Chapter 581: Special Reinforcements

Zhang Yun’s hobby remained fishing, which had almost become his only interest. Whenever he had a day off, he would go fishing by a nearby stream for a whole day. Today was no exception. Before dawn, he left home with a small folding stool and fishing gear, dressed in loose Buddhist robes and wearing a conical hat, looking quite leisurely.

A few old fishing friends were also familiar with him. Although they knew he was the powerful prime minister, they never made him feel uncomfortable. Everyone called Zhang Yun “Old Zhang,” and at times like these, he was no different from ordinary people.

But today, Zhang Yun seemed distracted. On one hand, he was saddened by Song Qian’s death; on the other, he was worried that someone might use Song Qian to frame him. He knew exactly who that person was—the cancer in the government. Apart from Lu Huan, he wanted to get rid of all the other high-ranking officials.

Due to these worries, it took Zhang Yun an hour to catch just one fish. The other fishermen noticed his distraction and none dared to disturb him.

At that moment, a carriage slowly stopped by the small bridge. A young official got out of it. His name was Zhou Cheng, an imperial censor and also a disciple of Zhang Yun. He had participated in the investigation into the case of court officials colluding with An Lushan.

Zhou Cheng hurried down the path beside them and crouched next to Zhang Yun, whispering, “Master, that man might try to harm you today.”

“What have you discovered?” Zhang Yun asked expressionlessly, as if what Zhou Cheng said had nothing to do with him.

“He spent the whole night at the Censorate last night, gathering information about Song Qian’s relationship with you. Someone who brought him tea saw him writing an impeachment letter—almost certainly aimed at you.”

“And then?”

“Before dawn, he returned to the Central Secretariat, then went to the Ministry of War. I just heard that he ended up at Prince Zhao’s palace.”

“Hmph!” Zhang Yun snorted heavily. “If he wants to cause trouble for me, that’s fine. I don’t think he’ll be prime minister much longer.”

“Master, what should we do?”

“What do you mean, what to do?” Zhang Yun glanced at Zhou Cheng and said calmly, “Let him go ahead and act recklessly. We’ll pretend nothing happened. I don’t believe Li Qingan will really allow his impeachment to go through. The more he acts wildly, the more embarrassed he’ll become.”

Zhou Cheng was stunned for a while. Zhang Yun’s response left him at a loss. Stammering, he asked, “Then what can I do to help you, master?”

Zhang Yun smiled faintly and said, “You don’t need to do anything. If you really want to do something for me, then fine—there’s a black fishing rod in the carriage above. Please bring it down for me!”
……
Zhou Cheng took his leave, and Zhang Yun’s expression grew increasingly gloomy. He simply didn’t want to show his true feelings in front of his disciple, but that didn’t mean he really didn’t care. In fact, he cared a great deal. He sneered inwardly—since Pei Zunqing wanted to play games with him, then he would play along with this old man thoroughly.
Unusually, Zhang Yun stopped fishing. He packed up his fishing gear, said goodbye to a few fellow fishermen, claiming he wasn’t feeling well, then went onto the bridge and sat in his carriage.
“Sir, shall we head back to the mansion?” the coachman asked softly.
Zhang Yun was still deep in thought. He remembered that yesterday, Wei Tao had invited him to visit his residence when he had time. It was the first time in decades that they had served together in the government, and it was also the first time Wei Tao had invited him to his home. Of course, Zhang Yun understood Wei Tao’s intentions. Wasn’t Zhao Yuan, the Deputy Minister of Justice, also his disciple? Clearly, Wei Tao wanted to form an alliance against Pei Zunqing. If so, why not go along with it?
“Don’t go back to the mansion. Head to Quchi Fang, to Wei’s residence!”
The carriage set off, speeding toward Wei Tao’s mansion. Pei Zunqing could never have imagined that his attempt to impeach Zhang Yun would not only fail but also spur the formation of an anti-Pei coalition.
……
At Zhao’s mansion, Pei Zunqing reluctantly took his leave. He had come full of confidence, thinking that this case involving officials was an excellent opportunity for him. Li Qingan could use it to eliminate his rivals, and it was also a chance for him to establish his own authority by getting rid of old ministers like Zhang Yun and Wei Tao. Then, he, Pei Zunqing, would become the most powerful figure in the government. He had thought he would gain Li Qingan’s support.
But he never expected Li Qingan to be so firm. Yes, that’s the word he used—firm. It was the toughest stance he had ever seen from Li Qingan. Li Qingan had outright rejected his proposal without any hesitation, leaving no room for negotiation.
This left Pei Zunqing both disappointed and helpless. He couldn’t understand why Li Qingan wouldn’t take this opportunity. That was his limitation—he was self-serving and would never comprehend Li Qingan’s concern for the greater good.
Pei Zunqing sighed deeply and left in disappointment. To him, the matter seemed over, but he didn’t realize that the wave of opposition to Pei Zunqing had just begun.

A few more days passed. Li Qing’an spent some time in Tongguan, and that afternoon, just as he returned to Chang’an, he received news from Xianyang: a special army from Anxi had arrived there, and he was asked to go there immediately to handle the situation. Li Qing’an rushed to Xianyang right away.

Soon, accompanied by over a thousand cavalrymen, Li Qing’an arrived at the Anxi army camp in Xianyang. A few miles away from the camp, he saw local people, old and young, heading toward it, with an endless stream of pedestrians on the main road. This surprised Li Qing’an—why were so many people going to the camp?

“Move aside ahead!”

A few bodyguards cleared the way ahead, and in moments, Li Qing’an’s army reached the camp. In the open space in front of the camp, there was a huge crowd of local people, bustling and laughing loudly. In the center of the crowd, dozens of elephants were walking slowly, led by their handlers, with dozens of children riding on their backs, shouting excitedly.

“So it’s elephants!” Li Qing’an shook his head and smiled. He knew these elephants had come from Xinde to build the Tang Straight Road. Now that the road was nearly completed, they should have returned to Xinde, but instead they ended up in Chang’an, which seemed strange to him.

Li Qing’an went to the camp gate, dismounted, and entered the camp. Once inside, he was stunned to see thousands of elephants neatly stationed in one corner of the camp—a truly spectacular sight. At that moment, Li Siyue came out to greet him and said, “Your humble servant, Li Siyue, pays his respects to the great general.”

Li Qing’an pointed at the herd of elephants with his whip and asked, “What’s the story with these elephants?”

Li Siyue smiled apologetically and said, “These are the elephants used for road construction. They were originally selected from the war elephants in Xinde. When I heard they were going to be sent back, I thought it was a pity, so I suggested bringing these war elephants to Central China. And sure enough, they arrived. Great general, I think we can use these elephants to form an elephant cavalry unit, which could give us a surprise advantage.”

Li Qing’an walked up to one of the war elephants. It was an adult elephant, huge in size, with two long tusks. The elephant was covered in shiny armor, and a Tang army archer was riding on its back, with protective armor in front of and behind the saddle.

“Great general, please take a look!” Li Siyue pointed to the large saddle on the elephant. “Besides the handler, one elephant can carry two archers. When the elephant charges into the enemy ranks, the archers can shoot arrows from both sides to kill enemy commanders.”

“Hmm!” Li Qing’an examined the scene carefully before patting the elephant and saying, “It works. I’ll leave this elephant cavalry unit to you.”

He paused and laughed again, asking, “Is this the special reinforcements you wanted me to come and see?”
“No! Not at all. They are just elephants, not reinforcements. The real special reinforcements are waiting for the great general. Please follow me, General!”
Li Siye led Li Qing’an through the main camp toward another smaller camp adjacent to it. This smaller camp had originally been the field hospital of the Anxi Army, with dozens of female medical soldiers. But since the wounded from the battle in Hanzhong were all stationed in Xianyang, the female soldiers had followed them there, leaving the camp empty.
Yet now, another special army of about three thousand men was stationed there. Each of them rode camels, wore tight leather armor, and carried short spears. This army was actually from the Abbasid Empire, specifically the Khorasan forces. Li Qing’an immediately recognized the distinctive Black Eagle flag of the Khorasan army.
“How could it be the Abbasid army?” Li Qing’an asked in surprise.
“I don’t know the details either. Their leader said they must see the great general.”
“Go and take a look!”
Li Qing’an led everyone to the main tent. A Abbasid general had already come out upon hearing the news. He was very tall and slightly older, around forty. He placed his hand on his chest and bowed to Li Qing’an, saying, “I am Jabir of the Khorasan army. I greet General Li. We have come under the command of the Caliph to support the Anxi Army!”
He spoke in Turkic, stammering slightly, but to Li Qing’an, it seemed like an utterly absurd situation—his long-time enemy sending troops to assist him, and only sending three thousand men, which was clearly a symbolic gesture. What was the reasoning behind this?
He glanced at Jabir again and saw him take out a letter from his bosom and hand it to Li Qing’an with both hands, saying, “This is a letter from our Caliph to the general.”
Li Qing’an took the letter. It indeed was a letter written in Man Sulayh’s own hand, in Arabic, with a Chinese translation below. He read it quickly. Man Sulayh’s message was clear: he hoped the Tang Dynasty would fully open trade with Arabia and lift the limit of no more than a thousand guan per transaction. As a sign of good faith, he would also do his part to help the Tang Dynasty suppress An Lushan’s rebellion.
Li Qing’an nodded. Man Sulayh had indeed thought things through carefully. Sending too many troops would surely be unacceptable, while sending too few would be meaningless, so he had sent only three thousand men.
Yet he hadn’t known about this beforehand. Li Qing’an felt annoyed. Who had taken the initiative to allow the Abbasid army to enter? And how dare they keep such an important matter from him?

He glanced coldly at Li Siye, who shuddered in fear and hurriedly stepped forward, saying, “General, I was also unaware of this matter. I only received notice when they arrived in Fengxiang. On one hand, I sent troops to control them, and on the other hand, I immediately reported to you. But since you went to Tongguan, fearing they might cause trouble in Fengxiang, I had them taken back to the camp in Xianyang, under our strict control. In such a serious matter, I would never dare act on my own.”

Li Qing’an snorted coldly and then questioned Jabir further, “Who gave you permission to cross the Amu Darya and enter the territory of the Tang Dynasty?”

Jabir produced another document, which Li Qing’an recognized at a glance—it was a permit to enter the Tang Dynasty, usually issued by the Anxi Trade Office to merchants, similar to visas in later times. Many large cities had such offices, and foreign caravans had to apply in advance to obtain the permit before entering the Tang Dynasty; otherwise, they would be regarded as illegal immigrants by the Anxi border troops and punished severely.

But for military forces to cross the border, a special permit was required, which needed approval from the military leader of Anxi. There were clear regulations: for forces of less than a hundred men, approval came from the regional governor, such as Li Siye, the governor of Hezhong. However, for forces of over a hundred men, approval from Li Qing’an was necessary. The Arab army that had arrived numbered three thousand, yet Li Qing’an was completely unaware of this.

Li Qing’an took the permit from Jabir’s hands and opened it with a dark expression. The last signer turned out to be Duan Xiushi.

In other words, Duan Xiushi had overstepped his authority by approving the entry of a three-thousand-strong Arab army, and it was a grave case of overreach.

Li Siye, standing nearby, secretly glanced at Li Qing’an’s expression and saw a hint of anger in the usually calm general’s eyes. He inwardly sighed. In fact, he had already known it was Duan Xiushi’s overreach when he was in Fengxiang. Li Qing’an would never tolerate such behavior. He didn’t understand why Duan Xiushi would make such a serious and obvious mistake. He could only assume that Duan Xiushi was testing Li Qing’an’s limits or trying to remind him to delegate more power. Clearly, Duan Xiushi was no longer satisfied with his position as deputy military governor; he wanted to become a full military governor, so he was testing Li Qing’an on this issue.

Li Siye sighed inwardly. Duan Xiushi had truly acted on impulse, making such a foolish decision. It was surprising that after spending so many years with Li Qingan, he still didn’t understand him well. He knew Duan Xiushi was eager to become a military governor because Li Guangbi had been appointed as the governor of Longyou and Li Fei Shouyu as the governor of Hexi. So, Duan Xiushi also felt impatient and wanted to become a governor himself. But he had forgotten how important Anxi was to Li Qingan. Moreover, both Li Guangbi and Li Fei Shouyu were nominal governors whose actual presence was in the Central Plains fighting battles, which was completely different from Duan Xiushi’s situation of being stationed in Anxi. Under such circumstances, how could Li Qingan still trust him to oversee Anxi?

Li Qingan didn’t react immediately. Instead, he handed Li Siye the pass to enter the Tang Dynasty and said, “I’m entrusting this Arab army to you. Arrange a place for them to camp.”

He then smiled at the Arab general Jabir and said, “Welcome to assist the Tang army. You may write to the caliph and inform him that I have seen his sincerity. I will consider some of his requests. Soon, new regulations will be issued in Anxi.”

After saying that, he nodded and turned to leave.

Within three days, Li Qingan issued military orders, appointing Duan Xiushi as the governor of Guannei Circuit, removing him from charge of daily military affairs in Anxi, and assigning Feng Changqing as the deputy governor of Anxi and the commander of Suiye.