Chapter 166 Hexi's coach

In early February, spring in Hexi came. With several warm spring rains, pink peach blossoms bloomed one after another. Pear and apricot blossoms decorated the wetlands and hills by the river into a snow-white world. The willow branches sprouted new buds and sucked the warm spring rain hungrily. The land began to sow seeds everywhere. There were farmers busy on barren land, but Longyou, on the other side of the Yellow River, was a different scene. There were warmer and moist places. The fertile land could plant two seasons of grain a year, and only harvested one year here.

This is Liangzhou, the eastmost part of the Hexi Corridor. That morning, a group of cars and horses came on the official road about 30 miles away from Liangzhou. It was vast and stretched for several miles. They were Li Qing'an, who went to Beiting to take up his post. They set off from the 20th day of the first lunar month. After half a month, they crossed the Yellow River from Huizhou three days ago, and traveled for another three days, and arrived in Liangzhou in Hexi.

Li Qingan did not take office alone. He brought 100,000 stones of grain, 200,000 jin of money and countless military supplies. There were as many as a thousand horse-drawn carriages and mule carriages that consigned him food and food. There were also two thousand Longyou soldiers who were willing to settle in Beiting, who brought their families to form a huge team.

Two thousand soldiers were all brightly armored, riding tall horses, wearing black bright light armor, carrying horizontal swords, holding spears, horn bows and round shields in their backs, looking majestic. They guarded this huge team of chariots and horses and moved forward to the west.

Li Qing'an also restored his regular military outfit. He no longer wore a military robe like Chang'an, but was wearing a shiny black iron armor and a silver helmet. A huge fiery red longbow was hung on the saddle bridge. This was the fire bow that Li Longji gave him. It took three years to make it by the ten best military weapon peddlers in the Kaiyuan period. Since it was a seven-stone bow, Li Longji could not pull it, so he kept hanging it in his weapon room as a decoration. This time he finally had the opportunity to exert its power when he arrived in Li Qing'an's hands.

In addition to the Fierce Red Bow, he also has an extraordinary horizontal sword called the Dragon Yin Sword, which was also rewarded by Li Longji. It is one of the four famous swords of the Tang Dynasty. It was once the sword of Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi. It can cut gold and cut jade. It is extremely sharp. Because there is a faint thunder sound when waving it, the name Long Yin is named. When he first obtained this sword, the scabbard was covered with precious jewelry. Li Qingan was not happy and had already replaced it with an old scabbard, which no longer looked dazzling.

With famous swords, treasure bows, iron armor and silver helmets, Li Qing'an returned to his mood when he was in Anxi. He began to long for returning to the vast desert, to the boundless grasslands and the magnificent snow peaks of glaciers. His heart seemed to have grown wings and had already flew to the distant Beiting.

"General, there seems to be a mountain over there?" He asked his aide Yan Zhuang. He sat in a carriage and pointed at the mountains in the distance with great enthusiasm.

The spring sunshine is particularly dazzling. Li Qing'an looked into the distance. He could clearly see the dark mountains and smiled and said, "There is Wushaoling, the tail vein of the Qilian Mountains. When we walked here, the journey was halfway through. Then, the Hexi Corridor stretched for 2,000 miles behind. Mr. Yan has no problem!"

"I have no problem. Compared to Fanyang, I prefer the Western Regions. When I stabilize, I will ask someone to bring my wife and daughter from my hometown. From then on, I have settled in Beiting and never want to go back to Chang'an again."

"Sir, where are you?"

Li Qing'an asked Wang Changling, who was sitting in the same carriage with Yan Zhuang, and smiled and said, "Sir, it seems that he has been to the Western Regions."

Wang Changling stroked his beard and smiled, "I came when I was young, and I also went to Suiye at the farthest. This time I revisited my old place. I feel like I'm back in my youth. General Li, this time you will take on the Beiting and shoulder the heavy responsibility!"

Li Qing'an nodded and said, "This time he took office as Beiting, the emperor and the prime minister talked about Saiye to me. It can be seen that the court has made up his mind to rebuild Saiye Jun Town. If we can complete this mission, all of you can be famous in history."

Wang Changling was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "I don't want any reputation to be remembered in history. As long as Shattered Leaf can return to the Tang Dynasty, I will have no regrets even if I die."

Li Qingan was stunned. He glanced at Wang Changling and thought to himself: "Can he be a shattered Ye Han Tang?"

At this time, he heard the sound of a piano in the distance, and from time to time, soldiers responded and sang songs, and bowed and smiled, "Two gentlemen, chat slowly, I'll come when I go."

He urged the horse to come to Wuyi's carriage, and through the car window, he saw Wuyi's pretty face at a glance. Her skin was crystal white, her hair was tied up, revealing her swan-like elegant neck. Her eyes were shining with charming luster like two black gems, and they completely changed from her pale and spirited appearance a few days ago. She was playing the piano with all her concentration.

Many soldiers and families were following her carriage. The beautiful sound of the piano intoxicated them. Li Qing did not disturb her, and rode a horse and walked slowly next to her carriage.

After a moment, the piano music ended, and there was a warm applause around him. From a distance, Li Fei Yuanli shouted at the top of his voice in a carriage behind him: "What a piano! Do you know that this is the Chang'an Qinxian playing music for everyone."

The applause became even more intense. At this time, everyone saw Li Qing'an and retreated tactfully. Li Qing'an smiled and said to Wuyi, "Miss Wuyi, leaving Chang'an will not make you feel disappointed!"

Wuyi saw Li Qing'an, and her eyes were still a little shy. She whispered: "Leaving Chang'an, I feel like I'm walking out of the cage. I have never felt as free as I am today. Thank you General Li for taking me out."

Yu Nu next to him smiled and said, "General Li, my girl has a wish, hoping that General Li can accompany her to Lingnan to visit the grave in the future."

"What nonsense!" Wuyi whispered to her, and then smiled slightly at Li Qing'an and said, "General Li, this time I went to Beiting, mainly because I wanted to learn the six-stringed zither. I wonder if General Li can help me find a master?"

The six-stringed guitar is Li Qing'an's guitar. There is no other person in the world who can play it except him. Li Qing'an was secretly funny. He pretended to be embarrassed and pondered for a moment: "Miss Danyi, I'm going to tell you that no one will play this kind of six-stringed guitar in the west of the north. I got the Spanish that I told you, but there is a war there, so I can't go!"

Wuyi frowned slightly and said to herself, "What should I do?"

Li Qingan could no longer hold it back and smiled and said, "You forgot that there is someone in front of you who can play?"

Wuyi blushed and she whispered: "But, I'm worried that this person is very busy and has no time to teach me."

"Teaching beauty to play the piano, I think this person has time no matter how busy he is."

Wuyi gave him a blank look and said, "So, who did he learn his song "Sad Spain"? Does he still remember other songs?"

"Yes! He still remembers dozens of poems. After he reaches Beiting, he will slowly play them to you. Maybe he will play them for fifty years!"

"General Li, you" Wuyi's face turned red with shame, lowered her head, and couldn't say a word.

Li Qingan laughed loudly, "I'm kidding with you. Liangzhou City is ahead. I'll go and greet the team, the girl in the dance. I'll start teaching you the first lesson tonight."

He bowed his hand and urged his horse to run towards the front of the team. Wuyi looked at his mighty and tall back, and couldn't help but look intoxicated in her eyes, and thought to herself: If she could really play the piano with him for fifty years, it would be a waste of her life.

At the front of the team were Nan Jiyun and Lei Wanchun. They were arguing about something. Five years ago, they had a friendship. This time they met in the army. The two were particularly intimate. The two were inseparable along the way. At the beginning, Li Qing'an believed that Lei Wanchun was sent by the Ye Han Tang Association to monitor him and was very vigilant of him. But after walking for half a month, Li Qing'an slowly discovered that it seemed that this was not the case. Lei Wanchun and the Ye Han Tang Association had nothing to do with each other. He was just a friend of Chang Jin, the owner of Rehai Ju. He heard Nan Jiyun talk about it again that Lei Wanchun was a famous knight in the Jianghuai area. He was a heroic knight in the Jianghuai area. He was a heroic righteous man, helped the weak and shoveled the strong, and stood up for justice everywhere. Therefore, many officials in Jianghuai were arrested. Two years ago, because he killed a powerful landlord with a large background in Guangzhou, he became one of the major cases supervised by the Ministry of Justice. He was wanted all over the country. This time he went to Beiting with him, but he actually had nowhere to go.

As long as he is not from the Han and Tang dynasties, Li Qingan will not care about anything else. Besides, Lei Wanchun is very skilled in martial arts and has great strength, so he will be a powerful general in the future.

When Nan Jiyun and Lei Wanchun saw Li Qing'an coming, they bowed and bowed together and said, "See General!"

"What are the two generals arguing about?"

"General, we are arguing about who is the enemy that poses the greatest threat to Beiting?"

Li Qing'an asked with a smile: "Then tell me, who is the most threat?"

Nan Jiyun said first: "Brother Lei said that the Geluo people pose the greatest threat, but I think it should be the thunder cavalryman."

"Why?" Li Qing'an asked with a smile: "I want to know what the reason you think so?"

The two looked at each other, but they couldn't speak. In fact, they didn't understand the truth about Beiting. Lei Wanchun scratched his head and smiled: "I heard that the people of Geluo are a capricious nation, and such people are the most unreliable."

"What about you?" Li Qingan asked Nan Jiyun again.

"General, I heard from Brother Anxi in the army that Tuqi Shiren repeatedly invaded the Tang world. I heard that General Li started his career in the battle with Tuqi Shiren."

Li Qingan laughed, "Actually, to be honest, I don't even know who is the biggest threat to Beiting. Only after arriving in Beiting, we will slowly understand the situation. We not only have to deal with Tuqi Shi people and Gelu people, but also the Uighurs, Shatu people, and even the Qiang and Hu people in the Hexi Corridor. These are all ethnic groups that can conquer and fight well. Beiting is much more complicated than Anxi."

As soon as he finished speaking, a low horn sound suddenly came from the distance, and a team of cavalry rushed towards him, "It's the Hexi Army!" A soldier recognized the Hexi Army's flag at a glance.

This was a cavalry of about a hundred men. After a moment, he rushed to the front. The leader was a lieutenant. He bowed and said, "Where is General Li Qing'an?"

Li Qing'an rode his horse out and said, "I am Li Qing'an!"

The captain quickly saluted, "Envoy Li, my family, An Shuai, is here to greet you, and you are ten miles away."

Li Qingan was stunned. He quickly put his hand on the curtain and looked into the distance. Sure enough, he saw an army vaguely running towards this side, sand and dust flying, covering the sky and the sun.

He immediately turned around and ordered: "The entire army was suspended!"

Soon, the army was getting closer and closer, and the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground, like thunder, flags fluttering in the wind, covering the sky and forty or five thousand people.

The team stopped a mile away from the Beiting Brigade and drove up dozens of officers, surrounded by an officer in his fifties in the middle. He was of medium figure, gray hair, a twilight beard, and a pair of small eyes with extremely enthusiastic expressions. The corners of his eyes were covered with subtle wrinkles, but the most impressive impression was his huge eagle nose without a little flesh, which looked like a hard shell and bent mouth of a vulture, giving people a feeling of treacherousness. He was An Sishun, the governor of Hexi. An Sishun was An Lushan's brother. He was once the nephew of Turkic chief An Yanyan, and An Yanyan was An Lushan's stepfather. After the defeat of the Turkic rebellion, An Yanyan was killed, and An Lushan followed An Sishun to escape to the Tang Dynasty. After twenty years, both of them became important officials of the border vassals and princes of the Tang Dynasty.

One is the Jiedushi of Fanyang and Pinglu Towns, and the other is the former governor of Shuofang, and now he is transferred to the Jiedushi of Hexi.

"Brother, I've been waiting for you for a long time!"

An Sishun jumped off the horse and ran towards Li Qing'an. The enthusiasm was like a reunion of old friends for thirty years. Li Qing'an had to dismount. An Sishun opened the broad chest of the Turkic people, hugged Li Qing'an tightly, and said excitedly: "I didn't expect that my brother was promoted to the Beiting Jiedushi. I am extremely pleased!"

In the eyes of anyone, An Sishun and Li Qingan should have had a friendship for decades, but in fact, Li Qingan only met An Sishun and said three words, that's all.

Li Qingan was so uncomfortable being held by him that he broke free, and smiled and said, "I'm passing through Hexi, and I'm going to ask An Shuai to take care of him."

"Of course!" An Sishun patted her chest and smiled, "I will pay you a piece of rice and a penny, but I have to go to Liangzhou City for five days first before I can let you go."

Li Qingan hurriedly bowed and thanked: "It's not necessary to go to Liangzhou City. I'm in a hurry to rush back to Beiting. I'll bother An Shuai again in the future."

"How can you say this? Wouldn't you give me face?"

An Sishun pointed to the tent that was set up not far away and smiled and said, "Or why don't we go have a drink first."

"That's better to obey your duty than respect."

Li Qingan followed him into the big tent that had just been set up. The soldiers packed up very quickly. Not only did they set up the tent, but they also laid a carpet in the tent. There was a small table in the middle, filled with wine and food.

"You are not polite, you're here. It's like going home when you come to me. Please sit down!"

An Sishun enthusiastically invited Li Qing'an to sit down, poured him a glass of wine, and said with a smile: "Although the army cannot drink alcohol, the people who made this rule do not understand the actual situation in the Western Regions. In winter, if they do not drink to keep the cold, people will be frozen to death. Therefore, our Hexi Army has rules. Every soldier can bring a pound of wine during wars in winter, and it is a must-have. I believe Anxi is the same!"

Li Qing'an nodded and smiled, "The same is true for Anxi. You must bring wine when patrolling in winter. When I was a brigade commander, I only required to bring one pot of wine, but I secretly brought three pots, and the other two pots I said were filled with water."

The two laughed together and drank two glasses of wine. An Sishun said again: "My brother An Lushan and his brother are not very good. I know, so I wrote a letter to advise him that they are all soldiers of the Tang Dynasty and there is no conflict of interest. Why bother to care about small matters? A real man should be broad-minded and not be petty."

Li Qingan also smiled and said, "Actually, many of them are misunderstandings. Last time I was a polo game, everyone was competitive and they were a little angry. It was actually unnecessary to think about it afterwards. It was not a fight between the enemy country."

An Sishun raised his thumb and praised: "You are still open-minded. My clan brother is so old that he has lived in vain, alas!"

The two of them drank five or six more glasses of wine, and An Sishun frowned and said, "My dear brother has brought such food, money, so be careful of the bandits!"

"Horse bandit?" Li Qingan asked in confusion: "What horse bandits, is Hexi Corridor?"

An Sishun sighed and said, "Since last year, a group of horse bandits have been active in the Hexi Corridor, with thousands of people. They are mainly robbing business travelers, killing people and robbing goods, and doing all kinds of evil. I sent troops to suppress them several times, but they disappeared, which really gave me a headache."

"Oh? There is such a thing?" Li Qingan was surprised and asked, "Who are these horse bandits?"

An Sishun shook her head and smiled bitterly, "I'm not afraid of my brother being angry. These horse bandits all came from Beiting, but they were actually Shatuo people."

Li Qing'an nodded, stood up and bowed, "Thank you, An Shuai, reminded me, I will pay attention all the way. It's still early, so we are on the way and will not go to Liangzhou to rest. We will come and disturb An Shuai if we have the chance in the future."

An Sishun no longer forced them and said, "Okay then! I wish you a smooth journey. I will send troops to escort you through Ganzhou."
Chapter completed!