The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 566 Yang Ji's Shock

Li Yan used to be indignant about why some important positions around emperors and powerful officials were occupied by people who were obviously uneducated and incompetent. However, after living in the upper echelons of power in feudal society for a long time, Li Yan deeply understood a truth: in some positions, not only can talents not be used, but garbage must be used instead.

why?

Talented people have their own support and pride. They rely on their own real talents and knowledge. Why should they be loyal to you like a dog? But it is different for losers. Because they can't do anything, they can only rely on the special grace of the superiors to survive. Therefore, they can only ignore everything and be loyal to their master.

Moreover, once these people are in high positions, they will also employ some useless people with the same attributes as themselves, or even more incompetent than themselves, to ensure that the people below will not look down on them, let alone replace them.

Putting aside pure contempt and prejudice, there is a reason for such employment.

From the perspective of the law of survival, the more incompetent and useless a person is, the higher his loyalty is. From a certain perspective, high loyalty is also another level of scarce quality. The more talented and knowledgeable a person is, the lower his loyalty is. Even if he is loyal, it is to the country and the people, not to the emperor, the powerful ministers and their personal support.

In the late Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen committed suicide on Coal Hill. Among all the ministers and scholars in the court, only Wang Chengen accompanied Chongzhen to hang himself. For a eunuch to do this, he is worthy of respect from universal values.

That’s why the ancients said, There is always a way out!

It can be seen that trash has the same qualifications to survive, and even has the same chances as those who have studied hard for ten years to climb to fame, wealth and power.

Of course, this is a bad habit that only existed in ancient times under the extremely backward and ignorant feudal system. It should be despised and rejected. It is completely different from the modern twenty-first century where Li Yan comes from.

Li Yanlai's era was already an advanced era with stable politics and harmonious people, and people's thoughts were progressive. The seas were clear and the rivers were calm, and everyone lived a peaceful life. This kind of situation would never happen.

When the ministers in the Hongwen Hall saw that Li Shimin gave the position of General of the Qianniu Guard to Yang Ji without hesitation, they were all stunned.

What they were thinking was, did the emperor trust Yang Ji so much after meeting him for the first time?

But if everyone thinks about it, it is understandable. Someone who doesn't even care about 80,000 soldiers and horses will definitely not have any big ambitions. Anyway, the important officials present know that if they were in Yang Ji's position and at such a critical moment, they would have a lot of room for maneuver.

If it is managed well, it won't be a problem to establish one's own territory. If the timing is right, even conquering the world is not impossible.

Generally speaking, ministers hope to be close to the emperor and serve him at his beck and call.

But leading the horse and falling the stirrup was not the goal, it was just a way to gain the emperor's favor and trust, and ultimately hope to be sent out to a distant land. Yang Ji, who had already become the commander of the Jingzhou Army, gave up everything at such a good opportunity and took the initiative to run errands for the emperor, which was indeed rare.

Moreover, the emperor conferred the title of duke, the most prestigious title, on ordinary officials, instead of using the title of prince to fool people. This shows that he was sincere and not just doing it for the sake of expediency.

The ministers looked at Yang Ji's innocent and happy expression and thought that Yang Ji really had no ambitions. In addition, Yang Ji was born in Jingzhou, and he had no deep connection with the civil and military families in the court, nor did he belong to any faction. The previous commander Luo Yi was already out of business.

The emperor had previously appointed him as the Duke of Yan and commander-in-chief of the Yan-Liao Army. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this was only a temporary appeasement and that Yang Ji would not last long.

But now, Yang Ji not only killed Luo Yi, but also led his troops to save the emperor's life when the Turks and the emperor were confronting each other. Now he has voluntarily handed over his military power. Each of these three merits is enough to overwhelm everyone.

He was conferred the title of Duke together with those veteran generals in the court. No one felt that Yang Ji was unworthy of it, regardless of his loyalty or merits.

If such people are not loyal ministers, then no one can say that he is loyal. If even such great contributions cannot be granted the title of Duke, then no one can be granted the title of Duke.

Moreover, everyone knows that Li Shimin has another intention. In this precarious situation, when the Turkic army is approaching and many ambitious people in the south are rebelling against Li Shimin, Yang Ji's behavior shows the value of a loyal person to the court. If such a person is not reused, then those who rebel will have more reason to oppose.

Those who stand in the middle and waver will be even more disappointed with the court.

In fact, the ministers sitting in the audience knew Yang Ji's true ability, but because of his great contributions, they temporarily appeased him and thought about slowly cleaning up after the Turkic soldiers retreated. But now they couldn't do it. It's impossible for him to be a traitor and lead troops to rescue the king, but the court not only doesn't reward him, but the first thing they do is to strip him clean, right?

Not to mention that Li Shimin would not do this, even if he wanted to do so, Fang Xuanling and Zhangsun Wuji would stop him. Dealing with Yang Ji would be a matter for after the world is at peace. At no time could he do such a thing that would lose the support of the people.

But Yang Ji took the initiative to admit that he was not capable enough and wanted to hand over the military power to the emperor to use for more capable people. This was different. This further showed that he was sincere and loyal to the court.

Li Shimin figured out the trick in an instant, and was indeed moved by Yang Ji's loyalty. Thinking of Yang Ji's "average appearance", Li Shimin appointed him as the General of the Left Thousand Bull Guards in the Sixteen Guards, which could show his trust and respect, and also reflect Yang Ji's merits.

Maybe it's also a compensation for the guilt of scheming against the 'honest man' before!

As soon as he heard about this appointment, he knew that Li Shimin was sincere. Even if he was stupid, he had once been a deputy general. It should be fine for him to be a personal bodyguard with two or three thousand guards and not participate in the decision-making of the court, right?
Yang Ji's heart was already in turmoil at this time. When Li Yan analyzed the situation for him, he said that he could at least be a general of the Sixteen Guards. If he could become a general of the Qianniu Guards or the Jianmen Guards, that would be great.

I didn't expect that after all this pretense, the emperor actually appointed me as the general of Qianniu Guard, and the general in charge. What a great trust this shows!

"Your Majesty, I am only a foreign general, and before..." Yang Ji quickly suppressed his joy, pretended to be panicked, and was about to refuse. But from this expression, all the ministers present were smart and could see that Yang Ji was very happy in his heart, but he still pretended to be humble and pretended to refuse.

This was different from the previous refusal to be the commander-in-chief of the Jingzhou Army. It was just a courtesy in accordance with the court rules, and everyone smiled knowingly.

Yang Ji's fleeting look of surprise naturally could not be hidden from Li Shiming's eyes.

Li Shimin was even more satisfied when he saw this. He solved the rebellion, gained 80,000 soldiers, set up an example of loyalty and righteousness, and gained a loyal minister.

Moreover, Yang Ji was very satisfied with this arrangement, and everyone was happy.

At this time, even a hero like Li Shimin no longer doubted Yang Ji's sincere desire to serve the country. No matter how smart he was, he could not have imagined that the "provincial governor" in his thirties would actually defect to his "cowardly" eldest son Li Chengqian, who was only ten years old and was a hostage in Luo Yi's army, in just a few days.

The two men settled the Tang Dynasty version of rare goods in the makeshift prison of the hay warehouse.

Seeing Yang Ji's pretense of humility, Li Shimin said decisively: "General, your loyalty and righteousness can be a role model for the world. Since you have resigned from the position of commander-in-chief of the Yan and Liao armies, you should not refuse the position of General of the Qianniu Guards."

"Otherwise, how can I give an account to my meritorious officials, and how can I let more soldiers learn from the general's loyalty!"

At this time, Li Shimin really admired and liked this man who was a little restrained because of some misunderstandings during his first meeting with the emperor. He felt infinite emotion in his heart. If all the generals in the world were like Yang Ji, not greedy for power and dedicated to the public, then he would not have to worry about the instability of the world.

Why are you afraid of the northern Turks?

Therefore, Li Shimin had to give Yang Ji enough honor and make him a role model for all the ministers who serve as generals in the world!

"Yes, General Yang!"

Zhang Sun Wuji even smiled and said, "We all know your modesty, but you should also think about the emperor. You have made such a great contribution. If you don't reward him, how can you explain it to the people of the world?"

"You have been a deputy general commanding more than 10,000 people before. Can't you even lead 2,000 or 3,000 people now? As long as you have a heart of loyalty to the emperor, you will definitely be able to do a good job in this position and live up to the emperor's trust."

After seeing these people behave like this, even Feng Deyi and Xiao Yu, who originally wanted to stop them, didn't know what to say.

Seeing this, Yang Ji had no choice but to accept it. However, he was not calm at all in his heart. He was filled with shock. What a monster!

Everything was as Li Chengqian expected. It was as if he had figured out the emperor's mind. He was so scheming at such a young age.
Uh. No.
He is resourceful and the eldest son of the emperor. It seems that there will be no problem for him to be the crown prince. It will not be too difficult for him to smoothly take over the throne in the future. Yang Ji became even more excited when he thought that he would become the future emperor's father-in-law.

With this experience, he had completely freed himself from Luo Yi's shadow, and no longer had to worry about being exposed when participating in political affairs. The title of Duke was enough to put him on par with the old generals of the Qin Palace, and the title of General of the Qianniu Guards made him a close confidant of the emperor.

Thinking about these, the loss of 80,000 soldiers and horses that did not belong to them in the first place is really not worth mentioning.

Thinking back to when Li Chengqian was trying to persuade him, Yang Ji was somewhat unwilling. Now he realized that he was really a frog in a well, not knowing how big the world is!
"Yang Ji, can you tell us about the true situation and actual combat capability of the 80,000 troops in Jingzhou?"

Hearing the emperor's question, Yang Ji was no longer restrained and restless. He found his own suitable position in the court. He no longer had to worry about intrigue, deception, and power struggles. As long as he held on to this position firmly, he would have the opportunity to make achievements for Li Chengqian in the future.

And his daughter will eventually have the opportunity to give birth to royal bloodline.

So Yang Ji quickly cheered up and said, "Your Majesty, Jingzhou is the throat of the Turks' southward advance, and we have to defend against Liang Shidu's harassment in the north. In addition, Luo Yi has ulterior motives, and he has put a lot of effort into the army in Jingzhou."

"Among the original 50,000 people in Jingzhou, 30,000 of them are valiant and brave soldiers who have been through many battles and can be deployed to fight immediately."

"Everyone knows that when Luo Yi was in Youzhou, he was famous for training cavalry. He has invested a lot of energy in these 30,000 cavalry. With all the equipment, it is no problem for him to attack twice as many Turkic cavalry."

"As for the 30,000 young and strong men who were taken with them, they are actually part of the city defense of Jingzhou. Usually, they take turns to go to the north to guard the border. They often go to the battlefield, and their combat power is comparable to that of the regular soldiers in the inner city."

Finally, Yang Ji said decisively: "So, the 80,000 troops in Jingzhou are sufficient, strong, and powerful. If they are well commanded and lined up on the plain, they can withstand the impact of 100,000 Turkish cavalry without collapsing. If they are guarded by city walls, they can ensure that the city is impregnable under the repeated attacks of 200,000 or 300,000 Turkish cavalry."

As soon as the words fell, everyone was excited and encouraged.

"Hahaha"

Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief, smiled heartily, and said jokingly with a relaxed look: "So, Luo Yi is not completely a trouble. At least he left us such a capable and battle-hardened army. He also contributed to the defeat of Jie Li, hahahaha."

(End of this chapter)