Chapter 296 Preparations
Li Heng's original intention was not to make Diwu Qi the Chief Secretary of Lanzhou. He just wanted to transfer Diwu Qi closer to him.

Li Heng said this because he wanted to tell Diwu Qi that Li Heng can only use you for now, and he is the only one who can truly promote you and bring you benefits.

Diwu Qi hurriedly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your support!"

Li Heng said: "I am only recruiting talents for the country, you don't need to be polite. The further war with Tubo is not far away. I hope you can do your best to help Shi An govern Lanzhou and cooperate with the transportation of grain and grass in the front."

"I obey your command!" Diwu Qi said respectfully.

Fang Guan, who was standing by, saw Diwu Qi's expression and thought to himself, "Diwu Qi has already shown his determination to follow Prince Shou wholeheartedly. We must report this to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince immediately."

Li Heng glanced at Fang Guan and didn't say much. He then made other arrangements, letting Liu Yan serve as the governor of Lanzhou and concurrently in charge of the Longyou Warehouse, and Du Youlin would be a minor official in Shanzhou.

After staying in Shanzhou for a few days, Li Heng asked Gao Xianzhi to stay in Longyou, and Li Siye to train soldiers. He took Zhang Guangsheng and Ma Sui to inspect Hexi.

Of course, Yang Yuhuan and He Jin were also mentioned briefly.

Li Ying originally wanted to take the other three with him, but Aqisi and Wei Xianxian were both pregnant and it was inconvenient for them to go far away, so Zhang Mujin had to stay and take over Yang Yuhuan's job.

This time, Li Heng did not take the main road, but went from Shancheng to Xincheng, inspected the Xincheng Weirong Army, then crossed the Great Snow Mountain from Xincheng, and then entered Liangzhou City.

In the city of Liangzhou, An Sishun, deputy envoy of the Hexi Jiedushi, Li Guangbi, deputy military envoy of the Chishui Army, the three brothers of the Lun family, Guo Yingyi and other officials of Liangzhou, both large and small, gathered together with Li Heng.

Among them, except Li Guangbi, the others are all familiar faces to Li Heng. The reason why Li Guangbi was transferred from Shuofang to Hexi was because of Wang Zhongsi.

Li Heng asked about daily work, and then asked the civil officials to withdraw first. He said to the military officers, "A battle with Tubo is inevitable. What do you think, how should we fight?"

Upon hearing this, Li Guangbi glanced at the others, stood up and said, "Your Highness, now that Shibao City has been recaptured, I think there is no need to gather the entire army to advance to Dayechuan, and we should attack on multiple fronts."

Ma Sui, who was standing by, was secretly delighted when he heard that Li Guangbi's suggestion was the same as his.

Li Ying asked: "How do we attack on multiple fronts?"

Li Guangbi said: "The Longyou army will be divided into two routes. One will go from Taozhou to Mohuanchuan, and the other will go from Shibaocheng to Dafeichuan. The Hexi army will also be divided into two routes. One will go to Dadouba Valley, and the other will go to Zhangye."

"What else?" Li Ying asked.

Li Guangbi said: "I think that it is enough to attack from all four fronts."

Li Heng nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "There are five ways for Tubo to plunder Hexi. Why do you only suggest two ways?"

Li Guangbi said: "The other three roads are between Suzhou, Guazhou and Shazhou. The terrain is complex and easy to defend but difficult to attack when entering Tubo from these three roads. There are also few people. Even if we take them with great effort, the strategic significance is very small and it will only increase the logistical consumption. Therefore, it is better to go through Dadouba Valley and Zhangye and go out from these two roads to involve the Tubo army in the west of Qinghai Lake and join forces with the Longyou army to capture Qinghai Lake and the Nine Bends of the Yellow River."

Li Heng said: "But if we go out from these two roads, the terrain is also very complicated. We need to attack the castles from the front."

"General Feng Changqing was able to advance back then, so can I. I am willing to be the vanguard and march from Dadouba Valley." Li Guangbi saluted Li Ying and asked for orders.

"Okay." Li Heng patted Li Guangbi on the shoulder and said, "I agree with General Li's request, but you wait for my order as to when to fight."

Li Guangbi said: "I will obey your orders!"

Li Heng nodded and said, "The others go back first, General An stays."

"Yes." The other generals took the order and retreated.

After the other generals left, Li Heng asked An Sishun, "What do you think of Li Guangbi's suggestion?"

"I think it is feasible. The military envoy is very knowledgeable about war, and I admire him very much, but..." An Sishun smiled bitterly.

"Just what?" Li Heng asked. An Sishun said, "He is strict in military discipline, but has a stubborn personality. I wanted to marry my daughter to him, but he actually resigned due to illness."

"Uh..." Li Heng was stunned.

An Sishun said, "This matter does make me unhappy, but I value his talent, so I can only let it go. I have no other intentions in telling His Highness today."

Li Heng nodded and said, "Does Deputy Envoy An think that he can follow orders in dealing with the war against Tubo?"

"Of course I can." An Sishun said firmly.

"That's good." Li Ying smiled slightly.

From the moment he entered the door, Li Heng had been paying attention to Li Guangbi's words and actions. As An Sishun said, Li Guangbi's temperament was indeed rather stubborn and not easy to subdue, but the war with Tubo was a national affair of the Tang Dynasty, and he would do his best.

Li Ying knew what was going on, but he still asked An Sishun because he wanted to know An Sishun's attitude towards Li Guangbi.

An Sisun took the initiative to confess the "gap" between him and Li Guangbi, not to expose Li Guangbi's dirty deeds, but because he knew that Li Heng knew about it. If he did not take the initiative to speak out, Li Heng would doubt whether he and Li Guangbi could fight together, so he needed to make his position clear.

Li Ying got the result he wanted, exchanged a few words with An Sishun, and then returned to the post station.

In the post station, Yang Yuhuan was in high spirits. Seeing Li Heng coming back, she took the initiative to ask, "Have you arranged the affairs in Liangzhou, my dear?"

Li Ying said, "I guess so."

Yang Yuhuan said, "Then shall we go west? Further west, there is a horse farm in Ganzhou. In Xizhou and Qiuci, we still have mansions. Speaking of which, I don't know if the flowers in the mansion are still alive."

Li Ying sat down next to Yang Yuhuan and asked, "Do you want to go back to Qiuci?"

"Yeah." Yang Yuhuan nodded.

Li Heng said, "It's a pity that we can only go here this time. My father asked me to take charge of Helong in order to deal with Tubo. If I run back to Anxi, I will definitely be reprimanded."

Yang Yuhuan smiled and said, "Will my husband be worried about a reprimand or two?"

"I can't hide anything from you." Li Heng smiled, "Once the food and grass are prepared and the soldiers are trained, we will attack Tubo. I came here to prepare for the attack on Tubo."

Yang Yuhuan said, "I think you must have a clear idea of ​​the military deployment. Is it just some supplies that are missing now?"

"How do you know?" Li Heng asked in confusion.

Yang Yuhuan said: "If the young master only wanted to review the soldiers and make military deployments, he would not bring me and Sister Jin here. If he brought us here, he must have some plans."

"Who do you think I am?" Li Heng pinched Yang Yuhuan's cheek, "Can't I just want to have fun with you guys?"

"Really?" Yang Yuhuan opened her eyes wide.

Li Ying said: "But this time I really need your help."

"My dear, please give me your orders." Yang Yuhuan said.

Li Heng said, "Before the end of next spring, I need 30,000 sets of winter clothes. They are stored in Liangzhou City. This matter must not be disclosed."

Yang Yuhuan and He Jin smiled at each other and said, "We will definitely do it."

(End of this chapter)