ones grow up as soon as possible, to decipher the winners for them, and to let the people behind them live forever.
Li Ke was silent, thinking about what these people behind him were thinking!
"You keep talking..."
"The Western Region Allied Forces attacked three times, but our army directly used Thunder Thunder, causing heavy casualties to the opponent, and in the end they had to retreat."
"But later, our army's senior generals were assassinated by masters, and even Chai Shao almost died."
"Twelve generals with more than a thousand generals died..."
"Three of the boys in the youth camp died..."
Li Ke continued to remain silent, but his fists clenched suddenly. The youth camp was his hard work. The death of one person was a heavy loss, and three of them died at once.
"Yan Yunda and others fought tooth and nail to kill the thirteen masters who sneaked into the city."
"Yin Hu died of serious injuries... Shadow suffered thirty-three casualties."
Li Ke's face instantly turned livid, and his eyes burst out with strong murderous intent.
"Take their bodies back to Chang'an for a proper burial, and make arrangements for their families..."
Ma Qiu nodded.
Sishe's eyes were reddish, and her eyes were wet with tears. She continued: "Just three days ago, the Western Region Allied Forces once again set up troops outside Gaochang City, threatening to fight our army to the death."
"As for the officials of Honglu Temple and the Ministry of Rites, the other party was not prepared to negotiate or accept negotiations at all, so General Li Jing did not let them take risks."
"At this moment, the Youth Battalion leads an army of 30,000 to guard the west of Gaochang Wall, Chen Yaojin leads an army of 30,000 to guard the northwest, Yuchi Jingde leads an army of 30,000 to guard the southwest, forming a triangle, and Li Jing is in charge of Gaochang City."
"Mainly based on intelligence, and there are a large number of masters in the opponent's army, so General Li Jing does not dare to attack rashly."
"The Western Region Allied Forces, thirty miles away behind them, have three groups of heavy armored cavalry, each with about 5,000 men."
"There is also an army composed of monks from the Western Regions, which is very similar to the army that ambushed Qin Qiong."
"In addition, there are several light cavalry scouts, all a team of a hundred people, and everyone is a master."
"Yin Hu was strangled by one of the light cavalry when he was inquiring about the news. There were more than thirty people, but only the seriously injured Yin Hu came back."
"Come into town!"
It seemed that the situation was more complicated than he imagined. The power of the Hidden Family was indeed terrifying, and they could actually support three heavy armored cavalry.
Humph, I don’t let you come and go at will.
As well as the masters of the hidden families, I will use your blood to pay tribute to the dead soldiers of the Tang Dynasty.
Biquge
