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

Chapter 418 The War Is Getting Closer

Time passes quietly, and autumn comes in a blink of an eye.

It's harvest time.

In the Liangyi Hall, the sun sets in the west.

Li Chengqian put down the memorial in his hand and looked across at Duan Baoxuan, who was dressed in a black Qianniu suit. He asked, "So, we found four people, but they're all stand-ins?"

"Yes." Duan Baoxuan bowed and said, "The first one set out alone in advance. After nightfall, he did not enter the city and was buried directly in the mountains by me."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian nodded, leaned back, and said, "Go on!"

"The second one set out among the envoys. Ten of them went to Tubo. They were tracked in Lanzhou. After leaving Shanzhou, I dispatched 300 people to guard the Sun and Moon Mountain Pass.

At night, we lit a smoke screen from a distance, rushed over, and found the man, but discovered it was a body double. However, I still had someone pour medicine into his mouth. After reaching the plateau, he should die of illness in two days... My people followed behind and confirmed his death.

"If it's not a substitute?"

"I will chop off his head." Duan Baoxuan bowed affirmatively.

"Well done." Li Chengqian nodded in satisfaction and said, "Keep going."

"The third one was one who left the city with the Du family's caravan. He died of illness before reaching Qizhou." Duan Baoxuan bowed, but his brows were slightly solemn.

"The Du family?" Li Chengqian leaned forward slightly, then raised his head and said, "Wei Daijia."

"Your Majesty!" Wei Daijia, the newly appointed Qianniu Guard General, stepped forward from the right and said, "Your Majesty!"

Li Chengqian turned and stared at Wei Daijia: "Go find Du He and tell him that if the Du family continues to have people of unknown origin like this, I will let him copy the Du Qu himself."

Wei Daijia calmly bowed and said, "I will go now."

Turning around, Wei Daijia walked quickly out of the hall.

The moment he passed by Duan Baoxuan, Wei Daijia couldn't help but change his expression.

Duan Baoxuan looked at her with comforting eyes, but he was powerless.

Although the emperor was talking about Du He and the Du family, in fact, he was asking Wei Daijia to warn the Wei family.

If something like this happens again in the Wei family, the emperor will definitely ask Wei Daijia to copy the Wei Qu in person.

"Where is the fourth person?" Li Chengqian asked lightly, as if he didn't see the eye contact between Duan Baoxuan and Wei Daijia.

"The fourth man was the last to leave the city. He didn't go to Lanzhou or Yizhou, but to Minzhou." Duan Baoxuan bowed and said calmly, "My men chased him and killed him directly in Minshan."

"Minshan!" Li Chengqian nodded calmly and said, "Your Excellency, you have done well. Go down and join General Li in keeping a close eye on everyone leaving the Tibetan embassy... If war breaks out between the Tang Dynasty and Tibet in the future, you may have to go before the army."

"I thank Your Majesty!" Duan Baoxuan bowed heavily, with uncontrollable excitement in his eyes.

Duan Baoxuan was the son of Duan Dekan, the governor of Ruzhou, but in fact he was able to become the emperor's confidant thanks to the legacy of his cousin, Duan Xuanzhi, the General of the Right Guard and Duke of Bao. He caught the eye of Li Chengqian and was transferred to the East Palace of Li Chengqian, who was still the prince at the time, and served as the Sima of the Right Guard of the Prince.

He has now been transferred to the Qianniu Guard and served as the Left Qianniu Guard General.

But after all, the Wuwei Duan family started out in the military.

Killing in the army is the basis for their promotion.

……

"Your Majesty!" Li Yifu watched Duan Baoxuan leave, then bowed and said, "The last group was actually the final test. Lu Dongzan must have known your majesty's intentions. Moreover, the substitutes in several groups have died. The news has spread to Luosi, and Songzan should take action."

"Since we have already made up our minds to go to war with Tubo, it doesn't matter whether Lu Dongzan knows about it or not. He is in Chang'an and can't go anywhere. The only thing left is how much information he can reveal to Songzan."

Li Chengqian took the memorial in his hand, glanced at it, and then said, "Duke Weiguo is acting cautiously. The Tibetans will discover that the Tang has deployed troops in Tuyuhun, but they don't know how many there are. If there are only 10,000 or 20,000, the greedy Songtsen will want to take advantage of this rare opportunity to take a big bite out of the Tang Dynasty."

"But in reality, the Duke of Wei has prepared a trap large enough to bury a fifty-thousand-strong Tibetan army." Li Yifu looked at Li Chengqian and said, "If the Duke of Wei goes to Tuyuhun, Tuyuhun will probably not dare to harbor any dissent."

"It's best if they don't dare. If they do, I'll swallow up their Eastern Tuyuhun." Li Chengqian sneered and looked up, saying, "The Tang Dynasty married its princess to the Murong family, and they dared to be so indecisive. If he doesn't deserve to die, who should?"

"Yes!" Li Yifu bowed slightly.

"Let An Yan, Wei Daijia, Duan Baoxuan and the others handle Lu Dongzan's affairs." Li Chengqian looked up and said, "Even if Lu Dongzan is extremely intelligent, he still lacks sufficient manpower. Li Anyan and the others are also quite capable in this area, so they are more than enough to control him. The only thing left is Songzan... I have a feeling that Songzan won't send troops easily. He's old."

Songtsen was only thirty-two years old, but in Li Chengqian's opinion, he had a sense of decadence.

Although they had never met, this was the impression Songtsen gave.

However, an old and sick tiger can also bite people to death.

Li Chengqian always kept this in mind.

He looked down at the memorial in his hand and saw that mobilization in all aspects had already begun.

Even a lion needs all its strength to fight a rabbit, let alone a battle involving more than 100,000 people.

"Mr. Li." Li Chengqian looked up at Li Yifu.

Li Yifu bowed: "Your Majesty!"

"Your job is to keep an eye on the imperial court and the local granaries and find any discrepancies in the figures." Li Chengqian sighed softly and said, "I have just ascended the throne this year. It would be inappropriate to rashly kill people."

"Yes!" Li Yifu lowered his head with a serious expression.

...Looking at this scene, Li Chengqian smiled gently.

Li Yifu, like Li Linfu, is a man of great use.

They are especially good at monitoring finances and understanding people's hearts.

Although they will inevitably become arrogant and domineering after gaining power in the future, they are not in power yet after all.

Li Chengqian has just ascended the throne, so it is inevitable that someone will take advantage of this time to do something, including the treasury and granary.

At this time, it is not a bad thing to raise two vicious dogs to bite people.

A burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.

Immediately afterwards, the attendant Cen Changqian entered the hall and bowed to Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Majesty, news has come from the Imperial College that Princess Wencheng has just recommended Gar Qinling for admission to the Imperial College. The Imperial College's chief academic officer has asked if he should be admitted."

Li Chengqian looked at Li Yifu and said, "See? He's been hiding for the better part of a month. Now that the four scapegoats are dead, he's starting to show up and wants to study at the Imperial College. He's a smart guy, isn't he?"

"Yes!" Li Yifu bowed.

"Want to study at the Imperial College?" Li Chengqian sneered and said, "Let him go, but tell the Imperial College's chief academic to take an exam first. He'll be tested on all subjects. If he passes, his exam paper will be posted so the scholars can see the true caliber of this talented man from Tibet."

"Yes!" Cen Changqian immediately bowed, then quickly went out to convey the order.

Li Yifu retracted his gaze and looked at the emperor. He knew that the emperor did this for three reasons: first, to prevent Gar Qinling from entering the Imperial College. Therefore, the questions asked by the Imperial College would be the most difficult, and there would even be some subtle tests; second, if he passed, the emperor would use this answer sheet to distance himself from the students of the Imperial College.

Gar Qinling entered the Imperial College simply to use this method to hide himself and hinder the surveillance of the Qianniu Guards.

But once he became a prominent figure among the scholars of the Imperial College, it would be difficult for him to hide himself.

As for whether there was a third party and whether the emperor had any deeper thoughts, he didn't know.

"Alright, that's all for today." Li Chengqian glanced at the sky outside, then stood up and said, "My dear minister, you should go back and rest early. Let Xima keep a close eye on the affairs of the Imperial College."

"Yes!" Li Yifu clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "I respectfully bid farewell to Your Majesty."

Only after seeing Li Chengqian leave completely did Li Yifu feel a little relieved.

He thought about it, turned around and nodded to his colleagues who were packing up in the hall, then hurried to find Li Yanshou, the prince's groom. Li Yanshou was the most suitable person to participate in this kind of thing.

Li Chengqian walked out of Liangyi Hall, sat on the imperial sedan chair, raised his hand and said, "Go to Yiyue Hall and tell Concubine Lan that I'm going to take a bath and ask them to prepare it."

"Yes!" Xu An bowed, then hurried to the East Palace.

Li Chengqian sat on the imperial sedan chair and slowly headed towards Xianchun Gate.

He leaned sideways, closed his eyes slightly, and continued to recall various information in his mind.

……

There are red flowers in the bathing pool and the water is rippling.

Li Chengqian leaned sideways with his eyes slightly closed, and it was obvious that he looked a little tired.

Suddenly, a crashing sound was heard in front of me.

Li Chengqian gently opened his eyes, and a beautiful woman with a graceful figure swam towards him from the opposite side.

Wang Youlan came to Li Chengqian's side, gently pressed his shoulder, and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, are you tired recently?"

"I've always been like this." Li Chengqian turned slightly to glance at Wang Youlan, then poked her chin with his fingertips and asked softly, "My beloved concubine doesn't look happy. Why?"

"Your Majesty, I have been married to you for a long time, but until now, I still have no children. Is it true that I..." Wang Youlan was halfway through her words when Li Chengqian waved his hand to stop her and looked at her with amusement.

"You're just overthinking it." Li Chengqian smiled and shook his head, saying, "I'm also a beginner in medicine. There's actually nothing serious wrong with your condition. It's just because you're petite. The problem now is that you're too young. In my estimation, by the time you're twenty-three or twenty-four, another four or five years, you should be able to give birth."

In her previous life, Wang Youlan was the queen of Li Zhi, but now, she is the concubine of the crown prince Li Chengqian.

She was deposed in her previous life. Although it was a joint effort by Li Zhi and Wu Meiniang, it was actually her own fault.

She was unable to bear children in her early years, and Li Zhi deposed her before she could grow up.

"There's nothing wrong with your body. Even if you give birth to three or four children, it won't be a problem." Li Chengqian gently pinched the tip of Wang Youlan's nose.

Her expression was a little gloomy, but she suddenly smiled, her smile as bright as a flower.

"And there's nothing wrong with this. At least, you can focus more on me, and your heart won't be divided by the child." Li Chengqian hugged Wang Youlan in his arms and said, "Haven't you noticed that during this time, of all the palaces I've been to, you've been the one I've been to the most?"

"Ah!" Wang Youlan looked at Li Chengqian in sudden realization and surprise, and her eyes were filled with joy.

Li Chengqian hugged her and asked in a low voice, "By the way, has your father written to you recently?"

"Yes!" Wang Youlan nodded, then looked at Li Chengqian with some confusion and asked, "My father said that Your Majesty used my family's channels to transport a large amount of food, fodder, and military equipment to Songzhou. I don't understand why Your Majesty did this."

"The Tang Dynasty and Tubo are about to go to war, but in order to prevent Tubo from knowing that the Tang Dynasty is preparing, they are using the channels of the Taiyuan Wang family to cover it up." Li Chengqian stood up and picked up Wang Youlan.

As he walked outside, he said, "I'm telling you, Father, if there are any sons of the Wang family who want to join the army and make merit, please seize this opportunity."

"Hmm!" Wang Youlan didn't know whether she heard it or not, and her body huddled tightly into Li Chengqian's chest.

(End of this chapter)