Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 14 Raising Preparations (2)
"Although I stay in Taiyuan and have a heavy army in my hands, the emperor's army is still in front of me, not my banished lineage. If there is a risk, it will be difficult to fight the enemy together. Therefore, if you want to make trouble, you need a strong army first. Relegation troops. Only in this way can we fight against powerful enemies from all directions and finally capture Chang'an. Now, thanks to the efforts of Shunde, Hongji, Yin Kaishan, and Duan Zhixuan, the people of the world have more than ten thousand soldiers. However, because of these The number of soldiers is too small, the training is not enough, and the most important thing is that they have no actual combat experience, so the strength is still too weak. The top priority: one is to strengthen the training of recruits, and the other is to quickly expand the force. Only in this way can we quickly Form a larger and more powerful army of your own. After I rise up, I will be invincible. On this matter, please come and discuss together. Whoever has a good opinion, please express it .”

After Li Yuan finished speaking, he looked at the crowd.Pei Ji stood up and said: "This matter really needs to be carefully considered. If you openly recruit soldiers, you must arouse the suspicion of the emperor's cronies who stay around, expose the target too early, and cause unnecessary trouble; if you don't make it public, how can you recruit soldiers? "Pei Ji said, and looked at Liu Zhenghui.

"I have a plan, but I don't know if it's feasible?" Liu Zheng smiled knowingly at Pei Ji, looked at Li Yuan and asked.

"What's the trick, tell me quickly."

"Now your majesty is thousands of miles away. Even if I have planted anti-Sui flags all over here, he may not be able to know. The reason why he can know everything about us is because he has many eyes and ears. If we make a sudden attack , his eyes and ears..."

When Liu Zhenghui said this, he wiped his neck with his hand, making a murderous gesture.

"This matter is absolutely impossible." Li Yuan said: "The emperor is not an idle person. The cronies he has placed by my side must be open and secret. It is difficult for us to kill them all. If we massacre them, even if we kill 99 people, as long as If one person exposes the net, he will be fully exposed."

"Yes, you can't act recklessly in this matter." Pei Ji agreed, "We still need to think of a better strategy."

"I think it can be like this?" Liu Wenjing, who has been listening carefully, looked at Li Yuan and said, "Since it is difficult to eliminate the traitors who stay by our side for a while, we might as well use our plan. In the name of the emperor, we will forge an edict and carry out conscription. Those traitors who know It’s the emperor’s decree, so don’t doubt it, even if you have doubts, you can only go to Dongdu secretly to find out the truth. After they clarify the situation, wouldn’t we have already completed the work here.”

"Wonderful." Although Pei Ji was not very friendly with Liu Wenjing, but out of his loyalty to Li Yuan, he couldn't help clapping his hands and praising him.

Hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help standing up and saying, "Father, I think this method is feasible. As long as we gain a certain amount of time, we have a strong army of our own. It doesn't matter if the emperor knows about it by then."

"Okay!" Li Yuan nodded, and said, "Magistrate Liu should not show his face for the time being. I will ask Tang Jian to assist you in this matter. One of you will be in the open and the other will be in the dark. The county magistrate Liu will make specific arrangements."

The next day, Tang Jian took Liu Wenjing's forged edict, saying that he would conscript men aged 20 to 50 from Taiyuan, Fenyang, Yanmen and other places to conquer Korea.In less than three days, more than 2 soldiers were recruited, and people panicked. They all scolded Emperor Sui Yang for being too bloodthirsty and completely disregarding the suffering of the people.

Seeing Li Yuan, he was secretly happy in his heart, and asked Li Shimin and others to step up training the recruits.At this moment, news came from Chang'an that Princess Pingyang was going to marry Chai Shao, and he, the father, was invited to attend the wedding.

Li Yuan's son-in-law, Chai Shao, whose name is Sichang, is from Linfen, Jinzhou.Chai Shao's grandfather, Chai Lie, was a general of Hushi in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and was granted the title of Duke of Champion County; his father, Chai Shen, was the crown prince of the Sui Dynasty, and was named Duke of Julu County.Chai Shao was born in the general family and received good training since he was a child. He not only has courage and strength, but also can restrain the strong and help the weak. He was very famous when he was young.Dou fell in love with Chai Shao at first glance before he was alive, and after discussing with Li Yuan, he arranged this marriage for his daughter.Li Yuan almost forgot about it because he was busy with his official duties.Fortunately, Chai Shao himself did not forget it. Seeing that the previous engagement date had arrived, he sent someone to tell Li Yuan that he, Chai Shao, had decided to get married in the near future when Pingyang turned 13 years old.For his daughter's wedding, Li Yuan naturally wanted to go very much.However, facing all these things now, how can Li Yuan go?Li Yuan thought about it again and again, but he couldn't do anything, so he found Li Shimin again and said:

"My son, your father should go to the important matter of your Pingyang sister's marriage. But right now, I really can't escape here, so I ask you to do it for my father and go to Chang'an."

Li Shimin has a deep relationship with Sister Pingyang and his younger brothers, and he wants to go to Chang'an from the bottom of his heart to see his younger sister, Xuanba and Yuanji.However, Shimin felt a little regretful that his father would not go to his sister's big wedding, so he looked at his father with some embarrassment.Seeing this, Li Yuan knew Shimin's heart, heaved a long sigh, and said:

"Father really wants to go, and misses the marriages of his children time and time again, even your mother's death... Sigh!"

Shimin saw that his father's eyes were red and he was about to shed tears, so he said sensiblely, "Father, don't be sad about these things. The child will obey the father's order and go to Chang'an to marry the younger sister."

After hearing this, Li Yuan nodded silently.

3
The original defenders of Jinyang were the emperor's relegation line. Although Li Yuan stayed behind, it could not affect the army's loyalty to the emperor.But now, due to Liu Wenjing's false edict to recruit troops, not only more than 2 soldiers were recruited, which angered the people and caused complaints from the army.On this day, when Wang Wei inspected the army, he found someone who publicly cursed the emperor, so he was tied up and taken to the tent where he stayed.

Li Yuan looked at the tied officer seriously.Said to Wang Wei: "If you have to go to work first, I will definitely punish you severely when I ask about the situation."

After hearing this, Wang Wei hesitated for a while and had no choice but to leave.As soon as Wang Wei left, Li Yuan asked someone to untie the officer, sighed and said:

"Go ahead, I can understand your feelings, but you must be careful in your words and deeds in the future, and don't let Wang Wei and the others know that you have returned without incident."

The officer knelt down and looked at Li Yuan gratefully. At this moment, someone came to report:

Mayi County Prime Minister Li Jing asked to see him.

After hearing this, Li Yuan waved to the officer, thinking:

"Li Jing is not in Mayi, but why did he come here suddenly? Maybe it's another Turkic attack?"

Just as he was thinking, Li Jing came in with ragged clothes and muddy water. When Li Yuan saw him, he was shocked and asked:

"Why is the governor like this?"

Seeing the question, Li Jing sighed, and told Li Yuan about the chaos that happened in Mayi.

It turned out that the school lieutenant Liu Wuzhou once went to the prefect's mansion to ask for orders, and he fell in love with one of Wang Rengong's maidservants. At that time, the two were flirting with each other.In this way, the two committed adultery many times, and finally revealed the clues.Liu Wuzhou was worried about Wang Rengong's severe punishment, so he decided to act first and rebel.He personally led dozens of soldiers, broke into the prefect's mansion, killed Wang Rengong with his own hands, and then raised the flag to revolt, claiming to be the Son of Heaven, and the country was called Dingyang.

When Li Yuan heard this, his surprise turned into joy, but he could only hold it in his heart, because he knew that Li Jing was absolutely loyal to Sui Yang Emperor.He stroked his beard, tried to calm down, thought for a while, and made up his mind: "Lord Li is tired all the way, go and rest." Li Yuan said to Li Jing: "Let me handle the matter of Mayi."

"If we send troops now, I can go to Mayi as an internal response." Li Jing suggested.

"Understood, wait for me to discuss first. If you need Master Li, I will send someone to invite you immediately."

After Li Yuan finished speaking, he looked at Li Jing politely, seeing that he was about to speak, he immediately stopped him with gestures, and then told his attendants, "Hurry up, take Master Li to rest."

Li Jing is well versed in military affairs, originally he still had many suggestions to say, but Li Yuan was like this, so he had no choice but to obey.Follow the attendant and go to the post house to rest.

After Li Jing left, Li Yuan immediately had people summon Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing and others to discuss.After introducing Mayi's situation, Li Yuan said proudly:

"I think this is a great opportunity from heaven. How much power does Liu Wuzhou have? He is a villain who is called king and emperor just after the incident. And we can use the name of crusade against Liu Wuzhou to recruit troops from all walks of life with great fanfare. , to further expand its strength."

Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing and the others were overjoyed after hearing this, and agreed that Li Yuan's analysis was accurate, and that this was indeed a god-sent opportunity to further expand his strength.After listening to everyone's opinions, Li Yuan said:

"Since this is the case, let's discuss it again and come up with a specific strategy for the second major recruitment. What I mean is: this time, we will not only recruit new soldiers, but more importantly, recruit small troops from nearby places."

As a result, everything proceeded in an orderly manner according to Li Yuan's opinion.In less than a few days, tens of thousands of people joined the army directly controlled by Li Yuan.Li Yuan was overjoyed, in Jinyang Palace, drinking and talking with Pei Ji, he didn't realize it was sunset again.Seeing that Li Yuan was happy, Pei Ji looked at him and said, "Should I call the two beauties Shuzhen and Shuhui over again, so that I can stay and have fun?"

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes when he heard this, and was about to speak when Tang Jian hurried over, met Li Yuan and said:

"Stay behind, Gao Junya has returned, he wants to see you."

"Did he come back alone, or..."

"He's the only one. I think he looks relaxed. He probably brought good news to the left behind."

"Anyway, I have to go and see you." After Li Yuan finished speaking, he stood up.

"It's really disappointing that the senior deputy stayed behind, but it's a pity..." Pei Ji said with a smile.

"The future will be long, I'll go." Li Yuan smiled boldly, nodded to Pei Ji, and quickly walked out of Jinyang Palace with Tang Jian, went to the proud son waiting outside, and soon came to Liushou Mansion.

Gao Junya and Wang Wei were waiting in front of the mansion earlier, when they saw Li Yuan, they rushed up to meet him, and said proudly:
"Trust Hong Fu to stay behind, everything will be done."

"It's all done?" Li Yuan nodded pretending to be pleasantly surprised, and said, "Thank you, please come into the mansion to talk."

The four of them entered the mansion and sat down. Gao Junya said, "Thanks to the emperor's grace, I will not be held accountable for the defeat of Mayi, and of course I will not be held accountable for the left-behind servants. He also spared Wang Rengong's death penalty and let him perform his crimes." .”

"Thanks to the emperor for his generosity, the emperor's kindness is so great!" Li Yuan said with emotion, and sighed pretentiously: "It's a pity that Wang Rengong has already become a ghost under the knife and died at the hands of one of his school guards." Already!"

"This is really a loss for us at the Sui Dynasty, and it is also Wang Rengong's misfortune." Gao Junya said.

"Why, you already know?" Li Yuan glanced at Wang Wei and asked pretending to be surprised.

"Understood, Wang Fu stayed behind and told me to listen. It's only because of benevolence and respect, that he is not blessed to enjoy the emperor's grace; he is also to blame... Sigh, why did you let a subordinate commit adultery with your maid?"

"Yeah, he is not blessed, and he is a bit self-inflicted." Li Yuan said: "I am blessed to enjoy the grace of the emperor, and I really want to thank Jun Ya for her righteous words and excuse me from guilt. I want to welcome Jun Ya to show my gratitude I mean." At this point, Li Yuan shouted: "Come here, prepare the food and wine."

After hearing this, Gao Junya smiled complacently at Wang Wei.During the dinner, Li Yuan said to Gao Junya and Wang Wei: "Now that Liu Zhouwu is rebellious and proclaimed the emperor, he is coming in a menacing way, and he intends to replace the great Sui Dynasty. We must guard against it."

"For a small military officer like him, it's really beyond his capabilities for such a small county to turn the world over." Wang Wei said angrily.

"Having said that, it's just that there are too many rebels now, and it's not easy to add him to the crusade. As important ministers of the country, we can't make any mistakes. If there are mistakes, how can we be worthy of the emperor? "

"Yeah, that's right. If there is a mistake, how can you be worthy of the emperor?" Gao Junya agreed, not daring to make up her own mind.

"I originally wanted to send troops to Mayi to wipe out Liu Wuzhou's army, but I heard that he surrendered to the Turks. Liu Wuzhou has the support of the Turks. At present, there is a shortage of major generals in Taiyuan. Mayi is not easy to win. I want to recruit some The army is also afraid that the emperor will blame us, so I would like to ask you two, how to deal with this matter?"

"I don't know what worries about staying behind?" Gao Junya asked.

"Both of you know that when the court uses troops, its actions are based on restraint. Now Mayi is rebelling, and the incident happened suddenly, hundreds of miles away. Now the emperor is thousands of miles away. What's more difficult is that the road along the way is dangerous, everywhere Anti-thief. In this serious situation, please die!"

Gao Junya heard this, and said: "The stay-at-home is a relative of the emperor and a loyal minister. Now when dealing with the rebels, you should be able to decide for yourself. After the rebels are wiped out, I will report back to the emperor."

Li Yuan was secretly happy when he heard this, and said: "The top priority is to mobilize troops vigorously, and secondly, to adjust the deployment of the army so as to wipe out the rebels."

"Everything is up to those who stay behind." Gao Junya and Wang Wei said at the same time.

Li Yuan laughed in his heart when he heard this.

3
Li Yuan waited for Gao Junya and Wang Wei to leave, and leisurely went to Jinyang Palace in arrogance. At this time, Li Shimin had returned from Chang'an, and was waiting with Liu Wenjing, Pei Ji, Changsun Shunde, Yin Kaishan and others.

"It's as one wishes." Li Yuan said, unable to restrain the joy in his heart.

"Could it be that Gao Junya and Wang Wei agreed to conscription?" Pei Ji asked.

"Not only the conscription, but also the adjustment of the deployment of the army, they have no scruples." After Li Yuan said, he laughed.When everyone saw it, they couldn't help laughing.

"Now, I'll adjust the deployment of the army: Chang Sun Shunde will be the commanding army, Liu Hongji will be the deputy commanding army, and Yin Kaishan will be the head of the Metropolitan Government..."

Li Yuan loudly announced the new appointment, and in the name of adjusting the deployment of the army, he adjusted and replaced officers at all levels in the army, and placed his cronies in the army to hold important positions.

"That's great!" After listening to Li Yuan's reading, Pei Ji slapped the table happily, and said with a smile on his face: "In this way, the power of soldiers and horses, armored staffs, military defense opportunities, recruitment and rewards, military and civilian conscripts, and so on will all be in the hands of the people. Stay in control."

"Yes, in this way, we will have a team under direct control and command." Changsun Shunde nodded in agreement.

"However, with such an adjustment arrangement, will Gao Junya and Wang Wei be suspicious?" Yin Kaishan said worriedly.

"Even if they are suspicious, we have to do this." Li Shimin said decisively: "We must have our own main force if we want to make great achievements."

"Shimin is right, this time we can't take care of a lot, the arrow is on the string, we have to shoot!" Li Yuan said.

(End of this chapter)