Tibet

Bi Sichen paced back and forth in the lobby with his hands behind his back. Of course he would not satisfy the Tu emperor. He was actually a Sogdian Hu and did not identify with the Tang Dynasty in his heart. His dream was to separate Anxi and Beiting and rebuild Bi State, which was also a former state. One of the Sogdian kingdoms has perished, and rebuilding the Bi kingdom is the wish of every Bi nation.

If Anxi is separated and becomes Bi State, he will be the founding emperor of Bi State. Just when he is working hard towards his dream, Li Ye is coming. What should he do?

At this time, the housekeeper reported in the hall, "Master, Kang Sima is here!"

Bi Sichen nodded, "Let him in!"

Not long after, Kang Huaishun hurriedly walked into the back hall, bowed and saluted, "See you, coach!"

Kang Huaishun was also a Sogdian and a native of Kang. He had always fully supported Bi Sichen's separatist rule of Anxi and the founding of the country.

You may be wondering, why are there so many Sogdians?

This is actually related to the business and traveling habits of the Sogdians. The Sogdians had to travel long distances to sell goods. They must have supply points, goods storage points, and safe shelters along the Silk Road.

So they would first look for important transportation nodes, settle down at the nodes, and continue to migrate and gather together, thus forming the Sogdian ethnic group locally.

The first node is Suiye, so there are a large number of Sogdians living in Suiye, and there are also several nodes in Anxi and Beiting, including Kucha, Ruoqiang and Shule in Anxi. The commerce in Kucha is very developed, and with Sogdia It has something to do with people living together here.

Three of the four cities in Ruoqiang on the southern line were built by Sogdians. However, after the west sea line was cut off, there are not many Sogdians in Ruoqiang now, and many Sogdians have moved to Kucha.

As for Shule, its name is the transliteration of Sogdia.

Then there is Gaochang on the northern line, as well as Dunhuang and Zhangye in the Hexi Corridor. These are the nodes of the Sogdians. There are a large number of Sogdians living there, especially Zhangye, which is the hometown of the Sogdians and there are particularly many Sogdians there. , An Lushan, Shi Siming, and An Sishun were all from Zhangye.

Therefore, it is not surprising that there are many Sogdian generals in the Anxi army.

Historically, it is logical that Bi Sichen later became An Lushan's general. They were both Sogdians.

Of course, not all Sogdians are rebellious. For example, Li Baoyu and Li Baozhen, the famous generals of the Mid-Tang Dynasty, are actually Sogdians. They come from the famous An family in Zhangye. By their names, you will know that they are Sogdian Anguo people.

Bi Sichen knew that Kang Huaishun's arrival at this time must have important news, so he quickly asked: "What happened?"

Kang Huaishun said anxiously: "There is news from Khotan that the Tibetan troops in Qiemo and Ruoqiang were completely wiped out by a Tang army of unknown origin."

"What?"

Bi Sichen was shocked and asked anxiously: "How could Wang Tao know?"

We must know that the distance between Yutian Town and Qiemo City is more than a thousand miles. It must have been a long time since Wang Tao got the news.

"It was the businessman from Qiemo who came and told him."

Speaking of this, Kang Huaishun said cautiously: "The commander-in-chief is probably Li Ye's army. It can only be him."

"Of course it must be him!"

Bi Sichen was really upset, "King Keqing told me clearly that Li Ye only had a thousand troops accompanying him. How could a thousand troops annihilate thousands of Tibetan troops? He must have other troops in his hands. Where did they come from?"

Bi Sichen's previous plan was to ambush an army halfway, annihilate Li Ye and his thousand troops, and then use Li Ye's name to support his own army.

Now he suddenly discovered that Li Ye might have more than a thousand troops, and he had no backup plan, so of course he was worried.

Kang Huaishun thought for a moment and said, "Commander, could it be the Hexi Army? Gao Xianzhi sent the army to him."

"impossible!"

Bi Sichen categorically denied, "Gao Xianzhi has no power to send the Hexi Army to Anxi. Only the emperor has this power. If there is an edict, King Qing will definitely tell me. Besides, you don't know Gao Xianzhi, he is as sharp as a needle. Even if the emperor ordered him to give Li Ye an army, he would do everything possible to find reasons to shirk it."

Kang Huaishun hesitated and said: "Then there is another possibility. Li Ye relied on a thousand troops to kill Ruoqiang and Qiemo's two thousand Tubo troops. I think this is possible. The Tubo troops were too scattered, and Li Ye was able to kill them all Break."

Bi Sichen nodded slowly, "What you said makes sense. According to the information we got, there are 300 people in Qitun City, Putao City and Nuzhi City each, 500 people in Dianhe City, and 800 people in Qiemo City. If he doesn't go to Ga Si grassland, then he can indeed lead a thousand troops to defeat the Tubo army in each of the five cities."

Kang Huaishun did not say a word, he was waiting for Bi Sichen to make the final decision.

Bi Sichen walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and said in his heart: "There is no poison, no husband, just act according to the original plan and let him die on the way!"

After Li Ye's team arrived at Puchanghai, they turned west again. Despite the cold weather, they seized hundreds of leather tents and a large number of sheepskins and other trophies in the Gasi grassland. At night, the soldiers could sleep in the leather tents with their bodies under their bodies. It was soft and comfortable old sheepskin, wrapped in a thick blanket, and with oil and water in its belly, the soldiers were no longer cold.

There were many dead poplars along the Chihe River, and the soldiers used these dead poplars to barbecue mutton, making their mouths full of oil every day.

I ate well and slept soundly along the way, and the march was more than ten times better than the previous hardships.

In the evening of this day, the army arrived at a Tang Army garrison called Lao Huyang garrison. The garrison was under the jurisdiction of Yanqi Military Town. There were ten soldiers, led by a fire chief.

Li Ye ordered the entire army to rest where they were, and he brought a dozen soldiers to inspect the fort.

Ten soldiers lined up to welcome the arrival of the Jiedushi. The fire chief was a Han Chinese, about twenty-five or six years old, and looked very smart.

"What's your name? Where are you from?"

"Reporting back to Jiedushi, my name is Fu Xin, and my hometown is Jiuquan, Hexi. However, I was born in Anxi, and my parents are farming in Yanqi Town."

This is the descendant of a Long March athlete. Li Ye nodded and walked into the fort to take a look. The conditions of the soldiers of the Tang Army were still relatively difficult. The sheepskins they slept on were in tatters and they ate rough flour. There were three forts in total. The first floor is for horse breeding, the second floor is for dormitories, and the top of the third floor is an observation tower, where soldiers usually stand guard.

Li Ye immediately ordered that each of the ten soldiers be given two sheepskins and two blankets, and each soldier was given five frozen sheep and a pound of salt. He also gave each of them a new set of daily necessities, including barrels, basins, and cups. , cooking utensils, etc., the soldiers were very happy.

Fire Chief Fu Xin was really moved. He hesitated and stepped forward and said: "Jiedu Envoy, I have something humble to report!"

"What's up?"

Fu Xin pointed forward and said: "There is a Tang army in the Phoenix Valley thirty miles ahead, and the leader is Chen Fengzhong."

Li Ye was startled, how could there be a Tang army in front?

"How many people are there in the army?"

"Beizhi only knows that there is a Tang army, but I don't know how many people there are. Yesterday morning, someone came to Beizhi, gave Beizhi a few taels of silver, and said that as long as there is a Tang army coming from the east, he will inform them immediately."

Li Ye's face became a little ugly. He knew the Phoenix Valley, a very dangerous valley. The Red River ran through the valley. The canyon was about ten miles long. It was rumored that someone saw the Phoenix and it was named after it.

In Anxi and Beiting, this kind of canyon is very common and can be seen everywhere, but it is located right on the Silk Road, which makes it a good place for bandits to rob caravans. The canyon is blocked at both ends, making it difficult for caravans to fly.

That's why the Anxi Army decided to set up a garrison here to warn the caravans coming and going.

Of course, Li Ye knew what it meant when the Tang army appeared in Phoenix Valley. This meant that Bi Sichen was about to ambush him.

He must have thought that he only had a thousand troops, and he killed all of himself and his men in the valley without anyone noticing.

Li Ye nodded, "I understand, thank you to Chief Huo for informing you in time!"

The fire chief took out another ten taels of silver and said with shame, "This is the money they gave me. Jiedushi cares about us so much. He cannot do anything unconscionable because of his humble position."

Li Ye took the silver and asked someone to fetch fifty taels of silver and handed it to him, "The thirty taels are to reward you for your loyalty. The other twenty taels are given to the brothers so that they can have a good New Year for the family."

Fu Xin said with a sore nose: "On behalf of my brothers, I would like to thank you for your love!"