Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 218: Superintendent of the army and acting general manager

"Li Sikong asks to see you!"

Today, Xu Jingzong and Lai Ji were on duty in the three provincial council halls. After receiving a letter from Chen Qingsi, they felt that the situation was serious. After reporting to Li Zhi, they also sent someone to invite Li Ji.

Li Ji is old and usually does not participate in temple affairs. Only when major military matters are involved, he, the military No. 1, will be invited to appear.

Looking at Chen Qingsi's concise report in his hand, Li Ji also thought of the events in Silla and Tubo, and felt a little scared on his back.

If these things happen together, even if he is as strong as the Tang Dynasty, he will care about one thing and lose the other, right?
In fact, he guessed it right. In the future, the Nine Surnames Tie Le rebelled. Although Xue Rengui's superb performance, he used his unparalleled archery skills to defeat the Tianshan Mountains with three arrows and defeated the Nine Surnames Tie Le's tribe of more than [-] people. However, the coach Zheng Rentai They were too ambitious and selected [-] of the most elite cavalry to march northward day and night, crossing the desert. As a result, no hair was found, the food was exhausted, the men and horses ate each other, and only one in [-] soldiers and horses were left.

Although this battle was a great victory, the Tang army paid a heavy price.

Then it fell into the quagmire of the Haidong Peninsula. As a result, Tubo became stronger and became an existence that could compete with the Tang Dynasty.

At the height of the Tang Dynasty, it was difficult for the new-born Tubo to fight alone. It was just a hammer in the east, a mallet in the west, Turks in the west, Tiele in the north, Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla in the west, and Tubo in the south. They were all consumed in turn for some reason. Presenting a situation where one is unable to cope with it.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the current matter is not how to think about sending troops, but how to deal with the desperate situation after the news is revealed."

Li Ji said: "The old minister agrees with Mr. Chen's judgment. Now they are not ready to be our enemy. If they are exposed in advance, they will definitely take action and will not sit still and wait for death. They will definitely flee to the extreme north or northwest. To keep it away from my control."

Because there were always hidden dangers in Haidong, Datang deployed many troops and horses in the direction of Yingzhou in the northeast, and also arranged for veteran general Cheng Mingzhen to take charge.

The surrounding tribes such as Khitan and Shiwei are also unable to deal with Tiele, so it is impossible for the Tiele tribes in Mobei to move to the northeast. There are only two ways to move to the extreme north and west.

It's freezing cold in the far north, and there are few people around.Moving west also involves crossing the desert, and no matter what choice you make, you will need a lot of material support.

Looting before migrating is the safest way.

In particular, the nomadic people have the characteristics of ready-to-war. As long as they give an order, the men and women of the tribe can immediately join the army.

The farming people need to prepare food, gather troops, distribute armor, transfer and other procedures.

Although the Tang Dynasty was well versed in this aspect and its response speed was not slow, it was still a little behind the nomads.

Li Zhi asked: "Sikong also thinks that the traitor will send troops to Lingzhou."

Li Jidao: "If we don't send troops, whenever we send troops, we must attack Lingzhou. There are two reasons. Our army marched westward and transferred some troops from Lingzhou. Today, the defenders of Lingzhou are no more than [-]. Among the tribes in Monan, Sijie tribe was at that time When chasing Ashina Helu, they experienced a hard battle and suffered heavy losses. They have not been able to recover to this day. However, because they contributed a lot at that time, His Majesty gave them generous rewards. The family is rich and this is the time to take advantage of it. . Therefore, I thought there was no time to delay in supporting him."

The four people had a rough discussion on the arrangements.

A strategy was quickly decided, with Huang Heshou to resist first and then send a group of light cavalry to support them to make up for the lack of strength.

The imperial court divided its troops into two groups, with Zheng Rentai as the general manager of the Tiele Road march, Liu Shenli as the governor of Yanran, and Huang Heshou, the governor of Lingxia, as the deputy general manager, heading north from Lingzhou.General Zuo Xiaowei, Ashina Zhong, was the general manager of the march on the Immortal Route, and Xue Rengui was the deputy general manager. They set off from Yunzhong and went straight to the back road of Mobei.

The real big things are decided by a few people, and anything that can be discussed together is not a big thing.

Li Zhi, Li Ji, Xu Jingzong, and Lai Ji were able to decide all affairs of the Tang Dynasty.

Xu Jingzong and Lai Ji went to take charge of the expedition.

Li Ji deliberately stayed.

Seeing that he had something to say, Li Zhi asked after Xu Jingzong and Lai Ji left, "Is there anything else you need to add, Ai Qing?" Li Ji said, "I thought I had to make a special decree to allow Mr. Chen to command Huanghe Shou. Temporarily responsible for Lingzhou affairs."

Li Zhi said in surprise: "Why is this? Mr. Chen certainly has great plans, but he comes from a poor background and has never been exposed to military strategy. How can he command an army? Governor Huang has many military exploits following his father and is a trustworthy general. , I believe he has the ability to resist the thieves."

Li Jidao: "Your Majesty, I believe in Governor Huang's ability, but I don't believe that he can handle this war calmly."

Li Zhi was so alert, a glimmer of understanding flashed in his eyes, and he said, "Ai Qing is talking about Xu Kai?"

Li Ji did not answer directly, but acquiesced.

Chen Qingsi's emergency memorial did not mention Huang Heshou's role in this incident, but Xu Kai took advantage of his authority to sell grain, iron, and weapons to Mobei. If Huang Heshou really did not do anything, Huang Heshou would have done nothing. Sleep is impossible.

It's just that he is the ultimate beneficiary and is pretending not to know.

Li Zhi knew why Chen Qingsi did not mention Huang Heshou, and agreed with his choice: At this critical moment, Lingzhou cannot change its commander, and the military morale cannot be shaken.

But Huang Heshou himself may not be able to overcome this hurdle. He is eager for success and wants to take advantage of his achievements. This mentality can easily be taken advantage of by the enemy.

After being beaten for thousands of years, the grassland people now also know the art of war.

"Ai Qing reminded me that I almost ignored this point. So I issued an order to appoint Mr. Chen as the military supervisor and temporarily act as the chief steward."

Li Ji grinned, bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

Li Zhi laughed dumbly: "Is Sikong satisfied now?"

Ever since Chen Qingsi showed his strategic foresight, Li Ji had more than once wanted him to change his civilian position to a military position, and now he got what he wanted.

Li Ji smiled even more happily, with wrinkles all over his face. He couldn't help but nod: "Satisfied, Mr. Chen led more than ten people to the Sijie Department to beg the thieves and force the Sijie Department to compromise. Such courage is indeed rare. . He has extraordinary strategic vision. As long as he is more exposed to military affairs, Your Majesty will have a good man who can be civilized and military, and will benefit the country."

Li Zhi didn't answer and asked Li Ji to go down.

After rubbing his slightly aching brain, Li Zhi thought for a while and came to the harem.

Before entering the palace, I heard that Queen Wu was studying at the Pope's Prince Li Hong.

When Li Zhi entered the palace, Queen Wu discovered it and hurriedly led Li Hong up to salute.

Li Zhi smiled and stroked Li Hong's head. He liked the eldest son of Renxiao quite a lot and said: "The queen must know how to combine work and rest. The prince is young, so you don't have to pay too much attention to his homework."

As the crown prince, Li Hong naturally has his own husband, and Empress Wu is regarded as extracurricular tutoring.

Empress Wu said: "I obey, my concubine." She responded obediently, but she didn't take it seriously. Everything about the Wu family depended on Li Hong, so how could she relax in his training.

Li Zhi said: "I heard that Mr. Chen's wife, Mrs. Xiao, is pregnant. The queen expressed her condolences to me and gave me some anti-fetal products. When giving birth, remember to arrange in advance for the midwife in the palace to help deliver the baby."

Empress Wu promised without any delay.

As for the reason, Li Zhi didn't tell her, and Empress Wu didn't dare to ask. She was not qualified to interfere in government affairs now.

(End of this chapter)