No matter what you say, Li Yuanji is still the fourth person of the Tang Dynasty. Among the officials of the Tang Dynasty, only Li Gang and a seventy-year-old old man like Pei Ju can deny him face. Yu Chigong is not qualified.
Qin Qiong opened her mouth and wanted to defend Yuchi Gong, but when the words came to her lips, she did not say them out.
After all, it was Yuchi Gong who was the first to be rude, and he could not blame Li Yuanji for being the last to be ruthless.
Wu Heita looked at Qin Qiong with a bitter face and said: "Uncle Bao, let's find a way to help brother Yuchi regain his dignity. Otherwise, brother Yuchi will never be a good person in the future, and we will have to be scolded too."
When Yuchi Gong was rude to Li Yuanji, he and Niu Jinda watched from the side, but failed to stop him in time. If the censors found out, they would definitely scold them for being the same as Yuchi Gong.
Yuchi Gong has been turned into an unfaithful and unjust person by Li Yuanji. They are the same as Yuchi Gong, wouldn't they also become unfaithful and unjust people?
You can't bear the name of disloyalty and unrighteousness. If you carry it, you won't be able to get along in the Tang Dynasty.
Qin Qiong's face was solemn, "What can we do..."
Li Yuanji has firmly placed this title on Yuchi Gong's head, and the people have also fled. They are still on the battlefield, still holding the command order in their hands. Before the command order is handed over, they cannot be like him.
Just like Li Yuanji, he left the battlefield casually.
Niu Jinda sighed and said, "Why don't you report this matter to His Highness and ask His Highness to make a decision?"
Qin Qiong and Wu Heitai looked at each other.
Wu Heitai said helplessly: "As of now, this is the only way it can be."
Li Yuanji was infinitely superior to them in terms of status, and he easily defeated Yu Chigong in terms of martial arts. They were no match for him.
In the past, they could rely on their martial arts skills to be better than Li Yuanji and exchange a few words with Li Yuanji.
Now they are no longer qualified to talk to Li Yuanji on an equal footing, so they can only ask Li Shimin to come forward.
Qin Qiong waved to Buqu and gave Buqu a few instructions. Buqu then mounted his horse and ran towards Li Shimin's location.
…
Li Yuanji rode his horse and ran a hundred feet away. The cool and unrestrained energy in his body was gone, and was replaced by a look of sadness on his face.
"Can you say that again?"
Li Yuanji looked at Su Dingfang who was holding the horse for him and asked in disbelief.
Su Dingfang said in a deep voice: "In this battle at Mingshui City, His Highness's bodyguards injured more than a hundred people, the soldiers of the Second Tongjun Mansion on the left suffered 800 injuries, and almost all the soldiers and horses of Shaanzhou were buried in Mingshui City."
Li Yuanji felt like his heart had been stabbed by a knife. While watching the battle, he guessed that his soldiers had suffered heavy losses, and he was mentally prepared to injure half of his soldiers.
But Su Dingfang now told him that the battle damage exceeded half, and he would be unable to bear it for a while.
"How come there are so many injuries?"
Li Yuanji asked heartbrokenly.
Su Dingfang told Li Yuanji about the situation in Mingshui City with a grimace.
Although there are more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in Mingshui City, the only ones participating in the battle are the more than 100 Buqu in the hands of Luo Shixin, the 1,000 Tang soldiers left by Wang Junkuo, and the 4,500 soldiers led by Su Dingfang and Qu Tutong.
Hundreds of people.
Luo Shi couldn't believe Li Quluo's troops, but Su Dingfang and Qu Tutong couldn't believe it.
None of the Tang soldiers dared to hand over their backs to them.
Therefore, Luo Shixin confiscated their weapons and allowed them to act as civilian husbands without allowing them to participate in the war.
The 4,500 men led by Su Dingfang and Qu Tutong were the main force in resisting Liu Heita's siege, so the battle losses were naturally high.
After all, Liu Heitai was leading tens of thousands of people to attack the city, including many brave generals such as Luo Shixin, Su Dingfang, and Qu Tutong. They only had a few thousand soldiers in their hands. To defend Mingshui City, they would definitely have to pay a huge price.
"Wang Junkuo deserves death!"
After Li Yuanji heard what Su Dingfang said, he cursed loudly.
If it weren't for Wang Junkuo, the cheater, who failed to perform his duties and clean up the hidden men under Li Quluo, the soldiers under him would not have suffered so many injuries.
"Go to someone, tell Qu Tutong, and ask him to report the details of this matter to the commander's account as soon as possible!"
Wang Junkuo must give an explanation for this matter.
If he doesn't give an explanation, he will never give up.
"Is there anyone deliberately trying to harm our people?"
After Li Yuanji ordered someone to send a message to Qu Tutong, he stared at Su Dingfang and asked again.
Su Dingfang shook his head without hesitation, "No one deliberately harmed our people. The brothers under Shixin have always stood in front of our people. Whenever we encounter a fatal crisis, they are also the first to go."
Mentioning the brother under Luo Shixin's command, Su Dingfang's face showed a hint of respect.
Those are truly a group of loving and righteous brothers.
He and Qu Tutong led people to Mingshui City just to save them.
But at critical moments, they always rush to the front and block the enemy's fatal blow for the brothers in Prince Qi's Mansion.
The brothers in Prince Qi's mansion risked their lives to save each other, and they also risked their lives to repay each other.
"I'm asking...Li Quluo!"
Li Yuanji gritted his teeth and said.
Of course he would not doubt that Luo Shixin and his brothers would harm his people. What he suspected was Li Quluo, the surrendered general.
If Li Quhuo had tricked his people, he would rush into Mingshui City and chop off Li Quhuo's dog's head right now.
Su Dingfang was stunned for a moment, thought for a moment, and shook his head slightly, "Li Quluo always kept his peace during the war, and there were no more traitors under his command."
Li Yuanji snorted coldly, "Death penalty can be avoided, but living crime cannot be avoided. When the war came, there was a traitor under his hands, but he did not notice it in time, and he was guilty of negligence.
After entering Mingshui City, he confiscated his military power."
After Li Yuanji said this, he led Su Dingfang and his party into Mingshui City.
Houses all over Mingshui City were damaged by huge rocks, and some houses were burned into broken eaves and broken walls.
Soldiers wearing leather armor were walking through every street in Mingshui City, collecting the corpses scattered everywhere.
On the school grounds in the city.
It was densely packed with corpses of Tang Dynasty soldiers.
Qu Tutong stood beside the corpses of the soldiers with a sad look on his face. From time to time, he would remind the military officials and write down in the book how many enemies the soldier killed, how brave he was in battle, etc.
Qu Tutong brought them into Mingshui City, but there was no way to take them out alive, so he had to have their achievements recorded in detail in the hope that the court would give more rewards to their family members.
Some of the heads he captured were also distributed to the soldiers quietly by him.
After Li Yuanji arrived on horseback, Qu Tutong hurried forward to greet him, knelt on one knee in front of Li Yuanji, and said with a guilty look on his face: "I am ashamed of myself, Your Highness..."
Li Yuanji believed in him and gave him 4,500 subordinates, but he lost more than half of the 4,500 people. He felt guilty.
Although injuries are common on the battlefield, these 4,500 people are Li Yuanji's subordinates, not his subordinate troops, nor are they soldiers and horses sent to him by the commander.
He had to give Li Yuanji an explanation anyway.
Li Yuanji looked at the corpses scattered all over the school grounds, feeling a faint pain in his heart.
A few days ago, they were still big and lively people, galloping behind him on horseback. Some of them would lick their faces and say a few witticisms to him when he was patrolling.
A few days later, they turned into corpses...
"Get up, I don't blame you."
Li Yuanji said quietly to Qu Tutong, jumped off the horse and walked towards the school grounds.
He personally looked at the appearance of each soldier and took back the iron tags they wore. When he met Shaanzhou soldiers who did not wear iron tags, he would also order the clerk to prepare a separate booklet to record the birth and death dates of the Shaanzhou soldiers.
The sacrifices, characteristics, place of residence, meritorious deeds, etc. are recorded in the book.
It was because of his order that they set foot on the battlefield of Mingshui City and died in Mingshui City.
If it weren't for him, they might not have appeared on the battlefield in Mingshui City.
So he had to remember everything about them and treat their family members kindly.
"Your Majesty... Your Highness..."
In the evening, Li Yuanji helped the last soldier tidy up his appearance, and Qu Tutong hesitantly approached Li Yuanji.
Li Yuanji nodded, and before Qu Tutong could speak again, he greeted: "Su Dingfang?"
Su Dingfang hurried forward.
Li Yuanji ordered, "Bury them in a high tomb and set up a stele and seal script so that they can pay tribute in the future."
Su Dingfang solemnly said: "Here!"
Li Yuanji looked at the clerk behind him again and ordered: "Report their achievements to the commander-in-chief and ask the commander-in-chief to express their merit for them."
The clerk hurriedly bowed and responded, "Here!"
Li Yuanji sent people to Luoyang, Shaanzhou, and Chang'an to allocate some land as compensation for the soldiers who died in the battle.
He asked for some land for his soldiers who died in the battle, but the Luoyang order, the governor of Shaanxi Province, and the officials of Chang'an did not dare to hinder him.
The Tang Dynasty does not lack land now, it only lacks population.
Therefore, the Luoyang order, the governor of Shaanxi Province, and the officials of Chang'an would not stumble or offend him with this kind of thing.
After Li Yuanji finished explaining everything, he looked at Qu Tutong.
Qu Tutong hurriedly said: "The commander-in-chief has captured Wang Junkuo's troops and demoted Li Quhuo's position."
Li Yuanji frowned, "Shuai Zhang's movements are quite fast."
Qu Tutong grimaced and said nothing.
Don't you dare hurry up?
Li Yuanji stayed in Mingshui City without saying a word for most of the day. Everyone could see that Li Yuanji was very angry.
If Wang Junkuo and Li Quhuo were not dealt with quickly, Li Yuanji would get angry and he didn't know what earth-shattering things he would do.
Before that, Li Yuanji burned down the Luoyang granary in a rage.
Although it only burned an empty granary, it also scared many people.
People who don’t know the inside story still look distressed when mentioning this matter.
"It's easier for them..."
Li Yuanji sighed quietly.
While he was arranging the appearance of the soldiers who died in the battle, the anger in his heart slowly rose. He thought about killing Wang Junkuo and Li Quluo several times, but he finally suppressed it.
The commander-in-chief has already dealt with Wang Junkuo and Li Quluo, so it's not easy for him to go and kill people again.
…
…
[PS: I’ll update one chapter first. Don’t ask why it’s updated so early. I’m just asking for Xiao Rong’s wedding ceremony...]