Xue Rengui said directly, "The army that I sent to Tibet has returned. This time, they brought back a hundred carriages worth of money. Apart from that, there are also some precious jade artifacts, as well as the corresponding highland barley wine.
As he spoke, Xue Rengui handed over a letter.
Everything about Tubo was recorded in the letter.
The general that Xue Rengui sent to Tibet was called Zuo Xianfeng. He led three thousand elites to escort the weapons into Tibet. According to the original plan, Qu Cizaren sent a letter to Gonga, asking him to send people to the border to receive the weapons.
At that time, Zuo Xianfeng did not need to interfere.
The problem was that when Zuo Xianfeng entered Tibet, Gonga was unable to receive him. Left without a choice, Zuo Xianfeng could only lead the troops to Qiongba. Although there were obstructions along the way, in front of Zuo Xianfeng's three thousand troops, they were crushed like tofu.
By the time Zuo Xianfeng's three thousand elites reached Qiongba, Gonga had already been defeated. Zuo Xianfeng knew the situation in Tibet. The more chaotic Tibet was, the better it was for Du Qi. As such, Zuo Xianfeng did not hesitate to bring his troops to help Gonga fend off Lang Songzan's attacks.
With Zuo Xianfeng's troops, Gonga was finally able to stabilize the situation. Although Gonga had temporarily retreated, at least he was not directly defeated by Lang Songzan's army.
Gonga had the weapons provided by Zuo Xianfeng and asked him to lead troops to help.
Zuo Xianfeng agreed.
With Zuo Xianfeng's help, Gonga and Lang Songzan's army began to fight. Both sides continuously killed each other, and in the end, both sides suffered heavy losses. Jin Babu also stood out to support Gonga, increasing his strength and clearing out Lang Songzan's forces.
Even so, it was not easy.
When it was close to the tenth month, Gonga finally destroyed Lang Songzan. He also killed Shang Zan and Songzan Gampo, causing Lang Songzan's bloodline to be completely destroyed in Tibet.
However, the strength of Gonga's bloodline and many of the old nobles were also greatly weakened.
This was a lose-lose situation.
Just from this battle alone, it would take at least ten years for Tubo's strength to recover.
Destruction was easy, but rebuilding was difficult.
This was the result of internal fighting. However, Gonga did not care about this. As long as he could win and take the throne, everything would be worth it. Although Gonga had suffered great losses in the battle with Lang Ri Songzan, he immediately collected a lot of valuables and wine, and even personally escorted Zuo Xianfeng out of Qiongba.
The Left Vanguard Army had three thousand men when they left.
More than 1,300 people returned.
One thousand seven hundred men were lost.
However, the results of the battle were exceptionally bountiful.
After Du Qi finished reading the contents of the letter, he praised, "Not bad, not bad. This Zuo Xianfeng is very courageous. Furthermore, he managed to carve out a place for himself in Tibet with just three thousand people. Although the general plan was to bring about a situation where both sides suffered great losses, it was still not enough. However, it wasn't easy to actually operate it. It won't be easy for Vanguard Zuo to do this. "
Xue Rengui said, "Your Highness, although Zuo Xianfeng's name is not very good, he likes to read, especially military books. Not only is he outstanding in martial arts, but he is also a strategist. He's in his early thirties, which is the best time for him to make a contribution. "
Du Qi smiled, "Zuo Xianfeng is worthy of praise. Since that's the case, promote him to be your deputy general."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Xue Rengui immediately became excited. He was happy for Zuo Xianfeng. Zuo Xianfeng was someone that Xue Rengui thought highly of. It was precisely because of this that he arranged for Zuo Xianfeng to go to Tibet. Now that he had returned victorious and received a reward, it was naturally the best.
Du Qi waved his hand, "We won't bother about the matter of Tibet for the time being. Have the Left Vanguard Army return to the army and rest for a while. Hou Junji is in a standoff with us, and I estimate that there will be a battle after spring. Thus, we have to prepare for battle. "
"Yes!"
Xue Rengui immediately replied.
After Xue Rengui left, Du Qi had just calmed down to read his book when a soldier entered and reported, "Your Highness, a scholar has arrived outside the camp. He says that he is here for Your Highness's grand plan. This person calls himself Shangguan Yi, and he looks to be in his early twenties. His mannerisms don't seem simple, and his bearing is extraordinary. "
Du Qi ordered, "Bring him in."
"Yes!"
The soldier went to pass on the order.
A hint of a smile appeared in Du Qi's eyes. Shangguan Yi was an illustrious existence. For him to take the initiative to come to the Western Regions, this was rather interesting. Shangguan Yi was born into a scholarly family. During the Sui Dynasty, his father was an official in Jiangdu. This was because when Emperor Yang of Sui was killed in Jiangdu, Shangguan Yi's father, Shangguan Hong, was killed as well.
Although Shangguan Yi managed to escape this calamity, in order to avoid disaster, he became a monk. During his time as a monk, Shangguan Yi never neglected his studies. On one hand, he studied the Buddhist scriptures. On the other hand, he read a lot of books and poems.
After the establishment of the Tang dynasty, he regained his identity and no longer became a monk. In history, Shangguan Yi passed the imperial examination and became an official. He had a meteoric rise and could be said to be a cheat-like existence.
Unfortunately, because he opposed Wu Zetian, he was eventually killed. What Du Qi didn't expect was that Shangguan Yee actually came to the Western Regions, a place where birds don't shit.
Although the Western Regions was Du Qi's base, in fact, Du Qi still believed that this was not his real base. If Du Qi wanted to establish a grand enterprise, he must continue to expand to the west and find a more suitable place to set his foundation.
But for now, he could only live like this for the time being.
Not long after, Shangguan Yi entered the tent.
Shangguan Yi was wearing a down jacket and a cloak. After all, the weather was too cold. He entered the tent. Because of the burning coal, the cold was dispelled. He took off the cloak and down jacket, revealing a green robe inside.
Shangguan Yi stepped forward, clasped his hands, and bowed. "This commoner Shangguan Yi pays respects to His Highness Ping Xi Wang."
Du Qi waved his hand and said, "Mister Shangguan, please sit."
Shangguan Yi was in his early twenties, about the same age as Du Qi. But compared to Du Qi, Shangguan Yi was more scholarly.
Shangguan Yi thanked Du Qi and sat down. Then, he said, "When this one arrived at the border of Yizhou, I heard that the Imperial Court had appointed Gao Shilian as the Jiedushi of the Anxi Protectorate and that Hou Junji had arrived with fifty thousand soldiers. To Ping Xi Wang, this is a life and death crisis. One careless step and the whole game will be lost. "
Du Qi smiled and said, "Mister Shangguan has a good eye. With Hou Junji presiding over the border, such a situation does exist. Does Mister Shangguan have any strategy to deal with it? "
Shangguan Yee said confidently: "In this situation, in my opinion, Ping Xi Wang has no other choice but to fight this battle, and to win this battle. If Ping Xi Wang chooses to take a step back, there will be even more methods to deal with you. If you take a step back, you will be forced to take a step back, and in the end, you will become a bird in a cage. Therefore, you can't take a single step back. You can only continue forward and not retreat. "
Du Qi said, "This king knows that I can't retreat, so the key is how to deal with the enemy. Although this king claims to have one hundred thousand soldiers, in reality, my fighting strength is insufficient. What does Mister Shangguan think I should do? "
Du Qi was deliberately hiding his strength.
He wanted to test Shangguan Yi.
Shangguan Yi calmly said, "It might be easy for Ping Xi Wang to hide from others, but it is impossible for Ping Xi Wang to hide from me. Because I have already been in Yizhou for more than half a year. "
"In this half a year, I have been collecting information on Ping Xi Wang. Therefore, when Ping Xi Wang says that your strength is less than one hundred thousand, you are actually hiding your strength. In my view, your army is probably more than one hundred thousand soldiers, and is even stronger. "
"In particular, Ping Xi Wang has a munitions factory that specializes in manufacturing new weapons. But this is a factory that migrated from Yizhou to Gaochang. Although I don't know what kind of weapon it is, Ping Xi Wang used this kind of weapon to deal with the Turks. "
"It has a weapon that can make the ground crack, or even more powerful. With this weapon, it will be easy to destroy Hou Junji's army. This one has said that I have come for Ping Xi Wang's grand cause. That is, Ping Xi Wang can't take a single step back and can only move forward. "
Shangguan Yi said, "What Ping Xi Wang wants to do is to take out this weapon and take down Hou Junji's army."
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