The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 162 Sudden Military Situation
"This is really unreasonable!"

Wang Ju expressed his attitude angrily, but did not take any further action. He just looked at Li Heng guiltily.

Qibi Zhong didn't say anything else and stepped aside politely, with no intention of revealing that he knew Li Heng.

Of course, this is not because Qibi Zhong is arrogant, but because Qibi Zhong understands that in the current situation, it is not suitable to move forward, so he should hide if possible.

Li Heng didn't care. He just sat nearby and waited for the soldiers to gather.

After waiting for half an hour, the soldiers below began to talk, some of them gradually became lax, and the army gradually became disorganized.

Another half an hour passed before the last few soldiers came to the camp drunkenly, arm in arm.

Li Heng gave Gao Xianzhi a look, and Gao Xianzhi understood what he meant. He walked up to the soldiers and asked, "Where did you go?"

The leading brigade commander squinted his eyes and looked at Gao Xianzhi. Seeing that he didn't recognize him, he laughed and scolded: "Where I go is none of your business? It's not your turn to speak for the Chishui Army!"

Gao Xianzhi was not angry, and then asked: "Have you asked for leave?"

"Ask for leave? What leave?" The brigade commander laughed, staggering from side to side, and continued, "I can go wherever I want in Liangzhou, and I never need to ask for leave."

Gao Xianzhi asked, "Do you know what the crime is for leaving one's post without permission and failing to respond to orders?"

"What? You want to kill me?" the brigade commander asked back.

Gao Xianzhi had asked all the questions he needed to ask, and without saying anything more, he returned to behind Li Heng.

Li Heng then stood up, walked up to the soldiers, and said, "I have been granted the title of Jiedushi of Hexi by my father, and concurrently the commander of the Chishui Army. I have heard of the Chishui Army's reputation for a long time, and today is the first time I have formally met you all. I thought I could appreciate the Chishui Army's style, but I didn't expect it to be like this."

When the drunken commander heard Li Heng's words, he was half sobered up.

Li Ying looked at him and continued, "This is our first meeting, and I didn't want to hurt our relationship, but you left your post without permission, didn't show up for duty, didn't ask for leave beforehand, didn't explain afterwards, and had a bad attitude, you were extremely domineering."

"Your Highness!" The brigade commander immediately knelt down and said, "Please spare my life, Your Highness!"

Li Ying asked, "What's your name?"

The brigade commander said, "My surname is Lu, and the Imperial Censor Lu Xiang is my brother. I was recommended by General Wang Zhongsi to serve in the Chishui Army in Hexi."

Before, Lu Xiang gave gifts to Wang Zhongsi twice on behalf of Li Heng, but Wang Zhongsi refused them. Later, Li Heng realized that Wang Zhongsi should be treated as a national hero, so he improved his approach.

So he reminisced about the old times with Wang Zhongsi while providing him with talents.

This Brigade Commander Lu was one of the talents that Li Heng sent to Wang Zhongsi.

Li Heng frowned slightly, was silent for a while, and asked, "Since General Wang recommended you, why are you still only the brigade commander?"

Commander Lu said, "I was originally a lieutenant, but was demoted because of the previous unfavorable battle."

"I see."

Li Heng finally understood why Marshal Lu was so arrogant.

He is Li Heng's man, recommended by Wang Zhongsi. If Dong Yanguang had not intervened, he would at least be a military officer of the Chishui Army, or even a Sima.

With such status and position, ordinary people would never dare to offend him.

Li Heng was silent for a while, then said, "I am familiar with General Wang, and I have also met Censor Lu before. I will let you off this time."

"Thank you, Your Highness..." General Lu thought he could escape and hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

But Li Heng interrupted him and said, "But the king's law is impartial and the military orders are ruthless. I can't break the rules. Come on, take them down and chop them off!"

The personal guards brought by Li Heng were well prepared. They immediately received the order and dragged General Lu and several people who were traveling with him to the camp gate. In front of other soldiers, they chopped off the heads of General Lu and several others on the spot.

The Chishui army was dumbfounded. Wang Jue and Qibi Zhong were also stunned.

They both have their own opinions about Lu Lushuai, but Lu Lushuai's relationships are too complicated.

In the current situation, Wang Zhongsi has won a series of victories in the north, and Li Heng is the most likely to succeed the crown prince. They have to give Wang Zhongsi and Li Heng some face.

But Li Heng had no intention of compromising at all.

The Chishui Army was in shock when Feng Changqing shouted, "Line up!"

The Chishui Army did not dare to slack off any longer and immediately lined up quickly.

Li Heng said: "I will never be partial when rewarding meritorious service or punishing criminals. Commander Lu has violated military law and should be executed. If you have made contributions in the future, I will also reward you according to your merits."

After Li Heng finished speaking, he asked Wang Ju to kill pigs and sheep and hold a banquet for the soldiers.

During the banquet, Dadou suddenly received a report from a soldier.

"Your Highness, the Tibetan army has crossed the Qilian Mountains and has already broken through Qilian City. They are now marching in two groups, one to Ganzhou and the other to Hexi. The Dadou Kang army sent me here to ask for help."

Li Heng and his companions were horrified when they heard the news.

Gao Xianzhi said: "What a fast speed! Your Highness is right, Tubo really came to plunder Hexi."

Li Heng did not expect that after Tubo withdrew from Longyou, it would reach Hexi so quickly. Moreover, Tubo has never been good at fighting siege battles, but this time it could easily capture Qilian City.

Li Heng was stunned for a moment and asked, "How many soldiers do they have?"

The soldier replied: "The Tibetans are leading with cavalry, probably 10,000 cavalry, as for the number of infantry, I don't know."

"Who is leading the army?" Li Ying asked.

The soldier said, "The general of the vanguard army heading towards Ganzhou is Shang Qixin'er Bella, and the general heading towards Liangzhou is Wei Lunmangzhilalue."

Tubo had five major military regions, called the Wu Ru.

They are Wei Ru, Yue Ru, Ye Ru, Zang Ru and Sun Bo Ru.

Each Ru has ten Dongdai, and five Ru make fifty in total. Plus, eleven more Dongdai were set up later, for a total of sixty-one Dongdai.

Therefore, people are accustomed to calling Tubo’s military organization "Tubo Five Rus and Sixty-one Dongdai", with a military force of about 600,000 people.

Although there are five major military zones on the surface, the forces within them are complex and intertwined.

Because Tubo was a tribal alliance, its military organization was based on the clan-based military system. During the reign of Songtsen Gampo, the five major tribes were divided into eighteen spheres of influence.

Although these eighteen forces rose and fell later, the overall situation did not change.

If there is a strong king, everyone will work together. If the king is weak, these clans will attack each other.

After all, before Tubo was unified, there were deep blood feuds among the various clans and tribes.

The Shang Qixin'er Bella that the soldier was referring to was from the Meilu clan, and Wei Lunmangzhilalue was from the Wei clan.

The peak of the Wei clan's power was in the early period of Trisong Detsen. At that time, Wei Qilixu served as the Grand Councilor, who was the prime minister of Tubo.

After Wei Qilixu's death, two more of Wei's descendants took up the posts of Grand Chancellor.

But the good times for the Wei family did not last long. After Trisong Detsen took power in his later years, he began to vigorously reform, changing the system of a single prime minister to a system of many prime ministers. As the last beneficiary of the system of a single prime minister, the Wei family was strongly suppressed.

(End of this chapter)