Chapter 178 We are invincible (asking for monthly ticket)

When Li Xiang was having dinner in the Grand Marshal's Mansion, Lun Qinling happened to arrive outside the Mansion.

After hearing the announcement, Li Xiang put down his bowl and chopsticks and went to greet them in person.

Since Li Mingda and the others had returned to Luoyang early, it was nothing for Li Xiang to meet an outsider during dinner.

"Qinling," Li Xiang walked over and held Lun Qinling's hand: "I've missed you so much since we parted in Shuozhou!"

Regarding Qinling, his full name is Gar Trizheng Zangzhuo, which is recorded as Qinling in Chinese documents.

In Chinese, the Tubo prime minister is called "Da Lun", so the Han people also called him Lun Qinling.

Lun Qinling had never expected that Li Xiang would treat him with such courtesy, and he repeatedly said he dared not.

When he was in Shuozhou, Lun Qinling was quite impressed by the majesty of the Tang army, so when he heard that the Prince of Hengshan had summoned him, he did not hesitate and rushed to Dengzhou with 3,000 cavalrymen.

At present, Tubo has not yet developed any rebellious intentions towards the Tang Dynasty. On the one hand, it is because Tuyuhun is still there, and on the other hand, it is because the Tang Dynasty is too powerful, so powerful that it is daunting.

In addition, Lu Dongzan was the prime minister of Tubo, and Songtsen Gampo also intentionally or unintentionally acquiesced to Lun Qinling's going to the Tang Dynasty.

It is obviously not a good thing that both father and son hold important positions in Tubo.

If Qinling could stay in the Tang Dynasty, Songtsen Gampo would laugh in his dreams.

Not only could it preserve Lu Dongzan, the pillar of the country, but it could also relieve the worries behind him.

"Let's go. I'm having dinner now. Why don't we go together?"

Li Xiang took Lun Qinling's hand and led him into the main hall.

"This..." Lun Qinling was obviously embarrassed.

"Don't be shy when you come to my place." Li Xiang said with a smile.

Today's lunch was all fish. Considering that the Tibetans don't eat fish, Li Xiang also had people serve stir-fried lamb with green onions and stir-fried beef.

"Your Highness, there is no need to do this. In fact, I like eating fish." Lun Qinling hesitated for a long time, but finally said it.

There is nothing else to say. After all, Dengzhou is close to the sea, and both you and the cat want to know the taste of sea fish.

The reason why Tubo does not eat fish is not actually because of religious beliefs. It can be traced back to its 28th king, Zhongning Dewu, the son of Chilen Songtsen.

The Tibetans believed that Zhongningdewu was punished by God with leprosy because he broke a taboo by eating fish.

Li Xiang knew about this, so he smiled and asked, "I heard that eating fish is a taboo in Tubo, and I thought you wouldn't eat it."

Hearing this, Lun Qinling poked his head in and whispered, "It's nothing more than an illusory taboo. In my opinion, giving up the food given by God because of this is a matter of putting the cart before the horse."

In fact, Lun Qinling is only a young man of fifteen or sixteen years old now. He can't hide anything and is rebellious in his bones. How could he tolerate such a weird custom?

What's more, Li Xiang and he are of the same age, so he didn't think much about it when he complained.

Finally, Lun Qinling said, "I have never eaten fish in my life."

"Hahahaha..." Li Xiang also laughed. He never expected that Lun Qinling was still a rebellious child.

I'm not afraid of your rebellion, I'm just afraid that you want to be a good kid...

"In that case, then eat more, eat more." Li Xiang brought over a plate of fish: "This is my favorite fried yellow croaker, try it."

Lun Qinling didn't hesitate and started eating.

The small yellow croaker was fried until crispy. Lun Qinling grabbed one without even looking at the bones, let alone caring about the fish head. He just ate it whole.

Fortunately, the bones were fried until crispy, otherwise I would have choked.

Halfway through chewing, Lun Qinling finally remembered to say thank you.

"Eat slowly. The bones of the fried fish are already crispy, so it's okay if you don't spit out the bones. If you are roasting the fish, you have to pay attention to the bones." Li Xiang reminded with a smile.

"Got it." Lun Qinling nodded and continued chewing.

After dinner, Li Xiang began to make final arrangements.

In the rear, at the Dengzhou Grand Military Governor's Office, with Feng Qing and Quan Wanji there, and Li Tai and Li Zhi protecting them, they were naturally relieved.

In addition to the 500 warships, Li Xiang, who had now made money, asked Yan Lide to supervise the construction of more than 200 warships to transport military supplies.

When fighting a war, it’s all about logistics.

The losses in land transportation must be much higher than those in water transportation, otherwise canals would not have been dug in successive dynasties.

In addition to drying salted fish, Li Xiang also ordered people to make beef jerky and mutton jerky from the cattle and sheep he got from the grassland.

The last batch of sugarcane harvested from Jiangnan was also transferred to the navy by Li Zhengfu, and a total of 100,000 kilograms of raw sugar full of impurities were obtained.

"Prince, this is too wasteful..." Su Dingfang frowned and looked at the military rations transferred by Li Yu. He squeezed out these words from between his teeth after a long time.

"Wasteful?" Li Xiang sighed, "I still feel it's not enough..."

Unlike Su Dingfang and others, Li Xiang came from the future.

These military rations seemed extremely wasteful to them, but to Li Xiang, they were still a bit shabby.

After all, the Tang Dynasty is the only superpower today, and Li Xiang always subconsciously compares his logistics to those of the United States during World War II.

There is a saying that he particularly agrees with: good food is as useful as half an instructor.

Su Dingfang didn't know what to say. As a famous general, he naturally knew the importance of logistics.

But after all, he had been through hard times and was tired of being poor, so he always felt that Li Xiang was just wasting money.

Forget it, since it was Li Xiang’s money being spent anyway, Su Dingfang decided not to care about it.

I'm spending his family's money, why does it have to do with you?

Since the Tibetan cavalry were all from the plateau, Li Xiang did not incorporate them into the navy. After the formal training of the navy of the Dengzhou Grand Military Governor's Office was completed, Li Xiang gave some instructions to Su Dingfang and Pei Xingjian, and officially left Dengzhou and headed for Youzhou.

When passing Dingzhou on the way, Li Xiang heard Li Shimin cue Cao Cao.

You said you want to pay homage, then pay homage, why do you have to say that he has "more wisdom than a general, but less talent than a chariot"...

Of course, Li Shimin is qualified to evaluate Cao Cao.

Dengzhou is not far from Youzhou. At the end of February, Li Xiang also escorted some new food and fodder to Youzhou City.

When they arrived at Youzhou City, Li Shimin had just arrived and was resting.

After seeing Li Xiang, Li Shimin smiled and said, "I thought you regretted it and would not come."

"What are you talking about, Grandpa? Am I that kind of person?" Li Xiang snorted, his tone arrogant.

"Hahahaha..." Li Shimin stroked his beard and laughed. He took Li Xiang's list in his hand and took a quick look at it. He said, "Send these salted fish and dried meat to Duke Ying in Liucheng. He agreed with me last time that he would officially march in mid-March. If you go now, you can still catch up."

"In that case, my grandson will follow Duke Ying." Li Xiang said.

Li Shimin nodded slightly: "Okay, Li Shiji is also a famous general of the time. I feel at ease with you by his side." Old Li was reluctant to let go, but the child needed training when he grew up, so he might as well start with transporting supplies.

But Li Xiang was so happy that he forgot to ask for the emperor's order.

It was not until mid-March that Li Xiang finally caught up with Li Shiji, who was preparing to officially march towards Goguryeo.

Upon hearing that the Prince of Hengshan was personally escorting the food and fodder to come, Li Shiji dared not neglect him and immediately went out of the city to welcome him in person.

"Duke Yingguo, how are you?" Li Xiang dismounted from his horse and clasped his fists towards Li Shiji.

"Your humble servant greets the Prince." Li Shiji quickly returned the greeting.

After entering the house with Li Xiang, Li Shiji asked hesitantly, "Why is the prince here?"

"Oh, the saint wants me to bring 3,000 Tibetan cavalry to help the Duke of Yingzhou, and to escort a batch of new food and fodder to try out the new food with the Duke of Yingzhou's army." Li Xiang said with a smile: "In addition, he also wants me to learn a lot from the Duke of Yingzhou in the army."

Since Li Xiang said so, Li Shiji believed him. After all, it was impossible for Li Xiang to bring so much food and three thousand cavalry to falsely convey the imperial edict.

He glanced at the list of food and fodder, and said with emotion: "Dengzhou is indeed rich. It can even collect 100,000 kilograms of salted fish for the army..."

After putting down the list, he continued, "The prince's arrival is just a coincidence. I have ordered the army to march towards Goguryeo."

"Really?" Li Xiang smiled. "Then I will temporarily follow the Duke of England and learn from him."

"No problem." Li Shiji nodded.

After Li Xiang left, Li Shiji felt something was wrong no matter how he thought about it.

If the Prince of Hengshan wanted to learn the art of military formations, wouldn't he be able to learn more and be safer by following the saint?
As the saint's favorite grandson, how could the saint let him go to the front line?

But the three thousand Tibetan cavalry made him feel uneasy again.

After much deliberation, Li Shiji decided to send a military report to Li Shimin before leaving Liucheng.

The military report not only stated that they were preparing to set off, but also mentioned Li Xiang's matter.

He left Liuzhou with the main force of his troops and headed towards Liaoshui.

Before setting off, Li Shiji set up a maze.

He spread the word that he was going to cross the Liaoshui River at Huaiyuan Town, and sent out a group of decoy troops to march towards Huaiyuan Town according to normal plan.

He led the main force of the army, went around the north, unexpectedly crossed the Liao River at Tongding, and attacked Xuantu City directly.

When the Goguryeo people learned that Li Shiji had suddenly led his troops across the Liao River, they were terrified and closed the gates of Xuantu City, with no intention of having a conflict with Li Shiji.

On April 15th, Li Shiji and Li Daozon joined forces and launched an attack on Gaimu City.

Seeing Li Xiang in Li Shiji's army, Li Daozon was obviously stunned.

Logically speaking, shouldn't Li Xiang be with the emperor? Why did he end up in Li Shiji's army?
Li Xiang answered Li Daozon's questions as before. Li Daozon was also skeptical and sent a military report to Lao Li.

Not long after, Li Shimin's decree arrived urgently at Li Shiji's army, in response to the first military report.

After seeing Li Xiang coming here according to Li Shimin's order, Li Shiji and Li Daozon finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The people in Gaimu City and Xuantu City all closed their doors. After careful consideration, Li Shiji decided to attack Gaimu City first and then Xuantu City.

Although they stayed indoors, the defenders of Gaimu City were not brave enough when they saw the powerful Tang army.

They had also heard of the great reputation of the Tang army.

Although it is April, the temperature in Liaodong is still not high at night.

The defenders of Gaimu City froze on the top of the city wall all night. The next morning, when they were about to start cooking, they heard shouting and cursing from below the city wall.

It would be fine if the city was surrounded by so many people, but the key point was that in their vision, there were only a dozen people who rushed to the foot of the city, pointing long spears at the top of the city, cursing their father and mother together, and their words were very unpleasant.

Goguryeo also spoke Chinese, so the defenders of Gaimu City could certainly understand what they were saying.

"I am Cao Sanliang, the commander of the Tang Dynasty! The defenders in the city, dare you come out and fight to the death with me?"

The leader, Cao Sanliang, was showing off his might and wandering in front of the city gate.

The distance was very close, just within the range where bows and arrows had little lethality.

Cao Sanliang even took advantage of the defenders' dazzlement and rushed to the city gate with a dozen cavalrymen and threw a few small stones at the top of the city.

The damage is basically zero, but the insult is extremely strong.

There were only a dozen people, showing off their power outside the city, while they could only act like turtles in the city.

"What a brave warrior." Li Xiang looked at the arrogant Cao Sanliang and sighed, shaking his head.

This is what Li Xiang thought, but the defenders in Gaimu City did not think so.

In this situation, the city lord did not dare to order a battle. Is the Tang army really invincible?
For a while, people in Gaimu City were in panic.

To shrink back in the face of more than a dozen riders was a huge blow to their morale.

What's more, Cao Sanliang had a very foul mouth and kept cursing in all kinds of ways.

Not only did they curse, they also occasionally threw a few stones into the city, hitting the helmets of the Gaimu defenders, making a tinkling sound, as if they were throwing stones at the shell of a turtle.

It's not that they didn't think about fighting back, but the arrows they shot were either deflected by Cao Sanliang and others, or their impact was attenuated due to the distance and they couldn't penetrate his armor at all.

Taking advantage of this period of time, Li Shiji and Li Daozon reorganized their troops, cut down local timber, and began to make siege equipment using local materials.

Li Xiang even saw the catapult used for siege. The Tang army's craftsmen had been busy working on it in recent days.

This thing is the "cannon" in chess.

The siege lasted for a total of six days. During these six days, the defenders of Gaimu City had been acting like turtles.

There's no way. They don't have the courage to go out and fight.

If the Tang army had gone out of the city to fight on the first day of the siege, perhaps there would have been some morale. But today, there is not much morale left.

On the eleventh day, April 26th, the Tang army's catapults were completed.

In fact, two days ago, when they saw that the catapult was almost completed, the defenders of Gaimu City also panicked.

Of course they knew this thing, it was the most powerful weapon for siege.

But the problem is that the Tang army is not stupid. They have siege equipment and are heavily protected.

If they opened the city gates to destroy the catapults, it would be exactly what the Tang army wanted.

The defenders of Gaimu City could only watch as hundreds of Tang soldiers carried over several huge stones and placed them in the leather bags of the catapults.

With the order from the Tang army general, the catapult was officially started. Four small black dots soared into the clouds, then fell towards the city wall, and became bigger and bigger in the vision of the defenders of Gaimu City.

(Ask for monthly ticket)

(End of this chapter)