Guo Song paid a courtesy visit to Qiuci with Guo Xin in the afternoon, Guo Song visited the king of Qiuci in the name of the governor of Anxi Prefecture, not in the name of the Tang Dynasty envoy, after all, the Qiuci Kingdom had surrendered to Tibet, and it was a bit out of place in the name of the Tang Dynasty envoy.

Sure enough, as Guo Xin expected, the king of Qiuci vetoed the proposal to attack the herdsmen of Qiuci and Tubo, and the war of the Tang army in the last five cities had nothing to do with the country of Qiuci, but once the herdsmen of Qiuci and Tubo were killed, the country of Qiuci would not escape responsibility, and the Tubo army would definitely retaliate against the people of Qiuci, which was unacceptable to the king of Qiuci.

Coming out of the Qiuci Palace, Guo Song was a little worried: "This Qiuci King obviously doesn't want to offend Tubo, so will he betray the Tang Army when the siege battle is at its most intense?" ”

Guo Xin smiled slightly: "You don't have to worry, when the enemy army comes to attack on a large scale, King Qiuzi and most of the people will leave, we have experienced at least ten large-scale sieges, and we have cooperated more tacitly, they will leave at a critical moment." ”

"Can the three thousand five hundred men defend the city of Qiuzi?"

"In fact, there are more than 3,500 people, and the 1,000 Tang troops from Yanji Town will be transferred to Qiuzi City, and women and old people will also participate in the war, and they are mainly responsible for logistics.

Also, the siege methods of the Tubo people are relatively simple, you don't imagine that they will carry heavy siege weapons over, at most more than 100 ladders, and the poplar trees here are not suitable for siege weapons, the pine forest is there, but it is relatively far, so they will generally storm the city gate, the combat effectiveness of the Tuyuhun people is worse, as long as the opponent's strength does not exceed 20,000, we can basically hold it. ”

The two came to the military office, several civil officials came to pay tribute to Guo Song, and there were only six civil officials in the military office, corresponding to the soldiers, warehouses, horses, armor, law and Tuntian six Cao, among which the soldiers Cao participated in the military and served as a record to join the army.

There are not many affairs in the Anxi Army, and the six of them are enough to take care of it, but since Guo is the chief historian, these six people are his subordinates, and the necessary etiquette is still needed.

In a large and long historian's room, Guo Song smiled at the six civil officials: "This time I came to Anxi to have both civil and military skills, not only in charge of government affairs, but also to cooperate with the commander to fight, but Anxi's government affairs are relatively simple, I will be biased towards the combat aspect, and the affairs in peacetime are still handled by you yourself, I don't interfere, but important documents are signed by me, how about it, everyone has no opinion!" ”

Everyone looked at each other, and actually declared that they would delegate power as soon as they came, such a long history has not been heard of, and after a while, Bing Cao joined the army Lou Wenda asked: "Many of the documents that should belong to the long history are signed by the marshal, because we have not had a long history, so these documents will be signed by the long history in the future, or will they continue to be signed by the marshal on their behalf?" ”

Guo Song was a little helpless, there were really some things he couldn't escape, so he nodded and said: "Since I am a long history, I don't need to hand it over to the marshal, I will sign it." ”

After a pause, Guo Song looked at the room and asked with a smile: "Since this is the Changshi Room, why can't you even see a piece of paper?" ”

Everyone's smiles were a little bitter, and Lou Wenda bowed slightly and said: "Paper is very precious in our place, usually everything is reported orally, only important things are used on paper, and it is only a thin one, we have less than 100 pieces of paper in storage, so we have to save desperately." ”

Guo Song pondered and said: "Actually, there are some continuing items that can be purchased in Dunhuang, although the road is difficult, but you will not encounter enemy troops, this time we bring a lot of gold, as well as dozens of camels and a guide, you can hire him." ”

"I'm afraid that Dunhuang can't buy it!"

Guo Song smiled slightly: "I talked to the heads of the two major families in Dunhuang, Dunhuang is relatively short of livestock and pig iron, but there are a lot of hoards in major monasteries such as paper and stationery, and there is basically no shortage of other daily necessities, you can go and see." ”

Lou Wenda said happily: "Then without further ado, let's arrange it and set off for Dunhuang in a few days." ”

Guo Song smiled again: "In addition, this place is suitable for planting grapes and fruits, you can plant more grapes and fruits in the front and back yards of the house, melons and fruits can improve life, grapes are used to make wine, you can sell or drink yourself, and you should also dig a moat around Qiuzi City, which can not only defend against the enemy, but also raise fish."

In short, although the environment is difficult, we must find ways to make use of the existing conditions to improve. ”

"After the beginning of spring, we must implement the plan of Changshi as soon as possible."

Guo Song discussed the issue of combat readiness with several officials again, and the time gradually came to the evening, when a crisp chirp suddenly came from outside, "Chirp-"

Guo Song immediately stood up and walked out of the lobby quickly, only to see the fierce man he hadn't seen for nearly half a month hovering above his head, Guo Song was suddenly overjoyed, his mood had never been so joyful as today.

........

Winter goes to spring, time in the blink of an eye to the middle of March, the ice and snow melt, the river thaws, the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains in spring is particularly vibrant, even the vast Gobi Desert has grown swaying flowers, after a long winter of gloom, everything in spring has become extraordinarily beautiful.

In the wheat fields outside the city, soldiers and their families were busy plowing the land, sowing wheat seeds, and planting grapes and melons in front of and behind the houses.

On this morning, Guo Song, under the leadership of the little soldier Xie Tianshan, came to a large pasture near the Tianshan Mountain, which was already the territory of the Tubo people, and the felt tents of the Tubo people could occasionally be seen in the distance.

There are not many Tibetan herdsmen in Anxi, all of them add up to less than 1,000 households, and there are not many Tuyuhun people, they are mainly concentrated along the Jimo River and Puchanghai, but both Tubo and Tuyuhun occupy the best pastures, and their presence shows the occupation of Anxi by Tubo.

"How many Tibetan herders are there?" Guo Song asked with a horsewhip pointing to the felt tent in the distance.

"There are about three or four hundred households, basically all of them raise sheep, and every time the Tibetan army comes to attack Qiuzi City, they supply the enemy's flock." Xie Tianshan gritted his teeth with hatred.

At this moment, a dark-skinned Tibetan man galloped on horseback, stood dozens of paces away and shouted at them, waving the knife in his hand.

"He's saying, this is his territory, let's get out of here, or let the army kill us!"

Guo Song ignored the herdsmen's shouts, but he was a little surprised that Xie Tianshan actually understood the Tibetan language.

"Can you understand the Tibetan language?"

Xie Tianshan scratched his head a little embarrassedly, "A few years ago, a Tibetan monk came to Qiuzi City, he was a very good person, and the marshal organized seven or eight teenagers to learn Tubo from him, and I was one of them, and I learned the best, so the marshal specially approved me to join the army." ”

This is a bit interesting, what Guo Song and they need most is a soldier who understands the Tibetan language, but they didn't expect to have nowhere to find the iron shoes, and it didn't take any effort to get it, and the young soldier in front of them could speak the Tibetan language.

At this time, a cavalryman galloped from Qiuzi City and shouted from afar: "Changshi, the marshal, please go back immediately." ”

"Got it!"

Guo Song turned his horse's head and ran towards Qiuci City with Xie Tianshan and a few followers, and the Tubo herdsmen on the hillside laughed strangely, thinking that he had scared away a few Tang soldiers.

After entering the city not long after, Guo Song saw Li Ji from a distance and shouted: "Li Duwei! ”

Li Ji hurriedly urged the horse forward, hugged his fists and said, "See the long history!" ”

Guo Song patted Xie Tianshan's arm and smiled: "Aren't you looking for Tang Jun who can speak Tubo everywhere?" Here's one. ”

Li Ji also knew Xie Tianshan, and he asked in surprise: "Xiao Xie still understands Tubo?" ”

Xie Tianshan scratched the back of his head and said, "I've studied for a few years!" ”

Guo Song smiled: "I'll hand him over to you, you guys talk about it yourself, I'll go to Dashuai's side, something may happen." ”

"It seems that the enemy has been discovered."

"I think it should be!"

Guo Song instructed Xie Tianshan a few words, and then urged the horse to run towards the military office.

Galloping to the front of the steps of the military office, Guo Song turned over and dismounted, and walked into the military office quickly, he came to the back hall, only to see Guo Xin standing in the back hall with his hands in his hands, staring at a huge wood carving map.

This one-zhang square wood carved map is still left by Gao Xianzhi, hundreds of soldiers took five years to complete the exploration, and another three years to carve it, it is very accurate, and it has always been the most important military map of the Anxi Army.

"Dashuai, what's going on?"

"Just now I received a message from the Flying Eagle in Khotan Town, and found that the Tubo and Tuyuhun coalition forces in the area of Jimo City have gathered 20,000 people, and they are heading towards Puchanghai along the Jimo River, and their target should be Qiuci City."

"How many Tibetan troops are there among the 20,000 people, do you know?"

"There are not many Tubo troops, it seems that there are only more than 3,000 people, mainly Tuyuhun people."

Guo Song nodded, "Then let's act according to the original plan!" ”