After a short rest and a one-day stay in Hezhou, Zhang Xuān guided Jianyu and Li Tan to set off from Hezhou together and returned to Beijing directly to report on their work. Every year before the Shangyuan Festival, the imperial court will summon the marshals of each town to return to Chang'an to report on their work, which is a practice that has continued for more than ten years.

This year, of course, is no exception.

In fact, because of this sudden battle between Tang and Tibet, Zhang Xuān set off a little late.

At this time, whether it is Yang Qi in Anxi, Cheng Qianli in Beiting, Ge Shuhan in Hexi, An Sishun in Jiannan, Yan Zhenqing in Henan, and An Lushan in Fanyang, they are all about to rush back to Chang'an. []

Ge Shuhan was the latest, and Hua had been paying attention to this important battle in Tubo, until Zhang Xuān led his army to take Wuhai City and annihilated more than half of the Gyatso troops and horses reached Hexi, Ge Shuhan understood that Gyatso's general trend had gone, and Zhang Xuān's new achievements were unstoppable, so he left Guazhou with confidence and returned to Chang'an to report on his work.

Ge Shuhan once wanted to send troops to reinforce Longshuo and personally participate in this epic battle that can be described as ancient and modern, but considering that the soldiers and horses in Hexi would be greatly disgusted by Zhang Xuān, and the imperial court might not be able to allow it, so he gave up.

Zhang Xuān's continuous operations and strategic management in Longshuo and Tubo, Ge Shuhan saw it in his eyes and was shocked in his heart, which can be said to be convincing.

So far, Zhang Xuān has led the Longshuo army and horses to basically occupy the entire Tuyuhun Kingdom's hometown and incorporate it into the territory of the Tang Dynasty. This vast area is almost equivalent to the area of a Hexi Domain, and the Longshuo Domain, which is located here, has become one of the Tang Dynasty Domains at least in terms of territory.

It's really the times that make heroes. On the way to Chang'an, there has been news from the front line of Longshuo and Hexi to Ge Shuhan's team, Ge Shuhan will look up to the sky every time and sigh, in the face of Zhang Xuān's birth and strong rise, he increasingly feels that he is old and unbearable.

Before leaving Longshuo and returning to Beijing to report on his work, Zhang Xuān issued dozens of government and military orders in Hezhou.

The entire territory of Longshuo was urgently mobilized, and a large number of resources and grain and grass were continuously transported from the three directions of Shuofang, Lingzhou, and Buzhou to Liangning Prefecture and Qinghai Prefecture, and more than half of Longshuo's military horses also began large-scale mobilization and change of defense.

In order to defend the country that was fought down with great difficulty and keep the fruits of victory, Longshuo under the command of Zhang Xuān has done his best. Feng Changqing sat in Lingzhou and allocated the resources of the town, while Zhang Xun temporarily rushed to Hezhou to take charge of specific affairs.

Before leaving, Zhang Xuān gave a death order to Feng Changqing and Zhang Xun, saying that at all costs, he must stabilize the newly occupied territory of Tibet, and in the shortest possible time, manage it into a region that is truly controlled by the Tang Dynasty and the Longshuo Metropolitan Governor's Office.

Under the command of Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi, the army was fully prepared for battle, and was ready to guard against another attack by the Tibetans at any time.

Although Zhang Xuān knew in his heart that the successive wars and the civil strife caused the change of royal power to cause great damage to the Tubo state, it would be difficult for the Tubo army and horses to attack the Liangning Prefecture and the Qinghai Governor's Mansion before the arrival of summer. But just in case, the Don Army entered a state of combat readiness.

Zhang Xuān originally wanted to give up returning to Beijing to report on his work and personally sit in Hezhou.

But in this way, it will definitely intensify Li Heng's suspicion of him, and in order to eliminate Li Heng's doubts, he still decided to go back to Chang'an.

Zhang Xuān only brought 500 cavalry of the Shence Army as a protector, led by Nan Jiyun. Coupled with the imperial court delegation of Li Tan, the king of Jianning, a group of nearly 1,000 people left Hezhou and quickly headed for Chang'an.

Xiao Shisanlang naturally returned to Chang'an with him, and Hua Nuer was no exception. Only this time, there was also an eight-year-old girl Huanniang who was following Hua Nuer.

Because of poor Huanniang's life experience, I also feel that Huanniang, a child, is particularly attached to herself. So Zhang Xuān accepted Huanniang as a righteous daughter. Over the past few days, Hua Nuer has taken care of Huan Niang every day, and under the care of Hua Nuer's care and almost mother, Huan Niang gradually healed the heartache and scars of the loss of her father, and restored the innocence of the child.

Leave Hezhou and enter the territory of Longzhou. Temperatures have risen dramatically. The hazy weather, which lasted for several days, finally began to clear, and a round of red sun hung high in the sky, shining warmly on people's bodies.

Because of Huanniang, Hua Nuer gave up riding a horse and took Huanniang to ride in the car together, but Huanniang was a lively and active Xingzi after all, and she couldn't stay in the carriage at all.

"Daddy, look, it's going to snow again," Huanniang sat in the arms of Hua Nu'er on the horse with her hands in her hands, and said crisply.

Zhang Xuān was talking with Li Li, the king of Jianning beside him, while talking some gossip, when he suddenly heard Huan Niang's crisp and soft voice sound, he was stunned, and then subconsciously looked up at the sky, only to see that sporadic snowflakes really began to fall under the brilliant sun, which were refracted by the light with dazzling brilliance.

"It's going to snow again. Huan Niang is good, let's go back to the car, so as not to catch a cold and suffer from the wind chill after a while when the snow is heavy. Zhang Xuān smiled softly at Huanniang.

Huan Niang grinned and raised Chan.. The little face looked at Zhang Xuān. and said loudly... Daddy. Huan Niang knows. It's not a lot of snow....... This is what my father said, Huan Niang's smiling face suddenly narrowed, her eyes turned red, she slowly lowered her head, and retracted into Hua Nuni's arms.

Hua Nu'er hugged Huanniang tightly with some pity, and gently patted her thin and childish shoulder.

Zhang Xuān sighed lightly, turned his head to Li Tan and lowered his voice, "Your Highness, this child is so young,

There is no father and mother, which is really pitiful. ，.

As a high-ranking child of the royal family, Li Tan actually has a hard time understanding Zhang Xuān's extraordinary love for a grassroots girl, but for Zhang Xuān's sake, his attitude towards Huanniang is not bad. Regardless of Huanniang's previous background, she is now Zhang Xuān's righteous daughter, and this identity is enough.

Li Tan glanced at Huanniang and smiled lightly, "King Pingxi, Huanniang's child can be accepted as a righteous daughter by you, which can be regarded as a blessing from the previous life." ，.

Li Yin didn't seem to want to waste his tongue on a girl, and took the initiative to divert the topic, "King Pingxi, you can arrive in Longzhou tomorrow, and in ten days, you can return to Chang'an At this time, the good news of Longshuo is about to reach Chang'an, Xiao Wang wants to come, this time, the imperial court will solemnly welcome King Pingxi to return to Beijing in triumph." In the past year, the continuous opening up of territory for the imperial court, the world-class exploits of the King of Pingxi and the Longshuo army, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, no one can compare! ，.

"King Pingxi, Xiao Wang has written a letter suggesting that the imperial court set up a meritorious pavilion outside the Anhua Gate of Chang'an to enshrine the portrait of the king of Pingxi, and at the same time set up a monument to engrave the great achievements of the Longshuo army in opening up territory for the imperial court, for the surname to pay respect. ，.

Li Yin's voice became extremely warm and sincere.

Zhang Xuān was stunned for a moment, and then smiled bitterly, "Your Highness, how dare Zhang Xuān be?" Zhang Xuān eats the imperial court Dai Lu, since he should be loyal to the monarch and serve the country, a little merit, it should not be so,"

Zhang Xuān said this, but in fact, his heart did not flood much

o Lan. This is just a suggestion by Li Tan, whether Li Heng will allow it and do it, it is difficult to say whether Li Tan is mentioning this now, it is nothing more than showing favor to him again, showing that he is trying to win over Zhang Xuān as a backer.

Li Tan waved his hand and said loudly, "... In that year, Geshuhan defeated Tibet, and the imperial court had made a monument to commemorate the meritorious heroes.

Now that the king of Pingxi is so feathered, much higher than Ge Shuhan, if the imperial court does not reward him and praise him widely, how can he be worthy of the soldiers of the three armies who followed the king of Pingxi several times into Tibet and fought bloodily? ，”

Zhang Xuān smiled lightly and remained silent.

Li Tan's words hit his mind, he can not ask for a reward, with his current official status, there is not much room for adding an official to a knighthood, at most it is glory and fame. But the soldiers under him can't do without rewards, whether it is Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, Feng Changqing, Zhang Xuān and other superiors, or ordinary soldiers.

Fighting hard to kill the enemy, what he wants is to seal his wife and son. Without the support of practical interests, it is illusory and unreliable to rely solely on "enthusiasm for serving the country" to stabilize the morale of the military.

Therefore, Zhang Xuān personally returned to Beijing to report on his work this time, and also came with the intention of asking for merit and reward for his soldiers.

Before Zhang Xuān left Hezhou and returned to Beijing, the Hui Khan Guli Peiluo also took the prince Gele and the princess Su Hudong to the south and marched south to Chang'an, one was to worship the Heavenly Khan, and the other was the marriage of Su Hudong and Zhang Xuān.

Li Heng's edict had already reached the Hui Dynasty, indicating that he would personally officiate and hold a grand wedding for Zhang Xuān and Su Hudong around the Shangyuan Festival, so as to prove the friendship between the Hui and the Tang Dynasty for generations.

Guli Pei Luo had already had this intention, and when he saw Li Heng's edict, he was overjoyed. The current Zhang Xuān's status in Guli Peiluo's mind has risen to a peak. With the power of a town in Longshuo, he defeated the Tubo people one after another, conquered the city, opened up territory for the Tang Dynasty, and won a territory the size of a feudal town... This kind of rare genius and mythical hero in the history books.

It is more than enough to match his daughter Su Hudong.

Although she is a flat wife, not a regular wife, Zhang Xuān has a prince with her, and Su Hudong's marriage to him is not an insult to her identity as a princess of Hui.

Zhang Xuān's power and prestige are unmatched in the Tang Dynasty, and being able to marry Zhang Xuān is of great significance to Hui Hui.

Although Su Hudong has a good impression of Zhang Xuān, this kind of good impression is far from being emotional. Of course, for a noble woman like her, it is difficult to get rid of the fate of political marriage in the end, but even if she is a victim of marriage, Su Hudong, who is distinctive, is unwilling to be a "concubine" for others.

Although the name is the wife of the king of Pingxi canonized by the Tang Dynasty, who can not understand, in fact, it is the "little wife,., under the main wife, how can Su Hudong not understand?

Therefore, Su Hudong had the idea of escaping marriage again. It's just that before she had time to implement it, she was firmly guarded by her father Khan, and warned her uncharacteristically and solemnly that if something happened and offended the Tang Dynasty and Zhang Xuān, Hui Hui would face a heavy conscription by the Tang Dynasty.