In the tenth year of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty was peaceful both internally and externally.
After the spring plowing, the biggest war monger in the Tang Dynasty, His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, looked at the farming situation reported in the various states and counties in the Tang Dynasty and comforted him. He had already begun to calm down, prepare to marry off, and focus on cultivating talents in the Tang Dynasty. Develop agriculture and build infrastructure.
The second batch of warmongers, Cheng Zhijie, Yuchi Jingde, Li Ji, Zhang Liang, Duan Zhixuan and other generals, also spent half a year sighing in their respective homes, preparing to bid farewell to His Majesty and go to guard the states for the Tang Dynasty.
By the way, under the leadership of the mighty and wise Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, agriculture was developed, talents from poor families were cultivated, and then cement houses and cement roads were built for the Tang Dynasty.
However, these people had just submitted the memorial when a team of dusty and panic-stricken people, like victims of a disaster, came in from the Jinguang Gate of Chang'an City and went straight to the Prince's Mansion in Hejian County!
Less than a quarter of an hour.
Li Xiaogong, the prince of Hejian County, rushed directly to the palace angrily!
Half an hour later.
Cheng Zhijie, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji, Wei Zheng and other important officials of the Tang Dynasty all came to Liangyi Hall in a hurry with solemn faces.
"I dare to ask Your Majesty, what kind of big thing happened when you summoned the ministers and others in such a hurry?"
Cheng Zhijie, Fang Xuanling and others quickly asked with doubts on their faces after entering the main hall.
They had not experienced this situation of being hastily summoned by Li Shimin for more than a year.
"Hmph, Xiaogong will tell you this!"
Li Shimin's face was gloomy and he snorted coldly.
Hearing this, Cheng Zhijie, Fang Xuanling and others were startled and quickly looked at Li Xiaogong.
"May I ask the Prince of Hejian County, what kind of big event happened?"
"Everyone, my Tang Dynasty caravan was robbed by barbarians from the Western Regions!"
Li Xiaogong said directly.
"How brave!"
"Those horse thieves dare to attack our caravan of the Tang Dynasty. I am really impatient..."
Cheng Zhijie, Fang Xuanling and others stared angrily and cursed loudly.
The Datang caravan Li Xiaogong mentioned was the caravan affiliated to the Datang Chamber of Commerce of which so many of them were members.
"The Duke of Su, the Duke of Wei, and the Duke of Qi are not the hands of horse thieves in the Western Regions!" Li Xiaogong said with a cold look on his face.
"Um?"
Cheng Zhijie, Fang Xuanling and others couldn't help but be startled, and then looked confused.
"Prince Hejian, apart from those horse thieves in the Western Regions, who else dares to attack my Datang caravan?"
"That is, although our Datang caravan is just a caravan, because it carries a lot of goods, each caravan is accompanied by at least two hundred soldiers. The soldiers who carry weapons will be able to protect themselves even if they encounter large barbarians. Tribes can also be slaughtered!"
As they said this, several people subconsciously thought of something and looked at Li Xiaogong with shocked and angry faces.
"Prince Hejian County, could it be that some small country in the Western Region took action?"
"no!"
Li Xiaogong slowly shook his head and said: "I heard from the caravan manager that the people who robbed our Tang Dynasty caravan were all black-armored and black-horsed, and those barbarians were all blond and blue-eyed. They were holding the eagle flag. They seemed to be extremely powerful. The great food country of the West!"
"Big food?"
Hearing this, Cheng Zhijie, Fang Xuanling and others couldn't help but change their expressions.
"Didn't those Hu merchants from the Western Regions say that the great food country is in the far west, tens of thousands of miles away from our Tang Dynasty? How could their cavalry come to the Western Regions? How dare they rob the goods of my Datang caravan?"
At this time, Li Shimin walked to the large map in the hall and said slowly.
"According to the map, the Great Food Country is indeed thousands of miles away from our Tang Dynasty! However, since our Tang Dynasty King destroyed the Turks and captured the Tuyuhun and Tubo countries, our territory of the Tang Dynasty has expanded westward.
Thousands of miles!”
"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!"
Cheng Zhijie and Changsun Wuji quickly praised him.
Li Shimin glared at these old guys angrily and continued: "Since the Tang Dynasty has been able to expand its territory by thousands of miles to the west in the past two years. As a big country in the far west, the Dashi Kingdom will inevitably expand its territory to the west.
Expand eastward!”
"Your Majesty, if that big foodie dares to come over, I, Old Cheng, will kill him and turn him into food for me, the Tang Dynasty!"
Cheng Zhijie said harshly.
"They have robbed your caravan and killed many people!"
Li Shimin glanced at Cheng Zhijie and said coldly.
Cheng Zhijie was shocked, his eyes suddenly turned red, and he wished he could immediately lead his troops to cut off the heads of these thieves, "Please give your Majesty's order. I, Old Cheng, will summon his subordinates to cut off the heads of those big thieves!"
"Your Majesty, the Western Region is extremely far away from the Tang Dynasty. The matter of sending troops needs to be considered in the long term!"
On the side, Wei Zheng quickly raised his hands and suggested.
"Long term plan?"
Before Li Shimin could speak to Li Xiaogong and others, Cheng Zhijie exploded.
"Old man Wei, people have come here, robbed my Tang Dynasty caravan's goods, and killed my Tang Dynasty soldiers. This matter must be dealt with severely. What else do you want to discuss?"
"Cheng Heizi, I knew we were going to fight, but sending troops to such a long distance must be done with a long-term plan!"
Wei Zhengcai was not afraid of Cheng Zhijie, and said with a straight face: "Do you know how many troops that big thief defeated? Is the robbery of my Datang caravan this time a deliberate attempt to lure my Datang king's army? Is it a trap deliberately set?
Waiting for me Tang soldiers?
How many soldiers and generals can Datang send this time? Who should we send as generals?"
"I, Old Cheng, am the general!"
Cheng Zhijie said directly.
"His Majesty……"
However, before he finished speaking, Li Shimin raised his hand.
"Our Tang Dynasty has not used weapons for more than a year, and some barbarian traitors have begun to ignore our Tang Dynasty and want to send troops to conquer. As for who to send as generals and how many generals to send, tomorrow's imperial court will
I will discuss this with the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty again!"
"Xuanling, Keming, how much food does our Tang Dynasty have in Liangzhou now for the army to go on an expedition?"
"Your Majesty, in order to prevent border towns like Shunzhou and Tuyuhun from rebelling, our Tang Dynasty has specially stored 200,000 dan of grain in Liangzhou for the use of the army!"
Du Ruhui quickly replied.
"Two hundred thousand shi of food?"
Li Shimin nodded slightly, "In this case, in the next few days, we will transport a thousand kilograms of dried fish and a thousand kilograms of pickle sticks to Liangzhou, and then we will quickly collect a thousand kilograms of beef jerky from Tubo and store them in Liangzhou first!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others quickly responded with their hands raised.
This time, Wei Zheng did not stand up to stop it.
Anyway, now that the Tang Dynasty is at peace, the warehouses are full, and the soldiers and horses are strong, even if your Majesty sends 100,000 troops, he can support it!
Moreover, Datang is not afraid of war now!
Soon, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others went down to start preparations.
However, Cheng Zhijie and Li Xiaogong remained motionless and stayed in Liangyi Hall.
In the end, it was Li Shimin who couldn't help but look at Cheng Zhijie and Li Xiaogong with disgust.
"Cheng Heizi, Brother Xiaogong, what else do you two have to do?"
Cheng Zhijie and Li Xiaogong glared at each other, then looked at Li Shimin and shook their heads.
"Return to Your Majesty, I'm waiting for you!"
Li Shimin glared, "Since there is nothing to do, why are you two still sitting in the Liangyi Hall and not leaving?"
"Hey, Your Majesty, I know you must go to Lijiazhuang to find King Jin, and I want to go too!"
Cheng Zhijie chuckled.
"Exactly, what Mr. Su Guo said is right. Your Majesty, I also want to follow your Majesty to meet Xuan Ba!" Li Xiaogong agreed.
"Who said I'm going to find Xuan Ba?"
Li Shimin said angrily.
"Your Majesty, this is what the Prince of Hejian County said!"
"Your Majesty, it was Cheng Heizi who said..."
Cheng Zhijie and Li Xiaogong subconsciously pointed at each other and said!
"snort!"
Seeing this, Li Shimin snorted coldly, sat on the sofa, and looked at Cheng Zhijie and Li Xiaogong quietly.
However, these two people were determined to lead troops to conquer the bandit army of the Great Food Country, so they bit the bullet and continued to sit on top.
After continuing to endure it for a while, Li Shimin's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
Finally, he let out a long sigh with helplessness on his face.
"Isn't it just a barbarian army? How come you are defending me like this?"
"Your Majesty, now our country of the Tang Dynasty is peaceful and peaceful, and the small countries on all sides have become vassal states of the Tang Dynasty. There is no war to speak of. I am already bored, and I plan to follow the example of the Crown Prince and lead my people of the Tang Dynasty to farm.
It’s over!
Now, it's not easy to find such an army of thieves coming to satisfy my old hunger, I must catch it!"
Cheng Zhijie was still smiling.
"I will make a decision tomorrow on who to send out on the expedition!" Li Shimin said.
Hearing this, Cheng Zhijie's face became anxious and he quickly said: "Your Majesty, it's okay to let Lao Cheng become a deputy general!"
"When the Tang Dynasty was founded, the Grand Duke of the Twelve Guards became the deputy general? Is it possible that the Tang Dynasty will send an army of 200,000 troops?"
Li Shimin sneered and said, "You idiot, you don't even know how many people there are in that big food army, right?"
"Your Majesty, how many troops are there?" Cheng Zhijie said with a smile.
"Twenty thousand troops!"
Li Shimin said.
"Twenty thousand?"
Cheng Zhijie couldn't help but frown slightly.
"May I ask Your Majesty, are all the 20,000 horses cavalry, or are they accompanied by infantry?"
"Twenty thousand cavalry!"
Li Shimin said.
Cheng Zhijie suddenly became excited: "Your Majesty, if you want to eat 20,000 cavalry, why should the Tang Dynasty send out 50,000 troops?"
"This is not certain!"
Li Shimin glanced at Cheng Zhijie with a half-smile and said slowly.
"ah?"
Cheng Zhijie was shocked.
"Let's go, I'm going to see Xuan Ba!" Li Shimin waved his hand, stood up directly, and walked out.
"Hey, Your Majesty, wait for me..."
Cheng Zhijie and Li Xiaogong immediately caught up with grins.
…
Half an hour later.
Li Xuan, who was bored and taking Li Chenglu for a walk with his dog in the village, saw Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong, Cheng Zhijie and others getting out of the carriage, and he couldn't help but look shocked.
"Your Majesty, why are you here?"
Li Shimin: "..."
"See His Royal Highness King Jin!"
Cheng Zhijie on the side quickly bowed his hands in greeting.
Li Xiaogong explained: "Xuanba, my Tang Dynasty caravan was plundered by the army of the Great Shi Kingdom in the Western Regions. Tens of thousands of money and goods were looted. Hundreds of old soldiers and caravan men, only dozens of people escaped.
indivual!"
"How brave!"
Li Xuan's expression changed, and he was filled with murderous intent.
Then, he suddenly remembered something and asked: "No, how did my Datang caravan encounter the Dashi army? Where did they go?"
Hearing this, Li Xiaogong was also startled.
When he heard this, he was furious and did not think about this problem at all.
"Let's go, let's talk after you guys go inside!"
With that said, Li Xuan invited Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong and others into the house.
Li Chang took two maids and quickly served tea and fruit snacks.
"Your Majesty is here today, but you want to send troops?" Li Xuan asked.
"Xuanba is right about what he said. A mere barbarian country dared to rob my Tang Dynasty caravan and massacre the people and soldiers of our Tang Dynasty. I wish I could capture its leader alive and kill him as the dead soldier.
Apologize to the people!" Li Shimin said bitterly.
"Moreover, in the past two years, this caravan alone has brought back many rare treasures from the Western Regions to the Tang Dynasty. The barbarians who dare to cut off the wealth of the Tang Dynasty must be damned!"
Li Xuan nodded slowly.
Indeed, in the past few years, the most profitable caravans in the Tang Dynasty were those from the Western Regions.
There are dozens or hundreds of countries in the Western Region, and all of them are very rich. As long as good items from the Tang Dynasty can be transported there, a glass item can be exchanged for half a catty of gold or a gem.
Or, a piece of silk can be exchanged for half a pound of gold, or a good horse!
Just the caravans traveling to the Western Regions could contribute more than 100,000 yuan to the Jin Palace every year.
As for Li Shimin, he got even more...
In addition, now that there is no war to fight around the Tang Dynasty, all the generals in the entire Tang Dynasty, including Li Shimin, are probably so idle that they are about to grow hairy.
Now there is such a big barbarian country that dares to stand up and barge its teeth at the Tang Dynasty. If Li Shimin doesn't fight, those generals will cause trouble!
"Xuanba, there are about 20,000 cavalry soldiers in the Great Shi Kingdom. We, the Tang Dynasty, have also sent 20,000 soldiers, including 10,000 cavalry, 5,000 infantry, and 5,000 thunder troops. Can we kill these traitor soldiers in one battle?"
Li Shimin asked about the purpose of Lijiazhuang.
"Your Majesty, does the Thunder Army need artillery?" Li Xuan asked.
"artillery?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Zhijie and Li Xiaogong's eyes suddenly widened, their faces full of desire.
"Xuanba, the weapons supervisor has currently produced a hundred artillery pieces, and I am going to let the Thunder Army bring them all!"
Li Shimin nodded slowly and said.
At this time, Cheng Zhijie and Li Xiaogong were staring directly at Li Shimin.
"Your Majesty, one hundred artillery pieces only require a maximum of five hundred soldiers to escort them. How many bombs are equipped with each artillery piece?"
Li Xuan was not too surprised about a hundred artillery pieces. In these two months, the Ordnance Supervisor could completely forge them.
"Each artillery can only be equipped with fifty bombs!"
Li Shimin said.
"enough!"
Li Xuan nodded slowly, "Although the cavalry is fast, the Great Food Cavalry has never seen the firearms of our Datang Dynasty. As long as they dare to send troops to attack our Datang Dynasty and charge head-on, they only need two rounds of artillery volleys. Those 20,000
A big food cavalryman will definitely be knocked over and 20% of them will be killed by the explosion.
The remaining soldiers will lose all their courage and flee in all directions!"
Li Shimin's eyes lit up, but he was still a little dissatisfied.
"Xuanba, I want to kill all the 20,000 thieves!"
Cheng Zhijie and Li Xiaogong, on the other hand, were already breathing rapidly, and their eyes were full of longing.
"Your Majesty, unless five times the force is dispatched, we will not be able to kill all the 20,000 cavalry if they are determined to escape!"
Li Xuan glanced at Li Shimin lightly, "Not to mention a hundred artillery pieces, even a thousand artillery pieces can't kill them all at once!"
"But how can your majesty be sure that there is no big army of thieves behind the big thieves? Or, how can your majesty be sure that among the countries in the Western Region, there are no small countries that have taken refuge in the big thieves?"
"Your Majesty, artillery is most suitable for attacking standing bandits! It's not that it can't attack moving bandits, but your majesty must choose resourceful generals, otherwise no matter how many artillery you carry, it will be in vain!"