Tibet

Ten days passed in Qiuci. Late that night, Li Ye woke up in a daze and suddenly heard a low cry. It turned out to be Yang Yuhuan beside him crying softly.

Li Ye was shocked and quickly held her shoulders, "What's wrong?"

Yang Yuhuan lowered his head and said nothing. Li Ye simply picked her up and lay on him, kissed her forehead, and asked softly: "What's wrong?"

"I miss the baby."

Li Ye wiped away her tears and said with a smile, "We will set off back in two days."

"But do you want to go to Shule, Yanqi and Khotan?"

Li Ye smiled and said: "The commanders and main officials of the three towns are on their way. They will probably arrive tomorrow. I will meet them tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and everything will be fine."

"Aren't you going to Shule?"

Li Ye shook his head, "If we go there again, I'm worried that I'll be stuck in Hexi in the winter. Since I won't go to Hezhong, the trip to the three towns will be cancelled. Anyway, the generals are here, so it doesn't matter if we don't go."

Yang Yuhuan also became a little nervous, "Husband, are you really trapped in the Hexi Corridor?"

In fact, Li Ye was also a little nervous. He barely made it in time, but he was worried that something would delay him on the way, which would be really troublesome.

"It shouldn't be a problem. I'll make arrangements for the return trip and I'll be there in time."

Yang Yuhuan was relieved and began to twist her body slightly again, strongly hinting at her husband. Li Ye understood, and the room was full of spring again.

The next morning, the military envoy Yao Qun and deputy general Li Bo from Yanqi Town, as well as the general Wang Feiyi and deputy general Wei Lifu from Shule Town rushed to Qiuci. At noon, the military envoy Bai Lingshan and deputy general Zhao Lian from Khotan Town arrived at Kucha. Also arrived at Qiuci, Bai Lingshan was Bai Xiaode's second son.

Li Ye seized the time and held a military and political meeting at the Anxi camp in the afternoon. More than 20 civil and military officials held discussions in the Chinese army's tent.

"Let's make a long story short today and just talk about two things, missions and resources. First, what is the mission of the Anxi Army?"

Li Ye glanced at everyone with a stern look and said: "This time I came to Anxi and took the Xihainan Road. Maybe many people have never walked there. In my long-term impression, it was a desert, cold, and full of salt. Alkaline, a place unsuitable for human life, but I found out that I was wrong. All the way from Xihai South Road, there were only grasslands and lakes with rich water and grass. The Tibetan army came from such grasslands to enter the big and small Bolu, and then entered Qiemoruo. Qiang, I am sure that they will come again, so the Anxi army has only one task, which is to block the Tibetan army from peeking at Anxi and Tocharo. Xiaobolu will station troops, and Ruoqiang will also station heavy troops. I suggest Build a military city on the Gasi grassland and build a fortress in the Ruoqiang Valley. This is the only way for the Tubo people to enter Anxi."

Bai Xiaode expressed his position: "Reporting to Your Highness, we will immediately conduct a site selection investigation and start construction as soon as possible!"

Li Ye nodded and said: "The second thing is resources. Resources include human resources. Simply put, they are soldiers. The second thing is material resources. Soldiers, pig iron, salt, these are material resources. The third thing is financial resources, which is money and food." , these three resources must be available. Now there are 15,000 troops. I will allocate another 5,000 troops to Anxi to bring the Anxi army to 20,000. Then the material resources will be insufficient. After I return, I will allocate a batch of materials from the Hexi warehouse to Anxi, this is not a big problem.

Finally, there is money and food resources. Do you have any good suggestions? Liu Changshi talks. "

Chief Shi Liu Kun said slowly: "Bizhi and Governor Bai have discussed many times that food can be solved through military settlements. Then we can grow cotton and set up trading houses on both sides of the Chi River to sell cotton to Chang'an. Military expenses can be We’ll add some, but it’s best to hope that the Sogdian commercial tax can be left to us.”

Bai Xiaode quickly added: "As far as I know, mining of silver and copper mines has begun in Hezhong. They have this condition. Anxi does not have such a good silver mine. If Hezhong can solve the military salary problem by mining silver mines, Beizhi also begs Su. We will collect the special trade tax.”

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said: "The tax arrangement is decided by the Wang Xiang and the Chang Shi's Mansion, and also needs to be coordinated with the Hezhong Governor's Mansion. Let's do it! I will first allocate 200,000 taels of silver as temporary military supplies for the Anxi Army when I go back, and then you will also To start mining copper, I will allow you to make your own copper coins and trade with Shazhou to obtain the necessary supplies. As for the commercial tax you mentioned, it may take some time to negotiate, so be patient!"

Bai Xiaode and Liu Kun bowed together and said: "I humbly obey my orders!"

After the trip to Anxi, Li Ye asked Bai Xiaode to send an eagle letter to Li Fei Shouyu, the governor of Beiting, asking him and Chang Shi Dugujun to rush to Dunhuang to meet him.

Li Ye had no time to inspect Beiting, so he could only meet with the main officials of Beiting in Shazhou.

Before dawn the next day, Li Ye led three thousand troops and set off. He ended his trip to Anxi and officially returned to Chang'an.

As the king and generals bid farewell, Li Ye's team set off.

This time he decided to go to Shazhou first, and then go to Chang'an along the Hexi Corridor. It was already the end of September. If he marched as he did when he came, he would definitely be trapped in Hexi or Longyou by the snowstorm. He had to change his marching method.

He divided the three thousand cavalry into three teams. Each team rode for four hours, while the other two thousand people lay on camels to rest and sleep. After four hours, the second team of soldiers rode horses, and those who were on duty before got on the camels to sleep. , and the third batch will be on duty four hours later.

Three thousand war horses are also allocated to each soldier on duty. Three horses are allocated to each soldier on duty. The soldiers on duty take turns to change horses so that the war horses can also get the news.

The biggest advantage of this is that you can march day and night, which greatly saves time.

Of course, it is not non-stop, but the camp is held every two days. This reduces the camp time at night, and the original one and a half month journey time is compressed to one month.

The team walked eastward along the Chihe River. According to King Qi's plan, Hu Benlang divided Xue Yong's three thousand soldiers into three teams, taking turns to rest and be on duty. The formation also changed, with 20,000 camels walking in the middle and one thousand cavalry. There are three hundred people in the front, middle and back, and another hundred people guard King Qi and the princess. There are rumors that there are horse bandits in the Hexi Corridor, and they must be more vigilant.

One more thing needs to be said here. They brought 30,000 camels with them when they came, 10,000 of which were left to Anxi as an asset of the Dudu Mansion to facilitate their long-distance march.

The supplies they brought to Anxi were all unloaded, and it was much easier to go back. Almost all the twenty-odd carriages were free for the sick soldiers to ride.

Yang Yuhuan was sitting in a large carriage. The road was smooth and the carriage was not bumpy. It was more comfortable to walk. She and the two maids rested according to their normal schedule.

Sometimes, Yang Yuhuan felt sorry for her husband and would pull Li Ye into the carriage to sleep at night.

A few days later, the team crossed Puchanghai and entered a relatively difficult journey. Of course, if there were no sandstorms, this journey would not be difficult. The livestock could find hay and encounter several water pools for supply.

At the edge of the vast sand sea, the mighty army headed towards Dunhuang, Shazhou.