The first year of Xianqing.

First lunar month.

Chang'an, Great Mercy and Grace Temple.

Master Xuanzang set up 5,000 monks to fast, and presided over a grand ceremony to pray for the blessing of the new prince Li Hong. The emperor and empress led the Chinese military officials to make incense.

This is the first time that Wu has officially stepped forward to the stage, and she knows that her words and deeds are being followed, so she does her best to show that she forgets to sleep and eat. Her demeanor was generous and decent, her words were good, and her performance was excellent, so that the officials of the court and the people of Chang'an praised her, and her attitude towards the new queen also changed greatly.

"Your Majesty, the Western Turk Helu is rebellious, and he can't be connived at anymore, he must go all out to conquer it, destroy it in one battle, and do it once and for all!"

"I also want to fight, but how to fight and how to fight is the key."

Emperor Li Zhi, who has been on the throne for seven years, now has a monopoly on power, drove out the patriarchal faction, abolished Wang Huangtai, replaced the new crown prince, and the emperor who is approaching the year of establishment is now in high spirits, and the Tang Dynasty has just destroyed Baekje.

The Western Turkic Ashina Helu rebelled infrequently, which had already made Li Zhi dissatisfied.

At present, there are two factions in the court, one faction believes that the Eastern Expedition has just made a contribution, and then it should take advantage of the victory to attack, destroy Goguryeo in one drum, and never suffer from the trouble in the East.

Others believe that the Western Turkic Ashinahlu is now getting stronger and stronger, and if he doesn't conquer it again, then he may not be able to lose his tail and slowly become a problem for his henchmen.

But although the Tang Dynasty is strong, it cannot use troops on both sides at the same time, after all, whether it is Goguryeo or the Western Turks, it is a hegemon, and the Tang Dynasty has to do its best to conquer it.

Crusade or Crusade?

East or West?

The voices of the two factions kept arguing, and Li Zhi was also a little hesitant.

"Your Majesty, there are five sips in the Western Turkic Continent, Mukunlu Sip, Huluque Sip, Sheti Si, Turgi Shilu Si, and Rat Nishi Half Sip."

"There are five catties of crossbow loss, Axi Jieque is a catty, Geshu Que is a catty, Basai Gantun sand bowl is a catty, Axi is a muddy catty, and Geshe is half a catty."

"Your Majesty, in the eighth year of Zhenguan, the Khan of the Emperor of our dynasty divided his country into two sides and ten surnames, known as the Ten Arrows. To the east of the Broken Leaf River belongs to the five surnames of Dulu, and the leader is called Sip. The west crossbow lost five surnames, and the leader was called Qi Jin.

The surname is given an arrow, and all sip and pound can be called, so it is also called ten and ten arrows. ”

In the palace, for the emperor to analyze the current situation of the Western Turks is the general Qibi He Li, the current general Zuo Xiaowei, originally a member of the Tiele Qibi tribe in Mobei, in the early years of the Tiele Khan, and then led the troops to return to the Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan nine years with the army defeated Tuguhun, because of the merit to take the Lintao county lord as his wife, Zhenguan fourteen years, and with Hou Jun to destroy Gaochang State, Zhenguan twenty-two years, with Ashina Sheer defeated Qiuci, captured the king of Qiuci.

After that, he fought against the Western Turks many times, and his achievements were high, and he was promoted to the general of Zuo Xiaowei and was named the Duke of Yuguo.

Although he is a Hu person, but he has been in the Tang Dynasty for decades, he is also loyal, and his military achievements are impressive.

As a general who was quite familiar with the Western Turks, his words were of course more convincing to the emperor.

"There are ten tribes in the Western Turks, but now, Ashina Helu can only lead the five divisions of the Lu, and the five surnames of the crossbow are under the leadership of Zhenzhu Yehu, and they are willing to crusade against Helu for my Tang Dynasty pioneer, which is a golden opportunity."

Who is True Pearl Leaf Protector? Why can he lead the crossbow and lose the five surnames, and why are he willing to be the vanguard of Tang?

This is the internal power struggle of the Western Turks themselves, Zhenzhu Yehu's father is the former Western Turkic Khan Yibi Lu Khan, who was also supported by the Tang Dynasty in the early years, and later became a white-eyed wolf as soon as he became strong. The Tang Dynasty then supported the current Khan Ashina Helu and joined forces to defeat the Ebilu Khan.

Zhenzhu Yehu also commanded a department in his early years, called it, and had his own clan of soldiers and horses, and his strength was not weak. After Li Zhi succeeded to the throne, Helu always made some small moves, which made the Tang Dynasty very dissatisfied, so the Tang Dynasty sent people to canonize Zhenzhuye as the khan last year, which was blocked by Ashina Helu.

Subsequently, He Lu also led his troops to recruit the True Pearl Leaf Protector Da Du She, and the two became complete mortal enemies.

Zhenzhu Ye couldn't defeat Helu, so he had to go to the Tang Dynasty and was willing to recruit Helu for the Tang vanguard.

"Now that the True Pearl Leaf Protector has lost the five surnames against He Lu, if I don't make a move, then they will definitely not be able to defeat He Lu in the end. Once Helu defeats the True Pearl Leaf Protector again, and even annexes the Bow Lost Five Tribes, then his strength will increase again and completely control the Western Regions. ”

If you want to fight, you have to fight as soon as possible, and take advantage of the fact that there are still opponents like Zhenzhu Yehu in the west of Helu now.

"If you fight, how many troops and horses do you need to mobilize?" Li Zhi asked.

"Your Majesty, the envoy Yidi needs to use his power, and he should concentrate his army and sweep away Helu with the power of thunder. The minister suggested sending 100,000 troops, and then recalling 50,000 soldiers and 50,000 Zhenzhuye guards, and gathering 200,000 troops to attack on three sides and annihilate them in one fell swoop. ”

"He cannot be allowed to unite the nations and fight only Heru. We made it clear in advance that we would only punish Helu when we sent troops, so that the departments of Chu Mi and Chu Mukun would also be willing to protect themselves. If we don't fight, then they will definitely join forces with Helu to fight the real pearl leaf protection. ”

The tribes of Chuyue and Chumi are tribes other than the ten tribes of the Western Turks, and their strength is also quite strong, but they do not directly belong to the ten surnames.

These tribes were not as closely related to Helu as they were in the Western Turks.

Qibi He Li's suggestion is to focus on Helu first, and target Helu's Wulu land, such as the tribes of Chuyue and Chumi, mainly to pacify.

The nomadic tribe of the Moon Department is in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, this tribe is not famous now, but it was very famous in the late Tang Dynasty, because at that time the Moon Department had been renamed Shatuo.

The Shatuo people fought bravely, and Li Keyong in the late Tang Dynasty was the Shatuo people. Five dynasties and ten kingdoms in the late Tang Dynasty, several of which were established by the Shatuo people, which shows its bravery.

"Your Majesty, this good opportunity to pacify the Western Regions must not be missed." He Li pleaded again.

"Let me think about it."

······

He Li retreated, and Li Zhi picked up a book on the imperial case.

The recital was performed by Li Xiao, the deputy governor of Andong and the governor of the Kumajin Prefecture.

Li Xiao played and asked the imperial court to first go east and then west, and first concentrate all efforts to destroy Goguryeo. As for the Western Turks, they can drive the tiger and devour the wolf, canonize the anti-Helu Zhenzhu Yehu as the khan, and make him lead the crossbow to lose the five divisions to conquer Helu, and then transfer back to the Tiele Department such as Su and Qibi to send troops to assist, and the imperial court can appoint a general to lead the general, but there is no need to send a large army to recruit in person.

In Li Xiao's words, to drive the tiger and the wolf with raze, let them fight first. The Tang army should still focus on the east, as long as the situation is not bad in the west, even if it can't destroy Helu for the time being, it doesn't matter.

If a large army is transferred from the east to return to the DPRK at this time and go to the Western Regions to quell the chaos, then the situation in the east will definitely change. There were too few soldiers left behind to suppress Goguryeo, and now that the Wa Kingdom had sent troops again, Baekje would have no troops to suppress the defense, and they were afraid that the Baekje people would rebel again.

So if you are greedy and chew more, don't care about the Western Turks, let's destroy Goguryeo first. Only by destroying Goguryeo can we ensure the stability of the East, and if we do not destroy Goguryeo, then Baekje, which has just been defeated, will not be able to defend it.

At the end of the chapter, Li Xiao also told the emperor not to expect the Silla and Khitans, if the main force of the Tang Dynasty is there, of course they will cooperate, and if the main force of the Tang army is not there, they will definitely not be careful, and maybe even these guys will have two hearts and covet the land of the peninsula.

"Aifei, do you think I should go east or west first?"

Empress Wu held her daughter and shook it gently, and when she saw the emperor ask her, she said, "Although Qi Bi He Li is a veteran, Li Xiao's words are actually very reasonable, the east and west are at war, thousands of miles apart, and the court will definitely not be able to take care of both sides." And choose one of the east and west, the concubine thinks that she is still elected to the east, first the east and then the west, and take advantage of the situation to destroy Goguryeo first and then send troops to the Western Regions! ”

Li Zhi hesitated, "What He Li said is also very reasonable, Helu of the Western Turks has become more and more arrogant, he has repeatedly sent troops to invade the Xizhou and Tingzhou of my Tang Dynasty, and if he does not conquer it, I am afraid that my Tang Dynasty will no longer have prestige in the Western Regions, and the Western Regions will be lost." ”

He seemed to say to himself, "Goguryeo is not easy to fight, and many generals in the DPRK and China have said that there are no eight years and ten years, but I am afraid that Goguryeo will not be destroyed." But I can't wait for eight years and ten years, and I can't wait for the Western Regions. Last year, Baekje was destroyed, and Goguryeo was defeated again, and I believe that I can temporarily settle down for a while, but I still want to go west and then east, first level Helu, and then return to Goguryeo. ”

The emperor already had an idea, and Empress Wu didn't say anything more.

·······

"Edict!"

"Cheng Zhijie, the general of the Yulin Army, is the general manager of the march of the Green Mountain Road, and leads the generals to attack Helu!"

"Liang Jianfang, the general of the left Wuwei, and Qi Bi, the general of the right Xiaowei, are the head of the march of the Gongyue Road."

"Gao Yide, the right Xiaowei general, and Sagu Wuren, the right Wuwei general, are the deputy commanders."

"Zhao Su Dingfang is the general manager of the Yili Dao marching army, and leads Yan Ran to protect Ren Yaxiang, deputy to protect Xiao Siye, and Zuo Xiaowei, the general of Hanhai, to return to Su Po Yan and others to fight against Helu."

"Zhao Right Tunwei General Ashina Miji, Left Tunwei General Ashina Bu is really the general manager of the quicksand road march, and they go out of Jinshan separately."

Edicts followed.

The three-way army was sent in a row, led by Cheng Yanjin, Su Dingfang and Ashina Mi Shot, and the troops were divided into three routes, each commanding 50,000 troops.

Then the edict of Hui Hui and the Qibi Department each sent 50,000 troops, plus the canonization of Zhenzhu Ye Hu as the Khan, he led the crossbow to lose the five surnames and sent 100,000 troops, this time the Tang Dynasty really went all out and attacked with heavy troops.

A total of 300,000 troops marched against Heru.

With the issuance of this edict, the former deputy capital of the Andong Metropolitan Protectorate Cheng and the deputy marshal Su Dingfang were all transferred to the Western Regions, and at the same time, 100,000 elite soldiers were transferred.

In the original Korean battlefield, the main force of the Tang Army was withdrawn.

In the north, Xue Rengui replaced Cheng Yanjin to preside over the battle, and in the south, it was completely handed over to Li Xiao.

As the deputy protector of the capital, Li Xiao only has 12,000 village warriors under his command, mainly Baekje people, but he has to take on the heavy responsibility of guarding the land of Baekje alone.