Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 141: Hewei Jiedushi

"Drive! Drive! Drive..."

In mid-May, the sun shone scorchingly on the vast Hexi grassland, and the lush grass undulated in the wind like a huge green carpet.

The snow in the Qilian Mountains to the west melts and flows into rivers that nourish the entire grassland.

A team of more than ten light cavalrymen galloped on the official road, raising dust and the sound of horse hooves as rapid as drumbeats, breaking the tranquility of the grassland.

As the journey extended, they passed through countless post stations, changed horses, waded through turbulent rivers, and their footprints seemed to have covered every corner of this land.

Finally, after changing horses and galloping, a peaceful and tranquil scene came into their eyes.

The clear water, lush pastures and fields full of crops all made them feel relaxed and happy.

At the end of the road, a city loomed in their sight.

The city wall was tall and solid, and the gate tower was faintly visible. The soldiers guarding the gate blew wooden whistles at them, and they whipped their horses and sped towards the gate.

"A great victory in Liangzhou! Jiedushi Zhang led his army to recapture Liangzhou!"

"A great victory in Liangzhou..."

As the news that had accumulated for many days spread all around through their shouts, the anxiety and hard work in their hearts were replaced at this moment by the coming peace.

The leading team leader raised the silk letter in his hand which indicated an urgent need, which made the defenders at the city gate quickly put away the barricades and clear the passage.

In a flash, they rode their horses through the corridor and rushed into the city.

The word "Dunhuang" on the city gate is very eye-catching in the sun, and the sound of horse hooves also awakens the quiet life.

"A great victory in Liangzhou! Jiedushi Zhang led his army to recapture Liangzhou!"

The sound of victory news resounded all around, they wanted to let everyone in Hexi know... Liangzhou was recovered!
"Liangzhou has been recovered?!"

"Really recovered?"

"Was it recaptured by Jiedushi Xiao Zhang?"

"Great! Liangzhou has been recovered and Hexi has finally been opened up!!"

The people on both sides of the road realized what was happening only later, and after they reacted, they clapped and celebrated.

The recovery of Liangzhou meant that the official road from Liangzhou to Lingzhou was opened. Hexi was no longer a foreign land, but was closely connected with the Guannei Road.

"Liangzhou has been recovered! Jiedushi Zhang led his army to recover Liangzhou!"

In front of the Dunhuang government office, the foreman dismounted from his horse and walked quickly into the government office holding a silk book.

His voice had already spread throughout the main hall and the six rooms on both sides. Many officials walked out of the six rooms where they were on duty and looked at the team leader who was singing in the courtyard with surprised expressions.

While they were still debating whether to send troops to reinforce Zhang Huaishen, Zhang Huaishen slapped them all in the face with his actions.

Even without the help of the Guasha powerful, he still recovered Liangzhou, and at a speed far beyond everyone's imagination.

"Liangzhou has been recovered?"

Sitting in the Biejia Hall, Li En looked grim and stood up slowly.

At the same time, Suo Zhongyi also slowly stood up, but his expression was complicated.

Perhaps he was feeling lucky that he had arranged for Suo Xun to go to Ganzhou in advance.

If Zhang Huaishen were to recapture Liangzhou, Suo Xun's contribution would be indispensable.

Soon, footsteps were heard from the inner hall, and Zhang Yichao's figure appeared in front of everyone.

There was surprise on his face, obviously he didn't expect Zhang Huaishen to recapture Liangzhou in such a short time.

"Jiedushi! Great victory in Liangzhou!"

"Has Huai Shen recovered the entire territory of Liangzhou?"

He walked forward and helped up the cavalry captain who was bowing to him. The captain also nodded excitedly: "It's recovered! Jiedushi Zhang led Governor Liu to recover the entire territory of Liangzhou. I'm afraid they have already marched towards Lanzhou and Huizhou!"

"Jiedushi, the three official roads from Hexi to the interior will be opened soon!!"

The foreman was very excited, but Zhang Yichao was even more excited than him.

"Okay! Okay, okay..."

Zhang Yichao clenched his fists, took a deep breath and said, "Order Huai Shen to pass the news to Chang'an, and let my eldest brother tell the Supreme that Liangzhou has been recovered and the official roads are open!!"

After ninety years, the blocked Hexi Official Road was finally unobstructed.

Even people like Li En and Suo Zhongyi, who like to intrigue, couldn't help but feel a sense of pride when they heard the news.

Without relying on any power from the Tang Dynasty, they recovered the entire Hexi region and opened up the official road with their own strength.

At present, they also have to recover Huizhou and Lanzhou, and even the entire Longxi, and restore the former glory of Longyou Road.

"The glorious Tang Dynasty is a blessing to all nations!!"

Zhang Yichao laughed happily, and everyone in the courtyard couldn't hide their smiles on their faces.

Even though this matter was not in their best interests, they still couldn't help but feel happy.

"Jiedushi, now that Hexi has been recovered, we should ask the court for the title of Jiedushi of Hexi!"

"That's right. Only by obtaining the banner of the Hexi Jiedushi can we show our status to the four barbarians!"

"Jiedushi, please present the banner of the Jiedushi of Hexi..."

As everyone realized what was happening, they all suggested that Zhang Yichao report the victory to Chang'an and at the same time request the Hexi Jiedushi to issue a flag.

In the eyes of the people of Hexi, only by obtaining the banner of the Hexi Jiedushi could they wash away the injustice of their surrender to Tubo.

Zhang Yichao was delighted to hear this and nodded repeatedly: "Okay! Let Li Biejia handle this matter."

"Please present the banner of the Hexi Jiedushi to the imperial court, and ask the imperial court to reward the soldiers who have made great contributions in this eastern expedition!"

After that, Zhang Yichao opened Zhang Huaishen's silk book and discussed the rewards for the soldiers in this Eastern Expedition based on the contents of the book.

The person who made the greatest contribution in this battle was undoubtedly Zhang Huaishen, the commander-in-chief, followed by Liu Jilong, the governor of Lanzhou, Suo Xun, the governor of Huizhou, and Li Yizhong, the commander of Shandan…

Zhang Huaishen listed the contributions of everyone on a silk book. The book, which was less than two feet long, contained thousands of words praising their contributions.

After Zhang Yichao announced the content, everyone was speechless.

There was no other reason, it was because they all knew the contents of the silk book.

Liu Jilian is undoubtedly the one with the greatest contribution, but he is only 19 years old and has already served as the governor of Lanzhou. With his merits, promotion to the second level will not be a problem.

But the problem was that if he was promoted to the second level, that would be a position that even Zhang Yichao was not qualified to confer.

"I think that Liu Jilong can be appointed as the governor of Ganzhou and the defense envoy of Liangzhou!"

"That's right, Liu Jilong can be the governor of Ganzhou and the defense envoy of Liangzhou!"

Suddenly, Li En and Suo Zhongyi stood up and bowed to praise Liu Jilong's achievements.

Just the words of these two people instantly calmed down everyone in the yamen.

Zhang Huaishen is already the Jiedushi of Ganzhou and Liangzhou. If Liu Jilian serves as the governor of Ganzhou and the defense envoy of Liangzhou, who should make the decisions on the affairs of Ganzhou and Liangzhou?
Li En and Suo Zhongyi obviously wanted to make it impossible for Gan and Liang states to find anyone who could take action, so that it would be easier for them to place people in Gan and Liang.

Thinking of this, the others also became restless.

But before they could speak, Zhang Yichao said in a deep voice: "I am going to propose to the court that Liu Jilong be appointed as the governor of Hewei!"

"Hewei Jiedushi?!" After hearing Zhang Yichao's words, everyone burst into discussion.

"Liu Jilong is only nineteen years old, and he is appointed as the governor of Hewei?"

"There is Linzhou between Hezhou and Weizhou. If he is appointed as the governor of Hezhou and Weizhou, what will happen to Linzhou?"

"What can we do? It's naturally under his jurisdiction."

"Isn't that the governor of Sanzhou?"

"This……"

For a moment, everyone was talking about Zhang Yichao's words.

While everyone was discussing, Zhang Yichao slammed the table and said, "I will propose to the court that Zhang Huaishen be appointed as the governor of Gan and Liang and the defense commissioner of Hexi."

"Liu Jilong was promoted to Jiedushi of Helin and Weizhou, Defense Commissioner of Helin and Weizhou, and Surveillance Commissioner of Lanzhou."

"Suo Xun was promoted to Jiedushi of Huining Army, and governor of Huizhou and concurrently defense envoy."

"Li Yizhong was promoted to Jiedushi of Guangwu Army, and governor and defense envoy of Lanzhou."

"Wine Juyan..."

Zhang Yichao successively announced the rewards for the generals. Among them, Zhang Huaishen was ranked after the Hexi Jiedushi as the Hexi Defense Commissioner, and Liu Jilian was in charge of three states and observed one state.

Suo Xun secured the position of governor and defense envoy of Huizhou, and Li Yizhong also obtained the position of governor and defense envoy of Lanzhou.

Although the five states of Huizhou, Lanzhou, Hezhou, Linzhou and Weizhou have not yet been recovered, as long as these titles fall into their hands, with the means of Liu Jilian and others, it is only a matter of time to take over these places.

Thinking of this, everyone looked at each other. Li En and Suo Zhongyi looked at each other and understood what Zhang Yichao was thinking.

Since Liu Jilian could not be given any more titles, let him go to Longxi and set up his own faction.

In this way, he could avoid others from provoking the relationship between him and Zhang Huaishen.

It seems that Zhang Yichao wants to give the future position of Hexi Jiedushi to Zhang Huaishen, while Liu Jilong wants to rely on his ability to see if he can take the position of Longxi Jiedushi. If Liu Jilong can recover the entire Longxi, then Zhang Yichao will not lose out. If not, when Zhang Huaishen takes the position of Hexi Jiedushi, it will not be too late for Liu Jilong to come back.

Thinking of this, the two men looked grim. After all, they already knew about the events in Liang Province. The Guiyi Army now had 3,000 cavalry and 17,000 infantry, totaling 20,000 cavalry and infantry.

Among these 20,000 people, Zhang Huaishen and Liu Jilian commanded 16,000 people, and their military power basically overwhelmed all the generals from powerful families.

If they want to bargain with Zhang Yichao, they have to wait until Huizhou and Lanzhou fall into the hands of the two families.

After thinking it over, both of them tacitly kept silent.

Seeing this, Zhang Yichao looked at Zhang Huairong and said, "Huairong, send light cavalry to deliver the silk book to Liangzhou!"

"Yes!" Zhang Huairong was prepared, so he quickly bowed and accepted the gesture.

Soon, the news of the great victory in Liangzhou spread throughout the streets and alleys of Dunhuang, but ordinary people were not aware of the rewards within the government.

Li En and Suo Zhongyi got together and went up to the Drum Tower in the city. Looking at the happy expressions of the people in the city when they learned that Liangzhou had been recovered, although they were also very happy in their hearts, they were still thinking about what had just happened.

"With Liu Jilong's talent, even if he can't expel Shang Yanxin, it will be no problem for him to gain a foothold in Lanzhou and Hezhou."

Li En spoke slowly, and Suo Zhongyi nodded in approval.

Seeing that he did not refute, Li En continued: "If your son lacks straightforwardness in Huizhou, I can send more than ten nephews and nieces from my clan to help."

"Huizhou has a population of more than 20,000 people and is adjacent to Guannei Road. If it can be recovered and governed well, its potential will be no less than that of Ganzhou."

"As for Lanzhou, I will go to Ganzhou in person to ask Li Wei what he wants to do."

After saying this, Li En looked at Suo Zhongyi, who said, "We should have contacted the court earlier."

"The Zhang family dominates Hexi. If Liu Jilong also recaptures Longxi, the Zhang family will own the Hexi and Longxi areas, and the imperial court will probably be wary of them."

"If we ask, the court will definitely help us."

After Suo Zhongyi finished speaking, he found that Li En was looking at him with a frown, and couldn't help asking: "What do you mean by this?"

In response, Li En said impatiently: "Although we want to make the clan stronger, it is not easy to recover Hexi. If it is torn apart, I don't want to see it."

"I don't want to have any contact with the imperial court."

“Haha…” Suo Zhongyi laughed and said, “Li Biejia, don’t forget that you and I will eventually go to Chang’an.”

"If I can restrain Zhang Yichao, I will feel more comfortable in Chang'an."

"That can't mess up the situation in Hexi!" Li En said dissatisfiedly:

"We have finally recovered Hexi. If it is torn apart because of some private fights, allowing the Uighurs and Tubo to take advantage of the situation and invade, then it will be a loss."

"Okay, okay..." Suo Zhongyi didn't want to break up with Li En, so he could only follow and say, "Then do as you say and don't contact the court for the time being."

Seeing that he agreed, Li En nodded and walked down the Drum Tower.

Soon, a member of the Suo family came up cautiously and said tentatively: "Li En is unwilling to contact the court, so we..."

"What do you care about him?"

In front of his family, Suo Zhongyi did not hide anything and said directly: "When Dalang recaptures Huizhou, we are close to the Guannei Road. Are we afraid that the court will not come to look for us?"

"That being said..." The Suo family member hesitated and said, "What if the court tries to win over Liu Jilong?"

"If he recovers Longxi, the official road between Helong and Longxi will be completely unblocked. Besides, he is not a descendant of the Zhang family. He just received the favor of the Zhang family."

"What if the court tries to win him over and he turns against the court? Then won't we be left with nothing?"

"Humph!" Suo Zhongyi snorted coldly, "Let's wait until he recovers the three states of He, Lin and Wei."

"It was because Zhang Yichao mobilized the power of Hexi to support Ganzhou that he was able to win battle after battle."

"Now that he has gone to Longxi, I want to see if he can still win battle after battle!"

After saying this, he turned around, walked down the Drum Tower, and returned to the yamen.

However, when he arrived at the yamen, he happened to meet Zhang Huairong.

"The news from Liangzhou must be told to Master Hongbian in time."

"Take your orders!"

Zhang Huairong was arranging light cavalry to deliver the news of the great victory in Liangzhou to Sanwei Mountain in the south.

Seeing Suo Zhongyi coming, he still bowed to him and said, "Suo, the governor..."

"Are you going to send a message to Sanwei Mountain?" Suo Zhongyi asked with a smile on his face. Zhang Huairong also nodded:

"He should also know about these things in Hexi."

"That's true." Suo Zhongyi nodded with a smile, then walked into the yamen.

Looking at his back, Zhang Huairong frowned slightly, but still looked at the light cavalry: "Go!"

Following his instructions, the cavalry quickly mounted their horses and headed out of the city. According to their normal pace, it would take about two hours...

Sanwei Mountain is located more than 40 miles southeast of Dunhuang City and has been recorded as early as ancient times.

Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened up the Silk Road, Dunhuang, as an important city in the western frontier, has become a transportation hub connecting the Central Plains and the Western Regions, a commercial center along the Silk Road, and a place where various ethnic groups and cultures converge.

Among them, Buddhist culture and art introduced from South Asia via the Silk Road developed here and intensified.

During the Former Qin Dynasty, Zen Master Faliang built a temple here, and Sanwei Mountain has since become a famous Buddhist holy land in the Western Regions.

By the Tang Dynasty, the reputation of this place had spread even more widely. Even after Tubo conquered Shazhou, they still showed great respect to the monks in the temples of Sanwei Mountain.

Because of this, Hong Bian, a descendant of the Wu family, was able to rely on his great virtue to help Zhang Yichao start an uprising and recapture Shazhou...

"Dang Dang Dang——"

When the bell rang among the green mountains, everyone in the temple knew that something big was happening.

Many monks rushed to the temple, and a young novice also hurriedly trotted to a mountain wall full of caves.

"Master Wuzhen! The temple bell is ringing!!"

The young monk put his hands in front of him and shouted, but in a cave somewhere in the mountain wall, a figure seemed to be oblivious to his shouting and was concentrating on painting on the rock wall.

He was drawing on the rock wall, and the picture was almost completed. From right to left, there were hundreds of people drawn in sequence, including military cavalry, civil cavalry, and flag bearers.

In the picture, a tall general wearing armor and a leather belt is riding a black horse. Behind him is a large flag with the word "Liu" on it, as if he is going on an expedition.

Although the picture does not move, it reveals a majestic momentum of recovering the mountains and rivers.

"Master Wuzhen, are you still painting?"

The young monk arrived in front of the cave at some point and panted, "The temple is calling for you!"

"You can go in my place. I don't think the great Hongbian will blame me."

Wuzhen was concentrating on painting this march mural, and the young monk had no choice but to leave when he saw this.

There are several such murals in the cave. In addition to the murals, there are also statues of soldiers and generals.

In the main part of the cave, a statue over six feet tall is extremely eye-catching.

He was wearing armor and an embroidered robe, holding a bow and arrows, a spear in his hand, and two hammers on his waist. Although he looked majestic, his eyes were kind.

It was very cool inside the cave, and Wuzhen was painting very seriously.

Every time he painted a stroke, he would step back a few steps, carefully observe the entire picture, and nod before continuing to paint.

Time passed little by little, and gradually dusk came.

When it became dark in the cave, he lit a dozen candles and continued to paint.

Soon, hurried footsteps were heard outside the cave, followed by panting sounds.

"Wu Zhen Da De! Wu Zhen Da De!"

The little monk came back, looking very excited.

"Liangzhou has been recovered!!"

As the young monk shouted out this sentence excitedly, Wuzhen, who was about to put pen to paper, paused and his eyes gradually regained clarity.

He straightened up in disbelief and turned to look at the little monk: "What did you say?"

"Liangzhou has been recovered! Xiao Zhang, the governor, and Liu, the governor, sent troops to Yanzhi Mountain and recovered the entire territory of Liangzhou. The official road between Hexi and Guannei has been opened!!"

The little monk was dancing with excitement, but Wuzhen just stood there in a daze.

"As long as you work hard, you will achieve it..."

The look on Liu Jilong's face when he said this flashed through his mind, and Wuzhen couldn't help but smile.

He looked back at the statue and seemed to see Liu Jilong smiling at him.

He looked at the painting in front of him again, and the scene of hundreds of elite cavalrymen on an expedition seemed to come alive.

"Great Master, you don't know..."

The little monk was still dancing, but Wuzhen continued to paint the mural.

Only this time, there was a hint of smile on his face...

(End of this chapter)