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

Chapter 276 Li Shimin: How dare this young slave covet my harem (Part )
Li Shimin looked at Li Ji and Li Daozong and said, "My two beloved ministers, please do this immediately. I would feel heartbroken if those Goguryeo captives even used one of my food supplies."

Forty thousand people!

The ministers couldn't help laughing.

With 30,000 troops against 110,000, they killed 30,000, captured 40,000, and only 30,000 to 40,000 escaped. This kind of record is rare in ancient and modern times.

"We obey your orders!" Li Ji and Li Daozon stood up and turned away.

Li Shimin looked at the two men from behind and said, "The walls of Anshi City are so high that it would take time to conquer them. But fortunately, we won this battle. Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui, Cheng Mingzhen, and Ma Wenju!"

"I'm here!" Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui, Cheng Mingzhen and Ma Wenju stood up together.

"I order the four of you to immediately lead 4,000 cavalrymen and charge southward along the mountain road, heading straight for Ugut City. At the same time, be on guard against Goguryeo's attack again." Li Shimin said at the end, his expression becoming serious.

The Tang Dynasty now has 30,000 soldiers guarding 40,000 captives. If the Goguryeo people reorganize their army now and then charge into battle to fight back, it will be easy to disrupt their camp and the situation may be reversed.

So now Li Shimin had to send people to the south to guard while quickly transferring people from the rear.

Now that I think about it, it is better to treat these 40,000 people as coolies than to release them directly.

And even if they stay, it will only be for a while.

The army's food and fodder can last for a while, and some of it can be selected and sent to Chang'an.

Of course, if we can capture Anshi City, the food and grass in the city will be enough to support these captives.

At that time, building cities, digging mountains, mining, and transporting food and grass will all be feasible strategies.

"We obey your command!" Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui, Cheng Mingzhen, and Ma Wenju all bowed, then turned around and left quickly.

Li Shimin looked at Zhangsun Wuji and said, "Wuji, transfer Zhao Yuankai, the Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, to the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Gao Yanshou to the Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, and Gao Huizhen to the Junior Minister of the Ministry of Rites. These two have surrendered with 40,000 men, so I must treat them with some favor."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji bowed slightly, and Cen Wenben, Liu Li and others on the side also nodded in agreement.

The emperor looked at Chu Suiliang again and asked, "How is the situation in Chang'an now that you have returned?"

"Your Majesty!" Chu Suiliang bowed with a look of joy and said, "The people of Chang'an are happy and everything is stable. After the great victory in the northwest, all officials are even more at ease. However, the Crown Prince rises early and returns late every day, busy with food, military equipment, clothing, and other matters. Now that it is the autumn harvest, the Crown Prince has personally traveled to Wugong County to supervise the harvest..."

Chu Suiliang spoke in detail about the people and officials in Chang'an City, and even about things in the army, but smart people could vaguely hear the key points in his words.

The crown prince did not interfere much in the transfer of officials, and the military did not intervene much either. Even many officials in the Eastern Palace were busy with affairs day and night and rarely did things they should not do.

Especially after the great victory in the Northwest, no one took advantage of the opportunity to do anything rash.

In a word, the prince was doing what a prince should do and did not overstep the boundaries at all.

Finally, Chu Suiliang sighed and said, "I have seen the Crown Prince. Compared to last year, the Crown Prince has lost more than a circle of weight."

Seeing Chu Suiliang so emotional, Li Shimin couldn't help but look at Yang Wulian.

Yang Wulian bowed in surprise and said, "Your Majesty, I see the Crown Prince quite often, but I don't really feel anything. However, when I think about it, he has indeed lost a lot of weight due to his busy schedule this year."

The prince is concentrating on state affairs and working hard every day, so he will naturally lose weight.

Li Shimin's heart was inexplicably touched, but then he smiled and said, "He is the crown prince. My kingdom will be passed on to him sooner or later. It is a good thing to keep busy while he is young."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed in unison. They remembered the emperor's words thoroughly in their hearts.

"Okay, everyone go and rest. You don't need me to tell you how to arrange for alerts and attack the city gates." Li Shimin waved his hand.

All the ministers bowed and said, "We will take our leave!"

……

After all the ministers left, Li Shimin shook his head and looked to the side.

Chang He walked out quickly, then bowed and said, "Your Majesty!"

Li Shimin nodded, his expression calmed down, and asked, "How is it?"

"I've found out!" Chang He bowed and said, "It was Guo Xiaoshen, the secretary of the Prince of Jin's palace, who advised the Prince of Jin to pursue the enemy in the north."

"Guo Xiaoshen?" Li Shimin's brows furrowed immediately, and he asked, "Is it related to Guo Xiaoke?"

"Yes!" Chang He bowed and said, "Although Guo Xiaoke was born in the Xuzhou Guo family, he actually moved here from Taiyuan. He and Guo Xiaoshen are actually from the same clan and generation. However, he and Guo Xiaoke have no connection because Guo Xiaoshen is only in his early twenties now."

Li Shimin was slightly stunned. Guo Xiaoke was now in his fifties, while Guo Xiaoshen was only in his early twenties. Even if they were of the same clan and generation, it would be difficult for them to have any connection.

"However, Your Majesty, Guo Xiaoshen's sister-in-law, Wu, once met the Crown Prince in Luoyang."

After Chang He said this, Li Shimin's face darkened: "Go on."

"Last winter, after the army left Luoyang, the prince went to Longmen to pray for Your Majesty, but unfortunately, it snowed heavily that night, and the prince was forced to stay in Longmen. As for Wu, when she was about to leave Longmen and return to the city, she suddenly turned back and happened to meet the prince at the post station." Chang He bowed solemnly.

"Suddenly turned back?" Li Shimin opened his eyes and asked, "You mean to say that Wu deliberately turned back to see the prince?"

"I haven't investigated yet, but Wu's husband is Helan Yueshi, the cousin of Helan Chushi, the former commander of the Crown Prince's Thousand Oxen Guard. He's currently with the army." Chang He's face grew serious. "Helan, was implicated in Helan Chushi's treasonous plot, and so he went to the Crown Prince?" Li Shimin suddenly thought of something and looked at Chang He. "Helan Yueshi, is Wu Cairen's brother-in-law?"

"Yes!" Chang He bowed and said, "After Wu Shi happened to meet the Crown Prince at the post station, she took the initiative to come to the Crown Prince's house to pay a visit. The Crown Prince, considering Wu Shi's talent, asked about today's imperial examination. The Crown Prince said that there was no imperial examination today, but because the army was marching east, the six ministries might want to recruit scholars to serve as court officials."

"He went to Chang'an?"

"No!" Chang He lowered his head and said, "He returned to Taiyuan because his wife, Wu, was the cousin of the Princess of Jin, and the Prince of Jin went to Taiyuan... The Taiyuan Guo family was quite influential in Taiyuan."

"So, he became the bookkeeper of the Prince of Jin's palace." Li Shimin sneered and said, "He is a villain who is good at speculation."

Li Shimin realized that Guo Xiaoshen had no relationship with Li Chengqian, and had no relationship with Li Zhi at the beginning.

"Because of the Princess of Jin and because he was born into the Guo family of Taiyuan, the Prince of Jin attached great importance to him. He was only appointed as the bookkeeper temporarily. As long as he made meritorious contributions, the Prince of Jin planned to promote him to a higher position. So Guo Xiaoshen was very active around the Prince of Jin. That's why when the Turks got into trouble, he gave advice to the Prince of Jin, and then the Prince of Jin suddenly went north." Chang He bowed.

"Heading north, directly into the army, what courage!" Li Shimin snorted coldly, then took a deep breath and asked, "Where is he now?"

"Chang'an!" Chang He bowed and said, "Your Majesty issued an edict forbidding officials from accompanying the Prince of Jin back to Taiyuan. So Guo Xiaoshen resigned his position as the Prince of Jin's secretary and followed him back to Chang'an. He stayed at the home of his sister-in-law, Lady Wu, and occasionally visited the Yang family to visit his mother-in-law, Lady Yingguogong. He even met Prime Minister Yang once."

Li Shimin's face darkened completely, and he said softly, "This person really can't stand being lonely!"

Chang He bowed calmly. What he said was all fact, without any conjecture.

"Send a message to Chang'an City, and keep an eye on Guo Xiaoshen." After a brief pause, Li Shimin added, "And the members of the Wu family, especially when they are in contact with Wu Cairen."

"Yes!" Chang He bowed and then quietly retreated.

Li Shimin sat alone in the hall, his face gloomy.

At the same time, news from the palace also reached him. The prince had no connection with the harem. Even though the crown princess had tried to have a good relationship with the harem, she delayed the matter because of her own pregnancy.

As for the crown prince, he got up early and went to bed late this year, and focused most of his attention on government affairs.

This has been confirmed by Chu Suiliang and Yang Wulian.

One can even see from Yang Wulian that Li Chengqian now has the shadow of a court official who is dedicated to state affairs and dares to speak his mind.

This made Li Shimin satisfied from the bottom of his heart.

But Li Zhi...

When thinking of Li Zhi, Li Shimin inexplicably thought of Wu Meiniang.

He had a vague feeling that Li Zhi would sooner or later set his sights on Wu Meiniang.

His seemingly weak son actually has a lot of tricks in his heart!
Especially since he is young enough.

Ambitious enough.

Yang Guang's figure inexplicably jumped into Li Shimin's mind.

King of Jin.

I have to find someone to train the young slave properly.

……

"Kill!" Countless Goguryeo soldiers rushed out of Anshi City, rushed directly to the top of the earthen hill outside the city, and then drove all the Tang army soldiers down.

Li Shimin, who had just rushed out of the military tent, suddenly felt dizzy.

Not long ago, Li Daozon came up with an idea to build an earthen hill in the southeast of Anshi City, gradually approaching the city wall, and then use soldiers to fight in turns, use battering rams and cannonballs to destroy the city tower, and finally when the earthen hill is close to the city gate, rush into the city in one fell swoop.

However, the unique terrain of Anshi City allowed the defenders in the city to continuously raise the city walls to balance the height of the earthen hills.

Finally, almost a month passed, and the top of the earthen hill was several feet higher than the city wall, but at this moment, the earthen hill collapsed.

Just now, the Goguryeo defenders seized the opportunity and organized hundreds of death squads to rush out of the gap in the collapsed city wall and seize the earthen hill.

"Fight out and take back the earthen hill." Li Shimin glared at Li Daozon. Li Daozon's face turned red, and he drew his sword and rushed directly towards the earthen hill.

However, Li Daozon mobilized his most elite troops and attacked Tushan continuously for a whole night, but still to no avail.

At this moment, thick smoke suddenly rose from the city.

"Your Majesty, it's done." Zhangsun Wuji suddenly couldn't help but grab Li Shimin's arm and said with great joy: "Your Majesty, the Croton strategy is successful. Let the whole army attack."

"Attack and take Anshi City." After Li Shimin gave the order, Li Chengqian couldn't help but flash through his mind.

He had a feeling that he, the prince who had never been to the battlefield, was the most capable person to inherit his kingdom.

Instead of Li Zhi, who was carefully calculating and spying on his harem day and night.

(End of this chapter)