Under the persuasion of everyone, the old man finally dispelled the idea of letting his grandson join the army.

He left with his disappointed grandson, and his back was indescribable.

Looking at the backs of the two of them, Yang De sighed and beckoned his comrades to move on.

The Anxi army is almost at the end of its rope, so why bother innocent people?

"It's the last night, don't slack off!" At night, Yang De instructed the sentinels of the night vigil.

Under Li Qing's arrangement, the camp arranged a group of open posts, a group of dark posts, and two groups of mobile posts, which were guarded in the middle of the night.

"I can't imagine that the virtuous brother also has a lot of experience in marching?" Li Shimin was really impressed by Li Qing.

"Underestimate me, don't you?" Li Qing smiled: "I still have a lot of experience in talking about war on paper. ”

"Hahahaha...... It's a pity that you didn't come at the right time, if it was twenty years earlier......"

Li Shimin seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly stopped talking.

He looked ahead with a twinkle in his eyes, and only sighed in a low voice after a while.

"If he hadn't raised an army, what good brothers he and I would have been......"

Before Li Qing could comfort him, Li Shimin walked out by himself.

"But whenever I think of killing Yuanji's dog, the sadness in my heart will always be diluted a lot."

Li Qing: ......

Indeed, as far as Li Yuanji's temperament is like potato starch, let alone Li Shimin, even he Li Qing wants to cut him with a knife.

When I was in school, I was most annoyed by this kind of person.

"Then you have to thank Jingde, if it weren't for Jingde, I'm afraid you would be more than lucky." Li Qing stretched out his hand and patted Li Shimin's shoulder.

"That's right." Li Shimin raised the water bag in his hand and gestured at Wei Chigong.

Wei Chi smiled respectfully, and didn't take this matter to heart.

"Should I say it or not, you can be more interesting than Sima Zhao, Brother Li." Li Qing said with a grin.

"Fuck you! Miss me Li ...... Erfeng is a good man, how can he be reduced to being on a par with the Sima family's rats? ”

Li Shimin was so anxious that he even almost revealed his real name without saying anything, but fortunately, he held it back in time.

But then again, comparing a promising emperor with the rats of the Sima family, Li Shimin didn't punch him in the eyes, and the relationship between the two of them was already indestructible.

Someone else do you try?

Dare to talk to me like this, your head is wholesale?

If it is replaced by Lao Zhu, the style of painting will change again.

Dare to talk to me like this, your nine clans are wholesale?

After eating, Li Qing stood on the hill and indulged in his self-release, while singing strangely in yodele.

"How did Brother Xian learn to bark on a donkey?" Li Shimin looked in the direction of Li Qing in the tent and smiled at Wei Chigong.

Yu Chigong snorted and sprayed a tent of water.

Not to mention that he didn't think so, he even thought it was a little good, but after Li Shimin said this, he suddenly felt that Li Qing was like learning to bark at a donkey.

Li Qingzheng sang so forgetfully, a cold howl came, he couldn't help but shudder, looked down, and looked around, I don't know when the surrounding area was already full of dark green eyes.

It's a pack of wolves.

He screamed and ran down the hill.

"There are wolves!" He shouted a warning: "Get up! Get up, there are wolves! ”

Hearing Li Qing's shouting, the sentry also rang the gong beside him. Hearing the noise, the crowd quickly took up their weapons and rushed out, centering the wounded soldiers' tents and centering them around.

The wounded soldiers in the tent also had their own weapons, and in general it was not much of a problem to deal with the occasional wolves that pounced on them.

The wolves were very patient, just howling around the camp incessantly, and did not seem to have the desire to attack.

"Brother Xian, let you learn to bark on a donkey and attract the wolf, right?" Li Shimin's words were somewhat gloating, he didn't feel that this group of wolves was a threat.

Li Qing gave him a vicious look and did not speak.

It's the first half of the night now, and it's not a way to go on like this. Everyone was tired after a battle during the day, and now the wolves were watching outside, and their spirits were tense again.

"These brutes are smart." Wang Erhan spat out a mouthful of saliva and scolded in a low voice.

"They seem to know that we are tired, so they are not in a hurry to attack, they just want to take advantage of our tiredness and pounce again." Yang De seems to have a good understanding of the habits of wolves.

"It's not the way to go on like this, team." Wang Erhan said in a low voice: "The brothers are tired. ”

"See if I can catch up with the wolves, kill them or feed them." Yang De glanced back at Wang Erhan, "I don't know if I say some useless?" ”

Wang Erhan grinned and did not continue to speak.

Good guy, if you can't solve the problem, let's solve the person who raised the problem first, right?

The confrontation between the two sides lasted for about half an hour, and just when Tang Jun was about to lose his spirits, a howl suddenly came out from among the wolves. At the same time, the sound of horses' hooves and shouts of killing could be heard not far away.

In the eyes of everyone, a black-clad team appeared on the other side of the hill, walking towards this side with torches in their hands.

The wolves suddenly turned around and slaughtered the men in black.

The people in black obviously didn't expect that there were wolves here, and by the time they found out, it was too late, and the wolves had already rushed in front of them.

Watching the wolves and the man in black who suddenly appeared in a bitter battle, everyone looked at each other.

"It's ...... Did two thieves put their hands in the same pocket? Yang De held the steel gun in his hand and couldn't help but be stunned.

"It should be...... Right? Wei Chigong's tone was a little hesitant.

I've never seen anything like this since I've grown up......

The nerves of the crowd were not as tense as they were just now, and they sat halfway, stood up halfway, and took turns to recover their strength.

After about half an hour of fighting, the victory and defeat were gradually divided, and the man in black was completely defeated, leaving a pile of corpses and fleeing, leaving only the wolves who had lost most of them in place, leaving a creepy chewing sound.

The wolf king let out a low whimper again, and the wolves dragged the corpses of the man in black and the horses and disappeared from everyone's sight.

Li Qing squeezed his eyes at the stunned Li Shimin and Wei Chigong, hiding his merit and fame.

"Go to sleep, they've retreated." Li Qing reassured everyone.

As soon as Li Qing's words came out, Li Shimin and Wei Chigong glanced at each other, and they all went to sleep in the tent.

The next day, everyone got up early in the morning and continued on their way.

is about to reach Qiuzi with victory, but he does not dare to relax in any way.

"The sun is big enough today." Wang Erhan took off his helmet and poured out the sweat inside.

"Who's to say it's not?" Li Qing stretched out his sleeves and wiped his face indiscriminately, if you want to say that you can wear clothes when it is cold, but it is hot......

There are so many insects on this grassland, he doesn't dare to get rid of them. It's a trivial matter to get a few bites of a mosquito, but the problem is that this mosquito is infested in swarms.

"Team up, look!" The old man in front of Wang Erhan pointed to the front and said loudly.

Li Qing put his hand on the pergola, and when he looked up, it was a group of herdsmen.

Not daring to be careless, Yang De ordered to prepare for battle.

As a result, the herders came closer and stopped advancing.

"Yours, is it Tang Jun Anxi's?"

The accent sounded full of the flavor of lamb kebabs.

"It's the Uighurs." Wang Erhan seemed to be talking to himself.

"These cattle and sheep, a lot of selection, what about the labor army." The Uighur herdsmen stretched out their hands and pointed to the herd of cattle and sheep in front of them, speaking an unskilled Mandarin of the Central Plains.

"Thank you for Meiyi, but I can't take it." Yang De said loudly, poked his spear into the ground, and saluted the herdsmen with his forked hands.

The herdsman at the head immediately said: "Hey, these many cattle and sheep are for Tang Jun Anxi; The Tang Dynasty, the Uighurs, is an uncle and nephew! Anxi is the son of the Tang Dynasty, so Anxi, the Uighurs, is a brother! ”

Knowing that Yang De would not ask for it, the herdsmen didn't say much, and drove nearly half of the cattle and sheep to Tang Jun, and learned Yang De to make a half-baked fork hand salute.

"Brothers, you deserve a lot of help." The herdsman stroked his hand with his hand: "Tubo dogs are killed, and our cattle and sheep are sent." ”

With that, the herdsman turned his horse's head, stretched out his hand and waved it in a dashing manner, and headed off into the distance.

When Li Qing and the others first met this group of Tang troops, they only had seven or eight carriages. Now Li Qing looked back, there were nearly twenty carriages, and there were either grain and grass or armaments on them. Now nearly 100 cattle and sheep have been added, and they have gathered into a huge team.

According to Yang De, even if there were provisions in the previous carriages, only two of them were bought with real money, or they forcibly left a sum of money; The rest are basically raised by businessmen or villagers along the way and given to them for free.

The people's will is available, but the court is incompetent.

"Then the Uighur herdsmen, why did they give the Tang army cattle and sheep?" Wei Chigong asked puzzled.

If the boss has a question, he will help ask, this is my philosophy of Jingde Gong.

"Not only the Tang people, but also the Uighur herdsmen are unbearable to be harassed by the Tibetans," Yang De turned on his horse and skillfully drove the cattle and sheep with his spear: "Our Anxi army is the main force fighting against the Tibetans, and in their opinion, we are not much different from the Uighurs themselves." ”

"I see." Wei Chigong nodded and agreed with this statement.

Towards noon, the team suddenly stirred.

"It's almost there!" Wang Erhan was in good spirits, he took off his helmet again, poured out the sweat inside, and then stopped wearing it.

Li Shimin and Wei Chigong glanced at each other, and their hearts were full of anticipation.

In their opinion, the experience of the Anxi Protectorate is too legendary. The lone army stationed in the Western Regions for more than 20 years (they thought it was from the first year of Jianzhong), and it was still able to make the Tibetans jealous and the Uighurs loved, and they really longed to fly over and meet them.

Soon, a slightly dilapidated city appeared on the horizon, which looked as if it had not been properly repaired for a long time, and its depression and dilapidation could be seen from a distance. After approaching, I could glimpse the traces of the tired battle on the city wall, and the scarlet flags on both sides of the city gate tower fluttered in the wind, embroidered with the big word "Tang".

On the top of the city gate, two large Chinese characters are written.

Turtles.

Yang De immediately urged him to step forward and pass his identity.

After a few moments, the city gate immediately opened, and Yang De waved behind him for everyone to come in.

Following the troops entering the city, Li Qing was also observing left and right. Although the walls were dilapidated, the inside of the city was still clean and seemed to have not been affected by the war in the slightest.

Passing through the city gate, the keen Li Qing found that the spears in the hands of the soldiers were almost worn out. Some have even been completely worn off, holding only a sharpened shaft as a spear.

He stretched out his elbow to touch Li Shimin, and the other party also discovered the problem.

There are also Mo knives held by several soldiers, the sun is shining, although it is still cold and dazzling, but it is difficult to hide the mottled gap on it.

But this did not affect their spirits, and the soldiers still stood as tall and straight as pines and cypresses, and years of war had beaten their wills as hard as steel.

"Such elite soldiers can be called an iron army, no wonder the Anxi Protectorate can hold on for decades." Li Shimin couldn't help but sigh to Li Qing.

After learning of the help of Li Qing and his party, the three of them were immediately invited into Guo Xin's Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate.

Inside the Metropolitan Palace.

"Old man Guo Xin, there are 3,218 people in the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, and I have thanked the three righteous people for their help!"

Guo Xin, the king of Wuwei County, did not have the slightest pretension as the king of the county, he faced Li Shimin and the three of them, and saluted respectfully with his hands crossed.

"The king of the county doesn't need to be polite." Li Shimin immediately supported Guo Xin.

Before meeting Guo Xin, he had sketched his image countless times in his mind, but he never expected that Guo Xin in front of him would be the old white-headed general.

"I don't know if the king of the county and Guo Fenyang are ......," Lao Li asked.

After all, I had heard of Guo Ziyi's name from Li Qing, and for such a brave and loyal minister, Lao Li couldn't wait to write his name in his robe.

"Guo Fenyang is an old man's uncle." Guo Xin replied.

When Lao Li heard this, he was in awe.

He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the Guo family is really full of loyalty.

There is Guo Ziyi Qingtian to protect him, and there is this Guo Xin's lone army stationed in Anxi Protectorate......

"We have nothing to thank, but we have thirty pounds of gold to reward the strong man......"

Li Shimin immediately interrupted Guo Xin's words unhappily: "Who does the king of the county think we are?" Could it be that it was because of this money that he helped Yang De and the others return to Qiuzi? ”

"Li Yishi is really temperamental." Guo Xin smiled, people in the army would not be polite and pretending, of course he could see that Li Shimin was sincere.

Seeing that the three of them were in a hurry to leave, he said again: "I have already asked the horses to be fed, and the three of them should eat before leaving." ”

"I still have important things to do, so I won't bother." Li Shimin crossed his hand.

He is now full of enthusiasm to hurry back to the yard and take the Anxi Protectorate to regain his glory.

Guo Xin pondered for a moment, as if he was embarrassed to speak. It took him a long time to make up his mind, and finally he spoke: "We still have one more thing to ask for......

Originally, it was already very good for people to escort the convoy back to Qiuzi, but Guo Xin now thinks that it is a bit too much to make another request.

But there is no way, for the sake of the soldiers, even if it is a loss of face, it must be brought up.

"The king of the county, but it doesn't hurt to say." Lao Li Yigan patted his chest in the clouds.

"We have been away from home for more than 40 years." Guo Xin lowered his eyebrows and sighed, "There is no news at home, so I asked three righteous men to bring our family letters back to the Central Plains." ”

Duyun 15 from the army, 80 years to return. Dao Feng villagers, who is there in the family...... But they even had the luxury of getting out of this turtle city, let alone going home to see it.

Li Shimin couldn't help but be surprised.

He originally thought that the Anxi Army had only been in the Western Regions for 20 years, but he never expected that it would be more than 40 years.

He didn't hesitate at all, even if he agreed to what Guo Xin asked.

After hearing that the three righteous men had taken over the task of delivering letters to the Anxi army, all the troops came to the Shuaifu with thick letters that had been prepared for many years.

Before the marshal's mansion, all the troops took off their helmets and paid the highest respect to Li Qing and the others.

Lao Li, who has developed tear ducts, finally burst into tears at this moment when he looked at the front of him.

The northwest has been trapped for forty years, and the city is full of white-haired soldiers......

Everywhere you look, there are gray hairs.

Even Wei Chigong, an iron-clad man, couldn't stop crying. Li Qing was the same, and kept wiping his tears with his sleeves.

Since ancient times, China has attached great importance to nostalgia, Du Fu once said that "the beacon fire lasts for three months, and the family letter is worth ten thousand gold", not to mention that their book has not been saved for three months, but for more than 40 years!

The army thought that they would never communicate with their families again in this life, but they never expected that someone would be able to help them send them home.

Even if there is only a glimmer of hope, they are willing to give it a try.

couldn't stand the enthusiasm of the army, so Li Qing and the three had to have lunch in the Shuaifu.

In the afternoon, the three of them brought a thick letter to Guo Xin to say goodbye.

"Please!" Guo Xin bent down and bowed deeply to the three of them.

With Guo Xin taking the lead, everyone bent down and bowed to the three of them.

Li Qing hurriedly helped Guo Xin up, he couldn't help such an old man's salute.

After all, he is not Li Shimin, but he is Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, so he is naturally qualified.

"Don't worry, it's not just a family letter." Li Shimin glanced at Guo Xin deeply: "Believe me, I will bring someone to pick you up and take you back to Chang'an." ”

Guo Xin smiled.

He stretched out his hand and pounded Li Shimin's chest and said to him, "Okay, that old man is waiting for this day." ”

Li Shimin finally glanced around, as if to keep these lonely heroes in mind,

He urged his horses to dismount and went out of the city with Li Qing and the others.

Guo Xin and the army watched Li Qing and the others drift away until they could no longer see their backs clearly.

After a while, Yang De suddenly spoke.

"Boss, do you say the sun is far away, or Chang'an is far away?"

Guo Xin was stunned, he remembered that when he had just come to the Anxi Protectorate from Chang'an, Yang De, who was still his own soldier at the time, also asked himself with a smile.

"Boss, do you say the sun is far away, or Chang'an is far away?"

"What do you say?"

At that time, he was majestic and heroic, and his heart was full of his uncle Guo Ziyi, who surpassed him, and made immortal contributions in Anxi.

"Of course, the sun is farther away, after all, we are all soldiers from Chang'an."

Young Yang De bared his white teeth, scratched his head and said with a smile.

Guo Xin suddenly came back to his senses, and asked rhetorically as he did back then: "What do you say?" ”

"If you want me to say, of course Chang'an is farther away."

Yang De took off his helmet and clipped it under his armpit.

"Oh? Why? ”

Guo Xin raised his eyebrows and looked at Yang De, decades have passed, not only has his voice and smile changed, but he didn't expect the answer to have changed?

Who knew the next sentence, which made Guo Xin burst into tears.

"Because I can see the sun when I look up, but I can't see the ...... of Chang'an"

(End of chapter)