Tibet.

Chapter 1247 Cui Family of Qinghe
Twenty thousand naval troops and thousands of warships transferred from the Yangtze River arrived in Weizhou.

There were no large ships with a capacity of 10,000 dan, the largest of which was only 5,000 dan, and this was also the largest ship that could sail on the Yongji Canal.

At this time, Li Ye received a message from a flying eagle in Weizhou, saying that an army of more than 100,000 Uighurs appeared in the clouds.

Time was running out, so Li Ye immediately ordered an army of 200,000 to march north.

The army was divided into two routes. One route was led by Guo Ziyi as the main general and Ma Lin as the deputy general. They led an army of 100,000 from Dezhou to Cangzhou. They carried 40,000 camels loaded with supplies and headed north.

Another route was led by Li Ye himself, with Lai Zhen as his deputy general. He led an army of 120,000 soldiers and thousands of warships loaded with food supplies and military materials, and marched northward along the Yongji Canal.

The reason why more than 200,000 troops were mobilized to attack Cangzhou was mainly because Tian Chengsi was the strongest among the major vassal states.

Not only did he have 50,000 troops of his own, he also had 50,000 allied troops, and he also had more than 10,000 cavalry from Li Na. His strength was quite powerful. Li Ye had to mobilize more than 200,000 troops, twice as many as the enemy, to defeat Tian Chengsi.

Moreover, time was tight. He had to annihilate Tian Chengsi before the Uighur army moved south from Youzhou. He could not give Tian Chengsi the opportunity to reap the spoils.

Two days later, the army arrived in Beizhou.

In the dark of night, the troops did not stop to rest, but continued to march at night. The Tang army soldiers basically rode horses. Not all of them were cavalry, but the infantry also had horses for transportation.

The speed was not fast, and they moved slowly along the Yongji Canal. The powerful scouts ensured that there were no enemy troops within a radius of 500 miles.

At the same time, the army conscripted tens of thousands of civilians, mainly responsible for pulling the boats, and not all the boats were carts.

Li Ye was in the largest 5,000-stone warship. This warship was a tower ship with three floors. Li Ye was on the second floor. The third floor was mainly used to store drawings, sand tables, etc.

In this battle, Li Ye sent out a total of 300,000 troops, which can be said to be unprecedented. This was because this battle was related to the future of the Tang Dynasty and also to his future.

If we look at the total strength of the army, the enemy had a total of 400,000 troops, including the Uighur Army, the Military Region Army, the Khitan Army and the Goguryeo Army.

If these armies were united, the Tang army might not be able to defeat them. Even if they could, it would be a pyrrhic victory and the Tang army would have to pay a heavy price.

But the good thing now is that they are not united, and the three vassal states are scheming against each other. Zhu Ci does not allow Li Baochen and Tian Chengsi to enter Youzhou, fearing that they will turn the tables and annex him.

The three vassal states all wanted to use the Uighurs to weaken them first and then confront them head-on, and then they would reap the benefits.

But would the Huihe people be so stupid? Would they be willing to be used by the feudal lords? The Huihe people also hoped to fight hard with the feudal lords, use the feudal lords to weaken themselves, and then they would be the fishermen who took advantage.

The same goes for the Khitan army, which has not yet entered Pingzhou. It is obvious that they want to take advantage in the end.

Everyone is talking about concentration and playing strategy, which gives you the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

Of course, this is just the result that Li Ye most hopes for, but it is hard to say whether the situation will develop in the way he expects, especially with the Uighurs. It is difficult to figure out their tactics. Maybe Dengli is eager to appease the army and decides to send his troops south to rob.

While he was deep in thought, there was a knock on the door, "Your Highness! The head of the Qinghe Cui family is on the shore asking to see you."

Li Ye was slightly startled. He remembered that Guo Ziyi had told him that Cui Ze was eager to see him.

Li Ye nodded and said, "Please ask him to get on board and wait in the cabin!" Li Ye did not like these Hebei families emotionally. These families had lasted for thousands of years, and even in the dark era of the Two Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, they still lived a comfortable life. The fundamental reason was that they only cared about their families, not their country.

No matter what force it is, as long as the interests of their family are guaranteed, they will cooperate well.

Li Ye believed that Tian Chengsi had the support of the Qinghe Cui family and the Boling Cui family, otherwise Tian Chengsi would not have become the most powerful family in the vassal state.

Of course, this has something to do with Tian Chengsi's attempt to win over the aristocratic families. In comparison, Li Baochen's methods were much weaker, so not many aristocratic families supported him, which also led to Li Baochen's Chengde Army being the weakest among the several vassal states.

Although he disliked him, Li Ye still had to meet Cui Ze. If he wanted to govern Hebei, he needed the support of these aristocratic families.

Li Ye then came to the meeting cabin on the first floor, where Cui Ze was already waiting.

Cui Ze quickly stood up and saluted, "Greetings, Your Highness!"

Li Ye smiled and waved his hand, "Master Cui, please take a seat!"

The two sat down as host and guest, and Li Ye said slowly: "A few days ago, General Guo told me about the worries of the master. I originally planned to visit the master when I passed by Beizhou, but the Huihe army has already reached the border of the Tang Dynasty. The situation is quite tense. I believe the master has seen it, and we have to march even at night."

Cui Ze was shocked and asked quickly, "How many troops did the Huihe send?"

"They claim to have 300,000 troops, but I estimate that they have no more than 110,000 or 120,000. This is their maximum."

But even an army of 110,000 or 120,000 made Cui Ze change color. Rebels like Tian Chengsi were always easy to deal with, but the Uighurs were different. They didn't want land, but to plunder property and women and take them back to Mobei. They didn't care whether you were from a noble family or not. On the contrary, if a noble family had a lot of wealth and beautiful women, they would rob them more fiercely.

Li Ye saw Cui Ze's nervousness, so he smiled and said to him, "I am sending out an army of 300,000 with powerful firearms and well-trained troops. Don't worry, sir. We will never let the Huihe cavalry ravage Hebei and will definitely defeat them in Youzhou."

Cui Ze breathed a sigh of relief and bowed quickly, saying, "Your Highness is in control of the overall situation of the court, which is a blessing for the people of Hebei!"

He was speaking from the heart. If the late Emperor Li Heng and the eunuch party were in power, how could they have withstood the looting of the hundreds of thousands of Huihe troops heading south? The Cui family would have been completely finished.

Li Ye added: "The most urgent task is to completely annihilate Tian Chengsi's and Li Baochen's troops to prevent them from colluding with the Huihe army. In this regard, I also hope that the head of the family can provide help!"

Cui Ze's face turned red, and he was about to explain, but Li Ye waved his hand and said with a smile: "Master, you don't need to explain. The country is based on the people. I annihilated Tian Chengsi to protect the people, and you pretended to be friendly with Tian Chengsi to protect the people. Our methods are different, but the purpose is the same."

Li Ye's words made Cui Ze feel much more comfortable, and he quickly followed suit, "The An-Shi Rebellion caused huge losses to Hebei, and more than half of the people died. As a fellow villager, in order to protect the people, sometimes I have to do things against my will."

Li Ye smiled slightly, "I completely understand, the head of the family does not need to blame himself."

At this point, Cui Ze also had to make a statement. He pondered for a moment and said, "Tian Chengsi's chief aide Wang Lun is Cui's disciple. I will send someone to persuade him to surrender and let him be the internal supporter to perform extraordinary deeds for Your Highness at the critical moment."

Li Ye's mind was moved. He just needed an envoy from Tian Chengsi to go to Huihe. This was really like "just when I was dozing off, the pillow was delivered."

Li Ye immediately wrote a short letter and handed it to Cui Ze, "I hope the master will send someone to deliver this letter to Wang Lun as soon as possible, and then persuade him to serve the court. If he makes great contributions, I will pardon him."

Cui Ze took the letter and said solemnly: "Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will arrange it immediately!"

(End of this chapter)