Chapter 250: Controlling the River (Part 1)

In a thin piece of snow like flying, forty thousand Tang troops arrived in a mighty formation to the largest city in the river: Samarkand.

This big city with a population of 300,000 has been devastated after decades of conquest and killing by the cannibals. Today it ushered in the first entry of the Tang Dynasty army.

Forty thousand Tang troops set up a camp at the city gate, dozens of teams entered the city to inspect the situation, survey the terrain, inquire about the population, and prepare for the next day's entry ceremony.

In the camp, Li Qing'an was explaining tomorrow's arrangements to Teller, the king of the Shi Kingdom who had just arrived.

"According to the news that I have received, the kings of all countries have arrived in Samarkand. I will talk to them about future military and political arrangements tomorrow. Please give them a clear idea first so that both sides can cooperate better."

Teller owed his body and smiled, "Please say, General, I will tell you."

Li Qingan walked a few steps behind his back and said with a smile: "First talk about the Lord's meaning. The Lord clearly stated at the beginning of the year that he would not blame them, so I would not be able to blame them. This is the bottom line. You can tell them first and reassure them."

Teller pondered for a moment and said, "Although the general has this intention, I suggest giving them a briefing at the end so that the general can give more conditions first."

"condition!"

Li Qingan sneered and said, "Are they still qualified to ask me for conditions? Have they ever asked the cannibals? Now that my army has entered the Hezhong area, I have the final say and there is no room for negotiation."

Perhaps feeling that his tone was a little heavy, Li Qing'an relaxed again and said, "Of course, giving them a briefing is not my main purpose, it is just to stabilize the situation. I hope the king can understand the current situation of Sogdian countries, what difficulties they have, and what expectations they have for the Tang army. I want to know all of these, and I hope the king can build a good bridge for me."

"I understand, I will appease the nations for the general."

At this time, Hassan next to him asked in a low voice: "The General had promised us that if we took down Hezhong, our Shi Kingdom would be the leader. I wonder what the General would make arrangements?"

Teller was revived, which was also his most concerned issue. The Shi Kingdom almost ran out of his pocket for this Battle of Talas, with half of the 20,000 soldiers killed and injured. For this reason, Li Qingan agreed to them and took the Hezhong and would give Shi Kingdom compensation. Now it is time. How should Li Qingan fulfill his promise?

Li Qingan smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry! You have done your best for the Battle of Talas this time. I will not treat you badly. I will make arrangements tomorrow."

The Teller and his son were grateful and left. Li Qingan pondered for a moment, and then ordered the soldiers: "Please invite Mr. Li Mi and the clerk Luo Qiming, and then call Li Fei Yuanli to me."

Soon, Li Mi and Li Fei Yuanli arrived at the tent, and Luo Qiming, who was in charge of the documents for Li Qing'an, also arrived. Luo Qiming was the son of Luo Pinfang of the Shattered Ye Yinlong Club, and the uncle of the descendants of the Prince Yin. He was very knowledgeable and proficient in Turkic and Sogdian. He was arranged by Li Qing'an to join the Anxi Army to be in charge of the documents.

Li Qing'an asked the three of them to sit down and poured tea for them again. Li Mi and Luo Qiming were fine, but Li Fei Yuanli was uncomfortable all over. He quickly stood up and said, "What order does the general have? Just give me orders. I'll ask you to sit down again and pour tea again. Lao Li can't stand it."

"Then you stand by!"

Li Qingan was not polite to him, spreading a map of the Hezhong area and smiled at Li Mi: "I have repeatedly considered the suggestion of sir, and I want to improve it."

Li Migong bowed and said, "Please tell me, I will listen carefully."

Li Qing'an pointed to Samarkand and said, "Mr. I suggested that I build an army town in Dayuan and Suye, and establish a Hezhong Jiedushi in Samarkand. Although this plan is good, I am worried that the court will oppose that I will serve as Hezhong Jiedushi, or let me serve as Hezhong Jiedushi, and remove me from the position of Anxi Jiedushi. So I want to correct this plan. Instead of building Hezhong Jiedushi, the army town of Samarkand and establish a guard and envoy in various countries. What do you think?"

Li Mi frowned, "But if the military town is established, the troops are too small. How can we resist the counterattack of the cannibals?"

"It's very simple, use the Sogdian army to resist the counterattack of the cannibals."

Li Qing'an pointed to the map and smiled: "The nine Sogdian countries, plus the Shi Kingdom, all fight against Ti and Bahanna, are actually the twelve countries. I plan to let these twelve countries establish a joint meeting of military and political meeting of Hezhong, that is, an alliance, and the function is to jointly fight against the eastern expansion of the Great Food. Each country has a seat, a small country, and two to three seats of the Great Food. All diplomacy and military regarding the Sogdians will be resolved by voting, with the majority of votes as the basis, so that the Sogdians can act together and will not be defeated by the Great Food Army."

Li Mi understood a little and asked quickly: "What the envoy means is to let the Sogdians become a country in the end?"

Li Qingan smiled faintly and said, "It is not my original intention to make the Sogdians a powerful country. This military and political joint meeting is just a tool. Now it is military and diplomatic power. In the near future, the taxes and internal affairs of Sogdian countries will gradually be unified into the military and political joint meeting. This military and political joint meeting was actually manipulated by the Tang Dynasty. If you master it, it is equivalent to controlling the Hezhong region. As for the Sogdian joint army, it belongs to the military and political joint meeting in the name. In fact, the command power and the appointment and removal of officers are all in the hands of the Anxi Jiedushi. Of course, the military expenditure is borne by the Sogdians."

Li Mi suddenly realized, and he stroked his beard and smiled, "I understand. The general means that no matter what the general does in the river in the future, it will be the decision of the military and political joint meeting in name, and it has nothing to do with the general, right?"

"Gao!" Li Fei Yuanli next to him also understood. He raised his thumb and praised: "I said that the Sogdians have added the Sweden affairs. It turned out that it was used by the general to deal with the imperial court."

"It's not entirely against the court."

Li Qing'an smiled and said to Li Fei Yuanli: "The key point is to deal with the great cannibals. This Sogdian army, I plan to establish a 50,000-man organization. Some are prisoners of war from Talas, and the other part are the miners trained in Saiye. I will leave these 50,000 people to you for their regular training and defense against the great cannibals, but other major decisions must be decided by me. I will give you another 6,000 Tang troops, and you will be the first military envoy in the river."

Only then did Li Fei Yuanli understand the reason why Li Qing'an called him. It turned out that he wanted to hand over the Hezhong area to him. He was excited and immediately bowed and said, "I will never let down the general's expectations!"

Li Qing'an nodded and said to him: "You only care about military affairs, and don't interfere in the local government affairs in the river."

He turned back and smiled at Luo Qiming, "Although this joint meeting is the internal affairs of the Sogdians, it also needs to reflect the will of the Tang Dynasty. So you will be my representative, stationed in Samarkand for the resolutions they passed. If the situation is critical, you need to borrow the army and discuss it directly with General Lifei and report to me later."

Luo Qiming quickly bowed and said, "I will do my best to serve the envoy."

Li Qing'an arranged it one by one, and finally smiled at Li Mi and said, "The military-political joint meeting system is only my preliminary concept. I have not considered many details and mature. I will leave this system to my husband to improve it for me and come up with a plan before I return to Anxi."

"I started working immediately. I wonder when the envoy will return to the Broken Leaf?"

Li Qingan thought for a while and said, "I still have to go back to Chang'an to report my work. I can only stay in Samarkand for five days. In five days, I will return to Broken Leaf."

The next morning, the Tang army officially started the entry ceremony. Six thousand Tang soldiers participated in the entry ceremony. The streets were crowded with cheering people. The flying snow couldn't hide the joy and passion of Samarkand. Various musical instruments were played on the streets, and the beautiful girls danced the passionate and unrestrained Hu Xuanwu. When the Tang army brigade entered the city, the whole city was boiling, and the people rushed forward cheering. Whether it was the Zoroastrian believers or the Islamic believers, everyone welcomed the Tang army from the bottom of their hearts. Their joy and excitement were all derived from the promise of the Tang army commander.

The Tang army will not interfere with any religious beliefs of the people, their reconstruction of their own temples, or their pilgrimage to Mecca. As long as they recognize that the Tang Dynasty is their own sect leader, the Tang Dynasty will embrace all rivers with an open mind.

Li Qing'an rode on a war horse, wearing black bright armor, a silver helmet, a horizontal knife on his waist, and a giant bow hanging on the saddle bridge, looking majestic. He looked at this historical city curiously. He knew that in the Mongols' Western Expedition hundreds of years later, this city would be destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people were massacred. However, at this moment, he changed the trajectory of history with an unstoppable force.

As his army passed through the famous Temple Square in Samarkand, two temple elders came forward with a large group of believers, knelt on the street, and raised a golden plate high.

Li Qingan held the war horse and recognized the dagger in the golden plate. It was the one he gave to Ju Lan. He turned over and dismounted and slowly picked up the dagger from the golden plate. The dagger was burned by fire and was somewhat deformed, but the handle was still intact. The three words "Li Qingan" were clearly visible.

An elder cried and said, "This is the last relic of Julan, dedicated to the general, may the general treasure it."

Li Qingan silently stroked the dagger, and there was still Ju Lan's blood on the dagger. She used this dagger to end her young life at the last moment.

Li Qing'an felt extremely sad. The passionate and unrestrained exotic girl appeared in his mind. She remembered the happiness when she hugged each other and the sadness when she parted. His eyes couldn't help but feel a little wet, and he gently put the dagger back into the golden plate.

"She awakened the resistance of the Sogdians with her young life. She should accept the admiration of the Sogdians, so she will be worshipped in the temple!"
Chapter completed!