The military town of Anxi Duhufu is really rich.

In Zhang Sancheng's signing room, Fang Chongyong was looking through the account books here, and couldn't help but sigh.

The Anxi Army can be said to have carried forward the "military business" to the extreme, and the key pass geese have been plucked, and they have not wronged themselves at all. Zhang Sancheng guarded such a small city, and he could actually draw so many taxes, which is really insightful.

However, it is not surprising if you think about it carefully, because most of these treasures should be used to raise soldiers, and the remaining oil and water officers share the profits. There is no civil administration on Anxi's side, all economic activities revolve around the military, and all local financial revenues are for raising soldiers.

Very simple, brutal and straightforward.

Having said that, in the four towns of Anxi, which are surrounded by strong enemies, the taxes collected do not raise soldiers, so is it left for the bandits to rob?

The hostile environment has created a system of military management.

Fang Chongyong closed the ledger, rubbed the corners of his sour eyes, and filtered useless information in his mind.

The four towns of Anxi, in the eyes of those who do not know, are the four towns of Qiuzi, Khotan, Shule, and Xiaye. The land under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Protectorate is thousands of miles, and it is extremely powerful.

But in fact, Broken Leaf Town was abandoned decades ago, and this is another embarrassing past.

Because Broken Leaf Town is outside the basic plate of the Western Regions surrounded by mountains and rivers, supply has always been a very troublesome problem, and after the Tang Army captured it, it felt that it was too cost-effective to maintain here. Therefore, whether Broken Leaf Town exists or is abandoned has always been quite controversial in the imperial court.

In the meantime, decades have been in ruin, and it can be said that it has experienced many vicissitudes.

At the beginning of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, the Turgish Khan Sulu led his troops southward and captured the Broken Leaf City where the Western Turkic Khan Ashina Xian, who had been canonized by the Tang Dynasty, and rebuilt the Turgish Khanate, which had been dormant for a long time.

Since it has become an established fact, in order to win over Sulu, the imperial court sent an envoy to Broken Leaf City, canonized Sulu as the Fourteenth Loyal Khan of Tuqi Shi and the envoy of Jin Fangdao, and according to Sulu's request, Broken Leaf was publicly sold to him as a tooth court.

The reason why the Tang Dynasty agreed to Sulu's request was for nothing else, so that this Turkish Khan could deal with the white-clothed food that was already aggressive further west at that time.

Ji Ge and the imperial court had a good idea at that time, to let the powerful, geographically advantageous white-clothed food contain the Tuqishi; And the Tuqi Shi, which has a weak economic foundation, has to rely on Datang and be a safe watchdog, and the two bite each other.

In this way, the situation west of the Green Ridge was indirectly stabilized.

If the Tuqi Shi can't bear it, Datang will take another hand to "help him", the history of such a routine has been played since Gaozu Li Yuan, and Datang is familiar with it. Under normal circumstances, the comprehensive strength is far superior to that of Tuqishi's white-clothed food, and it should be the side that has the advantage in the situation.

However, when this strategy was implemented, there was a little bit of a "little" situation.

That is, the seemingly powerful white-clothed eater, when expanding his territory, was actually output by the Tuqi Shi riding face! This silver-like pewter spearhead has been defeated in consecutive battles, causing the turkish to continue to sit bigger, making this watchdog that was originally used to contain the white-clothed food stronger and stronger, and it actually seriously threatens the safety of the basic plate of the Tang Western Regions!

In desperation, Ji Ge had no choice but to send heavy troops to destroy the Turgish.

Although the Turkish was destroyed, the town of Broken Leaf was also scorched, and it could not support the Tang army to garrison here for a long time, so now it is dragged like this, Broken Leaf City is abandoned, and the stronghold of the Tang Dynasty over there is left with a Buddhist temple.

In history, Gao Xianzhi dared to take so many people to fight the Battle of Talas, but it was really because the white-clothed food was too wasteful before, and his combat effectiveness was notorious. And Datang does not have a deep understanding of the political changes in West Asia, so there is a certain information asymmetry.

Therefore, the four towns of Anxi actually refer to Qiuzi, Khotan, Shule, and Yanqi, and do not include Broken Leaf Town.

Among these four towns, the Tang army in Khotan Town did not directly control it, but was controlled by the Khotanese royal clan Wei Chi. Although the Wei Chi family supported the Tang Dynasty, after all, it was not directly stationed by the Tang Army, and this road was half wasted.

The geographical conditions of Shule Town were not good, and there were very few troops that could support it. The basic territory controlled by the Anxi Army is actually only two large oases of Qiuzi and Yanqi.

In this way, the Anxi Prefecture seems to control a large territory on the surface, but in fact the economic foundation is extremely weak, and most of the area is indirectly controlled, including tax system for fish farming. The Tang Dynasty official army is not the only one here, and it cannot squander its hard-won authority at will.

If the situation in Beiting is better than Fang Chongyong expected, then the challenge facing Anzai's side is much greater than he originally estimated!

The food here is not self-sufficient, and many of them come from other parts of the Western Regions, relying on the economic strength of the Tang Dynasty, that is, the "silk economy", to ensure the food and clothing of the garrison.

In history, Gao Xianzhi was reckless, and there was really no way out.

Thinking of this, Fang Chongyong sighed, he found that there was a figure shaking at the door of the signing room, so he shouted over there: "Come in." ”

Hearing this, Duan Xiushi, who was wearing a mask, walked in and handed a stack of confessions to Fang Chongyong. At this time, it was already dawn, and Fang Chongyong took a nap last night, reading the documents for almost the whole night.

"What did Zheng Dequan's cronies say?"

Fang Chongyong put the confession on the table, didn't look at it at all, just stared at Duan Xiushi and asked.

"Basically, I figured it out, and the rest was fine, mainly because there were two things.

One is that they get a lot of oil and water from the tariffs; The other is to deliberately prevent the festival marshal from crossing the border.

They just didn't expect us to come so quickly, probably thinking that they would wait for Gao Xianzhi to go to Qiuzi City after they set out on the expedition.

Of course, it would have been better if we hadn't come, or if we would come back after Gao Xianzhi had left Qiuzi. Then they won't even have to pretend. ”

Duan Xiushi said in a deep voice.

When the water is clear, there is no fish, Zhang Sancheng guards the city pass, and the oil star who will touch the tariff here belongs to the "daily operation" in the Western Regions. Not to mention Zheng Dequan, if you change the general to investigate, it is estimated that the result will be the same.

If the master does not take it, his subordinates will not be able to take it, and in the end, the will of the army cannot be guaranteed.

This is not unusual.

But Gao Xianzhi wants to sneak away and "go out", and there are many things worth talking about here.

Gao Xianzhi knew that he couldn't help but listen to Fang Chongyong, because this was the power given by the imperial court.

Therefore, he wanted to take advantage of the time difference between Fang Chongyong, the ambassador of the Western Regions, who had not yet arrived in Qiuzi City, to march west with the envoy from Tocharo, and at that time, as long as he said that the information was not smooth and he did not receive a military order.

I set off before you gave the order, so it's not "disobeying military orders."

Of course, this military operation may not be large-scale.

Fang Chongyong secretly wondered in his heart, he remembered that there didn't seem to be this battle in the history books of his previous life, maybe it was not recorded in the history books, or maybe Gao Xianzhi was stimulated by some things and started in advance.

"After the bureau of Anxi Xiting is arranged, you can go to Xiaobolu. Gao Xianzhi, this is a big deal if you don't listen to the order and want to spoil this section! ”

Fang Chongyong said to Duan Xiushi in an unkind tone, and his dissatisfaction was overflowing.

"Jieshuai, Gao Xianzhi is the deputy protector of Anxi after all, and if you deal with him, you can't kill him directly like you can deal with Zheng Dequan."

Worried that Fang Chongyong would be furious because of his anger, Duan Xiushi whispered and persuaded him.

Ten generals like Zheng Dequan can be appointed by themselves, and in terms of Fang Chongyong's authority, if they are killed, they will be killed.

However, Gao Xianzhi was appointed by the imperial court as the deputy protector of Anxi, and may have taken refuge in Li Linfu. Such a person can't simply kill everything with one sword. If you really want to play like that, it will shake the government and the opposition, and it is definitely not a good thing for the other party to be brave.

"Don't worry, this section has its own arrangements."

Fang Chongyong waved his hand and said.

The reason why he wanted to bring the Anxi Expeditionary Force to the Western Regions was so that he would not be overlooked and would not be controlled by others.

In addition, Fang Chongyong still had some thoughts in his heart, and some things he had to do.

The Tang Dynasty's idea of running the Western Regions was correct, but there were still some problems with the means, and the contradictions between primary and secondary were somewhat reversed.

Gao Xianzhi blindly used his strength, ignoring the basic plate of the Northern Court and ignoring the decline of the national strength of the Tang Empire that could come at any time, but in the end there was no corresponding deployment, which laid a hidden danger for the turmoil in the Western Regions in the future.

"Fang Jieshuai, the envoy of the Modao Army, Li Siye and his party are here."

At this moment, Yan Chao strode into the signing room and whispered to the other party.

"Good!"

Fang Chongyong stood up, walked out of the signing room, and as soon as he went out, he saw the burly Li Siye and others, clasping his fists and saluting him.

"Hahaha! Does General Lee remember Ambassador Ben?

In Hexi that year, General Li repelled the Tubo people, and a certain was in the city at that time! ”

Fang Chongyong walked over, held Li Siye's hand with affectionate hands, and laughed.

The tense and embarrassing atmosphere eased instantly, and Li Siye also grinned: "It's all old things, it's not worth mentioning, it's not worth mentioning!" ”

At this time, he breathed a sigh of relief, looking at this posture, Fang Chongyong did not come to Xingshi to ask for guilt. Just know this, everything else is trivial.

"General Li, please."

Fang Chongyong made a gesture of please, and then Li Siye, Li Qiyun and others entered the signing room. He Changqi immediately guarded the door, not allowing idle people to approach.

In the signing room, the three of them sat down, and Fang Chongyong handed over Ji Ge's holy decree to the two of them to check, and showed the fish talisman of the Anxi Expeditionary Army. Only then did Li Siye and others understand that Fang Chongyong had already arranged everything, and it was not a temporary act of recklessness.

It seems that this Anxi Protectorate is going to be managed by a different person!

Li Siye and Li Qiyun were secretly frightened. In fact, it's not that they don't know anything, it's just that many things don't get in their way, and they don't want to take care of it.

"As soon as this section commander arrived in Yanqi Town, the outpost scout was stopped by this Zheng Dequan and did not let him pass.

Along the way, I heard that the senior deputy Duhu was buying grain and straw from Hu Shang, and it seemed that he wanted to use troops abroad. However, a certain is now in charge of the dispatch of troops and horses in the Anbei Court, and has not issued an order to use troops.

It's quite strange. ”

Fang Chongyong asked knowingly, and asked with a puzzled look on his face, not mentioning the slaughter of Zheng Dequan at all.

Li Siye and Li Qiyun both smiled bitterly, and finally Li Qiyun said: "Senior Deputy Duhu, if you want to attack Xiao Bolu, after the matter is completed, I will report to Ambassador Fang." ”

"The soldiers and horses of Anxi have not yet assembled, and even the Modao army is in Yanqi, how can Gao Xianzhi surprise attack Xiao Bolu?"

Fang Chongyong was really shocked this time.

Gao Xianzhi's courage is not ordinary. Don't talk about disobedience or anything, now that the Anxi army has not yet assembled, he dares to attack Xiao Bolu with less than 10,000 people?

"Ambassador Fang didn't know, in fact, on the Tocharian side, there were mountain soldiers and horses who were quite good at fighting. This time, the senior deputy was planning to recruit Tochar's soldiers and horses as a response.

Not to mention anything else, attacking Xiao Bolu is not a big problem. ”

Li Siye added.

"I see!"

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly, no wonder. The baggage that Gao Xianzhi asked for was not for himself, but for recruiting mercenaries.

Tocharian was the northern part of Afghanistan in his previous life, where there were many mountains and few fields, and the people were fierce. These Tocharian mercenaries were proficient in mountain warfare, and when they were used to attack Xiao Bolu, who was also in the mountains, they did more with less.

Although Gao Xianzhi is not an authentic person, he does have military talent.

It's just that whether it is Li Siye or Gao Xianzhi, they are all the kind of people who like "extreme operation". The tactical victory of these people cannot hide the strategic emptiness.

"In the opinion of this ambassador, Gao Xianzhi is playing the time difference, and by the time he arrived at Qiuzi with a large army, he had already led his troops to Tocharo. The Ambassador's military orders do not hinder his good deeds!

Do you think that's the truth? ”

Fang Chongyong looked at Li Siye and Li Qiyun in front of him and asked, his tone was already quite stern.

The two on the other side exchanged glances, but neither spoke. In their opinion, Fang Chongyong has already understood what is going on, so there is no need to talk too much, right?

"This ambassador asks you, is that the truth?"

Fang Chongyong emphasized again.

Seeing that they couldn't be fooled, Li Siye and Li Qiyun had no choice but to salute with their hands crossed: "It is true that as Ambassador Fang said, there is something wrong with the plan of the senior deputy protector. ”

"Well, the position of this ambassador is appointed by the imperial court, and the duty is not that the contemptible person deliberately wants to make things difficult with the senior vice-president.

In this way, one person is private and the other is public. The ambassador is now writing a letter to explain the truth to the imperial court. You have signed this letter and testified to the Ambassador. ”

After speaking, Fang Chongyong sharpened the ink by himself, lifted the brush, spread out the big paper and began to write the recital!

Under the noses of Li Siye and Li Qiyun, Fang Chongyong quickly finished writing a letter to the imperial court to "inform". When the ink was dry, he put it on the table and said to the two people in front of him, "You all see, if there is no problem, then sign it." After the signing, the ambassador immediately sent someone to Chang'an with an expedited 800 miles to hand it over to the sage for ruling. ”

Is this kind of thing also signable?

No matter how stupid Li Siye and Li Qiyun are, they know that once they sign this recital, it will be tantamount to turning their faces publicly with Gao Xianzhi, and there is no turning back.

However, think about it from another angle, if you don't sign it, will Fang Chongyong think that he is also the same party as Gao Xianzhi?

Signing, is standing in line; If you don't sign, you're also standing in line!

So to sign or not to sign?

Li Qiyun didn't speak yet, but Li Siye took the lead in writing his name on it.

According to Fang Chongyong's statement in front of outsiders, he had a "life-saving grace" for him back then. Trapping benefactors, this kind of thing, in the Tang Dynasty, was self-destructive.

Li Siye thinks that it is unlikely that Fang Chongyong will trap him.

But Li Qiyun was very hesitant.

This matter had nothing to do with him at all. He is not like Li Siye, who can go further in the field of military power, and belongs to the kind of "no desire and no desire".

He was originally caught between Gao Xianzhi and Fang Chongyong and didn't have to stand in line at all, but now he wants to offend Gao Xianzhi to death, how do you look at it!

"Is Judge Li dissatisfied with this ambassador? Or do you think that what the senior deputy Du Hu did was very correct, and wanted to report the ambassador to the imperial court behind his back? ”

Fang Chongyong stared at Li Qiyun and asked with a smile.

Finding that the other party had bad intentions, Li Qiyun couldn't help but sigh lightly, and signed his name under Li Siye's name.

It's like a woman from a good family signing a deed of sale with a pimp.

"Don't worry, when the ambassador meets the senior deputy protector, I will persuade him well.

If the senior deputy listens to the persuasion, then this performance will be shelved, and this ambassador does not want the saint to be idle.

Of course, at that time, a certain person will not give the fold to the senior deputy to take care of it. ”

Fang Chongyong said with relief.

(End of chapter)