Li Hong smiled, patted Pei Xingjian's armor, and asked, "How is it? Is the armor much better now than before?"
Pei Xingjian looked at the smile on Li Hong's face. During this period of time, it seemed that His Highness the Crown Prince had grown up a lot, and he looked more mature and wise.
"Thank you, Protector. I originally thought that this piece of armor would be like other pieces of armor. After several cuts, the rubber bands would break and the pieces of armor would fall off. But after looking at your armor, it turned out to be made of iron. It's nailed, there's no need to worry about this back and forth attack," Pei Xingjian said, patting the armor leaf on his chest.
"Yes, the chain armor is too heavy, and it affects the cavalry's reaction ability too much. Besides, the chain armor is easily pierced by arrows and thrown weapons. Naturally, it is not as good as the Mingguang Armor we have improved now."
"Protector, I apologize for being rude. I feel that this armor should no longer be called bright light armor, but dark light armor." Accompanied by Li Hong, Pei Xingjian looked around the entire Qiuci City.
From his perspective as a war expert, he could naturally tell that the city of Qiuci was not very peaceful, especially at the north gate facing Ashina Duzhi, where there were obvious signs of cavalry entering and exiting.
Li Hong smiled and said nothing. Dark colors are more heat-absorbing in winter, and if they are there, they can provide a little warmth for the soldiers in the cold winter.
What's more, under the supervision of several princesses and aunts, the cotton clothes were sent over less than half a month after Pei Xingjian's expedition. This naturally solved the problem of the army fighting in severe cold weather when suppressing Shule City. cost.
Just like when Li Zhi knew that Wu Mei and the others needed to pay Li Hong more than half of the Ming Palace's money in the Western Regions, he couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh: "You little idiot, you're not going to the Western Regions to fight, you're just making money, so He doesn’t feel sorry for the money, I feel sorry for him.”
However, for the sake of the numerous victories, Li Zhi calmly accepted this huge expenditure. What's more, even if he didn't accept it, he had no suitable way to prevent a large amount of money from flowing into the Western Regions.
Pei Xingjian ate pig ears and gnawed on steaming pig trotters. When he finished listening to Quan Yi and Lawless describing what His Royal Highness Prince Li Hong had done in Qiuci City during this period, he clicked, and the words in his mouth The pig's hooves fell to the ground in surprise.
Pei Xingjian turned around blankly and looked at Li Hong. Pei Xingjian suddenly stood up, bowed deeply to Li Hong and said, "Your Highness, please bow to me."
After saying that, he lifted up the front of his robe, knelt down and kowtowed to Li Hong solemnly.
He really didn't expect that Li Hong's military exploits in Kucha City were so much more outstanding than his military exploits in suppressing Shule City!
His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, who has never been to the Western Regions, actually used the 20,000 horses in his hands and the not-so-well-defended Qiuci City to drive Ashina Duzhi deep into the grassland, without daring to show his head!
Li Hong calmly accepted Pei Xingjian's kneeling, raised his hand in the air to signal Pei Xingjian to stand up, and said: "There is no distinction between great and small military achievements. As long as it can defeat the enemy's arrogance, even if it is the recovery of an inch of land, it is a real military achievement. You Recapturing Shule City for the Tang Dynasty may not seem like a big achievement, but he has a greater and more far-reaching influence on us in Anxi than me driving Ashinadu to the depths of the grassland. "
"I would like to thank His Highness the Crown Prince for your compliment. I am willing to hand over all military power to His Highness the Crown Prince. I would like to ask Your Highness the Crown Prince to allow me to rest in Qiuci City for a few days, and then immediately rush to the grassland and capture Ashina Duzhi." Pei Xingjian looked at Li With a smile on his face, Hong solemnly asked for a fight.
"No rush." Li Hong shook his head, motioned for him to sit down and said: "This year, both the Yunzhong Protectorate and the grasslands under the jurisdiction of our Anxi Protectorate have experienced the rare white-haired wind natural disaster. Now Ashi Nazhi is huddled deep in the grassland, and he may not be able to regain his strength for a while. Even if we can capture him, others will emerge to rebel in the future. "
"What do you mean?" Pei Xingjian was excellent in both literature and military strategy. Since he did not send troops, he had to govern the territory under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Protectorate.
Li Hong picked up the wine glass and took a sip of wine. After arriving in the Western Region, even Xia Zhi and others began to drink some wine occasionally, not because they liked drinking, but because the weather was too cold and they needed to drink some wine to warm themselves up.
"Now, both Ashina Duzhi and Li Zhepei are at the end of their strength and have nothing to fear. They no longer pose a big threat to us. The people on the grassland are still the people of the Tang Dynasty in the final analysis, so Yuanri After that, give them some time to rest and relax. This year's white-haired wind is too terrible, so I have ordered the Ministry of Revenue to transport Wandan grain here after the first day. "
"No, Your Highness, such a large amount of food will attract them to come and snatch it by any means. At that time, I am afraid that we will be passive. And it is not only the cavalry of the Ashinadu clan who will snatch it, but also their people, in order to fill their stomachs, I will definitely not miss this opportunity." Pei Xingjian was shocked. According to His Royal Highness, this is not inviting thieves.
"That's it, not only to let them know that there is enough food here, but also to let them know that this food can be received for free!" Li Hong said confidently, looking at Pei Xingjian's frightened face.
Pei Xingjian frowned and couldn't figure out what Li Hong meant by this move. After thinking for a while, he couldn't think of a reason, so he said, "Please give me some advice, Your Highness."
Compared with the Central Plains, especially the rich and prosperous Tang Dynasty, the Western Regions are much poorer.
Even if you have money in the Western Regions, you will not be able to buy even a bucket of food during times of food shortage.
What's more, copper coins have been circulating in the Western Regions for many years, but the Western Regions still have not got rid of a large number of barter transactions. Therefore, no matter how much food is supplied to the Western Regions, it is not a very good idea to use money to buy and sell, or to provide disaster relief to the poor. Reasonable approach.
But if you want to control the nomads north of Kucha City and get them out of the control of the Ashinadu branch, you have to provide them with food. In this way, they will have a full stomach and will not follow Ashinadu. The branch continued to rebel.
So Li Hong pursued the Ashina Duzhi on the ice-covered grassland. After pursuing for more than half a month with no results, while riding his mount food stamps, he suddenly thought of food stamps, which existed in the previous life when the country was just founded. The form of transaction is that each person receives a fixed amount of food by ticket every month.
In this way, not only can the people under the Ashinadu branch have something to fill their stomachs, but it can also control them from rebelling. Receiving one monthly payment by voucher can also allow Li Hong to clearly understand the grasslands to the north. How many nomadic people are there in the world
Looking at Pei Xingjian who looked surprised and didn't quite understand, Li Hong continued: "Not only for them, but also for the entire Anxi Protectorate, this policy will be implemented to control their rebellion, and to find out the details. , How many people are there in the entire Anxi?"
"But the people on the grassland have many cattle and sheep, and they are temporarily short of them..."
"I'm afraid nine out of ten cattle and sheep froze to death on the grassland during this year's White Hair Typhoon. The herdsmen can have enough to eat, but what do they lack?" Li Hong reminded Pei Xingjian, who seemed to understand.
"They lack clothing, vegetables, tea, etc., which are all necessities they need, so you use food stamps to maintain balance. Will food stamps be used as a currency?"
Li Hong shook his head. It was impossible for food stamps to be used as currency. At this period, I am afraid that the necessary conditions for currency transactions cannot be fully met.
The purpose of using food stamps in this way is to use the wealth of the Tang Dynasty to control the nomads as much as possible. To put it bluntly, it is to use the items of the Tang Dynasty to pass the food stamps in exchange for a large number of war horses and other materials from the nomads, secretly weakening the nomads' continued The possibility of rebellion would free up space for Anxi to deal with powerful threats such as Tibet.
Pei Xingjian nodded as if he understood. Although His Highness the Crown Prince's strategy was not a long-term one, it was a temporary stabilization strategy in the complex and chaotic Anxi Protectorate.
"Then what should we do now?" Pei Xingjian asked.
"Xue Rengui is most suitable to guard Suiye. His legendary story of three arrows fixing the Tianshan Mountains gave him high prestige there. Wang Mingyuan now accompanies Belus to guard the Persian Governor's Mansion, ordering them to focus on defense and not to It’s easy to conflict with Baiyi Dashi.”
Li Hong looked at the sand table in the room, pointed at Suiye Town and said: "Shule is guarded by Hei Te Changzhi. If necessary, he can rush to Suiye or the Persian Governor's Mansion directly in front, and you, after Yuanri..."
"Your Highness, how about you stay here while I go to Khotan? Now there are more and more obvious signs that after Tubo celebrates Yuan Day and starts spring, they will definitely harass us on the border." Pei Xingjian hurriedly asked for orders.
Li Hong shook his head, a little embarrassed. Whether he was in Qiuci or Khotan, Pei Xingjian would be distracted by him, but Tubo was in a real plateau area, and his troops may not be able to adapt to the environment there.
As for his own Tiefutu, he still has the left guard and the lawless right guard led by Quan Yi. In the past few years, they have been taken to high altitudes for training for a period of time every year. These are not advantages that Pei Xingjian's troops can have.
"You are guarding Kucha, and there are still many things that need you to do. Not to mention that the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Household Affairs will send a large number of officials here. If I deal with them, they will feel worse than death every day. It is better for you to follow Let's deal with each other." Li Hong drew pictures around Qiuci City on the sand table with the wooden stick in his hand.
"Your Majesty, what do you mean?" Pei Xingjian was shocked. It seems that His Majesty the Crown Prince wants to carry out something big in Qiuci. It is not as simple as he thought at all.
(End of chapter)