When Al Medi said this, Li Zaixing did not feel relaxed, on the contrary, his heart was heavy. Al Maidi trusts him and can listen to him, but will the people of Zhongcao listen to him? In order to survive, the Zhongcao people fought countless people, and they had already formed a blood feud, once they became strong, they could give up the opportunity for revenge and shake hands with the enemy?

Li Zaixing suddenly felt that he was a little overwhelmed, and he actually wanted to leverage the entire historical process with the strength of just one person. Yes, he has some knowledge that others don't know, but it doesn't seem to be enough for him to call the tide and turn things around.

For example, he knew that after the Battle of Talas, the Tang Dynasty almost withdrew from Central Asia. Without the power of the Tang Dynasty, Central Asia was quickly captured by the Great Eclipse. But he didn't know the specific situation of Central Asia and the Great Eclipse now, and he didn't even know who the kings of the Zhaowu Kingdom were. When he first heard that the king of Shiguo was a Turk, he was almost taken aback.

He knew that the Nine Kingdoms of Zhaowu were attacked on all sides, and the Turks were in the north, but he did not know that the Turks had penetrated deep into the Nine Kingdoms of Zhaowu to this point.

The first element of marching and fighting is to know oneself and the enemy, and after discovering this problem, Li Zaixing felt even more bottomless. He had to go to the Nine Kingdoms of Zhaowu to take a tour of the situation on the spot. And what kind of mentality of the Zhongcao people represented by Al Medi is also one of the contents he wants to investigate. Going to investigate, it does not mean that the problem can be solved, and whether the grievances accumulated by the Zhongcao people for many years can be resolved is one of the things he is worried about.

He is not a politician, but he knows that there is a big difference between a politician and a fighter. A famous general may not be able to become a qualified politician, not to mention that he is not even a famous general, at best he is just a warrior. In his current capacity, it is really difficult for him to take on the heavy responsibility of controlling Central Asia.

If there are difficulties, you can't hide, you can only face them. This is Li Zaixing's character, so he decided to start with Zhongcao first. The first Zhongcao person to be persuaded is, of course, Al Maidi. If even Al Maddy can't be convinced, what else can we talk about controlling the Nine Kingdoms of Zhaowu.

The truth is clear, but it is not so simple to do. Li Zaixing's eloquence is really not very good, and he has to think about it for a long time before he can say something like that. Fortunately, Al Maddie trusted him very much, and he didn't suffer too many setbacks.

The process of convincing Al Maidi is actually a process of Li Zaixing's own thinking and learning. Half a month later, when they arrived in Qiuzi, Li Zaixing had already figured out a lot of things.

The group walked into Qiuzi City, Du Fu, Pei Xuanqing and others breathed a long sigh of relief, the arduous journey of nearly 10,000 miles was finally over, they could take a good bath, eat a bowl of good rice, and then rest for a few days and slow down. Li Zaixing was not happy, and before he entered Qiuzi City, he felt a kind of frivolity, even arrogance, spreading.

He had heard a name many times: King of the Mountains, and this name was obviously associated with Gao Xianzhi.

Regardless of whether the title of king is transgression or not, in terms of military achievements, the title of king usually does not lead to good results. War is a very dangerous thing, and being king can easily make people proud, which means that the peak comes prematurely, and then the downhill road comes. The arrogant army will be defeated, this is a wise saying. Calling Gao Xianzhi the king of the mountains is not a good thing for Gao Xianzhi or Tang Jun.

With this title as a premise, it is naturally not surprising that the soldiers seen along the way worship and admiration for Gao Xianzhi. Along the way, whenever they heard that they were coming from Beijing to meet Gao Xianzhi, almost everyone thought that Li Zaixing had heard about Gao Xianzhi's name and came to join the army. If it weren't for the fact that Li Zaixing and his entourage did not have a guard of honor from the imperial court, they almost thought that the imperial court had received another decree and was going to add an official to Gao Xianzhi.

In this almost hyperactive mood, Li Zaixing came to the gate of the Metropolitan Protectorate. Li Zaixing did not go directly to see Gao Xianzhi, but first found a guest house to live in, and then asked Du Fu to find Cen Shen. Cen Shen came to Anxi last year and worked as the head secretary of Gao Xianzhi's shogunate, and had a poetry correspondence with Du Fu. Before that, Du Fu had written a letter to Cen Shen, saying that he would travel to Anxi.

……

After waiting in the guest house for a long time, Cen Shen came.

Cen Shen is of medium stature, just in the prime of life, but his eyebrows are slightly frowned, and his face is sad. Seeing Du Fu, he arched his hand, put it away again before his smile bloomed, and sighed lightly: "Du Er, you really didn't come at the right time." ”

When Li Zaixing heard this, his heart tightened. He arched his hand and invited Cen to take a seat. "Cen Jun, sit down and talk."

Cen Shen glanced at Li Zaixing up and down, stroked the short beard under his chin, and smiled reluctantly again: "Your Excellency must be Li Zaixing Li Dalang?" ”

Li Zaixing smiled but did not speak. He could hear it from Cen Shen's first sentence, his name had probably reached Gao Xianzhi's ears a long time ago, and it was not a good reputation. As Gao Xianzhi's secretary, Cen Shen must know the reason.

"Da Lang's reputation has long been spread to Anxi." Cen Shen sat down and said carefully: "Da Lang wants to come to Anxi to make meritorious contributions, Zhongcheng is very welcome, I am afraid that Da Lang is used to being at ease in Chang'an, and he can't stand the rules of the army." ”

Li Zaixing bowed and said: "A certain person also served in the Longwu Army, and I know a little about the military regulations of the Tang Dynasty." I dare not do this kind of illegal and undisciplined thing. He paused, and then said: "The reason why Cen Jun was invited to speak was because he had an unspeakable responsibility, and it was inconvenient to make it public, and he hoped to use Cen Jun's mouth to reach the ears of Zhongcheng." ”

Cen Shen smiled bitterly, glanced at Li Zaixing, and did not speak. Because of Li Linfu's death, Gao Xianzhi was already dissatisfied with Li Zaixing, and was planning to rectify him with the help of the military order, but he didn't expect Li Zaixing to still have a secret mission, isn't this unhappy? What kind of task cannot be carried out by Gao Xianzhi, the imperial court, through formal channels, but Li Zaixing is privately responsible?

He regretted it a little, he knew this was the case, so he didn't come out to see Du Fu.

Li Zaixing roughly estimated that Cen Shen was embarrassed, and he did not hide it at the moment, and roughly talked about his plan to go to the river to inquire about the situation and prepare to convene the old department of Zhongcao. He didn't say that this was the hope of the Yang family, but he didn't hide it either, believing that Cen Shen could hear it.

Cen Shen frowned: "You have to go to the river to find out the situation, there is no problem with this." Zhongcheng is preparing to crusade against Shiguo, and he needs someone to go to find out the military situation, if you want to go, he can't ask for it. Summoning the old ministry of Zhongcao, I'm afraid it's a bit difficult. ”

"Why?"

Cen Shen was silent for a moment, and said reluctantly: "Zhongcao people are good at fighting, once the country is established, the river will inevitably be disturbed, which is very unfavorable for my Tang Dynasty to control the river." Moreover, the Zhongcao people are scattered in all directions, and they can still be divided and controlled, if they are concentrated in the hands of one person, wouldn't it be even more troublesome? ”

Li Zaixing understood, Gao Xianzhi was not afraid that the Zhongcao people would gather to resist the Tang Dynasty, with the strength of Zhongcao, it would not be easy to survive, let alone confront the Tang Dynasty. Within ten years, it is impossible for Zhongcao to become a powerful country in the river, let alone affect the control of the Tang Dynasty. However, if the Zhongcao people gathered under him, it would have a great impact on Gao Xianzhi's status. He has the Yang family brothers and sisters as backers, and Zhongcao people as foreign aid, and he is likely to become Gao Xianzhi's competitor in the future. Gao Xianzhi was trying to deal with him, how could he give him a chance to increase his strength.

"This is the Son of Heaven's pity for Cao Ye's princess mother and son, the king's life is difficult, even if it is difficult, he can only do it reluctantly. However, since this matter is a secret mission, it will not be announced for the time being. When I go to the river to understand the situation, it's not too late to make plans. "Li Zaixing no longer discusses this issue, this is what he must do, whether Gao Xianzhi agrees or disagrees, he will do it." Why did Zhongcheng crusade against the Stone Kingdom? I heard that Shi Guo served the Tang Dynasty very carefully, and there was nothing wrong with it. ”

"The husband is not guilty, but he is guilty." Cen Shen smiled bitterly: "Crusade against Shiguo, public and private, why not do it?" ”

Li Zaixing was puzzled. According to his cursory understanding of Shi Guo, he really couldn't think of a reason why Gao Xianzhi wanted to crusade against Shi Guo. Shiguo, that is, the ochre country in the population of Lite, ruled the city of Tuoxi, and when Gaozong, he established the Dawan Governor's Mansion here, and the relationship with the Tang Dynasty has always been very close. A few years ago, because of his meritorious crusade against the Turks, the Tang Dynasty Emperor also issued an edict to commend him. Why did Gao Xianzhi crusade against the Stone Kingdom? Cen Shen said that he was both public and private, what did he mean?

Seeing the blank expressions of Li Zaixing and the others, Cen Shen further explained that the nine surnames of Zhaowu were headed by Kang Guo, and the Tang Dynasty was in the Kang State Kangju Governor's Mansion, and after Kang Guo was occupied by the Great Food, Shi Guo became the frontier fortress of the Tang Dynasty in the river. After decades of farewell to the river, if the Tang Dynasty wants to return to the river, it must first occupy the country of Shi.

This is male.

Gao Xianzhi is a person, of course, he has nothing to say about his military ability, but he has a problem, that is, greed, and Shiguo is a country of great wealth, occupying Shiguo, you can get a lot of treasures and money, and satisfy Gao Xianzhi's personal desires.

It's private.

With these two reasons, no matter whether Shi Guo is respectful to Datang or not, Gao Xianzhi has to find a reason to crusade against him.

Li Zaixing was furious: "What do you say about public and private, this is obviously harming the public with private." Crusade against the Stone Country, the Stone Country will rebel, what is the benefit of the Tang Dynasty? When the time comes, it's just one more battle merit for Zhongcheng, right? As a general, how can he be so important, such a greedy person, even if he has the ability to use soldiers, he can't be a general. ”

Cen Shen looked at Li Zaixing, and shook his head helplessly: "Several Anxi protectors, and Tubo have been fighting for decades, all of them have worked hard and have no return, only Zhongcheng won both battles, first take Xiao Bolu, and then take the master, the Tang Dynasty replayed the river because of him, and the Tubo and the big cannibals are called the king of the mountains." At this moment, His Majesty wants to use him to conquer Siyi and retake Hezhong, how can he care about his problem? ”

Li Zaixing was speechless. That's right, what the Son of Heaven wants now is someone who can fight, and he doesn't care about the personal character of the generals at all.

"The king of the mountains is the name of Da Shi and Tubo?" Du Fu interjected.

"Exactly." Cen Shen nodded: "Zheng Xiao Bolu, Zheng Shu Division, both times are mountain marches, Zhongcheng strategizes, people can't, so Tubo, Da Shi admired, praised as the king of the mountains." You must have heard about it when you came to Qiuzi, right? ”

"I see." Li Zaixing smiled bitterly: "Cen Jun, do you think this is a good thing? I'm afraid the big cannibal is already eyeing him. The Great Cannibal knows his achievements, does he know who the Great Food Commander is and what his combat ability is? ”