In Jiannan Dao, the pre-war preparations for the crusade against Tibet were carried out intensely, and the time of a month was actually very hasty, and this kind of large-scale expedition generally required several months of rectification and preparation of materials and equipment, but under the strict order of Xuanzong, it was impossible to take time to do it step by step.

More than ten days later, 10,000 soldiers and horses from the western and central provinces of Gannan arrived in Chengdu, and the leading generals reported to Wang Yuan to return to the camp. The total number of soldiers and horses in Chengdu reached 30,000. A few days later, the first batch of supplies from the imperial court arrived in Chengdu, and since then, weapons, armor, arrows, horses and other materials have been continuously transported to Chengdu. This time it was not a rag shipment, Yang Guozhong used his power to give the Jiannan Army the best support to make up for the dilemma of the lack of weapons, armor and horses of the Jiannan Army.

Wang Yuan and Song Jiangong were busy every day, taking over the distribution of materials and equipment, and preparing for the pre-war itinerary. In addition, Wang Yuan still has an important task to complete, that is, to consider the offensive direction of the Jiannan Army.

Whether to go north or south is an important question. If you attack to the north, you can assist the Hexi Army and the Longyou Army to complete the encirclement of the two lakes and three cities, and you can completely control a large area in the north of Tubo, and the Jiannan Army can guarantee that it will not suffer major losses. But the problem is that in that case, Gao Xianzhi's soldiers and horses of the Western Route Army will bear the siege of the main force of the southern Tubo army alone. If Gao Xianzhi's army of 70,000 was annihilated, this second crusade would actually not be far from failure. When the Tubo soldiers and horses in the south slowed down to attack the Jiannan army and the Longyou Hexi coalition army, Wang Yuan feared that even Bison City would be lost.

The two armies attacked the city at the same time, forcing the Tubo soldiers and horses to divide their troops to deal with the Jiannan Army and the Anxi Army at the same time, which was equivalent to relieving pressure on each other. However, it has to be mentioned that the main force of the Tubo State is in the south, with more than 100,000 troops, and the combat power of the 100,000 Tubo army that occupies the right time and place cannot be underestimated. And in order to defend the city, these Tibetan soldiers and horses will definitely fight to the death, and it will be a bloody battle waiting for them.

This is a dilemma, for the sake of the overall battle situation, not to consider the losses of the Jiannan Army, or to protect the Jiannan Army and put the entire battle situation in a dangerous situation. This is a difficult problem for Wang Yuan to choose. But Wang Yuan quickly made a choice, and his choice was to march south. Although Wang Yuan is a selfish person, fighting against Tibet is a war between countries, and Wang Yuan still has a bottom line of principles in this kind of matter. And if the Tubo people win this war again this time, then even if they keep all their soldiers and horses to retreat to Jiannan Road, they may not be able to defend Jiannan. Bison City is also sure to be lost, so the funds that he relied on to expand and build his army will be broken, which is also tantamount to a complete defeat.

The decision to attack south was risky, but Wang Yuan was willing to take this risk, both in public and private, this was a necessary path.

One day at the end of February, a cart with its axle bent arrived at the palace of the king of Chengdu. When the chief butler Huang San opened several large boxes on the car, his mouth suddenly opened in surprise. Several large chests were filled with glittering gold ingots, an astonishing number of them.

The dozens of men escorting the car only allowed the Wang family to move the gold out of the cart after seeing Wang Yuan, and at the same time, the leading man handed Wang Yuan a letter, and then these people left quickly. Wang Yuan watched these people leave with a smile, humming a little song and returning to the back house, feeling extremely happy. The gold of this car is the order of the crown prince Li Hengbaba, and Li Fuguo came to Chengdu to give him a bamboo pole. The money finally fell into the pocket, and he gave himself a large amount of financial aid, how could he not make Wang Yuan happy.

The letter was a letter from Li Fuguo, in which he asked Wang Yuan to do things as soon as he received the money, and persuaded Yang Guozhong to break with Li Linfu on the side of the prince. The letter also said a lot of harsh words, nothing more than what to do if it can't be done. As a member of the Luo Yi Sect, you must be loyal to the prince, otherwise you will be like that. Wang Yuan smiled and threw the letter into the brazier and turned to ashes.

Wang Yuan would not have said these words to Yang Guozhong, let alone through Mrs. Qin Guo. The so-called words of persuading Yang Guozhong through the mouth of Mrs. Qin Guo are just Wang Yuan's means of extorting bamboo. If he went to say these words to Yang Guozhong or Mrs. Qin Guo, wouldn't it be tantamount to telling Yang Guozhong and Mrs. Qin Guo that he was actually the prince's person? Besides, even if Wang Yuan didn't say these words, Yang Guozhong and Li Linfu would definitely not be any better together. Both of them are people with a strong desire for power, like two male donkeys tied to a stake, and when there are wolves around, they may work together to resist the evil wolf, and once the wolf becomes a sheep, the two donkeys will bite each other and compete for the leading position. So in fact, you don't have to say it yourself, Yang Guozhong and Li Linfu will fight to the death.

It's just that when the prince can wait for them to fight, it will be the prince's own creation, and Wang Yuan has no good impression of Li Hengke. Since Li Heng even expelled his own crown princess from the East Palace in order to protect the position of the crown prince, in order to show his attitude towards the Wei family, Wang Yuan has lost the least respect for this prince. For such a merciless person, there is no benefit in following him. After such a person ascends the throne of the Tang Emperor, it will also be a disaster for the entire country.

Wang Yuan wished that Li Linfu would oust him from power, so that he would not pay attention to his threats. The crown prince Li Heng had no courage to expose Luo Yimen, and Wang Yuan was convinced of this. What's more, there are not many high-ranking officials in Luo Yimen, and there are not many close ministers around the emperor, how could the prince let the secret of Luo Yimen be exposed to the world for his own sake. So Wang Yuan decided to only collect money and not do anything, to be a scoundrel and see what tricks Li Heng could perform.

On the third day of the third month of March, there were more than ten days left before the expedition, and the mood of the wives and concubines of the Wang family also became bad. On the third day of March, Wang Yuan took his wives and concubines to the south of the city to go to the bank of Sanhua Creek in the south of the city to ask for willows, which not only relieved the busy body and mind during this time, but also reunited with his family and calmed everyone's emotions.

On the bank of the scattered flower stream, the smoke willows are like a dream, and the grass is green. The wives and concubines of the Wang family set up tables and chairs on the grassy slope by the stream, enjoying the beautiful scenery of spring and enjoying the beautiful spring light. Wang Yuan chatted with his wives for a while, took a fishing rod to the willow tree by the stream, sat down on the stone and went to the fisherman to fish, and sorted out his troubled thoughts by the way.

I don't know how long it took, Wang Yuan, who was in deep thought, was alarmed by the footsteps behind him, and before he turned around, he heard Gongsun Lan's soft voice coming: "The bait has been eaten by the fish, I have never seen you fishing like this, and you can't hook it for half a day." ”

Wang Yuan lifted the fishing hook and looked at it, sure enough, the bait was long gone, only the bare-bare hook remained, and he smiled unconsciously: "I'm Jiang Taigong fishing, and those who wish to take the bait." It's the same with and without bait. ”

Gongsun Lan smiled and sat lightly on the side, Wang Yuan smiled: "Why don't you go and chat with them?" But come to accompany me? Aren't you afraid of them gossiping? ”

Gongsun Lan took a sip and said: "The gossip that should be said has already been said, what's the use of being afraid now?" ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said, "Cousin is no longer deliberately alienating me?" ”

Gongsun Lan chirped: "When did I alienate you." ”

Wang Yuan smiled, only looking at Gongsun Lan Duanli's face and was silent. In the past few months, there has not been much time for him and Gongsun Lan to spend alone. is busy with her own affairs, and Gongsun Lan does not appear at the gathering of the Wang family's wives and concubines because of deliberate suspicion, which seems to be deliberately alienated. Wang Yuan wanted to talk to Gongsun Lan several times, but he never had the opportunity, because every time he went to see Gongsun Lan, he saw her sitting quietly and playing the piano or standing in the courtyard with a sword in contemplation, and sometimes crouched by the desk to pick up a pen and write. His expression and movements are like being caught in his own world. Wang Yuan couldn't bear to disturb, so he stood still for a moment each time and then left quietly. The exchange with Gongsun Lan was limited to the discussion of matters and the solicitation of opinions on some strategic plans, and the exchange time was also very short, which made Wang Yuan very distressed.

Although there were many intimate behaviors between him and Gongsun Lan in the past, it was difficult to get what he wanted. Gongsun Lan is like a city made of ice and snow, you think she will melt, but you don't know that in the ice and snow is the steel defense, which makes people discouraged.

Gongsun Lan took out a piece of silk wrapped in silk from her sleeve, handed it to Wang Yuan, and said, "A gift for you." ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "What is it?" ”

Gongsun Lan said: "Open it and take a look." ”

Wang Yuan took it and lifted the wrapped silk, revealing a thin book. On the cover of the book, there are three words written in Juanxiu's font: Lian Qi Sutra.

Wang Yuan was stunned and smiled and asked, "What?" Do you want to teach me how to practice internal strength? ”

Gongsun Lan smiled and said, "This is not internal force, it is the method of practicing vitality. I've been thinking about the right way for you to practice qi. I'm afraid that my own method of Qi cultivation may not be suitable for you, so I've been thinking about it for the past few months. The cultivation of Yuan Qi is not only used in martial arts, but is extremely beneficial to one's spirit and body. I see that you are getting busier and busier now, and your exhaustion is the most painful and painful. You don't practice much swordsmanship now, and you lead the army to fight outside, and you eat and sleep in the open, which is very damaging to your body. So I pondered this method of practicing Qi and recorded it, so that you can practice Qi according to it, meditating for half an hour every day, step by step, which should be of great benefit to your body and spirit. Don't underestimate it, it took me a lot of time. ”

Wang Yuan flipped through the pamphlet in a daze, but saw that there were some figures of men meditating on the pages, and there were directions for the flow of the body, and there were some tips for cultivation written next to it. A thin booklet of more than a dozen pages obviously took a lot of effort. Suddenly, I understood.

"No wonder I think my cousin likes to be alone during this time, but it turns out that she is compiling this scripture for me." Wang Yuan muttered.

Gongsun Lan smiled: "I know every time you come, but I can't be interrupted by thinking, as long as there is a mistake in writing on it, whoever follows the practice is afraid that he will be injured, so I can only pretend that I can't see you." Now, this thing is finally completed before you go on the expedition, and I will hand it over to you, so that you can cultivate your vitality and recover your energy in between battles. ”

Wang Yuanxi said: "It turns out that my cousin didn't deliberately alienate me. ”

Gongsun Lan said: "I just deliberately alienated you, what about you?" ”

Wang Yuan then flipped through a few pages of the booklet, and suddenly smiled: "It turns out that I am so impressed in my cousin's mind. The little people on this are really vivid, and they are what I look like. My cousin has a heart. ”

Gongsun Lan's face was slightly red, and she said, "Self-inflicted." ”

In fact, the figure on this booklet is indeed drawn according to Wang Yuan's appearance and figure, Gongsun Lan didn't want to be like this, I don't know why, she became Wang Yuan's appearance when she painted, she is not a hypocritical person, so she simply painted like this, and was pointed out by Wang Yuan in person, she was still a little shy.

Wang Yuan smiled and stuffed the booklet into Gongsun Lan's hand, and said with a smile: "Give it back to you." ”

Gongsun Lan was stunned and said, "What? Don't you either? ”

Wang Yuan said: "With you by my side, what else do I want to do?" You, the master, don't teach me by hand, but tell me to learn from the book, what is the reason? ”

Gongsun Lan said, "This is to allow you to cultivate at any time when you are away from home." Soon you're going to go on an expedition again, wouldn't it be just the right time to practice? ”

Wang Yuan shook his head and said, "It's better to bring people with you, won't my cousin go with me this time?" ”

Gongsun Lan frowned and said, "This is not in line with military regulations." ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said: "The military regulations only say that you are not allowed to bring your family, but my cousin is not my family member, and she does not violate the military regulations." I ordered someone to create a set of soft armor for my cousin, and my cousin went with me to Tibet. This is also a good opportunity for us to be alone, would my cousin be willing to go? ”

Gongsun Lan looked back at a large number of Wang Yuan's wives and concubines on the grass, nodded lightly and said, "If you need me to go, I will naturally accompany you." ”