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

Chapter 826 On the eighth day of July, a phoenix comes to the ceremony

At the mouth of the Longwu River, the river is rapid.

Under the warm and bright sunshine, Li Xuan stood at the head of the South Bank Bridge, watching bags of food being quickly transported to colleagues, and nodded slightly.

Looking sideways at Li Yi, Li Xuan asked in a low voice: "Have you seen it? How strong is the cable?"

"I can still hold on for a month and a half." Li Yi walked to the wooden pile at the bridge head and grabbed a cable as thick as his fist, and water splashed below.

Pointing to the wet cable, Li Yi looked at Li Xuan and said: "Usiza was also doing a long-term move at the beginning. As long as he captured the north bank, he would immediately send his followers to the north bank to block reinforcements from the east and attack Gui from the west. Virtue, and then occupy Jianzha forever."

"By then, maybe we will be forced to Jishi Town." Li Xuan smiled softly and said, "It was precisely because he was ambitious at that time that we had the chance to win here, otherwise as long as he If we stick to it, we won’t have any chance.”

Li Yi was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

Li Xuan is right. When a person has no desires, he is invulnerable. But if he has desires and ambitions, he will have the opportunity to be taken advantage of.

This is the case with Usiza. If he sticks to the south bank of the Yellow River, then it is Li Xuan's responsibility to find a way to cross the river.

At that time, Li Xuan had no choice but to take greater risks.

But Wu Xizha wanted to capture the north bank and cut off the army's food route. He even wanted to kill Li Xuan and capture Jianzha. They worked together from east to west to wipe out Li Jinxing's tens of thousands of troops.

It was this feat that would allow him to go further that sent him directly to hell.

"It is precisely because of his ambition that he used the same rope-making method as the prince. He soaked it in tung oil and soaked it in water. Naturally, he did not have to worry about being attacked by fire. But he did not expect that our army could actually kill him. ." Li Yi couldn't help but sigh.

If Wu Xiza hadn't underestimated Li Xuan too much, he wouldn't have died here.

"Let's not talk about him." Li Xuan looked solemn, and then said: "It's nothing else. Within a month and a half, all the cables must be replaced, and even the rafts must be replaced. If the war was not serious at that time, it would still be That’s all, once the war becomes urgent and something goes wrong here, if things are delayed, people may die.”

“So the general suggested that we build waterwheels on both sides of the north and south banks at the same time, and use the power of the waterwheels to increase the transportation capacity. By then, sufficient grain will be gathered on the south bank, and the old bridges in the north and south will be demolished and new bridges will be laid at the same time. In this way, there will be no delay in time. "Li Yi slightly handed over his hand. Many people saw Li Xuan's improvement in the grain road and actively studied and transformed.

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded in agreement, and then said: "This can be done within three months, but once the weather enters winter, there will be new troubles."

Li Yi's face suddenly became solemn, his hand pressed on the wooden stake, his eyes thinking.

After all, they are not here for a while, but it is very likely that if Wuhai is not defeated in the future, they will have no chance to transfer back to Chang'an, so the issue of winter must be taken into consideration.

"It's cold in winter. Although the water of the Yellow River will not condense, the cold water will definitely hinder the raft bridge. If we are talking about calculations, we can use ships to transport food, but the exchange of people will be greatly restricted. After all, colleagues, in the future it will be A place to eat that I’ve been waiting for.”

Li Xuan's words made Li Yi look more solemn.

Yu Ze is a close confidant of Li Xuan. He was appointed as the magistrate of Tongren County, which means that in the future, once the court's subsequent supply of food and grass is insufficient, they must find a way to solve the problem in Tongren, so Tongren's matter is actually a matter of It is responsible for the logistics of the entire right-guard army of [-] people.

"It is still necessary to build a permanent bridge." At this point, Li Xuan paused for a moment, looked at Li Yi and said, "What do you think of building a suspension bridge, the kind of suspension bridge used to defend the city?"

"Suspension bridge?" Li Yi immediately thought of a suspension bridge that could be hoisted and retracted when defending the city.

Li Xuan nodded and said: "The Yellow River is too long. The distance of more than 130 feet is enough to make any prisoner despair. But if it is separated into two halves, the north and south will build bridge piers on the shore, connect them with cables, and then use water wheels to open and close. Suspension bridge, stairs retract wooden bridge.

Suspension bridges do not need to be used for a long time. In summer, use raft bridges and in winter, use suspension bridges to pass people and raft bridges to pass grain.

When there is no need for repairs, as long as you prepare enough food and grass in advance, even if there is an emergency, there will be no delay. "

"Then we need to start preparing for this matter from now on." Li Yi couldn't help but nodded. This method is indeed feasible.

"Let's build the waterwheel first. There are too many problems in repairing the bridge. We still have to report it to the Ministry of Industry. What we can do now is to store food first." Li Xuan paused for a moment, then whispered: "It's only early July now. Wait. In September, before the autumn harvest in the North, I'm afraid food supplies will be tight, so you need to be aware of this."

"The general will know." Li Yi was transferred from Youzhou by Li Xuan. He knew about the drought in the land east of Youyan.

Now I think that before the autumn harvest in September, there will be insufficient taxation and grain, which will greatly affect the food supply of the army.

"I just hope that the war will stop by then." Li Xuan's eyes fell on the north bank. At this time, two fast horses came at a rapid pace and were stopped directly at the head of the bridge on the north bank. Li Xuan looked at Li Yi , said: "Let's go over and see what's going on?"

"Here!" Li Yi nodded immediately, and then followed Li Xuan quickly across the raft bridge.

At the bridgehead, two Qianniu Guards immediately bowed to Li Xuan: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from Riyue Mountain. The army has passed the Nanshan Pass. The general asked Your Majesty to go to Lake Nile immediately to discuss matters."

"The army has left the Nanshan Canyon." Li Xuan was stunned and immediately said: "Okay, let's leave now."

Li Xuan immediately got on his horse, took Li Yi, and two teams of Jinwu Guards and Qianniu Guards and headed straight towards Guide.

Along the way, Li Xuan didn't look too happy because this time was a few days earlier than he originally expected.

Despite his virtue, Li Xuan soon arrived at the mouth of the valley on the south bank of Lake Nile, outside the major camps.Glancing at the right leading military guard and right guard soldiers who were cleaning up the battlefield, Li Xuan's face became solemn.

Going there, a row of twenty catapults were placed at the mouth of the valley, aiming at the farmland on both sides of Lake Nile. There were an unknown number of rolling stones and dead soldiers and horses piled inside.

Li Xuan couldn't help but sigh. Fortunately, they were lucky enough to capture the mouth of the valley on the east side of Lake Nile that day and were able to place catapults and crossbows in. Otherwise, they would have killed many people under the fierce attack of the Tibetans regardless of losses.

"Your Majesty!" Yan Tao, wearing red clothes and golden armor, stood outside the tent, waiting for Li Xuan.

Looking at the knife marks on his armor, Li Xuan patted his shoulder and said softly: "Thank you for your hard work."

Li Xuan was transferred to the Nile Lake front line on the surface, but in fact Li Xuan was always behind Longwu Village.

The Li Xuan that the Tubo people saw was actually Yan Tao pretending to be here. The two thousand Hangzhou soldiers transferred by Li Xuan were actually led by him here.

To be able to make the Tubo people always sure that he is Li Xuan, one can imagine how much Yan Tao, the fake "Li Xuan", has paid.

"My subordinates have made many military achievements. Is this the position of general?" Yan Tao looked at Li Xuan hopefully.

Li Xuan smiled and said: "Don't worry, I have already mentioned it before. Next, you will sort out your merits and I will send them directly to the Ministry of War and His Majesty."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Yan Tao's face was full of joy.

Everyone knows that Li Xuan's memorial is delivered to Chang'an every three days. If the matter of Li Xuan's memorial can be used to appear in front of the emperor, then the future will be boundless.

Yan Tao actually appeared in Li Xuan's memorial a long time ago, but it was just the name that the emperor saw every day.

It's hard to even take a look at it, let alone remember it.

Only if you appear in front of the emperor repeatedly will you be remembered by the emperor.

Li Xuan's expression calmed down, then she looked at the tent in front and said calmly: "Let's go."

"Here!" Yan Tao followed Li Xuan and entered the tent directly.

In the large tent, Li Jinxing was sitting behind the central table. On both sides stood Li Qing, the right-leading military guard general, Li Duozuo, the right-leading military guard general, and other generals and captains.

Li Xuan entered the tent and immediately raised his hands and said, "I have seen the general."

"The prince is here, please take a seat!" Li Jinxing raised his hand tiredly.

"Thank you, General." Li Xuan walked to the side and sat down, then looked at Li Jinxing and asked, "General, the Tubo people seem to be very quiet today?"

"Not just today, but also yesterday and in the afternoon, the Tibetans retreated. After three consecutive days of strong attacks, the Tibetans began to restrain their movements." A trace of worry flashed across the face of Li Qing, the right-leading army guard general. Li Xuan raised his eyebrows and immediately Said: "So, they also received the news that Nanshan Canyon was lost?"

"It should be so, but in the last section of the Nanshan Canyon, it seems that the Tubo people are willing to give up. On the other side of Lake Nile, it seems that they have suffered too many losses and they have begun to restrain themselves." There was uncertainty in Li Duozuo's words. , some are too much.

Li Xuan waved her hand directly: "They are not giving up, they are restraining their hands and feet, extending the front line, waiting for work, and preparing to hit us hard."

After a pause, Li Xuan sneered and said: "This is actually a strategy to lure the enemy deeper. The Tibetans can abandon the Nanshan Canyon, but they will never abandon Lake Nile. Once the Tao River and the Lanshan Road merge, there will be a continuous supply of food and grass. Then the Tubo people's advantage around Qinghai Lake will disappear, so once we fall into the trap, they will immediately counterattack."

"But we must defeat the Tibetan army at the west entrance of Lake Nile." Li Jinxing looked at Li Xuan and asked seriously: "Does the prince have any good ideas?"

Li Xuan's face was solemn, she glanced at everyone in the tent, and then said: "There is no way, but the specific effect depends on the right time and place?"

"Your Majesty, did you mean to use a boat?" Yan Tao was the first to understand what Li Xuan meant.

The so-called right time and right place. Now that they are in the lower reaches of Lake Nile, there is no right place, so they only have the right time.

Li Xuan's most famous method is nothing more than taking advantage of the wind.

Taking advantage of the wind on this northwest road, it is not easy to start a fire. The rest is the wind.

Li Xuan nodded and said seriously: "Compared with other Yellow River waterways, Lake Nile is much gentler than other rivers. It would be a good idea to travel with the wind at night and directly reach the west bank."

Li Jinxing then asked: "Where does the wind come from? Where does the boat come from?"

"After three days of strong winds, the ship has arrived at the mouth of the Longwu River and can be transferred up at any time."

After Li Xuan finished speaking, she suddenly frowned and turned to look in the direction of Chang'an, feeling inexplicably uneasy.

(End of this chapter)