The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 526: Advisors and Dangerous Places

The battle on this battlefield seemed to have just ended. Xue Rengui checked the distribution of the corpses and whispered, "It seems that these two armies met suddenly and had to fight."

Looking around, there were hundreds of corpses. Pei Xingjian agreed with Xue Rengui's analysis. He could also see wheel tracks on the ground, which must have been from a battle while transporting baggage.

Xue Rengui looked back at the direction he came from and the direction of the wheel tracks, and the situation became very clear. The baggage coming from the Tubo direction seemed to be transported to India, and was blocked by the Arabs halfway. This also explained why there were so many Tubo soldiers here.

Pei Xingjian sat on the horse, frowning and looking at this place without saying a word.

Xue Rengui asked, "Are there many Tibetan troops coming and going here?"

Ru Laijie said: "A lot."

Murong Shun said: "Let's go to Tianzhu first."

Pei Xingjian hesitated and asked, "This matter needs to be reported to the Tubo Protectorate."

Xue Rengui also nodded.

Holding the reins of the horse, Pei Xingjian gave a few instructions to the general Wang Fangyi beside him, and then asked him to deliver the military report to Tubo.

The two Tang army generals had made their decision, and Ru Laijie and Murong Shun were reluctant to say anything.

Xue Rengui was a general of the Tang army. It was impossible for him to act decisively and directly. He immediately sent a team of soldiers to Tubo to inform Li Anqi of the Tubo Protectorate.

After resting for a while and burning the bodies, everyone continued on their way to East India.

After the previous incident, Pei Xingjian and Xue Rengui became more vigilant and sent out scouts along the way, fearing that there might be more Arab ambushes.

Murong Shun rode his horse to one side and said, "General Pei."

Pei Xingjian was still observing the desolate Gobi Desert and asked, "What's wrong?"

Murong Shun said: "General Pei, the war now is no longer a war between the Tang Dynasty and the Arabs. It involves the Sai people, the old Persians, the Tibetans, the Tianzhu, and the small country of Bolor."

Pei Xingjian asked, "Don't worry, the Tang Dynasty will not stay out of this."

Ru Laijie said: "General Wang is just ahead. Just walk along the Shiquan River and you will arrive."

The team walked for another day and night and was relatively smooth. Pei Xingjian met groups of Indians here.

These Indians were barefoot, holding wooden shields, and drinking water by the river in the scorching hot weather. They saw the Tang army standing up one after another, and some even ran back.

Xue Rengui let the horses rest and drink water by the river, while the two sides watched each other.

It seemed that the Indians knew the Tang army, had no hostility, and even smiled at them.

After an hour, a horseman came in fast. He was wearing Tang army armor and shouted loudly, "I am Wang Xiaojie. May I ask which general you are?"

"Congling Xue Rengui, Pei Xingjian!"

Wang Xiaojie rode his horse into the river, and the horse's hooves stepped on the shallow water surface and crossed the river to come closer.

Pei Xingjian said, "Wang Xiaojie? I have heard of your name. When your majesty was on tour, the generals in the army praised you a lot."

Wang Xiaojie said loudly: "General Pei, you are too kind."

Xue Rengui asked: "What is the situation here?"

Hearing this, Wang Xiaojie led everyone across the river while telling them what had happened in the past few days.

Five days ago, the Arabs marched south to attack India. The four Indian kings handed over all state affairs to Wang Xuance and let him command the troops.

Pei Xingjian said: "I'm afraid that the Arabs have sent a lot of troops this time."

Wang Xiaojie said: "That's right, I have sent people to investigate."

As early as in Chang'an, Xue Rengui had heard that Wang Xuance had a feud with the Arabs, and this feud started from the expedition against Alonashun.

It was probably when Xuanzang returned to Guanzhong and Wang Xuance was sent as an envoy to India, which was when the Arabs destroyed Persia. It was during those three or two years that Wang Xuance fought with the Arabs.

I heard that Jiang Shiren almost died at the hands of the Arabs' animals.

After crossing the Shiquan River, Pei Xingjian and Xue Rengui met Murong Shun's 50,000 troops.

Murong Shun was very honest. He said he had an army of 50,000, and he really had an army of 50,000.

The further they went downstream along the Shiquan River, the more respectful the Indians along the way became to the Tang army.

Before arriving at a beautiful big city, the King of East India came in person to greet the Tang army. Xue Rengui dismounted and was about to be polite, but he saw Wang Xuance, whom he had not seen for more than a year, stepped forward first.

"General Wang!" Xue Rengui clasped his fists.

"Let's talk inside the city and let the army rest first!" Wang Xuance took Xue Rengui into the city without saying a word, and ignored the King of Dong Tianzhu who was standing there extremely embarrassedly.

The King of Eastern India was a very old man. After Wang Xuance conquered Alona Shun, he was willing to serve the Tang Dynasty and even become a disciple of Taoist Patriarch.

You can say that this old man is able to judge the situation or that he is a coward, but no matter how you look at him, he doesn't make people like him.

Pei Xingjian also smiled helplessly and led his army into the big city by the Shiquan River. The city was very beautiful, with snow-capped mountains to the north and the Shiquan River facing it.

This city also has a nice name, called Potwar.

This is the western gate of India, which is separated from the Arabs by the Shiquan River. Once across the river, there will be war.

As soon as you enter the city, you can smell the aroma of food. There are various castles in the city, but because of the war, all the resources here are prepared for war, so the people here basically have no life.

Wang Xuance built this place into an important frontier town.

The steamed rice smelled delicious. When Pei Xingjian saw the Indians handing him the bowl and they poured some moist bean paste on the rice, he lost his appetite.

There are several beautifully decorated earthen houses next to the royal palace here, and these houses are planted with flowers. Pei Xingjian, Ru Laijie and Murong Shun stayed here temporarily.

After the accompanying army arrived in India, they were taken care of by Wang Xiaojie.

The Tibetan old man Ru Laijie had an attitude of making the best of things. As soon as he entered the house, he happily made milk tea and ate tsampa.

This old man seems to have endless tsampa and milk tea, and he will never let himself down no matter where he goes.

Fortunately, there are many flowers planted outside this mud house, otherwise the smell inside the house would not be very pleasant.

Seeing that Pei Xingjian was unwilling to eat the Indian food, Ru Laijie saw that the milk tea in the earthenware pot was ready. Ru Laijie poured out a bowl and saw Pei Xingjian walking back and forth in the house, looking a little anxious, waiting for General Xue to come back.

Xue Rengui and Wang Xuance probably had a lot to say, because they had to deal with the Arabs who continued to move south. Ru Laijie handed over a bowl of milk tea and said, "How about a bowl of milk tea, General Pei?"

Pei Xingjian then stopped, took the bowl of hot milk tea, and ate it with a piece of cake.

Looking at Murong Shun again, he was not picky about food and ate the Indian bean paste and rice.

The three of them dealt with it briefly, and Ru Laijie explained: "In fact, the entire Tianzhu is under the control of General Wang, so General Pei doesn't have to worry."

Pei Xingjian swallowed a mouthful of milk tea and said hesitantly, "Really?"

Ru Laijie stroked his graying beard and nodded, saying, "Back then I was ready to die in Tubo, but it was General Wang who brought me to India. He said it would be a pity for someone like me to die like this on the snowy mountains of Tubo."

"The child of General Wang and the Queen of India has become the new King of India. With the Tang army still here, the other three kings of India can only become vassals. Haha... The other several Indian kingdoms are all cowardly and afraid of trouble."

Ru Laijie talked about the reason of that year.

Last year, Wang Xuance brought the Queen of India and her family back to India. The subjects of India welcomed their new King of India, who spoke Guanzhong dialect.

When Wang Xuance returned to Qunu City, Liu Hongye of Chongwenguan had been running business in Tianzhu for many years.

When Wang Xuance and the Queen of India returned, Liu Hongye had already prepared enough food, people and livestock for Wang Xuance.

After Wang Xuance returned to Qunu City to rest for a while, he summoned the other Indian kings and politely took them into Qunu City and took care of them. It would be more appropriate to put them under house arrest.

Hearing this, Pei Xingjian asked with a suspicious look: "Did General Wang really not put the knife on the necks of those Indian kings?"

Ru Laijie smiled and said, "They all sincerely handed over the kingship to General Wang. Now the Tianzhu King of Qunu City is of Tang blood. Since he is a Tianzhu King of Tang blood, it is only right for him to unify Tianzhu."

Murong Shun said while chewing rice, "Wang Xuance is the father of the King of Tianzhu. The Queen of Tianzhu said that all the subjects of Tianzhu are the subjects of Tian Khan, so there is no distinction between Eastern Tianzhu and Northern and Southern Tianzhu."

Ru Laijie continued to tell the story, saying that in the following year, Wang Xuance had been recruiting soldiers and horses. Now there were more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in Tianzhu, and more than 20 forced laborers. In addition, Liu Hongye reclaimed fields and built post roads in various parts of Tianzhu to transport food and grass from the rear in a steady stream.

It was already night outside. After listening to Ru Laijie's talk about the recent situation in Tianzhu, Pei Xingjian walked in this royal city.

A curfew was imposed in the royal city at night, and only Tang soldiers were allowed to move around.

When Liu Hongye walked out of the palace, he ran into Pei Xingjian who was waiting there. He saluted and said, "General Pei?"

"That's right, in person..."

"I am Liu Hongye, the director of Tianzhu Chongwen Hall."

Liu Hongye was from Guanzhong, Chang'an. He looked to be in his thirties and seemed very mature. However, even after living in Tianzhu for a long time, his demeanor had not changed.

It is true that only the Tang people can change others, and no one from other places can change the Tang people.

Pei Xingjian had heard of Liu Hongye's deeds before. The Tibetan old man Ru Laijie described him as a very remarkable person.

The fact that Wang Xuance had such great achievements in India and was able to threaten the kings of India had a lot to do with Liu Hongye.

Ru Laijie said that Liu Hongye was a strategist from the Central Plains and should be considered a natural strategist, with outstanding methods and governance abilities.

Ru Laijie felt sorry that there was no such talented person among his Tibetan children.

Pei Xingjian knew in his heart that Liu Hongye was actually Liu Li's son.

Everyone is in a foreign land, and it's not easy. Pei Xingjian didn't know how Liu Hongye had survived these years, so he patted him on the back and said, "Thank you for all these years."

Liu Hongye lowered his head and said, "I want to go back."

Pei Xingjian said: "I'm afraid the Indians will be reluctant to part with it."

Liu Hongye explained: "My family letters were sent from Chang'an, thousands of miles away, through the Western Regions and Tubo, and then through Nepal to India. This kind of thing was unthinkable in the past, but fortunately, Tubo now has the Protectorate and Chongwenguan."

"Did you know?" Liu Hongye looked proud, and he raised his head and said, "Nowadays, there is actually a written exchange between Tianzhu and the Tubo Protectorate. Our Tianzhu's documents can be approved by the Tubo Protectorate and even sent to Guanzhong. This has never happened in thousands of years."

Liu Hongye was a strategist and also a very typical civil official. Yes... he was born a civil official, and during the Zhenguan period, Liu Li was an outstanding scholar.

Pei Xingjian asked, "I heard that you also sent people to kidnap the several great Indian kings here?"

"In fact, it is very simple to accomplish this. I just sent an order to the kings of India in the name of the king of India, and then let Wang Xuance take the army out for a tour. The Indians in various places thought that Wang Xuance was going to attack them, so they came to join him one after another."

"Are you really going to join us?" Pei Xingjian asked again.

"It doesn't matter if you threaten or surrender." Liu Hongye put one hand behind his back and held a book in the other. He said, "The war is imminent, so we have to do this. The scattered Indian kings are a hidden danger to India, especially before the war. We must control them and make them fully support the Tang army. Only in this way can we have a greater chance of winning the war against the Arabs."

"They have no choice but to come and serve us. If the Indian kings from all over the country do not come and serve us, then they must die."

The voice was cold, but Pei Xingjian saw some firmness and decisiveness, as well as something unquestionable, in the man's expression.

Thinking about the current court, once someone like Liu Hongye enters the court, he will surely be a very powerful civil official, with means, calculations, and decisiveness.

Considering the current conflicts between the civil and military officials in the court, Pei Xingjian felt a headache again. He took a deep breath and asked, "When do you plan to return home?"

Liu Hongye said: "Let's finish this battle."

Pei Xingjian said: "Okay, after this battle we will go home together."

There were footsteps behind him. It was Wang Xiaojie. He saluted and said, "Master Liu, General Pei, please go into the palace to talk."

"it is good."

There were several braziers lit in the palace and a huge map hung on the wall. The golden light of the fire shone on the map, and on the map one could see present-day India and Daqin facing each other across the Shiquan River.

Wang Xuance sat cross-legged and said with a smile, "General Pei, long time no see."

Pei Xingjian still remembered that when he was still in Chang'an City, Wang Xuance gave him the military book when he was about to come to India.

The military book was left in the Anxi Protectorate and was not brought with him.

Liu Hongye handed over a scroll and said, "This is a letter sent by the Tubo Protectorate."

There were no outsiders here, only five Tang army generals: Wang Xuance, Pei Xingjian, Xue Rengui, Liu Hongye, and Wang Xiaojie.

Even Ru Laijie and Murong Shun did not participate in this conversation.

Liu Hongye added: "Tibet is willing to send another 3,000 soldiers to help."

Liu Hongye looks like a gloomy strategist, but he is wise and resourceful. Although he doesn't look like a good person, he is the kind of person needed in such a remote and dangerous place.

(End of this chapter)