Chapter 30 Chapter Thirty: Li Jingxuan's Misconduct in the Military and Lou Shide's Role in Tubo

The Queen of Heaven is not completely confident, otherwise Li Zhi would not be allowed to change her reign name several times a year.Each reign represents an attitude towards life and a country's philosophy. From the reigns over the years, it can be seen that Tianhou's philosophy is somewhat confused.Tianhou is still very reasonable, she originally planned to go to Songshan to enshrine Zen no matter what, but the invasion of Tubo made her suspend her plan.Now Tubo is as strong as before, but they have already left Songtsan Gampo behind. Since defeating Xue Rengui, they frequently harassed the border of the Tang Dynasty, and finally angered Li Zhi.

Li Zhi’s analysis: First, Silla took advantage of the collapse of Goryeo to embezzle all the old Goryeo lands outside the jurisdiction of Andong, which should be taken care of; second, Tubo frequently harassed the border and was powerful, so it had to be taken care of; Three, the Northeast and the Southwest, the soldiers are divided into two groups, is it a bit out of control? In the end, Li Zhi decided to let Zhou Wang Li Xian serve as the marshal of the Taozhou Road March to compete with Tubo.In order to prevent Li Xian from fighting with cockfights, Li Zhi arranged for him 12 general managers, including Liu Shenli, to command him.Also in order to prevent Li Xian from being single and weak, Li Zhi asked Li Lun to be the Marshal of the Liangzhou Road Marching Army, and with the full support of the left guard general Qibi Heli, to ensure nothing goes wrong.In dealing with this problem, Li Zhi is very dedicated.

Li Lun, Li Xian's younger brother, loves calligraphy, literature and art, and exegesis. Looking at the name "Qibi Heli", he feels like a raging fire burning in his chest, burning, and burning again.This day has come, the opportunity to test his strength has come, he is so excited that he can't sleep! When the fire burned to the end and went out, Li Lun turned his head and asked the left and right: "Will King Zhou (Li Xian) go?" Zuoyou gave a very clear answer: "No." "Oh... what's the matter?" "I don't know, I just won't go anyway. Are you going?"

Li Lun swallowed a mouthful of bitterness, "Oh... If my brother doesn't go, I'm too embarrassed to go (but neither king can do it)!" The comity of the two dear friends is really enviable, but the battle still has to be fought. The imperial court sent Zuo Servant to shoot Liu Rengui to guard Taohe, preparing to counterattack Tubo.Tubo advances and retreats, robbing some if it is not available, and consuming it when it is available. The two sides have been deadlocked for a year.The Tang Dynasty believed that it could not wait any longer, so Liu Rengui hurried back to the court to discuss sending troops to Tubo.

Liu Rengui is back, but the current situation makes Liu Rengui very angry. Whenever he plays, there is always a fly on the sidelines deliberately embarrassing him. Li Jingxuan, who used to be in charge of selecting officials in the Ministry of Officials, was very prestigious, but now he is mainly responsible for opposing Liu Rengui, because he knows the red tape of "Zhou Li" and the new ceremony best, so he can talk to Li Zhi.Challenging a military idiot, and still screaming with relish, Liu Rengui also committed a childish temper.The two who looked at each other disliked each other began to fight secretly, every time Li Jingxuan pressed Liu Rengui out of breath, Liu Rengui couldn't bear it.But in the end, he still relied on his ingenuity to make Li Jingxuan, who likes to pick things up, get fooled for a while.

When Liu Rengui recommended candidates for the west guard, he wrote: "For the west guard, I don't think there is anyone other than Li Jingxuan who can do it! (West guard, there is no one but Jingxuan!)" Li Zhi admired Liu Rengui's knowledge and responsibility. He never expected that such a serious matter would be used by Liu Rengui to retaliate against his colleagues.During the meeting, he said that I could hear clearly the details of Li Jingxuan and Liu Rengui's discussion in court. Jingxuan's examples and comparisons are really precious, and it is indeed the best choice for him to go to the west to guard.Li Zhi named Li Jingxuan, and Li Jingxuan was about to cry.

The effect of letting a general election genius choose officials and letting a military idiot fight is completely different. Li Jingxuan was very self-aware, and he hurriedly confessed humbly, saying that he actually didn't understand anything.Li Zhi praised his modesty with an attitude of approval, but Li Jingxuan still declined.Li Zhi was a little angry, and he reprimanded Li Jingxuan, "Rengui wants me to go, and I will fucking die, so what can you refuse! )" Li Jingxuan had no choice but to accept the order and became the general manager of the Taohe River and the pacification ambassador.

In May, after the collection of warriors had been assembled, they suddenly encountered strong cold air during the march. Soldiers in summer clothes suffered numerous frostbite injuries, and some even froze to death.This was a bad start, and Li Jingxuan went to the court cautiously. First, there were casualties in the reinforcements, and second, it was the first confrontation with Tubo, and the Tang army defeated the enemy.The throat of the Hehuang Ancient Road (the confluence of the Yellow River and Huangshui River) is the place where the Tang army fought against Tubo, and it is also the only way for the forces of the Central Plains to enter the Hehuang area.

After winning the first battle, Li Zhi began to turn his mind to the east. Silla shamelessly helped Datang guard the guards, the guards stole themselves, and they were subdued verbally, but the things they did showed that they did not want to surrender.Whether or not to destroy Silla and place all the dependent states under the management of the Tang Dynasty has become a major dilemma for Li Zhi.The waiter Zhang Wenguan, the old man was sick in bed, but he insisted on getting up to face the saint, and opposed the expedition to Silla.Zhang Wenguan believes that now that Tubo is a bandit and the Tang Dynasty sent troops to the west to fight against it, although Silla did not go well, it never violated the frontier. If it goes to the east again, I am afraid that it will be unbearable for both public and private!

A few days after the admonition, Zhang Wenguan's condition worsened, and he died on the ninth day of September in the third year of Yifeng (AD 678), at the age of seventy-two.Zhang Wenguan was right, because the Tubo battlefield alone had exhausted the Tang army. Li Jingxuan's 180,000 troops encountered the Tubo general Lun Qinling in eastern Qinghai. The Tang army's command was chaotic and turned into a hornet's nest.Because of the unfamiliarity of the terrain, Li Jingxuan let the army stay in the trough, not daring to move, and foolishly waited for the Tubo army to dive down from a high place.General Liu Shenli couldn't take care of himself, and all the elites he led died in battle, and were captured by Tubo.

Li Jingxuan was shocked when he saw that Liu Shenli had been captured, and then he remembered to command the army. He waved his hand as a leader, and shouted in a crying tone: "Why are you standing still, why don't you hurry up and withdraw!" The Tang army fled in embarrassment all the way, and fled to Chengfeng Ridge, a place that could be used as a barrier for the army to settle down.At least, Li Jingxuan thinks so. Lun Qinling asked Badi to follow, and the Tubo army entered Chengfengling, and they saw a funny scene.Li Jingxuan put the army in a low place again!No, is this a joke?Li Jingxuan was not joking, he was fully prepared and had a lot of mud ditches dug underneath.The postscript was inexplicable, but he concluded that Tang Jun was really fleeing here, so he stood on the high hill and made a gesture of contempt. (Wearing that the trial ceremony was over, he left in embarrassment. He stopped at Chengfeng Ridge, blocked the mud ditch to consolidate himself, and captured troops on Gaogang to suppress them.) What to do, the enemy soldiers have been killed, what should we do? ! ... Tell me quickly, I don't understand anything! A tall and mighty general stood up and said to Li Jingxuan in an extremely confident tone: "Give me five hundred elites, and I can go straight to Huanglong!" really?quick! The adults only need to wait here for a moment, and the subordinates will come! go. Li Jingxuan let out a long sigh of relief, and watched Hei Chi Chang Zhi's deployment and departure anxiously, until he couldn't see his back in the dark night.Li Jingxuan only heard a commotion on the hill, chirping noises, and shouts of crying father and mother. After a while, there was only ghosts crying and howling wolves. Hei Chi Changzhi came back, he straightened his weapons, and reported the situation to Li Jingxuan, "The Tubo army was beaten until the whole army collapsed. Let’s lead the soldiers to escape. Manager, shall we pursue immediately or quickly? Please answer!” Hei Chi Changzhi wanted to use this big victory to motivate Li Jingxuan.Li Jingxuan nodded, and he asked Hei Chi Chang Zhi to rest first. At dawn the next day, he issued a frustrating order: withdraw troops from Shanzhou! The distraught Tang Jun began to flee collectively, wrapped up as refugees, and did not plan to go to Shanzhou (Ledu, Qinghai). Maybe Tubo is too powerful, so let's run for our lives! Under the leadership of Li Jingxuan, the army broke up and could no longer be assembled. While Lun Qinling didn't notice Tang Jun's current situation, he still had time to hide in a safe place.The generals were all captured, and the general manager couldn't control anything, and the soldiers fled, so they escaped calmly.There was a tall and fat man who also packed his things and sat on the boulder watching Tang Bing, who was running faster than a rabbit, and was about to join them.He called a few people, and then called a few more people, and said something that everyone would unite and at least have someone to take care of them, and everyone followed him and stopped there to greet the deserters. Seeing more and more people gathered, he introduced himself. His name is Lou Shide. He was born in the fourth year of Zhenguan (AD 630). He was a Jinshi when he was young, and he is now forty-eight years old.He is the supervisory censor of the Tang Dynasty. He was originally a scholar, but he always had the dream of a bloody battle.Joining the army this time, he responded to the call of the emperor in the "Edict of Raising Warriors" and enlisted in the army with outstanding literary talents, just as some idle jobs. But now such a situation, he can't sit idly by, the army is there, the army is destroyed and the people are dead! After finishing speaking, under the indifferent eyes of everyone, he lifted his trousers waist, and looked towards the west with a big belly, "Man, why can't you kill the enemy army and be ashamed when you can spend your whole life like this? Xuanjia of the Tang Dynasty, everyone The failure of the leader is due to improper leadership, not your incompetence!" The deserters began to re-examine the man in front of them, and his resolute eyes told them that it is better to believe that calmness can make meritorious service than believing that fleeing can save their lives. Lou Shide said: "I just need you to gather together and form a mighty and extremely calm iron army to confront each other, that's all." When the Tubo people heard that Li Jingxuan had fled wildly, they led their people to chase after him, but they saw Lou Shide camping here, the army seemed to have no defeats, and they confronted them firmly.The Tubo didn't dare to act rashly, they still remembered the scene of Li Jingxuan being besieged and suppressed in the middle of the night, being killed by hundreds of Tang soldiers. Soon, a fat man walked out of the Tang camp, dressed in the official uniform of a literati, and led several envoys to negotiate with Tubo.They walked towards Chiling, and the Tubo general Lun Zanpo greeted them. After the greetings, they got to the point. "With Tubo's strength, if we fight to the death with Datang, what are our chances of winning?" the middle-aged fat man asked slowly. "There is no chance of winning." Lun Zanpo was straightforward. "If you don't fight, you won't be defeated. If you fight, you will be defeated. Why do you have to fight?" The fat man asked in a joke about Zampo taking off her pants and farting.Seeing that there was no response from Zan Lun, Lou Shide forced him to ask: "I am in the Tang Dynasty, but you are not rich. If you have to fight internally, we still welcome it." Lun Zanpo was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed, "It's good for everyone to visit relatives in the future and exchange feelings, and internal friction and so on will be avoided, and it will be avoided!" Lun Zanpo is indeed forthright and honest, after Lou Shide left, she has not committed any offense for several years.