In the Linhu Palace, the atmosphere was a little stagnant. Over the years, the Crown Prince and King Qin had had many arguments in front of him, so no one was surprised when they saw this.
The prince is often aggressive, but the King of Qin is very subtle, which is exactly the opposite of the impression they give to the outside world. But in fact, more often than not, the King of Qin has the upper hand...but many times, Li Yuan, who is the only referee, will come off the court to decide the outcome.
But after the battle at Tiantai Mountain, as the referee Li Yuan began to look on with a cold eye, and even showed signs of leaning toward the King of Qin, the prince rarely took advantage of the dispute.
On the issue of whether Dou Gui or Su Dingfang should be used, Li Shimin easily rendered Li Jiancheng speechless... After all, in military matters, the whole world, including Li Yuan, had to admit that Li Shimin spoke the loudest.
, which was fought in battle after battle.
The most direct point is that Su Dingfang has never served as a general. Although he was actually the deputy of Handan King Li Shan for a long time, he never took charge of his own role. In the Western Expedition to Tuyuhun, he was only a temporarily designated vanguard.
But Dou Gui was different. Although he was defeated by the Western Qin Dynasty, he was the commander in chief of the army in all his previous campaigns against Dangxiang, Tuyuhun, and Xuren. Not to mention he had senior qualifications and was a relative.
Pei Shiju looked at Li Shimin suspiciously. He never believed that this guy really wanted Dou Gui, who was not on both sides, to take over as the coach. There was probably a mystery behind it.
Li Yuan became a little impatient and waved his hand: "Let's put it aside for now."
Li Shimin stopped talking. After all, everyone had just learned about Li Shan's invitation to return to the court. It was not necessarily necessary to decide on a successor for a while. The next step was to discuss the most troublesome issue, the reward.
In fact, Li Yuan summoned many ministers and assistants to the palace to discuss matters during the New Year's Day mainly for this matter.
Although the war is not completely over yet, and Lingzhou and Huizhou have not even been recovered yet, everyone present knows that the next battle is about eating meat and drinking soup, and there is no difficulty at all.
The difficulty of this expedition was that Yuanzhou was occupied by the Liang Army and the Turks. The enemy defended Xiongguan, and possibly the cavalry broke the formation, quickly marched to Chang'an, and drank from the Wei River. These bones have been chewed to pieces, and the rest
Don’t they all eat meat and drink soup?
In fact, Pei Shiju had speculated a few months ago. He was not only good at political calculations, but also good at military strategy. In his opinion, this war was likely to be protracted. With the support of the Turks, the Liang divisions had taken root in the three states.
, I dare not say that it can compete with the Tang Dynasty, but it can go south at any time, invade Jingzhao, and maybe even separate Guanzhong and Longyou.
Pei Shiju even discussed with Pei Ji to choose the opportunity to build momentum and persuade Li Yuan to choose to move the capital... After all, a few months ago, if the army could not resist, the Turks would definitely enter Beijing.
To be fair, Pei Shiju's plans were not aimed at Li Shan, but at Li Shimin. Letting the King of Qin return to the battlefield meant that the position under the prince's butt had been taken away.
But no matter what, he never expected that after Li Shenfu and Ren Gui were defeated in succession, Li Huairen used two battles in three or four months to establish the victory like a chopping of melons and vegetables. This made Pei Shiju frustrated and had to
I don't admire that person's amazing performance.
It seems that we still have to be in Chang'an City, or in this imperial city, this palace city... Pei Shiju was thinking this way, and heard Li Yuan mention it in a questioning tone, what is the analogy of this battle?
The war is not completely over yet, and it is impossible to announce the specific reward now... Although the meat will be eaten next, someone may die in the battle.
What needs to be drawn up are actually specifications, or an analogy. Is it an analogy to the Battle of Hulao in Luoyang, the Great Victory of Luoshui, the Battle to Suppress the Jianghuai River, or is it an analogy to Li Shansan's defeat of the Turks the year before last?
In terms of importance, the battle of Luoyang Hulao defeated the Turks three times. The former laid the foundation for the Tang Dynasty to unify the world, and the latter was the Tang Dynasty's first great victory over the Turks. In these two battles, many generals and generals were awarded titles.
Lord.
In the two battles of Luoshui and Jianghuai, they surrendered and then revolted, so the number of people who were awarded titles was very small.
In short, the key lies in the title.
This was the reason why Li Yuan discussed with many ministers whether there should be another grand promotion of titles.
In this era, there is no such thing as a noble or a noble. Each of these prime ministers and assistants has led armies in battle, but they also have different views on whether to ennoble or promote a large number of nobles.
Chen Shuda, Feng Lun, and Xiao Yu are not in favor of large-scale promotions. The reason is also very simple. These three are either from the lineage of the King of Qin, or they are vaguely close to the King of Qin, and Li Shimin's prestige, power, and connections in the military are enough
...On the one hand, it was to target the East Palace generals such as Feng Li and Xue Wanche, and on the other hand, it was to leave room for Li Shimin to be kind to him in the future.
However, Li Jiancheng and Pei Ji spoke righteously. For such meritorious service in the two battles, if they were not rewarded, it would be a trivial matter if the morale of the army was unstable... This cannot be said wrong. The resentment of a lower-ranking person towards a higher-ranking person often comes from the latter's.
Mean and ungrateful.
Regarding this point, Li Yuan actually had a private discussion with Li Shimin. The latter frankly said that although Liang Shidu occupied the three states, he was just a small thief. The key was to defeat the Turks. This battle completely defeated Liang Jun's confidence, even if
Without Li Shanxue going to Xiaoguan at night, the war would have gone smoothly.
The key point is that although the Turks suffered several consecutive defeats in two years, one khan died, and the two khans fought among themselves, and their vitality was damaged, after all, the centipede worm will not die, and the Tang Dynasty and the Turks will still have conflicts in the future.
Large-scale national war.
If there are no accidents, the generals who will lead the army will probably still be these people...Su Dingfang, Xue Wanche, Zhang Shigui, Duan Zhixuan, Zhang Zhongjian, etc., so it seems a bit inappropriate to be promoted now.
Without meat hanging in front, the hound may not try its best. Li Yuan naturally understands this truth.
This is the truth, but what Li Jiancheng and Pei Ji said also makes sense. If the defeat of the Turks the year before last was due to luck, this time the Tang Dynasty faced off in an upright manner and defeated the Turkic army. More than 40,000 people were beheaded, and their blood flowed like a river.
How can you not be rewarded for your great achievements?
After listening for a while, Li Yuan looked at Pei Shiju and asked, "Do you have any suggestions for Hongda?"
Pei Shiju's gray-white eyebrows moved, and he said slowly: "Such a great achievement requires a reward, but there must also be room for promotion. You can be dismissed from the official position and promoted to a noble rank, or you can be promoted to a noble rank below the rank of Duke."
Li Yuan thought for a moment and nodded slightly. This was a vague idea, but it was very appropriate.
Generally speaking, among civil and military officials, those who have titles must have casual officials, but casual officials may not have titles. The latter phenomenon mainly occurs among middle-level generals or generals who have not had the opportunity to make military exploits.
In other words, Pei Shiju proposed that the rewards this time should be mainly concentrated on the middle and lower-level generals, while many leading generals, below the Duke of the State, can be promoted to the rank of Duke, and at most to the rank of County Duke... The former is a favor, while the latter is to leave room for leeway.