Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

—This analogy is only used when dealing with the Uyghurs.

"At that time, our Tang emperor was still alive, and the armies of Shuofang, Longyou, and Jiannan were still capable of serving. Therefore, the rebel An dared not enter Chang'an. His stay in Luoyang was merely temporary. If he were to truly destroy the Tang, he would surely transfer a large number of troops to the two capitals, leaving his hometown of Fanyang relatively undefended. The same applies to the Abbasid Caliphate. Moreover, there is a concern that Abu Muslim, the Persian governor—who is comparable to Shi Siming—might cause trouble. So, Persia would be left vulnerable, and the surrounding Karluk and Tocharian tribes would also become disloyal. If the Khan were to attack them, he would surely be able to seize vast grasslands and pastures."

"Our Tang army cannot possibly reach beyond ten thousand miles; your tribe is nomadic and can move its headquarters at any time, so there is no need for such a worry. Moreover, if the advance goes smoothly, Persia is a vast and fertile land with a large population, including many wealthy merchants. If the Uyghurs seize it, they will surely prosper—does the Khan not have such intentions?"

Dunmohedagan asked directly, "How big is the Abbasid Caliphate? How does it compare to the Tang Dynasty? How many soldiers does it have?"

Li Ji dared not reduce the amount too much, so he said, "The land is similar to that of the Tang Dynasty, but the territory is mostly Gobi and desert. The land that can be cultivated and pastored is less than half that of the Tang Dynasty, and the population is probably also half. As for the number of soldiers, Khan, you can calculate it yourself."

Dunmoheda chuckled dryly, "In that case, you can be considered a great power. Moreover, you've only been established for a short time and your power is at its peak. Are you trying to lure me into taking on a tough challenge?"

Li Ji replied, "If it weren't a great power, it would have been destroyed by another country long ago. How could the Uyghurs have even come close? Aren't the Uyghurs a great power?"

He wasn't genuinely encouraging the Uyghurs to advance westward, because, to his knowledge, no nomadic people had ever marched from Northeast Asia all the way to Central Asia or even West Asia. At most, they were crippled by the Central Plains dynasties, forced to migrate westward, intermarried with Central Asian tribes, and then revived after a dozen or so generations, eventually dominating West Asia. 5

However, Dunmohedagan immediately demanded Anxi, Beiting, and then the Hetao Plain. Li Ji hoped to broaden the other party's horizons by making a grand promise in the west, thereby diverting their attention somewhat—don't always focus on my Tang land!

I don’t know if Dunmohedagan has fallen for the trap, but he waved his hand and said, “Too far, too far, let’s talk about it later. Let’s talk about Hexi, Anxi and Beiting first. If those places are in your hands, that’s fine, but if they are occupied by the Tibetans, I won’t be able to sleep soundly, let alone go west to attack the Abbasids.”

"Furthermore, if the Tang family refuses to hand over Anxi and Beiting to the Uyghurs, but demands that the Uyghurs send troops to assist them, then the reward must be carefully calculated..."

Chapter Two: A Messy Tangle

Li Ji was sent as an envoy to the Uyghurs, not merely to escort the Uyghur envoys, including Chixin, to be handed over to the Khan of Changshou Tianqin—he dared not kill them himself, as that would be too disrespectful to the Khan—but also to set the tone for future relations between the Tang and Uyghur families.

Li Ji hoped that the two families could continue their amicable relationship, with the Tang family exchanging silk and other valuables for fine horses from the Uyghurs, and for Uyghur soldiers to assist in resisting and counterattacking the Tibetans. Both sides should treat each other with sincerity, and stop resorting to those petty tricks of deliberately acting aggressively and crossing the line.

Dunmohedagan stated first that Chixin and others' rampage in Chang'an was not at his behest—of course, he had not issued any orders to strictly prohibit it either… So since they had inadvertently kicked a hornet's nest, Li Ji, he would simply tell them to restrain themselves in the future.

The Uyghurs were a loosely structured nomadic steppe kingdom, so they understood the current situation in the Tang Dynasty, where numerous regional military governors each commanded significant armies. They didn't see this as a sign of the decline of the Central Plains dynasty—"It's always been like this here; shouldn't this be the norm?" So, if a particular Uyghur tribe became powerful and clashed with its allies, could the Khan's personal prestige alone guarantee victory? Unless their side was completely unreasonable, they would likely have to fight first.

It might even drag many other tribes, or even most of the Uyghurs, into the war...

The Tang Dynasty faced a similar situation. The Shuofang army was strong and superior to the Tang forces to the north. If Li Ji, in his anger, insisted on fighting the Uyghurs, the Tang emperor likely wouldn't be able to stop him. Just as Li Ji said, if the two countries fought, it would only benefit the Tibetans, which would be a huge loss.

Moreover, as Li Ji had predicted, the Tang and the Uyghurs could still coexist, but if the Uyghurs were to fight the Tibetans, they could graze on the land and use the people, and it would be difficult to find a suitable opportunity to cease hostilities... Furthermore, the Tibetans were already quite powerful, and if they were to gain control of Anxi and Beiting, they might very well send troops to pursue them to the grasslands and deserts!

So let's each take a step back. I will order my subordinates to restrain themselves and not to offend the Tang people easily. In return, you should offer more benefits in terms of trade and military rewards.

Li Ji appointed Liu Ji as his representative, with Li Fengguo (Sheligezhan), originally a Uyghur, as his assistant. They negotiated with the two Uyghur prime ministers, Hudi Biga and Meilu, for two whole days, and finally settled on a price of 25 bolts of silk per horse, with a limit of 8,000 horses to be traded each year, with 30% going to Shuofang and 70% to Chang'an.

Shuofang agreed to bypass the imperial court and annually supply the Uyghurs with 500 swords, 50 suits of armor, and 300 catties of pig iron, in exchange for cattle, sheep, and furs. Li Ji also proposed that if the Uyghurs were to send troops to reinforce them in the future to attack the Tibetan bandits, the Uyghurs should not directly ask the Tang court for payment, but should instead have Shuofang garrison submit a petition on their behalf.

On one hand, Li Heng and his son never managed the household finances and were oblivious to the cost of living. They often emptied the treasury to supply the Uyghurs, engaging in far too many unprofitable ventures, which even made Li Ji feel sorry for them. On the other hand, Shuofang was constantly soliciting rewards and bestowing gifts, providing ample opportunities to embezzle and pocket the money...

In conclusion, the final outcome was relatively favorable for the Tang family—at least much cheaper than the casual rewards bestowed by Li Heng and his son—mainly because Li Ji had set a bottom line and refused to concede too much, while the Uyghurs, in fact, didn't have such a big appetite to begin with…

If they hadn't already been spoiled by Li Heng and his son, they might have been able to accept being stabbed in the back again.

----------

Li Ji left Chang'an and traveled north to Shuofang. He only stayed in Lingzhou for five days before continuing his journey, escorting Chi Xin and others to the Uyghurs to meet Changshou Tianqin Khan.

He left Lu Geng, Gao Ying, and other staff members in Lingzhou with the aim of having Lu Geng take the lead in sorting out the personnel issues in Shuofang Town in the early stages.

During the journey, regardless of day or night, they basically talked with Lu Geng, first inquiring about the situation in Shuofang, and most importantly: who were the powerful figures there, and what were their relationships with each other?

According to Lu Geng, there are currently five main factions within the Shuofang army.

First was Hun Shizhi, the acting military governor, who came from the Hun tribe of the Tiele people in Gaolan Prefecture. He had once been transferred to Longyou, but later returned to Shuofang to serve as acting military governor in order to counter Pugu Huaien. However, although Hun Shizhi held a prestigious position—there was no official military governorship, or when the military governorship was held remotely, he considered himself the head of the town—his skills outside of battle were not very good, and few people were willing to submit to him. He was basically in a state of semi-powerlessness.

Secondly, there was Lu Sigong, a native of Sanyuan County, Jingzhao Prefecture. His original name was Lu Jianke. Because of his outstanding achievements in governing the county, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang compared him to Lu Gong, a virtuous official of the Han Dynasty, and bestowed upon him the name "Sigong." Originally a civil official, he was specially promoted to acting military governor by Du Hongjian after Emperor Suzong returned to the capital. Many of the generals were dissatisfied, especially Sun Shouliang, who held considerable military power and was arrogant and unrestrained. Therefore, Lu Sigong feigned illness, lured Sun Shouliang to the capital, and beheaded him on the spot, shocking the entire army.

However, Lu Sigong was not in Lingzhou City at this time. In the second year of Yongtai, he was appointed as the Acting Minister of Justice and in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Justice, thus becoming a senior figure in the court and the right-hand man of Prime Minister Du Hongjian. Although he was not in Shuofang, his faction still existed and its power should not be underestimated—the representative of him in the town was the general Wen Ruya.

Third was Chang Qianguang, the Commander of the Capital Garrison. He was a descendant of Chang He, a famous general in the early years of the dynasty, and the leader of the young and promising faction in Shuofang. He had a high prestige among the middle and lower-ranking military officers and could command a large following.

Fourth was Bai Yuanguang, the vanguard commander and garrison commander of Dingyuan City. A Turk, he had followed Guo Ziyi and Li Chu (Li Yu) in the recapture of the two capitals. When entering Chang'an, he led troops to clear the palace and annihilate the remaining rebels, sustaining several wounds in the process. Upon hearing of this, Emperor Suzong of Tang, Li Heng, personally applied medicine to his wounds, thus greatly enhancing his reputation. Bai Yuanguang himself had no political ambitions and was not keen on forming factions or vying for power, but he controlled the most elite troops of Dingyuan City in Shuofang, wielding considerable influence and directly affecting more than 30% of the Shuofang army.

The last faction had no single leader. Its participants shared the common characteristic of having been deeply trusted by Li Guangbi during his time as commander, which aroused suspicion from former generals who had always sided with Guo Ziyi, forcing them to band together for mutual support. Its main members included: Li Guochen (bestowed the surname An by the Sogdians), Hou Zhongzhuang from Weizhou, and Chen Lizhen from Fanyang.

Back then, Li Guangbi stayed in Xuzhou and refused to return to the capital. The Tang court was naturally helpless against him. Finally, Li Guangbi took his own life. So they dismantled his army and incorporated many brave generals into the Northern Army system, including Han Youhuan and Hao Tingyu. Chen Lizhen was Hao Tingyu's son-in-law.

In addition, Li Huaiguang, the former military governor of Luze and now the deputy military governor of Heyang Sancheng, and Bai Xiaode, the military governor of Anxi and Beiting, both came from Shuofang and still retained a certain prestige and popularity in their respective towns.

After listening to Lu Geng's detailed account, Li Ji felt extremely troubled. He immediately slapped his saddle on his horse and complained, "Why doesn't the Emperor grant me any rank or salary, but instead wants me to lead these high-ranking generals?!"

Although he was promoted to Acting Minister of Rites before leaving the capital, officially entering the ranks of the third grade and entitled to wear a purple robe, the problem was that within Shuofang Town, let alone officers and clerks in red robes, there were plenty of generals in purple robes! The root cause lay in Li Heng's reign and Li Yu's initial ascension to the throne, when he indiscriminately bestowed titles and rewards, such as granting Hun Shizhi the title of Prince of Ningshuo, Bai Yuanguang the title of Prince of Nanyang, and Li Guochen the title of Prince of Linchuan...

A bunch of princes are waiting there. How can I just run around and boss them around? Why doesn't the emperor grant me some kind of title like Prince of the County to show off my power?

Next, negotiations were necessary. The aim was to gain the approval of Lu Geng, Guo Ziyi's plenipotentiary representative, regarding the steps and extent of seizing military power, as well as the resettlement of the former generals of Shuofang. Li Ji spoke frankly: "My ambition lies in recovering Hexi and Longyou, and rescuing Anxi and Beiting. I have no intention of remaining in Shuofang for long..."

Such a huge mess, when will it ever be cleaned up? I can't wait! Besides, Shuofang Town is sparsely populated, with underdeveloped production, scarce resources, and extremely complicated affairs. We have to rely on the imperial court for money and grain. I don't have Guo Ziyi's prestige, and more importantly, I was born at the wrong time—ten years too late—I really dare not hope to make Shuofang Town my family's base.

Li Ji was genuinely regretting abandoning Weibo, which was now completely self-sufficient...

Therefore, he discussed with Lu Geng that he hoped to gain complete control of 40-50% of the military power in Shuofang, and recruit some new soldiers to join the 2,000 men he had brought from Hebei, forming a strong army of 40,000 to 50,000 men. Then they would march west to conquer Hexi or Longyou. Under these circumstances, how should they treat and settle the former generals of Shuofang? Could Jin advise him?

Lu Geng smiled and said, "Hun Shi is old. I've heard that his son, Hun Jian, is quite familiar with the military commander. Therefore, the military commander can make good use of the Hun family..."

Those who were sent by Li Guangbi faced exclusion after returning to their posts and couldn't help but harbor resentment. You can take advantage of this opportunity to take them all in. As for Wen Ruya and Bai Yuanguang, you probably can't control them. As for Chang Qianguang... well, that depends on the commander's methods.

They then decided to send Wen Ruya to lead the Zhenwu Army, first dispatching this faction of troops to a distant location. Then, they would successively transfer Bai Yuanguang's allied generals to the three surrendered cities to weaken their power.

—The Shuofang Jiedushi's forces are currently mainly divided into seven branches: the first is the Jinglue Army in Lingzhou City, which has more than 20,000 soldiers and 3,000 horses, accounting for 30% of the total; the second is the Feng'an Army; the third is Dingyuan City; the fourth is the Zhenwu Army; and in addition, there are three surrendered cities, each with a strength of six to nine thousand soldiers.

The selection and deployment of personnel, and more importantly, the negotiation with relevant factions, will be temporarily handled by Lu Geng—because he represents Guo Ziyi, and no one dares to contradict him; while Gao Ying assists Lu Geng, he will first inspect the treasury, review the files, and gain a thorough understanding of the situation within the town. As for Li Ji, he needs to make a trip to the Uyghurs first.

By the time they successfully returned to Lingzhou from the Uyghurs, it was already early May.

Lingzhou is located west of the Yellow River and east of the Helan Mountains. The mountains and rivers run in a north-southeast and south-southwest direction, with a distance of less than a hundred li between them. When Li Ji returned, he was greatly surprised by the scenery along the way—he had known it was a good place, but he hadn't expected it to be so prosperous in these times!

To be honest, if the Shuofang military governor only governed Lingzhou, not to mention that the money and grain would be sufficient to support him, just by increasing the population, he would be no less capable than the prefectures and counties within the pass!

As early as the Han Dynasty, canals were dug in this area to divert water from the Yellow River to irrigate farmland. These canals were added to throughout history. During the Tang Dynasty, Empress Wu Zetian opened the Tanglai Canal, which started at Xiashi (later known as Qingtongxia) in the south and passed north past Dingyuan City. This network of canals created fertile land, and with ample sunshine, agricultural production flourished. Even in areas unsuitable for farming, numerous natural lakes provided abundant aquatic resources, making them ideal for fishing and animal husbandry.

This region, from north to south, includes Dingyuan City, Huaiyuan, Anjing, Lingwu, and Huile (Lingzhou) counties, with Mingsha City of Gaolan Prefecture as its southern boundary. It is the most fertile land in the entire Lingzhou, and even within Shuofang Town. Unfortunately, the population is too small. A cursory check of the household register last time showed only a little over 50,000 people—and that's an old record from the Tianbao era. Heaven knows how many are left after repeated conscriptions and military campaigns.

However, population figures cannot be judged solely by official records. This was something Li Mi had told him before—the Tang Dynasty reached its peak during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras, with nine million registered households and a population exceeding eighty million. But this was also a period of significant disruption to land policies, leading to a surge in unregistered households. Li Mi roughly estimated that before the An Lushan Rebellion, the total population of the Tang Dynasty may have exceeded ten million. After the rebellion, the number of households plummeted to 1.5 million, and the population fell to less than twenty million. In reality, many more had gone into hiding or fled, perhaps even matching the number of registered households…

Furthermore, the Tang Dynasty had a large number of tributary prefectures in its border regions, which were used to settle surrendered non-Han people. These non-Han people were basically not registered in the national household register, and their numbers were difficult to count.

Within Lingzhou, there was Gaolan Prefecture, or more precisely, Eastern Gaolan Prefecture, used to settle the Hun tribe of the Tiele people. Western Gaolan Prefecture was established in the 22nd year of the Zhenguan era by the Ashide Tejian tribe of the Turks, located north of the Hetao region, and was later moved to Liangzhou after the Yonghui era. Based on what Li Ji saw when he passed through Mingsha City, the population was roughly 30% Han and 70% Hu, so there should have been at least five or six thousand people.

Throughout his journey to and from the Uyghur Khaganate, he constantly pondered the same question: should he continue to remain stationed in Lingzhou? The Guo family's power there was too great, and the relationships between officials, the military, and the people were deeply entrenched. Even with Lu Geng's assistance, it would likely remain a tangled mess, impossible to untangle. Ultimately, Lu Rangjin was primarily Guo Ziyi's representative; at most, he could be expected to treat the former generals and himself fairly, but it was impossible to expect him to truly consider Guo Ziyi's interests.

Upon returning to Lingzhou, Hun Shizhi led his generals out of the city to welcome Li Ji, and invited him into the main hall of the government office for a banquet. At the banquet, Li Ji boasted extensively about how he had negotiated with the Uyghur Khan, ultimately persuading the Khan to execute the tyrannical Uyghur envoys, including Chixin, and to submit a letter of apology to the court—in reality, Dunmohedagan had only agreed to "explain"—and how he himself had gained considerable benefits.

Li Fengguo, having received prior instruction from Li Ji, also chimed in as a Uyghur, making it sound as if the Uyghurs revered Li Ji as much as Guo Ziyi—not daring to surpass the old general, since everyone present was one of the old general's former subordinates.

Li Ji's actions can be considered a form of "using force to enhance his own importance." He originally disliked such behavior, but when the time came, he couldn't help but resort to this tactic himself. Otherwise, how could he deter the arrogant and fierce soldiers of Shuofang?

After the banquet, Li Ji deliberately kept Hun Shizhi behind and dismissed everyone else, asking him directly, "When the Deputy Envoy (since the military governor has taken up a post, there is no need for the position of acting governor, and Hun Shizhi is now the Deputy Military Governor) retires in the future, do you intend to return to your hometown and take up the post of prefect?"

Chapter Three: The Legend of Qianniang

During the Tang Dynasty, surrendered Hu tribes were settled on the border or moved inland. Many were given tributary prefectures, which were actually several townships or one or two counties, and were allowed to govern themselves. Their chieftains naturally obtained the title of prefectural governor.

Hun Shi's origins lie in the Hun tribe of Gaolan Prefecture. With his status and position, it would be easy for him to become the chieftain and governor of the prefecture. Therefore, Li Ji asked, "You are now a high-ranking official, holding the titles of Grand Master of the Palace, Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and Prince of Ning Shuo. When you grow old and plan to retire, will you return to Mingsha City to seize the chieftainship?"

Hun Shi said, "I am willing to die on the battlefield, wrapped in a horse's hide. Why should I retire? Even though my son is now a general in the Northern Army and is deeply trusted by the emperor, there is no need for him to seek the position of chieftain again."

As he spoke, he smiled slightly: "I'm not boasting, but my son's future prospects are likely to be much brighter than mine. He'll be enfeoffed as a king or prime minister, so why should he return to his hometown to be the head of a county?" — Although he was called the governor of a prefecture, he was really only in charge of one county.

"My father and I may not be as noble as phoenixes and hawks, but you, General, should not be like an owl that covets a rotten rat."

Li Ji thought to himself, "Great. You can quote classical allusions with ease. You and your son are completely Sinicized and have almost no foreign influence left—especially since you are called 'Shizhi,' and your son has changed his foreign name 'Rijin.'"

He then revealed his intention: "So, if I want to take Mingsha, the Vice Envoy won't stop me, right?"

Upon hearing this, Hun Shizhi was slightly startled: "Could it be that the military governor intends to change Gaolan into a county? This matter requires the approval of the imperial court, and..."

Li Ji shook his head and smiled, "The Vice Envoy misunderstands. Although your father and son have indeed shed their barbarian customs and resemble Tang people of all generations, there are still many nomads in and around Mingsha City. How can we hastily register them as households? My intention is simply to move the military governor's office to Mingsha..."

Hun Shi stroked his beard, pondered for a long time, and slowly said, "Is the General worried about Bai Yuanguang?"

—Bai Yuanguang commands the Dingyuan City Army, which is located two hundred li north of Lingzhou. Light cavalry can reach it in a day and a night at full speed. The Dingyuan City Army has a quota of seven thousand soldiers and three thousand warhorses, making it the most elite force in Shuofang at present.

Li Ji smiled and said, "If I were afraid of Bai Yuanguang, why would I have come to Shuofang?" For the dignified military governor of Shuofang to fear the vanguard commander and the garrison commander of Dingyuan City under his command—that would be a joke!

"The reason why Lu Rangjin was transferred to the Three Surrender Cities was not because he was afraid of Bai Yuanguang, but because it was inconvenient to do so."

Li Ji planned to leave Lingzhou for a simple reason: Lingzhou had long been the seat of the Shuofang military governor, deeply imprinted with the Guo family's influence. Various factions within the region colluded with local authorities to control the people, making it difficult to eradicate them completely and firmly grasp control. So what could he do? Li Ji was well-versed in history and knew that throughout history, a common tactic for dealing with this situation was to relocate the capital.

This even includes relocating the capital. For example, since Zhong Ding, the Shang Dynasty had experienced "nine generations of chaos," leading to the decline of royal power and the rise of the nobility. Therefore, after Pan Geng ascended the throne, he forced officials and people to relocate the capital to Yin, thus stabilizing the situation. When the dynasty passed to Wu Ding, it finally prospered.

Although Li Ji seemed to have unearthed some ancient materials before his time travel, and experts verified that Pan Geng's relocation of Yin was purely due to the Yellow River floods, and there were actually no political reasons... none of that matters. In short, lush vegetation dies when uprooted, and people fear death and will inevitably become chaotic; if it is merely transplanted, it can also have a weakening effect, but the resistance encountered may be much smaller.

That's why he set his sights on Mingsha City in Gaolan Prefecture.

So he explained to Hun Shizhi, “The generals each command their own troops, making it difficult to control them effectively. It would be better to move the capital to Mingsha under the pretext of training a new army, which would fulfill my ambition. Did the deputy envoy not feel any thorn in his side or feel restricted when he was stationed in Lingzhou? Moreover, I will eventually lead the army westward to attack Tubo and recover Gansu and Liangzhou. Mingsha City will be a little closer to the capital.”

West of Mingsha City, there are actually two other strategically important military passes: Feng'an Army and Xinquan Garrison. However, both are adjacent to the Gobi Desert and have virtually no productive capacity, making them unsuitable as the new seat of the Shuofang Military Governor. Especially since the Anxi and Beiting military camps are temporarily stationed in Huizhou, and Xinquan Garrison is controlled by Bai Xiaode; while Feng'an Army, with its registered force of eight thousand, already puts considerable pressure on Shuofang's finances…

Li Ji needed to manage both the military and finances—civil affairs could be put on hold for a while—so it was impossible for him to leave this fertile land between the Yellow River and Helan Mountains; heading south to Mingsha City was already the limit.

Hun Shizhi pondered for a moment, then glanced at Li Ji and said, "I understand the General's intentions, but I'm afraid this matter is inappropriate..."

He then explained that moving the administrative center to Mingsha was a major undertaking that required the court's approval—though the court rarely refused—and that such a process would inevitably cause delays, leading to much discussion and unrest within the army. Of course, there was another reason he didn't explicitly state, only hinting at it, which Li Ji readily understood.

Guo Ziyi's power was centered in Lingzhou, and Du Hongjian had also welcomed the emperor in Lingzhou and urged him to ascend the throne in Lingwu. If you suddenly abandon Lingzhou, what would those two think? If you interfere and obstruct, I'm afraid it will be even more difficult for the military commander to control the army.

As Lu Geng said, although Hun Shizhi held a high position in Shuofang, his foundation was not solid and his power was not great. In addition, since Guo Ziyi had ordered Lu Geng to join Li Ji's staff, it was tantamount to tacitly approving Li Ji's control of Shuofang. Therefore, with just a little effort, Hun Shizhi would willingly follow him. When Li Ji first arrived in Lingzhou, he showed Hun Jian a letter to Hun Shizhi, saying, "I am a friend of your son." Then he secretly had Lu Geng persuade Hun Shizhi to board the ship immediately. If it weren't for this, he wouldn't have dared to speak frankly to Hun Shizhi today.

Hun Shizhi's objection was also from Li Ji's perspective, considering the superior's feelings, and he even offered a compromise suggestion—

"During the Tianbao era, Shuofang had 64,700 soldiers and 4,300 horses, with an annual allowance of 2 million bolts of silk for clothing, a quota that remains unchanged to this day. However, all the garrisons are recruiting soldiers on a large scale, such as in Hebei, where there are many who recruit more than twice the quota—the military governor, Fang, who came from Weibo, is naturally aware of this; Shuofang is already sparsely populated with a small population, and has repeatedly led its troops eastward to fight bandits in the two capitals, Henan, and Hebei, further weakening its military strength, not to mention the problem of receiving salaries without working..."

"The military governor should use this as an excuse, saying that he will be launching a large-scale campaign against the Tiele troops in Gaolan Prefecture to train new troops and increase the number of soldiers. From there, he can temporarily move to Mingsha to avoid the group of hypocritical scoundrels in Lingzhou. As a result, the military governor's office does not need to be moved hastily, which can deceive people."

Li Ji thought for a moment and asked, "So the Vice Envoy still wishes to remain in Lingzhou?"

Hun Shizhi cupped his hands and said, "Please stay behind as the commander."

Li Ji understood Hun Shizhi's thoughts. On the one hand, he hoped that Li Ji could recruit a large number of his clansmen into the Shuofang Army to expand his family's power in the army. On the other hand, he was afraid that following Li Ji south would arouse Li Ji's suspicion. So, he said, "I will not go back to my hometown with you. I will stay in Lingzhou and take care of your logistics."

However, setting aside his ulterior motives, Hun Shizhi's suggestion still had its merits. He was only temporarily going to Mingsha City to recruit and train soldiers, without changing the existing system, so it wouldn't cause resentment or suspicion from all sides. As far as escaping the murky waters of Lingzhou and opening up a new world, there was actually not much difference between relocation and temporary administration.

"After further consideration... I would like to ask the deputy commander for some guidance regarding your unit's situation..."

The two talked until late, when Hun Shizhi took his leave. Only then was Li Ji able to return to his inner quarters and see his family. Cui Cuo couldn't help but complain to him, "My lord, you've come from afar, yet you're still preoccupied with state affairs. Don't you even think of us?" Li Ji smiled and comforted her, "What state affairs are these? They're all family matters—I led two thousand men westward into this Shuofang with tens of thousands of troops. If I don't sort things out clearly, how can I sleep peacefully?"

After washing up, they stayed in the main room. Cui Cuo took out a piece of paper from under his pillow and handed it to Li Ji, saying, "Hongxian is indeed exceptionally talented. The article that you asked me to write before you went to the Uyghurs has been completed by her..."