Tibet

"boom!"

Ma Chongying slammed his fist on the table, and said through his clenched teeth, "A bunch of useless idiots!"

He paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his hands. The annoyance and depression in his heart made him want to yell.

In order to attract the other party's attention, he attacked Taohe repeatedly, even sacrificing the lives of three thousand people, just to allow Shuofang's food to cross the border safely.

Unexpectedly, the other party was not very old, but he was an out-and-out old fox. He actually saw through his intentions and used his plan to his advantage. Not only did he take away 700,000 shi of grain and 20,000 camels, he also annihilated all 10,000 Liangzhou troops. Taking the opportunity, they invaded the Hexi Corridor and captured Liangzhou.

In the words of the Han people, this is "stealing chicken but losing rice". How could Ma Chongying not be extremely angry?

Now it's not just a matter of anger, but how does he explain to Zamp? How could Zamp explain to those nobles?

Under tremendous pressure, Ma Chongying knew that he had to take action, gain momentum, and win a big victory in order to offset the serious consequences of this heavy loss.

Ma Chongying stared at the sand table and pondered for a long time, and finally fixed his eyes on Jincheng County. Although it was extremely difficult, except for Jincheng County, he really couldn't think of any other place where he could calm Zamp's wrath.

But it is too difficult to capture Jincheng County. Just capturing the Taoshui River will cost them a heavy price. But it is already late autumn, and the weather will soon get cold. In October, the Taoshui River begins to freeze, and by mid-November, the Taoshui River begins to freeze. , the ice completely covered the river surface.

He can prepare now, and he must prepare as soon as possible. In November, the entire Longyou will be covered with heavy snow, and his army will not be able to go to Taoshui even if it wants to.

Ma Chongying immediately ordered Lun Mangre to lead 10,000 troops to camp at the Tao River first. Lun Mangre was shocked and quickly advised: "Why should the governor be so anxious? Winter is coming soon, with heavy snow cover and difficult roads. If we win, it will be okay, but If we lose, I’m afraid we won’t even be able to return to Shanzhou, so please think twice, Commander-in-Chief!”

Ma Chongying sighed and said, "Don't you know that Shang Jiezan has sent people back to Tibet?"

Shang Jiezan was originally Shang Jiexi's deputy general and an important figure in the Tubo aristocratic Na Nang family. After Ma Chongying took over Shanzhou, he promoted Lun Mangre to deputy general. Later, he sent his confidant Lun Boxi to Hexi to fully take over the power, but Shang Jiezan was sent to farm in Hehuang Valley.

Shang Jiezan was very dissatisfied with Ma Chongying. Ma Chongying failed to transport grain this time and suffered heavy losses. How could Shang Jiezan miss this opportunity to impeach Ma Chongying? After he got the news, he immediately sent people to Tibet to complain.

Ma Chongying walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said: "I have also considered it repeatedly. We can build the walled city on a high place, dig wells to store ice as a water source, prepare enough food and grass, and coupled with our trebuchets, we can definitely defend it until the beginning of spring. More importantly, we must do something as soon as possible in order to give an explanation to Zamp, otherwise the losses are so heavy, but we are indifferent, and Zamp will not be able to explain to the nobles!"

Lun Mangre saw that the governor had made up his mind, so he suggested: "When setting up camp in the stronghold, we must be careful against the Tang army's fire attack. I suggest using a large rawhide tent."

Ma Chongying nodded, "Okay! You can immediately equip a heavy-duty raft and transport food and supplies to Taoshui to camp."

Having said this, Ma Chongying said meaningfully: "Please believe me, this time I will catch the Tang army by surprise again, just like I did when Dafeichuan caught my brother Shu Han by surprise."

The joy in Jincheng County has not completely subsided. Li Ye's slogan of letting every household enjoy the spoils has brought huge benefits to all Jincheng people. Each household was assigned a sheep, and the whole city became joyful. The whole Jincheng County is as festive as the New Year.

Nearly a month has passed. In mid-October, the weather is getting colder day by day. October is the lunar calendar. According to the solar calendar of later generations, it is mid-to-late November. The river water in Longyou begins to freeze, and the surface of the water tank begins to freeze. There is a thin layer of floating ice.

Li Ye's mother Pei Sanniang returned to Chang'an. The younger granddaughter Yaoguang was able to eat, sleep, and was in good health. The nurse was also very dedicated. The eldest granddaughter was strong, lively, and extremely naughty. Pei Sanniang felt relieved and began to miss her husband. Li Ye sent a The female soldiers in the team sent her back to Chang'an.

Aunt Mu is still staying in Jincheng. Aunt Mu is from Wu County, Chang'an, Lanzhou. This place is very close to her parents' tombs, so she doesn't want to go back to Chang'an.

Li Ye's mansion occupies an area of ​​twenty acres, and the back house alone covers ten acres. It has pavilions, pavilions, waterside pavilions and fish ponds. It is very elegant. It is much better and more comfortable than the palaces in Hanzhong that are all in the courtyard.

Although Yang Yuhuan has lived in top palaces, she still likes the house in Jincheng County. In her words, it feels like home. Although the palace is spectacular, all the people and objects are just decorations.

This afternoon, an important guest came to Li Ye's home, Dugu Hanyang, Dugu Lie's second son, and Xinyue's second brother. Dugu Hanyang was about thirty years old, a civil servant, and served as a doctor in the Ministry of War.

Last month, Li Ye received a letter from his father-in-law, Dugu Lie, expressing that he wanted Dugu Hanyang to come to Longyou to serve. Li Ye recommended him to the court as the governor of Weizhou. With the approval of the Ministry of Personnel, Dugu Hanyang officially came to Weizhou to take office.

Li Ye invited Dugu Hanyang to sit in the study and said with a smile: "I thought the second brother would come after the New Year, but I didn't expect to come now."

Dugu Hanyang shook his head, "The situation is not good now. The court is in turmoil and people are panicked. My father asked me to leave for Weizhou as soon as possible."

"I heard that Shi Siming captured Bianzhou again, is that true?" Li Ye asked.

Dugu Hanyang smiled bitterly and said: "Now it's not just easy to capture Bianzhou. Shi Siming captured Luoyang the day before I set off. The court was shocked. Alas! The good situation was ruined in the hands of the Hunjun and the eunuchs."

Only in front of his brother-in-law did Dugu Hanyang dare to denounce the emperor as a foolish king.

"How is the prince doing?"

Dugu Hanyang said angrily: "The reason why the emperor is called a foolish king is because he was stupid and absurd in dealing with the prince's issue. He actually put the responsibility for the defeat of Xiangzhou on the prince. The prince was removed from the position of generalissimo of the world. Tian Ce The title was also revoked, and on the contrary, the culprit Yu Chaoen was instead named Zheng Guogong, which simply confused right and left the government and the public in an uproar."

Li Ye said calmly: "The emperor is using the eunuch group to fight against the imperial court. The tougher the imperial court becomes, the more powerful the eunuch group becomes. It is estimated that with the defeat of Xiangzhou, the political affairs hall put strong pressure on the emperor!"

"Indeed, the political affairs hall passed a resolution requiring the emperor to issue a self-blame edict and take responsibility for the defeat of Xiangzhou. The emperor had no choice but to issue an edict to blame himself, admitting that he had misjudged the situation, delayed the war, and ultimately led to the war. defeat."

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "I also heard that the emperor wanted to remove Fang Guan from his position, but the other four prime ministers resigned together, which frightened the emperor into withdrawing his orders. Is that true?"

Dugu Hanyang nodded, "That happened before, but it does happen."

"So! The prime minister is so oppressive to the monarch. What do you ask the emperor to do? The emperor is relatively strong. He founded the Jixian Palace Grand Master and used the grand bachelor system to fight against the prime minister. Now the emperor is relatively cowardly, and he was not upright in his position. Even the prime minister looks down on him. He, then he could only use the eunuch group to confront the prime minister. This is why he sealed Yu Chaoen. He used the eunuch title to demonstrate to the prime ministers and express his anger. However, the prime ministers did not understand and thought that the emperor was the emperor. Confusing right and wrong.”

Dugu Hanyang thought about it and realized that it was really the case. He smiled and said, "Your Highness still sees things thoroughly!"

Li Ye walked a few steps with his hands behind his back: "The situation in the court is indeed very delicate now. The key lies in the prince. If the prince chooses to fight with the court against the eunuch group, then he will be on the opposite side of the emperor. The emperor may depose the prince. It was enlarged.

But if the prince wanted to protect himself, then he would have to support the eunuch group, which would be hostile to the political hall. I believe the prince would not choose this. "

Dugu Hanyang nodded, "I understand. The confrontation between the eunuch group and the political hall is reflected in the abolition of the crown prince."

Li Ye smiled faintly and said, "It's absolutely true, the prince is the weathervane."

At this time, Dugu Xinyue came in personally carrying two cups of tea, put down the tea tray and asked with a smile: "Where are the second sister-in-law and the three little guys?"

"They are in Weizhou. Amang is a bit cold and ill, so he is staying in Weizhou to recuperate and did not come with me."

Amang is Sun Mang, the eldest wife of Dugu Hanyang. The relationship between the couple is very good and they are inseparable wherever they go. Of course, they come to Weizhou together to take up their posts.

Dugu Xinyue nodded, "Then take good care of your health and get together again when you are well."

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[Lao Gao has a cold today and is very weak. I only wrote two chapters today. There is no one at noon. Please forgive me! 】