"Cheng Zhijie, Yuchi Jingde, Qin Qiong, I order the three of you to choose ten thousand elite light cavalry from your respective camps. You are to set out from Chang 'an and head north to pursue the Turkic State Teacher and rendezvous with the Marquis of Yong' an! We have already ordered the Marquis of Yong 'an to keep Wu Jie in the Great Tang. From Chang' an to the north, all soldiers in the various provinces will be under the command of the Marquis of Yong 'an.
The ten thousand light cavalry that the three of you are to lead must cooperate with Li Zexuan at a crucial moment. You must capture Wu Jie and retrieve the Academy's secret information! If any Turkic soldiers enter the Great Tang to assist the Turks, you are to wipe them out. There is no need to report to Us! "
In Taiji Palace, Li Er's firm and sonorous voice echoed in every corner of the hall. A cold blooded and austere atmosphere gradually filled the air. All the officials could not help but turn solemn. Everyone knew that war was about to come!
If they couldn't capture Wu Jie, Li Er would definitely gather his soldiers and head north, directly initiating a war between the Great Tang and the Turks. Li Er would not give the Turks time to study the Academy's secret information. If they could surround Wu Jie in the Great Tang, the Turks would definitely send reinforcements. After all, Wu Jie had so much valuable information in his hands. When the time came, a fierce skirmish was certain to break out. Once the two sides began to fight, an all-out war wouldn't be far off!
The sharp-eyed officials could smell the scent of war from Li Er's words!
Of course, there were still quite a few officials who were surprised that Li Zexuan had received Li Er's decree so quickly. After all, everyone knew that Li Zexuan was currently in the north of the Great Tang, seven to eight hundred li away from Chang 'an. Wu Jie's attack on the Academy had only happened yesterday, so how could they not be surprised that Li Zexuan had received Li Er's decree so quickly?
But the smart minister could figure out what was going on after thinking about it. The Academy had a telegraph. With the telegraph, the distance of hundreds of miles was nothing.
The reason why Li Er hadn't sent the Great Tang's most elite cavalry, the Black Armored Army, was mainly because the Black Armored Army was made up of heavy cavalry. In terms of mobility, it was impossible for them to compare to light cavalry! Yuchi Jingde and the others were only going to pursue Wu Jie. They could resupply at any time along the way, so they didn't need to bring a lot of provisions. What they were pursuing was speed!
"Official Lieutenant Chi Jingde (Cheng Zhijie) (Qin Qiong) receives the decree!"
Yuchi Jingde, Cheng Yaojin, and Qin Qiong all had solemn expressions as they bowed and accepted the order.
The generals of the Great Tang had never feared war. Even if the Turks were extremely powerful, even if this war had been hastily initiated by the Great Tang, so what? No power, no matter how powerful, could make the Tang bend their backs, not even the Turks!
Li Er nodded, "This Emperor will issue an order to arrest Wu Jie in all the provinces and counties of the Great Tang! The Marquis of Yong 'an set out from Shouyang and will pass by Yuci and Taiyuan. The whereabouts of the Turkic State Teacher is unknown, but it's very likely that he will head north and take the shortest route to escape from the Great Tang in the shortest time possible. In order to allow the three of you to cooperate with Li Zexuan, this time, the troops can be transferred from Yanhuang College to maintain contact with Li Zexuan. As for the person to operate the telegraph, you can go to Yanhuang College to choose! "
Hunting down a person was different from fighting a war. First of all, no one knew where Wu Jie was, so they could only slowly search for him along the way. But once they found him, they would need to immediately surround him. Using soldiers to send messages was definitely not feasible, because opportunities were fleeting. Comparatively speaking, telegraphing was the best option!
Last time, when Cheng Yaojin and the others went to the city to quell the rebellion, they had already experienced the huge advantage of the telegraph in terms of battlefield information. Hearing that Li Er would assign another telegraph to them, Old Cheng was extremely excited. He quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Li Er nodded and said in a deep voice, "Today's morning court is over! All officials are to immediately return to the yamen and carry out their duties. Cooperate with Yuchi Jingde, Cheng Zhijie, and Qin Qiong to transfer ten thousand elite light cavalry in the shortest time possible! There must be no mistakes! "
After arranging the official matters, Li Er didn't waste any time and decisively announced the end of the court. In fact, he had wanted to tell all the officials about these arrangements last night, but in the middle of the night, it was a little unrealistic to gather all the officials in the palace, so he waited until now.
Last night, the Imperial Army led by Zhao Song had searched the vicinity of Chang 'an City for an entire night, but they couldn't find any trace of Wu Jie, which meant that Wu Jie had most likely already escaped from Chang' an City. How could Li Er not be worried? Right now, the most important thing for him was to catch Wu Jie, everything else could be put aside for later!
Hearing this, the officials were stunned, but seeing Li Er's unusually strong attitude today, no one dared to raise any objections. They could only cup their hands and say, "This subject obeys the decree!"
The morning court lasted less than a quarter of an hour from start to finish. This could be said to be the shortest morning court since the establishment of the Great Tang Empire!
… … …
At the same time, the news of the attack on Yanhuang College last night had already spread!
After all, the Imperial Court's army had been searching for Wu Jie last night, causing such a big commotion that it was impossible to completely keep it a secret! Especially with so many people joining the search for Wu Jie in the early hours of the morning, word of the attack on Yanhuang College was no longer a secret!
Early in the morning, the streets, teahouses, and restaurants were abuzz with discussions about this matter!
"Did you hear? Yanhuang College was attacked by an unknown person last night! "
"What? There was such a thing? Which thief is so bold as to attack Yanhuang College? Aren't they afraid of being punished by His Majesty? "
"That person isn't Tang, I heard that he's a Turkic!"
"What? A Turkic dares to come to Great Tang and cause trouble? Did they catch him? "
"Of course not! That's not an ordinary Turkic! It's said that he's the Turkic State Teacher! The most powerful person in the world today! "
"Hiss ~! It's actually the Turkic State Teacher! But why would the Turkic State Teacher attack Yanhuang College? "
"Hmph! What else could it be? It must be that the Turkic State Teacher took a fancy to the Marquis of Yong 'an's knowledge! "
"Marquis's knowledge? That Turkic State Teacher is truly despicable. He isn't as smart as Marquis, but he still wants to steal from Great Tang. Truly despicable! Then did the Turkic State Teacher steal anything from Yanhuang College? "
"I don't know about that!"
"Hmph! A man's wealth is his own ruin. Yanhuang College has countless treasures and advanced knowledge, but he didn't have the ability to protect them. In the end, he gave them to the Turkic State Teacher. The Marquis of Yong 'an is a sinner of Great Tang! "
"Bullshit! What are you saying? Do you know how powerful the Turkic State Teacher is? In order to protect the secrets of Yanhuang College, who knows how many guards were sacrificed last night. I heard that even Old Teacher Wen Ji was injured. What right does a brat like you have to make sarcastic remarks here? "
"That's right! Since Yanhuang College was established, how many useful things have they discovered? It's said that it won't be long before Lantian County can get electricity and electric lights! Now that the Turkic State Teacher attacked the academy, instead of blaming the Turkic State Teacher, you're blaming the Marquis of Yong 'an. Are you a Tang or a Turkic? Is your heart red or black? "
"That's right, that's right!"
The majority of the populace sympathized with the academy and condemned the Turkic State Teacher, but there were also many who took the opportunity to slander Yanhuang College, and most of them were Confucian scholars. Similar remarks could be heard everywhere, but in the end, they were all drowned out by the saliva of the populace!
… … …
"It's here! Esteemed guest, here's your food and Jiannan's Spring Stew! "
In a restaurant in Taiyuan, a waiter was carrying a large plate with a bowl of Yangchun noodles, two side dishes, and a jug of fine wine on it. He came to a table and spoke enthusiastically to a travel-worn young man sitting at the table as he served the dishes on the table.
"Un! Put it down! "
The young man remained unmoved by the delicacies and fine wine. His brows were still furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.
"Alright! Esteemed guest, if you have any instructions, feel free to call me! "
After placing down the delicacies and fine wine, the waiter tactfully bowed and retreated.
Even though the young man before him looked travel-worn, his clothes and accessories didn't seem like they came from an ordinary family. He couldn't wait to curry favor with him, so how could he offend him? But what left the waiter puzzled was the bulging bag on the young man's back. He didn't know what was inside, but he couldn't bear to put it down even when he was eating. It was truly bizarre!
Furthermore, after placing down the delicacies and fine wine, the young man didn't seem to have any intention of eating. He simply sat there quietly, his eyes unfocused as he stared ahead. The waiter, who had returned to the counter of the restaurant, couldn't help but mutter to himself that the young man was truly bizarre.
"The shortest route from Chang 'an to the Turks is through Fengzhou, Ningzhou, Qingzhou, and then the Huaiyuan region into the steppe. Fortunately, I happen to be in the north of the Great Tang and can lay down an inescapable net for the Turks!"
The young man did not say a word as he thought to himself.
Yes, this young man was Li Zexuan. Since the Academy was no longer in any danger and Li Er had ordered him to keep the Turks in Great Tang, there was no need for him to rush back. What he needed to do now was to find a way to intercept the Turks in advance!
At this moment, a massive map of the empire appeared in his mind. He had 'planned' several escape routes for Wu Jie, and in the end, he chose the middle and shortest route.
He was confident that as long as Wu Jie was still 'intelligent', he would definitely choose this escape route, because every moment Wu Jie remained in Great Tang meant more danger!
After making a plan in his mind, Li Zexuan returned to his senses and began to eat.
Last night, he had galloped more than a hundred li on his horse before he arrived at Taiyuan City. Now that he was hungry, he entered the city and found a restaurant to eat some food to fill his stomach. It was also a good opportunity for Big White to eat and rest!
During the Tang Dynasty, there was a phenomenon of 'Tokyo', 'Nanjing', 'Beijing', and 'Xijing' coexisting. Tokyo was Luoyang, and Xijing was the capital of Great Tang, Chang 'an. Beijing was Taiyuan, and Nanjing was Chengdu!
Taiyuan was the largest city in the north of Great Tang, and the city was relatively prosperous. Logically speaking, the restaurants here should have Drunken Immortal and Gentle Fragrance, but unfortunately, this restaurant had run out of Drunken Immortal and Gentle Fragrance, so Li Zexuan could only order a pot of Jiannan Braised Spring to quench his thirst!
It had to be said that after eating so many banquets in this life, Li Zexuan's tolerance for alcohol had inadvertently increased!
"Gulu gulu!"
After finishing his meal without a care for his image, Li Zexuan raised the wine pot and drained it in one gulp. He was finally full!
"Waiter, the bill!"
Li Zexuan called the waiter over and tossed him two Tang Yuan notes. Before leaving, he asked, "How do I get to the regional commander's office?"
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