The cold weather makes the days short, and the wind and waves are flat with the clouds.
In September of the eleventh year of Zhenguan, the north wind was blowing, and Chang'an City had entered the cold winter.
The cold wind kept blowing the red maple leaves, and the leaves fell with the wind, making the entire city of Chang'an look a little desolate.
Pedestrians on the street shrank and seemed to be in a hurry, as if they wanted to enjoy the warmth of home before the cold wind blew on their faces.
At this moment, there was a cry: "Eight hundred miles, hurry up, everyone waiting to get out of the way..."
Immediately, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves, from far to near, galloping towards the imperial city.
Within the Imperial City, the Political Affairs Office!
His Majesty Li Er is sitting at the head, with several memorials placed on the table in front of him.
At this time, Li Shimin was holding a memorial and looking at it intently. Sometimes his eyes flashed, and sometimes his brows furrowed slightly. It could be seen that he was not in a calm mood at this time.
This state has been maintained for more than an hour, and His Majesty Li Er, who has always been unfazed by honor and disgrace, can see the shock of the contents of the memorial.
Even though the ministers were sitting on their knees with their legs and feet feeling numb and their energy and blood blocked, they did not dare to breathe.
The servants on the left and right of the minister, Fang Xuanling and Gao Shilian, closed their eyes and meditated, sitting still like old monks.
If I hadn't stroked the beard under my chin with my hand from time to time, I would have thought they were asleep!
The Duke of Wei, Li Jing, and the British Duke, Li Ji, were sitting upright, with their bodies upright, as if they were generals.
Sun Wuji, the eldest son of Zhao Guogong, looked up from time to time, as if trying to figure out Li Shimin's thoughts. He only took a sip of tea from time to time to show his inner irritability.
Cen Wenwen, the assistant minister of Zhongshu, stood aside, paying close attention, fearing that His Majesty Li Er's royal duties would be exposed.
The cold wind blew outside, and the hall was silent and depressing.
In fact, all the ministers present here already have a rough idea of the contents of the memorial before His Majesty Li Er. After all, all memorials submitted to Li Shimin must be reviewed by them first.
If according to the procedures, His Majesty Li Er only had to confirm whether he agreed with the plan they discussed, but unexpectedly, His Majesty Li Er stayed directly, which surprised them deeply.
After another long while, Li Shimin put down the memorial in his hand, his sharp eyes scanned everyone's faces one by one, and then he slowly exhaled and asked in a deep voice:
"This expedition to Tubo has given me great relief that the mighty troops of the Tang Dynasty have strengthened our country's prestige. At the same time, it also exposed many problems."
"These memorials contain a lot of content, and it is not appropriate to make a decision immediately. Let's first talk about the fact that Hou Junji was not strict with his subordinates and allowed his soldiers to burn, kill, and loot the people of Luoche City."
As soon as he finished speaking, the British Duke Li Ji said: "Hou Junji allowed his soldiers to burn, kill, loot and surrender the people, which caused chaos throughout the city and a breakdown in military discipline. The impact was extremely bad and will make the future campaigns of the Tang Dynasty extremely difficult. I think, Hou Junji should be escorted back to Beijing and handed over to Dali Temple for trial to correct military discipline."
The generals of the Tang Dynasty military were not all in harmony. Hou Junji and Li Ji had never dealt with them very well.
Although Li Ji had a higher official position and deeper qualifications, Hou Junji relied on His Majesty Li Er's favor and never took Li Ji and other Wagang surrendered generals seriously.
He even often talked to others about Li Ji's status as a demoted general, and his words were quite disdainful, so the relationship between the two was extremely cold.
Of course, then again, how could Li Ji, who was born into a wealthy family, look down on the ruffian Hou Junji?
Therefore, although Li Ji has always been known for his low-key and introverted character, if he has the opportunity to hit his opponent, Li Ji will certainly not let it go, not to mention that this is also something with conclusive evidence.
During this Western Expedition, His Majesty Li Er appointed Hou Junji as the general manager of the march to command the overall situation. Everyone thought that this was a good opportunity to earn meritorious deeds, but unexpectedly Hou Junji made a big mistake. So what happened to Li Ji? Can you let it go?
In fact, everyone is still a little confused about Hou Junji's behavior of arranging troops. After all, Hou Junji's qualifications and status are not enough to "self-defiling", which is incredible. This is too undisciplined!
Others can add insult to injury, but Changsun Wuji cannot. After all, they are both from the prince's camp. They are both civil and military, and can be said to be the right-hand man of the prince Li Chengqian.
If Hou Junji falls, it will be equivalent to Li Chengqian cutting off his arm. Changsun Wuji will certainly not be willing to invest so much in Li Chengqian.
Changsun Wuji coughed dryly and cleared his throat. Everyone knew that this person was probably going to protect the calf.
As expected, Changsun Wuji glanced at everyone and said: "Although Hou Junji made a mistake, it was only because he ignored military discipline and was not strict with himself, which damaged the image of the Tang Dynasty. It was just a lack of strictness on the part of the emperor. The crime does not go beyond this. From my humble opinion, Zhongyi Hou Yang Fan is more guilty."
"First, Marquis Zhongyi deliberately killed the Tibetan surrenderers, which may cause fear in the countries of the Western Regions. If the Tang Dynasty goes to war with the fathers of the Western Regions in the future, who will be willing to lead his troops to surrender, which will be extremely detrimental to the Tang Dynasty;"
"Secondly, Marquis Zhongyi, as a subordinate, dared to disobey military orders in public. This is simply contempt for military law. When the army goes on an expedition, everyone should act as one, regardless of whether it is right or wrong. They should only act in accordance with the orders of their superiors. Yang Fan blatantly disobeyed the orders of the commander and even incited the superintendent to operate. If the unit confronts the commander and is allowed to act recklessly, where will the military discipline be?"
"Thirdly, Marquis Zhongyi, greedy for military glory, refused Lu Dongzan to lead the remaining Tibetan troops to surrender, and put His Highness the King of Wu in danger. This is a despise of the royal family and an unpardonable crime."
As an old fox, Changsun Wuji certainly knows how to avoid the important and take the easy.
Since the evidence of Hou Junji's guilt is conclusive, the only way to save him is to divert everyone's attention away from him, and Yang Fan is a good scapegoat.
Besides, Changsun Wuji felt a strong sense of threat from Yang Fan. Of course, it was not a threat to himself, but to his son Changsun Chong.
As we all know, before Yang Fan appeared, Chang Sun Chong had always been the leader of the younger generation in Chang'an City.
The son has been smart and talented since childhood, and he is valued by His Majesty. He even married Princess Changle, Li Shimin's eldest daughter. He can be said to be a rising star in the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty, with an unlimited future.
In time, his son, eldest son Sun Chong, will inevitably become a representative of the younger generation and become an important minister and pillar of the empire like himself. But since Yang Fan rose like a comet, the dazzling light completely obscured Chang Sun Chong.
In terms of status, Yang Fan is far less noble than the Changsun family, but Yang Fan's reputation is higher. Among the people, Yang Fan's reputation as a kind-hearted Bodhisattva is widely spread.
In terms of talent, Yang Fan was given the title of being unparalleled in poetry. Even the great Confucian Kong Yingda once lamented that among the ten talented people in the world, Zhongyi Marquis had eight of them. Although it was an exaggeration, it was far beyond what Changsun Chong could match.
In terms of ability, Yang Fan does not stick to formalities whenever he does things, and can always get things done with ease. From this point of view, he is far different from Changsun Chong, who has a gentle temperament and follows the rules.
In terms of official titles, originally both of them were fourth-grade officials, and they were considered equally matched. Once their son, eldest Sun Chong, inherited his title, they would still be able to overwhelm Yang Fan, but that is no longer the case now.
Judging from the report, it is simply unbelievable that Yang Fan defeated the Tibetan army of tens of thousands with a few thousand soldiers.
Once Yang Fan comes back with the victory of destroying the country, although Yang Fan may not be awarded the title of Duke because he is too young, it is a sure thing that he will take a further step in the official position.
Such military achievements made Yang Fan's influence in the military and political circles unparalleled, and his son Changsun Chong couldn't match it.
What is slightly comforting is that my son, the eldest grandson Chongshang, is the eldest daughter of His Majesty Li Er, and is the most favored princess.
But that guy Yang Fan is not bad either. Not only did he 'marry' the princess, but Princess Gaoyang was also ranked in the top three among all the princesses in terms of favor.
In the final comparison, Changsun Wuji found out helplessly that except for his better background, his son seemed to be worse than Yang Fan in everything. How could Changsun Wuji accept this?
It’s so irritating that people are so different from each other!
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