People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1611 Ordering Wang Xiaojie to Enter Lanzhou

In the Huiyou Palace, Empress Wu looked at Fan Yunxian in surprise and asked puzzledly, "Is this the idea you gave to the emperor?"

"Yes!" Fan Yunxian bowed and said, "I followed King Peng all the way back from the Western Regions. King Peng was respectful to Your Majesty in his conversations. So if Your Majesty writes a letter to King Peng, perhaps it will make him recognize his faults... Even if it doesn't work, it can show Your Majesty's generosity to the Northwest Armies."

Empress Wu's hand stopped on the table. She looked at Fan Yunxian in surprise, narrowed her eyes slightly, and said, "Yes, your majesty's letter to Prince Peng can indeed reassure the Northwest Army. Your suggestion is good. If Prince Peng allows the prince consort to return to Chang'an, then he recognizes the throne of the emperor. If he does not allow the prince consort to return to Chang'an, then he is cruel."

"Yes!" Fan Yunxian breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then who do you think should go?" Empress Wu's seemingly casual gaze fell on Fan Yunxian.

Fan Yunxian quickly shook her head and said, "I just made an immature suggestion. I am not familiar with the court. This matter still needs the Queen's control."

Empress Wu snorted coldly and waved her hand, saying, "Okay, go down and take good care of the emperor. Don't do this kind of thing in the future."

"Yes!" Fan Yunxian bowed his head, and the moment he lowered his head, his face became extremely ugly.

After Fan Yunxian left, Empress Wu looked at Qiu Huan and asked, "Do you think King Peng has other intentions in letting him come back?"

Qiu Huan bowed and said, "Yes, based on my understanding of King Peng, he is definitely planning something. Fan Yunxian must have information about King Peng on him when he returned from Changzhou, but he himself does not know this information, and others may get it from him."

"Keep an eye on him and see who else will come into contact with him." Empress Wu waved her hand slightly, and Qiu Huan bowed and retreated.

Empress Wu's eyes became solemn, since she realized that Li Xuan might have started planning at the end of last year. So what about the Eastern Palace? Was Li Xuan still planning something in the Eastern Palace?

Li Xuan had served in the Eastern Palace for a long time, and he could easily bribe the people in the Eastern Palace.

Given his relationship with Li Xian, Li Xian himself wouldn't care even if he knew.

When Li Xian ascended the throne, countless people from the Eastern Palace entered the palace.

This also means that there is no telling how many of Li Xuan’s spies there are in the entire palace.

Empress Wu wanted to replace all the maids and servants in the palace, but now there are wars both internally and externally, and many things cannot be done as she pleases.

"Wan'er, who do you think is more suitable to send to Changzhou to deliver the letter?" Empress Wu turned sideways and looked at Shangguan Wan'er.

Shangguan Wan'er was a little surprised. For something like this, couldn't they just send someone to pass the letter over?
What? Could there be some other calculation involved?

Shangguan Wan'er pondered for a moment, then whispered, "Empress, how about Gong Siye, the doctor of the Ministry of Rites? He is the nephew of Duke Zhou and once served in Pengzhou. Wouldn't it be most appropriate to send him to Pengzhou now?"

Empress Wu raised her eyebrows, nodded and said, "How could I have forgotten him? Let's do this. Let the emperor write a letter and have Gong Siye send it to Changzhou 600 miles away. At the same time, send a team of Qianniu Guards to escort it and carefully select a group of people."

Empress Wu turned sideways and looked at Qiu Huan, who immediately bowed and said, "Yes!"

Just then, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall.

Soon, a secret letter was placed in front of Empress Wu.

Empress Wu waved her hand slightly, and Qiu Huan and Shangguan Wan'er immediately stepped back.

……

The secret letter was gently closed.

There was a hint of amusement on Empress Wu's face.

The so-called water attack was just a fake.

Indeed, there has not been much rain and snow this year. Even on the plateau, how much melted water can fall into the Huangshui River?

The so-called water attack is just used to scare people.

Using water attack as a threat will prevent others from using their full strength to attack the plateau. Add to that the fear of plateau miasma, and the speed of the attack will naturally be slow.

In this way, by autumn, food and grass from both Jiannan and Fanzhou can be delivered in time.

There is a shortage of food and fodder, insufficient military equipment, and a lack of morale.

Empress Wu sneered lightly. These were the three weaknesses of King Peng.

By stalling for time, as long as a major war does not break out, the soldiers' food and grass consumption can be maintained at the lowest level.

If he delays time, Li Xuan will have enough time to make weapons, and by autumn, he will have enough weapons to use.

By delaying time, he would have enough time to reorganize the military forces from Fanzhou, Eastern and Western Tuyuhun, Anxi, and the Western Regions, and finally form a fist.

Using a fake water attack to buy yourself enough time is really a genius idea.

Pity.

Empress Wu looked up and said, "Write a letter to Wang Xiaojie and ask him to investigate the water flow in Shanzhou and Lanzhou this year to see if there is enough water to wash away Lanzhou. If not, have him enter Lanzhou immediately and then leave the city as soon as possible. Before autumn arrives, bury all of King Peng's main forces west of Sun and Moon Mountain."

"Yes!" Shangguan Wan'er immediately bowed, then turned and left quickly.

Soon, a secret letter was written, stamped, and sent out quickly.

However, at this moment, a memorial came quickly from the western front and was delivered to Empress Wu's desk.

It was actually Wang Xiaojie's memorial.

Empress Wu was slightly surprised and a little worried. Then she opened the memorial and saw the military strategy written by Wang Xiaojie on it.

He retreated to Dingxi and asked Hua Dazhi and Min Wengu to send people to attack Shanzhou and destroy the dam starting from early February when there was not much water on the mountain. He himself quietly led the main force to lie in ambush, and finally after taking Shanzhou, the main force rushed out in one fell swoop, crossed the Riyue Mountain, captured Qugou, and directly suffocated Li Xuan to death in Qugou.

He was not given any chance to take advantage of the plateau malaria or even return to Changzhou.

As long as Li Xuan is killed, Wang Xiaojie's main force can directly enter Chamdo from Dayuechuan and finally enter Fanzhou.

Completely put down this rebellion.

Empress Wu looked at the memorial and said in amazement, "Wang Xiaojie is indeed a good general in the army. There are probably not many people in the court who can come up with such a plan to defeat Prince Peng."

Shangguan Wan'er and Qiu Huan looked at each other and couldn't help but relax a little. "In order to ensure that the battle in the northwest goes more smoothly, Xiaojie also suggested that I urge Cheng Wuting on the eastern front to break through Yangzhou as quickly as possible. As long as Yangzhou is taken care of, the morale of the troops under King Peng will also be disturbed." Empress Wu nodded with great satisfaction. This was the most suitable general for her.

Maybe if there was no King Peng back then, it might have been Wang Xiaojie who was able to pacify Tubo in the end.

If that were the case, there wouldn't be so many things happening today.

Empress Wu shook her head slightly and wrote on the memorial: "Generally approved, we need to be on guard against the false water attack by King Peng and act in accordance with the previous order."

After finishing writing, Empress Wu directly handed it to Shangguan Wan'er and said, "Send it immediately."

"Yes!" Shangguan Wan'er immediately bowed and quickly found someone to convey the order.

Qiu Huan stood to one side, lowering his head calmly.

Empress Wu raised her head, looked outside the palace, and said, "No matter what, bring the prince consort back first."

Qiu Huan bowed heavily.

……

Qugou, Changzhou Military Governor's Office.

Taiwei Mansion.

The Grand Commander of the Northwest Rebellion Suppression Campaign, the Pacifier of the Lhasa Road, the Grand Commander of the Lhasa Road March, the Governor of Fanzhou, and the Governor's Office of Changzhou.

Li Xuan moved all government offices to Qugou.

As more and more Changzhou officials came to Qugou, the structure of the General Manager's Office under Li Xuan was quickly set up.

Xiao Siye, Wei Hongji and others were also transferred to Qugou.

Only Yu Ze remained in Luosie.

Li Xuan needs Yu Ze to recruit local soldiers for him in Lhasa. Those Tibetan people who already believe in the Black Heavenly King are the key he can rely on in the future.

Especially these people, who are still completely out of other people's sight.

I'm afraid many people can't imagine what kind of terrible combat power they will unleash once these people form an army.

Especially when they have enough food, fodder and weapons.

In the main hall, Li Xuan shook his head slightly. No one ever knew how long he had been preparing for this day.

The food and weapons he prepared were enough to sustain the 50,000-strong army for half a year.

Not to mention the grain and livestock from Fanzhou and Changzhou, as well as the spoils from the Western Turks, everything was quietly transported through Qinghai Lake and Hubei to the mountainous area north of Shanzhou.

"Send the order to Changzhou, Xichangzhou, Dangxiang area, and other states in Luoshui Road. This year's spring planting must not be delayed. The governors of each state must personally go to the fields to inspect the spring planting. If there is any slackness, they will be executed immediately." Li Xuan handed the official document in his hand to Chen Ziang.

"Yes!" Chen Ziang took the document with a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

Li Xuan smiled softly and said, "Don't worry, we will definitely enter Chang'an this fall. By then, the stability of the northwest will become our problem. Go ahead and do it."

"Yes!" Chen Ziang bowed seriously and then left quickly.

Li Xuan leaned over and asked in a low voice, "Have the Longxi families replied?"

Li Zhu stepped forward and whispered, "Yes, they promised to ensure local security."

"That's all right." Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Before, he had someone deliver his own handwritten letter to the noble families in Longxi. On the surface, he was asking them to maintain local law and order and ensure spring planting and autumn harvest, but in reality, he was telling them that once he succeeded, he would need to use them in many things in the future. However, it was different for Empress Wu.

Once Empress Wu pacified Longxi, her attitude towards them was not so good.

"I am not asking them to help me now, I am just thinking about the future." After a brief pause, Li Xuan shook his head and said, "Now, perhaps many people have seen through that the Queen will definitely not return power to the Emperor in three years."

When Li Dan ascended the throne, both the Dou and Dugu families rose to greater heights.

However, human nature is greedy. Li Dan has already sat on the throne, so the Longxi family related to him will naturally expect to gain greater rewards in the future.

But unfortunately, Empress Wu would never give power to Li Dan after a few years.

Those who occupy key positions in the court are always her people.

This is already the case with the Longxi family related to Li Dan, let alone other families.

Li Xuan wrote the letter to tell them that she would not pursue them in the future, but would value them instead.

The noble families are all very smart people. They naturally know that if they want to gain more power, they can only do so when the imperial power changes.

When Emperor Zhongzong died, Prince Xiang succeeded to the throne. When Prince Xiang was overthrown, Crown Prince Li Chongzhao succeeded to the throne in the same way.

At this time, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded outside. Li Lang walked in quickly, then stood in the hall and saluted, saying, "General, someone from the court has come to pick up the prince consort. The one who came is Gong Siye, the former recorder of Changzhou."

"Oh!" Li Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly and said softly, "The prince consort is going to return to the court. This should be the princess's intention. Gong Siye is coming. I'm afraid the queen wants to do something. Let him come. I also want to have a good talk with him about the death of Duke Zhou."

"Yes!" Li Lang immediately bowed and turned to leave. However, just a moment later, Li Lang returned and said, "General, General Qiu has sent a letter."

"Yes!" Li Xuan took it calmly, opened the envelope, and a piece of white cloth fell out.

Under the stage, the ripe seeds are separated.

Pick the melon to make it good, then pick the melon to make it thin.

The three picks are still self-explanatory, and the picks must not hold the vine.

Looking at the "Huangtai Guaci" on the white cloth, Li Xuan said softly: "Everything can begin now."

(End of this chapter)