The sandstorm raged for a day and a night, and it was not until the next morning that it finally stopped, and the sky returned to a jewel-like morning glow, and if it were not for the thick layer of sand covering the tent, I would not have thought that there was a sandstorm yesterday. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The soldiers of the Zhou army, who had been worried all night, came out of the tent one after another, looking at the morning glow and the sky, the soldiers couldn't help cheering, Li Jing was in a good mood, he knew that most of the soldiers had not slept all night, so he ordered to rest for another day and set off early tomorrow morning.

An hour later, Yang Xin brought the general and several businessmen from Yumen Pass, the general of the garrison was a Tang Junlang general, surnamed Wu, who had been guarding the pass at Yumen Pass for ten years, he was really a little ashamed, and knelt down on one knee when he stepped forward, "The last general Wu Faming, see General Li." ”

Li Jing saw his shame, and hurriedly helped him up and comforted: "The general has been guarding the country for ten years, this kind of perseverance and spirit is admirable, whether it is the Tang Dynasty or the Great Zhou Empire, you deserve it!" ”

"Thank you for the general's praise, Wu Faming deserves it."

Li Jing patted him on the shoulder and motioned for him to sit down beside him, at this time several merchants stepped forward to kowtow and salute, Li Jing saw that they were tall and deep-nosed, and they were very different from the Central Plains, nor like the Hu people in Hexi, so he smiled and said: "How many are Sogdian merchants?" ”

"Exactly! We are from Shiguo, in Xia Shilin. The merchant at the head said in fluent Chinese.

"I don't have anything else to do with you, I mainly want to ask about the news of Yiwu, Shanshan and the three counties, I don't know if you know?"

Several Hu merchants glanced at each other, and Shi Lin bowed and said: "We all know a little bit about the situation in the three counties, I don't know what the general wants to ask?" ”

"I want to know, is there any official mansion set up by the Sui Dynasty in the three counties?"

"General Hui, the official mansions of Shanshan County and Jimo County are gone, and they have been occupied by the Tuhun Valley army a few years ago, but the official mansions of Yiwu County are still there, we came from Yiwu County, and we also met Wang Taishou."

Li Jing was suddenly surprised and delighted, he didn't have any hope, but he didn't expect that the Taishou of Yiwu County was actually there, which means that Yiwu County is still in the hands of the Central Plains.

At this time, Wu Faming, the guard of the Jade Gate next to him, said: "General, although the county government is still there, the general should not think too well. ”

Li Jing couldn't help but secretly scolded himself for being confused, it was obvious that the Yumen guard knew the situation better, and he actually asked the merchants, he asked the soldiers to take a few merchants out, and then asked: "What did General Wu mean by what he said just now?" Can you elaborate on that? ”

"General Qiyu Li, now Yiwu County is actually controlled by the Shatuo Turks, but they are loyal to the Western Turks, so the Western Turks no longer peep at Yiwu County, but handed over Yiwu County to the Shatuo people, the Shatuo people are smarter, they only occupy the grassland, do not move Yiwu County, and the government is retained, in fact, the so-called Yiwu County, in fact, there is only a small county in Yiwu."

"Then why didn't the Taishou of Yiwu County be loyal to the Tang Dynasty?" Li Jing asked puzzled.

"Regarding this matter, I have only heard a little rumor, and I really don't know whether it is accurate or not."

"That's it."

"General Hui, I heard that Wang Taishou also wanted to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty, but Li Taishou of Dunhuang County did not agree, and sent troops to intercept Wang Taishou's envoy, and the envoy had to return to Yiwu County."

Li Jing was very surprised, Dunhuang County also surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, why did Taishou not allow Yiwu County to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, what is the reason for this?

"Do you know why?"

"This.... I don't dare to talk nonsense. Wu Faming lowered his head, looking a little nervous.

Li Jing stared at him for a moment and said: "Our Emperor His Majesty has always treated frontier generals well, like General Wu who has been guarding the frontier for ten years, it will be easier to be promoted than ordinary generals, and even will be knighted, leaving a shadow for his descendants, but the premise is loyalty, if the general is unwilling to be loyal to the Son of Heaven, he will lose the biggest opportunity in his life, and he will regret it in the future, I will not force General Wu to answer, but please General Wu think twice." ”

Wu Faming was silent for a long time, and finally said with a long sigh: "The humble post was originally a Sui general, if it wasn't for his wife and children in Dunhuang County, how could he dare to tell a lie, it was the humble post that intercepted the envoy sent to Chang'an by Wang Taishou, and the envoy was seriously injured by an arrow and died, so he was buried in Yumen Pass, which is of course Li Taishou's order." ”

"Why did Li Taishou give this order?"

Since Wu Faming has said it, he will no longer hide it, he said frankly: "Li Taishou nominally surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, but in fact he still seized Dunhuang and stood on his own, the reason is also very simple, Li Taishou's real name is Li Xun, and his brother is Li Liang, the king of Daliang, Li Xun ostensibly called the Tang Dynasty a minister and offered land, but he hated the Tang Dynasty very much in his bones, and his humble position was called Tang General, and he was actually controlled by him. ”

"How many troops does Li Xun have?" Li Jing asked again.

"About 3,000 people, this is the limit of what Dunhuang County can support the army, but I heard that Li Xun intends to defect to the Western Turks and wants to get the support of Tongye Hu Khan, but I don't know if this news is true or false."

Li Jing paced back and forth in the big tent with his hands in his hands, Wu Faming's words undoubtedly subverted his judgment, and also changed his original plan, he originally planned to send Yang Xin and an army to Dunhuang County, and he himself led the army to Yiwu County, but now it seems that he must concentrate on dealing with Dunhuang County.

"General, there is one more important news."

"What?"

"Li Xun's army has about 300 Shatuo people, the leader is a Shatuo nobleman, called Zhu Xianhan, he and the current Shatuo chieftain failed to compete for the chieftain, fled to Dunhuang, was hidden in the army by Li Xun, Li Xun wants to use him to recruit the Shatuo tribe, but this person and the current Shatuo chief have a grudge against his father, if the general catches him, it will be conducive to the general and the Shatuo people to negotiate."

Li Jing nodded, this was unexpected news.

........

Early the next morning, Li Jing led tens of thousands of troops to leave Yumen Pass, to the southwest of Dunhuang County, Yumen Pass is about 150 miles away from Dunhuang County, there is a fort at 60 miles, called Liuyuan Shu, Liuyuan Shu is just located at the intersection of Yiwu County in the west and Dunhuang County in the south, traffic and military status are very important, there are 50 soldiers stationed in the fort in peacetime, and it belongs to the jurisdiction of Yumen Pass.

In addition, a small market town is formed around the fort, with seven or eight shops and more than 20 households, providing rest and supplies for business travelers along the way.

The army rested at Liuyuan, the soldiers had lunch, and everyone set off again to Dunhuang, which was ninety miles away.

At dusk, when there are still a few miles away from Dunhuang, a team of soldiers escorted more than a dozen officials from Dunhuang County, led by an official in his forties, who is the Dunhuang Taishou Li Xun, and there are county officials, county orders, etc., in fact, there are only three counties in Dunhuang County, the easternmost Yumen County close to Zhangye County (Yumen County has nothing to do with Yumen Pass, the two sides are hundreds of miles apart), and Jinchang County, and then Dunhuang County.

Li Xun is the brother of Li Rail, who was the emperor of Hexi, after Li Rail's Liang Kingdom was destroyed by the Tang army, Li Yuan let go of the Li clan in Hexi, and Li Xun also asked the Tang Dynasty to surrender in time, so as to be forgiven, although Li Yuan also thought about replacing Li Xun, the Taishou of Dunhuang, but on the one hand, considering the need for stability in Hexi, on the other hand, he was tired of dealing with Zhang Xuan's expansion, and the matter of replacing the Taishou was not implemented for a long time, Li Xun also took advantage of the secret development of the army in recent years, he already had 3,000 troops, in fact, Dunhuang County had been divided, once Li Yuan replaced the Taishou, He immediately surrendered to the Western Turks.

At noon, Li Xun received an eagle letter from Wu Faming, the guard of the Jade Gate, in which Wu Faming told him that Li Jing led an army of 30,000 to the west not to conquer Dunhuang County, but to recapture Shanshan County and Jimo County, which made Li Xun slightly relieved, but in order to hide from the Zhou army, Li Xun still asked his henchmen to lead the army to hide in the area of Dashuijing.

At this time, Li Jing's army stopped, and Li Xun led a group of officials to meet Li Jing, "Xiaguan Dunhuang County guards Li Xun and welcomes General Li to come to Dunhuang County." ”

"See General Lee!" Everyone bowed and saluted.

Li Jing glanced at them and asked lightly, "Why are there only a few of you?" ”

Li Xun glanced back at everyone and said puzzledly: "The officials above the county lieutenant level are all here, and the status of other junior officials is too low, so there is no need to come to see the general." ”

"Li Taishou misunderstood, I mean, why are they all civilian officials, and there are no military generals? Is there no county soldier in Dunhuang? ”

Li Xun was a little flustered and said: "There are only 1,000 county garrisons in Dunhuang, 500 people in Yumen Pass, 300 people in Yangguan, and 200 people in the four forts, Liuyuan Shu is one of them, the general should have seen it, there is no army in Dunhuang City, only more than 100 officials to maintain law and order, led by the county lieutenant." ”

"That's not right! Why do I think Li Taishou still missed the count of 2,000 people? Li Jing looked at Li Xun with a smile.

Li Xun's head buzzed, as if it exploded, he knew that it must have been Wu Faming who betrayed him, looking at Li Jing's stern gaze, his legs were weak, and he actually fell to his knees.

Li Jing said coldly: "I don't blame you for wanting to fight against the Tang Dynasty, but you are ready to surrender to the Western Turks, but I will never forgive, come and arrest them!" (To be continued.) )