Tang Dezong met these soldiers and horses who returned to the Tang Dynasty after many years on the tower of the imperial city, and the people of the entire Chang'an City came here to watch these white-haired veterans with admiration.

The soldiers and horses were arranged to camp and rest in the camp that had been prepared long ago, and wine and meat were sent for them to enjoy, and finally tasted the Datang food that they had not eaten for many years, and these white-haired soldiers shed tears again.

Guo Xin, Shen Long, Prince Bahanna and Gu Lulu and others were taken to the Taiji Palace to enjoy the feast, at the banquet, Guo Xin and Shen Long also presented Tang Dezong with gifts they brought back from the Western Regions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, tomatoes and other novel crops, as well as a large number of seeds.

After hearing about the yield of these crops, Tang Dezong and the important officials of the imperial court were excited, after the Anshi Rebellion, the area around Chang'an gradually withered, if these seeds could be planted on a large scale in the Guanzhong Plain, then Chang'an would be rich again.

"Wechen thinks that the veterans who returned to Chang'an with Wechen and others this time have been in the Tuntian of the Western Regions for many years, and they are familiar with the planting methods of these grains, so it is better to give them land first and let them cultivate, and wait for the surrounding people to slowly become familiar with it, and then it is not too late to expand the planting range." Shen Long took this opportunity to help these white-haired soldiers get benefits.

"Yuan Zheng's words are serious." Tang Dezong had originally listened to Li Chun's words and planned to reward these veterans generously, but now that he heard Shen Long say this, he was even more willing.

The civil and military ministers of the court also had no opinion, they all had a lot of land in their families, and they knew the benefits of high-yield crops, and since someone could teach them how to farm, it would be better.

Subsequently, Prince Bahanna, Kang Guangde, Gu Lulu and others also offered their gifts one by one, Prince Bahana gave a few sweat and blood horses to the Tang Dynasty, Kang Guangde sent all kinds of exquisite gems, Gu Lulu gave the eagle of Mobei, and the leaders of the other tribes also sent their own specialties.

Tang Dezong was very happy, he finally enjoyed the treatment that his ancestors had enjoyed from all nations, when he asked these people what gifts they wanted, in addition to Prince Bahanna and Gu Lulu, Kang Guangde and others knelt down to ask to join the household registration of the Tang Dynasty and officially become the people of the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Dezong also agreed one by one.

Subsequently, Shen Long stayed in Chang'an for a few days, and the court quickly came up with an opinion on their rewards, Guo Xin stayed in Chang'an, worshiped Taiwei and Zhongshu Ling, and sat in the position where his uncle Guo Ziyi used to sit.

The veterans had also received their due rewards and had their own land around Chang'an, and they had already begun to prepare to plant the seeds they had brought back from the Western Regions.

At the same time, Shen Long also secretly discussed with Guo Xin and Li Chun to build a steel plant and workshop near Chang'an, and many veterans joined in it and held important positions, and they were ready to copy all kinds of things that Shen Long made in the Western Regions near Chang'an, according to Guo Xin's judgment, as long as these things can be successful, then the Tang Center will have an unprecedentedly powerful army, and at that time, the problem of the feudal town will be solved.

Prince Bahanna, Gu Lulu, Kang Guangde and others not only received the rich wealth rewarded by the Tang Dynasty, but also were canonized by the Tang Dynasty as different official positions, but compared to their achievements, these rewards are also what they deserve.

Tang Dezong accepted Guo Xin's request to merge the Beiting Protectorate and the Anxi Protectorate into one, and Shen Long would become the Grand Protector of the New Anxi Protectorate, and the imperial court would gather 30,000 troops and let him bring them back to the Western Regions.

Yang Zhengu added the title of king of the county, changed from the capital of Beiting to the envoy of Hexi Jiedu, his place of governance will be changed from Tingzhou to Liangzhou, responsible for helping Shen Long guard the back road from Chang'an to the Western Regions, Yang Zhengu is already very old, and it is really inappropriate to let him stay in the remote place of the Western Regions, now is the time to employ people, there is no way to let him return to Chang'an for the time being, but Hexi can be closer to Chang'an after all, and when he finds a suitable replacement in the future, Yang Zhengu can return to Chang'an for retirement.

Lu Shixi was also canonized for his righteous deeds, originally the imperial court meant to let him stay in Chang'an, but he had to go to the Western Regions with Shen Long, in his words, their brothers of the Xuanwei Army were all trapped in Khotan, and now that Khotan has not returned to the hands of the Tang Dynasty, he really can't feel at ease.

So Shen Long also accepted his request, let him join the team, and wrote to the imperial court to re-establish the Xuanwei Army, and let Lu Shishi serve as the commander of the new Xuanwei Army.

After Shen Long and the others returned with a large army, there was a temporary military vacuum in the Western Regions, and it was really not safe to rely on Yang Zhenggu alone to guard the Western Regions, so after the new recruits arrived, Shen Long once again embarked on the road to return to the Western Regions.

When the army set off, Li Chun and Guo Xin personally came to see them off outside the Kaiyuan Gate, and the white-haired soldiers who stayed in Chang'an also came.

Along the way, Yun Erlang and other veterans kept telling these recruits the story of how they fought with Shen Long back then, and these soldiers were envious.

This time they did not go back to the Huwang tent, the Silk Road has been re-opened, they went directly to the Western Regions along the Longyou Road and the Hexi Corridor, behind them, there are large groups of merchants from various countries, since the Silk Road was cut off by Tubo, they have long been looking forward to this day, and now, with the protection of the Tang Army, they can finally take the goods on the road again.

With these merchants, they can bring a steady stream of profits to the countries of the Western Regions, and these profits will not only make their lives better, but also make them closer to Datang.

All the way over the mountains and mountains, they finally walked through Shazhou, Yizhou, and came to the city of Tingzhou, Yang Xinggu saw so many young faces, and finally could go to Hexi to serve as the envoy of the festival, these young people will bring a new future to the Anxi Protectorate.

The merchants of the Western Regions had already gathered in Tingzhou, and they were excited to offer high prices for the porcelain and silk brought by the Tang caravans, and the land of Taixi had been looking forward to these goods for a long time, and those brought from the Uighur king's tent were not enough.

Shen Long, who officially took office as the protector of Anxi, also issued his first order since taking office in the Metropolitan Protectorate of Tingzhou, "Now that Khotan is still in the hands of Tubo, let us restore Khotan for the Tang Dynasty and let the glory of the Tang Dynasty once again envelop the entire Western Regions!" ”