Chapter 299: The curtain opens

After Li Qing left, Mo He fell into deep thought. The former Minister of Revenue of the Tang Dynasty, the former Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, had a sharp vision and was really relieved to see the essence of the problem. But Mo He was the king of a country after all, and he would not leave with confidence because of a promise from Li Qing. He kept his hands behind his back and thought for a long time, but finally made a decision that Gao Xianzhi could not be skipped over this matter.

He wrote a letter, called his deputy, handed it to him and solemnly instructed: "Tomorrow you go to Gao Shuai, don't tell him that I have been here, just say you are my special envoy and convey my meaning."

Seeing that his father was still looking for Gao Xianzhi, Princess Luo Lan couldn't help but persuade: "Father, I think this matter must be cautious. If they compete for merit, it may ruin a big deal."

"You are still young and don't understand some things!" Mo He looked out the window, and his eyes became cold again. "After all, Gao Xianzhi is the head coach of Anxi, and this person has always been cruel and vicious. If we know that we will bypass him, we, Shi Guohui, will suffer a great disaster in the future. I will tell him now that there will be two generals to compete for merit, but this is an internal matter of the Tang court. I know in my heart which is more important, so don't worry about it anymore."

Mo He slowly walked to the window and stared at the dark night sky in the north. It was the Shi Kingdom, a small country in the cracks between the two empires. I wonder what kind of storm this domestic strife would cause.

The journey from the Imperial Kingdom to Kucha is even longer, but the road is very smooth. The road is sleeping in the open. At the end of January of the following year, the army returned to Shule, and Xi Yuanqing's army returned to the city. In mid-February, Li Qing led the Doulu army to Kucha. On that day, the Doulu army was stationed outside the Kucha City to replenish supplies and the army was ready to go. The sun had just smiled, and the purple rays covered the sky. The snow-capped mountains in the distance were shining with magnificent light. Li Qing got up early, but sat alone in the big tent to ponder. As early as when he passed Shule, Li Qing sent his personal soldiers to Chang'an with his letters day and night to seek Li Linfu's support. He was not worried that the court would ignore it. Effective interference was to safeguard the dignity of a great country. Li Longji did not hesitate to support this.

Li Qing was worried about time. Most of his time was spent on the march, but if he had to wait until the imperial court's order to act, he might have been at the gate of the Great Food Army.

At this time, a noise came faintly outside the camp gate. Li Qing stood up and walked to the tent and said to his personal soldiers: "Go and see what happened, why it is noisy?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a personal soldier hurried over and said to Li Qing panting: "Governor, Madam, Madam is here, right outside the camp."

"What?"

Li Qing was overjoyed and threw away the curtain and walked out of the barracks. The soldiers in front of the barracks were gathering together for breakfast in groups of three or three. At this moment, they were all crowded together and looked out of the camp gate. Several veterans who knew Li Qing recognized Zhao Lian and whispered with each other, looking excited, as if their relatives had arrived.

"The governor is here!" Someone shouted, and the soldiers immediately dodged a way and asked Li Qing to go there.

Li Qing ran to the camp gate and saw more than a hundred carriages lined up outside the door. The carriages were loaded with family and items, nearly a thousand Yulin cavalry guards, and dozens of men and women in strange clothes, wearing long swords, all of whom were holding their heads and chests, and they looked extraordinary. They seemed to be people who knew martial arts. Li Qing's heart moved and glanced at him. He saw Wu Xingsu in the crowd, bowing to him. Li Qing nodded to him. These people were indeed his subordinates.

"Dad!"

A crisp cry interrupted Li Qing's thoughts, and a little girl in a red coat ran towards him, "It's Tingyue!" Li Qing's chest was so happy that he was about to explode. He knelt on one knee, opened his arms, and hugged his beloved daughter. At this moment, tears of joy could not help but shed their faces.

"My good dear is getting taller, and it's all the way to my dad's waist." He picked up his daughter, stroked her hair, and choked and said, "Good dear, do you miss my dad?"

Li Tingyue hugged her father's neck tightly and started crying, "Dad, why have you been away for so long but haven't come back?"

"It's bad for daddy. I'll leave my little mother and daddy will never see it again in the future."

Li Qing suddenly thought of his son he had not met yet and couldn't help asking: "Where is your mother?"

"Mom is there!"

Li Qing looked up and saw Jian'er standing in front of a carriage, looking at him gently, holding a swaddle in her hand. Behind her, Li Jingyan and Xiaoyu both got off the carriage one after another, with complex eyes.

Li Qing walked to Jian'er with her daughter in her arms, and she didn't know where to start. Jian'er stared at her husband's unusually dark, thin and haggard face, and her eyes suddenly turned red. She covered her mouth and turned her head, and her shoulders gently thrust.

Li Qing put Li Tingyue down and forced a smile and said, "I thought you would go to Shazhou!"

The curtain wiped away the tears, took Li Tingyue, handed over the cradle in his hand, Zhan Yan smiled and said, "Li Lang, look at our son, he looks very much like you."

Li Qing hesitated for a moment, carefully took the child, his voice trembling slightly, "Is this my son?"

He lifted up the gauze scarf covered it, and there was a pink face inside. He was sleeping soundly. His shadow could be vaguely seen between his eyebrows and eyes. He murmured: "Like me! Like me!"

At this moment, Li Qing suddenly felt that his heart was extending infinitely. The years of millions of years were just a blink of an eye. He suddenly turned around and raised his son high, facing the rising sun. His smile was extremely bright. The three armies immediately cheered, "Governor! Governor! Governor!"

In Xingqing Palace in Chang'an, a little eunuch hurried through Qinzheng Hall and came to the front of the harem hall. Flashes of silk music came from inside. The little eunuch whispered a few words to the guards. The guard nodded and turned around and entered the hall.

The clouds in the hall were lightly sounding, silk and bamboos were surrounding the ears, and several disciples of the Pear Garden were playing opera and singing, with a melodious voice. Li Longji listened intently and frowned, shook his head, and said to Yang Yuhuan beside him: "The waiting time is late in the summer, the grass and trees of Hu are growing, the horses are flying over the birds, and the sky is poor and the sunset is beyond the setting sun. This is clearly the intention of the soldiers of the Western Regions to go on a war. It is a mighty and solemn poem, but the tune is too clear and not a good match. What does Yuhuan think?"

Yang Yuhuan's beautiful eyes were flowing, she smiled gently, and said to Li Longji: "I just think Sanlang has a special liking for the poems of the frontier these days. Yesterday was Wang Changling's song of the frontier, and today was Cen Shen's poem. Tell me, why is this?"

Li Longji stroked his beard and laughed, "I am the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty who are intimidating the Western Regions, defending Xiao Bolu, and pacifying the Imperial Kingdom. I am naturally happy to make great contributions, so I want to hear these exciting songs."

Yang Yuhuan pinched Li Longji's back and said slightly, "You also know that they have made great contributions, but they will not let their wives and children go to reunite. If it weren't for my concubine's insistence, wouldn't Sanlang's move hurt the hearts of the border soldiers?"

Li Longji smiled awkwardly, "This is my Tang Dynasty system. Generals who lead troops on the frontier must have family members stay in Beijing. Besides, I will not follow you in the end?"

As the two were talking, Gao Lishi quietly walked behind Li Longji and whispered to report: "Your Majesty, Li Xiangguo has important matters to ask for a meeting!"

Li Longji was swept up intently, and his face sank, waved, "I have no time now, let's talk about it another day!"

Seeing that Gao Lishi wanted to speak but stopped, Yang Yuhuan knew that he had something big, so he pushed Li Longji and begged softly: "Sanlang, go! You have been no longer concerned about the government for many days, and I don't want to be scolded by the ministers."

"They dare!" Li Longji looked stern, then patted Yang Yuhuan's hand and comforted him: "I heard from my beloved concubine."

After saying that, he turned around and said to Gao Lishi: "Let the Prime Minister wait in the Imperial Study Room, and I will arrive later."

Li Linfu came to Li Longji for Li Qing's sake. He was in Chang'an and was not well-versed in the information that Dashi had happened thousands of miles away. He only knew that the civil war broke out in the Dashi Kingdom, but he didn't know that the civil war had gradually ended, and he didn't know that Dashi's sword had pointed to the east. However, a thick memorial by Li Qing detailed the importance of the Hu area of ​​the Zhaowu Nine surnames to the Tang Dynasty. It was the area of ​​Dashi and Dashi. If they were annexed by Dashi, then Dashi's next target was the four towns of Anxi. If it formed an alliance with Tubo again, the Tang Dynasty would be attacked from both sides and the border troubles would be difficult to calm for a hundred years.

After all, Li Linfu was a prime minister for more than ten years, and his vision was difficult for ordinary people. He participated in the formulation of many important strategic decisions in the Tang Dynasty. He fully agreed with Li Qing's memorials. The situation was urgent, so he immediately went to the palace to see Li Longji.

"The emperor is here!" The eunuch on duty shouted sharply and interrupted Li Linfu's contemplation. He immediately stood up and took the car respectfully when he walked in front of the door.

After a long time, Li Longji slowly walked over by a large group of guards and eunuchs. Li Linfu immediately greeted him and bowed deeply, "My minister Li Linfu will meet you!"

"Let the Prime Minister wait for a long time." Li Longji waved his hand and signaled him to come in with him.

The imperial study room was cleaned up, the light was bright, and the room was filled with a faint fragrance. Several memorials were placed on the imperial desk, which Gao Lishi thought were of great importance and did not criticize.

Li Longji flipped through it casually. The first book was the request for merits by Gao Xianzhi, the governor of Anxi. It was nearly 10,000 words. Li Longji sneered slightly and did not look closely. He had learned about Gao Xianzhi's actions in the Imperial State through Bian Lingcheng's secret report. Li Longji was particularly annoyed by his unauthorized residence in the Imperial Palace and accepting the Tocharan Hu. He wanted to deprive Gao Xianzhi of all his positions immediately. He saw that he dared to be arrogant, but Li Longji was very deep in his palace. He knew that it was not the time to move Gao Xianzhi. He held the elite Anxi in his hand and his morale was strong. If he was forced to be anxious, it was difficult to guarantee that he would not really become king. "This matter cannot be urgent. You must be proud of his heart first, slow down his ambition, and wait for the opportunity to come before dealing with him slowly!"

After Li Longji thought about it, he said to Li Linfu: "Gao Xianzhi made great contributions this time. I plan to teach him the opening of the Yitong Sansi. What do you think about the prime minister?"

"The emperor is the only way to make the decision on this matter, I have no objection!"

Li Longji smiled and said, "The Prime Minister is now becoming slippery and I'm pushing everything to me."

He handed Gao Xianzhi's letter of request to Li Linfu and said, "If the soldiers make meritorious contributions, they will be rewarded. I will be approved by this memorial service. I will leave this memorial service to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel to discuss. As for Gao Xianzhi and Li Qing's reward, let me consider it."

Since Li Longji mentioned Li Qing, Li Linfu immediately smiled and said, "It's a coincidence. The old minister came today for Li Qing."

Li Longji remembered that Li Linfu had reported something big, and immediately returned to his seat and asked, "What's wrong with Li Qing?"

"I just received an urgent document from Anxi."

Li Linfu took out Li Qing's memorial from his arms and handed it to Li Longji with both hands, saying, "This is an urgent memorial from the Chief Secretary of Anxi Li Qing. I feel it is of great importance and must submit it to the emperor immediately."

"It's important?" Li Longji frowned. If Li Linfu thought it was important, the matter would definitely not be minor. He put the reward of Gao Xianzhi aside, took the memorial handed by the eunuch, read it carefully.

Time passed slowly. Li Linfu saw Li Longji's brows frowned, relaxed, closed the book for a long time, and opened it for a while and read it again. His expression changed, but it showed that he was very serious. I don't know how long it took, Li Linfu's back was soaked in sweat. At this time, Li Longji finally closed the memorial and walked slowly to the window to look west. For the first time, he knew that in the West, the territory and power of the Great Food were no less than that of the Tang Dynasty, and the thousands of mountains and rivers in the Western Regions could not stop them from peeping at the rich Tang Dynasty.

"Prime Minister, what do you think about this?" Li Longji's voice was a little hoarse.

"Does the Emperor refer to the Great Food or the Shi Kingdom?"

Li Longji looked back at him, and his hoarse voice slowly became clear and tough, "Aren't these two things the same?"

"Your Majesty, the old minister agrees with Li Changshi's suggestion. You must not let Dashi reach his hand to the Rehai Lake. The old minister proposes that Li Changshi will be sent to Shiguo to mediate the conflict between Shiguo and Bakhanna."

"Mediation alone is not possible. If necessary, teach the ministers with dissenting intentions."

Li Longji slowly turned around, and a cold look shot out from his squinting eyes. He decisively ordered: "Transfer my will to be the pacification envoy of Anxi and Beiting towns, and to represent the Tang Dynasty to mediate the dispute between Shiguo and Bahanna. In addition, Gao Xianzhi was ordered to march into Suye City immediately."

A magnificent battle is about to begin.

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Chapter completed!