The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 68 Conditions
"First, you, the troops of Xiaoboluo, must obey my orders; second, you must prepare some money and food for my soldiers."

Li Heng spoke neither hurriedly nor slowly, with a sense of authority.

Ma Xilai was stunned when he heard this, and said, "The first one, my king, can agree to. The second one, Xiaoboluo is a small and weak country, and the food it has prepared may not be enough for the Tang soldiers to use for several days."

"It doesn't matter." Li Heng didn't care. "Just prepare as much as you can."

In fact, with the current strength of Anxi and Li Heng's authority as the envoy of the four towns in Longyou, there is no need for Xiaobolü to prepare food. Therefore, he made such a request not because he really wanted Xiaobolü to provide food, but to give an explanation to the soldiers.

The Tang Dynasty's soldiers were well-armed and had powerful cavalry, but they also learned the nomadic people's habit of plundering.

There are also bad habits left over from the military system.

Since the military system required soldiers to bring their own food and supplies, the soldiers worked hard to fight a war, but the government did not give them money, so they got nothing and naturally had to rob some.

Although the military system has been basically replaced now, this bad temper has been perfectly inherited.

If they arrive in Xiaobolü, and they are stingy and provide poor hospitality, these soldiers might start looting at the slightest disagreement.

If conflicts arise at that time, Li Heng will most likely be attacked from both sides.

So Li Heng wanted to learn from Li Shimin and let others give first, so that it would be difficult for the generals to snatch it.

Since Li Heng had said so, Ma Xilai had no choice but to obey and said, "In that case, I will do my best to follow your instructions."

"Okay." Li Heng stood up and said to Gao Xianzhi and the others, "Choose your generals tomorrow and prepare to go to war."

"Yes." Everyone obeyed.

……

……

……

No one slept that night.

Yang Yuhuan gave Li Heng several boxes of "pills" and said, "These pills smell like medicine. If you don't open them and examine them carefully, you won't be able to tell whether they are real or fake."

"Thank you, my lady." Li Heng put away the "pill" and pulled Yang Yuhuan to sit together.

Yang Yuhuan said, "I heard that the journey to Xiaobolü is very cold, my dear, please take care of yourself."

Li Ying said, "Take care of yourself too. If I come back and find that you have lost weight, I will punish you."

"How will the punishment be?" Yang Yuhuan asked with a smile, leaning on Li Heng's chest.

Li Heng asked, "How do you want me to punish you?"

Yang Yuhuan kissed Li Heng on the face and said, "This is it."

Li Ying was startled and said with a smile: "You are good at thinking."

Yang Yuhuan smiled sweetly, and without saying anything more, she took out two handkerchiefs and handed them to Li Heng, saying, "These are embroidered by me."

Li Ying took a look at them and saw that there was a so-called string wrapped around each of the two handkerchiefs. He smiled knowingly and put them in his arms.

Li Heng warned: "Although I will make arrangements in Anxi, the Turks are very likely to attack the northwest of Qiuci. If you feel unsafe at that time, you can retreat first."

"Yes, yes." Yang Yuhuan nodded, hugged Li Heng tightly, and said, "I will figure it out myself when the time comes, my dear, don't worry. But my dear, the journey ahead will be bitter and cold, and you have to be careful."

"I will." Li Heng also hugged Yang Yuhuan tightly.

……

Gao Xianzhi's Mansion.

Gao Xianzhi sat at the table, watching his wife pack some spare luggage for him.

His two children, his son was already asleep, and his daughter was sitting next to him playing with the rattle he bought.

Gao Xianzhi said to his wife Zhou: "You can just let the servants do these things, you have to clean up the mess yourself every time."

Zhou didn't answer and just went on with her work.

Seeing that Zhou didn't say anything, Gao Xianzhi asked her daughter, "Why isn't Azhi sleeping yet?" "Grandpa is going on a long trip tomorrow and may not be back for a long time. Azhi wants to accompany him." said the little girl.

Over the past two years, Gao Xianzhi first escorted the envoys from Bactria and then went to the Caliphate. Now he has not stayed there for long and has to go on another expedition, so he has been separated from his family for a long time.

Gao Xianzhi sighed secretly, picked up his daughter, and said, "Whatever Ah Zhi wants this time, Grandpa will bring it back to you."

"Azhi doesn't know." Azhi shook her head. "Azhi likes whatever Grandpa brings."

"Good, you're so good." Gao Xianzhi patted his daughter's back, "Go to sleep quickly."

"Yeah." The little girl nodded.

Gao Xianzhi coaxed his daughter to sleep, put her on the bed, and said to his wife Zhou: "What about you? I'll bring you anything you like."

Zhou's eyes were slightly red, and she said, "Every time Alang went to war, I just hoped that you could come back safely. Every time I heard that you fought bravely and led the troops, my heart was in suspense."

Gao Xianzhi smiled and said, "Then do you hope that your husband is a coward?"

"You can't be a coward even if I ask you to!" Zhou sighed and sat down next to Gao Xianzhi. "When we got married, I admired Alang's bravery and fearlessness, but now I am worried. I don't know if I have changed."

"You haven't changed." Gao Xianzhi hugged Zhou, "You just understand things now."

"You mean, I didn't understand things before?" Zhou's attitude changed and she looked at Gao Xianzhi coldly.

Gao Xianzhi hurriedly said, "I understand. I understand everything."

"Okay!" Zhou glared at Gao Xianzhi angrily, "Explain it to me clearly, why didn't I understand before?"

"I didn't say you didn't understand."

"you said so!"

"I didn't say it."

"said!"

"Okay, okay, keep your voice down or you'll wake the child."

……

……

……

The next day, the generals were selected.

In the vast snowfield, the soldiers lined up in formation, with the generals standing in front.

The horn sounded, and Li Heng, wearing golden armor, climbed up the stairs, followed by Gao Xianzhi, An Sishun, Xin Yunjing and Feng Changqing.

Five people came to the stage and the call stopped.

Li Ying first ordered Gao Xianzhi to read out the military discipline.

It was Li Heng's intention to let Gao Xianzhi read out the military discipline.

The biggest black spot of Gao Xianzhi in history was his poor military discipline, which was a perfect inheritance of the style of the Fubing system, so Li Heng wanted to change it for him as soon as possible.

Gao Xianzhi bowed to Li Ying and read out: "Li Ying, the Prince of Shou of the Tang Dynasty, the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Court, the Jiedushi of Jiannan, and the Envoy of the Four Towns of Longyou Road, led troops to fight against Tubo. Now, the military law is issued to all soldiers. The law is impartial and the military order is ruthless. Those who violate it will be punished according to the military law. Now, when the army is on the march, one, it is forbidden to drink and fight, two, it is forbidden to waste clothes and money, and three, it is forbidden to plant crops in the camp..."

Gao Xianzhi read the military law, then saluted Li Heng and stepped back.

Li Ying came to the front of the stage and looked at the soldiers below.

Historically, after the Anshi Rebellion, Tubo occupied Liangzhou, cut off the connection between the imperial court and the northwestern soldiers, and then gradually encroached on Hexi and Beiting, leaving only Anxi in the end.

However, the Anxi soldiers, led by Anxi Jiedushi Erzhu and Guo Xin respectively, defended Anxi for more than 50 years without any connection with Chang'an and without any support.

The young soldiers in front of Li Heng were the first wave of people who would defend Anxi alone. The older ones, and their descendants, would be the last wave, until they became a historical mystery.

As for the Guiyi Army that followed, that is another story.

(End of this chapter)