Back to late spring in March, in Chang'an, it is the time when "only the peony is the true national beauty, and the capital city is moved when the flowers bloom."

Tall buildings rose from the ground, and on the streets, carriages and horses carrying stones and wood came and went.

Different from before, there were various businessmen.

The number of businessmen has gradually decreased in the past two years, and some people were puzzled at first.

Later, people learned that the King of Tianshui was fighting in Anxi. In order to keep the information secret, the Silk Road was interrupted, resulting in fewer Hu merchants in Chang'an and Luoyang.

Many merchants' goods rotted in their hands, especially the Han merchants who transported goods from Jiangnan, Yangzhou, Yizhou and other places.

But when they heard that unknown merchants were buying silk in Liangzhou City of Wuwei, they immediately arrived in Liangzhou City.

Unexpectedly, their goods were sold easily, causing more merchants who originally went to Chang'an and Luoyang to rush to Wuwei.

This made Wuwei's finances abundant, and it surpassed Yangzhou to become a major city in the west after Chang'an and Luoyang.

And the country's nobles were living a life of drunkenness and dreams.

Li Longji "despised the title" and "people coveted his noble favor."

The upper class has never seriously analyzed or considered the changes in commerce.

Most of the vehicles on Zhuque Street in Chang'an serve the Five Yangs. Their mansions have been under construction since Li Xuan was dismissed from his position as prime minister.

They competed with each other, and when they saw other houses were taller and more magnificent than their own, they would immediately tear them down and rebuild them. They even had to continue the construction work by staying up late at night, in order to make the mansions bigger and brighter.

Last year, An Lushan led the Fan Yang and Ping Lu armies deep into the grasslands, marched straight into Huanglong, and defeated the Xi and Khitans successively.

In name, the Xi and Khitan peoples submitted to the Tang Dynasty, but in reality they became An Lushan's private soldiers.

An Lushan used both kindness and force to make the Xi and Khitan peoples swear allegiance to him.

An Lushan selected 8,000 of the bravest warriors from the Xi and Khitan tribes and formed a cavalry unit named "Yeluohe".

In the Turkic language family, Yeluohe means "warrior".

With carefully selected Hu warriors and equipped with the iron armor of the Tang Dynasty, one can imagine how brave this group of people were.

An Lushan used his sweet words to recruit the Shiwei, Mohe and Tongluo tribes in the northeast and fooled them around.

Since there were no Xi or Khitan people to stop the Tang army, they nominally submitted to the Tang.

Therefore, An Lushan established his prestige in the hearts of the northeastern Hu people. They believed that An Lushan was a brave general who could accomplish great things.

At the critical moment, Shiwei, Mohe and Tongluo were willing to send troops.

At this point, An Lushan's power had grown so great that even if the Hedong soldiers did not obey his orders, An Lushan could still gather an army of more than 200,000.

Send out 200,000 troops and attack the Taiyuan area.

Such an achievement naturally made Li Longji very happy. He immediately granted An Lushan a fief of 500 households and added a dozen diplomatic positions.

At the same time, in order to commend An Lushan's achievements, Li Longji opened the national treasury to build a mansion for An Lushan. His requirement for the craftsmen was "just make it magnificent, regardless of financial resources", and even the pots and pans inside had to be made of gold.

There was no good wood around the Tang Dynasty, and in order to build these buildings, the powerful and wealthy almost cut down all the trees on the Loess Plateau.

So for the next thousand years, the Yellow River roared and the people living in the middle and lower reaches of the river shed tears every year.

This is why there are countless vehicles carrying construction materials on Zhuque Street.

It would have been fine if the Five Yangs had just been engaged in large-scale construction projects, but they also interfered in political affairs.

Li Xuan's close associates after the reform were successively dismissed by Yang Guozhong on grounds of excuses. Now the remaining reformist officials can only behave themselves.

The only relatively strong minister who opposed Yang Guozhong was Li Xian.

Li Xian was the Jingzhao Yin. As he was a Buddhist and a member of the royal family, he had almost no desires, so it was difficult for Yang Guozhong to find any handle on him.

If local officials wanted to seek official positions, they only had to curry favor with Lady Guo, Lady Qin, and Lady Han, and pay them the right amount of money. Then they would inform Yang Guozhong and promote them.

Once the trend changes, it will be difficult to curb it.

Therefore, people from all over the world came to his door to present bribes and gifts, and the place was bustling like a market day and night.

All the consequences will be borne by the local people. Can we expect the prefects who came to power through bribery to love the people?

Last year, Yang Guozhong launched the war against Nanzhao.

He vowed to let Xianyu Zhongtong attack Nanzhao, but ended up being defeated and suffering heavy casualties among the soldiers.

However, Yang Guozhong concealed the defeat and told Li Longji that they had won a small victory but were short of troops. He could recruit troops from the Jingzhao area and then attack Nanzhao.

It was rumored that there was a lot of miasma in Nanzhao and that it was a life-threatening situation. Moreover, Yang Guozhong's reputation had already been ruined and no one was willing to believe him, so no one responded.

Yang Guozhong had no choice but to force local recruitment, otherwise he would threaten with increasing taxes and not being able to rent the Changping granary.

Helplessly, the people could only send their sons to the battlefield.

Du Fu was in Chang'an when he saw this scene and wrote the "March of the Chariots" which shook the world for thousands of years.

The carriages are rustling, the horses are neighing, and the pedestrians have bows and arrows on their waists. Parents and wives are walking to see them off, and the dust makes the Xianyang Bridge invisible. They hold their clothes and stamp their feet to stop the road and cry, their cries reach the sky...

After Du Fu scolded the rulers and criticized Li Longji, he changed the subject: Don’t you see, in Qinghai, no one has collected the bones since ancient times, the new ghosts are worried about the grievances and the old ghosts are crying, and the sky is cloudy and rainy with the sound of chirping.

The literati cried in front, and the ghosts cried behind.

It's heartbreaking and makes me cry.

Scolding Yang Guozhong for his incompetence, Li Longji indulged in war and predicted that this expedition to Nanzhao would end in a great defeat.

However, it is impossible for this poem to be published at this time. This is not the note of a prosperous age. Even if Li Longji did not kill Du Fu, Yang would kill him at all costs.

In order to win the battle, Yang Guozhong shamelessly ordered Tubo to attack Nanzhao.

Maxiang Zhongbajie agreed with Yang Guozhong on the surface, but in fact he had ulterior motives. He just sent troops in a formal manner.

As a prime minister with great talent and strategy, he was afraid of Li Xuan, but what kind of person was Yang Guozhong?
After six or seven years of development, Tubo's national strength had recovered to a certain extent, and another 50,000 Tubo men who met the age requirement joined the army.

The Tang army, led by Li Mi, had just set out for Jiannan.

It is estimated that this battle will not begin until next year.

This time, Yang Guozhong was full of confidence, and he also ordered other ethnic minorities in Jiannan to join the war.

Because of An Lushan's great victory, he seemed a bit aggressive, and the conflict between him and An Lushan became increasingly serious.

The contradictions within the Tang Dynasty also gradually became prominent.

From the emperor to the powerful, they pushed the Tang Dynasty into the abyss step by step.

Looking back at the Kaiyuan period, people’s lives were becoming increasingly worse.

The main reason was that the powerful and wealthy were extremely extravagant. The powerful and wealthy, represented by the Five Yangs and Yang Guozhong, would often throw away huge fortunes and spend money like water.

The people saw the extravagance and tyranny of the Five Yangs, so a song was circulated: Don't be happy if you have a boy, and don't be sad if you have a girl. Even if you have a girl, you can still use her as a door lintel.

On this day, Wu Yang went to Guangyuntan to enjoy the spring as usual.

At the same time, Li Longji and Yang Yuhuan were also invited.

Yang Guozhong and the Five Yangs went ahead. Their team grew larger, with horses, carriages and servants, and stretched across several blocks. They were decorated with brocade, pearls and jade, and were dazzling.

In addition, each family of the Five Yangs formed its own team, and the teams wore clothes of different colors, like clouds and brocade, or the radiance of hundreds of flowers.

Wherever they passed, the road was littered with lost and discarded jewellery and jade. Following them would surely bring one fortune. Even when they were outdoors, they would light all kinds of incense, and the fragrance would drift for dozens of miles.

After Li Longji's dragon chariot came out of the alley, the servants of the Five Yangs actually mixed with Li Longji's imperial guards and took the lead.

It was a sunny and spring day with a gentle breeze. Li Longji looked at the scenery along the way with a smile on his face.

Yang Guozhong and the Five Yangs rode their horses around the dragon chariot. Whenever Li Longji looked at them, they smiled.

Only Yang Yuhuan, who was dressed in her best clothes and looked like a blooming peony, had a hint of sadness in her brows.

Li Longji thought Yang Yuhuan was sad about the passing of spring, so he did this.

"Hercules, bring me my flute, I want to play a tune."

Li Longji became angry and ordered Gao Lishi, who was riding a horse beside him.

Gao Lishi immediately dismounted, took out the jade flute from a carriage behind, and ran to hand it to Li Longji.

Li Longji took the jade flute. He wanted to play "Dielianhua" on the flute while riding on the dragon chariot.

"Woooo..."

The dragon chariot was steady, and melodious flute sounds came from it, with clear and bright melody.

There is a swing inside the wall and a road outside. People are walking outside the wall, and the beauty inside the wall is laughing. The laughter gradually fades and the voice gradually becomes quiet. The affectionate one is annoyed by the heartless one...

This is the spring scene left by Li Xuan, a work expressing the sadness of spring.

Under Li Longji's superb performance, Yang Yuhuan smiled and charmed everyone.

Qillang had been gone for more than two years, and she really missed him.

The poems, especially the lyrics, left by Li Xuan always haunted Yang Yuhuan and made her yearn for them.

Whether it is "May we live long and share the beauty of the moon together even though we are thousands of miles apart", or "I searched for him among the crowd for hundreds of times. Suddenly turning around, he was there, in the dim lights", they have passed through Yang Yuhuan's mind countless times.

It seems like every night is Mid-Autumn Festival.

Every time in my dream, it is the Lantern Festival.

She doesn’t care who Li Xuan is looking for, but it is wonderful for her to pursue her own dream!

Although iron flowers are beautiful, they are fleeting and linger in the memory like fallen petals.

But in the palace, the days were like years. Sometimes, Li Xuan's "Chang'e should regret stealing the elixir, and her heart is filled with the blue sea and sky every night" would also make Yang Yuhuan feel regretful.

The troubles caused by her sisters and brothers also made her feel helpless.

Yang Yuhuan's character was completely controlled by Lady Guoguo and others, and she was unable to sacrifice her own relatives for the sake of justice.

"Ha ha……"

When Li Longji saw Yang Yuhuan's charming smile, he laughed out loud.

His hair was half black and half white, and there were more wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

But Li Longji felt a sense of accomplishment because he believed that he had made great achievements that were beyond the reach of even the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor.

He can just enjoy the rest of his life.

The civil servants have Guo Zhong, the military servants have Qi Lang. The world is flourishing and the country is stable.

Yang Guozhong, who was standing next to him, was very angry. The ghost of Li Xuan was still hanging around him. Whenever people compared him with Li Xuan, Yang Guozhong could not hide his anger.

Meanwhile, Li Xuan had achieved an astonishing victory thousands of miles away. Although the battle had not yet begun, Li Longji had mentioned him three times a day.

He also sent someone to urge Li Xuan to deliver the map as soon as possible.

Li Longji has asked the Hanlin Academy and the Jixian Academy to find maps from the Gaozong era, and he will make a careful comparison when the time comes.

Unlike others, Yang Guozhong had no way to deal with Li Xuan.

The imperial concubine protected him, Gao Lishi helped him. Even though Li Xuan made mistakes in reforming the law, Li Longji still did not doubt Li Xuan's loyalty.

Only by imposing the charge of "treason" could Li Xuan be brought down.

But the Western Regions were too far away for him to find evidence, and Yang Guozhong never thought that Li Xuan would actually rebel.

As for An Lushan, Yang Guozhong originally only wanted to frame him, but now the more he thought about it, the more he felt that there was something wrong with An Lushan.

However, Li Longji recently asked again whether Li Xuan could become prime minister, which made Yang Guo even more loyal.

With everyone worried, they drove all the way to Guangyuntan.

A group of people enjoyed the spring lake view here and held singing, dancing and banquets.

Wei Jian, who excavated Guangyuntan, died of depression in Lingnan.

At noon, a postman carrying a command flag and a black bag quickly ran towards Guangyuntan.

At the outer imperial guard station, hand over the black bag to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

This was an urgent document from Li Xuan, the Prince of Tianshui and the ambassador of Anxi Beiting. Like the secret report of the military supervisor, it could be presented directly to Gao Lishi without going through the hands of the Zhongshu Menxia, ​​and then Gao Lishi would present it to Li Longji.

"Your Majesty, King Tianshui has sent you a battle report and a map."

When Li Longji was feasting in Wangchun Tower, Gao Lishi trotted up to Li Longji and reported straight to the point.

He was not afraid of disturbing Li Longji's interest because Li Longji had been waiting for this day for a long time.

"what?"

"Present it quickly!" Li Longji was stunned for a moment, then quickly stood up from his seat.

Even the dancing singer was startled.

Before this, Li Longji only knew that after the victory in the Battle of Talas, the Battle of Samakan, and the Battle of Uhuru, the Tang army would march into Persia.

The troops were divided into many locations, and subordinates were unable to observe the battle situation, and the details of the battle report could not be counted in the first time.

That feeling of anticipation has always made Li Longji unable to stop.

When An Lushan conquered the Xi and Khitan tribes, Li Longji was just happy and had no other feelings. One reason was that they had been subordinates of the Tang Dynasty many times before, and the other reason was that the Xi and Khitan tribes were just ordinary tribes in Li Longji's eyes.

It cannot be compared with Tubo and Daqin.

The third is the style of the Western Regions, which had an influence on the culture, economy, customs, crops, handicrafts, fine wine and food, etc. of the Tang Dynasty.

Even he had a Sogdian Huxuan woman as his concubine.

There is nothing in the Northeast, it is a wild and desolate place.

Since the Han Dynasty, with Zhang Qian's diplomatic mission to the Western Regions and Ban Chao's joining the army, the Han dynasty has had an obsession with the Western Regions.

It is conceivable that any dynasty in the future that abandons the Western Regions will be criticized for all eternity.

Now that the battle report and congratulatory messages have arrived, Li Longji can hardly contain his joy.

A flash of surprise appeared in the depths of Yang Yuhuan's eyes.

However, the wine glass that Yang Guozhong had just raised to his lips froze, and he slowly put the glass down, feeling bored.

"Stop the vocal music and dancing!"

The wonderful singing, dancing and fine wine could no longer attract Li Longji, so he ordered them to stop.

"Retreat first and I'll call you later!"

Gao Lishi went to the hall and waved his hand.

The musicians and singers all left the stage.

Only Li Longji's close relatives were left in the banquet hall.

Li Longji quickly tore off the red line and opened the black bag.

Reports of many battles, together with reports of sieges and conquests, were bound into more than a dozen volumes, which together resembled a book.

In addition, there are Li Xuan’s commendation letter, maps, and a memorial on the development plan of Hezhong.

Li Xuan planned to establish the Zhezhi Garrison in Zhezhi City, with 5,000 infantry and cavalry under his command, to defend the newly planned Han territory in this area and the Qianquan Ancient Road.

In addition, a Pamir garrison was set up in Jumi, along the banks of the Wuhu River, close to the Pamir Mountains. The garrison was composed of 5,000 infantry and cavalrymen, who were responsible for intimidating the Tocharian countries and directly managing the newly built ancient Pamir Road.

In this way, the Wuhu River Basin and the Yaosha River Basin both belonged to the Tang Dynasty.

As long as the Tang Dynasty does not collapse, its control over Hezhong will sooner or later be the same as that over Anxi.

The first thing Li Longji saw was not the battle report, but the map.

The map slowly opens, revealing the mountains and sea.

He first saw the Caspian Sea, which was mentioned so often, and which was said to be the largest inland sea in the world.

Looking at the map, it's huge.

The territories belonging to the Persian Empire and the important Persian town of Chahar are marked with lines.

On the other side of Persia was the territory of the Caliphate, stretching all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, including the Caliphate's capital, Hashemite.

There are also the most important cities of the Caliphate, Jerusalem and Damascus, as well as the holy city of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula.

Due to the limitations of the mapmaker's skills, the northwestern corner of the map shows the Asia Minor Peninsula, and only Constantinople, the capital of the Roman Empire, can be seen.

Li Longji came to his senses and looked east of the Caspian Sea, which covered thousands of miles of fertile land, mountains and rivers all the way to the Transoxiana region.

Although the Leizhu Sea (now the Aral Sea) is not as large as the Caspian Sea, it is also extremely eye-catching.

There is a mark of Huo Xun there, who surrendered to the Tang Dynasty again.

There are also dozens of countries, large and small, in the middle of the river, which he is more familiar with.

Now that the Arabs are gone, many have changed their kings and can only submit to the Tang Dynasty and pay taxes to it like the Anxi states.

Then we cross the Pamir Mountains and connect to Anxi Beiting. This is the full picture of the map.

Gao Lishi was very perceptive. He had someone prepare a map from the time of Emperor Gaozong and opened it in front of Li Longji.

After a comparison, I feel a great sense of accomplishment.

The map of the west side of the Hexi Corridor is even larger than that of the Tang Dynasty in the east.

In Li Longji's heart, Persia was already the territory of the Tang Dynasty, because all these territories were conquered by his beloved generals.

"Guozhong, Huo Qubing in ancient times didn't have such achievements, right?"

Li Longji asked Yang Guozhong with great joy.

"Since the Prince of Tianshui conquered Tubo, he can be compared to Huo Qubing."

Yang Guozhong was beside Li Longji and saw the whole map. He could only flatter Li Xuan against his conscience so as not to disturb Li Longji's interest.

"The world is so vast that my Tang Dynasty seems to be in a remote corner. I look to the west and see my soldiers galloping across the Caspian Sea, defeating a country as powerful as the Tang Dynasty. Li Shi, which king do you think can be like me?"

Li Longji's vanity was aroused, and he asked Gao Lishi again.

"Looking back at all the monarchs in ancient times, none of them were as accomplished in civil and military affairs as the sage. You are the true reincarnation of a sage!"

Gao Lishi followed Li Longji all his life and knew best what Li Longji wanted to hear.

"It's wonderful! If it weren't thousands of miles away, I would really like to go to the sea there."

Li Longji was so proud that he couldn't take his eyes off it.

He looked toward the Mediterranean again.

Li Xuan once said that around the Mediterranean Sea, there once existed the Roman Empire, which was as famous as the Han Dynasty. From ancient times to the present, many great powers have risen because of the Mediterranean.

The West is definitely civilized.

Li Longji was a musician, and the various musical instruments that came from the West always made Li Longji interested in the West.

It would be a supreme honor if the Tang Dynasty's cavalry could drink from the Mediterranean Sea.

Li Longji was increasingly unable to control his ambition.

"Sanlang, Lushan's achievements are far less than Qilang's, yet you gave him such a great reward. Qilang has made such great contributions, you must reward him well!"

Yang Yuhuan told Li Longji at the appropriate time.

She didn't know what Li Xuan wanted, she just wanted to get as much as possible.

"I will grant Qilang another thousand households, no, fifteen hundred households, and build him a mansion that is more magnificent than Lushan's. In addition, I will reward him with gold, famous jade, colorful forgings, and beautiful women!"

Since Yang Yuhuan spoke, Li Longji naturally gave her a big reward for his own face.

Yang Guozhong made a lot of money for him.

Since Li Xuan was dismissed from his post as prime minister, any small achievement would bring huge rewards.

The more Yang Guozhong listened, the more sad he felt. He had been greedy for several years, but the reward Li Longji gave to Li Xuan might not be as much as this time.

The three Yang sisters were also upset. They had not forgotten that when Li Xuan was the prime minister, he bullied them in various ways, otherwise they would have more money now.

Just by looking at the map, Li Longji was already extremely happy.

There were too many battle reports, so Li Longji only read reports from major battles.

Until the afternoon, very focused.

In recent years, Li Longji has rarely been so serious.

Even though Li Longji hardly cared about state affairs, any monarch would inevitably be interested in military achievements.

Li Longji cared very much about how future generations would evaluate him.

In this era, scholars and literati often talk about Yao and Shun.

Li Longji hoped that in the future, people would discuss him regardless of whether they were civil or military officials.

Li Xuan’s usual style is present in every major battle.

It is not about charging forward bravely, but about making plans first, then interweaving, and finally charging into the battle personally to deal a fatal blow to the enemy.

The number of Tang army casualties was very low.

In this battle, the Qarluk, Turgesh, Anxi, Bukhara, Sogdian, and Tokharistan tribes also shared the pressure for the Tang army.

This enabled the Tang army to maintain its main force and have the strength to fight again.

The battle report was smooth and Li Longji was in a good mood.

It was a pity that the Tang army had been fighting for a long time and was very tired, otherwise they would have been able to reach the Mediterranean.

Li Xuan exceeded the goals assigned by Li Longji, and Li Longji had no reason to blame him.

Finally, Li Xuan also claimed that after the Anxi troops had rested for a year or so, he would continue to send troops into Persia, capture the Arab Caliph alive, let his horses drink water from the Mediterranean, and enhance the country's prestige.

This was exactly what Li Longji wanted and made him very happy.

He decided to reward the soldiers of Anxi Beiting well so that they would have more morale to expand the territory for him.

Afterwards, Li Longji looked at Li Xuan's development plan for the new posts of Zhezhi Garrison Commander and Congling Garrison Commander.

He agreed without thinking twice.

He must control Hezhong as firmly as he controls Anxi.

Then people gradually migrated to Persia.

The last step is to report the achievements.

It is the document in which Li Xuan commends the soldiers who have made meritorious services, including those who have been promoted to higher ranks and awarded the Medal of Leaping, the Medal of Warrior, and the Medal of Hero.

Lu Jing was appointed as the garrison commander of Zhezhi, and Lun Weizhen was appointed as the garrison commander of Congling.

Cheng Qianli was promoted to Deputy Ambassador of Beiting Jiedushi and Deputy Protector of Beiting.

Li Siye, who had made the greatest contribution, was promoted to the position of Anxi Military Commander.

The former military commander Che Shensai was promoted to deputy envoy of Anxi Jiedushi.

When Li Xuan was on an expedition, his former deputy envoy Wang Zhengjian died of illness in Qiuci, which made Li Xuan very sad.

Wang Zhengjian was old, so he did not go on the expedition with the army, and he could be considered to have died of old age.

Zhang Xing was promoted to ambassador of the Jinglüe Army, and Che Guangqian and Hun Yu were promoted to deputy ambassadors of the Jinglüe Army.

Zhao Huaiping, a veteran general under Li Xuan, was promoted to commander of the Great Wall Army.

Wei Boyu, Ma Lin, Hao Tingyu and Lai Zhen were all promoted on the battlefield, and Li Xuan formally reported the matter.

Li Xuan promoted Bai Xiaode to be the deputy envoy to guard Qiuci.

Tian Zhen was another deputy envoy of Kucha.

Guo Hecang, the envoy of the Hanhai Army, was promoted to the rank of Beiting Military Commander, and the envoy of the Tianshan Army was changed to the envoy of the Hanhai Army, a promotion of half a rank.

Wang Sui, the deputy envoy of the Hanhai Army, was promoted to chief envoy.

There are seven other deputy envoy positions including Zhezhi, Congling, etc., all of which are promoted from those who have made meritorious contributions.

Every army is equipped with two deputy envoys.

The generals who were granted titles were often given titles such as General of the Central Army, General, and Generalissimo to show off their status.

Other subordinates, such as Feng Changqing, Liu Shan, Dugu Luo, etc., were given additional official positions.

In particular, Li Xuan recommended Feng Changqing as the governor of Zhezhi.

Let Feng Changqing stay behind and be responsible for managing the military and political affairs in the areas of Zhezhi City and Xiyuan City (Talas City). At critical moments, he can intervene in the countries in Hezhong.

After a while, Li Xuan will consider transferring Feng Changqing back.

Li Longji only glanced at Li Xuan's letter of commendation, and then ordered Yang Guozhong to draft a letter of appointment as soon as possible, have it signed by the military and civil departments, and send it to Anxi...

(End of this chapter)