Wentang

Chapter 810 Candidates for the Western Expedition

Sasanian's envoy successfully took the bait, and together with the businessmen of Datang, aroused public opinion about sending troops.

Megapanos and others did grasp the most sensitive point of Datang, the Turkic people.

They publicized how powerful the Turkic people are in the West, how they hate the Tang Dynasty, and successfully aroused the hatred of the Turkic people in the Tang Dynasty.

Coupled with huge economic benefits, more and more people have changed their minds.

At this time, the journal of the eight academies recommended a book on the front page.

"Liaodong Chronicle", author Wang Xuance.

The status of the eight academies is detached, especially the journals of the eight universities have great influence, and there are very few books that can be jointly recommended by them.It should be said that apart from Yue Shan's book, this is the first one.

Naturally, everyone's curiosity was aroused, and the book became a bestseller in a very short time.

Only after watching it did I know what happened.

On the surface, this book is Wang Xuance's summary of his work in Liaodong. It focuses on reflecting on the behavior of labeling various groups, thinking that this is too narrow.

What the vassal states need is not to be treated differently, but to be treated equally. As long as they are Chinese descendants, we should all be treated fairly and justly. This is the mind that the suzerain state should have.

But he also emphasized that the above method is used to deal with the relationship between Datang and vassal states, or in other words, it can only deal with the relationship between forces that agree with Chinese civilization.

If you use the above method to deal with forces that are not in the Chinese civilization system, you will suffer a lot.

It even briefly summed up some methods of dealing with people who are not in the Chinese civilization system.

Once published, it caused a sensation in the ruling and opposition parties, and was regarded as the standard for dealing with foreign forces.

It is precisely because of this book that many people who thought that Wang Xuance persuaded Baekje and Tamna to be attached to it were luck changed their views. This is a person with real talents and real learning.

Moreover, being able to publish a book, and the book that is published is a book of the kingly way, which can be regarded as making a statement.

If you speak up, you will be regarded as one of your own by scholars.

It has to be admitted that the right to speak has been in the hands of scholars since ancient times.They are willing to flatter, which can affect a person's reputation.

This book is also very popular in the vassal state, becoming the most popular book after the Chinese civilization.

The current situation is in turmoil, and the public opinion of the Western Expedition has completely gained the upper hand. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the court has made up its mind.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Li Shimin held a core-level meeting, and more than [-] ministers of civil and military affairs gathered together.

Although Liu Ji still opposed the Western Expedition, he stopped insisting when the facts were determined to be irreversible. Instead, he tried to find ways to help the court check for omissions and fill vacancies.

This is why Li Shimin made him prime minister.

First, Liu Rengui introduced his plan in detail.

This plan is very different from the version that Yue Shan saw at the beginning. It is a version after several important ministers made mistakes, and it is more stable than the original version.

Therefore, everyone had no objection to his plan, and it passed smoothly.

After he finished his explanation, the most important topic was the selection of generals for the Western Expedition.

"The Chief of the Western Expeditionary Army, the Governor of Anxi, the Governor of Gaochang, and the Diplomatic Ambassador, these four positions are very important. Do you have a suitable candidate?" Li Shimin asked.

Yue Shan waited for a while and no one spoke, he knew what everyone was hesitating about.West Expedition is too dangerous. In case of accident, the recommender has to take risks, and no one dares to speak easily.

Knowing that he was going to take the initiative to speak up, he said, "I recommend Wang Xuance, the young minister of Honglu Temple, as the diplomatic ambassador."

Li Shimin heaved a sigh of relief, he was most afraid that no one would speak, how embarrassing it would be:

"Wang Xuance was able to persuade Baekje and Tamna Neifu, and recently wrote a "Liaodong Chronicle" to reflect on the court's diplomatic gains and losses in Liaodong, which was of great help to the court."

"It can be seen from this that he really has a deep understanding of diplomacy. However, the situation in Western countries is very different from that in Liaodong. I don't know if he is qualified for this position."

Yue Shan said: "Wang Xuance began to study the situation in the west a few months ago, and he has a deep understanding there. I have also talked with him before, and he does have unique insights. He should be qualified for this job."

Li Shimin nodded to express his understanding, but he didn't directly make a decision, but asked: "Do you have any better suggestions?"

Yu Wenjie said: "In fact, Tang Maoyue's ability is also qualified for this position, but..."

He didn't say anything later, but Tang Jian often drank alcohol during work, and even drank with others, and was dismissed as an idle official by mistake.

Hearing his recommendation, the eyelids of the others twitched, but they cursed the cunning fox in their hearts.

This recommendation is the same as no recommendation, because it is impossible for Tang Jian to be the diplomatic ambassador of the Western Expeditionary Army, not because he was demoted because of drinking, but because...

Li Shimin's eyelids twitched a few times, and he said, "Tang Maoyue is nearly seventy years old, it's better not to work on him."

Let a man who is nearly seventy years old go to the Western Expeditionary Army as an ambassador, are you sure you don't want him to die?

Doesn't Yuwen Festival know the reason?For sure.He mentioned this place purely for errands.

You asked us to recommend people, and I recommended them, and my ability is sufficient, as for the others, it has nothing to do with me.

So when Li Shimin denied his proposal, Yu Wenjie was not surprised at all, and self-criticized:

"It's my negligence. I actually forgot that Tang Maoyue is old. Please forgive me, saint."

Li Shimin waved helplessly for him to sit down.

"Are there any other candidates?"

No one answered, if there were problems with the person recommended by Yue Shan, they would definitely object, but they all believed that Wang Xuance was young, strong and capable, and he was the most suitable candidate.

Seeing that no one spoke, Li Shimin said: "Let Wang Xuance come to see me tomorrow."

"Here." Zhao Meng immediately wrote down the matter.

"Who is the most suitable chief executive of the Western Expedition? Mao Gong, you are the privy envoy, tell me who is the most suitable." Li Shimin asked.

It's not good for Li Ji to pretend to be stupid when he is personally named, so he said: "Cheng Zhijie, Su Dingfang, Liu Zhengze, Niu Jinda, and King Jiang Xia are all suitable, and the saints need to decide who will take on this important task."

Li Shimin knew that it was impossible for this old fox to express his opinion, so he asked, "What about you, who do you think is suitable?"

Others followed Li Ji's example and proposed several candidates they thought were suitable.

It's not that they don't want to recommend, but it's the first time that Xizheng has happened, and no one has experience and doesn't know how to recommend people.

Li Shimin also knew what they were thinking, although he was helpless, he was not angry.On the contrary, he felt that Liu Rengui was a man of great talent and had done a good job in strategic planning.

The Western Expedition is an unprecedented event. Everyone has no experience, but Liu Rengui can come up with a suitable plan.Focusing on accumulating experience for stability is simply too much in line with Datang's needs at this time.

At this time, he had already thought of a suitable position for Liu Rengui, but now he was still discussing the position of the chief commander of the Western Expedition, so he put this idea in his heart for the time being.

"Auxiliary machine, who do you think is the most suitable?"

Changsun Wuji knew that he had to speak the truth, so he said: "If you only talk about the ability to command troops, the people you mentioned are all suitable."

"However, the Western Expeditionary Army is far away from the mainland of the Tang Dynasty. The requirement for the commander is not only to be able to fight, but to have outstanding abilities in all aspects... Only in this way can the army's morale be avoided."

"So the commander of the Western Expeditionary Army must be young and vigorous, with strong military capabilities and rich experience, and it is best to have the status of a clan... Considering all aspects, I think King Jiangxia is the most suitable."

Everyone showed a thoughtful expression, but the more they thought about it, the more they felt that this candidate was really the most suitable.

Jiangxia King Li Daozong, together with Li Xiaogong, is known as an all-round figure with double walls of the Tang clan, both civil and military.

Leading the army to fight at the young age of the weak crown, it can be said that he has experienced many battles and has always been loyal to Li Shimin.If one had to assign a rank to someone Li Shimin trusted, he would definitely be in the first rank.

And he is the youngest among all the top commanders, only 45 years old, so it would be appropriate for him to go.

Thinking of this, everyone agreed with each other.

Li Shimin was also very satisfied with this result, and Li Daozong was also the commander of the Western Expedition Army that best suited his wishes, as expected, his brother-in-law understood his thoughts best.

"Okay, if you all have no objections, then King Jiang Xia will be the general manager of the Western Expeditionary Army."

Li Daozong himself sat there with a calm expression from the beginning to the end, as if everyone was not discussing him.

When Li Shimin was sure that he would be the commander-in-chief of the Western Expeditionary Army, he stood up and said solemnly: "I will not disgrace my mission, and praise my Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin smiled and said: "Okay, I believe you. Go down and study the situation in the West...well, Liu Aiqing is the one who formulated the plan for the Western Expedition, and he knows the most about it. You should ask him for advice."

Li Daozong said: "Here." Then he arched his hands towards Liu Rengui and said, "I'm afraid I will bother General Counselor Liu in the future."

Liu Rengui hurriedly stood up and replied, "King Jiangxia is being polite, this is my duty."

Yue Shan also thinks the appointment of this commander is the most suitable, Li Daozong is the best candidate in all aspects.

The key is the identity of his clan, which can stabilize and appease the morale of the army more than any other means.

Li Shimin continued: "Both the Governor of Gaochang and the Governor of Ningyuan are very important, especially the Governor of Ningyuan shoulders the important task of providing backup for the Western Expeditionary Army. I wonder if you have a suitable candidate for this position?"

Gaochang happened to be in the middle of the Western Regions and the Tang Dynasty, and it was the gateway to control the Western Regions. The geographical location was very important.

After the fall of Gaochang in the Tang Dynasty, I originally wanted to continue to adopt the policy of confinement, but later listened to Yue Shan's opinion and established Gaochang Road in one step.

The yamen of the Anxi Protectorate's Mansion was first placed here, and was later moved to the Ningyuan area further west.

The Ningyuan area guards the passage to the west of the Western Regions. Datang controls these two places, which is equivalent to firmly holding the Western Regions in the palm of his hand.

In order to facilitate the management of the countries in the Western Regions around Gaochang Road, the Gaochang Duhufu was established and stationed in Gaochang Dao, but administratively it was under the jurisdiction of Anxi Duhufu.

But now, the importance of these two places has once again increased. They are related to the retreat of the Western Expeditionary Army, and it must be ensured that no problems will arise.

It is the meaning of the question that the person in charge here should make adjustments.

Moreover, everyone is more familiar with the affairs of the Western Regions. There are more people who put forward suggestions and more backup candidates, but the person who is mentioned the most is Guo Xiaoke.

As mentioned earlier, this person played a vital role in the strategy of the Western Regions during the Zhenguan period. It can be said that the rest of his life was handed over to the Western Regions.

However, Li Shimin was not satisfied with this candidate: "Guo Xiaoke likes luxury and has poor self-discipline. He also used gold and jade for utensils in the army. He should not be used as a deputy rather than a commander in the Western Expedition."

Everyone immediately stopped talking, this is indeed Guo Xiaoke's old problem.

Yue Shan is also very emotional, this person is really talented, loyal and a doer, but he just likes to enjoy and has poor self-discipline.It can only be said that no one is perfect.

Let him be the deputy is definitely the most capable, but the shortcoming of being the commander is really fatal.

In the original history, he was killed by the Qiucha people because of this, and his eldest son was also killed along with him.

In this life, because of Datang's strength, Qiuci did not dare to make trouble and he was not killed, but this shortcoming has to be guarded against.

Normally, even if there is a mistake, it can be remedied.Let him guard the back of the Western Expeditionary Army, it is really not reassuring.

However, after all, Guo Xiaoke has defended the country's borders in the Western Regions for so many years, so he can't chill people's hearts.

Li Shimin appointed him as the deputy governor of Anxi Duhu Mansion, added an official to his eldest son, and specially recruited his second son to study in the military academy.

The former is a direct reward for his achievements, and the latter is to let his children have a higher starting point, give him a reassurance, and let him do things with peace of mind.

Li Shimin continued: "Guo Xiaoke has made outstanding achievements and has been guarding the border in the Western Regions for more than ten years. Now that he is appointed as the deputy governor of the Anxi Governor's Mansion, it is necessary to appoint a more capable governor who can hold him down. What do you think? Who is suitable?"

After speaking, he glanced at Liu Rengui.

Most people didn't pay attention to this point, they just thought he was watching casually or asking for Liu Rengui's opinion.

However, some people saw his true intentions, such as Changsun Wuji.

"The minister recommends General Counselor Liu to take up the post of the Chief Protector of the Anxi Protectorate."

Liu Rengui was very surprised, he would recommend himself if he didn't arrive first, and everyone else had similar expressions.

Li Shimin was very satisfied, but he still pretended to be puzzled and said, "Why?"

Changsun Wuji explained: "General Counselor Liu has outstanding ability and is the Chief Counselor of the Privy Council. He should be able to suppress Guo Xiaoke. Moreover, he is the planner of the Western Expedition and knows this plan best."

"If he presides over the overall situation in Ningyuan, he will be able to cooperate seamlessly with the Western Expeditionary Army to ensure the victory of the Western Expedition."

Li Shimin thought it was true, but said hesitantly: "Liu Aiqing is the deputy chief staff officer, so it's overqualified to serve as the guardian, it's not appropriate."

At this time, Liu Rengui would be really stupid if he couldn't see what was going on, he knew that the time had come for him to express his opinion.

He got up and said solemnly: "Saint, what Zhao Guogong said is true, please go to Anxi Dufu."

Li Shimin was very relieved, and said happily: "It's rare that Liu Aiqing is so loyal, and I'm very relieved. Alright, then I will appoint you as the guardian of the Anxi Governor's Mansion, responsible for the affairs of the Western Regions and cooperating with the Western Expeditionary Army."

Liu Rengui: "Here."

As for the Protectorate of Gaochang, he was handed over to a person no one expected, Yuan Gai Suwen.

(End of this chapter)