In ancient times, talent was important and so was family background, but appearance was equally important.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, appearance was also a very important part of the evaluation of grades. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, appearance was also used to evaluate the candidates who passed the Jinshi examination and when selecting officials.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the candidates who passed the Jinshi examination and were selected as officials were all based on their demeanor.
Li Dewu showed his talent, spoke clearly and eloquently, and talked about the situation in Shaanxi Province, Qiwang, and Hebei Province one by one. It sounded easy to understand and impressive.
"His Royal Highness the King of Qi is stationed around Hulao. Although he wants to go north, the Shaanxi East Road is not good at transporting grain and grass, and there is a lack of ships. The army is willing to fight, but it is difficult to go to war."
The prince and Wang Gui looked at each other. The meaning of Li Dewu's words was quite obvious. Li Yuanji had not yet entered Hebei Province, but it actually meant the East Palace.
Li Dewu used specious reasons to explain that King Qi did not send troops...in fact, he was sitting on the East Palace side.
They are all accomplished figures. Everyone present could see that Li Dewu wanted to seek refuge in the East Palace. The prince remained silent and only listened to Li Dewu continue to speak.
"Liu Heitao's troops were sharp and swept through most of Hebei Province. Although the King of Huaiyang had a small victory, it had nothing to do with the overall situation."
Wei Ting asked curiously: "The king of Huaiyang won three battles and pacified Jizhou and Shenzhou. Why is it irrelevant to the overall situation?"
In his early years, Xu Shimo was under the command of Gao Kaidao, mainly in the area north of Youzhou, bordering the Turks, but he got a taste of it: "What is the overall situation?"
Li Dewu cupped his hands and said: "A few months ago, the Turks moved south. The prince personally went out to fight. He fought first and then joined forces to force the Turks back. This was the overall situation.
But for several months, it was difficult to take care of Hebei Road, so the Tang army in Hebei could only lose first and then win, which was also the overall situation."
After pausing here for a moment, while everyone was still thinking, Li Dewu bowed and saluted, "I offend you. Although I have a body of ten thousand gold, I would like to ask the prince to personally conquer Hebei."
As soon as these words came out, the room fell silent. The elderly Wang Gui, Xu Shimo, and the still young Wei Ting looked at Li Dewu with extremely surprised eyes, and then turned to look at the equally surprised Li Jiancheng.
In fact, Li Dewu's eloquent words mainly include two aspects.
First, the King of Qi would definitely not send troops, and Li Daoxuan would definitely not be able to win.
Why?
Liu Heitai went southward at Hedong Road, when the Turkic soldiers in Guanzhong began to retreat. Under such circumstances, Liu Heitai went south in a large scale, obviously with the support of Turkic soldiers.
Under such circumstances, it would be difficult for Li Daoxuan to achieve a complete victory, and he might even be defeated.
Secondly, Liu Heitai's resurrection was naturally not for the Turks, but for himself.
But the Turkic soldiers cannot always stay in Hebei, they have to return to their hometown.
At this time, the Prince of the East Palace, Li Jiancheng, personally conquered Hebei. It would be very easy to capture Liu Heitai, the dead snake, and then he could naturally extend his hand into Hebei to check and balance the Shaanxi Province.
Wang Gui looked at Li Dewu with great interest, thinking that when his father went north to enter the Sui Dynasty, he saw with his own eyes that the two Dukes of Shen, Li Mu and Li Hun, were very ordinary people. Unexpectedly, another outstanding person emerged from this branch.
Wei Ting asked tentatively: "You have been in Wuling for the past few months and have become acquainted with Wei Xuancheng?"
That letter came from Li Shan, and Li Shan and Wei Zheng had a close friendship... Li Dewu felt tight in his heart, "Because my wife's family has some contacts, but we only have casual acquaintances, I dare not reach out to them."
Wei Ting nodded and explained in a low voice to the prince, "Brother Xuancheng's wife is also Hedong Wenxi's Pei family."
The prince knew the meaning of Wei Ting's question, because what Li Dewu said was roughly similar to the letters Wei Zheng secretly sent back to Beijing.
If Li Dewu's thoughts did not come from Wei Zheng, it means that his strategy is not much worse than Wei Zheng's.
Looking at Li Dewu with squinted eyes, the prince waved him off and then said with a smile: "Although there are loopholes and some take it for granted, it is a mistake."
Wang Gui stroked his beard and shook his head, "This man went on an expedition with the army and returned to the capital more than a month later. That's why he said this. Although he wants to be attached to His Highness, he is actually very talented."
Naturally, there are loopholes... In that letter, Li Shan only speculated based on the current situation and the impressions in history books, trying to get Li Dewu to firmly grasp the thigh of the Prince of the East Palace.
But in fact, as the prince of the East Palace, Li Jiancheng did not need to produce a certificate, but if he wanted to go to war, he had to win...otherwise, the blow to his prestige would be too great.
Dong Palace's plan to conquer Hebei Province actually started a few months ago. Wei Zheng set out with the army to explore the military situation as much as possible and determine whether Li Jiancheng needed to personally conquer.
There were many reasons why King Qi stopped moving forward, but the main reason was...the Turkic cavalry that invaded Hebei Road never retreated.
The King of Qi entered Hedong Road, went south to Shaanxi Road, and then went north to Hebei Road. However, battle reports and letters were not sent along this route.
The East Palace has been paying attention to the news from Hebei Province. Until the past few days, there have been reports of battles. Shuang Shiluo, the general manager of Dingzhou, led the remnant army to encounter Turkic cavalry several times... Obviously, the Turkic cavalry who followed Liu Heitai into Hebei Province did not
Back away.
Nowadays, the main force of the Tang Army in Hebei Province is under the command of Li Daoxuan, King of Huaiyang, but the deputy general Shi Wanbao is a direct descendant of the East Palace. Letters arrive in Beijing almost every two days, which emphasize this point. They have won three battles, but there has never been a Turkic cavalry...
But Liu Heitai has always been known for his cunning.
After a long discussion, Wang Gui said softly: "Let's wait a little longer. There is a letter from Shi Wanbao. The King of Huaiyang wants to go north to fight Liu Heitao's main force. If he wins, he will send the King of Qi north. If he loses, His Highness will immediately write a letter asking for a fight."
Wei Ting also agreed, "Your Highness is firmly in the East Palace and should act with caution."
Li Jiancheng nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Li Dewu... has some talents, and he is the son-in-law of Prime Minister Pei. I remember that the Chang'an Order was taken away by the Sanhu Mansion, this time..."
Wei Ting suggested: "Li Dewu is now the captain of Chang'an County, why not be the prince of the East Palace?"
The news spread to the East Palace on the same day. The Crown Prince Qian Niu was only a minor official from the seventh rank, but he could not be appointed unless he was a young talent, and he could not be appointed unless he was a close official of the Crown Prince.
When the crown prince ascends the throne, Li Dewu, the crown prince, will surely rise to the top of his career by ninety thousand miles.
That night, Li Dewu was thinking about something indoors while holding his sleeping baby in his arms, and suddenly burst into laughter.
"Husband, why are you laughing?"
Li Dewu shook his head. He was thinking...if Li Shan had not died in Hebei, how would he react when he heard the news?
"What did your father-in-law say?"
"I didn't say anything."
Li Dewu smiled warmly, but he was thinking in his heart that Lord Taishan was a slippery man in the previous dynasty. Although he also served as the crown prince, he was always wavering. He knew that he might not be happy if he entered the East Palace to prepare for Qianniu.
Mrs. Pei took the baby and put it on the bed, "Although my husband has gone through many hardships, his talents are still the same as before. My father and brother are also very pleased."
Li Dewu's face changed slightly. He thought this sentence sounded a bit harsh... He thought it would be more appropriate for the guy to die in Hebei.
At this moment in Jizhou, Hebei Province, Li Shan was surprised and horrified to find that the nonsense in his letter had become a fact.
"Were there really no Turkic soldiers in the previous three battles?" Li Shan grabbed Zhu Ba's collar.
"Really not!" Guo Pu said at the side: "I asked carefully. The hundreds of Turkic cavalry I met the day before yesterday showed up in Jizhou for the first time."
Li Shan grinned and pointed at the wounded soldier not far away, "What about now?"
Guo Pu's expression became solemn, "Yesterday and today, the King of Huaiyang ordered the cavalry to attack in turns with hundreds of cavalry. There have been more than ten battles, and they encountered Turkic cavalry in almost every battle."
Li Shan was stunned for a while, and really wanted to give himself a big slap. He said that Zhu Ba had a crow's mouth, but actually he was the crow's mouth!
He just speculated based on historical books that it was Prince Li Jiancheng who finally defeated Liu Heita and put together some reasons to let Li Dewu cling to the East Palace.
Now it seems that Huaiyang King Li Daoxuan has won three out of three games. It is obvious that Liu Heitai's strength has dropped a lot compared to last year.
In this case, it was Li Jiancheng who finally led the expedition himself, and it was only possible that the Turkic soldiers affected the situation of the war.
I just don’t know if the Turkic soldiers did not participate in the war before, whether Liu Heita did this deliberately or because he did not want the Turkic soldiers to plunder his hometown.
But no matter what, Li Shan can be sure of one thing, Li Daoxuan will definitely lose in the next battle.