People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

During the twelfth lunar month, teams of soldiers went from Hebei to Andong, from Luoyang to Hebei, and some went from Chang'an to Luoyang.

Even at the end of the year, there was still an endless stream of soldiers and food heading to Anton.

In the Taiji Hall, official documents were quickly delivered into the hall one after another.

Yu Ze, Yang Jiong, Du Shenyan, He Zhizhang, and Chen Ziang reviewed them carefully before sending the most important ones to Li Xuan and asking him to make a decision.

As for the others, the Political Affairs Hall had already made a decision, and a few people from the Secretariat simply passed by.

If they feel there is something slightly questionable, they will come up with a different way of handling it, and it will be up to Li Xuan to decide.

Only when no one in the Political Affairs Hall or the Secretariat could make a decision would Li Xuan make the decision on his own.

Li Xuan stood calmly in front of the sand table. The sand table in front of him showed all the terrain of Silla.

From the Sui Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla were conquered countless times. Even Goguryeo and Baekje, many places were once occupied by the Tang Dynasty.

Although the Tang Dynasty was forced to retreat in great strides during the Shangyuan period, they were always thinking about counterattacking.

Li Xuan still remembers that in the third year of Yifeng, Li Zhi was preparing to counterattack Silla again, but was stopped by Hao Chujun.

At that time, Li Xuan was fighting in Silla in full swing, so Li Zhi did not open a new battlefield in the end.

Now everything is in front of Li Xuan, and he is continuing Li Zhi's unfinished work.

Because of this, the Tang Dynasty had an unusually good understanding of Silla.

Every route of advance and every opportunity of advance should be considered as much as possible within the framework set by Li Xuan.

It turns out that when the emperor has enough patience, the ideas that the generals can come up with are amazing.

One by one, the soldiers placed red flags on the map, and each flag represented five thousand soldiers.

For this battle, Li Xuan had quietly stockpiled an army of 100,000 in Andong long before. Now, if he wanted to use 200,000 troops to invade Silla, he only needed to mobilize another 100,000 troops.

No, in fact, he only needed to mobilize 40,000 troops.

Because the other 60,000 soldiers had been mobilized in advance, only the remaining 40,000 were mobilized this year. They need to undergo rigorous training before they can be sent to the Andong Army.

But once they are gathered, it will immediately flood the entire Silla like a torrential flood.

……

As the New Year approaches, Chang'an City is still bustling.

The soldiers returning from Jiannan, Longxi, Anxi, and even the Western Regions made the entire Chang'an more prosperous.

However, in this endless prosperity, there is a deserted place.

In the Silla Embassy, ​​in a separate and remote courtyard, two guards were guarding it firmly.

In the inner room of the courtyard, Qin Dunjiaogan was lying on the bed in a single piece of clothing without lighting a fire, waiting for the sky outside to get darker.

A calm voice sounded from the dark shadows: "Do you want to die?"

"You're here." Qin Dunjiao raised his head with a hoarse voice, then looked at Guo and said regretfully: "If I didn't do this, how could I force all the guards in the light and dark to leave, how could I let you come in silently."

"So, you still light a fire every night and eat every night, but on the second day, you deliberately don't light a fire or cook, and then wait for me to come." Guo Hui looked at Qin Dunjiaogan and couldn't help shaking his head, saying, "Why are you doing this?"

"It's all my fault. I was in the Tang Dynasty, but I had no power to stop the emperor from conquering Silla." Qin Dunjiaogan opened his hands, lay on the bed, looked up at the ceiling, shook his head gently and said, "The emperor has long wanted to conquer Silla. Over the years, he has remembered every bit of Silla's disloyalty. Now that the opportunity has come, he will definitely not let it go."

"Do you want to know what's going on outside?" Guo Hui paused for a moment and added, "Do you want to know how the entire Tang Dynasty reacts to this incident?"

"You say!" Qin Dunjiao sighed lightly.

"The whole world responded, from the great families, the poor, and the ordinary people, everyone eagerly supported the emperor's conquest of Silla." Guo Huiwu shook his head calmly and said, "You can't imagine how many people want to join the army. The Ministry of War is forced to raise the selection standards again and again. The strength of the Tang Dynasty's conquest is more terrible than you think."

Qin Dunjiao was silent for a long time, and finally said softly: "There has been no major war in the Tang Dynasty for five years."

"Yes, since the Central Turks were annihilated, there has been no major war in the Tang Dynasty. Even if there have been, they have only been minor incidents."

"So everyone is looking forward to the coming of war so that they can establish military merits and be granted titles and appointed as prime ministers." Qin Dunjiaogan knew the Tang Dynasty well enough. He knew better than anyone what the Tang people were thinking.

"War, war is the best way to resolve all conflicts." Guo Hui replied softly.

"So, the emperor has suppressed the people's thoughts for five years." Qin Dunjiaogan suddenly laughed bitterly.

How could he not see that the fighting power that Li Xuan had accumulated over five years was simply not something Silla could stop.

"So, this battle will either be extremely brutal or not fought at all." Guo Hui looked at Qin Dunjiaogan and said, "So, I'm here to get something from you now."

Qin Dunjiaogan turned to look at Guo Huiyue, staring at him straight in the eyes: "So, you are fully prepared?"

"We have made all the necessary preparations. The rest is up to fate." Guo Huihou's expression became serious, and he bowed solemnly and said, "On this trip, we only care about life and death, not the past."

"Okay!" Qin Dunjiao nodded seriously, pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve, handed it to Guo Huiyue, and said, "These are all the generals I have contacted. The ones circled are safe and trustworthy. As for the others, you can figure it out on your own."

Guo regretted taking the paper and took a look. There were only five or six people circled on it, but fortunately these five or six people were all important generals.

Carefully putting away the paper, Guo Hui looked at Qin Dun Jiao Gan seriously, nodded heavily and said: "Don't worry, no matter what, we will do our best to kill the emperor, and we will come back to save you after the front line is cleared."

"Okay!" Qin Dunjiao nodded calmly.

"Take care!" Guo Hui nodded with a heavy face, then turned around and was about to leave.

"Wait a minute." Qin Dunjiaogan suddenly called him and said, "Don't trust those people who drew the circle."

"Huh?" Guo Huiyue was stunned for a moment.

"Let's go." Qin Dunjiao waved his hand, and the dagger slid directly out of his sleeve.

……

Under the cover of night, firecrackers exploded.

Guo Huiyue stood on the city wall, looking towards the Taiji Palace in the distance, and said softly: "The emperor should be feasting the royal family now."

"Yes!" Jiang Xia nodded gently and said, "My father-in-law and the county lady went together. I took the initiative to ask for a shift tonight."

"Aren't you afraid that others will say that you are resentful?" Guo Hui looked up at Jiang Xia.

"He has never thought of using us, and even a little resentment in his heart is not enough?" Jiang Xia snorted rudely. "Of course." Guo Hui stretched out his hand, and a piece of paper slipped out from his sleeve: "This is the list Qin Dunjiao gave me. I can use these people, but only the ones circled can be fully trusted."

Jiang Xia took the paper, glanced at it, and said, "This is consistent with our earlier information."

Guo regretted taking it again, and then said, "What about yours? I need the list to ensure that there is no obstruction all the way from the coast to the emperor's camp?"

"Here." Jiang Xia handed over a list without any hesitation.

Seeing Guo Hui taking a closer look, Jiang Xia raised his head and looked in the direction of Taiji Palace, then whispered: "Only tonight, on New Year's Eve, will the emperor relax, and the emperor's men will relax, and we will have a chance to do something."

"On the third day after he arrives in Youzhou, we will launch a surprise attack." Guo Hui looked at Jiang Xia and said directly: "I don't want the person you hide the deepest, but I hope you can send a message to him and tell him to act decisively when he needs help."

"There is no one who hides the deepest." Jiang Xia shook his head gently and said, "Have you forgotten Zhou Jitong? His father was once the governor of Yingzhou. When Di Renjie was transferred to Youzhou, many people followed him. In the end, they were just on the periphery. They probably couldn't get in beside the emperor, and even if they did, they couldn't play any role."

"That's enough." Guo Huiyue's face turned grim, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Qin Dunjiaogan promised to give me 3,000 men. As long as I can hide 3,000 war horses, I can directly destroy his camp."

"Three thousand war horses, how did you hide them... I forgot that you have someone in the Ministry of War." Jiang Xia reacted immediately.

In fact, everyone has someone behind them, but if you let these people do some small things secretly, there is no problem, but it is hard to expect them to stand up and join you in assassinating the emperor.

Forget it, they are not yet to the point where they would confiscate your property and destroy your clan just for you.

"That's it." Guo Huihui's expression became serious. He looked at Jiang Xia and said, "You guys don't have to stay in Chang'an. When the time comes, leave decisively. We will take care of the rest."

Jiang Xia nodded, then looked at Guo and said regretfully, "Princess?"

"This is a letter from the princess." Guo Huihui took out a letter from his arms, handed it to Jiang Xia, and said, "Forward it to Governor Dou. He will be assured of the rest."

"Okay." Jiang Xia completely relaxed.

The biggest problem they had during this period was that they had never seen the princess in several years.

If Guo regretted not maintaining a huge anti-imperialist network, they would not have dared to believe him.

Guo regretted calmly walking down the city gate. He knew what was written in the letter. It was just some secrets of Dou Huaiqi in the past, some secrets known only by the secret guards and the Empress Dowager. Now that the princess sent that letter, Dou Huaiqi would immediately think that Princess Taiping had taken over the secret guard system left by Empress Wu.

How could he know that Princess Taiping had died long ago.

……

The emperor issued an edict to suspend the imperial examination in the seventh year of Kaiyuan.

The emperor issued an edict that all scholars who registered for the imperial examinations should enter the army to serve as military clerks and other positions, and that they would be given priority for recruitment after the war.

The emperor issued an edict to appoint Wei Xuantong, the Imperial Censor, as the third rank official in the Secretariat.

The emperor issued an edict to appoint Yun Hongyin as the Minister of Personnel, and the third rank of the Secretariat.

The emperor issued an edict, with the crown prince acting as regent and the empress ruling from behind the curtain, while Lu Yuanfang, the minister of the left, Li Yiyan, the minister of the central secretariat, and Zhang Da'an, the palace attendant, stayed behind to assist in the administration.

The emperor ordered that Shang Shu You Pushe Wang Dezhen and Shi Zhong Ouyang Tong be stationed in Luoyang to transport grain and grass from all over the country.

The emperor issued an edict to summon the General of the Imperial Guard, the Pacifier of Luoshui Road, the Governor of Fanzhou, and the Inspector of Fanzhou Heichi Changzhi back to the court.

The emperor issued an edict to appoint the governor of Changzhou and the governor of Changzhou, Doulu Qinwang, as the deputy envoy of pacification of Luoshui Road, in charge of all important civil affairs of Changzhou and Fanzhou.

The emperor ordered that Yan Tao, the Protector General of the Western Regions, be appointed as the Deputy Envoy of Pacifying Luoshui Road, in charge of all military movements in Changzhou and Fanzhou.

……

……

Countless imperial edicts were sent directly from Chang'an City to all parts of the world until the end of the first month.

Thirty thousand soldiers who had been trained for a winter went to Andong in batches.

Li Xuan was in the fifth-to-last batch, and he personally dealt with the impact on the local area caused by the transfer of soldiers.

In mid-February, under countless flags, Li Xuan had arrived in Youzhou.

Li Xuan, dressed in black clothes and black armor, rode on his horse with an indifferent expression. A 10-foot-long spear was hung on the horse, and a long sword in a black sheath was hanging at his waist. Li Zhu was personally guarding him at his side.

To be honest, if Li Xuan's helmet was not completely different from others, it would be difficult for people to recognize him as the emperor even if they got closer.

"Your Majesty, Di Huaiying, the governor of Youzhou, has arrived." Chen Ziang walked quickly up to him and bowed solemnly.

"Got it." Li Xuan took a deep breath and then slowly walked towards the military camp.

Lifting the curtain, Li Xuan saw Di Renjie at a glance.

Li Xuan nodded with satisfaction and said, "Brother Huaiying, you have gained weight."

Di Renjie immediately smiled and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your blessing."

"Hmm!" Li Xuan smiled, then walked to the imperial couch and sat down, then looked at Di Renjie and asked, "How is the matter in Youzhou being handled?"

"I have convinced all the noble families in Youzhou. None of them will act rashly in the next few days." Di Renjie bowed seriously.

"Very good. Now I can kill fewer people." Li Xuan raised his head and looked towards the sea in the distance.

"Yes!" Di Renjie couldn't say anything more.

At this point in time, Li Xuan has given him enough time.

He has convinced all the people he could convince, and those who remain cannot be convinced, and he will never be able to convince them again.

……

Under the dark night, three thousand Silla soldiers appeared silently on the land of Youzhou under the deliberate release of water by the Dengzhou navy.

Two hours later, three thousand cavalrymen had quickly rushed towards a place thirty miles away.

Under the night sky, Li Xuan, dressed in black clothes and black armor, rode on his horse with an indifferent expression, a 10-foot-long spear hung on the horse and a long sword with a black sheath hung at his waist.

Behind him were 10,000 elite troops from the Tibetan and Tuyuhun tribes, led by Lun Gongren and Li Gu themselves.

Quietly waiting in the darkness to charge. (End of this chapter)