People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1598: Praising Military Achievements and Relaxing Vigilance

To the north of Ankang capital, in the endless military tents.

The military flags are fluttering, and the murderous aura is fierce.

After the battle, all the troops returned.

Although the war was won, there was not much celebration.

In the central military tent, Xue Shao stood in front of the table and read the imperial edict with a solemn expression.

When the new emperor ascended the throne, all the generals received rewards.

Even the soldiers received many rewards.

After the imperial edict was announced, everyone bowed and shouted, "Your Majesty, long live your Majesty."

"Everyone, please stand up!" Xue Shao nodded, placed the imperial edict on the table, and stepped aside.

Li Xuan walked up to the hall, looked at the generals solemnly and said, "Everyone, something has happened in the court, the new emperor has ascended the throne, His Majesty and the Queen Mother have summoned me to the capital to discuss matters, and I also need to go back to the capital to collect food, fodder, weapons and rewards. If everything remains the same, I will return to the Western Regions in April next year."

"Yes!" All the generals bowed their hands together. Although they looked solemn, they felt weak.

Li Xuan knew clearly in his heart that after the war, when he and the generals explained in detail the changes in the court, everyone couldn't help but worry.

The one in charge of the court now is Empress Wu.

The emperor was just a puppet.

Li Xuan was a close confidant of Emperor Zhongzong, and it is hard to say how much trust he could have in Empress Wu.

It is even a question whether he can come back next year.

Not only that, everyone couldn't help but think of what happened to Pei Xingjian back then.

After Pei Xingjian put down the Turkic rebellion, he ended up being transferred from the Minister of War to the Chief Clerk of the Yangzhou Grand Marshal's Office.

Even many of Pei Xingjian's former subordinates were not able to receive rewards, and now they are all afraid that the same thing will happen again.

Li Xuan did not stop this public opinion, and even deliberately let Fan Yunxian know. He even saw with his own eyes the secret guards rushing to Anxi from the Western Regions. The secret guards' secret reports would be sent to Chang'an faster than Li Xuan's great victory reports.

Li Xuan looked at everyone and continued, "After I return, the Right Guard General Yan Tao will guard the Zhaolie tribe of the Western Turkic region. If they had not surrendered at the critical moment, our army would not have won so easily."

The Zhaolie tribe of the Western Turks was not one of the ten tribes of the Western Turks.

In fact, the Western Turks did not have only ten tribes, but these ten tribes were all large tribes with blood ties with the Ashina clan.

When Li Xuan led his army to Talas, the left and right guards had suffered heavy casualties in the siege. Li Xuan immediately led the exhausted army to attack the city without hesitation.

The military force was not very strong, but it was enough to scare the Western Turks.

At night, the Zhaolie clan came directly to the door.

To be more practical, their tribe is a medium-sized tribe that has grown over the past decade by gradually absorbing other tribes.

There are only 5,000 soldiers in the tribe, but they actively communicate on the Silk Road and have made great achievements in trade with the Tang Dynasty over the years.

Over the years, as the tribe grew stronger, they began to gradually move closer to the Western Turkic tribes. However, due to the fierce struggle within the Western Turkic tribes, they gradually moved to the western edge of the Tianshan Mountains.

Far from the Western Turkic core, but very close to the Caspian Sea.

It even controlled the key areas on the way to the Western Turks from the Arabs.

This is also the reason why Li Xuan chose to accept them and give them strong support.

After the first battle, the last two tribes all surrendered at the last minute.

Of the 5,000 Arab cavalry, 1,000 of them retreated early, thus avoiding the final fate of being annihilated.

But after the First World War, they quickly withdrew to Persia.

……

Li Xuan turned to Qiu Zhenmu and said, "In this battle, the Right Guard suffered the heaviest losses. Brother Qiu, please select meritorious officials from the army, as well as a thousand injured and completed soldiers in the army, and return to Chang'an with me."

"Yes!" Qiu Zhenmu's originally gloomy expression suddenly eased a lot.

When Fan Yunxian, who was standing at the back, saw this scene, a hint of worry inexplicably flashed in her eyes.

Li Xuan turned to look at Tang Zhenxing and said, "The Left Guard is stationed in Talas City and communicates with Suiye City. If there is a shortage of food, fodder and weapons, they will be transported by the four towns of Anxi."

"Yes!" Tang Zhenxing bowed and accepted the order.

Li Xuan looked at Shi Liang and said, "Duke Xue leads the left and right guards and is stationed in Ankang. All the northern and southern armies will follow Duke Xue's orders."

"Here!" All the generals raised their hands.

Shi Liang, Duke of Xue, General of the Left Guard, had 7,000 Turkic cavalry under his command.

"I will obey your orders." Shi Li nodded seriously.

Li Xuan turned to look at Lun Gongren and said, "The Zuo Wuwei is stationed in Ningyuan City, responsible for transporting food and grass, and suppressing all matters in the rear."

"Yes!" Lun Gongren accepted the order.

Li Xuan looked at Li Duozuo and said, "The Right Army Guard will guard all the checkpoints from Ningyuan to Shule and suppress the Silk Road."

"Yes!" Li Duozuo bowed solemnly.

Li Xuan finally looked at Zhang Da'an and said, "Mr. Zhang, lead the Right Guard to send the cattle, sheep and horses captured on the battlefield back to Fanzhou. The logistics of the Western Regions will still need the support of Fanzhou next year. We cannot let Fanzhou suffer too much loss."

"Yes!" Zhang Da'an bowed sincerely.

Li Xuan looked up at Chen Ziang and said, "General Chen is responsible for reviewing the amount of military merit pensions for the various armies. At the same time, he will select a batch of good items from the battlefield spoils. I will bring them back to Chang'an to present to His Majesty and the Queen Mother."

"Yes!" Chen Zi'ang bowed solemnly.

"Finally, there is the matter of the chieftains and princesses of the Geshu Queshijin and Asijini Sushijin tribes going to Chang'an to pay homage to the emperor. It is possible that their princesses will stay in Chang'an. Please do not oppress these two tribes too much." As soon as Li Xuan finished speaking, the generals could not help but laugh.

"Marshal!" As soon as the laughter died down, Tang Zhenxing stood up and bowed: "Now that the war has stopped, many soldiers in the army have not returned to Chang'an for a long time, and many have completed their service, not only the Youwei family, but many disabled soldiers can no longer serve in the army. Please return to the court." After saying this, Tang Zhenxing knelt down directly.

Immediately afterwards, Shi Liang, Lun Gongren, Li Duozuo, Zhang Da'an and others all knelt down.

Li Xuan glanced sideways at Xue Shao and Zhao Gong. The two of them pursed their lips tightly. Whoever refused at this time would directly offend the arrogant and powerful generals of Luoshedao.

Fan Yunxian lowered his head slightly. He hoped that Li Xuan could refuse so many people and go back to the court with him.

Otherwise, with thousands of troops returning to Chang'an, the pressure on the court would increase greatly.

Li Xuan suddenly smiled bitterly and said, "Originally, I shouldn't have agreed. After all, there are rules in the court. But now it may be the last time for me to lead the army. Making some mistakes may be a good thing... So each department should go back and prepare the list."

"Thank you, Marshal!" All the generals bowed in unison, their faces solemn.

With the change of the throne in the court, Li Xuan became more suspected by the court. In this situation, he was already being watched with suspicion, and now he took the initiative to make mistakes and gave the enemy a handle. Although he would most likely be relieved of all military posts, it might not be worth it in exchange for the final peace.

Li Xuan turned to look at Chen Ziang and said, "Tell the Zhaolie tribe, Geshu Queshijin tribe, and Asijie Nishushijin tribe to each prepare 500 cavalrymen and follow me to Chang'an. Tell them to try to choose young and knowledgeable sons of their own tribe. Who knows, they may serve in the Tang Dynasty in the future."

"Yes!" Chen Ziang immediately bowed and accepted the order.

Li Xuan turned to look at Xue Shao and Zhao Gong and said, "This is the method that the king, the queen, and the late emperor have discussed to stabilize the Western Turks. Let the children of the Western Turkic nobles study in Chang'an and Luoyang. This will greatly reduce their cohesion in the Western Turks. This will be beneficial to our rule... By the way, we can also let them serve as captives and offer them to the Imperial Ancestral Temple."

"Haha!" The generals couldn't help but laugh.

Xue Shao and Zhao Gong turned around and looked at Fan Yunxian. Fan Yunxian thought about it, nodded and said, "That's right."

Fan Yunxian was the Eunuch Supervisor after Wang Fulai. He was involved in many things when he was the Junior Eunuch Supervisor.

However, he just ignored many things. Only this time when he came to the Western Regions, he carefully read through many of the information Li Xuan had stored in the palace.

"A lot. So let's do this. Three days later, I will set off and return to Chang'an to report to Your Majesty and the Queen Mother." Li Xuan stood up directly.

"Here!" All the generals raised their hands at the same time.

……

The morning light covered the ground and the frost melted slightly.

More than 5,000 cavalrymen lined up one after another and slowly headed towards Shule.

After passing Shule, you can go east to Qiuci and directly to Anxi Protectorate.

"The victory report has been sent to Chang'an. I hope it will make His Majesty and the Queen Mother happier." Li Xuan was standing in the center of the team and looked sideways at Xue Shao and Zhao Gong.

"Of course." Xue Shao said with a smile.

He spent longer time in Chang'an and Luoyang than Zhao Gong. He was even present when Li Xian died and when Su Liangsi angrily confronted him in court. Amid the chaos in the court, a great victory was the best way to calm people's hearts.

Li Xuan smiled and said, "I'm back. After returning to the court this time, I can finally take a few years off."

"Uncle Wang, you are joking. The court still has great use for you." Xue Shao quickly denied it.

Although they have left the main army, they are still among thousands of cavalrymen. If Li Xuan really has any other thoughts, none of them will survive.

Xue Shao is not blind.

Li Xuan brought so many people back to Chang'an, including meritorious generals, wounded soldiers, soldiers who had completed their service, and even the chieftain and princess of Western Turkic, just to show his military achievements to Chang'an.

To prevent him from being killed as soon as he returned to Chang'an.

Especially the princess who married into the Western Turkic Khanate, who was, in the final analysis, bribing the emperor.

Although Li Dan had no say in the court, the Queen Mother still needed to consider his ideas when doing things.

Lest he become the second Emperor Zhongzong.

Xue Shao couldn't help but look at Fan Yunxian. He knew that in the past few days, secret guard cavalry had occasionally returned to Chang'an along the four towns of Anxi, bringing back the news that Li Xuan had set off from the Western Regions.

Although Li Xuan's return to Chang'an made a lot of noise, he returned to Chang'an after all.

He was also willing to accept the position of Imperial College Chief Academician.

No matter what happens, as long as Li Xuan can enter Chang'an City alive, their mission will be accomplished.

Li Xuan took in everyone's gazes. Finally, he suddenly sighed, looked towards Chang'an, and said softly, "If Xuan remembers correctly, in a few days, Emperor Zhongzong will be buried in Gongling. It's a pity that I can't go back to see Sanlang off for the last time."

Zhao Gong suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Xuan in disbelief.

He could clearly hear the gnashing of teeth in Li Xuan's mouth when he said the last few words.

He was not reconciled.

How could he be willing to do so?

Zhao Gong knows Li Xuan too well.

Since he entered the officialdom, Li Xuan has been fighting for his life and has come to where he is today step by step.

Although they had the trust of the late emperor and Emperor Zhongzong, in the final analysis, they trusted Li Xuan.

But even so, Li Xuan did a lot of things in corners that they couldn't see.

Zhao Gong himself knew a lot about these things.

Even over the years, Zhao Gong has helped Li Xuan erase many traces.

But this time when he came to the Western Regions, he had never seen this hidden power.

Are these 5,000 cavalrymen really just meritorious officers, injured or soldiers who have completed their service?
Are those Western Turkic chiefs and princesses, and the Turkish cavalry who escorted them, really Turks?

"Hurry up and get to the four towns of Anxi as soon as possible. We still have a lot of things to tell the right prime minister." Li Xuan suddenly smiled and said, "I don't know what Chang'an is like now?"

After saying this, Li Xuan immediately sped up his horse, and the speed of the entire team also increased.

Zhao Gong turned sideways and looked at Fan Yunxian. When Li Xuan mentioned the current situation in the court, Fan Yunxian's expression changed slightly.

(End of this chapter)