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

Chapter 272: Order the Prince of Jin to return to Chang'an and reflect on his mistakes (Part )

The night was hazy and the military tents were heavily guarded.

On the watchtower of the military camp, Li Shimin, dressed in black clothes and black armor, looked at the Liaodong City in the distance with an indifferent expression.

From time to time, flames shot up into the sky in Liaodong City, and deafening shouts of killing were heard.

Changsun Wuji stood at the emperor's side, glanced at Li Ji, and then said to Li Shimin, "Your Majesty, the day after the East Gate was opened, hundreds of civilians rushed out of the city. Last night, there were faint sounds of chaos in the city, and today they are already killing each other."

Li Shimin nodded calmly. He didn't do much. He just bombarded the city with catapults every day for a month. Although the killing power was insufficient, the process was definitely bloody.

In particular, there was a shortage of food in the city. The soldiers were still fine, but the people had been without food for several days.

Now the emperor asked people to make way for a retreat. Not to mention the common people, even the soldiers wanted to escape!

Turning sideways, Li Shimin looked at Li Ji and asked, "What is the current situation in Anshi City?"

Li Ji bowed and said, "Seven days ago, the King of Jiangxia led 4,000 cavalrymen and encountered 40,000 Goguryeo infantry and cavalrymen. The cavalrymen were dispersed, and the Goguryeo army's formation collapsed. Immediately afterwards, Imperial Guard General Zhang Shigui led his 4,000 cavalrymen to attack from the flank, and Muzhou Governor Liu Demin led 3,000 soldiers to attack from the south. The King of Jiangxia's troops regrouped."

The emperor nodded calmly.

Li Ji continued, "The three armies directly tore open the Koguryo people. Koguryo collapsed, and the army pursued and killed over 10,000 people."

"Of the 40,000 Goguryeo infantry and cavalry, 10,000 were beheaded. What about the remaining 30,000?" Li Shimin frowned slightly.

Li Ji's heart tightened, but he still bowed and said, "The remaining 30,000 people have already fled back to Anshi City, but many were trampled to death along the way. Including those who fled, the number of people who returned alive was less than 25,000."

"Don't play with these empty tricks. Those who escape will eventually find a way to escape back." The emperor turned and looked towards Liaodong City in the distance. He asked calmly, "Zhang Junyi, the Duke of Wancheng, I remember that he was also involved in the arrangements for this battle."

"Yes!" Li Ji cupped his hands and said, "The Duke of Wancheng arrived a step late. In the chaos of the battle, he was unable to mobilize in time..."

"You're afraid of fighting and won't advance." Li Shimin's eyes grew cold. He turned to look at Zhangsun Wuji and said, "Wuji, go ahead and rush to the front of the army tonight and behead Zhang Junyi."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji was startled, then bowed and turned away quickly.

"Your Majesty, in this battle, in addition to the King of Jiangxia, the Duke of Guo and the Governor of Muzhou, the guerrilla general Xue Rengui, the right general of the guard Cheng Mingzhen, and the brave and resolute captain Ma Wenjuan all fought bravely and made outstanding contributions." Li Ji quickly told some good news.

As expected, the emperor nodded in satisfaction and said, "Issue the decree and award according to the regulations..."

"Gee..." A burst of hurried horse hoof sounds suddenly came from the west and then rushed directly into the camp.

The three Qianniu Guards quickly reached the watchtower. As they dismounted, they announced to General Chang He of the Left Qianniu Guard, "Chang'an has reported victory. The Anxi Protector General Guo Xiaoke and the Shazhou Governor Li Xiyu have defeated the Western Turkic Xueyantuo and beheaded over ten thousand people."

"Send up the memorial." Li Shimin stood on the watchtower and couldn't help but look down.

Chang He personally took the memorial and carried it to the top of the watchtower. Li Shimin, looking delighted, took it, glanced at it, and said to Li Ji, "Send the victory message to the troops. At the same time, reward them with wine and meat tonight. Tell Su Dingfang to attack the city tomorrow and take it down in one fell swoop."

"Yes!" Li Ji bowed solemnly.

Li Shimin took the memorial, turned around, went down the watchtower, and headed towards the camp.

……

Li Shimin was sitting alone in the central military tent, with the memorial that Li Chengqian had just sent from Chang'an placed in front of him.

"Your Majesty!" Zhang Ananda's voice rang out from outside the palace, adding, "Secretary Chu Suiliang requests an audience."

"Pass it on!" Li Shimin looked up.

Chu Suiliang, dressed in a crimson robe and with a graceful figure, walked into the tent and bowed to Li Shimin, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

"Sit down!" Li Shimin nodded and handed the memorial in his hand to Chu Suiliang.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Chu Suiliang knelt down beside the emperor, then took the memorial and read it carefully.

After a moment, Chu Suiliang put the memorial back on the table with a serious expression.

"You go to Chang'an in person!" Li Shimin said directly. Chu Suiliang was slightly stunned, then bowed and said, "Yes!"

"Three things!" Li Shimin raised his head and looked forward. "Promote Tian Renhui, the Lieutenant General of the Right Jinwu Guard, to the rank of General of the Right Jinwu Guard, and promote Xue Wanbei, the Lieutenant General of the Crown Prince's Right Guard, to the rank of Lieutenant General of the Right Jinwu Guard."

"Yes!" Chu Suiliang nodded calmly, without saying anything more, nor asking any more questions. The emperor could not help but nod with satisfaction and said, "This is what I admire most about you. You never ask questions when you shouldn't."

Chu Suiliang bowed slightly and said nothing.

He was the emperor's attendant. If he couldn't keep his mouth shut, he would have died long ago.

"Tian Renhui is connected to the affairs of Hou Junji and Zhang Liang. The Crown Prince originally thought that he would leak the secrets of the Great Wall's defenses to the Xueyantuo during their invasion, so he set a trap. However, it turned out that although he did send a message to the Xueyantuo, the information he gave was false. He wanted to use this to trick the Xueyantuo."

At this point, Li Shimin couldn't help but smile and continued, "But unfortunately, the Xueyantuo didn't fall for the trick and instead marched towards Shazhou. Although Tian Renhui didn't succeed in trapping the Xueyantuo, he later beheaded over 3,000 of them in the pursuit and also captured Yi Nan's eldest son alive."

"Your Majesty, this man has a sinister heart. His method may not be loyal to the Tang Dynasty. He is loyal to himself." Chu Suiliang bowed directly.

"You are right." Li Shimin nodded and said, "But he has just made military achievements. I cannot treat him unfairly, otherwise how will the soldiers in the army view me?"

"Yes!" Chu Suiliang nodded.

"When you return, tell Zhang Xuan, the Left Thousand Oxen Guard, to investigate the web behind Tian Renhui. Then, except for him, I will secretly execute everyone else." Li Shimin sneered, "He's simply afraid that those things will be traced back to him. If that's the case, I will help him clean it up, and he won't have to worry about it anymore."

"Yes!" Chu Suiliang nodded calmly.

"Except for Tian Renhui, everyone else has also received rewards. You can go back and announce the decree." Li Shimin smiled and said, "Many people have made great contributions in this battle. We must not neglect them."

"Here!"

"The second thing is, when you return to Chang'an, please go to Taiyuan and convey the imperial edict to remove Wei Ting, the chief secretary of Prince Jin, from all his official posts and demote him to a commoner. At the same time, order Prince Jin to return to Chang'an to reflect on his mistakes. Except for the princess, all other people in the Prince Jin's mansion will stay in Taiyuan." Li Shimin's face was terribly cold.

"Yes!"

"You must explain this to him thoroughly." Li Shimin took a deep breath and said with resentment, "If the Ashina Sibi tribe wants to return to the grasslands, let them go. We cannot let the changes in the Turkic tribes on the grasslands affect the morale of our troops."

"Yes!" Chu Suiliang bowed slightly.

This time when the emperor was marching east, the Turkic tribes mobilized 20,000 people to join the army. If at this time, the Turkic tribes on the grassland were shouted at for war and killing, it would shake the morale of the army.

"I know very well that people on the grassland are unsettled, but as long as the changes are not too large-scale, there is no need to pay any attention to them. The Ashina Sibi tribe is just like that. They just returned to the grassland and did not attack the city gates of the Tang Dynasty. What is Zhinu chasing after? Does he have to kill them?" There was even a hint of hatred on Li Shimin's face.

The Ashina Sibi tribe may have once intended to cooperate with the Xueyantuo, but under the strict defense of the Bingzhou Grand Marshal's Office, they could do nothing and finally had no choice but to retreat deep into the grassland.

"I had originally planned to take a walk across the grasslands after the Goguryeo incident was resolved and return with the army to completely eliminate the hidden dangers of the Turks and Xueyantuo. This time, he almost ruined everything." The emperor took a deep breath and said, "The Crown Prince did a great job this time. Using Yemang's head to intimidate the people, the Turks will return on their own."

"Yes!" Chu Suiliang nodded. He could see that the prince fully understood His Majesty's intentions, while Prince Jin had nothing.

"One last thing," the emperor said, looking up. "Liaodong City can be taken in a moment, but Anshi City is built against the mountain, and I'm quite uneasy."

"Yes!" Chu Suiliang's expression became serious.

"It's already late summer, and autumn is almost here." Li Shimin looked at Chu Suiliang and said, "The Crown Prince proposed last year to transfer grain from Jiangnan to Hebei. Therefore, during this year's war, grain prices in Hebei are not high. So, continue with this matter. After you return, have Cheng Zhijie transfer a batch of grain to Liaodong, and then transfer it to Hebei from other places."

"Here!"

"Food, clothing, medicinal herbs, and military equipment. Go back and take a look, and supervise them." Li Shimin paused for a moment, then said, "After you return, transfer Yang Wulian here. Not only will we need to gather more forces to take Anshi City, but even Pingrang needs more... I don't believe that even the combined efforts of Yang Wulian, Yan Liben, Yan Lide, and Jiang Xingben alone can't take Pingrang."

"Yes!" Chu Suiliang stood up and bowed.

The emperor said calmly, "When you return, take a closer look around Chang'an, and then hurry back."

Chu Suiliang paused for a moment, then bowed and said, "Yes!"

……

After Chu Suiliang left, Chang He stepped out from the shadows and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty!"

"This time, Zhinu suddenly appeared in Daibei with his troops. Something is wrong. Send people to Taiyuan to find out who advised the King of Jin to leave Taiyuan." Li Shimin's eyes turned cold.

"Yes!" Chang He bowed, then quickly turned and left.

Li Shimin sat alone on the couch, his expression solemn, and said softly, "Cheng Qian, it can't be you, right?"

(End of this chapter)