Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

In the Linhu Hall, the atmosphere was a bit stagnant. Over the years, the Crown Prince and the King of Qin had had many disputes in front of the imperial court, and everyone was not surprised when they saw this.

The crown prince is often aggressive, but the king of Qin has hidden needles, which is exactly the opposite of their impression to the outside world, but in fact, more often than not, the king of Qin has the upper hand... It's just that in many cases, Li Yuan, who is the only referee, will end up deciding the outcome.

But after the Tiantai Mountain battle, as Li Yuan, the referee, began to stand on the sidelines, and even faintly showed signs of leaning towards the King of Qin, the prince rarely took advantage of the dispute.

On the question of whether to use Dou Gui or Su Dingfang, Li Shimin easily silenced Li Jiancheng... After all, in military affairs, the whole world, including Li Yuan, has to admit that Li Shimin's voice is the loudest , It was played out during a battle.

The most direct point is that Su Dingfang has never served as a general. Although he has actually been the deputy of Handan King Li Shan for a long time, he has never been alone. He was only a temporarily designated vanguard in the Western Expedition to Tuyuhun.

But Dou Gui is different. Although he was once defeated by Xiqin, he has been the commander in chief of the army in all previous crusades against Dangxiang, Tuyuhun, and Liaoren, let alone senior and foreign relatives.

Pei Shiju looked at Li Shimin suspiciously, he never believed that this fellow really hoped that Dou Gui, who was unreliable on both sides, would take over as the head coach, there might be some mystery behind it.

Li Yuan got a little impatient when he heard it, and waved his hand: "Put it on hold for now."

Li Shimin shut up, after all, everyone just found out about Li Shan's invitation to return to court, and it is not necessary to decide on a successor for a while, and the next thing to discuss is the most troublesome issue, the reward.

In fact, Li Yuan summoned many prime ministers into the palace to discuss matters during the New Year's Eve, mainly for this matter.

Although the war is not completely over, and Lingzhou and Huizhou have not even been recovered, everyone present knows that the next battle is to eat meat and drink soup, and there is no difficulty.

The difficulty of this expedition is that Yuanzhou is occupied by the Liang army and the Turks. The enemy is guarding the Xiongguan Pass, and the cavalry may break the formation and quickly approach Chang'an to drink the Weihe River. These bones have been chewed, and the rest Don't they all eat meat and drink soup?

In fact, Pei Shiju speculated a few months ago that he himself is not only good at scheming, but also good at military strategy. In his opinion, this war is likely to be protracted. With the support of the Turks, the Liang divisions have established their roots 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 that he would choose the right time 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 surely enter Jingzhao.

In all fairness, 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 ass had been taken away.

But no matter what, I never expected that after Li Shenfu and Ren Gui lost consecutive defeats, Li Huairen used two battles in three or four months to establish the victory like chopping melons and vegetables. I don't admire that man's stunning performance.

It seems that it is still going to be in Chang'an City, or in this imperial city, this palace city... Pei Shiju thought about it 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 rewards... Although the meat will be eaten next, whoever may die in the battle.

What needs to be drawn up is actually a specification, or an analogy, is it an analogy to the Luoyang Hulao War, is it an analogy to the Luoshui victory, is it an analogy to the World War I to pacify 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 first battle of Luoyang Hulao defeated the Turks three times. The former laid the foundation for the Tang Dynasty to rule the world, and the latter was the first big victory of the Tang Dynasty against the Turks. Many generals and schools were sealed in these two battles. Lord.

However, the two battles of Luoshui and Jianghuai were surrendered and then rebelled, so the number of people who were knighted was very small.

In short, the key is the title.

This is the reason why Li Yuan discussed with many ministers whether or not to give away the title again.

In this era, there is absolutely no so-called nobles and inferiors. Each of these ministers has led the army, but they also have different views on whether a large number of titles should be promoted.

Chen Shuda, Feng Lun, and Xiao Yu are not in favor of a large number of promotions, and the reason is very simple. These three are either from the lineage of the King of Qin, or secretly rely on the King of Qin, and Li Shimin's prestige, influence, and connections in the army are enough. ...On the one hand, it was aimed at the generals of the East Palace, 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 are just and righteous. If they have made such great achievements in the two battles, if they are not rewarded, the morale of the army will be unstable... This is not wrong. The resentment of the inferiors towards the superiors often comes from the latter mean widow.

Regarding this point, Li Yuan had actually discussed this with Li Shimin in private. The latter said frankly that although Liang Shidu occupied the three states, he was no more than a small thief. The key was to defeat the Turks. Without Li Shanxue going down to Xiaoguan at night, the war will go smoothly.

The key point is that although the Turks suffered several major defeats in a row within two years, one Khan died, and the two Khans fought each other, which weakened their vitality. large-scale national war.

If there is no accident, the generals who will lead the army at that time will probably 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 go all out, Li Yuan naturally understands this truth.

The truth is the same, but what Li Jiancheng and Pei Ji said is also reasonable. If there is an element of luck in the defeat of the Turks the year before last, this time the Tang Dynasty defeated the Turkic army with an upright confrontation. How could he not be rewarded for his great achievements?

After listening for a while, Li Yuan looked at Pei Shiju, "Does Hongda have any suggestions?"

Pei Shiju's gray eyebrows twitched, and he said slowly: "Such a great achievement requires a reward, but there must also be room for it. You can be promoted to a noble without being an official, or you can be promoted to a noble below the Duke."

Li Yuan thought for a moment and nodded slightly. This is a gentle idea, but it is very suitable.

Among ordinary civil and military officials, those with titles must have scattered officials, but scattered officials may not have titles. The latter phenomenon mainly comes from middle-level generals or generals who have no chance to make military exploits.

In other words, Pei Shiju proposed that the rewards this time should be mainly concentrated on middle and lower-level generals, while many leading generals can be promoted to nobility below the Duke of the State, and the most can be promoted to the Duke of the County... The former is a kindness, and the latter is to leave room .