But from a rational point of view, there is no need to do this for the time being. Li Cong has been suffering from old age and illness recently, and it seems that he is about to die. What Xue Bai needs to do now is to let the courtiers see clearly the process of Li Cong's natural death.
After he takes the throne for a period of time and the situation stabilizes, it will not be too late to move Li Longji. It is more likely that Li Longji will be gone by then.
So the murderous intention lingering in his mind was dispelled again. Xue Bai looked around and saw the unchanging wall of Xuanzheng Hall.
No matter how big the palace is, it will feel like a prison if you stay there for a long time. Now he spends most of his time in this palace to govern the Tang Dynasty through paper and ink. Facing a memorial every day, he imagines what he is doing in the palace.
The scenes happening everywhere are like seeing the whole world.
The same goes for his understanding of the northwest battle situation. This time he did not ride on the pommel horse himself. He marked or advanced the route of each army and horse on the map based on the words.
It was like playing chess. Every time he touched two war chess pieces together, every time a battle happened, he couldn't see the gush of blood or the wailing wounded soldiers. He only saw the numbers one by one.
For him, this is a new battlefield situation, and he is a decision-maker this time.
At the end of July, Xue Bai picked up a small war chess, symbolizing the Anxi Army led by Feng Changqing and Zhang Guangsheng. He pushed the war chess from Chang'an to Lingwu, and gradually pushed it along the Yellow River into the territory of Huihe. Another half month passed.
By this time, the Mid-Autumn Festival had passed. After eating moon cakes, Xue Bai pushed the war chess to the west again, and no longer knew how to push it.
In September, the news came.
Civil strife broke out in Uighur, and Uighur Khan died suddenly. His eldest son Ye Hu and his second son Yi Dijian were at odds with each other. Yi Dijian accused Ye Hu of patricide and claimed that the Tang Dynasty was secretly instigating Ye Hu.
Yi Dijian did not wrong Ye Hu, because Ye Hu was captured by Xue Bai back then. Xue Bai indeed encouraged him to go back to fight for power with his father and brothers, and also sent some people to follow him to advise him.
Unexpectedly, the conflict intensified so quickly, directly leading to the split in Uygur.
Many of the elite cavalry that Ye Hu brought to the Tang Dynasty were absorbed by Xue Bai, and their strength was not as good as that of Yi Dijian. After the defeat, they fled west to seek help from Ge Luolu.
Yi Dijian then plundered all the business travelers within the territory and cut off the contact between Tang Ting and Ye Hu.
Not long ago, Xue Bai sent soldiers and horses from Anxi to return to Huihe, and sent envoy Li Chengcai to form an alliance with Huihe to attack Tubo. When civil strife broke out in Uihe, Li Chengcai had just arrived at the court of the king of Huihe, and now his life or death is uncertain.
As for the soldiers and horses from Anxi, they did not go north to Huihe Wangting, but the journey was probably even more unsatisfactory.
Xue Bai completely lost the news about this team.
He sent people to inquire about the situation in Huihe, but there would definitely be no reply in a short time in the vast grassland.
As time passed, Li Cong's health deteriorated, but he was still holding on tenaciously. Datang's war situation in the northwest was also in the same situation. The situation was getting worse and worse, and he was struggling to hold on.
The marching route drawn on the map has become a mess. There are baskets of discarded war games, but more new war games are also placed. Old soldiers die and new soldiers are recruited. The consumption of money and food is huge, and the national treasury has reached the point where it is difficult to fight.
Tolerable level.
Xue Bai insisted on not raising taxes, but had to let those officials who were good at financial management collect military expenses through salt and tea. As for the emperor's internal funds, and even his own private wealth, they had already been invested in it.
In October, when the weather was freezing, a small stove was placed in the palace. Xue Bai and Li Mi sat by the stove to discuss matters.
Both of them have lost their youthful and radiant demeanor in previous years, and both look a little dull.
"Dazarugong should have withdrawn his troops two months earlier. It was freezing and he couldn't grab anything. It would be better to come back next year."
"Yes, the purpose of the Tubo army is not to attack the city and plunder the stronghold. It would be a better choice to invade the territory again next autumn." Li Mi pondered: "Why doesn't Dazalu Gong stop fighting? If he continues to fight like this, he will hurt the enemy.
One thousand will cost you eight hundred."
"I'm asking you." Xue Bai said: "If the intention is not military, then it is political."
"I think he must have realized that if the Tang Dynasty was given a chance to breathe for three to five years, its national power would be far superior to that of Tubo? He knew that now is the best opportunity to weaken us."
"Indeed."
Xue Bai is very confident about this.
There is not much time left for Tibet to suppress the Tang Dynasty. Within a year or two, famous generals such as Feng Changqing will return to the four towns of Anxi to regroup; Xue Bai may ascend the throne, and the court will be more stable; the national power will gradually recover.
Arms will also increase... These are changes visible to the naked eye.
"But he could see it?"
Li Bi said: "If Dazalu Gong felt the threat posed to him by the Tang Dynasty and decided to bring down the Tang Dynasty within these two years, then this person should not be underestimated."
"I didn't underestimate him, I just didn't know him well enough." Although Xue Bai read the intelligence every day, he was far away and after all, he couldn't feel the opponent like he could when he faced his opponent directly on the battlefield.
"If Dazalu Gong doesn't withdraw his troops, he may break through the defense line and advance into Guanzhong at any time. Even if our soldiers can hold on, our military expenses will soon be unable to hold on."
"He may not be without pressure," Xue Bai said, "Tubo is not monolithic either."
Li Mi pointed at the map with his finger and said one after another: "The enemy attacks and we defend. The Tibetan army only needs one soldier and horse to attack, and our army is tired of defense. Now our army is concentrated in Fangzhou, Yanzhou, Xiazhou, Lingzhou
Prefecture and other places, and if Jingyuan falls, Tubo may bypass our defense line and go straight to Chang'an, so we have to defend it."
Xue Bai was deep in thought, fiddling with the war chess piece he held in his hand over and over again, but did not immediately place it on the map.
This is the last big chess piece that he can control. It symbolizes the soldiers and horses led by Wang Nanlan that accompanied Xue Bai to put down the Anshi Rebellion. Although the military number is still Yunzhong Army, as Xue Bai's trusted soldiers and horses, they have a transcendent status.
, the organization, equipment, and treatment are superior to all armies in the world.
They have always been stationed near the capital, which is the key to Xue Bai, the prince of the supervisory country, being able to secure his position.
Next is the Forbidden Army.
Although Xue Bai incorporated the Forbidden Army in Chang'an City, he only replaced the middle-level generals in the Forbidden Army with his old troops in Yanshi and Changshan. However, generals like Guo Qianli who did not completely belong to him were rarely replaced, including other members of the Forbidden Army.
There are many descendants of aristocratic families. In comparison, Wang Ruo's army is the real Dinghai Shenzhen.
But now, Dazhalu Gong poured out all the Tibetan forces to attack. If Xue Bai was reluctant to take out this army and horses, if the Tibetan army advanced straight in, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Be on guard."
After thinking about it, Xue Bai placed the war chess in his hand on the map.
Then, the imperial court issued an edict, ordering the king to rarely support Jingyuan.
Recalling that before the war started, Wang rarely asked for orders to command the entire army instead of Guo Ziyi. Xue Bai was also a little scared. At that time, he did not expect that the battle would be so long and difficult. Dazalu Gong had extraordinary determination. If at that time
If the commander-in-chief were to change at the last moment, Tubo might have marched directly to Chang'an.
~~
The second year of the Yuan Dynasty is gradually passing.
This was the whole year that Xue Bai began to supervise the country. He originally thought that he was going to do a big job, reform the evil and establish a new one, and revive the Tang Dynasty, but he was very disappointed with the result.
Although some capable ministers and officials were appointed and some changes were made to change customs, basically for the entire second half of the year, the Tang Dynasty was trapped in the war with Tubo. Faced with countless expenditures on food and grass, the strong laborers had to be replaced.
The levy is on the battlefield and cannot be produced.
The overall situation is that the Dingkou in the imperial register and the taxes these Dingkou can pay cannot support the operation of the Tang Dynasty at all, especially as it is plunged into a costly national war.
This year, Xue Bai was twenty-seven years old. He actually didn't know that his age was calculated based on Li Qian's birth date. In addition to power, this was another benefit he got from Li Qian's identity.
Same thing.
Compared with the young man back then, he seems much calmer and no longer does ridiculous things like before.
It is worth mentioning that this year, Yan Yan gave birth to his first child.
In Yan Zhenqing's words, this child is "favored by heaven".
In the past, almost everyone around Xue Bai did not think that he would have a legitimate eldest son, because there were too many people around him who might give birth to a bastard, but his legitimate wife was still weak and sick.
At that time, no one thought that Xue Bai needed an eldest son. After all, no eldest son had successfully succeeded to the throne since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. This matter even became a worry for many officials.
Who would have thought that in the year after Xue Bai became the crown prince, his eldest son would be born smoothly, which was like an auspicious sign and had a symbolic meaning that the Tang Dynasty would move towards stability.
Even Du Jin, who has always been strong, thought this was God's will.
Du Jin never believed in fate, only believed that everything had to be fought for by herself, but she sweated profusely again and again and finally failed to win over the weak Yan Yan in this matter, so she had to sigh, "It's fate."
But only a few people, including Du Jin, knew how much Yan Yan had paid for this and how many illnesses she had caused. After that, the door of the main room of Shaoyang Hospital was rarely opened again because Yan Yan was afraid of catching the cold.
Talking about the eldest son, it was originally something that could be publicized in order to stabilize the status of the crown prince, but Xue Bai kept a very low profile.
He just went to complain to Emperor Fengtian again, announced the matter, and then strengthened the security of Shaoyang Academy.
In November, it snowed heavily in Chang'an.
After Xue Bai gave birth to his eldest son, Qing Lan and Li Tengkong became pregnant one after another.
Looking back on the past ten years, he is no longer the foreigner with nothing at the beginning. He already owns too many things in Datang.
In the last month of this year, Li Tengkong was a little anxious.
She no longer lives in the Taoist temple in Shaoyang Courtyard. Sometimes she would suddenly step on Xue Bai and say something to him.
"You have nothing to worry about anymore, right? Once you have your legitimate son, you start to act recklessly."
"Um?"
"You and I are from the same sect. What should we do if others find out?"
Xue Bai took Li Tengkong's hand, patted it gently, and said comfortingly: "Don't worry, I have been following the steps and achieving my goal step by step. Li Cong is about to die. From now on, no one can point us in the right direction."
Give me some pointers.”
Li Tengkong has been inexplicably fond of crying recently, and is completely different from the indifferent Taoist nun.
She didn't wipe her tears and scolded Xue Bai again: "Bad guy, you are the only one with scheming ideas."
"Yes, I am a bad person."
My private life is becoming increasingly dull and peaceful.
I thought that when the New Year came, the Tubo troops would withdraw, so that the soldiers guarding the border could have a good New Year. However, even Xue Bai did not expect that the war would continue into the next year.
~~
The third year of the Yuan Dynasty is the Year of the Dog.
In the original history, Shi Siming was still rebelling in this year, but now the civil strife in the Tang Dynasty has been suppressed for more than a year, but it has not yet been able to struggle out of the war with Tubo. The treasury is empty, the people are barren, and the world is far from being revived.
.
It was like a young eagle emerging from its shell, flapping its wings a few times, but not yet able to fly.
In February, everything revives.
The military cantonment that was launched last year was delayed due to the continuous war, and both the acres and the number of acres cultivated decreased.
This is true for food, and other things will naturally have a big impact. Even if Xue Bai has many new things in his mind, they will still be subject to food and population.
He also knew that defeating Tubo was not something that could be accomplished in a short time, and even just repelling Tubo was not easy.
As a decision-maker, as the battle lines continue to lengthen, the intelligence he receives becomes more and more complex. More things begin to appear that need to be identified. Some generals begin to shirk responsibility from each other, and some generals propose some unrealistic tactics.
There are also those who lie about military intelligence and those who kill good people and take credit for their merits.
The war dragged on into the second year, and became increasingly difficult to handle.
Xue Bai used to not understand those emperors who destroyed the Great Wall in history, but now he realizes how painful it is to sit in the capital and "direct" a national war. He collects the entire country's taxes and entrusts them all to those generals.
Day after day, there is no good news, which often makes people want to ask what they are doing.
But all he could do was to be patient and trust his general.
This is another form of war. The supreme rulers of the two countries are also competing for vision and patience.
When he heard that some wounded soldiers had returned to Chang'an, Xue Bai wanted to visit them privately in disguise under the pretext of hunting.
He needed to hear with his own ears what the soldiers had to say, and couldn't just read the official documents sent back by the stagecoach...
On this day, Xue Bai left the Shaoyang Courtyard and passed through the Qide Gate. He saw the soldiers of Jinwu Guards arrayed neatly in front of the courtyard. The Diao brothers were wearing armor and waiting in full formation.
"What's this for? Those who know say I'm going hunting, but those who don't know think I'm going to conquer Longyou."
Diao Bing strode forward, performed a very standard cross-hand salute, and said: "Your Highness, the general will be waiting to protect your safety."
"There's no need to be too showy. As I said, I'll do a private visit incognito."
Diao Bing did not dare to disobey the order, but he still gave a few words of advice in a low voice and said: "Your Highness, there are many people who want to assassinate you. Do you still put your safety first?"
"Who told you?"
"It's Mr. Yan and Mr. Du."
In fact, the truth is correct. There must be many people who want to kill Xue Bai now, whether it is because of the destruction of Buddha, some members of the Li Tang clan, or even various political enemies of Xue Bai.
Xue Bai was not a risk-taker, so he agreed to Diao Bing's request to use the Jinwu Guard to clear the way.
So the streets around Chunming Gate began to be quiet, and rows of Jinwu Guards lined up on both sides of the city gate to escort the prince's ceremonial driver out of the city. The formation was quite large, and it looked a bit like the scene when Li Linfu went out.
This is also the reason why Xue Bai rarely leaves the palace now. It is too troublesome and requires a lot of manpower and material resources, but he cannot see the real situation.
After the overwhelming hunting team passed by, a few knights rode out of the west gate of Chang'an. It was Xue Bai who quietly left the city with Diao Geng and other guards.
As soon as you leave Chang'an City, your sight will suddenly open up.
It's strange to say that Xue Bai used to like the bustling and bustling Chang'an, but now he often feels like it is like a prison cell.
After galloping for most of the day, we walked along the Feng River for a while, and gradually we could see farmers plowing the ground.
Xue Bai had inquired beforehand and knew that a group of wounded soldiers were assigned fields here after returning home. He looked around and saw a lame man in the distance carrying dung and water. He couldn't help but think of Feng Changqing, so he led his horse there.
.
"From the looks of it, Xiongtai, has been a soldier?"
"Who are you?"
"Chang'an County Official, this property came from the imperial court last year when it confiscated the Ciji Temple. I came to see the current situation."
"It turns out I'm on official business. Let's have a drink, please?"
"You have bad legs and feet, so why don't you hire a tenant? But when you go into battle to kill the enemy, the court cuts your reward? Or do you get fewer acres of land?"
"There are many children at home and they are all young. I want to save more money. This work is not heavy, so I do it myself."
Xue Bai smiled and said, "Me too."
As he spoke, he took out a wine bag and snacks wrapped in a cloth bag, and soon the two of them started chatting, squatting by the field and talking about things in Longyou.
"I am under the command of Han Yougui, the Marquis of Du Yu, Hou Kang, the swordsman of Mo Dao. You may not have heard of his name, but we are subordinate to Marshal Guo."
When it came to talking about the battlefield, the retired wounded soldier was quite talkative. After taking a few sips of wine, he started talking.
"They say there are 300,000 Tibetan soldiers, but in fact they are just fucking herdsmen. They don't even have any armor on. Otherwise, I would have died a long time ago. On the battlefield, our warriors from the Tang Dynasty are much more powerful, but they just can't handle the large number of them. They come from all directions."
, we can’t even defend ourselves, we can only defend the city.”
"If we talk about killing enemies, I have indeed killed a few Tubo soldiers. But to be honest, they are just common people on the border, so it is not very interesting. It is laborious and life-consuming, but in the end the real Tubo soldiers took advantage."
"My injury occurred last year. We followed General Han and was ordered to support General Ma, but General Ma got lost and did not come back after dark. We all advised General Han to retreat, but the general refused to retreat and continued on.
We went to find General Ma. But we were surrounded by the Tibetan army, with three floors inside and three floors outside. We couldn’t be killed. Guess what? When I thought I was going to die there, General Ma came back and saved us.
Already."
"In that battle, we killed thousands of enemy soldiers, but when we returned to the city, there were only a hundred or so of the five hundred people left. I was stabbed twice in the leg and my finger was gone.
"
After Xue Bai heard this, his eagerness for success calmed down a lot.
He will no longer want to angrily ask the frontline generals "What are you doing?"
"Do you know what kind of person Dazarugong is?"
"Hey, I have actually seen his big banner from a distance. It is very majestic. The military said that he has a Chinese name, Ma Chongying. Why? It is said that his grandfather is a monk with a surname of Ma, and his mother is a boben.
The reason why he became the Prime Minister of Tubo was because his mother-in-law had an affair with a Tubo noble, bewitched him with witchcraft, and adopted him as his adopted son. Later, Ma Chongying killed the noble's family."
"Really?"
"I don't know if it's true or not. I heard it while chatting in the army."
This kind of news is mostly fabricated, so it never appears in the memorials received by Xue Bai.
However, the sergeants and soldiers in the army told him this, but it was also the public's impression of Dazhalu Gong.
He has a Chinese name, indicating that he probably knows something about Sinology; he is clearly a Bobon believer, but he is said to be the illegitimate son of a monk, which shows that he also knows something about Buddhism; as for the story of killing his stepfather and usurping power later, it shows that he is ambitious
.
Judging from everything, he should be a Tubo nobleman with great power and strategy.
"Oh, the wizard Aniang, who is still rumored to be Ma Chongying in the army, hated that monk so much that before she died, she told him to kill the monks of the Tang Dynasty. That's why he invaded the Tang Dynasty so ruthlessly..."
Asking once or twice may not mean much, but Xue Bai often chatted with these wounded and veterans, and the image of Dazhalu Gong in his mind gradually became clear.
He began to have a question. Dazalu Gong was obviously more eager to invade the Tang Dynasty than in history. Why? It couldn't really be because of the so-called monk father.
As the understanding deepened, one day Xue Bai had a dream while taking a nap.
He dreamed of a mighty man in his fifties, with a beard, a bald head, and a high hairline, showing the wrinkles on his forehead that seemed to symbolize wisdom.
This man's eyes were deep, as if he could see through people's hearts. He was squatting in the yellow sand, asking several Tang army prisoners about something, and he still spoke very fluent Chinese.
"What kind of person is Xue Bai? I heard that he made huge stone cannons, telescopes, and explosives. He also captured our Tibetan princess."
"Such a person has become the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty."
"..."
Although Xue Bai was in a dream, he already knew who he was - Dazalu Gong.
Then Xue Bai had a strong murderous intention in his mind and urgently wanted to kill him.
Then, Dazharugong seemed to have noticed something. He raised his head and looked at Xue Bai. There seemed to be conspiracy flashing in his eyes.
The originally vague opponent suddenly became clear.
Xue Bai found that this was the first time that he faced Dazhalu Gong, the prime minister of Tubo, a figure like Dong Zhuo.
The next moment, he woke up.
Maybe, thousands of miles away, the other party was really asking about his situation like this.
At this time, a post letter was delivered to Xue Bai.
"Your Highness, please urgently report the military situation. The Tubo army is divided into four groups, and it seems that they are going to kill Ben Guanzhong..."