end song

Chapter 1187 Good News
Tongguan.

Someone stood on the city tower and watched the boats heading for Fenglingdu on the opposite bank. The Yellow River was surging, and the scenery was quite spectacular.

But no matter how spectacular the scenery is, I will still get tired of watching it for many days.

"What about the Northern Expedition? It's been many days, so I'm still staying here."

"It's also very interesting here. I heard sister Yuan tell the story about brother Li going to Fenglingdu to pick up sister Wen Jing yesterday."

"In terms of seniority, you should call Yuan Yan your aunt."

"When I was away from home, I called Sister Wen Jing."

"Also, I'd rather hear someone call him Your Majesty than hear you call him the weird Brother Li."

"That's what I want to call it. By the way, have you heard the Tongguan poem written by Brother Li? The peaks and mountains are like gathering, and the waves are like anger..."

"I've listened to it, and I've listened to it eight hundred times."

Zhao Jin sat down beside the railing angrily, feeling annoyed for no reason.

Turning his head and looking around, as far as the eyes can see, everyone has something to do, even Han Qiaoer has a lot of confidential documents to deal with, but it is processed relatively quickly, so it seems to be idle.

The only thing is that she really has nothing to do, she wants to go out to see the scenery of the Northland, and to see the Tang army regaining the Central Plains. Li Xia marched very slowly. She didn't move after arriving in Tongguan, and she didn't know what she was doing every day. What.

Han Qiaoer didn't have as many troubles as Zhao Jin, she put her hands on the railing, raised her head to blow the wind, and smiled.

"This Northern Expedition, Brother Li promised me that I will not go to the front line, and I will sit in the rear and command the troops from all walks of life, so don't be afraid of danger."

Zhao Jin gave Han Qiaoer a white look, and said, "I'm not afraid of danger, I'm just bored."

"How can it be boring? I think it's very interesting. Every day, new news from various places is sent, and you can see the various developments of the situation, just like playing a big game of chess?"

"What news is there?"

"Ah? I don't know what to tell you." Han Qiaoer's tone weakened, "It's better not to say anything."

Zhao Jin pursed his lips and muttered: "He also said that he tolerated the world, but he clearly cannot tolerate me, Mrs. Zhao."

That being said, in fact, she is quite free in Li Xia's office. Apart from chatting aimlessly with Han Qiaoer, she sometimes goes to see the female officials in Yuan Yan's place to see what they do.

Especially after the Northern Expedition started, the Tang court attached great importance to the public opinion in the north, and Yuan Yan, who was in charge of newspapers, propaganda and other affairs, was very busy, which made Zhao Jin sometimes consider whether to become a female official.

But she didn't know how to become one, and she didn't know about this way, and she was still thinking about whether she could get up early every day.

As for Li Xia's words that she can't tolerate her, the Zhao family, it's just talk. Although Li Xia has a distasteful temperament, she still has a generous bearing, which she still believes.

If you look away from the two sloppy women on the Guancheng, the gate of Tongguan City is actually an extremely busy scene, with messengers from all over the world coming in an endless stream, sending battle reports or official documents from the court.

On this day, however, a group of very embarrassed people came from the west, completely different from other messengers.

The messengers in the west either delivered official documents from the territory, or delivered battle reports from Hetao, and the farthest was the Western Regions. Although they were also full of dust, they were not so miserable.

This party, with their shabby clothes and greasy hair, had evidently come from farther afield.

They rushed to the foot of Tongguan City, and the leader immediately drove forward, shouting at the top of his voice, looking very wild.

"My minister, Liu Yuanzhen, has been an envoy to Tubo for more than a year, and now he has lived up to his mission and returned with merit!"

The sound echoed in the city gate and faintly spread to the tower.

"My minister Liu Yuanzhen...returned with merit!"

On the top of the wall, Zhao Jin couldn't help but cast a glance at Han Qiaoer after hearing this, and said, "Unlike you, you can't say this or that. I wish the whole world could hear about him."

Han Qiaoer was a little embarrassed, and said: "There will never be someone as high-profile as Marshal Liu."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw another cavalry troop running on the official road to the east, blowing their trumpets and shouting as they ran.

"Marshal Zhang Jue of the Eastern Route Army reported victory, Luoyang victory! Luoyang victory!"

~~
In Zhao Jin's eyes, Li Xia didn't know what he was doing when he stopped in Tongguan. He seemed to be very busy, but in fact he was very busy.

Not long after returning from the northwest, the accumulated state affairs finally needed to be dealt with, so he stopped in Tongguan, arranging the Northern Expedition, and reviewing government affairs at the same time.

In fact, neither the military situation nor the state affairs are easy. Let's just say that today, the good news from the east and the west is sent at the same time, and which one to deal with first is also a difficult problem.

In the end, Li Xia met Liu Yuanzhen in person first, and asked several important officials to meet the messenger sent by Zhang Jue.

There were many courtiers accompanying the army this time, and they all laughed and said that they wished that there would be so many good news every day that people would not know which one to deal with first.

After a while, Liu Yuanzhen strode into the Tongguan tower, saluted Li Xia as soon as he saw him, and said excitedly, "My lord, I... I finally came back from that damned place in Tubo!"

Li Xia was taken aback for a moment, then stared, quite surprised.

In his impression, Liu Yuanzhen has always been a proud person.

It was only in line with his past temperament that he heard him boasting of his achievements at the gate of the city from a distance.

Unexpectedly, when the person came in front of him at this time, his tone was completely different from usual.

"Is Liu Qing... crying?"

"His Majesty!"

Liu Yuanzhen raised his head again, tears streaming down his face.

"Chen... Chen's journey, it's been too hard!"

With this cry, he has completely changed his crying style, and he is no longer in high spirits like before.

Li Xia was also surprised, he didn't understand what could make him so arrogant and miserable, so he stepped forward to help him up personally, and said with a smile: "Liu Qing speak slowly."

"Don't be afraid of Your Majesty's jokes. I have come to Tubo, and I am not satisfied with the environment." Liu Yuanzhencai was terrified when he mentioned it, and he patted his heart and said, "I have always been healthy, but this year I have been plagued by various diseases, such as shortness of breath, palpitations, headaches and nausea, and sleeplessness at night." Sleepless, loss of appetite, almost died in Tubo."

Li Xia looked at it, and saw that Liu Yuanzhen had lost more than a circle, his eyes were swollen, and his face was ugly. It was obviously the kind of severe altitude sickness.

"Liu Qing has suffered. I will remember all the credit and hard work you have done for the country."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After this encounter, Liu Yuanzhen felt a lot of awe towards the world and became calmer.

After complaining about his suffering, he talked about Tubo.

"I entered Tibet in May last year and traveled thousands of miles to the land of Sakya. Because the journey was dangerous, I didn't reveal my identity hastily. Instead, I pretended to be a businessman and first contacted Chana Dorje, King of Bailan. But inadvertently I learned that Chana Dorji sent people to go along the Tang and Tibetan roads, preparing to ambush Basiba. At that time, I was still puzzled and couldn't figure out why."

Li Xia smiled slightly and said, "You found out later?"

"It was only later that I realized that His Majesty is so wise that he sent Daoist Hao and Miss Yan to rob the real gold and Ba Siba..."

Mr. Liu Yuanzhen was very accustomed to him, and when he mentioned Yan Yunyun, he still had a frivolous tone, but in fact he admired and was afraid in his heart.

He shook his head, and said again: "I was really shocked when I found out, thinking that they are so good. And I have worked so hard to get to Tubo, so I can't do nothing. So I ambushed Chacha with my confidants. Na Duoji's soldiers and horses. Afterwards, we joined together Daoist Hao and his party, showed the banner of the Tang Dynasty, and joined forces to defeat several tribes that opposed us."

As he said that, Liu Yuanzhen handed over a battle report, which recorded the casualties in the army and the list of opponents who had been beheaded.

When Li Xia saw it, he understood that the situation at that time was very fierce, and it was not as simple as "defeating a few opposing tribes".

"After that, we used Basiba to hold a Qumi Dharma meeting near Natang Temple. More than [-] monks participated. They acted as benefactors in the name of His Majesty and appointed some officials. I thought that my Tang Dynasty Controlling Tubo through the Sakya faction may be the beginning of us bringing this territory into our territory. However, there are still many forces in Tubo who are dissatisfied with the Tang Dynasty, and I hope that your majesty will send a large army into Tibet to suppress it this time."

Speaking of this, Liu Yuanzhen's eyes were already burning, and he didn't look aggrieved just now because he was crying because of the disobedience.

The meritorious deeds of founding a country, expanding the territory, and bringing a huge territory into the territory have been the greatest feat of a man since ancient times.

Li Xia turned to look at the map hanging on the wall, and after a long pause, he remembered and asked, "Do you have a detailed plan?"

"Have."

Liu Yuanzhen couldn't wait, so he took out a map, pointed and talked for a while, and finally said: "If there are [-] elite troops, or [-] officers and soldiers, and the king's division enters Tibet to guard, and to show off our Tang Dynasty's prestige, then Tubo will be stable."

Li Xia rubbed his forehead and said, "No amount of money and food for soldiers and horses is really enough."

Liu Yuanzhen said: "When I was in Tubo, I didn't know that His Majesty had defeated Kublai Khan at Helan Mountain. I thought His Majesty wanted to settle Tubo first, and then plan the Northern Expedition."

In this way, Li Xia's Northern Expedition was indeed a bit hasty, and there were always some things that were not properly considered.

For example, if Liu Yuanzhen failed to stop Chana Dorje in time, let Chana Dorje get rid of Hao Xiuyang and his party, and send troops to support Kublai Khan, the situation might be lost.

The current situation is considered fortunate.

"Alright, it's still good news that the situation in Tubo has been stabilized so that we won't be confronted by enemies during the Northern Expedition."

Li Xia pondered for a while, and decided to stabilize the situation in Tubo with all his might.

The Northern Expedition had only just begun, and it might last for a long time. Kublai Khan still had the possibility of stirring up Tubo and causing chaos in his rear.

And he won't give his opponent that chance.

After Li Xia summoned the officials to discuss, he ordered Gao Changshou to lead [-] troops and prepare to go to Tubo to suppress.

Gao Changshou had already led his troops to leave Chongqing and head north, and was stationed in the Hanzhong area. He was ready to leave Qishan Road to support the battlefield in Ningxia, Gansu or to attack Nanyang by going down the Hanshui River. Now he is moving westward.

In this way, the vast territory in the southwest direction on the map can almost be included in the border map. Sometimes Li Xia felt that it was too much to transfer [-] troops, but when he looked at the map again, he felt it was worth it.

……

After dealing with the Tubo matter, Li Xia turned to the officials and said, "Next, let me tell you the second good news, the great victory in Luoyang."

"Congratulations to Your Majesty!"

"Zhang Jue did not disappoint me. Next, the Eastern Route Army will attack the next important town in Henan, Kaifeng, one of the three capitals, which is also Bianjing, the old capital of the Song Dynasty..."

(End of this chapter)