The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 45 Wang Zhongsi's Troubles
Wang Zhongsi sighed and said, "To be honest with you, Your Highness, the court has just issued an imperial decree, wanting me to pursue the victory and join the Longyou Army to first capture Shibao City and then Chiling."

Li Heng was stunned when he heard this.

The so-called Chiling is the modern Qinghai tourist destination - Sun Moon Mountain.

Sun and Moon Mountain is the place where Princess Wencheng looked back at her hometown when she entered Tibet.

But at the same time, it was also a war purgatory where hundreds of thousands of men from the Tang Dynasty and Tubo shed their blood.

The Tang army fought against Tubo and won many battles, but after each victory they had to retreat back to their original route.

The root cause is Chiling.

Tubo occupied Chiling and built a number of strong cities and fortresses. The most famous among them was Tieren City, which is the Shibao City mentioned by Wang Zhongsi just now.

Relying on Chiling, Tubo took full advantage of the terrain and used it as a support to manage the land of Qinghai Lake and the Nine Bends of the Yellow River behind it, which was equivalent to inserting the rear into the battlefield.

During the Kaiyuan period, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang gathered the three major military and political forces of Hexi, Longyou and Shuofang, appointed Li Yi as the commander, and used the blood of tens of thousands of people to capture Tieren City, which was garrisoned by thousands of people, and named it Shibao City.

Because Tieren City was broken, Tubo was in fear for a while, which led to Huangfu Weiming's proposal to arrange a marriage for Princess Jincheng and marry into Tubo.

However, after Princess Jincheng married Tubo, Tubo relied on Princess Jincheng's power to re-manage the Nine Bends of the Yellow River and suddenly launched a surprise attack on Shibao City.

After that, the relationship between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty deteriorated, which happened in the past two years.

If Li Heng had not intervened and caused the butterfly effect, Li Longji would have transferred Huangfu Weiming to attack Chiling. After Huangfu Weiming was defeated, Li Longji would have replaced him with Wang Zhongsi.

But Wang Zhongsi felt that it was not worthwhile to sacrifice tens of thousands of soldiers to take Chiling, and did not want to fight.

Afterwards, Wang Zhongsi stepped down and was replaced by Geshu Han by Li Longji. Geshu Han captured Shibao City at the cost of the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and from then on gained the highest honor.

But the good times did not last long. Soon after, the Anshi Rebellion broke out. The Tang army not only lost Shibao City, but also lost the entire Hexi Corridor, and even allowed Tubo to reach Chang'an.

Li Heng looked back for a moment and said, "What do you think, General?"

Wang Zhongsi said, "I have already submitted a petition. The stone fort is strong and secure. Tubo has to defend it with its entire nation. If we station troops under the strong city, tens of thousands of people will die. I am afraid that the loss will outweigh the gain. Please rest your troops and wait for an opportunity to capture it. This is the best plan."

Wang Zhongsi was still the same as he was a few years later in history, unwilling to attack Shibao City.

Li Heng sighed inwardly when he heard this.

Because he knew that Wang Zhongsi was unwilling to attack Shibao City, and he would not be able to serve as the governor for long.

But this may not be a bad thing for both Wang Zhongsi and Li Heng, because the main battlefield where Wang Zhongsi made his achievements was between Khitan and Turks, while Hexi was the place that Li Heng wanted to seize.

Li Ying said: "Now that the Tang Dynasty is flourishing, it is reasonable for the court to want to achieve a great feat that will last for thousands of years, but conquering the stone fortress is indeed a long-term effort. I agree with the general's opinion."

Hearing that Li Heng agreed with his opinion, Wang Zhongsi was overjoyed and was about to ask Li Heng to join him in writing a petition. However, he then considered that Li Heng was not a military governor at the moment. If he asked Li Heng to join him in writing a petition, he would inevitably be accused of forming a clique with a general. Therefore, his joy receded and he said, "But the sage does not agree. I have just been appointed as a military governor, so I cannot handle this matter well. Later..."

Wang Zhongsi wanted to say that his future was not bright, but as an official of this rank, some things did not need to be said too clearly, so he did not finish. Li Heng heard what Wang Zhongsi meant and said with a smile: "General, don't worry. It is not wrong not to take Shibao City. General Zhang Shougui did not take Shibao City back then, and he is also killing enemies in Youzhou to serve the country now."

Li Heng's intention was to let Wang Zhongsi follow the example of Zhang Shougui. He didn't have to take Shibao City, but he could take other small merits. After taking some small merits, he could be transferred to another place to be the governor after a while.

Wang Zhongsi understood what Li Ying meant and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness."

Li Ying waved his hand and interrupted, asking, "General Zhang Shougui has an adopted son named An Lushan. Does the general know about this?"

"I've heard of it." Wang Zhongsi didn't understand why Li Heng suddenly mentioned such a small figure, and said casually: "I heard that he suffered a defeat some time ago, and General Zhang Shougui took him to Chang'an and asked the saint to punish him, but the saint not only did not punish him, but also rewarded him."

Li Ying smiled and said, "If General Zhang Shougui really wanted to kill him, he would not have taken him to Chang'an. If he had taken him to Chang'an, my father would have certainly shown General Zhang Shougui some mercy."

Li Heng said this, but in his heart he was thinking: "An Lushan is starting to make a fortune. I hope I can catch up with him in terms of my speed."

"Your Highness is right." Wang Zhongsi nodded. "Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling also advised the sage that An Lushan violated the law and lost his army, so he must be punished according to the law. Moreover, I see that he has the appearance of a rebel, and if he is not killed, it will cause trouble in the future. But the sage said that you should not use Wang Yifu's knowledge of Shi Le to harm the loyal and good people in vain."

In fact, when Zhang Jiuling said this, he did not mean that he could really read faces. He just realized that the court was more focused on the outside than on the inside, and he wanted to suppress the military governors.

At the beginning of this year, Li Longji not only promoted the border general Niu Xianke to Chang'an, but now he also wants to promote Zhang Shougui to be prime minister.

Therefore, Zhang Jiuling's words were more directed at Zhang Shougui than An Lushan.

But Li Longji was still thinking about expansion and obviously had no intention of suppressing the Jiedushi, so he rejected Zhang Jiuling.

Li Heng understood the meaning of this and realized that this was good news for him.

Because according to Li Longji's current thinking, as long as he wins on the battlefield of Xiaoboluo and expands the territory for the Tang Dynasty, he will have the opportunity to obtain the rights of Jiedushi.

Li Heng withdrew his thoughts and said, "General, you have a large number of troops stationed along the Shibao City line. Tubo will not dare to attack. However, given Tubo's behavior, if we dare not attack, we are afraid that they will start from the east and west lines."

"Oh?" Wang Zhongsi became interested.

He was unwilling to let Wang Zhongsi attack Shibao City, but he was very happy to let him repel Tubo from other places, and this was also a good opportunity to make achievements.

Therefore, Wang Zhongsi hurriedly said, "Your Highness, please analyze it."

Li Heng said: "On the eastern front, we will invade from Nanzhao and Shuzhou; on the western front, we will first pass through Xiaoboluo and then enter Anxi."

Wang Zhongsi said: "It's a pity that I only control Hexi. To reach the eastern line, I need to cross several towns. And Anxi is currently under the command of General Gai Jiayun, so it is not convenient for me to intervene."

Li Ying said, "I am just worried about General Gai Jiayun. General Wang may not know that in order to make the Arabs withdraw their troops, I asked General Gai Jiayun to go and take charge, but General Gai Jiayun did not respond. Later, I asked two generals under Gai Jiayun to borrow troops from him. General Gai Jiayun borrowed the troops, but he seemed unhappy and did not respond."

Wang Zhongsi was stunned when he heard this, then he sighed and said, "Since Your Highness trusts me so much and told me this, I will speak frankly. General Gai Jiayun has great military talent, but unfortunately he has a bad character. Now he and Your Highness have a grudge. If Your Highness goes to Anxi, I'm afraid he will not obey the order."

(End of this chapter)