Chapter 140 Liangzhou City, Geshu Han

Three days later, Li Xuan followed Lin Zhaoyin into Hexi.

He took Cen Shen, Yang Wan and Li Guangchen with him.

Li Xuan decided to summon another shogunate team in Guzang City, Wuwei, to manage Hexi.

It would be inappropriate to use the judge from Longyou to judge Hexi, and it might also cause chaos in military affairs.

Li Xuan's plan was to set up the Jiedushi's office in Huangshui City to handle the military affairs, support, and farming in Longyou.

The Governor's Office in Huangshui City handled the political and military affairs of Xiping County.

The Jiedushi's office in Guzang City handled military affairs, financial support, and farming in Hexi.

The Hexi Changxing Transport Envoy's base in Guzang City had its own staff in addition to the Changxing Transport affairs.

The Longyou Herdsman's Office in Fuhan City was headed by the Deputy Herdsman Zhang Wenyan.

Other Yafanshi's government offices also had their own staff, and they were located in Huangshui City!
Helong Suppression Envoy, this is a title used during the march, and there are no subordinates.

The identity of the Chishui Army's ambassador only gave Li Xuan absolute control over the Chishui Army. The training of the Chishui Army was carried out by the deputy envoy Li Zhushi. Li Xuan did not ask any questions but only conducted inspections.

As long as you don't serve as a military commander, you don't have the power to send troops.

As the best army in the world, the Chishui Army is usually headed by a military governor.

Li Xuan and Lin Zhaoyin went north to Jincheng and west to Wuwei.

Before it was changed from a prefecture to a county, Wuwei was called Liangzhou. The name "Wuwei" was given by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to commemorate Huo Qubing, who opened up four counties, namely Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang, to show his military achievements.

The seat of government of Wuwei County was Guzang. Until now, some people still call Guzang City Liangzhou City.

When they reached the Shenwu area, Fu Meng Lingcha came to greet them personally.

The main purpose was to welcome the special envoy Lin Zhaoyin to avoid giving others a chance to criticize him.

The group returned to Guzang City. Under the chairmanship of Lin Zhaoyin, in front of the six flags in the main hall of the government office, Fu Meng Lingcha handed over the double flags and double festivals to Li Xuan, making Li Xuan the real ambassador of Longxi Jiedu, Zhidu, Yingtian, and Chishui Army.

The responsibility of the Hexi Jiedushi was to cut off the Qiang and Hu tribes, and previously its responsibility was to prevent Tubo and the Turks from uniting.

Now, while we have to be on guard against the Uighurs' rebelliousness, we must also be on guard against Tubo.

The Hexi Jiedushi was divided into eight armies, namely Chishui, Dadou, Jiankang, Ningkou, Yumen, Moli, Doulu and Xinquan, and three garrisons, namely Zhangye, Jiaocheng and Baiting. He was in charge of 73,000 soldiers and 19,400 horses.

In fact, after wars and a strong foundation, the number of trained horses, captured horses, and private horses in Hexi had reached 40,000.

Since Guzang City is a must-pass place on the Silk Road, it is the most prosperous city in Hexi and Longyou.

In the entire Wuwei, apart from military personnel, there are more than 22,000 registered Tang Dynasty civilians.

In addition, there are many Hu people and Hu merchants who have settled in the border areas and are not included in the statistics.

No other county in Helong can compare with it, even Zhangye, which has a large oasis plain suitable for farming.

It would be more appropriate to place Li Xuan's capital in the prosperous city of Guzang.

But Li Xuan would not leave Huangshui City before taking Jiuqu and Qinghai.

The Stone Fortress was located in front of the border, and he had to go to the front line to take charge.

On the second day after arriving in Guzang City, Li Xuan met her husband Meng Lingcha.

"I thought I would concurrently serve in Longyou, but I didn't expect that General Li would concurrently serve in Hexi."

Fu Meng Lingcha sighed when facing Li Xuan. He was quite generous and outspoken.

"General Fumeng captured the Tokharistan Khan, pacified the Turks, and killed Moheda Gan. I have admired your reputation for a long time!"

Li Xuan laughed. Anyone would think so. With so many examples, being the governor of one town and being the governor of two towns are not the same in terms of prestige.

"Compared to General Li's capture of the Turkic Khan alive, even capturing ten Tocharian Khans is not as good."

Fu Menglingcha smiled bitterly. There is a gap between the Khans.

Some chiefs of small tribes would also call themselves Khan.

No Khan can compare to the Turkic Khan who has been famous for two hundred years.

Besides, capturing the Tokharistan Khan was not done by him alone. He cooperated with Mohedagan to capture the Tokharistan Khan.

But later on, Mohedagan became too unruly. He first rebelled and accepted Gai Jiayun's appeasement, then rebelled again in the first year of Tianbao. It was not until last year that Gai Jiayun conquered and killed him.

Fu Menglingcha knew that Li Xuan's achievements in office far exceeded his own, and the legend of his bravery spread throughout Hexi.

Even though he was the governor of Hexi, some people might not know him. But when it comes to General Li, everyone, young and old, must know him.

Therefore, Fu Menglingcha was obedient to Li Xuan's succession to him.

What's more, the Jiedushi of the Four Towns of Anxi was not a bad person either, and he also served as the Deputy Protector of Anxi.

Now the Grand Protector of Anxi Protectorate is led remotely by Li Linfu, with the Deputy Protector as the leader.

Fu Menglingcha believed that he could achieve more feats.

"I wonder what General Fu Meng thinks of Tubo?"

Li Xuan just brushed it off and then asked her husband Meng Lingcha.

He knew that after Fu Mengling arrived in Anxi, he would attack Xiaoboluo.

History has changed. It all depends on when Fu Menglingcha will come up with such a plan.

"Tuba may seem powerful, but we need to guard against Jiannan, Nanzhao, Tianzhu, and the Western Regions. General Li also wiped out more than 80,000 of its available troops in three battles, which greatly damaged its vitality. With the ability of General Li, we can gather the elite troops from Hexi and Longyou and establish great achievements!"

Fu Meng Lingcha envied Li Xuan's youth and strength.

Think about it, he was eighteen years old, still herding horses in the mountains, and had no idea what merit was.

The most important thing is that Li Xuan revitalized the battle situation.

If he were Li Xuan, he would not give Tubo time to breathe and would launch an offensive against Shibao City this autumn.

"I think so too. Chidai Zhudan can be considered a capable ruler, but he is greedy and wants to annex the Western Regions and take Helong into his arms, pressing forward step by step in Jiannan. Although Tubo has a large number of troops, they are of varying quality and cannot withstand such a turmoil. If General Fumeng attacks Xiaoboluo after arriving in Anxi, we can provide support from Helong, which will surely make Tubo's situation even worse!"

Li Xuan expressed his thoughts.

He wanted Fu Menglingcha to tell him when they attacked Xiaoboluo.

As the gateway for Tubo to enter the Western Regions, Xiaoboluo's strategic position to Tubo was even greater than that of Shibao City.

When the Anxi army attacks Xiaobolü, Tubo will have to gather reinforcements from within the country.

At that time, Li Xuan will start the attack from the Hexi region and see which side Tubo can take into account.

This is beneficial to both parties.

"In this case, I will make a gentleman's agreement with General Li."

Fu Menglingcha vaguely knew that the court was going to take action against Xiaobolü. Even if he did not take the initiative, the court would issue an edict.

Tian Renwan had planned to conquer Xiaobolü many times before, but had to cancel the plan due to the difficulty of marching.

Therefore, it was inevitable that Tian Renwan would be dismissed.

"Okay! We'll keep in touch through letters then."

Because Xiaoboluo was conquered by Tubo, more than 20 small countries around it surrendered to Tubo.

Conquering Xiaobolü was a very difficult task, but Li Xuan believed that Fu Menglingcha would make use of Gao Xianzhi.

After Li Xuan and Fu Menglingcha talked about the military situation in Hexi for more than an hour, Fu Menglingcha said to Li Xuan: "My shogunate members will take a few away, and I hope General Li will take care of the rest."

"Of course, they all serve the court."

Since Fu Meng Lingcha said so, Li Xuan will definitely promote a few people.

He planned to promote Yang Wan to be the chief judge of Hexi, transfer Li Guangchen, the military commander of Jishi, to be another judge of Hexi, and promote Cen Shen to be the marching Sima of Hexi.

Because Li Guangchen had been in Hexi before, he was promoted from the military envoy of Jishi to the judge, which was considered an important position. Li Xuan would promote him further in the future.

Since An Bozhu, the deputy envoy of Hexi Jiedushi and the governor of the army, returned to his hometown to retire last year, Hexi has not had a deputy envoy for the time being.

Li Xuan needs to be transferred to a military commander. When he is not around, he can consult with the judge and act accordingly.

Unfortunately, his confidants were not qualified enough to be qualified for the position of deputy governor.

Li Xuan thought about it and decided to recommend An Sishun as the military commander of Hexi.

After all, An Sishun had been guarding the border for thirty years and had served as a military envoy in Helong for many years, so he had sufficient qualifications and military achievements.

In order to enforce military discipline, only by recommending An Sishun's promotion could the people be convinced.

Five days later, Fu Meng Lingcha and Lin Zhaoyin left Guzang City, and Li Xuan personally escorted them to Shenwu area.

When the scholars and literati in Guzang City learned that Li Xuan was coming, they all recommended themselves and asked to serve as his aides.

When Li Xuan needed people, he met with them one by one and asked them about their ways of commanding the army and their abilities in handling government affairs.

At the same time, Li Xuan also evaluated the existing officials. Within a few days, he appointed and promoted three military officers, two military followers, two patrol officers, two military assistants from various departments, two prosecutors, and four military commanders.

On this day, a young man presented a visiting card to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan took a look at the name, Duan Xueshi from Guzang, who had been selected as a Mingjing.

This was a famous general in later generations with outstanding achievements. After so many days, he finally met a celebrity.

Immediately, Duan Xueshi was summoned to the government office.

Duan Xueshi was about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. He was handsome, and looked simple, polite, humble and serious.

He was born in Guzang, and later stayed in Longzhou because his father was the governor of Longzhou.

After he became an adult, he traveled around Wuwei.

"Meeting General Li!"

After Duan Xueshi entered the government office, he bowed to Li Xuan.

"You are a scholar, why do you join the army?"

Li Xuan looked at Duan Xiushi for a moment and asked him, "Picking up chapters and quotations is not enough to serve the country. That's why I want to join the army and serve the country!"

Duan Xueshi said with a bow.

His friends all looked down on him because he was recommended for the title of Mingjing. He had the ambition to save the world, so he joined the army.

Originally, he wanted to serve under Fu Menglingcha, but in the current Helong area, Li Xuan's name was too famous, so he decided to try to join Li Xuan's court.

"well said!"

Li Xuan clapped his hands and tested Duan Xueshi with a few more questions.

Duan Xueshi has his own opinions.

Li Xuan knew that Duan Xueshi had military strategy, so he said to Duan Xueshi: "Hexi is short of a secretary, are you willing to take the position?"

"Thank you, General Li. I will definitely live up to your expectations!"

Duan Xueshi was pleasantly surprised. He had heard that Li Shuai’s tests were very complicated, but he did not expect that he would get the position so easily.

Although the Jiedushi was in charge of secretarial work and proclamations, he was an important member of the shogunate and could offer advice to the Jiedushi, which was exactly what he longed for.

Duan Xiushi was filled with gratitude for the sudden kindness he received.

"I will report to His Majesty and recommend you as the Left Guardsman."

A position like secretary must have an official to show off his status.

After Duan Xueshi was summoned into the shogunate, the vacancies in the Hexi Jiedushi government office were basically filled.

Officials like Du Yuhou actually do not affect the operation of the government office much. Now even Longyou does not have a Du Yuhou.

The Yaya was a trusted official of the Jiedushi and was located wherever the Jiedushi was.

Li Xuan summoned Geshu Han to the government office again.

"This general greets General Li!"

After entering the government office, Geshu Han bowed to Li Xuan. He was very puzzled. Li Xuan was famous, but his fame and military position were average now. He didn't understand why Li Xuan suddenly summoned him.

As far as he knew, Li Xuan ordered the military envoys and the guards to discuss the matter.

But that was ten days later, and he was not qualified to participate in such a meeting.

"When I was in Longyou, I heard that you were a brave general and had good command of the army."

Li Xuan said to Geshu Han with a smile.

In history, Geshu Han was the most meritorious and prestigious general in the middle and late Tianbao period.

Geshu Han was a very inspiring person. When he was 40, his father passed away and he lived in Chang'an. He had been a glutton, a whore, and a gambler since he was a child. He often lost everything in the gambling houses in Chang'an, which led to the decline of his family. The county lieutenant of Chang'an at that time despised him and called him a "prodigal son", which made his father Geshu Daoyuan lose face.

Geshu Daoyuan was at least the deputy governor of Anxi Protectorate.

Geshu Han's mother, Yuchi, was also a princess of Khotan.

Since Geshu Han was able to live a life of idleness and wait for death, he was naturally looked down upon by others.

The ashamed Geshu Han joined the army in Hexi, determined to create a name for himself.

Geshu Han was a brave and strong man. Although he was middle-aged, he was invincible and the bravest among the three armies. He quickly stood out from being an ordinary soldier.

Unfortunately, Geshu Han’s experience was too inexperienced and he had not yet become the commander of an army.

"In front of Marshal Li, I dare not mention my courage."

Geshu Han quickly spoke to Li Xuan.

Which soldier in Hexi and Longyou does not know about Li Xuan’s bravery?

His military achievements were not enough to impress Li Xuan.

"General Geshu is a Turkic, so he should know something about the grasslands. Do you think Hexi needs to defend itself from the north now?"

Li Xuan asked Geshu Han.

"I think that the Huihe have just replaced the Turkic Khanate, and now they have to subdue the scattered small tribes on the grassland. They will not dare to be an enemy of the Tang Dynasty. The Karluks are just a small tribe and cannot threaten the Tang Dynasty. General Li can transfer troops from the five counties of the Hexi Corridor to Tubo."

Geshu Han answered Li Xuan without hesitation.

The Doulu Army of Dunhuang County, the Moli Army of Jinchang County, the Yumen Army of Jiuquan County, the Jiankang Army of Zhangye County, and the Dadou Army of Wuwei County.

These are the main armies.

As for Xinquan and Ningkou, most of the guards were responsible for patrolling.

Only after confirming that the Uighurs dare not stab us in the back can we withdraw troops from these armies.

"That's right! Huihe cannot afford to be enemies with the Tang Dynasty. What's more, we still have Shuofang and Hedong, and we can go to Tibet at any time."

Li Xuan knew the history, so he tacitly agreed that the Uighurs would take over all the former Xiongnu territories.

Even if the Uighurs wanted to join forces with Tubo now, they were powerless.

What's more, Li Xuan knew that the Uighur Khan Guli Peiluo would not live for more than two years.

When Moyanchuo succeeded to the throne, he had to continue to stabilize the newly established Uighur Khanate.

"The war with Tubo is imminent. I am planning to appoint you as the envoy of the Longyou Jishi Army. Are you willing?"

Li Xuan did not keep the secret any longer and stated directly the purpose of calling Geshu Han here.

What he valued was Geshu Han's bravery and his ability to manage Jiuqu.

After we capture Jiuqu, we will let Geshu Han guard there.

Although Geshu Han had many shortcomings, his greatest strength was his gratitude.

Historically, Wang Zhongsi promoted Geshu Han. Later, Wang Zhongsi was "judged by the Three Departments" for "obstructing border efforts" and was almost framed to death.

Geshu Han did not hesitate to offend Li Longji and knelt in front of him, kowtowed with every step. Even when Li Longji was leaving the Qinzhengwuben Building and returning to the Forbidden City, Geshu Han kept walking and kowtowed with tears. This moved Li Longji and made him give Wang Zhongsi a lighter sentence and demoted him to a local governor.

Because Geshu Han had a chivalrous spirit since he was young, he liked to make promises, and he often kept his promises, and he was not picky about drinking.

Geshu Han liked to read "Zuo Zhuan" and "Han Shu". He liked to imitate ancient heroes in his every move, which was very much to the soldiers' liking.

This is also the reason why Geshu Han became a prominent figure during the Tianbao period.

"Thank you, General Li, for your kindness. I will never forget it."

After Geshu Han reacted, he bowed deeply to Li Xuan.

He didn't expect that Li Xuan would directly promote him, a lowly general, and he was so grateful that he burst into tears.

He joined the army in Hexi, waiting for the moment to lead an army and become a main general.

Because of Li Xuan, he was able to do it so quickly, which made him feel like a man willing to die for his friend.

Li Xuan helped Geshu Han up and then began to talk about military affairs.

Let Geshu Han tell him about the customs and people of Hexi.

"General Geshu, pack up and take my military documents to Jishi Army to familiarize yourself with military affairs. I believe that it won't be long before the imperial documents are delivered to you."

After chatting with Geshu Han for an hour, Li Xuan ordered him to take up his post as soon as possible.

He transferred Li Guangchen to be the magistrate of Hexi to pave the way for Geshu Han.

As the most advanced army entering Jiuqu, the Jishi Army will definitely participate in various battles and even siege battles.

"I will obey your orders!"

After Geshu Han returned, he immediately packed his luggage and headed for Jishi Army in Longyou the next day.

After the adjustment of official posts in Longyou and Hexi was completed, Li Xuan drafted a memorial to the emperor.

After An Sishun became the military commander of Hexi, the Zhenxi Army became vacant.

Li Xuan transferred Xin Yunjing to Zhenxi Army as ambassador.

Xin Yunjing followed Li Xuan to participate in the Battle of Jishi, the Battle of Anxiang, the assault on Kubahai, and the Battle of Qinghai. Although he was only in his thirties, his military achievements were sufficient.

Because of Li Xuan, he was able to surpass his father in less than a year, and Xin Yunjing was also devoted to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan allocated two thousand war horses and ten thousand soldiers to the Zhenxi Army.

In the future, when we attack Jiuqu, the Zhenxi Army will also be the main force.

Although Xin Yunjing commanded the light cavalry in the Lintao Army, he was very organized.

But Li Xuan could not use the Lintao Army to restrain his generals and allow them to take off.

Even if they are personal guards, as long as they have enough military merit to be a general, Li Xuan will promote them and arrange them into the various armies. This will be very helpful for him to control the various armies in the future.

Li Xuan also promoted Che Shensai to the position of deputy envoy of Lintao Army.

Nan Jiyun is still the deputy envoy of Lintao Army for the time being.

Because of a poem written by Li Xuan, Li Longji knew that Nan Jiyun was a good archer and warrior, so he was promoted to General of the Left Guard and became a prestigious mid- to high-level general.

Li Xuan did not appoint or dismiss any of the military envoys in Hexi.

When the battle comes, we will decide based on their performance.

Ten days later, the military envoys and guards from Hexi arrived at Guzang City.

Li Xuan repeated to the generals in Hexi what he had said to the generals in Longyou.

There is still half a year before the planned battle. Li Xuan hopes to strengthen the training of soldiers and enforce military regulations during this period.

Li Xuan asked him to inquire carefully about the examples of his military command.

Look at how the former Jishi Military Commander and Weirong Military Commander were dismissed.

Look at the rewards for the soldiers, they are several times better than before.

(End of this chapter)