Li Xiang is not a pretentious person. He also knows that the northwest is at a critical moment. If we take the right step, the Anxi Protectorate will definitely be re-established, and the countries in the Western Regions will also be under the management of the Tang Dynasty. This means that we have a strategic depth of thousands of miles to the west, which is very important for the current Tang Empire.
Li Xiang and Li Shimin have reached an agreement and will set out from Chang'an in a few days. Although the army cannot support the Northwest, it still has to bring some food and grass. Li Xiang is used to supplying the army on the battlefield, but Gaochang is not a battlefield. This is the target we want to win over.
Therefore, robbery cannot happen in the local area. If we go too far, it will be equivalent to pushing Gaochang towards the Western Regions coalition forces. At that time, the Hexi Corridor will most likely be blocked. Once the Hexi Corridor is blocked, it will be extremely difficult for us to control the Western Regions again.
When they arrived at Cheng Yaojin's home in the evening, Cheng Yaojin tried again and again, hoping to be in charge of the army again, but even Li Xiang shook his head.
Li Xiang knew what Cheng Yaojin was thinking. He just wanted to make some use of his remaining energy on the battlefield. Unfortunately, it was impossible at this time. Even if Li Shimin still trusted Cheng Yaojin, he would not let Cheng Yaojin lead the troops to fight. It might be reasonable for him to be an idle official in Chang'an City.
Cheng Yaojin also sighed. If he still wanted to lead the troops, he could only wait for chaos in the court, or for Li Chengqian to become the emperor. Otherwise, it would be absolutely impossible.
On the way back to the East Palace after dinner at Cheng Yaojin's house, Li Xiang found that Cheng Luan was holding Li Xiang's hand tightly. Women of this era all thought that after getting married, their husbands were their heaven.
Li Xiang was reluctant to leave his new wife, but if you put yourself in Cheng Luan's shoes, how could he bear to leave Li Xiang? They had just been living together like glue, and now they were going to the front line. No one would be willing to leave Li Xiang.
"I want to go to the northwest with His Highness."
When they were about to reach the Eastern Palace, Cheng Luan finally mustered up the courage to say this.
Women are not allowed to go to the military camp, which is an iron rule. However, for the royal sons, such things are often trampled upon. Li Xiang has always been strict with himself, but facing the eyes of his young wife who are about to shed tears, Li Xiang really can't refuse.
“Life in the military camps is very hard, especially in the military camps in the northwest.”
Li Xiang hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to refuse. It was not because of his reputation, but because the life in the northwest was indeed very hard. The wind and sand there felt like a knife cutting on the face, and Li Xiang did not want his wife to suffer in the northwest.
"Your Highness really underestimates me. Although I didn't grow up in a military camp, I often appear in the military camp because of my father and two brothers. I also have my own team."
Li Xiang had heard about this team before. It was not very large and was composed of the daughters of Cheng Yaojin's family generals, about forty or fifty people.
Cheng Luan started training them when they were young, and now they are quite capable in combat.
"Are you serious?"
If this team had not been mentioned, Li Xiang would have thought that his wife was losing her temper, but when this team was mentioned, Li Xiang knew that Cheng Luan really wanted to go to the front line.
Cheng Luan nodded with her eyes wide open, which made Li Xiang really unable to refuse.
"I'll think about it these few days."
The little girl could be happy for a long time with Li Xiang's answer. After all, Li Xiang had never brought a woman to the military camp before.
After returning to the Eastern Palace, Li Xiang sent someone to deliver a letter to Niu Jinda, asking Niu Jinda to make good preparations and then follow Li Xiang to the northwest. Originally, Li Shimin was reluctant to let Li Xiang take Niu Jinda with him, but the situation in the northwest was indeed not very good, so it was not possible to set up barriers at this time.
For Li Xiang, he has not stayed in the capital long enough, but for Niu Jinda, he still hopes to make meritorious service on the battlefield. Niu Jinda has missed the first batch of fiefdoms, and now after returning with meritorious service, he has become a county marquis, which is much better than before. If he makes great merit in the northwest, he can probably become a duke.
In the next few days, Li Xiang was preparing for his trip to the northwest, saying goodbye to everyone, and then, with Li Chengqian reluctant to let him go, he took his young wife and set off for the northwest.
Li Shimin chose to turn a blind eye to the fact that Li Xiang brought his wife with him. As long as you can quickly go to the northwest to stabilize the situation, then nothing else will matter.
Now many people in Chang'an City have also received this news, and the market has begun to become unstable. You must know that Chang'an is located in the Guanzhong area and is very close to the northwest. Once Gaocang is broken through, the armies of the countries in the Western Regions may march straight in, which will also be dangerous to Chang'an.
Of course, this is because ordinary people are not familiar with the situation in the northwest. If they were familiar with the situation in the northwest, they would definitely not have such ideas. Even if the countries in the Western Regions occupied Gaochang, they would not be able to advance into the interior.
Putting aside other things, the tens of thousands of troops along the way can also wear out the armies of the countries in the Western Regions. With such a strong comprehensive national strength of our Tang Dynasty, it is very difficult to maintain the logistics of the garrison in the northwest. If they enter Guanzhong, as long as we defend our city and clear the countryside, this army will be in chaos within a month.
Of course, Li Xiang would never let such a thing happen. Even if these people occupied Gaochang, it would be a failure in Li Xiang's view.
Li You has set out with 3,000 elite soldiers from Chang'an City. This time, Li Xiang only has the guards under Cheng Luan and Niu Jinda, in addition to his own guards.
Their team was relatively small in size and advanced at a relatively fast speed, covering 150 miles a day.
On the other hand, Li You didn't want to ride a horse at all, so he took a carriage every day and only traveled sixty miles a day.
After walking for a few days, Li Xiang caught up with these people. It turned out that they had not made any progress for two days.
After Li You left Chang'an, he felt very uncomfortable. Coupled with the unfamiliar climate and water, he actually fell ill.
After seeing Li You, Li Xiang knew that this guy was not pretending to be sick, but was really suffering from acclimatization. The noble young men in Chang'an City were like this, and the environment outside could defeat them.