The Holy Master of the Tang Dynasty sat on the imperial steps, with a majestic face and cold eyes, showing the aura of seeing through everything.
In the main hall, civil and military officials stood on both sides, and the whole place was silent and somewhat depressing.
A civil servant suddenly stepped out from the crowd and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I have something to say and write to you."
"allow!"
The civil servant continued: "Thank you, Your Majesty. General Qin Li of Dingyuan has led his army on an expedition. It has been more than two months since then, and the Ministry of War has not received any news. Is it that the war has been defeated and that we are hiding and afraid to face it? There have been rumors circulating around Dingyuan recently.
Some of the generals who were defeated said that General Dingyuan was uneducated and could only talk nonsense, and some even said that General Dingyuan had lost his own strength by relying on his troops. They also asked the Holy One to speak clearly, to put an end to the rumor, and to bring about righteousness."
Li Er narrowed his eyes, looked at the other person calmly, and did not answer.
Not taking a stand is also an attitude.
The civil servant seemed to be encouraged and continued: "Your Majesty, I have no prejudice against General Dingyuan. I am just monitoring the public sentiment and finding abnormalities, so I have to report it. So far, there has been no news about General Dingyuan. Let's not say whether
If you are defeated but do not write a letter, it is disrespectful to the imperial court. Please ask the Holy Spirit for a clear warning!"
After saying that, the other party returned to the train.
No one from the general group came out to speak, and everyone was silent, which was very unusual.
The whole place fell silent again, and a strange atmosphere filled the air.
Many people in the civil service group secretly exchanged glances. The new Minister of Household Affairs hesitated for a moment, then came out and said: "Your Majesty, I think this trend will not last forever. Regardless of defeat or victory, General Dingyuan should not leave it in writing.
It worries the Holy One, worries the court, and worries Erlang’s family when he goes to war. If you don’t follow the rules, you won’t be able to achieve success.”
"Hou Aiqing, what do you think?" Li Er asked calmly.
Hou Junji, the Minister of the Ministry of War, came out and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has its own rules. If everyone follows them, the work of the Ministry of War will be difficult to operate. I think this example is unacceptable. I have also led troops and know how difficult it is on the front line, but no matter how difficult it is,
We can't fail to report it, leaving the court unable to judge and causing more mistakes."
"I second the proposal!" Many civil servants came out to express their support.
How could Li Er be so shrewd that he couldn't see that this was a conspiracy, and wanted to use "not repaying" to bring down Qin Huaida, but his words were reasonable, and Li Er could not stop the crowd, so he looked meaningfully at the prince Li Chengqian.
: "Prince, what do you mean?"
"Going back to my father, I thought that it was disrespectful to not hear a single word for more than two months. No matter how difficult or painful it was, I should come back with news. Even if I lost the battle, I would not repay it. I was worried that there was something else behind it.
"Li Chengqian didn't speak quickly and looked a little perfunctory, but the words he said were heart-wrenching.
What does it mean to have something else?
It doesn't matter if there are rumors among the people in the neighborhood to support the army and support one's own independence, but as a prince, it is inappropriate to make insinuations.
The general group was no longer silent and looked at Li Chengqian one after another, with a different color in their eyes. Li Jing hesitated for a moment, but still did not defend himself and signaled to others not to act rashly.
At this time, the more you talk, the more passive you become.
A flash of disappointment flashed in Li Er's eyes. The dignified prince and prince actually openly doubted his ministers, letting people see what he was thinking. He didn't even have a basic city. Is this the way to be a king?
With the support of the prince, the civil servant group became more excited and seconded the proposal one after another.
Public opinion in the court meeting was one-sided, and there was a strong momentum that they would not give up until they were dismissed and held accountable.
Qin Huaidao's refusal to report really made Li Er passive, and his face became increasingly deserted. Just as he was about to use the dragging technique to suppress it, there was a faint shrill shout from outside, like an out-of-tune response to excitement. During the court meeting, no one outside was supposed to dare to make any noise.
Yes, unless there is an urgent military situation in Eight Hundred Miles.
Thinking of the military situation, Li Er suppressed his thoughts and planned to wait and see.
Soon, the sounds outside became much closer, and he could faintly hear the words "Great Victory", but it was not very clear. Li Er's heart moved and he pricked up his ears.
The courtiers also heard the commotion outside, and the censor was about to jump out to impeach and disrupt the court meeting. Suddenly he heard the word "Great Victory" and forced himself to go back.
The North Korean meeting must not be disturbed, except for emergency military situations.
Because the sound was closer, everyone heard "Great Victory" and looked at each other. The Tang Dynasty was recovering and recuperating. Where did the great victory come from? Could it be... Thinking of some possibility, everyone felt as sick as if they had eaten flies. Just now they were still impeaching and refused to report.
A big victory came out of nowhere?
Prince Li Chengqian also changed his face and became panicked.
If it were a great victory, what I just said would become a laughing stock.
Li Er saw Li Chengqian's panic expression and became more and more disappointed. As a king, if your ministers can see that your thoughts are wrong, it is not the behavior of a prince to be flustered and happy when something happens. But after all, he is his son and the prince. He cannot point it out in public and look at him.
Wang De, Wang De hurried out of the hall knowingly.
Soon Wang De returned and led a messenger in with a small yellow flag on his body. The messenger ran with a gray face, his eyes were bloodshot, but his eyes were exceptionally bright. He held a box in his hand, wrapped in brocade, and shouted hoarsely.
: "Your Majesty, great victory, great victory in Yingzhou."
"Yingzhou, hurry up, bring the good news." Li Eryi heard that it was indeed Yingzhou and stood up excitedly. Although flying pigeons often sent messages, they only said a few words and no details. The battle situation was all based on speculation. He couldn't wait any longer.
When he saw the messenger standing unsteadily and with chapped lips, he added: "Someone, bring my ginseng soup to this strong man."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace." The messenger was overjoyed. Nothing in the ginseng soup was important. This grace could last a lifetime.
Soon, Wang De took the box over, opened the brocade cloth wrapped outside, and then opened the lid. However, there was no mechanism or anything inside that would hurt the Holy One. Seeing that it was indeed a letter, he didn't dare to take it out to read, so he hurriedly handed it over.
Li Er picked up the letter and read it. There were two letters inside, one signed Xue Wanshu and the other signed Qin Huaidao. He quickly read Qin Huaidao's letter first, almost at a glance, and quickly read the content. There was a huge wave in his heart, thinking that he
If you read it wrong, watch it again.
This time Li Er read it very carefully and did not miss any word. After confirming that he had read the above content correctly, he was ecstatic: "Hahaha, good, he is indeed my strong general. Didn't you say that General Dingyuan will not retaliate?"
De, Nian, let everyone listen."
The generals were relieved when they heard the praise, knowing that it was a real victory, wouldn't their own sons benefit from it?
Thinking of this, the generals looked excitedly at Wang De and the civil servants, especially those who came out to impeach, with pale faces and lowered their heads in silence.
Wang De took the letter and read aloud: "Your Majesty, I am here to worship you in Yingzhou. The road has been blocked by heavy snow, and it is difficult for the troops and horses to move forward. It is difficult to report. I beg your Majesty to punish me. Since I led the army, I have thought about the grace of God all the time.
Not daring to live up to the great trust, he led his army to sneak attack on the Xiwandan tribe after entering the territory of Yingzhou, killing more than a thousand enemies and capturing countless enemies. After returning to Yingzhou, he poured water into ice to build a city, strengthened the defense, and repelled the Goguryeo invading army, killing more than 2,000 enemies.
, the enemy army could not attack for a long time, so they changed the siege. I led three brothers of the Cheng family, two brothers of Yuchi, Fang Yiai, Luo Zhang, Li Yixie and Li Desjian to sneak out of Yingzhou overnight, braved the snow to attack thousands of miles, and sneaked into Liaodong City at night.
We burned down hundreds of thousands of stones of grain, forcing the invading enemy army to be short of food and unable to attack our city of Datang. We successfully returned to Yingzhou without any casualties."
After reading this, Wang De deliberately paused and looked at the group of generals.
The parents whose names were read out burst into smiles. They actually penetrated into Liaodong City and burned hundreds of thousands of grains of food. What a great achievement is this?
Li Jing was also happy for his son. With this contribution, he would be able to get an official position after returning. Thinking of food and grass, many unknown things in his heart suddenly became clear at this moment. No wonder a hundred thousand enemy troops were clearly going south, but they were not in a hurry to attack Pingzhou.
It turned out that he was in a hurry to raise food everywhere.
Wang De's sharp voice sounded again: "I learned from the governor of Yingzhou that 50,000 enemy troops went deep into Khitan for food two days ago. It happened that a heavy snowstorm fell, the mountains and roads were closed, and it was difficult to move. So I made sleds and taught the army to walk on the snow.
Then he pursued the Khitan territory and killed 50,000 Goguryeo enemy troops without catching any of them. He then entered the Hedahe tribe and captured their tribe. They cleared the snow and dug the passage for five days. With the blessing of the Holy One, the whole army returned safely.
Yingzhou.”
"Fifty thousand, all destroyed?"
There was an uproar in the main hall, and everyone looked incredulous. Some people wanted to question it, but no one dared to deceive the eight-hundred-mile expedited news, unless all the nine tribes were tired of living.
The generals were envious of him, it was a great achievement.
The Dukes, who were accompanied by their sons, especially Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong, laughed so hard that the corners of their mouths opened.
Wang De continued to read: "After returning to Yingzhou, I asked Ke Dun to choose his cronies to contact the Khan. Five days later, I led an army to ambush the snowy plains, attacked the incoming Khitan army, killed nearly 30,000 people, and captured the Khan and his clan.
Lao waited for the Khitan high-level officials to seize countless goods, rescued more than 50,000 Xi people, and obtained a letter of alliance between the Khitan and Goguryeo, signed by the head of the Taiyuan Wang clan. According to the confession of the Khitan Khan, the Taiyuan Wang clan brokered an alliance between the two parties, carving up the vast territory along the way.
In the Tang Dynasty, the alliance letter was so important that I was worried about something happening on the road, so I didn’t dare to hand it over to the messenger, so I asked the Holy One to look into it.”
"Thirty thousand again?"
"A letter of alliance?"
"It was actually the Taiyuan Wang family who prompted it?"
Cheng Yaojin already knew this, but he took the opportunity to apply eye drops and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, please lead an army to Taiyuan and capture all the Wang clan members."
Yuchi Gong also came out and said: "Your Majesty, the Wang family of Taiyuan is rebelling. I ask your Majesty to issue an order to capture all the members of the Wang family who are officials in the court and the officials recommended and supported by the Wang family."
"Plop, plop!"
Countless members of the Wang clan collapsed to the ground. Even the officials recommended and supported by the Wang clan felt dizzy and fell down one after another. Some people crawled forward while rolling on the ground, shouting bitterly: "Your Majesty, your Majesty is aware of it, but your subordinates don't know."
Qing, the Wang family of Taiyuan plotted rebellion, the crime is unpardonable, and the nine clans should be executed."
More people came up to clear their relationship and beg for mercy, and the hall instantly became noisy.
Li Er shouted with a cold face: "Come here, take them down."
A large number of Qianniu Guards rushed in and carried the person out. The shouts and cries of mercy gradually faded away, and the hall returned to silence, but there was an oppressive atmosphere.
Li Er glanced at Wang De, who continued to read knowingly: "Your Majesty, the twenty or thirty thousand Khitan troops who escaped returned to the grassland and found that their troops had been looted and annexed by the Xiwandan tribe. There was a great chaos, but it is not a cause for concern.
, I let Fang Yiai take the lead, and Xue Wanshu's nephew Xue Feng as his deputy. He went deep into the Khitan territory with the Khan's token, and recruited various ministries to join forces to capture the Xiwandan tribe. I then led the army to find the 50,000 Goguryeo army hiding in Liujiapu, and created
The avalanche buried most of the enemy troops, and killed all the remaining ones. Countless grain and grass were seized and could not be transported away. When they were distributed to the victims, they learned that more than 10,000 enemy troops were in Wangjia Town. The army was ready to set off and capture the town. There were more than 10,000 enemy troops.
Kill them all."
"Another fifty thousand?"
"And another ten thousand?"
"Cause an avalanche."
Everyone exclaimed when they heard this information. Killing 50,000 people was already good, but they didn't expect to kill 50,000 people in one fell swoop and eat another 10,000 people by the way. Avalanches are natural disasters, how could humans cause them?
Questions arose in everyone's mind, but no one raised them at this time.
Li Er was also shocked, but when he thought about Qin Huaidao's repeated miracles, he chose to trust him.
"quiet!"
Wang De raised his voice and shouted.
Although everyone didn't believe it, they still calmed down.
Wang De then continued to read: "After interrogation, it was learned that another 50,000 troops heading south gathered at a natural port north of Shanhaiguan. The army rested for one night and then set off. They arrived at their destination three days later. I led nine sons of the Duke.
Infiltrate the enemy camp again, set fire to the food everywhere, and when exposed, kill directly, kill the torches, and cause the camp to explode. After the ministers and others broke out of the enemy camp, they notified the army to arrive, and went around the perimeter to shoot and expand the chaos until dawn.
The 50,000-strong army was killed, and at this point, all 110,000 Goguryeo enemy troops marching south have been wiped out."
"Another fifty thousand?"
"Blow up the camp?"
Everyone is not stupid and knows how terrible it is to bomb a camp. If the camp is really bombed, it is not impossible to kill 50,000 people, but this is incredible. When did fighting become so easy?
The generals were very excited. Although they did not do it themselves, it was still honorable.
"Your Majesty, I wish to congratulate the Tang Dynasty."
Cheng Yaojin came out excitedly and shouted: "110,000 enemy troops have been wiped out, and there are no more troubles in the territory. Goguryeo is injured. This is a great victory. I congratulate you. I would like to congratulate the Tang Dynasty on getting a peerless general. Five thousand people are in danger."
They not only captured the Khitan Khan and created chaos, but also killed a total of 160,000 Goguryeo regular troops and burned hundreds of thousands of stones of food and grass. Who in the world can do this? The Tang Dynasty has such a great talent, and the empire has no worries.
"
"Your Majesty, I wish to congratulate the Tang Dynasty."
The military generals all agreed. The generals are simple-minded and will obey whoever is powerful.
If you compare your feelings with your own, you would never be able to do it on your own.
The civil servant wanted to question him face to face, but he was afraid of being slapped in the face and wished to end the court meeting early.
"The fun is yet to come, keep reading." Li Er said excitedly.
When everyone heard this, they were still not finished. They were afraid that they might go to heaven. They all pricked up their ears and looked at Wang De again.
Wang De felt that after decades of living, he had never been so concerned as today, and he quickly read: "The army returned to Yingzhou and learned that Fang Xiaowei had recruited generals from various ministries and defeated the Xiwandan tribe, and the Khitan was merged into the Dafa.
Tang Huaihuai sent Li Derjian to join them and take over the command. Worried about the lack of troops, he asked the governor of Yingzhou to support a thousand border troops. Xue Wu, the governor's son, was appointed as the general to march eastward to Goguryeo's Phnom Penh City. Once it was captured, he continued south to attack Xincheng.
, I led the main force to attack Huaiyuan. Once it is captured, the two armies will become at loggerheads and tear apart the Goguryeo defense line. It is disrespectful to go back and forth. Huaiyuan is no bigger than a small town. If I win, I will take Liaodong.
After the city, I will submit a letter to report. At that time, I would like to ask the Holy Lord to send a general to Dengzhou and Laizhou to cross the sea, attack in the south with me, and capture most of Goguryeo. I, Huaidao, will write to Yingzhou to wish the Holy Spirit a long and prosperous Tang Dynasty!"
Silence, deathly silence.
Everyone did not expect Qin Huaidao to be so ferocious. Not only did he kill 160,000 Goguryeo troops, he also captured the Khitan. Doesn't it mean that the Khitan and the Xi tribe will become the territory of the Tang Dynasty in the future?
This is the achievement of opening up new territories and conquering the sky!
Cheng Yaojin and other princes laughed so hard that they couldn't even see their eyes. They opened up the territory and expanded the territory. How right and fortunate it was to send their son into the army. Although Qin Huaidao was the main contributor, the soup was too strong.
.
The Wenchen Group is silent and has complicated thoughts. With its achievements in opening up new territories, who can move to Qin Huaidao?
Who dares to think that way?
Li Er smiled with satisfaction and gave the generals a look.
Li Jing nodded knowingly and breathed a sigh of relief. He had recommended Qin Huaidao as a general and said that he was not worried. It was a lie. Thinking of Qin Huaidao's achievements in killing enemies and opening up territories, his blood boiled. He stood out, bowed, and solemnly said: "Your Majesty, my ministers.
Please ask your Majesty to march personally, cross the sea from Dengzhou and Laizhou, attack from the north and south with General Dingyuan, capture most of Goguryeo, merge them together, march into Pyongyang, and decide the outcome in one battle."
"I sincerely request the imperial commander to personally march." The princes knew what Li Er was thinking and came out one after another knowingly.
Even Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji also came out to second the proposal.
When the others saw this posture, they didn't realize that they had already made up their minds. To oppose him at this time would be to seek death. They all remained silent and had their own thoughts.
Li Er smiled with satisfaction, full of pride, and said in a sonorous and powerful voice: "I want to personally conquer the East. I will make Li Jing the marshal of the Eastern Campaign, and promote General Dingyuan to General Xuanwei, Marshal of the Left Route Army, Zhiyingzhou, Pingzhou and
Khitan surrendered to all its tribes, and the Duke of E became the marshal of the right army. Xue Wanche, Niu Da, Zhang Liang, Li Junxian, and Qibi Heli each led an army of 20,000 to accompany them. The prince supervised the country and set off for the expedition in three days."
General Xuanwei was promoted from the fourth rank, but no one dared to object to this promotion, and they all shouted: "I obey the order!"
Prince Li Chengqian's eyes lit up when he saw that he could supervise the country.
When Hou Junji saw that he had no part in such a war to destroy the country, he felt unhappy, but he did not show it.
"Retreat from the imperial court!" Li Er shouted, with high spirits and excitement. He could finally go to the battlefield again. If the battle to destroy the country could be successful, he would definitely leave his mark in the history of history. What a pleasure!
The princes were overjoyed when their names were called. Seeing that he had no chance, Cheng Yaojin left with a dark face. Wang De stopped him and said with a smile: "Your Majesty invites you, please come with us." After that, he looked at the few people just now.
A general whose name was called upon.
Everyone nodded happily and followed to the Manna Hall.
Cheng Yaojin said with a dark face: "Your Majesty, you are unfair. I, Old Cheng, can still raise the stakes. Why don't you let me follow? I don't accept it."
"You are such a murderous person, but you are so angry." Li Er said with a smile. Naturally, he did not have to keep a straight face when dealing with the ministers around him. He motioned for everyone to sit down and then added: "I don't worry if the Nanya Division is handed over to others. I'm not here. This emperor
I leave the city's security to you, don't let me down."
These words meant something, and everyone looked at Cheng Yaojin understandingly.
Cheng Yaojin also came to his senses and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, don't worry. I promise you that the same thing you will do when you come back."
"Okay, let's talk." Li Er looked at Li Jing with a smile.
Li Jing ended the topic knowingly and said: "Your Majesty, I have always wondered why Goguryeo's southward army did not attack the city. It turned out to be lack of food. General Dingyuan, no... Now it is time to call him General Xuanwei, but he was promoted too quickly.
Will something happen?"
"Who dares to dissatisfy? Kill hundreds of thousands of enemy troops for me, capture the Khitan, and let the Xi people return to the same territory. Huaidao was originally the fifth grade, and it is only the fourth grade. It is nothing. When the war is over, I will come back
Rewards based on merit." Li Er said domineeringly.
With real military success in hand, who dares to object?
Everyone thought it right and laughed, thinking that their own sons would follow suit and make meritorious deeds, and they felt very good.
Fang Xuanling did not expect that Qin Huaidao would give the reckless man in his family a chance, and he was filled with emotion. He recruited the Khitan tribes and won over the Khitan. This was a big contribution. If he captured Phnom Penh City and Xincheng again, he would form a rivalry with Huaiyuan.
, being granted a title is not a problem, what a blessing this is.
Thinking of this, Fang Xuanling became more and more fond of Qin Huaidao and said: "Your Majesty, if General Xuanwei captures Huaiyuan, how certain is it that he can capture Liaodong City?"
The generals present were all warriors who were proficient in war, and they all began to think about it.
Li Er thought for a while and said: "The Yingzhou frontier army needs to stay and guard the prisoners to ensure that Yingzhou is not lost. Huai Dao only has a few thousand troops around him, and even if he recruits soldiers from the prisoners, there will only be more than 10,000 soldiers. Under a sneak attack,
, Defeating Huaiyuan in the first battle is not a big problem, but it is not easy to capture Liaodong City. The large city of Liaodong has more than 20,000 defenders. However, Huaidao has repeatedly performed miracles, maybe there is a way." He said and looked at Li Jing.
Li Jing smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, if I come to take command, I am 70% sure of taking Liaodong, but the loss will not be small. General Xuanwei used 5,000 troops to fight against Goguryeo and 160,000, and he still has enough strength to go to Huaiyuan. I'm afraid the loss of troops will not be small."
It is so big that it is simply a miracle. From this, we can also infer that General Xuanwei uses tactics in every battle. He does not like to lose too much. Avalanches and camp bombings are incredible when he thinks about it. When the loss is not big, he can only infiltrate into the city.
, open the city gate and let the main force rush in. If General Xuanwei can infiltrate Liaodong City, it must not be a big problem to infiltrate Huaiyuan Town."
"That makes sense. I'm really looking forward to it. When we meet, I'll ask you carefully to see how this battle was fought. It's simply unbelievable, even the military sage Wu Qi can't exaggerate." Li Er said with emotion.
"To destroy 160,000 with five thousand is unprecedented." Li Jing reminded.
"Your Majesty, I would like to lead an army of 20,000 as the vanguard." Xue Wanche took the opportunity to say that he received a letter from Xue Wanshu's family last night and knew some inside information. He was grateful to Qin Huaidao. Although he could not directly lead his troops to help, it did not prevent him from showing his gesture.
Solidarity.
"allow!"
Li Er could guess Xue Wanche's thoughts and did not object, otherwise he would not have ordered Xue Wanche's generals. He looked at Xu Shiji and said, "You can lead Baiqisi out of the city secretly and capture the nine Wang clans in Taiyuan."
"I obey the order!" Xu Shiji solemnly accepted the order and hurried away.
An invisible murderous intention broke out, but no one felt anything was wrong. Anyone who conspired against him would be punished!
Luring an enemy country to invade and joining forces to rebel is an unforgivable crime!
Li Er looked at everyone and said with high spirits: "Everyone, this battle is of great importance. It may be the last time for you and me to go to the battlefield in our lives. There must be no room for failure. During this period, I have urged the Ministry of Industry to make a lot of repeating crossbows. I will distribute them today and familiarize myself with the three crossbows."
God, make all necessary preparations and set off for the expedition in three days without any mistakes."
"According to the order!"
Everyone accepted the order with a bang, their eyes wild.
We are all old, and time is not forgiving. Who doesn’t want to end the final battle magnificently?!