Tibet

More than 3,000 people were burned to death in a fire. Shang Jiezan was frightened. He originally did not believe Ma Chongying's words. A fire caused thousands of Tibetan troops who invaded Wengcheng to be burned alive.

Now he believed it, wasn't this narrow valley the Wengcheng? A fierce fire burned to death more than 3,000 Tuyuhun soldiers. Although they were not Tibetan soldiers, sooner or later it would be the turn of Tibetan soldiers if the fight continued like this.

Lun Mangre couldn't help it anymore and stepped forward to persuade: "Captain, the opponent's fire oil is indeed very sharp. In the open area, the soldiers can still spread out in all directions, but in the narrow valley, there is no place to escape." , no matter how many troops we have, it is not enough to consume, and the opponent has not suffered losses yet. I suggest that we strengthen the defense of Big Dou City and New City."

Shang Jiezan interrupted him coldly, "Then did more than 10,000 of us die in vain?"

"A humble job is just to state the facts!"

After a pause, Lun Mangre gave Shang Jiezan another step, "Besides, if 10,000 soldiers had not died in battle, how could we have seen the Tang army's strategy and methods of using fire, so that we could avoid suffering big losses in the future? Did the governor say so?"

After a long silence, Shang Jiezan said slowly: "Forget it! The dead are like ants, so they deserve to die. Send the order, and the army will withdraw from Dadou, pull out the valley, and return to Dadou City!"

The Tibetan army retreated, and Li Ye was not in a hurry to attack. He sent several scouts to investigate. One day later, the sent scouts received news that the Tibetan army had crossed the Datong River and returned to Dadou City.

Li Ye then asked Guan Pei to lead his army to collect the remains of the enemy soldiers, burn them into ashes and bury them deeply.

The army then came to the mouth of Dadou Valley and built a garrison on the mountainside.

In Sanshui City, the Tang army is also busy building stone houses. Three thousand people will be stationed here, and various infrastructures need to be complete.

In the afternoon of the next day, Li Ye came to Chen Kai and asked: "Is Dadouba Valley the only nearby canyon that can cross the Qilian Mountains?"

Chen Kai was originally a lieutenant under Pei Fang and was stationed in Badou Bago for a long time. In the 13th year of Tianbao, he suffered a serious arrow wound in his leg while participating in the Battle of Hehuang. He retired after being promoted to General Lang, although he lost a little bit of his leg. Although he was lame and disabled, Li Ye needed someone like him who understood the Qiang language and was familiar with the terrain, so he recruited him into the army again as an eagle-attacking general.

Chen Kai shook his head and said: "Reporting to your highness, the mountains in this area are relatively broken. There are several canyons that pass through the Qilian Mountains, but the only canyon that can be crossed with luggage is Dadou Bagou."

Li Ye asked again: "Do you know all the canyons?"

“As far as Bei Zhi knows, there are three valley roads in total. In addition to Dadouba Valley, there are also Wild Wolf Valley and Sedge Valley. Bei Zhi has been to Wild Wolf Valley, but not to Sedge Valley, but you can ask local herders, they are very familiar with it. "

Li Ye pointed to the sand table and said, "Mark the Wild Wolf Valley on the sand table!"

Chen Kai picked up a small red flag, looked at it for a moment, and then planted it in a depression, "Your Majesty, this should be the Wild Wolf Valley. It is about thirty miles away from Dadou Valley. There is a big rock at the mouth of the valley, which looks a bit like Wolf, so it’s called Wild Wolf Valley.”

At this time, the scout general Zhang Dian hurried over, knelt down on one knee and saluted, "See you, Your Highness!"

Li Ye asked him: "Are there any Tibetan spies at the entrance of Dadou Bagou now? I'm talking about the Hexi Corridor."

"Reporting to Your Highness, there is currently no trace of the Tibetan spies."

Li Ye pointed to the Wild Wolf Valley where the flag was planted and said: "General Chen just told me that in addition to Dadou Bagh, there are two canyons nearby, one is called Wild Wolf Valley and the other is called Sedge Valley. They are the largest with Dadou Bago. The only difference is that you can't carry baggage. Do you know what I'm worried about? If the Tibetan army uses manpower to establish a logistics supply point in the canyon, then their army can go around our backs, attack us, or cut off our supplies. We can no longer defend Douba Valley."

"Your Majesty, I completely understand what your Highness means!"

Li Ye nodded and said to Chen Kai: "This task is very important. I will give you 300 cavalry and 500 camels. Find these two canyons. First, look for any Tibetan spies hiding, and secondly, find where to build a garrison." Then I will ask the Ganzhou Governor's Mansion to build a defense there!"

"As ordered!" The two of them bowed and agreed.

Li Ye said to Guan Pei again: "I am not in Ganzhou, so you will take charge of this matter."

Guan Pei bowed and said: "Your Highness, please rest assured, I will definitely handle this matter!"

Three days later, scouts came to report that the main force of the Tibetan army had retreated and returned to Shanzhou.

Li Ye immediately led everyone to the Datong River to worship the six thousand soldiers who had sacrificed their lives for the country, and ordered Pei Jun to carve a monument to commemorate these fallen soldiers.

Li Ye immediately stood on the north bank of the Datong River, staring at the Big Dou City in the distance, and said to Guan Pei: "As long as we don't attack the Big Dou City, then the two sides will maintain a balance. Now I don't want to break this balance for the time being. If necessary, I will I will notify you immediately to attack it."

Since he gave this instruction, Li Ye must have decided to let Guan Pei stationed in Ganzhou. In this ambush crisis, it was Guan Pei's quick wit that prevented the 10,000 Tibetan troops from attacking the north bank. Otherwise, once the Tibetan troops broke through, they would destroy the pontoon bridge. , the Tang army on the south bank, including Li Ye himself, will definitely be destroyed.

Li Ye therefore credited Guan Pei with great merit, promoted him to General Huben Lang, and prepared to appoint him as deputy governor of Ganzhou.

Guan Pei nodded silently, and Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "We need to use the weaknesses of Big Dou City to deal with it. Its biggest weakness is the narrowness of the city. It is estimated that there are 10,000 troops stationed there. As a result, their military camps are far from enough and they have to set up large tents at night. live.

But I found that they are all wool tents, not sheepskin tents. Wool tents are afraid of fire and are very easy to ignite. If you use a trebuchet to throw sulfur and charcoal fire mud from all sides at night, it will catch fire all over and the Tibetan soldiers will not have time to escape. You Throw a large number of wheat straw balls and oleander powder into the city. I believe the Tibetan soldiers will open the door and flee. I don’t need to teach you what to do. "

Guan Pei bowed and saluted, "I remember my humble position!"

"I only have one request!"

Li Ye said coldly: "No prisoners of war!"

Li Ye immediately appointed Guan Pei as the deputy governor of Ganzhou and Pei Jun as the governor of Ganzhou. He left 3,000 troops to guard Dadou Bago and 10,000 troops to guard Ganzhou. He led the remaining 15,000 troops. Thousands of troops returned to Liangzhou.

Li Ye originally brought 50,000 troops to Liangzhou. Suzhou, Guazhou and Shazhou each sent 5,000 troops, leaving 35,000 troops. In addition, he lost 6,000 troops, leaving only 3,000 troops. If there are less than 10,000 troops left to guard Ganzhou, he will only have 15,000 more troops left. However, he plans to take away 10,000 troops from Liangzhou's 20,000 troops and leave 10,000 troops in Liangzhou. The army is enough.

Li Ye returned to Jincheng County, but his army did not return. Nan Jiyun led 25,000 troops to garrison in Huizhou, preparing to attack Shuofang.

Jincheng County has been very lively these days, and in two days it will be the day when Longyou will take the examination for recruiting civil servants.

Tens of thousands of young scholars from Longyou and Guannei prefectures gathered in Jincheng County. At the same time, there was also an examination venue in Yong County, Qizhou, but the number of reference people was larger.

The dream of scholars is, of course, all about getting into the imperial examination. Every year, tens of thousands of people gather in Chang'an to take part in the imperial examination, hoping to pass the imperial examination and ascend to the throne of the emperor.

But the reality is very cruel. Only a dozen people are admitted to the Jinshi Department every year, and the Mingjing Department is a little more, but only a few dozen people. For tens of thousands of reference scholars, it is a drop in the bucket.

If you have a powerful ancestor and have the status of a Yin official, you don't need to take the imperial examination. At most, you can go to Taixue for two years.

Of course, going to Taixue is also a way. If you graduate from Taixue, you will have a reputation, that is, you are qualified to be an official. If there is a quota, you can go to Zhouxue as a teaching assistant. After teaching for five years, you will have the opportunity to be promoted to a doctorate. He was an eighth-grade official and started his career as an official.

But whether it is Yin Guan or Taixue, they are all smooth paths arranged for the children of powerful people, and ordinary scholars still have no chance.

This time Helong Jiedu Mansion recruited 200 civil servants. At first, no one cared much about it. The scholars who came to Chang'an to take the imperial examination all wanted to be officials. Who wanted to be a civil servant? But after the recruitment notice came out, it immediately caused a sensation in Chang'an.

Why, because there is a clause in it, recruiting a number of state government judges.

What is a magistrate? The prefectural yamen’s scribes, judicial officers, si warehouses, si gong, etc. correspond to the six officials of the county yamen. These are ninth-grade officials!

Some people expected it, some questioned it, and some were disdainful, but nearly 20,000 people still registered in Chang'an to prepare for the upcoming exam.

Of course, the real meaning behind Longyou's open recruitment of civil servants this time will be understood by the famous families and will immediately arrange for their children to refer to it. Families who can't understand will lose the opportunity.