Li Siye led everyone back to Niyang City. The Guards Brigade he led was already waiting in the city. He called everyone together to count the number of people. Except for two people who were seriously injured, the rest were intact, except for these three.
Four months of running around had deformed them in appearance, and they were as skinny as mud monkeys that had been pulled out of the sand.
He patted the brothers on the shoulders, as if he had something to say thank you for, or it was inconvenient to say it out.
"Brothers, you have worked hard these days. When I return to Kucha City, I will treat you all to a drink."
"It's not hard, General Li," one of the commanders said, "and I didn't know what the purpose of being a soldier was until this morning."
"what happened?"
He didn't notice their mood changes at first, but now he realized that they were very excited. Some of them had biscuits and dried fruits stuffed in their arms, and wore headbands made of tree branches.
"what's going on?"
All the soldiers were too embarrassed to speak, but Bai Xiaode was a little thick-skinned and gave a general idea.
As soon as they entered the city this morning, they were welcomed by city residents and passing caravans. From the elderly to children and women, almost everyone took out gifts from home. By the way, the Nirang people are
They cherish trees very much. Under normal circumstances, they are not even allowed to break the branches. They can make the poplar branches into headbands for them, which is enough to show how much they support the Tang army.
Li Siye really didn't expect that the plot he had seen in the main theme film and television would happen to them.
These deeply moved brothers finally realized that protecting the country and the people was not an empty talk, and they were not just fighting for the court, fighting for the saints, but also fighting for the people.
In the afternoon, everyone gathered to leave Niyang City and were greeted with another wave of enthusiasm.
After the sixth day, they arrived at Yutian Town and received an even warmer welcome in the city. Because this prosperous city was the most prosperous place affected by the Silk Road, more than half of the population in the city were Han and Hu merchants.
Their safety is directly related to their lives.
This is the first time since the Kaiyuan Dynasty that the Anxi Protectorate has made great efforts to clean up the many gangs of bandits running rampant on Khotan Road. The fact that they can send a fourth-grade Zhonglang general here is enough to prove the importance the Governor attaches to this matter.
In fact, they didn't know the inside story at all. This was actually Li Siye's wishful thinking and personally promoted it. The Protectorate didn't care about such things at all.
The people were so warm-hearted that Li Siye had no choice but to pick up the bowl of wine presented to him and drink it all in one gulp.
There was even a poet living in Khotan who wrote a poem about this event, called "A Song to Congratulate General Li for Conquering Tulun Moraine". The content of the poem is as follows:
The west wind is strong in the desert, and the twin flags enter Tulum,
Mo's sword kills the bandit chieftain, his horned bow shocks the enemy's soul,
On the road to Yangguan Road, don’t be frightened from now on.
When we met on the business trip, we exchanged hands and talked about our experiences.
On the way out of Khotan, he learned that there were still people writing poems, and he felt a little uneasy. Others went back in time to work as literary copyists and poetry copyists, but we were better off, and were directly included in the poems, even though the level of the poet was not as good as that of others.
how.
Three days later, they arrived at the Jie Restaurant Inn and happened to meet a messenger sent by the Anxi Protectorate. The messenger was carrying three feathers on his back. He had just changed horses and ran a few dozen steps when he suddenly saw Li Siye passing by.
, quickly turned the horse's head and ran back, dismounted, knelt on one knee and crossed his hands: "General Li, Fumeng Dudu has an order for you to return to Kucha quickly. This is a letter!"
Li Siye was shocked. Could it be that something happened in Qiuci? That made Fumeng Lingcha rush his horse to call him back?
He opened the envelope immediately, only to find that there was only one line written on it: "I have something important to discuss with you, please come back quickly."
Didn't he even write down what happened? Didn't this make him feel like he had a lump in his throat? He lowered his head and asked the messenger: "Has anything big happened in Qiuci? Or has there been news from Tanaka Cheng Xiaobolu?"
The messenger just lowered his head and said: "I don't know how to humble my position."
"Go ahead." He turned around and said to the people behind him: "Let's hurry up and try to get back to Kucha as soon as possible."
There was almost no breathing room for them along the way, so they had to drive hard and fast. It took them only nine days to return to Qiuci City. After dismounting in front of the Duhu Mansion, they did not take a break and went straight to Meng Lingcha, the main hall.
's study room.
After entering the door, he first bowed and crossed his hands and said: "Most of the Khotan Road Station has been completed, the bandits have been eliminated, and the general will come back to resume his duties."
"Come on, Siye, please take a seat."
He knelt and sat on the upper right corner, stretched his neck, waiting for Fumeng Lingcha to tell him something big, and wondering whether this big thing would have an impact on him.
"The imperial court sent messengers a few days ago to spread the news throughout the states. Judging from the distance of the journey, I am afraid that our Anxi Protectorate is the last to know. The available people in the Protectorate are all on the expedition with Tanaka Cheng, so I
Send someone and a fast horse to call you back."
Could it be that something big happened in the imperial court? An Lushan rebelled in advance? No, no, no, the sheep thief is not even a military envoy now.
He crossed his hands in front of his forehead and asked, "Please protect me."
"A month ago, the saint went to bed and dreamed of Emperor Xuanyuan. Emperor Xuanyuan said to the saint, I have a statue in the southwest of the capital. You will send someone to ask for it. I will meet you at Xingqing Palace. Secondly
On that day, the saint ordered hundreds of officials to search for statues of gods throughout the country, and I, the Protectorate of Anxi, cannot lag behind others."
Li Siye asked in surprise: "Wait a minute, who is this Emperor Xuanyuan?"
Fumeng Lingcha glanced at him: "I! You don't know the Tao Te Ching? As a minister of the Tang Dynasty, how can you not know this!"
Let me go, just because the emperor dreamed of me, you rushed hundreds of miles to call me back, which made me dare not rest along the way and thought something big had happened!
Li Siye felt quite uncomfortable. Is this bad old man like the emperor starting to feel faint now?
"Since we are looking for the statue of the old... Taishang Emperor Xuanyuan, I'm afraid it won't be our turn in Qixi. Since we left Yangguan to the west of Yumenguan, we in Qixi have not had a Taoist temple. Where did Emperor Xuanyuan come from?
Statue of God?”
"Why can't it be my turn? Emperor Xuanyuan and I, Qixi, have a long-standing relationship. He used to ride a green ox out of Hangu Pass. Where did he go when he left Hangu Pass? Of course he went to Yaochi to meet the Queen Mother of the West. Where is Yaochi?
?Isn’t it in our Qixi Tianshan Mountains?”
Li Siye nodded in admiration. If you explain it this way, it does make sense.
He immediately crossed his hands and asked: "Is it because you asked the general to come back just to find the statue of Emperor Xuanyuan?"
"Of course," Fumeng Lingcha rubbed his hands and said, "If this happens, it will be a great achievement, comparable to the expedition against Xiaobolu."
Li Siye secretly complained in his heart, can the merits of the camp be compared to the labor expedition? It is really strange that the Tang Dynasty has not declined!
"Fumeng Protector, I don't agree with this. The saint is just on a whim, so we have to mobilize the troops to look for the statue of Emperor Xuanyuan. Apart from wasting people and money, what good can it do? Besides, all states across the country are looking for the statue of Emperor Xuanyuan.
By the time we find the Anxi Protectorate and mobilize troops to move to Chang'an, they will have already sent the statues to Xingqing Palace. You said there are so many statues, why do the saints think that the ones we sent there are real?"
"It's not important whether it's true or not." Fumeng Lingcha patted the case and said with a smile: "Think about it for yourself, everyone else is looking for it, but if we don't look for it, then some cunning villain in the court will be handed over to Your Majesty.
Send a memorial to tell us that the Anxi Protectorate does not respect the emperor's orders and does not respect Emperor Xuanyuan. When the time comes, none of us will be able to live without food."
What he said was so reasonable that Li Siye had no way to refute it. Just as he was about to answer, Fumeng Lingcha pointed at him and said: "If others don't take it seriously, you have to take it seriously. Your surname is also Li. Five hundred years ago, the same surname was
The same family came from the same clan a thousand years ago. The Li family of the Tang Dynasty is the direct descendant of Emperor Xuanyuan. You, the Li family of Gaoling, can be considered a collateral line. How can you not try your best and still make sarcastic remarks here? "
He opened his mouth wide and let out a cold breath, watching helplessly as Fumeng Lingcha took this thankless job on his head.
(ps: Thank you for being me. I will be rewarded by the fire in the desert.)