Li Tao seemed to suddenly think of something, and he said to Yao Chong: "Old Yao, there is something that I still need your help with!" ”

"Lantian King, please speak!"

"Since the Han Dynasty, there has been a silk road in the Western Regions, these years, the Western Regions have been a little chaotic, and many merchants dare not get involved, I want to take this opportunity to let the Fan firm form a caravan, re-enter the Western Regions, and open up this way of doing business for the Tang Dynasty."

Yao Chong approvingly: "This is a great thing for the benefit of the country and the people, how can I disagree?" ”

"I want Lao Yao to give you a message to the prefectures and counties and garrisons along the way, just say that this Fan family firm is assigned by the imperial court to go to the Western Regions to do business, let them give convenience all the way, don't make it difficult!"

"This ......" Yao Chong hesitated, Datang has always despised businessmen, and there has never been such a precedent.

"I agreed, Yao Ge Lao quickly handled this matter!" Li Longji said categorically.

Yao Chong was slightly stunned, Li Longji has always been polite to him, and it is the first time that he has spoken unceremoniously like today, could it be that His Majesty is angry.

Li Longji was indeed angry, Li Tao stepped forward at a critical moment, not only did he not have any complaints to solve this big trouble for the imperial court, but he also paid out of his own pocket. Li Longji is also a good-looking person, and he already felt that he owed Li Tao a lot, but when he heard Yao Chong being so unhappy, he felt that he couldn't get over his face, so he directly responded to the matter on his behalf.

Yao Chong is also a smart person, after thinking about it for a while, he figured out the joints clearly, and he smiled: "King Lantian, this matter is handled by the old man!" ”

Li Tao said with satisfaction: "Then thank you." My public identity is the leader of this caravan, and with this identity, I am justified in walking the Western Regions! ”

"Tao'er. That's what you wanted! Listening to Li Tao's words, Li Longji suddenly realized, and he simply became generous again: "Since this is the case, I will give this Fan family business name as the royal business name, you are a member of the royal family, so it will be more justified." ”

Yao Chong was stupid when he heard it, this is too out of line. Since ancient times, I have never heard of the royal business, which makes the common people hear it, don't they think that His Majesty wants to compete with the people for profit. How this makes. But Li Longji's words have been exported, this is a golden mouth, and it can't be changed.

Yao Chong was unhappy, but Li Tao was happy in his heart. This third uncle is indeed different. Isn't it a surprise that such an idea could be come up with? With this name, Fan's business name will not be famous in the future.

Yao Chong was afraid that Li Longji would say something out of the ordinary again, so he hurriedly interrupted: "King Lantian, what is your third request?" ”

"After I leave, the imperial court should pay close attention to the movements of the Tubo people and the Turks, and if there is a situation, do not start a war without authorization, given the situation that the Tang Dynasty is facing now. You can't fight two wars at the same time, everything has to wait for the end of the affairs in the Western Regions before you can make calculations. ”

Li Longji nodded: "Tao'er." Don't worry, I'll send someone to contact you if you have something! ”

"Third uncle, then I'll go first!"

Looking at Li Tao's departing figure, Yao Chong couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "King Lantian really deserves to be the pillar of the country!" ”

Li Longji didn't say anything, just meditated silently, and no one knew what he was thinking.

……

At dawn on August 23, the third year of Kaiyuan, the sky was already slightly bright, and the city gate of Tingzhou was routinely opened every morning. Since the Turks had already entered the Western Regions, the soldiers defending the city received orders to strictly check the people entering and leaving the city, but it was quite tricky to actually carry it out. Tingzhou is located at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, connecting Yizhou and Shazhou in the east, Xizhou in the south, and Gongyue City and Broken Leaf Town in the west.

Just as the city gate was opened, the soldiers guarding the gate suddenly heard a strange sound in the distance. The sound of horses' hooves like thunder came from far and near, and there were more than 300 riders listening to the sound.

"Enemy attack!" The captain on the city wall apparently heard the voice as well, and he shouted: "Close the gates quickly, beat the drums and call the police!" ”

The soldiers were nervous, but they were busy.

The gates were closed again, and the sound of a loud drum for the alarm resounded throughout the city.

When the cavalry reached a place more than a hundred paces from the city gate, it suddenly stopped. The knights on the horses were all draped in broad black cloaks, and their faces could not be seen clearly, blending with the darkness of the night, and like a black whirlwind.

They sat upright on their horses, not moving, and none of them made a sound, and the soldiers, noticing the anomaly, raised their torches in their hands, and shone them down, but found in vain that they could not see anything clearly.

The more this happened, the more frightening it became, the city was in chaos, the soldiers were in a hurry, and more and more people rushed to the city, but they did not dare to open the city gates.

At this moment, a loud voice sounded: "Don't panic, do your duty!" ”

This voice is not high, but it is categorical, showing the fearless personality of the owner. The man who spoke was a general in his forties, tall and burly, with thick, straight eyebrows and bright eyes full of life. This person's name is Guo Qianjun, and he is the deputy capital protector of the Beiting Dadu Protectorate.

Since the capital protectors of the various metropolitan protectors of the Tang Dynasty are led by the prince, the military and political affairs are presided over by the deputy metropolitan protectors.

Guo Qianqian was not in a hurry to ask the person who came, he was waiting, waiting for the sky to be completely bright. At that time, in broad daylight, everything will be clear without asking. To tell the truth, he didn't believe that the Turks dared to come to Tingzhou to spread wilderness with only two or three hundred horsemen.

The leader of these knights is none other than Li Tao, who is on the road day and night.

……

Li Tao, who came out of the palace, did not delay, and sent a fast horse to Luzhou quickly, and informed Hua Wenxuan, Wang Lin and Qiu Baiyu to quickly rush to Qixingzhuang to assemble with the special team of Luzhou regimental training, the scout team and the carefully selected fifty regimental training troops. At the same time, Li Wenjiao was asked to be prepared, and the 3,000 trained Luzhou regiments were ordered to leave for the Western Regions at any time.

After the people sent to Luzhou left, Li Tao summoned Wang Hufeng and Li Shen to discuss with each other.

The instructions given to Wang Hufeng were to go all out to procure all kinds of materials, form a huge caravan, and go to the Western Regions together with the three thousand Luzhou regiments.

The order given to Li Shen was to send a large number of personnel to enter the Western Regions first and quickly collect intelligence on the Western Regions and the Zhaowu countries.

After all the arrangements were made, Li Tao sent someone to move all the materials of the Western Regions prepared by Yao Chong for himself into the study, locked himself in the study, and checked the map of the Western Regions and various materials every day. Li Tao has never fought unprepared battles, after all, he has never been to the Western Regions, how can he have the bottom in his heart if he doesn't do his homework.

This state lasted until Hua Wenxuan, Qiu Baiyu and the others arrived at Qixingzhuang, and it was considered to be over.

On 14 July, Li Tao took Pei Yue, Li Bai and more than 200 horsemen from Luzhou to quietly set off from Chang'an, passing through Jingzhou, Liangzhou, Ganzhou, Suzhou, Shazhou, and Xizhou, all the way west for more than 6,000 miles, and did not arrive at Tingzhou City until 23 August.

…… (To be continued......)