On the third day of the fourth month of the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, Li Chun, the eldest son of Li Zhen, the king of Huainan, was full of moon; On the seventh day of April in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the king of Yue, Li Zhenna, the princess of Mingyue of the Guizi Kingdom, came to congratulate the countries of the Western Regions, and took this opportunity to reach more than a dozen secret agreements, in addition to signing a peace agreement of friendship and trade with Tubo, the four countries of Kangguo, Anguo, Cao Tong, and Huoxun in the nine surnamed countries of Zhaowu all requested to attach the Tang Dynasty, and the remaining five countries such as Xiuguo and Tocharo did not request to be attached to the table, but also expressed their intention to trade with the Tang Dynasty in friendship, and Tuyuhun signed an offensive and defensive alliance agreement with Li Zhen, the king of Yue. Li Zhen did not make the final decision, but sent an urgent army of 800 miles to Chang'an, and Taizong Li Shimin made the final decision.

On the ninth day of the fourth month of the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the Yizhou subordinate to the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate was perverse because of the assassination of the king of the assassination, daytime propaganda/obscenity, disregard for the law of the country, so that the people were in danger of a change, fortunately the inspector Yu Shi Wan Zhongming, who went to Yiwu City to inspect the proper handling, was spared from the disaster, and the king of Yue, Li Zhen, felt that the emperor was not strict, so that there was this change, and in the name of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, he ordered the temporary dismissal of Wang Bolt from the post of the Yizhou assassin, and the Yizhou Sima Li Bin temporarily signed the political affairs of Yizhou, and asked the saint to send a new assassin to Yizhou to perform his duties.

On April 17, the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the Anxi army reported that it arrived in Beijing, the government and the opposition were shocked, and there were different opinions on whether to accept the annexed affairs of the four countries, and the court launched a heated debate for this, the proponents thought that this move was a great thing to promote the prestige of our country and expand the territory, while the opponents thought that the countries were far away from the Central Plains, and it was not easy to control, and they were all close to the Western Turks. According to Li Daozong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, the quasi-four countries were annexed and set up as four states, which were under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, and the monarchs of all countries were hereditary assassins, and the edict was issued to promote Sinology in the four states, and the Ministry of Rites and the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate were jointly responsible for this matter.

The court debated endlessly for the domestic affairs, but therefore ignored the case of the Yizhou assassination, the Manchu Dynasty civil and military no one to the famous indulgence of the Wang Xuan to help, even the Wu Wang family officials also because of this fact is absurd and dare not touch their hands, the inspector of the imperial history Wan Zhongming's bullet seal, the Ministry of Officials, the Criminal Department are unimpeded, on the anger of the aftermath, the edict will be demoted to the common people, arrested into Beijing, handed over to the division to discuss the crime, and issued an edict to transfer the Ministry of Rites and Rites member Cheng Ge for the Yizhou Assassin History, rushed to Yizhou to take office.

On the eighth day of the fifth month of the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the Beijing Shidi newspaper was transmitted to the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, accompanied by a secret edict, which was a letter written by Li Shimin, in which Li Zhen's overall strategic layout was affirmed, but Li Zhen's proposal to increase the number of troops and the imperial court to allocate more weapons and grain was vetoed on the pretext of the difficulty in the dispatch of funds from the household department. Immediately, more than a dozen middle-level officials such as Lang Zhong were assigned from among the officials of the Ministry of Industry to lead hundreds of craftsmen to Anxi to take overall responsibility for the construction of cotton fields in Anxi, so as to solve Li Zhen's worries.

"Father, this is not only to run the horse, but also to not eat grass, hehe, it's really funny." After reading the secret letter sent by Li Shimin, Li Zhen couldn't help but show a wry smile, shrugged his shoulders helplessly, and handed the letter to Mo Li, who was sitting opposite him-The disposition of the domestic annex was expected by Li Zhen, as for the old man sending Cheng Ge to Yizhou as a nail, Li Zhen could also think of it, but Li Zhen didn't care, without him, as long as this Cheng Ge could obey the dispatch of the Dadu Protectorate and handle the civil affairs with peace of mind, Li Zhen would not care too much, after all, although Yizhou is important, it is not the center of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate. Li Zhen's secret agencies are not accessible to Yizhou officials, at most they are careful to beware, and they can't get in the way, but sending officials from the Ministry of Industry to take over the construction of cotton fields and not agreeing to increase the number of troops will give Li Zhen a headache - the construction of cotton fields is the lifeblood of Anxi's economy, and it is related to the critical issue of whether Anxi can become a fixed territory of the Tang Dynasty. Because the development of the cotton field economy can also effectively promote the development of the rest of the industries in Anxi, so as to lay a good foundation for the expansion momentum of Anxi, now the old man has come to such a hand, not to mention whether the officials of the Ministry of Industry can stand up, even if they can, Li Zhen wants to use the income from the construction of cotton fields, I am afraid that it will have to take a lot of effort, as for the issue of army establishment, it is Li Zhen's capital based on Anxi and the east and west, with the scale of 15,000 regular troops and 6,000 garrison troops in Anxi today, there is more than enough to defend. If you want to attack the Western Turks, how can you use such a small number of troops? But under the old man's holy decree, even if Li Zhen is not convinced, he can only endure it, and the unhappiness in his heart is inevitable.

"Your Highness, don't worry, the meaning of the Holy Lord has actually been made very clear, this is just because I am worried that His Highness's pace is too fast and unsteady, so that all the previous achievements will be wasted, and I don't mean to embarrass Your Highness." Mo Li quickly read the secret letter, and persuaded with a disapproving smile.

"What the gentleman said, this king can take care of it, but it's just ......, alas!" Li Zhen didn't know the truth that if you want to hurry, you can't reach it, as far as the scale of the current Anxi Tang Army is concerned, it has expanded nearly four times more than before Li Zhen first came, the team is certainly large, but the composition is much more complicated, the entire Tang army in the Western Turkic soldiers accounted for more than half, plus the soldiers of other ethnic groups, the real Han people in the entire army only barely accounted for more than one-third, although the training is very tight, but the combat effectiveness has declined is an indisputable fact, at this time, if the army is further expanded, the effect may not be good, and the second is it, If it causes criticism from the imperial court because of this, it is also a matter of more than worth the loss, but the reason is reasonable, which general of the unified army does not want the more troops under his command as much as possible, and Li Zhenzi is no exception.

Li Zhen's mind could not be hidden, and at this time, seeing Li Zhen's unhappy face, he immediately laughed and said: "Your Highness, why should you worry, although Your Majesty did not agree to Your Highness's request to expand the army, but it did not prohibit Your Highness from calling the troops of the countries attached to it, and when it is really time to use troops, you will not worry about the lack of troops available." ”

"Hey, just those soldiers of small countries? That's it, let's not talk about this, is there any news coming north of the Tianshan Mountains? Li Zhen didn't look down on the soldiers and horses of the attached countries at all, and it was useless to complain, so he didn't bother to talk about those nonsense without salt and vinegar, and instead asked about the news of the civil strife in the Western Turks.

"There is no reliable news yet, according to the intelligence three days ago, it is only known that Ashina Sero and Ebilu are still busy gathering troops, and the battle has still not started." Mo Li shook his head and said.

"Hehe, these two old turtles are very cautious, okay, so cautious, once the fight starts, it will be very lively, just wait." The news three days ago Li Zhen knew in his heart that the two Western Turks had not started a war for a long time, Li Zhen was also helpless, but he could only wait, and he couldn't do anything at all, but he was in a hurry, without him, Li Zhen's next action to exterminate the three small countries south of the Tianshan Mountains must wait until after the Western Turkic war broke out before it could be launched - the war of annihilation was extraordinary, with the strength of the Anxi Tang Army, the whole army had to go out, so that the rear would inevitably be empty, if the two Western Turkic soldiers and horses had not fought each other, Only one of them sent a partial division to attack Anxi, even if it didn't succeed, the consequences were not something Li Zhen could afford, once it affected the construction of cotton fields and the major events of state and county planning, even if Li Zhen won Qiuzi and other three countries, there were some gains that outweighed the losses.

There was no need to wait any longer, and before Mo could leave the mouth, he saw Yan 18 rushing in from outside the study, and reported in a loud voice: "Your Highness, the carrier pigeon from the north has arrived." ”

"Oh?" Li Zhen was stunned for a moment, and then Huo Ran got up, copied the small copper pipe in Yan Shiba's hand, untied the secret buckle casually, and took out a small note full of secret codes inside, just when he saw it, he immediately became happy, and laughed and said: "Mr. Mo, the ground in Anxi is evil, hehe, just said to fight, the other end was hit, hehe, okay, Eighteen Lang, pass the order, immediately order, this king will be promoted to the account!" ”

"Yes, Your Highness." Yan Shibai responded, but did not go out immediately, but looked at Li Zhen with anticipation on his face and said, "Your Highness, that, hehe, that ......"

Well? What a demon moth this kid is spitting out? Li Zhen glanced at Yan Shibai with a slight hint of dissatisfaction and said, "What's the matter?" Say! ”

Seeing Li Zhen's displeasure on his face, Yan Eighteen was excited, and hurriedly knelt down on the ground and said: "Your Highness, your subordinates ask for the troops to lead the army, not to be a captain, even if it is a team." ”

Yan Eighteen is Li Zhen's personal soldier captain, the official title is the Wangfu Dianjun, the dignified and upright is on the fifth grade, and the school captain is only on the sixth grade, although there is only two poles between each other, but it is the dividing line between water and fire - according to the Tang system, the officials above the five grades belong to the middle and high-level officials, and enjoy the right to speak and do things, and the officials from the five grades can only be low-level officials, and there is no right to speak and do things, the only exception is that there is only the inspector of the eighth grade, and even the army should be a horse army in terms of the official rank under the Yan Eighteen Ranks, the position of the commander of the infantry army, if you say that you are a captain, you have already been demoted by two levels, let alone be a team leader under the ninth grade.

This matter sounds ridiculous, but Li Zhen understands Yan Eighteen's intentions - the Tang Dynasty attaches great importance to military merits, and those who do not have military merits are rarely knighted, and the title of the royal palace army sounds good, but it is just a bodyguard's business, in terms of Li Zhen's bravery, this bodyguard is actually just a decoration, how can there be a chance for Yan Eighteen to make great contributions, and at this time, Chen Wu, Lin Chenghe, Eagle Er, Eagle Four, Eagle Five and others who were originally under Yan Eighteen have been transferred to the army, except for Ying San, who died bravely, the rest of the people have their own great merits in hand, It's a matter of time before he is knighted, that is, even Liu Qi, who was originally just a small team, is now a town guard, which makes Yan Eighteen look red and hot, without him, they are generally hot-blooded men, sit and watch others flourish, how can it be good to feel like that, Yan Eighteen has been holding back for a long time, but because Li Zhen has been busy with affairs for a long time, he has never dared to say that he will speak.

, you stinky boy! Although Li Zhen knows that Yan Eighteen is sincere for his meritorious service, and he also has the heart to cultivate him, but he is a little relieved, not worried about Yan Eighteen's martial arts and ability to lead troops, in fact, Yan Eighteen followed Li Zhen when he was a child, and he stole from Li Zhen to learn art, whether it was personal martial arts or the ability to lead troops to fight, it was not under Chen Wu and Lin Chenghe, Li Zhen was actually worried about Yan Eighteen's safety, without him, Yan Eighteen was Li Zhen's cousin, and he was a partner who grew up in a small group, if he was killed or injured on the battlefield, Not only will Li Zhen be resentful because of this, but what is even more troublesome is that once this happens, Li Zhen really doesn't know how to explain to her uncle Yanhe.

"Your Highness, my subordinates beg you!" Seeing Li Zhen hesitating, Yan Shibai kowtowed vigorously, looked at Li Zhen with tears in his eyes, and begged loudly.

"That's it, since you must go, this king won't stop you, so you will first go to Dong Qianli's army to serve as a deputy, and then be promoted when you have military achievements." Looking at Yan Eighteen's tearful and begging look, Li Zhen's heart softened, shook his head, and said, he agreed to Yan Eighteen's request, but he kept an eye on it - Dong Qianli's department is a ranger adapted from the sand thieves, and he is responsible for mobile operations, and he doesn't need to participate in the attack on Jiancheng, the casualties are not too heavy, and the opportunity for meritorious service is not small, which can be regarded as Li Zhen's love for Yan Eighteen.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Yan Eighteen heard that he could get off the army, although he was not very satisfied with going to the ranger, but he was finally able to make the trip, so he didn't dare to be more verbose, kowtowed, turned over, and hurriedly wanted to retreat out, that anxious look, as if he was afraid that Li Zhen would change his hexagram, Li Zhen was angry and funny, but he didn't say anything, but just added: "Eighteen, after you passed the order, you first handed over the personal guards with Yingda, and then went to Dong Qianli's headquarters to report." ”

"Yes, Your Highness." Yan Eighteen hurriedly answered, ran out in a puff of smoke, and went to pass the order without mentioning it.

"Will not be afraid of war, soldiers are not afraid of death, this is a sign of a strong army, I dare not congratulate His Highness." As soon as Yan Shibai went out, Mo Li laughed and applauded.

When Li Zhen heard this, she just smiled, but she didn't say anything more, but changed the topic and said: "Although this king is going to win, there will definitely be chaos in the future, so I ask Mr. to stay in charge." ”

The overall strategy of this southern expedition was originally deduced by Mo Li and Li Zhen, and the mystery of it was numerous, and it was clear that the chaos behind him was referring to Shizi, and at this time Li Zhen opened his mouth to talk about it, but he didn't shirk it, just smiled and said: "I know, Your Highness just go with confidence." ”

"Well, there's Mr. Law." Li Zhen glanced at Mo Li meaningfully, and didn't say anything more, walked out of the study, and rushed to the meeting hall in the front yard, Mo Li sat on the chair and thought silently, smiled to himself, got up, and walked slowly to the front yard.

Military law is like a mountain, no one dares to defy the law, the horn of the general just sounded, before and after less than a pillar of incense, the generals have rushed from their respective stations to the meeting hall of the Dadu Protectorate, standing in two columns, just waiting for Li Zhen to give the command, suddenly, Li Zhen, who was dressed in bright light armor, walked out of the back hall, all the generals immediately bowed down and saluted with fists, and shouted in unison: "The last general will wait to see His Highness!" ”

"Excuse me!" Li Zhen walked to the big seat in the middle of the hall and sat down, glanced at his generals, and said in a calm tone: "There is only one thing to discuss when this king summons you and others to come today, that is, the troops are sent to Khotan, what do you think about this?" ”

General Anxi knew all the generals who used troops abroad, but few people could have thought that Li Zhen's primary target was not the country of Qiuci, which was close at hand, but the country of Khotan, which was far away at the other end of the Taklamakan Desert.

"Zifeng, if you have some understanding, let's talk about it first." Li Zhen's eyes were sharp, and she saw Lin Chenghe's strange expression at a glance, and said quietly.

"Yes, Your Highness." Lin Chenghe was not a hypocritical person, but at this time, when he saw Li Zhen being the first to point on his head, he did not flinch, and walked out and said: "Your Highness, the last general thinks that although Khotan is not big, it is the only way for Tubo to enter Anxi, if our army takes Khotan, and now it is controlled in the hands of my Anxi, and the end is connected with the end, you can stop the road to the north of Tubo and ensure the safety of my Anxi's flank." ”

Hehe, good boy, it's worthy of Lao Tzu's efforts to get your kid into his hands! Li Zhen really appreciated Lin Chenghe's ability to see through his strategic intentions, but he didn't say anything special, just nodded, and then asked: "In this case, how should this battle be fought?" ”

Lin Chenghe sighed slightly: "Back to Your Highness, there are two marching routes from my Jiaohe City to Khotan, one of which is to go to Guazhou, and then to Khotan, although this road is slow, but along the way except for Yumen Pass, it is all my Anxi land, whether it is marching or logistics supply, it is very convenient, but because there are trade routes along the way, it is difficult to keep secrets, and it is impossible to attack the enemy unprepared; The second is along the Tarim River to the west and then down the Hotan River to the south, can be smashed directly in the hinterland of Khotan, there are water sources along the way, the march is convenient, and the time can also be much shorter, but this road not only has to pass through the territory of Qiuci, there are not many people along the way, can not be supplied on the spot, the difficulty of the transfer of logistics baggage is extremely high, there is no perfect certainty, the final general thinks that with the strength of our Anxi Tang army can win over Khotan, only Tubo does not send troops to help it, our army will undoubtedly win, therefore, the last general thinks that it should be based on stability, and it is appropriate to take the Guazhou Road. ”

As far as the country of Khotan is concerned, what Lin Chenghe said is pertinent, so that it is a dignified and upright army, and the enemy is broken, but Li Zhen's strategic goal is not only a small Khotanese country, but also other more important strategic goals, so although he appreciated Lin Chenghe's analysis in his heart, he did not say anything about it, but glanced at the generals and asked calmly: "Do you have any other views on this?" ”

At this time, all the generals already knew that the next action goal was undoubtedly Khotan, but they didn't think of this before coming, and at this time, they could only think about how to successfully capture Khotan, and for a while, no one came forward again, and the lobby was quiet for a while......

Supporting Literature, Supporting (Full Text)