The first month had already passed, and Yumen Pass was still covered in heavy snow, covering the ground with snow of three feet.

The winter here was exceptionally long and unusually cold.

In the Hundred Miles Military Camp, the only thing the soldiers had to do every day was to clear the snow. There was a small mountain in the northwest of Yumen Pass. It was less than twenty li in radius and was about to be cut into bald mountains. All the trees on the mountains were used to chop wood for warmth.

Even so, the training of the army did not end for a day.

After a month of hard training, the quality of the hundred thousand strong army had undoubtedly risen to a whole new level.

Twenty days ago, after a series of coercive and coercive methods, the Tibetan Great General, Gal Sido, finally surrendered. More than 28,000 Tibetan cavalry captured with one of them, including more than 6,000 Kunlun cavalry, also surrendered in despair.

Qin Mubai did not hesitate to organize these valiant Tibetan cavalry into his own Xunyi Manor, under the command of General Xue Rengui. Originally, Qin Mubai had brought twenty thousand cavalry from Shan Zhou and Xue Rengui had brought back ten thousand soldiers from the Western Expedition. There were no more than thirty thousand of them. Qin Mubai had just arrived at Yumen Pass when he used lightning to swallow up twenty thousand cavalry from Gao Chang. In half a month, these mercenaries, who were not loyal and affectionate to Gao Changguo, were completely assimilated by the Tang army and became Qin Mubai’s direct descendants.

Now that Tibet had surrendered, they were absolutely impeccable in terms of combat ability. Among them, the Kunlun Cavalry was no weaker than the elites of Xue Rengui’s Western Expedition Army. However, the identities of these people were more sensitive. Whether they could completely subdue their hearts was also a test for Qin Mubai.

In the future, he would definitely have to fight against the Tibetan army in front of him. If there was a rebellion or mutiny, then it would be fatal-Qin Mubai thought about it for a long time and finally found a solution!

The method was actually very simple-to remove the bone cramp and leave it to the dragons and dragons without a head!

First of all, Qin Mubai was quite polite to surrender general Gal Sido, which made him a little flattered. After stabilizing him, he persuaded (not ordered and sent) him to go to Chang’an to meet the Emperor, who gave him the title of Duke. Shi Yu was actually not stupid. He knew that Qin Mubai wanted to get rid of him and then attack his troops. However, he no longer had the capital to bargain with Qin Mubai. Therefore, he could only ride on the carriage to Chang’an with Gao Changjiang and General Qu Wensheng. Along with him was a group of soldiers and two of Qin Mubai’s trusted aides, Baiji, carrying Qin Mubai’s memorial to the emperor.

Qin Mubai predicted that if nothing unexpected happened to the three of them, they would not be killed, nor would they have the chance to turn over and fight in the army. Previously, when the Great Tang had annihilated the northern Turkic kingdom, their Khan Jieli and many other generals, big and small, had been living in Chang’an. Many of them had died in Chang’an, and their children and descendants had taken root here, becoming part of the people of the Great Tang.

The Great Tang’s tolerance and kindness towards surrendered generals and prisoners of war was more than ten thousand times stronger than Tibet’s harsh military laws-it was precisely because of this that they surrendered.

The strict military law of Tibet was well-known throughout the world. After such a great defeat, even if he knew that he was more than a noble from a wealthy family, he was still a general of the country. Furthermore, even if his father was the prime minister’s brother, he was a marshal. This time, it was good for him to be dismissed from office and demoted to a lower rank. If his luck was lacking, it was possible for him to be buried alive in a deep well with these prisoners!

In this way, it was better to stay alive in Chang’an and enjoy some wealth and peace than to return to the plateau and be slaughtered. Because of this mentality, as enemies of life and death, there were more than Tibetan cavalry, so it was not surprising that they would surrender.

After removing more than twenty thousand of the “soul characters”, the remaining twenty thousand people would be easy to deal with. Qin Mubai ordered his men to carefully investigate the “political background” of the Tibetan surrendering generals. All the high-ranking generals from the rich Tibetan clans would be transferred away and not stay in this army. In any case, Qin Mubai was the general manager of the Kansai Dao Army. He had the right to transfer to other military offices under the Lanzhou Governor-General’s Mansion. He had the right to transfer to other military offices at the same level.

Within the next few days, Qin Mubai had transferred more than 60 Tibetan nobles to various military mansions in Lanzhou to serve as captains, brigade marshals, and other military officials of various sizes. In such a place, these people had no power in their hands, and even if they wanted to make trouble, they would not be able to make a fuss.

As a result, the remaining Tibetan soldiers were basically poor slaves and herdsmen. They were just miserable puppets and war machines that were forced and enslaved. Such a person did not have the ambition to obey orders. In the past, his greatest wish was to live longer and obtain some rewards for winning battles so that his life would be slightly better.

Qin Mubai felt that it was already very easy to recruit such a person. One principle is to treat them well. The Great Tang was originally ruled by Wang Daoren and filial piety. No matter what, it was a hundred times stronger than the tyrannical and violent punishment of Tibet, and it was more capable of capturing the hearts of the people. Therefore, Qin Mubai was certain that over time, these people would not regret leaving Tibet and becoming a “Tang”.

On the other hand, it was not possible. If Tibetans wanted to recruit and surrender the Tang army, it would be even more difficult. Because Tibet did not have the foundation and charm of the Great Tang! In Chang’an City, more than a hundred thousand outsiders tried their best to obtain permanent residency, and they were proud to be a Tang. This was the best proof.

If it was said that recruiting Gao Chang’s surrendered soldiers was a living thing, then recruiting Tibet’s surrendered soldiers took quite a bit of effort. However, the rewards were quite generous. The Tibetan surrender troops were far more powerful than the Gaochang soldiers and horses, their military accomplishments were even higher, and they were even stronger than the Huihe cavalry!

Qin Mubai’s personal army had expanded from 30,000 to 80,000 in a month! Moreover, they were all elite cavalry!

The original “Left and Right Guards” under the Kansai Road Front Military Region were the main forces of the Imperial Court, and the generals were Qin Shubao and Xue Wanche. As such, the two generals had been killed, and the establishment of the two guards had actually died in name. Because these 80,000 people weren’t the official “Guard Rate” of the Imperial Court, they were only Qin Mubai’s personal Xunyi Mansion, so their numbers were relatively small. Xue Rengui acted as the commander-in-chief of the Yi Manor. In terms of official positions, the corps commander was only at the fourth rank; But in reality, this small Yi Manor had more troops than a main force of the Imperial Court!

Qin Mu was called “Major Marshal” by the white man, but his position as “General Manager of the Kansai Road Army” was temporary. When the war is over, it will be cancelled. Originally, the position of Commander-in-Chief of Lanzhou was temporarily taken over by Li Daozong-so Qin Mubai actually lost his real post, leaving only a loose official empty-handed!

Many people were discussing that it was time for the Imperial Court to give Qin Mubai the title of “Great General”. The twelve guards and horses of the Great Tang, one guard and one rank three general, were the real symbols of military leaders. With Qin Mubai’s credit and reputation today, which general could compare to him?

The implication was that it was time for Qin Mubai to step into the political center of the Imperial Court!

Qin Mubai, Xue Rengui, and Su Dingfang chatted after dinner and talked about this matter. Xue Rengui said that even my official certificate says “from the third-grade Zuo Wei Wei general”, Mubai is not a general, this is really not justified. Su Dingfang also agreed, saying that the Kansai army had won successive battles, the Imperial Court rewarded them with merit points, and it was time for Mubai to be awarded the title of Grand General and become a noble.

Qin Mubai’s heart was as bright as a mirror. He smiled and said to them, “Watch and see. The Imperial Court will definitely not bestow me a great reward.”

Xue Rengui and Su Dingfang naturally did not believe it. This was too uncustomizable. Qin Mubai only said, “We’ll see.”

The next day, the imperial edict came. Actually, this imperial edict had already been issued from Chang’an two months ago. It was only because of the heavy snow on the road that the poor messenger arrived at Yumen Pass fifty to sixty days ago.

As Qin Mubai had expected, the Imperial Court had only awarded Qin Mubai the second rank title of “Marquis of Lantian”. There were only 200 pitiful families in the food city. It was estimated that Gal Xi was more than the “Spiritual Civilization Consolation Prize” given to him after he went to Chang’an, and it was no less than that. There were quite a few rewards, three hundred taels of gold for five thousand penetrations, twelve luminous pearls in the royal collection of Shanggong in the South China Sea, and two hundred pieces of high-grade Sichuan brocade.

The imperial edict did not mention the official title given to Qin Mubai, not even a rank three general like Xue Rengui. Apart from that, the distinguished official who had contributed so much was actually just a mediocre “General Yun Hui”. Although Qin Mubai had succeeded his late father, Qin Shubao, as the “Protector of Anxi”, now that he was out of the Yumen Pass, not an inch of land actually belonged to the Great Tang, and the “Protector’s Mansion of Anxi” was still in the hands of others!

All the soldiers defended Qin Mubai, but Qin Mubai accepted the reward without the slightest bit of resentment.

“Dividing this money and silk to all the brothers in the army-even if each of them can only get a few copper coins and a few inches of silk, that’s still my Qin family’s wish!” Qin Mubai opened her mouth and spends money like dirt!

All the soldiers were delighted. Although everyone received a small amount of things, what made them happy was that the lord did not take credit, did not greed for money, and was able to live and die with all the soldiers, sharing wealth and honor. Actually, ordinary soldiers didn’t have any ambitions. Many of them joined the army to feed their families. Wasn’t it a bit of a real benefit for him to put his head on his waist and play with others on the battlefield? Seeing the officials hiding behind them unharmed and getting promoted after the war, it was easy for the soldiers to feel unbalanced in their hearts.

Otherwise, how could a general like Xue Rengui, who led the way, have the most morale and ability to convince the crowd? By the same token, those who were able to give their merit points to their subordinates were the ones who could win the hearts of the people.

Not everyone would be willing to give the money in their pockets to others in vain. Qin Mubai’s generous donation of flowers and buddhas won him a lot of hearts and minds. The cohesion of this new army that had just been reorganized had increased unprecedentedly.

Xue Rengui and Su Dingfang were puzzled. They asked why the reward given by the Imperial Court was so small that it did not correspond to Qin Mubai’s contribution. Why was he still so calm?

“Could it be that you have truly cultivated to the realm of treating fame, wealth, and wealth as something else?” The two of them insisted on asking.

Qin Mubai smiled and said, “If I had reached that realm, I wouldn’t be here anymore. I would definitely be a monk. Is it really fun to lead troops to war? It’s hard work. It’s hard to stay in the barracks without fighting. How can I be comfortable in Chang’an? Someone from Qin never boasts of elegance. I like wine and wealth.”

After pondering for a while, Su Dingfang said, “Judging from your situation, it seems that you have a tacit understanding with His Majesty the Emperor. Now that he has not rewarded you, does that mean that it is not time to reward you for your merits? In other words, this battle will continue for a long time, and there will be even more battles to come?”

“It should be.” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “We should give His Majesty and the Imperial Court some leeway to increase their rewards, right? Now that I’ve won two battles, what if I get the upper hand? Let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s use our troops in peace! If we think about it too much, it’s easy to worry about our gains and losses and get tired of being in vain!”

“That makes sense!” The two of them agreed.

“The imperial court asked me to take over my father’s position as’ Protector of Anxi City ‘, which means that the imperial court has not given up on the Western Regions.” Qin Mubai said, “Let’s not talk about anything else. Right now, there’s still a big problem with Tibet that hasn’t been solved. After solving Tibet, there’s also the Western Regions. Do some calculations and see how much work remains to be done?”

“Speaking of which, I’m really worried about the interior of Lanzhou.” Su Dingfang said, “The heavy snow has never stopped. This year’s Hexi Longyou is colder than usual, with quite a lot of rain and snow.” The heavy snow blocked the transportation of grain and even blocked the flow of information. It had been more than a month since Mubai had led his army to assist Yumen Pass, but there was still no battle in Dafeichuan. After Garqin Mausoleum’s great defeat, he would definitely not give up. I wonder what kind of action he would take? What’s more, I wonder what’s the situation on Hou Junji’s side? ”

“Counting the time, the imperial court’s reward messenger left Shanzhou more than 30 days ago and only arrived at Yumen Pass yesterday. It is indeed a difficult journey.” Qin Mubai pondered for a while and said, “If Da Fei Chuan has any news, it should be here soon. It is not good for our army to fight in the middle of winter, so we have sent Marquis Jun to guard Da Fei Chuan and have him defend and attack Garqin Mausoleum. If Marquis Jun is careful enough, with his ability, there shouldn’t be much problem.”

After a moment of silence, Su Dingfang said, “But Hou Junji has never been too cautious.”