The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 221 The Prince Wants the Future
My father and elder brother were both heroes of Hedong, and they were also capable and skilled generals. Unfortunately, they died young on the battlefield.

Therefore, Pei Xingjian, the only son left in the family, lived a good life in Hedong.

Although he had seen many people pointing fingers at him since he was a child, he was still guided by the best teacher in Hedong.

In an instant, the smiling face of the old servant before his death flashed again. At this moment, Pei Xingjian clenched the lance in his hand, roared, and stabbed it into the body of the enemy in front of him.

The opponent was stabbed straight off his horse. At this moment he finally learned how to kill the enemy.

Wang Wendu had abandoned his warhorse long ago. He swung the Da Mo knife in his hand and chopped down a warhorse.

When the enemy fell off his horse, Pei Xingjian stabbed his throat with his horse lance, then pulled out the lance and rushed towards the next enemy.

Wang Wendu jumped up from the ground. He looked at the brave Pei Xingjian and said loudly, "Pei County Magistrate, you are so majestic."

Finally, even more deafening shouts and screams were heard from the rear. Pei Xingjian didn't look back and saw more Western Turkic cavalry coming towards here in the distance.

Zhang Shigui led his troops from Guanzhong past Pei Xingjian and headed towards the enemy.

In the chaos, Xue Rengui rode his horse in front, drew the bow in his hand, and shot the arrow. The Turks in the front fell down before they could engage in a head-on confrontation with the Tang army.

But just knocking down one person cannot stop the opponent's charge.

Zhang Shigui led his army to engage in direct confrontation with the enemy, and at this moment the sound of war horses' hooves came from the side.

The Tiele cavalry of Qibi Heli, who had disappeared since they came out of Tuyuhun, suddenly appeared.

When his Tiele cavalry broke into the flank of the Western Turks, the enemy's charge fell into panic.

Qibi led the Tiele cavalry to launch a fatal attack. This infiltration caused the Western Turks to be defeated.

Pei Xingjian didn't know how many people he had killed. The lance in his hand had long disappeared. He was holding a sword and his body was covered in hot blood.

The Western Turkic cavalry appeared at dawn in the morning, and now the sun is already high in the sky.

Once the Qibi army joined forces, the enemy was doomed to be defeated.

The doubts I had about this army before were now gone.

General Zhang Shigui arranged a special force, but even his own people did not know where the Tiele cavalry had gone.

Kill at the critical moment, with just the right timing.

No more Western Turkic cavalry rushed forward afterwards, and many of them fled in panic.

Seeing that he had successfully blocked Yu Gushe's troops who were about to rush to Gaochang's aid, Zhang Shigui reined in his horse and gave orders loudly.

Two teams of scouts were sent to investigate the Western Turkic cavalry within a ten-mile radius.

Xue Rengui took off his helmet, sat down tiredly, and cleaned the wound on his right shoulder.

Pei Xingjian stepped forward and said, "Brother Xue!"

"It's nothing, just a minor injury."

When he looked back, he saw Wang Wendu whispering to Zhang Shigui.

Pei Xingjian asked, "Does this person also know General Zhang Shigui?"

Xue Rengui took off his bloodstained leather armor, leaned against the corpse of a warhorse, closed his eyes and waited for his strength to recover.

Killing people is a very strenuous task, even if there are 20,000 of your own people against 5,000 enemies.

The Western Region fell into darkness again, and the battlefield was very quiet. Pei Xingjian patiently collected arrows, some usable leather armor, and some knives from the corpses.

Qibi Heli's troops left again, and they seemed to have received military orders separately.

Pei Xingjian took out an arrow from a corpse and saw a tall figure and a dark face under the bright moonlight.

After taking another look, Pei Xingjian quickly saluted and said, "General."

Zhang Shigui asked, "Pei Xingjian?"

"Exactly."

"You are very brave in killing the enemy. I will remember you!"

"Yes." Pei Xingjian responded seriously.

"Xue Rengui is your fellow countryman?"

"Exactly."

After saying this, Zhang Shigui walked towards Xue Rengui with a smile.

At this moment Pei Xingjian stood there in a daze, and then he realized that the general was talking to him in order to chat with Brother Xue.

Come to think of it, Brother Xue is braver than me.

Seeing the arrow put into the quiver, Pei Xingjian sat down next to Wang Wendu again and asked, "Is there any water?"

I used to think Wang Wendu was a bitch, but now I think he is a real man.

Pei Xingjian took the water handed to him and took a sip and said, "Salty?"

Wang Wendu smiled and said, "Brother Pei, someone brought some salt with him. Drink more. It's better to drink something salty at this time."

Pei Xingjian smiled in surprise.

When Brother Xue came back, he learned that General Zhang Shigui wanted to recruit him under his command, and mentioned the whereabouts of Qibi Heli. The Tiele cavalry went to harass Yu Gushe's troops in the rear.

Xue Rengui said, "After we take over the Gaochang Royal City in the rear, we will attack Yugushe in the north. He built the Khan Futu City in the north and called himself Beiting."

Outside the Gaochang Royal City in the rear, at dawn, the Tang army began to attack the city. Li Ke looked at the not-so-tall walls of the Gaochang Royal City and said, "Ke can also attack the city!"

Hou Junji said: "Don't worry, there is a victory report from the north. Zhang Shigui has stopped Yu Gushe's cavalry who came to support."

Seeing Ashina She'er and his men attacking the city wall, Li Ke looked at the people standing on the high platforms nearby. They could clearly see the actions in the royal city, and arrows kept falling into the royal city.

Li Ke tried several times to resist the urge to climb up the city wall and kill everyone.

Gaochang is now an isolated city that cannot get any help, not to mention that the King of Gaochang has lost the support of the people in the Western Regions.

Hou Junji saw more and more people climbing to the top of the city wall, then he slowly nodded.

Li Ke grinned, rode his horse towards the city wall, climbed up the ladder to the top of the city wall, and saw many Tang soldiers fighting. At this moment he drew the sword at his waist, rushed into the crowd and started killing.

It was not until dawn that Gaochang Prince Qu Zhisheng opened the city gate and knelt before the Tang army to surrender.

Hou Junji rode his horse and led his army into the royal city of Gaochang. The city was quiet and the sound of horse hooves seemed very harsh in the city. They went all the way to the royal palace of Gaochang, where the Tang army saw Gaochang King Qu Wentai who had already hanged himself.

Hou Junji then issued an order, ordering Wu Wang Li Ke, Xue Wanjun, and Ashina She'er to each lead 3,000 soldiers and horses to Khan Futu City to capture Yugushe.

Three days later, when King Wu Li Ke, Xue Wanjun, Ashina She'er and General Zhang Shigui joined forces, they captured Khan's Futu City.

The defense here was extremely weak. It turned out that when Yu Gushe learned that his cavalry was blocked on their way to rescue Gaochang, he had already fled westward.

Xue Rengui said in a disappointed tone: "Futu City is nothing more than this."

In just ten days, the Tang army not only captured the Gaochang Royal City, but also captured the Futu City.

In Futu City, Zhang Shigui received another urgent report. After reading it, he looked at the generals in front of him and whispered, "Your Highness the King of Wu, please send the victory report back first. We will stay here and await His Majesty's orders. Don't act rashly these days. Yu Gushe has fled westwards, so don't pursue him for now." In the vast Western Regions, finding Yu Gushe is a thankless task.

When the good news was sent to Chang'an, summer had already arrived in Guanzhong. A few birds were perched on the branches, chirping. The scene in Guanzhong was full of vitality, which made people happy both physically and mentally.

Li Chengqian and his father were fishing by the Xianyang Bridge.

Liu Rengui stood respectfully aside. Now not only the prince came to Xianyang Bridge to fish, but even the current emperor came as well.

Although His Majesty was wearing casual clothes and no troops were mobilized, Liu Rengui still gave advice.

Since His Majesty refused to listen and the Prince refused to leave, he would stand here, waiting for His Majesty and the Prince to leave.

As if His Majesty had a sense of it, he went out fishing today, as if he knew in advance that the King of Wu would deliver the good news today.

When Li Ke was riding his war horse across the Xianyang Bridge, he saw his father and brother who were fishing.

"Father! Brother!"

Li Chengqian said, "Keep your voice down, the fish will be startled again."

Li Ke knelt on one knee and presented the military report with both hands: "Father, Gaochang Royal City and Futu City have been captured."

Li Shimin took the military report and looked at it carefully. There were two copies of the military report, one from Hou Junji and the other from Zhang Shigui.

Seeing that Li Ke had lost some weight and looked darker, Li Chengqian said, "Brother Ke, go back first."

Li Shimin nodded slowly, indicating that he could leave.

"Ke will go back to visit mother now."

After everyone left, Li Shimin said with a smile: "Don't you want to take a look?"

Li Chengqian held the fishing rod in his hand and said, "So, has your Majesty considered my decision?"

Li Shimin asked: "Build Anxi Protectorate, Xizhou, and Tingzhou?"

"Isn't this bad?"

"I'll consider it."

The great victory in the Western Region is certainly good news, and the battle was fought very smoothly.

During this period, Li Chengqian checked the grain transport reports that were often sent to him and summed up his experience again and again. He originally thought that the army had only 50,000 troops, but later after Yanqi and Uighur joined, the total number of manpower from all the tribes was nearly 70,000.

If this battle had not been won quickly, once the battle line was prolonged, who knows how much manpower and food would have been consumed.

Li Chengqian let out a long breath and whispered, "Before, Tubo moved its capital to Luoshui and annexed Yangtong and Subi. Now Tubo has moved eastward and captured the eight tribes of the Qiang people, looting all their livestock. In this battle, Tubo has 200,000 soldiers and horses, so they should not be underestimated."

The powerful enemies of the Tang Dynasty are still there, and Li Chengqian still regards Lu Dongzan as a very formidable opponent.

The Tang Dynasty is now becoming stronger and expanding, and Tubo is also expanding, annexing small countries and tribes on the map one by one. It seems that Tubo's territory is about to approach Songzhou.

The good news from Gaochang did give the court a boost, and Li Shimin was very happy, but his son was always worried about Tubo.

"Forget it." Li Chengqian put away his fishing rod and said, "Father, you can't sit still and fish, so I'll go back first."

Li Chengqian took his fishing rod and got on the carriage back to Chang'an.

After a long time, Li Shimin read the military newspaper and left Xianyang Bridge.

Liu Rengui was left standing alone, bowing.

Back in the East Palace, Li Chengqian ate the cold noodles brought by Ning'er.

Dongyang came with Li Lizhi, carrying a backpack. She whispered, "Brother, I heard that Gaochang won the battle."

"Well, it turns out you all know it."

"Yes." Li Lizhi said, "The soldiers who came back are talking about it everywhere. Now everyone in Chang'an knows that this battle was a great victory."

The two younger sisters also took the cold noodles and sat aside to eat.

Li Chengqian finished the noodles in a few bites and planned to take a nap.

At night, His Majesty and his ministers and generals celebrated their victory in the Xingqing Hall. The Tang Dynasty had won a great victory and conquered the Western Regions.

After this battle, the Tang Dynasty's control over the Western Regions was once again strengthened.

Compared to the bustling Xingqing Hall, Li Chengqian stood in the East Palace bedroom, looking at the map in front of him.

Li Lizhi and Ning'er also looked at the map. On the map, the original Gaochang was replaced by Xizhou, and Khan Futu City was replaced by Tingzhou.

There are five words marked on the edge of Gaochang: Anxi Protectorate.

Building a protectorate was a previous plan, and now this plan can be realized.

"Royal brother, we can now control the trade routes in the southeast of the Western Regions."

"Of course, we can collect more taxes in the future."

The emperor's vision has always been long-term, because the planning of Guanzhong often starts with three years, and the planning for the next few years is carried out step by step.

Therefore, when everything was successful, the orders from the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace became more and more appealing.

The great victory in this battle cannot be overstated without mentioning the food and fodder prepared in advance by the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.

If my brother had not stockpiled 600,000 tons of food and fodder in the Hexi Corridor, it would have taken an unknown amount of time to prepare for this battle.

Dongyang whispered, "I heard that this battle is almost going to exhaust the food and fodder that my brother has prepared in the Hexi Corridor."

Li Lizhi sat down on the steps in front of her brother's bedroom and whispered, "It's all right. My brother has transferred another 50,000 shi of grain and grass to the Hexi Corridor. After the summer harvest this year, we don't have to worry about grain and grass."

Dongyang put away her skirt, sat down on the steps, and said, "I don't know how my brother will recover his capital after Gaochang is taken this time."

Li Lizhi said: "The capital invested in this war is really too much. It will take two or three years to recover the capital."

"Isn't there a lot of gold in Gaochang?"

"Gold is gold. Although it is silver, it is only a part of the return. In the eyes of my brother, the gold is nothing. Gold is only temporary. Only when you master the way of business and trade can you truly master wealth. That will be a continuous flow of money."

Dongyang suddenly smiled and said, "Sister, I remember what my brother said."

Li Lizhi propped her chin with one hand, looked up at the starry sky and said, "I mean that in production relations, the amount of money can never be used to measure productivity. This is a theory that steals the concept."

"No." Dongyang shook his head and said, "My brother said before that if we don't spend the money and grain, will we keep it for storage?"

Li Lizhi nodded and said, "That's right, the money is just used by my brother for construction."

"But my brother wants to build the Anxi Protectorate and Tingzhou, which must not be easy."

"Well, not only that, what my brother wants is the future, a future that will allow him to control the entire southeastern region of the Western Region." Li Lizhi lowered her eyes and whispered, "And this matter also depends on what my father thinks."

The East Palace was very quiet at night. Xiaofu was waiting outside the gate of the East Palace holding a lantern. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Princess Changle, and Princess Dongyang did not go to the banquet. His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin and His Royal Highness the Prince of Ji from the East Palace went to the banquet.

Not knowing when they would return, Xiaofu waited for another half an hour, handed the lantern to the maid beside him, and said, "Wait a minute, I'm going to prepare a midnight snack."

(End of this chapter)