In the Linhu Palace, the atmosphere was a little stagnant. Over the years, the Crown Prince and the King of Qin had argued many times in front of the emperor, so no one was surprised.
The prince is often aggressive, but the King of Qin is very subtle, which is exactly the opposite of the impression they give to the outside world. But in fact, more often than not, the King of Qin has the upper hand...but many times, Li Yuan, who is the only referee, will come off the court to determine the outcome.
But after the battle at Tiantai Mountain, as the referee Li Yuan began to look on with a cold eye, and even showed signs of leaning toward the King of Qin, the prince rarely took advantage of the dispute.
On the question of whether Dou Gui or Su Dingfang should be used, Li Shimin easily rendered Li Jiancheng speechless... After all, in military affairs, the whole world, including Li Yuan, had to admit that Li Shimin spoke the loudest. , which was fought in battle after battle.
The most direct point is that Su Dingfang has never served as a general. Although he was actually the deputy of Handan King Li Shan for a long time, he never took charge of his own role. He was only a temporarily designated vanguard during the Western Expedition to Tuyuhun.
But Dou Gui was different. Although he was defeated by the Western Qin Dynasty, he was the commander in chief of the army in all the campaigns against Dangxiang, Tuyuhun, and Lunen. Not to mention he had seniority and was a relative.
Pei Shiju looked at Li Shimin suspiciously. He never believed that this guy really wanted the unreliable Dou Gui to take over as the coach. There was probably a mystery behind it.
Li Yuan became a little impatient, waved his hand and said, "Stop it for now."
Li Shimin stopped talking. After all, everyone had just learned about Li Shan's invitation to return to the court. It was not necessarily necessary to decide on a successor for a while. The next step was to discuss the most troublesome issue, the reward.
In fact, Li Yuan summoned many ministers and assistants to the palace to discuss matters during the New Year mainly for this matter.
Although the war is not completely over yet, and Lingzhou and Huizhou have not even been recovered, everyone present knows that the next battle is about eating meat and drinking soup, and it is not difficult.
The difficulty of this expedition was that Yuanzhou was occupied by the Liang Army and the Turks. The enemy defended Xiongguan, and perhaps the cavalry broke the formation, quickly marched to Chang'an, and drank from the Wei River. These bones have been chewed, and the rest Don’t they all eat meat and drink soup?
In fact, Pei Shiju had speculated a few months ago. He was not only good at political calculations, but also good at military strategy. In his opinion, this war was likely to be protracted. With the support of the Turks, the Liang divisions had taken root in the three states. , I dare not say that it can compete with the Tang Dynasty, but it can go south at any time, invade Jingzhao, and maybe separate Guanzhong and Longyou.
Pei Shiju even discussed with Pei Ji, and would choose the opportunity to build momentum and persuade Li Yuan to choose to move the capital... After all, a few months ago, if the army could not resist, the Turks would surely enter Beijing.
To be fair, Pei Shiju's plans were not aimed at Li Shan, but at Li Shimin. Letting the King of Qin return to the battlefield meant that the position under the prince's butt had been taken away.
But no matter what, he never expected that after Li Shenfu and Ren Gui were defeated in succession, Li Huairen used two battles in three or four months to chopping up melons and vegetables to establish the victory. This made Pei Shiju frustrated and had to I don’t admire that person’s amazing performance.
It seems that we still have to be in Chang'an City, or in this imperial city, this palace city... Pei Shiju was thinking so, and heard Li Yuan mention it in a questioning tone before, this battle is analogous?
The war is not completely over yet, and the specific reward cannot be released now... Although the meat will be eaten next, someone may die in the battle.
What needs to be drawn up are actually specifications, or an analogy. Is it an analogy to the Battle of Hulao in Luoyang, the Great Victory of Luoshui, the Battle to Suppress the Jianghuai River, or is it an analogy to Li Shansan's defeat of the Turks the year before last?
In terms of importance, the first battle in Luoyang Hulao and the third defeat of the Turks laid the foundation for the Tang Dynasty to unify the world, while the latter was the Tang Dynasty's first great victory over the Turks. In these two battles, many generals and commanders were awarded titles. Lord.
However, in the Luoshui and Jianghuai wars, there were surrenders and then rebellions, so the number of people who were knighted was very small.
In short, the key is the title.
Whether there should be another title giveaway was the reason why Li Yuan discussed with many ministers.
In this era, there is no such thing as a noble or a humble person. Each of these prime ministers and assistants has led armies in battle, but they also have different views on whether to ennoble or promote a large number of nobles.
Chen Shuda, Feng Lun, and Xiao Yu are not in favor of large-scale promotions. The reason is very simple. These three are either from the lineage of the King of Qin, or they are vaguely close to the King of Qin, and Li Shimin's prestige, power, and connections in the military are enough ...On the one hand, it was aimed at the East Palace generals such as Feng Li and Xue Wanche, and on the other hand, it was to leave room for Li Shimin to be kind to him in the future.
Li Jiancheng and Pei Ji, on the other hand, spoke righteously. For such meritorious service in the two battles, if they were not rewarded, it would be a trivial matter if the morale of the army was unstable... This cannot be wrong. The resentment of the subordinates towards the superiors often comes from the latter. Mean and ungrateful.
Regarding this point, Li Yuan actually had a private discussion with Li Shimin. The latter said frankly that although Liang Shidu occupied the three states, he was just a small thief. The key was to defeat the Turks. This battle completely defeated Liang Jun's confidence, even if Without Li Shanxue going to Xiaoguan at night, the war would have gone smoothly.
The key point is that although the Turks suffered several consecutive defeats in two years, one khan died, and the two khans fought among themselves, and their vitality was damaged, after all, the centipede was not dead, and the Tang Dynasty and the Turks would still have conflicts in the future. Large-scale national war.
If there are no accidents, the generals who will lead the army will probably still be these people...Su Dingfang, Xue Wanche, Zhang Shigui, Duan Zhixuan, Zhang Zhongjian, etc., so it seems a bit inappropriate to be promoted now.
Without meat hanging in front, the hound may not do its best. Li Yuan naturally understands this.
This is the truth, but what Li Jiancheng and Pei Ji said also makes sense. If the defeat of the Turks the year before last was still due to luck, this time the Tang Dynasty faced off in an upright manner and defeated the Turkic army. More than 40,000 people were beheaded, and their blood flowed like rivers. How can you not be rewarded for your great achievements?
After listening for a while, Li Yuan looked at Pei Shiju, "Do you have any suggestions for Hongda?"
Pei Shiju's gray eyebrows moved, and he said slowly: "Such a great achievement requires a reward, but there must also be room for promotion. You can be promoted to a noble title after being dismissed from the official position, or you can be promoted to a noble title below the rank of Duke."
Li Yuan thought for a moment and nodded slightly. This was a vague idea, but it was very suitable.
Generally speaking, among civil and military officials, those with titles must have casual officials, but casual officials may not have titles. The latter phenomenon mainly occurs among middle-level generals or generals who have no chance to make military exploits.
In other words, Pei Shiju proposed that the rewards this time should be mainly concentrated on the middle and lower-level generals, while many leading generals, below the Duke of the State, can be promoted to the rank of Duke, and at most they can be promoted to the rank of County Duke... The former is to show favor, and the latter is to leave room for improvement. .
