At this moment, the atmosphere in the palace was a little tense.
Can you not be nervous?
Everyone spent real money!
At this moment, everyone was staring at Li Shimin, waiting for him to announce the candidate.
"call--"
Xiao Yu's breathing was a little rapid.
"Don't panic, Li Jing is in command and it's safe."
Changsun Wuji pushed his elbow and whispered,
"Just wait until next court to ask Cheng Yaojin for the money!"
He turned his eyes to Li Jing, who was at the top of the queue of generals, with a look of confidence in his eyes.
Look at the magnanimity and attitude of Mr. Li Jing.
Who else!
"It's an upset, it's an upset..."
Cheng Yaojin clutched the booklet in his arms and prayed in a low voice.
"Um?"
Li Shimin also seemed to feel that the atmosphere was a little unusual.
The expressions of the ministers... all looked like they were constipated, they couldn't let go!
However, he didn't think much about it and immediately announced:
"So, I want to choose someone to go on the expedition on my behalf, be granted the title of General of the Auxiliary Kingdom, and take charge of the position of General Manager of the March Army!"
As soon as this statement came out, the officials were stunned.
The general of the auxiliary country is a second-grade official rank. Among the military attachés, he is second only to the unique Tiance general and the first-grade hussar general!
This is nothing.
The main thing is the four words "Go to war on my behalf", which is very unusual!
If Li Jing, Li Ji and other famous generals were chosen, the emperor would never say such a thing with a shameful face, because it would be suspected of sharing the credit with the generals.
Cheng Yaojin: "!!!"
A look of surprise flashed through his eyes.
If the real-time odds can be adjusted, the odds of Li Jing, Li Ji and others will be greatly improved at this moment, because with these four words, their chances of taking command are reduced a lot!
Did God hear his prayer?
Has the opportunity for an upset really come? !
"I have been thinking about suitable candidates since last year."
Li Shimin stood with his hands behind his back and said in a deep voice,
"This person must not only have military strategy and a view of the overall situation, but most importantly, he must also have virtue and great wisdom!"
"Because this is not just a simple war. What I want is not just to defeat the Turks, nor even to destroy the Turks. What I want is to truly show off my fists in this vast world!"
"What I want is to use this battle to truly establish the prestige of the Great Tang Dynasty, to convince the foreigners and all the nations to come to court!"
The emperor's words spoke loud and clear.
The uneasiness in the hearts of the ministers is also growing.
Between them, they could even hear each other's violent heartbeats!
"Therefore, I have chosen a person who you would never expect and who you may strongly oppose to take on this position."
After Li Shimin finished laying the groundwork, he did not hesitate anymore, but said straightforwardly,
"The handsome man I want to worship is the Crown Prince and Grand Master, Xu Fenglei!"
"Xu Aiqing, take the order!"
Xu Fenglei's eyes were dull: "Ah?"
Ministers: "!!!"
Xu! wind! thunder? !
How could it be him? Why him? !
Isn't this a joke!
For a moment, there was deathly silence in the palace, and the expressions on the faces of the ministers were extremely wonderful!
"This, this, this..."
Changsun Wuji’s eyes were dull and he murmured,
"This is impossible, this is impossible..."
"Did your Majesty pronounce it wrong? This... Your Majesty must be joking..."
He can't accept it, he can't accept it!
Why not Li Jing?
At this moment, Changsun Wuji wanted to die.
5,000 taels of silver! A total of 5,000 taels of snowflake silver! Is it just like this?
Blanch!
At the same time, in the hearts of all the ministers: "Hot, sizzling, sizzling!!!"
Ten thousand horses of grass and mud are running wildly in my heart, and my young heart is so cold, so cold, so cold...
my money!
"Well……"
Xiao Yu's eyes widened, he rolled his eyes, and he fell back.
"Old Xiao Ge!"
"Ouch, Mr. Ge, what's wrong with you, Mr. Ge? Hold on still!"
"Quickly call the imperial doctor, the elder is down!"
"..."
Fortunately, several ministers behind him caught his body.
Changsun Wuji came back to his senses, hurriedly grabbed Xiao Yu's sleeve, and said with some guilt:
"Old Xiao Ge...you, are you okay?"
"I, I really didn't expect this, this..."
Xiao Yu's eyes widened again.
"The auxiliary machine...mistaken for me!"
"Well!"
After spitting out four words, Xiao Yu rolled his eyes again and fainted completely!
"Mr. Ge, Mr. Ge!"
"Xiao Xianggong, isn't it just 5,000 taels of silver? There is no need for this, it is really unnecessary..."
"..."
Several ministers beside him sighed.
The other ministers also looked sad.
Many of them lost their bets, but when they saw Xiao Yu's appearance, they felt a little relieved.
Although there was blood, compared with Xiao Yu... he didn't seem to be that injured.
"What, what's wrong?"
Li Shimin was shocked by this situation. He hurriedly walked down the jade steps, walked up to Xiao Yu, and said,
"What aroused Xiao Aiqing?"
"Come on, let the imperial doctor come!"
"It must have been a moment of anger. My nails are long. Let me pinch Mr. Xiao Ge's gutter." Ma Zhou took the initiative and stabbed Xiao Yu's philtrum with his slender nails.
Click!
"Ouch!"
Xiao Yu opened his eyes suddenly, screamed in pain, and struggled to straighten up.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty!"
Seeing Li Shimin standing in front of him, he was shocked again and hurriedly saluted.
"No gift, no gift."
Li Shimin felt relieved when he saw him jumping up and down, frowned and said,
"Xiao Yu, I remember that you have always been in good health. Why did you faint today?"
"Do you have any objections to my selection of generals? If you have any objections, you can raise them...don't hurt yourself."
Xiao Yu: "..."
"Uh... I have nothing to do, I have nothing to do..." He lowered his head guiltily and was speechless.
Li Shimin frowned more and more.
His majestic eyes slowly glanced around.
"I felt something was wrong just now. None of you are right!"
He said coldly,
"what happened?"
"Ma Zhou, tell me!"
After being called by the emperor, Ma Zhou had no choice but to line up, bowed his hands and said:
"Your Majesty, the ministers lost their composure because they had a betting match before going to court."
"General Cheng Yaojin made a bet on which general can be appointed as the commander-in-chief of the conquest of the Turks. Li Jing, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Li Ji, Duke of Cao are both popular candidates. The odds are 1 to 1 to 2 and 2 to 1 respectively."
"Under the persuasion of Duke Changsun, Mr. Xiao Ge took Li Jing into custody for 5,000 taels, and then..."
There is no need to talk about what happened after that.
Xu Fenglei was upset, and Xiao Yu lost Xiang.
Li Shimin's face suddenly darkened.
He stared at Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu's head lowered lower and lower, looking extremely ashamed.
He looked at Changsun Wuji again, who also smiled sarcastically and lowered his head with a guilty conscience.
Turning, he looked at Cheng Yaojin.
A pressure suddenly fell on him.
"Hey Hey……"
Cheng Yaojin scratched his head and said with an awkward smile,
"Your Majesty, I'm just having fun with them..."
"This bet doesn't count, it doesn't count at all! I will tear up the book later..."
Li Shimin stretched out his hand expressionlessly.
"Bring it to me and have a look."
he ordered.
Cheng Yaojin did not dare to show any slightness and handed the account book to the emperor's hand smoothly.
Turning over a page at random, a person's name was written crookedly on it, followed by odds.
"Li Jing, Li Ji, Zhang Gongjin."
"Li Xiaogong, Cheng Yaojin, Hou Junji..."
"Haha, it looks like that!"
Li Shimin said with a soft smile,
"You know your integrity, am I too tolerant of you?"
"Do you know where this place is?"
boom!
In the next moment, Li Er changed from a smile to a terrifying face.
The account book hit Cheng Yaojin on the head.
"My Tai Chi Palace and Liang Yi Palace have been turned into a casino by you!"
Li Shimin scolded,
"You have turned the civil and military officials of this dynasty into gamblers!"
"Do you feel very glorious and proud? Ah?"
Plop!
Cheng Yaojin didn't dare to laugh any more and knelt on the ground on one knee.
"Your Majesty, I am aware of my guilt!"
He said shyly,
"Your Majesty, please punish me!"
Wow.
Li Shimin flicked his sleeves and looked at the ministers.
"And you, what do you think this is?"
He said angrily,
"If today's incident is spread, the entire court will become a laughing stock! The dignity of the country has been exhausted by you gang of gamblers and scoundrels!"
"It's ridiculous, extremely ridiculous!"
The emperor was furious and the officials were horrified.
Puff, puff, a large area fell to its knees.
"I will admit my guilt!"
"Your Majesty, please punish me!"
All the ministers bowed down one after another.
Of course, they have now realized how humiliating their behavior was.
Li Shimin took a deep breath.
"Which of you have never participated in gambling? Don't kneel down and let me take a look."
He calmed down his anger and ordered,
"Look at how many upright gentlemen there are in this court."
Swish.
Li Jing, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng and several other important ministers stood up.
None of them participated in gambling.
Xu Fenglei, on the other hand, kept standing and did not kneel down.
He hasn't recovered yet.
Why...why was he the only one in charge? ah?
Li Shimin nodded slightly.
"Finally, I still have a few gentlemen from the Zhu Kingdom available to me."
He recited a sentence, turned to look at the majority of people kneeling, and said lightly,
"Although I don't blame everyone, what you did is too ridiculous!"
"Since you can gamble, it means you are not short of money. Since you are not short of money, I don't think the court needs to pay you a salary."
"In this case, all of them will be fined for one year!"
"As for the culprit Cheng Zhijie, the gambling equipment and bets will be confiscated and he will be punished as a criminal!"
When the officials heard this punishment, although they felt uncomfortable, they did not dare to have the slightest objection.
This matter was originally their fault.
Even if the emperor punches hard, he can only take it forcefully. If you want to blame him, this old guy Cheng Yaojin must be blamed!
But the old thing is obviously worse off now...
"Someone is coming."
Li Shimin waved and said,
"Get Cheng Zhi under control."
Boom!
Two guards rushed into the hall, one with one arm, and suppressed Cheng Yaojin to the ground.
"Your Majesty, I am aware of my guilt. I am aware of my guilt!"
When Cheng Yaojin saw that the emperor was serious about his actions, his face turned pale and he said with a panicked expression,
"I was just joking with my colleagues. It's just a joke. It doesn't count, Your Majesty!"
Li Shimin snorted coldly.
"Are you kidding me? Do you think I'm a fool?"
He held the gambling book in his right hand and said,
"Don't you like being the banker and opening the betting market? Okay, I'll let you have fun."
"Everything in this gambling book counts and cannot be discarded!"
"Cheng Yaojin obeys orders!"
"The guilty minister bows his head and obeys the order." Cheng Yaojin said tremblingly.
"You have a lot of things to bet on, including betting on the coach, betting on who will go with the army, haha..."
Li Shimin sneered and said,
"I will appoint various generals in charge later."
"Starting from tomorrow, you will follow the bets in this gambling book and go from house to house to ask for gambling funds as a sin!"
"I will put all the stolen money into military pay!"
Cheng Yaojin nodded repeatedly.
"Yes Yes!"
He nodded as if he was pounding garlic, and continued,
"The guilty minister received the decree, the guilty minister accepted the decree and thanked you!"
In this situation, he doesn't need money anymore. As long as he doesn't go to jail, he will be thankful...
"My dear friends, you are all very rich."
Li Shimin put his hands behind his hands and smiled,
"We can do more things like this in the future. When the time comes, your money can be used for military pay and disaster relief."
"If so, it can be considered as your merit."
"Everyone, get up."
Ministers, look at me and I look at you. They all hesitate to get up.
"Get up!"
Li Shimin raised his hand again and said,
"From some point of view, I still want to thank you."
"With your support, the soldiers on the frontline will have more protection, and the Tang Dynasty will have more chances of winning when it defeats the Turks."
Although he was smiling and praising.
But the ministers felt unhappy.
The emperor is an old onmyoji, and this wave of yin and yang is top notch.
Coupled with the loss of gambling and the loss of future salary...
Hey, it’s so uncomfortable… let’s not talk about it!
"His Majesty."
At this moment, Xu Fenglei suddenly came out of the queue and said,
"As for your Majesty's request for me to lead the expedition, I believe that I do not have the ability."
"So, can I refuse?"
Li Shimin raised his eyebrows.
"Why, Taishi."
He said with a half-smile,
"My imperial edict has been drawn up, do you want to resist it?"
Xu Fenglei shook his head.
"The major affairs of the country depend on the sacrifices and the military. If your Majesty leaves the sacrificial affairs to my ministers, I may still be able to do it, but for the major affairs of the military and state, you must not choose the commander at will."
He said with a puzzled look on his face,
"I really don't know what considerations made His Majesty decide to let me lead the expedition."
"Your Majesty may be fanciful, but I ask myself how much self-awareness I have. I am really not good at military affairs! As the saying goes, one general's incompetence will kill the three armies. If I were to lead the three armies, I would definitely harm the three armies!"
"The conquest of the Turks is the biggest war since the founding of this dynasty. Please don't be ridiculous! Don't be ridiculous! This is irresponsible to the Tang army and the people of the world!"
With these words, I almost pointed at Li Shimin and scolded him - "Is your mother's brain broken?"
ah?
Leave famous generals like Li Jing and Li Ji unused and let me take charge?
This is not the level of being kicked in the head by a donkey, this is the level of the donkey trying its best to have fun on Li Er's head!
"Ha ha……"
Li Shimin nodded and said with a smile,
"Xu Aiqing, there is no need to belittle and belittle yourself!"
Xu Fenglei: "..."
"I'm not deprecating myself, I'm just telling the truth."
He responded speechlessly,
"Qi Chen doesn't think there is any shame in this. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. No one in the world can do everything."
"I ask myself that I can do all my duties well, but I really cannot do military matters. I don't have the talent and brains in this area. Please choose another good general!"
"If your Majesty really can't think of a candidate, I think Li Jing is a good candidate."
(End of chapter)
