Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 194: Six Hundred Miles in a Hurry, Keep an Eye on Zhang Liang (Part )

The cold wind was howling and the snow was flying.

In front of the Liangyi Hall, Li Chengqian was carried up the steps and then sent into the main hall.

At this time, the emperor was already sitting on the imperial couch with a cold expression.

An urgent report from six hundred miles away was placed in the center of the imperial desk.

On both sides of the hall, the chief officials of the three provinces and six ministries, including Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Yang Shidao, Cen Benwen, Liu Li, Hou Junji, Tang Jian, Zhang Liang, Liu Dewei, Li Daozon, Wei Ting, and Cui Dunli, all looked exhausted as if they had just arrived.

Today is a day of rest, and the emperor urgently summoned all his ministers.

Even Li Chengqian, who was in the Eastern Palace, was summoned into the palace.

Li Chengqian was pushed to the foot of the Danbi and bowed slightly.

Li Shimin waved his hand expressionlessly, and Li Chengqian immediately put down his hand and breathed a sigh of relief.

He couldn't help but look at the ministers in the hall. Everyone else looked clueless. Under the emperor's cold expression, no one dared to speak easily.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps was heard, and the Right General of the Guard Zhi Shisili and the Left General of the Guard Su Dingfang walked quickly into the hall, then bowed and stood aside.

"Everyone's here, let's talk about the matter." Li Shimin looked up at his ministers and said indifferently, "Just now, Li Xiaocha, the governor of Liangzhou, reported that the entire 30,000-strong Tiele Qibi tribe suddenly moved north, heading towards Jinchangkou of the Great Wall. He sent people to contact Qibi Heli, but none of them returned."

The ministers in the hall couldn't help but burst into an uproar.

All 30,000 people of the tribe headed north together towards the Great Wall.

None of the people sent by Liangzhou to contact them returned, which means that they were probably all dead at the hands of the Khitan tribe.

This is clearly a sign that the Qibi tribe is about to break away from the Tang Dynasty.

Did Qibi Heli betray the Tang Dynasty?
……

Li Shimin handed the memorial to Zhang Ananda, who passed it to Li Chengqian. After taking a look at it, Li Chengqian passed it to Zhangsun Wuji, and then passed it down one by one.

"Tell me, what's going on?" Li Shimin's cold expression gradually faded, and a hint of sadness appeared in his eyes.

No one spoke easily, but someone still had to speak.

Fang Xuanling slowly stood up, bowed, and said thoughtfully, "Your Majesty, the entire Qibi tribe has marched north without saying hello to anyone. This can only mean that they have betrayed us. Moreover, this was reported four days ago. If nothing unexpected happens, they have already left the Great Wall and are heading north."

All the ministers in the hall were silent, and no one spoke to refute.

The entire clan, not just one person, even if someone is willing to stay, they will probably be swept away and can only treat each other as one.

Moreover, among the 30,000 men, there are easily 10,000 combat-capable cavalrymen.

Especially because Qibi Heli was the General of the Left Guard, the court treated him very well and provided him with a lot of military support. Once these 30,000 people arrived at the Chang'an Pass, they could immediately break out and return to the grassland.

"Qibi Heli's request to return home to visit his family this time probably has other motives." After a brief pause, Fang Xuanling shook his head and said, "If you calculate carefully, Qibi Heli traveled from Chang'an to Liangzhou, stayed there briefly, and then returned to his tribe. Almost within two days of arriving, he was already heading north. They had already been in contact."

Li Chengqian looked up at Fang Xuanling and had to nod in agreement. Fang Xuanling really had something.

"Yishiynan has arrived outside the Great Wall!" Changsun Wuji suddenly looked up, stepped forward, and saluted. "Your Majesty, a while ago, Duke Ying reported that a troop of 4,000 Xueyantuo cavalrymen were moving south from the central grasslands along the western foothills of the Yin Mountains. I'm afraid they were intending to provide support. However, the only person capable of driving Qibi Heli north must be Yishiynan."

"The Rong and Di peoples are of similar temperament. Why would they join the Xueyantuo? It's like a fish taking to water." Hou Junji looked up calmly.

Li Chengqian looked at Hou Junji in surprise. You know, two years ago when the Tang Dynasty conquered Gaochang, Qibi Heli was a general under Hou Junji.

Qibi Heli, the chief of the Qibi tribe of the Tiele people, led 30,000 people of his tribe to Shazhou with his mother and returned to the Tang Dynasty in the sixth year of Zhenguan.

Qibi Heli was granted the title of General of the Left Guard, and his entire tribe was settled within the Great Wall north of Liangzhou.

In fact, it is very close to the grassland and has contacts with the Tiele tribes.

Xueyantuo itself was one of the Tiele tribes, formed by the merger of Xue and Yantuo tribes. The Qibi tribe and Xueyantuo were actually one family.

Therefore, Hou Junji said that Qibi Heli surrendered to Xueyantuo like a fish into water.

……

Li Shimin sat on the imperial couch, one hand on the imperial desk, his fist clenched tightly.

After a moment, he shook his head firmly and said, "No, He Li has been in Chang'an for many years and is as loyal to me as iron. He will never betray me!"

"Your Majesty, their entire clan has already left the Great Wall and may have reunited with Yishi Yinan!" Fang Xuanling looked at Li Chengqian and said, "The Crown Prince said earlier that the Xueyantuo suffered heavy losses in the previous battle and urgently need to make up for the losses. Now that 30,000 men have joined the Xueyantuo, their decline has been halted. Furthermore, with a great general like Qibi Heli, the situation has been reversed."

The hearts of the ministers suddenly became heavy.

With the addition of Qibi Heli and his entire tribe of 30,000 people, Xueyantuo was able to stabilize the situation in Mobei immediately.

Once the Xueyantuo united the tribes in the northern desert and moved south again, they would immediately pose a huge threat to the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian and asked, "Prince, what do you say?"

"Your Majesty, I feel something is amiss." Li Chengqian bowed and said thoughtfully, "The Duke of Guzang has been in Chang'an for many years. Even if someone wrote to me with something, I'm afraid the words would be hard to believe."

"That's why he wants to go back." Fang Xuanling looked at Li Shimin and said with a cupped hand, "This time he returned just when the Xueyantuo envoy arrived in Chang'an. If you calculate the time, they might meet outside the Great Wall together!"

"That's not right." Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "Even if we are of the same clan, we should have a clear division of interests and how the tribe should be settled, let alone a group of 30,000 people.

Zhenzhu Khan might be able to offer conditions to lure Qibi back north. Such conditions would definitely be generous, but how can we make people believe them?"

Li Chengqian looked up at Li Shimin and said, "Normally, Qibi Heli should return to the tribe, meet with Zhenzhu Khan's envoy, and then the two sides should negotiate and obtain a promise that Qibi Heli can believe. The key is to make him interested."

After a brief pause, Li Chengqian bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Father, has treated Qibi Heli with great kindness. Not only has he shown him great trust, he has also offered him marriage to the Princess of Lintao. Furthermore, the Princess is still in Chang'an. How could he abandon his wife and leave?"

Li Chengqian suddenly sneered and said, "Even if Qibi Heli wanted to defect, given his status in the Tang Dynasty, how would Zhenzhu Khan treat him if he returned to Xueyantuo? Even if Qibi Heli wasn't second only to the Khan in Xueyantuo, how could he accept it? And how could Zhenzhu Khan easily grant him such a position? Even if he did, how could Qibi Heli believe it? He's hesitant for more than three days... Father, the timing is wrong."

Li Shimin turned to look at Fang Xuanling, who hesitated for a moment. He pondered Li Chengqian's words, then bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Highness, what you say makes sense. If Qibi Heli returned to the tribe and then suddenly set off half a month later, then that would be the most reasonable... Three days would be almost as soon as Qibi Heli returned to the tribe, and the tribe would pack up and set off."

"No, even before He Li returned to the tribe, the tribe had already decided to return to the grassland. In other words, before He Li returned to the tribe, the tribe had already decided to surrender to the Xueyantuo." Li Shimin suddenly realized, breathed a sigh of relief, and said happily: "It's not He Li, he didn't betray me."

"That's his mother, Lady Guzangjun, and his younger brother, Qibi Shamen, the governor of Helan Prefecture." Changsun Wuji shook his head slightly and said, "If nothing unexpected happened, his mother and brother were first seduced by Zhenzhu Khan. They then sent a letter to Qibi Heli, telling him that his mother was ill, lured him back, and then took him north with them."

Changsun Wuji shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, although he is loyal to you, what can he do to his mother and brother... Before he returned to the tribe, he was loyal. Now that his mother and brother are speaking of family affection, can he still be loyal?"

All the ministers fell silent, and even Li Chengqian and Li Shimin could not refute it.

"After all, there are only 30,000 of them!" Fang Xuanling shook his head and said, "Even if there are only 10,000 cavalry among them, they would be a huge threat to the Tang Dynasty."

"In my opinion," Li Shimin shook his head and said firmly, "He is at most a prisoner now. As long as he does not appear on the battlefield against the Tang Dynasty, he will not be considered a traitor to the Tang Dynasty. Duke Anguo!"

"I'm here!" General Zhishisili, the right leading army guard, stood up and bowed.

"Su Dingfang!"

"I'm here!" Su Dingfang immediately stood up and bowed.

"I order you two to immediately command 5,000 cavalrymen and set out from Chang'an to pursue them immediately. You must catch them." Li Shimin clenched his fists tightly.

"Yes!" Zhishisili and Su Dingfang both bowed calmly.

Zhishisili was a Turkic, and Su Dingfang was Li Jing's apprentice. It was not difficult for them to lead troops north even in the wind and snow.

"Go." Li Shimin waved his hand and the two turned and left immediately.

On the imperial couch, the emperor's expression grew serious, and he said, "My Lords, we need to consider what to do with the 30,000 Qibi people if they are all surrendered to the Xueyantuo."

Inadvertently, the emperor's eyes swept over Zhang Liang.

……

"Keep an eye on Zhang Liang. I want to know his interactions with everyone from today onwards." Li Shimin sat on the imperial couch and looked to the side.

Li Wu stepped out from behind the curtain. In the flickering candlelight, Li Wu bowed and said, "Yes!"

"Also, let that man go back. I want to know if anyone betrayed the information about Qibi Heli?" Li Shimin's eyes turned cold.

The reason why he had not taken action against Zhang Liang until now was because of the information he heard from the captured man. Not only did Zhang Liang not leak anything to the Xueyantuo, he even persuaded Zhenzhu Khan's uncle Shabolani Shushijin to surrender to the Tang Dynasty.

Judging from these news, although Zhang Liang had some relationship with Xueyantuo, he could still distinguish between good and bad.

There are not many secrets about the Tang Dynasty in the relevant words.

Therefore, Li Shimin tolerated Zhang Liang.

But that was before. After that, once the Xueyantuo regained their momentum and annexed Qibi Heli's tribe, their strength increased greatly. It was hard to say what Zhang Liang's choice would be.

Even if the possibility was one in ten thousand, Li Shimin didn't want to take the risk.

Especially Zhang Liang and Li Tai are still in contact.

The prince, the Minister of Works, and a foreigner, once this connection occurs, even Li Shimin will be uneasy day and night.

"Yes!" Li Wu bowed and accepted the order, then was about to leave.

At this time, the emperor calmly added: "Keep an eye on the King of Wei."

"Yes!" Li Wu bowed with an indifferent expression.

(End of this chapter)