Khotan is not very big, as an important town guarding the Western Regions and Yunzhong, in addition to the city wall tamped with loess, at a glance there are also most of the loess buildings, as for the blue brick and green tile buildings, except for the big families and the capital protection house, there are not too many.

The barracks were stationed in all four directions of Khotan, and the number of people had reached 100,000 by this time.

Pei Xingjian, Heiya Changzhi, and Xue Rengui were already waiting at the city gate, and the spies had already traveled back and forth several times, seeing that the sky was about to darken, and finally at the end of the horizon, a black shadow appeared.

After a while, the three of them saw a long dragon slowly approaching with no end in sight.

The three of them are all experts in the use of soldiers, and the first time they had such a close contact with the prince Liurate, they still felt a lot of shock in their hearts.

According to the speed of the march, more than 20,000 troops rushed from Chang'an to Khotan, although it was not very fast, but the speed of the march was not very slow, it could only be regarded as moderate.

But even so, the three of them still felt a calm composure and a hidden killing aura from the cavalry team of more than 20,000 people.

It was like a horizontal knife out of its sheath, unstained with blood, but extremely sharp, waiting to be stained with blood.

"The last generals Pei Xingjian, Xue Rengui, and Hei Tooth Changzhi have seen Dadu Hu." The three of them saluted in front of Li Hong's horse, and the huge cavalry team behind them was still orderly and calmly marching slowly towards the camp from both sides.

Pei Xingjian is now around fifty years old, a few years younger than Xue Rengui, and the black tooth Changzhi is at the peak of the three, in his thirties, burly and fierce, perhaps because of the tempering of the battlefield in the Western Regions, at this time, he has more domineering momentum than when he first saw Li Hong in Chang'an.

Li Hong waved his hand to signal the three of them to get up, then turned over from the horse and dismounted, threw the reins to the mangzhong behind him, and said, "Walk into the city." ”

Lawlessness and Quan Yi followed behind Li Hong, accompanied by Pei Xingjian and the others.

"Actually, you two don't have to rush to Khotan to meet me, I don't know where your soldiers and horses are stationed now, but I don't think it should be Khotan to rest." Li Hong was polite first.

Hua Meng next to him had already handed Pei Xingjian the appointment letter of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Li Hong, as well as the fish charm and other identity inspection items.

Pei Xingjian inspected it very carefully while walking, and after the inspection, he respectfully returned it to Hua Meng.

"Dadu protects you for the first time in Anxi, it stands to reason that the last general and others should go out of the city to greet them, but now that the war is urgent, you already know something about it on the way, the last general and others are really helpless, and I hope that the last general and others will protect you for forgiveness." Pei Xingjian looked at Li Hong's gentle face, and also said politely.

"There is nothing more important than war, and there is a reason why the so-called generals are not subject to military orders abroad. Well...... I think you have other intentions for letting General Xue and Heiya come over today, right? Li Hong glanced at Pei Xingjian, with a medium stature, his complexion was a little plateau red because of the plateau sunshine, his eyes were bright, and he looked like a battle-hardened veteran.

And he is also the kind of wise veteran, although Li Zhi decreed that Li Hong should be appointed as the protector of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, but he did not decree that Pei Xingjian should be appointed as the deputy protector of the capital, that is to say, now the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate is in the establishment, in fact, the two metropolitan protectors are exercising the right to protect the capital.

If Pei Xingjian is unwilling to hand over the military power, or if Li Hong forcibly seizes power and gives orders during the march and battle, it will make the Anxi Protectorate fall into a more chaotic situation.

At this time, Su Dingfang, who studied under the Duke of Xingguo, recruited Hei Zhi Changzhi and Xue Rengui, who had already made a plan to hand over the military power and leave the final say to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Li Hong.

"Don't worry about most of the capitals, the last general will recruit General Xue and General Black Tooth ......."

Li Hong waved his hand, looked at the city walls and gates of Khotan, and after entering, he looked at the most spacious street where the two intersected and asked, "Is there any recent situation in Wang Mingyuan?" ”

"The Great Eclipse in White has been eyeing the Great Eclipse, and the Persian King Belus hopes to let Wang Mingyuan guard with him, but now it seems that the Great Eclipse in White will not make a big move for the time being." Pei Xingjian answered all questions.

As the last heir of the Sassanid Kingdom, Belus is destined to die in the country, and now, with the help of the prestige of the Tang Dynasty, he has helped him keep a place under the nose of the white-clothed eater, and he is always in danger of being devoured by the white-clothed eater.

Wang Mingyuan, as a general of the Tang Dynasty, helped Belus to defend the Persian Governor's Mansion named by Li Zhi.

"What's going on with Shule?" Li Hong seemed to be flipping through a book, his mind kept jumping, and he asked with one rod on the left and one rod on the right.

And along the way, he has already made a decision, just waiting to find out whether Pei Xingjian is a qualified general.

"Back to Daduhu, although Shule is only a riot now, but it must not be underestimated, Wensu united the two tribes of East and Mi and West and Mi, we have no time to take care of it under the interference of Tubo, so we have no choice but to retreat from Shule." Pei Xingjian looked solemn and said after thinking about it.

A few people hurriedly came to the Duhu Mansion, Li Hong didn't even have the same interest in stopping at the door, and after signaling Pei Xingjian, several people came to a room together, and there was a huge sand table in the room, which was also a gift from Li Hong to Pei Xingjian, who had just taken office, two years ago.

"The north of Qiuci is controlled by the Ashina Duzhi, so you Chen Bing Qiuci is in case of accidents, and then Shule was confused by Wensu and drove out General Xue and his party, Tubo is still making small moves now, and after the beginning of spring, it is very likely that it will also put pressure on my Tang strategy. You have been in the Western Regions for many years, and you have been fighting against the criminal country for many years, in your opinion, what should we do now? Li Hong put down the wooden stick in his hand, took the water cup handed over by Xia Zhi, and asked.

Li Hong's question is quite a hint of asking the teacher to ask for guilt, and anyone with a discerning eye can see that Pei Xingjian has tightened Qiuzi and given up the suppression of the Shule riot, which is enough to show that his mind is not on the matter of the riot.

Of course, what Pei Xingjian said just now is that although the Shule riot is small, its impact will not be as weak as it seems, so this is also the reason why Li Hong asked him.

Pei Xingjian looked at the area on the sand table, then looked at Li Hong's expression, and said calmly: "If the matter of Shule cannot be solved, it will be a huge hidden danger to my Tang Dynasty, therefore, the last general believes that the rebellion of Shule should be solved first, and then the Tubo should be guarded, and at the same time the northern area occupied by the Ashina Duzhi should be recaptured." ”

"Well, according to you. There can only be one big capital protector in Anxi to command the battle, and you will lead the troops to fight, ask people to give people, ask for money to give money, you just take back Shule, grain, grass, war horses, weapons, etc., I, Li Hong, will go all out to support you in Qiuzi! Even the 20,000 horses I have brought with me are under your command. But....... Li Hong looked at Pei Xingjian's excited and relaxed eyes, and continued: "Before the Yuan Day, General Xue needs to re-enter Shule!" Is it possible? ”

"Your Highness, ......?" Pei Xingjian didn't expect Li Hong to be so open-minded, and the first thing he did after arriving at Qiuzi was to give up his military power, delineate his responsibilities and authority before himself, and be willing to provide various guarantees for himself behind him.

This is good news for any general who has always led troops to fight abroad, and it is also the boss that many generals hope to meet.

"It has always been a taboo for soldiers to order multiple doors, not to mention that the first time I came to Anxi, let me lead the troops to fight now, which is not only disrespectful to my father, but also disrespectful to all the soldiers of my Tang Border Army." Li Hong looked at a few people, and then walked out together again.

Naturally, this time was no exception, just like at Yumen Pass, Li Hong still inspected all the barracks and defenders, and naturally hoped to improve the morale of the soldiers by his own identity.

When Pei Xingjian said that he wanted to invite him back to Qiuzi City for dinner, Xue Rengui and Heizhi Changzhi did not expect that this proposal would be rejected by His Royal Highness the noble Prince, and instead proposed to eat in Xingying.

The barracks consist of mud houses made of loess and makeshift barracks made of tents, all of which are of various shapes, but they are neatly arranged and clean.

A wild boar's scream attracted Li Hong's attention, and he listened and asked, "What?" Kill a pig today? ”

"How so? This is supposed to be a wild boar shot by a soldier in the vicinity, so it should be killed and thrown away. Pei Xingjian was a little embarrassed and said embarrassedly.

Li Hong looked at him clearly, and asked the black tooth Changzhi to bring the wild boar over.

Pork was not recognized in this era, and it was believed that the things that pigs ate were too complicated and not clean, so at this time pigs would also be called dirty porpoise and would not be used as food.

A black boar of more than 200 catties was easily carried by the black tooth Changzhi with one hand, only to see a deep wound on the boar's neck, and it was still dripping with blood on the way over, but it was already lifeless.

"General Xue, find a cauldron and some hot water." Li Hong kicked the wild boar that was still on the ground by the black tooth Changzhi, and it seemed that the meat quality was definitely better than the previous life.

Pei Xingjian looked at Li Hong's appearance, his eyes were the same as seeing cattle and sheep, he naturally knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wanted to eat this dirty porpoise, and thought about it and stopped: "Dadu Hu, if you want to eat meat, there is meat in the barracks, and this wild boar ......." ”

"Look at the food you guys don't eat well, even though I don't know how to eat." Li Hong raised his head and scratched his chin with one hand in contemplation, and said: "I remember which classical book records that this wild boar meat is a kind of meat with a very fragrant taste and delicate flesh, and it tastes very good. I'll give you a test in a while, oh, it's okay if you don't want to eat it, I'll eat it with Black Tooth, you don't care, right? ”

Hei Tooth Changzhi frowned, where did the Goryeo stick come from so taboo, in the barren Liaodong, it would be good to be able to fill his stomach, and when he saw Li Hong asking, he naturally nodded again and again and said, "The last general doesn't care." If you leave halfway through, press CTRL+D to save the current page to your favorites so you can watch it later!