The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 348 Luoyang Fish Are Not Fat

Three days later, reports of victory were delivered to the camp in the rear and arrived before the emperor.

Li Shimin frowned as he read the report. Qibi Heli was careless against the enemy and fell into an ambush. He was rescued by Xue Wanbei. However, Qibi Heli ignored his wounds and turned around to fight the Goguryeo people again.

Qibi Heli chased the Goguryeo soldiers for dozens of miles, beheaded more than a thousand of them, and the rest all fled.

Li Ji led 4,000 cavalrymen to fight against the 40,000-strong Goguryeo army, killing more than 20,000 enemies and forcing the rest to surrender.

Liu Renyuan personally led the troops to charge and captured Hengshan and Momi. Wang Xuandu and Xue Rengui chased and killed the Goguryeo soldiers for more than a hundred miles, frightening them.

Jiangxia Prince Li Daozong led 20,000 troops to capture Liaodong City, beheaded Goguryeo general Suo Fusun, and captured more than 30,000 civilians.

Zhang Jian led 20,000 troops south to capture Jian'an City, defeated the Goguryeo army, beheaded thousands of people, and seized 100,000 shi of grain and fodder.

In just one month, the Tang army had swept the east bank of the Liao River and headed straight for Gao Yanshou's 150,000-man army.

Ashina She'er and Li Simo led 20,000 Turkic cavalry across the Liao River and joined the Tang army.

Zhang Liang's ships finally reached the west bank, and he sent Qiu Xiaozhong across the sea to guard the Yalu River.

After Li Shimin finished reading the military newspaper in his hand, his eyes became more determined.

"Send these reports to Luoyang, to my prince and uncle, and to my father, and have a good look at them." Then he ordered, "Tear down the floating bridge over the Liao River. There will be no retreat in this battle. The Tang army will surely win."

"Here!"

Li Ke looked at the marching route that General Su Dingfang was drawing and noticed Zhubi Mountain. He was still a little confused, so he didn't say much.

In August of the eighteenth year of the Zhenguan reign, a fast horse arrived at the gate of Luoyang. The messenger shouted, "Your Majesty has crossed the Liao River and conquered several cities in succession. What a great victory!"

"Great victory! Your Majesty crossed the Liao River and captured several cities in succession!"

The victory report was delivered to the imperial palace in Luoyang. Li Chengqian, who was attending the morning court in Qianyang Hall, walked outside the hall and received the victory report.

After receiving the good news, he first handed it to his uncle who was standing beside him.

Li Chengqian even heard the ministers in the hall heaving a sigh of relief. His Majesty had won such a great victory when crossing the Liao River this time, and the court officials felt much more at ease.

Changsun Wuji handed the victory report to Cen Wenben, and then circulated it around.

After the morning court was over, Li Chengqian left alone with his uncle, Cen Wenben, Minister of War Duan Zan and General Li Daliang.

A map was spread out in front of him, and Li Chengqian frowned as he looked at the current situation.

Logically speaking, they arrived in Liaodong and crossed the Liao River in June, and achieved such a record in July. It was really rare.

"It's almost autumn."

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly said something, and Changsun Wuji and Cen Wenben both remained silent.

Li Daliang said: "After the beginning of autumn, Liaodong is extremely cold, and it may be difficult to attack again."

Li Chengqian asked, "Minister Cen, how many cotton-padded clothes have been delivered from Guanzhong?"

"Your Highness, there are already more than 50,000 pieces."

"Yeah." Li Chengqian nodded slightly.

Fortunately, the cotton harvest in the Western Region is very good this year.

Hearing that good news had come, Li Lizhi did not listen to her brother's discussion with the court officials until the morning court session ended, with a plate of grapes on the side.

Li Chengqian asked, "Zhang Liang crossed the sea to Liaodong. Can we send more people there later?"

Li Daliang replied: "I am willing to go to Liaodong."

"No hurry." Li Chengqian sat down and looked at the others and said, "Let General Xue Wanche take 5,000 soldiers and horses, and carry cotton clothes across the sea to Liaodong to make up for it in time."

"Yes." Cen Wenben hurried away to give instructions.

"Your Highness, General Hou Junji requests a fight."

Li Chengqian ignored him and continued to discuss with his uncle, General Li Daliang.

While they were discussing, Chu Suiliang handed over a memorial and said, "Your Highness, this is the report sent by Ma Zhou."

Li Chengqian took the memorial and looked at its contents.

Chu Suiliang stared at the prince's expression, waiting for his highness's reaction.

Li Daliang and Changsun Wuji were silent for a long time.

Li Chengqian placed the memorial on the table and ordered, "Uncle, how many officials can be sent out from the Ministry of Personnel now?"

"Your Highness, there are probably more than 300 people. These are roughly the number of officials who are vacant in the court."

"Let Zhang Xuansu go to Hebei and lead these three hundred people."

"Here."

Li Chengqian said again: "Minister Chu."

"The minister is here."

"All officials who had financial dealings with Wei Ting should be arrested and escorted to Luoyang. As for Wei Ting, it would be a pity to kill him like this, so he should be exiled to the Western Regions to plant trees."

Chu Suiliang looked troubled and said, "But..."

Seeing the prince's gaze, Chu Suiliang lowered his head and said nothing, because there were more than 500 officials on this list, all of whom had dealings with Wei Ting.

His Royal Highness's words are very subtle. Should all the money coming in and out be brought to Luoyang, or should all the money coming in and out be escorted to Luoyang?

Li Chengqian continued, "Wei Ting was the transport envoy, and he delayed the transportation of food and grass to the front army, which delayed the military operation. Anyone who had contact with him during his tenure as transport envoy, whether they were local nobles or aristocratic families, should be arrested and escorted to Luoyang. Anyone who resists or rebels should be dealt with on the spot."

Chu Suiliang swallowed hard and bowed, saying, "Yes."

Li Daliang also took his leave and left.

Only the brother and sister were left in the hall. Li Lizhi took out a roll of paper and said, "Brother, this is a letter from Xuanzang."

Li Chengqian did not open the letter to read it, but ate grapes and said: "Killing some people to show the laws of the country, to show the law, I am also a compassionate person."

Li Lizhi put her hands behind her back and looked at the blue sky outside the palace and said, "My royal brother is naturally a compassionate and wise person."

The guard outside the palace said again: "Your Highness, General Hou Junji is still waiting outside the palace."

Li Lizhi picked up the victory report on the table and said with a smile, "Sister is going to visit Grandpa."

Li Chengqian smiled and nodded, "Go ahead."

After Li Zhi left, Li Chengqian asked the guards to bring Hou Junji into the palace.

Today, the great general is much older, his beard is gray, and his eyes no longer have the spirit they had when he conquered Gaochang.

Li Chengqian still did not read Xuanzang's letter, but picked up a stool in the hall and placed it inside, "General, please sit down."

Hou Junji bowed and said, "I dare not."

Seeing that he still regarded himself as a junior general, Li Chengqian sat down at the table beside the hall. As for the first seat in the hall, that was the seat where his father was supposed to sit, so he could not sit there yet.

He sat down and looked at the memorials and documents from various places in front of him, reading them carefully.

After another half an hour of silence, seeing that he was still standing in the hall, maintaining the same posture, Li Chengqian raised his voice a few degrees and said, "Sit down."

Hou Junji bowed and said, "When I returned from the expedition against Gaochang, Your Majesty wanted to imprison me. It was Your Highness the Crown Prince who interceded for me, so I dared not sit down."

Li Chengqian put down the pen in his hand, leaned back against the back of the chair with his hands in his pockets, and relaxed. He looked at the other party and said, "I was not the only one who pleaded for the general. Besides, I am the crown prince. Whether as the child of my father or as the crown prince, this is the position I should take."

"If the crown prince does not intercede for the general, people will inevitably think that the crown prince and the emperor are both cold-hearted, which is not good for the country. I am doing this for the country, not for personal feelings."

Hou Junji still maintained his bowing posture, "I, your humble general..."

"General, what is the matter with you?" Seeing the Crown Prince's calm demeanor, Hou Junji bowed and said, "I heard that Wei Ting was delaying food supplies in Hebei. Why hasn't Your Highness dealt with him yet?"

"I have already issued an order to escort them to Chang'an and send them to the Western Regions to plant trees."

"That's great, why did it take so long?"

Li Chengqian said with emotion: "From what we can see, General Xiao Rui and General Xue Wanche are doing a very effective job. They have prepared sufficient food and grass for my father, as well as a million dan of food and grass in Guanzhong. My father has gained a lot of food and grass from conquering cities, so he is not short of it at the moment."

"I think we cannot ignore Wei Ting just because we have enough food and grass at the moment."

"General, if the provinces of Hebei had responded, and if the prefectures had provided food and fodder, and urged Wei Ting to hand it over to the front army, how could this have happened?"

"But the nobles and government officials in many places in Hebei thought that Wei Ting didn't need to worry. Someone was dragging Wei Ting to eat, drink and have fun, thus delaying the delivery of grain and grass. This was not his problem alone, but a problem of the environment."

Hou Junji thought for a moment and said hurriedly: "Your Highness has a long-term vision, and I am short-sighted."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "It's okay. I didn't tell you the truth in order not to alert the enemy."

Hou Junji added: "I am willing to collect food and fodder for Your Highness and send it to the front army."

"The general is joking."

"I am willing to serve your majesty and the prince."

A general who had been stripped of his military power by his father had to ask for orders again.

He is just my father's general. How could it be wrong for the crown prince to appoint him without permission?

Li Chengqian looked at the former general and whispered, "How about this, I cannot give the general any power or status for the time being, and the general cannot go to Liaodong, but can go to Hebei."

"Hebei?"

"Yes, go to Hebei and see if Ma Zhou and Niu Jinda are doing well. If necessary, help them. Report to the court afterwards. No one will stop you, General."

"Here."

Hou Junji responded loudly and left quickly.

Li Chengqian continued to look at the document in his hand.

When a eunuch walked into the hall carrying fruits sent from Lingnan, he saw that only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was standing in the hall.

And from time to time you can hear the sound of papers flipping.

The eunuch put down the fruit plate and left quickly, not daring to disturb His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

After receiving the prince's instructions, Chu Suiliang hurried to the Ministry of Personnel in Luoyang City.

Zhang Xuansu saw the other party's panic and asked in confusion, "I just heard the victory report. Why is Minister Chu so panicked?"

"problem occurs!"

Zhang Xuansu asked in confusion: "Could it be that the Crown Prince is going to ascend the throne himself?"

Chu Sui said with a clear conscience that it would be great if that were the case. He took out the list and said, "Something big has happened. The prince wants to arrest the noble families from all over Hebei, a total of more than 600 people."

"what?"

Chu Suiliang continued: "The prince wants to take all the Hebei noble families..."

Having said this, he made a gesture of cutting his neck.

Zhang Xuansu took a deep breath, knowing that this matter was serious, and asked, "Didn't anyone advise His Highness?"

Chu Suiliang said: "These people are implicated by Wei Ting and should be arrested."

"But... Alas!" Zhang Xuansu slammed the table and said, "The emperor is on a military expedition and needs to kill people. What is the prince going to do? Is he going to kill people too? How many people are he going to kill?"

I don’t know what the Tang Emperor and his son are going to do.

Zhang Xuansu hurriedly looked at the list again and said, "If so many people are taken, the situation in Hebei will change. If someone rebels, where will the troops come from to suppress it?"

Chu Suiliang added: "There are still 60,000 soldiers and horses in Tongguan."

Suddenly realizing something, Zhang Xuansu remembered that two months ago, Ma Zhou seemed to have discussed with General Niu Jinda, but he didn't know what the prince had said.

If it were someone else, they probably wouldn't dare to take action against the aristocratic families and local gentry.

Others might not dare to do such a thing, but the prince does, and he always keeps his word.

Zhang Xuansu continued, "I will send someone to inform Ma Zhou and ask the Ministry of Personnel to prepare some personnel."

Chu Suiliang really has to worry about the current country.

The news spread throughout the court and the country at an extremely fast pace. Teams of officers and soldiers from the Censorate and the Dali Temple left Chang'an, and probably more than a hundred officials left Chang'an.

Because Wei Ting delayed the delivery of grain and grass, and the emperor was away on a military campaign, and someone dared to delay the delivery, the prince issued an order to purge all the gentry and aristocratic families in Hebei.

There was a thunderstorm in Luoyang this afternoon.

An old man in clean clothes sat at the foot of the city wall in Luoyang and sang: "The fish in Luoyang are not fat, the prince wants to kill people, the emperor went to war and blood flew across Liaodong, the prince was angry and corpses were everywhere..."

The heavy rain fell, drowning out the discussions at the base of the city wall.

Lightning split the sky, and little Yu Tu pulled at his mother's clothes and said, "I'm scared."

Su Wan picked up her son and said, "Look, your sister is not afraid, so what are you afraid of?"

Little Yu Tu watched as another flash of lightning flashed across the sky, and a moment later, thunder rumbled. He asked, "Mom, why is there thunder?"

Su Wan said: "You can go ask Aunt Mingda."

"Aunt Mingda is in Laojun Mountain and hasn't come back yet."

As he was talking, he saw a figure holding an umbrella and hurried over. When he saw the person coming, Xiao Yutu's eyes lit up and he said in surprise, "Auntie!"

As soon as little Sizi arrived under the eaves, little Yutu ran over and jumped into his arms.

The thirteen-year-old Mingda hugged him and said, "Aunt is back."

Su Wan said, "I thought Her Royal Highness the Princess would stay in Laojun Mountain until September."

Mingda replied: "Master Li will be in seclusion in Laojun Mountain until next year, so I will come back first."

Su Wan smiled and said, "It's good to be back. Grandpa has been thinking about you all the time."

Mingda smiled and said, "When the rain stops, I'll go visit Grandpa."

On the east side of the Luoyang Imperial Palace, there is a heavily guarded mansion, which is the residence of the current emperor and Duke Xu.

Li Chengqian came to visit his grandfather and uncle holding an umbrella.

Li Lizhi was reading the good news loudly to the two elders. Halfway through, she said, "I've read it three times. I won't read it anymore."

Li Yuan said with a smile on his face: "Grandpa is old and can't hear clearly."

Li Lizhi took a sip of tea, called a palace maid over, and said, "You come and read it."

"Yes!" The palace maid picked up the victory report and began to read it again.

"louder please!"

"Here."

Li Chengqian stood outside the door watching this scene, then turned around and looked at the heavy rain outside, with rain continuously falling from the eaves.

Grandpa was showing off to my uncle about this great victory.

(End of this chapter)