Walking through the dry desert full of yellow sand, the beautiful oasis gradually appeared in front of the men.
Perhaps only on the edge of an extremely harsh desert can you find such an otherworldly paradise. Clear streams, lush vegetation, the fragrance of flowers floating in the wind, the endless green oasis grassland, and white birds flying over the water make it seem like a fairyland.
Haha, there was loud laughter from the men all around. The soldiers happily ran to the stream, scooped up the spring water and poured it on their faces. The smiling faces in the splashing water made Li Chuyun and others smile.
Li Chuyun gazed at the vast expanse of land under the blue sky and white clouds for a long time. He stroked his big beard under his red face with a smile and praised loudly: Feng'an Feng'an, both fertile and peaceful.
From afar came the shouts of military generals, and the soldiers rode their horses and waded across the stream. In the quiet and beautiful oasis, the wet fur of the war horses was shiny and slippery, and the agile men laughed and shouted. The place was soon enveloped by a warm and noisy atmosphere.
The central army rode their horses slowly across the stream, admiring the beautiful scenery along the way with great interest.
Soon a ruined wall came into view ahead. The accompanying Deputy Privy Councilor Wei Renpu suddenly climbed down from his horse, threw the reins to the attendant who was leading the horse, and walked to the bushes to pull out the weeds.
Li Chuyun and the others reined in their horses and looked at the broken stone tablet Wei Renpu had found. Without even turning his head, Wei Renpu said: The tablet erected by the Sui Dynasty army here
Wei Renpu's voice sounded a little strange. Li Chuyun couldn't help but look at his back and said casually: It must have been more than three hundred years.
Today we are back again
Li Chuyun was stunned, because Wei Renpu's voice was completely distorted and choked with sobs, and his eyes were red.
There were broken walls among the weeds, and the walls were covered with blackened ash from the herdsmen's burning. There was no one in front of them, and it was a wasteland. But when I looked back, I saw a large number of galloping cavalrymen moving forward, with the sound of powerful horse hooves and rough horse whistles floating in the air. We are back, Li Chuyun was also slightly moved.
He gradually understood Wei Renpu's feelings. What he missed was not the ruins of the stone tablets and walls, nor the place of Feng'an, but the generosity of the dynasty and the prosperity of the world.
Wei Renpu stood in front of the stone tablet, touching the Chinese characters on the old stone with tears in his eyes, and pondered for a long time. Perhaps for a man with a broad mind, the homeland is not just a small piece of land in his hometown, but the entire China, the vast land that the Han cavalry once set foot on.
Li Chuyun waited for a while, then rode away and called his subordinates to deploy the camps of various armies. The army was going to be stationed here and build a fort.
The army camped in different camps until dark, when the tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry that arrived in batches were finally deployed. The central army was inside a wall of earth. At this time, bonfires were lit on the grassland, and the firelight in the dark night made the wilderness more prosperous.
Li Chuyun, Shi Yanchao, Wei Renpu, Zan Jurun and other top officials stayed in a tent, cooking meat soup around an earthen stove.
Several people looked at Wei Renpu with strange eyes, probably because of the incident during the day, but he had regained his composure. In the firelight, two soldiers unfolded the rolled thick paper sketch in the tent.
Wei Renpu walked over, looked around for a while, then turned around and said: "When Zhang Qian was sent to the west by the Sui Emperor, he went through Dadoubagu Biandukou to Zhangye in Ganzhou. But now most of Longyou is in the hands of the Tibetans, and we rely on the Lingzhou grain route, so the army has to take the northern route to Hexi."
He pointed at the yellowed map. Here, in the old city of Jingtai County, west of Feng'an, there were two fortresses built. On the one hand, they could store military rations along the way, and on the other hand, they had a stronghold to maintain the smooth flow of food.
After the Dangxiang tribes have fled, if the Tibetans come to see them, we will negotiate peace and appease them so that they will not act rashly. The first places our army will capture are Hexi Liangzhou, Ganzhou and Suzhou. During the construction of the fort, we can send secret envoys to the west to contact the Guiyi Army and ask them to attack from the east and west.
Zan Jurun pondered and said: "The plan of the Wei deputy envoy is very good, but the leader of Liangzhou is a Wumo people, and there are Tubo Liugu tribes. If the Daxu army attacks the Tubo people in Liangzhou, can it appease the Tubo tribes in the south?"
The ethnic groups in the northwest are very complicated, and even Li Chuyun was not quite clear about it. It was only after listening to the civil servants that he roughly understood that the Umu people were the natives of Liangzhou and used to be slaves of the Tibetan nobles. There were not only Tibetans but also Han people and other slaves mixed together. Later, the slaves on the Hexi side became free and independent and were called the Umu tribe.
At this time, Wei Renpu said: "Emu is a native, and the Tubo tribes will not care about them at all. Although Liugu tribe is a Tubo tribe, the Tubo tribes have long been divided. As long as we deal with it properly, we can still appease the Tubo tribes living in Qingtang Lanzhou and other places.
Zan Jurun bowed and said: “What the Deputy Envoy of Wei said is absolutely true.”
Wei Renpu bowed to Li Chuyun and said: "Mr. Li, what do you think?"
Li Chuyun said: The strategy of the Wei deputy envoy is very sound. The Dangxiang people along the way can be driven to Qingtang and other places to prevent them from harassing the grain route in anger.
Wei Renpu turned to look at Shi Yanchao again.
Shi Yanchao was stunned: Why are you looking at me? Just do whatever you say.
Wei Renpu said calmly: Expelling the Dangxiang people will inevitably result in innocent casualties, which is not a glorious thing. It is better for Mr. Shi not to go. Wait for Feng Jiye to arrive in Feng'an another day and then ask Feng Jiye to go.
Shi Yanchao snorted and did not comment.
The soldiers stepped forward and stirred the soup in the iron pot with a spoon. They had almost finished talking and stopped talking. Li Chuyun walked out of the tent and looked up.
The northwest sky was clear and full of bright stars. Li Chuyun suddenly felt a sense of vastness. At this moment, it seemed that the earth was not so solid, as if it was floating in the sky. In the vast earth, people seemed insignificant.
At this moment, a horse neighed at the entrance of the central army camp between the two broken walls. Li Chuyun came to his senses and looked in the direction where the noise came from. The knight on the horse came in a hurry, and the horse suddenly stopped, with its front hooves lifted into the air, and then there was a noisy sound of inquiry.
Li Chuyun stood outside the tent and waited for a while. Soon, his personal soldier came with a man leading a horse and reported: "General, this man is a messenger. He came from Lingzhou and brought news from Tokyo."
After hearing this, the messenger clasped his fists and said, "I pay my respects to Lord Li, the founding general of the Hexi Army." Then he handed over the lacquered letter.
Li Chuyun glanced at the seal, took the things and turned to go into the account. The voice of the personal guard came from behind: You wait here first, if there is no summons, we will take you to settle down.
Li Chuyun walked into the tent, sat down behind the wooden table on the north side, and took out a knife to open the seal. Wei Renpu immediately turned around when he saw this.
"The letter from the Privy Council," Li Chuyun said, and he read it first. The more he read, the deeper his frown deepened.
Wei Renpu noticed this and stepped forward to ask: What did the Privy Council say
Li Chuyun handed the letter over. Wei Renpu also looked unhappy after reading it: The Liao army was deploying troops in the northeast, and might invade in large numbers.
The other two people also quickly took the letter from Wei Renpu and passed it around.
Wei Renpu pondered and said: The Liao people fought several battles in Youzhou, suffered heavy losses, and were defeated at Wuding River. I heard that now a young boy is the leader of the country, and he dares to raise troops to march south.
Li Chuyun stroked his thick black beard and said nothing.
Zan Jurun was carefully looking at the traces of the lacquer seal and the seal on the letter paper. Of course, it couldn't be fake. Wei Renpu was a senior member of the Privy Council. If the letter was fake, any clue would reveal it.
Zan Jurun said: It is said that Li Yiyin is in the Tangut tribal coalition. He has already colluded with the Liao people. The Liao army is preparing to attack from the east and west.
Wei Renpu did not say anything, and Zan Jurun was a little embarrassed. Shi Yanchao just cursed: Damn it, we came all the way here, are we going to fight in the west
Zan Jurun took the opportunity to turn around and talk to Shi Yanchao: The Privy Council didn't say anything in the letter, I just knew the news.
At this time, Li Chuyun finally slammed the table: draft the strategy discussed tonight into a memorial and submit it to the court. Before receiving the military order, act according to the plan.
Wei Renpu nodded and agreed: "Mr. Li and the Front Camp Military Office of our army are responsible for the Western Expedition and cannot take care of the Northeast. However, it is necessary to contact the Tokyo court as soon as possible. If the court fights on two fronts, our strategy will have to consider the risks more. At the same time, write a letter to Wang Pu, the king's envoy, and ask him to inform the news of the Military Department as soon as possible. We must find out what the Liao army is doing.
Li Chuyun said: Is it possible that the Liao people are mobilizing troops in the Northeast just for show
Wei Renpu said: I can't say for sure. It's really hard to predict. Although Liao lost Youyun, its cavalry is still strong. Otherwise, the situation would not be like this now. The grassland would have been in chaos long ago.
At this time, the servants came up with bowls of broth and a basket of hot dry wheat cakes. Everyone started to eat and drink heartily. When they were on the battlefield, they rode horses every day, so even the civil servants had a good appetite.
The only sounds left in the tent were the slurping of soup and the rustling of chewing; the tent became quiet and dull.
Li Chuyun had followed Guo Shao for many years and had rich experience in fighting in many battles. He felt that something was not right at this moment, but he could not explain why. He just relied on his intuition.
At this time, the intelligence from scouts was not very accurate, and many things had to be guessed. Li Chuyun, a general who could lead troops for a long time, was not a pure reckless man. He had a very sensitive sense of smell, otherwise he would have fallen into the trap in many battles.
There was a rustling sound of wind outside the tent, and a cool breeze blew in from the door, blowing the fire under the iron pot, causing the flames to shake and sparks to fly.
Li Chuyun was stunned for a while in the flickering firelight, then he picked up the bowl and drank it in one gulp as if nothing had happened. He then tore off a piece of wheat cake and put it in his mouth to chew. The military rations were very difficult to chew, but after chewing for a while, they tasted sweet and were not that bad.
Wei Renpu threw the bowl on the ground, stood up and said: "I would like to borrow Mr. Li's paper and pen. I will write a memorial now and send a fast horse back to the capital tomorrow morning."