Today, the emperor took a rare opportunity to take a group of ministers to the countryside for a hunting trip, hunting rabbits and shooting birds, and then having a barbecue in the wild.
After riding and hunting, Li Shimin felt very relaxed.
This emperor loves hunting very much, but now that he has become emperor, he does not have much time for hunting. He occasionally goes out to hunt, and he always has to be remonstrated by officials, which is very annoying.
When I came out today, I met another official who stopped me and tried to admonish him, trying to mess with his mentality.
"I didn't expect that there are so many ways to eat hare. This spicy rabbit dish is a bit too spicy, numb and spicy."
Although the emperor said it was too spicy, he couldn't stop talking.
"Your Majesty, have some pheasant soup."
Wolfberry and red dates stewed pheasant soup, the soup is clear and transparent, but very sweet. It is especially beautiful when paired with red wolfberry and red dates and green chopped green onion.
The emperor took the soup brought by Wu Huaiyu, took a spoonful and nodded frequently.
"Sure enough, the hares and pheasants I hunt are more delicious."
Li Shimin was very satisfied with the meal. Although being an emperor is the most noble thing, he actually doesn't have that much freedom when it comes to eating.
The royal chef in the palace cooks according to the food scripture compiled by Guanglu Temple. What the royal chef cooks every day must be determined, and then he cooks it according to the food scripture. The ingredients, ingredients, and even cooking steps must be followed.
Strictly follow the Food Sutra and make no mistakes, otherwise it will be a capital offense.
There are also things like using taboo combinations, which are also capital crimes.
Those who accidentally break the food fast will have their staple food twisted.
For example, normal rice cannot contain dried meat, turtle meat soup cannot contain lettuce, etc.
Dried meat has always been considered stale due to the way it was processed, so the emperor could not eat dried meat.
Before all imperial meals are served to the emperor, they must be tasted by special officials. Anyone who doesn't taste them will have to pay a hundred dollars.
If filthy and evil things are in the food and drink, the duration will be two years; if the choice is not careful and the food and drink are not timely, the duration will be reduced by two years:
Those who are responsible for the prosecution and staple food in the prisons and who mistakenly bring miscellaneous medicines to the imperial dining room will be hanged.
It is not easy for the emperor to be a cook, and it is not easy for the emperor to eat a meal. He cannot eat this or that.
There is a reason why Li Shimin likes to eat barbecue or dishes made by Wu Huaiyu. The imperial meals strictly follow the food classics, and even before eating, someone has to taste them to prevent poisoning. By the time the dishes arrive in front of the emperor, they are already half cold.
Wu Huaiyu was not the imperial chef, and he did not cook in the imperial kitchen, so Li Shimin did not have to follow those rules to eat the dishes he cooked.
When the emperor was frying the spicy rabbit dices, he was still watching. It was hot and fragrant right after it came out of the pan, and the emperor could taste it.
Moreover, chili peppers were newly introduced from Haidong and did not exist before. Therefore, there was no such thing in the Imperial Diet Manual, and the emperor could not eat spicy food.
Qin Qiong, Wei Zhengfang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wang Gui, Wen Yanbo, Xiao Yu, several prime ministers, as well as Zhou Shao, Fan Houjunji, Xu Luoren, Zhang Liang, Yang Shidao, Dai Zhou, Duan Lun and other ministers, all sat on the ground in the open air and ate the food cooked by Yongzhou Biejia. They also felt that it was quite good.
good.
Wei Zheng likes to eat vegetables, especially spinach and coriander. The emperor specially asked Huaiyu to cook two plates of spinach from the Niboluo Kingdom and coriander from the Western Regions for Wei Zheng alone.
Wu Huaiyu also made a cold celery dish with celery and peanuts, added some sugar and vinegar, mixed with some sesame oil, and served it. Li Shimin, who ate the spicy rabbit dices, inhaled and exclaimed that it was delicious after tasting it.
Sour, crunchy and a little sweet, the celery has a great taste, and it goes perfectly with peanuts.
Wei Zheng finished his plate and asked Huaiyu to put another plate for him. The old man liked to eat celery, like a rabbit.
The emperor couldn't help laughing when he saw how he was eating.
The atmosphere of this picnic is very good.
Served with wild rice, some pizza rolled with shredded carrots and raw fish, it's really good.
Although Wu Huaiyu does not recommend eating shredded raw fish, people in the Tang Dynasty liked to bleed the fish and fillet it and eat it raw.
After the meal, make a large pot of tea.
Inside the curtain, the monarchs and ministers gathered around the fire and drank tea leisurely. After the New Year, they could finally feel more relaxed.
Everyone talks about the Turks. Last winter, the Turks were hit by a heavy snowstorm. Many livestock died, and a great famine broke out. However, Jieli Khan not only failed to provide relief to his people, but instead imposed exorbitant taxes, hoping to pass the losses on to other tribes.
"Your Majesty, this winter is very difficult for the Turks. Many animals have died, there is famine in the grassland, people are starving to death, and even the war horses have suffered heavy losses. Now is the time when the Turks are at their weakest, especially with the rebellion of Xue Yantuo in Mobei.
Yugushe and Tuoshe in Mobei were defeated many times and could not be suppressed at all.
Jieli's brutal expropriation of various tribes led to conflicts with Tuli Khan, who guarded the east, and Yusheshe, who guarded the southwest. Shabolushe was extremely dissatisfied with Jieli.
Now that Jieli is experiencing internal and external troubles, heavy snowfall, and famine, it is time for us, the Tang Dynasty, to send troops to fight back and take revenge."
Qin Qiong stepped forward and bowed down and asked, "I request to send troops to attack Jieli. We will send troops to Yinshan to capture and destroy Jieli in one fell swoop, which will bring shame to the Wei Bridge!"
Li Jing, the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Hou Junji, the general of the right guard, Zhang Shigui, the general of the left army, and even Sun Wuji, the uncle of the state, also requested the war and sent troops.
Wu Huaiyu said nothing.
He is not a military commander now.
The atmosphere was very lively, and Li Shimin was also a little excited.
The Weiqiao Alliance has always been a thorn in his heart. When he first came to the throne, Jieli bullied him like this. In the end, he had to accept the alliance under the city. Although with the efforts of him and his ministers, the Weiqiao Alliance did not exist in the Tang Dynasty.
If you lose, you will be defeated at the feet of the capital, so how can you have the nerve to say you didn’t lose?
"Last year Jieli sent an army of 100,000 to conquer Xue Yantuo in Mobei and fought in the Tianshan Mountains (Hang'ai Mountain). Yaogeluo Bodhisattva, one of the nine tribes of Tiele, the leader of the Uighurs, rode with 5,000 troops to fight against the Turkic army on Mahu Mountain.
The vanguard of the coalition forces, they set up an ambush on the mountain and made a surprise attack, and actually defeated the Turkic army."
Speaking of this Bodhisattva, Li Shimin was filled with admiration.
The Bodhisattva is also called Yaogeluo Bodhisattva. He belongs to the Yaogeluo tribe of Huihe among the Tiele tribes. This man is extremely brave and resourceful. After he was elected as the chief of Uihe, he established himself as Qijin and did not get the favor of the Turkic Khan at all.
After being canonized, he announced that he had become Qijin.
The Tiele tribes were all Turkic tributaries, which aroused great dissatisfaction from the Turks, and there had been constant friction between the two sides. Bodhisattva was not afraid of the Turks at all, and even pulled Pugu, Tongluo, and Baregu tribes to form an alliance, and even
Send an envoy to Jinshan to find Xue Yantuo, Tiele's other brother.
Bodhisattva is a great person. He has a very high prestige among the Tiele tribes in Mobei. However, Yi Nan, the new leader of Xue Yantuo, who is much younger than him, said, "Come to Mobei. We, the Tiele tribes, will support you as our leader."
The great sweat of our Tiele people.
So Yi Nan happily moved eastward with 70,000 troops. After getting permission from the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty in the south, the canonization edict from the Emperor of Tang, and the reward drum, he immediately swore an alliance with Bodhisattvas and others to establish Xue Yantuo.
Khanate, a Tiele people's own khanate.
At this time, in Mobei, Xue Yantuo's tribe was the strongest, with 70,000 men and horses, and Uighur was the second brother. The leader, Bodhisattva, was brave and mighty in controlling Mobei. Their combination was a bit invincible.
However, in the battle at Mahu Mountain, it can be said that even the Emperor Li Shimin of Chang'an was shocked, because Bodhisattva was the forward of Tiele and dared to ambush the 50,000 Jieli army with only 5,000 horseback troops.
Yugushe marched to Maxi Mountain and was attacked by Bodhisattva.
What is astonishing is that there are only 5,000 Bodhisattvas, and they just defeated the overwhelming Turkic Qingqi in Yugushe.
Then there was a magical scene in Mobei. Five thousand men of the Bodhisattva defeated the Turkic army that was ten times their size, but they were still extremely brave and continued to chase the defeated soldiers. The Turks fled all the way to the Tianshan Mountains.
In the Tianshan Mountains, Xue Yantuo's Yi Nan also led his troops and was engaged in a fierce battle with the 50,000 cavalry of Tuoshe Ashinasheer, another Turk guarding Mobei. Originally, the Turks planned to attack in two directions and sweep across Tiele.
Who would have thought that Yugu was defeated so quickly. The fighting here was fierce. The sudden appearance of the Bodhisattva made Yi Nan and Ashina Sheer uneasy. Many generals in Xue Yantuo even reminded Yi Nan that the Uighurs had been acting as
The lackeys of the Turks, although they are now raising troops to resist the Turks, who knows if they will take the opportunity to kill us too, and then become the lord of Mobei themselves?
On the other hand, Ashina Sheer knew better that the Bodhisattva and the Huihe tribe had rebelled against the Turks long ago, or they had lured Xue Yantuo to Mobei. According to the plan, Yugushe should have destroyed him, but now he appears here,
That Yugu She must have been defeated by him.
At this time, Yugushe finally brought his remaining soldiers to join Tuashe Ashinasheer. After being defeated miserably, he wanted to save the defeat and proposed to recruit the Bodhisattva.
The reason is quite simple. The Bodhisattva is so powerful that he can be used as a warrior. He is not guilty at all. He is just a self-reliant person. As long as we grant him a powerful warrior and promise not to pursue his self-reliance, and promise that he will defeat him with us.
After Yi Nan, give him half of Xue Yantuo's men when the time comes. He may be able to accept the recruitment and help us defeat Yi Nan.
At this time, Yu Gushe only wanted to make atonement for his sins, and Tuo She was a little unable to resist Yi Nan, so he actually accepted this suggestion and sent someone to contact the Bodhisattva.
What kind of person is the Bodhisattva? He decisively played a trick. The result was that the Bodhisattva led his troops to set up camp close to the Turks. Then he waited until midnight and raided the camp. The Yi men who had agreed earlier also immediately came and killed them.
The two cousins, Yugushe and Tuoshe, were defeated. The 100,000 Turkic army that conquered Mobei was defeated and returned. Yi Nan and Bodhisattva took the opportunity to capture most of Mobei. Yugushe,
Facing these two dilemmas, we can only retreat and defend.
After this battle, it can be said that the Turks have lost their reputation and prestige in Mobei. On the contrary, Yi Nan and Bodhisattva are really like gods in Mobei.
The Bodhisattva is an amazing person, so brave, but he is still very respectful to the young Yi man. Back then, Huihe was the boss of Tiele and led the Tiele tribes to resist the Rouran people. Unfortunately, he was beaten to the point of almost annihilation.
After that, Huihe learned a lesson and decided not to be the boss, but to hide his strength and bide his time.
Because of Bodhisattva's attitude, the Tiele tribes are now very united. The Turks have been completely suppressed in Mobei. If the Tang Dynasty goes to war with the Turks, Jieli will not only be unable to recruit Tiele troops from Mobei, but also
Even Yugu She and Tuo She, who were enfeoffed by the Turks in Mobei, were unable to lead their troops southward.
This is an extremely favorable opportunity.
On the contrary, the Tang Dynasty could recruit Xue Yantuo, Huihe and others to attack Jieli. Li Shimin couldn't help but get excited at the thought of destroying the Turks and even capturing Jieli to Chang'an to dance for him.
But he just opened his mouth to discuss how to send troops.
As a result, several voices sounded at the same time, "No."
Li Shimin was startled for a moment and looked up. Among the opponents were Du Ruhui, Wen Yanbo, Wei Zheng, Wang Gui, Xiao Yu, and Wu Huaiyu?
