The water stove made a "gurgling" sound, sending waves of heat into the main hall of the main management headquarters of Jinshan Road.

The snow fluttered outside the window, but it was as warm as early summer in the main hall of the Jinshan Road. Guo Yuanzhen, the chief manager of Jinshan Road, held a cup of tea in his hand, and stood leisurely in front of the glass window looking at the snow scene outside. (Note: Guo Yuanzhen, famous, with a name from Yuanzhen, a famous diplomat and poet in the Tang Dynasty.)

Tea was specially transported from Shenzhou, and spices from Dashi, Tianzhu and the Western Regions were added to the water. Drinking it in your mouth, it has a mellow and elegant taste. The water stove is a new style that only appeared in Chang'an City this autumn. It is made larger and more refined than the old style in spring, with a low-key and luxurious look. (Note: Shenzhou, namely Xinyang, one of the ancient Chinese tea production areas)

The glass window did not come from Chang'an, but Persia closer to Shule. Maha Made, a general stationed opposite the Pamir Mountains, respected Guo Yuanzhen's knowledge and virtues. On his birthday last year, he specially sent craftsmen to bring Liuli to create this porched window worth ten thousand gold. Although the price of glass fell sharply since the beginning of this year, it could make the enemy generals remember their birthdays and respect them as much as they are. As far as Guo Yuanzhen knew, except for himself, there was only Yang Hu of the Three Kingdoms era. (Note: Yang Hu, an ancient famous general and gentleman. When he passed away, the enemy country mourned.)

Guo Yuanzhen was a Confucian general who liked to be scattered and far better than to charge. However, since he turned from literature to martial arts, his military achievements were no less than those who liked to be charged. When he left Liangzhou, he used Tubo and Turks to be afraid of each other. Without taking a single target, he expanded the northern and southern borders of Liangzhou to more than 700 miles each. When he left, the people of all ethnic groups from Gan and Liang were scrambling to ride horses and send off the road for three days.

During the procuratorate of Anxi, he personally went to the tent of Wuzhile, chief of Tuqi Shi, and chatted with the latter. He used to help Wuzhile lead the Tuqi Shi tribes to retake the Tang Dynasty and send two sons to Chang'an as stamina. The Tubo people tried to go north to Anxi, but with his support from Wuzhile, he "persuaded" the other party to give up. The encroachment of the Western Regions by the great cannibals stopped at the Pamirs because of his arrival.

Although since Wuzhile died of illness, under the leadership of Soge, Tuqi Shiren seized the Suoye City of the Tang Dynasty and provoked troubles many times. However, Guo Yuanzhen firmly believed that the situation was still under his control. The ten surnames of Tuqi Shi and the four Turkic surnames were only more than 200,000, which was not enough to establish a country. Moreover, the Turkic Khan, the Tubo Empress Dowager on the Plateau, could not tolerate the emergence of a new country in Anxi. Therefore, as long as the Tang Dynasty court could temporarily bear it, there were only two roads before Soge, and he would return or die by himself.

In Guo Yuanzhen's view, the price paid by the Tang Dynasty to comfort Soge is simply insignificant compared to the continuous wars that have turned the Western Regions into a pot of porridge!

All tribes in the Western Regions were strong and bullying the weak. As long as Soge could maintain its current military strength, even if the Tang Dynasty did not grant him the Khan of the fourteen surnames, each tribe would follow his leader. The position of the Western Regions General Zhou Yiti, who was the right guard general, was originally obtained by bribing Zong Chuke. This man forced him to rebel against Soge at the beginning of his tenure, and should have been removed from prison and severely punished. Using this man's head to calm down Soge's anger was simply a waste use.

As for the cities occupied by Saoge, Gumo and other cities, Saoge himself has regained his loyalty to the Tang Dynasty. Can the land and cities he occupied not be considered as returning to the Tang Dynasty?

The support from the Turkic Khan Chow now gives Soge, and how angry he will be when Soge retakes the Tang Dynasty. At that time, it is inevitable that the Turks and the Turks will fight. The Tang Dynasty only needs to sit in the mountains and watch the tiger fight, and they can see that both Turks and the Turks are injured!

"Master-in-chief, the Turkic soldiers and horses in Jialuguan retreated, retreated!" A young voice suddenly rang out of the window, with unconcealed excitement.

Through the not-so-clear parquet glass window, Guo Yuanzhen saw his only son, Guo Hong, the commander of the General Administration of Jinshan Road, and quickly rushed to the main hall from the gate.

Guo Hong is both civil and military, brave and good at fighting, and treats others sincerely. However, Guo Yuanzhen is very dissatisfied with this son. The advantages of "both civil and military, brave and good at fighting, and treats others sincerely" are enough to be a Zhechong Chief Commander. If you want to inherit his mantle and keep the wealth of the Guo family in Hebei, or go further, it is too far away.

Given the current weakness of the Tang Dynasty, a general who is both civil and military, brave and good at fighting, and treats others sincerely is most likely to die in the battlefield. A general who dies in the battle is also most likely to become the target of shirking responsibility by his superiors and colleagues.

However, if you are not brave enough to fight, you can only be mediocre and like to be scammers and cheating, it is easier to survive in the officialdom. As long as you survive for a long enough time and rank in seniority, you can steadily rise to the third rank of the Tongpingzhang sect.

"Father, Father, the thunder cavalry and horses of Jialuguan retreated, retreated!" The young man's legs and feet were fast. In a blink of an eye, Guo Hong's figure had already appeared in the main hall of the general manager. He continued to announce the good news loudly to his father's back.

"I heard it! The rushing cavalry and horses are not good at long-term battles. They are entrenched in Jialuguan for a month and have not gained any advantage from our army. If they do not retreat, are they going to freeze the fort to death?" Dissatisfied with his son's fuss, Guo Yuanzhen slowly turned his head and asked with wide eyes.

"No, no!" He was so scared by his father that he took a step back, Guo Hong waved his hands with a red face, "Father General Rong, according to the scout, the thunder cavalry and horses in Jialuguan were not to reorganize the army, but to disperse the airs and go their separate ways!"

"Have you dispersed?" Guo Yuanzhen frowned even more, and his suspicious expression instantly wrote his face. "Where is the scout? He has found out clearly? The two sides have never fought at all. How could the thunderous cavalry and horses disperse themselves?"

"I have sent a scout with my personal soldiers to capture the prisoners. If I can catch them, I can find out the reason." Guo Hong waved his arms excitedly without thinking, "Master, if the situation is true, I will volunteer to lead my troops to follow and chase!"

"The chief general, I am willing to accompany the Major General!"

"The chief general, the last general is willing to lead his troops to chase the enemy!"

"The chief manager, finally familiar with the surrounding terrain..."

...

At the entrance of the main hall of the Xingyuan, several young generals rushed in one after another. They stood in a state of sternness, unable to wait.

He was blocked by five thousand thunder cavalry and was blocked in Shule City for nearly a month and did not dare to show his head. Everyone's stomachs were almost blown up. At this moment, the enemy defeated without fighting. If everyone didn't take the opportunity to cut him back with seven or eight hundred heads, how could they be worthy of the military pay they usually received?!

However, Guo Yuanzhen, the chief manager of Jinshan Road, was as heavy as ever. He slowly glanced at everyone and shook his head decisively: "Be careful of fraud! The use of troops by blocking the army has always been insidious. Our army has been closed for a month and is very likely to pretend to withdraw, attract our army to chase after us, and then turn around and catch our army off guard!"

"This..." Guo Hong and several young generals were stunned, blushing and wondering how to refute.

The Jinshan Army was nearly 15,000, but the enemy troops outside the city were only 5,000. Even if the Zhazi was cheating, the 5,000 people were still powerless. What's more, among these 5,000 enemies, more than half of them were herders who were forcibly recruited from the Tuqi and Shi divisions. Not only did the combat effectiveness be low, it was difficult to enforce orders. Taking them first to defeat and then turn around to fight back is far more difficult than crossing the Tianshan Mountains in the cold winter!

However, as generals and sons, they cannot accuse Guo Yuanzhen of not having common sense. In fact, the chief general manager Guo Yuanzhen not only read military books, but also had great instructions on leadership experience. Many of his decisions were privately expressed that many of his decisions were unanimous. But after the incident, everyone was often surprised to find that the chief general manager's decision was the most wisest, but he could not explain the reason to everyone at the beginning.

"Report, the Grand Chief, the Grand Chief, the army was defeated and captured! The Tuks in Jialu Pavilion defeated without fighting!" Just as everyone was in a dilemma, another excited shout came from the gate of the throne. Immediately afterwards, the commander Xun Li, the commander of Guoyi, ran in with snow on his head, "The Grand Chief, Li Changle, was captured by the Tuks and Shiren, who was a translator, fled back to report the news, saying that the Tuks and Shiren was scared away. Soge's younger brother, Zhe, left the camp a few days ago to intercept and kill someone, but was captured alive by the other party."

"What?" Guo Yuanzhen was shocked, but there was no joy in his voice. "Where is Han Shang? Bring him in to me!"

"Yes!" I couldn't figure out why his chief executive looked unhappy even though it was obviously good news from the sky. Xun Li, the commander of Guoyi, hesitated and bowed down hurriedly.

Soon, the man led a blue-eyed Han merchant and hurriedly walked in. He reported to Guo Yuanzhen the detailed reason why the Tuqi Shima voluntarily retreated. The personal soldiers sent by Guo Hong almost followed him, dragged several old and weak herders who were voluntarily abandoned by Tuqi Shima to return to pay the order.

The mixed-race Han merchant Li Anle had no overall view, and was so excited that he was defeated without fighting. Without waiting for Guo Yuanzhen to ask, he said the situation he saw in Jialu Pavilion just like a bamboo tube. Finally, he begged Guo Yuanzhen to send a chance to avenge the innocent Han people in Shuye City.

The old and weak herdsmen who were abandoned by the thunder cavalrymen were all in a state of despair. Therefore, Guo Yuanzhen did not need to threaten and induce him, and he would answer questions and answer questions.

With reference to the two sides, the answer was quickly revealed. Soge himself was not in the Jialuguan camp during this period. All the servants who left the intimidation of Shule City were servants, and all the real elites of the thunder cavalry were quietly taken away by him to intercept Zhang Qian, the commander of the Anxi Army who came to contact all parties!

"He knew magic, he said, Zhang Changshi knew magic!" Li Changle, a Han merchant who took the initiative to stay as a general translator, suddenly widened his eyes and his voice changed completely. "The chief executive, he confessed that the rumor that the rushing cavalrymen who escaped, Zhang Changshi knew magic and chanted a spell to ask for a thunder. The elite troops of the Zhazi were killed on the spot. The Zhazi himself was also knocked out by the sky thunder, and then he was taken back to Zhang Qian's car array by a Tiangou!"

"Nonsense, we have been fighting outside for many years, who has seen someone perform magic in front of the formation?" Guo Yuanzhen was a Jinshi when he was young, and was an absolute Confucian child. How could he believe in the strange power and chaos? Therefore, he immediately refuted, "It must be that those thunder cavalrymen were defeated too badly and did not have the courage to admit it, so he made up stories to avoid being pursued by Soge after he returned. Xun Guoyi passed on my order, and from today on, anyone spread rumors about magic in the army, and I will be killed for the crime of chaos!"

The last sentence was specifically said to everyone. The generals present were all shocked and quickly bowed to take the order.

In fact, it is not necessary for Guo Yuanzhen to emphasize, they do not believe that demons can appear in front of the two armies. The reason is very simple. All ethnic groups in the Western Regions have a variety of beliefs, and pythons and rabbits can become immortals. Everyone has been in war for many years, but they have never seen magic tricks appear. According to some Taoist sects in the Central Plains, the military is the place with the strongest yang energy, and any evil tricks are useless in the military!

"If you ask him again, how many soldiers Zhang Changshi brought with him? Where did Zha's defeat?" After sorting out the information in his heart, Guo Yuanzhen looked at Tongsi and gave a deep command again.

Li Changle, the Han merchant, knew that his performance was not favored by General Guo, so he quickly tried to make up for his mistakes and translated the former words to the herdsmen who were captured alive. However, the herdsmen shook their heads in a daze, and they confessed in tears until Guo Hong threatened to use torture: He was originally recruited by Soge Qiang, and had a low status in the army and had no right to know these important news. Otherwise, he would not have been thrown away by the general Pilo, who was guarding the camp, and used as bait to attract the attention of the Tang army.

Guo Yuanzhen understood the custom of thundering cavalry and was convinced that the elderly and weak herdsmen did not lie. He had to settle for the second best, and spoke softly, asking about the defense situation of the cities such as Saiye, Gumo, Dashi, He Lie. Although the elderly and weak herdsmen wanted to answer hard, they didn't know much in detail, so they could only vaguely say one thing.

"Come, give each of them dry food for twenty days, a horse, let them go home!" Knowing that they could not ask any more useful things, Guo Yuanzhen sighed and ordered in a deep voice.

"Yes!" The personal army captain Guo Ju agreed and prepared to execute the order. Unexpectedly, the mixed-race Han merchant Li Changle, who had no idea where he came from, actually stopped him loudly, "Master General, no, no! After the Shage broke the broken leaves, all the Han people in the city could not take out money to redeem themselves were killed by him. Those who took out money were treated as her husband slaves and moved to the frozen city to raise sheep. These thunderbolts were captured alone. If you don't kill them, you have already done your best. Why do you give them horses and dry food?!" (Note: Frozen City, the village next to Isek Lake, is on the south bank of the lake)

"Drag it out and take twenty whips, and then blast it out of the city!" This was the first time in many years that Guo Yuanzhen was questioned, and he suddenly became angry. He glared at the Han Shang fiercely and ordered without hesitation.

"Master General, please spare your life, spare your life!" Unexpectedly, in Guo Yuanzhen's eyes, his status was far inferior to that of a foreign herdsman. Li Changle was so scared that he knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, "The villain was also anxious because his relatives and friends were killed by Soge, and he ran into the great manager for a lifetime. The villain never dared to do so, so he asked the great manager to spare his life. The villain, the villain can speak the local dialect of the six tribes. The villain, the villain, and the villain stayed will definitely be useful to you!"

"Master General, this person can come to report the news on his own initiative, and his loyalty is commendable." Wang Hu, the town general, heard Li Changle's words pitifully and couldn't help but whisper to plead for him.

"Yes, the chief manager, this person was also in a hurry!"

"The chief executive officer calms down. He can speak the local dialect of the six clans, and it is rare to be a talent!"

...

Other young generals present also spoke one after another. They didn't expect to see Li Changle being beaten and thrown outside the city and feeding the wild wolf alive.

"Since you are pleading for him, you can change it to a ten-whip, and then stay in the city for a month of hard work!" Guo Yuanzhen was always generous to the generals below. He thought for a while and nodded slightly, "But, I sent someone to take good care of him so that he would not be resentful and then go to the enemy again!"

"Yes!" The generals had already fulfilled their kindness and bowed together.

The personal soldiers rushed in from outside the door and dragged away the talkative Li Changle. Then, under the command of the captain Guo Ju, the personal soldiers took dry food and horses and sent away the old and weak riders who had originally thought they would die.

"Our army is a benevolent and righteous army. How can we imitate the barbarians who have transformed into foreign countries?" Guo Yuanzhen's anger was not gone, and he had a blue face and began to issue orders. "Wang Hu, Xun Li, Hou Dong, Bao Chang, you four, each bring a thousand brothers to clear the enemy around Shule. The farthest is not more than fifty miles. If you encounter the main force of the enemy attack, return to Shule immediately and do not underestimate the enemy's battle!"

"After the order!" Several generals whose names were called were surprised and happy, so they quickly stepped forward to take the order arrow and ran away wildly.

"Yeah—" Gripping his teeth and grabbing another command arrow, but Guo Yuanzhen's mouth was delayed from issuing a new order.

It was out of control, the situation was completely out of control.

The reason why he chose not to stick to it and avoid fighting with the thunder cavalry was to leave enough room for easing. When the situation in the Western Regions was uncontrollable by Zhou Yiti, Niu Shizhao and others, he would come forward to persuade Soge to stop when he saw the situation was good and turn the tide.

Although Soge did not explicitly send messengers to him, he also recognized this tacit understanding and brought all the thunder donors to Kucha, and only sent his younger brother Zha to lead five thousand troops to feint attack Shule.

Now, as Zha's life was captured by Zhang Qian, the battle situation instantly deviated from his expected direction. After the news spread, Niu Shizhao and Zhou Yiti and his morale would inevitably be greatly boosted. Soge was suspicious by nature and would definitely not believe that Zha's life was captured had nothing to do with Shule's side.

Once Soge becomes angry and embarrassed, even if Niu Shizhao and Zhou Yiti can take the opportunity to join forces to defeat him, this person will definitely turn completely to the Turks. In desperation, the entire clan will accept the recruitment of the cannibals and convert to the Crescent Sect. From then on, there will be no peace in the entire Western Regions!

"Master-in-chief, the Tuqi Shepherd Shi just told the people that there are less than a thousand Tuqi Shi defenders in Weitou City!" Guo Hongqiu was eager to fight, so he took the initiative to come forward and whispered to remind him.

"Take two thousand brothers to welcome Zhang Changshi." Guo Yuanzhen glanced at his son, "Be sure to connect everyone, including the chasing family, to Shule, and do not delay!"

"Yes!" Guo Hong's disappointment could not be concealed, but he still took the command arrow.

Just as he was about to turn around and go out, he saw the figure of the personal captain Guo Ju rushed in. Without waiting for anyone to ask, he reported to Guo Yuanzhen loudly, "Report to the Grand Chief, Zhang and Zhang Changshi have arrived and are outside the city. He is still escorting more than 300 thunder cavalry and other prisoners!"

"It's coming so fast!" Guo Yuanzhen was stunned and blurted out his feelings. Then, he held the table with his hands and continued to instruct his son, "Go and bring his troops under him into the vicinity of the schoolyard. Then, tell him that I will set up a banquet at the headquarters of the Central Army to welcome him!"

"Yes!" Guo Hongsu stood up and bowed, answering particularly loudly.

…………

"The owner of the manor, Lu Zang used a note to ask for his opinion." Outside Chang'an City, in the evening, in the Great Zhangjiazhuang in Weinan, the housekeeper staggered forward and reported to Zhang Ruoxu.

"Lu Zangyong? What are he doing?" Zhang Ruoxu frowned slightly and pondered with confusion. However, after hesitating for a while, he couldn't bear to turn the other party out of the door. He had to give helpless instructions, "Please ask him to go to the front yard room to use tea, and I will wait for him."

"Yes!" The butler agreed and staggered away. After a long time, he brought the uninvited guest Lu Zangyong into the guest room specially used by the Zhang family to receive strangers.

Zhang Ruoxu and Lu Zangyong have never had any friendship, but because both parties are familiar with Sun Anzu, they have traveled together with the latter once. Therefore, they are not too enthusiastic, but they just ordered people to set up tea and snacks and wait for the guests to explain their purpose.

But Lu Zangyong did not think he was an outsider at all. He drank tea for a while and then talked for a long time before he smiled and took out a recent collection of poems from his arms and asked Zhang Ruoxu for advice.

Seeing this, Zhang Ruoxue felt even more boring. He looked patiently and saw that the paper was full of wealth and auspicious words, and most of them were written during a banquet at Princess Anle's house. He smiled and put down his collection of poems and whispered: "I'm not to blame Ziqian, Zhang has not used his writing for many years, and he can't tell the difference between the poems. Instead of asking me about the blind, it's better to go to find Wei Gong Juyuan and Xiao Gong Zhizhong and others. At least they have broad knowledge and are far better than me, a country old man who can't leave behind!"

"Don't be so humble. In today's world, how many people dare to say that their poems are as good as your poem "Spring River Moon Night"?" Lu Zang used his original purpose not to discuss the work. He smiled and put away the collection of poems and waved his hand gently. "You are just a weak person by nature and are unwilling to write."

As he spoke, he took out an invitation from his sleeve and stuffed it with a smile, "Princess Anle has long admired Shiweng Daming for a long time, and has always regretted that he could not ask in person. Therefore, he specially asked Lu to invite Shiweng to go to her mansion for a night banquet in five days. At that time, the literati and scholars in Chang'an City will arrive, and Shiweng just showed his skills."

"Princess Anle, please invite me?" Zhang Ruoxu didn't react for a moment and asked blankly. Then he stood up and waved his hand quickly, "Ziqian, don't joke with me. I am so old that I can't open my eyes as soon as the sun sets. How can I get to the night banquet? I also asked Ziqian to claim the princess for me, and said that I am poor and dare not bother me. It is better to give this invitation to such a talent like Ziqian!"

"Shiweng, the princess really admires you for a long time." Unexpectedly, Zhang Ruoxu refused so simply, Lu Zangyong stood up, blushed his face and stuffed the invitation into his hand. "Although he had misunderstandings with Yongzhao, he had never peeked at Yongzhao's property. Now Yongzhao is in the Western Regions, and his family is short of people to take care of. You are gone, just writing a poem, but it can help the princess and Yongzhao resolve the misunderstandings. From then on, why not do it?!"

"It turns out to be for Zhao!" Zhang Ruoxu took a step back and shook his head with a sneer. "Then I dare not answer. Meng Yongzhao looked down on me and called me Uncle Shi. I can't lose his face and go sucking carbuncles and licking hemorrhoids! Butler, I'm tired, I'll see you off for me!"
Chapter completed!