In the afternoon of the same day, a decree came from the Chang'an Palace, appointing Guo Song to serve as the governor of Anxi and Beiting at the same time. In recognition of his achievements in recovering the Western Regions, he was granted the title of Taiwei, and his wife was officially conferred the title of Commander-in-Chief.
The princess granted her son Guo Jincheng the title of Duke of Gaochang County. In addition, the rewards for officers and soldiers of the three armies were decided solely by Guo Song and submitted to the Ministry of War for approval.
Li Shi then issued a second decree. The general brother Shu Yao died for the country, and he was posthumously named Prince of Xiping County, inheriting his father's title. He was also given the title of Governor of Jingzhou, with the posthumous title of Zhongyong.
Li Shi also issued a handwritten edict at the same time, agreeing with Ma Sui and Li Baozhen to lead their troops to withdraw from Bianzhou to the south and withdraw from Hebei, and ordered Li Baozhen to guard Yuzhou and Ma Sui to guard Chenzhou.
Du Guqiu has been in a very bad mood recently. The source of his troubles comes from his disappointment with the emperor Li Shi. When he first came to Bashu, Li Shi was very ambitious and wanted to regain Chang'an and kill the red bandits. However, less than a year later,
He began to pursue luxury, began to spend money like water, and began to recruit palace ladies. He completely lost his ambition to regain Chang'an. He also favored the eunuchs and distrusted the generals, and actually let the eunuchs control the military power.
Du Lingqiu no longer has any hope for Li Shi. As the head of the family, he must think about the fate of his family.
At this time, the housekeeper reported at the door, "Master, Xue Shangshu is here!"
Du Lingqiu woke up from his deep thoughts and said quickly: "Please come in quickly!"
He quickly walked to the courtyard door and saw the housekeeper inviting Xue Xun in.
Du Guqiu smiled and said: "It's rare for a worthy brother to come to my place. I welcome you!"
Xue Xun bowed and said: "I'll have to ask my brother to take me into the city later!"
Although Xue Xun is the Minister of Rites, he does not have the privilege of opening the city gate at night. Only the Prime Minister has this privilege.
"It's a small matter. I will send my dear brother back later and sit down in the hall!"
The two sat down in the lobby, and the maid served them tea. Du Guqiu smiled slightly and said, "Congratulations, good brother!"
The congratulations Du Guqiu said were referring to the emperor's official decree today, canonizing Guo Song's wife Xue as the county princess. Last time, although Guo Song made Zhangye the county prince, he did not canonize the princess. This time, his wife and children will be included.
Up.
Xue Xun felt a little proud. When he came to Bashu to serve as the governor of Jian Dynasty, a master from Qingcheng Mountain gave his daughter a fortune teller and said that his daughter would be extremely valuable in the future. Now it seems that it is indeed the case. Today, he and his wife are very happy.
Already.
Xue Xun added: "My visit to my brother today has something to do with this. I received a reply from my daughter today."
"What did she say?" Dugu Lingqiu asked nervously.
"My daughter said in her reply that if her husband could get the support of the Dugu family, it would be of great help to his career and she had no reason to object."
Du Guqiu breathed a long sigh of relief, "The princess is really virtuous and wise. Guo Song is so lucky to have such a good wife."
Xue Xun added: "But she made a small condition."
"Please tell me!"
"The princess said that she likes Dugu Youlan very much and hopes that the head of the family will consider it."
Du Lingqiu chuckled, "I said it was her. She is my little daughter. She went to Zhangye last year and got along well with Princess Xue."
Xue Xun was stunned. He had to admire Du Guqiu's cunning. In order to get Tao'er to agree to the marriage, he actually let his youngest daughter go to Zhangye first. Needless to say, Dugu's daughter must have performed very well and won Tao'er's favor.
Good impression.
Xue Xun didn't have much to say, so he could only laugh and said: "If this marriage can happen, we will really be married."
Du Lingqiu chuckled, "What is that called, brother-in-law? Just think of it as brother-in-law!"
"Then Xiangguo is going to Zhangye?"
"It's not convenient for me to go. After all, I have to pass through Zhu Si's territory, but I can find a witness. He should be willing to go there for me."
"I wonder who it is?"
Du Guqiu smiled slightly and said, "Yan Zhenqing!"
"Ah! Where is he now? Isn't he in Chang'an?"
Du Guqiu shook his head, "If he were in Chang'an, would Zhu Si let him go? He lives in seclusion in Pinggao County, Yuanzhou, which is his wife's natal family."
Xue Xun pondered for a moment, "Could it be that he lives in seclusion in Kongtong Mountain?"
Du Lingqiu gave a thumbs up and said, "My dear brother, I guessed right."
The two knew it well and laughed together.
Du Guqiu took a sip of tea and said: "Today the emperor proposed to allocate three million yuan to build a forbidden garden. My dear brother, you must know this!"
Xue Xun nodded solemnly, "Frankly speaking, I am very disappointed with the emperor. He did not actively plan to regain Chang'an, but he actually started to enjoy it. I heard that he also recruited doctorates in literature, established a literature museum, and recited poems and composed poems all day long. He was quite famous.
There is a bit of a "I am happy here, but I don't want to go back" attitude. If this continues, the fate of the Tang Dynasty will be worrying."
"My dear brother is absolutely right. I am also very worried. You can relax if you want, and enjoy it properly. He is the emperor after all, but he actually loves the eunuchs so much, and does not trust the ministers, let alone the generals. This is dangerous.
Maybe there will be a second center of power."
"What?" Xue Xun obviously didn't react.
"The center of power headed by the eunuchs opposed the political hall. Many emperors in the Southern and Northern Dynasties liked to do this kind of thing. It was euphemistically called balance of power."
Xue Xun's face turned a little pale. If that were the case, Datang would be in danger.
At this moment, a long scream suddenly came from outside, ‘Ah——’
Du Guqiu stood up and asked sharply: "What happened?"
A dark figure flashed at the door and said: "To inform the owner, someone is eavesdropping on the roof, and we discovered it."
Du Lingqiu and Xue Xun looked at each other and quickly walked out of the lobby. They saw a man in black lying in the yard with a long sword beside him. He was surrounded by four or five black shadows holding swords.
Xue Xun realized in his heart that these black figures were probably the legendary Flying Fox Guards.
"Who is he?" Du Lingqiu strode up.
"Master, he has committed suicide by taking poison. There are no clues on him. Where did he come from?"
"You just said that he was eavesdropping?"
"Yes! I saw him lift the tiles with my own eyes, and eavesdropped on the conversation of the head of the house."
Du Lingqiu's face suddenly turned ugly. He turned back to Xue Xun and said, "Brother Xue, can you guess who sent him?"
Xue Xun nodded. He remembered a saying some time ago that some of the warriors from the Hidden Sword Pavilion came to Chengdu and were collected by the emperor.
.........
Time has entered June, and the weather has become hotter. The Hexi Corridor in June is like a fire falling from the sky. It is so hot that people can't breathe, but it is cooler at night.
On a bright moonlit night, a team of more than fifty miles long was marching eastward under the moonlight.
This team mainly consisted of 8,000 carts and 10,000 camels, loaded with countless trophies, as well as more than 100 sheep and 80,000 war horses.
Ten thousand Tang Army cavalry guarded this transport brigade. When they went there, there were 20,000 cavalry, but when they came back, there were 10,000 cavalry. The other troops stayed in Anxi and Beiting, which was obviously not enough. Guo Song had to go back to Anxi and Beiting.
Beiting continued to mobilize troops, especially Beiting. Ge Luolu and Uighur, a wolf and a tiger were watching, so he had to strengthen his defense.
The weather was so hot that the troops could only rest during the day and march at night. That night, Guo Song led the army from Suzhou to Ganzhou. After four months of walking, they returned to Ganzhou.
The most urgent thing for Guo Song now is to know about the development of Iron Fire Thunder. He didn't care too much before and just used it as an auxiliary weapon in war, but now he is very anxious. He can't do it in Hexi and Anxi.
If too many troops are invested, whether Beiting and Anxi can be defended depends on this powerful city defense weapon.
"Your Majesty, can you tell me our next step of action?" Li Bing urged his horse to follow Guo Song and asked with a low voice.
Guo Song glanced at him and said with a smile: "There is a saying in my hometown that if you take too big a step, you will break your balls! I think this is talking about you, you should be careful."
Li Bing couldn't help but put his legs together and said: "I don't understand the humble position."
"What I mean is, take a good rest for two years! Anxi and Beiting are not so easy to win, especially Beiting. There will definitely be recurrences in the future. We are very likely to have to face the challenges of Uihe and Geluolu.
, and we have to capture the Big and Little Bolu, I think it will take at least three years to stabilize Anxi and Beiting."
Li Bing nodded, "I understand, I understand!"
Guo Song patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "After we have consolidated the west, it is time for us to look east!"