Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 295: Heroes Come Out
"What is Duan Zongbang doing? Why can't he take over Rongzhou?!"

In mid-April, while the Southern Court and the Northern Court were channeling financial resources toward Gao Pian, You Shilong outside Qingxi Pass became restless.

His original plan was to lead his troops to delay the main force of Xichuan, and use Duan Zongbang and Yang Jisi to suddenly attack and capture Rongzhou.

As a result, the surprise attack turned into a stalemate, and it was not a very good fight.

You must know that Duan Zongbang and Yang Jisi were the ones who swept across Pyu and Zhenla in the past, but now the battle is dragging on, with heavy casualties.

Such a process and result were really hard for You Shilong to accept.

If we fail to capture Rongzhou in summer and autumn, the war will be delayed for another year when heavy snow falls in winter.

Although the foundation of the great gift is still strong, it cannot withstand such consumption.

What's more, if they fought like this, Rongzhou would be reduced to a wasteland in the end, and they would have to spend time recuperating, which was not what he expected.

"Your Majesty, Gao Pian is also a good general in the Tang army and is not easy to deal with."

"That's right. From his previous military operations, we can see that he is not easy to deal with. Moreover, Zongzhou is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the city is small and high, so it is not easy to attack."

Inside the tent, Fan Cuixie and Zhao Nuomei kept explaining for Duan Zongbang and others in order to appease You Shilong.

Although Youshilong is precocious, he is still young after all.

But at the age of eighteen, one is just beginning to lose patience.

In matters as important as those between nations, we must not lose sight of the bigger picture because of pettiness.

"Forget it!" You Shilong frowned and waved his hands, then stood up and said righteously:

"Since they can't take Rongzhou, I will take Qingxi Pass!"

Yu Shilong said calmly: "From now on, I will personally take charge of the front line."

"In addition, order Dong Cheng to recruit 30,000 barbarian soldiers from Wangman, Jinchi and other places to rush to support Qingpingguan. There must be no mistakes!"

"Your Majesty, I accept your order..." Fan Cuixie and Zhao Nuomei bowed and responded one after another, while fast horses were sending You Shilong's imperial edict to Yangzhumie City in the rear.

The next day, Yu Shilong personally took charge of the front line, and the morale of the Dali army was boosted. The offensive, which had already shown signs of decline, was intensified again, and the barbarians rushed forward like a tide.

Inside and outside Qingxi Pass, there was constant flames of war and corpses everywhere. This once majestic pass had become a meat grinder, constantly devouring the lives of the Dali barbarian army and the Xichuan Tang army.

"kill!!"

"Boom bang bang-"

Xiahou Zi seemed to have aged several years. Even though he was hiding inside the pass and not standing on the city gate, he could still feel the high morale of the Dali army from the deafening shouts of killing.

"Prime Minister, how long will it take for our army's catapults to be built?"

Yang Fugong, his armor stained with blood, walked into the temporary government office inside the city gate. Xiahou Zi felt heavy-hearted when he heard this.

"Thirty catapults are still being made. They will be ready for deployment in three days at most. However, there are no suitable trees for making catapults within a one-mile radius of the official road inside Qingxi Pass..."

The war was undoubtedly cruel. After nearly a year of tug-of-war, all the trees on both sides of the nearly 50-mile official road from Qingxi Pass to Dadu River were cut down.

Especially the trees within a radius of more than ten miles near Qingxi Pass were all cut down, and the entire mountain was bare.

This is not only true inside the Great Wall, but also outside the Great Wall.

The amount of firewood consumed by the more than 100,000 troops and civilians of Dali and Datang is incalculable.

Hundreds of acres of forest need to be cut down every day to meet the needs of the two armies.

The war lasted for nearly half a year, and the surrounding mountains and forests were cut down for nearly half a year.

"How many troops are there inside the pass?"

Xiahou Zi looked at Yang Fugong, and Yang Fugong said calmly: "There are less than 3,000 cavalry and less than 5,000 mule troops."

"The extra 3,000 horses and mules have been driven back to Meizhou, where soldiers are being recruited."

The war lasted for more than a year, and the horses, mules, and elite cavalry that Bai Minzhong had painstakingly built up in the past had now been consumed bit by bit by the war.

Although there are more than 40,000 soldiers and horses in Xichuan, no less than 10,000 of them have died on the battlefield.

Xiahou Zi still had 8,000 mule and horse troops and 2,000 elite cavalry. Although there were more than 26,000 soldiers and horses in the north, 6,000 of them were stationed in Wei and Ya states on the western front.

In addition, 5,000 elite troops were also left in the three states of Wen, Fu and Yi in the north.

Excluding these 20,000-odd soldiers, the remaining 10,000-odd soldiers are not fit for duty. They are more than enough to guard Xichuan, but if they are used to defend the city, they may move in in the morning and capture the city in the evening.

"I want to return to Meizhou to recruit soldiers. I wonder how long you can hold Qingxi Pass with the troops you have?"

Xiahou Zi asked Yang Fugong about this. Yang Fugong was stunned, but still thought: "If we fight to the last soldier, we can at least hold out for half a year."

"No..." Xiahou Zi shook his head to interrupt him, and explained:
"This is the only place where Lizhou's troops remain. If Qingxi Pass cannot be defended, you will need to leave troops to guard Tongwang and Kuoqing."

"Even if we rely on the danger of the Dadu River, we still need to leave 5,000 soldiers behind."

"This..." Yang Fugong didn't expect Xiahou Zi to have such high demands, and his face couldn't help but look ugly.

After thinking for a while, he finally said calmly: "At least three months..."

"Three months?" Xiahou Zi said bitterly. It was now mid-April, and three months later would only be mid-July.

As a result, he also needed to increase troops to garrison the Dadu River defense line to prevent You Shilong from attacking the hinterland of Lizhou on the north bank of the Dadu River.

"In two months, I will dispatch 5,000 soldiers to aid you, but I will need to take the elite cavalry with me."

Xiahou Zi was not discussing this with Yang Fugong, and Yang Fugong was also aware of this.

Qingxi Pass is in a dangerous position, and the elite cavalry can only be used as infantry here, so there is really no need for them to stay.

"Before July, I will dispatch 5,000 troops to support Lizhou!"

"Yes……"

Faced with Xiahou Zi's words, Yang Fugong had no choice but to agree.

Seeing this, Xiahou Zi did not stay any longer and immediately summoned two thousand elite cavalrymen in Qingxi Pass to retreat.

With Xiahou Zi's withdrawal, the morale of the remaining 8,000 Tang troops in Qingxi Pass was low. Even if Yang Fugong opened the treasury to reward the troops, it would be of no avail.

The offensive of the Dali army became more and more fierce. Siege weapons such as cloud chariots, Lu Gong chariots, and battering rams were used one after another, and the barbarians surged to the top of the city like a tide.

The Xichuan soldiers fought desperately, and amid the flashes of swords and sabers, their blood seemed to have seeped into the wall, turning the entire wall dark red.

Yang Fugong personally put on armor and went into battle, holding a sword, fighting side by side with the soldiers.

"Military Supervisor, the Dali people's nest car is coming up again!" the deputy general shouted anxiously.

Xiahou Zi looked up and saw Dali's chariot towering into the clouds. Bows and crossbows on the chariot were firing at the same time, and arrows were pouring down like rain.

Many unfortunate Xichuan soldiers were shot in the cheeks, arms, calves and other weak points of defense, and fell headfirst, putting the defense line on the wall in danger.

"Wait until they get close, then smash the asphalt and burn the nest car!"

Yang Fugong shouted orders, and Qingxi Pass held out in this bloody battle day after day until May.

Xiahou Zi led two thousand elite cavalry to retreat to Meizhou, and recruited 20,000 soldiers in Meizhou, Jiazhou and other states.

After the news spread, many men joined the army because of exploitation by the government, but the treasury of Xichuan was also in danger.

Xiahou Zi reported to Chang'an and intercepted the summer grain that was being shipped.

Although Li Yi was dissatisfied, the war on the front line was in danger, so he finally agreed after being strongly persuaded by Bai Minzhong, Pei Xiu and others.

At the same time, Gao Pian of Rongzhou was fighting with Duan Zongbang.

Gao Pian sent Zhang Lin and Lin Ruzhen to lead 3,000 elite cavalry out of Xunzhou to harass Pinzhou, Jingchuan and other places occupied by Duan Zongbang.

There were not many barbarian troops in the two cities to begin with, and the people in the cities were loyal to the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Lin and his men captured the two cities with only a hundred casualties.

Duan Zongbang was worried about losing, and his food supply route was threatened from the flank, so he gave up attacking Zongzhou and retreated back to Hujin City.

The battle of Rongzhou came to a temporary end. The Dongchuan army suffered more than 3,000 casualties, and no less than 15,000 barbarian soldiers under Duan Zongbang were also killed.

Dali still has 50,000 troops in Rongzhou, and You Shilong did not punish Duan Zongbang because he failed to capture Qingxi Pass. Perhaps he was worried that he could not capture Qingxi Pass either, and it would be difficult to explain.

The war in the southwest was imminent, refugees were everywhere in Guandong, the common people in Jiangdong were suffering from taxes, and the three towns in Hebei were still free.

Faced with such a situation, Li Yi in Chang'an did not feel too much sense of crisis.

After he returned to Chang'an from his tour, he continued to lead a life of constant music performance in Zichen and Xianning.

The only event worth mentioning in Chang'an was that Feng Ao retired and returned to his hometown, leading his people to Longyou. Feng Bangyan replaced Feng Ao as a hostage and served as the Minister of Rites.

In addition, there is the illness of Zhang Yitan, the father of Anxi Deputy Protector-General Zhang Huaishen.

Seventy-five-year-old Zhang Yitan has been suffering from minor illnesses since the beginning of the year. Although there are not many visitors, most of them are high-ranking officials.

"Cough cough..."

In June, during the Lesser Heat, the bedroom inside and outside Zhang Yitan’s house was crowded with people.

Many of the furniture in the bedroom are not suitable for this era, but they are placed fittingly in the house.

Zhang Yitan was wearing a middle-aged shirt and lying on a bed. A doctor in his thirties was taking his pulse.

Zhang Yichao, Zhang Huaiquan and others stood not far behind the medical officer, while next to the medical officer stood Yang Xin, a woman and a young man.

"This is a symptom of old age and physical weakness. I heard that a citizen in Chengzhou collected 60-year-old wild ginseng last year." "If you take this as a medicine and take care of your body, your pulse should be able to be preserved."

As the medical officer withdrew his treatment, the cause of Zhang Yitan's illness began to reveal.

The fifty-year-old woman next to him explained, "The palace also sent a doctor, and he said the same thing as you did, but he took the prescription for a long time, but there was no improvement."

"Hmm..." The medical officer nodded and said, "Ordinary methods are indeed ineffective, but Longyou's internal and external medicine are far superior to those in the Central Plains. We should be able to cure it with the conditioning methods we have researched and the medicinal diet."

Hearing this, everyone in the bedroom breathed a sigh of relief, and Yang Xin, the yamen officer of the Longyou Jinzouyuan, also hurriedly said:
"I will send someone to Linzhou right away. Envoy Geng of Chengzhou never keeps anything to himself. The wild ginseng must have been sent to the Protectorate."

"If the commander knew that this assistant general was used by Zhang Changshi, he would probably send someone to deliver it immediately."

There is no need to say much about the relationship between He and Long. Liu Jilong would not be stingy with just a wild ginseng, otherwise he would not have sent out this medical officer.

Because of this, the medical officer said, "I'm afraid it won't be enough for me to help with the treatment alone. Please ask the governor to ask the marshal to send some people from the hospital and Huimin Pharmacy."

"Okay!" Yang Xin agreed without hesitation, and bowed at the same time, saying, "Please ask Doctor Wang to rest in the Palace Attendant's Mansion."

"This..." Doctor Wang looked at the fifty-year-old woman, who said hurriedly:
"If you can cure me, I will certainly agree to it."

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately instructed the young man next to him: "Huaicheng, go and arrange accommodation for Doctor Wang."

"Doctor Wang, please." The young man gestured to Doctor Wang, who nodded and stood up.

"I will prescribe some conditioning prescriptions later, and when the wild ginseng delivers the resistance medicine, Chang Shi will be able to get through this difficult time."

"After getting through this, I will take good care of my body and I should be able to recover slowly."

"Okay...thank you very much!" The woman saluted quickly. Doctor Wang also said to Zhang Yichao and others:

"Please leave to ensure good ventilation in the house."

Since the Longyou army often dissected corpses to study medicine during their early battles, and Liu Jilian later set up the Duhufu Hospital and Longyou Huimin Pharmacy, there is no need to say much about the medical knowledge of Longyou doctors.

Zhang Yitan’s illness was caused by old age and lack of vitality; it was not a serious disease.

In Longyou, there are many people who die from difficult and complicated diseases. After the treatment fails, the bodies of these people will be dissected and studied by the doctors of Huimin Pharmacy.

Of course, if the family members do not agree, Huimin Pharmacy will not force an autopsy.

Anyway, in this world, human life is not a rare thing. Huimin Pharmacy can buy old slaves from Shangbibi and others by spending some money.

These slaves would be kept in the workhouse and, after complications from old age, would be studied by doctors at the Huimin Pharmacy.

However, in the medical field of this era, so-called research is nothing more than prescribing the right medicine for the right disease. It is just an experiment to drink a lot of edible medicine to see if it can suppress the disease.

Each region has its own common diseases depending on the region, diet, climate, and environment.

The main disease in Longyou was lung disease, and many officials suffered from arthritis, diabetes and other diseases due to excessive eating.

Liu Jilong basically changed these diseases into more intuitive names, such as arthralgia is gout and thirst is diabetes.

There are prescriptions for treating these diseases. Even if the doctors in Longyou are extremely skilled, they cannot eliminate the diseases and can only relieve the symptoms with medicine.

Many diseases that are considered terminal illnesses in the Central Plains are not considered terminal illnesses in Longyou.

Given Zhang Yitan's physical condition, it would not be difficult for him to live a few more years with proper treatment.

However, if complications arise due to physical weakness, even God cannot save the patient.

"Doctor Wang, take care."

Zhang Yichao and the others escorted Doctor Wang away, then looked at Yang Xin: "If it weren't for Mu Zhi, this matter would really be difficult to resolve."

"Situ, that's not right." Yang Xin smiled and returned the greeting, while continuing:

"My commander said that Helong and Long belong to the Guiyi Army, so there is no need to divide them so clearly."

Zhang Yichao heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this, and Yang Xin also glanced at the bedroom, then gestured to Zhang Yichao, "Can Situ move?"

"Of course." Zhang Yichao knew that this was something that could not be told to others, so he signaled Zhang Huaiquan to leave with his eyes.

After Zhang Huaiquan and others left, Zhang Yichao and Yang Xin also walked into the central hall.

After the two of them sat down in the middle hall, Yang Xin spoke up, "This news arrived today with Doctor Wang."

"On the tenth day of May, General Zhang Jie led 3,000 elite cavalry, 7,000 cavalry infantry, and 40,000 civilians to march to Xizhou."

"According to the time, Marshal Zhang Jie should have already fought with An Ning of the Western Region Uighurs."

Yang Xin's words made Zhang Yichao a little dazed. He didn't expect that Zhang Huaishen would launch the Western Expedition so soon.

But he understood it after thinking about it. Now it was impossible for the Hexi Guiyi Army to go east, and the Ganzhou Uighurs and Liangzhou Umu in the north had been expelled.

Although there were Tuhun rebels in the south of Shazhou, the harm caused by the Tuhun was limited, and the Tuhun area was not suitable for farming. Therefore, if Zhang Huaishen wanted to seek development, he could only send troops to Xizhou.

At its peak, Xizhou had a population of more than 40,000 people, but most of them were from Gaochang, and very few were from Hankou.

Today, Gaochang has been ravaged by cholera from the Tubo and Uighurs, and only one in ten people remains.

If Zhang Huaishen could repel An Ning of the Uighurs in Xizhou, after regaining Xizhou, he would be able to use Xizhou to connect to the northern route of the Silk Road and conduct trade with Longyou.

"Your spice business is really big. I'm in Chang'an and I often hear that the Silk Road has been opened up and spices no longer have to go through Lingnan and can enter the Central Plains."

Zhang Yichao spoke of his experiences with an admiring look, and Yang Xin just smiled and responded modestly.

After the Anshi Rebellion, Tubo took control of the Western Silk Road, while Nanzhao took control of the Southwestern Silk Road of Sindhu.

Later, when Tubo rebelled, the Sindhu Road became an important Silk Road for the trade of spices and silk.

During this period, many merchants also came to the Tang Dynasty from India by sea.

The place they often chose to stop was the coastal city of Guangzhou.

The districts of Panyu, Nansha and other places in later generations have not yet been washed out by the Pearl River.

Because of this, there were many merchants from various countries living in Guangzhou, and Lingnan gradually became active due to the developed trade in Guangzhou.

However, with the navigation technology of that era, the volume of maritime trade was not large, and was even less than that of the Southwestern Silk Road which controlled the Sindhu Road.

If Zhang Huaishen could recapture Xizhou and have good diplomacy with the Qarluk people, he might be able to slowly restore the Western Silk Road.

After all, when the Western Silk Road was at its peak, tens of millions of silks were sold to countries such as Transoxiana and Persia through the north-south routes.

Even if Hexi and Longyou did not monopolize the dental trade, they could still make a lot of money from it.

If the Silk Road did not have such great economic value, the Tang Dynasty would not have deployed more than 100,000 troops along the Silk Road in Longyou, Hexi and the Western Regions.

Zhang Yichao was naturally aware of all this, and he was happy to see Helong become prosperous because of it.

In his opinion, Zhang Huaishen's ability to launch the Western Expedition so quickly was probably inseparable from Liu Jilong's support.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yichao also spoke up to remind him: "The Supreme is now approaching thirty years old, but his nature cannot escape the four words of ostentation and ambition."

"Longyou is only separated from Guanzhong by the Long Mountains, and is a place of great importance to the imperial court."

"Fortunately, the imperial court and the southern barbarians have mobilized their troops. In the short term, I am afraid that they will not be able to recover Longyou, but we still need to be vigilant about the safety of Longyou."

"Don't worry, Situ. My commander is also on guard." Yang Xin replied respectfully.

Zhang Yichao was relieved after hearing this: "Mu Zhi is a great talent, but Longyou is too small for him after all."

"When the Supreme is older and less aggressive in Longyou, he will be able to relax."

Although Zhang Yichao was disappointed with the Tang court, he still hoped to maintain the current peaceful situation.

Facing his words, Yang Xin smiled and then said:

"Given the current situation, if the imperial court does not reform the system, I'm afraid..."

Zhang Yichao remained silent. He naturally knew the consequences of the court's three tax increases and the tax increases on salt, iron, tea, and alcohol.

The former caused the poor to go bankrupt and become refugees, while the latter oppressed the small common people to the point of suffocating them.

If this continues, conflicts will inevitably accumulate and eventually lead to an uprising of the poor and the smaller clans.

It is not scary if the poor rise up in rebellion; what is scary is if the small common people rise up in rebellion.

After all, the taxes of the Tang Dynasty now mainly come from the common people, and the small common people account for a large proportion of the common people.

Losing the support of the smaller clans means losing the support of the people.

It is definitely impossible to govern the world well relying solely on the common people and the aristocratic families.

Of course, this is Zhang Yichao's understanding, but in Liu Jilian's view, the poor are the foundation.

"The situation is indeed getting more and more chaotic. I hope it will get better."

Zhang Yichao sighed, and finally looked at Yang Xin:

"If things are impossible, a hero will emerge to quell the cholera."

"Hehe..." Yang Xin smiled: "Does Situ also think that my Ji Shuai is a hero?"

Zhang Yichao looked at Yang Xin who was playing dumb with him, and couldn't help showing some helplessness:

"You guys are getting better and better..."

(End of this chapter)