The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 448 Gathering in Xizhou
Li Fengjie asked: "Are you Bai Fang?"

Bai Fang, a man with brown hair and blue eyes, saluted and said, "General Li! I am Bai Fang, the chief clerk of Chongwen Hall."

Li Fengjie took out a scroll of documents and said, "The court has read the military report. You were very brave in the battle of Congling. The Tang Dynasty will not treat you badly. Take a look. This is the order of His Majesty."

Bai Fang stood there in a daze, his head suddenly buzzing.

He turned around to look at Pei Xingjian and saw that Pei Xingjian was laughing loudly, as if he had expected it.

At this moment, Bai Fang could not hear anything and stood there in a daze. Even after Li Fengjie finished reciting the imperial edict, his mind was still blank.

It took a while before I could hear the sound clearly.

Li Fengjie patted him on the shoulder and said, "Bai Fang, the chief clerk of the Chongwenguan in the Western Regions, is now the general of the Anxi garrison and serves under me. Before that, you must go to Chang'an to meet His Majesty. Once you are on the list of the Ministry of War, you can come to the Western Regions to serve."

Bai Fang took the document with trembling hands, looked down at the open document, and was speechless for a long time.

In the back, Qibi Heli mounted his horse and was about to go home.

Pei Xingjian also jumped on his horse, caught up with the warhorse and chased after him, saying, "Lord Liang!"

Qibi Heli pulled the reins, looked back and asked, "What's the matter?"

Pei Xingjian rode his horse closer and clasped his fists, saying, "Thank you, Lord Liang, for recommending Bai Fang."

Qibi Heli stroked his beard and said, "I don't want him as my adopted son, but can't I ensure that the generals in the Western Regions have successors?"

"I'll keep my promise as a friend and thank Lord Liang!" Pei Xingjian said loudly.

"Hahaha!" Qibi Heli laughed and rode away from Xizhou City.

Di Renjie rode up to catch up and said, "In fact, after the battle of Talas, Lord Liang saw Bai Fang's bravery, so he wrote a memorial and sent it to Chang'an by express horse."

Pei Xingjian was surprised and said, "It turns out that it was arranged two months ago."

Inside Xizhou City, Bai Fang was holding the document in his arms, he was crying uncontrollably. Although he could not achieve the same achievements as Qibi Heli, he finally had a chance to realize his dream.

He was going to Chang'an to meet the Heavenly Khan and become the garrison general of the Western Regions. From then on, he became a general of the Tang Dynasty.

Bai Fang knelt on the ground, holding the document in his arms, and bowed towards the direction of Chang'an City.

The Tang army in the rear also returned to Xizhou City. The emotion of reunion made many people in the city shed tears.

Pei Xingjian came to the tavern where he often ate. As soon as he sat down, he saw a man.

This man now has a goatee and wears a black round-necked robe, with his younger brothers and sisters following behind him.

"Brother Mingli!" Pei Xingjian shouted.

Xue Rengui, who had just arrived with his horse, looked around in surprise, and finally fixed his eyes on a man. He said, "Be polite!"

Pei Mingli said: "Hello General Pei, hello General Xue."

"Hahaha!" Xue Rengui untied his horse, threw away the reins, ran forward quickly, grabbed the other man's shoulder and said, "Show your courtesy!"

Pei Mingli looked mature and bowed, saying, "Greetings, generals."

Pei Xingjian said, "Brother Mingli, there is no need to be polite."

The younger sister at the side said, "Since Brother Shouyue went to fight in Congling, Big Brother has come to Xizhou. I will wait for Brother Shouyue here tomorrow."

Pei Mingli said: "It's good that you came back safely."

Pei Mingli had ambitions in the past, but he is still a businessman. He continued to develop the Hexi Corridor and the Western Regions in the court, and he became a well-known wealthy businessman. Now everything he has is his, and he is glad that he did not become a disciple of Master Du He.

Looking at the two brothers who grew up together, Pei Mingli felt that he could no longer catch up with these two brothers.

Once Shouyue and Rengui return to Chang'an, they will become the new leaders of the army.

Pei Mingli wiped his tears and said, "It's rare for the three of us brothers to get together again. I will personally prepare meals for you."

During these years, Pei Xingjian has been guarding Xizhou for seven years. Xue Rengui participated in the Eastern Expedition and the Western Expedition to the Pamirs. Shouyue and Rengui, the brothers who grew up together in Hedong, have long become generals who can stand on their own in the court.

Xue Rengui saw Bai Fang crying and asked, "What's wrong with this guy?"

Pei Xingjian chewed a date and said, "Don't worry about him."

"Why are you crying like this?"

"happy."

Hearing this, Xue Rengui nodded slightly.

In the Protectorate Mansion of Xizhou City, Li Fengjie was sitting in front of two old generals, Cheng Yaojin and Zhang Shigui. He handed over a document and said, "Old general, this is the decree of the court, appointing General Cheng as the General of Assisting the Nation."

Cheng Yaojin asked, "Am I still inferior to Li Ji?"

Li Fengjie cleared his throat and said, "I don't know either. How about you go ask the court yourself?"

"Hmph!" Cheng Yaojin took the document and snorted coldly.

Li Fengjie advised again: "Uncle, this is not the official decree of His Majesty. It is a draft of His Majesty in the court. The specific decree can only be known after returning to the court."

Seeing that the general still had a stern face, Li Fengjie had no choice but to turn around and said to General Zhang Shigui: "Uncle Zhang, this is the imperial decree drafted by the court."

Zhang Shigui drank his tea and ignored him.

Li Fengjie said in a gentle voice: "General, please take a look. His Majesty said that if you have any objections, you can raise them first, and His Majesty can make the final decision."

Zhang Shigui was still drinking tea.

Li Fengjie added: "Your Majesty said it himself. Our Majesty always keeps his word."

Zhang Shigui picked up the tea bowl, but instead of drinking it immediately, he pursed his lips, exhaled through his nose, and said, "I will retire when I return."

"Ah..." Li Fengjie stepped forward and advised: "Uncle Zhang, take a look."

Zhang Shigui still shook his head.

"Uncle Zhang, His Majesty has conferred upon you the title of Grand Secretary of the State and granted you the title of Duke of Xinye County."

Zhang Shigui understood and said, "Even so, I will retire."

Li Fengjie sat down and drank his tea in distress. He had said everything he needed to say. The older these old generals in the army got, the weirder their tempers became, and they were becoming more and more difficult to deal with.

Let the ministers in the court worry about it. Li Fengjie has said everything he should say.

Liang Jianfang and Xue Rengui ordered people to settle the people brought from Pamirs in the Western Regions and let them work.

When these people first arrived in the Western Regions, they were not quite used to it, but they had no choice. The Western Regions were in desperate need of labor, and these people just made up for the shortage of population in the Western Regions. All of these people were under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Protectorate.

Furthermore, the Anxi Protectorate also needed to vigorously reclaim land from the Tianshan Mountains and both sides of the Ili River and plant more cotton.

Di Renjie, Li Zhi, Li Shen, and Pei Yan looked at Zhang Jianzhi who was crying bitterly.

"Prince Jin! Prince Ji..." Zhang Jianzhi covered his face and cried bitterly, "You are finally back. From autumn till now, I have been thinking about you day and night in Anxi Protectorate."

Li Zhi pushed his hand away and said, "You should cry somewhere else. It's shameful for a man like you to cry like this."

Di Renjie also pushed Zhang Jianzhi away and said, "We didn't cry on the battlefield, why are you crying!" Li Shen nodded, "Yes, if Jianzhi went to the battlefield of Congling, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to stand steadily."

Zhang Jianzhi wiped his tears and suddenly said loudly: "In the future, I will also hold a longbow in my hand, ride a horse on the battlefield, and fight for the country and the Tang Dynasty."

Li Zhi snorted coldly.

Li Shen shook his head with a look of pity.

The new Protector General of Anxi Protectorate, Li Yiyan, came with a scroll of documents and saluted, saying, "Prince Jin, Prince Ji, here is an imperial decree and a letter."

Li Shen first took a few scrolls of letters, opened them and saw some from his sister and mother. He took out a few more scrolls and said, "These are from my sister and father to my brother."

Li Zhi took a few volumes of letters and was still looking at the imperial edict.

Li Shen took the letters from his mother and sister and sat aside reading them alone.

"This is a letter to General Di and General Pei."

Several young men sat aside, reading their letters.

Di Renjie saw the letter from his parents.

Only Zhang Jianzhi had no letter. He had been in Anxi Protectorate and had not been to the battlefield. He asked, "Renjie, what did the letter from your family say?"

He seemed to be making conversation and asked a question for no reason.

Di Renjie said, "My father said that I have reached the age to be given a name, so from now on I will be called Huaiying."

"Huaiying? Di Huaiying?" Zhang Jianzhi repeated, as if wondering if this was a good name.

Pei Yan also finished reading the letter and asked, "Prince Jin, what does the court say?"

Li Zhi was still reading the letter from home. He handed the decree to him and continued reading the letter.

Pei Yan took the document, looked at the contents, and said, "Go to the court to take up the post immediately?"

"A position? What position?" Zhang Jianzhi said, "Aren't we supposed to teach in the Western Regions for two years? Only one year has passed."

Pei Yan said: "We have military merits, so we don't need to stay here to teach. We can go directly to the court to serve."

"Ah!" Zhang Jianzhi snatched the document, stared at it with wide eyes, and read: "Di Renjie is the Secretary of Jingzhao Prefecture and the Chief Prisoner of Dali Temple, Pei Yan is the Doctor of the Ministry of War..."

After reading the documents from the court, Zhang Jianzhi covered his chest with his hands and said in pain: "How could it be..."

Li Shen patted his shoulder and said, "Jianzhi, we are going back to Chang'an. You stay in the Western Regions for another year. We will meet in Chang'an in a year."

"No!" Zhang Jianzhi shouted.

Li Zhi sneered: "You went to Congling with us at that time, and you might have made military achievements."

Pei Yan was promoted quickly in his official career, and Di Renjie passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi.

Di Renjie and Pei Yan are so young, maybe they can be ranked as Shangshu in the future.

Li Zhi said: "Perhaps the emperor wants Renjie to take charge of Jingzhao Prefecture."

Li Shen was puzzled and asked: "Then why did he give him the position in the Dali Temple?"

Li Zhi couldn't understand this, but this was a draft from the court and the official decree had not yet been issued, so the matter was still under discussion.

But no matter what, among the many people who passed the imperial examination, Di Renjie and Pei Yan were the ones who got official positions the fastest. They were less than 20 years old, and they had already achieved this. The future of these two people will be extraordinary.

Li Zhi looked at Zhang Jianzhi, who was still heartbroken. Compared with him, he was far behind him and their life levels were very different.

Zhang Jianzhi was still wailing in pain.

Li Shen advised: "If you make great achievements in the future, you may become a general. We can understand that you are the only son in your family and your father has worked hard for you. You are not taking risks in Congling out of filial piety."

Zhang Jianzhi covered his face and dared not face the reality.

Li Zhi raised his foot to kick, then pulled it back and said, "Cry, but crying loudly will be useless."

……

Murong Shun left Xizhou first. He was just a businessman and did not need to follow the military's arrangements and could move around on his own.

To the east of Xizhou’s territory, this place used to be the territory of Tuyuhun, and it is located under the city of Fuxi west of Qinghai.

In a wasteland in the north of the city, there stands a stone tablet.

Murong Shun reached out and brushed away the dust on the stone tablet, then wet the cloth with water and wiped the stone tablet thoroughly.

The words on the stone tablet then became clear. This was the stone tablet of the former Tuyuhun king, who was also Murong Shun's father.

His father died in Chang'an City, but Murong Shun secretly had a monument erected here and buried his father's clothes and hats here. The court must have known about this, and Tian Khan acquiesced.

Murong Shun cleaned up the sand and soil around it, and the base of the stone tablet appeared.

He took out a pot of wine from his backpack, poured it on the stone tablet, and whispered: "Father, I don't want to be the king of Tuyuhun at all, and I don't want to live like you. Now I have many children, and I have become a businessman."

Murong Shun muttered to himself, "I will let my children come to worship you. I am very rich now. I bought Baishui City easily. In the future, I may be able to buy the entire Xiaoboluo Kingdom."

He paused and continued, "The current Tian Khan is not the same as before, otherwise I would not dare to erect a monument for my father. The current Tian Khan is a very open-minded person. The current Tian Khan has a group of very brave ministers and generals. I believe that this Tian Khan has great talents and plans, and they will definitely plot against the Little Bolor Kingdom."

Murong Shun patted the stone tablet and said, "I am very rich, rich enough to buy a few cities in the Congling Mountains and one or two small countries. I will buy that small country and serve the Heavenly Khan."

After saying this, he placed the wine jug in front of the stone tablet, got on his horse again, and headed for the Hexi Corridor alone.

In the Tubo territory, Ru Laijie passed through the Tianshan Mountains along the ancient Wusun Road, from the Suiye City in the Pamir Mountains, all the way through Qinghai, and returned to Tubo.

Sambuza was standing here alone with only a horse.

The Tibetan child behind Ru Laijie rode his horse through the Tibetan territory and returned home.

Ru Laijie came slowly, sitting on the cow's back.

Sambuza said, "It's been another year since you left. I thought you and the children would never come back."

Ru Laijie sat cross-legged on the ox's back and said, "The Tang people beat back the Arabs."

Sambuza walked beside him, leading the horse, and asked, "What are you going to do next?"

Ru Laijie looked towards the direction of the Potala Palace. The Potala Palace could not be seen yet, only the towering snow-capped mountains in the distance.

"Do you want to go back to Tibet?"

Rulaijie said: "I will build the Potala Palace with the Tibetan monks and wait for my Tang friends to come and visit me."

"Your Tang friend."

Ru Laijie nodded and said, "Well, I have a Tang friend. The Tang friend of you and the Zamp is the Heavenly Khan, and my Tang friend is the general of the Tang Dynasty."

As long as Ru Laijie no longer thought about supporting the Tubo Zamp, Sambhota would feel relieved. Even if he wanted to support him in his heart, at least he had not put it into action now.

(End of this chapter)