Chang'an, Tai Chi Palace.
Xu Fenglei's arrival had an immediate effect on Li Chengqian's training.
Although his stay was short, Prince Chengqian was no longer crazy and started to study honestly.
This naturally made Li Shimin, an old father, very happy.
Go to the study room.
"Your Majesty, the prince has been studying these past few days."
The servant of the East Palace knelt on the ground and said respectfully,
"The books I read are all from Huang Lao's studies, such as the Tao Te Ching and the South China Sutra, and there are also Buddhist scriptures such as the Sutra of Infinite Life."
"His Royal Highness the Prince has been studying it all day long, and he is fascinated by it."
Li Shimin frowned.
"Why do you suddenly like religious classics?"
He mused,
"You're not going to start eating fast food, are you?"
This kid.
I said before that I wanted to be a chief on the Turkic grasslands, drink a lot of wine and eat meat.
Now that you have changed your mind and become a Buddhist again?
"That's not true. Your Highness is just studying, and the rest is the same as usual."
The waiter responded.
Li Shimin was relieved.
"It doesn't hurt to just read the classics. I have always liked Taoist scriptures and Buddhist scriptures."
He nodded and said,
"Speaking of which, there was once a monk named Xuanzang who came out of the customs with the Tang Dynasty's customs clearance document. It has been almost ten years. I don't know if he arrived in Tianzhu and got the scriptures..."
"Just step back."
The waiter bowed and left.
Li Shimin took a leisurely sip of tea, his addiction to talking about classics came back, and he casually ordered:
"come."
"Go and inform King Wei that I will go to his place later and ask him to pick out some good books and read them together."
"According to the order." The waiter in the room responded and left.
At this time, there was a sound of footsteps.
"See Your Majesty."
"See Your Majesty."
Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling came together. These two powerful prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty were truly inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people.
On weekdays, when there were important matters in the court, they would discuss them with the emperor and finalize them.
"Are you all here? What happened?"
Li Shimin smiled and raised his hand and said,
"No courtesy, no courtesy, sit down."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." They both sat down.
"Your Majesty, I and the Prime Minister have come here with two pieces of news."
Changsun Wuji was the first to speak,
"One piece of good news, one piece of bad news."
"I don't know which one your Majesty wants to listen to first."
Li Shimin chuckled.
"I always play this trick. I always like things that are bitter first and then sweet."
He said,
"Let me tell you the bad news first. I want to turn the bad news into good news first."
Fang Xuanling nodded and said in a deep voice:
"The envoy from Yanqi Kingdom brought a letter of credence from King Yanqi requesting help."
"The Gaochang Kingdom and the Western Turks invaded Yanqi and almost destroyed their country, causing countless losses."
"The Yanqi Kingdom has always submitted to the Tang Dynasty and has paid tribute year after year without interruption. Its king has always been respectful to His Majesty."
"This time, he asks Datang to seek justice. Your Majesty cannot ignore it."
Li Shimin suddenly showed an unhappy look.
"Gaochang?"
"That small country that was extremely disrespectful and blocked the Silk Road and prevented Hu merchants from the Western Regions from entering the Tang Dynasty?"
He said solemnly,
"What is the name of the King of Gaochang?"
Fang Xuanling responded:
"Your Majesty, the king of Gaochang is named Qu Wentai. He has always been arrogant. He even sent troops with the Western Turks to invade the border of Yizhou in the Tang Dynasty."
"Today, it is also because the Yanqi Kingdom has opened up a new road to the Central Plains, which has caused the merchants from the Western Regions to change their route to Yanqi. As a result, Gaochang cannot extort and plunder the merchants, so Gaochang has a grudge and sends troops to invade."
Changsun Wuji snorted coldly.
"It's just a small country that dares to jump up and down and make a fuss on the Silk Road. It's really looking for death!"
He said unceremoniously,
"Send troops to destroy them!"
"Your Majesty, the Silk Road is extremely important to us, the Tang Dynasty. It is the blood vessel of foreign trade! We must not let Gaochang control it so wantonly!"
Li Shimin looked calm.
The Silk Road is naturally important.
Qu Wentai was so arrogant that he didn't even take Datang seriously! If it's a small border country, that's all. Let him be arrogant.
But the geographical location of Gaochang is very critical.
If you look down on the world, Gaochang is an unavoidable pass on the Silk Road! If this pass is blocked, business travelers will be unable to enter or exit.
This will undoubtedly harm Datang's interests! And the longer it goes, the greater the damage!
but……
"How is Li Jing doing?"
Li Shimin asked.
When big countries send troops, they are most afraid of fighting on multiple fronts.
Before Tuyuhun's results come out, he can't raise more troops!
"Your Majesty, this is the good news."
Changsun Wuji smiled and said,
"Li Jing used his troops like a god. He defeated Murong Fuyun and fled repeatedly. He killed tens of thousands of barbarians on the way, captured tens of thousands of prisoners, and captured hundreds of thousands of livestock!"
"Three armies pursued to the Tocharo Desert. Xue Rengui, Qibi Heli, and Hou Junji pursued as vanguards and completely wiped out the remnants of Tuyuhun!"
"Murong Fuyun was defeated and fled again! On the way to escape, he was killed by his subordinates, and his head was captured by General Hou Junji and brought back to the army!"
"Since then, Tuyuhun has been completely pacified!"
"This is the battle report from General Manager Li Jing. Your Majesty, please read it."
As he spoke, he handed over the battle report in his sleeve.
Li Shimin was already beaming with joy just listening to this brief report!
"So neat and tidy?"
"Okay! Okay..."
He glanced at the battle report, slapped his thigh, and praised,
"OK!"
"This damn Murong Fuyun is finally dead!"
"Li Jing fought beautifully in this battle! You should be rewarded!"
"Come on, quickly draw up an imperial edict and change Li Jing to the title of Duke of Wei, and add 500 households in the city!"
Fang Xuanling stood up and drafted the decree.
At this moment, Li Jing, who had worked hard and achieved great results, could truly stand on the same level as the Conglong heroes of the Xuanwumen Incident.
Thinking back to the beginning, he only had 200 households in the city, and now he has a thousand households... all of them were fought one battle at a time!
Of course.
This is the end for him. After this battle, Li Jing will become the mascot of the military world like Xu Fenglei. It is absolutely impossible to dispatch these two bosses until a critical moment.
"Your Majesty, other meritorious ministers..."
Changsun Wuji suddenly said,
"Do you also want to reward each one?"
"Especially, Hou Junji is a man who has committed a crime. Now he is still alive and has made many military exploits. In terms of bravery, there is no one in the army who can match him."
"How should he reward his merits and punish his demerits, please leave it to your majesty to decide."
Li Shimin's smile faded.
Hou Junji.
It was a name that gave him a headache.
He was also mentioned in Li Jing's battle report - he had many military exploits, needless to say, and there was not a trace of water in them. They were all real tough battles.
According to his past style, it is natural that the credit outweighs the fault, and if there is more, he can be rewarded again!
But this time...
When he parted with Xu Fenglei, he promised to deal with Hou Junji well.
Now...how to deal with it?
Again and again, not again, he can no longer break his promise!
"...Let me think about it."
Li Shimin said in a deep voice,
"Let's wait until they come back."
"Anyway, this is exciting news!"
"If you chew off the bones of Tuyuhun, I think those khans on the grassland will have to put away their restless hearts."
"As long as I, the Heavenly Khan, am still here, they will always have nothing but surrender!"
Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji both nodded.
People are forgetful.
The military front of the Tang Dynasty had not shown up for five years. Xue Yantuo, Huihe, and Khitan had all forgotten the fear of being dominated by the Tang army.
This time, let them reminisce about the memories!
"Including this Qu Wentai from Gaochang!"
Li Shimin ordered,
"I have always been polite before fighting. This is true for Murong Fuyun, and it is also true for him!"
"Give him a decree. As long as he is willing to come to Chang'an to apologize in front of me, compensate for the losses of Yanqi Kingdom, and cooperate obediently from now on, I can still give him a chance."
"If you are still stubborn and think that being with Tong Yehu Khan of Western Turks means you can be lawless, then the stories of Jieli Khan and Murong Fuyun will happen again to him!"
"Xuanling, come up with your decree! You don't need to be too polite with your words! The Yi and Di have a human face and a beast's heart. They are afraid of power but not immoral. Being polite is seen as weakness by them, so there is no need to give them a good look!"
Fang Xuanling looked stern.
"According to the order!"
He laid out the imperial edict and started writing it.
Although he is a civil servant, Fang Qiao's words are always tough!
After all, this is the style of the Tang Dynasty.
"As for King Yanqi, please give me a reply and Datang will provide necessary assistance."
Li Shimin said again,
"For my own vassal country, I will naturally help whenever I can."
"When necessary, I will arrange for troops to be stationed to protect the country."
To the enemy, hit them hard!
For my younger brother, I care about him like the spring breeze.
In this way, the image of the big brother is established!
Seyi, naturally welcome!
"Your Majesty is holy."
Changsun Wuji praised,
"I think after the news spread that the Tang Dynasty easily destroyed Tuyuhun, Qu Wentai would not dare to make another mistake."
"War is a major event for the country, and it should not be done too frequently. As the old saying goes, if you are wary, you will perish."
"If you can convince people with your might and virtue, that would be great, and it would prevent Wei Zheng and the others from talking too much."
Li Shimin couldn't help laughing when he heard this.
That's true.
If Tuyuhun had just been destroyed and troops were immediately sent to attack Gaochang, there would definitely be a reaction from the DPRK.
If nothing else, Wei Zheng was the first to refuse!
When it comes to fighting, it’s better not to fight if it can be avoided...
After a while.
Fang Xuanling had already drafted the imperial edict, got up and left, heading to the door.
Changsun Wuji did not stand up. Instead, his smile faded after Fang Xuanling left.
"Your Majesty, I already have some clues about what you asked me to investigate last time."
He whispered,
"The musician named Chengxin is not a musician from the East Palace, but from the band."
"Someone arranged it."
"And this wish seems to have been trained for a while, and then it fascinated His Highness the Crown Prince and did such ridiculous things."
Li Shimin's face darkened.
After all, he was not a fool. When the incident happened, he was extremely angry.
But afterwards, he immediately realized something was wrong!
How did such a musician enter the East Palace during the prince's confinement?
Xu Fenglei did not pursue the matter, but just sent Cheng Xin to Liangzhou without mentioning it later... This is also very suspicious.
That kid is not an idiot! He was on the outside again, could he tell?
Therefore, Li Er chose to pursue it secretly.
Unexpectedly...the news would come out so soon.
"who is it?"
His tone was calm, but no one knew whether this calm was the silence before the storm.
"Wei Ting has intervened in Lefang's affairs."
Changsun Wuji responded,
"He is an official of the Ministry of Etiquette, and everything is in compliance with the rules and regulations. No one can find anything wrong with him."
Li Shimin suddenly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Got it, got it all.
He also understood why Xu Fenglei didn't mention a word.
"...I understand."
He waved weakly and said,
"Just step back."
Changsun Wuji pursed his lips.
"Your Majesty, is this matter over here and no longer pursued..."
He considered it for a moment before finally speaking.
Li Shimin closed his eyes and just raised his hand.
"yes."
"Wei Chen resigns."
Changsun Wuji slowly stood up and left the study room.
Inside the house, there was silence.
"It seems that I am indeed confused..."
Li Shimin raised his head and lowered his hands, muttering to himself,
"I shouldn't, I shouldn't..."
…
That night.
In the palace of King Wei.
Li Tai held a few carefully selected ancient books with anticipation in his heart.
"Is Father here?"
"He should be here by this time. We are going to have dinner together."
"Go and see quickly! Is the dragon chariot coming?"
He urged.
Several servants in the palace were running errands back and forth.
"His Royal Highness, King Wei, Your Majesty is not here."
"Your Highness, there is no movement at the moment."
"Your Highness, why don't you have dinner first? Maybe Your Majesty will come after dinner?"
Li Tai waited and waited until it was completely dark and half an hour had passed since dinner time, but there was still no sign of Li Shimin.
There was some disappointment in his eyes.
"Okay, let's go to Cai first...I've been hungry for a long time."
Li Tai muttered,
"Father, it's true. He said he was coming, but he didn't even mention an hour. He made me wait for so long in vain."
"I'll wait for him for another hour at most. If he doesn't come, then I'll go to sleep! I won't wait for him!"
There was a bit of anger in these words.
He had even thought about how he would act coquettishly and complain when his father arrived late.
However……
After a dinner...
The dinner has been almost digested, and it’s time to have a midnight snack...
Li Shimin still didn't come.
"Your Highness, Your Majesty, will he... not come?"
The attendant on the side yawned and said cautiously.
Li Tai raised his eyebrows.
"Fart! You're not joking! My father clearly said he would come, and his servants came to deliver the message. How could he break his promise?"
He said unhappily,
"There must be something important that delayed us!"
"He will definitely come! Even if he doesn't come, he will definitely send someone to inform him. He will never let me wait here!"
When the chamberlain saw that he was angry, he immediately became silent and did not dare to say anything.
Li Tai just stared at the door.
If he can't wait for his father to come, he will have to wait!
Wait all night!
