"Dashuai, the Hongling messenger over there in Chang'an is in a hurry." Liu Xuan had just sent Chang'an's urgent mail to Wan Yi's desk when a familiar voice came from outside the tent, "Senior brother, there are still three days before Chinese New Year's Eve, what are you going to find me to eat?" ”

"Lao Jiu, my eldest and second eldest prince, what kind of wind blew you here?" As soon as Wang Houchun walked into the handsome tent, Wan Yi walked up quickly, grabbed his cloak, nodded at Zhao Si beside him, and pulled the two into the big tent with a smile: "There is nothing here in the northwest, except for beef and mutton, only a little cabbage leaf that can be transported from the mainland by all means, and it is rotten to the sandbank." ”

"Don't worry, when I left this time, I brought some bitter vegetable leaves and some pickles from Hexi, and it is estimated that there will be a pot of beef or something to stew, and it will be regarded as a Chinese New Year's Eve meal." Wang Houchun didn't care, he brought some vegetables this time, but he didn't have time to see what it was, and the bitter herb leaves were also his own blind guesses. However, he didn't continue the topic, sat on the side and poured himself a glass of water and said with a smile: "Zhao Si, don't be polite to Senior Brother, when I left, I took out all my money this month and bought a bunch of gifts and sent them to Senior Brother's house, so I asked this Senior Brother to invite me to dinner." ”

"Okay, let's get down to business, I'll take you to the deputy prime minister when I'm done, he has made a big move recently, and someone invites him to dinner every day, so let's go to dinner." Wan Yi waved his hand and said, "Let's get down to business, you are here to show that the emperor and the General Staff have new ideas?" ”

"The emperor and the General Staff have decided to implement a new recovery plan in the northwest, which is in the bag of the senior brother. I came in secret, and I came in the name of a baggage team. And the purpose of coming is also very simple, that is, to defend the back road for the senior brother, so that the senior brother can lead the army to fight in the front with peace of mind. Wang Houchun asked Wan Yi to read the plan sent by the General Staff as he spoke, and at the same time said: "There are also Xuan Yingwei and the cabinet in it, and the three parts are combined." Senior brother, after reading it, let the deputy prime minister and Zhao Silai study it together. ”

"Qiqi Marshal, Xuan Yingwei's side has already started to start in advance, Xiaohu has already asked someone to convey the latest order when he entered Anxi, I believe that Anxi's side will not stop this whole winter." Zhao Si took over the conversation and said: "At present, I still need the big marshal to let Zhang Sheng come to me immediately, I will personally arrange for him to enter Anxi, and then send a secret guard to contact him specifically, and in the early stage, we will hand over all the secret lines about the descendants of Zhaowu Jiu that we operate on the Anxi side to him, and if necessary, the deputy prime minister's side will also let the second son of the Murong family also enter Anxi." ”

"You can arrange the affairs of Xuan Yingwei yourself, and you can coordinate it in charge of Houchun." Wan Yi nodded, and nodded at the part of Xuan Yingwei in the plan: "But your General Staff is bold enough, dare to report such a dangerous and ridiculous plan to the emperor?" Relying on the strength of the Xuan Ying Guard and the Flying Eagle Brigade to dare to empty the sandbar, have you considered the consequences of the sandbar once it cannot be resisted? And you Xuanyingwei are too, so sure you can get the descendants of Zhaowu Jiu? What if you don't achieve your desired goals? I'm surprised, how could the emperor agree? Wan Yi didn't react at first, but when he finished scanning the thick pile of paper with one glance and ten lines, he suddenly discovered the strangeness in it.

"Great handsome, in fact, Xuan Yingwei's side is not sure of victory." Zhao Si's words almost made Wan Yi stand up directly, but then Zhao Si continued: "However, although there is no certainty of victory, the commander feels that it is feasible after weighing it, and according to our estimation and the news fed back in the early stage, at least we can guarantee that we will not let Cao Rengui hit Shazhou City smoothly, and we can also ensure that the Anxi side will give Cao Rengui and the Anxi Uighurs a strong constraint, dragging them back all the time." ”

Zhao Si's words made Wan Yi sit down again, but his brows were still furrowed, and Wang Houchun hurriedly said when he saw this: "Senior brother, don't worry, after the army leaves, the sandbar will be handed over to me to be responsible, if you lose the responsibility of looking for me on the sandbank." ”

"Does the emperor have any plans? Otherwise, why is there such a hurry to hold a decisive battle in Anxi? Wan Yi was silent for a long time, and then suddenly asked Wang Houchun.

"The emperor discussed with the prime minister before, preparing to implement the industrial revolution in the mainland next year, preparing to use five years to popularize industrialization in the mainland, and establish the northern industrial belt. Wang Houchun usually doesn't pay attention to these economic developments or anything, if it weren't for Li Xuanqing explaining to everyone that day, he wouldn't have cared about this at all. But since Li Xuanqing has explained, it shows that Li Xuanqing's plan is to solve the northwest as soon as possible, and Wang Houchun faintly feels that even if Anxi is recovered, the pace of the Tiance Army will not stop.

"You mean that the emperor asked us to settle Anxi as soon as possible, and then the army conquered other places? What kind of market is it to be laid? Wan Yi understood the meaning of Wang Houchun's words, but although he still didn't understand the relationship, he still felt Li Xuanqing's urgency, so he put down the plan and began to seriously consider the plan sent by the General Staff Department. And Wan Yi's expression was silent, Wang Houchun and Zhao Si glanced at each other and sat quietly drinking tea.

"Houchun, I agree to this plan. You and Zhao Si are in charge of all the plans on Xuan Yingwei's side, including Zhang Sheng's Anxi camp. Wan Yi nodded and said, "In March, I will personally lead my troops out of Yizhou to attract all the attention of the Uighurs and Cao Rengui in order to reduce your pressure, but is the action of the Flying Eagle Brigade ahead of schedule?" Wouldn't Cao Rengui be alert? ”

"This big marshal may have misunderstood. The Flying Eagle Brigade's actions in the early Anxi period were all directed at the Uighurs, which was actually a cover for Zhang Sheng's actions. In this way, Cao Rengui will be able to recruit the descendants of the nine surnames of Zhaowu and expand his ranks after the Uighurs have been attacked, so that we can carry out our next plan, intensify and divide the relationship between the Anxi Uighurs and Cao Rengui, and release other news at the appropriate time, and give Cao Rengui's hand to the Anxi Uighurs to sow discord between the Anxi Uighurs and the Gaochang Uighurs, so as to prepare for the great commander to leave Yizhou. "What Zhao Si said now is much more detailed than when Hu Xiaosi was in Chang'an, and Zhao Si already has some plans on his side that have already been sent to Xuan Yingwei through the fast horse summons. Moreover, Zhao Si also knew the plan on the Chang'an side, and Qin Kong would also lead some Xuanying Wei elites and members of the Dragon Group to come to Shazhou as backup to assist Zhao Si, so Zhao Si had unprecedentedly sufficient manpower at this time, so he began to issue orders to deal with the affairs in Anxi before he arrived at Shazhou.

"You've got a good plan, ring after ring, all in the middle of a fight? In this way, they will hinder each other, so that they will not be able to exert their maximum combat power, and then fish in troubled waters. Tell me honestly, Lao Jiu, do you plan to take the initiative to leak the news that we are empty on the sandbar when necessary? If Cao Rengui hadn't reacted. Wan Yi instantly understood the thoughts of the two guys in front of him and the group of people in the Chang'an General Staff, and couldn't help but say, "You guys are walking on the tip of a knife." ”

"So Senior Brother has no opinion?" Wang Houchun said with a smile: "Before I came, the General Staff was still worried about what to do if the senior brother couldn't get through, if it wasn't for Tianxiang to stop him, it is estimated that Tiancheng guy would have started to make a replacement plan even for this." ”

"I see, did the emperor finally choose your plan?" Wan Yi shook his head and smiled: "If the emperor doesn't nod, no matter how bold you are, you won't dare to come to the sandbank, right?" But Lao Jiu, you are really the most like to have strange tricks among your brothers, and to be honest, if I had to choose again, I still think Tiancheng's plan is a little more reliable. ”

"Anyway, senior brother, you agreed, and I don't care about the rest." Wang Houchun said with a smile: "Let's talk about it, Zhao Si and I haven't eaten well for several days, Wan Dashuai hurry up and get some benefits." After finishing the business, a few people began to stop being polite and began to giggle and prepare for dinner. Early the next morning, a few people began to find Tuoba Siji, such a big plan was supposed to be notified to him, and there were also part of the cabinet's plans in it, but compared to the government affairs, other specific plans on the side of Xuan Yingwei and the military Wan Yi and others did not say much, although Tuoba Sijian was also a soldier before, but after all, he had been out of the army for several years. Don't reveal too much about such a thrilling plan for the time being, but Tuoba Siji is still very interested in the screening method for the Tang people in the northwest passed on by the cabinet. Cen Tianshi said that as long as the heart of the Tang Dynasty can directly promulgate the Tang Dynasty household registration, although this method is relatively far from the strict system in China, but as a transitional policy, Tuoba still feels that it is very possible to implement. Therefore, Tuoba Si agreed and agreed to cooperate with Xuan Yingwei's plan.

There is no problem on Tuoba Siji's side The military and political sides on the Shazhou side immediately began to act, this group did not even care about eating Chinese New Year's Eve, Zhao Si transferred elite men from Xuanyingwei to enter Anxi to cooperate with the Flying Eagle Travel, and Zhang Sheng also led the previous thousands of veterans to enter the town and Shicheng under the cover of Xuanyingwei, and then took the road to Khotan and other places, according to the information collected by Xuanyingwei in the early stage to find the gathering place of the descendants of Zhaowu Jiu, Moreover, Zhang Sheng also personally led a part of the team to find the descendants of the Shi family that he had come into contact with when he was in this generation before. According to his memory, after the fall of the Shiguo Kingdom, there was a group that came to settle in Shule for several generations, and there were also some tribesmen in the territory of Balsi Khan, and these people were basically suppressed by the local Uighur tribes in Northern Shule, and Zhang Sheng believed that it should be relatively easy to win over. And the most important point now is that Cao Rengui, under the banner of the anti-Tang alliance, persuaded the Uighurs to allow him to select men from Han Chinese and their descendants everywhere. This is the reason why Zhang Sheng feels that he can succeed.

While Zhang Sheng and the others were acting, Zhao Si was also keeping an eye on Cao Rengui's movements, and the secret guards began to find out where Cao Rengui would move in advance, preparing to attack in advance, so that they could use Cao Rengui's intelligence network.

While Zhang Sheng and Xuan Yingwei were poaching, Su Xiaohu decided to make a move in Yanqi, which was not only an important town on the Silk Road, but also the border between the Anxi Uighurs and the Gaochang Uighurs. The Anxi Uighurs amassed heavy troops here, and on the one hand, according to the agreement, they could send troops at any time to assist the Qocho Uighurs in their wars, and on the other hand, they also put a knife on the back of the Qocho Uighurs. Speaking of which, hoarding heavy troops in Yanqi is still Cao Rengui's idea. After this inside story was known by Su Xiaohu and others, he was prompted to make a move here, and if he provoked a big move in the border land, it would stimulate the nerves of both sides at the same time, and it would also attract everyone's attention here. In fact, this was Cao Rengui's original intention, and the main force of the Anxi Uighur army went north, and he was safer in the town of Boxian. It's just that Zhao Si quietly appeared in a corner of Boxian Town under the leadership of Li San'er at this time and the backup members of the Flying Eagle Brigade who had been transferred to follow Wang Houchun.

On the first day of the first month of the fourth year of the Apocalypse, that is, when the common people were immersed in the atmosphere of the New Year, Cao Rengui persuaded the two Uighurs to close the Silk Road, and the Silk Road, which had become more difficult after the heavy snow in winter, was completely suspended. A large number of caravans that had wanted to take advantage of the winter to buy and sell goods in demand were all blocked near the checkpoint, and it was difficult to move an inch. Fortunately, Tuoba Sijian got the news and immediately asked Wan Yi to send troops to escort the caravans that were blocked and unable to pass back to the sandbank. But the situation on the other side of the stone city is not very good, a large number of caravans are blocked in the stone city can not enter and exit, if you return the same way, then the loss of these goods will be great, but if you can't take advantage of the Spring Festival to send the goods to the sandbank, I am afraid that the business will not be able to continue in the future.

"Zhao Si, the trade route has been cut off, when will your plan start?" After pacifying the caravan here, Tuoba Siji found Zhao Si and asked. He knew in advance that Zhao Si had a countermeasure plan for the Silk Road to be cut off, so his first reaction after the caravan was blocked today was to find Zhao Si directly.

"Deputy Prime Minister, my side can start it at any time, have you sent someone to do a good job of the basic policy and propaganda strategy on the government affairs side?" When Zhao Si saw Tuoba Sizhi coming to him, he immediately understood that the opportunity had come, so he hurriedly stood up and said.

"Don't worry, I'm all ready, and I've also sent Jincheng Assassin Shi Qiuyi from Hexi to take charge of this matter. This kid is a local talent in Hexi, and Zhang Quanfu originally planned to recommend him to take over as the political envoy of Hexi Province, but because the major events on the side of the Western Expedition have been slowed down, this does not allow him to come over to deal with this matter, so he can justifiably serve as the political envoy. Tuoba's words made Zhao Si nod and smile: "Since that's the case, then what are we waiting for?" Cao Rengui: This time, I promise that he will not be able to steal chickens and rice. ”