Tang Dynasty: The poisonous scholar in the Eastern Palace, please abdicate and let the wise one take

Chapter 318: The troops have not yet moved, but the spies have gone ahead

Two days later.

Outside the gate of Chang'an City.

Twenty thousand troops were lined up waiting.

A carriage loaded with bags stopped beside Xue Wanche under the astonished gazes of the soldiers, and then Su Chen got off the carriage.

"General Xue."

"Mr. Su, what are you doing?"

Xue Wanche and others were a little confused.

They could understand that Su Chen followed in a carriage. After all, he was not from a military background. The road was bumpy, and riding in a carriage could also reduce fatigue.

It is only natural for him to have guards around him to protect his safety.

but.

You brought so many things with you...

What? Are you going to visit Gaochang Kingdom?
Do you also need to bring some local specialties?

Su Chen smiled and said, "These are some secret weapons I prepared. They may come in handy. I'll bring them along. They won't affect the army's marching speed."

Xue Wanche nodded after pondering, "That's good."

Behind Xue Wanche.

Li Jingheng and others looked at the things Su Chen brought with curiosity, muttering to each other.

"Brother Su went with the army this time, and he even brought a secret weapon with him?"

"What Brother Su? The Crown Prince has personally ordered the appointment of Su Chen as an advisor to the army. We have to call him Mr. Su from now on."

"Whether it's Brother Su or Mr. Su, aren't you curious about what secret weapon is in there?"

"It should be kites and hot air balloons!"

"Brother Cheng, don't you use your brain? You've already used kites and hot air balloons. How can they be secret weapons?"

"Chongyi's words make sense."

"But the Western Regions and Western Turks have never seen it!"

"Hey... Brother Jingheng, you have the closest relationship with Brother Su. Do you know what secret weapon Brother Su brought?"

"I haven't heard him mention it..."

Cough!

Xue Wanche coughed a few times, and Li Jingheng immediately became alert and quickly winked at Cheng Chumo and the others.

At this time, Cheng Chumo and others also understood that this was Xue Wanche reminding them.

Everyone immediately held their heads high and looked straight ahead.

Soon, civil and military officials surrounded the prince and arrived at the city gate.

"See His Highness the Crown Prince."

"No gift."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "General Xue's trip to the Western Regions this time, I'll leave it to you!"

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty!"

Xue Wanche said sternly, "I will go there and make the King of Gaochang submit to me, so that the Western Turkic Yu Gushe will not dare to invade our Tang vassal state again!"

"The general is mighty!"

Li Chengqian praised with a smile, then turned to look at Su Chen, "Return safely."

Su Chen nodded, "Okay."

After a brief greeting, Xue Wanche clasped his fists and said goodbye, then mounted his horse. With an order, the 20,000-strong army slowly left under the gaze of thousands of people.

I hope this trip goes well.

Li Chengqian prayed silently in his heart and followed the officials back to the palace.

……

Yiwulu, located on the Silk Road, is a small country closest to the border of the Tang Dynasty.

Due to its unique geographical location, it has made a lot of money by collecting tariffs from passing caravans.

However, because Yiwulu's terrain is high in the west and low in the east, and slopes from north to south, it is located in a high and cold area and surrounded by mountains, it is not suitable for a large number of people to live in, so the population of Yiwulu is not very large.

There are only 20,000 people in Yiwulu throughout the country, most of whom are engaged in the service industry, which also leads to the small number of military forces in Yiwulu.

There were only a thousand soldiers who could be mobilized across the country, most of whom were old, weak, sick and disabled.

Faced with the two or three thousand troops of Gaochang Kingdom, they were already nervous, not to mention that there was also Yu Gu She who claimed to have hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his command?
The King of Yiwu was so restless that he arranged hundreds of elite cavalry to patrol every day, for he was afraid that one day he would wake up and find Yu Gushe standing at the head of his bed. The thought of it was terrifying.

But what is even more terrifying is that ever since Yuguse announced his intention to take action against Yiwulu, those merchants and travelers no longer take the Yiwulu route!
If merchants don't go through Yiwulu, how can he collect customs duties?

"Stop whoever comes!"

"Who are you?"

"I am Gu Xiao, the Southern Daoist of the Great Tang Dynasty. I have been ordered to protect the caravan heading to Suiye City. These are all people from our Cen Family Chamber of Commerce."

"Why not go to Yanqi or Loulan?"

"You are joking, sir. Everyone knows that the King of Gaochang wants to attack Yanqi. If we go to Yanqi, won't we be asking for trouble?"

Gu Xiao said calmly, "As for Loulan, does your Excellency think that we have too much time and it would be more fun to take a detour?"

After being retorted by Gu Xiao, the other party did not get angry. Instead, he said with a smile: "Now the Western Turkic Khan Yu Gushe intends to attack our Yiwu country, so the investigation is stricter. I hope you can understand."

"What, you guys plan to check our goods?"

Gu Xiao snorted coldly, with an unhappy look on his face, "I call you sir to give you face. Little Yiwu has wavered many times, and now he is frightened by Yu Gushe and can't sleep or eat, so he asked for help from the Tang Dynasty."

"Now that we are here as merchants, you dare to search our goods. You really don't know what you are talking about!"

"..."

Faced with Gu Xiao's sarcasm, a dozen elite cavalrymen from Yiwu Kingdom smiled awkwardly and apologized repeatedly.

"Brother Gu, don't be angry. We are just following orders."

"Since you are from the Tang Dynasty, we will not make things difficult for you. However, Yiwu has been in a state of panic these past two days. I hope Brother Gu can understand this."

"That's right, don't be angry, don't be angry."

"In that case, let's just leave it at that." Gu Xiao waved his hand, and the people behind him put away their swords. Seeing this, more than a dozen elite cavalrymen breathed a sigh of relief.

What they feared was not only the mighty soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, but also the two hundred people in front of them!
These strong and powerful men are said to be guarding the merchant caravan, but looking at their body shapes and the way they draw their swords at the slightest disagreement, they don't look like merchants at all, but more like a group of desperate criminals.

Can they deal with two hundred such ruthless people?

Can't deal with it!

Even if we gather all the military forces in the country, we may not be able to keep them all!

"Did Yu Gushe really lead hundreds of thousands of troops to attack your Yiwu country?"

"That's what they say, but we haven't found any Turkic scouts yet..."

The leading elite cavalry replied readily: "My king ordered us to patrol day and night to prevent surprise attacks by the Turks."

"Sneak attack?"

"Hahaha……"

Some people behind Gu Xiao burst into laughter when they heard this.

The Kingdom of Yiwu is a tiny place with a population of only about 10,000 or 20,000. If Yu Gu wants to attack Yiwu, does he need to launch a surprise attack?

Just sending out one of the troops would be enough to destroy the Yiwu Kingdom several times.

"All right!"

Gu Xiao raised his hand and everyone fell silent.

Gu Xiao said calmly: "When we came here, we heard that the prince had already sent out troops. I think Yu Gushe would not dare to attack Yiwu."

"really?"

"Great!"

"You, go and tell the king this good news."

"..."

Facing the elite cavalry who were excited and arranged for their companions to report the good news, Gu Xiao shook his head.

"Farewell."

"Brother Gu, take care. If you encounter any trouble, just report to me, Gru..."

Gu Xiao led the two hundred people behind him and headed towards the Yiwu Kingdom.

As for what the leading elite cavalry said, it had already been blown away by the whistling north wind and no one could hear it clearly.

After successfully entering Yiwulu, Gu Xiao and others were surrounded by enthusiastic girls and innkeepers.

Ever since Yuguse announced that he would deal with Yiwulu, how many caravans dare to take the Yiwulu route?

Aren’t they afraid that Yu Gushe’s army will come at any time, chop them all down, and steal all their goods?
Now that a group of merchants has finally arrived, how could these girls and innkeepers let them go so easily?

"Whose inn is big enough?"

"I!"

"I……"

"I need an inn that can accommodate two hundred men and store goods! Those who don't have the strength, stay away!"

Faced with the conditions proposed by Gu Xiao, the shop owners who gathered forward retreated in embarrassment.

"I!"

"We can!"

"My lord, my inn can accommodate you all."

"Okay, it's you."

Gu Xiao glanced around, nodded to one of them, and threw a silver ingot over, "Lead the way."

The shop owner took the silver and quickly checked its authenticity before stuffing it into his arms with a flattering smile on his face, "Sir, this way, please!"

Under the arrangement of the inn owner, Gu Xiao and others stayed in the inn.

Gu Xiao's generosity also made the store owner's attitude more enthusiastic. Without them having to ask too much, the store owner thoughtfully prepared food and drinks for them, and even kindly reminded them which brothel in the city had better quality...

Women are indifferent to these ancient jokes. They have them at any time, but not now.

"Now that you've had enough, go back to your room and rest."

After Gu Xiao gave instructions to his men, he shouted to his two companions, "White Wolf, Tu Gou, the two of you follow me."

"it is good."

White Wolf, Butcher Dog, and Gu Xiao followed into the room.

There were food and drinks prepared by the store on the table. Gu Xiao invited Bai Lang and Tu Gou to sit down directly.

"So far, Yu Gushe has not taken any action against Yiwu."

Gu Xiao spoke first, "We can try to release the things that the master gave us through Yiwu."

"White Wolf, you are a Turk, so I'll leave this matter to you, how about that?"

The White Wolf has half Turkic blood and can be roughly distinguished from the Central Plains people by its appearance.

Not only that, the White Wolf is proficient in multiple languages ​​and can easily integrate into various Turkic tribes.

White Wolf nodded, "I still remember some of the Turkic tribes in Yiwu, I wonder if they have migrated."

Gu Xiao said, "Later, take a few guys with you and go out for a walk. It would be best if you can find someone from the tribe."

White Wolf: "Understood."

Gu Xiao turned his gaze to Tu Gou, "Boss Jin should have gone to Yanqi. Take the carrier pigeon out and see if you can get in touch with him."

Dog butcher: “No problem.”

"Okay, let's eat first, and then we'll go our separate ways."

"Yes."

Half an hour later.

White Wolf and Butcher Dog, each with a few people, left the inn.

One direction is south, the other direction is north.

(End of this chapter)