But Tuyu would never have thought that Zhang Xiaobao did not want his seal to command the people on the ship, or that his ultimate goal was not only the people on the ship.
The letter was first sent to the capital, where Ke Tuyu's letter to the imperial court was found. All the letters were gathered together, and then someone was found to imitate Ke Tuyu's handwriting to mobilize the other soldiers of the Song Mo Commandery.
As for the generals sent by the other Commander-In-Chief's Manors, those who had a say in the matter would also send fake letters back to mobilize their troops. These troops would be dispersed and sent to various parts of the Great Tang. Li Xun of Shuzhou was assigned ten thousand soldiers from the Song Mo Commander-In-Chief's Manor and five thousand soldiers from the Bohai Commander-In-Chief's Manor. He, on the other hand, sent twenty thousand soldiers from Shuzhou.
A series of methods such as bribery, suppression, roping, and assassination were used. It could be said that there was no big chaos, but there was constant small chaos.
It wasn't that there weren't any capable people in the various Martial Manors, but even if they could tell, they didn't have the strength. This time, the generals that were sent to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were all good at fighting. Their purpose was to learn from Wang Juan's abilities, and at the same time, to act as a strong presence to deter Wang Juan and Zhang Xiaobao from acting rashly.
There were not many people in each Commandery. In the beginning, 160,000 people were sent from Jili Province, and 40,000 real soldiers were sent away. When they saw the transfer order and the soldiers from other Commanderies came, they wanted to object, but they did not have enough strength.
Those who strongly objected either suddenly died of illness, or accidentally hit their heads on wood or tiles that fell from high places when they were walking.
Some people suddenly became rich, and the things they used were the same as the Tang Empire's ministers. These people were inclined to let the Tang Empire and the Tang Empire's military force exchange. In the name of sending soldiers into the Tang Empire, they could know the Tang people's livelihood, and lead the Tang soldiers into the Tang Empire, so they could know the Tang army's military force.
He had seen their battle prowess, but he was not clear about their specific battle prowess. However, the weapons and armor they used were not just a little bit better than those of the Martial Manor. This was especially true for the soldiers from Shuzhou. Their discipline was so strict that they could be ordered around like an arm. Li Xun actually personally came to the Martial Manor of Song Mo to take charge.
The rest of the people didn't object to the recall of the soldiers, but they didn't agree either. Some said that they were sick and went home to rest. Some felt like they were in a dream all day long. They seemed helpless, but they also seemed to be waiting for the day when the elite soldiers that were sent out returned.
None of the generals were aware of these matters, so the news could not be transmitted. Firstly, the fleet was moving too quickly to travel on land, and secondly, the important checkpoints on land were guarded by soldiers. All non-Tangtang fast horses were stopped, and this was even more so on the rivers.
When Ke Tuyu's body was completely healed, and the fleet was only a few days' journey from the shore to the desert, and when he regained his military power, the Commander-In-Chief's mansions in Hebei Province were basically settled.
*****
Letters were sent back and forth between the capital and Jili Prefecture. When the Bohai Commander-In-Chief Manor sent someone to deliver a letter saying that this autumn, the Commander-In-Chief Manor was willing to pay the taxes of the five capitals and sixty-two prefectures, Li Longji felt like he was in a dream.
"How could this be?" Li Longji shook his head vigorously and confirmed the matter in the letter again. He seemed to be talking to himself.
"Your Majesty, it's already midsummer. Back then, Xiao Bao and Cuckoo promised Your Majesty that the Bohai Commander-In-Chief Manor would pay the taxes this year," Gao Lishi explained.
"I know they said it, but what I want to know is not what they said, but why is the Bohai Commander-In-Chief Manor willing to pay? Is it because they said it the reason? Could it be that they said that I can fly in the sky tomorrow, and I will also … Oh, I have already flown once.
Let's not talk about flying or not, what other methods did they use? They can't be afraid of the Bohai Commander-In-Chief Manor just because Bi sent 10,000 soldiers to the Bohai Commander-In-Chief Manor. There are hundreds of thousands of people there. If they lose 5,000 soldiers, they will have 10,000 more soldiers. They will still have the strength to fight.
Li Longji spoke smoothly, but his eyes were full of confusion. How could such a difficult thing be done by Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan as if it was a game? That was the Bohai Commander-In-Chief Manor, far away from Jili Prefecture. Even if the Great Tang wanted to attack, it was too far away. Could it be that he was moved by Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's portraits?
The two children were good-looking, and there were portraits of them since they were young on the wall, but this was definitely not the reason.
When Gao Lishi heard the Emperor's words, he had an impulse to laugh, but he suppressed it and explained, "Your Majesty, of course, it is not Xiao Bao and Cuckoo's words, but they will do what they say. A few days ago, Lu Zhou sent another 20 gunships to the Bohai Bay to fight the pirates.
They killed more than 1,100 pirate ships, killed countless pirates, and gave a large amount of silk to the Bohai Commander-In-Chief Manor to help the people who were hurt by the pirates. The Bohai Commander-In-Chief Manor did not only send 5,000 soldiers, but 15,000. The other 10,000 soldiers followed Xiao Bao and Cuckoo to protect the desert near Jin Chuan.
Your Majesty can think of it this way. The Bohai Commander-In-Chief Manor lost 15,000 soldiers. Although the loss of 5,000 soldiers was too sudden for him, and they were transferred away without his order, it was still too little. How many soldiers could there be in a few hundred thousand?
Their navy and pirate ships were almost no match for the pirates, so Xiao Bao and Cuckoo sent out gunships to help him. I guess the Great Martial Arts Commander-In-Chief was moved by the selfless help of our heavenly soldiers. Your Majesty, your Majesty, you are very kind. "
"Ah? You sent 20 gunships to kill all the navy of the Bohai Commander-In-Chief Manor? No, you wiped out all the pirates? You also gave a lot of silk, which should be collected from the nearby state capital, right? Why didn't I know? "
Li Longji finally understood. No wonder the Great Martial Arts Commander-In-Chief, who wanted to fight against the Great Tang, suddenly became easy to talk to. They took the initiative to pay the taxes and no longer wanted to establish normal trade with the Great Tang. It turned out that it was because of his Majesty's kindness. It was just that when his Majesty's kindness shone, he was not aware of it.
Gao Lishi knew that the Emperor was not happy. The main problem was not whether the Emperor knew the situation over there or not, but that the difficult thing became simple in the hands of Xiao Bao and Cuckoo. It was a bit of a blow to the Emperor.
He hurriedly tried to persuade, "Your Majesty, at that time, Your Majesty said that Xiao Bao and Cuckoo were fully in charge of the matters in the north of Hebei Province. They did not need to report too much and only sent a letter when the imperial court sent troops. Therefore, Your Majesty did not know. I only knew about it the day before yesterday. I was afraid that the Great Martial Arts Commander-In-Chief would not submit a letter to the capital, so I did not directly tell Your Majesty.
Your Majesty, it seems simple, but it is not. Xiao Bao and Cuckoo used almost half of the wealth of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family for this matter. They bribed, roped in, and distributed it to the civilians. In the letter, they told me that since they came to Jili Province, they slept at most eight hours a day.
They also discussed with me that when the north of Hebei Province was settled down, they would help me to ask for more benefits from Your Majesty. This time, they lost a lot of money, so I don't know if I should ask for more benefits. "
"Oh, they also suffered a lot. They want to ask for benefits from me? They have occupied a large area in the north of Hebei Province. Can't they make up for their losses? "
Li Longji's heart was balanced. Considering Zhang Xiaobao's ability to make money, he did not think that they could not make up for their losses.
"Your Majesty means to let the two of them occupy the entire north of Hebei Province? It is difficult to go to Henan Province by land. The two of them also have naval gunboats. The whole area is full of mountains and dense forests. When Cuckoo led 10,000 troops to the mountains near Ruoshui in Jinchuan, she played the classic jungle strategy.
The strong protection team of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family can be said to come and go like ghosts in the mountains and forests. Even Li Xun, the Prince of Tong 'an, also has a thousand troops that are specially suitable for jungle warfare. Your Majesty, are you really going to let Xiao Bao and Cuckoo establish a foothold in the north of Hebei Province? "
Gao Lishi saw that the Emperor was a little confused, so he had to analyze the matter and let the Emperor sober up and not be carried away by happy things.
Li Longji was stunned, "Uh? Yes, what Lishi said is right. It can be trusted, but it can't be unguarded. What is Xiao Bao and Cuckoo's plan? Do they want to occupy that area? "
"Replying to Your Majesty, Xiao Bao is considering that he can't stay in the north of Hebei Province, so he wants to get benefits from other places. He said that in the future, there will be dozens of prefectures. Those who are not filial piety will not be sent, those who do not love the people as their own children will not be sent, and those who are not court officials will not be sent.
Even if they are sent, they will be changed every three years. They will leave their families in the capital, one official and one deputy. The official is a civil official, who is only in charge of civil affairs. The deputy is a military general, who is only in charge of defense. After three years, the civil official will be sent there to learn and familiarize himself with the situation there. When the predecessor leaves, the successor will be directly appointed.
The same is true for the military general. However, they will not have the right to go there one year in advance. In this way, they will not be afraid of rebellion. The navy will be managed by someone else. All the generals and civil officials will have to build roads after they take office. "
Gao Lishi took out a piece of paper from his bosom and read the words written on it to Li Longji.
Li Longji nodded and suddenly asked, "If there is a battle, what should we do if we can't fully understand the soldiers after only one year?"
"Retreat. If we can't win, come back. The Imperial Court will then send elite troops to fight. Your Majesty, there is no need to worry that someone will attack there. Whether it is the Turks or Silla, as long as they attack, the capital can send troops to attack from both sides. Besides, Xiao Bao and Cuckoo don't seem to intend to let the Turks and Silla be as free as they are now. It's just that they don't have the time. Your Majesty, the two of them are still young."
Gao Lishi revealed a little of the matter that his godson had mentioned. The main reason was that he had received a map. This map did not look like the current map of the Great Tang. It was much larger than the current one, even though the words' Map of the Great Tang 'were written on it.
Li Longji finally recovered from the emotions in the letter from the Bohai Commander-In-Chief's Office. Having become smarter, he immediately understood the meaning in Gao Lishi's words. "The two of them still want to fight? If they keep fighting, they'll die … It doesn't seem like many people will die. The side that dies the most is the other side. Did the two of them mention anything about benefits? "
"They didn't say. If Xiao Bao did … Your Majesty … you will definitely …" Gao Lishi stuttered and did not finish his sentence.
Li Longji understood. If Xiao Bao mentioned benefits at this time, he should think of a way to stop him. He could not let him easily achieve his goal. He did not believe that he would lose every time.
"Lishi, find some time to write a letter to the two of them. Tell them that I said that if they don't want any benefits, I will exempt their family from three years of tax. If they don't want to be exempt from tax, they will have to rely on their own abilities."
Li Longji basically wanted to directly say that they would have to rely on their own abilities. However, after thinking carefully, if that was the case, it would be unfair to Xiao Bao and Cuckoo. They had cleaned up such a large area. If they won this time, they would really suffer a loss. If they were angry and stopped playing, he would lose a kind of fun, although his chances of winning were not that big.
"Your subject obeys." What else could Gao Lishi say? He could only agree. He did not understand why the Emperor was so free. He was usually very nice, but when it came to Xiao Bao and Cuckoo, he had to lower himself to the children's level.
*****
At this time, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan also received the news from Shui Yun. There was a small chaos in the north of Hebei Province. Da Wushi of Bohai Commandery had been tormented. Whether he really submitted or not, as long as he acknowledged the position once, they would have an excuse to beat him up if he did not want to do it in the future. Was the relationship of sovereignty something that could be casually acknowledged?
"Xiao Bao, you can send a letter to Chide Zuzan of Tubo. Ask him to send troops to help fight Duo Shi. I won't even ask if he is supporting Duo Shi. Let's see if he will send troops or not."
Wang Juan saw that the matter in Jili Province was more or less settled. She began to make a move against Tubo again.
Zhang Xiaobao immediately wrote a letter to ask Chide Zuzan to send troops to eliminate the bandits Duo Shi. News came that the Duo Shi in the desert continued to increase their troops. Originally, there were only a hundred people left. Now, there were two thousand people. Their weapons were also stronger than before.
Everyone was given a horse. Furthermore, they did not continue to attack the haloxylon ammonite trees. Instead, they set up camp. It seemed like they were preparing for a big move. Until now, it was still impossible to guess which side was supporting them.
If it was supporting them, it was possible that it was from either side. The supplies for the two thousand people had always been sent by the Duo Shi to the two places to exchange for other things. As for whether they used things worth one copper coin to exchange for supplies worth one copper coin, it was not clear.
If they could get news of the exchange, they would know that whoever exchanged with the Duo Shi was the one supporting them. Then, it would be impossible not to fight. They had more than forty thousand people. If they did not consume some, how could they train their troops?
After the letter was written, he asked someone to send it to Tubo at the fastest speed. Zhang Xiaobao called Ke Tuyu and the other generals over to discuss the matters of the upcoming battle.
"That's how it is. Let's see if Tubo will send people or not. When the time comes, we may fight with the Tujue or Tubo. Everyone should be prepared."
Zhang Xiaobao told them about the letter he had written to the Tubo's Zuzan, which could be considered as a pre-war mobilization.
Some of the generals only knew how to fight and were slower to react. They did not understand the meaning behind it and left to find their own troops. Some of them had a calm expression on the surface, but their hearts were in turmoil.
Ke Tuyu was one of them. After leaving the cabin where Zhang Xiaobao was having a meeting, he did not look for his own troops. Instead, he returned to his own cabin and started to think about things.
"General, are we really going to help Zhang Xiaobao and the others fight? If we only fight Tubo, it is fine. If we fight the Tujue, our Songmo Commander-In-Chief's Manor will be easily targeted by the Tujue. "
An advisor who had also returned asked Ke Tuyu worriedly.
"Fight. No matter who we fight, we have to fight. If we don't fight the Tujue, Zhang Xiaobao will fight us. They are forcing us to do something beyond our ability."
But Tuyu didn't hesitate at all and immediately expressed his attitude.
"General, do they dare?" The advisor still did not wish to fight the Tujue.
"What is there that they don't dare to do? This time, he wrote a letter to Tubo and asked them to send troops. It sounded simple, but it was not the case at all.
If Tubo sent troops, they would offend Polyshi. They were afraid that Tubo would support Polyshi. At that time, Polyshi would feel that they were cheated and would take revenge on Tubo.
If Tubo did not send troops, it would be even simpler. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Rong could announce that Jinchuan and Ruoshui did not belong to Tubo. Otherwise, why would they not send troops? Then, they would use Tubo's unilateral destruction of friendship as an excuse to stop the food exchange with Tubo. It was summer now, and Tubo was lacking in food.
If Tubo could not help but send troops to attack Zhang Xiaobao, that would be even better. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan would directly send troops to attack Tubo. Furthermore, they would not use Great Tang's people. If they died, they would not feel any heartache. They would let us attack head-on and disregard the losses. Wang Juan would then lead the elite troops and fight for thousands of miles. Tubo would be completely destroyed.
Even if all of our people died and we did not win against Tubo this time, Great Tang would use this opportunity to send troops again. Would Tubo still have people to fight? This is called strategy. We should not have let the two of them go to Jili Province. It would have been good if we did not force Li Longji like that. We finally forced him into a corner. Sigh! "
However, he suddenly regretted it. He finally saw how powerful Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were. These two people were the treasured swords in Li Longji's hands. They were the kind of swords that would definitely see blood when they were unsheathed.
After the 40,000 people walked for a few days on the shore, when they were still two days away from the desert, Zuzan Chide of Tubo also received a letter sent by Zhang Xiaobao.
He read it again and again, and the more he read, the more worried he became.
"Who came up with the idea to dig a hole in Wangjiang County in Shuzhou? Investigate again. Those who are lucky enough to survive, capture them and kill them. "
Zuzan Chide stayed in the palace of Princess Li Nunu of Jincheng and gave an order to the people waiting at the side.
This order was baffling. Why did Zuzan Chide remember it after such a long time?
Princess Jincheng did not see the letter. She was a Tang person, but she could not do anything about the affairs of both sides, let alone put in much effort.
When she heard Zuzan Chide's order, she went closer and advised, "Zuzan Chide, if you kill more people, I'm afraid it will chill the hearts of the people."
"If I don't kill them, I won't be able to appease the hatred in my heart. If not for the person who came up with the idea and made the move, why would Wang Juan come to attack us? If not for them, why would we allow them to stir up the economy of Jiannan Circuit? If not, why would Zhang Xiaobao take revenge? Now, they are here again, and this time, they are even more powerful than before. It's an army of 40,000. Should we fight or not? "
Since Zuzan Chide could not find trouble with Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, he could only find fault with his own people.
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