Chapter 46 Meeting Xue Cuo Again
Feng'an military city.

On this day, the emperor's reward to Li Xuan arrived at Feng'an Military City.

Three hundred pieces of silk and a gold belt were given to Li Xuan to commend his military exploits in defeating the Turks.

At the same time, he also brought an imperial edict instructing Li Xuan to control the Feng'an Army.

To be honest, Li Xuan didn't expect him to go further.

He thought Wang Zhongsi would recommend someone else as the military envoy of Feng'an.

Because of his inexperience, Li Xuan did not know Wang Zhongsi's specific attitude towards him.

If it weren't for the recommendation of the commander-in-chief Wang Zhongsi, even if Li Longji liked Li Xuan very much, he would not have allowed Li Xuan to command the Feng'an Army.

Li Xuan also learned of Lu Yu's fate, and was ordered to be executed by Li Longji, and an imperial edict was issued to all the troops to take it as a warning.

This made Li Xuan sigh.

It can be said that Lu Yu's death was directly related to Li Xuan. But this was Lu Yu's own fault, and Li Xuan would not feel guilty about it.

Exactly one month after Li Xuan arrived at Feng'an Army, a tall, square-faced man arrived at Feng'an Army City.

He is the new deputy envoy of Feng'an Army, Wang Sili.

Wang Sili is from Goguryeo and is just thirty years old this year.

After Goguryeo was conquered by the Tang Dynasty, the Goguryeo people either moved inland and assimilated into the Han culture, or stayed in Liaodong and lived together with the Han people.

Sooner or later they will merge with the Han people like the Xianbei.

Wang Sili did not come alone. He also brought 800 excellent war horses.

This made Li Xuan overjoyed.

After receiving the news, Li Xuan personally went out of the military city to meet Wang Sili at the ferry.

"I, Wang Sili, pay my respects to the general."

Wang Sili saw Li Xuan at the ferry and went forward to pay his respects.

He looked at the young general and found that he was not only extremely brave, but also a poet, and was said to be very famous in Chang'an.

The story of Pegasus shooting the tassel has spread throughout the army.

Wang Sili had previously served as Wang Zhongsi's escort and was not well-known in the army.

He hopes to achieve unprecedented military exploits together with Li Xuan.

"With General Wang assisting me, the Feng'an Army will be invincible."

Li Xuan signaled Wang Sili to excuse himself.

In Li Xuan's memory, after Wang Zhongsi took on the post of Jiedushi of Hexi and Longyou, he would dispatch some capable generals from the Shuofang Army to Hexi.

The most famous among them is Li Guangbi, and another one is Wang Sili.

In history, Wang Sili also became a famous general.

"General Wang said that the Feng'an Army will defend the thousand-mile border and will be the vanguard of the Helan Mountains in the future, so we will increase the number of war horses by 800 to increase their strength for the journey."

Wang Sili pointed to the groups of fine horses behind and reported to Li Xuan.

"Thank you for your hard work, General Wang."

Historically, during the Tianbao period, the Feng'an Army had 1,300 war horses.

When Li Xuan arrived, there were only 500 war horses.

He was still wondering.

Now it seems that the war horses originally belonging to the Feng'an Army have not yet been requisitioned.

Including the war horses captured by Li Xuan, the Feng'an Army now has 1,800 war horses, 200 scout horses, and 200 inferior horses for driving carts to transport food and supplies.

By the afternoon, all the war horses were transported across the river to Feng'an Military City.

Li Xuan distributed 500 of the newly acquired war horses to the Tiaodang Army.

As the armored and formidable soldiers in the army, Li Xuan needed the Tiaodang Army to have a certain degree of mobility so that they could quickly deploy on the battlefield.

Li Xuan also selected 300 strong crossbowmen in the army and gave them war horses to cooperate with the Tiaodang Army in the future.

The Nu soldiers are the elite troops in the army second only to the Tiaodang troops.

Because the crossbows used by the Tang army's infantry were crossbows that relied on arm strength to draw the string, only those with outstanding strength could use them.

The crossbowmen put down their powerful crossbows and picked up spears, becoming elite soldiers.

Li Xuan learned that Wang Sili was an expert in training soldiers, so he ordered him to be in charge of daily training.

After handling military affairs, Li Xuan would also join the soldiers' training and teach them various skills.

Li Xuan ate and trained with the soldiers, and on his days off, he personally helped the soldiers write letters and send them back home.

The soldiers respected and loved Li Xuan, and Wang Sili was deeply touched.

He saw with his own eyes Li Xuan riding his horse, drawing his bow, and shooting an arrow through the air from a hundred paces away.

Seeing Li Xuan immediately holding his spear, he swept in all directions.

When the soldiers were exercising, the noise was deafening, and the team that came out on top was given mutton.

The losing team, with burning eyes and high morale, vowed to win the exercise next time.

……

"Today the soldiers are working hard for mutton, and tomorrow the enemies will be fish meat." In June, the sun was scorching. Li Xuan was very satisfied with the results of the new training and gave praise.

"General, the military rations have been delivered to the ferry."

After the exercise, Si Cang came to report to Li Xuan.

"Okay, I'll be there right away."

Li Xuan nodded.

The Feng'an Army's military rations came from Taiyuan.

They were first transported from land to the Yellow River, and then sailed upstream along the river to be distributed to the border soldiers.

The Feng'an Army transported grain once every six months, about 20,000 shi each time.

Transportation on the Yellow River must be completed before the flood season arrives.

Feng'an Army is the last stop on the Yellow River grain route.

This was the first time Li Xuan collected grain since taking office, so he had to do it himself and did not dare to slack off.

Outside the military city, dozens of sailboats were parked on the river.

Each ship carried 500 dan of grain.

After Li Xuan met with the escort officer, he went to the ship to check the food.

It is mainly composed of corn, with a small amount of rice.

After confirming that it was correct and the quantity was sufficient, Li Xuan ordered the escort officer to unload the grain.

"You are so lazy again, Xuecuo."

While unloading the grain, an officer holding a whip shouted at a laborer.

"Snapped……"

As soon as he finished speaking, a whip hit the servant's naked back.

Another bloody whip mark appeared on the strong body.

Li Xuan didn't notice it at first, but he happened to hear the name "Xue Cuo" from a distance, so he looked over.

"What's wrong, General?"

The escort officer asked Li Xuan.

He knew that Li Xuan was of noble status and had a great reputation, so he was very careful when accompanying Li Xuan, fearing that he might say something wrong.

"It's a scorching hot day, and it's not easy for the laborers. How can you just whip them?"

Li Xuan said this and walked towards the servant.

The escort officer followed quickly.

It's really Xue's fault!

Li Xuan couldn't help but sigh that life is full of encounters.

When Xue Cuo assassinated the Jingzhao Shaoyin, although he was wronged, he was sentenced to death.

Li Xuan admired Xue Cuo's bravery and fearlessness, so he asked Li Shizhi to plead with the emperor, so Xue Cuo's crime was reduced by one level and he was exiled to the frontier.

"These servants are all criminals who were exiled. They are very unruly."

The escort officer explained to Li Xuan.

To him, this was a very normal thing.

Li Xuan didn't know what to say, after all, he had no control over these things.

"Xue Cuo!"

Li Xuan suddenly shouted, which startled the escort officer. How could a dignified Feng'an military envoy know a servant?
Xue Cuo looked up when he heard someone calling his name.

"Yes, benefactor! Benefactor, please accept Xue Cuo's greeting!"

When Xue Cuo saw Li Xuan, he was surprised at first and then happy. He put down the big bag on his shoulders and knelt down to pay his respects.

If it weren't for Li Xuan, not only would he have been unable to appeal his injustice, but he would also have been beheaded.

He thought he was going to die.

When he was exiled, he learned that it was the prime minister of the time who pleaded with the emperor and only sentenced him to exile in the northern frontier.

He guessed that it was the prime minister's son who came to his aid, and he felt grateful in his heart.

"Such a great gift is unnecessary. I have always admired righteous men like you."

Li Xuan pulled Xue Cuo up.

The whip marks on his back showed that he had been beaten a lot. So I asked the escort officer, "Is he lazy?"

The escort officer didn't know about this trivial matter, so he turned to ask the soldiers who whipped Xue Cuo: "Why did you whip him?"

"..."

The soldier was terrified. He lowered his head, stammering and unable to speak.

Xue Cuo once defied the officers and soldiers who had carried out lynching, so the officers and soldiers hated Xue Cuo and often whipped him for unfounded reasons.

Who would have thought that an exiled person would know such an important person.

(End of this chapter)