Li Shimin sat on the horse's back and watched the huge cavalry team gradually leaving in the distance. Li Shimin was filled with emotion. To be honest, if it weren't for Huo Gang this time, Li Shimin would definitely die here. Of course, he was able to come to the Western Regions because of Huo Gang.

But in short, he got much more benefits than bad things when he came to the Western Regions.

Although he encountered danger because of Huo Gang, comprehensive consideration, especially after seeing Huo Gang's army, Li Shimin understood that his choice was not wrong. It was a very simple problem. The conflict between Huo Gang and An Xinggui could not be eliminated. This means that if he didn't come here, he would not be able to stand on Huo Gang's side.

This means that when An Xinggui and Huo Gang had a conflict, the chances of the Tang Dynasty and Huo Gang being in conflict are extremely high. Will the entire Liangzhou resist the attacks of soldiers such as Huo Gang?

cannot.

Li Shimin knew the answer very clearly. Although Huo Gang's subordinates seemed to have cavalry and lacked the strength of soldiers to attack the city, in fact, does he need to attack the city? In the entire Liangzhou Guazhou, if Huo Gang cut off the supply of the army within the pass, with his soldiers' qualities, it would be too difficult for them to destroy the other side.

This means that the other party is invincible. Once the other party starts to harass the villages around the city, as long as these people are forced into the city, it will not take long for a city to collapse.

Now, not only has the problem between Huo Gang and An Xinggui been solved, but most importantly, it is also clear that Huo Gang is their true friend of the Tang Dynasty, so even if the Western Regions are completely stable.

Jie Li was in their hands, and they had contacted Li Jing. After leaving some of the soldiers, Li Jing could directly draw troops to advance north and take down important horse-raising lands in the Eastern Turks in Wuyuan and other places, and be able to capture it with all his hands!

The Eastern Turks, who lost 40,000 elite cavalry, will fall into an unprecedented weak situation, which is their opportunity for the Tang Dynasty!

"Keming, Shilian, I have an idea." Li Shimin took his eyes off Huo Gang's cavalry who had gone away.

"Your Majesty, please speak." The two of them looked at each other and asked directly.

"What do you think, in order to thank Huo Gang for saving his life, I will hand over the land of Guazhou directly to Huo Gang?" Li Shimin suddenly spoke.

"Ah?!" Du Ruhui and Gao Shilian were stunned for a moment and handed over Guazhou to Huo Gang. Although there are not many places left in the Tang Dynasty, Guazhou still has three big cities, including Suoyang City, Yumen Pass of the Tang Dynasty, and Dunhuang City, which are about 300,000.

If the population of the entire Guazhou is included, it is about 500,000. It’s not about population. The Tang Dynasty has no shortage of population. The question is why did Li Shimin suddenly think about giving Huo Gang land?

"Your Majesty, what do you think?" Du Ruhui and Gao Shilian took a look.

"It's very simple. Judging from Huo Gang's current development experience, let's not talk about this incident. Just talking about Huo Gang's Han Dynasty, Yumen Pass played the role of Huo Gang's capital, but the distance between Yumen Pass and Dunhuang County in the Han Dynasty was too close."

"At present, we are in a covenant state, but such a close distance is not conducive to the continued peaceful exchanges between our two countries. The entire Guazhou is tasteless for us, and it is a pity to abandon it."

"In the past, we could not give up because we entered the Western Regions important strategic location here. However, after I returned to Chang'an, the focus of the Tang Dynasty would inevitably go north. Then the soldiers in the Western Regions would need to be drawn out in large quantities. Not to mention, we would directly draw the northern line. At least we could draw the soldiers from Dunhuang and other places to Tuyuhun. There would be no problem in controlling the local area."

"Then in this case, the distance between Dunhuang and Yumen Pass will easily cause some conflicts."

"It's very simple. With the strengthening of trade between our two sides in the future, the soldiers of the Han Dynasty near Yumen Pass will inevitably strengthen their territory. So how should the defenders of Dunhuang County handle themselves? It's not true, nor is it true."

"If the operation is not done properly, conflicts will arise between the two parties."

"Instead of this, it is better to just hand over Guazhou to Huo Gang directly. Then we will take back the main force to Jiuquan County, and strengthen the construction of new cities near Jiuquan with Duanshui west of Jiuquan County as the boundary between the Han Dynasty. The overall terrain near Jiuquan is easy to defend but difficult to attack, so a small amount of troops can defend a huge area."

Li Shimin said his thoughts directly.

"Of course, there is another reason. After Guazhou gives it to the other party, I hope they can help us deter the Eastern Turks from the side." Li Shimin added.

Du Ruhui and Gao Shilian looked at each other and immediately understood Li Shimin's true intention. I'm afraid the next sentence is true.

It’s very simple. Jie Li’s 40,000 elite Turkic cavalry escaped... less than a thousand! That’s right, after the White Tiger Army, who were chasing those Turkic cavalry, came back, and based on their statistics, the 40,000 elite Turkic cavalry could escape less than a thousand!

All the others were chased and killed in the Gobi Desert. If the Turks had not been scattered and the White Tiger Army had insufficient troops, I guess none of these Turks would have been able to escape!

Forty thousand elite Turkic cavalry! They died all! The most terrifying thing is that when these Turkic cavalry fled back, Huo Gang's reputation in the hearts of the entire Eastern Turkic people would probably scare the child to cry at night!

If Huo Gang was intimidating from the side, as long as they took it down, these Turks would never dare to resist!

The reason why they were unable to rule the grassland in the past was because they did not have enough deterrence to the grassland, but now it is different. If Huo Gang can intimidate them, they would not dare to resist at all! Then they would have enough time to control the entire grassland!

And Li Shimin was very correct in his consideration. After all the defenders who were transferred back to Guazhou, there was absolutely no problem with these extra defenders directly stationed in Tuyuhun.

With Huo Gang assisted, Tuyuhun's rule was also stable. The most important thing is that the power they invested in Guazhou, Liangzhou could be greatly reduced, and all military forces could go north.

As long as Liangzhou is peaceful, the north is not a problem at all! They have long regarded the 40 million acres of black soil as the treasure of the Tang Dynasty.

"I think it's OK, but I think your majesty, you can give Guazhou to Huo Gang with another name." Gao Shilian next to him thought for a while and spoke directly.

"What's the name?" Li Shimin was a little curious.

"Didn't Your Majesty decide to marry Princess Changle to Huo Gang? You can directly name Guazhou Changlezhou and then give it to Huo Gang as a dowry!" Gao Shilian said directly.

Du Ruhui next to him was stunned for a moment, then immediately bowed to Gao Shilian and said, "Mr. Gao, admire him!"

Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes lit up instantly. This was an excellent excuse! And it was not just an excellent excuse, and it could be said that this was also a trick of killing two birds with one stone.

Li Shimin instantly understood what Gao Shilian meant. To put it bluntly, Gao Shilian and Du Ruhui had already seen that Huo Gang was not only a person who kept his promises, but also a person with a temperament.

He is not a two-faced villain. You have to be loyal to such a person. This can be seen from Huo Gang's first rescue.

The existence of Changlezhou is actually a reminder to Huo Gang from the side, don’t forget that we are not just allies, from the perspective of personal relationships, I, Li Shimin, is still your father-in-law! Your son-in-law always wants to give me, father-in-law, face, right?

"In this way, after returning to Chang'an, I will announce this matter directly. Shilian, you don't need to return to Chang'an for the time being. You will wait here in Wuwei. At that time, you will be in charge of the envoys." Li Shimin thought for a while and spoke very simply.

"Yes!" Gao Shilian did not object.

In fact, the Tang Dynasty cannot be without a word about Huo Gang saving Li Shimin. This is the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. It is not an exaggeration to give anything to you. But is Huo Gang missing silk and satin? Maybe it is missing, but Huo Gang doesn't like these.

As for other things, we can see from this negotiation that many things in the Han Dynasty were much more than they had imagined by the Tang Dynasty, and they had already understood the Li family in Longxi, and Huo Gang was in an advantage over them in many aspects.

Under such a state, there is not much they can give Huo Gang.

The news of An Xinggui's rebellion had spread rapidly throughout the Tang Dynasty with the demise of An Xinggui Jieli, and the incident of Li Shimin being rescued by Huo Gang also spread to Chang'an. Of course, when the news came, the entire Chang'an who had something to do with the Wuwei An family had been controlled.

When Li Shimin was recuperating in Wuwei for two days and left Wuwei for Chang'an, Huo Gang had already arrived outside the Yumen Pass of the Tang Dynasty. An Xinggui was still alive, he was not dead, but he was like a walking corpse, and he didn't speak. He was alive anyway.

From beginning to end, Huo Gang had no communication with him at all, as if he did not exist. When the familiar environment around him appeared, An Xinggui came back to his senses. Here... Of course he knew.

The last time he was here was Duke Liang of the Tang Dynasty, and Huo Gang and others were just a group of wandering soldiers and defeated soldiers. Now... he has become a prisoner, but Huo Gang has become a leader who can be on par with Li Shimin.

After throwing him to the place where Huo Ling committed suicide before, Ma Yuan pulled out the long knife on his waist and threw it to him.

"You commit suicide." Huo Gang looked at him and spoke expressionlessly.

An Xinggui laughed bitterly. He knew that Huo Gang must have other intentions to keep him, but what he didn't expect was that Huo Gang would pull him and let him commit suicide outside the Yumen Pass of the Tang Dynasty.

Behind him was the gate of the Yumen Pass of the Tang Dynasty. At this moment, all the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were still watching. Among these soldiers, there were even those who saw Huo Ling commit suicide here.

The rope on An Xinggui's body had been untied. He reached out and picked up the long sword on the ground. It could be seen that it was a good knife made of stainless steel, and at this moment, only Huo Gang and Ma Yuan were here in front of him.

If someone else was changing, maybe they had to rush over and fight, maybe they could catch Huo Gang?

But Huo Gang, who was standing there quietly, had an intuition in his heart that if he rushed over, he would definitely be the one who died.

What's more...At this moment, An Xinggui had completely lost his former energy. He raised his head and looked at Huo Gang with a complicated expression, and then asked in a hoarse voice: "Don't you ask the reason for the conflict between me and Huo Ling?"

"There is no need for that. Although I don't know the reason, it's just for the benefit and for the people, that's all." Huo Gang spoke with a calm expression.

Looking at Huo Gang who was extremely calm, An Xinggui was silent for a long time. Huo Gang didn't know what happened between them, but Huo Gang's words... made a straightforward statement about the conflict between him and Huo Ling.

After a long time, An Xinggui smiled bitterly, and he said calmly: "You are right. Although Huo Ling is not a famous general, he is the most backbone general I have ever seen."

"I have been buried with Huo Ling. His cemetery is on a hill northeast of Yumenguan. If you go, it will be easy to find it."

After speaking calmly, An Xinggui suddenly raised the long knife in his hand and directly wiped it on his neck with his backhand.

Seeing the blood splashing a few meters away, his pupils dilated directly, and finally fell to An Xinggui on the ground, Huo Gang was a little surprised. He thought An Xinggui would resist, but he didn't expect... he didn't resist.

Ma Yuan walked over and picked up his long sword, while Huo Gang pulled out the long sword around his waist with a "swish". Then he knelt directly on one knee, inserted the sword in his hand into the ground in front of him, holding the hilt of the sword in his hands and lowered his head.

Almost all the soldiers behind Huo Gang knelt on one knee at the same time, maintaining the same movements as Huo Gang.

About a minute later, Huo took back his hand, took the water bag on his waist and opened it, and poured it on the land in front of him. Then he said softly: "General Huo, I am fortunate to be humiliated and have led these people to survive successfully. Not only that, I will also lead them to give them a better life."

Huo Gang's voice was very soft, and only Ma Yuan beside him could hear it, but Ma Yuan... couldn't understand it, he didn't know why his general called his father the general.

But he could understand the responsibility and oath in that tone.

After saying that, Huo Gang stood up directly from the ground, returned the long sword in his hand to the sheath, and looked at An Xinggui's corpse there, Huo Gang said lightly: "Send someone to find a cemetery to bury him."

"yes!"

"We, go home!" Huo Gang turned his gaze to the West, where is their home, the home of all their great men!
Chapter completed!