"Yes, yes!" The queen's question blocked the rest of Liu Rengui's words. In front of the emperor, he might have dared to say a few offensive words, but in front of the queen, it was a different matter. In the game of power Women hold more grudges than men, and they are much more terrifying.
"Then do as the queen said!" Li Zhi ended the small argument impatiently: "Someone in the court impeached Wang Wenzuo, saying that as a border guard, he did not want to lead troops to defeat thieves, but he was busy For the benefit of merchants, he exchanged tea, salt, silk, horses, treasures and other items with the Tubo people. Liu Xianggong, you were his boss, what do you think?"
"This -" Liu Rengui frowned: "If I remember correctly, Jiannan sent a victory document not long ago, saying that Songzhou defeated the Tibetan rebels in two battles, right?"
"It is indeed true!" Li Zhi nodded: "But this memorial was written two days ago. Queen, do you still remember the details? I can't remember it clearly!" He knocked on his forehead in distress.
"I remember that the memorial said that Wang Wenzuo released the captured Tibetans, met with Tibetan envoys privately, and traded salt, tea, horses and other goods with Tibetan merchants at the border, violating several imperial bans!" The queen said with a smile: " In fact, judging from the concubine, whether to release the prisoners and whether to see the Tibetan envoys is the power of the border commander. Wang Wenzuo is also the deputy envoy of the Jiannan branch, so border trade with Tibetan merchants is not prohibited. The only problem is Even if the imperial court wants to use troops against Tubo, he will be the governor of Songzhou and he will have the responsibility to contain it. This is unjustifiable! Mr. Liu, you also served as a border commander, what do you think? "
"Your Majesty!" Liu Rengui coughed twice: "If I remember correctly, Wang Wenzuo's Songzhou Governor's Mansion doesn't have many soldiers, right?"
"It seems that there are ten thousand garrison soldiers, and the rest are the recruited soldiers he brought with him. There seem to be five or six thousand!" the queen said.
"Your Majesty has a good memory!" Liu Rengui praised: "Wei Chen remembers that when he first entered the political hall, he saw a memorial sent by Li Jin, the commander of the military and horse management of the Jiannan branch of the camp. It was about Song. Regarding the 10,000 garrison soldiers in the Prefecture Governor's Mansion, it is said that these 10,000 soldiers were originally from Longshang and were guest troops. According to the rules, they are replaced once a year. However, it has been almost two years and there have been no new replacements. Soldiers I feel resentful. There are still a lot of these ten thousand people, but Songzhou Dudu Mansion has a total of thirty-two Jizhou prefectures. The land is vast and there are many Qiang and Hu. After dividing the troops garrisoned in various places, the number of available troops is There are only a few. So the available soldiers on Wang Wenzuo’s hand are actually the five or six thousand people he brought with him.”
"Xiangong Liu means that Wang Wenzuo has few soldiers? Is that why he behaves like this with the Tubo people?" the queen asked.
"Reporting to your majesty, Wang Wenzuo is a decisive person. The advantage is that he can often accomplish things that are difficult for ordinary people to do; the disadvantage is that he often breaks the rules. If your majesty wants to use him, you have to turn a blind eye to some things. He only has so many soldiers. , but we have to resist Tibet and protect western Sichuan, isn’t it also a restraint to restrict trade?”
The hall fell silent, and Li Zhi and Wu exchanged glances. The couple's tacit understanding worked at this time.
"So, Wang Wenzuo does have his difficulties!" Li Zhi said with a smile: "Then let's stay in the impeachment for now!"
"Your Majesty's magnanimity is really a blessing to the country!" Liu Ren tracked.
"Tubo is a powerful country, and Qinling is a good general in the world, not comparable to the likes of Goguryeo and Baekje!" Li Zhi's expression became serious: "I will not let the border generals have the worry of being in control!"
"Would you like to write a letter to Wang Wenzuo to remind him?" The thought flashed through Liu Rengui's mind, and he quickly rejected it: "Maybe this is a trap deliberately set by the emperor. If I tell Wang Wenzuo what happened today, , that is a serious crime of leaking forbidden information!"
After leaving the emperor's chamber, Liu Rengui felt that his tense nerves had relaxed. When Li Zhi asked him about Wang Wenzuo's impeachment just now, he felt as if he was in a tiger's den. The slow breathing of a beast could be heard in his ears, and it seemed that the sharp teeth would bite his cervical vertebrae in the next second. The emperor clearly knew that he and Wang Wenzuo were old acquaintances, but he still asked himself this question. Did he really want to ask himself about this matter, or did he want to use this opportunity to test himself? Maybe a bit of both? Liu Rengui didn't know that Chang'an City was like a huge spider web. Any move he made would alert the hunters hiding behind a certain node and lead to a fatal blow at some point in the future.
"Xianggong Liu, Xianggong Liu?"
The familiar voice brought Liu Rengui back to reality. When he turned around, it was Shangshu's right servant She Dai Zhide. He hurriedly bowed and saluted: "I have seen you in this humble position!"
"No need to be too polite, no need to be too polite!" Dai Zhide smiled and said, "Did Xianggong Liu come from the emperor?"
"Yes, the emperor has summoned me to inquire about something! He just came out! Where is Pu She going?"
"Of course we go to the Political Affairs Hall!" Dai Zhide said, and then he lowered his voice: "An urgent envoy has arrived in Anxi, and Tubo sent a large number of troops out of the Western Regions to join forces with Khotan and capture the city of Kucha (today's Aksu, Xinjiang)!"
"What, there is such a thing?" Liu Rengui was surprised. At that time, the Anxi Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty was set up in Qiuci. If Dai Zhide's news is true, then the four towns of Anxi in the Tang Dynasty had already collapsed. Tang and Xi The connections between the Turks, Zhaowu Jiuxing and other Central Asian regions were cut off, and control of the Silk Road changed hands.
"Of course it is true, otherwise why would I be in such a hurry to go to the Political Affairs Hall? Mr. Liu, you are experienced in military affairs. I will rely on you more in the Political Affairs Hall for this matter later!" Dai Zhide said.
"Liu dares to disobey orders in matters of national importance!"
The group hurried to the political hall, and Dai Zhide ordered someone to fetch the emergency document. It turned out that the Tubo general Qin Ling led the army from Tuyuhun, entered the Western Region along the Qinghai Road, and quickly occupied the Khotan Kingdom located on the southern edge of the Tarim Basin, and held it hostage. The King of Khotan defeated the Tang army garrison in Khotan, and then marched straight into Qiuci, the center of the Tang army's rule in the Western Regions. After defeating the Tang army in a field battle, he entered and defended the city. Seeing that they were outnumbered, the defenders broke out and abandoned the city. As a result, the Western Region fell into the hands of the Tibetan army.
"If it is according to the letter that the leading general of the Tubo army is Qin Ling, then there will naturally be a lot of troops!" Dai Zhide said: "It is not surprising that the Anxi army cannot hold it, but this move of the Tubo people is quite bold. !”
Liu Rengui nodded. Since the Western Region was far away from both Tang and Tubo, both sides did not invest too many troops in this battlefield. At most, there were only ten or twenty thousand people. They were trying to recruit allies to increase their own strength. Moreover, the Western Region has a desert oasis climate. Many small countries are not big, with a population of tens to 20,000 to 300,000 at best. A country with a population of hundreds of thousands is a big country. It is weak and plays a wall-to-wall strategy. Datang and Tubo They will mess with whichever side is stronger. That's why when Qinling arrived with the Tubo soldiers, Khotan immediately defected. After the Tang army failed in the field battle, they also gave up defending the city, because once the small local countries saw that the situation was favorable to Tubo, they would side with Tubo. The Western Regions The Tang army was trapped in Qiuci City, thousands of miles away from the nearest reinforcements, and was looking for death.
"Where are the defeated soldiers in the Western Regions now?" Liu Rengui asked.
"Retreat to Shule!" Dai Zhide said: "Do you want to urge Longyou to send troops quickly?"
"General Xue is a veteran, there is no need for us to urge you on this!" Liu Rengui said: "And if I remember correctly, Shule City is located next to a mountain stream in a dangerous terrain. There is a well in the city, and the Tubo people can't take it in four or five months. Come down! There’s no need to rush!”
Dai Zhide was infected by Liu Rengui's calmness. He looked at Liu Rengui with admiration: "Then what does Mr. Liu think we should do first?"
"Starting from Chang'an to the Western Regions, Longyou is the only way, so no matter what decision the court makes, it is actually General Xue who implements it." Liu Ren said: "We must not give Xue the method of dispatching troops. General and the others are causing trouble, it would be wise to send more soldiers, horses, money and food to Longyou!"
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Shanzhou (today's Xining, Qinghai Province) was the seat of Longyou Jiedushi.
This is a desolate land. Although it is already early March, the yellow-green bud tips of the weeping willows beside Chang'an Ba Bridge can already be seen, but here there is only unmelted snow, low hills, and wind-eroded wilderness. The river bed is as dry as bones, and only brown and tough weeds can survive. It is rare to find springs in the wilderness, only a few bitter puddles. The further west you go, the smaller the pools you find become smaller, and the distance between pools becomes longer and longer. If there are gods in this vast wilderness, they must be stern and mean, with no sympathy for the creatures under their jurisdiction.
Xue Rengui spit hard and picked up the water bag to relieve the thirst in his throat, but the water bag was already empty. The soldier next to him hurriedly brought his own water bag. Xue Rengui took two sips and cursed: "This In a place where ghosts are planted, only evil ghosts will take it as a treasure!"
"I've heard for a long time that General Xue is brave enough to conquer all three armies. Who would have thought that he is also afraid of ghosts?" Guo Daifeng asked with a frivolous smile.
"On the battlefield, knowing that fear is a good thing! If you don't even know how to be afraid, then it's best not to go to the battlefield!" Xue Rengui sneered. He didn't like the young man behind him. Compared with Guo Daifeng, his life is completely different. As the second son of Guo Xiaoke, a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty, he was originally not qualified to inherit his father's title and political resources. However, in the 22nd year of Zhenguan, Guo Xiaoke died in battle in Qiuci, along with Guo Xiaoke's eldest son Guo Daizhao. . The emperor at that time missed his old friendship, and Guo Daifeng inherited his late father's title.
In February of the fourth year of Xianqing's reign (659), Emperor Gaozong personally held a test to elect people. Among the 900 people, only 5, including Guo Daifeng and Zhang Jiuling, were ranked first. people. The road ahead for Guo Daifeng was smooth. He participated in the Tang army's several attacks on Goguryeo, either by his side or responsible for transporting grain. Thanks to his merits, he became Xue Rengui's deputy when he was only in his thirties. . Everyone in Chang'an believed that he was talented in both civil and military affairs, and that he could become a very popular minister and the chief minister of the empire without even being forty years old.
Xue Rengui had also heard of this person's reputation. He didn't care much about having such a deputy at first. The emperor was also a human being, and there would be differences between relatives and strangers. There were many times when there was a subordinate who could reach heaven and listen. It's not necessarily a good thing. But ideas are one thing, and working together is another. The famous general later had a handsome appearance and elegant manners. He wore a mink coat over his iron armor and a gauze crown on his head. Riding on his black horse, he felt like he was in the emperor's guard of honor on Suzaku Street in Chang'an.
Of course, Xue Rengui is not so stingy that he can't even stand looking at his deputy's prettier appearance, but the problem is that Guo Daifeng has a strange sense of superiority - he seems to feel that it is a shame to be placed below Xue Rengui. He often talks to his boss in a frivolous tone. This was unacceptable to Xue Rengui. After all, this was the army, not a banquet in the palace. Guo Daifeng's little jokes might be harmless there, but here they would cost tens of thousands of lives.
"General Manager, look over there!" The speaker was Ashina Daozhen, another deputy of Xue Rengui. In terms of identity, Ashina Daozhen is more noble. He is the famous general of the early Tang Dynasty, Ashina Duer and Xue Rengui. The children of the daughter of Li Yuan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, belong to the Turkic royal family from the father's side, and from the Tang Dynasty clan from the mother's side. But Ashina Daozhen maintained the resolute and simple style of the Turks, did not rely on his own identity, and was very respectful to Xue Rengui.
Xue Rengui looked in the direction of Ashina Daozhen's finger and saw a skull on a stone on a short ridge not far away. He kicked his mount and ran over. When he got closer, he discovered that it was a dog skull. There were some scattered bones with burn marks on them.
"This is an oath!" Ashina Daozhen said: "It should be the Tubo people who did it!"
"Oath?" Xue Rengui asked.
"Yes, before the Tubo people do anything important, they will make an oath, and the oath must be witnessed by the gods. These bones are gifts to the gods. There should be some buried underground around here!"
Xue Rengui looked around and easily found traces of excavation. He waved his hand and his men quickly dug up the soil. Sure enough, there were animal internal organs and bones inside.
"Khan is indeed right!" Xue Rengui said with a smile.
"My father told me this when I was a child!" Ashina said with a real smile: "He said that although the Tibetan people are cruel, they attach great importance to their faith. As long as it is an agreement sworn before the gods, they will not violate it even if they die!"
"A respectable and formidable enemy!" Xue Rengui nodded: "Since it is an alliance, it must be a big thing, so what do the Tubo people want to do?"
"Hahahahaha!" Guo Daifeng's laughter came from the side, and Xue Rengui frowned. This guy was about to exceed the limit of his patience.
"Guo Langjun!" Ashina Daozhen asked, "Why are you laughing!"
"Nothing! The emperor ordered us to lead the army to conquer, but we are looking here and there like this. It seems like a charlatan. How can I not laugh?"
Kawen worked so hard and finally finished it!
(End of chapter)
