Gaochang was originally a big country in the Western Regions. Because it was pro-Western Turkic, it was destroyed by the Tang Dynasty in the 14th year of Zhenguan. Gaochang County was established to govern the Gaochang people in its territory.

After nearly a hundred years of assimilation, the Gaochang people are not much different from the Han people.

Like the Han people, they also had brave warriors join the Tang army.

After inspecting the 1,000 soldiers stationed outside Gaochang City, Li Xuan came to the Hexi Changxing Transport Commissioner's office.

As early as last year, when Li Xuan was still prime minister, the Hexi Changxing Transport Commissioner's office was moved to Gaochang City in Xizhou.

He also appointed Li Xiyan, who was loyal to Li Xuan and also a member of the royal family, as deputy ambassador, which was a precautionary measure.

"Greetings to the King of Tianshui!"

At this time, Li Xiyan was at the Hexi Transfer Office. He went out to greet him and bowed to Li Xuan.

Xiyan is his courtesy name.

Li Xiyan was already in his sixties. Historically, he was a subordinate of Geshu Han. When he was a subordinate of Li Xuan, Li Xuan valued Li Xiyan more, second only to Liu Yan, Yang Wan, Duan Xueshi, Gao Shi, Cen Shen and others.

Of course, the most important reason is that Li Xiyan is a member of the royal family.

Moreover, Li Xiyan's title was very high. He was the great-grandson of Li Yuan and the heir to the title of King of Zheng.

He can be called King of Zheng, but his actual title is heir apparent, which is the same rank as Li Xuan's Prince of a County.

Li Xiyan had been a minister in the court, but he did not lie down like many other heirs to the throne. He also wanted to be as famous as Li Yi, so he was transferred to the army.

Even being a military commander is better than doing nothing in the court.

He had already inherited the title of King of Zheng from his father, and his son would certainly not be able to inherit the throne, so he wanted to provide opportunities for his descendants to enter officialdom through family connections.

But the reality is very cruel. Li Xiyan did not make much contribution in Longyou.

Fortunately, as Li Yuan's great-grandson and the heir to King Zheng, Li Xiyan was able to be appointed general and a third-rank civil official in a short period of time after Li Xuan returned to the court from Helong.

But Li Xiyan knew that these were not what he wanted. He was not a prime minister and had no military merits. His status was only a flash in the pan and would not benefit his descendants.

Therefore, the young Li Xuan, who was also his superior in the army, became Li Xiyan's support.

He believed that Li Xuan's political life was very long and it was definitely not going to end when the crown prince ascended to the throne as some ministers thought.

Even Li Linfu, who was good at playing political games, had never played tricks on Li Xuan. How could Li Xuan be the way he appeared to be?
So he chose to follow Li Xuan's arrangement, serving concurrently as the deputy ambassador of Hexi Transportation, and regarded this as his full-time job.

Li Xuan basically did not care about the transportation in Hexi, and Li Xiyan was the actual ambassador.

"General, there is no need to be so polite. We said goodbye in the court last year, and now we are able to meet in Xizhou. Take care of yourself!"

Li Xiyan is older than Li Xuan, so Li Xuan held his hand to show closeness.

Although Li Xiyan's title was the heir to King Zheng, his official position was General of the Right Guard.

"Whether you are the Prime Minister or the Grand Protector, I am your subordinate. Previously, the King of Tianshui ordered the West Palace to prepare extra vehicles and camels to go to Liangzhou City to buy the most popular silk, Shu brocade, silk and satin, Jiangnan famous tea, and exquisite porcelain. Now I am ready, and my transportation capacity can empty the goods in Liangzhou City. In addition, the transport convoy returning from Chang'an can also transport goods along the way."

Li Xiyan remained true to his original intention. While expressing his loyalty to Li Xuan, he told Li Xuan the reason and followed Li Xuan's instructions, using the huge fleet of the Hexi Changxing government office to transport silk, tea and porcelain.

The goods are transported by the government and guarded by the army, so there is no need to worry about being harmed by other evil merchants after leaving the country, nor to worry about hidden horse thieves.

Moreover, the government transported goods under the flagpole of long-distance transportation, and neither local officials nor the customs officials could inspect them.

Because Changxing Zhuanyun was serving the emperor.

"General, you are too kind. Anxi has added another 30,000 elite soldiers and tens of thousands of war horses. This move is just to reduce the court's expenses."

Li Xuan smiled slightly.

They walked into the government office side by side.

In front of the corridor, a man saluted Li Xuan and Li Xiyan.

"This is my son Li Shu."

Li Xiyan introduced his favorite son to Li Xuan.

Several years of military career left Li Xiyan with a chronic illness. Due to his poor health, his son accompanied him to Xizhou to take up his post.

"Your son must be handsome."

Li Xuan glanced at Li Shu.

Li Shu, courtesy name Zhongshu.

In fact, Li Xuan had met Li Shu and knew Li Shu. He was a good friend of Li Xuan's fourth brother Li Jiqing.

Historically, Li Shu was recommended by his fourth brother Li Jiqing to be an official, and eventually he held a high position.

"At thirty, I have not yet achieved anything. As a member of the royal family, I am ashamed of myself."

Li Xiyan felt very ashamed when comparing Li Shu and Li Xuan.

At the age of 24, Li Xuan had already been appointed as the de facto chief prime minister. However, he was dismissed from his position because he wanted to clear up the world, and he experienced great ups and downs.

Li Shu was already thirty years old, but had no achievements yet.

Since Li Shu is the second child, his elder brother Meng Yin is Li Shu's.

Although Li Xiyan was the heir to the throne, his status was not high, and he could not make all his sons officials like Li Shizhi and Li Linfu did.

"Since ancient times, there have been many people who achieved great success late in life. I think Zhongshu is one of them. If you don't mind, you can be my subordinate and serve as the military assistant of the warehouse department of Anxi Protectorate, and be responsible for the transportation of silk, tea and porcelain from Liangzhou City to Gaochang County."

Li Xuan was very smart. He immediately understood what Li Xiyan meant by introducing his second son and wanted to find a job for Li Shu.

He just needed someone to help him transport porcelain, tea and silk.

Because of their close blood relationship and the fact that Li Xuan was already a good friend of Li Jiqing, Li Xuan handed the matter over to Li Shu.

The Assistant Military Officer of the Cangcao of the Anxi Protectorate was a seventh-rank official, not to mention the title of Li Xuan's subordinate.

Li Xuan would leave behind his most trusted Luo Xing, along with several personal guards and a team of Yiwulu troops, to work with Li Shu on this matter.

As for the section from Xizhou to Qiuci, Li Xuan would let Xue Cuo be responsible for the transportation.

To ensure that everything is safe and to prevent criminals from embezzling his silk, tea and porcelain.

To be honest, what Li Xuan did was indeed not a good thing, and he tried his best not to let the court see his motives.

All the people in Helong are his people.

Next was the time when Li Xuan reorganized the Western Regions, especially the dead eunuch Bian Lingcheng.

"Why don't you thank King Tianshui quickly?"

Li Xiyan pulled Li Shu.

Li Xiyan was very grateful that Li Xuan arranged for his son to take up such an important position.

His second son has a future, so he can die with peace of mind.

"Thank you, King Tianshui!"

Li Shu thanked Li Xuan.

He cherished this opportunity very much and was determined to do a good job of the transfer work assigned by Li Xuan.

"When transporting goods, try to train a group of merchants from Chang'an and Luoyang to Liangzhou. As soon as they arrive, we can accept all their goods. Let them save time traveling between the two capitals and Liangzhou City. In this way, another group of merchants will cooperate with Hexi Changxing Transport in the future, and the purchase price may be lower."

When they were together in the government office, Li Xuan gave instructions to Li Shu.

"I understand!"

Li Shu bowed.

Li Xuan is a role model of the royal family. His character, demeanor, and manners are unmatched.

Li Shu has his own ideas. He cherishes this hard-won opportunity and must do a good job in the transportation of silk, tea and porcelain to create opportunities for the future.

"When I return to Qiuci, I will send the first batch of gold, silver and jewelry to Gaochang in the name of Anxi Protectorate. You will set off with the first batch of gold, silver and jewelry."

"I will write to Geshu Han and tell him that Anxi needs to earn money and buy food for the soldiers."

Li Xuan made it clear to Li Shu again.

In the name of Anxi Protectorate, he purchased porcelain, tea and silk on a large scale, which would only earn Liangzhou City more taxes.

Because more Han merchants will come here upon hearing the news.

Since a large number of Hu merchants would not come to Chang'an, the only ones who would suffer losses would be Chang'an and Luoyang.

The vehicles used by Li Xuan belonged to the imperial court, and the capital came from people from the Anxi Protectorate. A large part of the profits from the trade would be intercepted by Li Xuan and become his private property.

The remaining part was used to purchase grain and support the army.

Moreover, Li Xuan would ask the court for military pay and rewards by defeating the Arabs.

The speed of accumulating wealth will definitely be faster than An Lushan.

The total grain output of the Anxi Protectorate was only enough to feed the military and civilians in the Western Regions. It was not possible to build a granary like in the Central Plains, and it was not even qualified to be a Changping granary.

Li Xuan planned to build a workshop to make better beef jerky as a higher quality military ration.

On the long journey west of the Pamir Mountains, beef jerky and cooked mare's milk were much better than carrying large amounts of food.

After chatting with Li Xiyan and his son for a while, Li Xuan went with them to Zhuanyunfang outside Gaochang City.

"What's being transported now?"

Li Xuan saw that Fang was busy and asked Li Xiyan.

"King Yuchi Sheng of Khotan has presented Your Majesty with more than a dozen carts of jade and is preparing to transport them to Chang'an via the Hexi Changxing." Li Xiyan replied to Li Xuan: "When these carts return from Chang'an, if there is any vacant space, we can buy cheap silk from Chang'an."

"Well! The transport team that has worked so hard all the way should be rewarded more."

Li Xuan instructed Li Xiyan.

"We have already followed the rules set by the King of Tianshui five years ago. Every time we return from a long journey, we will not only receive a reward of money, but also a reward of wine and meat."

Li Xiyan replied to Li Xuan that if this team was used well, it would work for Li Xuan.

"Not bad!"

Li Xuan nodded.

Accompanied by Li Xiyan and his son, he inspected the ox carts, camels and other teams used for transportation in the Hexi Changxing area.

In addition to the goods being transported on the road, the Gaochang stronghold also had more than 300 ox carts and horse carts and more than 400 camels.

In the mountains, rivers, deserts and Gobi, hay and millet are carried.

During the transfer process, the largest transit station is Liangzhou City.

When Li Xuan was the governor of Helong, he designed the Hexi Changxing Transportation Office in Wuwei.

There are also some transit stations along the Silk Road.

After much deliberation, Li Xuan decided to transfer another thousand unsuitable war horses from the herdsmen in Longyou to supplement the transportation capacity of the Hexi Long Line.

In order to increase the transportation capacity of various resources and prepare for the future.

Li Xuan stayed in Xizhou for a total of fifteen days, from visiting the Yiwulu Army, to long-distance transportation, and then to inspecting the vassal states and counties to enhance his influence in the Western Regions.

Afterwards, Li Xuan arrived at Yiwulu County, Yizhou, where thousands of Yiwulu troops were also stationed.

The Yiwu army had three thousand soldiers, and the rest were distributed in various guard posts and forts.

After spending about ten days in Yiwulu Army, Li Xuan ended his journey of more than three months and returned to Qiuci.

Passing by Xizhou, Li Xuan met with the officials of Xizhou again, and then kept Luo Xing in Xizhou.

……

When Li Xuan returned to Qiuci, the countries west of the Pamir Mountains successively received news delivered by express horses from the Anxi Protectorate.

From now on, they no longer have to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty, nor are they its vassal states.

The meaning is very clear, the Tang Dynasty made them dependent on the Arabs. The countries west of the Pamirs were very helpless, as most countries west of the Pamirs believed in Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.

Even the Sogdian state was extremely devout to Zoroastrianism, and religious concepts were engraved in their hearts, which was also the reason why the Sogdians frequently rebelled against the Arabs.

The Zhezhi City of the Shi Kingdom was massacred by Gao Xianzhi, otherwise the prince of the Shi Kingdom would not have begged the Arabs for help.

Therefore, the Tang Dynasty's abandonment was like the collapse of the sky for Bukhara, Bukhara, and Sogdia.

They all knew that Gao Xianzhi had been replaced by General Tian.

They thought that the general who defeated Tubo would be extremely tough and would drive out the Arabs and restore their faith.

I didn't expect that General Tian is such a wimp and a person who doesn't live up to his reputation.

The countries in Central Asia, which had already changed their flags to the Arabs, were naturally overjoyed. Some of them were dissatisfied with the Tang Dynasty, while others were closer to the Arabs.

The Arabs had just pacified Bukhara and the Sogdian states. Under the pressure of such a large army, the more powerful Bactrian Khan was silenced.

The King of Bakhchisar sent his ministers to the Anxi Protectorate again to inquire about the reason.

They were the Tang Dynasty's vanguards west of the Pamir Mountains. If they lost the Tang Dynasty, even if they surrendered to the Caliphate, the Caliphate would still exploit them.

Bhanna is unwilling to accept this!

The Sogdian states of Cao, Kang and An also frequently paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty. A woman from Cao was a concubine of Li Longji and gave birth to Li Chongniang.

Kangguo and Anguo had many generals and officials in the Tang Dynasty.

They once again jointly sent a letter to the Anxi Protectorate, hoping that Li Xuan would send troops to help them.

Li Xuan returned to Qiuci in mid-July. When he received these letters, he simply replied that he was powerless and pointed out that the Qarluk had plundered the Beiting border of the Tang Dynasty, and he was ordered to send troops to the Qarluk.

However, there were thousands of ravines and gullies to the west of the Pamir Mountains, and the Tang Dynasty was unable to transport a large number of troops back.

Li Xuan also said that the Tang Dynasty was not afraid of the Arabs because the Arabs could not cross the Pamir Mountains and Leishan Mountain.

He deliberately sent the letter to several countries, even to small countries in the middle of the river that were unfriendly to the Tang Dynasty.

He wanted the Arabs to see Anxi's movements.

Su Dingfang pacified the area west of the Pamir Mountains, made dozens of countries submit to the Tang Dynasty, and set up many vassal states. However, the Tang army did not station troops west of the Pamir Mountains, nor did it extend its cultural influence to the west of the Pamir Mountains.

This made the ancient areas of Hezhong and Zhaowu west of the Pamir Mountains extremely unstable.

Equivalent to a protectorate of the Tang Dynasty.

So much so that some people in later generations believed that the area from the Pamir Mountains west to the Aral Sea was not considered the territory of Emperor Gaozong's era.

Because nothing is the basis of territory.

Unlike Anxi, the Tang Dynasty had an all-round influence on military, politics and culture.

Li Xuan didn't want this to happen.

Because of Central Asia’s geographical location, it is so important to China’s future.

If the Han people could live in the Caspian Sea or even the Black Sea, the Tang Dynasty would be able to directly control the West.

……

When Li Xuan returned to Qiuci City, he was not informed of the memorial sent from Chang'an, which meant that Bian Lingcheng's impeachment of Li Xuan had failed.

He is not ready now, and it is not the time to take down Bian Lingcheng, so let Bian Lingcheng jump for a few more days.

Li Xuan asked Xue Cuo to take out a batch of money, gold, silver and jewelry from the treasury of Anxi Protectorate, and asked Xue Cuo to take these gold, silver and jewelry to Gaochang and hand them over to Li Shu and Luo Xing.

Trade must be developed as soon as possible, Li Xuan does not have a few years.

At the same time, Li Xuan asked Cen Shen to be in charge of preparing papermaking workshops, porcelain workshops, iron smelting workshops, textile workshops, etc.

The soldiers sent out have found quartz sand near Qiuci. Quartz sand is a very common mineral and is currently being mined.

Li Xuan recruited craftsmen in the Qiuci Protectorate to prepare for the manufacture of glass and soap.

Three days after Li Xuan returned to Qiuci, a huge team followed the Chi River and arrived outside the city of Anxi.

Banners covered the sky, armors were like clouds, spears were like forests. There were so many people and horses that it seemed they could fill up the mountains and rivers.

The momentum was so majestic that it overshadowed the powerful Anxi Army.

There have never been so many Tang troops in the Western Regions.

The team included not only the Tang army, but also some soldiers' families and craftsmen's families, who came with the army, totaling more than 10,000 people. In the future, they will flourish here and make the Chinese civilization take root.

In addition, there were approximately 4,000 Tibetan slaves.

When they traveled to the Western Regions, they brought with them more than 100,000 cattle, sheep, and camels.

"General Che, you have had a hard time along the way."

Li Xuan led the officials of Anxi Protectorate out of the city to welcome the arrival of Anxi Jinglüe Army and Great Wall Army.

"Traveling long distances is common in military operations. I dare not complain about the hardship."

The god of cars bowed to Li Xuan.

Since they were driving a large number of livestock and carrying a lot of food, they usually had to find pastures for the horses and livestock, which took a lot of time.

Especially when crossing the desert, all the prepared fodder was used up.

War horses are fed with corn.

With the experience of this march, it will be much easier to march lightly next time.

Take the Anxi Jinglüe Army, which was transformed from the Lintao Army, for example. They only carried fodder for a few days and marched at top speed.

"The Great Wall Army is stationed outside the city of Qiuci. The Jinglüe Army under General Che will have to march to the Yili River Basin after resting for a while, and the troops will be stationed separately. I will formulate the matters of establishing a ranch as soon as possible."

Li Xuan also asked about the loss of war horses during the long march, and was relieved to learn that the loss was not great. He told Che Shensai about the final stationing location of the Jinglüe Army.

Arriving in the Yili River Basin, the military commander needs some time to adapt.

"I will follow Marshal Li's instructions. After arriving at Yilishui, I will urge the soldiers to open up more land and provide some food for themselves."

Che Shensai had memorized the map of the Western Regions long ago. Under the current circumstances, the Ili River Basin was the front line, and with the mobility of the Jinglüe Army, it could reach Suiye in a short time.

He did not forget to reduce the burden on Anxi and put the military farming into place.

In recent years, they have reclaimed twenty large tracts of wasteland outside Fuxi City in Qinghai.

I believe this can also be done in the Western Regions.

……

While Li Xuan was talking with Che Shensai, Li Siye inspected this army that replaced the Chishui Army and was hailed as "the best army in the world."

The former "Lintao Army" was also famous in the Western Regions. Ever since Li Xuan became the deputy ambassador of the Longyou Jiedushi, the Lintao Army has followed Li Xuan. For several years, the Lintao Army has participated in all the battles that Li Xuan participated in, making the Lintao Army comprised of a large number of elite veterans who have survived hundreds of battles.

In Li Siye's eyes, the Lintao Army was undoubtedly well-equipped.

Even ordinary light cavalry had two horses per person, while heavy infantry and heavy cavalry had four horses per person.

After decades of operation, Anxi has only been able to provide infantry with horses.

More than half of the war horses of the Jinglüe Army were covered with Ming Guang armor and fish scale armor, with an armor rate of 100% and an iron armor rate of over 50%.

Armor is the guarantee of the combat effectiveness of an elite army.

Li Siye finally saw the Longyou Mo Dao, which was more famous than the Anxi Mo Dao.

The improved Mo Dao was newly introduced into the Tang army during the Tianbao period. All the armies were still in the exploratory stage, but Longyou was the first to use the Mo Dao, and it had been tested in many battles.

Those who were hit by Zhang Xing's sword were both killed, man and horse.

It is said that this was the praise for Zhang Xing, the Modao general of Longyou, in the congratulatory letter. Even the saint praised Zhang Xing highly and made him a general.

Li Siye had to admit that the Longyou Modao was much better than the Anxi Modao. One person had four horses, which made up for the clumsiness of the Modao warriors.

Li Siye also learned that the Longyou Modao soldiers had specially made inner and outer armor to protect their faces, and were armed to the teeth.

As a Modao general, Li Siye knew that once the Longyou Modao Army stopped the cavalry, there would be a massacre.

"You are General Li of Anxi Modao, right? My name is Zhang Xing, the commander of the right wing of the Jinglüe Army, and also a Modao general!"

When Zhang Xing saw Li Siye, he was very surprised. It was the first time he saw someone much taller than him.

He knew that Li Siye must be a ruthless man, and the Mo Dao he wielded might be longer than his.

"Li Siye pays respect to General Zhang."

Zhang Xing was the General of the Qianniu Guard, and his status and fame were far greater than Li Siye.

"Marshal Li admires General Li very much. When the war comes, let's see who is braver."

Zhang Xing is very motivated. After years of training, he has more mature Mo Dao skills. He will not let General Li down.

"Okay, before that, I have to ask the general for advice on the techniques and formations of the Mo Dao."

When Li Siye heard Zhang Xing say that Li Xuan highly praised him, he was extremely excited and his competitive spirit was also aroused.

"We have both advantages and disadvantages in our Mo Dao troops. The tactics used by General Li during training can easily restrain the Mo Dao troops. Let's encourage each other and learn from each other's strengths to overcome our weaknesses."

Although Zhang Xing looks big and strong, he is actually a well-read man.

He knew the disadvantages of the Mo Dao, so the Mo Dao and the light cavalry complement each other. No matter what, they must be combined with the light cavalry and the strong crossbows, and they must not be greedy for merit. When necessary, they can rely on the terrain.

“Let’s encourage you together!”

Li Siye bowed again.

Afterwards, Li Siye was also responsible for receiving generals such as Zhang Xing into the city.

Soldiers who came from afar were rewarded by slaughtering cattle and sheep.

The families of craftsmen and soldiers would be settled on fertile land to facilitate farming.

The Western Regions are vast and sparsely populated, and there are many places around Qiuci where people can cultivate land.

The Tang army craftsmen were mainly engaged in repairing and manufacturing weapons and armor.

Li Xuan did not enter the city with his subordinates. He finally saw Jiang Yueyao and Changli, whom he had been thinking about.

Although they were in a carriage, the bumpy ride made them all very exhausted.

Li Xuan personally drove their carriage and took them to Li Xuan's residence in Anxi Protectorate.

They rested for a few days to relieve their fatigue, and then Li Xuan was gentle with them.

Then Li Xuan went to the banquet hall of the Protectorate to introduce the generals of Helong and get acquainted with the generals and subordinates of Anxi.

After a glass of wine, everyone worked together to achieve military success.

The Longyou Army entered the Western Regions, allowing Li Xuan to formally suppress the Anxi Army.

Next, Li Xuan wanted to win the battle and at the same time, punish the leading bird and rectify the Anxi Army.

In late July, the Jinglüe Army left and headed towards the designated location in Yilishui.

In early August, Li Xuan sent a letter to the thirty-six states in the Western Regions, informing them that the Karluks had plundered the vassal states and counties of Beiting, killing hundreds of herdsmen and stealing hundreds of thousands of livestock. The Protectorate wrote down all their crimes, showing that they were extremely treasonous.

The thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions were shocked by the Qarlugs’ invasion of Beiting. Were the Qarlugs so bold?
Although General Tian did not achieve any success in the Western Regions, his great reputation should be enough to scare people away!
The loyal younger brothers of the Tang Dynasty immediately wrote to the Protectorate and sent light cavalry to attack the Qarluk tribe and capture Shiliyehu alive.

Yuchi Sheng, the King of Khotan, even asked him to lead the troops personally.

However, Li Xuan only appeased the thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions and did not ask them to send troops to attack the Qarluk.

In mid-August, Li Xuan issued military orders to the garrison commanders of Khotan, Yanqi, and Qiuci, requiring them to gather their troops in Beiting and cooperate with Beiting's Tianshan Army and Hanhai Army to attack the Karluk Army.

The various towns have begun preparing food, fodder, and supplies...

(End of this chapter)