Chapter 269: The Ancestor of Tubo

Ma Chao's dream of leading the army to attack the Mo Dao team was ultimately unfulfilled.

Seeing the reluctant and rather self-familiar Ma Mengqi being persuaded to leave by Jian Yong, Zhang Fei felt the enthusiasm of Yongliang for the first time.

Did Ma Teng's son's heart go to Han Sui?

And this Ma Chao actually listened to Mr. Xianhe so much?

Then Zhang Fei was shocked by his own thoughts:

Ma Chao might not be so obedient to Ma Teng.

Shaking his head to get rid of this rather strange idea, Zhang Fei regretfully and carefully put away the Mo Dao.

In a sense, Pang Tong was right. At present, the Mo Dao is more valuable than the soldiers.

Although Han Sui had the intention to retreat in front of Mo Dao and Ma Chao, he did not retreat at all when negotiating the terms.

Once he accepted the fact that he was going to be expelled from Yongzhou, Han Sui was quite relaxed.

Since you want me to fulfill my responsibilities as the General of the Western Expedition, should I support the General of the Western Expedition as the court did in the past?

Before Ma Chao drew his sword, Pang Tong was the first to stop Han Sui from talking:

"General Han, please look at this map of Hexi."

A piece of white rice paper was spread out flat. Han Sui first squinted his old eyes and looked at the paper carefully, rubbed it and sniffed it:

"Good paper, give me a thousand rolls."

Being in the frontier, Han Sui understood the essence of the Han-Hu trade best: mutual exchange of what is available.

As long as it is something that the Hu people cannot make themselves, the Hu people's dignitaries like it.

If it is like the Mo Dao, Han Sui will still worry whether it will be used to cut himself after selling it to the Hu people.

But this kind of paper that looks very valuable at first glance does not need such worries at all.

Pang Tong knocked on the table with his small leather shield impatiently and said:

"Liangzhou Han Boyue is also a person who buys the box and returns the pearl?"

Han Sui laughed and moved his eyes to the content of the paper calmly. After studying it for a while, he frowned and said:

"Is this a map near the West Sea?"

Yongliang has been in power for thirty years, so he is knowledgeable.

He knew that to the west of Jincheng was Xiping, and to the west of Xiping was Xihai.

But the situation further west was completely unclear, but it was marked on the map, especially in the southwest of Xihai, where a mountain range was marked.

And there was a small lake behind: Qingyan Tianchi.

Pang Tong became surprisingly patient at this time, explaining the terrain of this place in detail to Han Sui, and promised to buy it at a high price if he could mine Qingyan.

Moreover, with the West Sea as the center, Pang Tong's fingertips first drew out a route to the north:

"To the north is Liangzhou, which General Han is most familiar with. Now there are Hexi Xianbei causing trouble here, and you can establish a marquisate."

Seeing Han Sui's noncommittal look, Pang Tong pointed to a route to the northwest:

"This road is difficult to take, but it can lead directly to Dunhuang. If it can be opened, it will open up new territory and be famous for thousands of years."

Seeing that Han Sui was already thinking slowly, Pang Tong added a code:

"Go south from here, go west after passing a mountain pass, and a thousand miles of fertile land is enough to establish a country. If it is all returned to Han territory, it can be as meritorious as Wei and Huo, and a shrine and temple can be built."

The negotiation did not last too long, and Han Sui left with the roll of rice paper with a heavy heart.

Zhang Fei was full of curiosity and kept asking Pang Tong:

"General Pang, will Han Wenyue really believe this map?"

"The West Sea is not far away. When he finds the Chaka Salt Lake mentioned in later generations, he will believe it."

"General Pang, which way will Han Wenyue choose in the end?"

"It doesn't matter which way, as long as they can provide war horses. But Liangzhou is rich and has Qiang, Hu and Xianbei, Dunhuang has Qiuci, Yanqi and Cheshi, only the birthplace of Tubo has no strong enemies and water and grass. Han Wenyue has always been ambitious and will definitely seek opportunities to establish himself."

"General Pang, you Aren't you worried that Han Wenyue has become the ancestor of Tubo?"

"Yide, do you think the altitude sickness that is said in later generations is so easy? Besides, the map is vague. I just want to find someone to explore for us."

Pang Tong stopped and looked back at the backs of Han Sui and his group and said:

"Han Sui doesn't care about his son in Yecheng, but Yan Xing cares about his parents in Yecheng."

"Within two years, his troops will collapse on their own."

Zhang Fei shook his head:

"General Pang, you are really evil."

"But it's good that you are evil."

...

Chang'an, Taiji Hall.

Li Chenggan watched the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty standing in front of the map and thinking again.

If it were before, he would definitely bow his head and wait for the emperor to ask questions, even if it might take an hour or two.

But recently, his father's attitude seems to have changed a lot. He is not so demanding about schoolwork. Every two days, he will personally lead them brothers to go horseback riding.

Therefore, almost for the first time, Li Chenggan boldly asked:

"What is father looking at?"

Li Shimin sighed softly:

"Looking at the Tang Dynasty."

He added:

"There are no outsiders here, no need to be so restrained."

Eleven-year-old Li Chenggan breathed a sigh of relief, secretly glanced at Li Shimin again, and remembered his mother's previous instructions, so he boldly said:

"Dad, I see you have been looking at the place where Tubo is written."

Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, and his attitude became much gentler. He nodded and said:

"This is the enemy of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Chenggan's body trembled slightly, because he still remembered that the last time his father was called this by his father was the Turks.

"Chenggan, the Turks are the enemy of the Tang Dynasty, how do you say we should deal with them?"

This was a question asked two years ago, and Li Chenggan could no longer remember how he answered.

But he clearly remembered his father's disappointed eyes and sigh after he answered in a confused manner.

now……

"Chengqian, if you have nothing to do this afternoon, go and call Qingque, and daddy will take you to ride a horse."

Qingque is the nickname of Prince Tai, who is one year younger than Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian's eyes widened, and then he cheered.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Chengqian carefully made a request:

"Dad, can you take my second daughter with you?"

"Who is the second daughter?" As soon as Li Shimin said this, he remembered that Guanyin had once told him that the Wu family's daughter was the second eldest.

Thinking of Wu Zetian later, Li Shimin couldn't help but want to shake his head and sigh.

Then I saw Li Chengqian's panicked explanation, saying that the second daughter came to the palace too early and was homesick.

So Li Shimin had no choice but to comfort his eldest son, saying that he had thought of other things just now, and as for the second daughter, he could come if he wanted to.

So a father and two sons took a tow bottle and walked all the way through the back garden to a small enclosed racecourse at the back.

Also in response to Li Shimin's order, this racecourse has recently added several ponies to serve as play mounts for the princes and princesses.

While walking through the back garden, I saw palace officials uprooting a row of trees and transplanting a new tree they didn't recognize.

Looking at Li Shimin's expression, Li Tai jumped up before asking any questions:

"I know!"

"Mom said, this tree is called hawthorn tree after what Dr. Sun told me to plant. It is to treat daddy's illness!"

So that's it... Li Shimin felt helpless.

The candied haws are naturally curious to look at, but it’s still only early May in Chang’an, and it’s still half a year before the hawthorns are ripe, so we can’t count on them for the time being.

After the sightseeing that day, Li Shimin ordered the imperial kitchen to prepare some rock candy recipes for seasonal fruits.

He even asked the imperial chef to study the so-called sugar paintings. The princes and princesses had a great time eating these days. Li Shimin even gave some to the relatives of his relatives, whose children were still young.

Then Li Shimin didn't eat any of them.

Sun Yaowang gave a stern warning, saying that the sucrose was no different from arsenic to Li Shimin. Except for a small amount when eating, he should not touch it at other times.

There are so many prohibitions that Li Shimin has recently begun to feel that it is not unacceptable to only live to be fifty years old.

At least, Li Shimin, who only lived for fifty years, should have enjoyed the mutton, unlike himself, who could only eat one meal a month now.

This resentment lasted until dinner time.

The princes and princesses ate together, and Li Shimin ate together with his queen.

As soon as they met, Queen Changsun was a little angry:

"I heard that my second daughter also rode a horse this afternoon?"

Li Shimin felt a little helpless when he mentioned this:

"At that time, I was taking care of Qingque so that he wouldn't fall off the pony. Unexpectedly, the young lady from the Wu family sneaked into the stable and took a colt to ride on."

“I had already run half a circle when I saw it.”

Queen Changsun had a headache:

"Don't take her with you next time. If something happens if you fall off the horse, how can you explain it clearly in such trouble?"

Li Shimin looked indifferent:

"This second daughter of the Wu family rides quite well."

"I can't say that I can be the second female general of the Tang Dynasty."

The first one is naturally Li Shimin’s biological sister, Princess Ping Zhaoyang.

But this is naturally just a joke. Nowadays, there are already enough famous generals under his command compared to the founding of the People's Republic of China. How can female generals get involved?

Li Shimin was even thinking that if Wu Zetian ascended the throne in the end, historians might record today's unauthorized riding as a strange phenomenon.

And while they were laughing and chatting, several dishes were served, and Queen Changsun's eyes widened when she looked at the fish on the plate.

His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty smiled arrogantly.

Despite Sun Yaowang's ban, how could the drooling Emperor of the Tang Dynasty be defeated by these difficulties?

So the imperial chefs in the imperial dining room received an order a few days ago:

Use cane sugar and fish as ingredients to develop new dishes.

And now it’s the result of the imperial dining room: sweet and sour fish.

Li Shimin couldn't wait to pick up the chopsticks, and he almost applauded his intelligence.

Queen Changsun also took a chopstick together. It was sour and sweet, but the amount of sugar was obviously a bit too much.

Otherwise, why don't you inform King Sun Yao? she thought.

The sweet and sour fish made Li Shimin feel the long-lost happiness, so the next day Yan Lide saw a smile on His Majesty's face.

This actually made Yan Lide feel a little more relaxed.

After copying many armor techniques from the "Battle of Talas" in Light Curtain, I now have the confidence to submit instructions to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and ask the emperor to observe the results.

Naturally, there was no way for the general to demonstrate, so he walked through the back garden, where Qian Niuwei had set aside an open space and strictly prohibited any unrelated people from approaching.

Then Li Shimin watched Yan Lide directing people to move the armor, and then called five knights to start working backwards and forwards.

And as these armors were hung on the horses and soldiers one by one under the command of Yan Lide, the smile on Li Shimin's face gradually faded, replaced by a touch of excitement.

Li Shimin knew very well the power of heavy cavalry, because at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the Xuanjia Army was considered a heavy cavalry, but it did not have horse armor.

But now, with more rationally constructed armor and horse armor learned from the Arabian heavy cavalry, a knight can be armed without any blind spots.

This is a heavy cavalry that is stronger than the Xuanjia Army!

Li Shimin's eyes were shining, and he only needed a thousand cavalry, which was enough to make the final decision in a war!

The Tang emperor licked his lips, wondering which blind person around him would be lucky enough to be the first to taste the power of this steel torrent?