A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1158 Maze Treasure
The return date has been set.

Except for Wu Huaiyu, all other senior generals of the Western Expedition Camp had to return to the court, including the two sons-in-law Dou Dan and Gao Luxing.

Among the senior generals in the camp, only Wu Huaiyu, the chief eunuch, was left to serve as the Grand Protector of Anxi.

However, the soldiers who went on the Western Expedition basically had to stay.

Some of them will be stationed in the Western Regions permanently, and have to garrison for at least two or three years before they can be replaced, while others will stay temporarily, waiting for border guards from the mainland to take over.

"The Anxiya Army and the Tianshan Army stationed in Xizhou have 6,000 troops in both armies."

"The Yizhou garrison in Yiwu has 3,000 men."

"Tingzhou has 10,000 troops stationed in the Hanhai Army and Jingsai Army, and is also in charge of the Heishui Guard and other 4,000 troops."

"Yilishui Sihunzhou Gongyue Town, 3,000 people, Shuanghezhou Sanshouzhuo City, 3,000 people are stationed."

In the Gaochang City Protectorate,
Wu Huaiyu drank tea with the generals in the camp and chatted about garrison affairs.

The garrison framework has been basically set up.
In addition to the Anxi troops, there were four armies, as well as four towns and thirteen guard posts under their jurisdiction.

The total number of soldiers was 29,000, with an additional 3,000 from the Huer army in the Ya army.

So there are a total of 32,000 garrison troops, all of whom are regular troops.

Those Hu people and bearded soldiers from the city are not included. At most, they are tribal militia.

These 32,000 soldiers were mainly stationed in the three prefectures of Yi, Ting and Xi in the east of Tianshan Mountain. In addition, there were also garrisons along the Silk Road in the Yanbo Prefecture, Shuanghe Prefecture and Sihun Prefecture.

There are no troops stationed in other places yet.

"There are six infantry and four cavalry. Of the 32,000 men, 12,800 are cavalry and 19,200 are infantry. However, the situation in the Western Regions is rather special, so all our infantry must also be equipped with horses so that they can maneuver quickly and become mounted infantry.

As for cavalry, at least one rider must have two horses."

"Logistics and supplies must also be accompanied by sufficient llamas and vehicles."

Wu Huaiyu's first batch of 16,000 cavalrymen for the Western Expedition, regardless of whether they were from the Northern Yamen or the Southern Yamen, would temporarily stay in the Western Regions. In addition, 13,000 of the troops who would arrive in Yiwulu later would also be selected to stay behind.

These 29,000 were all Han troops, that is, the regular army of the Tang Dynasty.

The Qibi, Turkic, Tuyuhun, and Dangxiang tribes also participated in the attack on Tiandi City, the defense of Futu City, and the sweep of the Chumukun and Zhuxie tribes, and made contributions.

But they are just affiliated tribes, so they will all retreat back to their tribes.

They will be rewarded for their merits, but they will not be allowed to stay in the Western Regions.
Qibi Heli wanted to stay in the Western Regions and even had his eyes on Futu City. He wanted the Qibi tribe that had moved inland and the Qibi tribesmen who were still nomadic in the Rehe area to move to Tingzhou.
They wanted the imperial court to give the Jin Manchuria Military Governorate, which was originally assigned to the Zhuxie tribe, to their Qibi tribe. They wanted to have their own vassal military governorate.

But Wu Huaiyu disagreed at all. He abolished the Jin Manchuria Governorate of the Zhuxie tribe and established Tingzhou directly under the imperial court instead, and submitted a memorial to the imperial court.

In the memorial, he explained Qibi Heli's ideas and expressed his opposition clearly.

Zhang Ananda arrived with the imperial edict. The emperor supported Wu Huaiyu. He ordered to summon Qibi Heli back to the court, and the Qibi tribe also returned to Hexi.

It was one thing for the emperor to trust and appreciate Qibi, but it was impossible to allow the Qibi tribe to return to the Western Regions.

Wouldn't that be like letting a tiger return to the mountains and raising a tiger to cause trouble?

There are five armies, four garrisons and thirteen guard posts, and their chief officers are respectively the military commander, the garrison commander, the guarding commander, etc., all of whom are selected from the middle-level officers of the Western Expedition camp.

Each of them commanded several hundred to several thousand soldiers.

They were also responsible for managing the military towns and the Fanhu tribes.
The 32,000 troops stationed in Anxi are within this framework organization. They are mainly responsible for garrisoning and defense.
Administration, taxation and justice are not their responsibility, as they are managed by the Grand Protectorate, states and counties.

Cheng Yaojin, Fan Xing, Qiu Xinggong, Niu Jinda, Liu Lancheng, Su Dingfang, Wu Huaiyi and other generals returned to the court in triumph.

But before they left,

They still care more about their former brothers.
Old Cheng pointed out that although the expedition to the west was completed in just a hundred days, it was also very hard work.

Now we have to transfer from the camp to the Protectorate garrison.
Then it is time to calculate everyone’s contributions and award rewards.

The reward that Old Cheng was talking about was not the reward given by the Ministry of Personnel to promote one's rank after verifying his merits. It was because the camp had not been disbanded yet and still had a lot of money, livestock, slaves, etc.
This is quite a lot of money.

I can definitely give some to everyone as a reward, which can be considered a benefit.
Even the tribal armies that assisted in the expedition could get some of the rewards.

Generals like Lao Cheng can give it up, but they cannot give up what they should fight for their subordinates.

Gold, silver, money, silk, livestock and slaves can all be used as rewards.

Although the imperial court will also record merits and grant honors, rewards, and even official positions and titles according to military merit, they, the generals, should also seek some benefits for their brothers.

Wu Huaiyu had been in the army for a long time and was very clear about these things. The so-called comrades-in-arms were exactly this, having fought together on the battlefield. This kind of comradeship was extraordinary.

Fan Xing mentioned another matter, "During this Western Expedition, we still had some casualties. I thought that since we still have some money and food in the camp, we should consider this and take out some money to send to the families of the brothers who died in the battle, and to provide pensions to their wives, children and parents.

Those who are injured, especially the disabled, should also be given a subsidy.”

"This is what we deserve." Wu Huaiyu also nodded.

The court has its own pension allowance, but they should also do their part.

What's more, there is a large amount of money and food in the camp right now.

These money, silk, and livestock were all captured goods, not taxes and grain collected, and could not be misappropriated at will.

"Divide," "The camp's property will be divided into four parts. One part will be handed over to the court, one part will be used to reward the soldiers, one part will be used to provide compensation for the casualties, and the remaining part will be left to the Protectorate for military expenses."

Wu Huaiyu's arrangement was agreed by everyone.

According to this plan, the soldiers of the Western Expedition can get a considerable share. The specific distribution plan consists of a basic share and a share based on military merit, and the basic share is also a considerable share.

Those who were injured or killed would also receive a share of the reward plus a share of the pension subsidy.

The specific rewards were mainly in the form of physical objects, including silver, silk, cattle, sheep, livestock, slaves, etc. Each person could take their share directly or entrust the camp to help cash it out.

The camp held a special auction in Gaochang City to sell off the various items, livestock, slaves, etc. that the soldiers had entrusted to them to sell for cash.

Of course, if the soldiers were willing to take the distribution back home directly, or sell it themselves, or trade it for horses or slaves, that was also possible.

The camp could even help them send the silver, coins, gems, horses and slaves they traded back to the interior.

After the meeting,

Zhang Ananda went to Wu Huaiyu for tea.
"I heard that you held a meeting today and decided to divide up all the money, food and livestock in the camp?"

Wu Huaiyu was not surprised that Zhang Ananda knew about the situation at the meeting so quickly. He was not only the chief eunuch of the palace, but also the chief of the secret agency, the Imperial City Bureau. Wu Huaiyu didn't even doubt that he came here to announce the decree and might also come here to personally deploy the Imperial City Bureau's intelligence system.

There might even have been people from the Imperial City Administration among their Western Expedition Army.

Intelligence agencies are always omnipresent.

"Does Zhang Jian think the division is wrong?"

"The result is good, but the method is flawed. I know your intention is good, but you should report it to His Majesty first."

"It is correct for this matter to be handled from the top down, but you acted first and then reported to the authorities, from the bottom up. Although your intention is good, your approach is wrong.
If someone wants to use this to attack you, this is a loophole.”

One person misappropriating your property can make you extremely anxious.

"But none of you generals got any share this time, which is quite rare. It's rare to find a general in the Western Expedition Camp who is not afraid of death and not greedy for money."

Wu Huaiyu could only laugh. It was not that he was not greedy for money. The generals in the camp had already divided it many times before.

For example, when Cheng Yaojin conquered Gongyue City, they shared the spoils. However, this guy was meticulous in his actions. He broke the walls of Gongyue City, but sent the Tuqishi and other auxiliary troops into the city to clear out the enemy. Naturally, the Hu people could not help but plunder.
When Lao Cheng saw people plundering the land, he pretended to say that looting violated military orders, so he flogged and killed ten of them, beheaded many of them, and then confiscated the spoils and distributed them as rewards to his own soldiers. The wealth of Gongyue City was divided, but it did not violate military regulations and the stolen goods did not belong to him.

After that, other generals naturally followed suit.

However, the vassal armies of the Fanhu tribes had learned their lesson. They knew that the Tang army had strict military rules and that private plundering would result in the death penalty, so they did not dare to plunder on a large scale. At most, they would secretly hide some spoils.

The Tang army did not plunder, but they still seized some spoils. The spoils were declared public, and then the generals handed half of them over to the field camp, and the other half was divided among their own camps.

Wu Huaiyu also turned a blind eye. He couldn't want the horse to run while not letting it eat grass. As long as they did not violate military discipline by looting, burning and killing, this normal distribution of spoils was in line with tradition and even military regulations.

Zhang Ananda reminded Wu Huaiyu that it was better to have less trouble than more, or that the matter could be handled in a different way, it would be better to report it first and ask for instructions, and then act according to the emperor's order.

"You two don't even know each other, so why bother causing trouble?"

"In fact, before I left Chang'an, there were already people in the court who were impeaching you. There were many people who were impeaching you, and there were many things that were impeaching you."

Zhang Ananda was the adoptive father of Fan Xuanfu's father. He had always doted on Fan Xuanfu and had also taken good care of Wu Huaiyu over the years. He revealed these things to him without reservation, hoping that he could be prepared.

"There is one more thing I need your help with." Zhang Ananda stopped there and didn't say much. He knew Wu Huaiyu was not a simple-minded person.
"Before his death, Gaochang King Qu Wentai hid a large amount of gold, silver, jade and other treasures in a secret maze."

Wu Huaiyu was a little surprised. He had been in the Western Regions, and even now he was in the former palace of King Gaochang, but he had never heard of the Gaochang King's labyrinth treasure. Zhang Ananda in Chang'an actually knew about it and came here specially on imperial orders to search for the treasure.

"Where did Zhang Jian hear this news? Did Qu Zhisheng tell him?"

"If Qu Zhisheng told Gaochang King Gao Zang, why would I need to look for it? I can just go and get it." Zhang Ananda told Huaiyu that when Qu Wentai learned about the Tang army's westward expedition, he was unable to sleep or eat, so he sent people to secretly build a maze in the Gobi Desert.
He secretly transferred a large amount of treasures of Gaochang Kingdom and the royal family into this underground maze. In case the Tang army conquered Gaochang, the Gaochang Qu family would still have the capital to make a comeback in the future.

It is said that this treasure contains amazing wealth.
But the only one who knew the location of the treasure was Qu Wentai. When the Tang army broke into Beiting and captured Yu Gushe, Qu Wentai died of fright upon hearing the news. He did not even have the chance to tell the crown prince Qu Zhisheng the location of the treasure.

So no one knows where the treasure in this maze is.

"Ku Zhisheng may know, but he won't tell us easily. We can only look for it ourselves first."

The fact that Li Shimin sent Zhang Ananda to investigate the Gaochang labyrinth treasure means that this story is probably true, and the treasure is definitely huge.

"It is said that the treasure in the Gaochang labyrinth contains more than ten stones of se, five or six camels of gold, and a large number of precious jades and silver coins, with a value of millions," Zhang Ananda revealed.

Sese is an expensive gem from the Western Regions. It is very popular among the Tang people in Chang'an and is very valuable. There are more than ten stones of this Sese gem in the Gaochang maze.

The gold was transported on five or six camels, and one camel could carry 300 to 500 kilograms of gold. Five or six camels could carry at least 2,000 to 3,000 kilograms of gold.

Just these dozen stones of se se and two or three thousand kilograms of gold would be worth hundreds of thousands of strings of coins. Add to that the legendary large amount of silver, money, jade, etc., and the Gaochang treasure might be worth no less than one million strings of coins.

Although this is still just a secret legend, even if it is discounted by half and worth 500,000 strings of cash, it is still enough to make Li Shimin in Chang'an excited.

During the Wude period, the household tax collected by the imperial court was only 400,000 strings of cash a year.

Wu Huaiyu had doubts about the huge treasure in the Gaochang Labyrinth. Although Gaochang Kingdom did make a lot of money from the Silk Road trade and taxation, it was just a small country after all.

"The treasure of King Gaochang's labyrinth must be investigated thoroughly." Zhang Ananda said seriously. Who would dare not be serious when it comes to treasure worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of strings of cash?

Wu Huaiyu agreed, "If you need my assistance, just let me know."

(End of this chapter)