Tibet.

Chapter 1242 Retreating to Advance
Li Ye led an army of 100,000 to Puyang. According to his order, a temporary floating bridge had been built on the surface of the Yellow River in Puyang. Hundreds of small boats were lined up side by side, fastened with iron chains, and covered with wide wooden planks.

Soldiers on several large ships were still driving wooden stakes into the river to secure the pontoon bridge.

It was already dark at this time, and Li Ye ordered the entire army to camp where they were. The army set up large tents, and the soldiers fetched water and cooked. They did not need to look for wood, they could boil water and cook with the coal briquettes and marching stoves they carried with them.

The military regulations are very strict now. All soldiers are not allowed to drink raw water. They must drink boiled water. The soldiers obey very well. Who wants to drink raw water when there is boiled water? If you get sick, you will lose your life.

At this time, several officials came from Puyang County, headed by Chang Gun, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He followed Liu Yan to resettle the Goguryeo people. When he heard that the regent had left the capital and came to Puzhou, Liu Yan could not leave, so he appointed him to come and report.

Chang Gun greeted Li Ye, who smiled and asked him to sit down, "Did the resettlement go smoothly?"

"Generally speaking, it was relatively smooth. These Goguryeo people had a very low status in Silla, and were almost semi-slaves. At first, they all wanted to live together as a clan, but Minister Liu did not allow it. They had to be separated, and they had to be separated far apart. Minister Liu said that if they did not want to stay in the Tang Dynasty, they should go back to Silla. As a result, everyone accepted it honestly and did not dare to make trouble."

"and then?"

"Then it was very interesting that when the distribution was made, many young couples were very happy and said that they actually did not want to live with the clan at all."

"Why?" Li Ye was puzzled.

"The clan is exploiting us! Half of the harvested grain must be handed over to the clan, saying it is clan food to take care of those in need, but in fact it is embezzled by a few powerful clan elders."

"Is that true?" Li Ye asked with a smile.

Chang Gun bowed and said, "I feel that there are cases of caring for the needy clansmen and corruption. The key is that the clan grain they paid was too much. Half of the grain they worked so hard to grow had to be handed over. No one could bear it. It shouldn't take that much to take care of the needy clansmen. Most of it was embezzled. Our Tang clan also had to pay grain, but only a little bit. How could they hand over half? I feel that the Goguryeo people are very extreme and tend to go to extremes in everything they do."

"You are right. Both Goguryeo and Silla are the same. That is why Fang Xuanling called them 'the inferior people of the borderland, not worthy of being treated with kindness and righteousness'. They have been obsessed with restoring their country for more than a hundred years. No matter how good we are to them, they will not be grateful. This is my last chance to give them. If they dare to cause trouble again, they will be put to death."

At this time, Chang Gun said again: "Your Highness, this time Li Jing assisted us in doing a lot of things and was very helpful. Liu Yan appreciated him very much."

"Li Zhengyi's son Li Jing?"

"Exactly!"

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said, "He came with you too?"

"He's right outside the tent!"

"Now that he's here, let him in!"

Not long after, the obese Li Jing hurried in, knelt down and bowed, saying: "I, the guilty minister Li Jing, pay my respects to His Majesty the Regent!"

Li Ye looked at him for a while and asked, "Who is your wife?"

"The wife of this criminal is the daughter of the famous Feng family in Qingzhou."

"Did she bear you a child?"

"She gave birth to a son and a daughter for the criminal."

"Do you have a concubine?"

"I have two concubines, both of whom are good girls."

"Besides the wife and concubines?"

Li Jing immediately understood what the regent meant. He was dissatisfied with his indulgence in women. Li Jing hurriedly said, "Your Highness, apart from one wife and two concubines, I will not have any other women. All the previous women were sent back home with a large sum of money."

Li Ye nodded, "Since Minister Liu appreciates you, you should follow him in the future! Work hard for a few years and make achievements. The Political Affairs Hall will consider promoting you. I hope that one day in the future, I will appoint you."

When Li Jing learned that he had been pardoned, he was extremely excited and choked up, saying, "Thank you for your generosity, Your Highness. I will sacrifice my life for you!"

"Don't be so exaggerated. Just do what a minister should do and live a decent life. Take those things that belong to you, and keep those that belong to the people of Zibo and Qing. Go!" "I will keep this in mind!"

Li Jing kowtowed three times and slowly retreated.

Li Ye then said to Chang Gun calmly: "Don't think that I can forgive him just because he did something for you. I know his situation very well. He is just a little greedy for wine and lustful, and he has no other evil deeds. If he kills innocent people like Li Na did, he will never have a good end."

"I understand. Minister Liu also said that he is a relatively tolerant person and has never done anything that would offend both humans and gods. That's why he was given the opportunity to serve. Otherwise, he would have been taken to Chang'an directly."

"That's it! If you have any troubles, you can cross the Yellow River and come to me."

"Wei Chen obeys the order!"

Chang Gun bowed and retreated. Li Ye walked to the sand table with his hands behind his back. He was now more concerned about the battle situation in Hebei.

Just after Tian Chengsi's army captured the city of Xindu, Guo Ziyi made a jaw-dropping move. He gave up Beizhou and led his army to retreat to Weizhou.

In the cover of night, 50,000 troops left Qinghe County and retreated southward in a mighty force.

Cui Ze, the head of the Qinghe Cui family, was shocked and came to find Guo Ziyi in person.

Guo Ziyi reined in his warhorse and ordered his men to invite Cui Ze up. He also dismounted. After a moment, Cui Ze hurried forward and saluted, asking, "Why are you withdrawing your troops, General Guo?"

Guo Ziyi smiled slightly and said, "A tiger retreats so that it can better leap up to hunt. I am the same."

Cui Ze was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Is the old general just retreating strategically?"

"of course!"

Cui Ze was slightly relieved by Guo Ziyi's statement, but he was still worried and said, "Will Beizhou become the main battlefield?"

Guo Ziyi shook his head. "Don't worry, Patriarch. Beizhou is not a strategic place. The main battlefield will either be Weizhou or Cangzhou, and definitely not Beizhou!"

Cui Ze was completely relieved and clasped his fists and said, "Then I wish the old general a successful start and unify Hebei as soon as possible."

"Thank you! Thank you!"

Guo Ziyi hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "I have to tell the old general something. His Royal Highness the Regent has already arrived in Hebei!"

Cui Ze was shocked and asked anxiously, "Where is His Royal Highness the Regent?"

"I don't know the details, but I know he crossed the Yellow River from Puyang, so he should be in Weizhou."

"Thank you for the news, old general!"

Cui Ze was truly grateful. As this concerned the future and fate of the Qinghe Cui family, he had to meet the Regent as soon as possible.

Tian Chengsi also deployed numerous scouts in Beizhou. On the night after the Tang army retreated, Tian Chengsi received accurate news.

Tian Chengsi has been extremely anxious these days. His eldest son Tian Wei abandoned Weizhou and led 10,000 troops to retreat westward to Mingzhou, but there has been no news so far.

There was no news from Li Baochen either. It seemed as if his eldest son and 10,000 troops were missing, which really made Tian Chengsi uneasy.

Tian Chengsi was particularly afraid of hearing the news that his eldest son's army had been wiped out, so he sent more than a dozen scouts to Mingzhou to gather information.

But now the news he received was that Guo Ziyi abandoned Beizhou and led his army to retreat south, which made Tian Chengsi completely confused.

(End of this chapter)