Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 571 Decision Maker

"I really want to kill Li Longji."

This thought often pops up in Xue Bai's mind.

But rationally speaking, there is no need to do so for the time being. Li Cong has been suffering from old age and illness recently, and it seems that he is about to die. What Xue Bai needs to do now is to let the court officials see clearly the process of Li Cong's natural death.

After he has been on the throne for some time and the situation has stabilized, it will not be too late to take action against Li Longji. It is even more likely that Li Longji will no longer be around by then.

Thus, the murderous intent lingering in his mind was dispelled again. Xue Bai looked around and saw the unchanging walls of Xuan Zheng Hall.

No matter how big the palace is, it will become like a prison if you stay there for a long time. Now he spends most of his time in this palace, governing the Tang Dynasty through paper and ink. Every day, facing one memorial after another, imagining the scenes happening in various places, it is as if he can see the whole world.

The same was true for his understanding of the war situation in the northwest. This time he did not ride a horse himself. Instead, he marked or advanced the routes of each troop on the map based on the text.

It was like playing chess. Every time he put two chess pieces together and a battle took place, he could not see the gushing blood or the wailing wounded soldiers. He could only see numbers.

For him, this is a new battlefield situation, and he is a decision maker this time.

At the end of July, Xue Bai picked up a small chess piece, which represented the Anxi Army led by Feng Changqing and Zhang Guangsheng. He pushed the chess piece from Chang'an to Lingwu, and then gradually pushed it into the territory of Huihe along the Yellow River. Half a month later, the Mid-Autumn Festival had passed, and after eating mooncakes, Xue Bai pushed the chess piece westward again, but he didn't know how to push it anymore.

In September, the news came.

There was an internal conflict in the Uighurs, and the Uighur Khan died suddenly. His eldest son Yehu and second son Yidijian were irreconcilable. Yidijian accused Yehu of patricide and said that the Tang Dynasty was secretly instigating Yehu.

Yidijian did not wrongly accuse Yehu, because when Yehu was captured by Xue Bai, Xue Bai did encourage him to go back and fight for power with his father and brothers, and also sent some people to follow him and give him advice.

Unexpectedly, the conflict escalated so quickly, directly leading to the split of the Uighurs.

A lot of the elite cavalry that Yehu brought to the Tang Dynasty were incorporated by Xue Bai. However, their strength was not as good as Yidijian. After being defeated, they fled westward to seek help from the Karluk.

Yidijian then plundered all merchants and travelers in the territory, cutting off the ties between the Tang court and Yehu.

Xue Bai had just sent the Anxi army to pass through Huihe not long ago, and sent Li Chengcai to form an alliance with Huihe to attack Tubo. When Huihe broke out in civil strife, Li Chengcai had just arrived at the Huihe royal court, and now his life or death is unknown.

As for the Anxi troops, they did not head north to the Uighur royal court, but they would probably have faced even more difficulties along the way.

Xue Bai completely lost any news about this team.

He sent people to inquire about the situation of the Huihe, but in the vast grassland, there would definitely be no response in a short time.

As time went by, Li Cong's health deteriorated, but he still held on tenaciously. The same was true for the war situation in the northwest of the Tang Dynasty, where the situation was getting worse and worse and they were struggling to hold on.

The marching routes marked on the map had become a mess. The discarded military chess pieces filled a basket, but more new ones were also put on the table. Old soldiers died and new soldiers were recruited. The consumption of money and food was so huge that the national treasury could no longer bear it.

Xue Bai insisted on not raising taxes, but he had to let those officials who were good at financial management collect military expenses through salt and tea monopoly. As for the emperor's treasury, even his own private wealth had long been invested in it.

In October, the weather was freezing cold, and a small stove was placed in the hall. Xue Bai and Li Mi sat by the stove to discuss matters.

Both of them have lost the youthful vigor they had in previous years, and both seem a little dull.

"Dazarugong should have withdrawn his troops two months earlier. It's freezing cold, and he won't be able to grab anything. He might as well come back next year."

"Yes, the Tibetan army's goal is not to capture cities and villages. It would be a better choice to invade again in the autumn of next year." Li Mi pondered and said, "Why doesn't Dazalugong stop fighting? If the fight continues, he will injure 1,000 enemies and lose 800 of his own."

"I'm asking you." Xue Bai said, "If it's not a military intention, then it must be a political one."

"I guess he realized that if we give Tang three to five years to catch its breath, its national strength will far surpass that of Tubo. He knows that now is the best opportunity to weaken us."

"Indeed."

Xue Bai is very confident about this.

There is not much time left for Tubo to suppress the Tang Dynasty. Within one or two years, famous generals such as Feng Changqing will return to the four towns of Anxi to reorganize the flag; Xue Bai may ascend the throne, and the court will be more stable; the national strength will gradually recover, and armaments will increase... These are changes that can be seen with the naked eye.

"But he could see it?"

Li Mi said: "If Dazalugong feels the threat from the Tang Dynasty and decides to bring down the Tang Dynasty within the next two years, then this man should not be underestimated."

"I didn't underestimate him, I just don't know him well enough." Although Xue Bai read the intelligence every day, he was far away from him. After all, he couldn't feel the opponent like he did before when he faced him on the battlefield.

"If Dazalugong doesn't withdraw his troops, they could break through the defense line and enter Guanzhong at any time. Even if our soldiers can hold out, the military expenditures will soon be exhausted."

"He may not be without pressure." Xue Bai said, "Tubonia is not a monolithic entity either."

Li Mi pointed at the map and said, "The enemy attacks and we defend. The Tubo army only needs one troop to attack and our army will be exhausted from defense. Now our army is gathered in Fangzhou, Yanzhou, Xiazhou, Lingzhou and other places. If Jingyuan is lost, Tubo may bypass our defense line and go straight to Chang'an. We have to be on guard."

Xue Bai was in deep thought, fiddling with a chess piece in his hand repeatedly without putting it on the map immediately.

This is the last big chess piece he can manipulate, symbolizing the troops led by Wang Nandi who followed Xue Bai to quell the Anshi Rebellion. Although the army is still called the Yunzhong Army, as Xue Bai's trusted troops, they have an exclusive status, and their organization, equipment, and treatment are superior to any other army in the world.

They have always been stationed near the capital, and are the key to Xue Bai's ability to hold on to his position as the regent prince.

The second is the Imperial Guards.

Although Xue Bai incorporated the imperial guards in Chang'an City, he only replaced the middle-level generals in the imperial guards with his old subordinates in Yanshi and Changshan. However, generals like Guo Qianli who did not completely belong to him were rarely replaced, and there were many children of aristocratic families in the imperial guards. In comparison, Wang Nande's army was the real stabilizer.

But now, Dazha Lugong has poured all the strength of Tubo into the attack. If Xue Bai is reluctant to use this army, if the Tubo army marches straight in, the consequences will be disastrous.

"Defense."

After thinking about it for a while, Xue Bai placed the chess piece in his hand on the map.

Then, the imperial court issued an edict, ordering Wang Nan to support Jingyuan.

Recalling that before the war, Wang Nan asked to replace Guo Ziyi as the commander of the entire army, Xue Bai felt a little scared. At that time, he did not expect that this battle would be so long and difficult. Dazalugong had extraordinary determination. If the commander had been changed at the critical moment, Tubo might have already marched straight to Chang'an.

~~
The second year of Shangyuan is gradually passing.

This was the entire year that Xue Bai began to govern the country. He originally thought that he would do something big, reform the old ways, establish new things, and revive the Tang Dynasty, but he was very disappointed with the results.

Although some capable officials were appointed and some changes were made to the customs, the Tang Dynasty was basically stuck in the war with Tubo for the entire second half of the year. Faced with countless food and fodder expenses, the able-bodied laborers had to be conscripted on the battlefield and could not produce.

The overall situation was that the number of people registered in the imperial register and the taxes they could pay could not support the operation of the Tang Dynasty, especially as it was caught up in a costly national war.

This year, Xue Bai was already 27 years old. He actually didn't know his age, but calculated it based on Li Qian's birthday. This was another thing he got from Li Qian's identity besides power.

Compared to the young man he was back then, he seems much more stable and no longer does ridiculous things like before.

It is worth mentioning that this year, Yan Yan gave birth to his first child.

In the words of Yan Zhenqing, this child is "blessed by heaven."

In the past, almost everyone around Xue Bai did not think that he would have a legitimate eldest son, because there were too many people around him who might give birth to a bastard son, and his legitimate wife was frail and sickly.

At that time, no one thought Xue Bai needed a legitimate eldest son. After all, no legitimate eldest son had ever succeeded to the throne since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. This matter even became a concern for many officials.

Who would have thought that exactly in the year after Xue Bai became the crown prince, his eldest son was born safely. It was like an auspicious sign, symbolizing that the Tang Dynasty was about to move towards stability.

Even Du Jin, who has always been strong-willed, thought it was God's will.

Du Jin never believed in fate, she only believed that she had to fight for everything on her own. However, she worked hard time and time again but in the end she still couldn't win over the weak Yan Yan in this matter, so she could only sigh and say "it's fate".

But only a few people, including Du Jin, knew how much Yan Yan had paid for this and how many diseases she had suffered. After that, the door of the main room in Shaoyang Courtyard was rarely opened because Yan Yan was afraid of catching a cold in the wind.

Speaking of the eldest son, it was originally something that could be publicized to stabilize the position of the crown prince, but Xue Bai was very low-key.

He simply went to offer sacrifices to the Emperor Fengtian again, announced the matter, and then strengthened the security of Shaoyang Court.

In November, heavy snow fell in Chang'an.

After Xue Bai had his eldest son, Qinglan and Li Tengkong became pregnant one after another.

Looking back, in the past ten years, he is no longer the outsider who had nothing. He has owned so many things in the Tang Dynasty.

In the last month of the year, Li Tengkong felt a little anxious.

She no longer lived in the Taoist temple in Shaoyang Courtyard. Sometimes she would suddenly step on Xue Bai and scold him.

"You have nothing to worry about, right? You start to act recklessly now that you have a legitimate son."

"Ok?"

"You and I are from the same clan. What should we do if people find out?"

Xue Bai took Li Tengkong's hand and patted it gently, comforting him: "Don't worry, I have been following the plan and achieving my goal step by step. Li Cong is about to die, and from now on, no one can point fingers at us anymore."

Li Tengkong has been crying for unknown reasons lately, and she is completely different from the indifferent Taoist nun she used to be.

She didn't even wipe her tears, and scolded Xue Bai again, "Bad guy, you are the only one who is scheming."

"Yes, I am a bad guy." His private life became more and more ordinary and peaceful.

It was thought that by the time of the New Year, Tubo would withdraw its troops, so that the soldiers guarding the border could have a good year. However, even Xue Bai did not expect that the war would continue into the next year.

~~
The third year of Shangyuan is the Year of the Dog.

Originally in history, Shi Siming was still in rebellion in this year, but now the civil strife in the Tang Dynasty has been quelled for more than a year, but it has not yet struggled out of the great war with Tubo. The treasury is empty, the people are impoverished, and the world is far from being revived.

It's like a young eagle breaking out of its egg, flapping its wings a few times but unable to fly yet.

In February, everything comes back to life.

The military settlements that were just launched last year were delayed due to the ongoing war, and both the acreage of cultivated land and the number of people have declined.

This is the case with food, and other things will naturally have a significant impact. Even if Xue Bai has a lot of new things in his mind, they are still subject to food and population.

He also knew that defeating Tubo was not something that could be done in a short period of time, and even just repelling Tubo was not easy.

As a decision-maker, as the battle line continued to lengthen, the intelligence he received became more and more complicated. More things began to emerge that needed to be distinguished. Some generals began to shirk responsibility, some proposed some unrealistic tactics, and some lied about military intelligence and killed innocent people to gain credit.

The war dragged on into the second year, and it became more and more difficult to handle.

Xue Bai used to not understand those emperors in history who destroyed their own Great Wall, but now he realizes how painful it is to sit in the capital and "command" a national war. He has to collect taxes from the entire country and entrust them all to those generals, but he cannot wait for a victory report day after day, which often makes people wonder what they are doing.

But all he could do was to be patient and trust his general.

This is another form of war, and the two countries' supreme rulers are also testing their vision and patience.

When he heard that wounded soldiers were retreating to Chang'an, Xue Bai wanted to make a secret visit under the pretext of hunting.

He needed to hear what the soldiers said in person, not just read the official documents sent back by the post horse...

That day, Xue Bai left Shaoyang Courtyard and passed Qide Gate, where he saw the Jinwu Guards lined up neatly in front of the courtyard. The Diao brothers were wearing armor and ready for battle.

"What's this for? Those who know me say I'm going hunting, while those who don't think I'm going to fight in Longyou."

Diao Bing strode forward, performed a standard cross-arm salute, and said, "Your Highness, I will protect your safety."

"No need to be too ostentatious. I said, this is a private visit."

Diao Bing did not dare to disobey the order, but he still gave a few words of advice in a low voice, saying: "Your Highness, there are many people who want to assassinate you now, should you still put your safety first?"

"Who told you?"

"It's Lord Yan and Lord Du."

In fact, what he said is true. There must be a lot of people who want to kill Xue Bai now, whether it is because of the destruction of Buddhism, or some members of the Li Tang royal family, or even Xue Bai's various political enemies.

Xue Bai was not a risky person, so he agreed to Diao Bing's request to use the Jinwu Guards to clear the way.

As a result, the streets near Chunming Gate began to quiet down, and rows of Jinwu Guards were lined up on both sides of the gate to escort the prince's carriage out of the city. It was quite a grand scene, and it was somewhat like the scene when Li Linfu went out.

This is also the reason why Xue Bai rarely leaves the palace nowadays. It is too troublesome and takes a lot of manpower and resources, but he cannot see the real situation.

After the thunderous hunting team passed by, several knights rode out of the west gate of Chang'an. It was Xue Bai who led Diao Geng and other guards out of the city quietly.

Once you leave Chang'an City, your view will suddenly open up.

It’s strange that Xue Bai used to like the prosperity and bustle of Chang’an, but now he often feels that it is like a prison cell.

After riding for most of the day and walking along the Feng River for a while, we gradually saw farmers plowing the land.

Xue Bai had inquired beforehand and knew that a group of wounded soldiers who returned home were allocated land here. He looked around and saw a lame man carrying manure in the distance. He thought of Feng Changqing and led his horse over.

"From your looks, have you ever been a soldier?"

"who are you?"

"Chang'an County Official, this land was acquired from the Imperial Court when it confiscated the Ciji Temple last year. I came to see its current status."

"So you are here on business, would you like to have a drink of water?"

"Your legs and feet are not good, why don't you hire a tenant? But you go to the battlefield to kill the enemy, but the court is short of your reward? Or is it because the land you are allocated is too little?"

"There are many children in the family, and they are all young. I'll save more money. This job is not hard, so I'll do it myself."

Xue Bai smiled and said, "Me too."

As he spoke, he took out a wine bag and snacks wrapped in a cloth bag. Soon, the two of them started chatting, squatting by the field and talking about things in Longyou.

"As for me, I am under the command of Han Yougui, the chief military officer. You may not have heard of Hou Kang, the swordsman. We are under the command of Marshal Guo."

When it came to talking about the battlefield, the wounded soldier who had just retreated had a lot to talk about. After taking a few sips of wine, he began to talk freely.

"They said there were 300,000 Tibetan soldiers, but in fact they were just herdsmen who didn't even wear armor. Otherwise, I would have died long ago. In the battlefield, our Tang warriors are much more powerful, but we can't stand their large numbers. They come from all directions. We can't defend them at all. We can only hold the city."

"As for killing enemies, I did kill a few Tibetan soldiers, but to be honest, they were just civilians on the border. It didn't matter much. It was a waste of effort and life, but in the end, the real Tibetan soldiers got the upper hand."

"I got this injury last year. We followed General Han and were ordered to support General Ma, but General Ma got lost and didn't come back until dark. We all advised General Han to retreat, but he refused and continued to go look for General Ma. As a result, we were surrounded by the Tibetan army, with three layers inside and three layers outside, and we couldn't kill them all. Guess what? When I thought I was going to die, General Ma came back and saved us."

"In that battle, we killed thousands of enemy soldiers, but when we retreated back to the city, only a hundred of the five hundred were left. I was stabbed twice in the leg, and this finger was lost."

After hearing this, Xue Bai's eagerness to achieve success calmed down a lot.

He would no longer want to angrily ask the generals at the front "What are you doing?"

"Do you know what kind of person Dazalugong is?"

"Hey, I have seen his banner from afar, it is very majestic. The soldiers said he has a Chinese name, Ma Chongying. Why? It is said that his grandfather was a monk with the surname Ma, and his mother was a Bon religion witch. The reason why he was able to become the prime minister of Tubo was that his mother had an affair with a Tubo nobleman, bewitched him with witchcraft, and adopted him as her adopted son. Later, Ma Chongying killed the nobleman's entire family."

"really?"

"How would I know if it's true or not? I just heard it while chatting in the army."

This kind of news was mostly fabricated, so it never appeared in the memorials Xue Bai received.

But the soldiers in the army spread this, and it was also the public's impression of Dazha Lugong.

The fact that he had a Chinese name showed that he probably knew something about Chinese studies; he was clearly a Bon believer, but was said to be the illegitimate son of a monk, which shows that he also knew something about Buddhism; as for the claim that he later killed his stepfather and usurped the throne, it shows that he was very ambitious.

From all these, he should be a Tibetan noble who is very shrewd and strategic.

"Oh, the army is still saying that Ma Chongying's witch mother hated the monk so much that she told him to kill the monk from the Tang Dynasty before she died. That's why he invaded the Tang Dynasty so cruelly..."

Asking once or twice might not be very meaningful, but Xue Bai often chatted with these wounded old soldiers, and the image of Dazalugong in his mind gradually became clearer.

He began to wonder, Dazha Lugong was obviously more eager to attack the Tang Dynasty than in history, why? It couldn't be because of the so-called monk father.

As he got to know more about it, one day Xue Bai had a dream during his nap.

He dreamed of a mighty man in his fifties with a beard, a bald head, a high hairline, and wrinkles on his forehead that seemed to symbolize wisdom.

This man had a deep gaze, as if he could see through people's hearts. He was squatting in the yellow sand, asking several Tang army prisoners something, speaking fluent Chinese.

"What kind of person is Xue Bai? I heard that he made the giant stone cannon, the telescope, and the explosives. He also captured our Tibetan princess."

"Such a person has become the crown prince of the Tang court."

"..."

Although Xue Bai was in a dream, he already knew who he was—Dazarugong.

Then Xue Bai felt a strong murderous intent in his mind and wanted to kill him urgently.

Then, Dazalugong seemed to have noticed something. He raised his head and looked at Xue Bai. There seemed to be conspiracy flashing in his eyes.

The originally blurry opponent suddenly became clear.

Xue Bai found that this was the first time he looked seriously at Dazalugong, the prime minister of Tubo, a figure like Dong Zhuo.

The next moment, he woke up.

Perhaps, thousands of miles away, the other party was really asking about his situation in this way.

At this moment, a letter was delivered to Xue Bai.

"Your Highness, urgent military intelligence report, the Tubo army has divided into four groups and seems to be heading for Guanzhong..."

(End of this chapter)