The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 438 Return to the Western Regions
The wind and sand continued until night, when the clear starry sky appeared again above the Western Regions, and peace finally returned to the world.

The next day, just as the sky in the Western Regions was getting bright, the door of the Anxi Protectorate was pushed open. Immediately, sand poured in through the threshold, and the White Party began to clean the sand on the ground.

Before becoming the chief clerk of Chongwenguan, Bai Fang took several examinations, answered policy essays, compiled classics, and considered future construction in the Western Regions.

After several examinations, when his policy papers were sent to Chang'an, he was allowed to become the chief clerk of the Chongwenguan in the Western Regions.

When Bai Fang finished clearing the sand in front of the Protectorate, the doors of the earthen houses in Xizhou City were opened one after another, and more and more people began to clean up the sand that was blown into the city.

Pei Xingjian strode out of the Protectorate, looked at the clean ground, and said, "The sand blown in this year is finer than in previous years."

Bai Fang cleared the sand and had someone transport it away, explaining, "This is probably sand blown from the direction of Kucha. The sand there is very fine."

Pei Xingjian wondered, "The wind direction this year is very strange. How come the sand was blown to Xizhou across the Tianshan Mountains?"

Bai Fang brushed off the dust on his clothes and replied, "Sandstorms like this are rare, and it's even rarer to see a Arab captured in the Anxi Protectorate."

As he spoke, Bai Fang handed over a document and said, "Pei Yan has captured a Arab."

Pei Xingjian sat at the gate of the Protectorate, took the document and looked at it with a frown.

Pei Yan captured the Arabs in the cotton fields of the Ili River. Three Arabs stole a cart of cotton and injured several herdsmen from the Western Regions.

After chasing for two days and two nights, they finally caught the man.

"Hasn't all the cotton in the Ili River been picked?"

"There are still some scraps of cotton left, but not a lot." Bai Fang took out two bowls of noodles from the pot and handed over one.

Pei Xingjian tied the hem of his clothes to his belt, took the bowl and chopsticks, sat at the door of the Protectorate and started eating.

As daybreak approached, the entire Xizhou City slowly came back to life.

Every morning, Protector Pei would sit at the city gate, eat noodles and watch the residents of Xizhou City to see what they were doing every day.

While they were eating, a group of monks from the Western Regions walked into the city. They were not wearing monk robes, but came to the gate of the Protectorate and bowed respectfully, saying, "Protector Pei."

Pei Xingjian was still eating noodles and nodded slightly.

"We are here to return to secular life."

Bai Fang was holding the bowl and putting noodles into his mouth. He was eating so quickly that the bowl was almost hitting his face.

Pei Xingjian still had no reaction. He waved his chopsticks slightly, signaling the monks to go aside.

The monks stood aside tactfully.

Bai Fang finally finished his noodles and said, "I will take these monks to return to secular life."

Pei Xingjian nodded and continued eating slowly.

Now there are more and more monks returning to secular life in the Western Regions. I can’t remember which batch this is. All monks who return to secular life can get a cotton field by the Ili River. This is the rule of the Anxi Protectorate.

Di Renjie came running over in a blue, slightly dirty round-necked robe, and said, "Protector Pei, General Cheng Yaojin is here."

Pei Xingjian then put down the bowl and chopsticks at the door, clapped his hands on his knees, looked more energetic, put down the hem of his belt, put on his official hat, and followed him towards the city gate.

Xizhou City is not very big, but fortunately it is very prosperous, with constant business travelers coming and going, making this not-so-large Xizhou City very wealthy.

As soon as he reached the city gate, Pei Xingjian heard shouting outside the gate.

When I walked out of the city, I saw a group of Tang soldiers, which looked to be several hundred people.

Cheng Yaojin sat on the horse and said loudly: "You are Pei boy."

"I am Pei Xingjian from the Anxi Protectorate, and I am honored to meet you, General."

"Hahaha!" Cheng Yaojin jumped off his horse and laughed. He brushed off the dust on his clothes and said, "What a good Pei boy. He stayed in the Western Regions without making a sound and guarded for six years."

Pei Xingjian bowed and said, "I have a duty to perform and I dare not slack off."

Cheng Yaojin slapped the young protector on the shoulder and said, "Zhang Shigui's army is right behind us. When I get to Xizhou City, he should be in the Hexi Corridor."

Pei Xingjian lowered his head and maintained a saluting posture, frowning and thinking. It seemed that there would really be a war in the Western Regions.

Di Renjie hurriedly said, "Boy, join the Anxi Army, Di Renjie."

Cheng Yaojin looked left and right, and asked again: "Where is that person?"

Pei Xingjian asked in confusion: "Who?"

Cheng Yaojin stroked his beard and said, "My son!"

"The Flying Tigers are patrolling outside now, not in Xizhou City. They are the guards of Prince Jin and Prince Ji, and are not under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate."

Cheng Yaojin looked at the Xizhou City and said, "What's the use of this Flying Tiger Team?" "They were the Right General of the Eastern Palace back then and they were also the imperial guards directly commanded by His Majesty now. Even he, the general, had no right to command them."

Another person hurried out of the city gate and saluted, saying, "I am Lou Shide, the Imperial Censor of the Anxi Protectorate. I am honored to meet you, General!"

The other party had a loud voice, but Cheng Yaojin ignored him and strode into Xizhou City.

Inside the Protectorate, Pei Yan had sorted out all the files and lists and placed them on the table, waiting for the general to look through them.

Zhang Jianzhi asked, "Pei Yan?"

"Ah."

"Is there really going to be a war in the Western Regions?"

Pei Yan stood by the door with his hands down, "I don't know. Everything will be arranged by the court."

Zhang Jianzhi also stood aside and whispered, "If it wasn't for war, why would the court send a general to the Western Regions?"

Pei Yan still didn't speak.

Pei Yan has become less and less talkative since coming to the Western Regions.

It was not until Cheng Yaojin strode into the Protectorate that he began to let Pei Xingjian and Di Renjie talk about the current situation in the Western Regions.

The conversation mentioned the Pamir people who constantly came to the Ili River to harass farmers.

Di Renjie took out a scroll and handed it over, saying, "General, I have calculated that during the cotton harvest season, we need 3,000 soldiers to garrison west of the Ili River. If we can sweep the Pamir Mountains, we only need 50,000. This battle is worth fighting."

"is it?"

Cheng Yaojin was well aware of the current atmosphere in the court. Human touch had faded a lot, and there were more calculations than before.

What was written in Di Renjie's document was the cost.

Cheng Yaojin couldn't understand so many arguments. He only read the long and eloquent article for a moment, then said with a painful look: "You kid are..."

"Your humble servant Di Renjie."

"Di Renjie?" Cheng Yaojin thought about it and remembered, "You are the son of Di Zhixun, the Minister of Justice, and you are from Xu Jingzong's faction."

"This..." Di Renjie smiled awkwardly and said, "I wonder how Minister Xu is doing these days?"

"He's pretty good. He often fights with people in the Taiji Hall. Someone has fought with him before. He's a mean person."

Di Renjie was speechless again.

Cheng Yaojin simply put away the document and said, "You follow me to Tianshan to build war preparations."

Di Renjie's expression froze and he said, "Yes." Looking at the young men in front of him, everyone in the Anxi Protectorate was very young, all young generations, and there were not many familiar faces.

Cheng Yaojin sat at the head of the table, shaking his legs as he asked, "Where is that bastard Liang Jianfang?"

Pei Xingjian said: "General Liang Jianfang has been guarding Tingzhou now."

Hearing this, looking at the map beside him, Cheng Yaojin saw Tingzhou, which was just north of Xizhou City. The two places echoed each other, which was a good means of defense.

The former Xizhou City was the capital of the Gaochang Kingdom. After General Hou Junji conquered Gaochang, he looted the place.

This city was completely destroyed when the King of Gaochang was defeated.

The current prosperity of Xizhou City is the result of several years of operation.

Cheng Yaojin looked at the group of young men in front of him again. They were not of the same age and could not say anything, so he ordered: "Everyone go out. I will rest for three days. After the troops have rested, we will head to the hinterland of Tianshan Mountain."

Pei Xingjian said: "I will prepare food and grass for the general."

Cheng Yaojin nodded, "Yes."

Everyone understood and left the Protectorate, allowing the general to have a good rest.

The Western Regions is a vast area with no visible end. If you go far enough, it is common to see no human habitation for dozens of miles.

If you get lost outside, if you can find a karez, you can find your home.

Most of the herdsmen in the Western Regions live near the karez.

During the two days that Cheng Yaojin arrived in Xizhou City, troops arrived one after another, some from the Hexi Corridor and some from Songzhou.

As the Protector General, Pei Xingjian has been reading memorials sent in from all over the country these days. Even hundreds of Tibetan soldiers have arrived in the Western Regions.

After seeing the Tibetan arrangements in the documents sent from the Tibetan Protectorate, the Tibetan minister Ru Laijie went to India again.

The military report did not say much, but Pei Xingjian felt that something must have happened in Tianzhu, which led Ru Laijie to lead 5,000 Tibetan soldiers to Tianzhu again.

Pei Xingjian put his feet on the table, lay down with his eyes closed, and thought about the current situation.

The door was opened again, and the old wooden door creaked.

He usually stayed alone in the storehouse of the Protectorate, and even Bai Fang would not disturb him because he had been beaten several times.

And now, the one who came to disturb was not Bai Fang, but General Cheng Yaojin.

"You people in the Western Regions all drink milk tea?"

The general's voice was always loud. Pei Xingjian took his feet off the table and asked, "Is it not to the general's taste?"

Cheng Yaojin put a bowl of milk tea on the table and said, "This kind of milk tea is too greasy."

"More tea leaves?"

"Not so good!"

Pei Xingjian sat up straight, looking at the milk tea still swaying in the bowl, and said, "This is the milk sent from Tianshan. If the general is not used to it, I have some tea leaves here."

After saying that, Pei Xingjian took out a small bag of tea from under the table and handed it over. Seeing the other party's big hand go straight away, he felt uncomfortable. Tea from the Western Regions is very expensive, and he only kept a small amount. This great general didn't know the current situation in the Western Regions.

"If the general wants to drink, there is still a lot of grape wine in the Western Regions. If it doesn't suit your taste, there are still wines shipped from Guanzhong. There are wines from Shuzhong and Xinfeng wine from Guanzhong, but they are too expensive..."

This place is not like Guanzhong. There are abundant fruits and vegetables, mutton and milk in the Western Regions, so much dried meat that you can't finish eating it, and pepper is also cheaper.

But the prices of tea and wine in the Western Regions are several times higher than those in Guanzhong.

Cheng Yaojin looked at the young man Pei in front of him, took out a silver bar from his arms and handed it to him, saying: "I won't take it from you for nothing."

Pei Xingjian did not refuse, but said: "General, you are too polite."

Cheng Yaojin was a general who kept his word. He said he would only stay here for three days, so he only rested for three days and then led his troops to the hinterland of Tianshan Mountains.

As soon as the general left, another troop arrived from the rear. The leader of this troop was none other than Xue Rengui.

Pei Xingjian looked at the Tang army that had come from afar and said with a smile, "Brother Xue!"

When he got close, Xue Rengui dismounted and said, "Keep your promise!"

"I can't even remember the last time I saw Brother Xue."

The present Xue Rengui is no longer the same person as before. He is now the General of the Right Army in Chang'an, and this time he is the deputy general of General Zhang Shigui.

As this group of Tang troops entered Xizhou City, even the residents of the Western Regions felt that a war was about to break out.

In a tavern in Xizhou City, Pei Xingjian was eating a piece of roast beef.

Xue Rengui was rubbing pepper and salt on the meat and asked in confusion: "Is there a lot of salt in the Western Regions?"

Pei Xingjian explained: "Most of this salt was sent from Qinghai. There is very little salt sent from the Pamirs to the Western Regions. There are still many salt mines in the Daban area. After the people from Sinong Temple discovered it, they fenced it off. I heard there is still a lot of good stone."

"I just came to the Western Regions in a hurry and didn't take a good look. I didn't expect that he is so rich now."

"It's not easy to run the Western Regions. If Guo Luotuo hadn't built so many karez here, the Western Regions wouldn't have become prosperous."

After that, Pei Xingjian asked again: "I heard that the Persian prince has arrived in Chang'an?"

Xue Rengui nodded.

"Does the court really want to help the Persian prince restore his country?"

Xue Rengui shook his head and said, "Your Majesty and the court did not say that they would help the Persian prince to restore his country. They just said that it was to defend against the Pamir Mountains."

Pei Xingjian nodded.

It would be a lie to say that I'm not worried. I'm afraid the war will break out this year, and the troops of the Anxi Protectorate have been patient for a long time.

When General Cheng Yaojin arrived in the heart of the Tianshan Mountains, he built a war preparedness zone on the banks of the Ili River.

At this moment, the border between Conglin and Tianshan is west of the Ili River and beside Lake Issyk-Kul.

Cheng Chumo looked at the bodies on the ground with red eyes, his eyebrows twitching, and said: "I will kill them all!"

The bodies of these women from the Western Regions were dumped here. These women had been abducted by the Sogdians before. The Flying Tigers searched for five days but only found their bodies here.

Li Zhi covered the bodies with a piece of cloth and whispered, "Brother Chu Mo, we can't just let this go."

Even Li Shen, who was usually very calm, was furious at this moment.

Li Jingheng tested the temperature of the charcoal in the bonfire and said in a deep voice, "They haven't gone far."

Everyone jumped on their horses again and shouted, "Chase!"

Lake Issyk-Kul is very beautiful, like a blue gem in the Western Regions, with snow-capped mountains in the distance reflected in the lake.

In the night, the bright moonlight illuminated the lake. When Princess Wencheng came to the lake, she frowned and looked at the corpse on the ground.

……

Note: There are not many historical records. From the supporting evidence, the original Princess Wencheng was the daughter of Li Daozon, Prince of Jiangxia. Here she was changed to County Princess. County Princess Wencheng was a title.

(End of this chapter)