Tibet

Li Sheng has led 50,000 troops into Sizhou.

Li Sheng was very experienced. He was not in a hurry to attack the southern part of Yizhou controlled by Nanzhao. Instead, he first established a foothold in the northern part where the Han people lived.

The army entered Yueqi County, which was the administrative seat of Yizhou. Nanzhao called it Jianchang Prefecture.

Seventy percent of the people in the city are Han, 30% are Nanzhao and other ethnic groups, and there are a few Tibetans.

In the Chinese army's tent, Lieutenant General Qu Huan pointed to the sand table and said: "Nanzhao's troops are mainly concentrated in Huili County in the south, which is where their Huichuan Governor's Mansion is located. Jianchuan Mansion in the west is actually controlled by the Tubo army. The Tubo are in There are 30,000 troops stationed in Jianchuan. Once our army takes over the Huichuan Governor's Mansion, it will be less than 300 miles away from the capital of Nanzhao, Yangjumei City. "

Li Sheng planted a small flag on the Governor's Mansion in Huichuan. Huichuan was close to Lushui, and their sand table ended at Lushui. He said slowly: "In this way, the Governor's Mansion in Huichuan is the Peking University of Nanzhao. The door is the place they must protect.”

Qu Huan nodded, "The general is absolutely right. It was because he occupied the Dudu Mansion in Huichuan that year that Li Mi's morale was boosted and he went to Taihe City, the capital at that time. As a result, Huichuan was attacked by the Tibetan army who came to support him. Occupied, logistics was cut off, the Tang army retreated in panic, and was attacked from the north and south by Nanzhao and Tubo. The entire Tang army was destroyed, and Li Mi threw himself into the Erhai Sea to die for his country. It was so tragic. "

Li Sheng pondered for a moment and said: "In fact, Tubo and Nanzhao are at odds with each other. Tubo is in the west and Nanzhao is in the south. Once they rush into Nanzhao in a hurry, the Tubo army will definitely be cut off. Therefore, we can either capture the governor of Huichuan and then have a long-term confrontation. Or divide your forces and fight."

Qu Huan was the governor of Jiannan. He led 10,000 troops to join Li Sheng's main force and served as deputy general of the Southern Expedition. The arrival of the Jiannan army brought the number of Tang soldiers to 60,000. Qu Huan pondered and said: "General, according to my humble position, , Nanzhao's total strength is probably 200,000, and there are 30,000 war elephants. In the first battle between Datang and Nanzhao, the Tang army was defeated by the war elephants. The general must not be careless. "

Li Sheng sneered and said: "I believe that history will never repeat itself again. Although I only led 50,000 troops southward, I have powerful force that subverts the imagination of the Nanzhao and Tubo people. If they know better and surrender early, they may be able to avoid the destruction of the country." worry!"

At noon, staff officer Zheng Xu hurriedly found Li Sheng and said, "See the general!"

Zheng Xu was Zhang Li's staff disciple and the nephew of Zheng Hui, the Qingping official of Nanzhao. He had previously testified at the Political Affairs Hall. He was appointed by Li Sheng as a staff advisor and followed the army to fight south.

Li Sheng was looking at the map. He pointed at the map and smiled: "Why is Taihe City marked as the capital city, and Yangjumei City is also the capital city. Which one is the capital city?"

Zheng Xu bowed and said: "Taihe City is the capital, and Yangju City is a new city. Although it is not the capital, the palace, official offices and garrison are all in Yangju City, and the population is also the largest in Yangju City, so Yangju City Baa City is the de facto capital."

"I see!"

Li Sheng asked with a smile: "How is the climate there in April and May? I read the records of Zhuge Liang's attack on the Southern Barbarians. After crossing the Lu River, the ground was full of miasma and virgin forests were everywhere. The Han army was extremely unsuitable."

Zheng Xu hurriedly said: "That was the Shuhan period. It has been almost a thousand years. It is completely different. Nanzhao has a large population. How can we support it if it is all virgin forest? Now, except for the mountainous areas, the plains are farmland. There are also small towns and villages dotted all over the place, but I really have to remind the general that the weather there is very hot and humid, which makes people very uncomfortable. If you don't adapt to it, you can really get sick easily. "

Li Sheng nodded, "I know that the first war between Datang and Nanzhao was because the Tang army could not adapt to the weather and most of them got sick. Is there any way to avoid it?"

Zheng Xu said quickly: "This is what I am planning to suggest to the general. If the general wants to cross the Lu River and enter the hinterland of Nanzhao, he must be equipped with medicine. According to Beizi's knowledge, Han merchants have prepared medicine in advance when they go to Nanzhao. If you feel unwell over there, just take some medicine and you’ll be fine.”

Li Sheng was most worried that the soldiers would not adapt to the climate. When he heard that there was medicine, he was immediately overjoyed and asked anxiously: "Where can I find the medicine?"

"I know a drugstore shopkeeper in my humble position. I can go and ask him!"

"I will go with you!"

Li Sheng was full of hope and followed Zheng Xu with Qu Huan and Marching Sima Li Miao to a medicine shop in Yueqi County. This was a medicine shop opened by Han people called Baicao Shop.

Hearing that the Tang Army Lord was coming, the medicine shop owner hurriedly came out to greet him and invited Li Sheng and his entourage to sit in the inner room.

Zheng Xu smiled and said: "The army is marching south and needs medicine to prevent dampness and heat. The shopkeeper recommended those medicines to me last time. Let me introduce them to the general!"

The shopkeeper nodded, "General, wait a moment!"

The shopkeeper ran to get the medicine. After a while, he brought several medicines, put them on the table and said with a smile: "These are the three treasures of Yunnan that businessmen like most. One is the Xingnao Dan to prevent heatstroke and miasma, and the other is the Baidu to prevent poisonous insects. Powder, there is also a dehumidifying patch to prevent chest tightness caused by humidity and heat, and there are also mugwort packs to prevent mosquito bites and so on.

The most popular ones here are Baidu Powder and Dehumidifying Patch, especially the Dehumidifying Patch, which is a plaster that is applied to the back. It makes the body transparent all day and night. Businessmen call it a magical patch. "

Li Sheng was overjoyed, "How many are these three medicines?"

"Small stores sell a set of three medicines, which can be used for twenty days, and costs 500 yuan per set. If the quantity is large, it can be cheaper."

Li Sheng was overjoyed, "I want 100,000 sets, can I get them?"

The shopkeeper was so frightened that he almost fell down, "The general is too scary. When the store talks about large quantities, it means one or two hundred sets. The store only has a few hundred sets in stock, and it can't even take out a thousand sets!"

Li Sheng smiled and said, "I know you don't have it, but tell me, is there any way?"

The shopkeeper said with a bitter face, "There are enough medicinal materials, but there are not so many people! Even if all the pharmacists in the county are gathered together to do it, it will take a year."

Qu Huan suddenly said, "The manpower problem is not big. Give me the medicinal materials and formulas, and I can mobilize the counties and states of Jiannan and the counties and states of Shannan West Road. It can be completed in one or two months, and it can be completed in one month if it is faster."

This is a good idea. Li Sheng immediately said to the marching Sima Li Miao, "You are responsible for getting the formula and medicinal materials, and send them to Chengdu immediately. The Qujiang Army will hand them over to the government to arrange for the preparation of medicine!"

"I understand!"

Li Sheng said again Asked the shopkeeper, "Can we really buy enough medicinal materials?"

The shopkeeper nodded, "Our Yuexi County is the largest distribution center for Nanzhao medicinal materials. The medicinal materials from Nanzhao are stored here in large quantities, and then sold to Bashu, Chang'an and all over the south. Hundreds of warehouses are filled with various medicinal materials, as many as you want!"

"What about the formula? Is it easy to get it?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "General, don't worry. These are regular medicines, not secret recipes. Every store has the formula. I can provide it to the general without charging a penny."

Li Sheng nodded, "I will buy all the Yunnan Three Treasures in your store."

Li Sheng can ask the army to wait, but the scouts need this medicine.

The medicinal materials for removing dampness and heat are only needed after crossing the Lushui River, and are not needed to attack Huichuan Prefecture in the south.

The task of preparing medicine was given to Sima Li Miao, and Li Sheng immediately led 50,000 troops to the south, with the goal of Huichuan Governor's Mansion on the north bank of the Lushui River.

Huichuan Military Governor's Office is today's Huili County. It is the northern gate of Nanzhao and also the base for Nanzhao's army to harass the Tang Dynasty to the north. Its strategic location is extremely important.

From Huichuan, you can go west to Jianchuan Military Governor's Office. Once the Tang Dynasty crossed the Lushui River and entered Nanzhao, the Tubo army would quickly come from Jianchuan, occupy Huichuan Prefecture, and cut off the retreat of the Tang army.

At this time, there were about 20,000 Nanzhao and Tubo coalition forces in Huichuan Military Governor's Office, ready for the arrival of the Tang army.

At present, there are also several major factions in Nanzhao. The first is the Nanzhao King Geluofeng. He belongs to the middle faction. On the one hand, he fought two major battles with the Tang army and killed hundreds of thousands of Tang soldiers. He was extremely afraid of the Tang Dynasty, so he embraced Tubo without hesitation.

But as Tubo's oppression of Nanzhao became increasingly heavy, Geluofeng wanted to use the power of the Tang Dynasty to get rid of Tubo, so he set up the Nanzhao Dehua Monument a few years ago to show that he had no choice but to rebel against the Tang Dynasty and he was willing to make peace with the Tang Dynasty.

When Li Ye ascended the throne, Geluofeng sent an envoy to congratulate him. He wanted to take advantage of Li Ye's ascension to the throne to ease the relationship with the Tang Dynasty.

Zheng Hui, the Qingping official, was a friendly faction towards the Tang Dynasty and tried his best to persuade Geluofeng to be friendly to the Tang Dynasty.

However, there were six Qingping officials, that is, six prime ministers, in Nanzhao. Zheng Hui was only one of them. His power was still not enough. The hard-line faction against the Tang Dynasty still dominated the mainstream of Nanzhao. Especially with Tubo supporting the hard-line faction behind, it was a bit difficult for Zheng Hui to support it alone.

Among the hard-line factions against the Tang Dynasty, the representative was Shisun Yimouxun. He was young and ambitious and advocated seizing all the land in the southern part of Jiannan.

Therefore, the attack of the Nanzhao army on the Tang Dynasty prospecting team was not an accident. It can be regarded as a hedge measure taken by the hard-line faction after King Geluofeng sent an envoy to congratulate Li Ye on his ascension to the throne.

However, it was the attack of the Nanzhao-Tibetan coalition on the Tang Dynasty's prospecting team that caused the Tang Dynasty to worry about the safety of southern Jiannan, which led to the Tang Dynasty taking this opportunity to send troops to Nanzhao to resolutely safeguard the safety of southern Jiannan.

The third war between the Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao was inevitably broken out.