Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

It turned out that Li Ji felt the muskets weren't powerful enough, so he ordered Jia Huai, who was skilled in poisons, to add more ingredients, such as aconite, wolfsbane, cinnabar, dried lacquer, and arsenic. Although it wouldn't kill instantly, the wound would easily fester. Given the medical level of that era, it would be virtually impossible to save the patient without a great deal of effort and expense.

Upon realizing this, Qilibuzang gritted his teeth and cursed, "Li Ji, how vicious you are!" He urgently asked the doctor if it could be cured. The doctor hesitated for a long time before saying, "Unless you scrape it open and find that there is no poison on the bone, it may be possible to save you... but you must remove all the surrounding skin and flesh to prevent the poison from invading through the blood vessels."

Qilibuzang had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, "Then I'll trouble you to cut out my flesh, sir! Remember General Guan Yu of the Later Han Dynasty who had his bone scraped to heal his wound? We Tibetan men are not inferior to the Chinese!" He then ordered his men to tie me to a pillar with hemp rope…

The healer was indeed quite skilled; after much effort, he finally managed to cut away all the rotten flesh and apply herbal medicine before Qilibuzang could be tortured to death. However, after such an ordeal, Qilibuzang developed a fever that night, causing him to become delirious and unable to perform any functions.

—Actually, he was quite lucky. The other barbarian generals and soldiers who were hit by muskets, even those who managed to escape, fell ill and died in the following days, and doctors had to spend a lot of time trying to save them.

Thus, the following afternoon, when the Tang army's reinforcements finally crossed the Ruoshui River and joined forces with Li Ji, the main army marched to the city of Zhangye to set up their battle formation. However, due to the serious injury of their commander, the morale of the barbarian soldiers was low. Several families who had allied with the Qiang and Hu tribes, seeing the situation was not good, secretly sent people down the city to contact the Tang people, expressing their willingness to defect and become internal agents.

On the third day, a fierce siege began. The Qiang and Hu auxiliary troops stirred up trouble inside the city, which led to the Tang army breaching the city walls in just over an hour. The Tibetan soldiers and generals, seeing that they could not hold the city and that the number of Tang troops below the city was not large—approximately less than 10,000—were incapable of besieging it. So they hurriedly opened the west gate and fled in disarray with Qilibuzang.

Because the Uyghur army, which had been advancing south from the Yan River, was surging towards Liaoquan, the defeated Tibetan army dared not flee west to Suzhou. Instead, they were forced to head south along the Zhangye River, cross the Qilian Mountains, and escape towards the Western Sea. Li Ji ordered Chen Lizhen to lead his elite cavalry in pursuit, inflicting heavy casualties.

On the afternoon of the day the city fell, the Uyghur army arrived. Their commander was naturally Li Ji's old friend, Di De, who led only about three thousand elite cavalry. Following Li Ji's advice, they feigned a Tang dynasty presence, pretending to have two or three times that number. Li Ji went out to greet Di De, and upon seeing him, couldn't help but scoff, "Your Khan is far too stingy..."

At the beginning of the year, I sent Ma Meng to borrow grain, but he only brought back a thousand sheep; now, when I request reinforcements and a pincer attack, you only send less than four thousand cavalry—isn't that a bit excessive?

Di De looked ashamed and hurriedly explained on behalf of the Khan: "Last year there was a white disaster, and many cattle and sheep died on the grasslands. It was really difficult to supply you, Changwei, with much... Moreover, the Khan did not expect that Changwei would launch such a surprise attack on Ganzhou after just recovering Liangzhou..."

Li Ji thought to himself that the first sentence was nonsense. Last year, the climate on the grasslands was relatively cold, but it was far from the so-called "white disaster." The second sentence was the truth. Changshou Tianqin Khan did not believe that I had the strength to advance into Gansu and Su. The reason he sent Di De was probably to help contain the Tibetan army and prevent them from launching a counterattack on Liangzhou this autumn.

Regardless, a single coin is a loan, and a single soldier is aid; the Uyghurs' willingness to show such an attitude should be appreciated. So, cattle and sheep were slaughtered to entertain the visiting barbarian army—the cities of Shandan and Zhangye had a considerable amount of grain stored up, which Qilibuzang had originally planned to rely on for a long-term defense—while he himself hosted a banquet and drank heartily with Dide and other Uyghur generals.

During the banquet, Emperor De asked, "I did not expect you, Changwei, to advance so swiftly. You have captured Ganzhou in just one month. Do you still intend to continue the western expedition and take Suzhou?"

Li Ji smiled and waved his hand: "There is a Chinese saying, 'Having obtained Long, one desires Shu,' which means that people are insatiable. Let's stop here this autumn."

He knew that with Qilibuzang's defeat, the western route was vulnerable, with only the Tibetan military garrison in Guazhou able to muster a few thousand men. If he advanced rapidly, he believed he could conquer Hexi and reopen the Silk Road by February or March of next year at the latest. However, the problem was that the straight-line distance from Wuwei to Dunhuang was two thousand li, and even a large army would need more than a month to travel at full speed. If Liangzhou were to be attacked, he would definitely not be able to return in time!

Is it possible that Liangzhou might be under attack? Absolutely. The main force of the Tibetan army, numbering over 100,000, is concentrated in Longyou. If Shang Jiexi receives news of the fall of Ganzhou and, in a fit of rage, turns north from Pipa Mountain and Dadouba Valley, the few fortified camps he left behind, numbering less than 2,000, simply cannot withstand them! Liangzhou is currently vulnerable. If the enemy seizes his stronghold, how far can he possibly escape by charging forward blindly? At best, he'll end up trapped in the city with Guo Xin and Li Yuanzhong…

The key issue is insufficient troops. This advance was only possible because the main Tibetan force was in the south, leaving the Hexi region vulnerable. If Shang Jiexi had focused on the northern route, I would likely have ended up like Li Sheng in Longyou, retreating step by step, consolidating my forces, and holding Guzang in hopes of reinforcements from Shuofang or even Guanzhong. The swift capture of Ganzhou was largely due to luck, and I cannot let victory go to my head, thinking that with only 20,000 men, I can truly dominate the region.

Therefore, Li Ji told Di De, "This is where I am for this year. I need to restore the military garrisons in Ganzhou and build a solid defensive line. I have no strength left to continue westward." Di De was quite disappointed and said, "I have come from over a thousand miles away, and I have not encountered the main force of the Tibetans—they were all defeated by you, Changwei—if I return empty-handed, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the Khan..."

Li Ji laughed and said, "There are many Qiang and Hu people between Gansu and Su. Please, brother, spare the Tang people for my sake. But find those Qiang and Hu who have submitted to the Tang. You can burn, kill, and plunder as you please. Are you afraid you won't be able to return with a full load?"

Di De laughed heartily and said, "Although Hexi has fallen to the barbarians, it is still the old territory of your Tang family. I am not afraid that if we wantonly plunder, Changwei will not be happy... because you have stopped us from robbing in the Central Plains many times before. "Since you say so, I have no worries."

Both sides parted on good terms. The next day, Li Ji set off personally to the Tibetan army to bid farewell to Emperor De—in fact, he was urging him to hurry back, as there were many farmlands and Tang people near Zhangye, but few Qiang and Hu people, so he shouldn't plunder indiscriminately here—but he was led into the main tent by the other party's personal guards, only to find that the emperor was nowhere to be seen.

Li Ji was suspicious and somewhat wary, so he frowned and asked, "Where is your general?"

The Uyghur soldier crossed his arms and bowed slightly: "My general has to pay his respects in the inner tent morning and evening. At this time, even if the Khan comes, he will not be able to see him. Please sit for a moment, sir."

Upon hearing this, Li Ji was secretly taken aback: "What does he worship? I've never heard of such a custom among the Hui people!"

Not only does the original shamanism of the Uyghurs not have the rule of worshiping on time, but even Buddhism, Taoism, and even the so-called "Zhangzhung Law" of the old Tibetan custom, which is Bon, do not have such a rule, right? It can't be that... Dide, you went and believed in the Islamic religion, can it?!

Chapter 41, The Great Battle Valley

Li Ji had been sitting in the outer tent for less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea when Di De awkwardly came out and first clasped his hands in apology.

Li Ji hurriedly asked him, "What is it you are worshipping? You can't possibly have become a follower of Islam, can you?!"

Dide smiled and said, "I have never heard of the Islamic religion. The one I worship is the God of Light."

He then gave a detailed account to Li Ji—Li Ji had previously been ordered to lead troops south to aid the Tang Dynasty and quell the An Lushan Rebellion, but was blocked by Li Ji outside Luoyang and prevented from entering the city to plunder; unfortunately, Li Ji was then ordered to take Ru and Xu prefectures in the south, and Pugu and his son also went east. The court appointed Guo Yingyi as acting governor of the Eastern Capital, but Guo Yingyi dared not obstruct the Uyghur troops, so Emperor De was able to lead his troops in triumphantly.

Li Ji had already heard about this matter, and at the time he pointed towards Luoyang and cursed Guo Yingyi. So when Cui Ning later rebelled against his superior and drove Guo Yingyi away, Li Ji did not resent Cui Ning much. However, he soon heard that although the Uyghur army entered the city, they did not carry out large-scale looting, but only some minor skirmishes. So he suppressed his anger and did not mention the matter for the time being.

Now, Di De naturally wouldn't tell Li Ji the truth—we originally planned to rob, but were stopped by one person—he only said that we met a great man in Luoyang who expounded his teachings, so we invited him and his four disciples back to the grasslands to listen to his great teachings. So who was this great man? Di De opened his mouth with a string of difficult-to-pronounce words, clearly not from Tang China—remembering the first two syllables, it was probably "Rui Xi"—upon inquiry, he learned it was a "Persian monk."

Persia had no Buddhist lineage, so the term "monk" was simply a general term for practitioners of various religions. Li Ji knew this sect; its official name was "Manichaeism," founded in the third century by the Persian Mani, who absorbed and integrated the doctrines of Judaism, Christianity, and the indigenous Zoroastrianism. Manichaeism was once revered as the state religion of Persia, but Zoroastrianism quickly made a comeback, coerced the king, and executed Mani, forcing the sect underground.

Unlike the original Zoroastrianism in Persia, Manichaeism was a relatively rigorous, formal, and advanced religion. From its inception, Mani aspired to spread its teachings throughout the world. Thus, although it did not flourish in Persia, Manichaeism spread outwards through multiple routes: westward via Egypt to North Africa and Spain, and then via Syria to Greece, Italy, and Gaul; eastward, it spread north to Samarkand and Tashkent, and southward to the Indus River Valley.

Then, during the Wu Zhou period, Manichaeism finally arrived in China. However, for some reason, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was very disgusted with this new sect, calling it "a heretical sect that falsely claims to be Buddhism to deceive the people"—Manichaeism was accustomed to changing its appearance for the sake of spreading its religion. Once it entered China, it used the name of Buddhism—strictly prohibiting Chinese people from believing in it and forbidding the construction of temples in China.

Therefore, it is estimated that Naruhi was a "Persian monk" from Central Asia who came from the east. Seeing that he had no future in China, he rushed to curry favor with the Uyghurs who happened to come to his aid.

According to Dide, many Uyghur soldiers who came to the aid of the south, including himself, were inspired and began to believe in Manichaeism. They worshipped the "God of Light" day and night, and after returning to the grasslands, they helped spread it in all directions. The number of believers increased day by day. The original shamanism was no match for it, and it was a complete defeat.

Li Ji asked him, "Does the Khan also believe in this religion?"

Dide said confidently, "Although the Khan has not yet made up his mind to convert, he has already ordered Ruixi and others to hold several debates with the shamans in the country. The Persian monks have all won decisive victories. Therefore, the matter of the Khan's conversion should soon be put on the agenda."

"If the Khan is willing to grant Master Ruixi the title of National Preceptor and establish the belief in the God of Light as the state religion, I will petition the Khan to write to the Tang Dynasty to lift the ban and allow the construction of temples in Chang'an and Luoyang to spread the faith."

Li Ji thought to himself, "Forget about it. China has Buddhism and Taoism, that's enough. There's no need for any more messy foreign beliefs." He also had a vague feeling that if the Uyghurs truly adopted Manichaeism as their state religion, would they decline?

Because he had some understanding of this little-known world religion in his previous life, he knew that the reason it was little known and had never been able to develop was because it disguised itself—coming to China to impersonate a branch of Buddhism, going to Europe to impersonate a branch of Christianity, thinking that this would reduce the resistance to its spread. Little did he know that the attitude of any sect is that heresy can be tolerated, but must be eliminated. Therefore, the more closely you imitate, the less popular you will be, and the more you will be attacked.

Manichaeism's basic doctrines are also quite pessimistic. Although it advocates a duality of good and evil, light and darkness, the purpose of its practice is not to eliminate evil with good or darkness with light, but simply to expel the darkness that has invaded the realm of light, so that the two will live in peace and not interfere with each other... Furthermore, it claims that all things are under the command of the God of Light and are absorbing the scattered particles of light. Therefore, killing or even eating meat is an effort to rob other kinds of life, which is theft.

The negativity of religious beliefs inevitably leads to the weakening of believers, a fact well-documented throughout history. Therefore, Li Ji was concerned that Emperor De might convert to the Islamic religion that advocated both scriptures and swords, or the Bon religion of the Tibetans and the emerging Tibetan Buddhism, but had no worries whatsoever about his plan to promote Manichaeism as the state religion of the Uyghurs.

As expected, Di De then began trying to proselytize to Li Ji... which caused Li Ji to flee in panic after only a short while. He thought to himself that it was all over, and this friendship would not last long. Devout religious people have always been difficult to deal with, and it was inconvenient to argue with them harshly. If this caused a dispute, it would ruin the friendship between the two families, which would be undesirable.

Li Ji, stationed in Zhangye, mobilized his generals and troops to attempt to restore the old Tang Dynasty military garrison in the Hexi region. Although the Hexi military governor had commanded over 70,000 troops during the Tianbao era, making it the head of the ten major military garrisons on the border (nine military governors plus the five prefectures of Lingnan), Li Ji had now restored more than half of them, but he only had less than 30,000 troops under his command. Even with the addition of the allied Qiang and Hu tribes, he couldn't muster 70,000 men. However, the old framework needed to be re-established as soon as possible.

From Heba Yansi onwards, over half a century later, more than twenty military governors have been stationed in Hexi, including many renowned generals such as Fu Menglingcha, Wang Zhongsi, and Geshu Han… and even Guo Ziyi, who once held a remote command of Hexi. The commanders surveyed the terrain, predicted the directions of the enemy from the north and south, and established various military garrisons and defenses—there must be a reason for this. Li Ji didn't believe that, having only recently arrived in Hexi, he could understand the military situation better than his predecessors—for now, it was best to follow the established practices.

In Liangzhou, because its strength was not yet sufficient to cross the Guzang South Mountain and Pipa Mountain, it was forced to abandon the two garrisons of Zhangye and Wucheng, and only stationed troops at Baishan Garrison in the west, and Wu'an Garrison and Mingwei Garrison in the north, and then restored the Chishui Army and Baiting Garrison. During this westward expedition to Ganzhou, it ordered the repair of Dadou Army and Jiaocheng Garrison, basically completing the defense system of Liangzhou.

As for Ganzhou, there was originally a Liaoquan garrison on the Zhangye River, and Jiankang Army was set up along the main road at the border with Suzhou. Although Li Ji told Emperor De to "stop here", he did not mean to stop at Zhangye City. Two days later, he ordered Hou Zhongzhuang to lead the army westward to restore the two military towns mentioned above.

As for the defenses south of Ganzhou, there were two small cities: Xi'an and Qilian. Li Ji turned back and led his army straight down to Xi'an. The barbarian troops inside the city numbered less than five hundred, and their morale had plummeted upon hearing of the fall of Zhangye. Thus, the Tang army easily captured the city in just half a day. They then advanced on Qilian, where their general Jiao Hui had already led a feint to patrol and create disturbances. They launched a pincer attack from the east and west, capturing the city in one fell swoop.

Standing atop Qilian City, Li Ji gazed eastward towards Yanzhi Mountain, listening to Jiao Hui's report on the arduous journey. He thought to himself that if this southern route could be opened, allowing the army to travel and supplies to be transported, Ganzhou would be much easier to defend. Alas—in the Central Plains, roads could be carved through mountains and bridges built over rivers, no matter how difficult; but fifty or sixty li west of Qilian City, there was almost no water or grass, so even if you opened up a major road for four carts, it wouldn't make a difference… Unless cars could travel, there would be no water for half an hour.

Looking further south, the Great Douba Valley came into view. Li Ji's ambition surged again, and he said to his men, "Now that we have captured Qilian City, we can march south through this valley, heading straight for Shanzhou, harassing the barbarian rebels from the rear, and responding to the war in Longyou..." Gao Ying advised, "Although we can enter Shanzhou via the Great Douba Valley, there is no sign of human habitation for over a hundred li. We must reach the Haowei River to reach the former Weirong Army. Moreover, I heard that after the barbarian rebels invaded, they abandoned this army. The road is long, and supplies will be hard to keep up with; without people, communication will be impossible. How can we threaten the barbarian rebels? This is a futile move. Grand Commandant, please reconsider."

Li Ji thought for a while and said, "After crossing the Haowei River, there will be signs of human activity... The goal is to make the barbarian bandits know that Ganzhou is under our control, and that the side gates are wide open. There is no need to actually engage them in battle. I plan to send a thousand elite soldiers forward for four days to the old fortress of the Weirong army, plant our Tang flag, cross the Haowei River again, and advance southwards. We can stop when we encounter the bandits."

Of course, he also knew that this journey was quite dangerous—he wasn't afraid of encountering strong enemies, but because there was no one along the way, it was easy to lose one's way. Once lost and running out of food and water, there would be no way back. Therefore, he searched the army for those familiar with the roads to serve as guides, and put Wei Gao in charge—Wei Chengwu was more astute than other generals, knew how to advance and retreat, and should not disappoint him.

Wei Gao accepted the order and led his army south three days later. Meanwhile, news of the fall of Ganzhou had already reached the barbarian army, and messengers were rushing towards the front-line command post in Chengji. This was because the defeated soldiers of Zhangye City had fled in panic into the Qilian Mountains, and after several days of wandering, nearly 20% had died of cold and hunger, finally reaching the northern shore of the Western Sea.

The so-called "West Sea" is the later Qinghai Lake. The population along its shores was relatively dense, so after the Tubo Kingdom occupied the area, they established the Yemaochuan Military Garrison between the West Sea and Menggu, which was one of the "Five Eastern Border Routes". The military governor of Yemaochuan Military Garrison was still Mangre. Because he was a confidant of Ma Chongying, he was not trusted by Shang Jiexi. As a result, most of his troops were transferred away, and he himself had no chance to fight and avenge his defeat. He was abandoned on the shore of the West Sea.

Upon receiving the news of the defeat, Mang Re was greatly alarmed and immediately dispatched a fast horse to the front lines. The journey of over a thousand li took eight days and a swift horse to reach the destination. Upon receiving the report, Shang Jiexi was furious: "Qilibuzang is utterly useless! Where is he now? We must hold Suzhou and prevent the Tang army from continuing westward. If Suzhou falls again, we will execute him without mercy!"

He wasn't surprised that Li Ji was advancing on Ganzhou, because given the situation, it wouldn't be easy for the enemy to come to the rescue of Longyou from the south, and given their character, they probably wouldn't just stand by and watch; they would most likely try to open a new front. Although the Tibetan army had previously swept through Weizhou with ease, Shang Jie had been keeping a close eye on Lanzhou out of the corner of his eye. As a result, Lanzhou hadn't received any warning, so he guessed that Li Ji was probably going to attack Ganzhou.

The original plan was for Qilibuzang not to seek victory, but only to avoid defeat and hold Ganzhou. Once he broke through Dazhen Pass and advanced into the Guanzhong Plain, Li Ji would surely retreat. You could ignore Longyou, but if Fengxiang and Chang'an heard the alarm, they wouldn't dare to attack in the opposite direction, would they? If his advance went smoothly, the Hexi army wouldn't have time to come back to reinforce him; even if the march was not smooth, after traveling 1,500 li, how much fighting power would the enemy still have? Moreover, at that time, Qilibuzang would also have the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and recapture Liangzhou.

Because of his previous defeats, Shang Jiexi looked down on Qilibuzang—especially since that guy was Ma Chongying's personal confidant—and realized that the Battle of Ganzhou might not go smoothly. But... how come you've already lost Zhangye City in just one month? So while I'm advancing quickly in the south, you're retreating even faster in the north. For every inch I gain, you lose an inch—are you actually a spy for the Tang people?!

However, with the war still raging, it was inconvenient to severely punish Qilibuzang. They had no choice but to temporarily refrain from mentioning his past offenses and order him to hold Suzhou—they couldn't afford another such humiliating defeat! Unexpectedly, the messenger reported: "General Qilibuzang is currently at Yemaochuan… During the battle at Zhangye, he was ambushed by the Tang soldiers, and the weapon was poisoned…"

Previously, the Tibetans had been hit by a volley of firearms and collapsed. They never understood what those weapons were, so they could only temporarily classify them as concealed weapons. "The general was too badly injured to get up, so his personal guards risked their lives to rescue him and carry him to Wildcat River."

Shang Jiexi stamped his feet repeatedly, "Damn it!" On the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes, and the Tang people even used hidden weapons. So, it is understandable that the defeat was caused by the serious injury of the commander. But Shang Jiexi's first thought was - that guy is finished. Even if he doesn't die, I will take this opportunity to wipe him out completely and never let him come back.

Then the second thought came to mind—wasn't Suzhou, and even Guazhou and Shazhou, now without any generals to guard them?

To temporarily dispatch generals from the army or from the Tibetan homeland would be too far away and not be of much use in an emergency. Shang Jiexi also considered that with Li Ji's current strength, having obtained Ganzhou, he might not have the strength to attack Suzhou. But better safe than sorry. After thinking it over, the closest option was Mang Re. So he ordered Mang Re to temporarily serve as the military governor of Liangzhou and rush to the aid of Suzhou.

Then they continued to mobilize their large army and launched a fierce attack on the Tang wall in front of them. However, Guo Ziyi was already stationed in Fengxiang, and Tang armies from all directions came to their aid one after another, inevitably slowing down the advance of the Tibetan army. Finally, after nearly a month of attacking, they captured Longcheng. The Jingyuan army suffered heavy losses and was forced to retreat to Jiequanting in the northwest. With the fall of Longcheng, Li Sheng was isolated and helpless in Shanggui, and was in danger of being surrounded by Tibetan troops at any time. Therefore, he was also forced to abandon the city and retreat to Qinling County.

The barbarian army pursued relentlessly from the north and south, momentarily neglecting the line between them at Dazhen Pass, Qinyuan, and Qingshui, leaving a gap of over fifty li in the battle line. Upon receiving the report, Guo Ziyi ordered the Binning and Fufang armies, who were waiting for an opportunity, to select their elite troops and launch a central attack—their commander was appointed as the newly appointed Binning military governor, Hun Jian.

Chapter 42, The Loss of the Way Shocks the Barbarians

After the Tang family recovered Liangzhou, they allowed Li Ji to take all the newly recruited troops from Mingsha City with him, and also selected several thousand soldiers from Shuofang to accompany him. Since the Uyghurs had been quite submissive in recent years, and with Liangzhou recovered, Shuofang was no longer adjacent to the border of the barbarians, there was no need to station too many troops there.

Furthermore, taking the opportunity to weaken the power of Shuofang was Li Yu's long-held desire and scheme. As a result, Shuofang was not strengthened, but its town was split in two, and a Zhenwu Army was created.

This was the case on the northern front, but on the southern front, Li Sheng was appointed as the military governor of Longyou, leading the main force of the Binning army westward. According to the court's intention, Binning could be abolished, or the troops from Fufang could be used to fill Binning, and Fufang could be abolished—because it was simply impossible to supply so many military towns in Guanzhong. Since the battle line had moved forward, it would be better to gradually reduce and eliminate troops in the rear.

However, Guo Ziyi refused—though it wasn't the old general's personal instruction, it must have been at his behest—hoping that, as in the Zhide and Qianyuan eras, Shuofang would govern the three prefectures of Bin, Ning, and Qing. Li Yu thought to himself, "Don't talk nonsense. When we returned from Lingwu, we relied entirely on the Shuofang army and the Anxi and Beiting military camps. As a result, all the prefectures north of Fengxiang and Chang'an came under Shuofang's control. Only after Li Heng had secured his position in Chang'an did he establish the Binning military governorship, and then split Binning into Fufang and Danyan. He just wasn't willing to hand over half of his troops to Shuofang!"

If you restore the settings of the Zhide and Qianyuan periods, will I still be able to sleep in the Daming Palace?

After repeated power struggles and compromises among the various factions in China and Korea, it was ultimately decided not to abolish Binning, but to appoint Guo Ziyi as its military governor—but the old general would have to stay in the capital and oversee the region remotely, so there was no need for him to actually go to Binzhou to suffer. Shortly afterward, Li Yu appointed Hun Jian as the deputy military governor of Binning, who would actually be in charge of the region.

Hun Jian was originally from the Shuofang faction, so this appointment did not contradict Guo Ziyi's wishes. However, after Hun Jian entered the Northern Guard, he obeyed his father Hun Shizhi's instructions and behaved extremely respectfully. He also rarely visited Guo Ziyi's door and did not associate with his former Shuofang associates. Li Yu felt that this young man should be trustworthy.

He always felt that even the most arrogant generals outside the capital, once they entered the Northern Army and were nurtured by him, would not harbor any disloyalty—although he had only taken money from the imperial treasury to reward the Imperial Guards a few times, and in reality, he had no time or energy to get close to the generals. If we were to talk about relationships, the generals of the Northern Army were probably closer to and more afraid of eunuchs like Dou Wenchang and Huo Xianming...

In short, Hun Jian was stationed in Binning and was ordered to reinforce Longyou this autumn. Guo Ziyi had both the Binning and Fufang armies stationed inside Dazhen Pass, waiting for a suitable opportunity to strike. When he heard that the barbarian army was attacking from two directions and had shown some weakness, he immediately ordered the selection of elite troops to go forward. Instead of sending Li Huaiguang, the military governor of Fufang, and his deputy Ma Sui, he directly named Hun Jian.

He said to those around him, “We are old and wish to expel the barbarians. We should place our hopes on the younger generation—such as Li Taiwei. Hun Rijin is young and brave, familiar with the terrain of Longyou, and has been selected by the emperor. How can we not make good use of him?”

Hun Jian's original name was Ri Jin, which was a Hu name. After joining the Wei, he changed it to Hun Jian. However, he had no courtesy name, so he asked his superior, Dou Wenchang, to give him one. Dou Wenchang was not very learned and could not come up with anything. In the end, he could only say, "Your old name, Ri Jin, is a good name. There is a saying in the Buddhist scriptures, 'The mind advances with each passing moment, and the mind advances daily.' Why not use the courtesy name Ri Jin?"

Hun Jian had followed his father Hun Shizhi and served under Li Tan, the military governor of Longyou, in defending against the barbarians. Therefore, he was quite familiar with the terrain and customs. After receiving the order, he immediately selected three thousand elite soldiers from two towns, secretly left Dazhen Pass, and took a small path to directly attack Chengji.

At this time, Hun Jian was still in Chengji, with his main force out of town. He only had 5,000 Tibetan troops and a small number of Qiang and Hu soldiers with him. Upon hearing the news, they were not alarmed and immediately went out of the city to meet him. Seeing that the Tibetan formation was not yet complete, Hun Jian personally led 200 elite cavalry to charge ahead. A Tibetan general tried to block his way, but Hun Jian dodged his spear and, as the two horses crossed stirrups, swiftly extended his arm and captured him alive, carrying him back under his arm. The Tibetan army was terrified, their morale plummeted, and they fought for over a hundred rounds that day before finally being unable to withstand the attack and retreating back to Chengji.

Shang Jiexi hastily ordered the troops attacking Jiequanting and Qinling County to return to reinforce, and Hun Jian seized the opportunity to lead his troops south, recapturing Shanggui. He then joined forces with Li Sheng and advanced westward along the Weinan route. Shang Jiexi was forced to retreat to Longxi, and Guo Ziyi seized the opportunity to order the troops of Binning and Fufang to launch a full-scale attack, joining forces with the Longyou and Jingyuan armies. They fought fiercely with the enemy east of Longxi City for several days, forcing Shang Jiexi to retreat again to Xiangwu.

Then suddenly news came that the Tang army had reached the vicinity of Menggu...

Menggu should be written as "Menggu" because it is not a valley but a mountain range. The ancients believed it to be the place where the sun sets in the far west—the Huainanzi states that "when the sun reaches Menggu, it is called Dinghun." It is located northwest of Shanzhou, south of the Haowei River, northeast of the West Sea, and south of Chiling. It was originally an important boundary mountain between the Tang and Tibetan regions.

In the early years of the Tianbao era, relations between the Tang and Tibetan empires soured. The Tang army then crossed Menggu and Chiling, invading Tibetan territory. By the thirteenth year, they had captured Fusi City west of Xihai, seizing the entire Xihai region and the Dafeichuan River basin to the south. Subsequently, the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, forcing the Tang army to retreat eastward. Taking advantage of this, the Tibetans launched a counterattack, successively destroying Tang military garrisons such as Shenwei, Jintian, and Wuning, quickly recovering lost territory and further invading Longyou. They then established the Yemaochuan military garrison between Xihai and Menggu to defend the area.

Meanwhile, Wei Gao was ordered to lead a thousand elite soldiers south to Dadouba Valley. He first went to the old fortress of the Wei Rong army, set up his flag, and then crossed the Haowei River, attempting to penetrate deep into Shanzhou territory. However, he did not expect that he would get lost after only half a day of crossing the river...

Firstly, the terrain of the surrounding mountains is extremely complex, with no main roads, only some narrow paths trodden by cattle and horses, and very few people. Secondly, although a guide was found, this area of ​​northern Shanzhou is inherently desolate, and it has been in the hands of the barbarians for more than ten years. How could someone who happened to pass through ten years ago possibly remember it clearly and without any mistakes? Of course, one can roughly determine the direction based on the vegetation, the rising and setting of the sun and moon, and even the stars at night, but there are absolutely no straight roads in the mountains. Even a slight deviation can lead to a huge error.

For example, the destination might be the former fortress of the Baishui Army to the south, but the mountains make it impossible to pass. The only option is to temporarily detour to the west, but the further west one goes, the less one can find the road to the south...

Wei Gao, realizing he had lost his way, was filled with panic. He wanted to return the way he came, but was reluctant to give up. Seeing a mountain range ahead, he ordered his soldiers to climb it and look around to see if they could find a route south. If not… well, even if they returned empty-handed, they had to retreat. They had already ventured over three hundred li into the mountains, traveling for nine whole days without any supplies. If they didn't return soon, they feared they would all starve to death in this desolate wilderness!

The soldiers climbed a small ridge, and after a few hours returned to report that there were no roads to the south, only the continuous mountains, but they could see signs of human habitation to the west and wisps of smoke rising from chimneys in the distance. Wei Gao then led over a hundred soldiers up the mountain and planted the Tang family's banner in a prominent location.

Shanzhou has been under enemy control for a long time, especially in the desolate northwest of the prefecture, where there were originally few Tang people. So when they saw the smoke from the chimneys, they figured it must be either barbarians or Qiang and Hu people who had submitted to the barbarians. That's why Wei Gao ordered the flags to be planted to show that we had arrived. After taking a breather and observing the road on the mountain, we should return the way we came.

Unbeknownst to him, he had climbed a peak in Menggu, its western slope only forty or fifty li from the Western Sea, within the jurisdiction of the Yemaochuan military town. No sooner had he raised his flag than patrolling barbarian cavalry spotted him and hurriedly approached to investigate. Upon seeing the enemy approaching, Wei Gao immediately ordered a volley of arrows to be fired. Six or seven barbarian soldiers were felled, the rest fleeing in terror.

Naturally, an urgent report was sent to the army garrison at Yemaochuan. If Mang Re were still in the town, he would most likely have personally led his troops to investigate, making the strength of the Tang forces readily apparent—and by the time he arrived, Wei Gao would probably have already withdrawn. Unfortunately, Mang Re had just received Shang Jiexi's order and left to guard Suzhou in the north…

Upon receiving the order, Mang Re sighed, "The Great Lord disregarded the perilous situation in Hexi and insisted on attacking Longyou. He first abandoned Qilibuzang, and now he's trying to trap us. Does he really intend to completely eradicate our Great Lord lineage?!"

Because traveling from Yemaochuan to Hexi requires crossing the treacherous Qilian Mountains, the Zhangye River, originating from the western foothills of the Qilian Mountains, flows south along the mountains, then turns north through the mountains, reaching the heart of Ganzhou. This route, passing through the valley, is the most convenient – ​​the defeated army from Zhangye had previously escaped via this route. However, now that Ganzhou is in Tang hands, he has no way to cross it!

Even with tens of thousands of elite troops under Mang Re's command, the treacherous roads prevented them from venturing out to counterattack Ganzhou, especially since seventy percent of the garrison had already been transferred to the Longyou front. Therefore, if Mang Re wanted to take up his post, he would have to detour through the Mingshui River Valley between the Qilian Mountains and the Daxue Mountains, making a large detour from Guazhou to Suzhou… He thought to himself, if Li Ji is truly insatiable this winter, having already obtained Ganzhou, he will then plot against Suzhou. He estimated that by the time he arrived, Suzhou would already be in his hands; but if Li Ji did not continue his advance, his trip would be in vain, not only laborious but also likely involving Li Ji who would use the opportunity to send his trusted men to take over his Wildcat River…

How poisonous is the heart of such a grandiloquent person!