The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 62 An Sishun
For Li Heng, his purpose has never been to kill Gai Jiayun or do anything to Gai Jiayun. His purpose is just to drive Gai Jiayun out of office so that he can take the opportunity to seize power.

So as long as he got the evidence of Gai Jiayun's crime, it didn't matter whether Gai Jiayun escaped or died.

In other words, as long as Li Heng captured Zhao Cheng and others and obtained physical evidence of Gai Jiayun's crimes, his goal would be achieved.

Gai Jiayun heard Li Ying's words, looked at the dancing girls in front of him, and said, "As a Tang general, no matter how absurd my actions are, there is one thing I will not change."

"Which point?" Li Heng asked seriously.

"Never betray Tang!"

Gai Jiayun replied seriously.

Li Heng knew that what Gai Jiayun said was true, because Gai Jiayun could indeed escape, but he didn't.

"What a pity." Li Ying sighed.

Li Heng admired the fact that Gai Jiayun would never betray the Tang Dynasty, but Gai Jiayun made too many mistakes.

"But doing nothing is not General Gai's style. You should have other strategies." Li Heng sighed and asked again.

Gai Jiayun nodded and said without hesitation: "The saint is kind and merciful. I have made some modest military achievements in recent years. As long as I can get in touch with the court, it won't be difficult for me to survive."

"I see."

Li Heng finally understood Gai Jiayun's thoughts.

Gai Jiayun did not personally show up, but urged Zhao Cheng to do everything, and he watched from behind. It would be best if Zhao Cheng succeeded, but if he failed, he could still save his life even though he did not do the murders, collusion with foreign enemies, and assassination of the prince.

Gai Jiayun is loyal to the Tang Dynasty, but also cunning and cruel.

"General Gai is waiting for me here today, so he must have other things to do."

"Your Highness is indeed able to anticipate the enemy's moves at all times." Gai Jiayun praised sincerely, "Please allow me to keep you in suspense for now. What do you think are the keys to victory in a war?"

In Gao Xianzhi's eyes, although Li Heng seemed to know everything, he had his own specialties. He felt that as a prince who grew up in the prosperous Chang'an, how could Li Heng know any military tactics? Gai Jiayun asked this question, clearly intending to embarrass Li Heng, so he stepped forward and said:

"General Gai, you are now a prisoner. How dare you speak to His Highness like that? Just speak frankly if you have anything to say."

"No problem." Li Heng smiled, signaling Gao Xianzhi not to worry about it, and said to Gai Jiayun: "Sun Tzu's Art of War says: So we should examine it with five things and check it with strategies to find out the truth: one is the way, two is the sky, three is the ground, four is the general, and five is the law."

"This is the outline, not the details." Gai Jiayun shook his head.

Li Heng thought for a moment and said, "If we want to talk about it in detail, it is not something that can be explained in a few words. For example, the composition of military personnel, military weapons and equipment, the main ideology of the military, the degree of training, the ability and level of logistics supply, the ability of generals at all levels to lead troops and the level of command in battle, etc., each of them is a subject of study."

"That's right." Gai Jiayun cast an admiring look at Li Heng and said, "Your Highness just mentioned the ability of generals at all levels to lead troops and their command level in battle. This is indeed crucial in war. Every order conveyed by the generals must be implemented by the generals at all levels. If it is not implemented properly, not to mention the hard battle of attack, retreat and escape will also result in heavy casualties."

"So General Gai wants me to let go of those soldiers who are loyal to you?" Li Ying looked at Gai Jiayun and asked. "Your Highness is wise." Gai Jiayun stood up and saluted Li Ying, "They are all soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. Some of them may have ulterior motives, but most of them are loyal to the Tang Dynasty. They are with me. Maybe they were coerced or had no choice. There are also many innocent people among them. If Your Highness really wants to purge them, many innocent people will be implicated. I have always been told that I will not employ people unless they are related to me, and I will not promote people unless they are highly respected. But if I really did that, how could I have won more battles against Tubo than I lost."

Li Ying looked at Gai Jiayun and thought, "He has never been sympathetic to his soldiers, but now that he is about to step down, he cares about his subordinates. This man is really hard to understand."

Thinking of this, Li Heng recalled that when Li Longji fled Chang'an after the Anshi Rebellion, others advised him to burn the food, but he said that after the rebels entered the city, they would not be able to find food and would rob the people, so it should not be burned.

At this time, he thought of the people again.

Seeing that Li Heng did not speak, Gai Jiayun continued, "Your Highness, Anxi is surrounded by enemies on both sides. If Your Highness attacks Anxi and weakens its military strength, it may be disadvantageous to Anxi. Please think about it and be careful!"

Li Heng had been thinking about how he could quickly seize the military power of Anxi after Gai Jiayun stepped down and fight a war with the Kingdom of Xiaoboluo and Tubo.

If all of Gai Jiayun's men were killed and new soldiers were recruited to fill the gap, then how to fight a good battle in the Little Bolor Kingdom and Tubo would become a problem.

If he could not fight a good battle in Xiaoboluo and Tubo, Li Longji and the people in the court would definitely think that he was incapable of commanding troops, and they would not care about any objective reasons at that time.

After much thought, Li Heng felt that the best way was to learn from Li Shimin.

After Li Shimin killed Li Jiancheng, he did not kill all the members of the old prince's party. Instead, he subdued Wei Zheng and made important use of Wei Zheng, letting Wei Zheng, the representative of the old prince, appease the members of the old prince's party.

Li Heng had already made up his mind. The next key was how to find someone under Gai Jiayun who was like Wei Zheng under Li Jiancheng.

Now Gai Jiayun seems to have brought the opportunity.

Li Heng paused for a moment and said, "It's impossible not to kill any of them. Those who are extremely evil must be eliminated. I can deal with the others at my discretion. I would like to hear what General Gai has to say, such as who should not be killed."

General Gai thought for a moment and said, "For example, An Sishun."

"An Sishun?" Li Ying was slightly surprised.

An Sishun, a native of Anguo in the Western Regions and a member of the Sogdian ethnic group, was also a fierce general who made countless contributions to the Tang Dynasty.

But later, when An Lushan rebelled, Li Longji had no good feelings towards people with the surname An. Coincidentally, Geshu Han, in order to centralize power, reported An Sishun for plotting a rebellion, and An Sishun was unjustly killed.

But in fact, before the An-Shi Rebellion, An Sishun had reported to Li Longji many times that An Lushan was planning a rebellion, and that the famous generals of the Restoration, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, had been his subordinates.

Li Heng remembered that starting from 721 AD, An Sishun served in the border defenses of Longyou, Hexi and Anxi respectively, but he was not sure when and where exactly.

Li Heng had already made a plan in mind. He nodded and said, "I will consider this matter carefully. General Gai, please take a seat. After this banquet and this dance, General Gai should be imprisoned. I will have you taken to Chang'an for trial."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Gai Jiayun bowed to Li Ying and then sat down.

During the banquet, Li Ying asked, "General Gai, do you have a dancer who can't talk?"

(End of this chapter)