Chapter 190: Granted the title of Supreme Pillar of the State, Duke of Chu, and Ambassador for Hexi and Longyou
Xingqing Palace, Hua'e Xianghui Tower.

Li Longji has just decided to hold a New Year's banquet the day after tomorrow.

In the past New Years, Li Longji would hold a family dinner with other concubines and sons and daughters before the grand banquet.

Now, only princesses, princes-in-law, princes, princesses, crown princes, crown princesses and emperor's grandchildren are invited to the banquet.

The only concubine was Yang Yuhuan.

In addition, the Yang sisters had fun together during the New Year and attended Li Longji's family dinner openly.

Looking back, Bai Meisheng smiled, and the Sixth Palace had no color.

There are three thousand beauties in the harem, and three thousand people love her.

This is a true portrayal of Yang Yuhuan after she was named a noble concubine.

However, upon careful counting, it seemed that Prince Shou and Princess Shou were not present.

Just now, after Prince Shou came to pay a visit, he left Xingqing Palace with the help of Princess Shou, Wei, on the grounds of feeling unwell.

Li Longji only told Prince Shou to take good care of his health.

The other children were fine. Not to mention the sons, Li Longji still doted on his daughters. They often acted coquettishly and wished him well before the New Year. Whenever Li Longji was happy, he would give them a lot of gold, silver and jewelry.

The princes and grandsons of the royal family all respected the three Yang sisters and kept showing their affection to them, calling them "madam".
The words of these princes and grandchildren of the emperor are definitely not as useful as those of Yang Yuyao and others.

Just when Li Longji was having fun, an urgent memorial was sent to Xingqing Palace. Gao Lishi hurried into the palace and whispered in his ear.

Li Longji was originally very impatient at being disturbed, but when he learned that it was the good news from Jiuqu, he immediately perked up.

Li Longji loves beauties, but he loves his country even more.

He cares about the status behind him.

Although the military supervisor Zhang Daobin secretly reported the battle situation in Jixin Valley and Li Xuan's sweep of Jiuqu.

But Zhang Daobin was in Jixin Valley and had only a vague understanding of Jiuqu's affairs.

Moreover, Zhang Daobin did not have a detailed battle report.

The military supervisor does not have such a high status in Helong.

Zhang Daobin is very afraid of Li Xuan!
Guo Quan was killed for slandering Li Xuan, which made Zhang Daobin obey Li Xuan's words and dare not interfere in military affairs.

Until Li Xuan finalized the end of the Battle of Jiuqu, Zhang Daobin could not report this to Li Longji in detail.

At this time, Li Longji only knew that Li Xuan had conquered five Tibetan cities in succession, beheaded a Tibetan general, and initially pacified Jiuqu.

Li Longji was not sure whether he could completely occupy Jiuqu and stabilize it.

"The three aunts will accompany Yuhuan to watch the singing and dancing first. I have something to take care of."

Li Longji stood up and said something to the Yang sisters.

"Today is the New Year's Day? Sanlang is the emperor, so he has to do everything himself."

After Yang Yuyao became familiar with Li Longji, she spoke boldly.

"Qilang brought some military supplies from the border, and I need to go to the side hall to take a look."

Li Longji stood up and explained the reason.

"It's Shichiro! He must have won another battle."

Yang Yuyao's eyes lit up. She had always been envious of the person she couldn't get.

Princes and nobles like those in Chang'an all fell in love with her.

Only Li Xuan, who was rude to her, made Yang Yuyao feel itchy.

"Ha ha……"

Li Longji laughed and walked into the side hall accompanied by Gao Lishi.

Yang Yuyao did not stop him. She did not notice at all that Yang Yuhuan beside her was absent-minded.

In the side hall, Li Longji first opened the congratulatory letter.

When he saw the content of the congratulatory letter, he felt relieved.

Not only did he recapture Jiuqu, but he also took control of everything east of Jiuqu.

At the junction of He and Long, the only remaining Tubo power was in Qinghai.

From the description in the battle report, Li Longji saw the hardships of the soldiers, who had been fighting in the snow. Thousands of soldiers had fallen ill before the battle even started.

He could understand why Li Xuan did not pursue the victory to Qinghai for a decisive battle with Tubo.

Fighting in deep snow is extremely risky.

A total of 75,000 enemies were annihilated, and Jiuqu Tuyuhun and Bailang Qiang were recovered.

From beginning to end, less than 10,000 people died in the battle.

In Li Longji's understanding, siege battles always resulted in heavy casualties, but Li Xuan was able to achieve such minimal losses.

This preserved the elite troops of the Tang Dynasty and allowed him to expand more territory.

In terms of what is obtained, it is also very rare.

Li Xuan had already sent soldiers to transport 45 carts of gold, silver and jewelry to Chang'an via the Hexi Changxing transport route.

These are 90% of the gold, silver and jewelry obtained. According to military regulations, the Jiedushi can retain 10% and distribute it to the soldiers.

However, a distribution list needed to be drawn up and submitted to the Ministry of War to prevent the military governors from embezzling the funds.

In fact, there were many ways for the Jiedushi to embezzle gold, silver and jewelry.

So much so that Li Longji felt that Li Xuan had seized much more supplies than other military governors.

In the early Tang Dynasty, every time a general returned from a campaign, there would be officials impeaching the general to Li Shimin, accusing the general and his subordinates of embezzling the spoils of war.

Basically, every impeachment is successful!

"Lu Shi, Shichiro comforts me!"

After reading the congratulatory letter, Li Longji said to his old partner Gao Lishi.

"It is thanks to the saint's keen vision that he has obtained loyal and brave generals like Huo Qubing." Gao Lishi answered tactfully.

"Jiuqu has been lost, and all the cities have been taken by our Tang Dynasty. Although Qinghai is large, there is no strategic point to defend. It will be just a matter of time before we can drive Tubo out of Qinghai."

Li Longji had a map of Qinghai in his mind and felt that with Li Xuan's ability, he would definitely be able to help him take over Qinghai this year.

As for Stone Castle?
What kind of mediocre person would think of attacking Stone Castle?

"You'd better not be careless. To the southwest of Qinghai is the Dafei Mountain Range, and next to the Dafei Mountain Range is the Dafei River. The saint should prepare money and food for Qilang, so that we can conquer it in one fell swoop and relieve the century-old worries of Helong."

Gao Lishi reminded Li Longji.

"For such a great contribution, I will reward the Helong soldiers with silk money to boost the morale of the three armies. I believe Qilang will learn from the lesson and complete the Qinghai campaign properly."

Li Longji nodded and said that after the vacation, he would discuss with the prime ministers the rewards for the soldiers and the rewards for Li Xuan.

Gao Lishi reminded Li Longji that there were two more memorials, and Li Longji continued to read them.

A memorial regarding the establishment of Jiuqu County.

The complete incorporation of Jiuqu and the area east of Jiuqu into the territory made Li Longji applaud.

He felt that it must be implemented so that the border troops could be pushed forward and Helong would become safer.

"Jiuqu County, Taoyang County. After we pacify Qinghai, we can set up a Qinghai County..."

Li Longji nodded as he watched.

It is inevitable to set up pastoral supervision stations, pastoral areas, and settlements. Such fertile land cannot be wasted.

We can take this opportunity to relocate a group of people to Jiuqu to ease the pressure brought by land annexation.

Li Xuan's military reform plan was in preparation for the attack on Qinghai, which Li Longji thought was very reasonable.

In Li Longji's view, it would be easy to take over the fertile land of Jiuqu and feed an additional 13,000 soldiers in Longyou and Hexi.

Although Hexi had few troops, the Uighur leader Guli Peiluo wrote a letter of apology and offered a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry.

After the ice and snow subsided, the Uighur heir, Moyanchuo, would come to Chang'an to apologize. Li Longji saw the Uighurs' sincerity and determined that they would not dare to offend the Tang Dynasty again.

However, Wang Zhongsi's troops stationed at the gorge were not withdrawn to prevent the Uighurs from playing double-faced.

Finally, there was a memorial requesting merit for the soldiers. He agreed after just one look and asked the prime minister and the Ministry of War to make the arrangements.

After a great war, it was understandable that soldiers were promoted to higher ranks based on their military achievements. This was not only true for Li Xuan, but also for An Lushan and Wang Zhongsi.

A big aspect for a general is to establish his prestige and fight for the interests of his soldiers.

"That's right! Nan Jiyun, who killed the Tubo Marshal, and Che Shensai, who captured the Tubo Great Theorist, must be appointed as generals. I have issued an edict and I cannot break my promise!"

Li Longji did not forget this incident.

Although some ministers impeached Li Xuan for rashly killing Tubo Dalun, Li Xuan explained to Li Longji in his memorials.

Lun Xijia Zang's actions aroused the anger of the army, offended the emperor's majesty, and disrespected the Tang Dynasty. If Lun Xijia Zang was not killed, in future wars, Tubo would use Han slaves as a threat, which would kill more innocent people and affect the battle.

Li Xuan emphasized that Li Longji loved his people like his own children, and that it was no more than killing a prime minister of a small country. If the saint gave the order, even if he was far away in Lhasa, he would offer the head of the Tubo Zamp.

With such flattering memorials, Li Longji naturally would not be angry about Li Xuan's killing of Lun Xijia Zang.

What's more, Li Longji had always had a bad impression of Tubo, so he just killed them.

The Tubo prime minister died at the hands of the Tang Dynasty. Let's see which of the surrounding vassal states dares to offend?
After looking at the battle table again, Li Longji returned to the banquet happily.

He was so happy that he took out the green jade flute and played it, and his descendants kept cheering.

Yang Yuhuan also looked very happy, with a smile as beautiful as a flower. Even the daffodils blooming in the Hua'e Xianghui Tower in winter were not as beautiful as her.

Li Longji saw that Yang Yuhuan was smiling happily. He walked towards Yang Yuhuan while playing the jade flute, and a smile also appeared in the corner of his eyes...

At the grand banquet on the third day of the first lunar month, Li Longji informed Li Linfu and Pei Kuan and asked them to spread the good news of the recovery of Jiuqu to the whole country as soon as possible, so that the people of the world would know the great achievements of his rule.

Tianbao is more prosperous than Kaiyuan!

At the same time, Li Longji asked Li Linfu and Pei Kuan to formulate rewards and promotions for the Helong soldiers.

As for Li Xuan's reward, it was decided by Li Longji himself. At the Yuanzheng Banquet, Li Longji invited Li Shizhi to his bedside and drank six cups of wine in a row.

He also specifically asked what Li Shizhi's other sons were doing now?
After learning about the official positions of Li Shizhi's other sons, he immediately promoted his fourth brother Li Jiqing to be the Junior Minister of Zongzheng, his eldest brother Li Qian to be the Minister of Rites, and his third brother Li Qi to be the Junior Yin of Jingzhao.

Even Li Lang, who was a Yulin Lang in front of the palace, was granted a fifth-rank official title by Li Longji to show off his status.

Other famous generals who made great contributions had their sons granted titles through their influence. For example, not long ago, one of Wang Zhongsi's sons was granted a fifth-rank official title.

And Li Xuan made his brothers rich and powerful, and if this matter were to spread, it would surely become a good story.

Li Shizhi was also deeply moved and quickly expressed his gratitude on behalf of his sons.

……

Below, Li Linfu and An Lushan sat together, toasting each other.

An Lushan showed a simple and honest smile and toasted Li Linfu respectfully.

Every time he drank a glass of wine, he shook his head.

"That man above me was not as good as me when he was prime minister, but now he is worse than me after returning home to retire. Why is that?"

Li Linfu glanced at the top of the hall and spoke slowly.

There are only Li Longji, Yang Yuhuan and Li Shizhi above.

It is obvious who he is talking about.

"The Hu people are stupid. I don't understand what the Right Prime Minister means."

An Lushan pretended not to know and looked at Li Linfu with his big eyes, as if asking Li Linfu to explain in more detail.

He had just rushed back a few days ago. As the godson of Yang Yuhuan and Li Longji, he naturally had to try his best to please them during the New Year to show his filial piety.

He knew about the struggle between Li Xuan and Li Linfu, but Li Xuan was more powerful and favored by the emperor, so he was unwilling to go against Li Xuan at this time.

He had just heard about Li Xuan's victory over Tubo and the recovery of Jiuqu, and he secretly sighed that Li Xuan was so powerful.

I wonder how the Yanyun cavalry under his command compares to Li Xuan's troops?

Anyway, he couldn't achieve Li Xuan's record.

"Who do you think is more noble, the Duke of Song or me?" Li Linfu asked An Lushan again regardless of whether he really didn't know or pretended to be ignorant.

"The Right Prime Minister is the head of all officials, so of course you are more honorable."

An Lushan blurted out.

"Ha ha……"

Li Linfu just laughed.

He was hit several times by Li Xuan and has not reacted yet. His power is far less than that in the late Kaiyuan period.

Just when he was about to take up the concurrent post of the Minister of Personnel again, Li Xuan made things difficult for him, making it impossible for him to take up the concurrent post of the Minister of Personnel in the future.

"Alas! This autumn I asked Wang Zhongsi to send troops to help me build Xiongwu City to prevent the Khitan and Xi from rebelling again. But after he led the troops from Taiyuan to visit me, he actually falsely accused me of treason to the saint. I am so loyal in my heart, how could I possibly rebel? Fortunately, the saint saw clearly and did not believe Wang Zhongsi's lies."

Suddenly, An Lushan seemed very angry and spoke to Li Linfu.

They were all the saint's godsons, but they were all reported by Wang Zhongsi.

He was furious when he received the news, but fortunately he had a good relationship with the military supervisor, and the Hebei envoy also said that he did not rebel.

In fact, An Lushan had bad intentions when he asked Wang Zhongsi to send people to build Xiongwu City.

He wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to intercept the soldiers sent by Wang Zhongsi when the city was built and use them in Fanyang and Pinglu.

Under normal circumstances, Wang Zhongsi would just send soldiers.

But Wang Zhongsi felt something was wrong, because with so many soldiers and horses in Fanyang and Pinglu, was it necessary to transfer troops from Hedong to build the city?

So Wang Zhongsi personally led his men to An Lushan's territory.

However, An Lushan was not seen, but a large number of siege equipment were stored in the military city under An Lushan's command.

Is this still available?

Shuofang, Hedong, Fanyang, and Pinglu were all dealing with nomadic peoples who lived by following water and grass, so there were no cities to attack.

Why did An Lushan store siege equipment?
In addition, there were many Sogdians from the Nine Zhaowu Clans in An Lushan's territory, which made Wang Zhongsi feel that An Lushan was suspected of treason, so he reported An Lushan to the emperor for treason.

Li Longji thought of An Lushan's image as a "simple and savage" and did not believe that An Lushan was plotting a rebellion at all. He thought Wang Zhongsi was worrying too much.

To be on the safe side, Li Longji asked the military supervisor and the Hebei envoy to reply.

The military supervisor said that An Lushan was committed to protecting the border and the people, while the interviewer Zhang Lizhen said that An Lushan was fair and selfless.

Li Longji summoned two more prime ministers.

Li Linfu naturally would not say anything bad about An Lushan, and he had long disliked Wang Zhongsi.

Pei Kuan resigned again because An Lushan succeeded him, and he felt that there was no problem with the Fanyang army.

This put Li Longji's worries to rest, and he issued an edict to Wang Zhongsi to defend the territory and maintain security. There was no need to speculate any more about this tree without roots and water without a source.

Wang Zhongsi knew that An Lushan had the motive to rebel, but he was powerless to do anything.

As a result, An Lushan hated Wang Zhongsi to the core.

This is one of the stumbling blocks to his success, and he must find a way to remove it.

"General An, some people may be thieves, but they are not necessarily thieves!"

After hearing An Lushan's words, Li Linfu narrowed his eyes slightly.

He thought he could take advantage of An Lushan's hatred for Wang Zhongsi.

"I agree with the right prime minister. He must be loyal but treacherous. If necessary, I support the right prime minister in doing anything."

Seeing that there was no one around, An Lushan approached Li Linfu and spoke.

Li Linfu also smiled slightly and said nothing more.

With An Lushan's support, it would be easier to overthrow Wang Zhongsi.

Since Wang Zhongsi had been in Taiyuan, he had already found an official who had worked in Taiyuan and was ready to impeach Wang Zhongsi.

Now all we have to do is wait, or create an opportunity.

Li Linfu was afraid that Wang Zhongsi would become prime minister, so he planned to attack Wang Zhongsi and implicate Li Heng again.

A strategy that kills two birds with one stone!

As for who would take charge of Shuofang and Hedong after Wang Zhongsi was overthrown, he didn't care.

It couldn't possibly be Li Xuan, who was already serving as the governor of two towns...

……

The Yuanzheng Banquet ended in a cheerful atmosphere.

Live happily, sing and dance.

There are also invisible flashes of swords and sabers.

A few days later, Li Longji received a letter from the country with a ruler and pearls.

The content of the letter made Li Longji laugh so hard that he couldn't stop. For the first time, his rival for decades and his brother-in-law, with whom he had a love-hate relationship, verbally acknowledged that he was a vassal of the Tang Dynasty.

This moment made Li Longji feel very refreshed.

After reading Li Xuan's memorial again, Li Longji understood that this was a delaying tactic by Chidai Zhudan to delay the Tang army's attack on Qinghai.

Now the Tang army is pressing forward step by step, and is able to control the Hongji Bridge and enter Qinghai at any time. Tubo wants to use this to exchange for peace and gain an opportunity to recuperate by paying tribute.

Even so, Li Longji was very happy.

He made an impolite request: he could ask for peace, but Chidai Zhudan had to come to Chang'an in person to meet the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and discuss the annual tribute.

Li Longji knew that it was impossible for Yi Chi Dai Zhu Dan, who was so conceited, to come to Chang'an.

Even Songtsen Gampo of Tubo had never been to Chang'an, but the prime minister of Tubo had come several times.

He was also afraid that once he arrived in Chang'an, he would never be able to go back.

It can be said that when Li Longji's edict reached Tubo, it was a declaration of war.

Tubo had to either abandon Qinghai or prepare for war with all its strength.

At the court meeting on the second day, some ministers actually agreed to Chidai Zhudan's request to become a vassal. Li Longji was furious and directly used the Chiling Alliance as an example to severely reprimand these ministers. He almost dismissed these ministers for "hindering border efforts."

Soon after, rewards of silk and money were announced for the troops in Longyou. The treasuries of Luoyang and Chang'an gave 300,000 strings of money and 100,000 pieces of silk as rewards from the court.

Nan Jiyun was appointed as the General of the Left Guard, and Che Shensai was appointed as the General of the Left Guard.

Gao Xiuyan was the deputy envoy of the Longyou Jiedushi Yingtianzhidu, and An Sishun was the deputy envoy of the Hexi Jiedushi Yingtianzhidu.

Geshu Han was appointed as the governor of Jiuqu County, and Murong Xihao was appointed as the governor of Taoyang County and deputy envoy of Helong.

The King of Bailang Qiang was named the King of Loyalty and Righteousness.

As for other rewards for generals and subordinates, the Ministry of War and the Council of Political Affairs agreed with Li Xuan's recommendation.

Li Xuan's arguments were well-founded and Li Linfu did not dare to refute him, for fear that Li Xuan would make trouble to Li Longji.

The Minister of War Huangfu Weiming even signed directly.

The next issue was about rewarding Li Xuan, and the ministers all looked at Li Longji.

"General Li recovered Jiuqu and defeated Tubo, avenging the country's humiliation. He should be regarded as a loyal minister and hero..."

"Reward General Li with three thousand rolls of silk, five hundred pieces of gold, two thousand pieces of silver, twenty pieces of goldware, twenty pieces of jadeware, one hundred pieces of lacquerware, and ten beautiful singing and dancing girls in the music school."

"I now remove General Li from his post as Left Dragon Army General, and promote him to Right Yulin General, and concurrently appoint him as the ambassador to Hexi and Longyou, grant him the title of Supreme Pillar of the State, and confer him the title of Duke of Chu, with an additional 300 households. The ranks of other officials, envoys, and scattered officials remain unchanged."

As soon as Li Longji finished speaking, a stone caused a thousand ripples.

The ministers looked at each other, and finally conferred the title of Duke on him.

Father and son are both dukes, and this has never happened at the same time from ancient times to the present.

(End of this chapter)