"Open the city gate!" With a long shout, the heavy bell began to echo over Mingde Gate, and the huge city gate squeaked open. This day was the fourth day of the first lunar month of the second year of Xuanren. Zhang Huan, who had been away from Chang'an for more than two months, returned to Chang'an again.

It was not yet dawn, but a hint of blue and white appeared in the horizon. Chang'an was still sleeping but still awake, but there were many carriages running back and forth on the wide Zhuque Street. The carriages were hung with lanterns emitting orange-red light, which were particularly conspicuous in the gray morning mist.

Zhang Huan had no station in Chang'an. According to the court's regulations, no more than 300 military officials who came to Beijing to report their duties shall enter the city at most, and the rest shall be stationed in designated military camps outside the city. He ordered his personal deputy general Chen Ping to lead 500 soldiers to station outside the city, while Lin Jiuhan led another 300 people to guard Zhang Huan into Chang'an.

Three hundred cavalrymen lined up on Zhuque Street and walked slowly. Although the number was small, the pedestrians on Zhuque Street stopped and looked at them in surprise. In the past few days, there have been many troops entering Beijing from all over the country, including the Huainan Army, the Xiangyang Army, the Jiannan Army, and the Longyou Army. Each one is more majestic, one is brighter than the other, and one is more energetic than the other, but this army is a little different. Their armor is old and dusty, and blood and rust can be seen faintly on it.

But every soldier in this army is so strong and powerful, with the same cold eyes. The murderous aura they gather together is enough to make other troops eclipse.

When the sky was dawn, the army entered Xuanyifang, and the new house of the left prime minister was located here. Pei Jun moved in October. The new house was the mansion of Yang Guozhong, the right prime minister of Tianbao, and the area was twice that of the original Pei Mansion. Because it was located on the Fengshui line of the Nine Five Lords of Chang'an, it was always vacant. Cui Xiaofu was the Empress Dowager and rewarded it to Pei Jun shortly as a show of favor.

When Zhang Huan and his party arrived at Pei's mansion, the family members who were guarding the door rushed to the inner mansion to report. Soon, the door of the Pei's mansion was wide open. Pei Jun personally brought a few sons to greet him, and there were also a large group of women from the Pei family who came out to greet Pei Ying.

He couldn't help laughing from afar. He learned from Pei You who came back two days ago that Zhang Huan would return to Beijing to report his work, but he always thought that he would come so quickly. This shows Zhang Huan's sincerity. Good! He didn't expect that he would eventually become his own person.

When Zhang Huan saw Pei Jun coming to his eyes, he immediately turned over and dismounted, stepped forward and half knelt down to salute, "Supervising Liangzhou Army Zhang Huan to meet the Prime Minister!"

"No gifts when you get rid of the disease!" Pei Jun hurriedly stepped forward and helped him up and looked him up and down with a smile. This was his son-in-law, only half of his son!

"I thought you would come again after the Lantern Festival, but I didn't expect it to come now. Then your New Year is on the way!"

Pei Jun said, and glanced at her daughter getting out of the carriage. Although she was more gorgeous than before, she was much thinner. She thought of her leaving without saying goodbye. She felt both distressed and happy, but also a little angry.

Pei Ying had already seen her father, and she was very nervous, but when she saw that he was very intimate with Zhang Huan, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief. She knew her father very well. He had always been arrogant and would never come out to greet someone easily, let alone bring the whole family to greet him. From this we can see that her father had accepted his beloved.

Pei Ying had a way of dealing with her father. She was not as polite as Zhang Huan. She jumped up and pulled Pei Jun's arm and shook it hard, and said coquettishly: "Dad is not allowed to scold Ying'er, why don't I tell my grandfather and grandmother to go."

Pei Jun tapped his daughter's head lightly, and held back her smile and said, "I won't scold you, but I want to hit you!"

"Dad, it hurts!"

"Okay! Okay!" Pei Jun finally broke free from his daughter's hand, pointed at Zhang Huan and smiled, "Wasn't you shy when you shout in front of Zhang Huan?"

Pei Ying turned around and blinked at Zhang Huan playfully, and said to her father: "I want to go and see the new home, so I will hand him over to you. You are not allowed to bully him!" As she said that, she greeted several brothers one by one, and then pulled her sisters and aunts into the mansion.

Pei Jun could not helplessly watch his baby daughter enter the mansion, then shook his head and said to Zhang Huan: "This girl has been spoiled by me since she was a child, and she has caused you trouble."

Zhang Huan smiled slightly and said, "Uncle Shi only saw her delicate side at home, but he didn't know that she was very strong outside. He actually rode horses with the cavalry day and night. My soldiers admired her very much."

Pei Jun stroked his beard and smiled. He immediately turned around and ordered his eldest son and the housekeeper and said, "Get out all the guest rooms, let the soldiers move in, and treat them well, and do not neglect them."

Pei Jun's eldest son and housekeeper hurried to greet the soldiers, but Pei Jun patted Zhang Huan on the shoulder and said, "Come on! Come and tell me about the situation in Wuwei County."

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Pei Jun's new study room has not changed much from before. Everything is arranged according to the decoration of the old study room. Unlike Cui Yuan, Pei Jun only has one study room, and it is not that people are not allowed to enter, but at most no more than ten people are qualified to enter. Zhang Huan was also fortunate to get this qualification. Pei Jun's study room is not big and is decorated very elegantly. The entire color is mainly light green. Several handwritten books by Yan Zhenqing and Zhang Xu were hung on the wall, and a picture of Panasonic drinking that he himself painted. All the items were neatly tidy and the room was spotless.

"Please sit down with a good nephew!" Pei Jun smiled and asked Zhang Huan to sit down. Several maids served the two of them to refreshment. Zhang Huan suddenly found that there was someone following Pei Jun, who was Pei Jun's fifth son Pei Mingyuan. In other words, when he told Pei Jun about the situation in Hexi, he would be there to listen. Is this a hint from Pei Jun? Countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Huan's mind. Could it be that Pei Mingyuan will go to Hexi to serve? This is very likely that Pei Mingyuan is very familiar with the situation in the Western Regions. Involving him into Hexi is a substantial benefit.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huan tentatively said: "Brother Mingyuan is also coming back to visit relatives in the New Year?"

"No!" Pei Mingyuan smiled and bowed, "Mingyuan cannot find a job and is still at home. Can Brother Qudai help me?"

"Brother Mingyuan is joking. The son of the Zuo Prime Minister is a popular person. How can he not be able to find a job? I think it must be because Brother Mingyuan is ambitious and doesn't like ordinary low-level positions!"

Zhang Huan smiled and stopped mentioning this matter. He said to Pei Jun again: "I don't know what the Prime Minister wants to know about Hexi?"

Pei Jun took a note from the desk and smiled and said, "This is the report of the performance of nephew. The situation in Hexi above has been explained in detail, and there is no need for me to ask again. I just want to know how nephew is going to deal with Tubo in the future and where to start?"

After saying that, he closed his performance report, picked up the teacup and took a sip, waiting for Zhang Huan's reply.

Zhang Huan bowed and smiled, "Since I have Hexi, I am already on the verge of a tiger. Naturally, I have to develop westward. Otherwise, why explain it to the people of the world? But the key is the timing. Even if Tubo is weak now, it is still extremely powerful to me. Hexi has only more than 10,000 soldiers, lack of food, unstable morale in the army, and lacks armor and weapons. If there is no rest or two years, not only will it not be able to take over the entire territory of Hexi, I am afraid that even the only Wuwei County will be abandoned. Because Xin Yunjing was so skillful back then, he could only support Wuwei. How could Zhang Huan, a newcomer, dare not know that the sky is high and the earth is rich."

Pei Jun nodded gently, "Although a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, if he really tries to the power of a tiger, he will still be killed. I am really relieved that you can act steadily. I am not trying to urge you to advance westward. On the contrary, I am just afraid that you will be too hasty and will hurt your vitality. If you say one or two years, I still think it will be too short. I think it will take at least five years of rest and recuperation."

Speaking of this, he stood up and opened a curtain on the wall. Behind the curtain was the map west of Longyou, occupying a whole wall. Pei Jun took a wooden pole and pointed to the Jiuqu area of ​​the Yellow River and said: "The reason why Tubo can repeatedly invade Longyou is that the Jiuqu area is used as logistics supply, especially the Hehuang area in Xiping County (now Xining) is rich in land and abundant in grain. Tubo took the Tang Dynasty to farm most of the children of the Tang Dynasty to provide Tubo military rations. In the sixth year of Tianbao, Geshuhan seized Shibao City here, which enabled our Tang Dynasty to finally take the strategic initiative and laid a solid foundation for the victory of the later Battle of Boxian Town and the Battle of Xiaobolu. So I hope that you can take Hehuang first, not only to gain strategic initiative over Tubo, but also to be self-sufficiency in the population and grain. By then, you will really be on par with the Wei family in Longyou."

Zhang Huan looked at the Hehuang area silently. Pei Jun was right. Although the Hexi Corridor was rich in forage, there was very little arable land, and the population composition was mostly Qiang people and Dangxiang people. In the future, he could only rely on Han people. If he could not attract a large number of immigrants from the Central Plains, the problem of insufficient population and insufficient military sources would sooner or later drag him down. As long as he could seize Hehuang, not to mention anything else, nearly one million Tang slaves would be a very rich resource.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huan smiled slightly and said, "One or two years are too short, five years are too long. We will limit three years. I will rest for three years. I hope Pei Xiang can help you all the time during this period."

Pei Jun laughed loudly, "The nephew is serving the country. Of course, the court will not stand idly by. Don't worry! It will definitely help you."
Chapter completed!