Li Xuan returned to Qiuci City with his wife and children last spring.

We encountered heavy snow on the way and rested in a city along the way.

This gives the children some time to relax and not be constantly tossed around.

Moreover, the children were sensible and did not cry too much during the long journey.

Li Xuan passed through the Hexi Corridor and met the Hexi Jiedushi Geshu Han while resting in Liangzhou City.

After leading the Hexi Army for eight years, Geshu Han had no military merits, nor was he favored by Li Longji and granted the title of Prince as in history.

Now the Hexi and Longyou armies want to make achievements, but they have only encountered some minor frictions and rebellions by ethnic minorities in their territories.

The cessation of hostilities with the Uighurs and Tubo caused some ambitious border troops to become discouraged.

Long-term comfort and no rewards for military merits will inevitably lead to soldiers neglecting training.

After eight years of not fighting, with the addition of many new soldiers, the elite troops trained by Li Xuan are definitely not as strong as when Li Xuan was galloping on the snowy plateau.

Born in sorrow, die in happiness.

Unfortunately, Li Xuan heard that several commanders had turned evil, forgotten their original intentions, and betrayed military discipline.

Especially in the Longyou Army, there were some people like Tongjia and Dangxiang who provoked the surrender and deliberately started a war in order to gain military merit.

The game between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo has not yet ended, which will directly affect future plans.

And there is Geshu Han.

Although Geshu Han was not very old, he looked extremely old.

After eight years in command of the army without any battles, he gradually became indulgent and addicted to alcohol and sex, which drained his body.

Before Li Xuan met Geshu Han, he had suffered a stroke and was bedridden. Fortunately, he survived and was able to continue leading the army.

But my health is not as good as before.

Yang Guozhong has always wanted to interfere in the military affairs of Longyou and Hexi in order to increase his influence in the army.

The Longyou Army controlled thousands of miles of territory, including Qinghai and Baihai, making it the most important town in the world.

The Hexi Army controlled the Hexi Corridor, and its strategic position is self-evident.

After learning that Geshu Han had suffered a stroke, Yang Guozhong immediately asked Li Longji to promote Wu Huaiyuan, the original commander of the Dadou Army, to the deputy ambassador of the Hexi Jiedushi.

At the same time, Yang Guozhong also instructed Wu Huaiyuan to bribe Hexi Military Supervisor Li Dayi with a large sum of money to make a secret report to the emperor to demonstrate his talent as a commander.

With two approaches at the same time, Li Longji promoted Wu Huaiyuan without much thought.

The more qualified military commander Li Zhushi and Chishui Army ambassador Li Guangchen were turned away.

In addition, the main generals when Li Xuan was in power included An Yuanzhen, Li Fei Shouyu, Liu Zhiru, Zhang Renxian, etc., who were no worse than Wu Huaiyuan.

It is obvious that Wu Huaiyuan wanted to get a high position and a high salary by getting in touch with Yang Guozhong.

Yang Guozhong intended to support Wu Huaiyuan to replace Geshu Han as the commander-in-chief. As long as Geshu Han died, he could succeed to the throne.

But after Geshu Han suffered his first stroke, he survived and prevented Yang Guozhong's plan from succeeding.

However, it also allowed Wu Huaiyuan to control part of the military power in Hexi.

Li Xuan remained calm, he just asked Geshu Han not to drink anymore in the future.

He also advised him kindly, and if it really didn't work, he should resign from his post on the grounds of illness and rest.

Geshu Han may be in danger soon. If he resigns now on the grounds of illness and does not go to Chang'an, but stays in Hexi to recuperate, he should be able to escape the disaster.

As for whether Geshu Han will listen to him, it depends on his fate.

However, in this time and space, there was no conflict between Geshu Han and An Lushan.

Wang Nande, the governor of Longyou, was a relatively pure and fierce general.

After he moved the capital to Fuqi City near Qinghai, he always managed the army strictly.

Although his commanders were disobedient, he did not deviate from his original intention.

Li Xuan had many old subordinates in Longyou, such as Nan Jiyun, Li Sheng, Zhang Wanfu, Qu Huan, Duan Xiushi, An Zhongzhang, Xin Yunjing, Li Feiyuanli, Zhang Shouyu, Gao Kai, Yang Jinghui, Cao Shengning, Qian'er Dafu, Peng Ren and so on.

Many of his personal guards of the Shen Ce Guard once served as generals in the Longyou Army.

In Longyou, Murong Xihao, Gao Shi, Yang Wan, Liu Yan and others were also serving as local governors, which gave Li Xuan a 99% chance of controlling the Longyou army at a critical moment.

However, the situation of the Hexi army changed due to Geshu Han's illness and Wu Huaiyuan's rise to power.

But Li Xuan still believed that he might be able to defeat the Hexi Army without bloodshed.

Anxi, Beiting, Hexi, and Longyou, these four armies are the soldiers that Li Xuan must control since his plan.

At the same time, there were many subordinate states and Hu tribes belonging to the Four Towns.

Because Li Xuan was facing not only An Lushan, but also many unstable factors in the court and the powerful families in the local area who were afraid of his power.

And the attitudes of Tubo and Huihe.

When he returned to Qiuci in spring, Li Xuan immediately ordered people to repair the post station leading to the Hexi Corridor.

He had mentioned this matter to Li Longji a long time ago, using the excuse of transporting items and specialties from the Arabs and Persians to Chang'an.

He believed that after the Tang Dynasty defeated the Arabs, the original path was no longer suitable for the greatness of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Longji, who was fond of ostentation, naturally agreed to Li Xuan's plan to rebuild the road from Qiuci to Yumen Pass.

Roads in the desert are very difficult to build, especially in desert areas, where there is a post station every thirty miles.

Every hundred miles, a city-state was built on the oasis as a base for storing supplies. Each city-state had thousands of horses, storing enough food and grass for 50,000 troops to feed for half a month.

For this purpose, Li Xuan recruited 20,000 prisoners from the Qianquan Ancient Road and 20,000 civilians from the Western Regions to transport stones and wood, which were guarded by the Yanqi Army, the Khotan Army, the Hanhai Army, and the Yiwulu Army.

After the expansion of this road is completed, horse thieves on the Silk Road will not dare to approach, and the situation of merchants committing murder for money will be eliminated to a certain extent.

At the same time, once Li Xuan dispatches troops and heads to Yumen Pass, it will be faster.

It is expected that the expansion will be completed by the end of the 14th year of Tianbao.

Li Xuan's several wives and a pair of children all went to the Western Regions to reunite with him, which made Li Xuan feel even more responsible and he made careful plans.

Over the past year, Li Xuan traveled to Beiting, Xizhou, and then to Khotan, Yanqi, and Shule. While visiting the army, he learned about weapons and equipment, as well as the local national situation.

In addition, Li Xuan did something extremely disrespectful in the 13th year of Tianbao.

After the military supervisor Yuan Siyi followed Li Xuan to Qiuci, Li Xuan could have captured him directly.

But Li Xuan deliberately let Yuan Siyi go for two or three months.

Yuan Siyi thought the military supervisor was the emperor's spy and did whatever he wanted.

When he first started to embezzle and accept bribes, Li Xuan was somewhat tolerant of him.

He also changed his usual behavior and spoke nice things to Yuan Siyi in private.

With the promotion of Li Xuan, all the high-quality assets left by Bian Lingcheng were taken over by Yuan Siyi.

In fact, Li Xuan pretended to be tough towards Yuan Siyi at the beginning, but every time Yuan Siyi shouted "I am a close minister of the saint" and "I am the military supervisor of the emperor", Li Xuan immediately softened.

He made Yuan Siyi mistakenly believe that Li Xuan was afraid that he would report her to the emperor, and thought that he could use this to control Li Xuan.

This misjudgment made Yuan Siyi arrogant and he became rude to the generals in the army and demanded bribes from his subordinates.

The kings and tribal chiefs who came to Qiuci to pay homage to the Heavenly General had to first pay a visit to Yuan Siyi and bring gifts.

He regarded himself as the local emperor of the Western Regions.

In just three months, Anxi was in a state of chaos because of Yuan Siyi's arrival, even more so than because of Bian Lingcheng.

The generals and officials were all indignant at him.

Under Li Xuan's planning, Zhang Xing, the ambassador of the Anxi Jinglüe Army, was disrespectful to Yuan Siyi when he was "drunk" at the banquet, and cursed Yuan Siyi as a "eunuch" and a "hermaphrodite", saying that he was not worthy of being a military supervisor and was a despicable and shameless villain.

This angered Yuan Siyi, and he ordered the eunuchs and Yulin soldiers who came with him to drag Zhang Xing out and "whip him."

The military inspector is accompanied by the Yulin Army, and is qualified to directly arrest border generals at critical moments, or even execute them first and report later.

At that time, the banquet was completely silent, except for the sound of Zhang Xing cursing the eunuchs and the actions of the Yulin Army dragging Zhang Xing.

The generals and kings were furious, but they knew what the "Tang Dynasty Military Supervisor" was. One word from him could decide the fate of a Western Region country and the life or death of a general.

Everyone looked at Li Xuan. This was not a hit on Zhang Xing, this was a slap on Li Xuan's face!

Li Xuan would naturally not watch Zhang Xing being beaten, so he threw the cup to the ground, ordering the Yulin soldiers to stop.

Although those Yulin soldiers followed Yuan Siyi, they did not dare to act domineeringly in front of Li Xuan like Yuan Siyi, so they could only retreat.

Then Yuan Siyi got furious and threatened to impeach Li Xuan for failing to discipline his children.

He thought Li Xuan would surrender to him, but this time Li Xuan ignored him and kicked him out of the banquet.

When leaving, Yuan Siyi heard the laughter and congratulations, and was so angry that his mouth was almost crooked. He immediately returned to the courtyard and prepared to report it to Li Longji in secret.

But as soon as Yuan Siyi left, Pei Huang led his personal guards and surrounded Yuan Siyi's mansion.

None of the eunuchs and Yulin soldiers who followed Yuan Siyi should even think of leaving the courtyard.

Yuan Siyi wanted to yell again, but after being hung up and beaten by Pei Huang, her eyes became clear.

All the gold, silver and jewelry he had collected over the past three months were confiscated by Li Xuan.

Originally, Bian Lingcheng's land was turned into a military settlement.

Li Xuan knew that the military supervisor would send a secret report to the Ministry of Internal Affairs every once in a while to explain the situation on the border.

If Yuan Siyi didn't write in a good way, she would be beaten to pieces.

As a eunuch who voluntarily surrendered to An Lushan, we cannot expect him to have much backbone.

Li Xuan's civil and military officials were well aware of Yuan Siyi's sudden "disappearance" in the Western Regions.

They were happy but also full of worries.

Only the emperor could move the military supervisor. If a general imprisoned the military supervisor, it would be a crime of disrespect.

But the generals all understood Li Shuai very well, because Li Shuai was standing up for his generals, and everything was Yuan Siyi's own fault.

No matter what happens, they stand firmly by Li Xuan.

The difference is that the literati from the Western Regions, such as Yan Zhenqing, Feng Changqing, Wang Changling, Yan Gaoqing, Cen Shen, Dugu Jun, Liu Tiao, etc., clearly noticed something unusual.

A pair of big hands were pushing the Anxi Beiting army, racing madly.

Sometimes they were unwilling to believe that this was all driven by Li Xuan.

But Li Xuan's subsequent actions forced them to believe it.

The King of Tianshui, who was known to everyone in the Tang Dynasty, had changed. He stood in the Western Regions, full of ambition and with an aura that could swallow up all the mountains and rivers.

If Li Xuan is like this, where will the country go?
As the literati expected, the next performance was by Li Xuan alone.

The rebellious intention is obvious!
Li Xuan began to inspect the Western Regions in July. He did not say anything to the commanders of the various armies, but only stated that they were to be given titles and appointed as generals.

The ambiguity made the generals excited.

After the Battle of Suiye River and the Western Expedition, Li Xuan established his power and promoted many generals who were later crowned kings in history.

Li Xuan's experience had already spread throughout the army.

Li Xuan's cousin was executed for the same corruption; however, Wu Yang's corruption was ten thousand times that of Li Xuan's cousin, yet he got away with it.

General Li, who was both civil and military, was replaced by Yang Guozhong as the chief prime minister and was "bullied".

A new eunuch military supervisor dared to boss General Li around and act lawless. The generals who lost the battles were frequently promoted. The generals who won the battles could only accumulate in the Western Regions and Helong.

Even An Lushan could be crowned king like General Li. Did he deserve it?
How could the soldiers tolerate this?

In the spring of the 13th year of Tianbao, all the silk and money bestowed by the imperial court had been transported to the Western Regions.

Li Xuan summoned all the escorts to Qiuci. He took out the merit book and asked his subordinates to copy it for the escorts and generals to read.

Even if you kill one enemy, it will be recorded in the merit book.

Li Xuan divided 800,000 of the one million strings of cash equally among all the soldiers.

The equal distribution here is based on position.

For example, ordinary soldiers received ten strings of coins, deputy team leaders received twelve strings of coins, team leaders received fifteen strings of coins, escort officers received twenty strings of coins, yamen commanders received fifty strings of coins, Lang generals received one hundred strings of coins, deputy envoys and guard envoys received two hundred strings of coins, and military envoys received five hundred strings of coins.

These are considered "troop expenditures" and "collective military merits."

The so-called collective military merit refers to the number of prisoners captured collectively.

The remaining 200,000 strings of cash were used to provide relief to the families of the soldiers who died in the battle, regardless of whether they were Hu or Han.

Then there were 300,000 rolls of silk.

Only those who personally killed the enemy and captured prisoners could receive a piece of silk.

If you kill two people, that's three horses.

If you kill three people alone, you will be rewarded with five pieces of silk; if you kill four people alone, you will be rewarded with eight pieces of silk; if you kill five people alone, you will be rewarded with fifteen pieces of silk.

The more enemies you kill, the greater the reward.

Finally, you will be rewarded with the Jumping Medal and the Courage Medal.

The Anxi and Beiting armies had never received so many rewards.

As long as he could kill five enemies, the silk money, plus their salaries and some gold, silver and jewelry rewards, would be enough to live a worry-free life.

Of course, it is difficult for ordinary soldiers to kill five people.

Even the cavalry was not easy.

All the soldiers were convinced by the military reward this time, and they "respected and loved" Li Xuan and were full of longing to make meritorious service.

Ordinary soldiers want to be team leaders, team leaders want to be promoted to escort officers, and escort officers want to be promoted to yamen commanders in order to get more rewards.

Li Xuan added fuel to the fire and announced that he would use the 100,000 strings of cash and 3,000 taels of gold awarded to him by the saint to buy cattle and sheep from nomadic peoples such as the Karluk, Jiankun, Turgesh, and Shatuo, and various fine wines from the 36 countries in the Western Regions, and give a big reward to his soldiers every month.

When he inspected the troops and reviewed the soldiers, he awarded the most precious silks of the Tang Dynasty, such as crimson embroidery, colored forging and Shu brocade, which were bestowed by the court, to the Tang warriors who performed the best in the exercises.

These warriors were either proficient in riding and shooting, or could fight ten men at once. After receiving the precious silk reward from Li Xuan, they all had an urge to die for their friends.

Li Xuan was selfless and used both kindness and force to bring about unprecedented unity between the Anxi and Beiting armies, with no one unwilling to fight to the death.

Although the things were all rewards from Li Longji, Li Xuan was just offering them as a token of appreciation.

But the soldiers were grateful to and respected only Li Xuan, not Li Longji.

After a series of combined punches, the army was firmly controlled by Li Xuan and would only obey Li Xuan's will.

At the same time, Li Xuan's management of the Western Regions became more strict.

He did not allow any king of the Western Regions to pay tribute to the court through the Silk Road.

All Sogdian and Western Region merchants were no longer allowed to travel to the Hexi Corridor, Chang'an and Luoyang via the Silk Road.

He cut off the Silk Road in the name of repairing it.

But this does not mean that merchants have no business to do.

The slow horses and war horses that Li Xuan had mobilized from the Longyou Pastoral Bureau had all arrived.

He expanded the scale of the Hexi Changxing transportation, and in the name of transporting special products to Li Longji, he bought more cheap silk from Liangzhou City and shipped it to Qiuci.

Purchased in Qiuci by merchants from the Western Regions.

In addition, countless Tang soldiers exchanged silk, which was awarded as a reward for military merit, for gold, silver and jewelry, which were easier to carry, from merchants in the Western Regions.

The continuous heavy rain in Guanzhong blocked the roads and concealed the movements in Anxi.

Through trade, Li Xuan earned more and more gold, silver and jewelry.

The gold, silver and jewelry handed over to the Anxi Protectorate alone were enough to support the army's grain purchases.

What's more, the Anxi Protectorate has other financial revenues.

In March of the 13th year of Tianbao, the Arab envoy went to Chang'an, but was intercepted in Anxi by Li Xuan.

In April of the 13th year of Tianbao, the Persian King Pushan ordered his Prime Minister Khalid ibn Barmak to bring thirty camels loaded with gold, silver and jewelry to the Tang Dynasty to pay homage to the Heavenly Khan.

This was a pilgrimage that Pushan had prepared for a long time, and he sent his prime minister to express Persia's loyalty.

But what Khalid ibn Barmak did not expect was that when he stopped by to pay a visit to General Tian in Qiuci, he was told by Li Xuan that he could not go to Chang'an.

When Khalid ibn Barmak asked why, Li Xuan told him privately that there were treacherous ministers around the Tang Emperor and he was preparing to send troops to purge him.

Moreover, the Tang Dynasty will not be able to help the Persian Kingdom destroy the Caliphate in a short period of time, so Khalid ibn Barmak and Pushan should take it easy.

Li Xuan had to make this matter clear to Khalid ibn Barmak so that Persia could prepare for war in advance.

The Anxi Beiting army was withdrawn back to the Central Plains. Li Xuan believed that the powerful ruler Abu Jalfar Abbas would take the opportunity to attack Persia and retake the vast area south of the Caspian Sea and the wealthy Khorasan region.

Only if the Persian Empire had made preparations early and developed a sense of crisis would it have been able to repel the attack of the Arab Empire.

Khalid ibn Barmak was a shrewd and calculating man. After hearing Li Xuan's words about "clearing out the court", he thought that Li Xuan was most likely planning a rebellion.

Who in the Western Regions knows the Tang Emperor Li Longji now?

What people fear more is General Tian!

Khalid ibn Barmak was certain that the invincible General Tian would succeed in his rebellion and become the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

He had made a special study of Li Xuan and knew that Li Xuan was a member of the royal family of the Tang Dynasty and a descendant of the first Heavenly Khan, Li Shimin. Li Xuan's great-grandfather Li Chengqian had been the crown prince.

Khalid ibn Barmak's idea was very one-sided. Now the general who was in a high position was dissatisfied with his status and wanted to go further, so the only way was to rebel.

Perhaps the next time he goes to Chang'an, the Khan he meets will be the General in front of him.

Li Xuan also promised Khalid ibn Barmak that if the Arab Empire invaded the Persian Empire, he would not let the Persian Empire fight alone. The Sogdian countries in Transoxiana, the Tocharian countries, the Karluk Khanate, the Turgesh tribes, as well as the Zhezhi Army and the Pamir Army in Transoxiana would all go to support it.

Khalid ibn Barmak felt relieved. After leaving the gold, silver and jewelry to Li Xuan, he immediately went back to report to Pushan and prepare for war in advance.

In addition, starting from the autumn of the 13th year, grain from the Persian Empire, Tocharian region, and Sogdian region was transported to Qiuci City along the Qianquan Ancient Road.

In December, Li Xuan completed his inspection and returned to Qiuci City.

At the same time, Li Xuan began to form a large team of personal guards.

He selected 7,500 elite soldiers from more than 80,000 soldiers in Anxi and Beiting.

Li Xuan had already expanded his personal guards to 2,500 people by selecting knights who came to Anxi to join him.

After this expansion, Li Xuan's personal guards will reach 10,000 people.

Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, no general had ever had a personal guard of 10,000 people.

Li Xuan had already prepared two horses for each of his personal guards.

Iron blocks transported from the Khorasan region and leather and fine wood from various countries in the Western Regions entered Kucha.

Craftsmen created strong bows, crossbows, armor, fish scale armor, chain mail, arrows, swords and spears.

The craftsmen in Anxi Beiting were already sufficient, but Li Xuan captured thousands of Arab craftsmen and asked Li Longji to transfer more than a thousand craftsmen from the Central Plains.

Li Xuan treated the craftsmen well and rewarded them generously with silk, which made them work very hard and overtime.

A large number of Arab captives were mobilized to mine the iron and copper mines in the Qiuci area day and night, increase the number of iron and steel furnaces, and smelt steel.

After several cotton harvests, the larger the planting area, the priority will be on making cotton clothes for the soldiers.

A small amount of cotton cloth is made using traditional methods.

Li Xuan didn't know how to make a machine for making cotton cloth, but he asked Gongshu Qingzi to study it.

By the way, also make the cotton armor.

A large number of cattle and sheep were purchased, and part of the ranch was established in Qiuci.

Be prepared to slaughter cattle at critical moments and make beef jerky to improve the army's ability to travel long distances.

The noise grew louder and louder, until the sky over the Western Regions was covered with war clouds.

Even some kings speculated that Li Xuan was planning a rebellion.

But they dared not speak, nor could they spread the news.

Even Yuchi Sheng, the King of Khotan, who had been to Chang'an, accepted Li Longji's reward and married a princess of the royal family, was watching the situation.

He was also a general under Li Xuan during the Western Expedition, and Li Xuan's power was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Bai Ba, the King of Kucha, was the one who could best feel the movements of Kucha City.

The Anxi Army had a regular army of 64,000 men, and the Beiting Army had a regular army of 20,000 men.

But Li Xuan not only formed a personal guard force of 10,000 cavalry.

He will also recruit all the Han and Hu people who come to him.

As a result, the number of Anxi troops has now reached 68,000, and the number of Beiting troops has reached 26,000.

This is 20,000 more than the number stipulated by the court.

If this isn’t treason, what is?
In February of the 14th year of Tianbao, Li Xuan deployed the Jinglüe Army and the Qiuci Army to the Tianshan Mountains.

In name, it was under the banner of the Western Expedition to the Arab Empire.

In fact, they were preparing to graze horses in the Tianshan Mountains and fatten the war horses.

Then, when the autumn is high and the horses are fat, we head south to Xizhou.

To the east of Xizhou is Dunhuang County, and Yumen Pass can be entered at any time.

When the time is ripe, Li Xuan will lead 10,000 personal guards, the Suiye Army, the Great Wall Army, the Yanqi Army, and the main force of the Khotan Army along the newly built road to quickly reach Dunhuang.

Li Xuan watched Li Siye, Lai Zhen, Zhang Xing, and his aide Liu Shan leave with an army of more than 60,000 war horses and hundreds of grain carts.

After arriving at Tianshan, there were dozens of pastures with cattle and sheep that Li Xuan bought from the Hu people.

Li Xuan also ordered the other troops to recuperate, fatten the horses in their own pastures, and train them for war.

"May I ask General Li, the sage ordered a western expedition to the Arabs in February, but why did the Jinglüe Army and the Qiuci Army go against your order?"

Just as the Jinglüe Army and the Qiuci Army were about to set off, Yan Zhenqing asked Li Xuan.

He finally brought the issue up to Li Xuan.

He held this sentence in for a whole year.

Everyone knew about Li Xuan's unusual actions. Everyone knew that Li Xuan blocked the Western Regions, imprisoned the military supervisor, recruited soldiers, bypassed the Anxi Protectorate to forge weapons, and stockpiled food.

But no one dared to ask for details.

Now all the staff are around Li Xuan, and they all want to know the answer.

(End of this chapter)