Cultivation of chastity

Chapter 247 Sending Troops to Tuyuhun

"Being a general without astronomy, geography, strange gates, yin and yang, formation maps, and military forces is mediocrity!"

Li Tai looked at Yuan Tiangang and said very sincerely.

"King Yan, aren't you asking too much for a general?" Yuan Tiangang smiled wryly after listening to Li Tai's words.

"And even if the poor master knows astronomy, geography, Ming Qimen, and yin and yang, he doesn't know anything about battle maps and military forces!"

"I know what you mean, Master Yuan!" Li Tai nodded and said, "But the mediocrity I'm talking about is me!"

When Yuan Tiangang heard Li Tai's words, he looked Li Tai up and down to see if Li Tai was crazy.

However, Li Tai ignored it and continued, "I know I'm mediocre, so I'm looking for someone who understands this.

Master Yuan, you know astronomy, geography, Ming Qimen, and yin and yang, which saves me a lot of trouble, at least I don't need to find other people. "

Yuan Tiangang looked Li Tai up and down, and said helplessly, "King Yan, you are in poverty!"

"I don't want to, but there is really no such suitable person as Master Yuan!" Li Tai said.

Yuan Tiangang thought for a while, and said, "Okay! However, Pindao also has a small request."

"Please tell me!" Li Tai almost turned his back on Yuan Tiangang when he heard Yuan Tiangang's words.

"Send the guest master back from the barren land of Guangzhou!" Yuan Tiangang said helplessly.

"Ah..." Li Tai couldn't help being taken aback when he heard this, but finally said,

"I see Master Hakka doing a good job in Guangzhou, compiling a suitable local calendar, building sugarcane and tea gardens, and building schools..."

Yuan Tiangang didn't talk much, just looked at Li Tai silently, and Li Tai's words became lower and lower as he spoke.

"Okay!" Li Tai let out a long sigh, "I'll write a letter right away and send Master Ke back!"

"Thank you King Yan!" Yuan Tiangang said, "Poverty is willing to follow King Yan and go to Tuyuhun to have a look."

"Then thank you, Master Yuan!" Li Tai said when he saw Yuan Tiangang finally expressed his opinion.

Now that Li Tai had agreed, he naturally wrote the letter in front of Yuan Tiangang, and then sent someone to send the letter to Guangzhou to call Master Yuan Ke back.

After all, it has been more than three years, even if Yuan Keshi is really useful, I can't really use people to death.

However, in Guangzhou, there are not many people who are willing to go there. We can only hope that Yuan Keshi can handle it well.

In any case, at least Yuan Tiangang was tied up, and Li Tai just regarded him as a weather forecaster, knowing when it will rain and when the wind will blow, which would bring great convenience on the march.

Li Tai handled each matter in an orderly manner, and would go to the palace every few days to greet Empress Changsun.

Finally, as the departure personnel, horses, equipment, and food were prepared one after another, they were ready to leave.

When it came time to send troops to conquer, Li Shimin personally practiced for Li Jing, wishing the troops a smooth march.

At this time the crown prince also came out, looked at Li Taidao, "Qing Que, I have prepared a gift for you for your trip this time!"

"Oh?" Li Tai looked at Li Chengqian in surprise, and as Li Chengqian waved his hand, he soon saw the servants appearing in front of Li Tai carrying a piece of armor.

Li Chengqian said, "Look, Qingque, this Mingguang armor is named Liuli Armor, which can reflect sunlight and present a colorful halo.

Brother in the car, I wish you to wear bright light armor, so that the Tuyuhun thieves throw away their helmets and armor, so as to show the majestic appearance of my man in the Tang Dynasty. "

"Thank you, brother, Qingque will definitely live up to his trust!" Li Tai didn't care, and stretched out his hands to take it.

Li Shimin looked at the scene in front of him, smiled with satisfaction, stroked his beard, and said:

"Liben, you can take today's army as the theme, and conceive a picture of the majestic military posture of my Tang Dynasty."

"I obey the order!" Yan Liben nodded immediately when he heard Li Shimin's words.

Yan Liben naturally knew that although Li Shimin said it was a picture of the expedition, but in truth, the brothers and friends of the two princes naturally had to be included in the picture.

Yan Liben is also very interested in such meaningful pictures.

However, it didn't take too long. Following Li Jing's sound of departure, vocal music blew, and everyone set off from the city.

What followed was a long march. The only thing to be thankful for was that because of the dredging of the Weihe River, the army was able to pass through the Gyeonggi-do area and reach Longyou quickly through the waterway.

Then there will be no boats to save energy, and they can only march every day, but fortunately, they can run all the way without any scruples in the territory, and the cities along the way will provide enough food, so there is no need to worry about food problems.

However, such a convenient situation will only last around Liangzhou at most. If you want to go further, you will need a steady stream of food in the future.

And during this long journey, Li Tai asked Peacock to prepare a lot of warm winter items such as cotton coats, gloves and hats in Tianshui, which is Qinzhou, and even prepared for livestock and pack horses.

When passing by here, I took it with me.

The other legions were jealous of the rich supplies that Li Tai's war department possessed.

But after inquiring, he found out that he was directly under King Yan. Although he was envious in his heart, he didn't say anything more.

But Li Tai didn't care too much about this matter.

After all, Li Jing, the leader of the army, how to handle the relationship between the various legions is Li Jing's business.

I have no plans to seize Li Jing's power, so I just need to manage my subordinates well.

It's just that after arriving in Longyou, the marching speed dropped a lot because it was snowing.

In the twelfth lunar month of winter, snow and ice fell from the sky, and gusts of cold wind blew on the face, which seemed to be cut by a knife.

But in this snowstorm, the marching speed of the army was directly cut by half, and the daily marching speed was less than twenty miles.

Li Tai reckoned that it would take at least three or four months for his army to arrive in Liangzhou.

Li Tai frowned. He had walked this road himself, but only then did he know the troubles of this road.

To the west of Longyou, most areas have no rivers that can be used for water transportation.

Under such circumstances, even though the flying distance from Chang'an to Qinghai is only more than 700 miles, the walking distance is extremely long.

Not to mention, it was snowing in the sky at this time, and it was really difficult for the army to march in the snow, eat and sleep in the open.

"It's no wonder that the west of Longyou will gradually be occupied by Tubo after the Anshi Rebellion. This terrible weather makes the Tang army come to winter. Even if they want to support them, they may not be able to support them!"

Generally speaking, the effective control range of an empire is basically only a hundred days after the army is deployed.

Like the kind of pure conquest, plunder, and destruction, that is what nomads do. For China, what they want is to occupy this piece of land, then cultivate it here, then educate it, and then completely integrate into the Chinese civilization .

Therefore, if you want to expand the territory of China, and even completely control the Hexi Corridor and the Western Regions, you can build a road from Yumen Pass to Chang'an City just like Emperor Sui Yang built the Grand Canal.

Moreover, when this road is in winter, it is best to have someone come out to sweep the snow and carry out simple maintenance.

This is not simply to build a road. If you really want to build such a road, you basically need the cooperation of all the villages, towns and cities along the way to support such a road.

Supporting such a road requires corresponding industries, otherwise the simple corvee will definitely force the villagers in the vicinity to flee.

These villagers will not leave unless they benefit locally.

In this case, it needs the support of the industry again. Li Tai pressed his brows and felt a headache as he watched the falling snowflakes.

However, Li Tai knew that looking at the scale of the snowflakes, he would not be able to reach Liangzhou in a short time.

Li Tai came to Li Jing's barracks, and the guards at the gate of the barracks stopped Li Tai.

"Li Weiguo, Li Polu, I'm asking to see Duke Dai, let me know!" Li Tai looked at the two guards and said.

"No!" The two soldiers didn't hesitate when they heard Li Tai's words, and immediately went in to report.

The few times Li Tai saw Li Jing, he would be stopped by these two soldiers, and they were picked up by Li Jing from the dead, and they became Li Jing's private soldiers, and they were given the surname Li, although they were just ordinary people. The guards are also considered to have a future.

"King Yan, Li Shuai invites you in!" Li Weiguo ran back and said to Li Tai.

"Thank you!" Li Tai nodded to Li Weiguo and entered the barracks.

As the two watched Li Tai go in, Li Weiguo sighed, "Although King Yan loves luxury, he is really kind. Even the names of guards like us are actually remembered by King Yan."

"You are just envious of serving as a soldier under King Yan's command. When passing through Qinzhou, there are still so many cotton clothes. I'm so envious!" Li Polu laughed to his companion after listening to Li Weiguo's words.

"Go, go, go, don't talk about me, don't you want cotton clothes!" Li Weiguo said with a smile.

Of course, the two of them just chatted for a few words, and then returned to the posture of standing guard in the snow, and became solemn.

At this time, Li Tai saw Li Jing, inside Li Jing's military tent, several torches were burning, but they were not bright.

Li Tai looked at Li Jing and said, "I've seen Duke Dai."

"King Yan, it's a little uncomfortable in the cold weather. If there are not enough blankets, I'll dispatch some from the military supplies!"

Li Jing looked at Li Tai's arrival and couldn't help asking with some concern.

Li Tai looked at Li Jing, a veteran in his 60s, but now he cared about himself in his fifteenth or sixteenth year, Li Tai shook his head.

Li Tai said, "My camp has enough cold-proof materials, please rest assured Manager Li.

In contrast, as the weather is cold and the wind and snow are approaching, is it still too late for us to march in the snow and rush to Liangzhou? "

Li Jing listened to Li Tai's words, his eyes revealed a bit of difference, and said carefully,
"King Yan, we are not going to rescue Liangzhou, but to deal with Tuyuhun. Did you misunderstand the mission?"

"Eh..." Li Tai was a little dazed when he heard this, he thought he was going to Liangzhou after driving for so many days!

Li Jing looked at Li Tai's appearance, seeing that Li Tai really didn't understand, but explained,
"Our destination is not Liangzhou, but Lanzhou.

The heavy snowfall is both good and bad for us, although the heavy snowfall hinders our progress.

But Tuyuhun might think that our army dare not advance in the snow, and when our army reaches the destination, maybe we can take advantage of a first mover! "

"Is it snowing like this just to get ahead?" Li Tai didn't know how to answer when he heard Li Jing's words.

"In the confrontation between the two armies, the advantage of being the first is very important. When Deng Ai sneaked into Yinping, it was actually just an advantage of the first, but the first can play different roles in the hands of different people!" Li Jing explained. .

However, Li Jing didn't talk too much about it, but instead asked, "King Yan, why are you here today to find me?"

"The morale of the soldiers is quite low after several days of marching in the snowy sea, so I came to ask if it is possible to let the musicians take turns to play music in the designated barracks after they are stationed every day, so as to calm down the grievances of the soldiers and restore their morale!" Li Tai replied. road.

"Military music?" Hearing this, Li Jing was taken aback.

Although Li Jing is the god of war, the Tang Dynasty also had military music. For example, "The Music of the King of Qin Breaking the Battle" is military music, but this kind of military music is more like a celebration dance, not a military music that is really rooted in the army. There is no Qiyue Wuyi This kind of popular folk music can make soldiers catchy.

"If the King of Yan wants to try it, then try it!" Li Jing smiled and said, "But if it doesn't work, the King of Yan can't delay the rest of the boys!"

"Thank you, Manager Li!" Li Tai immediately expressed his thanks when he heard Li Jing's words, and then left.

Li Jing watched Li Tai leave and shook his head silently. To be honest, Li Jing could see that King Yan should be quite self-aware of his military strategy. Generally speaking, such a general, as a guard, might be able to become a good general.

However, although the king of Yan lacked military tactics, he had unique insights into the use of various military skills. It is really rare for something like military music to be used like the king of Yan, let alone the king of Yan. The logistics ability of the company is really strong.

One month really allowed the King of Yan to arm the soldiers to the teeth, especially during the training of Ren Yaxiang, these soldiers took a certain amount of time on the road, familiarized with the usage of the weapons in their hands, and used their talents to master them as much as possible come out.

The snowfall in the sky was even more unexpected, but King Yan seemed to have been prepared. When passing by Tianshui in Qinzhou, not only did everyone prepare cotton clothes, but even their horses, even the pack horses, were covered with a thick layer. Cotton clothes wrapped the pack horses, so although it was a snow march, the troops led by King Yan had the least non-combat attrition.

"During the march, King Yan's subordinates really didn't look like recruits.

It's just that I don't know what the real combat effectiveness of this trained army is like! "

Li Jing thought regretfully, "But I want to know, I'm afraid it will be next year, and the snow is really not the right time!"

(End of this chapter)