Water Margin people

Chapter 1501 Plateau War

"Your Majesty, if we don't use cattle and horses, what can we use?"

Zhu Fu asked doubtfully, since ancient times, heavy work has been done by oxen and horses, this would be impossible if it were done by humans.

"Let's do this first. You are responsible for the road leading to the Western Region. This road needs to be repaired!"

Sun Lei looked at Zhu Fu and said that he wanted cars and trains, and even more so airplanes, but now he had nothing and could only rely on oxen and horses for transportation. In this case, it was necessary to repair the roads better.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Fu accepted the order and said that he had already been preparing for the road construction. After the first crop was harvested and the autumn grain was planted, the people would enter the slack season. At that time, it would be easy to hire people to build the road.

Sun Lei briefly inquired about the situation of the officials and found that the situation on Yongxingjun Road and Qinfeng Road was very bad. Because Yongxingjun Road had been at war with Western Xia, the people were very poor.

The Qinfeng Road was even worse. Not only did it suffer from the invasion of Western Xia, but it was also harassed by the Tibetan tribes.

"It is your task to govern the local areas and solve the problems. The situations in each prefecture and county are different. I cannot give you a unified solution. What I want is the results. If you can't do it well, then go home and let those who can do it well take over!"

"Also, I don't have much time to give you. This is the case this year. I will see changes next year and the year after, and will conduct assessments!"

Sun Lei looked at the officials and said, "Don't push everything up to your superiors. Do your job well. Qi State does not want to keep idle people."

All the officials had worried faces. It was not easy to govern a place. If they wanted to see results in one or two years, they would not be able to sleep well for the next two years.

"Don't act pitiful in front of me. You enjoy high positions and generous salaries, shouldn't you do something? Is my salary so easy to take?"

Sun Lei looked at the officials and said that he would not allow his subordinates to just stand there and do nothing.

"Everyone, go out. I will go to Fengxiang Mansion later. Prepare a plan and report it to me in the next few days!"

After Sun Lei finished speaking to the officials, he waved his hand and asked them to leave.

“There are people who want to slack off everywhere!”

Sun Lei shook his head helplessly.

The army had a full meal and rested for a night, then set out at dawn the next day and continued westward.

All this shocked the people of Jingzhao Prefecture. The emperor did not enter the city or even leave the military camp. The soldiers strictly followed the orders and no one dared to run around or disturb the people.

Once you leave Guanzhong, the roads start to become more mountainous and more difficult to travel on.

"How are Wu Jie and Liu Qi?"

Sun Lei looked at Zhu Wu and asked, the two of them had been preparing on Qinfeng Road for a long time, and it was time for some progress.

"They are now in Taozhou, Hezhou, and Jishijun. They have been engaged in frequent battles recently and we have not been able to contact them yet."

Zhu Wu replied that these three states were close to the plateau, and it would become difficult to transmit information once they reached the plateau.

"Send someone to contact them and see how the battle is going."

Sun Lei said that the Hexi Corridor was very important for this westward expedition.

"I will send someone right away!"

Zhu Wu took the order and went out.

Qilian Mountains.

"This Tibetan tribe has expressed its submission!"

An officer reported to Liu Qi and Wu Jie.

"They are fighting one tribe after another, and each tribe has only a hundred or so households, and the most common is a thousand or so. If they keep fighting like this, when will it end?"

Liu Qi said somewhat helplessly that it was only when they reached the plateau that they realized the difficulty of this battle. The plateau was vast and sparsely populated. After the split of Tubo, the tribes were scattered. They fought for more than a month and only conquered four or five tribes. All the time was wasted on looking for people.

"There's no way. Tubo is now in a scattered state. Taking down cities will have no effect at all. Those scattered tribes will still do what they have to do." Wu Jie said. He also knew that it was not good to fight a war like this, but there was no better way now.

"Two generals, let's go to Qingtang City first. Once we take Qingtang City, we can re-establish the Qingtang Protectorate and then centralize the scattered tribes!"

Qi Huai'en looked at Liu Qi and Wu Jie and said.

"Qingtang Protectorate?"

Wu Jie frowned and looked at Qi Huai'en.

"General Wu, when my ancestors submitted to the Song Dynasty, they were appointed as the governor of Hexi and helped the Song Dynasty manage Qingtang Tubo."

Qi Huai'en spoke and said that after this period of time he no longer concealed his purpose, which was to establish a new Qingtang Tubo, but he could lead the Tubo tribes to submit to Qi and become a vassal state.

Qi Huai'en was not afraid of Qi's objections, because the Tibetan tribes had their own firm beliefs and would not submit to Qi's people. The tribes conquered during this period resisted very firmly, and it was only when he, a descendant of Zuo Silu, stepped forward that several tribes surrendered.

This made Qi Huai'en fully aware of his own importance. If Qi wanted to occupy Gaoyuan, it could not do without him, a descendant of Zuosilo.

"Qingtang City? Our current military strength is not enough to attack the city, no matter how small Qingtang City is. I think you still have some prestige on the plateau, why don't you go and gather some tribes to join the battle, and I will give you the first credit for conquering Qingtang City, and I will personally help you get the credit!"

Wu Jie looked at Qi Huai'en and spoke.

"First merit? And you're asking for credit for me? Are you serious?"

Qi Huai'en immediately became interested when he heard this. If he wanted to rebuild Qingtang Tubo, he could not do without the support of Qi. In this case, he must show corresponding strength.

"No jokes in the army!"

Wu Jie said with certainty.

"Okay, I'll contact some of my old colleagues and see how many people I can get in touch with!"

Qi Huai'en immediately left excitedly.

"You're so generous? You don't need to ask for permission?"

Liu Qi looked at Wu Jie and asked.

"What do you want to ask for instructions? We don't have enough people to attack Qingtang City. If Qi Huai'en can recruit some locals to join the battle and let them fight on their own, why not do it? We have an imperial decree to act with discretion!"

"Besides, you have felt it during this period, right? This Qi epidemic still has an impact, especially after the intense battles and huge physical consumption, it is more obvious. But the Tibetans have long been accustomed to it, and it will take at least a few months for us to get used to it!"

Wu Jie said that they only had 5,000 soldiers and many of them were Qi Huai'en's men. Although they now had control of a large army and had the corresponding strength, it was still not enough to deal with such a large battlefield.

"Report, there is a military report!"

A soldier ran up to Wu Jie and Liu Qi.

Liu Qi immediately took the military newspaper and started reading it.

"Your Majesty has arrived at Qinfeng Road!"

Liu Qi looked at Wu Jie and said.

"Your Majesty is here, so soon?"

Wu Jie was also a little surprised. Qi State's actions were too fast. The emperor had already led his troops there before the war actually started.

"Your Majesty asks us about the battle situation!"

Liu Qi handed the military report to Wu Jie and said.

"This……"

Wu Jie was a little hesitant. They had been fighting for more than a month, but the results they could achieve were very small. They couldn't report that five thousand people had fought for more than a month to wipe out five tribes of a hundred people.