Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 354 Li Chengqian: You even dare to hit my little brother?! [Seeking monthly votes]

Tuyuhun, Shanshan City.

Although Tuyuhun Khan Fuyun was seriously ill, he did not hand over the power of Tuyuhun to his crown prince or his eldest son.

Instead, it was handed over to the Heavenly Pillar King of Tuyuhun.

Therefore, during the time that Fu Yun was ill, it was King Tianzhu who handled military and political affairs in Fu'e City.

He himself recuperated in Shanshan City.

At this moment, Fu Yun lay on his sickbed, looking at the Crown Prince beside him, namely Dayan Mangjiebo, and sighed, "The Tang people are ambitious; we must make plans as soon as possible!"

"Is Father Khan worried that after the Tang Dynasty pacifies the Xueyantuo, it will attack my Tuyuhun?" Dayan Mangjiebo said thoughtfully as he picked up the medicine bowl.

"Cough cough."

Fu Yun coughed a few times, struggling to support himself on his arms, and leaned against the cloak, saying, "The Prince of Tianzhu has indeed gone too far these past few years. If it were Li Shimin, perhaps he would have tolerated us for a few more years, but that Crown Prince of Tang is not simple."

"He's just a thirteen-year-old kid, what's so special about him?" Dayan Mangjiebo said dismissively, then suddenly seemed to remember something and sneered, "Only Brother Murong has suffered repeated setbacks in front of him, making all the Tuyuhun people lose face!"

"You."

Fu Yun opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

How could he not know about the conflict between his two sons? But sometimes, as an emperor, his perspective on issues might differ from that of others.

It's as if he knew that Tianzhu King's assertiveness towards the Tang Dynasty would bring trouble, but he still supported Tianzhu King as always.

Because over the years, King Tianzhu has indeed brought many benefits to Tuyuhun from the Tang Dynasty.

Being assertive has its drawbacks and its advantages; that's reality.

Similarly, the infighting between his two sons was also beneficial to the emperor, who was chronically ill.

But then he earnestly advised, "It's not a bad thing to take precautions early. You are the future Khan of Tuyuhun, so you must be farsighted!"

"this."

Dayan Mangjiebo hesitated for a moment, then quickly said, "Please enlighten me, Father Khan!"

"You should know very well that with the national strength and military power of my Tuyuhun, it is absolutely impossible for us to contend with the powerful Tang army. If we were to bite the bullet and confront the Tang army head-on, we would undoubtedly only face certain death!"

At this point, Fu Yun paused deliberately, then looked meaningfully at Dayan Mangjiebo, narrowing his eyes as he said, "So, our only solution is to stall!"

"drag?"

Dayan Mangjiebo was startled.

Yup!

With the high-altitude terrain of my Tuyuhun, if I can't defeat you in battle, do you think I can't wear you down?
As long as the battle lines are stretched out.
Just then, a report came from outside the door: "Great Khan, General Tuoba has returned and says he has urgent military intelligence to report!"

"Ok?"

Fu Yun and Dayan Mangjiebo were both taken aback, and at the same time had a vague sense of unease.

Soon, Tuoba Mi confirmed their premonition: the Tang Dynasty was indeed going to attack Tuyuhun.

Meanwhile, on the other side, at the Ganzhou Governor's Office.

"Your Highness, Li Xuanyun, the Prefect of Shanzhou, requests an audience!"

Just as Li Chengqian was discussing with his generals how to attack Tuyuhun, a report suddenly came from the doorway.

He paused for a moment, then looked at Qiu Yu, the governor of Ganzhou, and Li Daliang, the governor of Liangzhou, and frowned, asking, "Are the troops of Shanzhou also under my command?"

"this."

Qiu Yu and Li Daliang exchanged a glance, but Li Daliang spoke first: "According to His Majesty's decree, the Crown Prince can mobilize all the troops in the Longyou Circuit, and the eighteen prefectures including Shanzhou will be under the jurisdiction of the Longyou Circuit!"

"Oh, that's one of our own. Let him in!"

Li Chengqian suddenly waved his hand and said.

Soon, Li Xuanyun, the governor of Shanzhou, entered, smiled, and bowed, saying, "Your subject, Li Xuanyun, greets Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Prefect Li, you may dispense with the formalities!"

Li Chengqian smiled and responded, then turned to Laifu beside him and said, "Please take a seat!"

"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

After Li Xuanyun was seated, he nodded to Qiu Yu and Li Daliang, then looked at Li Chengqian and said, "Your Highness, I have come here with two matters. First, to congratulate Your Highness on your great victory. Second, I have a suggestion for Your Highness to decide!"

"What advice?"

Li Chengqian asked directly.

But then Li Xuanyun laughed and said, "I have received a lot of information recently, and one of them has led me to make a bold guess. I don't know if it is right or wrong, so I came here rashly. Please forgive me, Your Highness!"

"Oh?"

Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but chuckle, "What did Governor Li guess?"

"Your Highness, forgive my impertinence, but may I ask if Your Highness has any plans to send troops to Tuyuhun?"

"Ah!"

Li Chengqian smiled.

Everyone around laughed, including Qiu Yu and Li Daliang.

When Li Xuanyun heard their laughter, he was initially confused, but then he joined in the laughter.

It's obvious he guessed right.

"Alright, let's hear what good suggestions Governor Li has!"

After a burst of laughter, Li Chengqian raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then spoke with a serious expression.

Without hesitation, Li Xuanyun cupped his hands and said, “Your Highness, Shanzhou is the city closest to Tuyuhun and knows Tuyuhun best. In recent years, Shanzhou has been frequently raided by Tuyuhun, and the people have suffered greatly. I hope more than anyone else that the Tang Dynasty will send troops to punish Tuyuhun.”

"Therefore, I have been collecting various information about Tuyuhun over the years. According to my investigation, Tuyuhun has very fine horses, which are grazed around Qinghai Lake. If we want to attack Tuyuhun, we can send a light cavalry force to launch a surprise attack and seize their fine horses!"

"this."

Li Chengqian was slightly stunned.

But then Li Daliang said, "The Tuyuhun cavalry is so powerful because of the fine horses of Tuyuhun. I have also heard of the Qinghai Cong of Qinghai Lake! It is said that His Majesty's Qingzhui is a Qinghai Cong!"

"This type of horse originated in Persia. It is extremely robust and has extraordinary endurance, and it is said that it can travel a thousand miles a day. Because Tuyuhun is located on a plateau with abundant water and grass, it is very suitable for raising this Persian horse. Therefore, Tuyuhun introduced a large number of them and grazed them around Qinghai Lake, where they multiplied rapidly."

At this point, he glanced at Li Xuanyun subconsciously and said with some envy, "If the Tang Dynasty can seize these Qinghai horses, it will not only deal a major blow to Tuyuhun, but also arm our cavalry, which is of great strategic significance!"

"Yes, it is indeed very meaningful!"

Li Chengqian agreed, saying, "Prefect Li has brought us very important intelligence. We must get these Qinghai horses!"

After saying this, he turned to Li Daliang and said, "Commander Li, if I were to entrust this task to you, are you confident that you can complete it?"

"Your Highness, rest assured, I will never let you down!"

Upon hearing this, Li Daliang immediately stood up from his seat, cupped his hands, and accepted the order.

Li Chengqian smiled and nodded, then looked at Li Xuanyun and asked, "Prefect Li, how many troops does Shanzhou currently have?"

"Your Highness, not counting the 10,000 soldiers defending the city, we have about 20,000 troops available, including 5,000 cavalry, 10,000 infantry, and about 5,000 other types of soldiers!" Li Xuanyun replied as if reciting a familiar list.

Li Chengqian nodded knowingly and said, "I will not move the troops in Shanzhou for the time being. They can be used as reserve troops for the western expedition. But can you guarantee the supply of provisions for Commander Li?"

"this."

Li Xuanyun hesitated for a moment, then said with some difficulty, "If it were the first half of the year, it might be fine, but in the second half of the year, we were raided twice by the Tuyuhun, and we don't have much food left!"

"Damn it! These Tuyuhun scum! They really deserve to die!"

Before Li Chengqian could even comment on the matter, Qiu Yu, the governor of Ganzhou, uttered a few indignant curses.

There's nothing we can do; that's just how despicable the Tuyuhun people were.

While they submitted to the Tang Dynasty, they frequently invaded the northwestern border of the Tang Dynasty and even shamelessly asked to marry a Tang princess.

If this were a human being, such a person should be killed and their corpse whipped.

But if it's a country, it's not hard to understand.

Their purpose in doing this was simply to plunder more wealth and gain more benefits, while also not wanting to completely break with the Tang Dynasty, fearing that the Tang Dynasty would start a full-scale war with them. That's why they repeatedly resorted to this low-class trick of being both bandits and flatterers.

Unfortunately, Tuyuhun never dreamed they would encounter a ruthless man like Li Chengqian.

If you dare play any dirty tricks on me, I'll just bleed you dry. Yes, I won't rest until you're dead.

But then Li Chengqian finally spoke up: "I'll take care of the grain supply for you. You just need to take your men and protect the grain supply route for Governor Li. Can you do that?"

"can!"

Without hesitation, Li Xuanyun cupped his hands and said, "As long as there is food, even if it's a snowy mountain or a cliff, I will deliver the food to Governor Li!"

"Alright! I'll leave this to you!"

Li Chengqian made the decision immediately.

The next moment, another report came from the doorway: "Your Highness, urgent news from Chang'an!"

Li Chengqian was taken aback again upon hearing this, then turned to look at everyone and muttered, "What urgent matter could there be in Chang'an? With General Li Jing in charge and the temporary cabinet handling state affairs, even if there were an urgent matter, it should have been sent to Liaodong!"

Although he was full of doubts, he still had the messenger deliver the urgent report.

He opened the lacquer cover of the urgent report, took out the memorial inside, and slowly unfolded it.

He should have looked away, because what he saw almost made him crooked with anger. He couldn't help but shout angrily, "You Gaochang Kingdom! You dare to attack even my Tang Dynasty's little brother? You're tired of living!"

Wow!
As soon as this statement came out, the whole audience was in an uproar!

It seemed like the first time anyone had ever seen him so angry, and they exchanged bewildered glances.

However, what angered Li Chengqian even more was yet to come.

On the other side, about twenty miles away from Ganzhou City.

A ragtag army, though dressed in very formal attire and with each convoy displaying a flag representing its country, was slowly moving forward.

Ahead of this column were about two thousand cavalrymen, all dressed in different clothes, which looked both distinctive and somewhat comical.

But then they heard a knight on the far left complain in broken Chinese, "Adashi, the road is so long, my stomach is empty, but the smell of baked buns is dancing in my nose!"

"Hey, you're making me unhappy too!"

A knight nearby heard his complaint, chuckled, and teased him before untying the horse's water pouch and tossing it to him, saying, "Fill your belly! Here, have some water!"

"No need to lift it, just pour oil!"

The knight on the far left reluctantly took the water pouch, pried open the stopper, and gulped down several mouthfuls. He was fine at first, but then he suddenly started coughing.

The knight beside him was startled and hurriedly waved his arms and shouted, "I didn't poison it! I didn't poison it!"

"Hey, you little brat!"

Just as the young knight was gesturing wildly, the middle-aged knight on the far right reminded him with amusement, "The water's choking him!"

"Oh oh oh"

The young knight nodded in realization, and then several knights around him burst into laughter.

Soon, the knight who had choked on the water recovered and burst into laughter.

Although they all come from different countries, they have already established a deep friendship after spending time together and sharing joys and sorrows.

What just happened was merely a minor incident during their journey.

There were quite a few such little incidents on the way here, most of which were created by the young knight from Yanqi.

And it was precisely because of this young man that all the unpleasantness along the way became a thing of the past.

Therefore, the older knights took good care of the young man.

As they chatted and laughed and made their way forward, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from ahead. It was the scouts they had sent out to explore the way.

But then they heard the man on horseback shouting at the top of his lungs: "Adashi! The enemy is coming like a sandstorm from the Gobi Desert! Run! Run if you can't run fast—!"

"hiss!"

Upon hearing this, the knights gasped in shock, thinking, "Aren't we almost at the border of the Tang Dynasty? How come there are still people trying to plunder us!"

However, just as they realized what was happening and prepared to flee, a troop of several thousand Tuyuhun cavalry appeared in their sight, leaving them no time to escape.

In just a short time, they were surrounded by the Tuyuhun cavalry.

But then the leader of the Tuyuhun cavalry coldly said, "Leave your things behind, and we'll spare your lives!"

"Penyou, we've come to deliver provisions to the Tang Dynasty. We're allies of the Tang Dynasty."

As soon as the 'Tuyuhun' cavalry leader finished speaking, the eldest knight immediately rode forward to negotiate with him.

Upon hearing his accent, the Tuyuhun cavalry leader was visibly taken aback, then almost burst out laughing. But no matter how funny it was, he wouldn't laugh. He simply sneered, "I don't care who you are! Now I'm telling you, we Tuyuhun want your stuff! If you know what's good for you, hand it over to us right now!"

"otherwise."

Having said this, he deliberately paused.

Immediately afterwards, thousands of cavalrymen around them drew their weapons and prepared to charge at the ragtag group.

"This"

The knights, their cavalry, and the laborers escorting the provisions had never seen such a sight before. They were so frightened that their faces turned pale and they trembled with fear.

The leader of the Tuyuhun cavalry, seeing their cowardly appearance, did not hesitate and immediately ordered his men: "Take away these provisions!"

"Yes!"

Soon, a group of Tuyuhun cavalry forcibly seized the grain.

Once they had watched them disappear from sight, the knights breathed a sigh of relief and patted their chests, as if they had survived a calamity.

But the problem now is that the grain supplies have been seized. What can they give to explain to the Tang Dynasty, and how can they explain it to their own country?

It should be noted that this was not the first time they had been robbed.

After their country agreed to provide grain to the Tang Dynasty, they transported grain a total of six times. The most recent shipment was robbed as soon as it left the country, and the furthest shipment, which is the one they are currently on, was robbed again when they were only twenty miles away from the Tang Dynasty.

To be honest, they are currently in a state of extreme mental collapse.

After finally managing to complete the task, it ended in failure, leaving one heartbroken.

After a long while, the young knight said with a mournful face, "What should we do? Our country is out of food. If I go back to ask for more, I'm afraid I'll be beheaded!"

Upon hearing this, the other knights also began to complain.

"Our country is also running low on food supplies! Alas! These damned bandits are so arrogant! This is the border of the Great Tang Dynasty! How dare they!"

"Adasi! My messenger said that the Tang Dynasty is very powerful, which is quite different from what I imagined!"

"What should we do, you idiot? The grain supplies have been stolen again. Should we go back to gather more supplies, or..."

"Go back? They don't have anything of ours. You should go find them!"

Upon hearing the eldest knight's assertion, the other knights' eyes darted around, and they thought it made sense.

They were almost at the border of the Tang Dynasty when they were robbed. It was not their fault; the blame lay with the Tang Dynasty for not dispersing the surrounding enemies.

With that in mind, the group immediately made a decision to go see Li Chengqian empty-handed.

Meanwhile, the Tuyuhun cavalry, who had just finished raiding them, stopped a few miles away from them.

The leader of the 'Tuyuhun' tribe removed his disguise, revealing Su Dingfang's face, and laughed, "These people from the Western Regions are quite interesting. They are really obedient, not even resisting. I wonder how they managed to transport the grain here. Didn't other countries plunder them?"

"They are all allies of our Great Tang. Anyone who dares to rob their people must be tired of living!" a black-armored guard captain said confidently.

Another Black Armor Guard captain chimed in, "Indeed! The alliance treaty of our Great Tang clearly states that any country that attacks our Great Tang's allies is considered an enemy of our Great Tang, and we will certainly send troops to punish them!"

"Although they are transporting grain and fodder, their grain wagons are their mobile territory. Who dares to cause trouble?!"

"Yes, you're right. I also think no one would dare to touch them!"

Su Dingfang smiled knowingly, then changed the subject: "Except for us!"

"Hahaha--"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers burst into laughter.

Soon, they returned to their camp with the looted provisions, preparing to wipe out the remaining Tuyuhun tribes and escort the provisions back to Ganzhou City.

After all, plundering the allied forces' supplies was a strategy personally devised by Li Chengqian.

They naturally need to implement it effectively.

To their utter surprise, their looting had completely enraged Li Chengqian.

(End of this chapter)