Li Siye spoke humbly to Zhang Xuān like this, and looked at Zhang Xuān secretly, but he felt a little incredible in his heart.

He heard that Zhang Xuān actually led the army to attack the territory of Tubo in the Western Regions, stirred up the whole country of Tubo and calmly retreated, and then took advantage of the situation to take Tuyuhun's hometown, and successively won great victories and shocked the Tang Dynasty.

He also led his army to fight with the Tubo cavalry in Shule, and knew that the combat effectiveness of the Tubo cavalry should not be underestimated

Look. Since Zhang Xuān can play with the Tubo military horses in the palm of his hand, he is obviously a military wizard.

But when I saw it in person, Zhang Xuān was so young and personable, and he looked extremely weak.

Such a person can defeat Tubo and open up territory for the Tang Dynasty? Could it be that the rumors are wrong or exaggerated?

As if he saw Li Siye's suspicions, Zhang Xuān smiled indifferently, "General Li, please sit down and watch the tea!" "Talk about the big handsome." Li Siye sat there more respectfully, and his heart was even more suspicious, he didn't understand why Zhang Xuān treated him so politely.

Probably only Zhang Xuān saw Zhang Xuān's thoughts. He knew that his own governor was eager to seek talents, and it was obvious that he had taken a fancy to this famous general in Anxi again, and he might want to dig the foot of the wall from Yang Qi's men.

Zhang Xuān did have this thought, and since Li Siye appeared in front of him, he naturally refused to let it go. As long as he gives Yang Qi a letter, Yang Qi will not let him go. It's just that for the time being, Zhang Xuān feels that there is no need to worry.

"General Li, how is Yang Shuai doing in Anxi?" Zhang Xuān picked up the teacup, took a sip, and asked casually.

Li Siye got up respectfully and replied, "Yang Shuai is fine." In the tense of the last tense, Yang Shuai instructed the last general to let the last general thank the marshal in person for the Anxi army and people. ”

"Oh? What do you mean by that? ”

"Dashuai, in the sixth year of Tianbao, after our army took Xiao Bolu from the Tubo people, the Tubo people continued to counterattack. In the years that followed, it was even more disturbing. ”

"Affected by the Tubo people's cups, the cities and kingdoms of the Western Regions were stupid and tried to rebel against the imperial court.

However, after the victory of the Great Marshal and the Tubo army and horses in the first battle of the city, they led the army to raid Tubo, and the Tubo army and horses were successively transferred back to the defense of some cities, and they were unable to reach out to the Western Regions, and the Western Regions were stabilized. ”

"The great commander has made great achievements, the Tubo people are frightened, and it spreads far and wide in the Western Regions, and the countries of the Western Regions will not subdue my Tang Dynasty military might!" Li Siye arched his hand and said, "Yang Shuai once said that although the marshal is far away in Longshuo, his prestige has reached the Western Regions, and if the Western Regions can be stable for a few years, our army will be able to recuperate and step up the Tuntian troops,........., which is the work of the marshal!" Li Siye's words are half sincere and half complimentary, of course, this may also be Yang Qi's original words.

The Tibetan people have always been eyeing the Western Regions, but Zhang Xuān suddenly led an army to attack Tubo, stirring up civil strife in Tibet, and Tubo's vitality was greatly damaged, and he was no longer able to intervene in the Western Regions, which is a fact. As long as there is no support from the Tibetans, the countries of the Western Regions will not dare to rebel, which is also a fact.

But to say that Anxi is pacified to Zhang Xuān is to be kind words.

Zhang Xuān laughed, shook his head and said, "Ben Shuai doesn't dare to be a handsome." Anxi's pacification is due to the meritorious work of Yang Shuai and Anxi soldiers in defending the land, and has nothing to do with Ben Shuai. Regarding the situation in the Western Regions, Zhang Xuān didn't think too much. At present, his biggest hidden danger is Tubo and An Lushan.

As long as the two major hidden dangers of Tubo and An Lushan are dealt with, the Western Regions will be operated steadily in the future, and I dare not say that we will open up the territory, at least there will be more than enough to keep it.

Zhang knew very well that the Tang court's territorial expansion of the Western Regions was largely driven by martial arts and imperial glory, because even the taxation of merchants who traveled between the East and the West via the Silk Road, and the collection of small tributes from the countries of the Western Regions, were not enough to support the huge army and bureaucracy of the Tang stationed in the Western Regions, not to mention the fact that the government gave back to the ethnic minorities out of vanity.

In terms of policy, the government does not always subdue the countries of the Western Regions with military might, the Western Regions are full of small countries, and there are many contradictions between each other, especially the invasion of the Western Turks, Tubo and other countries, and they also need the protection of a powerful country like the Tang Dynasty, so in principle, as long as they are called ministers and pay tribute, obey and belong to the Tang Dynasty, they will be canonized by the Tang government, and continue to maintain relative independence and autonomy, and when they suffer turmoil or are invaded by other countries, they can get the support of the Tang Dynasty army. After exterminating the Western Turks and repeatedly repelling the Tibetans, this moderate policy of the Tang government had a strong appeal in the Western Regions, and even Bōsi and India, as far west of the Green Mountains, were willing to obtain refuge through this relationship.

However, this ruling status quo is extremely unstable≡ and if there is any turmoil, the countries of the Western Regions will rebel, or surrender to Tibet, or take refuge in the Great Eclipse.

In other words, if the Tang Dynasty wants to truly incorporate the Western Regions into its territory and achieve rule in the true sense of the same sense as the inland, it must change this policy ♀ that cannot be changed in a year or two, and for the time being, the Western Regions can only maintain the status quo.

"General Li, please forgive Ben Shuai for saying bluntly, Anxi's greatest enemy is the Great Cannibals, not the Tubos. Now it is even more so, Tubo is controlled by the army of the three towns of Longshuo, Hexi, and Jiannan, coupled with its domestic weakness, and its army of more than 100,000 people cares about one or the other, it is difficult to have the strength to intervene in the countries of the Western Regions. "And Da Shi is different, the national strength is strong, and he is eyeing the territory of my Datang,

Zhang Xuān smiled slightly.

Li Siye nodded, and said with a respectful smile, "What the big marshal said is very true, since the defeat of our army in the battle of Talas, the big cannibals have gradually encroached on the nine countries of Zhaowu, and there are gradually signs of invading the Western Regions☆ Shuai is preparing for war in Anxi, guarding against the big food☆ Shuai said, if the big cannibal attacks Anxi, he will write to the imperial court, and ask the big marshal to lead the Longshuo iron cavalry into Anxi to help in the battle, and fight to the death with the power of firearms!" ”

Zhang Xuān smiled silently, but said secretly in his heart: It seems that my firearm has spread all over the Tang Domain, and the princes of all parties are very interested in firearms.

When it comes to firearms, Li Siye's eyes clearly flashed with a strange brilliance.

For Zhang Xuān's invention and development of firearms used by the Longshuo Shence Army, after the spread of the past merchants, it has been rumored that it is miraculous ♀, and once Li Siye repeatedly begged to come to Longshuo in person, he took the opportunity to see the power of Longshuo's firearms.

If the power is really as legendary, Li Siye felt that after returning to Anxi, he should ask Yang Qi to ask Zhang Xuān for some firearms to equip the Anxi cavalry. Or, he even felt that this kind of firearm should be developed and manufactured in large quantities by the imperial court and equipped in the army of each town.

It's just that Li Siye doesn't know that this firearms technique is currently limited to the Longshuo Shence Army, and Zhang Xuān has not yet publicly reported to the imperial court to promote it. And even in Longshuo, firearms are strictly controlled, and Xun Chenshu cannot touch them.

In fact, Zhang Xuān was not prepared to popularize firearms, which was a sharp weapon he was going to use against An Lushan, first using the Tubo cavalry to test his edge, but the final opponent was An Lushan. As long as An Lushan's hidden dangers are not eliminated, Zhang Xuān will never disclose the art of firearms.

Even though the imperial court ordered it, Zhang Xuān also had countermeasures. He believed that he would convince Li Heng.

"Dashuai, the last general in Anxi, I heard that Dashuai personally developed a firearm, called the Divine Fire Flying Crow, which is infinitely powerful, so that the Tubo army and horses are frightened, I wonder if the last general will have a chance to see it?"

Li Siye finally couldn't hold it back, and took the initiative to mention the stubble.

Zhang Xuān laughed, "If General Li is willing to be a general under the standard of this commander, this commander should be equipped with firearms for General Li's department." ”

Li Siye was stunned, his face was a little red, he didn't expect Zhang Xuān to say such a thing.

Zhang Xuān smiled again, "Just kidding, General Li will be surprised." The technique of firearms is a gadget that Ben Shuai inadvertently made, and it is not enough to worry about. However, if General Li really has a heart, in a few days, the commander will arrange an opportunity for General Li to have a look! Li Siye bowed down and thanked: "Thank you, Dashuai, for your grace!" ”

On the afternoon of Li Siye's arrival, An Lushan's envoy delegation also arrived in Lingzhou. An Lushan sent a lot of people, and the one in charge turned out to be his most trusted henchman, Shi Siming, who led a team of hundreds of people to camp outside Lingzhou City, and then entered the city with a few escorts and met Zhang Xuān.

When Zhang Xuān heard that An Lushan had sent Shi Siming to come, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise with a strange smile.

In the Anshi Rebellion, Shi Siming was a very key figure.

He first followed An Lushan to rebel, and then after An Qingxu killed An Lushan and established himself as emperor, he was defeated and returned to Tang. But after this person descended to the Tang Dynasty, he plotted to rebel and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to establish himself as the emperor.

Later, this person really rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, and was killed by his son Shi Chaoyi, and embarked on the same road of no return as An Lushan.

In fact, the real An Lushan Disaster in the Tang Dynasty was not long, and the real root cause of the Anshi Rebellion was Shi Siming. If there is no such person, the national strength of the Tang Dynasty will definitely not be consumed to the point of almost losing the country.

In Zhang Xuān's definition, Shi Siming is repeatedly cunning and non-key-crippled, an out-and-out chaotic minister and thief, even more hateful than An Lushan.

Hearing that Shi Siming was coming, Zhang Xuān's first thought was to kill! Regardless of the thirty-seven twenty-one, take down Shi Siming and kill him first, except for this scourge!

But Zhang Xuān knew in his heart that Shi Siming was also an important minister of the Tang Dynasty, and although he was powerful, he could not kill the court officials at will. Moreover, if Shi Siming is killed now, it will obviously force An Lushan to rebel.

And An Lushan raised troops at this time... Truth be told, Zhang Xuān wasn't quite ready yet.

Zhang Xuān sat there silent, his eyes flickering, and the trace of murder in his eyes was not hidden.

Zhang Xuān's heart sank, and he stood there with his head down, and did not speak again.

Zhang Xuān hesitated, but still didn't make up his mind, and decided to meet this person first and talk about the situation.

As soon as he thought of this, Zhang Xuān raised his head and looked at Zhang Xuān, and said softly, "Zhang Xuān, bring that Shi Siming to the main hall, and Ben Shuai will see him." "That's it, the envoys of all the feudal towns have arrived, please all come to the main hall, and the marshal will set up a banquet to entertain these envoys today!" Zhang Xuān Huo Ran got up, his eyes calm and cold.