Tang Dynasty: The seventh rank of official residence, and you will be given the Ten Thousand People

Wu Zetian slapped the dragon chair hard: "According to Aiqing's words, Wang Xiaojie is appointed as the general manager of the march, and he is ordered to conquer the Khitan rebels!"

"Retreat!"

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" All civil and military officials bowed down in unison.

Wu Zetian was the first to leave Shangyang Palace amid the roar of the ministers.

When he came outside, Di Renjie comforted him and said, "Queen Mother, the more difficult the country's affairs are, the more you should cheer up. The civil and military officials of the whole court are counting on you to revive the glory of the Tang Dynasty."

In the past, Wu Zetian would have scolded the old man like you, but today she was not in the slightest mood and looked at the Luoyang City Road in the distance.

"What I am worried about is not the Khitans attacking Yingzhou, but the Turkic Khan Mo Chui."

"Mo Chui?"

"That's right." Wu Zetian nodded and said, "During the Yuan Day Festival last year, Mo Chui told me that he wanted to marry his daughter to a member of the royal family."

"This will promote eternal reconciliation between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, and I happily agree."

"As a result, within a year, a Turkic envoy was sent to Luoyang to say that the main militant faction within the Turks did not agree to surrender."

"If you want the two countries to repair the Tang Dynasty, you must cede the two states of Lingzhao to them, and provide them with 20 million copper coins to help them improve their people's livelihood. Only then will the whole country be willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty."

"Although Mo Chui didn't say anything after being rejected by Datang, I can feel that he is extremely unwilling to accept it, and it is very likely that he will take this opportunity to bring up the old matter again."

Upon hearing these words, Di Renjie stroked his beard and frowned.

"The Turks are cunning by nature and have always been eyeing our land in the Tang Dynasty. It is not surprising that they have such thoughts."

"In the past, when our national strength was strong, they could still hide and lurk, but now I'm afraid they have already included Lingzhao and Zhaozhou into their territory."

"Yes." Wu Zetian sighed: "Once the news of Cao Shiren's army's defeat reaches the Turks, Yi Mo Sip's greedy character will definitely ask for more conditions."

"It's really difficult for those two children, Taiping and Fan Xin."

In fact, Wu Zetian already regretted sending Fan Xin and her daughter as envoys to the Turks.

Judging from the current situation, if you want the Turks to send troops to join forces to destroy the Khitans, you will inevitably pay a huge price.

Even a bad person may bear the eternal infamy of ceding territory and borrowing troops.

Wu Zetian felt a sharp pain in her heart for no reason at the thought of having to bear the burden of her sins on her two children.

Finding that Wu Zetian was pale, Di Renjie reached out and patted the back of her hand.

"Queen Mother, the most difficult thing since ancient times is to have no choice. Your Highness and Fan Xin are both the most outstanding young people."

"The court should believe that they can complete this most difficult negotiation in history!"

After all, Wu Zetian was the leader of a country. After feeling a little sentimental, she quickly cheered up and looked towards the road in the direction of Lingzhou.

"Taiping is my most outstanding daughter. She has always been extremely smart."

"And Fan Xin is the most capable minister I have ever seen."

"With these two people in this palace, I believe that even if the Turks are a den of tigers and wolves, they can successfully complete the tasks assigned by the country!" At the end of the sentence, Wu Zetian's eyes were filled with determination.

Just when the monarch and his ministers were preparing for the worst, a Tang army was slowly advancing on the vast ancient road thousands of miles away.

"Bah, the wind and sand in the sky are too big. Poor little monk's white and tender skin is almost turning into sand."

After spitting out the sand in his mouth, Xue Huaiyi pointed at several subordinates.

"You guys go get a bucket of water for me, the general. I'm going to get rid of the turbid air on my body."

Several bald monks looked at each other and said helplessly: "General, all the water used for bathing in the team was given to the soldiers by Fan Shaoqing."

"You'd better be patient, Lingzhou City is fifty miles ahead."

"Fart! People can bear it, but this fair and tender skin can bear it? What will the general tell the Queen Mother if I get tanned?"

"Hurry up and get a bucket of bath water! If you dare to nag you again, I will kill you, General!"

"Master Xue has such a bad temper. Do you need me to give you a bucket?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Fan Xin came over from behind the team on horseback.

Seeing him coming, Xue Huaiyi's expression changed and he got into the car with hatred.

"No need, the general will wash himself when we get to Lingzhou."

Seeing that Xue Huaiyi had calmed down, Fan Xin came to the luxury carriage and pointed at a few guards.

"You guys can unhook the horses and carry the dehydrated guards, and leave two old horses for the princess."

"This..." Several guards looked at the carriage, not knowing what to do.

"Do as Fan Xin said," Princess Taiping opened the car curtain and walked out.

The rush for the past few days put a tired look on her pretty face.

"It's windy and sandy outside, what are you doing out here?" Fan Xin asked in confusion.

"After all, I am the deposed envoy of the Guan Nei Dao. I can't always let you be busy outside alone. You come in first to have a rest." Princess Taiping said with difficulty, covering her mouth.

Fan Xin shook his head and was about to say no, when a deafening sound of fighting suddenly came from the valley in the distance.

It sounded like a large-scale battle.

Fan Xin's expression changed, he pulled out the golden dragon sword and said loudly to several guard generals.

"Leave three hundred guards to accompany me to observe the situation. The others will immediately escort Her Royal Highness to Lingzhou. There must be no mistake!"

"I will obey your orders!" Several guard generals clasped their fists and led the guards to Lingzhou, leaving three hundred Qianniu Guards standing there.

"Young Master, this place is within the territory of Lingzhou. How can there be a large-scale fighting when there are government troops stationed there?" Liuzi asked in confusion.

"I don't know either, let's go and take a look and we'll find out!"

Fan Xin pulled out the golden dragon sword and led a group of people quietly towards the valley. When they reached the hiding place, they stretched out their heads and looked into the valley.

I saw a group of officers and soldiers wearing Tang army uniforms attacking a sparse caravan.

Judging from the intensity of the fighting, it would take at least half a quarter of an hour for the caravan's defense line to be breached.

"Master, what's going on? Why are the officers and soldiers attacking the caravan?"

Since Lingzhou is a key node on the Silk Road, large-scale caravans often pass through this road.

Normally, the Lingzhou garrison would not launch an innocent attack unless something unexpected happened.

Fan Xin did not answer Liu Zi's question. He stared closely at the two groups in the valley and soon noticed something strange.

Through observation, he found that there was nothing unusual about the soldiers wearing Tang army uniforms on the surface, but upon closer inspection, their eyes turned out to be gray-green.

Most of the faces have rough lines, which is not the same race as the Tang people in the Central Plains area.

On the contrary, the businessmen were dressed like Turks without any trace of disguise.

From this, it is not difficult to see that this group of Turkic cavalry pretended to be Tang troops and infiltrated into Lingzhou, intercepting and killing their own merchants. There must be some ulterior secret.

At this thought, Fan Xin clenched the sword in his hand and shouted in a low voice.

"Brothers, after the Tang army in the valley reveals a flaw, we will immediately surprise him!"

"Damn it, if you dare to go to the Tang Dynasty and kill people, do you really think that the men of the Tang Dynasty are extinct?"