The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 246: Censor Yan

Li Ying and his party set out from Liangzhou City, resting as they went, and it took them six days to reach the border of Tianbao County.

In September in Hexi, the weather is clear and cool, the blue sky is dust-free, and beneath the sky is a field full of fruits.

Li Ying immediately looked into the distance and saw more than twenty Tang soldiers surrounding a civil servant in green official uniform.

According to the Tang Dynasty system, officials wearing blue uniforms were only allowed to be of the eighth rank. However, Li Ying saw that among the cavalrymen surrounding this man, there was a sixth rank general.

What was the reason that made a group of high-ranking military generals try to please an eighth-rank civil official?
Li Heng was a little confused and rode his horse forward.

The group of people were startled when they saw another group of people riding horses towards them, and immediately took a defensive stance.

It was not until Li Ying and others came closer that someone in the group recognized Wang Daqing, so they let down their guard and dismounted.

When Li Heng and others approached, the leading general took the lead in saluting and said, "Greetings, Governor Wang."

Governor Wang introduced: "General Guo, this is His Royal Highness Prince Shou."

When they heard it was Li Heng, they were surprised and hurriedly bowed to greet him. At the same time, they complained in their hearts: "Other princes all dress according to the rules when they travel far away, but only Prince Shou doesn't follow the rules. Who can recognize this person?"

After everyone had bowed, Li Heng asked, "Which military garrison are you from?"

The leading general said, "Your Highness, I am from the Dadou Army, and I am the deputy commander of the Dadou Army, Guo Yingyi."

Guo Yingyi was the son of Guo Zhiyun, the Supreme Pillar State and Governor of Liangzhou.

Guo Zhiyun had seven sons. The eldest, Guo Yingjie, died in the battlefield during the expedition against the Khitan in the 21st year of Kaiyuan. The second to seventh sons are still alive and are now scattered in various armies in Hexi and Longyou.

The Guo family is also full of loyal and brave people. Guo Yingyi is also capable. When Li Heng was in power, he was in charge of a region, but he had big problems with his personal style.

"What are you doing here?" Li Ying asked.

Guo Yingyi said: "I am accompanying Yan Fu to check the situation of the military farms."

The so-called Futun Jiaobingshi was a censor sent by the Censorate to remote areas to inspect military farms.

Upon hearing this, Li Heng looked at the envoy who was in charge of the battle.

I saw that this man had a tall figure, a square face, a full forehead, a square chin, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looked very smart.

Li Ying said, "I don't think I've seen you before."

The man said, "Your Highness, I am Yan Zhenqing. I have admired Your Highness for a long time and have always wanted to pay you a visit, but my official position is too low to allow me to do so."

Hearing that this person was Yan Zhenqing, Li Heng was a little surprised, and he got off his horse and said, "So you are Yan Qingchen."

Qingchen is the pen name of Yan Zhenqing.

Yan Zhenqing was also somewhat surprised and asked, "Your Highness, do you recognize me?"

Li Ying said, "You once learned calligraphy from Bo Gao, who is now working in Qixi. He talked to me about you and was very impressed by you."

Bo Gao is Zhang Xu.

When Yan Zhenqing heard Li Heng mention Zhang Xu, he was stunned for a moment and asked, "I wonder if my master is in good health?"

Li Ying said, "Still healthy."

Yan Zhenqing took out a piece of calligraphy and presented it to Li Heng, saying, "Your Highness, please give my regards to my master on my behalf."

"I will do as you say." Li Heng accepted the letter, "I will deliver your calligraphy to you."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Yan Zhenqing bowed to Li Ying.

Li Heng handed Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy to Zhang Guangsheng, and then asked Yan Zhenqing, "Has Censor Yan found out about the military farming situation in the Helong area?" Yan Zhenqing said, "I have just arrived in Hexi and am investigating. I will return to the capital to report back after I have found out. May I ask why your Highness is here?"

Yan Zhenqing's question was a bit stubborn. If it were someone else, they would not ask Li Ying directly.

But if Yan Zhenqing didn't dare to ask, he would not be Yan Zhenqing.

It was because of Yan Zhenqing's upright character and his faithful performance of his duties as Censor that he later offended Yang Guozhong and was transferred away from the capital by Yang Guozhong.

Li Heng didn't care and replied, "I'll go to Tianbao County to check on the number of people in Liangzhou who are not registered and those who are not registered. In addition to inspecting the military settlements, will Censor Yan also inspect the civilian settlements?"

Yan Zhenqing said: "Military settlements and civilian settlements are all related to national affairs, so we must take them into consideration."

"That's right." Li Ying nodded and said, "We each have official business to attend to. We will say goodbye now. We will meet again in the future."

Yan Zhenqing had heard of Li Heng's reputation for a long time, so he wanted to take this opportunity to get to know Li Heng, so he said, "Your Highness, we are both going to Tianbao County, why don't we go together?"

"Okay." Li Heng agreed.

Yan Zhenqing said, "I am sorry to bother Your Highness in this way."

"It doesn't matter."

Li Heng led the horse himself and walked forward, while the others followed behind.

After entering Tianbao County, Li Heng did not go to the county government office, but went straight to the village outside the city and asked Shi Shouyi to take people to inquire about the situation of each customer.

Seeing Li Heng act in this way, Yan Zhenqing advised: "Your Highness, there are more than 20,000 households in Liangzhou. If we follow this method to investigate, it will take half a year to find out. As the envoy of promotion and demotion, you should give the outline and let the people below handle the specific matters."

The main reason why Li Heng conducted this investigation was that he wanted to delay Wang Daqing until Qibi Zhong had dealt with the problem of the Tibetan scouts.

But he could not tell Yan Zhenqing the truth, so he could only say: "Has Censor Yan ever heard of knocking a mountain to scare a tiger? A piece of silk can be torn completely along the cut if a cut is made."

Yan Zhenqing was startled when he heard this and said, "It is my humble servant who is shallow."

Li Heng smiled slightly and was about to speak when Qibi Zhong's deputy general Liang Zai came hurriedly and reported: "Your Highness, can I have a word with you for a moment?"

"Of course." Li Ying stood up and walked aside with Liang Zai.

Liang Zai said, "Your Highness, the Qibi army sent a message to me. Mi Qian and Kang Yi fled westwards while sending people to the direction of Dadouba Valley."

"Dadouba Valley?" Li Ying looked towards the west, thoughtfully.

To the west of Tianbao County is Yanzhi Mountain, a branch of the Qilian Mountains. Behind Yanzhi Mountain is the Dadouba Valley.

The last time Tubo marched from Daduba Valley, preparing to plunder Hexi, and then Li Heng used a strategy of sowing discord against them.

Liang Zai said: "It is very likely that Tubo will advance from Dadouba Valley again this time. Your Highness, should we send troops to ambush them?"

Li Heng said, "Unless we know the exact time when the Tibetans will march, the Dadouba Valley is not suitable for an ambush."

The terrain of Dadouba Valley is complex and the climate is unpredictable. During the Daye period, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty led his concubines and 100,000 soldiers to attack Tuyuhun. In June, they marched into Dadouba Valley and were suddenly hit by a snowstorm. Tens of Yang Guang's concubines and soldiers were frozen to death, and most of the horses and donkeys were also frozen to death. Yang Guang's own sister was not spared either.

With such complex terrain and climate, if you don't know the exact time of the enemy's advance and rashly send people to ambush, it is very likely that half of your own people will be killed before you even reach the enemy.

This is why a general must know the weather and terrain.

Li Ying pondered for a while and said, "Back then, Emperor Yang of Sui received envoys from the leaders of the 27 countries in the Western Regions at Yanzhi Mountain, held a grand meeting, and exhibited goods for a month. The Tang Dynasty was much more powerful than the previous dynasty. If Emperor Yang of Sui could hold a grand meeting at Yanzhi Mountain, why couldn't the Tang Dynasty do the same?"

Liang Zai said: "Your Highness, do you mean to hold a grand event in Yanzhi Mountain to actively attract Tubo?"

(End of this chapter)