Accompanied only by his personal guards, Li Xuan moved faster and it took him more than ten days to cross the Qianquan Ancient Road and reach Suiye City.

After more than a year of construction and expansion, the most dangerous road is no longer dangerous. The section of road where people and horses travel alone has been renovated and can now accommodate two cars running side by side.

As a result, hundreds of prisoners lost their lives and their bodies fell off the cliff.

The guards who guarded the Arab captives were mainly soldiers from the Anxi countries, but they were managed by officials from the Tang Dynasty. Li Xuan appointed Dugu Jun as the manager, and when the construction was completed, he made a great contribution.

The road is very long and there is still a lot of space for construction. In addition, a large city needs to be built in Qianquan Valley as a transit point for the Qianquan Ancient Road. We must guard against the more than 70,000 prisoners on the Qianquan Ancient Road.

Li Xuan had heard that the captives had rebelled twice, but fortunately their tools were no match for swords, guns, bows and arrows.

Escapes happened many times, and there were even cases of people escaping alive.

In response to this, Li Xuan adopted a segmented construction method, with each segment containing no more than 500 captives and guarded by at least 100 soldiers from the Anxi states armed with bows and arrows.

In addition, Li Xuan also arranged 200 crossbowmen and 500 cavalrymen on the Qianquan Ancient Road and the Gucongling Road to deal with emergencies.

Soldiers from the Qarluk and Turkic tribes have been stationed beside the Suiye River for two months.

It was Li Xuan who asked them not to leave and wait for the reward.

The two tribes followed him for more than a year, suffering hardships and hardships. Five thousand Qarluk cavalrymen were killed or maimed, and nearly two thousand Turkic tribes were killed or maimed. The loss ratio was higher than that of the Tang army.

With such heavy casualties, rewards and consolations must be given in order to prepare for the next call-up.

The way to control subordinates is to use both kindness and power. If only the power of the Heavenly General is used without any reward, the various Hu people will inevitably be resentful and passive in the next battle.

Before the silk rewarded by the court was delivered to Anxi, Li Xuan had already ordered Yan Zhenqing to transport 25,000 pieces of silk from the Anxi treasury to Suiye City.

Moreover, more than ten carts of gold, silver and treasures were transported back to Qiuci.

Compared with what Li Xuan earned, the more than ten cars only accounted for one percent.

"This time, the Tang Dynasty has achieved such a great victory in the Western Expedition, and you have made an indelible contribution. My promise will not change, and you will get the rewards you deserve."

Li Xuan summoned Shiliyehu and Tocharian chieftain Husuluo into Suiye City and spoke to them.

"The victory of the Heavenly Army was entirely due to the planning of the Heavenly General. We only contributed a small part. It is an honor to witness your miracle. How dare I take credit for it? From now on, if the Heavenly General gives any orders, I will immediately lead the troops to follow and be willing to go through fire and water!"

Shi Liyehu bowed to Li Xuan and responded with respectful words.

Seeing is believing. Since the Battle of Suiye Water, they have been repeatedly amazed by General Tian.

The Heavenly General is not only extremely brave, but also has strict command capabilities.

These grassland tribes, following General Tian, ​​were able to achieve great victories with minimal casualties, even though the Arab soldiers were heavily armored.

This has never happened before!
The general killed the fierce general of the Arabs as easily as taking something out of a bag; he was uncontested in the midst of thousands of troops. They all saw his amazing archery skills.

The soldiers under his command were all in awe of General Tian and did not dare to have any disloyal thoughts.

Even when Xue Rengui conquered Tianshan with three arrows, it was far less powerful than the Heavenly General today.

Therefore, Shiliyehu decided to take the Qarlugs with him, swearing to follow General Tian until death, and to defend the northern border for the Tang Dynasty.

"General Tian not only brought our men to fame and power throughout the world, but also gave the warriors who died in battle the honor of being buried on horseback. We, the Tuqish tribes, are convinced by you and will never have second thoughts from now on. We will only obey General Tian's orders!"

Hu Se Luo also bowed to Li Xuan and said solemnly.

The history of the Turkic people is very tortuous. They were once a small tyrant on the grassland. Because they had defected to the Western Turks, they fought many battles with the Tang Dynasty.

After the fall of the Western Turks, the Turgesh surrendered and rebelled repeatedly.

Especially after the Huang and Hei families attacked each other.

In the 28th year of Kaiyuan, the Huang chieftain Mohedagan killed Sulu Khan.

Sulu Khan's son Guchu was supported as Tuhuoxian Khan.

In the 29th year of Kaiyuan, Gai Jiayun joined forces with Mohedagan to defeat Tuhuoxian Khan and prevent him from restoring the Western Turks.

In the third year of Tianbao, Fu Meng Lingzhe killed Mohedagan.

Before Li Xuan took over as the Anxi Jiedushi, Gao Xianzhi captured the leader of the Turks and was killed by Li Longji in Chang'an.

At this point, the Turgesh became a loose sand.

Fortunately, the Tang Dynasty gave the Turkic tribes a place to graze in the Ili River basin.

The Tang Dynasty's Western Expedition allowed the Turkic tribes to see an invincible and brave general.

Although the various tribes were not united, as long as the Heavenly General was there, they dared not have any dissenting thoughts.

"Shiliyehu, I will give you 20,000 pieces of silk from the Karluk tribe as a reward, which you shall distribute to the warriors who have made contributions. I will also give you gold, silver, jewels and 200,000 silver coins worth 20,000 pieces of silk. In addition, I will give you 3,000 horses and 10,000 cattle and sheep captured this time."

"Chief Huseluo, I will reward you with 5,000 pieces of silk from the Tuqishi tribes. I will also reward you with gold, silver, jewelry and 50,000 silver coins worth 8,000 pieces of silk. I will also give you 1,000 captured war horses and 5,000 cattle and sheep."

Li Xuan was very satisfied with the answers of Shiliyehu and Chief Huseluo. He rewarded them according to the number of troops sent by both sides.

The Qarluk and Turkic tribes participated in almost all the battles of Li Xuan's Western Expedition.

"Thank you, General Tian. We will be grateful to you for such a reward."

"Thank you, General Tian. From now on, all of my Tuqishi tribes will only fight for you."

Shiliyehu and Chief Huseluo thanked Li Xuan one after another.

They didn't expect that General Tian would give them such a generous reward.

With these rewards, they can also give an account to the various departments.

The Turkic nomadic peoples would rather die of shame than illness and sacrifice a lot of their troops. For them, paying some casualties in exchange for value was completely worth it.

"Shiliyehu, when I return to Chang'an this time, I will report to the Saint about the establishment of the Karluk Khanate. At that time, you should be more sincere and present treasures to the Saint to please him so that he can confer a title on you."

Li Xuan also raised the issue of establishing a Khanate to Shiliyehu.

He felt that the Uighurs would be resentful of the Battle of Baitinghai, so he wanted to create an enemy for the Uighurs.

"Xiao Wang understands!"

Shiliyehu was even more excited. With the establishment of the Qarluk Khanate, he would be the Khan and could compete with the Uighurs.

He did not forget that there were still many Karluks under the rule of the Uighurs.

As long as those Qarlugs returned to his side, together with the subordinate tribes, he would have 50,000 soldiers and horses.

The rewards were just outside the city. After Li Xuan talked with Shiliyehu and Chief Huseluo for an hour, he asked them to take the treasures and horses, cattle and sheep back to their respective territories.

As for the Anxi states that sent troops, Li Xuan only exempted them from paying taxes for one year. After all, they only participated in the Battle of Suiyeshui.

Among the 3,000 Anxi warriors who actively participated in the war, nearly 1,000 were killed or disabled, and they were compensated according to the standards of the Tang army.

The living warriors will be rewarded with silk according to the number of enemies they kill.

Many captures are considered collective captures and are rewarded with money.

The currency of the Tang Dynasty could be circulated in Anxi. Even the Tuqishi tribes used the Kaiyuan Tongbao of the Tang Dynasty.

In early July, Li Xuan led his personal guards back to Qiuci, the capital of the Anxi Protectorate.

The city of Kucha at this time was very different from the one before Li Xuan became the governor of Anxi.

After three years of construction, workshops have sprung up.

With the financial support of the Anxi Protectorate, the glass workshop, soap workshop, and liquor workshop had already been built, and under the leadership of Yan Zhenqing, they achieved a certain output and sold it to Liangzhou City.

Han merchants who were transporting silk in Liangzhou City saw the business opportunity and bought these things, selling them to Chang'an, Luoyang, Yangzhou, Yizhou and other places.

The Tang Dynasty was also able to produce colored glaze, but its quality, cheapness, and crystal clearness could not compare to those produced by the Qiuci Colored Glaze Workshop.

This was fired by Li Xuan using a more scientific method, which did not make it into glass, but a decoration.

The most popular item is soap.

No one doesn't like cleanliness, especially the nobles.

What the Tang Dynasty had the most was wealthy families, so soap was in short supply for a time, and its price soared.

Strong liquor is not as popular as one might imagine. Many people cannot get used to the taste of this kind of distilled liquor, and it only appeals to a small number of people.

It is also a specialty of Anxi. However, due to the high grain consumption, there is only one liquor shop and production is slow.

There are buildings for other industries such as papermaking, printing, iron smelting, lacquerware, textiles, porcelain, various liquors such as wine, rice wine, beef jerky, etc.

In terms of weapons, armor, bows and crossbows, and other equipment, Li Xuan used the war as an excuse to increase the production of weapons, armor and equipment, and continued to smelt iron ore in Yanqi. In the future, he would transport iron from the Khorasan region, where the iron was better.

Although the war was over, the weapons workshop was not asked to reduce production.

Li Xuan is still trying to increase production!
The city of Qiuci was obviously more lively than before, not only because it was gaining vitality after the opening of the Silk Road, but also because more Han people came from afar to join the army in order to fulfill their expectations of military merit.

There are many young Han people who migrated from Hebei, Henan and other places to Qinghai and other places under Li Xuan’s immigration policy.

Instead of joining the army in Helong, they crossed the Hexi Corridor and the desert to reach Qiuci and serve the Heavenly General.

After Li Xuan's troops returned, the officials, generals, Bai Ba, the king of Qiuci, the common people in the city, and the Han men who came to join the army went out of the city to welcome Li Xuan.

For more than ten miles, there was a bustling crowd, showing Li Xuan's great reputation.

In the past, General Tian was just a synonym for powerful.

After the Western Expedition, Li Xuan was revered as a god in Anxi.

The countries in the Western Regions would never dare to disobey Li Xuan at the critical moment.

Their soldiers did not have the courage to draw their swords against Li Xuan.

This was also the purpose of Li Xuan's launching of the Western Expedition.

An Lushan wanted to pacify the Khitan and Xi tribes to stabilize the rear.

Li Xuan also wanted a stable rear base to use the Persian Empire to fight against the Arab Empire.

The resources from Hezhong, Anxi and Beiting were continuously transported to the Hexi Corridor, which became his help.

"Thank you for your hard work during this period."

Li Xuan returned the greetings to everyone and finally spoke to Yan Zhenqing.

"The Grand Protector is busy with military affairs, and as the judge of the Grand Military Governor, I should do this."

Yan Zhenqing bowed to Li Xuan and said. It took Li Xuan almost two years to return from leaving Qiuci and heading to Suiye City.

During the time of Hexi and Longyou, there had never been such a long war.

The news of victory on the front line came from time to time, making the Anxi states obedient and follow Yan Zhenqing's arrangements.

"The Anxi and Beiting armies suffered considerable casualties in this battle. How is the recruitment work going?"

After a few words of greeting, Li Xuan got straight to the point.

"Reporting to the Grand Protector, according to the casualty statistics and the number of people who have registered to join the army, the troops of Anxi and Beiting can be easily replenished. In addition, new soldiers for the Zhezhi Army and Congling Army can also be recruited. Not only the Han people who have come from afar, but also the Hu people from Anxi and Beiting countries. They admire the Grand Protector and are very interested in joining the army."

Yan Zhenqing replied to Li Xuan.

"That's good!"

Li Xuan nodded.

Replacing the battle damage is not a problem at all.

By this time, the Anxi Army had 54,000 men, and the Beiting Army had 20,000 men.

Although the food pressure was great, the Tang army could, in addition to cultivating crops, purchase grain from Anxi, Beiting, Hezhong, and Persia.

Buy food when you can.

When Li Xuan started his rebellion, he wanted to have enough food to feed his 200,000-strong army for three years.

Not only that, the animal husbandry industry must also be developed at a faster pace, and we must vigorously purchase cattle and sheep from herders and nomadic peoples.

Pastures were established to provide soldiers with more meat and beef jerky facilities, making it more convenient during long journeys.

"No need to wait, let's go back to Qiuci City first!"

Li Xuan said something to the others again, then mounted his horse again.

"General Tian!"

"General Tian!"

Amid the cheers of the onlookers, Li Xuan rode his horse slowly towards the city of Kucha.

Along the way, Li Xuan waved to the onlookers from time to time to show his grace.

In the eyes of onlookers, Li Xuan was a unique and extraordinary person, and his kindness made them even more excited.

Some Hu people even firmly believed that Li Xuan was a "god from heaven".

"Grand Protector, you are exhausted from the journey. Go back to your residence to rest today. We will hold the banquet tomorrow. We will report the details to you the day after tomorrow!"

After entering the city, Yan Zhenqing said to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan has his own family in Kucha City. He hasn't seen them for nearly two years, so naturally he wants to reunite with his family.

There is no rush to deal with matters.

"All right!"

Li Xuan didn't think too much about it, he really missed his woman.

Some were far away in Chang'an, and some were in the Protectorate of Qiuci City.

Li Xuan ordered Pei Ying to reward his personal guards with wine and meat and let them rest for a while.

More than one hundred of his personal guards were killed or injured this time. Li Xuan planned to gradually expand his personal guards to about 10,000 cavalry after he returned from Chang'an.

He selected veterans from various armies to join his personal guard.

Recruit new soldiers and join the various armies.

Jiang Yueyao and Changli already knew that Li Xuan was returning to Qiuci today.

Their identities prevent them from welcoming the challenge and they can only wait quietly.

They were already in the Western Regions, and their husbands had been gone for nearly two years. They deeply felt the horror and hardship of war.

The title of Heavenly General is the highest honor, but behind this honor is endless hard work and sweat.

Like the calligraphy my husband hung in the lobby, "Don't ask about the title of marquis, for a general's success is the result of thousands of sacrifices."

Even if they believe in their husbands' abilities, they can't help but worry in their hearts.

The news of victory reached the city of Kucha, making them feel relieved and happy for their husbands.

As soon as Li Xuan entered the courtyard, he took off his helmet and walked in with the helmet slung over his shoulder.

"Husband..."

When Jiang Yueyao and Changli learned that their husbands had arrived, they immediately went out to greet them.

But they were still a step too late, Li Xuan had already swaggered into the courtyard.

Women dress up to please themselves. Jiang Yueyao and Changli were both dressed up. They were in their prime, with beautiful faces and full of charm.

"My husband has been away from home for nearly two years, leaving you all alone."

Li Xuan also felt deeply touched. A war lasts for two years, and how many two years does a person have to expend his energy?
"My husband, that's not true. We are each other's companions and we are not alone. My husband is the one who is fighting outside and it is hard. As for Lady Lingxi and Shuang'er in Chang'an, we are already very satisfied to be able to follow my husband to the Western Regions."

Changli was considerate and said to Li Xuan, "Compared to Li Xuan's battles, they were nothing."

"Yes! My husband has great ambitions for the world, and I am incompetent. I can only support him silently and take care of the household affairs for him."

Jiang Yueyao also said that although they were concubines, their husbands always spoke very gently and never made them feel bad.

When her cousin's family encountered misfortune, Li Xuan first comforted her and did not add insult to injury because of their previous hostility.

Because of her husband's relationship, Yang Guozhong did not dare to demote or kill his father Jiang Du.

She felt that she was very lucky in her life and was willing to do everything for her husband.

"After a while, I will go back and fetch Lingxi and Shuang'er."

They were in Chang'an, and Li Xuan felt very guilty.

"Leave Song'er in Chang'an and let Aong raise him."

Jiang Yueyao said softly that he knew that Marshal Bian had taken office and wanted to leave a hostage in Chang'an.

Even An Lushan had to keep An Qingzong in Chang'an.

"No! Leave the eldest son Li Yi in Chang'an."

Li Xuan replied solemnly.

The eldest son should be responsible and more trustworthy to Li Longji.

Seeing Li Xuan's stern tone, the weak Jiang Yueyao didn't know what to say.

She just wanted Pei Lingxi to see her own children more often.

I never thought there would be any danger in staying in Chang'an.

"My dear, you just came back and you are exhausted. Let us bathe and change your clothes for you."

Changli said to Li Xuan again.

At this time, Li Xuan was still wearing armor and inner armor.

The main reason was that they were afraid that someone would shoot an arrow at Li Xuan on the road. When Li Xuan was unable to dodge, the armor could save his life.

Li Xuan often appeared in the Western Regions wearing armor.

The majestic red Tangshan Wenshuai armor is more in line with people's admiration for the heavenly general.

"it is good!"

Li Xuan nodded.

After entering the house, take off your armor and change into casual clothes.

The maid prepared hot water for Li Xuan and then left.

Jiang Yueyao and Changli helped Li Xuan wash up with red faces.

The atmosphere at this moment was charming, and ambiguous to the extreme in the foggy space.

Li Xuan smelled the fragrance on them and became eager to try.

As soon as she finished her shower, Li Xuan hugged Jiang Yueyao, causing her to panic: "Husband, it's still daytime."

"It's okay. No one will disturb me today."

Li Xuan did not let go and kept touching her body. If it was not for the extremely urgent military intelligence, no one would be so blind as to choose to disturb him at this time.

Although he had many wives, he was still very self-disciplined outside. Whether it was Sogdia or Persia, who all competed to offer him beautiful women, he rejected them all.

After being teased by Li Xuan, Jiang Yueyao's face turned even redder and her body softened.

"My lord, I will ask the servants to leave..."

Changli quickly found an excuse to leave.

"Today you will serve your husband together."

Li Xuan didn't let Chang Li run away and grabbed her.

They were all weak women, and they could not break free if Li Xuan exerted a little force.

Moreover, they had been married to Li Xuan for many years and had not seen each other for a long time, so they were reluctant to accept.

As long as Li Xuan likes it, they will do their best.

Li Xuan closed the door and pulled them into the inner room...

They seemed to be wandering around Wushan with their husbands, turning into beautiful morning clouds in the morning and drizzling evening rain in the evening...

(End of this chapter)