Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 489 Tragedy of Pei Yan

Chapter 489 Tragedy of Pei Yan

Chang'an, Chen's house.

Chen Qingsi practiced for Lou Shide alone at home.

Lou Shide came to Beijing only to gild his reputation. The best way is to arrange him to the Western Regions to strengthen the power of the Western Regions.

After gaining sufficient experience and achievements, Chen Qingsi also formally suggested to Li Zhi that Lou Shide be transferred to the Western Regions.

Chen Qingsi's proposal bypassed the Council of State and was sent to Li Zhi, who directly issued an edict to promote Lou Shide to the position of Chief Clerk of the Western Region Military Governor's Office and concurrently as the Military Farm Envoy.

"When you go to the Western Regions, Zong Ren should work closely with Anxi Protector Pei Xingjian... You are new to the Western Regions and are unfamiliar with the place, so you don't have to take the lead in administration. But you must not be careless about the military settlements."

Chen Qingsi still remembers Lou Shide's abilities clearly.

Lou Shide certainly had some military proficiency, but it was no match for real generals like Cheng Wuting, Heichi Changzhi, Xue Rengui, and Li Jinxing.

It was just that Wu Zhou was short of talent, so Lou Shide was forced to do it, and he had a brilliant record of eight victories in eight battles, but this brilliant record was a defensive counterattack, which gave him an innate advantage. If he really took the initiative to attack against a veteran general who had been on the battlefield for a long time, it would be a bit disappointing.

In the battle of Sulahan Mountain, Wang Xiaojie and Lou Shide were the chief and deputy respectively, and they pinned Lun Qinling to the ground and beat him violently.

However, Lou Shide's level of military farming was extraordinary. When he was the deputy envoy of Heyuan Army, he used the soldiers' spare time to reclaim wasteland and grow crops, and was able to meet the self-sufficiency of the border troops.

This ability is enough to be compared with Ren Jun, Zhao Chongguo, and Deng Ai...

Chen Qingsi never worried about the combat effectiveness of the Tang army. When it comes to the prosperity of military spirit among the Chinese Han dynasties, the Han and Tang dynasties are the best choices.

But in a decisive battle with a big country like the Arab Empire, the outcome is often not limited to the gains and losses of one or two battles.

The strong national strength of both sides can withstand one or two or even multiple failures. It is almost impossible to end the battle in a short period of time.

In the war against the Arabs, national strength and logistics are the key, followed by the front line and generals.

Even Li Zhi, who knew nothing about military affairs, understood this principle. That is why Zhang Wenguan was in charge of governing officials and made the idle institutions run rapidly again.

But these are not enough. Transporting grain from the Central Plains to the Western Regions will consume a lot of manpower and material resources.

The Arab Empire does not have this shortcoming...

Chen Qingsi can now be certain that once the two sides engage in battle, the Arab Kingdom will try every means to delay time, use its own advantages, and seize the opportunity to win.

If we rely solely on transporting military supplies across thousands of miles from the Central Plains, it might really bring down the Tang Dynasty.

At that time, there will inevitably be a debate about giving up the Western Regions...

Pei Xingjian had already implemented military settlements in the Western Regions, but the effect was not obvious.

Maybe it’s because everyone has their own specializations.

Lou Shide is undoubtedly the best candidate.

Lou Shide said: "Shide will keep this in mind, and please rest assured, Your Majesty and Mr. Chen. I will live up to your high expectations when I go to the Western Regions."

Chen Qingsi said: "I never doubted Zongren's ability, but I felt sorry for his flesh. The cold weather in the Western Regions must have made him lose some weight."

Chen Qingsi has the ability to see through the other person's talents.

Chen Qingsi ignored this ability the most, but it was very different for others.

Discovering talents and understanding people are extremely formidable skills. Lou Shide stayed in Yangzhou for more than ten years without being promoted.

Because Chen Qingsi promoted him out of turn time and time again, he was given the greatest trust.

Such kindness is enough to change a person's future. It is not an exaggeration to call them reborn parents.

Listening to Chen Qingsi's joke, Lou Shide said, "Shide once learned martial arts for a few years, but now he has such a strong body that he almost forgot how to use a knife. It's a good time to get rid of the fat meat. Maybe he can even kill a few villains and win a military honor."

The two smiled at each other.

Chen Qingsi continued, "You are not alone on this trip to the Western Regions. After you leave Beijing, go to Taozhou first to pay a visit to General Black Tooth. He will also be transferred to the Western Regions. It will be a good opportunity for you to have someone to take care of you along the way, and I will rest assured."

The Tang Dynasty is now a prosperous and peaceful era with very few bandits.

But fewer does not mean none, there is no shortage of bad embryos in any era.

In particular, the journey westward passes through more than 2,000 miles of desert and the uninhabited Gobi Desert.

These deserts and Gobi are the only way for the East-West trade route. Many criminals who have committed crimes or are unwilling to engage in production rely on the cover of the deserts and Gobi to rob passing travelers and merchants.

This situation was inevitable. The Tang army had the ability to wipe out the established horse bandits, but it was difficult to guard against those horse bandits who were civilians when they went home and bandits when they went out.

After Su Dingfang's last dance, Tubo suffered heavy losses.

Longyou does not need so many forces to defend, and it is the right time to transfer Heichi Changzhi to the Western Regions.

Heichi Changzhi's personal guards also went along.

Chen Qingsi didn't believe that there were still blind horse bandits in the territory of the Tang Dynasty who dared to rob Heichi Changzhi.

Seeing Chen Qingsi's thoughtful arrangements, Lou Shide raised his glass and said, "Shide toasts you with this wine. I wish you a smooth career and everything goes well."

Chen Qingsi raised his glass in response.
-
Hongwen Museum.

Pei Yan found Chimaluo who was reading a book in a rage.

"Madam Zhuo, didn't you say that the day of the great sacrifice would be the day when the Gar family would be destroyed? Why is the current situation so inconsistent with what you said?"

Chima Luo stared at her with her big watery eyes in astonishment, and asked in amazement: "Right Envoy Pei, what kind of accident happened?"

Pei Yan looked at the innocent Chimaluo and wished he had a knife in his hand so he could stab her right there.

He was about to ask in a stern voice, but he saw that everyone around him was looking at him curiously, so he could only suppress his anger and said, "Madam Zhuo, come with me to the side courtyard to talk."

As he said this, he ignored Chimalo and strode towards the side courtyard.

Chimalu looked at Pei Yan's back, a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes. He slowly closed the book in his hand, put it away, and then followed Pei Yan to the side courtyard.

Pei Yan walked with big strides, his steps becoming heavier, a bit of panic in his eyes, and his left hand opening and closing unconsciously.

Pei Yan is not prominent in the temple, but no one underestimates his existence.

He was an official in the imperial court system. Pei Yan, who was born in Wenxi Pei family, was born in Rome. He was selected into the Hongwen Academy before he was even an adult, and studied with the emperor, receiving the best teacher education. People like him were specially selected by the imperial court to assist the emperor in order to win over local prominent families.

If you have strong abilities, you can easily be promoted. Even if you have weak abilities, you can still get a leisurely job and live a leisurely life.

Pei Yan obviously belonged to the former. He was diligent and studious, with excellent abilities. He soon stood out in the Hongwenguan. He was valued by Li Zhi, who regarded him as a confidant and appointed him as the right entrustor of the Secretariat.

Perhaps not many people know about the Right Envoy of the Secretariat, but his previous official title is a household name, called the Jiujiu Sheren.

Li Zhi was quite casual. He would change his official title from time to time, but would not use it for long before changing it back. It was clear that he was seriously ill.

In the seventh year of Xianqing, Li Zhi changed the title of Jiujiu Sheren to Youshi. Historically, three years later he changed it back to Jiujiu Sheren, but now he is still called Youshi. His duties and powers are the same as Jiujiu Sheren, and he is responsible for recording the emperor's daily actions and state affairs.

This position required following the emperor around for a long time, and even squatting in a corner to take notes during emergency meetings.

Apart from the eunuchs who were responsible for serving the emperor, the attendants were the closest ministers to the emperor.

Therefore, this position could only be held by a trusted person. Pei Yan had been by Li Zhi's side for many years and had never made any mistakes. For this reason, Li Zhi handed Chimalo over to him, asking him to use Chimalo's identity to contact the Tubo Molu clan and eliminate the Gar clan. The Tang Dynasty supported the Molu clan to replace the Gar clan and become the second hegemonic family.

With the death of Lun Qinling, the Gal clan suffered heavy losses, and an opportunity came along.

Pei Yan worked hard on this and planned to kill the powerful official on the great day of the sacrifice.

But now the news came that the young Tibetan king Mangsong Mangtsen had joined forces with Gardongtsen to destroy the nobles with evil intentions.

Now Galdongtsen has returned power to the young Zamp, helping the young Zamp to stabilize the situation.

The two of them worked together to suppress the undercurrent of Tubo.

In other words, Pei Yan's infiltration of Tubo over the years has become a joke, and the achievements he had originally achieved have turned into nothing.

If you ask Pei Yan what he regretted most, it was undoubtedly recommending Chen Qingsi to Li Zhi.

Pei Yan could never have imagined that a small figure in Yixing County back then could climb to his current position in such a short period of time, and even surpass himself and replace him.

Pei Yan came from a prominent family and was a close attendant to Li Zhi. He always believed that he would have a place in the Tang Dynasty's government.

As a result, the appearance of Chen Qingsi suppressed him completely, making him less favored than before.

Pei Yan was eager to prove himself and make achievements in infiltrating Tubo so that Li Zhi would know that there were more talented people than just Chen Qingsi.

But today, Tibetan spies brought new news from Tibet, and Pei Yan had no idea how to explain it to Li Zhi.

He didn't think he had done anything wrong. There must have been something wrong with Chimalo, which caused all his efforts to fail.

Chimalo came slowly. She didn't know the situation in Tubo, but from Pei Yan's attitude, it could be seen that the situation in Tubo was definitely not as he wished. If that was the case, it was worth a laugh.

Chimalu naturally knew Tang Ting's intention to keep her under house arrest, and she also wanted to use Tang Ting to avenge her father's family.

But Chima Luo was a Tibetan. She did not want to see all the plans of the Tang court succeed, and she did not want to see Tibet fall into civil strife because of her, and be destroyed by the Tang army. When she contacted her clansmen, she did not choose her third uncle, who was closest to her and had ambitions, but her second cousin.

Chimalo knew that his second cousin was loyal to the Zamp, so he sent someone to contact him, which was equivalent to informing the Zamp of the Tang court's intentions.

If the Zamp wanted to rule the country himself, he had to get rid of Galdongzan, the powerful official.

In this way, Tubo could use the power of the Tang court to help Zamp get rid of Galdongtsen without worrying about damaging the core foundation of Tubo.

After all, all the actions of the Tang court were under the control of the Tubo Zamp.

Now it seems that the effect is good.

The moment he saw Pei Yan, the smile on Chima Luo's face disappeared, and he asked first: "What happened? Is the old villain Gal Dongzan dead?"

This is what Chimaro cares about most.

Pei Yan said angrily: "The Tibetan king joined forces with Gal Dongzan to suppress the Wei rebellion, and Gal Dongzan gave up his power and assisted the king in ruling the country. Is this the effect you are talking about?"

Hearing this, Chimalo was also distracted for a while, his heart filled with sadness.

After all, she is not the cold-blooded politician in history at this moment, and she cannot be absolutely rational.

There is no denying that from Tubo's perspective, this situation is the most perfect.

Eliminating Galdongtsen would not lead Tubo to peace, but would instead create a power vacuum.

Qin lost his deer, and the world chased it.

Although Tubo is small, it is the same when it comes to rights.

On the contrary, Gal Dongzan should be left behind and allowed to give up his power to complete the transition of power...

After all, times have changed. The Gal clan has lost Zansirodob and Lunqinling successively. The Gal clan has no future.

The remaining three sons, Zanpo, Siduoyu and Bolun Zanren, except Zanpo who had some talent in military affairs, the others were mediocre.

Gal Dongzan only has a few years left to live, and the Gal family cannot cause any trouble.

There is no doubt that the alliance between Tubo Zamp and Galdongzan is the best choice.

But Chimalo couldn't accept it, because Galdongzan was the murderer of her father.

The Tubo Zamp chose the enemy who killed his father, which made Chimalo hard to accept.

"How come it's like this? Why is it like this? Am I really not as good as the Gal family because I don't have the Lu family?"

She thought of her parents who had suffered innocently, tears rolled down her cheeks, and her heart felt cold.

Pei Yan saw Chimaluo like this, and her anger also dissipated. Thinking of Chimaluo's parents and brothers who were all eliminated by Gal Dongzan, she hated Gal Dongzan more than herself, and this matter might really have nothing to do with him.

Pei Yan looked at the delicate Chimalo, thinking that as a gentleman, it was not appropriate for him to bully a weak woman, so he turned away and reported the Tubo movements to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi listened to Pei Yan's report without showing any emotion. He just waved his hand and asked Pei Yan to leave.

Pei Yan walked out of the hall with a pale face.

Li Zhi rubbed his head helplessly. Each and every one of them was causing him a lot of worry.

"Go and invite Minister Chen here."

Li Zhi has been subconsciously reducing his dependence on Chen Qingsi, but every time at a critical moment, he finds that he still has to let Chen Qingsi step forward.

Others rarely satisfied him with such things.

Chen Qingsi was summoned and was about to enter the palace, but was stopped by Pei Yan at the palace gate, who enthusiastically pulled him to a corner to talk.

"Brother Zilong!"

Chen Qingsi was a little surprised.

Chen Qingsi was always grateful to Pei Yan for recommending him. However, he also noticed that Pei Yan's attitude was a bit lukewarm, so he did not have any further contact with him.

It was unusual for Pei Yan to be so enthusiastic today.

Pei Yan did not hide anything and told him the whole situation of Tubo.

Chen Qingsi looked at Pei Yan with a strange expression. Who did this guy offend in his previous life?
In history, this guy was played around by Empress Wu. Now history has changed, and it has been changed to be played around by Wu Zetian of Tubo?

He ran into the two most powerful women of this era.

Judging from his tone, he hasn't realized where he lost.

Pure male chauvinism...

No wonder he was able to hand over the Tang Dynasty to a woman despite being a trusted minister.

"This incident was indeed an accident. I hope you can ask His Majesty to intercede on my behalf..."

Chen Qingsi said: "I know what to say, Brother Zilong, don't worry."

(End of this chapter)

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