Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 23 Su Dingfang's Famous Battle

Li Zhi was awakened from his sleep by Wang Fusheng.

This was the first time Wang Fusheng disturbed him from sleeping. This would never have happened unless something extremely important happened.

Li Zhi put on some clothes, sat up on the bed, and asked, "Fu Sheng, what happened?"

Wang Fusheng said with a serious face, "Everyone, Jin Renwen has returned. According to the news, Goguryeo is gathering a large army and preparing to attack Silla!"

Li Zhi searched his memory and the information about Jin Renwen quickly emerged in his mind.

Jin Renwen was a Silla native, or a prince of Silla, who was sent to the Tang Dynasty as a hostage.

He was a very successful hostage. He had read books on Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc., and was also good at calligraphy. He was highly regarded by the emperor and his ministers of the Tang Dynasty.

Last year, when Emperor Gaozong of Tang visited Wannian Palace, he left behind the Wannian Palace Inscription.

As a foreign prince, Jin Renwen was listed on the list of forty-eight attendants along with Zhangsun Wuji, Li Ji and others, which was an extremely honorable thing.

The reason why Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty valued Jin Renwen so much was not only because of his talent, but also because Silla was too important to the Tang Dynasty.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Goguryeo was a great enemy of the Central Plains dynasties. In terms of population, the combined number of Eastern and Western Turks was only more than two million.

Goguryeo alone had a population of more than four million, and its strength was even greater than that of the two Turkic states. This is why Emperor Taizong of Tang personally led an expedition against Goguryeo.

There were two countries to the south of Goguryeo: Baekje, which had long been Goguryeo's younger brother, and Silla, which was a vassal of the Tang Dynasty.

For Silla, without the protection of the Tang Dynasty, they would surely perish at the hands of Goguryeo, so they sent a prince as a hostage, who was Jin Renwen.

From then on, Jin Renwen stayed in the Tang Dynasty for a long time and served as a guard in the palace.

This spring, Goguryeo learned that the Tang Dynasty was planning to use military force against the Western Turks, so it joined forces with Mohe and Baekje, forming three armies to attack Silla.

Silla suffered successive defeats and lost more than 30 cities. It hurriedly sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty for help.

At that time, Emperor Gaozong of Tang had just appointed Cheng Zhijie as the commander-in-chief of the Congshan Road to fight against the Western Turks.

Although the army has not yet moved, the imperial edict has been issued and it is impossible to revoke the order.

There was a dispute in the court at that time.

Zhangsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang and others felt that the threat posed by Goguryeo was far greater than that of the Western Turks, and suggested that Cheng Zhijie stay in Shanzhou and not rush to advance.

He then appointed Li Ji as the commander-in-chief of the Pyongyang Road Army and sent troops to attack Goguryeo.

The purpose of Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang was very simple, which was to transfer Li Ji out of Chang'an to prevent him from getting in the way.

At that time, Emperor Gaozong of Tang was in a very difficult situation. Apart from Li Ji, the only general in the court who could be capable of taking on important tasks was Yuchi Gong.

However, Yuchi Gong had already closed his door to visitors. Many people said that he was too old and could not even lift a spear, so how could he lead troops?

Although the other veteran generals were barely qualified, they did not dare to offend Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang, and all of them kept their heads down.

It was at that time that Su Dingfang stepped forward and proposed a military strategy.

His strategy was simple. The Tang Dynasty would gather more than 10,000 troops in Liaodong, poke Goguryeo, and force them to withdraw and return for support.

It is naturally impossible for these more than 10,000 people to destroy Goguryeo, but the enemy may not know the strength of the Tang army. As long as a great victory is won, Goguryeo will be frightened and will withdraw its troops to save itself.

Silla's crisis was resolved.

This strategy was also very difficult, because Goguryeo had 50,000 defenders stationed on the border, and it was not easy to attack these 50,000 troops with only 10,000 troops.

Su Dingfang was also very decisive. He volunteered to lead the army to rescue Silla.

At that time, Emperor Gaozong of Tang needed someone to step forward and lead the troops in place of Li Ji, so he readily agreed.

At that time, Su Dingfang had not yet made his mark and was only a General of the Left Guard.

Emperor Gaozong of Tang appointed Cheng Mingzhen, the governor of Yingzhou, as the chief general and Su Dingfang as his deputy, but secretly issued a secret order, asking Cheng Mingzhen to obey Su Dingfang's command.

After Su Dingfang gathered 10,000 troops, he crossed the Liao River and attacked the northern city of Goguryeo, "Xincheng".

At first, the Goguryeo defenders held their ground tightly and refused to come out. Su Dingfang did not attack the city, but lined up outside the city gate and even trained his troops.

After a few days, Goguryeo reinforcements arrived and saw that the Tang army still had only more than 10,000 people, and was still brazenly training outside the city. This was intolerable.

So they took the initiative to open the city to fight.

In this battle, Su Dingfang displayed his prowess.

He ordered Cheng Mingzhen to lead the infantry to assemble in formation and confront the main force of Goguryeo head-on. He himself led only a thousand elite light cavalry to detour and attack the rear of Goguryeo.

Goguryeo sent 5,000 cavalry to intercept him, but they were defeated by Su Dingfang. Su Dingfang rushed into the rear of Goguryeo's army, charging and killing in all directions, and was invincible.

The rear formation of the Goguryeo army was in chaos, and the soldiers fled back to Xincheng.

When the news reached Pyongyang, the Goguryeo king, having indeed fallen for the trick, feared that Su Dingfang's troops were merely the vanguard, hurriedly ordered the withdrawal of the army attacking Silla. Seeing the success of his strategy, Su Dingfang reported the news to Emperor Gaozong of Tang and requested a withdrawal, to which Emperor Gaozong agreed.

In this battle, Su Dingfang not only saved Silla, but also helped Emperor Gaozong of Tang a lot.

After the war, he became a close confidant of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, was promoted to General of the Right Tunwei, was granted the title of Duke of Linqing County, and was sent under the command of Cheng Zhijie to participate in the war against the Western Turks.

When Su Dingfang led his troops to rescue Silla, Jin Renwen also went with him. He went to Silla on Su Dingfang's orders and asked the King of Silla to cooperate.

Later, when Goguryeo withdrew its troops, Jin Renwen advocated a counterattack and personally led 2,000 Silla troops to pursue them for 300 miles, achieving considerable gains.

After seeing his son's talent, King Kim Chunchu of Silla kept him in Silla and prepared to send another hostage.

On the other hand, the King of Goguryeo was extremely angry after realizing that the Tang army was just bluffing. He also heard that the Tang army had assembled and was marching towards the Western Turks.

In order to avenge the humiliation, he regrouped his army at the border and prepared to attack Silla again.

Silla had not yet recovered its strength and had no choice but to send Jin Renwen to ask the Tang Dynasty for help.

Since Liaodong is unstable, Zhangsun Wuji and others will definitely submit another memorial and send Li Ji to lead troops to rescue Silla.

Wang Fusheng had already received the news. After Jin Renwen entered Chang'an, Han Ai and Lai Ji went to Changsun Mansion overnight, definitely to discuss the matter.

He knew that if he waited until tomorrow morning to deal with the situation, it would be too late, so he had to wake up the emperor to give him time to prepare a countermeasure.

Li Zhi was also very confused at this time. According to his impression, Silla only came to ask for help once in the sixth year of Yonghui. Why did it come again?
Is it possible that the record is wrong, or that the Tang army did not provide rescue this time, so there is no record of it?
Then again.

In the eyes of the Tang Dynasty's rulers and ministers, Goguryeo might be a more powerful enemy than Tubo and Turks, but Li Zhi knew that Goguryeo was on its deathbed.

Yeon Gaesomun became the King of Goguryeo by usurping the throne and killing the regnal. He was able to maintain the Goguryeo Kingdom with his iron-fisted approach.

However, he died ten years later. As soon as he died, his two sons started fighting among themselves, and the court officials also fell apart and fought among themselves.

Only two years after Yeon Gaesomun's death, Goguryeo was destroyed by the Tang Dynasty and never revived, even surpassing Baekje.

This shows that Goguryeo had already decayed internally and was only an empty shell.

In contrast, the rising Tubo in the northwest is the opponent he really needs to pay attention to.

Thinking of this, Li Zhi made up his mind not to bother with Silla.

However, although he knew the situation in Goguryeo, the court officials did not know that there would definitely be a dispute at the court meeting tomorrow.

While he was thinking, Xu Jin put a coat on his back and said softly, "Everyone, take care of yourself and don't catch a cold."

Li Zhi patted her hands and said, "It's okay, you go to sleep first. I'll sit down and think for a while."

Xu Jin hesitated and said, “Is everyone worried about Silla’s affairs?”

Li Zhi said: "I don't really care about Silla, but I am a little upset when I think about the officials arguing about it tomorrow."

Xu Jin said "hmm" and said nothing more.

Unlike Wu Meiniang, who had a strong interest in state affairs, Xu Jin adhered to her duties and refrained from interfering in court affairs.

Li Zhi wanted to find someone to talk to and relax his thoughts. Seeing that she didn't speak, he asked, "Chongrong, what do you think about Silla's request for help?"

Xu Jin lowered her head and thought for a while, then said, "From what I heard from everyone just now, there is no need to rescue Silla?"

Li Zhi said: "Yes, even if they are captured by Goguryeo, they will not pose much threat to our Tang Dynasty."

Xu Jin lowered his head and said softly, "Are you all worried that General Changsun will use this opportunity to expel Li Sir from Chang'an?"

Li Zhi looked at her and said, "Although you usually stay in the harem, you have a clear understanding of the affairs of the court."

Xu Jin looked up at Li Zhi, her little mouth trembling slightly, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Li Zhi said: "Just speak frankly, I will forgive you."

Xu Jin said, "This method I've come up with may be able to silence those officials, but it's not a proper method. I'm afraid everyone will laugh at me if I tell them about it."

Li Zhi laughed and said, "You share my worries, how could I laugh at you?"

Xu Jin stretched out a finger and wrote four words on Li Zhi's back.

Li Zhi was stunned for a long moment, staring at her. "Chongrong, I just realized today that you've always been hiding your incompetence. In terms of intelligence and talent, you're no less intelligent than the Empress."

Xu Jin smiled and said, "I am just closer to you all. There are so many wise ministers in the court and so many talented people in the world. We still need your discerning eyes to recognize the gems."

Li Zhi praised: "You are right."

Xu Jin said softly, "Everyone, you still have to work hard tomorrow, so go to bed early."

(End of this chapter)