Chapter 297 Governor of Lingzhou

"Report to everyone! Xi Junmai has arrived and is waiting outside the palace." An eunuch trotted in.

"Call him in." Li Chengqian said.

"Yes!" The eunuch took the order and retreated.

Xi Junmai walked in from outside the palace, saluted to Li Chengqian and said, "Your Majesty, I, Xi Junmai, the Qianniu of the Eastern Palace, come to see you!"

"No need to be polite, but stand up!" Li Chengqian said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Xi Junmai stood up to thank you.

Except for Xi Junmai, all the officials of the Eastern Palace had been promoted by Li Chengqian, and he was the only one who was still the Qianniu of the Eastern Palace.

As for why Li Chengqian did not promote him and place him in the Sixteen Guards of the Southern Court or the Forbidden Army of the Northern Court.

In fact, Li Chengqian had other plans. Xi Junmai was a man who could quell the internal turmoil of Tuyuhun with only 120 soldiers, and his strength was also impressive.

Li Chengqian knew that if Tubo wanted to continue to grow and develop, it had to expand its territory to the west, and Tuyuhun was the first target of Tubo's expansion.

The fall of Tuyuhun also brought a lot of trouble to the Tang Dynasty in the future. In order to compete with Tubo for the ruling power of the four towns of Anxi, the Tang Dynasty

even dispatched a large army to the west, which led to a vacancy in the northeast, giving Silla an opportunity to take advantage of it and drive away the Tang army in Liaoning and successfully unify the peninsula.

This was something Li Chengqian absolutely could not tolerate. The Tang Dynasty worked hard to eliminate Goguryeo and paid so much hard sweat. What qualifications do you, Silla, have to reap the fruits of victory?

This is a shame for the Tang Dynasty and for him as the emperor. The Tang Dynasty invested so much manpower and material resources, but in the end, it was played around by a group of Koreans.

Li Chengqian would never allow such a thing to happen, and would never allow such a tragedy to happen again.

The incompetence of Emperor Gaozong of Tang in history was his business, but he, Li Chengqian, would never allow it. The peninsula could only become a prefecture of the Tang Dynasty.

If Silla was law-abiding, he could still be merciful and keep their country. If they had to jump up and down, they would just be destroyed.

Therefore, the pace of Tubo's westward expansion must be controlled first.

To stop Tubo's westward expansion, it is necessary to ensure that Tuyuhun will not be annexed by Tubo.

As for whether Tubo would expand to the south, that was none of Li Chengqian's business. To the south was the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the territory of the Six Zhao.

Although they submitted to the Tang Dynasty, they were not actually under the administration of the Tang Dynasty, and each of them was acting on their own. Li Chengqian would be happy to see them both lose.

In that case, the Tang Dynasty would be able to take the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and incorporate it into the territory of the Tang Dynasty, making it a prefecture under the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty.

"Since I ascended the throne, I have lavishly conferred titles and rewards on officials of the Eastern Palace, but you are still the chief of the Eastern Palace. Do you have any complaints?" Li Chengqian asked.

"Your Majesty, I have never had any resentment towards you. Everything I said came from my heart. If there is any falsehood in it, I will die a miserable death." Xi Junmai was frightened to death when he heard Li Chengqian's question, and he knelt down hurriedly

. Xi Junmai thought that someone was framing him behind the scenes, and the emperor summoned him for questioning. He was already somewhat unhappy because he did not get a promotion.

Now someone is framing him for being dissatisfied with the emperor. He felt that he was really wronged. It was really like he was sitting at home and the pot came from the sky.

Xi Junmai was thinking in his heart who was framing him behind the scenes, and whether he had offended anyone since he came to Chang'an.

"Don't be nervous, I'm just asking casually, you stand up and talk." Li Chengqian said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Xi Junmai stood up again.

"You pacified Tuyuhun with 120 cavalrymen, so you must have a good understanding of Tuyuhun. What do you think if you are asked to deal with Tuyuhun again?" Li Chengqian said.

Xi Junmai was stunned!

Could it be that Tuyuhun is restless again? Your Majesty wants me to deal with Tuyuhun now? If this is the case, I must seize this opportunity.

"Your Majesty has a mission, and I will never refuse it even if I die!" Xi Junmai saluted.

"Tell Zhen about the situation of Tuyuhun first." Li Chengqian said.

"Yes!" Xi Junmai responded, and explained his understanding of Tuyuhun's current situation to Li Chengqian in detail.

"Very good!" Li Chengqian nodded. After hearing what Xi Junmai said, he was more determined to protect the important geographical location of Tuyuhun.

Tuyuhun was the springboard for Tubo's westward expansion and one of the important components of Tubo's development and growth. Without Tuyuhun's geographical location, it would be impossible for Tubo to expand westward.

In other words, the Hexi Corridor would be far under the control of the Tang Dynasty, so the prerequisite was to ensure that Tuyuhun would not be annexed by Tubo.

"I have decided to appoint you as the governor of Lingzhou, but you must pay close attention to the situation in Tuyuhun. If you find that Tubo is planning to attack Tuyuhun

, you must do so." "I want you to ensure that Tuyuhun will not fall into the hands of Tubo in the name of protecting the vassal state. If necessary, you can launch a military attack on Tuyuhun."

"In short, even if Tuyuhun cannot become part of the territory of the Tang Dynasty, it must not fall into the hands of Tuyuhun."

"You must be highly vigilant against Tuyuhun and never relax for a moment." Li Chengqian said.

This does not allow him to be careless. Although Tuyuhun's territory is not as large as that of the Tang Dynasty, it can compete with the Tang Dynasty.

This is enough to prove how strong Tuyuhun's overall strength is.

Now that Songtsen Gampo is in charge of Tubo, it will not do anything to the Tang Dynasty. But once Songtsen Gampo dies, Tubo will break the friendly situation between the two countries and enter a hostile state.

Therefore, Li Chengqian must make all preparations. Even if he cannot destroy Tubo, he must stop it in the plateau area.

"I understand! I will definitely live up to your majesty's trust." Xi Junmai said.

Although he was puzzled in his heart, Tubo and the Tang Dynasty were relatives by marriage, and the two sides had frequent and good exchanges. How could they be enemies with the Tang Dynasty?

But the emperor said so, and as a minister, he could only do it. After he arrived in Lingzhou, he had to reorganize the military and monitor the situation of Tuyuhun and Tubo at all times.

When necessary, he would send troops to help Tuyuhun fight against the Tubo army and drive them back to the Tibetan Plateau.

Therefore, Xi Junmai had only one mission, which was to stop Tubo from annexing Tuyuhun at all costs.

"This is the imperial edict appointing you as the governor of Lingzhou. From now on, you are the governor of Lingzhou. Go back and take care of anything you need to do."

"If you have anything to tell your family, go back and tell them. Go to Lingzhou to take up your post as soon as possible." Li Chengqian took the

imperial edict that had been prepared from Wang Quan's hand and handed it to Xi Junmai. "I thank God for His grace!" Xi Junmai knelt down hurriedly, raised his hands above his head, and took the imperial edict of appointment as the governor of Lingzhou from Li Chengqian.

"I'll take my leave!" Xi Junmai stood up and said goodbye. After leaving the palace, he went back to pack up.

Then he said goodbye to his family and set off to Lingzhou to take up his post.