When the Xuanjia Army camp was preparing troops, in Chang'an City, in the Taiji Hall, the morning dynasty was starting as usual.
Li Ergao sat on the dragon chair. After listening to several ministers reporting some trivial matters, he focused his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Dear ladies, I received an urgent report yesterday. Jieli gathered a large number of troops to encircle and suppress Tuli's troops. Tuli Khan urgently requested help from me, asking us, the Tang Dynasty, to send troops to help him resist Jieli!"
I don’t know if it was true or if Li Erxin was just making up nonsense. Anyway, as soon as this statement came out, all the princes in the court suddenly became uproar, and there was a "buzzing" sound in the hall, which was a bit like a vegetable market!
Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong closed their eyes in a contemplative manner without saying a word, because they were at the scene when Li Zexuan proposed advice to Li Er at noon yesterday. As soon as Li Er said this today, these two The veteran with a clear mind guessed what Li Er was going to say next!
"Your Majesty, I believe that the imperial court should send troops to assist Tuli. Otherwise, Jieli will become too powerful. After unifying the grassland, the Tang Dynasty may be the next one to attack! The imperial court must not sit back and watch Jieli become a big family on the grassland!"
Fang Xuanling stood up at this time and bowed to Li Er.
In the early years, Lao Fang followed Li Er on his expeditions in the north and south. Lao Fang was definitely experienced in judging the war situation.
"Old minister seconded the proposal! Now that the Turks are on the same level as the Tang Dynasty, at this critical moment, Jie Li must not be allowed to unify the grasslands! The imperial court should send troops to reinforce Tu Li!"
Changsun Wuji also stood up at this time and bowed to Li Er.
After Changsun Wuji, some civil servants and generals came forward to second their opinions.
Li Jing also came to the morning court today. To his surprise, he actually stood up and objected: "Your Majesty, I believe that it is not appropriate for the Tang Dynasty to send troops at this time!"
As soon as the words fell, everyone was shocked. No one expected that when everyone "shared the same hatred" and unanimously wanted to conquer the Turks, Li Jing, the military god of the Tang Dynasty, would actually stand up and oppose it. This is really unbelievable!
Li Er, however, stared at Li Jing and asked, "Oh? What does the pharmacist mean by this?"
Li Jing clasped his fists and said: "Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty has only prepared its army for war for more than a month. The 400,000 soldiers, horses and food needed to attack the Turks have not yet been prepared. How can we rashly start a war against Jieli? Marching into the grassland is no better than the Tang Dynasty in the early years. When the rebellion was suppressed in the Tang Dynasty, it would be extremely difficult to supply food and grass to the army due to the distance problem. The veteran believed that at this time, whether it was food and grass supplies or the preparations of each army, it would be inappropriate to break up with Jieli and start a war rashly! "
Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others couldn't help but frown when they heard this. Although they agreed to send troops, they had to admit that what Li Jing said was reasonable. Now is indeed not the best time to start a war with the Turks!
"What the pharmacist said makes sense. Our Tang Dynasty has just experienced a great locust plague and is not ready for a full-scale war with Jieli!"
Li Er spoke at this time, but then he changed the topic and said: "But the imperial court cannot sit back and watch Jieli just unify the grassland and increase his strength. Therefore, I decided to send an envoy to bring a batch of grain and grass supplies into the grassland to assist the invasion. Li Khan resists Jie Li! I just don’t know who is willing to go~?”
As soon as Li Er finished speaking, Tai Chi Hall suddenly became quiet!
This question is obviously a "proposition". Although there has been a saying since ancient times that "when two armies are at war, they will not be killed."
"Come to envoy", but given the current situation between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, the envoys sent by the imperial court will probably never return. After all, the Turks will not pay so much attention to you!
During the Zhenguan Dynasty, there was no shortage of good ministers and generals, but even good ministers and generals were not willing to do this kind of job that was obviously going to lead to death!
The hall was quiet for a long time, and still no one spoke. Li Er then looked at a middle-aged minister in the fourth row of the civil servants, and said: "Maoyue, you are known for your ability to argue, and you were sent as an envoy to the Turks last year." , you are most familiar with the situation in the grassland, are you willing to take on the big responsibility again this time?"
After hearing Li Er's "general order", all the ministers in the court quickly turned their attention to Tang Jian. Although everyone thought carefully in their hearts, they all felt that Tang Jian was a very suitable candidate to send an envoy to the Turks, but no one Echoing, because anyone who echoes at this time will undoubtedly offend Tang Jian to death!
Tang Jian's body trembled. After hesitating for a moment, he walked forward slowly, cupped his hands to Li Er and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to serve the Tang Dynasty, and I am willing to go through fire and water for your Majesty, no matter what~"
Tang Jian was straightforward and bold, did not follow the rules, and had a close personal relationship with Li Er. Faced with Li Er's "request", he had to agree. This was not because of the orders of the emperor and his ministers, but entirely out of friendship~!
Li Er glanced at Tang Jian with admiration and said: "Okay! Good! Good! Tang Aiqing is so righteous, I am very pleased! With a loyal minister like Tang Aiqing, why worry about the Tang Dynasty not being prosperous and the Turks being immortal!"
"Your Majesty's words are serious, this is what a veteran minister should do!"
Tang Jian cupped his hands and said.
Li Er shook his head, then looked at Tang Jian and said seriously: "I have a complete plan for this trip to the Turks, and I will do my best to ensure that Tang Aiqing returns safely!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After hearing this, Tang Jian breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Li Er did not leave him alone. In this way, even if there were risks in this trip, they would undoubtedly be much smaller!
After Tang Jian withdrew, Li Er continued: "Jieli's power is still growing day by day. A battle on the grassland will definitely be a hard battle with unpredictable outcome. Therefore, in addition to sending Tang Aiqing as an envoy to the Turks, , I also plan to immediately issue an order to various states and counties to recruit 150,000 elite soldiers to come to Chang'an City for intensive training. Two months later, these 150,000 elite soldiers will join the imperial court's 300,000 troops and march directly to the grassland to capture Jie alive. profit!"
Xiao Yu frowned and couldn't help but stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, didn't you say before that the imperial court's 300,000-strong army would directly recruit 100,000 soldiers along the way to attack the grasslands on the way to the Turks? Why do you have to do it ten minutes in advance now? Fifty thousand soldiers from the government entered Chang'an?"
Li Er said with a serious face: "Because I have to use 100% of my strength to fight Jie Li. In this battle, Datang cannot slack off at all, otherwise it is very likely that it will be catastrophic~!"
Xiao Yu said anxiously: "But these 150,000 soldiers and horses arrived in Beijing two months in advance. The consumption of this money, food, and soldiers will be an astronomical figure. Now the six departments of the court are already stretched thin to raise 300,000 soldiers and horses, so what? Can we supply an additional 150,000 troops~?"
Xiao Yu is the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, so he naturally knows the current financial situation of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, he also understands that the Tang Dynasty's attack on the grassland will be a protracted and hard battle. But because of this, he has to be careful with his calculations, otherwise the Northern Expedition army will be very difficult. You may face the danger of running out of food!
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