Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 128: Debate at Liangyi Palace

The next day, early morning.

Li Zhi, wearing court robes, left Ganlu Hall, sat in the imperial sedan chair, and came to the side hall of Liangyi Hall.

As the time of Chenpai approached, the etiquette officer came to report that the ministers had lined up to enter the hall, and only then did Li Zhi enter the hall.

After Li Zhi sat down on the throne, all the ministers bowed to him according to the ritual of the new moon and full moon courts.

After the ceremony, Li Zhi said in a clear voice: "Today's court meeting is only to discuss one matter. Xue Rengui won a victory in Yancheng, but also killed a large number of surrendered soldiers. What should be done with him? You are welcome to speak freely."

Yuwen Jie stepped out quickly and said loudly, "Your Majesty, our dynasty has implemented a policy of restraint since Emperor Gaozu. This system originated from the Qin and Han dynasties and flourished in our dynasty."

"In the second year of the Wude era, Emperor Gaozu issued an edict demarcating the wilderness and dividing its borders, with mountains and rivers defining the inner and outer regions. The remote and desolate areas were governed by laws and policies different from those in Han and Xia. Therefore, the kings of the past ruled the land, won over distant peoples, and righteousness lay in keeping them in check."

"It is thanks to this system that our dynasty has achieved its current prosperity and the submission of all quarters. Xue Rengui's brutal killing of surrendered soldiers violated the ancestral system. Even if he has merits, they cannot offset his crimes. He should be severely punished!"

He was obviously well prepared, and spoke a lot of words in a very eloquent manner, even bringing up Li Yuan.

Li Zhi nodded and said, "Yes, killing surrendered soldiers on the battlefield is indeed against the will of heaven."

Wei Hongji stepped out and said, "I believe Xue Rengui should be demoted to a commoner and never employed again!"

"I second the proposal!"

"I second the proposal!"

"I second the proposal!"

In an instant, a large group of officials from aristocratic families came out.

They have been holding back their anger for a long time, and now that they have the support of Zuzhi, they naturally want to vent it out.

Yuchi Gong shouted, "Killing a few barbarians is a crime? When we first pacified the Central Plains, Emperor Gaozu issued an edict that when suppressing Xue Ju, we didn't kill the slaves and bandits, which led to rebellion. If we don't kill them all, it will cause trouble in the future. And didn't we also kill many surrendered soldiers when we attacked Hebei later?"

Han Ai said, "The world was not stable then, and the situation is different from now."

Cheng Zhijie snorted, "It's really different then and now. Back then, they were killing Han people, and now they're killing Hu people."

Xiao Rui said, "Now that the world is at peace and the people are living and working in peace, we should quickly resolve border disputes and not provoke resentment among the foreign races, which would lead to chaos everywhere."

Li Ji said calmly, "Xiao Siqing is wrong. The alien races may be resentful and may not dare to bar their teeth at us. The weakness of our dynasty will lead to war."

Xiao Rui shook his head and said, "That doesn't make sense."

Gao Kan said loudly: "Mr. Li is telling the truth. The Tang Dynasty adopted a strategy of fierce attack against the Eastern Turks and of appeasement towards the Western Turks."

"Over the years, the Eastern Turks have been law-abiding. Even if they rebelled, they would not receive support from other tribes. On the other hand, when one tribe of the Western Turks rebelled, all the other tribes responded, and this process never stopped."

Civil officials and military generals exchanged sharp words with each other in a fierce debate.

Li Zhi only made an opening statement, expressing his attitude, and then said nothing more.

Seeing that the emperor did not speak, both sides thought that he was hesitating, so they argued even harder, until their mouths were dry and they were out of breath.

Li Zhi observed silently and found that among the civil officials, except Liu Rengui, almost all of them believed that Xue Rengui was at fault, including Shangguan Yi, Li Yifu and others.

Among the military generals, the Hu generals all sat quietly and did not speak for Xue Rengui.

After an unknown amount of time, Wang Fusheng came to Li Zhi and whispered, "Your Majesty, Zhou Zhidu has entered the palace."

Li Zhi's heart was lifted, and he said loudly: "My lords, please be silent for now. Zhou Zhidu has returned from the front line. Let's listen to his words."

Zhou Zhidu was Xue Rengui's deputy general and served as the side general manager. He also participated in the battle to attack Yancheng.

As the decree was issued, he strode into the hall.

Li Zhi looked at him and saw that he was in his forties, dusty and haggard, and it was obvious that he had traveled a long way to get here.

"Your Majesty, I am Zhou Zhidu, and I pay my respects to you." He kowtowed.

Li Zhi said, "Mr. Zhou, you have arrived at the perfect time. The court is currently debating the matter of General Xue, and I am having a hard time deciding. Could you please tell me what exactly compelled General Xue to kill the surrendered soldiers?"

Zhou Zhidu said solemnly, "Your Majesty, killing the surrendered soldiers wasn't General Xue's decision alone. We all support it..."

Yuwen Jie snorted coldly: "Then you are all at fault!"

Zhou Zhidu glared at him and was about to speak.

Li Ji raised his hand and said, "There's no need to argue. General Zhou, just repeat the details of this battle to everyone."

Zhou Zhidu nodded and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, colleagues, our army arrived at Yancheng on March 16th..."

Yancheng is located northwest of Tingzhou and south of Jinshan. It is a small Turkic city.

After Xue Rengui ordered his scouts to investigate, they learned that there were no reinforcements nearby, so he prepared to order an attack on the city.

A deputy general said: "General, we only have 30,000 infantrymen, while the enemy has over 40,000 defenders, most of whom are cavalry. It would be better to wait for the follow-up troops to arrive before attacking the city."

Xue Rengui asked, "Do you all think so?"

All the generals echoed.

The soldiers under Cheng Zhijie were from Guanzhong. Among all the military systems in the Tang Dynasty, they were the most arrogant and notoriously fierce.

If Xue Rengui had not won a great victory in the battle against Tuyuhun, these generals would probably have turned their backs on him instead of trying to persuade him.

Xue Rengui frowned and said nothing.

At this moment, a man said, "I agree to attack the city."

Xue Rengui turned around and saw that it was the side steward Zhou Zhidu who spoke.

Zhou Zhidu was Cheng Zhijie's confidant and had a high prestige in the Guanzhong army. However, he still could not control the generals, and someone immediately spoke out in opposition.

"General Zhou, you've fought many battles against the Turks before, so you should know that the Turgesh are the most formidable. We only have 30,000 infantrymen, and we're attacking a city. My chances of winning are probably less than 50%!"

Zhou Zhidu said, "Have we ever been afraid of cavalry?"

The Tang army's infantry had rich combat experience and had a psychological advantage over the Turks. Even when facing cavalry, they were able to maintain their formation and not panic at all.

The general said, "I didn't say we can't win. In a field battle, they definitely can't break through our formation. But if we attack a city, if the enemy opens the gates and charges in, it will be difficult to deal with."

Zhou Zhidu said, "Don't be afraid. The Turks in the city have already lost their nerve and don't dare to fight us head-on."

The general asked, "How do you know?"

Zhou Zhidu raised his hand and pointed: "Look at the color of their city walls. Many of them are newly built. This shows that they were prepared from the beginning and defended the city."

The general looked at them for a moment, then nodded and said nothing more. The Turks excelled in cavalry combat and enjoyed engaging the enemy in open fields.

However, when facing the Tang army, they took the initiative to give up their advantages and retreated into the city, which was enough to show the fear in their hearts.

Xue Rengui then spoke up: "Is there anyone who still objects to the siege?"

All the generals said in unison: "No!"

These Tang Dynasty generals are all brave warriors who have grown up on the edge of a knife. Even though they are arrogant, they are experienced and will not miss any opportunities.

There happened to be 40,000 people in the city, and everyone was sharpening their knives, ready to chop off a few more heads to accumulate military merit in order to gain honors.

Xue Rengui ordered: "The first, third, and sixth battalions, step out and prepare to attack the city."

"Understood!" The three captains received the order and showed excitement on their faces.

The other commanders looked at them with envy.

At this time, someone shouted: "Look, there is movement on the city wall."

Xue Rengui looked up and saw chaos on the walls of Yancheng, with faint sounds of shouting and killing.

After a while, a group of Tang people wearing headscarves stood behind the parapet.

A flag suddenly rose up and swayed in the wind, with a big word "Tang" written on it.

A general asked, "What happened? Did they surrender?"

Xue Rengui raised his hand and said, "Pause the attack!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the city gate was opened.

One general laughed and said, "They really have surrendered."

Another general said: "It doesn't look like surrender. It seems that the Tang people in the city have rebelled and want to surrender the city."

The first general said, "That's right. We must seize this opportunity. General, shall we give the order to charge in?"

Xue Rengui shouted, "Don't move! Wait for my order! Messenger, go to the bottom of the city wall and observe and question the Tang people above."

The messenger received the order and rode to the foot of the city wall. He asked the Tang people on top, "Are you Tang people? Do you want to surrender the city? Where are the Turks in the city?"

The Tang people on the city wall did not speak, their expressions were complicated, and some were trembling slightly.

The messenger asked a few more questions, and a bearded Tang man suddenly shouted, "Don't go into the city, there are..."

Before he finished speaking, the head flew up, drew an arc, and fell from the city wall.

Blood sprayed into the air like a bloody mist.

Xue Rengui saw clearly that behind the Tang man, there was a Turkic man squatting.

At this time, the city wall fell into chaos again, with screams coming one after another. The heads of the Tang people were chopped off one by one, and their bodies were thrown off the city wall.

A Tang man killed a Turkic man, snatched his scimitar, leaned against the parapet, and fought with the Turkic man while shouting.

"Tang soldiers, listen carefully! We are from Tingzhou. We were captured and taken as slaves. They forced us to enter by pretending to capture the city walls."

"There are Turkic soldiers lying in ambush behind the city gate, and another group of Turkic cavalry has come out from another gate, preparing to attack you from both sides...ah..."

When the Tang man said this, he was stabbed several times and died.

The Turks tied a rope around his neck and hung him on the city wall.

The Tang army generals' eyes turned red, and they shouted, "The Turks are rats, worse than dogs and pigs! General Xue, order the attack on the city!"

Xue Rengui took a deep breath and said, "General Zhou, lead the first to tenth battalions to attack the city immediately. First, attack the city walls and occupy the high ground. The ten battalions behind you, follow me to form a battle array to meet the enemy!"

The Tang army was as powerful as a tiger and attacked the city wall in just half an hour. The Turkic soldiers in the city wanted to rush out but were blocked at the door.

After the Tang army occupied the city wall, they were in a dominant position and used bows and arrows to suppress the Turkic ambush troops behind the city gate.

A large group of Tang troops took the opportunity to attack the city and fight with the Turks.

The battle entered a fierce stage, and as expected, a group of Turkic cavalry attacked. Xue Rengui led the Tang army outside the city to meet them.

After a fierce battle, the Turkic cavalry was unable to shake the Tang army's formation.

The Turgesh were the elite Turkic troops. Although they could not break through the Tang army, they continued to attack fiercely.

After a fierce battle between the two sides, the Tang army had a slight advantage, but the outcome of the battle was not clear.

At the critical moment, Xue Rengui, holding a silver halberd in one hand and a shield in the other, charged towards the enemy formation alone and fought bravely in the chaos.

The Tang army's morale soared.

Several Tang generals led their soldiers and followed closely beside Xue Rengui, protecting him on both sides and inserting into the Turkic formation.

At this time, the Tang army in the city suddenly rushed out.

It turned out that when the Chumukun tribe saw the Tang army entering the city, their plan failed and they had already lost their fighting spirit. They surrendered to the Tang army and sold out the Turgesh tribe.

Zhou Zhidu ordered some people to watch over the surrendered soldiers, and led the rest of the Tang army out of the city to surround the Turkic tribe.

The two armies attacked together, and after more than five hours of bloody fighting, the Turkic tribe was completely wiped out, with only a very small number of them escaping.

After Xue Rengui led the Tang army into the city, he found a large number of Tang army corpses, all of whom were Tingzhou civilians.

They refused to cooperate with the Turks' plan to deal with the Tang army and were brutally killed by the Turks.

Xue Rengui detained the Chumukun tribe and ordered his men to dig a pit. In the middle of the night, he lured them to the pit and killed them all.

……

Zhou Zhidu said, "This is the situation. At that time, the brothers were all indignant and all agreed with General Xue's decision to kill him. If Your Majesty wants to punish us, then punish us as well..."

After hearing this, all the ministers remained silent.

Li Zhi slowly stood up and said in a loud voice: "Those Tang people in Yancheng who chose death over submission are all martyrs of our Great Tang. I hereby order that their families be compensated at three times the military standard."

Li Ji said in a clear voice: "Your Majesty is wise!"

The ministers came out one after another and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty is wise!"

No one mentioned punishing Xue Rengui for killing the surrendered soldiers anymore.

(End of this chapter)