Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 459 Sending out troops again
Li Chongde felt like he was dreaming at this moment, and his fatal stain was once again under the control of others.

I originally thought that he would be controlled by Li Yifu just like he was before and forced to do something unacceptable.

The fact that Li Yifu was included in the Zhaojun Li family tree has brought shame to the entire Five Surnames to this day. He has also been despised by his own people and has never been able to raise his head.

Now it happens again, and Li Chongde wants to die.

Who would have thought that this time, not only was he not threatened, but he was rewarded instead and made great contributions to the court.

Li Chongde felt like he was dreaming, but he was even more terrified.

There is no free lunch in this world. The other party gave me such a big gift, obviously he has something bigger to ask for.

"Minister Li, congratulations on your promotion!"

Hearing the congratulations, Li Chongde shuddered, turned around and took a look, and it was indeed the tall and strong Wan Guojun.

Li Chongde was originally a fifth-rank official. He had been in this position for many years and had never been promoted.

The main reason was that he lost favor because of the invitation of Li Yifu to be included in the family tree.

His official position, which was originally limited to this one, unexpectedly received a huge response in this proposal and remonstration, and he was promoted to the position of Inspector of the Ministry of Works, a fourth-rank official, responsible for dredging the canal.

Li Chongde looked at Wan Guojun who appeared again, pretending to be calm and asked in a stern voice: "Who are you? What is your purpose?"

He wanted to show his strength, but his fierce appearance but weak heart was clearly visible.

Wan Guojun couldn't help but laugh and said, "So Minister Li doesn't even dare to investigate my identity?"

Li Chongde's face was filled with shame and anger. He had thought about investigating Wan Guojun, but when he thought about the fact that the other party knew all the wrong and ugly things he had done, he felt terrified. If all the confidential information was dug out, what if his little tricks were discovered by the other party and he became angry and embarrassed?

Wan Guojun thought to himself: He is indeed a very easy person to control.

He straightened his clothes and said, "Let me introduce myself again. I am Wan Guojun, the director of the Ministry of Justice. Minister Li has just arrived at the Ministry of Works and has no one to help him. I have made great achievements in flood control, so I would like to recommend myself to follow Minister Li. I hope that Minister Li will find an opportunity to take action."

The Minister of Justice was just a minor official in the Ministry of Justice, an eighth-rank official.

With Li Chongde's status, asking the Ministry of Justice for a minor official was just a matter of words.

Li Chongde wanted to say something else.

Wan Guojun bowed, turned around and left, leaving Li Chongde no chance to refuse or speak.

Li Chongde opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.

Just as Wan Guojun thought, Li Chongde was a coward. As long as he was given a way out and a glimmer of hope, he would passively accept it.

Wan Guojun left Li Chongde and wandered around to make sure no one was following him. He then came to an inconspicuous alley and courtyard in Yongpingfang again.

They were still talking across a wall in the main hall.

"Sir! Everything is as you thought. Li Chongde has been promoted to the Minister of Works and is in charge of flood control."

A hoarse voice came from the room: "You will follow Li Chongde from now on. I will have someone notify you if there is any situation. What you need to do now is to climb up as much as possible and help Li Chongde climb up regardless of everything. Your life or death depends on how fast you climb up. Liu Rengui... is already the Protector General of Baekje. His best friend Chen Qingsi is even the most popular figure in the dynasty. You should be thankful that you treated Liu Rengui ruthlessly at the beginning, making him ashamed to speak, and making Chen Qingsi and others unable to bear to expose his scars, so that you have a chance to live."

"If Liu Rengui knew about you, he would definitely not tolerate you. If Chen Qingsi knew what you did to his friend in prison, he would not tolerate you either."

"You can only breathe a sigh of relief when you crawl to a point where Chen Qingsi can no longer crush you to death."

Wan Guojun's eyes were firm and resolute.

At the beginning, Li Yifu wanted to overthrow Lai Ji through Liu Rengui, but he tried every means to get him to open his mouth.

Wan Guojun is the head of the prison in the Ministry of Justice. He has worked in the Ministry of Justice for many years and has figured out a way to interrogate people: prescribing the right medicine for the right symptoms. He likes to interrogate those who are stubborn and likes to destroy their psychological defenses and pry open their mouths.

The harder the mouth, the better he likes it.

Seeing that his useless men were unable to pry Liu Rengui open his mouth, Li Yifu invited Wan Guojun from the Ministry of Justice to help.

Wan Guojun was full of confidence. Liu Rengui was a great man with a proud heart and attached the most importance to his dignity. To deal with such a person, you have to trample their dignity on the ground and treat them like animals. As long as you crush the things they value most, their mouths will naturally open.

But obviously Wan Guojun underestimated Liu Rengui's beliefs.

Liu Rengui was the only person he hadn't managed to pry open his mouth...

Wan Guojun has always been unconvinced. He believes that if he is given a little more time, he will definitely succeed.

But Wan Guojun always thought that he had found a powerful figure and would be successful.

As a result, Li Yifu fell, and Wan Guojun fled back to the Ministry of Justice in fear, trembling with fear.

Wan Guojun thought he was finished. For what he had done to Liu Rengui, even if he had ten lives, he would not be able to die.

It turned out that Li Yifu's group had fallen, but no one cared about him.

Wan Guojun was puzzled at first, but later he figured it out. He did not tell Liu Rengui his name. Liu Rengui might regard him as a member of the Dali Temple. Liu Rengui would not tell anyone about what he did to him. That would be a loss of face for him.

This also resulted in the fact that the head of the Ministry of Justice escaped this disaster.

From then on, Wan Guojun just lived a life of idleness and waited for death in the Ministry of Justice, no longer hoping for promotion.

If Liu Rengui really knew of his existence, he would be dead.

Wan Guojun had devoted himself to studying the interrogation method in order to stand out and rise to prominence. But now he was forced to learn from the tortoise and become a grandson, and he was naturally unwilling to do so.

Until today, he found a chance to fight.

"Don't worry, sir. I, Wan Guojun, am unwilling to live my life in obscurity. As long as there is hope, no matter how difficult it is, I will try my best."

There was a laugh from inside the house.

"Also... you need to keep a low profile. Empress Wu has always suspected that someone is targeting her, so I set up a trap to deliberately make the Wu family keep a low profile to see if anyone falls for it. We did catch a few small fish and shrimps, all of them minor characters. Yesterday, the person we were following was targeted by someone."

"Two people were killed, and the other party disappeared... I don't know who it was. It is obvious that Empress Wu didn't think much about it. There was indeed someone watching her. From the other party's skills, we can see that the ability behind it is extraordinary."

Wan Guojun had a tense face. The hope of this group of people was Empress Wu. Empress Wu was the mother of the crown prince. The current emperor was in poor health. Once he passed away, those who followed Empress Wu would have to follow him.

Wan Guojun clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "Do you know who it is?"

"I don't know!"

The voice of the person in the room was very calm: "There is no need to know, just know that there is such a person. We are now rats in the gutter, and we cannot see the light. The most important thing is to do our best, and there is no need to cause trouble for ourselves. As long as the big thing is accomplished, there is no need to know who it is. Kill all the opponents, and the thief will be at ease."
-
Chang'an, Chen's house!
Zhou Kui told Chen Qingsi what happened yesterday with some lingering fear.

"Master, you guessed it right. The Wu family's place is a trap. It was hidden very deeply. I almost fell into it..."

"Since receiving the order, I have disguised myself as different people for several days and passed by the main gate of the Wu family's mansion in various identities. I found that there were people doing different things in key corners near the Wu family. They took turns and did not wait at a fixed point for a long time, so they were not easy to find."

"If the master hadn't warned me in advance that there was a scam, I might have overlooked it." "I observed them for a few days and figured out their movements. I took the risk of following one of them to find out the reason. I thought I was doing it secretly, but they still found me."

"They must have specially arranged people to counter the tracking..."

"I sensed danger and killed the person following me. I stayed in the south of the city for one night and just came back."

Chen Qingsi listened carefully and said, "Tomorrow you will continue to disguise yourself and go to the vicinity of the Wu family to see if those people are still there."

Zhou Kui's experience proved one thing: Empress Wu had found a useful helper who was quite capable and was able to track down Zhou Kui, who was good at sleight of hand.

What Chen Qingsi has to do now is to find the other party out.

First, narrow down the scope...

Take a peek at the other party's strength...

If this happened and they are still following us, it means that the other party has a certain confidence and status.

If one knows that he has been exposed and immediately retreats, it means that the other party is also afraid of exposing his identity and dare not take risks easily.

Chen Qingsi actually hopes for the former. After all, there are not many big figures who can be called opponents, and he can use the method of elimination to determine the candidate.

If it is the latter, it will be difficult to catch it at the moment.

It is easy to find chess pieces on the chessboard, but difficult to find rats in the gutter.

On the second day, Chen Qingsi received news from Zhou Kui that all abnormal situations near the Wu family had disappeared.

Chen Qingsi thought about Empress Wu's helpers in history and analyzed them one by one: Who were they?

Three and a half months passed in a flash, and Chen Qingsi still had no clue, but he was not in a hurry. No matter how deep a rat hid, it would eventually show up.

But on this day, a piece of news interrupted his rhythm of catching mice.

Tubo sent troops again.

Lun Qinling once again led 40,000 troops south with great force.

When Chen Qingsi received the news from the front line, he immediately went to the palace to meet the emperor.

Li Zhi was reporting to people from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue on the management of rivers and canals to improve the transportation capacity between Chang'an and Luoyang.

The Ministry of Works was responsible for formulating the overall plan, while the Ministry of Revenue was responsible for conscripting labor, logistics, food and accommodation, etc.

The fact that the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue met again shows that the river management work was progressing very quickly.

When the discussion reached a critical moment, they learned that Chen Qingsi came to see them with military intelligence.

Li Zhi immediately stopped the discussion and said to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works: "Everyone please go to the side hall to discuss the details first. After I have dealt with the Ministry of War, I will discuss it with you in detail."

Officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works had no objection either.

The Ministry of War ranks fourth among the six ministries, but in the face of military intelligence, everything has to be put on hold.

What's more, the current Minister of War is still Chen Qingsi...

"His Majesty!"

After Chen Qingsi bowed, he immediately said, "The Tubo invaded the south again."

Hearing that Tubo had returned, Li Zhi was so angry that he could not help but curse: "What a cunning villain, you are bullying me too much."

Chen Qingsi said, "I think the other side must have learned about our canal repairs and deliberately sent troops at this critical moment to make us spend more labor service and cause economic setbacks."

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a limit on corvée labor, and all Tang citizens had the obligation to perform corvée labor every year.

If the imperial court did not take any major action, local governments would mobilize the people to build roads, dredge canals, or reinforce river embankments, etc.

Dredging rivers and controlling the Wei River are major moves.

The imperial court has already conscripted the people to perform corvée labor, and everything has been put on the march.

At this time, military service had to be mobilized when war broke out. The combination of corvée and military service was undoubtedly a burden for the people.

Military service cannot be stopped, but the dredging of canals and the management of the Wei River have already begun. In order to better dredge the silt, they even cut off the upper reaches of the Wei River. If they now convert corvée labor into military service, wouldn't the past three months of work have been in vain?
If this were to happen, it would be a huge loss for the imperial court.

Li Zhi certainly understood this, so he cursed.

"No, the Tibetan spies are too arrogant."

The last time Tubo invaded, it was just when he had returned from Fengshan and the treasury was empty.

That time he was already scared to death, and now it happens again.

Li Zhi was filled with anger, but had no way to vent it, so he could only take it out on the secret agents.

After all, if he didn't know everything in the capital, how could he have sent out troops so accurately?

"Fortunately, I have Lord Su Xing, but he is quite old and it is really hard for him."

Seeing Li Zhi's emotional words, Chen Qingsi echoed, "Su Xinggong is a unique general in the world. With him, everything will be safe. But the logistics and food cannot be neglected. Even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice. Even the most powerful generals cannot fight a war without food."

Li Zhi said: "I understand. Do you have any suggestions for the current situation? Should we stop regulating the Wei River and dredging the canals?"

Chen Qingsi immediately said, "It can be delayed but not stopped. I think we can do it in batches. There are urgent and slow issues in river management. Urgent issues should not be changed. Those that can be delayed should be suspended and converted to military service. In addition, more people from Longyou and Liangzhou should be transferred to military service to maintain the supply of food and grass. As for river management, Jingxiang will recruit corvée laborers to support the north."

This is not a very good solution, but it is not a solution among solutions.

Li Zhi also knew that this would cause the least loss to the people of the court, so he nodded and said, "This is the only way. I will follow your advice."

Chen Qingsi was also very annoyed by the repeated harassment from Tubo, and cursed in his mind: "One day, I will destroy the Potala Palace. I can't swallow this anger if I don't piss on it."

"Fortunately, we have Su Dingfang!"

Chen Qingsi added a sentence in his mind. A strange feeling surged into his heart. He thought about it carefully, but he had no clue.

Chen Qingsi arranged the military matters at the Ministry of War, returned home, called Zhou Kui, and asked him to inform the bad commander Yin Ming.

"The Tibetan spies in the city are too rampant. If we suppress their arrogance, there will be a response."

Chang'an now has a population of over 1.5 million, and it is not easy to completely clear it out.

But Yin Ming is his man, if there is any benefit, he will inform his own people to grab the first opportunity! !

(End of this chapter)