White Blue Mountain.

"Father, the Tuyuhun army did not come here, but withdrew to the source of the river."

Da Gu Ri came to the tent and reported to Lu Dongzan.

Lu Dongzan sighed when he heard this, and said with a little regret: "It must have been Wang Fangyi who stopped that crazy woman." ”

As Wang Fangyi expected, Lu Dongzan just hoped that they would attack, it was just a group of rabble, he personally sat in the town, there was no way to stop them, and when they were tired, they could be wiped out in one fell swoop, and there would be no future troubles, which was an excellent opportunity for Lu Dongzan, but unfortunately people were not fooled.

Daguri said, "Father, what should we do now? ”

Lu Dongzan sneered and said, "What can I do now, of course, continue to fight." ”

.....．

Tuyuhun in the big tent.

After nightfall, Princess Honghua invited Wang Fangyi, Wang Xuance, and Zhao Zhiman into the account, and said straight to the point: "Don't hide it from the three generals, I am actually a broken boat, fighting against the water, and I have no way to retreat." ”

Zhao Zhiman immediately said: "Your Royal Highness the princess, please rest assured, unless the last general dies in battle, otherwise, the Tubo army will never be allowed to take another step." ”

He came here to seek death, but he couldn't die, and it was very painful.

Wang Xuance also knew Zhao Zhiman's mentality, this mentality was only suitable for killing enemies on the mountain, but not for Lenze here, so he hurriedly said: "Your Royal Highness Princess, I don't think this is a battle against the water, now it's winter, even if you don't fight, agriculture and animal husbandry are also recuperating, even if Your Highness transfers all the people here, it will not affect agriculture and animal husbandry, and when spring comes, everything can still recover." However, it is not easy to fight against Tibet, and we should be prepared to fight a protracted war, and I suggest that the old ones be immediately put into the logistics army and concentrate the new forces before they can fight with Tibet. ”

Wang Fangyi nodded and said, "I also agree with General Wang's words. ”

Princess Honghua sighed: "But I'm afraid that the logistics are not enough to support the army. ”

In fact, there is no logistics, they came up with all their belongings, a very simple wave.

Wang Fangyi said: "If you are full, you can transfer grain from Liangzhou, or we can write to Your Majesty and ask the surrounding states and counties to send grain over." ”

Zhao Zhiman hurriedly said: "Your Highness, please rest assured, if Liangzhou is under Han Shangshu's plan, it is an important trade place between the northwest and the Central Plains, no matter when, Liangzhou will never be short of materials, wait for me to write to Liangzhou Sima and ask him to transport grain over immediately." ”

"If that's the case, that's great." Princess Honghua couldn't help but be overjoyed when she heard this, but then sighed: "It's a pity that Han Shangshu is not here, if he is here, there must be a way to retreat from the enemy." ”

Wang Fangyi, Wang Xuance, and Zhao Zhiman looked at each other when they heard this, no matter how powerful this Han Yi is, he won't lead the troops to fight, the three of us are sitting here, even if Han Yi is here, then we will lead the troops to fight.

Princess Honghua suddenly came to her senses and hurriedly said: "Please forgive me, I mean, if Han Shangshu is here, this logistics will be worry-free, plus the three generals, it will be no problem to defeat Tubo." ”

Zhao Zhiman nodded and said: "That's right, Han Shangshu manages finances, it's really powerful, if he is here, we don't need to worry about logistics at all." ”

Although Princess Honghua has experience in leading troops to fight and her ability is not bad, she knows that her ability is not as good as the three of them, so she handed over the entire army to the three of them.

Wang Fangyi and the others immediately removed the dross of this rabble and took its essence, because the three of them have the ability to command, as long as they give them elite troops, even if the number is not as good as the enemy army, but with the military talents of the three of them, they can maximize the potential of this elite force, and they can still fight.

But having said that, Princess Honghua is also the queen of Tuyuhun, but she trusts Wang Fangyi and them very much, and hands over the army to them to command, and Li Zhi's words are hesitant, and she doesn't dare to hand over too many soldiers to Wang Fangyi and them, which leads to the current situation.

However, Li Zhi made a major mistake not only in Tuyuhun, but also in the northwest.

Although he woke up in time and asked Pei Xingjian to guard the capital on his behalf, he ignored many things.

First of all, the northwest garrison was limited, because the northwest plan was to put manpower into production, and the local garrison was actually Tang army soldiers, and in the first battle of Khotan, the Tang army suffered heavy losses, and Tubo took advantage of the situation to take the entire Tarim Basin, and the Tang army lost a very important line of defense, and the strength was even more insufficient.

Secondly, at that time, Pei Xingjian was quelling the rebellion in Gongyue City, and he was about to succeed, but as a result, the Dadu Protectorate was in a hurry, Pei Xingjian could only give up Gongyue City, and hurriedly came back to defend the Dadu Protectorate, but the two ends of the trouble were not landed, and there was no time to prepare for him.

In the end, they had just demoted Pei Xingjian to join the army, and Pei Xingjian's backers in the court had all fallen, and the bosses of those who had been protecting the government were many levels higher than Pei Xingjian, and because of Han Yi's new policy, there was no money in various states and counties, because the people in each state and county paid taxes according to their own needs, I handed over the money to you, what should I do in my county, now the tax money has to be used on the blade, and it is difficult for him to quickly mobilize the troops of other state capitals.

But the Dadu Protectorate was almost lost, thanks to the dangerous terrain of the Dadu Protectorate, and Su Dingfang built a defense system there, Pei Xingjian barely held it.

But because Pei Xingjian didn't handle the situation in Gongyue City well, as soon as he withdrew, the scale of turmoil in those areas was getting bigger and bigger, and there were turmoil in many places, which was really internal and external troubles, Pei Xingjian was embattled, gritting his back teeth.

However, Li Zhitian has a good life, even if Han Yi is aside, he was the least favored during his prince period, and as a result, the eldest grandson Wuji insisted on putting him on the throne, and later met Wu Meiniang, a helper, and the husband and wife eradicated the eldest grandson Wuji, and when he was in power, the Tang Dynasty did not encounter any major disasters, and the wind and rain were smooth.

At the critical moment, a key person appeared, and this person was Laiji.

Wu Meiniang didn't plan to let him go, he also sent someone to investigate Laiji, but the people he sent didn't find Laiji, because Laiji has been being transferred around, and he is turning around in the northwest states and counties, resulting in a back becoming an idle official, with no power, Laiji is very depressed, so he often takes his servants around to tour the scenery of the northwest, and when Wu Meiniang sends someone to investigate Laiji, he can't find anyone at all, the northwest is too big.

Just when Zanxiruo besieged Daduhu for the third time, Laiji led 10,000 cavalry as if falling from the sky and helped Pei Xingjian repel Zanxiruo's attack.

......

Dadu Protectorate.

"Come on, come on, come on. Get out of the way. ”

Pei Xingjian struggled to push away everyone in front of him, walked quickly to a bed, looked at Laiji who was dying on the bed, he was stunned for a moment, immediately knelt beside the bed, held Laiji's hand, and shouted excitedly: "Why? Why is that? ”

Laiji looked at Pei Xingjian, and after a while, he turned his head, stared upward, smiled slightly, and his hand Pei Xingjian also slipped down, and at the same time, a tear disappeared between the pale temples.

"Come on, come on, come on."

"Father, father."

At this point, the four main forces who opposed Wu Meiniang's ascension at the beginning, the eldest grandson Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Han Yuan, and Lai Ji, are all dead now, that Yu Zhining is an honest man, he didn't say a word at the time, and people can also see it, it is better to die than to live.

......

The deceased is gone, and the mourning is changing, Pei Xingjian endured the grief in his heart, and asked Laiji's second son, Lai Qingyuan: "Virtuous nephew, how do you plan to settle your father?" ”

Lai Qingyuan cried and said, "My nephew still wants to send my father back to his hometown for burial." ”

This fallen leaf returns to the roots, which is a tradition of the Chinese.

But he didn't know if he could go back, so he just said yes.

Pei Xingjian nodded slightly and said, "I will send someone to send you there." He knew it might get him in trouble, but he didn't want to think about it.

Lai Qingyuan hurriedly said: "Nephew, thank you Uncle Pei." ”

"It's me, I have to thank you, father." Pei Xingjian said, and said curiously: "I just heard that Brother Lai is the first soldier and charged into battle, why is this?" ”

Although Laiji was born in a family of generals, he was just a civil servant, and he was wearing a wide robe and big sleeves to charge, which made Pei Xingjian very incomprehensible, so he was very excited to ask Laiji, "Why?" Why is that? ”

Lai Qingyuan choked up and said: "Father, he has been sullen since he recently learned about Taiwei and Uncle Han, I think he is --- he is ---。 ”

In fact, Laiji and Zhao Zhiman thought the same thing, his friends were dead, and he also felt that there was no point in staying in this world, so he planned to use martyrdom to show his loyalty to Datang, and when he rushed into the enemy formation, he also shouted Long live Datang.

But they are only loyal to the Tang Dynasty, not Li Zhi, if they are loyal to Li Zhi, they may not choose to die, it is precisely because they are loyal to the Tang Dynasty, but they are very disappointed in Li Zhi, so they can only die Mingzhi.

When Pei Xingjian heard this, he couldn't help but sigh.

Lai Qingyuan seemed to remember something again, took out a letter from his arms, and said, "Oh, Uncle Pei, this is what my father asked me to hand over to you, saying that this is a strategy to retreat from the enemy." ”

Pei Xingjian was stunned and took the letter.

In fact, he was also very curious about the sudden appearance of Laiji, because Laiji also brought 10,000 cavalry, which was too puzzling, and it was impossible for the imperial court to let Laiji lead the troops.

Back in the tent, Pei Xingjian sat on the edge of the bed, took out the letter, and read it.

Laiji is a very smart person, Zeng has already become a Zhongshu Ling, he is not Li Yifu, he is on the throne with real talent, Li Zhi has a period of time, he trusts him very much, for the suggestions he put forward, he is full of praise, basically adopted, except for the abolition of Wang Liwu. This is also why, Li Zhi has always been open to Laiji. And when he traveled around the northwest, he saw the changes in the northwest, which was his personal experience, because when he came, the entire northwest was devastated by the war, and only in the past year, it was thriving, and he knew that this was caused by Han Yi's northwest plan, so he has been studying the policy of the northwest.

This 10,000-strong army is not a regular army, but a mercenary army, an army hired by some wealthy merchants in the northwest region.

After Laiji learned about the war in the northwest, he immediately went to find the rich merchants in the northwest, because he had been an official in many places and knew these people, so he told those merchants that the two divisions of Gongyue and Chuyue provoked this war to return to the rule of the old Turkic aristocracy, or tribal rule, if the Dadu Protectorate was breached, then everything would be over, and you merchants who had made a lot of money because of the Northwest Plan would also turn back into ordinary people, even slaves, if you are not surnamed Ashina, then you have to think about it.

These merchants thought that this system was a paradise for them now, and they had vested interests, and they were definitely not willing to return to the old system, so these rich merchants began to unite, contribute money, food, and people, and hire a cavalry team to come to the rescue of Dadu Protectorate.

Laiji told Pei Xingjian that his strategy for retreating from the enemy was not to treat this war as a war between countries, but to fight it as a class war, so that he could calm the turmoil in all directions without spending a single soldier.