Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 181: Dragon Palace Military Meeting

A golden whole lamb was roasting in the big tent.

Xue Rengui was standing in front of the fire, cutting off a leg of lamb with a dagger and handing it to a Tiele man behind him.

"Eat."

The Tiele man looked very haggard, his beard was covered with dust, and his face was also stained, like a refugee.

He took the lamb leg and bit into it, eating with a smacking sound. He seemed to have not eaten for a while, and he ate voraciously. In a short while, he had eaten the whole leg of lamb.

"Give me some more wine!" he shouted.

Zhou Zhidu snorted coldly: "Don't you understand your position?"

Xue Rengui raised his hand, signaling Zhou Zhidu to shut up, and walked to the back of the table himself, picked up a bag of wine and threw it to the Tiele man.

The Tiele man took it and drank it without stopping. The wine spilled from the corners of his mouth and fell on his shaggy beard, making the already dirty beard even dirtier.

He drank the wine in one gulp, touched his mouth, and hummed: "The news I'm going to tell you later is definitely better than two lamb legs and two pots of wine. You won't suffer any loss!"

Xue Rengui asked, "Two?"

The Tiele man pinched his belly and grinned, "We grassland people have big appetites. You don't think I'm full with just one lamb leg, do you?"

Zhou Zhidu suddenly stood up and said angrily: "I will..."

Xue Rengui interrupted, "Alright, I'll give you another leg of lamb and a pot of wine. If you can't explain why later, I'll hang you from a flagpole and let you die in the sun!"

The Tiele man snorted, raised his proud head, and said, "We Tiele people are not as cunning as you Tang people. If I say there is important news, then there must be important news!"

Xue Rengui cut off another leg of lamb and handed it to him, and asked someone to bring in another bag of wine.

After a long time, the Tiele man finally finished eating. He wiped his greasy hands on his clothes.

"Okay, I'm full. Listen carefully. The deputy chief of the Huihe tribe, Bilidu, has won the support of his people and become the new chief. He also plans to lead everyone in rebellion against the Tang Dynasty!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xue Rengui and Zhou Zhidu's expressions changed.

Zhou Zhidu snorted coldly, "You're not kidding us, are you? He just killed a few tribal leaders who wanted to rebel against the Tang Dynasty and sent their heads here. How could he suddenly betray us?"

The Tiele man grinned.

"So you're not that smart after all. This was Bi Li Du's plan. He felt the time was not right, so he didn't act. He killed all the chiefs who were eager to act."

Xue Rengui said calmly, "Why did you tell me all this and betray your leader?"

The Tiele people shouted angrily: "I didn't betray him, he was unfair. I was originally the leader of a small tribe and always supported him. But a month ago, the Karluk tribe plundered my tribe, killed many people, and stole all the cattle and sheep!"

"I went to Bilidu and asked him to seek justice, but he favored the Qarluk tribe and refused to punish them. He instead accused me of trying to persuade him to dig coal for you Tang people!"

The Qarluk tribe was also a powerful tribe in Mobei. Although it was not one of the Nine Clans of Tiele, its strength was stronger than many of the Nine Clans tribes.

Xue Rengui was slightly taken aback and asked, "Mining coal?"

The Tiele man said, "In a small tribe like ours, many people die of starvation every winter. A merchant from your Tang Dynasty came to us and wanted to cooperate with Bilidu. We would mine the mines, and they would sell the profits, with a 50-50 split. I thought it was a good idea, so I persuaded him to agree."

Xue Rengui and Zhou Zhidu looked at each other.

They also heard that some merchants secretly cooperated with the Tiele people and opened coal mines privately, but were arrested by the imperial court.

But I didn't expect that this matter was related to the Tiele people in front of me.

"Go on," Xue Rengui said.

The Tiele man snorted, "We opened the mine, but the Tang people didn't come. Bilidu even ordered the mine to be filled up, wasting months of our work. At least half of my people will die this winter. Why should I continue to be loyal to Bilidu?"

Zhou Zhidu smiled and said, "Your choice is wise. Following Bi Lidu will only lead to death."

Xue Rengui asked, "When will Bili Du plan to rebel against the Tang Dynasty?"

The Tiele people said, "He seems to be planning to wait for the Tang Dynasty to start a war with the Tibetans before launching a surprise attack on Shanyutai!"

Xue Rengui asked solemnly, "How many Tiele tribes rebelled?"

The Tiele people said: "All the nine clans support Bilidu, and there are many smaller tribes as well."

Xue Rengui nodded, ordered his men to take the Tiele people away, and said to Zhou Zhidu, "General Zhou, in your opinion, how should we deal with the current situation?"

Zhou Zhidu said: "First, we must strengthen our defenses to prevent a surprise attack by the Tiele people, and then report the situation to the court and await His Majesty's orders!"

Xue Rengui said, "Well, you and I will jointly submit a memorial to His Majesty, reporting all the circumstances to the court!"

……

Duke Lu's Mansion, back hall.

The whole family sat in an orderly manner, except for the seat at the top which was empty.

Cheng Zhijie had a total of six sons and three daughters.

All the daughters are married, two sons live in other places, and the remaining four sons all live at home, with eight grandsons and six granddaughters.

This is also the reason why Yuchi Gong said that he began to enjoy the blessings of his descendants.

Cheng Zhijie's wife's surname was Cui, and she was from the Qinghe Cui family. Although she was over sixty years old, she still maintained the demeanor of a lady from a noble family. She sat upright on the chair, waiting for her husband.

The sons remained calm, and the daughters-in-law followed their mother-in-law's lead. However, the grandchildren were getting impatient.

The eldest grandson, Cheng Boxian, reached out to grab a piece of mutton to fill his stomach, but suddenly heard Madam Cheng say, "Boxian?"

Cheng Boxian said with a bitter face, "Grandma, Grandpa has been practicing archery day and night recently. Let me eat something first. I played polo this afternoon and I'm almost starving!"

Since the royal hunting at the beginning of the year, Cheng Zhijie ranked last among the Five Tiger Generals of the Tang Dynasty. He was embarrassed and practiced archery hard.

He is old and his memory is not very good. He often forgets the time while practicing and makes his family wait for him to eat.

Madam Cheng said, "Then go and remind him."

Cheng Boxian quickly agreed and ran out of the house. After a while, he ran back and shouted, "Grandma, Grandpa went out!"

Madam Cheng was stunned and asked, "Where did you go?"

Cheng Boxian said, "My father's old servant said that a eunuch just arrived and said that the emperor had summoned me to the palace tonight. Look at how confused my father has become. He left on his own and didn't even send anyone to tell us!"

Madam Cheng frowned and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Since the Saint has summoned us, it must be something important. It's understandable that he didn't bother to inform us. Let's have dinner."

Cheng Zhijie rode his horse galloping along Chang'an Street and soon arrived outside the Suzaku Gate.

He was in no hurry to go in, but instead asked the gatekeeper, "Any military intelligence from the front lines today?"

The guard said, "General, an hour ago, the Yanran Protectorate sent us urgent military information."

Cheng Zhijie nodded secretly and was about to enter when he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves behind him. Turning around, he saw Yuchi Gong riding his horse galloping towards him.

"Haha, Hei Lang, have you also been summoned into the palace by His Majesty?"

Yuchi Gong dismounted and asked directly, "Is there any military intelligence from the front line?"

Cheng Zhijie smiled and said, "Not bad."

"East or west?"

Cheng Zhijie said, "In the north, Xue Rengui has sent news that the Tiele people are becoming restless again."

Yuchi Gong snorted, "Could it be that Runpo has stayed in Chang'an for too long, and his position as chief has been taken away by someone else?"

"Don't tell me, it's really possible."

The two talked as they walked, and after passing through the Suzaku Gate, they soon arrived at the Chengtian Gate.

There was a eunuch waiting for the two of them outside the door. He took them into the palace and all the way to the Shenlong Hall.

As soon as the two entered the hall, they saw Li Ji had already arrived and was standing beside the map with Li Zhi, talking about something.

The two men stepped forward to greet each other. Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "No need to be so polite, two old generals. Please take a look at this memorial first." He handed over the memorial sent by Xue Rengui.

After the two men finished reading, Yuchi Gong snorted coldly, "I knew the Tiele people were not honest. Your Majesty, strike first and gain the upper hand. Send a message to General Xue to lead his troops to attack the Tiele people!"

Li Zhi couldn't help but glance at Li Ji.

After hearing this just now, Li Ji's first reaction was to launch a sneak attack.

It has to be said that these veterans fight without any martial ethics and without any psychological burden. He needs to learn a lot from this.

Cheng Zhijie frowned and said, "You need a good reason to be a disciple."

Yuchi Gong chuckled and said, "That's not difficult. Didn't they partner with the two Jiangnan noble families to open a mine? Just use this as an excuse!"

Li Ji glanced at him and said, "Although the reason is good, Brother Yuchi, have you decided how to fight?"

Yuchi Gong was stunned and said, "Why ask? Of course we should capture the leader first. Let's directly raid the Uighurs' tent!"

Li Ji shook his head and said, "We can't attack the Huihe first. Since they have decided to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, they will not be unprepared. A surprise attack may not succeed!"

Yuchi Gong snorted, "Then how can we fight?"

Li Ji said: "Of course we should strike first and wipe out the Karluk tribe first!"

"Wait a minute." Yuchi Gong raised his hand and said, "Why should we deal with the Karluks first? Xue Rengui didn't say they were joining the rebellion."

Cheng Zhijie narrowed his eyes and said, "Hei Lang, the Karluk tribe will definitely rebel, otherwise Bili Du would not have sided with the Karluk tribe."

Yuchi Gong frowned and said, "Even so, we should first raid the main force of Bilidu. The Qarluk tribe is not worth mentioning at all. There is no benefit in defeating them."

Li Zhi also looked confused and looked at Li Ji.

Li Ji pointed at the map and said, "Your Majesty, please see that although the Karluk tribe is not as powerful as the Uighurs, it is located to the west of the Chanyu Terrace and is a very important location."

"Since Bilidu has decided to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, he must have taken precautions. Our surprise attack may not succeed. If we get into a stalemate, the Qarluk tribe can attack from behind, which will be very disadvantageous."

"On the contrary, if we launch a surprise attack on the Karluk tribe, we can quickly eliminate them and then turn around to deal with the Nine Tiele Clans without any future troubles!"

Li Zhi nodded, glanced at Yuchi Gong and Cheng Zhijie, and said, "What do you two old generals think?"

Yuchi Gong scratched his head and said, "Your Majesty, I just failed to consider the position of the Karluk tribe. Old Li's method is more reliable, and I have no objection."

Cheng Zhijie said, "I have no objection either."

Li Zhi said slowly, "Well, then, follow Lord Li's plan and convey the battle order to Xue Rengui!"

(End of this chapter)