In the next ten days or so, Qin Mubai led his troops to recuperate and train troops in Shanzhou. While sending scouts around to inquire about the enemy situation and plateau news around Helong, he also collected grain and grass on a large scale to raise military supplies.
According to reports, the three routes of reinforcements dispatched by the imperial court, totaling 150,000 troops, have crossed Weitao and have assembled into Lanzhou. They are expected to arrive in Shanzhou within ten days. It's just that there has been no valuable information coming from the plateau. Hou Junji's troops are like kites with broken strings, and there is no news. There is no detailed information about the movements of the Garqin Mausoleum. In order to be fully prepared, Qin Mubai sent his most capable general Xue Rengui to lead 20,000 elite cavalry from Xunyi Mansion to Dafeichuan to help Li Daozong and strengthen defense.
Spring in Helong always comes belatedly, but the ice and snow have finally melted, and the trees have begun to sprout new green buds. At this time, the newly recruited soldiers had more things to do - to open up military camps.
As early as when the Qin family and his son first came to Lanzhou, the army had already begun to open up fields and reclaim wasteland. Originally, according to the military system of the Tang Dynasty, soldiers from the government had to go home to farm at this time. After farming, they would bring their own rations and join the army. After the autumn harvest, the people paid the grain tax, which was then handed over to the yamen at all levels and then submitted to Taicang, the state treasury, and then uniformly distributed by the court to various places in need of grain.
However, Qin Mubai felt that Lanzhou was a frontline war zone and could adapt to local conditions, so he kept the soldiers in the army to cultivate military camps. The grain obtained is divided equally between public and private, half is supplied to the army and the other half can be taken home by the soldiers to make rations. Of course, it can also be resold to the army on the spot. In this way, it not only ensures food for the army, but also ensures that Helong's agriculture has sufficient labor force.
This is a land "system" unique to the Governor's Office of Lanzhou, and it can be regarded as Qin Mubai's first creation.
For this matter, someone in the court impeached Qin Mubai, saying that he "squandered grain taxes to enrich his own pockets, undermined the country's original policy, and wanted to cede territory and become king"... Such impeachment memorials put a lot of pressure on Emperor Li Shimin's desk.
Qin Mubai also knew that in the past few years since he came to Lanzhou, he had done many things to "violate laws and disciplines and corrupt the government." In terms of military rations alone, he reclaimed wasteland, privately collected grain taxes, and allowed Wu Meiniang to monopolize Helong's food. Grain and cloth trading—if it were in the mainland, whoever dared to do this would have had their homes confiscated and beheaded.
There were also many well-meaning people who reminded Qin Mubai to be "cautious". After thanking Qin Mubai, he smiled and replied: "If I was afraid of getting into trouble, I would definitely stay in Chang'an and leave Qingfu. At least now, Lanzhou needs people to do things that ordinary people don't dare to do. Otherwise, it would be better to change It’s the same for everyone, why am I still here?”
"No longer young, still frivolous" - this is the evaluation given to Qin Mubai by people around him.
This review is strange. In terms of age, Qin Mubai is still less than thirty years old even though he has become a father. Whether in the military or political circles, he is a young up-and-coming young man; if he does not count age and only looks at his achievements, in today's era, Young Qin Mubai is definitely a veteran military ruffian. As for "frivolous"... This originally derogatory word was used on Qin Mubai, but it seemed like a compliment, because when Li Daozong scolded him like this, his praise was always overwhelming.
During the day, he trained his troops and handled official duties, and at night, he spent time with his wife and daughter enjoying family happiness. Qin Mubai lived quite happily during this time. But there was only one thing that kept choking him, and that was Hou Junji.
"What is happening to this wild wolf that broke free from its shackles and escaped from home?"
Not only for personal emotional reasons, but also from a strategic and tactical perspective, it was crucial for Hou Jun to gather a large number of troops. The dilemma is that Qin Mubai now knows nothing about Hou Junji. It's like a grenade thrown without causing any action. Both you and the enemy have to be on tenterhooks.
After dinner that evening, Qin Mubai went to the Temporary Governor's Mansion as usual, holding Xiao Lou'er for a walk in the garden. Tantai Shuangshuang has recovered well after her injuries, and now she takes her sister with her to practice martial arts every day. At this time, the two sisters were testing swordsmanship in a grove of newly blooming peach trees. Chen Yan leaned on the tree with her elbows in her hands and watched from the side, giving some pointers from time to time.
Qin Mubai was playing with Xiao Lou'er while watching them compete with each other with swords. They were really killing each other with fierce sword moves, all life-locking tricks without any pretense. Several times, the two sisters almost hurt each other, and even Qin Mubai couldn't help but feel frightened several times. But Chen Yan was still watching the changes calmly, as if watching a play and listening to music.
After practicing for a while, the two sisters were sweating profusely. She put away her sword and raised her hand to Chen Yan, "Sister Yan, how are we practicing?"
Chen Yan shook her head gently, "It's a good idea, but not useful."
Qin Mubai and the sisters were stunned.
"Yin..."
Suddenly there was a low and cold sound, and the swords in both hands reached Chen Yan's hands at some unknown time. A sword that was like lightning and without any fancy thrust out flatly, and there was a honey peak at the tip of the sword. After a short pause, the bee quietly split into two pieces and fell down.
The three of them stayed together.
Chen Yan picked a sword flower and threw it casually. She put the swords into their scabbards and said, "I don't know how you two sisters became famous in the world. It's probably because you haven't met anyone like me." People, otherwise you would have become ghosts. What I want to tell you is that the battlefield is ten thousand times more dangerous than the rivers and lakes. Only when you can train like me can you fight the enemy on the battlefield with the young commander."
"Yes..." The two sisters each blushed and bowed their hands in admiration.
Qin Mubai heard this clearly, and came forward with Xiao Lou'er in his arms, smiling and saying: "Ah, Master Chen is teaching swordsmanship, why don't you give me some pointers too?"
"Don't be such a talker." Chen Yan smiled gracefully, and the coldness and seriousness just now disappeared, replaced by gentleness. She hugged Xiao Lou'er over and kissed her cheek, saying warmly, "Lou'er, be good, will my mother take you to paint?"
"Okay!" Xiaolou'er clapped her hands happily and said happily, "I want to learn to draw my father riding a big horse! My father looks the most handsome like that!"
Qin Mubai laughed, "Who told you to say this?"
"My godmother!"
"Godmother?" Qin Mubai was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "When did you recognize your godmother outside? Do you still have a lot of mothers at home?"
"It's them." Chen Yan smiled and gestured to the Tantai sisters, "I didn't tell you about this, I made the decision first. You won't blame me, right?"
Qin Mubai couldn't help but laugh, "How dare I? Of course you have the final say on these things at home."
"You're talkative again." Chen Yan laughed angrily, then hugged Xiao Lou'er and left first.
The Tantai sisters had been standing aside with their swords raised, listening to the conversation between Qin Mubai and Chen Yan. They stood straight and straight, their faces flushed and their hearts pounding.
Qin Mubai glanced at them and couldn't help but laugh, and said, "Why do I look so fierce? You are so nervous and scared."
"No... yes." The two sisters smiled awkwardly.
"Sit down!" Qin Mubai arrived on the stone bench first and said, "I think you two seem to have something to tell me, right?"
The two sisters hesitated for a moment, then sat down beside Qin Mubai, lowering their eyebrows and nodding obediently.
"Then let's talk!" Qin Mubai said with a relaxed smile, "Don't be nervous, what is there to be nervous about? You have to learn from Su Lianqing and Chen Yan. Children of the world, you should be upright and straightforward, and say what you have to say."
"Young Marshal, please incorporate us into the Kansai Army as generals!" The two sisters mustered up their courage and said in unison.
"Oh, that's it?" Qin Mubai smiled, "I understand. I heard that the imperial court has reorganized Baiqi and divided it into the left and right Yulin Guards and the Baiqi Supervisor Yamen. The original Baiqi officers and soldiers have been reorganized. You two have lost your job and title. You two are afraid that no one will take care of you now, and you are worried that you will have no foothold in the future, right?"
"There is such a concern, but it is not necessarily the case." Tantai Dandan said, "After the Young Marshal enlightened us, the two sisters changed their minds and turned into officials of the imperial court. We sisters have always been content, but after staying in the palace for a while, we all felt that... that place may not be much more comfortable and cleaner than Jianghu. It is surrounded by the same dangers, and the same intrigues and secret attacks. , we sisters are used to being wild, and the many rules in the palace often make us feel depressed and suffocated. But after we followed the princess from Chang'an to Lanzhou, it was like birds leaving the cage, really. We don’t want to go back to the palace anymore, so... we just want to... just want to... "
Qin Mubai couldn't help laughing when he heard her hesitation, and said, "You don't want to go back to the palace to work as an errand, do you?"
"Yes! Please make it happen, Marshal!" the two sisters said in unison.
"Okay, I'll think of a way." After Qin Mubai said that, he stood up and walked into the house. I kept laughing in my heart and thought to myself: These sisters have quite a lot of ideas. First they became Lou'er's godmother, and now they want me to take you as my concubines, right? Haha, I’m too embarrassed to say it. I knew it from Chen Yan's behavior just now. She deliberately walked away with Xiao Lou'er in her arms and asked them to talk to me alone... This matter was probably arranged by Chen Yan. It seems that she is not a saint who does not eat fireworks from the world. She is also depressed when she sees me having an affair with other women, but she just doesn't have an attack. No, she took the initiative to enrich my "family banquet", which meant that she didn't want me to "eat" outside! -That's right. Is there any woman in the world who is not jealous? Unless she really doesn't care!
The more Qin Mubai thought about it, the funnier he became. On the one hand, he felt that he had been blessed with love and beauty in his entire life. On the other hand, because of Chen Yan, the longer we were with this woman, the more he could feel her extraordinary intelligence and the charm of a mature woman. It’s really not something that a little girl with a vase can compare to.
Back at his home in the inner courtyard, Qin Mubai was waiting to talk to Chen Yan. An uninvited guest came to the house—Princess Huihe, Ashina Blood Lotus.
"You came at the right time!" Qin Mubai secretly smiled bitterly, but still welcomed her in with a smile and served her tea.
"Isn't Sister Yan here?" Xuelian asked looking around as soon as he sat down.
"Are you looking for her or me?" Qin Mubai asked with a smile.
"Looking for you." Xuelian straightened his face and said seriously, "I'm here to ask for my resignation."
"Please resign?" Qin Mubai frowned slightly, "How do you say it?"
"I'm going back to the grassland." Xue Lian looked Qin Mubai in the eyes and said seriously, "I'm here to say goodbye."
Qin Mubai blinked and looked at the blood lotus carefully. This time, the little girl was really not joking, nor was she acting out of emotion.
"Why did you just leave? Didn't you agree that you want to go back to Beijing with me to meet the Holy Spirit?" Qin Mubai said.
"No." Xue Lian took a sip of tea and said calmly, "After all, I am a member of the Ashina family. I want to return to the grassland to reorganize my tribe and inherit my father's title. And 90% of my subordinates are from the Uighur tribe. We have been away from the grassland for so many days, and we are all homesick. And... now the Tang Dynasty has given you an additional 150,000 troops. If you stay here, you will not have more than us, but you will have a lot less of us, right? "
Qin Mubai laughed when he heard this.
There is a mystery in Xue Lian's words. Especially the last two sentences directly revealed the real reason why she wanted to return to the grassland - she was afraid of being annexed and losing her military power!
In the final analysis, it was not that Xuelian was afraid of losing his troops and power, but that the Uighur generals who came with him were afraid of this.
Previously, Qin Mubai had only a few soldiers and had to rely heavily on this Huihe army. At that time, the 40,000 Huihe cavalry were very important to Qin Mubai. Now that the imperial court has sent an additional 150,000 troops to Guanxi, the number of Huihe soldiers and horses has suddenly dropped, and at the same time it is naturally less important. Furthermore, Qin Mubai had previously used various means to annex the captured soldiers of Gaochang and Tubo. The Huihe people saw all these things. Although they wanted to do a huge favor with Qin Mubai, they didn't want to seriously lose such a huge capital of 40,000 cavalry.
Now that the favor has been done, it's time to retreat. Therefore, the generals of the Uighur tribe, that is, the cronies of the Uighur leader Tumidu, naturally resorted to this trick - forcing Xuelian to come forward and ask Qin Mubai to resign and leave.
Qin Mubai had already expected what happened today before he left Yumen Pass. Therefore, when faced with Xuelian's resignation, he was not surprised at all, but he still made a rather surprised expression and said, "I thought you... wouldn't leave!"
With a pun, Xue Lian's face suddenly turned a little red. She avoided Qin Mubai and said lightly, "What are you talking about? Why shouldn't I leave?"
"Aren't you pretending to be confused because you understand?" Qin Mubai laughed so shamelessly that he coughed twice and said, "I have written to the court and also to my family."
"That's none of my business..." Xue Lian's tone was still quite calm, but there was clearly a hint of throbbing and expectation in his eyes.
"Of course it's none of your business!" Qin Mubai said in a frightened manner, "You can't... seriously think of it, can you?"
"Stop beating around the bush and say what you have to say!" Blood Lotus bit his silver teeth, feeling a little anxious.
"Ahem... I just want to be tactful and leave a little room for thought and charm." Qin Mubai said with a smile. At this time, even he felt that he was really shameless - wasn't this just sacrificing his appearance for the sake of those 40,000 cavalry!
"Let me tell you." Chen Yan appeared.
"Sister Yan!" Xue Lian smiled happily and said, as if she were meeting a relative, "You're here!"
Chen Yan nodded and smiled and sat down next to Xue Lian. She smiled and said, "Sister, don't leave. It's good to stay in the Central Plains. The grassland is your hometown, but as far as I know, your Ashina tribe has disappeared. How can you feel like home when you return to the grassland and live under the fence? On the contrary, there are quite a few Ashina people who were granted the title and settled in Chang'an. For example, General Ashina Simo is now called Li Simo, right? ? Even I know several of them! Come on, come back to Chang'an with us after the war. Don't tell me that you are a direct descendant of the Ashina tribe. Just because of your merits, the court has no reason to treat you badly. . Besides, sister, I can still accompany you, and I can also bring your sister and the relatives you miss from the grassland. By then, after you have lived in Chang'an for three to five months, you will definitely not want to leave. How wonderful!”
"That's true, but..." These words obviously went into Xue Lian's heart. What she cared about was not the grasslands and the army, but her family and her sister. But now, her family is gone. If she can bring her sister to live with her in Zhongyuan, she will naturally be happy. Although he was persuaded, Xuelian was still very hesitant.
"But you can't defeat the generals under your command, right?" Qin Mubai revealed the secret.
Xue Lian was startled at first, then sighed a little, nodded helplessly, and said: "My name is the commander-in-chief. Actually, I have six generals who command six battalions respectively. These people are all Tumidu's close confidants. In fact, They are clamoring to leave, what can I do?"
Qin Mubai laughed heartily, waved his hands and said, "It's really hard to make a light on the lamp and speak clearly! If you tell me that, I will have a solution! Don't worry, let alone the six confidant generals. Even if Tumidu is here in person, I can make him docile! - His Majesty, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, once said that since the Han and Hu families are close, since these 40,000 Uighur compatriots have come, they can settle down in Lanzhou with peace of mind! Come on, don’t leave! Whether you want to get married and have children or cattle, sheep and land, we can arrange it! The relatives on the other side of the grassland can also come over one after another. - Grassland nomads often say that a place with relatives and grassland is the place. Hometown? Don’t worry, it will all be there.”
"I can't control this matter." Blood Lotus curled his lips, "It's easy for you to say, go and convince them!"
"Okay." Qin Mubai smiled slyly and agreed simply.
Xuelian looked at his smiling face, half happy and half surprised, thinking: He can even surrender the Tibetan enemy, let alone a few Uighur generals? It seems that he has already planned it, and sooner or later he will capture these 40,000 horses! ...Forget it, it's not the tribe and soldiers of my Ashina family, so if it falls into the hands of anyone, it won't bother me at all, let alone feel bad. This man named Qin is clearly a man who is not afraid of trouble. He is ambitious and tough, and he dares to do anything. Now I just hope that this matter will not cause a dispute between Uighur and Datang!