The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 269: Karluk Seeks Help
The imperial edict ordering Li Heng to oversee the mining of copper and iron ores and the casting of weapons was soon delivered to Anxi. Li Heng did not delay. After receiving the edict, he immediately summoned the civil and military officials of Anxi to discuss related matters.

Bian Lingcheng and Yang Guozhong were named to assist in management and also participated in the discussion.

However, the two people's moods were very different.

Bian Lingcheng got a job for nothing and didn't offend anyone, so he was in a very good mood.

Yang Guozhong was full of worries.

Because his impeachment of Li Heng was of no avail, Li Longji not only did not blame Li Heng at all, he did not even react at all, and Li Linfu did not give him any explanation on the matter.

He felt like an abandoned chess piece and no one cared about his life or death.

Li Heng arranged things first, letting Liu Yan take charge and Diwu Qi assist. Noticing Yang Guozhong's expression, he said to him, "General Yang, I heard that you submitted a memorial to the court before. As soon as your memorial arrived, the court issued an imperial decree to mine minerals and forge weapons. Could your memorial be related to this matter?"

"Your Highness, that's...that's exactly it." Yang Guozhong replied guiltily.

Li Ying smiled slightly and said, "You wanted to do something for Qixi, but you didn't tell me in advance. Are you afraid that I will steal your credit?"

"How dare I?" Yang Guozhong quickly stood up and saluted Li Ying, saying in a trembling voice, "I saw that Your Highness was very busy and exhausted, and I didn't want to disturb Your Highness, so I didn't report it to Your Highness in advance."

Li Ying said, "I don't mind if you don't follow the rules, but I don't know if other officials in Qixi will care. After all, you are affecting more than just me."

If an ordinary official dares to report a matter beyond his proper level, his political career will basically be over.

Yang Guozhong had a complicated identity, and Li Ying didn't want to do anything to him, but he still had to give him some threats.

Upon hearing this, Yang Guozhong immediately knelt down and said, "Your Highness, please punish me."

"I've already said that I don't blame you." Li Ying stood up and helped Yang Guozhong up. "You are the princess's cousin, so I will be more generous to you. As long as you don't make false accusations against me, I won't blame you."

Yang Guozhong said: "Your Highness and the Princess have been so kind to me, how could I do something worse than an animal?"

"Yes, repaying kindness with enmity is worse than pigs and dogs." Li Heng cursed and then said, "I believe that Yang Canjun is not such a person."

Yang Guozhong first scolded himself, and then was secretly scolded by Li Heng, which made him feel even more uncomfortable. However, he did not show it at all, and only said: "Thank you for your trust, Your Highness."

Just as Li Ying was about to say something else, Zhang Guangsheng suddenly entered the room, handed a letter to Li Ying, and said, "Your Highness, General Feng Changqing has sent an urgent message."

"Oh?" Li Heng took the letter, opened it and read it.

Feng Changqing reported in a letter that the Uighurs went to war with the Three-surname Karluks and pushed the Three-surname Karluks all the way to the Altai Mountains. The Three-surname Karluks requested support from the Beiting.

The Uighurs were originally just a small tribe, struggling to survive between the Turks and the Tang Dynasty. However, with the support of the Tang Dynasty, the Uighurs gradually grew larger.

In the early years of Tianbao, Wang Zhongsi united the Uighurs, Qarluk and Basmi tribes and completely defeated the Turks. The Uighurs and Qarluk tribes jointly elected the chief of Basmi as Jie Di Yishi Khan, and the Uighur leader Guli Peiluo and the Qarluk chief as the left and right Yehu.

In the third year of Tianbao (744), the leader of the Uighurs, Guli Peiluo, joined forces with the Karluks to defeat Basmil, killed Jiedi Yishi Khan, and proclaimed himself as Gutluk Quebilga Khan, establishing the Uighur Khanate with his court in Udegan Mountain.

In the fourth year of Tianbao, which was last year, the Uighurs and the Karluks turned against each other, and the Karluks were defeated step by step. This year, the Karluks were driven to the Altai Mountains.

From then on, the Uighurs completely replaced the Turks and basically unified the northern desert.

After reading Feng Changqing's letter, Li Heng was about to hand it to Gao Xianzhi, but halfway through, he took it back in time and handed it to Bian Lingcheng. Bian Lingcheng took it respectfully and passed it to Gao Xianzhi after reading it.

Li Heng said to Bian Lingcheng, "What does the Bian Supervisor think the king should do?"

After hearing Li Heng's question, the generals who had finished reading the letter looked at Bian Lingcheng.

Bian Lingcheng noticed the looks of the generals and hesitated, "This... this, the Saint has just appointed Guli Peiluo as the Uighur Khan and recognized the Uighur Khanate. If we support the Karluks in going to war with the Uighurs now, I'm afraid it will hurt the friendship between the two countries."

Gao Xianzhi then said: "But the Karluks are also a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Are we just going to sit back and do nothing?"

"Yes! This is really embarrassing." Bian Lingcheng had no idea what to do, so he could only complain, "Over the years, the Huihe and the Karluks have been as close as brothers, advancing and retreating together. How come they suddenly started fighting?"

Li Heng ignored Bian Lingcheng's complaints and asked again, "What does the military supervisor think should be done?"

"This..." Bian Lingcheng shook his head and said respectfully, "Your Highness will listen to me."

Li Heng said: "The Qarluk are now hiding at the foot of the Altai Mountains. If we report this to the court first and wait for the court to make a decision before we take action, the Qarluk will most likely not be able to hold on and flee west again. If they go further west, they will reach Gongyue City."

"That's right." Bian Lingcheng echoed, bowed to Li Heng and said, "The Saint has granted Your Highness permission to fight first and report later when dealing with border wars. The situation is urgent, Your Highness, please make the decision."

This is exactly what Li Heng was waiting for.

Bian Lingcheng came here to serve as the military supervisor, and his main responsibility was to supervise this matter. If Bian Lingcheng did not take the initiative to bring it up, it would be very likely that he would be impeached using this matter in the future.

"Then I will follow the request of the Border Supervisor and fight first and report later." Li Heng first defined the decision-making matter, then turned to Gao Xianzhi and asked, "General Gao, how do you think we should deal with it?"

Gao Xianzhi pondered, "If the Qarluk are defeated and flee westward, Qixi and Huihe will lose a buffer zone. Now that the Tang Dynasty and Huihe are indeed close, if there is any friction in the future, Huihe's iron hoofs can directly enter Qixi. This is one reason. Second, if the Qarluk flee westward, they will enter the territory actually controlled by the Tang Dynasty. If they join forces with the Tuqishi, it will seriously threaten the safety of Qixi. With these two points, Your Highness must take care of this matter."

Li Heng nodded and said, "You missed one thing."

"Please give me your guidance, Your Highness." Gao Xianzhi said sincerely.

Li Heng said: "The Huihe and Karluk are both vassal states of the Tang Dynasty. They should obey the orders of the Tang Dynasty. Now the Huihe have used troops privately and disrupted the order. We should manage them."

Gao Xianzhi's first two analyses talked about practical interests, while Li Heng's additional analysis was for the purpose of justifying his actions.

The purpose of war is certainly for profit, but the impact of having a legitimate reason for war cannot be ignored.

"Your Highness is right. I will learn from your words." Gao Xianzhi said, "The Huihe are not only attacking the Karluks, but also the Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty."

"That's right." Li Heng nodded and turned to ask the others, "What do the generals think?"

Gao Xianzhi and Li Heng spoke of the benefits and legitimacy respectively, and the other generals naturally had no objections, saying in unison: "I second the motion."

"Okay." Li Heng stood up and said, "Send a message to Feng Changqing to gather the Beiting troops and prepare for battle. Let Li Siye lead 3,000 cavalrymen first. Three days later, I will set out from Anxi and go to the front in person."

"Yes." The generals obeyed the order.

　The cold is still coming back, so I will update once today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)