Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 153: This is to seize the prince's military power! [Seeking monthly votes]

How powerful was Li Shimin’s Black Armor Army?
Three thousand against one hundred thousand, the advantage is on his side!

When fighting Dou Jiande at Hulao Pass, he led 3,000 black-armored soldiers and quickly penetrated into Dou Jiande's army of 100,000, and went straight to Dou Jiande's central military tent.

For a moment, Dou Jiande's army was in chaos.

Not long after, the Xuanjia Army captured Dou Jiande alive with their sophisticated weapons, tacit coordination, and superb individual combat capabilities.

Then, the Xuanjia Army, led by Dou Jiande, quickly counterattacked Wang Shichong in Luoyang City.

When Wang Shichong saw Dou Jiande in the prison car, he knew that he could not resist Li Shimin who had the Black Armor Army by relying on his own strength, so he chose to surrender after weighing the pros and cons.

It can be said that Li Shimin’s ability to unify the world was inseparable from the powerful combat capability of the Xuanjia Army.

But it was such an elite army among the elite, and his own son also had one. How could Li Shimin not be shocked?

If his son was not only nine years old, he would have suspected that his son wanted to make him the emperor!

You should know that the Black Armor Army in Li Shimin's hands can be traced back to the time when Li Yuan was the Right Guard in the Sui Dynasty.

The Turks were very powerful at that time. In order to defeat the Turkish cavalry, Li Yuan selected two thousand soldiers from the elite of the Tang army, trained them strictly, and formed a light cavalry that was no less powerful than the Turkish cavalry.

Later, in order to improve the combat effectiveness of this light cavalry, Li Yuan improved them into the armored cavalry equipment popular during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

That is the so-called 'heavy cavalry'.

However, compared with the heavy cavalry of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the heavy cavalry of the Sui and Tang Dynasties were more advanced. They used Ming Guang iron armor with more sophisticated craftsmanship and lighter weight.

This is the prototype of the Black Armor Army.

When Li Shimin took over the army, he carried out a comprehensive transformation.

First, they selected Hu people with better riding and shooting skills from the elite cavalry of Yuchi Gong, Qin Qiong and others, and mixed them with Hu and Han people.

The second is to invest a lot of money to optimize the armor.

For example, use a helmet to protect the head and neck, and roll up the sides to protect the ears.

The breastplate is divided into two parts, with a longitudinal armor strap in the middle and round guards on the left and right to protect the chest cavity.

The shoulders are covered with shoulder guards and the arms are put on arm guards.

Tie a belt around the waist and use a knee-length skirt to protect the thighs.

The almost blind-angle defense allowed the army to move freely in the rain of arrows.

For example, a Hu Luli can carry thirty arrows and is equipped with a horse crossbow with a range of up to two hundred steps.

In addition, they are equipped with lacquer guns and ring-handled swords, allowing them to fight with a combination of long-range and short-range weapons.

This is how the Black Armor Army, which was famous in the Sui and Tang dynasties, was formed.

It can be seen from this that building a Black Armor Army not only requires huge manpower, material resources, and financial resources, but also a lot of time and energy.

As a result, you said that someone built a heavy cavalry that looked like the Black Armor Army in less than a year.

Not to mention Li Shimin, even Li Jing, Li Ji, Yuchi Gong, Hou Junji, Qin Qiong and others were so shocked that they were speechless.

After a while, Li Shimin finally recovered from his shock. He turned to look at the Li family official and asked sharply, "Do you know the consequences of deceiving the emperor?"

"Your Majesty, I know the consequences of deceiving the emperor, so I will never lie!"

The Li family official's expression became serious: "If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can send someone to investigate!"

"it is good!"

Li Shimin agreed immediately: "Come here, I want to know everything about the prince within half an hour!"

"promise!"

Someone outside the hall responded and was about to go investigate.

At this moment, Wei Zheng stepped forward again and said, "Your Majesty, what is your intention? Even if the Crown Prince has his own guard, it doesn't seem to matter, right? Besides, the Crown Prince should have the Six Commanders of the Eastern Palace!"

"Wei Zheng!"

Li Shimin glanced at him coldly. "I have not allowed him to interfere in local military affairs. His six generals are in Chang'an, not in Jiangling! You must make this clear to me!"

"It should be His Majesty who is confused!"

"What did you say?!"

Li Shimin stood up from his seat immediately.

The ministers were in an uproar, thinking, "How dare Wei Zheng speak to His Majesty like that?"
You should know that the king's tolerance is limited. It doesn't mean that you can go against the king in everything.

Once you touch the king's bottom line, no matter how good or loyal you are, you will still have to die.

However, Wei Zheng remained unfazed and said, "If I remember correctly, Your Majesty previously allowed the Crown Prince to select his own officials in front of the entire court. So, why not let the Crown Prince choose one of his own six officials?"

"you!"

Li Shimin really wanted to say that he had withdrawn Li Chengqian's power, but he could not go back on his word in front of all the civil and military officials in the court, so he was choked.

However, he quickly realized: "Even if the Crown Prince wants to use his own six generals, he shouldn't use the local army!"

"That's the imperial army! He doesn't have the authority! I didn't give him that authority!"

"However, there is no evidence to prove that the six generals of the Eastern Palace selected by the Crown Prince are the imperial court's army!"

"Ah!"

Li Shimin was so angry that he laughed, but he still said word by word: "That's why I sent people to investigate this matter. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"I didn't say Your Majesty did anything wrong, but I don't think an investigation is necessary!"

"why?"

"Because the Crown Prince will return sooner or later, and then everything will be revealed. Why should Your Majesty bother with this?"

Wei Zheng said calmly, "What's more, according to Tang Dynasty law, a son using his father's army is only punishable by flogging. Your Majesty, making such a fuss over nothing is truly unbecoming of an emperor!"

I rub!

When Li Shimin heard Wei Zheng's words, he was so angry that his blood pressure almost exploded.

He never expected that Wei Zheng would mock him for being stingy. However, this was not the most important thing. The most important thing was that Wei Zheng actually talked to him about the law.

You have to know that this is the imperial court, and almost all the ministers who understand the law are here, so it is not Wei Zheng's turn to explain the law to him.

So, he set his sights directly on Dai Zhou, the Minister of the Dali Temple, hoping that Dai Zhou would stand up and slap Wei Zheng in the face.

Dai Zhou looked at Wei Zheng with a complicated expression, then nodded silently.

The meaning is very clear, what Wei Zheng said about the "Great Tang Code" is true.

The point is, as a loyal minister, why do you have nothing to do but study the laws of the Tang Dynasty?
Is this your area of ​​expertise?!

Fang Xuanling lowered his head silently, his face full of embarrassment.

Because last time Wei Zheng said that his "equal-field military system" was illegal, he also mocked Wei Zheng for knowing nothing.

Now, Wei Zheng explained the "Laws of the Great Tang Dynasty" in such a way that even Dai Zhou nodded in agreement, which was enough to show that he was really capable and not just a mere troll.

This time, the entire court was speechless and silent. Even Li Shimin had nothing to say.

However, Wei Zheng didn't finish his words: "In fact, the relationship between father and son has always been unclear. As long as what the Crown Prince does is in the interests of the Tang Dynasty and in accordance with the laws of the country, I think Your Majesty should support the Crown Prince!"

"What's more, the prince is only nine years old!"

Having said this, he looked around at the ministers and continued, "May I ask you, ministers, in all dynasties, is there any nine-year-old prince who can compare with the prince of the Tang Dynasty?"

Upon hearing this, the ministers looked at each other in bewilderment.

Yet no one dared to stand up and refute Wei Zheng. At this moment, Hou Junji suddenly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I think that, regardless of the Crown Prince's meddling in local military affairs, the method he has mastered for rapidly training troops is a truly great boon for the Tang Dynasty!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! If my army, Old Cheng, had the prince's training methods, its combat effectiveness would definitely double!"

"Yes, me too!"

"Your Majesty! Call the prince back quickly!"

"His Majesty."

Li Shimin was somewhat tempted by the generals' praise for Li Chengqian's training methods. However, when he thought of Li Chengqian possessing an army comparable to his own, he became uncomfortable. He interrupted the generals angrily, "Enough! What are you all doing here? You are all generals of the Tang Dynasty. Don't you know how to train soldiers?"

After saying this, he simply announced "dismissal" and strode out of the Taiji Hall.

Shortly after leaving Taiji Hall, he summoned Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Li Jing, Tang Jian and others to Ganlu Hall.

But he said solemnly, "What do you think about the Crown Prince's affairs?"

"This"

Everyone looked at each other, and then Fang Xuanling spoke first, "Your Majesty, I also think that Wei Zheng is right. As long as what the Crown Prince does is in the interests of the Tang Dynasty and does not violate the laws of the Tang Dynasty, the court should not interfere."

"Yes, Your Majesty, if the prince really has a quick and effective method of training troops, it will be very beneficial to our Tang Dynasty, and may even help our Tang Dynasty destroy the Eastern Turks!" Du Ruhui echoed.

Li Shimin frowned slightly, but did not express his opinion. Instead, he turned to look at Li Jing and said, "General Li, do you think so too?"

"No, I don't care about what the prince did. I am wondering why the Turkic reinforcements haven't arrived yet when the Liang army is almost destroying the country?"

Li Jing shook his head, then said thoughtfully, "Based on the distance they've traveled, the Turkic reinforcements should have arrived long ago. Did something go wrong?"

"This"

Li Shimin hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at Tang Jian: "Is there any new news from the Turkic side?"

"Your Majesty, I originally wanted to report this to Your Majesty in the court, but now is the perfect time. In fact, I just received the news last night that Tuli Khan and the chief of Mohui have formed an alliance!" Tang Jian said hurriedly.

Li Shimin and others were slightly surprised.

But Fang Xuanling said, "Even if Tuli and Mohui form an alliance, they are no match for Jieli. If they do this, aren't they courting their own destruction?"

"You, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, don't know that Jie Li is now deserted by his friends and relatives. He adopted Zhao Deyan's suggestion and wanted to carry out some kind of ethnic integration on the grassland. Not only did he alienate the Turkic tribes, but he also caused complaints from other tribes and constant fighting. Many tribes began to betray him and disobeyed his orders!" Tang Jian said with a bit of a smile.

Li Shimin and others looked strange.

Is this Jie Li crazy?
The great ethnic integration of the Central Plains dynasty, could it be transplanted just like that?

If you don't bring any visible benefits, why should you ask others to change their customs?

You know, what did Tuoba Gui rely on to thoroughly implement the "dispersal of the tribes" and complete the foundation of the empire?
It’s because of the population and wealth dividend after the destruction of Yan!

Even so, there are plenty of power struggles internally.

It is not so easy to transform from a grassland tribe to an imperial dictatorship in the Central Plains. It requires generation after generation and step by step.

Jie Li inherited the throne from his brother Chuluo, and Chuluo inherited the throne from their brother Shibi. This "brother-to-brother" way of passing on the throne cannot be easily changed.

What’s more, the imperial system of the Central Plains dynasty.

In order to pass the throne to his descendants, Tuoba Gui put in a lot of thought. He planned to make the throne to his son after the mother died, and he also planned to pass the throne to the prince early and become the emperor himself.

Even so, there was still considerable turmoil in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

What's more, the Turks were already experiencing declining national strength and had been suffering from successive snowstorms.

If Jie Li carried out reforms at this time, it would be tantamount to seeking his own death.

It is true that one dares to suggest and the other dares to listen.

"Does that mean we can fight the Turks now?" Li Jing couldn't help but ask.

Li Shimin and others also set their sights on Tang Jian.

Tang Jian then added, "Although the Turks were in chaos because of Jie Li's reforms, those who betrayed Jie Li were all small tribes. These tribes combined were no match for Jie Li, so Jie Li simply ignored them and continued to carry out reforms!"

"Moreover, according to my deduction, Jie Li should be using the opportunity of aiding Liang Shidu to challenge the Tang Dynasty and thus intimidate those large tribes that harbor disloyal intentions!"

"As long as the big tribes don't betray him, the small tribes won't be a concern!"

"Well, that makes sense!"

Li Shimin nodded and said, "Given Jie Li's personality, it seems he would do that."

"So, in this battle where Jie Li aids Liang Shidu, we can only win and not lose?" Li Jing asked eagerly.

Li Shimin glanced at him and said with amusement, "Do you really want to go to the battlefield?"

"No, I have stayed in Chang'an long enough. Moreover, as long as the Turks are not defeated, I will always be worried about this matter. I can't eat or sleep well. Your Majesty, please let me go!"

As he spoke, Li Jing couldn't help but reveal a pleading expression. "I'm almost sixty, and I don't have many years left to live. Your Majesty wouldn't want me to live with regrets, would you?"

"Uh,"

Li Shimin's mouth twitched, thinking to himself what the hell is this? I destroyed the Turks and still regretted it for the rest of my life. Do you really think I'm an incompetent king?

However, after thinking carefully for a moment, Li Shimin finally did not agree to Li Jing.

Because he had other plans for Li Jing.

But he laughed and said jokingly: "With General Li's ability, the Turkic reinforcements are a waste of talent, aren't they?"

"But."

"Hey, General Li, please listen to what I have to say!"

Before Li Jing could argue, Li Shimin waved his hand to interrupt him and continued, "Since chaos has already occurred within the Turkic people, we might as well put some pressure on Jie Li and let the other tribes on the grassland see the attitude of the Tang Dynasty!"

"What does your majesty mean?"

"I plan to send you to garrison in Mayi County!"

"what?"

Li Jing was startled at first, but then his face turned happy: "Okay! I'm willing to go!"

You know, Mayi County is right next to the Great Wall. As long as there is any big movement on the grassland, he can send troops to the grassland at any time.

This actually gave him the power to destroy the Turks in disguise.

However, Fang Xuanling and others were a little worried when they heard Li Shimin's decision.

Fang Xuanling frowned and said, "Your Majesty's sudden deployment of troops to Mayi County will change Jie Li's plan, causing him to abandon his aid to Liang Shidu and instead declare war on us?"

"After all, this is tantamount to a provocation to him. Besides, we are not ready for a full-scale war with the Turks!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, this move is a bit reckless. It would be better to wait until the Turkic people become more chaotic."

Tang Jian also said with some disapproval: "Or, wait for Tuli and the others to surrender to the Tang Dynasty?"

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Okay, I have my own plans for this matter, so you don't need to say anything more!"

Before Li Jing could finish his words, Li Shimin interrupted him without question and said to Du Ruhui, "My dear Du, I order you, in the name of the Ministry of War, to transfer the troops from Jingzhou to garrison in Mayi County!"

"what?"

Du Ruhui was startled and turned to look at Fang Xuanling and others.

In just a moment, they understood Li Shimin's tricks.

This is to seize the prince's military power! !
　[Please give me a monthly ticket, please give me a monthly ticket, please give me more when the number reaches 1000]

　　
　
(End of this chapter)