Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 454 Songzan is dead (Part )

The Tongtian River does not have much water in winter, and even its surface is completely frozen.

However, the river section in front of us is the widest section near Tongtian River.

Wide means shallow.

Frozen solid.

It was from here that the Tubo army crossed the Tongtian River and set foot on the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

A Tibetan official wearing a purple Tibetan robe and a felt hat, whose face was washed clean but whose skin was still very dark, appeared on the south bank of the Tongtian River, escorted by hundreds of Tibetan cavalry. Then, he crossed the Tongtian River alone on horseback, holding a talisman.

When countless Tang Dynasty light-armored cavalry were preparing to charge, they stepped on the ice, crossed the Tongtian River, and appeared in front of the army.

A road suddenly opened up in the center of the army, and the envoy saw Li Jing and countless generals behind the troops at a glance.

Holding the imperial seal, the envoy slowly urged his horse to the front of Li Jing and the generals. He then dismounted, placed his right hand on his chest and saluted, saying, "I, the son-in-law of the emperor, the Prince of Xihai, and the envoy of the Tibetan king, Tunmi Sambuza, greet His Excellency, the Grand Commander of the Northwest Road Army of the Tang Dynasty, the Vice Minister of State Affairs, and the Duke of Weiguo!"

Li Jing looked at Thunmi Sambhota, narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "I have heard of your name, Thunmi Sambhota. You are the Vice Prime Minister of Tubo."

"The news from the Duke of Weiguo is too late. I am now the Prime Minister of Tubo." Thunmi Sambhota bowed and said, "This time, it was Angriqiong, the son of the deposed Prime Minister of Tubo, Qiongbao Bangse, who colluded with Ludongzan and his son, betrayed the Zamp, and led his own army to invade Tuyuhun, attempting to carve out a piece of territory from Tuyuhun as a base.

What is even more shocking is that they actually went against the grain and led their troops into the Tang Dynasty. They were truly audacious to the extreme.

Today, I came from Lhasa on orders.

First, I want to inform the Duke that Ang Riqiong and Lu Dongzan's family have been apprehended. If the Tang Dynasty needs them, they can be immediately sent there. Second, I have been ordered to go to Chang'an to ask His Majesty the Tang Emperor to forgive my mistakes. Third, there has been unrest in Luoxi. Please ask the princess to return home immediately to assist the Zamp in handling state affairs."

After saying this, Thunmi Sambuza turned around and waved his talisman at the Tibetan cavalry on the other side of the Tongtian River.

The next moment, hundreds of Tibetan cavalrymen were slowly approaching Tongtian River.

At the same time, they gradually dispersed to the left and right, and more than a dozen carriages loaded with large black boxes appeared in front of Li Jing and others.

A moment later, the Tibetan cavalry escorted the carriage to the north bank of the Tongtian River.

"These are the tributes the Zamp presents to Your Majesty: ten thousand taels of gold and thirty boxes of jewels and jade." Thunmi Sambhota finished speaking and bowed again to Li Jing. "Please, Duke Weiguo, send someone to escort me to Chang'an to apologize."

Looking at Thunmi Sambuza's serious expression, Li Jing suddenly smiled softly.

He turned to look at Duan Baoxuan, who was following behind, and said calmly, "Left Thousand Oxen Guard General Duan Baoxuan, I now order you to escort the Tubo envoy to Chang'an. You must not neglect him along the way, and no one is allowed to disturb the envoy. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Duan Baoxuan understood what Li Jing meant.

On the way to Chang'an, no one is allowed to contact the Tubo envoys, and the relevant information must not be known to any outsiders.

Li Jing nodded, rode to the side, looked at Thunmi Sambuza and nodded, saying, "Please come in, envoy."

"Thank you, Duke." Thunmi Sambuza lowered his eyes, bowed, then waved his hand and followed Duan Baoxuan with his men towards Tuyuhun.

……

Li Jing rode his horse slowly and saw the bank of Tongtian River.

The ice is thick and horse hooves are faintly visible.

He looked up at the other side, his expression suddenly becoming serious.

Zhang Shigui, Qian Jiulong, Du Fengju, Qu Fang, Xi Junmai, Xue Wanbei, Xin Liaoer and Li Dejian all followed behind Li Jing, with complicated expressions for a moment.

After a moment, Li Jing said quietly, "Just tell me what you have to say."

"Sir!" Li Dejian couldn't help but bow, and said angrily: "All this was clearly ordered by that bastard Songtsen. He didn't dare to come himself, but found a substitute to command the army on his behalf and took the risk. In the end, he was defeated, but he put all the responsibility on others. He is a villain.

My Lord, send the troops to attack Subi, attack Luoshui, and destroy Tubo."

After Li Dejian finished speaking, Du Fengju, Li Junxian, Qu Fang, Xi Junmai, Xue Wanbei, Xin Liaoer and others all nodded vigorously.

Only Qian Jiulong and Liu Rengui looked calm.

Li Jing raised his head with an indifferent expression, looked towards the direction of Suobi Chamdo, and said, "Duke Chao, what do you think will happen to us if we reach Suobi?"

"They were waiting for the tens of thousands of Tibetan cavalrymen to tire themselves out." Qian Jiulong bowed solemnly and said, "I've heard that Songtsen was a great hero, but I never imagined he was so formidable. Your Majesty carefully planned for months and tried to cover up his mistake, yet he still saw through our flaws and sent a substitute. After being severely defeated, he decisively bowed and confessed his guilt.

Ten thousand taels of gold and thirty boxes of jewelry and jade are enough to make up for the expenses of the army's conquest.

He also implicitly threatened that if we attacked forcefully, he would fight us to the death."

Li Jing nodded gently, his eyes sweeping over the faces of Du Fengju, Li Junxian, Qu Fang, Xi Junmai, Xue Wanbei, and others, and finally looking at Liu Rengui, he asked: "Supervisor, what do you think we should do next?"

"Retreat!" Liu Rengui said without hesitation, "The Tibetan envoy has already said that those who died were only soldiers from the Qiongbao Angriqiong clan. Regardless of how true this is, Tibet has retained enough strength. If our army were to make a long-distance attack towards Subi and suffer a crushing defeat, it wouldn't be a bad thing. The only concern is if it drags on for too long."

"From Shanzhou to Subi, it's two thousand miles. If a major battle breaks out, at least thirty thousand cavalry will be needed. If the fighting continues, transporting food and fodder over two thousand miles will cost an untold amount." Li Jing nodded, then looked at the crowd and said, "How should this be calculated? You are all senior generals in the army, and you should know the situation. Do you think His Majesty, given his temperament, will agree?"

Everyone fell silent. Many of them had worked with the emperor before. Apart from anything else, the emperor's control over logistics was definitely beyond anyone's estimation.

This battle really reached Chamdo, but in the end the gains were minimal, which the emperor would definitely not be happy about.

Li Jing looked up at Li Junxian and said, "Your Majesty, why did you let the Duke of Nanchang defend himself by the Tongtian River and kill Songtsen instead of letting him cross the river and pursue him? Your Majesty's attitude is clear."

Thinking of this, all the generals couldn't help but bowed in unison: "Yes!"

Li Jing smiled and said, "Duke Chao was right just now. Songzan was a great hero. If he had transferred all of Subi's troops to fight Tuyuhun, the outcome might have been unpredictable. However, he prepared a substitute and is still hiding in Subi. This is quite interesting. What is he afraid of?"

Seeing Li Jing turn his head and look towards Chamdo, everyone's eyes flickered. Yes, Songtsen was also the hero who established the present territory of Tubo. Under normal circumstances, he would definitely come to this battle.

In this battle, the fundamental strategy of the Tang Dynasty was to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.

Even if a war broke out in Tuyuhun later, it was very close to the Tang Dynasty border and supplies were very easy to obtain.

On the contrary, the Tibetans had traveled two thousand miles, and it was now winter, the grass and trees were withered, and supply was difficult, so the Tang Dynasty had a greater chance of winning.

But compared to the risk of taking Lanzhou, disrupting the northwest of the Tang Dynasty, or even directly attacking the city of Chang'an, this risk is nothing.

"There is a big problem in Tubo." Liu Rengui said subconsciously.

"So!" Li Jing said, "The Tubo should have deployed a large army in Subi now. If we really want to attack them, they will fight to the death.

There's no need. The Tang Dynasty isn't ready to annex Tubo yet. We might end up becoming someone else's puppet. So, for now, the army is retreating."

"Yes!" All the generals bowed, no one objected.

"Immediately inform Your Majesty of the Tubo envoy's situation in a secret letter." Li Jing finished speaking, then looked at the Tongtian River at his feet and said, "Stand guarding the Tongtian River with 300 cavalrymen. Each unit will retreat in turn and search for places where they can establish prefectures and counties. The majority of the units will stay at Kuhai and Dafeichuan to gather and appease the Tuyuhun and Dangxiang peoples."

"Yes!" The generals bowed again.

Li Jing sneered softly and said, "Everyone, from today on, the Tang Dynasty will directly border Tubo. War is inevitable in the future, so you don't have to worry about not having military achievements."

"Here!" Everyone couldn't help laughing.

Li Jing's expression slightly restrained, and he raised his eyes and looked towards Chang'an.

Having said that, the final decision-making power lies in the hands of the emperor in Chang'an.

……

Chang'an, Liangyi Palace.

Li Chengqian, dressed in a black robe with gold threads, strode into the side hall accompanied by several eunuchs.

Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, Li Ji, and Cui Dunli all bowed and said, "Your Majesty!"

"No need for formalities, please take a seat." Li Chengqian walked to the imperial couch and sat down, then looked at the urgent report placed on the table.

The four of them knelt on both sides of the throne, looked up at the emperor who was reading the memorial carefully, and then looked at each other with a slightly solemn expression.

Li Chengqian did not notice the expressions of the four people, his attention was all on the memorial.

A great victory for the Northwest.

Zhang Shigui led his troops out of the Nanshan Pass and stopped at Qugou.

Songtsen led his troops to attack. At this moment, Li Jing led his troops to charge towards Fushi City and defeated the enemy in one battle.

Songtsen was badly defeated and was chased closely by Li Jing from behind.

When they reached Tongtian River, only a hundred riders were left.

He was caught red-handed by Li Junxian, who had already killed all the Dangxiang people.

Afterwards, Li Junxian stabbed Songtsen to death with a spear.

Li Jing arrived shortly afterwards and removed the mask Songtsen had been wearing, only to discover that the person underneath was not Songtsen.

Seeing this, Li Chengqian's hand stopped slightly.

After confirming with Xi Junmai and Du Fengju, and searching everywhere, and using the talismans found on the body, they confirmed that it was this fake Songzan who had been directing the battle.

Afterwards, the Tibetan deputy prime minister Tunmi Sambhota appeared and put all the blame on Qiongbao Angriqiong and Lu Dongzan who had sent troops "without authorization".

In addition, Tubo also sent ten thousand taels of gold and thirty boxes of jewelry and jade as an apology.

Li Jing temporarily retreated to Kuhai and Dayichuan. What should he do next?

Li Chengqian raised his head and looked at Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, Li Ji, and Cui Dunli, and said calmly, "Songtsen is dead."

"Huh?" The four of them looked up in surprise.

Li Chengqian put the secret report aside, then suddenly laughed and said, "I hadn't noticed it before, but when I saw the Tibetan envoy asking my sister to return home, I knew that even if Songtsen was not dead, he would not live for many days."

Fang Xuanling and Zhangsun Wuji finally reacted and quickly bowed, saying, "Your Majesty is absolutely right."

Looking at Li Ji and Cui Dunli, who were still somewhat confused, Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "In this battle, Tubo lost 40,000 elite soldiers. Although they eventually put the blame on the Qiongbao clan, how could a family with a deposed prime minister possibly produce 40,000 elite soldiers?

To have five thousand is already considered to be a sign of Songtsen’s kindness.”

It is impossible for the head of a unified capital to allow a deposed prime minister's family to have such a powerful military force.

"So, most of these 40,000 elite cavalry are Tubo's genuine elite troops." Li Chengqian sneered and said, "Tubo, together with Yang Tong and Subi, can only muster 200,000 elite cavalry. Half of them are assigned to guard the capitals and other city-states, so only 100,000 are capable of combat.

Losing 40,000 yuan all of a sudden would be very devastating."

"After this battle, Tubo may still have the power to defend, but its offensive power is completely gone." Li Ji nodded in agreement.

"The key is that in this situation, the balance of power within Tubo will be completely disrupted, the power of the royal court will be weakened, and the power of the opposing parties will be strengthened." Li Chengqian raised his head slightly and said, "At this time, I only need to cut off Tubo's external trade routes. Without the influx of external wealth, they will squeeze internally, and finally, with a 'bang'..."

(End of this chapter)