The once prosperous Loulan Kingdom has been completely cut off since then, and the world only knows Shanshan.
The southwest of Goni City leads to Qiemo, Jingjue, Kumi, Khotan, the north to Cheshi, the northwest to Yanqi, the east to Bailongdui, to Dunhuang, and is the hub of the Silk Road.
Of course, Muni City is not far from Yumen Pass, so it is difficult for the Turks to penetrate into it, and it has always been under the control of the Tang Dynasty. However, from Muni City to the west, the control of the Tang army gradually weakened, and when it reached Gaochang, it could only maintain
The control of important cities everywhere, as well as the long stretches of yellow sand and cool Gobi, could hardly block the movement of Turkic cavalry.
This is the current situation of the Western Regions. It is not because the Tang Dynasty has insufficient control power, but the Western Regions are too vast and the population is too sparse. If you want to maintain strong dominance everywhere, you must have more than 300,000 troops stationed all year round.
, the price that needs to be paid is too great.
The sky is full of wind and snow, and the vision is gradually blurred.
Returning to the house, after Fang Jun sat back at the desk, a soldier opened the door and entered, saying: "Commander, a letter from Chang'an has arrived."
Fang Jun nodded, and the soldiers stepped forward and handed him the letter, then turned around and pushed it out.
After pouring a cup of tea by himself, Fang Jun first looked at the seal and saw that the prince's seal was intact, then he opened the envelope, took out the letter paper, and read it carefully.
After a long time, he put down the letter, picked up the tea cup and took a sip.
The tea has become lukewarm.
He put down the tea cup and called the soldiers outside the door, asking them to call Pei Xingjian and Cheng Wuting together. The soldiers followed the order and left.
A moment later, Pei Xingjian and Cheng Wu, who were all cold, walked in quickly. After greeting each other, Pei Xingjian asked: "The commander is eager to summon you, but what's the important matter?"
Fang Jun pointed to the letter on the table and said, "Sit down first and then talk after reading it."
"Here."
The two of them sat down. Pei Xingjian first picked up the letter and read it carefully, while Fang Jun took off the boiling water from the stove, made another pot of tea, and poured a cup for each of them.
The two of them thanked each other quickly.
After a while, Pei Xingjian read the letter and handed it to Cheng Wuting. He took a sip of hot tea from his cup, then held the hot teacup in both hands and sighed softly, saying: "Chang'an City... is really a monster, wait and see.
When the empire is in crisis, these people have no intention of serving the country and the people, and they only fight for power and profit. It is really shameful and hateful. However, His Highness the Prince reminds the commander to be careful of harm... You are in the army now, and you have confidants on both sides. Even if
Some people are so bold, but where is the chance?"
Fang Jun snorted and said disdainfully: "If you can't get close, you have to attack from the outside. Although the territory of the Western Region is controlled by the Anxi Army, the Turks come and go like the wind. There may not be anyone who secretly communicates with the Turks. It's possible to leak the right
The whereabouts of the garrison guards."
He has been marching all the way since leaving Chang'an. The cold and difficult environment has made his face darker and darker. The short mustache on his lips has become thicker and thicker due to neglect. His cheeks are thin and his face is hard. His eyes are shining brighter and more powerful.
It looks majestic and dignified.
This life, he snorted coldly and became more and more domineering.
At this time, Cheng Wuting also finished reading the letter, put it on the table, and said in a deep voice: "The Guanlong clan has great influence in the Anxi army, and they have always secretly communicated with the Turks, and they are very likely to betray our Youtun guards.
, we have to guard against it.”
Fang Jun nodded.
In fact, the Guanlong clan has very little regard for their family and country. They only have interests in their eyes. As long as they can grab enough profits, they will abandon their ancestors and collaborate with the enemy and treason.
I remember that the first time I commanded the Shenji Battalion to follow Hou Junji to conquer the Gaochang Kingdom, he was attacked by a Turkic wolf cavalry on the shores of Lop Nur Lake. The entire army was almost destroyed and buried here. Later I learned that someone used ten carts of refined iron to
Bribing the Turks, they allowed them to bypass the main force of the Tang army and attack them secretly.
Although there was no evidence at the time, Fang Jun deeply suspected that Changsun Chong was responsible. As the eldest son of the Changsun family, he secretly colluded with the Turks, and was able to mobilize the wolf cavalry around the Turkic Khan, which is enough to illustrate the relationship between the Guanlong clan and the Turks.
People are deeply entangled.
If he wanted to fail in the Western Regions at this moment, it would not be surprising to bribe the Turks again.
Immediately, he added: "Not only the Turks, but even the Arabs may take action."
Pei Xingjian was confused: "Aren't the Arabs fighting back and forth with the Anxi army to the west of Gongyue City? How could they send an army deep into the hinterland of the Western Regions and risk huge risks to attack us?"
Arabs are different from Turks.
The Turks have always had a strong control over the Western Regions. Even though they were defeated by the Tang Dynasty several times and had to flee to the desert grasslands in the far west, they still have a strong foundation in the Western Regions. They really want to remain unnoticed.
It is not difficult to sneak into the Western Region and attack Youtun Wei.
However, the Arabs were outsiders and had never set foot on the land of the Western Regions. Now they were killing the Hu people in the Western Regions for food and supplies. They were regarded as barbaric beasts. It was extremely difficult to sneak into the hinterland of the Western Regions secretly.
Immediately, thinking of a possibility, his expression changed and he blurted out: "Does the commander think that someone is colluding with the Arabs?"
This is incredible.
The Turks roam across Mobei and are powerful. Even though they are now beaten by the Tang Dynasty, their foundation is still there. It is indeed understandable that the powerful factions secretly colluded with them to seek benefits. However, the Arabs are Western barbarians and have always been at the same level as the Tang Dynasty.
There is no contact, and this time they invade the Western Region as bandits, and they are robbing the interests of various clans in the Western Region. This is simply snatching food from the tiger's mouth. How can those clans cooperate with the Arabs?
Unprofitable...
Fang Jun played with the ceramic teacup in his hand and said in a deep voice: "This time the Arabs conquered the Western Regions, from the timing they grasped when sending troops, to the marching route after entering the Western Regions, and the deployment before the battle, everything shows the situation of the Anxi Army.
He knew it very well, and always avoided the truth, which made the Anxi Army constrained everywhere. If it weren't for Xue Rengui's military strategies and strategies, and the Anxi Army was elite and good at fighting, it would have been defeated long ago. The Arabs would not have had such a powerful detailed production system.
It can only be that someone secretly betrayed the secrets of the Anxi Army."
Pei Xingjian was shocked and said: "This can be called treason!"
Cheng Wuting stood beside him and said angrily: "So what if it's treason? In the eyes of those aristocratic families, only the family has no country. As long as they can gain benefits for the family, they don't care whether the empire is flooded and war is everywhere!"
Why are aristocratic families condemned by people all over the world? It’s because of their country’s indifferent national consciousness and their single-minded pursuit of the family’s interests. As long as it is beneficial to the family, they can definitely regard all people as dolphins and dogs, and the country as a straw mat, and hand it over to foreigners.
hand.
It has never been like this throughout the ages.
Fang Jun took a sip of tea and sighed softly: "It's a pity that the 'Baiqisi' was restrained by His Majesty in Chang'an City. At most, it can have some energy in the Guanzhong area, and in order to prevent the tail from being lost, it can only be used internally but not externally. If we let
The 'Hundred Cavalry Division' became the intelligence agency of the Tang Dynasty military, responsible for collecting internal and external intelligence, so they would not know that those people were collaborating with the enemy and treason but had no evidence and could only let it go."
In his opinion, His Majesty Li Er is still too cautious.
It is true that while consolidating imperial power, the imperial minions such as "Hundred Qisi" are very likely to develop into a vicious tumor that cannot be removed, and then destroy the structure of the court and make people angry, but if they are directed to develop outward, there is no way out.
And a disadvantageous weapon.
Perhaps, history has limited the vision of emperors. From ancient times to the present, countless emperors have had powerful and powerful secret service agencies like the "Hundred Cavalry Division", such as the "Plum Blossom Internal Guard" and the "Imperial City Division".
"Jinyiwei", "Guanzhanchu", etc. were only regarded as the emperor's minions, responsible for stabilizing the imperial rule, but their functions were never developed to penetrate into the outside world.
In war, the role of intelligence is obvious, and sometimes it is even more useful than a powerful army. However, these emperors have made the most powerful intelligence agencies under them useless, and only know how to stabilize the imperial power and prevent internal chaos.
As a result, both the Song and Ming dynasties fell into the hands of foreigners, and their own intelligence agencies made almost no contribution to foreign operations...
The three of them were discussing countermeasures when they suddenly heard the sound of footsteps outside. The soldiers knocked on the door and entered, saluting: "Commander, Xue Sima sent someone from Gongyue City to deliver you a letter."
Fang Jun's heart sank and he hurriedly said: "Bring the person here!"
Could it be that something happened during the Battle of the Western Regions?
Although the Arabs were unstoppable and marched straight in, the Western Region was vast and had sufficient strategic depth. The strategy adopted by Xue Rengui was excellent, and the situation would not deteriorate for a while, resulting in the complete loss of Gongyue City and Luntai City, and the complete exposure of Jiaohe City.
Underneath the enemy's troops.
However, Xue Rengui sent someone to deliver a letter at this time. Apparently, the letter was already on its way just after he entered the Western Regions, which gave Fang Jun a bad feeling...