The price Gu Qing paid for the Anxi Army is unimaginable to others.

Although he was ashamed and happy, even though Gu Qing and the prince had now reached a dirty deal and pocketed the taxes of the southern states, but... Kang Dingshuang still had to shoulder the blame.

When the Anxi Army left Qiuci, Gu Qing asked Kang Dingshuang to take charge of the merchants in the four towns of Anxi, so as to make more money and food for the Anxi Army who were on the expedition and ensure the logistics of the Anxi Army.

However, from the time the Anxi army entered the customs to today, Gu Qing has not received a penny or a grain of food from Kang Dingshuang. If the war had not been urgent and he could not get away, Gu Qing would have sent people back to Anxi to hang up Kang Dingshuang and beat him severely.

"Tell him to come see me!" Gu Qing said with a gloomy expression.

The guard turned and left, and Gu Qing said to Chang Zhong again: "Ambush five hundred swordsmen and axemen in the corridor, listen to me and break the cup as a signal..."

Chang Zhong was surprised and said: "Master,...you don't need to arrange so many swordsmen, right? There is only one person, and five hundred swordsmen rushed in, three floors inside and three outside, and they couldn't even get a chance to chop in the queue."

"Isn't that what is written in the history books? No matter how many people there are on the other side, five hundred swordsmen and axes are the standard equipment..."

"Really...are we really going to arrange for a swordsman?" Chang Zhong asked uncertainly.

Gu Qing sighed and said, "You guys are just too serious and take everything you say seriously. Life is too boring."

The personal guards led the people sent by Anxi over, and Gu Qing couldn't help but smile when he saw it.

The other party is an acquaintance, very familiar.

When he was in Qiuci City, Li Sima of the Jiefu, a round and honest fat man, who had been courting him all the time, and together with Gu Qing, secretly changed Huangfu Sisi's household registration list for the sake of Huangfu Sisi's identity.

"Mr. Gu, you really...want to shame me!" Li Sima burst into tears, with the door half-closed in anticipation of the gangster's surprise. His expression was multi-layered and explosive.

Gu Qing didn't have time to say hello, and was caught off guard by Li Sima, who hugged him hard. Li Sima's hug was very forceful, like the last goodbye in life.

What does it feel like to be held in the arms of a fat man weighing more than 200 pounds?

Gu Qing only felt that he was wrapped in a ball of fat that had been left in the pot, and everything he touched felt soft, tender and fat.

"Li Sima, please be more serious." Gu Qing warned sternly.

Li Sima, who was filled with tears, was indeed an old acquaintance. He immediately heard the warning in Gu Qing's words, and let go of Gu Qing like an electric shock. His fat body took a step back very dexterously, as light as a swallow.

Gu Qing looked behind Li Sima and said, "Are you here alone?"

Li Sima Dui smiled and said: "Yes, Mr. Kang sent a subordinate to come."

"Are you alone?" Gu Qing asked without giving up: "There is no convoy? There are no peasants to send money and food?"

Li Sima's smile was a little stiff: "Well, please forgive me, sir, I have no money and no food..."

Gu Qing's smiling expression looked a little dangerous: "I need a perfect explanation."

Fat people sweat easily, and the sweat on Li Sima's forehead flowed down, and he said with a bitter look: "My lord, Mr. Kang has done his best this year..."

Gu Qing still smiled: "I don't listen to the process, only the results."

"After the Anxi army entered the pass, only a few thousand soldiers and horses were left in the four towns of Anxi. The Tubo people were ready to move again. At the beginning of the year, they sent a force of more than 10,000 soldiers and horses to invade the border. Fortunately, they were repulsed by the defenders of Khotan Town.

, the Tubo people were probably short of food and did not dare to mobilize their troops, so they withdrew."

Gu Qing's eyes narrowed: "The Tubo people saw that the Tang Dynasty was rebelling, and they wanted to take advantage of it?"

Li Sima smiled bitterly and said: "Young master is right. The main reason is that all the Anxi troops were transferred to Guanzhong to suppress the rebellion. The defense of the four towns in Anxi was empty, so the Tubo people had a thief's idea and wanted to take the Western Regions into their own hands and control the trade routes in the Western Regions.

"

"and after?"

"Fortunately, my father-in-law once had a great plan to suppress Tubo. This year, Tubo has become more and more helpless. They only sent more than 10,000 soldiers and horses to invade the border. The official believed that their domestic food and cultivated land were also in short supply, so they were unable to send more troops.

With so many troops and horses, Khotan town could not be captured for a long time. They thought the cost was too high, so they withdrew."

"Tubo Zampu noticed that their domestic food and cultivated land have decreased?"

Li Sima nodded and said: "Yes, in the early spring of this year, Tubo Zanpu issued an edict, prohibiting landowners and farmers in the country from growing medicinal materials, and violators will be punished. However, there are countermeasures under state-owned national laws. The profits from selling medicinal materials are too great

It is several times higher than growing grain. The dignitaries and landowners in Tubo agreed on the surface, but secretly, they still planted large quantities of medicinal materials and shipped them to Anxi. From the beginning of this spring to now, the medicinal materials purchased by Kucha City are only slightly higher than last year.

Low."

Li Sima looked at Gu Qing's face carefully and whispered: "Mr. Kang was worried that the Tubo people would see through our weak enemy strategy, so this year he increased the price of purchasing medicinal materials and subsidized all the profits saved last year.

The Tubo people have become more and more greedy and continue to maintain the status quo of domestic cultivation of medicinal materials. Therefore, Anxi's revenue and expenditure this year can only barely maintain a balance, and they are unable to make profits to supply the Anxi army..."

Gu Qing was silent for a long time and sighed: "I understand his difficulties. I will go back and send him a message to let him continue. Now the main task of the four towns in Anxi is to weaken the strength of Tubo. He does not need to worry about the logistics of the Anxi army. I have already

There are other ways to solve it.”

Li Sima breathed a sigh of relief. He originally thought that Gu Qing would definitely be punished. After all, the army was on an expedition and Qiuci City had made a big mistake in the most important logistical supplies. He could imagine how furious Gu Qing was. Unexpectedly, Gu Qing heard the reason.

He didn't blame him in the end, he was really magnanimous.

Gu Qing is still very reasonable with his own people. Since he does have his own difficulties, there is no need to blame him. What Kang Dingshuang did was also for the sake of the country. In the future, after the Anxi army put down the rebellion, the next enemy will be Tubo. Now he can make Tubo honest

Staying in the country and not being able to take advantage of the civil strife in the Tang Dynasty to provoke war in the Western Regions were all due to Kang Dingshuang.

Seeing that Gu Qing was so considerate, Li Sima was grateful and asked uneasily: "My lord, the Anxi Army has been in Guan for a year to suppress the rebellion. Are the soldiers... okay? Are you not hungry?"

Gu Qing smiled: "Of course I'm not hungry, I can still eat meat for every meal."

Li Sima said happily: "Could it be that my father-in-law also made a lot of money while suppressing the rebellion in the pass?"

Gu Qing's smiling face was a little stiff: "Yes, I have made a lot of money. Do you know how I have lived this year, right?"

"How...how did you live?"

Gu Qing patted his greasy shoulder and sighed: "Although it is a bit humiliating, there is a trace of happiness in the humiliation, a bit of sadness in the happiness, and a little bit of happiness in the sadness..."

Li Sima was shocked: "Shuang... Wai Wai?"

"In short, it's hard to put it into words."

Li Sima was moved and said: "My father-in-law has been wronged. I am willing to share my worries for you. From now on, I am willing to do this kind of money-making work for you. I don't care how hard or tiring it is."

Gu Qing asked curiously: "Is your wife also a rich woman?"

Li Sima shook his head in astonishment, then his whole body trembled, and he looked at him in shock.

Gu Qing's face suddenly became a little embarrassed, as if he had accidentally exposed something...

…………

Early the next morning, Ma Sui led 5,000 soldiers and horses and rushed back to the camp to resume his duties.

As expected, the rebels who escaped from Shangzhou City last night headed straight towards Chang'an from the west city gate. They were intercepted in the road by Ma Sui's troops who had been ambushed in advance. Not a single one of the two thousand rebels was left, and they were all wiped out.

The leader of the thieves, Li Lijie, was also beheaded by Ma Sui himself.

Ma Sui held the fresh and still dripping head of Li Lijie in front of Gu Qing like a treasure. Gu Qing immediately took a few steps back. He couldn't help feeling disgusted. He frowned in disgust and told Ma Sui to stay away.

Gu Qing has commanded a lot of wars in the past few years. It’s not that he has never seen the heads of dead people. Some things are not scary in fact, they are just disgusting. Just like the inferior horror movies in the previous life, what they sell is not horror and horror, but the blood and pus.

Things like shit, piss, and farts make people unable to eat.

After receiving the reward according to the rules, and recording his military achievements in the merit book, Ma Sui happily carried his head to the rear army to find a civil servant. His back looked like an innocent child holding a koi carp, like a New Year picture, especially auspicious.

After capturing Shangzhou City, Gu Qing ordered the entire army to rest outside the city for two days.

The next day, when he was planning to beat drums and gather the generals to discuss the division of troops, Du Hongjian hurried over and reported a piece of news to Gu Qing with a look of joy on his face.

Ten days ago, on the 22nd day of the eighth month of the fifteenth year of Tianbao, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Li Heng ascended the throne as emperor in Lingzhou, that is, the Tang Dynasty. Officials from Lingzhou and Shuofang Jiefu attended the enthronement ceremony.

On the day of the ceremony, officials from the Ministry of Rites were ordered to read out in public the memorials of Guo Ziyi, An Chongzhang, Gu Qing and other military generals and military envoys supporting Li Heng's proclaimed emperor.

Weidi ascended the throne in Lingzhou.

After Li Heng ascended the throne, his first edict was to honor Li Longji, who was far away in Shu to avoid disaster, as the Supreme Emperor, and to change the Yuan Dynasty to "Zhi De". From the moment he ascended the throne, the Tang Dynasty no longer followed the Tianbao Year, but the title

It’s the first year of Zhide.

The second edict called on the soldiers and horses from all over the world to march to Guanzhong, put down the rebellion of An family and his son, eliminate the thieves and put down the rebellion, recover the cities and land occupied by the rebels, clear the rivers and seas, and restore the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

After he ascended the throne, he prepared in Lingzhou for several days. Li Heng personally marched and led 30,000 Shuofang troops southward. He recovered Yuanzhou five days ago and is now preparing to attack Qingzhou. At this point, Shuofang army and Anxi army fought against the rebel king's division.

The rebel forces have begun to attack from the north and the south.

After Du Hongjian reported the matter, he looked at Gu Qing's expression anxiously, fearing that he would suddenly regret it and not want to support Li Heng as the new king.

With Gu Qing's current status and the troops in his hands, if he really goes back on his word, Li Heng, the newly crowned emperor, will have a hard time. To put it more seriously, he, the new emperor, is illegally usurping the throne. As long as Gu Qing ascends the throne and calls out, Li Heng will have a hard time.

He will become a street rat and his ascension to the throne will become a joke.

Fortunately, Gu Qing had no objection.

Not only did he not object, Gu Qing also showed joy and immediately ordered the drums to be beaten to gather the generals. All the generals, big and small, gathered outside the commander's tent. Then Gu Qing took the lead and knelt down facing the north to congratulate the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty on his accession to the throne and expressed his willingness to be the new emperor.
Chapter completed!