Chang'an, Liangyi Palace.

"The merchant blocked the Tibetan army? How is this possible--- this? ”

When the news of the war in the northwest came to Chang'an, Li Zhi almost dropped his jaw, and his first reaction was that this must be fake news, just like Su Haizheng slandered Pei Xingjian.

His original strategy was to send them back to help, to some extent, he thought that the northwest could not be defended, because there were not many troops stationed in the northwest region, and it was mainly concentrated in the four towns of Anxi, but in the battle of Khotan, the Tang army was defeated, resulting in Shule was also captured by Tubo, and there were rebels in Gongyue City in the north of the Dadu Protectorate, and the north and south were attacked, and Su Dingfang was not there, how to defend it, even if the troops were transferred over, it was impossible to catch up, and it can only be said that when they came back, they would lead the Turkic troops, The four towns of Anxi were recovered, because it was impossible to let Tubo in the northwest, but he didn't expect to receive the news suddenly, and the merchants blocked the Tubo army.

Liu Xiang said: "Your Majesty, half a month ago, in fact, there was some news to Chang'an, but the minister did not believe that it was true, however, Tingzhou, Xizhou, and Shazhou came one after another, and the minister was sure that all this was true, and these three good news were sent by Tingzhou, Xizhou, and Shazhou recently. As he spoke, he took out three official documents.

Pei Xingjian was busy fighting, where did he have time to contact the imperial court, anyway, the imperial court could not send troops to Dadu to protect the mansion, but businessmen from all over the northwest went to donate to the Dadu Protectorate, so the state and county officials all knew about it.

"Hurry up." Li Zhi hurriedly said.

Zhang Desheng hurriedly presented the letter to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi looked at it and was amazed, "This—this is really incredible." ”

Xu Jingzong suddenly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, if the old minister thinks that this matter is true, it is really frightening. ”

Li Zhi was stunned and said, "How can Xu Aiqing say this?" ”

Xu Jingzong said: "The strength of the Tubo army, everyone knows it very well, and it is on par with our Tang army, those businessmen can actually block the iron hooves of Tubo, it can be seen that the strength of these businessmen is not to be underestimated, and why they spare no effort to support Pei Xingjian, this is really doubtful." ”

This is an insinuation, if you mean something, you must know that Pei Xingjian also scolded Wu Meiniang at the beginning, she was a staunch anti-martial faction, so she was demoted over there, and Xu Jingzong knew that Pei Xingjian was a person, he would not easily change his political ideas, and Pei Xingjian was both civil and military, so he would definitely not be able to return to the court.

Xu Yushi immediately said: "Xu Shizhong's words are wrong, this is not the work of a businessman, but all the businessmen in the northwest, and even the people in the northwest, and they do not support a businessman, or Pei Xingjian, but support our Datang."

Although the letter does not explicitly state, it is not difficult to peek into the reason. The main reason why the merchants, who have always been stingy, have become so generous this time is mainly because they know that the reason why they have so much wealth is because of the imperial court's northwest plan, and they are defending the northwest plan, and they want to be able to live under the rule of my Tang Dynasty, not the Tibetans, or the old Turkic nobility.

Isn't this loyalty to my Tang Dynasty and His Majesty. Xu Shizhong, how can you question a common man's loyalty to the country? In the early years of Zhenguan, our country was in the most difficult time, and there were several landlords who were willing to contribute money and efforts to support the country in the fight against the Turks, just like the merchants in the northwest. ”

Normally, Xu Yushi would not confront Xu Jingzong head-on, and he was afraid of getting into trouble, but when he heard the news, he was very moved, in fact, this matter also touched many people. However, Xu Jingzong opened his mouth to question, and Xu Yushi also understood what was going on, it was nothing more than that he didn't want Pei Xingjian to take away this credit, which made him very angry.

Li Zhi also frowned and glanced at Xu Jingzong, and said: "Xu Shizhong, the people of the northwest are also my people, whether they are still merchants or herdsmen, if your words are spread, how do you let the people of the northwest look at the court, they are fighting for the country so much, but in exchange for the doubts of the prime minister of the court, I don't want to hear such words in the future." ”

Xu Jingzong's old face swelled like a pig's liver, and he hurriedly arched his hand and said: "The old minister is guilty. ”

There are priorities in everything, now that the Tubo army is pressing, you are still taking care of the political struggle, you have done some too much, Li Zhi is not confused, he reuses Xu Jingzong in order to eradicate the entire Guanlong group, and eliminate the people who can threaten him, but in terms of national affairs, he still relies more on Li Ji, Han Yi, Xu Yushi and others.

Of course, Li Zhi knows Xu Jingzong's personality, and he will not care about him, he said that his, he can adopt it selectively, this is the monarch's way of employing people, virtuous ministers have the usefulness of virtuous ministers, traitorous ministers have the usefulness of traitorous ministers, the key is to be in their own hands, with Xu Jingzong's ability, it is impossible for him to reach the point of eldest grandson Wuji, with Xu Jingzong, Li Zhi is very relieved, you toss, I have to deal with you, it is as easy as a hand, and said with a smile: "I remember that when Han Yi proposed the Northwest Plan to me, he mentioned this, It's just that I didn't think about it for a while, and I didn't expect that the Northwest Project really had such power, which was really unexpected for me. ”

Xu Jingzong listened to it even more unpleasantly, the Han artists were not here, but the emperor counted the credit on him.

Wei Siqian stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Tubo has provoked wars again and again, plotting against Tuyuhun and the northwest, which is already known to everyone in Sima Zhao's heart, and his methods are very despicable. And now that our army has entered the stage of counteroffensive in the northwest, and Tuyuhun is also holding against the Tubo army in the Heyuan area, the minister thinks that His Majesty should immediately issue an order to counterattack Tubo in an all-round way and teach Tubo a lesson. ”

Lu Chengqing hurriedly stood up and said: "Your Majesty, this move must not be, the minister thinks that our army has just eliminated Goguryeo, and the soldiers are very tired, and immediately launched a war against Tibet, I am afraid that the gains will outweigh the losses, and it is winter now, it is not suitable to start a war, and please think twice before acting." ”

Xu Jingzong stood up again and said, "The old minister agrees with Lu Shangshu's suggestion. ”

Wei Siqian said very toughly: "But this is not the first time that my Datang has retreated, but Tubo does not know what to do, and has repeatedly betrayed his promises, this time he must not back down again." ”

Although he is a civil servant, he has a strong personality, and you Tubo always stabs you in the back like this, which is unbearable.

And the controversy between them, in fact, is also a microcosm of Chang'an's current situation, with the change of the situation, some people feel that Tubo is too hateful, now we have passed the most difficult moment, we must beat him Yade, give Tubo a little color to see. But some people feel that the war in the east has just ended, and the war in the west is not conducive to the development of the country, after all, the war is to die, and this is not Goguryeo, but the powerful Tibet, you have to think about it carefully.

But this is not a partisan battle, but a difference in political philosophy.

Li Zhi couldn't make up his mind for a while, so he made a very compromise choice, he ordered all the prefectures and counties of Tuyuhun, Ganzhou, Suzhou, and Shanzhou, etc., to transfer the garrison to the Tuyuhun battlefield, and send all the grain and grass. He didn't dare to do this at first, because Tubo was menacing, he thought it would definitely not be stopped, he hoped to hold the junction between Tuyuhun and the Tang Dynasty, to prevent Tubo from crossing the border, everything would wait for the commanders to come back, as long as they held it, it was a victory, and it was a more conservative approach.

But he didn't expect that Princess Honghua would be so fierce and come out of the nest, which made him a little embarrassed, and he didn't expect Wang Fangyi, Wang Xuance, and Zhao Zhiman to block the Tubo army like a god.

But the northwest is too far away, the soldiers of the Central Plains have made a trip in the past, it is estimated that they will not arrive until next year, and he can't help if he wants to, so he can only issue an edict to praise the local businessmen, I was moved to tears in Chang'an, no matter success or failure, they are all heroes of the country, and they must be rewarded well, Yunyun and the like, in short, I know what you do, I am very moved, and promoted Pei Xingjian to protect the capital of Khotan, and the four towns of Anxi are temporarily under the command of Pei Xingjian.

Although there are hidden dangers in this arrangement, the four towns of Anxi are all handed over to one person to lead, of course, there will be the possibility of self-reliance, but in the face of a strong enemy, there must be a strong government, in order to resist, and to go their own way, then how to fight, Li Zhi can only choose to believe Pei Xingjian, because there is no one over there.

At this time, the northwest battlefield has been completely reversed, and Tubo is a comprehensive contraction of the front, because after Tubo captured the important town of Khotan, it was to send troops everywhere, Lu Dongzan knew that the northwest was empty, and the fact was the same, how they fought at the beginning, how to have, the Tang army could not defend at all, and in some places, the Tang army was stationed with 300 soldiers.

But now that the northwest has quickly condensed into a rope, the strength in Pei Xingjian's hands has expanded by seven or eight times, not only that, Gongyue City and other places, there is no need for Pei Xingjian to work hard, and the merchants themselves have done it with them. Although the old aristocracy was stronger than the merchants, and they were more likely to fight than the merchants, the merchants were very disadvantageous in the early days, but the money and materials were concentrated in the hands of the merchants, and they directly offered rewards to recruit generals to lead the troops, and also dug up the other party's generals and soldiers, I give you money, you come to help us fight, what way out do you have with those people, and you are not a slave, so the merchants quickly reversed the situation by virtue of the power of money in the early unfavorable situation.

And Pei Xingjian led the army to recover Shule and other strategic places in one fell swoop, and the troops pointed directly at Khotan, a decisive battle, and it was about to break out.

But at this time, Lu Dongzan suddenly ordered Zan Xiruo to give up on Khotan and retreat to the foot of Kunlun Mountain.

Lu Dongzan was decisive in sending troops, and he was also very decisive in retreating.

He had no choice, he originally wanted to take the opportunity to occupy the entire northwest region and Tuyuhun, this was the result he was most looking forward to, and the original process was also going like this, when the smoke of gunpowder was everywhere, seeing that the entire situation in the northwest was precarious, forcing Li Zhi to withdraw his troops from the east, but where did he think that the people of the northwest would support the Tang Dynasty so much, you must know that the Tang Dynasty is also an invader for the northwest, and it has not been long to rule the local area, especially the addition of merchants, which made Lu Dongzan unexpected.

Merchants have money, there are people who have money, there are food, and all the strategic materials needed for the war, plus Pei Xingjian is not a vegetarian, and if Tubo wants to support Khotan, he has to pass through the Kunlun Mountains, the road is not so easy to walk, if Khotan fights a war of attrition with the Tang army, it is too unfavorable for Tubo, especially now it is winter, first of all, it can't be consumed at all, and it is likely to be cut off by the Tang army, because Tubo supports Khotan, there are only two roads, one of which is still very difficult to walk.

And Lu Dongzan himself was dragged by the Tang army in the Heyuan area, and he had not broken through for a long time, and his morale was obviously inferior to that of the other party, because the Tang army had a steady stream of support behind him, plus Wang Fangyi, Wang Xuance, and Zhao Zhiman were full of death, and they did not retreat, and the commander of the Tang army was still like this, and of course the people of Tuyuhun had to fight to the end, otherwise it would be too embarrassing, and they were all gritting their teeth and resisting.

Lu Dongzan was very depressed, this battle was like this, it was completely opposite to his expectations, and he also knew that the situation was becoming more and more unfavorable for him, because he was also under the news that the Tang army had destroyed Goguryeo, and when the commanders of the Tang army and the elites returned, the situation would become even more serious.

However, at this moment, heavy snow fell, forcing the fighting to cease.

This has its own advantages and disadvantages for both sides, in the northwest, Pei Xingjian has high morale, and is ready to destroy Chuyue and Gongyue under Kunlun Mountain in one fell swoop, this war is nominally provoked by them, so of course they have to be destroyed. But in Tuyuhun's words, the Tang army was stubbornly resistant, but in general, it was still at a disadvantage.

Both sides should also take the opportunity to calm down and think about whether to continue fighting or to suspend their troops.

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