Chastity Layman

  Chapter 713 Small Goals

   "The old minister just wants to fight again. The minister is old, and now he can move a little bit, so he wants to fight again, and then he will be honorably appointed, and he can go back to his hometown in Sanyuan to enjoy his old age with peace of mind!"

  Li Jing asked for a fight again and again.

  The emperor looked at Li Jing, who was eager to fight. This old man was five years younger than the Supreme Emperor, but he was actually not very old. He was just sixty years old this year. Although his beard and hair were already grey, Li Jing still looked ruddy, had a good complexion, and was full of vigor when speaking, and he was still able to ride and gallop on the battlefield.

   "Hou Junji also learned the art of war with Dai Gong for almost two years before, how much has he learned?"

   "The old minister has taught Chen Guogong the art of war according to the order of the sage, and he has taught him 90% of what he has learned all his life."

   "Ninety percent? No wonder Hou Junji told me that he refused to give it to the public if he owned it privately." The emperor's words are intriguing.

  However, all the prime ministers disdain Hou Junji very much. They kindly teach you the art of war, but you turn around and report to the emperor. This kind of student is really worthless.

"Saint, I should teach you everything that I should teach. These are enough for Chen Guogong to lead the army to fight and defend the country. He has learned 90% of the art of war that I know, but he is still dissatisfied. I want to learn everything. I have told him. The leftover art of war that was not taught, some are the methods of using troops in the troubled times at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and he wants to learn it too, that is because he has different intentions."

The meaning behind Li Jing's words is actually very obvious. He is a general who came from troubled times. The way to be handsome, and the way to be king. Can these things be taught to Hou Junji?

  Hou Junji insists on learning, isn’t this a disagreement?

  No one expected that Li Jing, a good old man, would actually bite the students back at this time, and the prime ministers suddenly had a rare feeling of eating melons and watching the excitement.

  Qin Lang sat there, smiling slightly.

Hou Junji, relying on the emperor's confidant, often does some eggless things, which is completely disgusting, especially after he was appointed as the prince and worshiped the minister, he really swelled up. The emperor asked him to learn from Li Jing The art of war is actually not just about learning the art of war.

  Who is Li Jing? In terms of military exploits, he is definitely the number one commander of the Tang Dynasty after Li Shimin. He made great contributions in pacifying the southeast and destroying the Turks. He is simply the pillar of the sky. In particular, he is also the core general family of the Guanlong Group, needless to say about his prestige, connections, and family background.

If Changsun Wuji hadn't been a civil servant, Li Shimin would have asked his eldest grandson to learn the art of war from Li Jing a long time ago. To worship Li Jing as his teacher is not only to learn the art of war, but also to inherit Li Jing's connections. Inherited Li Jing's position among the generals of Guanlong, and became the new banner of generals in the Guanlong Group.

   But Hou Junji didn't understand the meaning at all, or he understood, but he didn't pay attention to Li Jing, thinking that although Li Jing was capable in fighting, he had no vision in standing in the team, and he stood in the wrong team every time.

   After studying the art of war for two years, if you are an ordinary smarter person, you must be polite to Li Jing and make the old man happy. Then his connections, etc., will not be passed on to you? But Hou Junji was very arrogant, he was impatient in learning the art of war, he still picked and picked, and even kept saying that Li Jing kept secrets and didn't teach good things, that Li Jing had other ideas.

   Isn't this stupid?

Li Jing was also a good teacher. He held his fire and taught for two years. After about half of the teaching, he refused to teach any more. He also made small reports about Li Jing to the emperor several times, and Li Jing publicly declared that there was no such student as Hou Junji.

   Now that the emperor has exposed this matter in public, no matter how good-tempered Li Jing is, he can't help it.

  He directly said that Hou Junji had a different heart and would definitely rebel in the future. This sword stab was clean and sharp, and he showed no mercy to Hou Junji.

  Qin Lang thought that this was also expressing his dissatisfaction with the emperor's arrangement. Hou Junji privately sued Li Jingzang for his disagreement.

  But now Li Shimin has sold Hou Junji. On the surface, this is his trust in Li Jing, but in fact, he may not have taken the opportunity to beat Li Jing.

  Li Shimin did not expect that this time Li Jing would sue Hou Junji in a fiery way.

   After being stunned for a while, he laughed twice.

"Hou Junji has been playing with me since he was a child. It can be said that he was a playmate when he was wearing crotch pants. I know him very well. He is straight-tempered, impatient, and hasty. And I believe in Dai Gong's loyalty even more. In fact, Hou Junji is not bad, and it is even more impossible to say that he has other intentions and rebellion."

  The matter was lightly exposed, and Li Shimin seemed to have made up his mind.

He comforted Li Jing with a few words, and gave a reward of a hundred pieces of silk, and then declined Li Jing's proposal to challenge, thinking that since Li Jing said that he should teach Hou Junji, as Li Jing's disciple, Hou Junji would The battle should be able to handle it.

  Qin Lang, please play.

"Your Majesty, I thought that even if Hou Junji had learned Daigong's art of war, he hadn't been tested in actual combat. Not to mention, the point of sending troops to challenge Si Yehu this time was not to fight, but how to deal with the Western Regions so as to balance the Western Regions. situation."

"After we have defeated Si Yehu, what we need is to quickly restore the stability of the Western Regions and re-open the Silk Road. Of course, what is more important is to use this battle to find opportunities to take Gaochang, Qiuci, Yanqi, Shule, etc. The four major kingdoms in Shannan pulled them out of the control of the Western Turks, let them fall into the arms of my Tang Dynasty, and became the vassal state directly under my Tang Dynasty. To find opportunities, send troops to station troops and confer titles on officials... ·”

  Since you want to send troops to the Western Regions, you must go there with a purpose, not just for the sake of fighting, the war is only for political service. Datang's strategy is to really march into the Western Regions, so this war is a rare opportunity. By crusade against Si Yehu, Gaochang and others have always accepted the canonization of Western Turkic officials, accepted the Western Turkic garrison, and paid taxes to Western Turkic This set of old rules is broken.

"We set a small goal first. We don't expect that this war will allow Tang to wipe out the Western Turks in one fell swoop and occupy the entire Western Regions in one fell swoop. Let's take it step by step. First, we will take Gaochang and other four countries into our pockets and drive away the Western Turks in the four countries. Garrison troops and tax collectors, let them transfer to the Tang Dynasty, even set up the Governor's Mansion of Jumi, confer the official titles of the kings of the four countries, look for opportunities to send Tang troops to station, establish a stable and effective bridgehead, and prepare for the next step!"

"Thus, I believe that this battle is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the Tang Dynasty must not miss it, let alone fail. Hou Junji has never commanded troops to fight a war before, and is far away from the Western Regions, and the imperial court cannot command and dispatch. If he makes a mistake, the consequences It's irreversible, so I think that there are still opportunities for Hou Junji to practice his skills, but not this time."

   "Especially when it comes to the aftermath of the war, a prime minister with distinguished status and outstanding ability must go there!"

  Li Shimin was a little dissatisfied with Qin Lang's belittling of Hou Junji, "The noble and capable prime minister you mentioned is not referring to yourself?"

   "I don't dare. I have self-knowledge and absolutely no such great ability. I want to recommend Zhao Guogong. Zhao Guogong is definitely worthy of this great responsibility and can handle things well!"

  The emperor froze for a moment.

Of course he knows the abilities of his eldest brother-in-law and eldest grandson Wuji. This guy is much better than the frizzy Hou Junji. Originally, he wanted to take this opportunity to let Hou Junji practice his skills with the Western Turks, and also show off the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions. Military prestige.

  But now Qin Lang said it all, but it made Li Shimin feel that what he thought was a little conservative.

When you encounter an opportunity, you must go boldly. Taking advantage of Si Yehu's internal and external difficulties, the Master of Tang Dynasty is famous, and all parties will support and cooperate. After defeating Si Yehu, who will be the leader of Funi, and ask him at that time He has no reason to refuse the Gaochang Kuci Yanqi Shule Four Kingdoms as a reward to Datang.

  If these four countries can be taken down, brought under the rule of the Great Tang, and become directly subordinate to the Great Tang, then the Great Tang will be considered stable in the south of the Tianshan Mountains.

Ni is Li Shimin's sworn brother, but Li Shimin is so cruel that all his brothers are slaughtered. In the face of real interests, he doesn't have to think about brothers. What's more, he didn't want it for nothing. This is not to send troops to protect him and make him sweat position?

  After things are done, we should pay attention to some benefits, not too much.

  Eldest Sun Wuji also stood up at this time, "I am willing to take on this task and go to the Western Regions for a tour!"

   Li Shimin saw the attitude of Changsun Wuji, and then looked at the prime minister. He estimated that this matter had already been discussed in the political affairs hall and agreed by the prime ministers.

  The eldest uncle was willing to go to the Western Regions, which surprised him.

Hou Junji said that he had never led the army alone, but after all, he was also a veteran general. Li Shimin led the troops in the southern and northern wars, commanding the armies, and Hou Junji had always acted as the guard of the central army. If you have never eaten pork, at least you have seen pigs run.

   And Changsun Wuji was completely a counselor in the shogunate before. He was excellent in strategy, personnel, and logistics, but when it came to leading troops in battle, he was absolutely incapable.

  The emperor hesitated.

"Your Majesty, I recommend Shi Li Daozong, Governor of Liangzhou Metropolitan Government, and Cheng Yaojin, Governor of Lanzhou Metropolitan Government, as the deputy chiefs. The inspection prince Zuowei led Su Dingfang, and the governor of Diezhou Xue Wanche as the left and right vanguards. Twenty thousand soldiers from Longyou, Hexi, and Guanzhong were recruited. If you step into the Western Regions, you can win a battle!"

  Qin Lang, please.

  These four generals are all good enough. Although Li Daozong is young, he is very similar to the emperor himself in all aspects. After several years of experience in Shuofang and Hexi, he is also very mature and stable.

  As for Cheng Yaojin, he was a mighty general from the former Qin Palace, unparalleled in bravery and rich in battle experience. Su Dingfang and Xue Wanche are also very good. If they are asked to assist Changsun Wuji, there is really no need to worry about the military.

Li Shimin doesn't really want Li Jing to be in command and send troops. For the same reason, he doesn't want Qin Lang, who is now highly skilled in military affairs, to fight again. This battle is not dangerous or difficult. Whoever takes command will take advantage of the advantages of war. Li Jing and Qin Lang's military achievements are high enough It's not an important battle, and the emperor doesn't want to send them to the field anymore.

   "Okay, let's take Changsun Wuji as the head of the Tianshan Road march, Li Daozong and Cheng Yaojin as the deputy heads, Su Dingfang and Xue Wanche as the left and right vanguards, send Hexi Longyou to ride 20,000, and crusade against Ashina!"

  (end of this chapter)