Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 252 East Palace Ten Rates
A few days later, the news of the great victory of the Western Qiang spread throughout the court and the country.

New news continued to come back from the front line.

When the Arab army arrived at Lhasa, the Tibetan King Zamp led his ministers and royal family to flee the capital, and had already joined forces with Lu Dongzan and others to flee to India.

After the Arabs occupied the city of Lhasa, they raised the Arab flag, obviously intending to stay there.

In late January, the Tang army led the Qiang tribes, the Six Zhao coalition forces, the Subi Ru, the Xiangxiong army and other troops to surround the city of Lhasa, surrounding it on three sides and leaving only one road to the north.

The Arabs in the city sent envoys out of the city to negotiate, saying that the Arab envoys were on their way to Chang'an and hoped that Su Dingfang and Xue Rengui would temporarily stay outside the city and wait for the results of the negotiations between the two countries.

Su and Xue drove the envoys back to Lhasa and issued an ultimatum to the Arab army to attack the city in three days.

On the third night, the Arabs saw that the Tang army had sent people to surround the north gate and block the last gap, so they finally led their troops out of Lhasa.

Before they withdrew, they looted the city, especially the Tibetan royal palace - Hongshan Palace (Prada Palace).

All the treasures that the young Tibetan king did not have time to take away were snatched away by the Arabs.

The Arabs retreated all the way north to the city of Gar, where they stayed and refused to leave.

The Tang army was stationed in Lhasa City, issued a notice to appease the people, ordered the Qiang people to return to their original places of life, demarcate tribes, resume production, set up post stations, and wait for orders from the court.

At the same time, the Tang Dynasty court was also discussing post-war affairs in Tubo.

In the streets of Chang'an City, people were discussing the Battle of Black Water River after dinner.

Su Dingfang's reputation soared after this battle, and he has surpassed Li Ji and become the number one general in the hearts of Chang'an people.

Although Xue Rengui almost suffered a defeat, he still defeated Lu Dongzan's main force and his reputation did not decline.

Especially in Chongwenguan, thanks to Li Yong's hard work in publicity, all the students knew the details of the war and still maintained respect for him.

Thanks to his father's reputation, Xue Na was very popular in Chongwenguan. There were always people surrounding him and asking him about Xue Rengui.

Xue Na was very happy a few days ago, but when he came to Chongwenguan to study today, he had a bitter face and an expression full of worry.

When others asked him, he did not answer, so someone told Li Hong about the situation.

After school, Li Hong found Xue Na in the corridor and asked him about the situation.

Li Hong is the crown prince, so his questions must be answered.

Xue Na hesitated for a while, then stammered, "Your Highness, I, I'm telling you, can you please spare my mother and not convict her?"

Li Hong was surprised and asked, "Why would I condemn your mother?"

Xue Na lowered his head and said, "Because... she might have done something illegal..."

Li Hong frowned and said, "Then why didn't you dissuade her?"

Xue Na said anxiously: "I tried to persuade my mother, but she didn't listen to me at all. My father was not at home. I... I..." Suddenly he started to sob.

Li Hong hurriedly said, "Don't cry. I won't condemn her, but you have to tell me what she did. If it's too serious, we have to stop it."

Xue Na sniffed and explained the situation haltingly.

His mother Liu accidentally converted to Zoroastrianism, and when she prayed on weekdays, she went to the Zoroastrian temple where the Persian prince Peroz was.

As Xue Rengui's status in the Tang army grew higher and higher, Bilus naturally became more enthusiastic about Liu and personally answered her religious questions.

Liu was skeptical about Zoroastrianism at first, but as time went by, she became more and more devout. She not only donated money and materials, but also helped Perozzi enter the upper class of Chang'an City.

Bilus often visited Xue's house as a priest, and tried to make Xue Na convert to Zoroastrianism.

Xue Na started school early and was always reading the Four Books and Five Classics. He became skeptical of many of the teachings of Zoroastrianism and was unwilling to believe in it.

Last night, Bilus came to Xue's house again, and spoke stealthily with Liu alone in a room.

Xue Na did not trust this Western monk and was worried that he would persuade his mother to donate money to build the ancestral hall, so he hid outside the door and eavesdropped.

This time, Bilus did not persuade Liu to donate money, but asked her for a favor.

According to Peroz, his brother had been in Tocharia, planning to restore the country, but Tocharia was destroyed by the Arabs, and his brother fled everywhere with nowhere to hide.

The Honglu Temple of the Tang Dynasty had removed Persia from the entry list, so his brother could not escape to the Tang Dynasty as a Persian envoy.

The Persian Empire had been destroyed and was unable to submit entry documents to the Tang Dynasty. In other words, his brother could not enter the Tang Dynasty legally.

However, the Arabs were hunting down his brother, and the small countries in the Western Regions did not dare to take him in. Only by entering the Tang Dynasty could he save his life.

Bilus hoped that Liu would help him stamp the seal of Xue Rengui, Duke of Liang, on a document he had forged.

The document stated that Bilus' brother was a spy sent to the Arab Empire by Xue Rengui, so the border guards would let him go.

Although Xue Na was young, he knew that this was definitely wrong and violated the Tang Dynasty's entry and exit system. He immediately rushed into the house and tried to stop his mother.

As a result, Liu scolded him, but finally took out Xue Rengui's seal and stamped it for Bilus.

After listening to him, Li Hong said seriously, "This is definitely not right. If we let bad people in, that would be bad." Xue Na became even more anxious and said, "Your Highness, can you help me? If something goes wrong, it will definitely implicate my father."

Li Hong thought for a moment and said, "How about this? I'll send someone to the Anxi Protectorate to stop those Persians from entering the Tang Dynasty. That should solve the problem."

Xue Na smiled happily and said, "Yes, that's all right. Your Highness, please send someone quickly."

Li Hong brought Xue Na back to Lizheng Palace and sent someone to call Yang Yuchen, the General of the Left Internal Affairs of the Eastern Palace.

After a while, Yang Yuchen came to the outer hall and saluted Li Hong.

"Your Highness, Yang Yuchen, pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Li Hong looked at him and said in a crisp voice, "General Yang, I remember you once went to Shazhou and invited Dr. Sun to Chang'an. Is that true?"

Yang Yuchen said, "That's true. I was ordered by Her Majesty the Queen to go to Shazhou. I stayed there for over three months before I invited Dr. Sun to come."

Li Hongxi said happily: "Since you have been to Shazhou, that's great. I have an errand and want you to go to Anxi Protectorate. Please help me do it."

Yang Yuchen bowed and said, "Please give your instructions, Your Highness."

Li Hongdao said, "Go to the Anxi Protectorate and tell the chief officer that if anyone claims to be a spy sent by General Xue Rengui, they must not be allowed to enter the Tang Dynasty."

Yang Yuchen was stunned for a moment and said, "Your Highness, may I ask who those people are?"

Li Hongdao said, "They should be Persians. Anyway, no matter who they are, just stop them."

Yang Yuchen bowed and said, "I obey your command!"

The Eastern Palace has a total of ten rates, which are similar to the Twelve Guards. The only difference is that the same official positions in the Eastern Palace are several levels lower than those in the Twelve Guards.

For example, Yang Yuchen's rank of General of the Central Army was two levels lower than Li Yuanfang's rank of General of the Central Army.

Among the ten commanders of the Eastern Palace, only six command the military headquarters.

The Nei Shu Fu where Yang Yuchen was located was the prince's personal guard, similar to the Qianniu Guard. It did not command the military office, so it could not mobilize the office soldiers.

Because Li Hong's order was a bit strange, he did not dare to be careless. He selected twenty soldiers from the inner army, went out of Kaiyuan, and headed towards the Anxi Protectorate.

Yang Yuchen had been to Shazhou and was familiar with the post stations along the way. It only took him about ten days to reach the Anxi Protectorate in Qiuci.

He went to the Chief Secretary of the Protectorate and conveyed Li Hong's order to be the crown prince.

The Chief Secretary did not dare to delay and immediately sent people to various checkpoints to convey the order.

Two days later, news came that a group of people had entered the Tang Dynasty as spies sent by Xue Rengui.

This group of people was not just a few, but dozens, and they looked like an army.

If it weren't for the document stamped by Xue Rengui, it would not have passed the inspection with just ordinary public inspection.

Yang Yuchen sensed something was wrong and immediately asked the Anxi Chief to help him find these people and expel them from the Tang Dynasty.

Because this group of people had already entered Anxi, and the Anxi Protectorate was vast, it was very difficult to find them, and the matter soon alarmed Pei Xingjian.

After hearing this, Pei Xingjian ordered people to call Yang Yuchen to Suiye City and ask him for details.

After hearing that it was the prince's order, Pei Xingjian was even more surprised and asked more carefully.

"Wait a minute, when you asked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who they were, did he say they were Persians?" Pei Xingjian's face darkened.

Yang Yuchen said, "Yes, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also said that no matter who they are, they cannot be allowed to enter the country."

Pei Xingjian's expression became extremely serious, and he immediately ordered one of his subordinates, "Select two battalions of cavalry and wait at the east gate."

Yang Yuchen was startled and asked, "Protector Pei, why are you calling up the troops when we don't even know their whereabouts?"

Pei Xingjian said, "No need to ask any more questions. Head to the East Gate immediately. I will assign you another captain. Lead this force to catch up with the Arab envoys and protect them as they enter the capital."

Yang Yuchen's face changed and he asked, "The Arab envoys?"

Pei Xingjian said, "I don't have time to explain to you. Please leave immediately."

In fact, Pei Xingjian didn't need to explain much. After Yang Yuchen left the house, he quickly figured everything out.

The Persians and the Arabs were mortal enemies!

This group of guys, who were most likely Persians, suddenly entered the Tang Dynasty, and it happened that the Arab envoys also came to the Tang Dynasty.

It is easy to guess that this group of Persians came for the Arabs with the intention of assassinating them.

Naturally, such things are not allowed to happen in the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

The Arab envoys passed through Suiye City two days ago. If we use light cavalry to pursue them, we will catch up with them in a few days.

After Yang Yuchen met up with the army at the east gate, he immediately chased after the Arab envoys.

(End of this chapter)