Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

Ma Chongying said solemnly, "Firstly, only Grand Commandant Li can pacify the Western Regions. I earnestly request that he come to guard Anxi and Beiting to prevent the Western barbarians and to prohibit the eastward spread of the Tianfang religion."

Li Ji smiled and said, "Who guards the Western Regions is not up to me..."

Ma Chongying said, “Don’t try to fool me. Grand Commandant Li is in his prime, and he has already reached the pinnacle of his position in the Tang Dynasty. If he were to release his troops and return to the capital, he would probably no longer be able to realize his ambitions. If he refuses to release his troops, he will also be suspected by the court. Why not let him be stationed in the Western Regions? The Tang Emperor and the prime ministers would be at ease then. And with your prestige and the weight of your troops, if you make this request, the Tang Emperor will certainly not dare to refuse…”

Li Ji thought to himself, "As expected, you're in charge of the country. You see that very clearly."

"Would Li Taiwei allow me permission to do so, given his determination to defend the Western Regions and to suppress Islam?"

Li Ji smiled and said, "The Tianfang Sect has scriptures in one hand and swords in the other. But if they can't use their swords, what use are their scriptures?"

At this time, most of the kingdoms and tribes in the Western Regions still believed in Buddhism—although their schools of thought were not entirely the same as those of the Tang and Tibetans. If Ma Chongying hadn't brought it up today, Li Ji wouldn't have known that Islam had already spread to the east to some extent, and many people among the Huoxun, Mulu, and Karluk tribes had already converted to Buddhism.

Huoxun is located south of the Aral Sea and on the east bank of the Wuhu River, originally belonging to the Mengchi Protectorate. Mulu Prefecture is located on the north bank of the Nami River, originally belonging to the Anxi Protectorate. The Karluks are scattered between Xuanchi, Yibohai and Boxi Mountain—the former two are west of the Pamir Mountains, and the latter crosses the Pamir Mountains.

Li Ji's immediate target was only the Pamir Mountains, because the lands west of the Pamir Mountains, although nominally under Tang Dynasty jurisdiction, were in reality only marginally governed, with very few officials stationed there, and were largely self-governed by the indigenous people. Moreover, after the Battle of Talas, both the Tang Dynasty and the Abbasid Caliphate tacitly acknowledged that their border was at the Pamir Mountains.

Thus, he recovered the lost territories east of the Pamir Mountains, which the Abbasid Caliphate wouldn't care about. However, if someone were to cross the Pamir Mountains again like Gao Xianzhi, the Abbasid Caliphate would be terrified and would send troops to attack. The level of transportation and communication at that time limited the Pamir Mountains to the western border of the Central Plains dynasties. As Ma Chongying said, no matter how large a country is, there is always a limit. Beyond that limit, it's not that it can't be conquered, but to hold it firmly would require a huge price, making it a losing proposition.

Of course, if Li Ji can stabilize the territory east of the Pamir Mountains, vigorously develop production, and increase the population, then with the strength of Anxi and Beiting, he can contend with at least half of the Abbasid Caliphate. In that case, the Pamir Mountains will not be an insurmountable barrier, and there will be no need to defend them as the eastern and western borders. But that is a matter for later and cannot be put on the agenda for the time being.

So he nodded to Ma Chongying: "I don't particularly like the Tianfang religion either, but there's no need to ban it. We can use their own weapon against them. Once I've pacified the western border, I can collect a few more taxes from the Tianfang followers—and then we'll see how many will still be willing to believe and not turn back after they've starved."

This also implies that Ma Chongying intended to guard the Western Regions.

What is your second condition?

Ma Chongying hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands and replied, "Actually, the one who currently holds power in Tibet is not me, but Shang Jiexi. As the Grand Master, he controls the Secretariat and the Chancellery. Last year, he attacked Longyou, and this year he hastily seized Beiting; all of this was his doing. Although Grand Commandant Li was defeated by Shang Jiexi at Guazhou, his troops did not suffer major losses. He must be unwilling to accept defeat, and after a little reorganization, he will come again."

"I am different. Although I may not agree with what Grand Commandant Li just said about the three laughable things, I know that Tibet has no chance in Anxi and Beiting. Rather than repeatedly invading and suffering heavy losses, it would be better to advise the Zanpu to continue to defend the old borders and make an alliance with Tang. The land and population that Your Excellency needs will have to be obtained from Nanzhao, Gandhara, India and other places."

"Therefore, if I, Ma, were to return to Luoxie, I could change public opinion in the country due to Shang Jiexi's defeat, and then alter the decisions of the Secretariat and the Chancellery..." At this point, he looked at Li Ji and asked, "But I don't know if Grand Commandant Li believes me or not?"

"Do you mean you want me to open the road and let you return to Tibet?"

"Exactly."

Li Ji hesitated. To be honest, he genuinely wanted to capture or even kill Ma Chongying, both to rid China of a major enemy and to erect a "Monument to the Killing of Ma." However, the bait Ma Chongying offered was tempting enough. Li Ji was not like some of the boastful officials in the court who constantly clamored to annihilate Tibet in one fell swoop—that plateau, even in his original timeline, would not be under his actual control for over a thousand years—if he were greedy, he might completely drag down the Tang Dynasty.

Moreover, even if they wanted to restore the borders to what they had in the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era, it would not be an easy task for the Tang family to encompass the Western Sea and the Great Fei River—after all, the country's strength today is far from comparable to that time.

If both sides could cease hostilities and make peace, and sit down to genuinely and sincerely discuss the border issue, still demarcating the Menggu and Chiling line as the dividing line, it would undoubtedly be of great benefit to the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty urgently needed stability and consolidation; once the problem of the tyrannical regional military governors was alleviated, it was expected to completely overwhelm Tibet within ten or twenty years. And if Tibet still intended to cross the Himalayas to attack India, it would surely suffer a crushing defeat, and gradually cease to be a threat to China.

Of course, this is on the premise that Ma Chongying's words are sincere and that he can keep his word.

However, if he did not agree to Ma Chongying's conditions and refused to let him return to his country, a fierce battle would be imminent—at least for Anxi Town—not to mention the inevitable future conflicts, making it uncertain whether he could remain secure in the Western Regions. Ultimately, Ma Chongying was a formidable enemy of the Tang Dynasty; his personal talent was only a small part of his problem. Most importantly, he had served as a high-ranking official in Tibet. Now, the greatest adversary for the Tang Dynasty was Shang Jiexi.

This year I managed to shut Shang Jiexi out, but what about next year? As long as Tibet's northward expansion strategy remains unchanged, he will come back sooner or later, and even if a different person becomes the Grand Tutor of Tibet, he will still cause endless trouble.

If Ma Chongying could truly persuade Tibet to change its strategic objectives and make peace with Tang, then the benefits of letting him go back would far outweigh those of capturing one, or even more, Tibetan officials.

In the blink of an eye, countless thoughts raced through Li Ji's mind. Weighing the pros and cons, he finally slapped the horse's neck and said, "Alright, I agree." Then his face darkened. "However, since we are enemies, I have no reason to trust you so easily. You may order the soldiers in the city to lay down their arms and surrender, and stay with me as hostages. If you return to Lhasa but break your promise, I will kill all two thousand Tibetan soldiers and leave their bodies at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains!"

When Ma Chongying first heard that Li Ji had agreed to his conditions, his face lit up with joy. But when he heard what Li Ji was going to say next, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. He pleaded, "I will never break my promise, but if I abandon my people and flee back alone, how will I have the chance to advise the king? Shang Jiexi might even try to poison me when we pass through Shazhou... Only by returning with the whole army can I point out Shang Jiexi's mistakes in losing territory and troops, try to seize his position as Grand Master, and then change the national policy."

As he spoke, he immediately bowed deeply to Li Ji: "If I lead the troops back, the promise can be kept; if I return alone, the mission will surely fail. Moreover, if I do not break the alliance, why would Grand Commandant Li detain my generals and soldiers? If I break the alliance, what good will it do for Tang to kill two thousand people? I implore Your Excellency to reconsider!"

"Then how can I trust you?"

"I swear to the heavens that if I do not keep my word today, my entire clan will be wiped out within ten years, leaving not a single chicken or dog alive!"

Li Ji didn't believe in any oaths, but he agreed with Ma Chongying's explanation. If he were to let Ma Chongying escape alone, his reputation would plummet, and how could he then influence Tibet's established national policy? Rather than letting Shang Jiexi kill him, it would be better for Li Ji to cut off Ma Chongying's head himself to intimidate Tibet and make a name for himself throughout the world.

He had inquired in detail about the internal affairs of Tibet from Mangre and knew that Ma Chongying and the monk Jiexi were indeed at odds, with various disagreements and even opposing views on both foreign wars and domestic governance. Therefore, even if Ma Chongying was merely using an excuse to escape back to seize power, causing internal strife within Tibet would be more beneficial to the Tang Dynasty than simply eliminating Da Nanglun…

Ma Chongying and Shang Jiexi were both hawks in the Tang Dynasty, but two hawks cannot fly towards each other; they will inevitably clash sooner or later. Moreover, if what Ma Chongying said today is true, then he has become a rare dove. A dove from an enemy country must be supported.

After much deliberation and weighing of options, Li Ji finally pulled on the reins and said, "Fine, I'll agree to your terms for now." Then he glared at Li Ji and said, "If you dare to break your promise, I'll carve a monument to kill you—I can have you today, and I can have you in the future!" With that, he turned his horse around and rode away.

The following morning, the Tang army broke camp and retreated slightly, clearing a road about three miles wide east of Dunhongpu, allowing Ma Chongying to lead the Tibetan army to abandon the defense of Zhangsancheng and flee south in panic. Li Yuanzhong suggested, "Since the Grand Commandant has tricked the Tibetan bandits out, we should take advantage of the situation to pursue and kill them, and we will surely achieve a great victory."

Li Ji waved his hand: "No need. Let this tiger return south for now, so that the barbarians will be left to fight each other." He then raised an eyebrow: "I'm not afraid that fellow will betray the alliance. My only concern is whether he'll survive to cross the Great Sand Sea again and escape back to Shazhou..."

With the Tibetan army gone, Li Ji and Li Yuanzhong led their troops to defend Zhangsan City. Looking up, they saw that the Tang banners had already been raised on the ramparts—the Anxi army must have been rushing to capture the city. Upon entering the city, they had barely dismounted when a golden-armored general strode towards them, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Old Li, I never expected we would meet again!"

This was naturally Guo Xin, the Deputy Military Governor of Anxi. Li Yuanzhong smiled and returned Guo Xin's greeting, then stepped aside, revealing Li Ji behind him: "Brother Guo, look who I have brought with me?"

Guo Xin sized Li Ji up and down, a hint of doubt in his eyes. Li Ji smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "General Guo, it's been ten years since we last met. Have you already forgotten me?"

Back when they fought side by side against the barbarians in Longyou, Li Ji was just a young man in his early twenties. In the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed, and his appearance has naturally changed—at least his beard has grown much longer. Therefore, Guo Xin did not dare to recognize him rashly. He waited for Li Ji to speak before raising his eyebrows and asking, "Could it be that Grand Commandant Li has come to this?"

He then raised his voice and said, "We have been looking eastward for the royal army to come to our aid every day. Today we finally see the face of the Grand Commandant. We will never forget the kindness of the Grand Commandant in saving us from danger!" As he spoke, he bent his left knee and was about to kneel down.

Li Ji thought to himself, "If you bow first and then express your gratitude, it will show your sincerity. But you express your gratitude first and then bow. You must be a little reluctant, right?" Although he was complaining in his heart, he had no choice but to help Guo Xin up with both hands and pull him along: "If it weren't for Commanders Guo and Li leading their soldiers to defend the two towns to the death, how could I have made it here safely? I should be the one thanking you both."

Now that their tastes have reversed, the two men can no longer find the closeness they once had with Li Ji. They exchange polite words, and a sense of distance inevitably arises. After inquiring about the general situation, Guo Xin wanted to host a banquet for Li Ji and Li Yuanzhong. Li Ji smiled and said, "Where in the army can we find fine wine and delicacies? Even in this small city of Zhangsan, with its mere garrison, there's nothing to eat—tell me, how far is it from here to Yanqi?"

In his original plan, he should have completely crushed the main force of the Tibetan army in Guazhou or Shazhou, forcing them to retreat south of the Qilian Mountains. Then, he would have led a vast army westward, passing through Beiting and entering Anxi, where he would have stayed. However, the reality was that the main force in Hexi needed to remain in Guazhou to defend against Shang Jiexi's counterattack. He, Grand Commandant Li, only led two thousand cavalry to Beiting, leaving five hundred men behind, totaling a mere fifteen hundred soldiers, to Zhangsancheng to garrison the enemy…

Li Ji was confident that by gathering the remnants of the Anxi and Beiting armies and deploying them on the plains, he could defeat them with his thousand-odd elite cavalry. However, the situation couldn't be calculated that way. Currently, the host was stronger than the guest, making it inconvenient to seize control of the enemy's territory.

Even so, Li Ji hoped to first travel to Anxi so that Han and Hu officials and civilians could see his dignified appearance and power as the Grand Commandant of the Dynasty. On the surface, it was to stabilize the hearts of the people in the Western Regions, but in reality, he wanted to first etch his indelible image in the hearts of the local Hu and Han soldiers and civilians.

He then said to Guo Xin, "Now that Zhang Sancheng's garrison has been recovered, I hope you can lead me to Yanqi Town. Once we are seated, we can discuss our next course of action." Guo Xin dared not disobey and readily agreed—after all, Yanqi Town was not far from here, and could be reached in a day by fast horse. Li Yuanzhong then returned to Tingzhou.

Yanqi was originally an ancient kingdom in the Western Regions, whose king's surname was Long. It was once subordinate to the Turks, but was defeated by the Tang army in the eighteenth year of the Zhenguan era and subsequently became a vassal state. The kingdom claimed to have nine cities, but in reality, they were just small fortresses in oases, with fewer than two thousand soldiers. After the Tang Dynasty established a garrison there, the number of soldiers residing in the capital alone was no less than five thousand—the entire Anxi Four Garrisons had a quota of thirty thousand soldiers. Over the years, people reproduced and multiplied, and the number of Tang people or basically Tang-influenced natives in and around the city made up half of the population.

Thus, the King of Yanqi was essentially rendered powerless—the same was true for Kucha and Shule. Only the King of Khotan maintained a degree of independence—Yanqi, aside from nominally supporting a so-called royal family, was virtually no different from a county in the Central Plains. When Li Ji entered Yanqi, he asked if he should pay a visit to its king, but Guo Xin shook his head: "If he is sincere, he will naturally come to pay his respects to the Grand Commandant; if he is not, there is no need to be harsh—how can a high-ranking official like myself, the Three Dukes of Tang, pay homage to a barbarian chieftain?"

Chapter Sixty-Five: Great Merit Goes Unrewarded

Li Ji asked Guo Xin, "How many troops does Anxi still have? Do they have the strength to attack Shazhou?"

Guo Xin smiled bitterly, "Khotan and Shule have both fallen into the hands of the barbarian bandits. The western border of our town has shrunk to Weitou Prefecture. Apart from the garrisoning of various cities, we have no more than five thousand soldiers available... The previous attack on Zhang Sancheng's garrison resulted in heavy losses..."

Ma Chongying claimed that the Anxi forces had launched a fierce attack on Zhangsan City, resulting in the deaths of two to three thousand men. This was obviously an exaggeration and a threat. If so many Tang soldiers were truly buried beneath the city walls, Anxi Town would have collapsed on the spot. Ma Chongying could have ignored Li Ji and Li Yuanzhong to the east and marched straight towards Yanqi after leaving the city. In fact, Guo Xin, like Li Yuanzhong, had launched a fierce attack on the city walls for several days, losing four to five hundred men, before daring to continue the attack. He could only set up camp and monitor the situation, waiting for the Tibetan army to run out of food and fall into disarray.

Even so, for Anxi Town, which only had 5,000 mobile troops, the loss of 400-500 men was almost a crippling blow. Guo Xin said, "I really don't have the strength to fight Shazhou anymore."

"From Yanqi to Shazhou, one must first go south to Quli, and then east along the Chi River. The Chi River is shallow and often dries up. To the south lies the Tulun Desert, and to the north, the sand dunes. It takes 1,500 li to reach Dunhuang..."

The area of ​​Shazhou is vast, but the Tulunqi (Taklamakan Desert) stretches across it like a dagger, extending from west to east, reaching the vicinity of Dunhuang. From Dunhuang westward, there are two roads along the edge of the desert, one to the north and one to the south. The northern road, as Guo Xin mentioned, runs halfway along the north bank of the Chishui River. The southern road is much longer, passing through Shouchang from Dunhuang, and then over a thousand li to cities such as Qitun and Putao, then another seven or eight hundred li to Qiemo, and after leaving the area, another thousand li to Khotan.

Guo Xin understood Li Ji's meaning. At present, the main force of the Tubo army was near Dunhuang, while the main force of the Hexi army was stationed at Changle to confront them. At this time, if Anxi could send troops to harass the Tubo army's rear, Shangjiexi would be in great panic. Even if they did not turn around and run away, they would certainly not dare to attack Changle again.

However, Anxi lacked both troops and provisions, and the journey to Dunhuang was 1,500 li away. If they were to head south to the Qiemo River basin to attack Qitun and Putao City, not only would the sandy terrain be difficult to traverse, but it would also be impossible to put enough pressure on Shang Jiexi. He was truly willing but unable to do so.

Guo Xin said: "Since the Han Dynasty, those who went to the Western Regions mostly traveled through Shazhou, either heading north to Yanqi or south to Khotan. However, over the past few hundred years, the weather has become increasingly dry, the deserts have expanded, and the oases have shrunk, making these two routes increasingly difficult to travel. Therefore, since the Yang and Sui Dynasties, merchants have mostly taken the new northern route, which bypasses the area north of the Tianshan Mountains and goes west from Beiting—which is exactly the route the Grand Commandant took—and even when the barbarian bandits invaded, they never crossed the Tulun Desert north of it."

Li Ji pondered for a moment, then asked him, "Is it really impossible to go from Yanqi to Dunhuang?" After a pause, he asked again, "The Tang army in the town is less than ten thousand. Can't the Hu people be commanded?"

Guo Xin shook his head with a wry smile: "Difficult, very difficult. Since the Qian Yuan and Shang Yuan eras, barbarian bandits have repeatedly invaded Anxi. The barbarians have always been fearful of power but not grateful, and most of them are waiting to see what happens. If the barbarians were usable, we could conscript them all and Anxi could have twenty or thirty thousand men. Why are we in such a predicament now?"

Li Ji smiled and said, "If the Hu people are merely afraid of the Barbarians and not actually allied with them, then things will be easier. Now that I'm here, Commander Guo can spread the word that our Tang dynasty has already defeated the Barbarians and reinforcements are on their way. Upon hearing this, the Hu people will no longer dare to shirk their duties as military governors..."

He used a trick that was widely known in the Central Plains: he led his 1,500 soldiers out of Yanqi overnight, then returned the next day, repeating this process for three days, seemingly endlessly. Sure enough, the local people were terrified. Several chieftains even approached Guo Xin, asking, "Now that the army has arrived, shouldn't you launch a counterattack against Tibet and recapture Shule and Khotan? I wonder if Commander Li has any plans for us?"

Even though it took three days to make the rounds, the number of Tang troops that pretended to enter the city was not large. However, firstly, they were all Li Ji's elite soldiers, well-equipped and highly motivated, looking like a formidable force capable of taking on ten men each; secondly, the Yanqi people, who could only field two thousand victorious soldiers, didn't have much insight to begin with.

Therefore, Li Ji ordered Guo Xin to send out 500 cavalry, while he himself left 500 cavalry. They also recruited another 1,000 Hu cavalry, led by Lao Jing, and with sufficient supplies, set off westward from Yanqi. Their destination was some oases further west of Shouchang City, west of Dunhuang... or even, if they dared not venture too far, they could at least make a stop at Puchanghai, which was located in the very middle of this 1,500-mile journey.

Li Ji took a shortcut, passing through Xizhou and Yizhou, then turning back to Guazhou and entering Jinchang City. The round trip was over four thousand li, and even after leaving supplies in Tingzhou, his elite cavalry, capable of traveling a hundred li a day, still took nearly three months.

He couldn't help but sigh, "The Western Regions are so vast! I've only traveled through less than a fifth of them... Plus, there are many deserts and Gobi along the way, the roads are rugged, and military operations are difficult. It's really not an easy task to firmly control them."

During these three months, Shang Jiexi personally led the main force or sent a portion of his troops to attack Changle four times. Nan Jiyun defended the city firmly with the help of its fortifications and surrounding walls. In dozens of battles, he killed or wounded no less than four or five thousand Tibetan soldiers, but the Tang walls remained steadfast. There were two opportunities during this period when the Tibetan army suffered a major defeat at the foot of the walls. Wei Gao and others requested permission to pursue them far away, and even to take advantage of the victory to directly attack Dunhuang, but Nan Jiyun rejected both of these requests, fearing an ambush.

On the one hand, Nan Jiyun's mentality was always somewhat improper. When he was in Suiyang, he only knew how to follow Zhang Xun's military orders and rarely took charge on his own. Later, although he was stationed in Bozhou and then served as the commander of Heng Hai Army, he rarely encountered strong enemies. Therefore, he always regarded himself as a subordinate general. If Li Ji ordered him to defend, he would defend it firmly and dared not act on his own initiative.

On the other hand, he also had a clear understanding of his position—I am not a general of Hexi, much less the deputy military governor of Hexi. I am just a guest general who came to help on my own initiative. How can I make decisions on my own? If we lose the pursuit of the defeated enemy, we will fail Li Ji's high expectations. If we win... I will take some of the credit from the generals of Hexi. Chen Lizhen, Gao Chongwen and others will obviously not be happy. If I take Li Ji's credit as well, thereby damaging our friendship, wouldn't that be a loss?

Anyway, Li Ji said before he left that as long as Guazhou is held, the Tubo will be like grasshoppers in autumn, they won't be able to jump around for more than a few days, so why be in a hurry?

It was now the first month of the sixth year of the Dali era, the coldest time of the year, with snow falling in many areas. The Tibetan forces had suffered repeated defeats, failing to gain an inch of ground in their counterattack on Guazhou, and instead incurring heavy losses, their morale plummeting to rock bottom. Shang Jiexi, in particular, was greatly alarmed to hear that Ma Chongying, for reasons unknown, had managed to escape from Zhangsancheng's garrison and return without even coming to see him, instead heading back to his homeland via Shouchang. He pointed his finger and cursed day and night – "Li Ji is incompetent!"

If you send just one or two thousand troops to aid Beiting, I don't believe we can't capture Enlandazalgong. Have you really put all your attention on me and forgotten about that old rival?

When Shang Jiexi heard that Tang troops were active near Puchanghai, he knew that Wuyi should be left behind. So he divided his troops to garrison Dunhuang and Shouchang, and led the main force back to the country from Dangjinkou, between the Qilian and Altun Mountains.

Upon receiving the report from the scouts, Li Ji ordered a retreat. In fact, after a long campaign and transporting supplies over a thousand miles, as well as supplying some provisions to the Northern Court, his own provisions were running low. Although Dunhuang was only a stone's throw away, he was powerless to take it.

When he returned to Liangzhou, it was already springtime and flowers were in bloom. Suddenly, he received an imperial edict ordering him to return to Chang'an to present the captives and have an audience with the emperor.

----------

When the news of Li Ji's victory over Shang Jiexi and the recapture of Guazhou reached Chang'an, Li Yu was naturally overjoyed. However, after the initial excitement, he also felt some lingering worries.

To be honest, in recent years, the counterattacks in Longyou and the recovery of Hexi have yielded remarkable results for the various Tang armies, which naturally pleased Emperor Li Yu. However, the repeated demands for money and provisions from various garrisons have left the imperial treasury empty, forcing the court to seek payment from the garrisons in Guandong and Jianghuai. This has led to several incidents of garrison soldiers clamoring for pay and the people rising up in rebellion—though none of them were large and were quickly suppressed.

Prime Minister Yang Wan submitted a memorial requesting that, in order to support the war on the western front, the food and clothing of officials in the capital be reduced, extravagance be eliminated in all government offices, and expenses be minimized. Even the Prime Minister's own meals were only allowed one meat dish. As a result, everyone hated this old man to the bone. Unfortunately, Mr. Yang was naturally frugal and very careful in his conduct. He did not wear bright clothes or eat two different dishes. Even after becoming Prime Minister, his entire family of more than ten people were still crammed into a small two-courtyard house. It was impossible to impeach him.

Therefore, Li Yu truly did not want to fight anymore. He was content with temporarily stabilizing the situation in the west, maintaining the current defensive line, and ensuring that Fengxiang and Chang'an remained free from alarm. As for recovering lost territory, he would leave that to the next generation.

Thus, despite receiving little support from the central government and repeatedly failing to obtain funds and provisions, Li Ji was still able to advance rapidly and repeatedly defeat the barbarian rebels, making him stand out among the generals. While Li Yu was pleased, he couldn't help but feel a little worried—this child's reputation is now almost... perhaps even surpassing that of Guo Ziyi!

Besides, I have already appointed him as Grand Commandant and granted him the title of Prince of Wuwei. How else can he be promoted? The phrase "no reward for great merit" kept popping into Li Yu's mind, and each time it would startle him into a cold sweat.

So the prime ministers were summoned to discuss the matter. Li Ji had also recovered Su and Gua prefectures, thus securing Beiting and Anxi. How should he be rewarded for such a great achievement? "Should we recall him to the capital and appoint him to the Secretariat?"

At this time, there were four actual prime ministers. Li Xian had passed away not long ago, and the prime minister in terms of seniority became Yang Wan, followed by Wang Jin, Li Qiyun, and Cui Youfu. In addition, the nominal prime minister, Grand Minister Guo Ziyi, and the two finance ministers Liu Yan and Han Huang were also present.

Before Li Yu could finish speaking, Wang Jin hurriedly said, "Although Grand Commandant Li has recovered Su and Gua, Shazhou is still in the hands of the rebels. If we summon him back to court immediately, I'm afraid the efforts to recover Hexi and Zhenxi will be in vain. Your Majesty, please think it over."

It's estimated that Yang Wan and Li Qiyun, being on good terms with Li Ji, are happy, or at least don't object to his return. As for the others, everyone has their own position, and they naturally don't want others to take their place. Wang Jin, in particular, has never gotten along with Li Ji and is deeply afraid that Li Ji's return to the capital as prime minister will suppress or even humiliate him, so he quickly spoke up to stop him.

Most of the crowd agreed, but Li Yu frowned and asked, "Then how should we encourage them?"

Yang Wan clasped his hands and said, “Li Ji once said that his ambition was to recover the Western Regions and open up the Silk Road. His ambition was not fulfilled, and even with Your Majesty’s decree, he probably would not be willing to return. In my opinion, it is enough to issue an edict to commend him and increase his fief. There is no need to let him enter the Secretariat and the Chancellery. Although Li Ji came from a literary background, he has never governed the people. When he was in Weibo, his policies were also based on the example of Qingchen. Our dynasty has been established for a long time. Although we have experienced chaos, our system is still intact. There is no need for Zhou Bo in the court. Moreover, Zhou Bo would certainly not be able to stay in his position.”

To put it bluntly, Li Ji has more of a military temperament than a civil official. He is not suited to be a prime minister. Entering the Secretariat-Chancellery may not be a good thing for the country or for him personally.

In truth, Yang Wan knew that if Li Ji were to return to the court, Guo Ziyi would serve as a model, and it was impossible for him to truly hold power in the Secretariat.

Cui Youfu said, "Even if he does not enter the Secretariat, we should still order Grand Commandant Li to present the captives to the capital to show the power and prestige of our Tang Dynasty and to demonstrate Your Majesty's power and virtue." He understood that Li Yu was already wary of Li Ji, so he hoped to use the pretext of presenting the captives to summon Li Ji back to the capital, thereby ascertaining Li Ji's true intentions—whether he had any ambition to establish his own independent regime and not follow the king's rule.

Li Yu readily agreed, nodding and saying, "Alright." But he immediately asked, "What if they say the war is raging and it's not appropriate to return immediately, and they disobey the imperial edict? What then?"

Li Qijun chuckled inwardly, thinking to himself, "Your Majesty, your concerns are quite reasonable, but you shouldn't have asked that question; it makes you seem petty." So he offered his suggestion: "I am willing to go to Hexi and persuade Li Ji to return to court."

Yang Wan immediately rejected the idea: "Although Grand Commandant Li holds a high position, he is still an official outside the capital. How can the prime minister personally go to summon him?" You once went to Weibo to persuade Li Ji, but what was your status then, and what is your status now? Although our rank is not as high as Li Ji's, the prime minister's status is above all other officials, and even the Three Dukes can be treated with respect. How could the court possibly lower itself to send a prime minister out to summon him?

Li Qijun said, "Otherwise, we can send Li Changyuan to summon him."

Yang Wan shook her head again: "There's no need for that. Just have the Hanlin Academy draft the edict and have the palace officials summon him."

"What if they don't come?"