Chapter 86 The First Fire
But Li Heng did not dwell on the simple matter, but asked: "I thought you were very talented and didn't care about these farm matters, but I didn't expect you to know about farm tools."

Wang Zhihuan replied: "In the early years of the Kaiyuan period, I worked as a clerk in Hengshui, Jizhou, so I know a little about these agricultural tools."

"I see." Li Heng nodded, took another look, and said, "You seem to have made some improvements?"

Wang Zhihuan said: "I feel that the plow is too long and it is hard to use, so I want to make it shorter, but after shortening it, it seems to be harder to use."

When Li Heng heard this, he instantly realized that Wang Zhihuan already had an idea, but he lacked experience after all, so it was difficult for him to realize the idea.

There are many things that require a lot of thought before you make them, but once you make them, you will find that they are so simple.

Li Ying hesitated for a moment and said, "Today's grand prize should belong to you, sir."

After that, he said to the Hu Cao assistant general who organized the competition: "Gather all the craftsmen and verify whether these molds are made by them personally. If they are, leave them. I will have something to say to them tomorrow."

"Yes." The Hucao assistant general replied.

The celebration of the opening of the mansion ended perfectly. Li Heng and Yang Yuhuan returned together and moved into their new home.

……

……

……

The next day, after breakfast, Li Heng summoned Gao Xianzhi and others to discuss matters.

During this period, although Li Heng handed over the responsibility of establishing the government to Yang Yuhuan, he did not manage the government affairs much.

Gao Xianzhi and his colleagues had been waiting for the first of three things Li Heng would do as a new official.

Li Ying first asked Gao Xianzhi, "General Gao, have you found out the reason why the Turks besieged Qiuci?"

Gao Xianzhi stood up and replied, "Your Highness, according to my investigation, Tubo did send a message to Turgesh before it captured Xiaoboluo. I cannot find out the specific content, but I can infer that Tubo should have told Turgesh that if Anxi sent troops to rescue Xiaoboluo, they should lead troops to attack Anxi."

Li Ying listened carefully.

Gao Xianzhi continued, "Also, the two leaders under the Tuqishi Khan, Mohedagan and Dumozhi, don't seem to be on good terms. Mohedagan's attack on Anxi this time seems to be because Sulu listened to Dumozhi's advice."

"I see." Li Heng nodded.

The Turgesh were composed of several tribes, known in history as the Ten-Surname Turgesh. There were constant fights and wars among their tribes.

Later, Sulu emerged as a rising star, integrated the Turgesh tribe, and successively married princesses from the Tang Dynasty, Tubo, and Turks, and began to compete with the Arabs in Central Asia.

But the peace of the Turgesh came from the strength of Sulu and the Turgesh's victories in battle.

The year before last, in 735 AD, the Turgesh were defeated by Gai Jiayun in Suiye City and retreated in defeat. The suppressed internal contradictions of the Turgesh became apparent.

Among them, the Yellow-surnamed Turks led by Mohedagan and the Black-surnamed Turks led by Dumozhi were the strongest and their fighting was the most intense.

Therefore, they all hoped that they could challenge the Tang Dynasty so that they could use the Tang Dynasty to eliminate their enemies.

Mohedagan besieged Qiuci last year, and Yang Yuhuan, the princess, was in the city at that time. If Mohedagan really broke into the city and did something to Princess Yang Yuhuan, Mohedagan would be dead too.

Seeing that Li Heng remained silent, Feng Changqing said, "Your Highness, the Turks are now fighting in Tokharistan and the Arabs. Should we take the opportunity to attack them from behind to avenge the Turks' siege of Qiuci?"

Li Heng thought about it, shook his head, and said: "Although the Turks are hateful, if we really destroy them, we will not have the power to check and balance the Arabs, so the Turks cannot be destroyed for the time being."

An Sishun suggested: "Then why don't we send a small number of troops to weaken their power?" "No need." Li Heng denied again, "I have determined that the Turkic people will be defeated in this battle with the Arabs in Tokharistan, and Sulu will not live long. At that time, not only will we not attack them, but we will also support one of their forces."

"This……"

The generals didn't know how Li Heng was so sure, but thinking that Li Heng always had a plan without any omissions, they decided to believe him for now.

Gao Xianzhi raised another question, saying: "Who should we support? Moheda Gan, who has the surname Huang, or Dumozhi, who has the surname Hei?"

Li Ying smiled and said, "It depends on which of them is more sincere."

Li Heng's move was indeed a bit sinister, and all the generals said in unison: "Your Highness is wise!"

"I'm more curious about something else." Li Heng suddenly changed the subject, "How did Mohe Dagan reach Qiuci so quickly, while the other towns in Anxi were too late to come back to help?"

"This..." Gao Xianzhi paused and explained, "The military structure of Anxi is army, guard, city, town, beacon, garrison, in addition to post station. In theory, if there is an invasion by foreign enemies, the beacon fire will send a message and the post station will report urgently, and the military information can be delivered to each army and town in a few days. But Anxi is vast, and the distance between the beacons is far. If the enemy army is coming too fast, the military information cannot be delivered."

Li Heng nodded and asked, "Is there any solution?"

Gao Xianzhi said: "Some people have advised that we should build beacons at the passes every thirty to fifty miles, so that the beacons are connected into a line, but this defense line is too long, and it is difficult to transport supplies. There will be a lot of consumption, and the court will not be able to afford the military supplies it provides every year."

Li Heng thought for a moment and asked, "Can the problem of beacon garrisons and farming be solved?"

"It should be feasible." Gao Xianzhi nodded. "General Gai and the previous Grand Protector General both cultivated land in beacon garrisons, but firstly, due to frequent wars, cultivation was often affected. Secondly, it was difficult for soldiers to defend against the enemy and cultivate land at the same time. If the superiors were extravagant, imposed heavy taxes, and did not clearly define rewards and punishments, many of them would flee. This was the case when General Gai was here."

Li Heng finally heard Gao Xianzhi's words and said, "Now that we have won a great victory in our expedition, we have temporarily eliminated the direct threat of Tubo to our Anxi, and also shocked the Western Regions. The Turks and the Arabs are also fighting. We will have a period of peace. During this period of peace, we should vigorously cultivate land, build water conservancy projects, and construct beacon towers. Let General Gao take charge of this matter, and General An will cooperate."

Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun stood up together and said, "We will obey your orders."

Li Heng added, "It is the beginning of February now, and we can still farm. After a while, I will farm the land myself and set a good example for my brothers. In addition, my father has issued an edict that all the property confiscated from Zhao Cheng and others will be used as military funds. The shortage of soldiers caused by their empty salaries should be recruited as soon as possible."

"Yes." The generals replied in unison.

Li Heng asked the others to go away first, leaving Gao Xianzhi behind and asked, "What has Zhou Yuyou been busy with recently?"

Gao Xianzhi was a little surprised to see Li Heng suddenly asking about an unimportant person, but he still replied: "I heard that he went to Chang'an before the New Year, but returned to Qiuci after the New Year. I don't know why."

"Okay." Li Heng nodded and said, "General Gao, go get busy first."

"Yes." Gao Xianzhi walked out.

Li Heng asked about Zhou Yuyou because he wanted to know when Zhou Ziliang would sue Niu Xianke and give Li Longji an excuse to demote Zhang Jiuling.

Although Zhang Jiuling was a wise prime minister, for Li Heng now, it would be better for him if Li Linfu took control of the power.

Because Li Linfu was promoted by his mother, Concubine Wu Huifei, although they are not in much contact now, they are not enemies after all.

The second is that Li Linfu advocated opening up borders.

Opening up the border means a large amount of material and manpower support, which is extremely beneficial for Li Heng to expand his power.

Now Zhou Yuyou is not staying in Chang'an but thinking of coming back. It must be because Zhou Ziliang gave him another advice.

After thinking for a while, Li Heng went to look for Wang Zhihuan and others.

(End of this chapter)