The man on horseback was none other than Su Dingfang, one of the supreme commanders of the Tang Army on this expedition to Tibet.

Although it was claimed to the outside world that the credit of Li Jing and Su Dingfang for this expedition to Tibet was the same.

But internally, especially in the army, everyone thinks that Su Dingfang's credit is greater.

Because before entering Tubo, they destroyed Tuyuhun in one step, and traveled thousands of miles, and entered some cities, if it was not for Su Dingfang to lead the army to arrive in time, it is not certain whether Li Jing would have made the decision to retreat for the second time.

Of course, Li Jing's credit has not been denied.

In fact, Li Yuanji was still very satisfied with Li Jing's decision to retreat for the first time, and agreed with it.

Although Li Yuanji did not praise it much, after he learned about the whole process, he said such a thing.

Li Jing made a right choice at the right time.

It's just a simple sentence, but it encompasses so many meanings.

Although this is somewhat inconsistent with some of the characteristics of the army, and even in the eyes of many, retreat means defeat.

But Li Yuanji didn't see this, Li Jing's retreat can be regarded more as a strategic retreat, a helpless retreat.

Because at that time, there was no better option than to retreat.

Facts have also proved that this is the case, Li Jing led the army to retreat unhurriedly, and there was no flaw in the attack for the Tubo army along the way.

And the most direct manifestation is that after getting supplies, Li Jing can immediately lead the army to counterattack.

This is the best proof that the problem is not with the expeditionary force, but with the problem of logistical supply.

Of course, the reason for this result is actually more or less related to Li Jing, because logistics is also one of Li Jing's tasks.

But no matter what happened before, now Su Dingfang is back and leading the army back.

The meaning is relatively simple and straightforward.

This also means that the expedition to Tibet has been completely over, and the internal stability of Tibet has been stabilized, otherwise, now the imperial court will not withdraw troops, but consider the issue of increasing troops.

"The minister was ordered to lead the army back from Tibet, and when he returned, there were 83,167 soldiers, and 32 were left in various places due to injuries on the way, and the rest returned." Coming to Li Yuanji, Su Dingfang bowed his hand in a regular manner, holding a tiger talisman high in his hand.

The tiger talisman is the tiger talisman for the transfer of troops.

When the commander of the general goes out on the expedition, the emperor will give the tiger charm to the commander-in-chief, implying that from this moment on, he has the power to control this army.

And when the commander-in-chief and generals return, they will hand over the tiger talisman to the emperor.

This is a very normal thing in this era, so no one thinks there is anything wrong, and no one is upset because of it.

In fact, if they return to Chang'an and don't hand over the tiger talisman, it will make them feel uneasy.

Who doesn't know that the army is the real heart of the emperor, and no one can touch it, even if it is a general who leads them to rush into battle to kill the enemy, they must not touch the army.

"The soldiers have worked hard, I thought you had prepared a banquet, but the heavens were not beautiful, so I could only make the soldiers feel a little aggrieved for a while." Li Yuanji nodded, took the tiger talisman, and said with a sad face.

He really didn't expect the weather to be so bad, the snow would not fall early or late, but it would fall at this time.

As for why they did not set the feast in the barracks, let them eat and drink in their tents.

First, when the army set out on the expedition, Li Yuanji promised to hold a banquet and feast the whole army when they returned from victory.

How can the emperor break his word when he has said it?

The second is out of political considerations.

This army has gone through such a great war, some of them participated in the battle to destroy one country, and some of them participated in the destruction of two countries.

In addition to their own pride, Li Yuanji was most worried about those generals.

Piff is not guilty of his guilt!

As an emperor, Li Yuanji had to be careful and on guard.

There are many means of defense, which can be tough or tactful, but no matter what you do, it will make those generals feel a little estranged in their hearts.

Li Yuanji didn't want that, and he didn't want to see that outcome.

So he chose this way, saying that the holy grace is vast, and as an emperor, he has a natural advantage, which no one else has.

Even if the emperor messes up the whole country, when he is old, or when he sees that the situation is a little wrong, he only needs a single edict to solve everything.

Yes, that's it, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made the people of the entire Han Dynasty miserable, the population plummeted by 10 million, and the people even had a lot of bad rumors, and they were everywhere, at this time, the emperor issued an edict against himself, and the people not only did not complain, but were grateful again and again, and the situation of the entire Han Dynasty was instantly stabilized.

The supremacy of imperial power, the emperor will not be wrong, the generals may have some different intentions, but ordinary soldiers, those ordinary people, they don't look at these, even if there are really generals with troops mutiny, it can only be a very small scale.

Li Yuanji also didn't want to get mixed up with the step of committing a crime, so he chose this way.

The first is to fulfill the promise, and the second is to use the emperor's advantage to erase the status of these generals in the hearts of the soldiers.

To put it simply, it's actually a wave of presence, and that's it.

"Your Majesty, I don't know, what is this kind of weather? For the soldiers, this is definitely the most pleasant meal they have eaten since the expedition. As Li Yuanji's confidant, Su Dingfang naturally would not doubt Li Yuanji's decision, let alone resist it.

Li Yuanji was blaming himself, whether it was sincere or false, Su Dingfang's first thought was to find a step for the emperor.

"Yes, Your Majesty, for the soldiers who are fighting abroad, it is good to be able to eat with peace of mind. At least here, they don't have to worry about when the enemy will appear, at least here, they can taste good food and wine. Ma Zhou hurriedly stood up and added.

"Needless to say, the soldiers are waiting outside, and after returning to Chang'an, I still can't provide them with a comfortable place, and I'm ashamed of them." Li Yuanji waved his hand, saying that it was good to act, but Li Yuanji really felt so at this time.

The structure of the current army is very simple, under a strict system, it is difficult for the hotbed of corruption to survive, and the purpose of the soldiers is very simple, that is, to go into battle to kill the enemy, and then receive meritorious service awards, it is as simple as that.

Unlike some troops during the Anti-Japanese War, they were completely chaotic, and if they could get by, they would fight, and if they couldn't fight, they would run away quickly, and the most important thing was to protect themselves.

"With the original establishment, the gang is the unit, and each gang has a table, go and arrange it!" Li Yuanji continued to wave his hand.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War responded, and then hurriedly sent someone to make arrangements.

The banquet of nearly 100,000 people was an absolute big scene, not only the scene was big, but there were also more things.

Fortunately, the object of this banquet is the army, and in terms of discipline can be guaranteed, all they need to do is to tell them these arrangements, and then they can do it.

The discipline of the army will not let them mess around, like some places who earn money to grab a position.

The army soon drove in, in a neat procession, with horses and equipment placed outside, and someone looked after them.

Li Si carried a blue-gray bag behind him, and the contents were a little strange, not as sleek or square as other backpacks.

This bag gives the impression that it is very messy and uneven.

"Lao Li, let's get a guy?" Li Si asked his comrades at the table in front of him.

Although it was one table for each group, the two of them basically lost half of each, and there were twenty-two people left, and now there were only ten people left, just enough to make up a table.

"Brother, this table is yours." Xue Rengui saw that Li Si wanted to gather at the table, and hurriedly stood up and reminded him that he had received an order before, and he didn't dare to let them sit around.

"Can't people get together at a table if they're dissatisfied? Do you have to waste food? Li Si raised his eyes and looked at a rookie with red epaulettes on his shoulders, the reason why he thought so was because the officers of their troops who went to the military academy were in the team at the moment, and all the faces standing here were a little immature, and the military flavor on his body was strong, and there was no murderous aura.

For a veteran who crawled out of the pile of dead, it was obvious at a glance that the other party was a rookie.

"That's how it was arranged." Xue Rengui didn't back down, but said confidently.

"Noisy fart, let you sit wherever you want, why the so much nonsense?" Li Si wanted to say a few more words, but the team glared fiercely and scolded Li Si angrily.

At this time, Li Si didn't dare to continue to be persistent, but took the rest of his group and sat down at the designated table.

But sit down, but my heart is very depressed, just these few people sit together, there is not even a little atmosphere, eat a fart?

But soon, Li Si understood the intention of doing so.

There was no official message, this word came from a table in front of them, a table was just enough to seat a group of people, in their opinion there were vacant seats here, but in the emperor's opinion, it was indeed full.

The reason is that in front of those empty seats, the spiritual seats of comrades-in-arms must be placed.

For ordinary people, this may be a little unlucky, but for the soldiers who crawled out of the pile of the dead, this is the best way to pour out their feelings, they will not feel that this is unlucky, but feel that the emperor is very humane and cares about their brothers who died in battle.

At this time, Li Si finally quieted down, took off the backpack behind him, opened the bag full of spiritual seats, and then placed them among the remaining five people one by one in order, just like that, a table was full.

And Xue Rengui, who was the second junior on the side, was also surprised, although he received the order, he did not explain what those vacant seats were for, and he also knew that each table was prepared according to the standard of eleven people.

In other words, the emperor even prepared one for the soldiers who had died in battle, and let their former comrades-in-arms eat with them.