An hour later, Li Tianchen, who got the news, immediately sent Shi Yang to lead three hundred cavalry to the dark forest at a gallop, "General, this is there!" The Turgish Hunter shuddered, pointing to a bloody field in the distance.

Without waiting for the lieutenant's order, a hundred soldiers turned over and dismounted, took iron pickaxes to dig up the corpses, the rest of the cavalry served as guards around, several scouts ran into the distance, observing the movement within five hundred steps, Shi Yang frowned and looked at the surrounding dark place, not far from the place where he had last annihilated the Great Cannibal, located in the depths of the dark forest, there was an abandoned path, along the path all the way, more than forty miles away from the other end of the forest.

Soon, more than 100 corpses were excavated and placed all over the place, most of these corpses were incomplete, and even a few women's were cut off, and all the valuable things on their bodies were stripped away, showing the ferocity and greed of the killers, what kind of person did this, who dared to commit violence under the noses of the Tang Army, Shi Yang gritted his teeth, he turned back and asked the Turkic hunter who reported the news: "Listen to you, the last thing the killer said was Turkic, is that so?" ”

"Yes! I think their accent seems to be Qarluq. The Turgish hunter hesitated for a moment, then suddenly affirmed, "They are Qarluqs." ”

Qarluqs? Shi Yang also thinks that the possibility of Qarlu is very great, he can't think of any other forces here besides them, and now the question is whether these Qarluqs are robbing like guerrillas? Or lurking in a huge conspiracy.

"Captain, we've found this!" A soldier handed over a tax bill, Shi Yang took it and looked at it, this is the tax bill issued by the Demon Dragon City Government Office, the date on it is today, the names of the goods owners are Pierre and Mayer, the deceased is the pair of Sogdian brothers in the morning, their identities are clear, Shi Yang's mission is over, and he immediately ordered all the bodies to be buried. Just as he was about to leave, the turkey hunter suddenly remembered something.

"General, there's something I forgot to say."

"What's the matter?" Shi Yang stopped the war horse.

"I remember the Sogdian merchant shouting when he first arrived, he shouted, go and call the usurer!" The Turgish hunter carefully recalled some of the details of the time, yes. He could be sure that the other party was shouting that he was a loan shark.

"And then?" Shi Yang asked quietly.

"Then someone shouted, and the man didn't follow, it seemed to be gone."

"Collect the troops!" Shi Yang gave an order. With three hundred cavalry, he disappeared into the distance like a gust of wind.

Don barracks. The Sogdian land tax bill lay quietly on Li Tianchen's desk. Li Tianchen paced back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back. The young general was also puzzled by the matter. The Qarluqs and Sogdians had always had good relations. Why are they killing each other? Moreover, it was the first caravan of the Tang Army to occupy the rear land of Demon Dragon City. Could it really be the work of some Qarluqs? If so. Then why don't they work on their own turf? But he ran to the territory of the Tang Army to take risks. And where did they come from in the uniforms of the Tang Army. It is impossible for the rangers to disperse.

From many doubts. Li Tianchen was sensitively aware. There must be a conspiracy of the Qarluqs. He looked up. Seeing Shi Yang standing aside, he wanted to speak and stopped. So he smiled and asked him, "If you have anything else to say, please say!" ”

"General. His subordinates investigated the so-called loan sharks. There is only one Sogdian named Jalandra in Demon Dragon City. As

He didn't finish his sentence. Li Tianchen interrupted him with a slight wave of his hand. "Don't startle you with this matter for the time being. I've sent someone to find Cumming. He will give me an answer shortly. ”

There was a pause. Li Tianchen asked again: "Besides." What else do you have in mind? ”

The subordinates were wondering why these Qarluqs wore the uniforms of the Tang Army. In addition to disguising his identity, will there be a strategy to frame the Tang army, if this is the case, I am afraid that the Qarluq people are not as simple as killing people and taking money. ”

Li Tianchen nodded, "I think so too, but I still need some evidence." ”

At this time, there was a soldier outside the tent who reported, "General Li, the shopkeeper Kang of the Demon Dragon Inn has arrived." ”

"Order him to come in." Li Tianchen commanded. He turned back to Shi Yang and smiled: "The Sogdians are not actually united. From this Kang shopkeeper, we may be able to get some useful information. ”

In a moment, the curtain was raised. The shopkeeper Kang walked in under the guidance of the soldiers, the shopkeeper Kang was the old man surnamed Kang, he advocated a compromise with the Tang army to maintain the interests of the Sogdians in the Demon Dragon City, although in the end all the Sogdians went to the government office to register, but the shopkeeper Kang sincerely took refuge in the Tang Dynasty, he walked into the tent and saluted: "The grass people see the general."

"Shopkeeper Kang doesn't have to be polite." Li Tianchen casually handed him the tax slip on the table, "Are you familiar with these two people?" ”

"Brother Pierre?" Shopkeeper Kang was stunned, how could their tax bills be in Tang Jun's hands, and he still saw them in the morning! This time, they refused to stay at the hotel because they were afraid of Tang Jun, and he replied with doubts: "I know them very well, I have known their brothers for more than twenty years, and every time they come to Demon Dragon City, they have to stay with me for one night. ”

After a moment's hesitation, Shopkeeper Kang asked again, "Did something happen to them?" ”

"They were killed by the Qarluqs in the dark forest, and there was not a single one alive, and their goods were robbed."

"Qarluq!" Shopkeeper Kang whispered, "This—how is this possible? ”

Li Tianchen and Shi Yang quickly glanced at each other, and they heard a hint from the tone of the shopkeeper Kang, Li Tianchen stared at him tightly and asked, "Then tell me, why is it impossible?" ”

Shopkeeper Kang knew that he had slipped his mouth, so he had no choice but to say: "The relationship between this Pierre brother and Ye Hu Duotu, the second largest force in the Garlulu Force, is extraordinary, half of their caravan is voted by Dotu, and Pierre's daughter is also married to Dotu, who is deeply favored, and gave birth to a son for him, so it is really unbelievable that they were killed by the Qarluqs, unless these murderers don't want to live." ”

After speaking, the shopkeeper Kang sighed slightly, very sad about the death of the Pierre brothers. Li Tianchen frowned, he was even more puzzled, this group of Qarluqs not only killed their own people, but also did not hesitate to offend Qarluq nobles, this is indeed a bit unbelievable, it is not that they are not Qarluqs. It was done by the Hui people, with the aim of provoking a war between Qarlu and the Tang Dynasty

Li Tianchen pondered for a long time, he finally made up his mind, he must get to the bottom of this matter, and when the shopkeeper Kang said goodbye, he immediately said to Shi Yang: "I have changed my mind now, you can go and arrest that Jalandra, but it is best to do it again at night, don't make too much of a move." ”

"The last general obeys!" Shi Yang gave a military salute. Walked out of the tent quickly.

Broken leaves, a dozen doves buzzed through the clouds piled up like hills in the sky! The sound of the horn. Hovering in circles over Broken Leaf, on the highest watchtower in Broken Leaf City, two sentries watched the group of pigeons, and suddenly a soldier shouted, "Look! It is a red bamboo pipe. ”

Red represents the most urgent situation, two soldiers began to blow the pigeon whistle to attract the pigeon to descend, a flock of pigeons slowly gathered their wings, and finally landed on the watchtower, one soldier skillfully untied the thin red bamboo tube tied to the leg of a pigeon. Quickly run down the tower.

At present, the Western Regions Protectorate is located in the Broken Leaf City, which is a magnificent stone building built by the Great Cannibal, built seven years ago, originally the Great Cannibal's Translation Hall, ready to translate a large number of Islamic classics into Turkic Chinese, to spread Islamic culture to the Turkic people, but just two years after the construction, the Broken Leaf was recaptured by the Tang Dynasty, and this huge building was also requisitioned by the Tang Army. It became a place for training low-level officers, and now it has become Wang Siyu's Western Regions Protectorate.

Wang Siyu has a series of dazzling positions, such as the Protector of the Western Regions and the Governor of Broken Leaves, the Young Master of the Prince, the Duke of Min Guo, and the Champion General, but the real power in this position is the Governor of Broken Leaves, who is directly in charge of the 60,000 army, while the Protector of the Western Regions can only exercise his substantive duties after being temporarily authorized by the emperor.

But even if Wang Siyu actually led an army of 60,000, he couldn't do whatever he wanted, according to the principle of power checks and balances in the Tang Dynasty, Wang Siyu's power was checked and balanced by two layers of measures. The first is the rotation system. The frontier generals rotate every four years, and the envoy of the right section of Longlong, He Lou Wuji, exchanged with Luo Guangzheng, the envoy of the Shuofang festival, in April. The second is the military supervision system, the military supervision system does not mean that Li Longji sent the eunuch Bian Lingcheng to supervise Gao Xianzhi's kind of supervising the army, that is an abnormal behavior, but the real military supervision system of the Tang Dynasty is that the imperial history is sent by the imperial history to serve the imperial history to exercise the right of supervision in the frontier, in order to prevent the collusion between the imperial history and the frontier generals, the imperial history will also be changed every two years.

The official quality of the imperial historian is not high, only from the sixth grade, but its power is very large, its main responsibility is to supervise the frontier general whether there is no overstepping authority or military discipline is not disciplined, and from time to time to review its money and food expenditure, and at the same time with two judges as assistants, directly responsible for the imperial history platform, in special circumstances can participate in military planning, and even lead the army to fight, in addition to some special powers, such as Wang Siyu wants to obtain the actual command of the major governors of Anxi in wartime, his application must also have the countersignature of the imperial history.

Now in charge of supervising the Western Regions, the imperial history is Wu Yuanheng, he was transferred to the imperial history platform last year, and this year he was sent to Anxi to take up his post, he just arrived in Broken Leaf a few days ago, and after settling down, he came directly to see Wang Siyu.

In the living room, Wang Siyu is smiling kindly to Wu Yuanheng to introduce some basic information about the recent broken leaves, although Wang Siyu is a high-ranking official from the first rank, a feudal official, but in front of Wu Yuanheng from the sixth grade, but he does not dare to put on a high-ranking official's shelf, he knows that this time in order to prepare for the big food, the emperor specially made an exception to extend his post as the protector of the Western Regions for another two years, if he does not know what to do, and treats the imperial history sent by the imperial court to supervise the imperial history, it will inevitably cause the disgust of the emperor and the imperial court, which will greatly damage his future.

The years have worn away Wang Siyu's sharpness, and he has begun to become a little sophisticated and sleek, but one thing has not changed, that is, his loyalty to Zhang Huan.

"I haven't had any major events here in the past two months, the main thing is to receive food and various military supplies from the Central Plains, and to train the newly established 30,000 Han People's League, they are mainly to assist the regular army to defend the city during the war, and another big thing is to occupy the northern land of Atumu City, which has now been renamed Demon Dragon City, with a garrison of 10,000, and I have reported to the emperor in advance and obtained consent."

Speaking of this, Wang Siyu's face turned grim again, and he said frankly to Wu Yuanheng: "In short. Although Wu Yushi can supervise the various situations of Shaye and Anxi, if anyone dares to obstruct Wu Shilang's supervision, he can tell me directly, and I will be a military lawyer. ”

Wu Yuanheng is a few years younger than Wang Siyu, but in the face of this highest-ranking military general in the Tang Dynasty and the emperor's former confidant, he is neither humble nor arrogant. Said sincerely: "I also ask the general to rest assured that I will do everything according to the system, and will never participate in personal likes and dislikes, and I will write a supervision report according to the truth on the merits, and will never exaggerate." ”

"Well, I hope we have a good time working together!" Wang Siyu smiled slightly.

At this time, a sergeant suddenly ran outside the door, and he reported loudly at the door: "Report to the commander, there is a red pigeon letter from Demon Dragon City." 100,000 urgent! ”

Wang Siyu and Wu Yuanheng stood up at the same time, and Wu Yuanheng spoke first: "Since General Wang has military affairs, I won't bother." ”

He took his leave. Wang Siyu stopped him and said with a smile: "The military envoy was once a well-known military counselor in the military department, and this emergency report must be related to the Qarlu people, and the military envoy may wish to serve as a staff officer for me."

Wu Yuanheng did not postpone it, and arched his hand and said: "Yuanheng is willing to contribute to national affairs." ”

Wang Siyu took the pigeon letter, unfolded it and took a look, and immediately took Wu Yuanheng into the military affairs room next to it, the military affairs room is the place where Wang Siyu decides military affairs, covering a large area, but mainly a huge Anxi sand table. From Dunhuang in the east, to the Mediterranean coast in the west, although the sand table is huge, but the west of the Amu Darya River is relatively simple, mainly drawing some cities and major mountain ranges, the details are concentrated in the vast area east of the Amu Darya River, every city, every mountain range, every river, every oasis are clearly marked, and even each city has another fascicle, dedicated to the distribution of garrisons and population. It is controlled by a single master bookkeeper and can be changed at any time according to the latest information.

"The latest information has come from Demon Dragon City, the landlord war faction within the Qarluq people sent people to pretend to be the Tang Army to attack a Sogdian caravan, this caravan involves the vital interests of the second force of the Qarluq to step on the strength of Ye Hu, in this way, the Qarlu people are very likely to reach a consensus to attack the Demon Dragon City."

Speaking of this, Wang Siyu pointed to a place with a long wooden pole where there were several models of huts under a mountain in the north of Daqing Pond and said: "This is the Demon Dragon City, and our scouts have found that it is feasible to go directly to the Yibo Sea from the adjacent Demon Dragon Lake, which has extremely high strategic value for us to contain the Hui in the future." For this reason, I specially reported to the emperor. The emperor immediately ordered me to take this place as soon as possible and use it as a logistics base for the Tang army to go north to Yisow Haiti. ”

Wu Yuanheng took a closer look at the town. He suddenly said: "I'm afraid the key point of this town is not only that it can lead to the Yibo Sea, I think its location seems to be choking the throat of the Great Food and the Qarlu and the Hui Land, if this is the case, the Qarluq people want to attack this place, maybe there is a shadow of the Great Cannibal behind this." ”

Wang Siyu secretly gave a thumbs up and praised, sure enough, this person has a broad mind, and he immediately grasped the key point of the problem, he smiled slightly: "Since the military envoy has seen this layer, I won't hide it from you, the emperor gave me a secret decree half a year ago, this attack on the Qarlu people is false, and the emperor's real purpose is here." ”

Wang Siyu drew a circle on the territory of Tocharo with a wooden pole and said with a slight smile: "As early as four months ago, the imperial court mobilized 80,000 elite soldiers from the mainland to garrison Shule, and reached an agreement with Tubo that the Tubo people will send 20,000 troops to the Tocharian border to make a possibility. ”

"Brilliant plan!" Wu Yuanheng couldn't help but high-fived and praised: "Who came up with this strategy, it is really clever, Tocharo is in danger, is the big food army of Bahan to save it or not?" If it is saved, the Tang army of Broken Leaf Land can take advantage of the situation to capture Bahanna, and this strategy can be said to give full play to the strategic advantages of Broken Leaf City. "I heard that this was the strategy of Li Mi, the cloth cloth minister back then, and it was indeed very clever, if the Great Food Army of Tocharian refused to help the Qarluqs, then we would simply destroy the Qarluqs and completely pull out the nail behind this Broken Leaf City."

"But if we destroy the Qarluqs, we will directly face the Uighurs, and if the Uighurs and the Great Cannibals form an alliance, won't we suffer from the enemy? And I heard that the cannibals have strong national strength, and our Datang has just been in the recovery period, so I am afraid that the national strength will not be able to support the two-front battle. Wu Yuanheng was still a little worried.

"You can't think like that." Wang Siyu immediately refuted Wu Yuanheng's weakness, "The more you are afraid of war, the less courage you have to face the enemy, we have the powerful Tang Lei, we also have strong armor and sharp knives, these are not used for show, we must fight the battle that should be fought, even if we lose, we can't lose our dignity, as long as our blood and dignity are still there, we have a chance to regain the victory, we are afraid of being comfortable for a long time, the court is afraid of the enemy like a tiger, and has become blindly tolerant and retreating, Even the most basic blood has been lost, so does this have the dignity of a big country? Whether it is a Hui or a cannibal, the weaker you are, the more they will bully you, you just look at Tubo to know, if there is no Anxi War, will they be so obedient now? ”

Speaking of this, Wang Siyu gently patted Wu Yuanheng's shoulder and smiled: "I heard that you were famous for your toughness when you were in the military department, why have you become indecisive now?" Wu Yuanheng was silent, he admitted that Wang Siyu was reasonable, now the court has formed a rare consensus on the possibility of a war with the Great Eclipse, everyone has realized that if the Tang Dynasty wants to restore the strength of the arrogant world when Zhenguan, it is impossible to please the opponent only by affinity, yes, since the Han Dynasty, the dignity of the Han dynasty has always been exchanged for iron and blood, weakness can only be exchanged for more humiliation, sometimes what does it matter if you are a little tough!

He nodded, picked up the wooden pole and pointed to the Ashbulai City in the northwest direction of Broken Leaf and said with a smile: "I don't know if General Wang found it, although the location of Broken Leaf is important, it is located in the river valley, and there is not much room for expansion to the west, if we can take this opportunity to take Ashburai City, we can take Talas City directly to the west, and sweep Bahhana to the south, the initiative of the war will be in our hands at once, what does General Wang think?" ”

Wang Siyu's expression became extremely serious, he carefully checked the geographical location of Ashi Burai City again and again, it is backed by the steep Qianquan Mountain, to the east is Julan City and Talas City, to the south is Bahanna, with the geographical advantage of Tiqiu, he gasped, Wu Yuanheng is very right, taking Ashi Bulai City, it will indeed occupy the initiative of the war, it can be said that this will be a key fulcrum of the war between the Tang Dynasty and the Great Food.

"Alright! Your suggestion is my first option, and whether or not the Great Cannibals support the Qarluqs, I will take this opportunity to take the city of Ashibula. At this moment, Wang Siyu resolutely made up his mind.

(Let's download the Historical Atlas of China!) Tan Qixiang editor-in-chief, you can search on the Internet, and there is a map near the broken leaves)

Pleaded for a monthly pass again, and the old Gao Tuan made a move.