Chapter 165: Eve of departure

The days of leaving Beiting are getting closer and closer. The soldiers who were recovering from the wounded in Shanzhou rushed to Chang'an one after another and were preparing to go to Beiting together. There were always many things to do before leaving. Li Qing'an was so busy that he was too busy to take up his post in Beiting. He did not go empty-handed, but brought a large amount of military supplies.

I went to the Ministry of War to get information, went to Taicang and Zuozang to collect money and grain, went to the military weapon supervisor to prepare weapons tents, and arranged carriages for civilians. In addition, the establishment of military weapon supervisors and generals as supervisors in Beiting was also approved, and Shaofu Temple also agreed to build a money minting furnace in Beiting.

There are so many things, he has to do it all. Although Cen Shen, Wang Changling and other subordinates can help, just handling the procedures at various temples made him tired of social engagements.

That morning, Li Qing'an rushed to Xingqing Palace. On the eve of his departure, Li Longji also had a few words to explain to him.

He was told that the emperor had not yet attended court, so he had to wait patiently outside the Datong Hall. At this time, he heard a cold snorkeling and looked for the source, but saw an extremely fat middle-aged man sitting behind the beams and pillars at the other end of the hall. His distinctive pumpkin face and long thin eyes were not An Lushan.

"So it's An Shuai!"

Li Qing'an walked up and bowed and smiled, "Long time no see, I don't know that An Shuai is also in Chang'an."

An Lushan was in a bad mood these two days. His aide Yan Zhuang was unclear about his life and death, and he also paid a large amount of money from the Yang family. That's fine, but Abus sent someone to say the day before yesterday that his subordinates were used to life in Shuofang and unanimously opposed going to Youzhou. He could do nothing and could only thank him for An Lushan's kindness. Even though An Lushan knew it was his excuse, he had no choice but to discuss it. He had to breathe a sigh of relief in his heart. He would also return to Fanyang tomorrow and say goodbye to the emperor today. Unexpectedly, he happened to see Li Qing'an.

An Lushan looked down on Li Qing'an the most. When he led his troops to fight, Li Qing'an was probably still playing with mud! Now he has become the deputy envoy of Beiting Jiedu, holding Beiting's military and political power, and he is almost on par with An Lushan, which makes him feel very unhappy. Seeing Li Qing'an coming to greet him, he looked at Li Qing'an coldly, but ignored him.

At this moment, a bell rang in the hall. This was Li Longji's court and began to handle government affairs. Eunuchs far away shouted: "The emperor has an order, and Li Qing'an, deputy governor of Xuanbeiting, met with him!"

"What!"

An Lushan was furious. He had arrived long ago. The emperor actually wanted to see Li Qing'an first. Is An Lushan's status not as good as a junior?

Li Qingan smiled slightly and said, "Since the emperor wants to see me first, I am rude. Sir An, please be calm."

He quickly walked into the imperial study room. An Lushan stared at his back, gritting his teeth with hatred. New and old hatreds surged into his heart. He punched the beam and pillar hard and cursed in a low voice: "Li Qing'an, just wait and see!"

Li Longji really deliberately wanted to see Li Qing'an first. It was not that Li Qing'an was more important than An Lushan, but that he had just learned that killing Dong Yanguang was actually An Lushan, which made him really angry. His first reaction was that An Lushan was taking action for King Qing and killing Dong Yanguang to silence him. Dong Yanguang's death was not important. What was important was that An Lushan actually hooked up with King Qing, which made Li Longji wary. He knew that King Qing was ambitious and wanted to take the prince and replace him. This was normal. This was true in all dynasties. As long as King Qing performed well, he might really give his eldest son a chance, but he could not tolerate the prince collusion with foreign vassals, which meant that the prince could control the army. At that time, it was not only the prince, but his throne.

However, Li Longji had no evidence, and An Lushan was also a general he trusted, so he decided to temporarily warn An Lushan that meeting Li Qing'an first was his dissatisfaction with An Lushan's killing of Dong Yanguang.

"My minister Li Qing'an meets my emperor!"

Li Qing'an's interview interrupted Li Longji's thoughts. He looked at the heroic young man in front of him and seemed to see his young figure on him. Li Longji smiled and nodded and said, "General Li will set off tomorrow!"

“That’s right!”

"Have the procedures for each temple were completed?"

"Report to Your Majesty, you've basically done it."

Li Longji was playing with a jade lion paperweight. He pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "How could General Li offend Lady Guo State? She told me several times that you are debauchery and slutty, and you go out day and night in and out of the wind and moon. I can see that she has a deep prejudice against you!"

Li Qing'an sighed in his heart and bowed, "I don't know why I offended Lady Guo. Perhaps it was because of the last time when Lady Han's daughter, and I didn't agree, but I'm afraid that Lady Guo's mistaken entry and exit from the Huanchang. I have never been involved in the brothel of Jiaofang."

"I don't object to going to the Jiaofang brothel in my spare time. I just need to grasp a certain degree and not miss your duty for this matter."

Li Longji said lightly, and stopped talking about Yang Huahua. He smiled and said, "But then again, my concubine likes you very much. It is really interesting to say good things about you in front of me. Their sisters either disdain you, hate you to the core, or like you very much. General Li, you seem to be very destined to be with the Yang family!"

Speaking of this, Li Longji stared at Li Qing'an and said slowly: "Actually, the daughter of the Korean lady was good last time, gentle and well-behaved, and I like it very much. Why don't you want to? You should know that marrying the Yang family will be of great benefit to your future."

Li Qingan shook his head firmly and said loudly: "I would rather expand territory for Your Majesty, so that the name of Tian Khan will be powerful in the four barbarians to gain a future."

"Well said!"

Li Longji smiled and praised repeatedly: "This is the true nature of a real man."

He quickly walked to the wall, brushed the ground and opened the curtain, revealing a vast map of Anxi. He picked up the wooden pole and pointed at Nanzhao and said, "After the Battle of Shibao City, my focus was on two places. One was Nanzhao. Nanzhao was in large size, and it was faintly colluding with Tubo. Once the two families joined forces, it would be a huge threat to Shu. Therefore, I ordered Yang Zhao to be in Jiannan and solve the situation of Nanzhao's large size."

His wooden poles moved to Beiting and Anxi again and continued: "The second is Anxi. After the war in Shibao City, the threat of Tubo to Longyou, Hexi has weakened. My next goal is to restore the Suiye Army Town and restore the influence of our Tang Dynasty on Lingxi."

Li Longji put down the wooden pole and sat back on his seat. He pondered for a moment, and then sighed softly: "In the second year of Shenlong in Zhongzong, the Dashi Army attacked Lingxi in large numbers. Zhaowu and Hu joined the Hu to ask for help from the court. But at that time, Tubo was in a quarrel with the Tang Dynasty. The court had no time to look west, so he had to support Tuqi Shi people to fight against the Dashi expansion eastward. However, the Hu people were useless. Over the past few decades, the territory of Zhaowu has been completely lost. This is also a heart disease in my heart for a long time. I hope that in my lifetime, I can restore control of the Western Regions during the Taizong period. This is also the reason why I handed over Beiting to you. I hope that you can use the spirit of a young man to expand westward, and not just keep the achievements like Meng Lingcha, which I don't like."

Li Qingan bowed and said, "I would like to be your Majesty's sword to open up the territory and insert the Tang Dynasty dragon flag into the Thunderbolt City as soon as possible!"

"very good!"

Li Longji took a memorial and said with a smile: "This is a memorial written by Gao Xianzhi, saying that the land in Anxi's army increased and the food was abundant, and the number of Han soldiers in Anxi was increased. I have discussed with the Political Affairs Hall. Anxi is not as good as Longyou. Recruiting troops in Anxi will inevitably increase the number of military households moving westward. In the past two years, Hedong and Henan have been affected by disasters and the people live in difficulties. You can recruit 10,000 military households from Anxi Beiting in this two places. In this way, Anxi's troops can be expanded to 34,000, and Beiting's troops will be expanded to 30,000. In addition, I have agreed with Li's suggestion that the second supervisor of military weapons will be moved to Beiting. At the same time, Beiting will be allowed to mine and mint money to flourish Beiting, and attract more Han people to move westward. As long as the Han people reach a certain number, our Tang Dynasty's control over the Western Regions will be greatly enhanced. This is a long-term development plan."

Li Qingan nodded silently. He suddenly remembered the development of Xinjiang in later generations. In fact, for thousands of years, the central court's strategies for the Western Regions have been consistent. Li Longji's decision was correct to increase the number of Han people in Anxi Beiting.

Li Qing'an had lunch in the palace and then left Xingqing Palace. Seeing that it was already afternoon, he came to Dugu Mansion without knowing it. Not only did Mingyue have no news, but Mingzhu didn't even come to him. Maybe it was because the two sisters watching the lanterns came home that night, and they were punished, but tomorrow I thought he would leave Chang'an and would meet Mingyue no matter what.

It was deserted in front of Dugu's mansion. Mingyue's father had already returned to Yangzhou. His grandfather Dugu had not returned to court. Li Qing'an walked up the steps, took out a famous post and handed it to the doorman and smiled: "I am Li Qing'an, Beiting, and I want to meet the girl Mingyue."

The concierge looked at him in surprise, then quickly took the famous post and said, "General Li wait a moment, I'll go now."

He ran towards the mansion, and Li Qingan was waiting patiently at the door, but he couldn't wait on the left or right. A sense of ominousness arose in his heart. At this time, another concierge next to him whispered: "General Li, Shangshu Zhang came to propose marriage for Zhao Xuming last night."

Li Qingan was stunned and asked quickly: "What's the result?"

"I heard that the wife is willing, but the old lady refuses. The two of them even quarreled. The master told Zhang Xiangguo that the master would ask for his opinion on this matter, but the master is in Yangzhou, and this matter seems to be left unresolved."

"Let General Li wait for a long time."

The butler of Dugu Mansion walked out quickly and bowed to Li Qing'an and said, "General Li, Mrs. Li, my wife said that Yue was in poor health and was not suitable for meeting guests. Please come again next day."

"Where is the pearl?"

"Mingzhu violated family rules on Yuan Ye and was banned by her wife and was not allowed to leave the room within a month."

Speaking of this, the housekeeper sighed and said, "General Li is interested in my girl, and everyone in the city knows that yesterday, Shangshu Zhang came to propose to his disciples. The master was not good at offending Shangshu Zhang, so he dragged down the matter of Miss Mingyue. The family is very different from this matter, and now it is already in trouble. In the limelight, General Li should avoid it for the time being!"

Li Qingan also knew that this matter was too urgent, but he was leaving tomorrow. He just wanted to say goodbye to Mingyue. After thinking about it, he took out a piece of jade from his arms and handed it to the housekeeper and said, "I will go to Beiting tomorrow. After years of going there, please give this jade to Mingyue and then give her a sentence for me: Mingyue will be born in the snowy mountain, and the world will share this time."

After saying that, he turned around and left. The butler looked at his back and shook his head gently, hid the jade, and walked back to the mansion. As soon as he walked into the yard, he saw Mrs. Pei standing in the yard. He hurried forward and reported: "Madam, he has gone."

"It's quite interesting."

Mrs. Pei sneered and said, "What did he say?"

"Reporting to my wife, he said he would go back to Beiting tomorrow. I have been here for many years. I don't know when I will return. He hopes that Miss Mingyue will wait for him."

"Wait for him?" Mrs. Pei said disdainfully: "Why do you want my daughter to wait for him?"

She snorted, turned around and left. Seeing that the wife had disappeared, the housekeeper secretly found a maid, gave her Baoyu, and whispered in her ear, saying, "Go quickly! Be careful not to let the wife know."

The maid nodded and ran away, the butler hurriedly left the yard, and the silence in the Lonely Mansion returned to silence.

Li Qing'an returned to Gao Lishi's house. At this time, the east courtyard of Gao Lishi's house was extremely lively. The soldiers were all here. Everyone was busy packing their luggage. Everyone was happy and the atmosphere was very lively. Various suitcases were piled up like hills in the courtyard. Li Fei Shouyu stood aside and directed the soldiers to place the boxes separately. He was shot an arrow during the Battle of Chiling. With his health, his injuries were gradually healed.

When he saw Li Qing'an coming, he stepped forward and smiled, "Do you want to buy something for Rushi and Ruhua?"

"Mrs. Gao has prepared it for them."

Li Qingan looked around again and asked with a smile: "Where is Lao Li? Where did that guy go?"

"I guess it's in the room, alas! That guy." Li Fei Shouyu shook his head with a wry smile.

"I'll go see him."

Li Qing'an came to a small courtyard, which was where Li Fei Yuanli was recovering from his injuries. As soon as he walked to the door, he heard the sound of Li Fei Yuanli breaking gongs from inside.

"Sanniang, if you obey me, I will definitely marry you. Just promise me!"

"Let's talk about it when you completely recover your injury! Don't be anxious! OK?"

"But I want it now, look at me as strong as a cow."

"Pick your hands away and don't touch them. Do I still don't know if you are in good health?"

"Sanniang, just give it to me!"

"Well, how can you do if you wait for the night? Now it's daytime?"

Li Qing'an was so scared that he stuck out his tongue, turned around and ran away, Li Fei Yuanli actually had sex with Shi Sanniang

Fate!

He walked back to the yard and was about to go to the room to see the Wuyi. At this time, Butler Luo ran over and said, "General Li, someone is looking for him at the door, saying that he is the owner of Rehaiju."

Li Qingan was stunned. What did Chang come in and do for him? He quickly came to the door with Butler Luo, and saw two people standing at the door. One of them was Changjin, while the other was majestic, with a big head, ten feet tall, big waist, and a pair of big copper bells with bright eyes.

When Chang Jin saw Li Qing'an coming out, he quickly bowed and smiled, "I heard that General Li is going to return to Beiting, so I'll come to see him off."

Li Qingan also replied with a smile: "Don't Master Chang often go to Thunder Ye? We will have a chance to meet."

He looked at the big man next to him again and asked with a smile: "Who is this hero?"

Chang Jin quickly introduced: "This is a friend of mine, quite famous. He has always wanted to join the army in Anxi. I will introduce it to General Li."

The big man stepped forward and half-kneeled and bowed: "See Little man, please see the envoy Li!"

Seeing that he was very handsome, Li Qingan suddenly felt a good impression in his heart, so he quickly helped him up and smiled: "Of course I welcome the hero to Beiting. May I ask the hero's name?"
Chapter completed!