Tibet

The crowd dispersed, but Li Mi stayed. He asked: "Over there in Lingzhou, when will His Highness set out?"

"Let's go when you're ready, it'll be five days at most!"

"If you encounter the Uighur army, will Your Highness really want to fight them?"

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said: "I will be polite first and then use force to persuade them to go back. If they don't listen, I can only use force to drive them away!"

"But this will lead to the Huihe invasion of the Tang Dynasty. Has His Highness thought about the consequences?"

Li Ye said calmly: "I have considered it. I have reliable information. Shi Siming also invited Huihe to send troops to carve up the Tang Dynasty together."

Li Mi was surprised, "Is there such a thing?"

Li Ye's reliable information is just what happened in history. Shi Siming invited Huihe to divide the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty also asked Huihe to send troops to help.

The Uighurs finally agreed to the Tang Dynasty and sent troops to help regain Luoyang. If you think that the Uighurs are loyal, it would be too naive. For the Uighurs, interests are the most important. Helping the Tang Dynasty is both famous and profitable. Helping Shi Siming, It is gain without fame.

Of course Huihe chose the former. If he had any sense of loyalty, he would not have massacred and looted property and women in Luoyang and the Central Plains.

Li Ye took out a letter and put it on the table, "This is a letter my father wrote to me. He mentioned in the letter that the imperial court has reached an agreement with the Uighurs. As long as the Uighurs are willing to send troops to help regain Luoyang, Luoyang and the children of the Central Plains Let him take away the gold and silk."

Li Mi nodded, "I heard about it too. I also heard that the prince knelt down to the prince Huihe, and Huihe agreed to let Chang'an go, but Luoyang will definitely not be saved."

Li Ye sneered and said: "The Uighurs have conquered the Tang Dynasty. It's just a matter of good looks. Wenchi is to help the Tang Dynasty, and Wuchi is to form an alliance with Shi Siming. I am a member of the Tang Dynasty, how can I allow the Uighurs to come? Ruin Luoyang?"

Li Mi was silent for a moment and said: "I am also worried about another consequence. Once Your Highness and the Uighurs go to war, the Uighurs may not necessarily fall out with the Tang Dynasty, but they will definitely collude with Tubo to deal with Your Highness!"

Li Ye's eyes became extremely determined and he said slowly: "I have already considered the consequences that the military advisor is worried about. Maybe the imperial court will pressure me to give in, maybe the Uighurs will collude with Tubo, or maybe the imperial court will collude with the Uighurs. I don’t care about any of this, it will come as it should, and since God has allowed me to appear in the Tang Dynasty, I will never give in just to survive!”

There is ambiguity in Li Ye's words. What does it mean that God allowed him to appear in the Tang Dynasty?

The profound meaning of this sentence can only be understood by Feilong, not Li Mi.

But Li Mi felt the determination in his lord's tone. He knew that this was Li Ye's principle and he would never allow the children of Tang Dynasty to be exchanged with Huihe.

Li Mi nodded silently, "No matter how turbulent the waves are, let us face it together!"

The next day, Li Ye began to deploy. He ordered Lei Wanchun and Xin Yunjing to prepare 30,000 cavalry and rush to Huizhou to join them. At the same time, he ordered Li Mi and Liu Yan to transport 200,000 shi of food supplies to Huining County and send 20,000 camels as cargo. negative tool.

Li Ye finally started his second step plan, to recapture Shuofang and at the same time intercept the Huihe army from entering the Tang Dynasty.

Five days later, in the morning, a huge raft transport team set out for Huining County, fully loaded with food and various supplies.

Also setting off at the same time were 30,000 cavalry and 20,000 camels, led by Li Ye himself.

Li Ye said goodbye to his family again and began the Northern Expedition.

Just as Li Ye led the army to Huining County to prepare for war, a Tang Army scout was also exploring the enemy's situation in Lingzhou.

This is a scout team consisting of thirty cavalrymen, led by a captain.

The captain's name was Li Xiaoguo, and he was Zhang Dian's right-hand man. Zhang Dian stayed in Hexi for the time being and did not come over, so he sent Li Xiaoguo and thirty scouts to Lingzhou in advance to conduct intelligence gathering.

Lingzhou is worthy of being located in the south of the Yangtze River. It is full of forests, rivers and grasslands. It has abundant sunshine, fertile land, and abundant water resources. It has always been a famous granary in the past dynasties.

The Shuofang Army's military garrison here solved the food problem of the hundreds of thousands of troops in Shuofang and Hexi. Of course, Li Ye also had his eyes on this place. He had already focused on it. One was the Hehuang Valley and the other was the Lingzhou Plain.

Now the imperial court was held back by Shi Siming's rebels and had no time to take care of Lingzhou, which led to Lingzhou being occupied by Tibet. How could Li Ye miss this opportunity and get it from the imperial court? It was always the imperial court's land. But if he takes it from Tubo, he can justifiably hold it in his own hand.

At night, Li Xiaoguo led his men to a small village north of Lingwu County. He asked his men to wait outside, and he led one of his men into the village.

The village is not big, with only fifty or sixty households, but most of them have their doors locked. It is very desolate and there are no dogs.

He came to the very edge and found a big jujube tree. In front of the jujube tree was a small courtyard, and this was it.

Li Xiaoguo patted the door knocker, but no one agreed. He winked to his men, and the two simply jumped up the wall and into the yard.

"Who are you?"

A dark figure appeared in the corner, pointing a crossbow at them.

Li Xiaoguo smiled and said: "Young people have left their hometown for a long time, but when they come back, it's hard to change their local accent and lose their hair on their temples."

The man holding the crossbow put down the crossbow and responded: "Children who don't recognize each other smile and ask where the guest is from."

These four lines of poetry were naturally their joint incisions. The man was overjoyed and stepped forward, clasping his fists and saying, "Chen Fangliang, are you sent by Qiu Sima?"

Li Xiaoguo shook his head and said, "We are the scouts of the Tang Army. I, Li Xiaoguo, serve as the scout captain. I have thirty brothers outside the village. We are ordered by His Highness to come from Hexi to investigate the information."

"It turns out to be Colonel Li, please come in and sit down!"

This Chen Fangliang was the subordinate sent by Qiu Xuan to Lingzhou to investigate intelligence. He originally opened a shop in Lingwu County, but the Tibetan army searched too hard, so he had to hide in this small village.

Chen Fangguang turned on the light and poured two bowls of water for the two of them. Looking at Li Xiaoguo's puzzled eyes, he smiled bitterly and said: "I know you must be very strange. Why did this guy go to the countryside to collect information about the Tibetan people?" Yepian Village is here?"

Li Xiaoguo said in a deep voice: "I believe Manager Chen must have a compelling reason!"

Chen Fang nodded his head, "I brought five of my subordinates here last October and opened two shops in Lingwu, selling some high-quality daily necessities. The Tubo people were not in trouble, and many Tubo soldiers came to buy things, but Just two months ago, 30,000 Tibetan troops were transferred back to Shanzhou, and things started to get troublesome. There were not enough people to farm, so the Tubo army began to arrest young men. All young and strong men were arrested and sent to farm. Five of my My subordinates were also captured, and I escaped from danger just as I was leaving the city to deliver the eagle message."

"Is it safe here?" Li Xiaoguo asked.

"It's okay. This is the Eagle House I rented when I came to Lingzhou. Every time I come here to send out Eagle Letters, most of the people in this village have gone to the city. There are only a few families left. They are all old and weak. Tubo The army also knew it, so they never came to search this place."

Li Xiaoguo pondered for a moment and asked: "Your Highness will attack Lingzhou soon. What is the situation of the Tibetan army here?"

"The Tubo army has a total of 20,000 people in Shuofang. They are all in Lingzhou and Lingwu County. They are all currently farming. They are all Han Chinese from Tubo. But as far as I know, they are divided into two categories. One is One category of combat soldiers is the field soldiers. All the combat soldiers have been transferred away, and the remaining 20,000 are the field soldiers."

"Is there a difference between the two? I mean as a soldier."

Chen Fang nodded his head, "There must be a difference. In the past, those 30,000 people may have participated in the battle against the Tang Army in Longyou, but the 20,000 people here are basically new soldiers. Now they train every day, and they are all like new soldiers. I I heard from my subordinates that many people can’t even shoot arrows.”

Li Xiaoguo's eyes lit up and he asked quickly: "You still have contact with your subordinates?"

"Of course!"

Chen Fangliang said with a smile: "Yesterday, one of my subordinates came to my place. I thought they could also collect intelligence while farming, so I didn't let them escape. The Tibetan guards were inexperienced and fell asleep for the rest of the night."

Li Xiaoguo smiled and said: "I want to send a few subordinates to sneak in, there should be no problem!"