The red lips were gently raised, like a blooming peony, Zhang Qian had a heart in an instant, and quickly lowered his head......

In the next moment, the red lips disappeared. The smell of cow, horse urine, sheep dung, and stinky feet intertwined and penetrated into his nostrils. He sneezed several times in quick succession, struggled to reach out, and pulled out a cotton cloth coated with wind oil from under the saddle that served as a pillow, and covered his tired face.

When the smell of wind oil essence quickly expelled all kinds of stench, he also completely regained consciousness. He sighed and struggled to get up from the makeshift wooden bed, slowly moving his aching limbs.

The softness of his lips seemed to have not dissipated, and he, the person, had already arrived at the Jade Gate Pass. The experienced new chief of Anxi Town, Niu Shi Award, was worried that the soldiers would fall ill because of the long journey, so he specially ordered the army to rest in Yumen Pass for three days and replenish supplies by the way. As the commander of the march, Zhang Qian's responsibility was to supervise the participation of the army at all levels to fulfill their duties and ensure that the brothers had sufficient food supplies from Yumen Pass all the way to Shule. And boost morale, to avoid the first time that the recruits are far away from home, the heart accumulates too much sorrow and fear, which will lead to the occurrence of "camp roar".

Joining the army at all levels are veterans who have followed the Niu Shi Award for many years, and they don't need Zhang Qian, the marching commander, to supervise and supervise them, so they will do their work in an orderly manner. And to boost morale, the captains of each regiment are far more expert than Zhang Qian. Therefore, in the past two days, Zhang Qian only needs to sit in the camp tent and listen to the report, and he can complete all the internal work. However, he was still exhausted.

As a rookie, he has so much to learn. From choosing the route of the march, to maintaining the speed of the march while taking into account the physical strength of the soldiers, to the rational distribution of materials, to dealing with various endless contradictions, and then to ......

To be honest, Zhang Qian is not surprised at all now, why did he hear that he had made a marching captain, and the Niu Shi Award would come to the door without any emotion.

The position of marching commander Shi, from the perspective of another time and space, is the chief of staff and political commissar and the person in charge of logistics support, if it is replaced by an experienced general, the Niu Shi Award can at least save most of the energy to figure out how to break the enemy and capture the city. And now, the Niu Shi Award has to take on the work of the commander and the marching chief, and one person can take on it, so how can the old general be smooth?

However, with the cultivation of the old general, when he learned that the position of marching commander Shi was not Zhang Qian's own money activities, and the wood was already completed, he did not deliberately make things difficult again. Especially after Zhang Qian sent someone to send twenty sets of Dazzling Star Armor and personally tested the amazing protective power of this armor, he simply accepted the reality calmly.

Zhang Qian, as the marching commander, is definitely not qualified. But after Zhang Qian became the chief of the march, Zuo Xiaowei, which is now the Anxi Army, no longer has to worry about the supply of ordnance!

Not to mention Zhang Qian's position as the junior superintendent of the ordnance superintendent, which has always been retained and no one has taken over. With the relationship between him and Zhang Shuo, the squire of the Ministry of War, who would dare to treat the Anxi Army slowly in terms of ordnance supply in the future?

In addition, Zhang Qian himself is also an expert in manufacturing various ordnance. In the early winter of last year, Niu Shi Award once accompanied the Divine Dragon Emperor Li Xian to test those ingeniously conceived and powerful new weapons in Weiyang Palace. Taking Zhang Qian with him is equivalent to bringing a treasure chest, no matter whether it encounters mountains or rivers in the future, the Anxi Army will definitely be on the ground!

As for everything in the army, General Niu Lao also calculated it very clearly. Arrange the troops and command the formation, he doesn't want others to come up with ideas at all, so a long history of marching who doesn't understand a fart makes him uneasy when making decisions. In other aspects, he can send someone to teach hand-in-hand, I believe that with Zhang Qian's cleverness, he won't be able to learn no matter how he teaches!

Therefore, after calmly accepting Zhang Qian, a rookie marching chief, the veteran general Niu Shi Award, put himself in the position of "shopkeeper" in his heart. And Zhang Qian, the "apprentice", is indeed open-minded and studious, and asks if he doesn't understand. As a result, the relationship between the two parties has been extremely harmonious along the way. It's just that being an "apprentice" is really hard, and almost every day is so tired that as long as I touch the bed, I snore like thunder.

"Changshi, please clean your face!" Zhang Ren, a personal soldier, carried a basin of dark yellow cold water, pushed the door and walked in, and said in a low voice.

Compared with Zhang Qian, who had a separate tent and a simple bed to rest, the tiredness on his face was even stronger. The forehead and ears were also sunburned because they had been walking in the sun for a long time. One black, one white, looks very pitiful.

"Let's put it down, how about Zhang Gui and Zhang Fu?" Zhang Qian smiled and nodded, and asked with concern while taking out a toothbrush made of pig bristles and refined salt powder from the wooden box.

"Zhang Gui and Zhang Fu, according to your instructions, after drinking milk tea, they no longer have diarrhea. By the time the day starts tomorrow morning, you should be able to keep up with the team. Zhang Ren, a pro-soldier, blushed slightly, stood up straight, and replied cautiously. His eyes were full of apology.

He and the other twenty-four family members who were returned to the deed of sale are now Zhang Qian's personal soldiers, all of whom are loyal. However, everyone's performance along the way is really a bit "bad". Just out of Yangguan, which is not far from Chang'an, he had diarrhea and diarrhea, and the heat stroke of heat stroke not only failed to perform the duties of a pro-soldier, but also needed Zhang Qian to send someone to take care of it. However, the family members sent by Guo and Ren are all used to going far away, and so far, one by one is still alive.

"Then keep drinking, anyway, we have enough mare's milk and tea bricks!" Zhang Qian was not very disappointed by the performance of the family members, smiled, and gave a pleasant order.

The families of Zhangjiazhuang rarely leave Zhuangzi, and the first time they go far away, it is inevitable that they will not adapt to the water and soil. The effect of milk tea is to supplement salt, calcium and vitamins at the same time, which can greatly alleviate the patient's condition.

If this method continues to be valid, Zhang Qian is ready to dedicate it to the Niu Shi Award, and then promote it to the entire Anxi Army (Zuo Xiaowei). According to his observations, there are also many recruits in the Anxi army who have various conditions. At present, the official army of the Tang Dynasty is mainly composed of government soldiers, each group (ten people), equipped with six pack horses, many of which are mares. If the sick number is supplied alone, the milk source can basically be guaranteed. (Note: According to the government military system, all kinds of taxes are exempted during the service, but pack horses, light weapons, and luggage are brought by themselves.) ）

"Thank you Changshi!" The face of the pro-soldier Zhang Ren turned even redder, and after thanking him, he turned around and left. Before going out, he stopped again, and reported in the future: "Changshi, recently, there has been a saying among the brothers, I don't know if you have heard it?" ”

"What's that?" Zhang Qian's brows furrowed and asked in a low voice.

"The brothers say, the brothers say......" Zhang Ren looked around, and his voice became like a gnat, "Guo Yuanzhen, the chief of Jinshan Dao, is in a group with Suo Ge. Zuo Xiaowei went this time, mainly to guard against Guo Yuanzhen. This person has been in Ganliang for many years, and there are countless minions under his door. Once you rebel, you can directly cut off the connection between the Western Regions and Chang'an, and become a country of your own! ”

"Nonsense!" Zhang Qian's brows quickly raised, not angry and arrogant, "Who said that?" Tell me his name? ”

Zhang Ren was taken aback. But he didn't dare to hide it, and continued to add in a gnat-like voice, "A lot of people, a lot of people are talking." Our brothers here are just listening. Mr. Niu was in charge of the pro-soldiers over there, and it was rumored that he had noses and eyes. They also said that the reason why the imperial court had previously sent Zhou Yiyi as an envoy to Anxi and took away the title of Guo Yuanzhen's chief manager of Anxi was because he was worried that there would be collusion between him and Suo Ge! (Note: In the Tang Dynasty, there was a temporary appointment and the meaning of acting as the head.) ）

Since the rumor is that it is the pro-soldier of the Niu Shi Award, it is inconvenient for Zhang Qian to pursue it further. Although he has a good relationship with Niu Shi Award, it is far from the point where he can move the other party's own soldiers at will. However, before reminding Niu Shi Award to pay attention, he didn't want his pro-military camp to be affected too much by rumors. Therefore, he groaned for a moment and emphasized in a low voice, "The ten tents of the Turkish, combined, are only three or four hundred thousand people. And most of them are not the same heart as Suo Ge. No matter how much you toss, you can't toss a country. And out of Yumen Pass and further west, there is not a single figure for hundreds of miles, Guo Yuanzhen can't even provide for food, what does he use to rebel? After I went out, you passed this word on my behalf to Guo Jing and Ren Qi, and told them that no rumors were allowed to be spread in my personal barracks. Otherwise, even if the cow manager doesn't dispose of him, my side won't allow him! ”

"Yes!" Zhang Ren shuddered, bowed his hand, and then turned to leave. Although he was trained, his spirit was much better than before.

"Whew-" Zhang Qian sighed secretly, lowered his head, and began to clean his teeth with a toothbrush and refined salt. In the basin of water, a pair of tired eyes are reflected.

The situation will not be as serious as Zhang Ren just said, but the rumors are not entirely groundless. If Zhou Yiyi and Guo Yuanzhen could work together, even if Suo Ge got the support of the Turks, he would not be able to set off much of a storm.

It's a pity, if after all, it's just if. The reality is that Zhou Yiyi, who was born in a martial arts, looks down on Guo Yuanzhen, who was originally a civil official and most of the credit comes from pacifying the place. And Guo Yuanzhen and Suo Ge's father are inseparable from each other, and Suo Ge is called his uncle before and after others. After the conflict between Suo Ge and Ashinazhongjie, Zhou Yiyi took Ashina Zhongjie into Broken Leaf City, and Guo Yuanzhen was of course not happy.

The unhappy result was that after Zhou Yiyi defeated Suo Ge for the first time under Broken Leaf City, Guo Yuanzhen not only sent people to congratulate him, but instead impeached Zhou Yiyi for acting unfairly. When Suoge, with the support of the Turks, attacked Broken Leaf again. Guo Yuanzhen did not "have time" to send a soldier to rescue him.

After Zhou Yiyi, the former envoy of Anxi and the general of the Right Weiwei, lost the city of Broken Leaves, he was determined to take revenge. Repeatedly sent blood letters to the imperial court, requesting the dispatch of elite soldiers to quell the rebellion, and proposed to support Ashina as the ten surnamed Khan, and to control Hu with Hu. Guo Yuanzhen, the governor of Jinshan Dao, was-for-tat, insisting that instead of supporting Ashi Naxian, it was better to admit that Suo Ge was a Khan with ten surnames, and both of them were Turgish people anyway, and no matter who made the ten surnamed Khans, they would not be absolutely loyal to the Tang Dynasty.

Most of the powerful ministers in the court tended to accept Zhou Yiyi's opinion. If there is no punishment at all after the rebellion, in the future, the chieftains of all ethnic groups in the Western Regions will definitely take Suo Ge as an example, and the Tang Dynasty's control of the Western Regions will inevitably be shaky! However, the Tang army closest to Zhou Yiyi at the moment is Zuo Wuwei under Guo Yuanzhen, the general manager of Jinshan Dao. Guo Yuanzhen himself disagreed with Zhou Yiyi, and sent him to support the latter, but he may not be willing to do his best. (Note: Xiangquan, Datang does not have a real official position of prime minister, only a few official positions have powers similar to those of the prime minister, such as Zhongshu Ling, Shizhong, left and right servants and Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin.) ）

In addition, Guo Yuanzhen is also a famous Confucian general, who is good at governing the land and pacifying the people and defending the city, and is not good at field warfare. Whether he was the governor of Liangzhou or the governor of Jinshan, his main achievements were to build cities and make friends with the leaders of various ethnic groups, so that the local soldiers were not prosperous. Let him go to the battlefield with Suo Ge in a decisive battle, and it is indeed a short blow and a long blow.

As a result, the hat of the chief manager of Anxi will fall on the head of the Niu Shi Award. In view of the fact that General Niu Lao is familiar with the situation in the Western Regions, and has a good relationship with you Guo Yuanzhen and Zhou Yiyi, Xiao Zhizhong, Zong Chuke, Ji Zhine and other bigwigs of the current dynasty have repeatedly discussed before deciding to make preparations with both hands. First, he sent the veteran general Niu Shiyu and Zhang Qian, the newly promoted young eunuch, to lead 10,000 elite soldiers to "mediate" the conflict between Suo Ge and Ashina Zhongjie. Taking advantage of the trend, he persuaded Guo Yuanzhen and Zhou Yiyi to give up their personal grievances and put national affairs first.

If Suo Ge Ken took advantage of the steps to retreat and return to Broken Leaf City, the imperial court would not only be guilty of the past, but would definitely consider accepting Guo Yuanzhen's proposal and making Suo Ge the ten surnamed Khan. Then he transferred Ashi Nazhong Festival and his tribes to move inward, and went to Guazhou and Shazhou to recuperate for a generation. If Suo Ge doesn't want to give face, then the Niu Shi Award will lead Zuo Xiaowei's elite to regain Broken Leaf City together with Zhou Yiyi and Guo Yuanzhen. At that time, the soldiers and horses of Gan and Liang Prefectures, Niu Shi Award can be deployed with full authority.

If you look at it purely from the perspective of a bystander, the court's decision is very sound. Zhou Yiyi's loyalty is commendable, but his proposal really did not take into account that for Datang, there is actually no difference between A Shi Naxian and Suo Ge. And although Guo Yuanzhen's proposal seems to solve the immediate problem, it seriously lacks foresight.

However, if you look at it a little more specifically, or from the perspective of an insider, the decision-making of the imperial court is very problematic. Guo Yuanzhen has been in Ganzhou and Liangzhou for many years, and most of the local generals are from his disciples. He strongly advocated appeasing Suo Ge, and the Niu Shi Award might not be able to transfer many soldiers from Ganliang and Liangzhou.

Although Niu Shi Award was appointed as the general manager of Anxi, he was on the same level as Guo Yuanzhen, and if he failed to "mediate" and was ready to take back the broken leaves by force, he was not qualified to give orders to Guo Yuanzhen at all.

At that time, the Niu Shi Award could only rely on Shi Zhangqian, the marching commander, to persuade Guo Yuanzhen to act in unison with him. As for whether Guo Yuanzhen will give Zhang Qian this face, it is difficult to predict!