Chapter 173: Spring Hunting in Tianshan (I)

The soldier brought the visitor up. It turned out to be Chang Jin, the owner of Rehaiju in Chang'an. Li Qing'an smiled and said, "Lord Chang, you will meet an old friend in a foreign land, so you are safe!"

Chang Jin quickly bowed and said, "General, I actually came from Broken Leaf. After the last time I left Chang'an, I also set out on the road and returned Broken Leaf on the third day. If you have any important matters, I will report to the general."

Li Qing'an nodded, "This is not a place to talk, go to the mansion to talk."

The team continued to move forward again, and often got on a horse. He followed behind. His expression seemed very contradictory, as if he had something to say but he didn't want to say it.

Li Qing'an's mansion is much more lively now. His personal soldiers went to the slave markets in Gaochang and Dunhuang to purchase a group of servants and maids, with nearly 30 people, most of whom were Han people.

These servants entered the mansion half a month ago and had gradually adapted to life in the mansion. Their arrival brought vitality to the mansion.

When Li Qing'an came to the front of the mansion, he saw a carriage parked at the door. A middle-aged man immediately ran out of the mansion and said with a smile: "Master, it's Yang Duhu's daughter who is here to find the girl in the dance style to learn the piano."

The middle-aged man's surname is Jiang. He is currently the housekeeper of Li Qing'an's mansion. He is from Fengxiang. He was originally the housekeeper of Zhou Xuan's mansion, the governor of Qingzhou. Last year, Zhou Xuan was convicted of taking stolen goods and his family was exiled to Xizhou. Manager Jiang and more than a dozen old family members came to Beiting with their masters. Zhou Xuan died of illness at the beginning of the year, and his wife disbanded his family and went their separate ways. Manager Jiang and several family servants were preparing to return to the mainland, but they were afraid of the bandits in the Hexi Corridor. It happened that the new governor of Beiting was recruiting his family, and he was tolerant of the conditions and had a monthly salary. He could be free after three years. Everyone entered Li Qing'an's mansion together.

Butler Jiang was very smart and capable, with rich experience. He quickly managed the Li family in an orderly manner, which made Li Qingan deeply satisfied.

Li Qing'an nodded and said to him: "Go and invite Mr. Yan to my outer study room!"

Butler Jiang agreed and ran away. Everyone entered the mansion. The personal soldiers dispersed. Li Qing'an took Chang in to the outer study room. The outer study room was located in the middle courtyard and had a small door connected to the inner house. Generally, high-ranking officials were divided into internal and external study rooms. The inner study room was a place for the owner to rest and read books. It belonged to the private space of men and was not allowed to enter. Only Rushi could enter the inner study room and clean it for him.

The outer study room is a place to handle some official duties and receive important guests. Compared with the inner study room, the outer study room is much wider, with four rooms including office space, conference room, library room, etc. It is actually an independent courtyard.

"Please sit there as you like!"

Li Qing'an went into the house and took off his outer robe and hung it on the hanger. He and Chang Jin sat down. A maid brought in three cups of tea. At this time, two personal soldiers came in with a rattan chair. Yan Zhuang sat on the rattan chair. As soon as he entered the door, he smiled and said, "I'm soaking my feet! But he just called me."

Yan Zhuang is currently living in Li Qing'an's east courtyard. Li Qing'an specially found a famous local doctor for him to treat his leg injury. After a month of treatment, it was quite effective. At least he could help him move slowly. He did not slump on the couch like before and could not move at all. For this reason, Yan Zhuang was full of gratitude for Li Qing'an.

Two personal soldiers supported him, sat down slowly, and carried the rattan chair down. Li Qingan smiled apologetically and introduced him to Chang Jin and said, "This is what I told his husband. Chang Dongzhu of Rehaiju has just come from the Thunder Leaf."

When Yan Zhuang heard Li Qing'an talk about the shattering of the Ye Han Tang Association, he bowed to the Lord Chang, "Lord Chang, I have been looking forward to it for a long time."

Li Qing'an introduced to Chang Jin again: "This is my aide, Mr. Yan. If you have anything to say, it's okay."

Chang Jin understood what Li Qing'an meant, and he also bowed to Yan Zhuang, and then said to Li Qing'an: "General Li, as soon as I arrived in Suiye, I heard about a major event. A serious civil war broke out in Dashi. Khurashan's uprising army had already attacked Dashi's hinterland."

"Abbas!" Li Qing'an blurted out, and Chang Jin was stunned. The leader of the Khurashan uprising army was indeed called Abbas. How did he know?

"I also heard a Sogdian Hu merchant talk about it a little bit not long ago."

Li Qingan covered up his prophet lightly, and he smiled and said, "The Lord Chang means to let me take the opportunity to seize the Broken Leaf, right?"

Chang Jin nodded, "That is, in the Great Food Civil War, they must have no time to take care of the East. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Tang Dynasty to re-enter the west of the Palacio Mountains. The general must seize it."

"But without the will of the court, I can't help but voluntarily!"

Chang Jin was very anxious. He couldn't help but kneel down, kowtowed a few times, and cried: "It has been nearly thirty years since the broken Ye lost the Tang Dynasty. The broken Ye Han people are always looking forward to returning to the Tang Dynasty. Just like babies looking forward to their parents, how can the general bear it?"

Li Qing'an quickly helped him up and comforted him, "Please be relieved by Lord Chang Dong. Since I am the lord of Beiting, it is my duty to recover Shattered Ye. I also know that the opportunity is rare now, but if you send troops to Shattered Ye, you must report to the court first. However, after all, and with the court's discussion, it will take at least two or three months."

"General Li, otherwise you will take advantage of the shortcuts of the Han and Tang dynasties. We have a strict path to delivering flying pigeons. There are flying pigeon conversion points in Guazhou, Ganzhou, Liangzhou, Longyou, Fengxiang, and there are dedicated people to delivering letters from Beiting to Chang'an. It takes only seven days to arrive at the fastest time."

Li Qingan was stunned and smiled and said, "Is it only seven days?"

"Yes, the fastest time I once took only five days."

At this time, Yan Zhuang next to him asked with a smile: "If we want to pass a letter to Yangzhou, can we do it?"

"Yes! Even the farthest Guangzhou can do it."

“It’s really good.”

Yan Zhuang gave Li Qing'an a smile and said, "General, my subordinates thought they could use the path of the Han and Tang dynasties to gain time in this way."

Li Qingan understood Yan Zhuang's meaning. The documents exchanges between Anxi Beiting and Chang'an were mainly through post stations. Because of the difficulty of establishing the Gexin path, there was only one at present, which was used by the secret letter sent by the military supervisor Bian Lingcheng to Li Longji. Unexpectedly, there was one in the Han and Tang Dynasties, which made Li Qingan feel moved.

"Okay, I'll compile the book now."

Li Qing'an smiled at Chang Jin and said, "Not only this time, I will often use this method to convey Chang'an news for me in the future."

"The general is also a member of the Broken Ye Han Tang Association, so you can make the best use of it."

Chang Jin retreated, and Yan Zhuang immediately said: "General, I think this Han and Tang dynasties are not as simple as restoring the Broken Leaf. They actually established spy points in various parts of the Tang Dynasty. What is the purpose?"

Li Qing'an nodded and said, "I also feel that they still have a deeper purpose."

He sneered and said, "I want to use me, hum! I, Li Qing'an, is that easy to use? If I guess correctly, this Han and Tang will take great action in Beiting. Mr. may as well pay attention to this matter and dig out the truth for me."

"Haha! I like to do such conspiracy and secret matters the most. Leave it to me, no problem."

Yan Zhuang smiled and said, "But the Great Food Civil War is indeed a good opportunity to take back the Broken Leaf. The general should seize this opportunity."

Li Qingan walked slowly in the room with his hands behind his back. He remembered very clearly that the replacement of the white food market in black was just one or two years before the Battle of Talas. The Battle of Talas was the outbreak of the tenth year of Tianbao. So now the eighth year of Tianbao is indeed the most intense moment of the civil war in the Great Food. This is indeed an opportunity, but the time for the real dispatch of troops has not yet come.

Thinking of this, he slowly said, "The day before I left, the emperor summoned me and agreed that I could attack Saiye directly without the consent of the court. However, now is not the best time to attack Saiye. The most urgent thing is to seize the military power of Xizhou and truly gain the military and political power of Beiting."

Yan Zhuang frowned and said worriedly: "But I am very worried that Anxi Gao Xianzhi will send troops to Saiye first and steal the general's chance."

Li Qingan smiled faintly and said, "Sir, do they feel willing to give up Tochar if Tubo loses Xiao Bolu?"

Yan Zhuang was stunned. He didn't understand what Li Qing'an meant.

That night, Li Qing'an compiled a short letter on the silk silk, put it in a pigeon letter tube, and handed it to his personal soldiers, asking him to use the information transmission channels of the Han and Tang dynasties to quickly give it to Gao Lishi of Chang'an.

Time flies quickly, and it is the end of March in a flash. The annual spring hunting meeting is coming. In the past few days, the leaders of all the troops and ethnic groups in Beiting arrived in Jinman County. The governor of Yizhou Han Zhi and the governor of Xizhou Zhao Tingyu also led 500 troops to arrive. Shatuye Guduzhi, Gelulu's eldest prince Mastulu and the second prince Mastusihan also led 100 people to Jinman County. In addition, the other ethnic groups, such as the Wusun people, Turks, Qiang people, Tuqi Shiren, and the cavalry and archers selected by each county, also arrived in Tingzhou one after another. Two days before the Spring Hunting Conference, all the people participating in the Spring Hunting were basically here. Jinman County gathered nearly 2,000 representatives from all over the country.

Everyone was stationed outside Jinman County. Yang Feng's car had already set up a place. Everyone set up their own tents. More than a thousand tents were connected together, and people shouted and neighed, which was spectacular.

That afternoon, a team of cavalry rushed from the east on the official road outside Beiting City. In the middle was a man who was about thirty years old. He was a eunuch named Wang Tingfang, who was the military supervisor of the Beiting Army. The reason why he was called the military supervisor was because the Anxi city of Beiting was unified by Bian Lingcheng, who was stationed in Kucha, so he arranged for Wang Tingfang to be the military supervisor of Beiting Army.

Wang Tingfang entered Beiting City, and there was no horse racing in the city, so he dismounted and walked quickly towards Li Qing'an's government office. Wang Tingfang was the first little eunuch who served Gao Lishi and was Gao Lishi's confidant. In the fifth year of Tianbao, he was sent to Anxi as the judge of the Central Envoy and was Bian Lingcheng's deputy. This time, Gao Lishi appointed Wang Tingfang as the envoy of the Beiting Army Supervisor. He had received Gao Lishi's secret order and fully supported Li Qing'an.

Wang Tingfang walked to the door and asked his personal soldiers, "Are you general here?"

"exist!"

"I inform you general for me that I have an emergency order from the Lord."

The personal soldiers went in and came out for a moment to invite Wang Tingfang into the room. Li Qing'an was reviewing the documents. When he saw him coming in, he stood up and smiled and said, "Does the King's envoy bring the emperor's handwriting?"

“That’s right!”

Wang Tingfang bowed and gave a gift, took out Li Longji's handwriting and placed it on Li Qing'an's table, "General, please see it yourself."

The hand-in-hand order is not an imperial edict, and the imperial edict must be printed by the Secretary of the Central Secretariat. Although the Hanlin can also issue an imperial edict, the will involving military and national affairs must be issued by the Secretary of the Central Secretariat. Therefore, the hand-in-hand order is just a private message from Li Longji, and has no legal effect. If it is a prefecture and county in the Central Plains, it can be ignored, but the borders are slightly different. Since the Jiedushi was appointed by Li Longji, the hand-in-hand order is equally important.

The handwriting was also sent in a pigeon letter, written on a thin silk, which Li Qing'an unfolded. It was written by Li Longji's handwritten handwriting, with only one sentence: "It is absolutely necessary to use military force against the people of Geluo."

This is a reply to Li Qing'an's secret letter half a month ago. In the letter, he wrote: "I want to take Saiye for Your Majesty west, but Gelu and Shatuo have been in constant conflict, which has influenced me to move westward. I think that our Celestial Dynasty has been pacifying Gelu for a long time, which makes him arrogant and slow to treat Beiting Military Palace. Now that he is gradually becoming bigger and ambitious about Saiye. I want to weaken Gelu and cut off his ambitions. I hope Your Majesty will be right!"

Seeing that Li Qing'an had received the order, Wang Tingfang asked in a low voice: "General Li really wants to use troops against the Geluo people?"

Li Qing'an nodded and said, "The emperor's intention to rebuild the Shattered Ye Army Town has been settled. Now the cavalry has declined, and Geluo has gradually become stronger and stronger. How can it not want to seize the wealthy land of Shattered Ye? So it first weakens the people of Geluo and destroys their ambitions. However, this matter is a secret. Except for the two of us, we cannot tell anyone, including the border supervisor. Otherwise, if the great affairs of the Emperor are ruined, we cannot afford to take on them."

"Our family understands and admires General Li's foresight. Our family is willing to do our best to assist General Li to realize the great plan of the emperor."

Li Qingan laughed, "Not only should I realize the plan of the emperor, but I will do my best to help the king. I know that the king is poor and has sent someone to Taiyuan to buy houses and land for the king. This is my wish. Don't refuse the king's envoy."

Wang Tingfang was born in a poor family and was forced to enter the palace since he was a child. He had a small income in the palace. Although he had to be sent to the Anxi Army, Bian Lingcheng was on his way, and it was not his turn to do anything. Seeing Li Qing'an taking both public and private care, he was overjoyed and bowed and bowed, "Thank you, General Li."

"You don't have to be polite to the King. As long as we do not miss the military and national affairs, we are loyal to the emperor and consider our personal needs appropriately. This is also human nature!"

Wang Tingfang's eyes narrowed into a slit when he smiled. Li Qing'an said that when he was in his heart, he gave a thumbs up, "General Li is so good!"

At this moment, a rapid footsteps came from the door, and a soldier ran to report, "General, the big thing is not good, the Shatu people and the Gelu people started fighting!"

Perhaps it was Yang Fengche's momentary negligence that when he was dividing the camp, he actually brought the camps of the Gelulu people and the Shatu people close together. The Shatu people arrived in Jinman County on March 25th and first stationed the camp. The Glulu people arrived two days later and also stationed in the camp. At the beginning, the two Huhu just glared and basically had nothing to do. However, because several hunting dogs of the Shatu people ran to the territory of the Glulu people and did not return, the Shatu people came to ask for it, but the Glulu people killed several hunting dogs in front of the Shatu people, and slandered: "This is the end of the situation when Shatu dog dared to come to the territory of the Glulu again."
Chapter completed!